Jenny Kaufman, Crush Music

💭 Thoughts on Hanif Abdurraqib, newsletters & Substacks, and trying anything once.

Jenny Kaufman is the Head of Global Streaming Marketing/Promotion at Crush Music, home to superstars such as Miley Cyrus, Green Day, Lorde, and Fall Out Boy. In this role, Jenny participated in the record-breaking release of Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’, and marketed Green Day’s 2024 album Saviors ahead of their biggest worldwide tour to-date. Prior to joining Crush, Jenny established the digital-strategy department at Terrorbird Media. Before that, Jenny worked as Director of Digital Marketing and Global Production at Glassnote Records.

🎯 Current focus 

Recently I’ve become focused on the preservation of my family’s heirlooms and nostalgic items. It started when my father gave me my grandfather’s “JK” cufflinks in passing because he and I shared the same initials. With his permission, I repurposed them into a ring and a necklace which I wear constantly. My next project is to sort through my mother’s concert ticket collection, and to work with her to find meaningful ones to showcase in a shadow box in my apartment. It’s so nice to celebrate one another, and I am lucky to have both of my parents at this point in my life.

💇‍♀️ Supporting your local neighborhood spots

I’m often on the road for work which has deepened my appreciation for New York in a new way. Lately I have been leaning into staying local and recommending my favorite neighborhood spots to friends, whether it be my acupuncture clinic, my very talented hair stylist, or a great lunch spot a few blocks away. It means a lot to support my neighbors and to have that community to return to.

📚 Hanif Abdurraqib’s They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

One of my favorite books is Hanif Abdurraqib’s They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us. It’s a collection of essays in which Abdurraqib contextualizes current events, pop culture, as well as his own lived experiences, through the lens of music. Abdurraqib’s storytelling always has such specificity and urgency that immediately makes you feel something. There’s also such a tenderness in the way he represents artists, their music, and the live experiences they create. It’s incredibly moving, and such a testament to his talent as a writer, which I also enjoy on his Instagram where he frequently posts new work. In a way, the book is beautiful because it affirms why I started working in music in the first place.

🍴 Trying anything once

“Try anything once.” When you have the opportunity to open a door, walk through it and see what happens. As we age, it’s so easy to fall into self-imposed limitations. There are so many ways you can stretch yourself, whether it be mentally, physically, professionally, etc. Even if it’s as basic as trying a new food, or something more personal, like interviewing for a surprise job opportunity, or dabbling in a new artistic process. At worst, they’re opportunities to grow and better understand yourself!

🎶 “Take It Off” by The Donnas

Lately I’ve been revisiting “Take It Off” by The Donnas! I love how confrontational and punchy the song is, production-wise and lyrically. It effortlessly embodies confidence. Plus, I always remember the amazing album cover for Spend The Night - it’s very retro, in a wood-paneled room with 70’s decor and the girls splayed across a bed. Even in 2003, seeing women in their power in a bedroom felt like a statement. Highly recommend “Take It Off” for any power walk moment. 

🧚‍♀️ Making the impossible feel possible

I really admire my co-worker Gaby Fainsilber, the Head of Creative Marketing at Crush. Her excellence as a marketer comes from her deep understanding of fandoms, and her fearlessness with new ideas! She loves to create things - like a vinyl variant full of tears, a singing greeting card that never shuts off(!), or a website that asks fans to “spin like a human record player” to listen to a new song. Gaby makes the impossible feel possible, and that energy is infectious.

🏋️‍♀️ Working to strike a good balance

This month I am looking forward to slowing down and prioritizing some restorative time before the end of the year. Spending more time with my ninety-six year old grandmother, reorganizing my closet, planning a low-key getaway in December, and catching some shows I am excited about (will be at Momma at Baby’s All Right, and Drug Church at Brooklyn Monarch). I’m always working to strike a balance and understand how to adjust the speed, or shift the gears, at different times in my life.

💌 Newsletters & Substacks

Funnily enough (and I’m not just saying this because my answer will appear in one) I have started to enjoy email newsletters and Substacks. I think the media-audience relationship and the artist-fan relationship have similarities, and in both cases having direct access to the eyeballs and ears of your audience is critical. James Blake just brought this up in response to touring, and how relying on social media is not a sustainable future for artists. Not only do I enjoy direct communication from the people and outlets I’m invested in, but my inbox helps me prioritize what’s important to me when my feeds elsewhere have become a sea of disconnected, seemingly random content.

🛫 Flighty

I am now obsessed with the app Flighty. It helps you track all of your upcoming flights and notifies you of any delays or changes to your trip, and it’s usually quicker to notify you than any airline app. It’s both practical and fun; the app has a social element, where you can connect with your friends and see their itineraries. Also, Flighty gives you a Spotify Wrapped-style report at the end of the year, detailing how many flights you took, how many hours you were in the air, how many hours you lost to delays and more. So far, I've flown 1.6x around Earth this year…

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