Michael Caplan

Michael Caplan, President and co-founder of Or Music, brings nearly two decades of A&R experience to the company. Formerly the Senior Vice President of A&R for Sony Music's Epic label, Caplan has signed and nurtured a host of well-known artists who have built the kind of long-term, consistent success which is an Or Music founding principle. After joining the Epic A&R staff in 1985, Caplan signed the Allman Brothers, Living Colour, G. Love and Special Sauce, Keb' Mo', Ginuwine, Tower of Power, and many others.

"As an industry, we've done so little lately to nurture and promote artists who have the capacity to develop a long career - we've made sure all these new acts have one hit single - and forgotten totally about what happens after that single's gone," said Caplan. "Few companies are actually signing and working with artists that will end up with real careers. Or Music is about changing that."

In a recent interview, Caplan said, "It's so great to be able to come to work with a smile on my face. I still have pressure but it's my own."

Or Music has met with remarkable success. Texican rockers Los Lonely Boys' self-titled debut was certified double platinum on the heels of the band's Grammy win for "Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal" for their single "Heaven." 'Por Vida,' a 2-CD tribute to Alejandro Escovedo, was released in 2004 to commercial and critical acclaim; The Wall Street Journal called it "an artistic and humanitarian triumph." Other Or artists include Velvet Underground legend John Cale, Particle, Phil Roy, Pitty Sing, Adam Richman and Tower of Power.

Caplan's career in music began during his high school years at Cutler's Record Store in New Haven, CT which gave him his first taste of the industry. He would go on to work for the Strawberries retail chain after a brief stint in law school, and then for Polygram Records, where he worked in merchandising and sales. After Polygram, Caplan returned to Strawberries as the chain's operations manager, until joining the Southern New England promotions staff of Epic Records until 1981. He moved to New York the next year to take the reins of the company's national rock promotion department before making the move to A&R where he rose to Senior Vice President.

During his long tenure at Epic, Caplan's signings earned 15 Gold records, 8 Platinum Records, 3 Multi-Platinum Records and 7 Grammy Awards.

Inspired to effect a change in the industry's major-label paradigm and eager to build a company from the ground up, Caplan co-founded Or Music with Larry Miller in 2002. He is a prominent figure in the music community, having served on the Board of Governors and as Trustee of the National Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences.