Steve "Renman" Rennie is an American talent manager, entrepreneur, and the founder of Renman Music and Business. He has been the manager for multi-platinum rock bandIncubus for the last 17 years and has guided them from the day they got signed to a record deal to being a hugely successful worldwide record selling and concert attraction. Steve Rennie has worked in the music business for over 30 years. He has a broad range of experience as a concert promoter, record executive, internet entrepreneur, and artist manager, and has also been deeply involved in the intersection of music and technology since the earliest days of the internet.
Career
Rennie began his music career working as a booking agent at USC. After dropping out of college in 1980 he decided to start his own concert promotion company called Steve Rennie Presents after being passed over for a job in the mailroom at William Morris because he had not completed college. For the next 2 1/2 years he promoted a number of up and coming 'new wave' bands including the Motels, The Plimsouls, Adam Ant, X, the Blasters, Mötley Crüe and INXS in secondary markets outside LA. On New Year's Eve 1983, he had his first big breakthrough in LA booking The Motels at the Beverly Theater in Beverly Hills, CA, getting the nod to promote show over the big promoters in town. By 1983 he had caught the attention of Southern California's leading concert promotion, Avalon Attractions, who offered him a chance to join the company which he accepted. He soon rose to the ranks to become the Senior VP at Avalon Attractions. In 1990 he left Avalon Attractions to start his first incarnation of REN Management Corporation, an artist management firm where he managed a number of top alternative bands including Dramarama, The Wonder Stuff, Ned's Atomic Dustbin,, and Primal Scream. In 1994, he accepted an offer from then Epic Records President and now One Direction Manager, Richard Griffiths, where he became Senior Vice President/GM.While at Epic Records he met and helped sign a young So Cal band called Incubus. While at Epic he took the band under his wing and helped them build the foundation of what became one of the most successful alt rock bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1998 Rennie left Epic to become one of the founding members of one of the pioneering internet music start-ups, ARTISTdirect. When Rennie informed the members of Incubus that he would be leaving Epic to join his friends Marc Geiger and Don Muller at Artist Direct, guitarist Mike Einziger asked Rennie to co-manage the band with their then manager, Mark Shoffner. Rennie accepted the offer and stayed at ARTISTdirect until 2000 when he left the company to manage the band on a full-time basis. Shortly thereafter, the band released their breakthrough multi platinum selling album MAKE YOURSELF. Over the next 14 years, the band went on to have a #1 Billboard Top 100 album and #2 Top 100 album and a dozen Top 10 alternative radio hits. During his tenure as manager the band built a huge live touring business around the world and one of the most dedicated and loyal fan bases in the music scene. In January 2014, the band and Rennie parted company. Today, all of Rennie's focus is towards his new venture Renmanmb, which is a mecca for all aspiring artist and music business professionals to come and learn the "real" music business from some of the smartest, most talented, and successful people in the music industry.
