| Birth Name: | Rich Isaacson |
| Birth Date: | 18 October 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Merrick, Nassau County, Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Music entrepreneur |
| Years Active: | 1991-present |
| Label: | Loud Records, SRC Records |
| Website: | http://www.rientertainment.net/ |
Rich Isaacson is an international music entrepreneur whose influence spans artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, MIKA, Akon, Gustavo Santaolalla, Charles Bradley, Mobb Deep, Melanie Fiona, SafetySuit, and Three 6 Mafia.
In the early 1990s, Rifkind’s LOUD Records had secured a small production deal with Zoo Records while also running SRC, an upstart street promotion/marketing company designed to connect the dots in the emerging rap scene. Isaacson spent a few weeks on Rifkind’s couch, studying Billboard, reading lawyer Don Passman’s "All You Need to Know About the Music Business" and going over the LOUD contracts. He soon took over day-to-day operations at the fledgling start-up.[1]
Together, the pair nurtured LOUD Records from a fledging $3,000-a-month production deal to a $100 million joint-venture label, featuring multi-platinum artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Big Pun, Xzibit, Funkmaster Flex and Three6Mafia. Rich led the negotiation for LOUD’s landmark deal, signing Wu-Tang Clan for $10,000.[2] LOUD released the single, "Protect Ya Neck," with the promise to allow leader RZA to shop the other members of the collective to individual solo deals at other labels.
Isaacson also oversaw the expansion of SRC's "Street Team" concept, a group of 25 tastemakers around the country who marketed underground non-commercial records at the grassroots level. SRC's marketing prowess eventually attracted Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Pepsi, Levi’s, Universal Pictures and Hugo Boss. LOUD and SRC ultimately forged a first-look deal with Miramax Films and the acquisition of SRC by Interpublic.[3]
Isaacson's run at LOUD ended with the acquisition of the entire company by Sony in 2002 after LOUD merged with Sony's Relativity Records.[4]
RI Entertainment is Isaacson's management project, shifting his focus to management with an array of artists including international superstar MIKA, two-time Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel), Grammy-winning electro-rock tango collective Bajofondo, Canada’s highest selling native artist Bobby Bazini, and soul singer Charles Bradley.[5]