The Management

Karen Hofstadt, A&R

After receiving her degree in entertainment management at MSU, Karen spent five years working her way up the corporate ladder of a major label that shall remain unnamed. By 1998, she had managed to wrangle the position of administrative assistant to the COO. It was at this time that she was wrangled away from her lucrative-but-high-stress position by Girth McDürchstein, whose three-year-old indie company Kelleystein Recordings was booming. He was in dire need of an A&R representative to alleviate his own stress at his company's newfound success.

Once hired at Kelleystein, Karen made a pact with herself that she has never broken: she refuses to be like "all those other" A&R reps, who don't really care about their clients until the profits start dwindling. Since Kelleystein is a more selective label, she has the ability to establish and build a rapport with the artists, taking a more hands-on approach to the A&R field. Her training as a classical pianist has provided her with a musical knowledge that allows her to interact intelligently with musicians, often guiding and shaping a malformed lump of song into a three-minute pop gem.

She currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California, with her two tabbies, Mischa and John-John.