Michael Ostin is the third child [son] of Mo Ostin, the US record executive who signed the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix and presided over Warner/Reprise records for three decades and his wife Evelyn Ostin.
Michael is a Los Angeles based entertainment veteran with over 35 years of experience in the industry.
He bagan his career at Warner Bros. Records in October 1977 as an A&R scout, and he worked his way up to Senior Vice President of A&R, holding that title from 1988 to 1996.
In that capacity, Michael was involved in signing and recording some of the most admired artists of the time:
- Christopher Cross,
- Paul Simon,
- Eric Clapton,
- Madonna,
- Neil Young,
- Fleetwood Mac,
- Green Day,
- Prince,
- Red Hot Chili Peppers,
- Rod Stewart,
- Seal,
- Quincy Jones,
- Al Jarreau,
- Nile Rodgers, and
- Q-Tip.
In addition to his contributions in the music industry, Michael has been a champion of the arts, being an early investor/producer in the Tony Award winning hit Broadway show The Book of Mormon.
Michael is married to Joyce Ostin and they are members of the Independent Curators Council and serve on various other committees for LACMA, MOCA, and Hammer Museum.
Michael and his family are also supporters and donors to UCLA School of Music – the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, which were named after his parents.
Michael’s father Mo died aged 95 on July 31, 2022.
Record executive Clive Davis paid tribute to Michael’s father, saying;
Mo was headhunted from Verve Records by Reprise founder Frank Sinatra in 1960, where he worked primarily with classic pop and jazz acts.
Sinatra had “divined that the thrust of the company should be its artists”, Mo said in Exploding, Stan Cornyn’s 2002 history of Warner Music Group.
“It all seems logical today, but back then it was truly revolutionary,” he continued.
When the label was bought out by Warner Bros three years later, Mo was promoted to an executive role and brought the label into the modern age, also signing acts such as the Fugs and Tiny Tim.
Musicians such as Q-Tip, Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, John Cale and Nancy Sinatra have also paid tribute to Mo Ostin.
Michael is currently co-producing a documentary about the prolific career of his father, Mo Ostin, along with esteemed writer/director/producer Lawrence Kasden.