John Scher Biography

Metropolitan Talent, Inc co-CEO, John Scher is one of the most well-known and highly respected veterans in live entertainment. Under Scher’s vision and leadership, Metropolitan Talent has emerged as a multi-faceted industry leader.

The company’s work encompasses artist management (Bruce Hornsby and Art Garfunkel; co-management of Bob Weir and Simon & Garfunkel), the independent record label Hybrid Recordings (Gin Blossoms, Assembly of Dust, Jen Chapin, Vertical Horizon), and the concert division, Metropolitan Talent Presents. In 2006, Metropolitan Talent Presents produced over 200 events with total attendance over half a million.

Scher began booking shows at the age of 19 while attending Long Island University and soon developed his New Jersey-based company into a modern concert promotion operation. Metropolitan Entertainment produced concerts throughout the Northeast and began promoting and coordinating national tours. His first acclaim came from his relationship with The Grateful Dead. He helped the band become one of the highest-grossing live music acts in history, while setting an industry standard for touring acts that remains today.

Throughout the years, John Scher and Metropolitan created, produced or co-produced many critically acclaimed national tours, including Whitney Houston, Sarah Brightman, The Further Festival, Up In Smoke (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem), The Family Values Tour (Korn, Limp Bizkit) and Down From the Mountain (Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris).

John Scher was named Pollstar Magazine’s Bill Graham/Promoter of the Year in 2000 and Performance Magazine’s top grossing promoter in the nation three times.His Metropolitan-produced concerts include the first shows ever held at Giants Stadium (The Beach Boys and The Steve Miller Band), the inaugural concert at Meadowlands Arena (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band), Frank Sinatra’s 75th Birthday Concert at Meadowlands Arena (12/12/90) and the 25th and 30th anniversaries of Woodstock.

Metropolitan also developed, produced or operated concerts at the most prominent venues throughout the Northeast, including the Capitol Theatre (Passaic, NJ), Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (upstate NY), Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center (Scranton, PA), New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Pier Six Pavilion (Baltimore, MD) and the Ritz and Hammerstein Ballroom (NYC).

Additionally, Scher produced concert events for home video, pay-per-view and broadcast television, and pioneered the concept of contemporary music fundraising concerts on PBS with The Moody Blues: Live at Red Rocks. On the talent management side, he handled such artists as The Allman Brothers Band, Renaissance, Dave Edmunds, Lou Reed, Rusted Root, Vertical Horizon, Luscious Jackson, The Cranberries, Art of Noise and Lucinda Williams.

The theatrical and television division of Metropolian earned much success on Broadway and on television, with such hits as Jelly’s Last Jam, Damn Yankees, Victor/Victoria, The Triumph of Love and the off-Broadway hit Thwak, featuring the Umbilical Brothers. The company’s TV productions include the Emmy-nominated Carnegie Hall Salutes The Jazz Masters, the Backstreet Boys Disney special, Elvis: The Tribute and Woodstock ‘94, the highest-grossing, most-watched music pay-per-view special to date.

Branching out further, Polygram acquired a minority share of Metropolitan in 1989, and Scher became President of Polygram Diversified. He was responsible for expanding Polygram’s revenue stream into artist merchandising, television production, live event promotion and sponsorships - a business model far ahead of its time.

In 1995, Ogden Entertainment, the largest facility operator in the world, acquired Polygram’s minority share of Metropolitan. During that time, Scher jointly developed a variety of projects which included eastern Pennsylvania’s Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center and New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom.

In 2001, Scher formed a new partnership with Al Cafaro, (former CEO of A&M Records), and together as co-CEO’s they created Metropolitan Talent Inc. In addition to promoting concert events at arenas and theatres throughout the country through its concert division Metropolitan Talent Presents, Metropolitan Talent guides the careers of developing and established artists via its artist management division and independent record label, Hybrid Recordings.

John Scher is a member of the Board of Overseers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and on the Board of Directors of The Rex Foundation. He has two daughters and lives in New Jersey with his wife, Sheri.

Metropolitan Talent, Inc
100 Fifth Avenue 11th floor
New York, New York 10011
Main number: 212.277.7171
Direct number: 212.277.7155
Website: www.Metrohybrid.com