Katie Vinten is clearly not someone who does things by halves. After co-founding Facet Records and Facet Publishing alongside Justin Tranter in 2018, she’s recently added yet another string to her bow with the arrival of Black Diamond Artist Management. This entrepreneurial leg of Vinten’s career follows a successful 10-plus years in publishing at EMI and Warner Chappell, during which time she signed some of the most successful pop writers and artists of today including Tranter, as well as Julia Michaels, Hailee Steinfeld, Kygo and Christina Aguilera. Vinten’s new trio of companies will allow her to back talent from multiple angles, leaning on Tranter as creative support where appropriate. “When I was solely a music publisher, one of my frustrations was that the capacity of a publisher is limited,” she explains. “If a seat is already filled and the contract is signed, there is nothing you can do about it. I wanted the ability to be impactful in the career of any creative that I have a connection with.” She adds: “The growth of myself as an executive in general is exponential when it comes to being able to wear different hats and really push myself.” Vinten grew up in North Carolina listening to singer/ songwriters on local radio — Natalie Merchant was the first cassette she bought — as well as her parent’s favorites, Hall & Oates and Whitney Houston. As her tastes developed, she graduated to John Mayer, Norah Jones, and Lauryn Hill, but also spent a period being fully enamored with pop, skating around the local ice rink to the biggest boy bands of the ‘90s like Hanson, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. At school, she says, she was a
hard-worker with solid grades and a lackluster social life thanks in part to a shy demeanor and studiousness. A short story written about a musician at the end of his life who’d never shaken the ‘tortured artist’ mentality gave Vinten a foot in the door at the NYU Tisch School of Arts, which led to internships at MTV, Verve and Sony. As the music industry started to migrate from New York to LA, Vinten moved with it upon graduating, finding a temp gig at UMPG before joining EMI as an assistant. There, she made an impression on then-CEO Jon Platt after
Facet Records (launched in partnership with Warner Records) serves as home to Diana Gordon and Shawn Wasabi, while Facet Publishing represents writers Kennedi Lykken (Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Chainsmokers, Jonas Brothers), Jason Gil (Katy Perry), Wes Period (Facet/Interscope Records), Shea Diamond (Facet/ Asylum), Brandon Colbein (ZAYN, Hayley Kiyoko), and The Roommates (Aaron Carpenter). Here, we chat to Vinten about lessons learned across her career to date and championing creative talent in a challenging industry... You say you were studious at school because you had a drive
“I’M NOT TOO PROUD TO ASK FOR HELP. I’M NOT TOO GREAT TO DO MENIAL TASKS. I’LL NEVER ALLOW MYSELF TO BE DISRESPECTED, BUT I ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO LEARN.” bringing Mozella (who she’d fallen in love with at a gig in New York) into an A&R meeting and signing her to the company shortly after. Platt needed a new assistant and Vinten stepped up to the plate, later moving with him to Warner Chappell as Director of A&R for Pop. By the time she stepped into a consultancy role at Warner Chappell, in order to launch Facet Publishing in partnership with the major in 2018, Vinten was coHead of A&R. Today, she still consults for Warner Records, acting as Rita Ora’s Stateside A&R, while she continues to look after Michaels, Kygo, K.Flay, and Aguilera for Warner Chappell. Her initial roster at Black Diamond includes Tranter, Zach Skelton (Jonas Brothers, Lil Nas X), Boy Matthews (Gallant, Hayden James) and Caroline Pennell.
to find a better life. What was it about your childhood that instilled that motivation, and what did better look like? Better looked like the ability to feel joy in what you are committing so much of your life to, which for me happens to be work and family. I’ve always wanted a family and wanted to be successful with creative things, and music was what found me. In order to have a stable environment and build a family that feels like they have a foundation that’s not going to be pulled out from under them at any time, I needed to be great at what I did, not just good. I wanted to show my future kids that anything is possible and you don’t need to be born into wealth or connections, you just have to fulfil your potential and know that there is no ceiling. My dad passed away a couple of months ago and he was an 111
