Jason Flom


Jason Flom is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group. He is also an advocate for those who have been wrongfully convicted.

Career

In 1979, while a college freshman at New York University,  Flom took an entry-level job as a field merchandiser at Atlantic Records. He was promoted a year later to the Artist & Repertoire department.
At 20, Flom departed NYU to work full-time at Atlantic. Bands he signed at the time included Skid Row.
In 1995, Flom launched Lava Records in partnership with Atlantic Records.
In 2004, Flom sold Lava Records to Atlantic Records Group, where he was named Chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Records Group.
Flom was named Chairman and CEO of Virgin Records in 2005. In 2007, he led a merger with Capitol Records to create the Capitol Music Group, where he was named Chairman and CEO. In 2007 he signed Katy Perry, among others.
In 2008, Flom left Capitol Music Group to re-launch his own Lava Records label, this time in partnership with Universal Music Group's Republic Records. In 2013, Flom signed Lorde to Lava, which released her debut single, "Royals".
Flom founded Lava Publishing in 2014, which has published writing from Evan Konrad, Maty Noyes, and all four members of Greta Van Fleet.

Philanthropy

In 1993, he joined the board of Families Against Mandatory Minimums and soon after became the founding board member of the Innocence Project. As part of his work with the Innocence Project, Flom launched the podcast Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom in 2016. The podcast features interviews with men and women who have spent time in prison for crimes they claim they did not commit and other activists, advocates and experts. Notable guests on the podcast include Kim Kardashian, John Grisham, Meek Mill, Amanda Knox, Raymond Santana, Brendan Dassey, and Rodney Reed, among others. The podcast reached to #7 on the iTunes charts within its first 2 weeks of release, and has since been downloaded over 10 million times. Mr. Flom also sits on the Board of Directors of the , which uses legal and policy strategies to fight discrimination, build health equity, and restore opportunity for people with criminal records, substance use disorders, and HIV or AIDS.
Flom was named "Music Visionary of the Year" in 2000 by the UJA Federation. He received the "Torch of Liberty" award from the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999.