Date Signed: Fall 2022
Label: Atlantic Records
Type of Music: Singer-Songwriter, Pop
Management: Audrey Pine Wright and Kelly King
Booking: Ian Planet
Legal: Craig Marshall
Publicity: Christina Kotsamanidis, [email protected]
Web: TikTok.com/@maryjo.young
A&R: Aton Ben-Horin & Adam Grossman
Twenty-one-year-old maryjo is a double-threat: She already boasts a massive social presence, with more than 1.1 million followers of her TikTok account. And the mainstream is already familiar with the singer-songwriter too, as she competed on American Idol in 2021 and delivered an unforgettable duet performance of “Foolish Games” with Jewel.
And yet, despite all those early accomplishments, maryjo—who hails from Cleveland—almost didn’t sign to Atlantic Records… for the second time.
Originally, [Atlantic contacted maryjo] a year ago. I met with them, but they asked for more music. So then, a year ago, [and I was in sessions]. So I sent them my song “Traffic”—which is actually the next single we’re releasing. [Atlantic executives] immediately jumped on it. That song is what made it happen!”
Of course, those meetings with major label executives didn’t come out of the blue. Two years before signing to Atlantic, maryjo hired Audrey Pine Wright and Kelly King, two managers who facilitated the meetings with Atlantic.
“My managers found me through the TikTok I posted during COVID,” maryjo says. “They introduced us to [Atlantic Records A&R representatives] Aton Ben-Horin and Adam Grossman. After that, they decided to get me a meeting with everyone else at Atlantic.
Maryjo isn’t letting her newfound success—or her increasingly busy schedule—get to her head. In fact, she’s already created the “relatable” brand she wants.
“I don’t play anything that’s too bubblegum pop or that seems to [suggest I’m something I’m being not,” she says. “We’re hoping to make my music as comfortable and satisfying as a delicious cup of coffee— coffee which, in fact, we hope to sell as merch!” – Kurt Orzeck
