Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Episode 110: Evan "Kidd" Bogart has worn nearly every hat in the music industry. From mailroom A&R to hit songwriter (Beyoncé's "Halo," Rihanna's "SOS"), artist manager, booking agent, and now buying music catalogs with Seeker and advocating for creators as Vice Chair of the Recording Academy. He's one of the rare people who has sat in nearly every seat at the table. In this episode, Elmo Lovano goes deep with Evan Bogart on both the craft and the business of music.
Evan is the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, the legendary executive behind KISS, Donna Summer, Parliament, and manager Joyce Bogart Trabulus. He grew up inside the music business and worked his way up from the Interscope mailroom to the A&R department. He discovered Eminem and was the first person to put Em in front of Jimmy Iovine. He'd go on to sign Kara's Flowers, who later changed their name to Maroon 5.
After getting sober in his early 20s, Evan reinvented himself as a songwriter, and his very first song was "SOS" for Rihanna and went No. 1. He followed it with "Halo" for Beyoncé, which he co-wrote with Ryan Tedder, plus hits for Britney Spears, Madonna, Lizzo and more.
Today, Evan is the CEO of Seeker Music, the creator-led music rights, publishing, and record company he's built into a catalog of more than 19,000 copyrights and master recordings valued at roughly $400 million. The catalog includes works by Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Drake, Christopher Cross, Joan Jett, Run the Jewels, and Lewis Capaldi. Seeker recently closed its inaugural $267 million asset-backed securitization and was named the #2 Most Innovative Music Company of 2025 by Fast Company. We break all this down.
We get into how you actually value and buy a music catalog, the business of publishing and masters, how songwriter splits and royalties work, why music rights have become an institutional asset class, and how music-backed securitization deals get financed. We dig into Evan's role as Vice Chair of the Recording Academy and Co-Chair of the GRAMMYs Songwriters & Composers Wing, where he helped create the Songwriter of the Year Grammy, and is helping shape the conversation around AI and the future of music rights, creativity, and ownership.
This is the deep, insider version of Evan Bogart's story. For anyone who wants to understand how the music business actually works.
I hope you enjoy the conversation with my dear friend, Evan Bogart!
This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Pod Company! Their portable sauna makes it easy to prioritize your health wherever you are, whether you're on tour, traveling, or at home. Use promo code ELMO to get yours for $499 instead of $999! Learn more at podcompany.com
Huge thanks to our friends at DistroKid! DistroKid is the easiest and fastest way to get your music on over 150 platforms worldwide! Go to distrokid.com/vip/elmo to get 20% off your first year!
Become a Patreon Member to stay in the loop as we post Patreon-only exclusive content, ad free episodes, and discussions about music and music careers. patreon.com/gowithelmo
0:00:00 - TRAILER
0:02:18 - INTRODUCTION
0:04:53 - INTERVIEW STARTS
0:06:43 - HOW EVAN SPENDS HIS TIME TODAY
0:12:22 - ROLE SWITCHING
0:15:51 - SONGWRITING
0:17:48 - HOW SONGWRITING HAS CHANGED
0:20:31 - EVAN’S CAREER TRAJECTORY, PIVOTING
0:25:48 - BUYING MUSIC CATALOGS
0:39:25 - HOW BUYING CATALOGS WORK
0:44:28 - WHEN TO SELL
0:46:00 - WHEN NOT TO SELL
0:47:22 - WHO CAN SELL THEIR MUSIC CATALOGS?
0:49:13 - HOW TO DETERMINE MULTIPLES
0:53:18 - A SELLER’S BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION
0:54:55 - RAISING 267 MILLION
0:55:38 - HOW EVAN DEPLOYS CAPITAL
0:59:27 - SEEKER’S NORTH STAR
1:09:36 - WRITING BEYONCÉ’S ‘HALO’ WITH RYAN TEDDER
1:16:56 - RYAN TEDDER
1:20:44 - WHAT BEYONCÉ WROTE FOR ‘HALO’
1:21:52 - SONGWRITING SPLITS
1:27:19 - DISCOVERING ARTISTS
1:34:37 - DISCOVERING EMINEM
1:44:43 -WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING
1:45:36 - BEST LESSON FROM EMINEM
1:49:04 - MODERN DAY A&R
1:51:16 - THE RECORDING ACADEMY
1:56:02 - MAKNG THE SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
2:00:34 - THE MECHANICAL RATE FIGHT
2:04:31 - AI AND MUSIC
2:15:07 - NEIL BOGART
2:20:09 - WHAT WOULD MAKE EVAN’S FATHER MOST PROUD
Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!
Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: elmolovano.komi.io
Follow Evan:
instagram.com/kiddbogart
Follow Go With Elmo:
instagram.com/gowithelmo
tiktok.com/@gowithelmo
https://x.com/gowithelmopod
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youtube.com/@jammcard
instagram.com/jammcard
jammcard.com
#evanbogart #eminem #beyonce
Episode 110: Evan "Kidd" Bogart has worn nearly every hat in the music industry. From mailroom A&R to hit songwriter (Beyoncé's "Halo," Rihanna's "SOS"), artist manager, booking agent, and now buying music catalogs with Seeker and advocating for creators as Vice Chair of the Recording Academy. He's one of the rare people who has sat in nearly every seat at the table. In this episode, Elmo Lovano goes deep with Evan Bogart on both the craft and the business of music.
