Miles Beard and Jeff Vaughn have been promoted to Vice Presidents of A&R at Artist Partner Group/Artist Publishing Group (APG), based in Los Angeles. The announcement was made today by APG founder and CEO Mike Caren, to whom they both report. Artist Partner Group was launched in 2013 as a sister company to Artist Publishing Group. Since then, Beard and Vaughn have signed and/or worked closely with artists such as Charlie Puth, Kevin Gates, Young Thug, Kehlani, David Guetta, Flo Rida, Jason Derulo, and others.
“Miles and Jeff have developed into musical experts with an incredible work ethic,” said Mike Caren. “They’ve both been with me since before we started Artist Partner Group four years ago, and they’ve been essential players in our explosive success – from signing amazing artists to making fantastic records. Our mission at APG is to provide the most creative, nurturing environment for the next generation of stars – artists, songwriters, producers, and A&R execs alike.”
Artist Publishing Group General Manager Angie Pagano added, “Miles and Jeff have superb musical instincts and the ability to turn those instincts into hits. We’re very happy to announce these well-deserved promotions for two of the brightest young lights in our business.”
Jeff Vaughn A&R’d breakthrough hip-hop star Kevin Gates’s 2016 smash RIAA platinum debut album, Islah, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and has yielded a pair of RIAA double-platinum singles, “2 Phones” and “Really Really.” He was instrumental in the signing of star rapper Young Thug and responsible for signing acclaimed R&B artist Kehlani, whose mixtape, You Should Be Here, earned a 2016 Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Most recently, Vaughn signed the viral dance smash, “JuJu On That Beat” by Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall. He also signed and re-launched multi-platinum artist Sage The Gemini and is co-A&Ring the upcoming Fast 8 soundtrack. Vaughn, who was previously Senior Director of APG, began his career in the mailroom at talent agency UTA.
Miles Beard began his music career at the age of 13 as a DJ, which eventually led him to a regular stint at 102.7 KIIS-FM in L.A. He joined Caren’s APG in 2012 and was responsible for signing singer/songwriter Charlie Puth, whose No. 1 collaboration with Wiz Khalifa, “See You Again,” was the world’s top-selling single in 2015. Beard oversaw Puth’s RIAA gold debut album, Nine Track Mind, which features a trio of platinum-plus singles: “One Call Away,” “Marvin Gaye” (Feat. Meghan Trainor), and “We Don’t Talk Anymore” (Feat. Selena Gomez). He also co-A&R’s superstar David Guetta, and worked on his multi-platinum smash, “Hey Mama” Feat. Nicki Minaj. Among Beard’s other A&R credits are Pitbull’s “Timber” Feat. Ke$ha, Flo Rida’s “GDFR” and “Good Feeling,” and Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty” Feat. 2 Chainz. He also managed the writers of Thomas Rhett’s “Die A Happy Man” and Machine Gun Kelly & Camilla Cabello’s “Bad Things.”
The Artist Partner and Artist Publishing Groups have dedicated A&R, sync, marketing, promotion, legal, accounting, and recording studios. Artist Partner, a fully integrated and supported arm of Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records, provides an array of white label services for artists, producers, and music entrepreneurs seeking creative freedom, business development, and broad resources. Artist Publishing is administered by Warner/Chappell Music, the music publishing division of WMG.
