Executive of the Week: 88rising Founder Sean Miyashiro
With a new benefit concert and Microsoft partnership, 88rising founder Sean Miyashiro earns the title of Billboard's Executive of the Week.
Sean Miyashiro has always been clear about the mission statement for his company, 88rising: to support and promote Asian artists, creatives and communities through its label, management and marketing wings. And during Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Miyashiro and 88rising have doubled down on that commitment with a series of programming events and discussions in a variety of ways, including on its own SiriusXM channel, 88rising Radio.
This week, the company rolled two new initiatives on that front. First, it announced Asia Rising Together, a star-studded benefit concert that will air May 26 with artists like mxmtoon, Audrey Mika and more, appearances by RZA, CL and Dumbfoundead and programming to highlight AAPI businesses and organizations. The concert will air on 88rising’s social media channels and its Sirius channel, presented in partnership with Netflix and sponsored by both Netflix and AT&T and with all proceeds going to the Asian Mental Health Collective.
The second was a partnership with Microsoft, announced Thursday, that used artificial intelligence to generate a “never-ending remix” to the latest single by 88rising writer/producer Warren Hue, “Too Many Tears,” part of a deal that will see the two companies team up on a slate of upcoming singles using AI technology. All of which helps Miyashiro earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week. Here, he discusses the benefit concert, working with Sirius, the future of AI and AAPI Heritage Month.
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88rising announced a benefit concert, Asia Rising Together, airing May 26 with music performances, special guests and segments highlighting artist stories and AAPI businesses to support AAPI Heritage Month, with proceeds going to the Asian Mental Health Collective. What key decisions did you make to help this idea become a reality?
We wanted to use our platform to spotlight and give a voice to organizations that are doing amazing work for the Asian community. Last year’s benefit concert was a huge success in driving donations to Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and this year we felt that after the year we just went through, it was more important than ever that we focused on healing and learning about ourselves.
88rising also announced new programming for this month on your SiriusXM channel, including dedications, emerging-artist spotlights and speaker-led conversations on the Asian American experience. Why is this programming so important for you?
There is so much going on in our communities today and even going back in time that was never reported or talked about. It was important to us to give people the opportunity to have dialogue and talk about the issues facing our communities today.
Your relationship with Sirius goes back six months now, since the launch of 88rising’s channel. What does that relationship mean for the mission of the company?
Sirius has believed in us since the very beginning and recognized early on that Asian music was finding its place in the world. We are honored that they trust our curation and programming to fill the current void.
88rising is also partnering with Microsoft on some AI initiatives surrounding upcoming singles. What will that allow you guys to do? How significant do you feel that AI will be moving forward?
Microsoft has been an amazing partner and has been incredibly flexible and great to work with, as we developed the creative and music together. AI is such a new phenomenon that it is hard to say how much it will impact music going forward. Some of the more technical production elements of AI can be useful, but AI can’t replace human emotive experiences — at least not yet.
This year, there seems to be more AAPI-specific programming and awareness than ever. What does that signal for where we are culturally and what you guys are looking to achieve?
It has been really inspiring to see the AAPI community rally together in support of one another. The conversations we have had with various organizations both Asian and non-Asian to tackle racism and heal communities have given us a lot of hope for the future.