Brian K. Jackson

Brian K. Jackson is an American music industry veteran. Known to his friends and colleagues as "B Jack", Jackson resides in Los Angeles where he is the Creator and Founder of Split Sheetz, LLC. Split Sheetz is a Mobile app designed for songwriters to negotiate, document and verify song splits between collaborators.

Education

In the fall of 1986, Jackson enrolled in the University of Virginia, where he continued his activities in music by forming yet another band with three of his fellow Wahoos. Again, the band performed in several talent shows and won most of them. But, the university life expanded his interests to other activities and talents.

In the spring of 1987, Jackson pledged and became a brother of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. At the end of his sophomore year, he discovered his ability for acting and declared Drama as his major. His classmates included Tina Fey and Sean Patrick Thomas. However, during the spring and fall breaks, he interned in the Epic Records' Publicity and Promotion departments for CBS Records (now Sony Music Entertainment) in "The Big Apple", New York City. In 1990, Jackson graduated with a B.A. in Drama and moved to New York to pursue a career in the music business.

Early career

Shortly after arriving in New York, Jackson landed a job as Marketing Coordinator for the Promotions and Marketing departments of Columbia Records. It was there that he gained experience and watched the introduction of singer Mariah Carey. He also worked with the promotion and marketing of C&C Music Factory, and Def Jam recording artists, L.L. Cool J and EPMD.

However, after a short stint at Columbia, Jackson landed a job in the Publicity department of Mercury Records. As an assistant, he created a publicity plan for one of Mercury's newest acts, Black Sheep. Much of that plan was later adopted by the department, and Black Sheep went on to have successful career, a hit single, and a Gold album. After being hired as A&R Assistant to the President and moving down the hall, Jackson reviewed all music submitted to his boss, identifying potential hits. He identified the hit singles, "I'm In Love" (Joe), "I Just Had to Hear Your Voice" (Oleta Adams), and "There's No Living Without You" (Will Downing). He moved to EMI Music Publishing in 1993.

Executive Years

Jackson began his executive career as Creative Manager, East Coast for EMI Music Publishing. His first notable signing was writer/producer, Fitzgerald Scott who soon after penned multiple songs for Keith Sweat, including the single, "Nobody". He was promoted to Creative Director in 1995. In that same year, Jackson crossed paths with producer Rodney Jerkins, made him an offer, and signed him to his first major publishing deal. Jackson watched the performance of a young 16-year-old singer named Alicia Cook (aka Lellow) at B. Smith's restaurant in Manhattan. Upon completing her performance, Jackson approached her and the following day he contacted her manager, Jeff Robinson, to discuss signing her to EMI as a writer. Several days later, Jackson presented her, now performing as Alicia Keys, with a co-publishing offer, and with the assistance of EMI's Executive Vice President, West Coast, Jody Gerson, Alicia Keys was signed to EMI and later shopped to Columbia Records where her recording career began. In 1997, Jackson was promoted to the post of Vice President, Creative/A&R, East Coastand the hits kept coming. The following year, Jackson signed Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (p.k.a. The Neptunes) to their first major deal. Shortly after signing the Neptunes, he encountered Pink in a New York recording studio and signed her to her first publishing deal before she ever released her debut album. On April 4, 2000, the album was released. Promoted to Sr. Vice President, Creative/A&R, East Coast at the tail end of 1999, Jackson continued to perform his duties for EMI; however, he was called on to consult RCA Records as an A&R scout. After accepting the offer, Jackson formed Renegade Entertainment, Inc. and began work as a music consultant. After leaving EMI Music Publishing in the fall of 2002, Jackson continued to consult EMI until relocating to Los Angeles in the summer of 2003 to pursue work in the film industry.

Split Sheetz