Josh Simons
| Josh Simons | |
|---|---|
 Josh Simons portrait 2024.jpg Simons in 2024 | |
| Born | Joshua Timothy Simons[1] 27 October 1990[2] England |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Swinburne University[3] |
| 💼 Occupation |
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| Known for |
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| 🌐 Website | www |
Josh Simons is an Australian entrepreneur and musician. He is the co-founder of the musician networking platform Vampr and the chief executive officer of Vinyl Group (ASX: VNL), a music technology and media company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.[4][5] As a musician, Simons founded and fronted the indie rock project Buchanan, and has studio and writing credits with artists including Travis Scott and Troye Sivan.[6][7] He has also toured with Coldplay and Keith Urban.[8][9]
Early life and education
Simons was born in England and later settled in Melbourne, Australia. In 2008, at age 17, he dropped out of high school to direct and produce a feature film, The Vapour Boys.[2][10] In 2021 he became a US citizen.[11] He holds a Bachelor of Business from Swinburne University.[3]
Music career
Simons formed Buchanan in 2009. The band released two studio albums, Human Spring (2013) and Pressure in an Empty Space (2016), before retiring in 2019 with the mixtape The Crayon Collection.[12][13][14] The band received chart impressions in Europe, America and Australia, and toured with Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood.[8][15][16][17]
In 2016, Simons co-wrote The Voice (Australian TV series) winner Alfie Arcuri's single "Careless Game" with Troye Sivan.[7] The release spent three weeks on the ARIA Charts, peaking at number 5.[18]
In 2017, Simons co-wrote and co-produced the final track of Cyhi the Prynce's debut album No Dope on Sundays released in November 2017. The track "I'm Fine" features Travis Scott and the project was executive produced by Kanye West.[6] The album debuted at 65 on the Billboard 200.[19] It peaked at number 30 on Billboard charts' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and reached number 1 on iTunes in the US for Hip-Hop/Rap.[20]
In January 2018 Simons co-produced and mixed Tre Capital single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow", which premiered on Complex.[21] The track was the lead single for Tre Capital's third studio album, Hero, released 29 June 2018, where Simons was executive producer and co-produced nine tracks which included notable contributions from Anthony Kilhoffer and WondaGurl.
In May 2018, Allan Kingdom's single "All Night", which Simons co-wrote with Kilhoffer, premiered on Hypebeast.[22] The release was the lead single for his Peanut Butter Prince album, released on 15 June 2018, where Simons co-wrote the tracks "Don't Wait", "Fall For You" and "All Night".[23]
In June 2018, Simons contributed a vocal and piano performance for "Stand By You", a charity single by EveryOneBand, raising funds for Australian charity Support Act.[24] The single debuted at number 1 on the AIR Singles Chart.[25]
September 2018 saw the release of Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 2, an EP from singer-songwriter Cobi, whose opening track "Church of the Lonely" was co-written by Simons.[26] In October 2018, King IV released the single "Basic", produced and co-written by Simons.[27]
The March 2019 release of Jenny Queen's album Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best on ABC Music included the single "Medicine", co-written by Simons.[28]
Simons wrote the film score for the July 2019 documentary Latter Day Jew starring Judy Gold, which was accepted into eight film festivals.[29]
In January 2024, Vampr signed Emmanuel Kelly directly to its distribution and publishing service ahead of the release of his single, "My Sky", which Simons co-produced, and which had its live premiere at the Australian Open on 23 January 2024.[30][31] "My Sky" was named by Spotify as one of the top 30 most streamed songs by an Australian artist in 2024.[32]
Kelly's subsequent No Zodiac EP was released by Vampr on 30 October 2024, and was executive produced by Simons, Kelly and Chris Martin.[33][34] Simons also played guest guitar in Kelly's band during the Australian leg of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour.[9] The tour included concerts that set attendance records at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium with 227,000 fans over four shows,[35] and Sydney's Accor Stadium with 338,776 fans over four shows.[36]
Vampr
Simons co-founded Vampr, a social and professional networking app for musicians, with Barry Palmer in 2015. In December 2017, Vampr was featured by Apple in its "Best of 2017" roundup.[37] In 2021, Vampr was nominated for a Music Week Award in the Music Consumer Innovation category, and was nominated again in 2022, alongside Apple Music, TikTok and Amazon Music.[38]
In March 2022, Fast Company listed Vampr among its Most Innovative Companies (Music).[39] Later that year, Google Play spotlighted the company in its Top 150 apps in the United States.[40]
In February 2023, it was announced that Vampr had been acquired by the then Sydney-headquartered music credits database, Jaxsta.[41]
Vinyl Group
In June 2023, following completion of the Vampr acquisition, Simons was appointed CEO of the company.[4] The ASX-listed company was later rebranded as Vinyl Group.[5]
As CEO, Simons established the media and music tech company and has overseen Vinyl Group's expansion through organic growth and acquisitions. Throughout 2024, Vinyl Group under Simons acquired The Brag Media (Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Variety Australia, The Music Network),[42] Mediaweek,[43] Funkified Entertainment[44] and Serenade,[45] while raising over $15 million in new funds for the company.[46][47]
Since then, and into 2025, Vinyl Group has raised a further A$10 million and acquired digital city guide publisher Concrete Playground.[48][49] That same year, the company agreed a A$1.5 million credit facility with Songtradr while announcing plans to acquire the Vinyl.com domain[50] and consolidate the company's media assets, including new license Refinery29 Australia, under the Vinyl Media banner.[51]
Speaking
In September 2015, Simons delivered a TEDx talk at Macquarie University alongside a performance of new music from his band Buchanan.[52]
In February 2023, Simons was invited to be a guest lecturer at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to discuss music industry entrepreneurship.[53]
He was a keynote speaker at BIGSOUND in 2024 and opening panelist in 2025 alongside Warner Music Australia President Dan Rosen, UNIFIED Music Group Founder & CEO Jaddan Comerford, and ARIA Charts CEO Annabelle Herd.[54]
Awards and recognition
In April 2020, Simons was named in The Music Network's Thirty Under 30 Awards, in addition to being voted Reader's Choice in a public poll.[55] Simons was quoted acknowledging the awards by saying, "I’m going to celebrate with a quarantini," in reference to the curfews and lockdowns related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.
