John Madison: pop culture magnate
Alumni & Friends, Summer/Fall 2004

When CBS Records hired John Madison ’75 for a job straight out of college, he was asked what he had been studying at UW-Whitewater. The American studies major replied, “Pop culture.” On that note, Madison set out on an illustrious, rock-star filled career in the record and radio industries. He now tops the chart in his current position as executive vice president for Warner/Elektra/Atlantic (WEA), which yielded $1.4 billion in sales last year.

“It’s crucial to understand social trends in the music business. UW-Whitewater helped me with that, ” says Madison appreciatively. He credits Jack Filipiak, emeritus chair of the American studies department, with enlightening him on how to be astute to “what’s going on.”

Madison served three years in the Vietnam War before returning to college on the G. I. Bill. Married, with a young daughter in tow, he carpooled to UW-Whitewater from his hometown of Delavan with three other veterans to pursue a degree. He first worked in sales for CBS Records in Terre Haute, later moving to the East Coast in management. He received extensive training from several CBS courses and from the London School of Business on how to become a music executive.

In 1986, Madison left CBS to become general manager of the biggest radio station in the country, KISS-108 FM in Boston. After years as a leader in the radio industry, Madison now oversees a staff of 250 at WEA who sell their artists’ songs to record stores and to the Internet via licensing to Apple’s iTunes.

“In hockey terms, my philosophy is to go where the puck is going, not where it is,” explains Madison, cigar in hand. Promoting songs for various up and coming artists, he has mingled with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Boston, Cyndi Lauper, Pink Floyd, Boz Skaggs and Chicago. He adds that in the music business, “when you sign a band, you better get it right, because it costs millions.”

With an instinctive edge, Madison sniffs out trends, looking for “new talent every day.” Depending on the genre, Nashville is a must for country music. For urban tastes, rising talent “bubbles up in the streets.” Two new artists Madison says he enjoys at the moment are Josh Groban and the band Zero Seven.

No one is more “shocked” at his success than Madison himself, who commutes to his office in Rockefeller Plaza, New York City from his home in Nantucket where he lives with his wife, Diane. His daughter is a UW-Madison graduate and his son, a law school graduate, currently lives in San Francisco and manages artist fan clubs including bands such as Linkin Park and Mariah Carey. – Jane Provorse