Culture Collective’s Jonathan Azu: “Moments are easy, but careers are very difficult.”

Jonathan Azu is the Founder of Culture Collective, a management firm dedicated to empowering diverse creators. Prior to Culture Collective, Azu, a two-time Billboard 40 Under 40 Power Player, was EVP & General Manager of Red Light Management, EVP of Operations and Business Development for Superfly Presents and was VP of Music Partnerships for CBS Radio.

From the van to the main stage

Jonathan Azu has had a unique range of vantage points within the music industry. After falling in love with live music as a student , Azu kicked off his career at CBS Radio, in a coordinator role that involved everything “from driving the station van, to stuffing boxes for prizewinners. Never in a million years did I think it would land me a role in the music industry, but it did!”

Azu’s love of music was nurtured by John Sykes (now the President of iHeartMedia), who joined as CEO after many years spent working with artists at MTV and CAA: “We actually had a studio in the corporate office, and any given day John was convincing artists to come by and play. His relationships in the music industry were so vast — whether it was Jay-Z or Jon Bon Jovi.” 

From there, Azu left to join Superfly, the events company behind Bonnaroo, Azu’s induction into live music gave him a vital grounding into what it takes to break an artist: “At the time, we had just launched Bonnaroo, and were about to launch Outside Lands. These festivals became the tipping point moment in an artists’ career, no different from a SNL slot.”

As Azu began working more closely with artists and their teams, he saw that the dynamics within artist teams were also beginning to shift, as the music industry moved away from the traditional grind of album cycles. Managers— rather than labels — were now firmly in the drivers’s seat. 

Redefining the artist manager

Azu wanted to be in the driving seat, too. During his time at Superfly, he met Coran Capshaw, the CEO and Founder of Red Light Management, who convinced him to join as General Manager. At Red Light, Azu started off overseeing the operations of Red Light’s managers, but then gradually began working closely with high-priority artists: “Working with artists is not for the faint of heart. It’s a very high touch business. You can’t hide behind phone calls or emails..” 

“Moments are easy, careers are very difficult.”

Azu is passionate about the increasingly entrepreneurial role artist managers play in an artist’s career: “Of course, there are other people servicing the artist — the publicist, the lawyer, etc. But as a manager, you’re the one in charge of growing an artist’s career.” According to Azu, it’s impossible to separate the changing role of artist management from the changing nature of stardom: “When I came to the industry, the success of an artist rested on an album, or a tour. Now,  it’s much more dynamic. You have to be dynamic and entrepreneurial, to help realise the career of a multi-hyphenate artist — and I think that every artist has the potential to be multi-hyphenate. I like to say that moments are easy, but careers are very difficult. You have to have someone next to you that shares your vision, but who knows how to execute against it.”

He’s equally passionate about getting creative with deal structures: “It’s traditionally been 15%-20% net or gross — but in many cases, you function as partners. I’ve acted as the label for multiple artists I’ve worked with, because there’s been no label. Who else was there to do it? There needs to be a structure where managers can share the risk, but also share in the upside.”

Striking out on his own

Given this entrepreneurial streak, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Azu ended up striking out on his own and launching his own company. His time at Red Light also exposed the industry’s lack of diversity at the top. “I finally had a seat at the table,” he says, “but there were fewer and fewer people who looked like me.” A 2025 Annenberg report confirms this disparity, showing only 7.9% of executive roles are held by people from underrepresented backgrounds. That disconnect — especially between diverse artists and homogenous teams — pushed Azu to launch Culture Collective, focused on championing diverse creatives, particularly women of color.

Culture Collective represents artists across career stages, from icons like Anita Baker to rising stars like Leon Thomas — whose Billboard Hot 100 entry followed years of label turmoil. “It took four years to release music,” Azu says. “But we stayed committed.”

Azu is equally passionate about established acts, speaking fondly about working with the likes of Kool & The Gang and Anita Baker: “You get an incredible viewpoint on what it takes to build a career to that point. You get to create live and recorded experiences that bring people back into emotional touchpoints they’ve had across their lifetime.” 

In a time when music industry layoffs are soaring, many executives will be considering following in Azu’s footsteps and doing their own thing. This impulse may be particularly pertinent for industry workers who have been traditionally marginalised: “For people of colour, we really have to double down and provide opportunities for ourselves. If the industry isn’t going to put us in those positions, we have to put ourselves in those positions.”

“Be committed, and the rest will follow.”

So what advice does Azu have for budding music industry entrepreneurs? “Honestly, I should have started my own company a year before I did. I spent a year just asking around and speaking to people. But at a certain point, you just have to jump. You have to be committed, and the rest will follow.”