After spending the past three years helping build the relaunched Arista Records as executive vp of promotion, John Boulos is leaving the label to spend time with his loved ones, effective June 4.
The veteran radio promotion executive — who has worked at over a dozen companies throughout his four-decade career in the music industry — shared the news in an email to label staff on Wednesday (May 26), thanking Arista president/CEO David Massey.
“After a lot of thought and consideration, I have decided that as of June 4th I will be leaving the company to spend some personal time with those I love,” he wrote. “In a long career that has taken me through a lot of fantastic labels, I can say that the past 3 years starting and developing Arista has been one of the major highlights.”
“I have watched us grow into the future of this great business,” he continued. “Our baby label is growing up and the many successes we have had bring nothing but smiles to my face and joy to my heart. I want to thank David Massey for allowing me to join all of you on this journey. I now look forward to the next phase in life, both personally and professionally. After working at 13 companies in this amazing business, I have always appreciated my ability to move around, make many new friends and try new challenges on this short journey of life.”
The New York-based label was founded by Clive Davis in 1974, and was home to such talent as Whitney Houston and Patti Smith before it was shuttered in 2011. Sony Music Entertainment relaunched the label under Massey’s leadership in 2018, and Boulos officially joined in January 2019, coming off an 11-year run at Atlantic Records.
During Boulos’ tenure at Arista, in February 2020, the label landed back in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time since its reimagining with Louis Tomlinson’s debut album, Walls.
In other successes, the label scooped up pop singer Ant Saunders after his runaway hit “Yellow Hearts” went viral on TikTok in 2019, and is home to Canadian singer JP Saxe, whose smash “If the World Was Ending” featuring Julia Michaels was nominated for song of the year at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards and entered the top 10 of Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 Airplay and Adult Top 40 Airplay charts.
The label is also home to up-and-comers like UPSAHL, Tai Verdes and Greyson Chance.
A New York native, Boulos began his career in the mailroom at London Records in the 1970s, while by night, he promoted club DJs during the city’s booming dance era. He went on to hold roles at companies including PolyGram, Virgin, Epic, Warner Bros. and Capitol, in that order.
