Steve “FACE” Riley Founder/CEO of FMBMC started his career at Bad Boy Records in 1995/1996 at the very beginning of Bad Boy’s rise to prominence in the music industry. He worked primarily on the street team as a junior publicist, promoting artists such as Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, The Lox, 112, Jada Kiss and Notorious B.I.G. Steve promoted the hit records “JUICY” by Notorious B.I.G and “FLAVA IN YA EAR” by Craig Mack. Both records helped to establish Bad Boy Records as a force and future dominant player in the rap industry and foreshadow its status as we know it today. Steve further expanded his experience and knowledge of the music industry through employment at Billboard Magazine as Production Manager and Creative Director, as Head of A&R at Atlanta based independent record label Rimm Global Media Corp/Universal Music Group, and as President/Director of Operations of Indie Music Factory/InGrooves-Fontana/Universal.
Steve’s independent spirit and drive led him to starting his own company/magazine FACES ARTIST MANAGEMENT. As an ancillary endeavor to the magazine Steve created the “HOT ON DA BLOCK” concert series. Through this series artists began to ask Steve about managing their careers and his focus and company eventually evolved into FMBMC.
Steve’s management clientele has encompassed more than rappers/singers but includes producers as well such as: platinum producer IRV Gotti of Murder Inc, producer Easy Moe Bee (instrumental in some of Notorious B.I.G.’s greatest hits), and musical score producers Darkroom Productions. Steve’s negotiating skills resulted in a multimillion-dollar deal for Darkroom Productions to score the HBO hit series “The Wire.” Steve also managed award winning artist Se' Von - 2013 Georgia Music Awards Winner for Best Male Hip Hop Artist and secured him a major licensing deal with Turner Broadcasting for the 2012 NBA playoffs for his hit song “Long Road”. Steve has also worked with legendary platinum selling artist Kurtis Blow in helping to produce the song and video tribute to 911 “Still Here” by The Klan featuring Kurtis Blow.
With the music industry’s shift away from artist development Steve has found a niche for FMBMC – helping independent artists navigate the new music industry’s business landscape and assist their musical craft development. The FMBMC distribution partnership with Sugo Music Group enables Steve to offer independent unsigned musicians a platform to expose their music to a larger audience. Steve’s years’ worth of knowledge and expertise has led to numerous speaking engagements, talent showcase judging opportunities, and music conference panels. With all these experiences Steve is focusing on developing his REAL TALK MUSIC CONFERENCE as the premier educator for unsigned artists, producers, and djs.