JASON FLOM

MUSIC EXECUTIVE & PHILANTHROPIST

If finding household name artists is music industry vet Jason Flom’s day job, righting the wrongs in America’s criminal justice system is his true calling. In his four decades in the music business, Flom has been Chairman and CEO of three powerhouse record labels (Atlantic, Virgin, and Capitol Music Group), started his own heavyweight Lava media empire (Lava Music for recorded music and music publishing; Lava for Good Podcasting; and several new ventures underway), and has been personally responsible for launching the careers of household names such as Matchbox 20, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, Lorde, Greta Van Fleet, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Parallel to these successes in his entertainment career, Flom has emerged as an award-winning philanthropist; a leading expert and a potent force in the criminal justice reform movement; and an internationally recognized public speaker. His work over the decades has led to saving many innocent lives and earning freedom for dozens of wrongfully convicted men and women in federal and state cases across the country.  During the Clinton years, Flom personally convinced the President to grant 17 clemencies to nonviolent drug offenders; during Obama’s presidency, Flom was involved in many of the 1,715 clemencies the President granted at the end of his term in 2016. Since jumping in the criminal justice system trenches in 1993, Flom has convinced numerous governors to free almost a dozen wrongfully convicted people, and he’s helped prevent the execution of five others.

In his years of wrongful conviction advocacy, Flom has worked closely with policy makers, activist groups, and other philanthropists, as well as those directly impacted by the legal system: the wrongfully convicted, and those who have been over-sentenced under mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, often for non-violent or first offenses. He is a founding board member of the Innocence Project, and serves on the boards of numerous criminal justice reform organizations. As the host of the hit Lava for Good Podcast’s, Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom series, now in its ninth season, Flom interviews men and women who have spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit, including some facing a death sentence for crimes they and their representatives argue based on evidence were committed by somebody else. The podcast reached #7 on the iTunes charts within its first 2 weeks of release and has been downloaded over 12 million times, and has been nominated for industry awards, including the 2018 iHeart Awards. 

A cross section of high-profile cases Flom has highlighted on the podcast include Brendan Dassey (a co-defendant in the “Making a Murderer” case), Rodney Reed, the Central Park 5, and Amanda Knox.  His work has received public support by Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, John Grisham, Dr. Phil, and Beyoncé, among others.

For his work, Flom received the Torch of Liberty Award from the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999, and he was named "Music Visionary of the Year" in 2000 by the UJA Federation. In 2004, The Correctional Association of New York honored him with their social justice award, and in 2005 Flom received the T.J. Martell Foundation Humanitarian Award. In 2008, Flom was honored as a Partner in Pursuit of Justice by the Bronx Defenders and was awarded with City of Hope’s Ambassador Award. He received the Innocence Project’s Award for Freedom and Justice in 2009 and the Spirit of Life Award by the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in 2014. He was also honored by the Human Rights Award and by the Legal Action center in 2019. He is a frequent guest on national television, and has appeared on 20/20, Nightline, Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. He was recently profiled in a January, 2020 Rolling Stone feature that detailed his criminal justice advocacy work.

Flom was galvanized into advocacy in 1993 after reading an article about a man, Steve Lennon, charged with possessing 4.2 ounces of cocaine. Any amount over 4 ounces was deemed an A-1 felony, akin to murder, mandating a sentence of 15 years to life. Struck by how nonviolent offenders were so unfairly treated, Flom reached out to the only criminal defense lawyer he knew at the time and that lawyer found a loophole, resulting in Lennon beings granted a new hearing and then soon after being released from. The rush of having effecting change hit Flom hard, and his crusade as a justice advocate officially began.

Flom’s advocacy for the underdog and the disadvantaged has expanded to animal rights activism where he has worked closely with organizations such as VetPaw (Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife). In 2018, he partnered with the African Wildlife Foundation to release his uplifting children’s book, Lulu is a Rhinoceros.

Over four decades since he started his music career hanging up AC/DC and Led Zeppelin posters at Atlantic Records, the label he ultimately would lead as CEO and Chairman, Flom remains a vibrant force in the industry with his Lava Music label and music publishing businesses. Yet, he always finds time for humanitarian and justice work, including helping people find jobs and ease back into civilian life post-release.  Flom is one of those rare music industry titans who measures success not in hits, but in how his work touches and enriches the lives of others.