Faith Newman is the EVP of A&R and Catalog Development at Reservoir Media, the last standing truly independent and publicly traded music company out there. Faith’s expertise has led to Reservoir’s signing of 2 Chainz, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Migos’ Offset and Takeoff, Young Thug, Joey Bada$$, Killer Mike, among others. Faith has served as a key figure in Reservoir’s integration of recently acquired Tommy Boy Music, where she works to curate new releases and support the catalog’s legacy acts including De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, House of Pain, and more.
Faith was named to Billboard’s 2022, 2023, and 2024 Women In Music Top Executives list, as well as Billboard’s 2022 and 2023 R&B/Hip-Hop Power List. She was also notably tapped to serve as a board member for the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx.
Faith Newman serves as Reservoir’s Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development, spearheading the company’s pursuit of new catalogs and talent. Faith’s expertise has led to Reservoir’s signing of 2 Chainz, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Migos’ Offset and Takeoff, Young Thug, Joey Bada$$, Young M.A, Joyner Lucas, Killer Mike, and Twysted Genius, among others. She has also overseen the acquisitions of numerous historic catalogs including the Philadelphia soul record label Philly Groove Records and its sister publishing catalog Nickel Shoe Music, The Isley Brothers, Billy Stayhorn, Willie Mitchell, Norman Harris, Allan Felder, Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire, Hoagy Carmichael, Leon Ware, Walter Orange and Tommy McClary of the Commodores, Dallas Austin, Fred Parris of the Five Satins, and many more. Additionally, Faith has served as a key figure in Reservoir’s integration of recently acquired Tommy Boy Music, where she works to curate new releases and support the catalog’s legacy acts including De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, House of Pain, and more.
Named to Billboard’s 2022 and 2023 Women In Music Top Executives list, as well as Billboard’s 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Power List, Faith got her start in the industry in 1987, when she was among the first five employees hired at Def Jam Recordings. She went on to create the administrative foundation of Def Jam, notably including its Artists & Repertoire and Publishing divisions. By 1989, she was named Vice President of Artists & Repertoire, working alongside hip-hop icons like Public Enemy, Slick Rick, and LL Cool J. In 1991, Faith moved to Columbia Records to head its new urban music division, where she signed the renowned artist Nas to his first record deal, co-executive producing his critically acclaimed debut, Illmatic. She also signed the group Jamiroquai and worked with rap legends Big L and The Fugees.
Following Columbia Records, Faith took roles at Jive Records, where she spearheaded the hip-hop A&R division and Mariah Carey’s MonarC Entertainment before moving to Verse Music Group, a music publishing company specializing in the acquisition of historic music catalogs. Faith served as Verse’s Executive Vice President of Business Development, where her efforts led to a multi-million-dollar investment agreement with a private equity firm in 2010. Her endeavors also led to Verse’s acquisition of the Salsoul Records and West End Records catalogs, along with their affiliated publishing companies.
Faith notably was tapped to serve as a board member for the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx, working closely on its 2024 launch. Faith holds a degree in Marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She recently relocated to Edgewater, NJ and continues to devote her professional life to pursuing, curating, and developing historic talent and catalogs.
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