Samuel Leon Feldman (born 1949) is a Canadian music executive. He is the co-founder of A&F Music Ltd. and S.L. Feldman and Associates. Feldman has represented artists including

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...

, and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

. Based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Feldman’s business activities include Macklam Feldman Management, Big Pictures Entertainment, and Music Supervision Services. In addition to his admission into the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administe ...

, Feldman is an inductee of the

BC Entertainment Hall of Fame The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame in Vancouver was founded on 24 July 1992 to honour British Columbians that have made outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Star Walk inductees are honoured with a brass plaque on Granville Str ...

Early life

Samuel Leon Feldman was born in 1949 in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

to parents of Russian Jewish descent. The Feldman family immigrated to

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in the year 1951, during Sam's early childhood. Feldman attended

Lord Byng Secondary School Lord Byng Secondary School is a Public education, public secondary school located in the West Point Grey neighbourhood on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It opened in 1925 and was named in honour of the then Governor Gener ...

. He then worked summer jobs, including in the

pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is intr ...

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

and traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 1970, he worked as a doorman at the Daisy nightclub in the Vancouver neighbourhood of

Kitsilano Kitsilano ( ) is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano, Kitsilano is located along the southern shore of English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay between Fairview, Vancou ...

. in order to repay $300 that he had borrowed from a friend for the trip. He began booking local artists while promoting small music events in the Vancouver area. In the process he met Bruce Allen, a more senior music business entrepreneur, who was booking bands in many of the local nightclubs, including the Daisy.

Career

In 1972, Feldman joined Allen’s company, Bruce Allen Talent Promotions Limited. Soon after, Feldman and Allen entered a 50/50 partnership to form A&F Music Ltd. The business catered to musicians on the Canadian West Coast and found early success in managing bands such as Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Trooper,

Prism PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

, and Doug and the Slugs. While Allen was busy managing Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Feldman focused on building the booking business and administration of A&F Music Ltd. In 1979, Feldman rebranded the agency division of A&F Music Ltd as S.L. Feldman and Associates and moved the agency division into separate offices. He and Allen continued to be equal partners in their parent company, A&F Music Ltd. Feldman maintained other business interests in the entertainment industry, including a number of nightclubs in the greater Vancouver area. By 1982, S.L Feldman & Associates controlled 90% of the booking agency business in

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

. In 1990, Feldman partnered with Larry Goldhar, owner of the theatrical agency The Characters Talent Agency Ltd in Toronto, to launch the west-coast division of Characters, which, combined with S.L. Feldman & Associates, created Canada’s first full-service talent agency. Together, Feldman and Goldhar acquired Vancouver-based company the Morton Talent Agency and took over 800 clients. Feldman and Goldhar restructured the company and downsized the client list, which led to a 40% increase in sales. S.L Feldman & Associates moved into a new building at the entrance to

Granville Island Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in the Fairview neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. Formerly an industrial ...

. The company included a management division, partnerships with recording and publishing companies, a T-shirt distribution company, a consulting arm, and a theatrical talent agency. Feldman continued growing into entertainment industry-related businesses, expanding into film & television production and music supervision, licensing music for movies and television. Such film & television productions included Whistler and Big Sound. In 2001, Big Pictures, a division of S.L Feldman & Associates, produced the feature film Rare Birds. In 2000, both Feldman and Allen were inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Walk of Fame, with their names appearing on Starwalk on

Granville Street Granville Street is a major street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and part of Highway 99. Granville Street is most often associated with the Granville Entertainment District and the Granville Mall. This street also cuts through resid ...

. A&F Music earned a record number of honors, with nominations in 53 categories at the

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

and nine Grammy nominations, including three for jazz singer Diana Krall at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. The S.L. Feldman & Associates roster continued to expand with clients such as Rush, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, James Taylor, and Sarah McLachlan. Feldman purchased a 50% interest in New York-based agency Little Big Man Booking whose clients include the British band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

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, enabling access to the US market for his Canadian-based clients. By 2007, S.L. Feldman & Associates represented 200 Canadian and international artists. At this stage, various divisions within A&F Music Ltd included Macklam Feldman Management, Bruce Allen Talent, Characters Talent Agency, Music Supervision Services, Big Pictures Entertainment, and Watchdog Management. The company employed 70 people in offices in Vancouver and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Sam Feldman and Bruce Allen served as talent producers for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies. By 2018, the agency was booking more than 2,500 events and shows per year. In 2019, A&F Music Ltd. sold its stake in the agency to two senior employees, so that Feldman could focus solely on artist management and other business activities. Feldman remains an active partner in Macklam Feldman Management.

Awards

* Feldman won the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award in 1998. * He was honored by the Music Managers Forum of Canada in 2010, and he is an inductee of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. * He was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 2023.

Personal life

Feldman is married to film and TV producer Janet York. They have 5 children between them.

References

External links

Sam Feldman
on

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feldman, Sam 1949 births People from Shanghai Businesspeople from Vancouver Canadian music industry executives Canadian music managers Canadian record producers Film producers from British Columbia Living people