“How martistic min? I would guess such a or record heads have an academany rock mediumic degree in the they work anagers
trifecta as Martin possesses fundamis both unusual and a continuing success.”ental reason for his —STING
Cherrytree, sold 6.4 million cop-Fame MonsterLady Gaga’s THE LThe Fame, both released on EGA and CThe Y
decade, spent six weeks at No. 1 ies, according to Nielsen Music.LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem,” Billboard’s No. 2 song of the
Sting and Shaggy’s No. 1 on Reggae Albums.on the Hot 100 in 2011.44/876 hitMy Billboard Moment
Kierszenbaum photographed by Eric Ryan Anderson in 2015.
KierszenbaumCHERRYTREE MSONGWFOUNDER/CHAIRMMartin RITER-PRODUCERUSIC COMAN, PANY;
venture with Interscope Geffen A&M in 2005, Kierszenbaum helped launch the careers of Lady Gaga, Feist, LMFAO, Disclosure and others. Since then, he’s grown his business to include publishing^ With his Cherrytree Music Company, begun as a joint
and management divisions, the latter of which represents longtime client Sting. Ahead of the label’s 15th anniversary in 2020, he recalls the Interscope signing —Russian duo t.A.T.u. —his own label and Cherrytree’s first story that earned him
in I don’t speak Russian, but I kept singing their songs phonetically in my head. Wco-founder] Jimmy Iovine, he bet on the hen I showed the group to [Interscope Billboard magazine.
crazy look in my eye. T.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said,” releasvery near and dear to my heart because I wrote a lot of the lyrics. The song was them against the world, a young Thelma and Louise. ed in 2002, is
and the track hit No. 8 on the Main-stream Top 40. They’re still the biggest Russian act to chart that high in the U.S. It was a huge moment to see it on the BillboardWe sold 5 million records globally, charts, which authorized and
validated it in a way. signing Keane and t.A.T.u., had been cov-ered in the magazine, be the first to write about Cherrytree. We signed Feist first, who called us “a mom As some of my A&R work, including Billboard wanted to
and pop shop inside a department store.” I always looked at Cherrytree as a hand-made thing, almost like blowing glass. Everything is bespoke to the client, and we’re very particular about who we get into business with. A lot of people have
supported us since, but first, and there from the beginning. —AS TOLD TO NICK WBillboard was the ILLIAMS
168 BILLBOARD • DECEMBER 7, 2019