In 2022, Vampr was listed in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.[39] In October 2024, Business News announced Simons as a winner of its Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards in the Digital Disrupter category.[56] The following month, Simons was subsequently recognised nationally as a winner of the Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the same category.[57]
In 2025, he was recognised for innovation impact by his alma mater, Swinburne University,[3] and was named second in Deloitte's 2025 Tech Fast 50, recognising the fastest growing technology companies in Australia.[58]
Selected works
With Buchanan
Solo credits
| Year | Song | Artist | Album | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "Careless Game" | Alfie Arcuri | Zenith | Co-writer | [7] |
| 2017 | "I'm Fine (feat. Travis Scott)" | Cyhi the Prynce | No Dope on Sundays | Co-writer · Producer | [6] |
| 2018 | "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow" | Tre Capital | Hero | Executive Producer (Album) · Co-producer · Mixer | [21] |
| "All Night" | Allan Kingdom | Peanut Butter Prince | Co-writer | [23] | |
| "Don't Wait" | |||||
| "Fall For You" | |||||
| "Stand By You" | EveryOneBand | — | Backing Vocals · Piano | [24] | |
| "Church of the Lonely" | Cobi | Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 2 | Co-writer | [26] | |
| "Basic" | King IV | — | Co-writer · Co-producer | [27] | |
| 2019 | "Medicine" | Jenny Queen | Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best | Co-writer | [28] |
| Film Score | Latter Day Jew | — | Writer · Music Producer | [29] | |
| 2024 | "My Sky" | Emmanuel Kelly | No Zodiac - EP | Executive Producer (Album) · Co-producer · Co-writer | [30] |
See also
- Vinyl Group
- Vampr
- Buchanan (band)
References
- ↑ "Joshua Timothy Simons". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Josh Simons". IMDB. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "2025 Finalists". Swinburne University. 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brandle, Lars (June 29, 2023). "Jaxsta Appoints Josh Simons as CEO". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Music Credits Company Jaxsta Rebrands as Vinyl Group" (Press release). Vinyl Group. 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Music Business Worldwide.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Cyhi the Prynce - I'm Fine Lyrics", Genius. 17 November 2017, accessed 17 November 2017.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Alfie Arcuri Releases New Album 'Zenith'" Archived 13 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Musician Network. 31 July 2016, accessed 2 August 2016.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Keith Urban Confirms 'Buchanan' As Opening Act For The 'ripCORD World Tour Australia 2016' With Carrie Underwood" Archived 13 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Musician Network. 14 July 2016, accessed 14 July 2016.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Josh Simons | Fun fact as we hit the halfway mark of the Australian leg of the tour: @Coldplay were the first band I saw live.", Instagram. 4 November 2024, accessed 14 November 2024.
- ↑ "Hampton Teen is the Reel Deal", Bayside Leader, 15 April 2008
- ↑ Simons, Josh (2021). "The Big Week". LinkedIn. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ↑ Precel, Nicole (10 May 2013). "Buchanan's Human Spring is released today". Bayside Leader. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ↑ "Pressure in an Empty Space by Buchanan", iTunes Store. 29 April 2016, accessed 22 May 2016.
- ↑ "PREMIERE: Buchanan – The Crayon Collection", theMusic.com.au. 20 January 2019, accessed 20 January 2019.
- ↑ "See Keith Urban and 'Whiplash' Star Miles Teller Duet on 'My Girl'", Rolling Stone. 25 July 2016, accessed 9 August 2016.
- ↑ "Chart Pack" Archived 17 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Music Week. 10 October 2014, accessed 12 October 2014.
- ↑ "FMQB: Radio Industry News" Archived 27 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, FMQB. 28 August 2013, accessed 30 August 2013.
