11 | JORDAN FELDSTEIN - Maroon 5 Manager

First Text with Cory Levy

RIP Jordan Feldstein. Thoughts & prayers go out to his family. He was an inspiring leader in the music industry who will be very missed It’s with a heavy heart but much gratitude that I was able to interview Jordan a few weeks before he passed.

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This week, Cory speaks to prolific music manager Jordan Feldstein, who is best known for being the founder and CEO of Beverly Hills-based Career Artist Management overseeing 16 clients — among them: Maroon 5, who has sold 12.4 million albums and 48 million digital songs in the United States alone. In this weeks episode, Jordan talks about what inspired him to go into the music business, what his high school and college experience was like, his favorite part of being a manager, what artists should do now to build a fan base and the hardships that came along with managing what would become one of the biggest bands in the world.

“IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A STATEMENT THAT’S ARTISTIC, MAKE THAT STATEMENT FEARLESSLY.”

Music manager and producer Jordan Feldstein has spent the last two decades working with some of the top artists and bands in the world, and even after many successes, he still enjoys his work. “At the end of the day, if you get to be around something that you inherently love, you should just be grateful for that,” Jordan Feldstein says.

In addition to managing Maroon 5 and co-running a production company with Adam Levine, Feldstein has also worked with Barenaked Ladies, Relient K, Keyshia Cole, and Robin Thicke.

Cory Levy talks with Feldstein on OFF RCRD Episode 11 about his career, working with Maroon 5, and to ask for his advice for other artists and entrepreneurs. In response to “What grabs your attention?,” Feldstein says “To be honest, at various times, it’s been various things. It’s two things for me now. One, is it something I want to play in my car on the weekend? It’s that simple for me. Or two, do my kids like it?”

During the conversation with Cory, Feldstein stresses the importance of cutting through the noise to get people’s attention and entertain them. Feldstein says that artists need to answer the question “How do you remain relevant to people who are constantly being fed entertainment all the time?” For Feldstein, he sets himself apart by working harder than anyone else. “(success in the music business is) based on how great of a hustler and who’s going to work the hardest.”

All successful people have routines and strategies that they swear by. Feldstein says that each morning, he purposely doesn’t check his phone for the first hour of each day, and he’s also started meditation. “On the weekends with my kids, I have no phone time, things like that. You got to create boundaries for yourself.”