Josh Rabinowitz has had his hands—his ears, his instincts, his obsessions—all over more than 10,000 tracks, each one sneaking its way into the collective unconscious via brands, TV, film, and major labels. At Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, he was the first-ever Music Jury President. His 14-year stretch as Grey’s Music Head, preceded by 7.5 years at Y&R, played out like a long, strange trip through the intersection of music and commerce, where art and advertising slow-danced, bickered, and occasionally made something sublime.

As a professor at Berklee, The New School, and Brooklyn College, Rabinowitz has mentored, provoked, and occasionally bewildered over 2,000 students, pushing them to grapple with the way music infiltrates and shapes our culture. His consultancy, Brooklyn Music Experience, is part think tank, part crystal ball, helping artists and brands navigate an industry that reinvents itself every five minutes.

He remains obsessed with the messy, magical ways music collides with everyday life—the way a single chord change can rewire a memory, or the way a song buried in an ad can suddenly mean everything. His work lives in the background and foreground, in that strange space where sound becomes feeling.