{"id":58288,"date":"2019-07-22T15:46:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T19:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=58288"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:52:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:52:43","slug":"nicholas-osborne-rocks-music-world","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/nicholas-osborne-rocks-music-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebel Computer Grad Rocks Music World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Rebel Computer Grad Rocks Music World\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Nicholas Osborne<\/a> is a bit of a black sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite growing up in a liberal arts family \u2014 his father John Osborne<\/a> was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<\/a> at Carleton, while his mother, Colette Osborne<\/a>, was an adjunct professor in the Department of French<\/a> \u2014 Nicholas decided to study computers and math at university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there was always music playing at home and the younger Osborne redeemed himself by parlaying his Computer Science<\/a> degree from Carleton into an ascending career in the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMy dad always joked that my form of rebellion was going into computer science,\u201d says Osborne, vice-president of Digital Strategy and Business Development at Capitol Music Group<\/a> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a tech background is obviously very important to the work that I do, but really, my degree was in applied problem solving. It gave me the ability to identify problems and then break them down into smaller problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Headshot
Nicholas Osborne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat has really helped me on the business development and strategy side of things. It lets me look at the business holistically, see where the holes and problems are, and then find solutions to fill those holes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osborne, whose office is in the iconic Capitol Records tower with a view of the Hollywood Hills, oversees all of the music label\u2019s digital deals, marketing technologies and advertising. He\u2019s focused on finding and developing new revenue opportunities to extract value from Capitol\u2019s copyrights, content, brand assets and artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also leads ad-tech, consumer data and audience ownership strategies, and co-leads the Capitol 360 Innovation Center<\/a>, launched last year to bring together leading thinkers from the music and technology industries, as well as the student community, to help drive innovation in music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What all of these complex responsibilities mean \u2014 and how they\u2019re related to Osborne\u2019s expertise in problem solving \u2014 is actually quite straightforward. Amid a music industry experiencing major disruption and transformation, he\u2019s helping Capitol become the record label of the future.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Taking Advantage of the Malleability of a Carleton Computer Science Degree<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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After growing up with the 1960s rock and pop of his parents \u2014 think the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Led Zeppelin and Motown classics \u2014 Osborne developed a taste for indie, Canadian rock and electronica in his teens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBC Radio 3 was a big influence, as were live shows (Metric, Stars, Broken Social Scene) at Ottawa clubs such as Zaphod\u2019s, the Bronson Centre and Barrymore\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at Carleton, Osborne hosted a pair of shows on CKCU<\/a>, the campus radio station, focused on Canadian music, and helped organize the university\u2019s first TED Talk event. He also got involved with the Carleton University Students\u2019 Association<\/a> as the Computer Science rep for a couple years and bonded with the friends he made in residence in first year \u2014 several of whom are still close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nicholas<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to his growing abilities as a coder and web developer, Osborne got jobs on the IT help desk in MacOdrum Library and a summer position as an app developer, and before going into his final year in 2011, he landed an internship rooted in digital marketing with Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarleton\u2019s Computer Science program is really malleable,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you want to become a developer, you can do that. But you can also use your degree as a foundation and combine it with any other interests you might have. You can apply it anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osborne\u2019s eight-week internship in L.A. led to a trio of roles over five years with Universal Music Canada in Toronto \u2014 as a web developer, digital technology manager and digital strategy senior manager \u2014 and in 2016 he moved back to California for a job with Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazingly, none of the three positions he has held at Capitol, including his current post, existed before Osborne took on the assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI got into the music industry at the right time, just as streaming was becoming a thing with the onset of Spotify and Apple Music,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe way people consume music has changed dramatically. We\u2019re no longer asking people to spend $20 on a CD. We\u2019re trying to get their attention on a service they\u2019re already paying for. That\u2019s changed everything about our business and how we look at marketing \u2014 and that\u2019s very exciting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Maintaining a Competitive Edge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Most days in L.A. are sunny with a temperature in the mid-20s C. Osborne enjoys the California climate and lack of winter weather, but more so he enjoys the challenge of trying to help Capitol maintain its competitive edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a 100,000-foot level, he oversees Capitol\u2019s business relationships with digital platforms, as well as artists\u2019 websites, advertising, marketing technology and data acquisition and analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cSo many decisions are data driven these days,\u201d says Osborne.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to ensure we get the data we need to make smart decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe streaming economy is an attention economy,\u201d he adds, and data can help the label optimize a closer and more direct relationship with fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The Capitol 360 Innovation Center embodies the company\u2019s push to be as forward thinking as possible. \u201cWe want to nurture and embrace music technology innovation,\u201d says Osborne, explaining the centre is a space where the development community and music people come together to create a new era of apps, new ways to engage with audiences, even new ways to make music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The label\u2019s willingness to experiment has led to electronic dance music compilations being released by video game star Ninja, artists talking to fans via chatbots, and a Webby Award-winning social media campaign for Katy Perry\u2019s song \u201cChained to the Rhythm,\u201d as well as a hackathon where participants had access to nearly 15,000 audio streaming tracks and mentorship from industry veterans, and a Capitol 360 Innovation Center event on gender inclusion in music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although many huge artists are part of the Capitol family \u2014 including Perry, Halsey, Migos and Paul McCartney \u2014 as a \u201cback office\u201d strategist Osborne doesn\u2019t often rub shoulders with celebrity stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He concedes that he\u2019s gone to a few parties, but really he\u2019s happy to stay behind the scenes, following his interests and instincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy career has followed what feels like a natural progression,\u201d says Osborne.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI went from being a big fish in a small pond to a smaller fish in a bigger pond. There\u2019s been a learning curve, but now I\u2019m at the nexus of the U.S. market and work with global acts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Not bad for a black sheep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicholas Osborne is a bit of a black sheep. Despite growing up in a liberal arts family \u2014 his father John Osborne was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Carleton, while his mother, Colette Osborne, was an adjunct professor in the Department of French \u2014 Nicholas decided to study computers and math at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":58307,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[17],"cu_story_tag":[1924,1919],"class_list":["post-58288","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_tag-advancement","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-science"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/58288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/58288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97401,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/58288\/revisions\/97401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=58288"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=58288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}