Scooter Braun is saying goodbye to one part of the music industry.
The recording artist manager, who has worked with Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and other stars, announced he is retiring from music management.
Braun instead will focus on being CEO of HYBE America, which he sold his own Ithaca Holdings company to in 2021. He posted the news in a shared on social media Monday.
鈥淚 have been blessed to have had a 鈥楩orrest Gump鈥�-like life while witnessing and taking part in the journeys of some of the most extraordinarily talented people the world has ever seen. I鈥檓 constantly pinching myself and asking 鈥榟ow did I get here?鈥� And after 23 years this chapter as a music manager has come to an end,鈥� he wrote.
He continued: 鈥淚 was really just 19 years old when I started. So for my entire adult life I played the role of an artist manager on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And for 20 years I loved it. It鈥檚 all I had known.鈥�
He said as his kids have grown, his priorities have changed.
鈥淢y personal life took some hits, I came to the realization that my kids were 3 superstars I wasn鈥檛 willing to lose,鈥� he wrote.
Braun shares sons Levi and Jagger, as well as daughter, Hart, with ex-wife Yael Cohen.
In 2019, Braun became the owner of Taylor Swift鈥檚 music catalog after his then-company Ithaca Holdings acquired her former label, Big Machine Label Group, for US$300 million. Swift publicly criticized Braun when she said he later sold her master recordings without giving her an opportunity to buy them back. Swift subsequently began to rerecord and publish her 鈥淭aylor鈥檚 version鈥� music catalog to great success.
Braun became CEO of Hybe America, a South Korean multinational entertainment company that manages K-Pop powerhouse group BTS, last year. Several clients, including Demi Lovato, parted ways with Braun in the months that followed.
Other clients, like Grande, have stayed on with Hybe to manage businesses like her REM Beauty line. Her recording and acting work, however, is now managed by Brandon Creed and his firm Good World Management.
鈥淚 have nothing but love for those I have worked with over the years, and as we develop a different working relationship, I will always be in their corner to consult and support them whether it be directly or from afar,鈥� Braun wrote in his statement. 鈥淓very client I have had the privilege of working with has changed my life, and I know many of them are just beginning to see the success they deserve. I will cheer for every single one of them.鈥�
