User:JSFarman/sandbox/Gary Stewart (Musicologist)

'Gary Stewart was an American music industry executive, musicologist, and activist. A "musical savant," he was the head of A&R at Rhino Records in the 1980s and 1990s, and later and where he produced

Stewart advocated for lesser known, unjustly dismissed or overlooked music by artists including the Monkees, Love, Dionne Warwick, the Neville Brothers and hundreds of others, and in doing so helped reframe cultural conversations by bringing into the present recordings considered to be long past their expiration date.

Stewart was eventually promoted to store manager and moved to the label in the early 1980s, where he worked as a salesman before easing into A&R. One of his first signings was the country rock band the Beat Farmers and Cindy Lee Berryhill

Using his vast knowledge to introduce music to a new audience through such memorable catalog collections for Rhino Entertainment as the kitschy Have a Nice Day '70s compilation series to Nuggets, a slate of albums devoted to obscure psychedelic rock from the '60s, as well as more scholarly sets, including Shout! Factory's Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans. He rose to senior vp A&R for Rhino and then moved to Apple Music after a hiatus.

At Apple, Stewart continued his love of uncovering hidden musical gems. His first role was chief music officer for Apple's iTunes before he left and then returned to work in catalog curation. He parted ways with Apple for good in 2018. Stewart served on the boards of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Social Venture Network, and was involved with the Community Coalition and the Liberty Hill Foundation. At Rhino, he instituted a policy that required all employees to annually devote several days to community service.