Evan is the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, the legendary executive behind KISS, Donna Summer, Parliament, and manager Joyce Bogart Trabulus. He grew up inside the music business and worked his way up from the Interscope mailroom to the A&R department. He discovered Eminem and was the first person to put Em in front of Jimmy Iovine. He'd go on to sign Kara's Flowers, who later changed their name to Maroon 5.
After getting sober in his early 20s, Evan reinvented himself as a songwriter, and his very first song was "SOS" for Rihanna and went No. 1. He followed it with "Halo" for Beyoncé, which he co-wrote with Ryan Tedder, plus hits for Britney Spears, Madonna, Lizzo and more.
Today, Evan is the CEO of Seeker Music, the creator-led music rights, publishing, and record company he's built into a catalog of more than 19,000 copyrights and master recordings valued at roughly $400 million. The catalog includes works by Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Drake, Christopher Cross, Joan Jett, Run the Jewels, and Lewis Capaldi. Seeker recently closed its inaugural $267 million asset-backed securitization and was named the #2 Most Innovative Music Company of 2025 by Fast Company. We break all this down.
We get into how you actually value and buy a music catalog, the business of publishing and masters, how songwriter splits and royalties work, why music rights have become an institutional asset class, and how music-backed securitization deals get financed. We dig into Evan's role as Vice Chair of the Recording Academy and Co-Chair of the GRAMMYs Songwriters & Composers Wing, where he helped create the Songwriter of the Year Grammy, and is helping shape the conversation around AI and the future of music rights, creativity, and ownership.
This is the deep, insider version of Evan Bogart's story. For anyone who wants to understand how the music business actually works.
I hope you enjoy the conversation with my dear friend, Evan Bogart!
This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Pod Company! Their portable sauna makes it easy to prioritize your health wherever you are, whether you're on tour, traveling, or at home. Use promo code ELMO to get yours for $499 instead of $999! Learn more at podcompany.com
Huge thanks to our friends at DistroKid! DistroKid is the easiest and fastest way to get your music on over 150 platforms worldwide! Go to distrokid.com/vip/elmo to get 20% off your first year!
Become a Patreon Member to stay in the loop as we post Patreon-only exclusive content, ad free episodes, and discussions about music and music careers. patreon.com/gowithelmo
0:00:00 - TRAILER
0:02:18 - INTRODUCTION
0:04:53 - INTERVIEW STARTS
0:06:43 - HOW EVAN SPENDS HIS TIME TODAY
0:12:22 - ROLE SWITCHING
0:15:51 - SONGWRITING
0:17:48 - HOW SONGWRITING HAS CHANGED
0:20:31 - EVAN’S CAREER TRAJECTORY, PIVOTING
0:25:48 - BUYING MUSIC CATALOGS
0:39:25 - HOW BUYING CATALOGS WORK
0:44:28 - WHEN TO SELL
0:46:00 - WHEN NOT TO SELL
0:47:22 - WHO CAN SELL THEIR MUSIC CATALOGS?
0:49:13 - HOW TO DETERMINE MULTIPLES
0:53:18 - A SELLER’S BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION
0:54:55 - RAISING 267 MILLION
0:55:38 - HOW EVAN DEPLOYS CAPITAL
0:59:27 - SEEKER’S NORTH STAR
1:09:36 - WRITING BEYONCÉ’S ‘HALO’ WITH RYAN TEDDER
1:16:56 - RYAN TEDDER
1:20:44 - WHAT BEYONCÉ WROTE FOR ‘HALO’
1:21:52 - SONGWRITING SPLITS
1:27:19 - DISCOVERING ARTISTS
1:34:37 - DISCOVERING EMINEM
1:44:43 -WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING
1:45:36 - BEST LESSON FROM EMINEM
1:49:04 - MODERN DAY A&R
1:51:16 - THE RECORDING ACADEMY
1:56:02 - MAKNG THE SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD
2:00:34 - THE MECHANICAL RATE FIGHT
2:04:31 - AI AND MUSIC
2:15:07 - NEIL BOGART
2:20:09 - WHAT WOULD MAKE EVAN’S FATHER MOST PROUD
Please SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW this podcast to catch new episodes as soon as they drop! Your likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!
Listen to the audio form of this podcast wherever you get your podcasts: elmolovano.komi.io
Follow Evan:
instagram.com/kiddbogart
Follow Go With Elmo:
instagram.com/gowithelmo
tiktok.com/@gowithelmo
https://x.com/gowithelmopod
Follow Elmo Lovano:
Instagram.com/elmolovano
https://x.com/elmolovano
Follow Jammcard:
youtube.com/@jammcard
instagram.com/jammcard
jammcard.com
#evanbogart #eminem #beyonce
