For some people, “music is life.” For Allison Hagendorf, music actually is her life. Hagendorf is a national television personality and live announcer, music journalist, former “head of rock” at Spotify, and the host/executive producer of the Spotify original show, Rock This With Allison Hagendorf. She has hosted The Next, a CW Network live primetime music competition show, and was the main host on Fuse, including on shows like Top 20 Countdown and Grammys Live, traveling across the country covering national music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Warped Tour, SXSW Music Festival, and Lollapalooza. Hagendorf also has served as the live announcer for both the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards.
Recall, if you will, that “voice of God” voiceover announcer that you always hear during televised awards shows. Now, think of a time when you heard that voice, but God was a woman. That was probably Hagendorf.
But before she became a rock goddess on-screen and behind the mic, Hagendorf’s entertainment career actually began inside the music business, when she served as an A&R (Artist & Repertoire) executive at Sony Music’s Columbia Records and Epic Records. During those early years, she recruited new talent globally and oversaw the album production for many artists, including metal band Lamb of God, whose single “Redneck” received a Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance.” She even appears in the band’s video for that song.
With all of this in mind, when it came time for Hagendorf and her husband, musician manager Brian Jaffe, to choose a backyard sound system for their new Southern California home, audio quality was a major consideration.
“It was extremely important to me to have high-end audio,” Hagendorf said. “We plan on using this backyard as an oasis, a focal point for family entertainment, and also a place for my friends, most of whom happen to be musicians, to share their music with me in a way that will honor their work.”
It all started with wanting an epic soundbar. Then, after some pretty thorough research, the two music lovers reached out to Leon Speakers, a company that is highly respected as one of the pioneers in the soundbar category. The Ann Arbor, MI, manufacturer also stood out to Allison and Brian for its practice of hiring mostly artists and musicians
