Many likely harbor a preconceived notion of music executives as being either sunglass-clad hipsters with patter galore and stylish haircuts or else as stodgy and portly old white men smoking cigars and married to a model a decade or more their junior. Bob Morelli blasts such stereotypes to smithereens. He’s much more in the mold of creative forces throughout the industry’s history such as Clive Davis, Ahmet Ertegun, and others. His multiple decades rubbing elbows with elite songwriters, performers, and musicians has happened because he brings an apparently cellular understanding of how to best promote and spread their music to the right ears and create further career opportunities. It isn’t about making a buck. That’s a pleasant side effect. It’s about making sure their voices and visions are heard.
Such a philosophy has pushed Morelli far. He worked for Polygram Records during the 1980’s and helped shepherd releases from the label’s top acts. KISS, Bon Jovi, Sting, and The Bee Gees, to name a few, benefitted from Morelli’s work during the label’s peak years. He continued the same track record for success during years at RCA Records and later BMG. It was during his time with these companies that Morelli lent his talents to launching and sustaining the careers of many legendary names such as The Notorious B.I.G., Usher, Moby, Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears. The list borders on endless. These five-star musicians, songwriters, and performers didn’t work with Morelli for shallow reasons. They worked with him because he is among the best at what he does.
COOL IS FOREVER CONSULTING: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-morelli-38380a1a3
His time working for Sony Music is inarguably his most notable run. BMG’s merger into Sony Music tasked Morelli with integrating two different staffs and work cultures into a coherent whole and he pulled it off while overseeing a two billion dollar ongoing enterprise as its Executive Vice President/GM. Any list of artists he worked with during this period is rife with Hall of Famers. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are good names to have on any list, pretty much, and when you can count them among those you’ve helped creatively, you’ve arrived.
The story doesn’t end there, however. Morelli has always seen over the next hill and realized the growing needs of artists in a fast-changing marketplace. Restructuring and adding “label services” over two years at Sony Music RED was a harbinger of his eventual decision to start his own company Cool is Forever Consulting LLC. He’s assembled a team who he strategizes with to provide artists with the best in online advertising, data analytics, A&R, digital marketing, and distribution negotiations.
He’s recently steered the company in the direction of increasing an artist’s distribution options to both major and indie companies as well as updated social media strategies and Tik Tok campaigns. It’s a world that demands full-service in every facet and music listeners are no different. Cool Is Forever, with Bob Morelli at the helm, stands ready to provide that for artists and will continue adjusting and responding to progress as it comes.
Troy Johnstone