Champion of the Ultra-Long Game

ASHLEY CALHOUN

HEAD OF CREATIVE

Pulse Music Group

ASHLEY CALHOUN, Pulse Music Group’s new head of creative, preaches the power of patience. She signed R&B artist Kehlani to the label and publishing company this February — after five years of conversation. “There were just a lot of things deal-wise that needed to be worked out,” she says.

“It was all timing.”

Calhoun has a personal roster of 30 clients; her team also recently signed breakout artist Trevor Daniel following his double-platinum hit “Falling.”

She started in the music industry as an assistant at Cash Money Records, working her way up into A&R through various companies. In five years at Pulse, working alongside producer Josh Abraham and songwriter Scott Cutler, she’s been promoted twice. “We can really just sign artists and talent that we believe in, which is usually early, before they start having real success,” she says. “We get to have our fingerprints on that success and help shape them, and develop their careers and trajectory. We definitely want to keep the family feel.”

As head of creative, she now works on business strategy as well: “I’m really great at developing talent, I’ve been doing it for a long time, and it’s kind of easy at this point — but developing executive talent is a whole other beast.” In 2021, the company plans to “top what we’re doing now,” nabbing more artists and executives while adding to its collection of hits — a tall order, since 2020 has already seen Pulse clients contribute to 13 massive chart-toppers, including Drake’s “Tootsie Slide” and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me.” S.H.