Craig Balsam

Craig Balsam
Craig Balsam by Robbie Quinn
Education	Emory University, NYU School of Law
Notable work	Elise Euckland, KIDZ BOP
Title	Music Executive / Theatrical Producer

Craig Balsam is an American entertainment industry entrepreneur, Tony Award-winning theatrical producer and film producer.^[1] He is co-founder of the New York City-based independent music company Razor & Tie as well as the children's music brand Kidz Bop.^[2]

Career

Razor & Tie

After earning a juris doctor degree at NYU School of Law and practicing in New York corporate firms in the late 1980s, Balsam and his friend Cliff Chenfeld co-founded an independent music company. Named for the required uniform of the lucrative profession that they left behind, Razor & Tie went on to sell over 40 million units, generate billions of streams and win multiple Grammy Awards.^[3]  Balsam and Chenfeld owned and operated indie Razor & Tie for almost 30 years and completed a sale of the business in late 2018 to Concord Music.^[4][5]

During that 30-year period, Razor & Tie became one of the largest privately owned labels and publishing companies in North America.^[6] The label's first release in 1990, a nostalgic compilation titled “The 70s Preservation Society Presents Those Fabulous 70s,” proved a multi-million-selling blockbuster and was followed by a series of hugely popular music compilations and DVDs, including “Disco Fever,” “Totally 80s,” “Monsters of Rock,” “Monster Ballads,” “Darrin’s Dance Grooves” and many others.^[7] The unprecedented success of these and other compilations and the creation of its own in-house media buying business (Razor & Tie Media) created one of the largest independent direct response music companies in the United States.^[8]

"Hits by Ke$ha, including “TiK ToK,” have been reimagined by Kidz Bop. The music franchise was started by New York dads Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam."^[9]

In the early 90s, Razor & Tie began a reissue label, releasing on CD hundreds of classic albums and career retrospectives by a range of landmark artists, including Glen Campbell, King Curtis, the Partridge Family, Don Covay, James Carr, Merle Haggard, among many others.^[10] In ensuing years, an eclectic roster of artists were signed to the label’s new music division, including such icons as Jon Batiste, The Pretty Reckless, Joan Baez, Graham Parker, Marshall Crenshaw, Dar Williams, All That Remains, and Brand New. In 2014, Razor & Tie launched the Washington Square imprint, showcasing a number of indie and alternative artists.^[11]

Razor & Tie Music Publishing launched in 2007, a songwriter-friendly and service-oriented division with an aggressive approach to multi-media song placement, royalty administration and artist and writer career development — Razor & Tie Publishing quickly became a successful indie music publisher with number one hits across several genres and a robust synch business.^[12]

Kidz Bop

In 2001, Balsam co-founded, with Chenfeld, the #1 children’s music brand KIDZ BOP, featuring today’s biggest pop hits "sung by kids for kids."^[13] The children's music phenomenon has sold tens of millions of albums and generated billions of streams since its debut in 2001, with several successful nationwide Kidz Bop Live shows along the way.^[14][15] The best-selling series has had 24 Top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200; only three artists in history—The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Barbra Streisand—have had more Top 10 albums and KIDZ BOP was named Billboard's "#1 Kids' Artist" for eight consecutive years.^[16][17]

Theater and film production

Balsam has served as co-producer on a number of theatrical productions, including the 2019 Tony Award-winner for “Best Musical,” Hadestown, and playwright-actor Heidi Schreck's Tony Award-nominated What the Constitution Means to Me, a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle “Best American Play” of 2019.^[18] In 2020, Balsam was a lead producer presenting the first Broadway production of Martin McDonagh's Hangmen, which won the 2016 Olivier Award for “Best New Play."^[19][20][21]

Balsam has also served as executive producer on a number of films, including 2009's Joan Baez: How Sweet The Sound, a comprehensive documentary produced in association with WNET for PBS’ American Masters series, 2014's musical romantic comedy-drama The Last Five Years, co-starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, and 2016's Women Who Kill.^[22][23][24]

Personal life

Balsam was born in Newark, New Jersey^{[citation needed]} and grew up in Millburn, New Jersey.^[25] He has a BA from Emory University and a JD from NYU School of Law.^[26]  He and his wife Jodi Balsam, a Professor of Clinical Law and Director of Externship Programs at Brooklyn Law School, live in Manhattan and have three grown children.

References

1. "Craig Balsam | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
2. "Razor & Tie, Kidz Bop Co-Founder Craig Balsam to Speak Oct. 30 | Syracuse University News". 28 October 2014.
3. "Razor & Tie Records". Concord. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
4. "Concord Music Fully Acquires Razor & Tie". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
5. "East Nashville site sells for $910K". Nashville Post. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
6. Williams, William (13 October 2020). "East Nashville site sells for $910K". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
7. "Razor & Tie". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
8. Ragogna, Mike (2010-08-16). "The Business of Music III: A Conversation with Razor & Tie's Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
9. "Razor & Tie, Kidz Bop Co-Founder Craig Balsam to Speak Oct. 30 | Syracuse University News". 28 October 2014.
10. "Razor & Tie". Discogs. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
11. "Razor and Tie launch new label imprint, sign The Hold Steady". idobi.com. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
12. Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "Kidz Bop Goes Pop: Inside An Unlikely Music Empire". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
13. McNamara, Tara (2011-10-21). "Chenfeld & Balsam: Kidz Bop toppers". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
14. "Kidz Bop Releases 40th Album with Radio Hits 'Old Town Road,' 'Senorita' and More". people.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
15. "Kidz Bop Announces All-New Tour "Kidz Bop Live 2020" With Stop at DTE Energy Music Theatre Saturday, June 20". www.313presents.com. Retrieved 2021-08-12.
16. "Kidz Bop Kids". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
17. "Acclaimed Music Group Kidz Bop Kids Confirmed As Opening Music Performance For This Year's Children in Need On BBC One". www.thefancarpet.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
18. "Craig Balsam – Broadway Cast & Staff". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
19. "Craig Balsam Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
20. "Martin McDonagh's 'Hangmen' Is Broadway's First Coronavirus Casualty". The Hollywood Reporter. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
21. "Craig Balsam". Playbill. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
22. Leydon, Joe (2009-10-05). "Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
23. American Masters (TV Series 1985– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2021-03-10
24. Grierson, Tim (2014-09-08). "The Last Five Years". Screen. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
25. Wiener, Robert "Record exec calls out rocker as ‘bigoted’; NJ-raised Craig Balsam scores Pink Floyd star’s condemnation of Israel", New Jersey Jewish News, March 5, 2014. Accessed April 11, 2021. "Ever since he was a boy growing up in Millburn and attending Congregation B’nai Israel, Craig Balsam has had two loves — rock music and Judaism."
26. "Alumnus/Alumna of the Month". www.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-10.