Metatone and the Making of John Summit

This weekend I’ll be at Experts Only Festival in New York City, the first time John

Summit has ever curated and headlined his own festival. It’s also the first festival of its

kind hosted in NYC by an electronic artist. For John, this festival is another bold,

intentional move. For Metatone, it’s a chance to do what they do best: amplify his vision

and bring it into the world. Together their blueprint has always been doing what hasn’t

been done before.

Let’s go back to the beginning… The relationship between John Summit and Holt

Harmon and Parker Cohen of Metatone began back in 2018. John was collaborating

with another client of theirs, and the track they worked on unexpectedly blew up. Unlike

many DJs who just “show up with a USB,” John dug into why the song connected. That

curiosity caught Holt and Parker’s attention. They realized John cared about the

business as much as the music, the same way they did.

They sent him a management contract. Within minutes, John signed and returned it.

That instant trust and alignment set the tone for everything that followed.

When COVID shut the world down, many management teams pulled back. Metatone

did the opposite. Broke but relentless, they poured everything into Metatone, knowing

they couldn’t wait for stability to return. It was sink or swim and they chose to dive into

the deep end.

They brainstormed content, mapped out records, and lived on Zoom with John when he

was still in his parents’ basement. They hustled through drive-ins and park raves in

open markets like Texas and Florida with John. John built his profile online, risking

being “a little cringy” by putting himself out there when he was still a nobody.

That gamble mattered because in this scene, the ones who break through are the ones

willing to be vulnerable, to engage deeply with fans, and to build a digital presence

when music alone isn’t enough. For Holt, Parker, and John, authenticity isn’t a

tactic, it’s the foundation.

One of Holt’s lines at International Music Summit stuck with me: “You have 4x the effect

by people not going to your show than people going to it.”

That’s not just a clever quote. It’s their playbook. Metatone deliberately creates scarcity:

smaller venues, limited runs, once-a-year stops in each city. They trained fans to know if

you don’t grab a ticket immediately, you’re out.

I’ve felt it myself. I’ve set alarms, been on ticket sites the second they open, and still lost

out. That frustration is part of the design. It’s brilliant and it’s why every John Summit

show feels like an event you can’t afford to miss.

Metatone doesn’t repeat what’s been done. Once they see a lane crowded, they pivot.

That’s why John is not just “John Summit” but also Experts Only and Everything Always

(with Dom Dolla). Parker once said John gets bored doing the same thing over and over

and so do fans. Diversifying outlets keeps him motivated and audiences engaged.

That intentionality is why fans don’t just attend they chase the experience.

What makes this all even more compelling is the story of Holt and Parker themselves.

The two have been friends since sixth grade. In college, both knew they wanted to work

in music but weren’t sure how. During their first major festival, EDC Vegas in 2013, they

had a transformational moment: looking at each other, they vowed not to stop until they

were working with an artist on that stage.

Parker went on to hustle at Steve LeVine Entertainment in Scottsdale, working on

marketing, promotions, and talent buying while Holt gained label-side experience

releasing early records from rising names including John Summit himself. Both roles

gave them the skills to understand the ecosystem, but not the ability to do what they felt

called to: work directly with artists.

So, they took the leap. They saw EDM surging, shared a passion for house and techno,

and decided to build something different. Parker summed it up well: “The manager role

is a role you need to know a little bit of everything.”

From the beginning, Metatone positioned themselves as catalysts. They didn’t want to

be the artist they wanted to empower the artist. They only worked with people whose

vision and message they believed in. Availability and relentless communication became

non-negotiables.

Metatone has built a roster including Layton Giordani, Max Styler, Ranger Trucco, and

others each signed early and developed intentionally. They thrive in that space,

collaborating with artists to shape vision, brand, and career path. Holt and Parker call

themselves the “youth of management”, contrasting with the corporate, historic model.

What impressed me most was their values.

They remind John to rest. They encourage him to have goals outside music. They

protect him from burnout and advocate for balance, because they know authentic

creativity comes from more than constant output.

They practice radical transparency: looping in agents, labels, PR, so everyone stays

aligned. They don’t dictate. Instead, they catalyze the artist’s ideas and then scale them.

John steers the ship, Metatone makes sure it sails farther and faster.

By 2025, Metatone and Wasserman had already made John Summit a dominant force

in the U.S. The next step was international expansion. From Ibiza residencies to

surprise festival plays like Lightning in a Bottle, they’ve mastered the art of keeping fans

guessing. Just when you think you know their playbook, they flip it.

Before diving into this research, I admired Metatone. Now, I deeply respect them. Their

mix of grit, strategy, authenticity, and humanity sets them apart. Behind every great

artist is a great team.

Experts Only Festival in NYC is the latest proof: an artist bold enough to dream and a

team relentless enough to make it real. Metatone’s story with John Summit shows that

great artists aren’t built alone they’re built with visionaries who know when to push,

when to protect, and when to do what hasn’t been done.

Experts Only may be the label, but at its core it’s the reflection of Holt, Parker, and

John’s partnership: authentic, bold, and human-first. In an industry obsessed with speed

and virality, they’ve shown that what lasts is what’s intentional.