Nadine Gelineau, a much beloved music industry veteran and founder/CEO of The MuseBox, a music marketing and branding agency, passed away Thursday (April 7) in Los Angeles at the age of 56, according to a notice posted by her family on Facebook.
Gelineau’s bi-coastal cross-border music career began in Ottawa, Canada as a DJ at CKCU before moving on to larger markets and climbing the music industry ladder in Toronto, New York City and Los Angeles. With an unrivaled passion for music, she helped promote legions of primarily independent artists while at the same time making life-long friends with musicians and associates alike who were taken with Genileau’s business acumen, sharp wit, generous spirit and easy laugh.
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“It isn’t just that Nadine was respected in the music industry, she was adored by the artists themselves,” said Carmelita Morales, Gelineau’s friend and former business partner at addVice when the two lived New York. “She touched people in a very human way that wasn’t just about the job. Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals wrote her a little song this week, that’s love.”
Gelineau began her music career as program director of Carleton University’s CKCU-FM in Ottawa in the mid-70s while DJing at area clubs such as Le Zinc and Banana Obscuri. In the late ’80s she relocated to Toronto working for CKUT-FM and the Canadian Broadcast Company’s Brave New Waves before joining BMG Canada as head of alternative and hip hop marketing.
Moving to New York City in the mid-90s, Gelineau worked as head of international marketing for Volcano/Freeworld Entertainment and moved to TVT Records for three years in 1997 where she worked with such artists as the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Guided by Voices and Juan Atkins as the label’s marketing director. In 2000 she became VP of marketing for Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures and then helped establish Girle Action Media’s marketing services department in 2002. She reunited with her Canadian countrymen in Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi in 2003 when she became founder and president of addVICE Marketing, an artist development agency started in partnership with VICE magazine. There she worked with artists that included The Killers, Bloc Party and The Dears as well as brands such as Sparks, Virgin Mobile and SCION.
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The MuseBox, started in 2006, was Gelineau’s own marketing agency with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Ottawa. Her many clients included The Neighbourhood, Echo and The Bunnymen, Human League and Royksopp among others.
In a recent article in the Ottawa Citizen, Gelineau attributed her success to her focus on achieving her goals in the music business. “I had a very clear vision and all the decisions I made along the way always circled around that vision,” she said. “With drive and determination and talent, I got there. There might have been some luck, but it was more determination and focus.”
In January, Gelineau was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer linked to a genetic mutation. A GoFundMe campaign on her behalf started by Morales quickly raised nearly $65,000 by 579 of her many friends, associates and the many artists she touched. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2012, Gelineau has been active in No Kill Los Angeles (NKLA), an animal rescue organization.