A native of Newport News, Virginia, Sam Taylor moved to New York in 2000 to begin his career in music. In his first position, Sam interned for Elektra Records and worked on numerous albums. As he moved up as an A&R Coordinator, Sam received his first credit on Angie Martinez's debut album, Animal House. Sam's talent and work ethic at Elektra caught the attention of Merlin Bobb, Elektra's EVP of A&R. Recognizing Sam's knack for picking records and putting together projects, Merlin quickly took him under his wing, becoming his mentor and giving Sam an opportunity to show, prove, and hone his skills.
Under Merlin's guidance, Sam worked on a variety of projects, most notably ones with Missy Elliot, Gerald Levert, and Fabolous. Sam became one of the few executives to survive the merge of Elektra into Atlantic. At Atlantic, he worked for President Julie Greenwald. Julie knew his prior reputation, quickly saw the talent, and gave him his opportunity to A&R albums for Fat Joe and the soundtrack to the movie Hustle and Flow.
In January 2007, Sam Taylor joined the Warner Chappell Music Publishing team as Manager, A&R Urban, where he was in charge with the task of scouting and signing producers and songwriters and developing talent on the existing roster, including pitching and providing exploitation opportunities.
Sam's first signing to the Warner Chapell roster was Orlando, Florida-based songwriter KC, whose credits include the Billboard Top 20 song "Go Getta" by Young Jeezy feat. R. Kelly. In addition to KC, Sam's roster also included Danjahandz (Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake), Don Cannon (Young Jeezy, DJ Drama), and others.
Sam joined ASCAP in September 2009 as Director of Membership, Rhythm & Soul. In his new role, Sam will be responsible for the recruitment and maintenance of new songwriters and producers, in addition to providing support for existing artist development programs.
