Jonathan Scott Miller
Stop ! Go principal Jonathan Scott Miller is a veteran A&R executive with an extensive background in soundtrack development and marketing. He has served as executive producer, soundtrack producer and music supervisor for numerous soundtracks and compilations, endeavors in which he’s demonstrated marked expertise in music licensing and publishing.
Before turning his energies to Stop ! Go, Miller was Senior Director, A&R, for BMG Entertainment’s Arista Associated Labels, in which capacity he worked on projects outside the company’s purview, including several with Social Capital principal Jonathan Platt.
A native of New City, New York (roughly 45 miles north of New York City), Miller attended Tulane University, in New Orleans, where he earned a business degree in marketing. While in school he worked in music retail and as a college marketing rep for Capitol Records and later, Interscope Records.
“I worked at an underground record store, The Mushroom,” he recalls, “that was famous for its in-stores. Beck and the Dave Matthews Band and a bunch of other artists played there before they were signed. I met a lot of label people there, which is how I ended up being a college rep.”
In 1996 Miller landed his first label staff job, as an A&R rep in the Arista Records soundtracks department, where he worked on the “Preacher’s Wife” and “Money Talks” soundtracks, among others. In 2000 he moved to Windham Hill, another BMG Entertainment imprint, having been promoted to Director, A&R. Windham Hill was reorganized shortly thereafter, and Miller was assigned to the BMG-affiliated RCA Victor Group (later RCA Music Group), also as Director, A&R. In 2003 he began his tenure as Senior Director, A&R, at Arista Associated Labels, a post he departed in March 2005.
In 2004 Miller augmented his label duties with hands-on training in music engineering, attending the Los Angeles Recording Workshop. “From doing A&R, I was really interested in working more closely with the artists and producers,” he says. “I wanted to fully understand the technical side.” This education coincided with his interest in remixing. “All the remixes I worked on at Arista charted on the Billboard dance charts,” he notes.
This slate of releases suggests Miller’s focus at Social Capital Entertainment. “We’ve been very successful with branded product,” he informs, “so we’re going to continue to put out soundtracks as companions to popular film and television shows. The consumer is already out there; there’s a built-in following for our products. We’re enhancing people’s experience of the film or the TV show, but we’re also making records that stand on their own as compilations of great music.”
Asked why he chose to go into business for himself after his many years in the major label system, Miller illuminates: “I’ve always had an indie mentality. A lot of the albums I’ve done have had production budgets of under $100,000, and I’ve always enjoyed that kind of challenge. Jonathan Platt is really good at running an independent label. He’s been doing it for 17 years and has gained amazing experience. He brought some projects to me when I was at Arista; we did ‘Fairies’ and then the first ‘Charmed’ album together. I was really impressed by his business model, and we liked the way we worked together. Partnering on Social Capital was a mutual decision. It was clearly the best move for both of us.”
Miller is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, a member of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals and an ardent supporter of the nonprofit Independent Feature Project. His philanthropic work also extends to his production of a yearly concert benefiting breast cancer research.
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