Julie Gordon, A&R Exec Who Founded ‘The Velvet Rope,’ Dies At 65

Julie Gordon, a former A&R executive who is likely best known for founding the music industry messages board and online gathering place The Velvet Rope, succumbed to cancer Oct. 2 at 65.

Her daughter, Ariel Gordon, wrote on Facebook: “The Jewish new year started at sunset last night and in Jewish tradition, a person who passes away on Rosh Hashanah is a tzaddik, a person of great righteousness. My mom, Julie Gordon, passed away peacefully shortly after sundown yesterday evening after a long and courageous fight with breast cancer.”

A friend told Variety that she died peacefully, surrounded by friends and family in her Florida home, “listening to Joni Mitchell.”

Gordon’s music industry career included roles at Famous Music Publishing, BMI, and The Enclave, an EMI-distributed label, where she worked closely with Belle and Sebastian. She published an A&R tip sheet for unsigned acts called Gordon’s Flash, but is undoubtedly best known for founding and moderating The Velvet Rope under the moniker “JGFlash.”

Gordon started The Velvet Rope in 1995, which had its roots in an AOL folder called “Record Industry Dirt.” Eventually, Gordon closed the AOL iteration of The Velvet Rope and found a host that didn’t require users to pay for the service and, most importantly, did not moderate content.

It was a mostly anonymous home for music industry workers and even members of the public, with occasional postings and rants from such figures as CeeLo Green and Courtney Love, gossip and oftentimes useful information and advice.

Gordon relocated from New York to Florida where she raised her twins, and left The Velvet Rope to focus on her cancer treatment. Gradually The Velvet Rope went into disuse as other social media platforms gained popularity.

After moving to Florida, Gordon continued to work, serving as director of operations at Israel Cancer Association USA, which raises funds for cancer research in Israel. She continued relationships via social media that were formed on The Velvet Rope, offering advice and mentorship to her vast circle of friends and chronicling her cancer battle openly and with compassion for others fighting the disease until nearly the end. Her last post was a photo of herself saying goodbye to her chemotherapy nurse, announcing her decision to enter home hospice.

“During her life, my mom had an amazing career in the music industry before ultimately raising my twin brother and I as a kickass single mom,” Ariel Gorden posted. “She was passionate about supporting cancer research and scientific advancement from organizations that properly use their money for good while she was alive. She had determined that this meant her organization of choice was the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. If anyone would like to make a donation, directing it to BCRF in her name would be beautiful: https://www.bcrf.org”