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Thane Tierney has spent virtually all of his adult life in the music industry, serving in a variety of capacities for over thirty years. Thane began as a college (and later, professional) broadcaster in the '70s, working at a variety of stations around southern California. In 1978, he began working on the retail side of the record industry at several locations of the Music Plus chain. In 1986, he began his record label career with Enigma Records as their Creative Director, working with such artists as Al Stewart, Poison, Stryper, Devo, and Don Dixon. After Enigma was shuttered in 1990, Thane spent the next five years as chief copywriter for Warner Bros. Records. Among the artists for whom he created award-winning campaigns were Neil Young, Prince, R.E.M., Green Day, Randy Travis, Chris Isaak, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Madonna, and many others. In 1995, Thane began an association with Rykodisc/Hannibal in Salem, Massachusetts, where he managed the American affairs for the Hannibal label and was product manager for a variety of Ryko projects. In 1997, Thane accepted a position at the Rhino Records label, where he worked both in product management and sales. During that time, he co-produced the Open All Night series of albums and the Songbook box set by Gordon Lightfoot, as well as producing Gordon Lightfoot's Complete Greatest Hits, which was certified Gold in Canada by the CRIA. He was product manager for the Grammy-winning 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, and the Grammy-nominated Given Me Immortality or Give Me Death by Firesign Theatre. When the Rhino sales department was subsumed into WEA (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic) Distribution, he worked there until 2003. He also oversaw an independent artist management company, TAACO (Tierney Artist Advancement Co.), that has worked with artists such as Irish harper Áine Minogue and singer-songwriter Jill Cohn. In November 2003, Thane joined the Universal Music Group, creating and managing their direct-to-consumer Internet-only label, Hip-O Select. In the label's first year, Hip-O Select garnered notice from pop music press and fans worldwide, and received the "Reggae Re-release of the Year" award from Mojo magazine. In 2005, the label received Mojo's "Reissue of the Year" award for its Motown singles collection. In addition to his record industry career, Thane is an occasional op-ed contributer to the Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and other publications.
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