- ↑ "Alfie Arcuri - Zenith", australian-charts. 14 August 2016, accessed 21 February 2022.
- ↑ "Top 200 Albums", Billboard. 9 December 2017, accessed 16 December 2017.
- ↑ "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums", Billboard. 9 December 2017, accessed 13 December 2017.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Premiere: Tre Capital Shares Video for New Single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow"", Complex. 25 January 2018, accessed 12 June 2018.
- ↑ "Allan Kingdom's "All Night" Might Be His Next Major Hit", Hypebeast. 19 May 2018, accessed 12 June 2018.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Josh Simons on Twitter", Twitter. 15 June 2018, accessed 15 June 2018.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Members", EveryOneBand. 1 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018.
- ↑ "Charts" Archived 19 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine, AIR. 12 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Cobi Expands Sound", Billboard. 20 September 2018, accessed 21 September 2018.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "BUCHANAN return after 2 year hiatus with new single featuring XZIBIT’S son, TRE CAPITAL", Amnplify. 23 November 2018, accessed 23 November 2018.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best - Jenny Queen", AllMusic. 22 March 2019, accessed 12 January 2021.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 "News", Latter Day Jew. 26 February 2020, accessed 16 January 2021.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 Brandle, Lars (January 19, 2024). "Coldplay Protégé Emmanuel Kelly, Vampr Launch Groundbreaking Campaign". The Music Network. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ↑ Downs, Sarah (April 2, 2024). "Song You Need to Know: Emmanuel Kelly, 'My Sky'". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
- ↑ McCabe, Kathy (July 20, 2024). "Top 30 Aussie Spotify stars and the royalty cash they make". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- ↑ McCabe, Kathy (October 26, 2024). "Coldplay's Aussie friend to debut special song". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- ↑ "Emmanual Kelly - No Zodiac - Vinyl (Coloured Vinyl Marbled Blue Red, 12", 33 RPM, EP) 2024 [r33384236] | Discogs". discogs.com. 25 March 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ↑ Downs, Sarah (November 4, 2024). "Coldplay Set New Attendance Record at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
- ↑ Terenceg (2024-11-16). "Coldplay break all-time concert attendance record at Accor Stadium". Accor Stadium. Archived from the original on 8 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ↑ "Best of 2017 - App Store", Apple Inc. 7 December 2017, accessed 3 January 2018.
- ↑ "Vampr passes one million users and confirms Q4 funding round", Music Week. 6 September 2021, accessed 19 March 2022.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 "The 10 most innovative music companies of 2022", Fast Company. 8 March 2022, accessed 19 March 2022.
- ↑ "#WeArePlay". Google. June 29, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ↑ Aswad, Jem (February 22, 2023). "Music Industry Moves". Variety. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ↑ "Billionaire reveals secret to making money out of music". Australian Financial Review. 2024-02-16. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ↑ Griffiths, Neil (2024-08-12). "Mediaweek to be acquired by Vinyl Group". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ↑ Brandle, Lars (2024-09-26). "Vinyl Group to Buy Funkified Entertainment". The Music Network. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
- ↑ Dredge, Stuart (2024-09-30). "Shopping spree for Vinyl Group as it buys Serenade and Funkified". Music Ally. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ↑ "Songtradr, WiseTech founder lift stakes in the Brag Media's new owner Vinyl Group". Business News Australia. 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
- ↑ "Soul Patts chairman puts the needle on Vinyl Group's $5.4 million raise". Business News Australia. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
- ↑ "Peloton underwrites $7.6m capital raise for Vinyl Group as music business eyes path to profitability". Mi3. 2024-12-17. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ↑ "Vinyl completes acquisition of Concrete Playground". AdNews. 2025-03-03. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
- ↑ "Vinyl Group, Songtradr Agree on $1.5 Million Revolving Credit Line". Variety. 2025-06-30. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
- ↑ "Music group Vinyl launches publishing house Vinyl Media". AdNews. 12 February 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ↑ "Empower yourself at TEDx". Macquarie University. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
- ↑ Bogan, Dae (March 24, 2023). "Dae Bogan's Music Industry Entrepreneurship Winter 2023 Class At UCLA Wraps With Student Startup Presentations". Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- ↑ "BIGSOUND Unveils Final Speaker Announcement For 2025 Event". theMusic.com.au. 2025-07-21. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
- ↑ "TMN 30 Under 30: Vampr founder Josh Simons wins Reader’s Choice", The Music Network. 16 April 2020, accessed 16 April 2020.
- ↑ Ogg, Matt (October 18, 2024). "Dr May Chan wins Melbourne Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award as Dental Boutique keeps thriving". Business News (Australia). Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ↑ Ogg, Matt (November 23, 2024). "2024 Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year revealed". Business News (Australia). Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ↑ Dedovic, Amila. "Healthtech, software and AI startups shine in Deloitte's Tech Fast 50". Business News Australia. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
External links
- Official website
- Josh Simons on IMDb
- Josh Simons discography at Discogs
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