Gov Ball Co-Founder Jordan Wolowitz Talks Festival Lineup and Industry Tips
Wolowitz also gave insights about his professional journey, and shared the latest about the upcoming festival in June.
Summertime is getting closer, and that means the Governors Ball music festival is just on the horizon. Jordan Wolowitz, the co-founder of Gov Ball and a partner at Founders Entertainment, is excitedly looking forward to this year’s festival, which is set to kick off on June 10 at Citi Field and feature big names like Kid Cudi, Halsey, and J. Cole.
In 2011, alongside his high school friend and co-founder Tom Russell, New York City-native Wolowitz brought to his hometown what would become the one of its biggest festivals, “built by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers.” Just three years after Gov Ball’s founding, Wolowitz was recognized by Billboard as one of the top 40 music executives under 40. Just coming off of its 10th birthday celebration last year, Gov Ball has drawn in some of the biggest artists in music and over 150,000 attendees in 2021.
As we count down the days to the festival, Wolowitz sat down with Local to share the story behind Gov Ball, industry tips, and the details behind his professional journey.
Q: What’s your background and what led you to start Governors Ball?
A: In high school and college, I did tons of internships. From being a journalist for my college newspaper to interning at Atlantic Records and for concert promoters, I just wanted to learn as much as I could about the industry. After going to college in Washington D.C., I went to work for Paradigm Agency, which is a big booking agency that is now called the Wasserman Agency. That’s where I really started to learn the live side of the business, both from the agent side and the promoter side.
After a few years in California with Paradigm, I moved back to New York to work with Marsha Vlasic who is one of the most legendary music agents around. While I was working for her, my best friend from high school, who’s now my business partner, we started to put together what has now become Governors Ball. Once we knew we had something like a music festival, we both quit our jobs at the end of 2010 and announced the first Governors Ball in February of 2011.
Q: What should we be expecting this year at this year’s Governors Ball?
A: The site this year will look totally different, with different layout of the stages for people to experience a brand new festival. We also haven’t had J. Cole since 2014, and now he’s one of the biggest stars in the world and we’re welcoming him back. Kid Cudi actually played the second Gov Ball 10 years ago in 2012, when we were still a pretty small festival. So to just see what he has become overall in pop culture is really, really cool.
And having Halsey headline is really special to us because I was told that Halsey and her team actually came to Gov Ball in 2014 to celebrate her signing her first record deal. So that’s pretty special. Coincidentally enough, all three headliners have New York City history to them. J. Cole went to college in Queens. He started off in New Jersey and New York City as well, and same with Kid Cudi. They all have New York City lineage in them. We always try to book as many New York artists as we can each year.
Q: What advice would you give to NYU students who might want to go into the music industry?
A: Start learning now. Getting internships and getting jobs wherever you can in any part of the industry that interests you is vital. Not only for learning, but also it certainly is a business where relationships are key. So if you can, get an internship or a job with someone or with a company that can help you out as you’re graduating from school, even if it’s not at that certain place. You just want those relationships when you’re starting your career.
Q: How are you navigating the live music scene during and post-pandemic?
A: After 2020, we’re just so happy to be back doing what we love and bringing New York City something to celebrate each year along with us. With COVID, I guess the best way to say it is that we were being fully responsible and following the city’s and with the state’s guidelines to a tee. There was no issues with it at all in 2021 because we worked with the city and the state’s policy. You either had to show your vaccination card or a negative test that was at most 72 hours prior to your entrance. We will do the same exact thing this year and just working with the city and the state to follow their guidelines. Needless to say, we are very thankful for you and all your friends and classmates who come out and support the festival. I hope you all like the lineup this year and come celebrate in June with us.
3-day or single-day GA and VIP tickets for Gov Ball are still available for purchase here.
