Tom Coyne
Coyne at Sterling Sound in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Thomas J. Coyne
Born	(1954-12-10)December 10, 1954 Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 12, 2017(2017-04-12) (aged 62) U.S.
Occupation(s)	Mastering engineer

Website	tomcoyne.sterlingsound.com

Thomas J. Coyne (December 10, 1954 – April 12, 2017)^[1] was an American mastering engineer.^[2]

Early life and career

Coyne was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Union, where he graduated from Roselle Catholic High School in 1972.^[3] He attended Kean College where he received a degree in Commercial Design. Following college, Coyne's first job was at Dick Charles Recording where Lee Hulko, former owner of Sterling Sound, got his first job in the states after arriving from Thunder Bay, Ontario.^[4] In the six months Coyne worked at Dick Charles,^[5] he watched Dick master records on the lathe and soon began cutting his own after hours. Coyne then was hired at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs,^[6] assisting under Dominic Romeo,^[7] known for cutting 45s for The Rolling Stones, The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli and Dionne Warwick among others. For the next ten years, Coyne primarily cut records for dance bands with his first big record being "Ladies Night" by Kool & the Gang. In 1989, Coyne was hired by The Hit Factory where he spent another five years mastering mostly Hip-Hop and R&B records by artists such as Black Box, Billy Ocean, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. In 1994, Coyne was offered a job by Lee Hulko who now operated Sterling Sound.^[8] In 1998, Coyne, Ted Jensen, Greg Calbi, Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and the UK based Metropolis bought Sterling Sound from Lee Hulko.^[9]^[10]

Death

Coyne died on April 12, 2017, from multiple myeloma at the age of 62.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Awards and recognition

During his career, Coyne won ten Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award and had over 35 category nominations.^[14]^[15]

Grammy Awards


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2010	I Am... Sasha Fierce	Album of the Year	Nominated
2012	21	Album of the Year	Won
2013	"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"	Record of the Year	Nominated
2014	The Heist	Album of the Year	Nominated
2014	Red		Nominated
2015	Beyoncé		Nominated
	In the Lonely Hour		Nominated
	"Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)"	Record of the Year	Won
	"Shake It Off"		Nominated
2016	"Uptown Funk"		Won
	"Blank Space"		Nominated
	"Can't Feel My Face"		Nominated
	1989	Album of the Year	Won
	Beauty Behind the Madness		Nominated
2017	25		Won
	Purpose		Nominated
	"Hello"	Record of the Year	Won
	"7 Years"		Nominated
2018	"24K Magic"		Won
	24K Magic	Album of the Year	Won
	24K Magic	Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical	Won
2019	Colors	Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical	Won

Latin Grammy Awards


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2009	Ciclos	Album of the Year	Nominated
2012	Independiente		Nominated
2012	Déjenme Llorar		Nominated
2013	Corazón Profundo		Nominated
2013	"Vivir Mi Vida"	Record of the Year	Won
2014	3.0	Album of the Year	Nominated
2014	Más Corazón Profundo		Nominated
2015	Creo en Mí		Nominated
2015	Sirope		Nominated
2016	Conexión		Nominated
2016	"Duele el Corazón"	Record of the Year	Nominated

Studio

Sterling Sound is located in New York City, occupying the top floor of the Chelsea Market in the Meatpacking District. It was designed by Fran Manzella, FM Design.^[16]

List of works mastered by Tom Coyne

1970s

1979 – Music Box Dancer – Frank Mills
1979 – Delores Hall – Delores Hall
1979 – I'm Caught Up (In a One Night Love Affair) – Inner Life
1979 – Come Into My Life – Carol Douglas
1979 – Ladies' Night – Kool & the Gang
1978 – What About You! – Stanley Turrentine
1978 – Take a Look at Those Cakes – James Brown

2010s

2017 – Wa to Yo – Ai
2017 – Cayendo – Nicole Pernigotti
2017 – Time in a Vacuum – Franzone
2017 – Confusion – Fase39
2017 – Speak to Me – Amy Lee
2017 – Gang Signs & Prayer – Stormzy
2017 – The Valley – Betty Who
2017 – Fifty Shades Darker [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] – Danny Elfman
2017 – Dear Evan Hansen: Original Broadway Cast Recording – Benj Pasek / Justin Paul
2017 – Believer (single) – Imagine Dragons
2017 – Thankful – New Kids on the Block
2017 – Animal World 動物世界 – Joker Xue 薛之謙
2016 – Jyunjo Randoseru - Akai Ko-en
2016 – And the Anonymous Nobody... – De La Soul
2016 – Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande
2016 – Crazy Girl – Jordan White
2016 – 24K Magic – Bruno Mars
2016 – Boxes – Goo Goo Dolls
2016 – Ripcord – Keith Urban
2016 – Joanne – Lady Gaga
2016 – Starboy – The Weeknd
2016 – Sit Still, Look Pretty – Daya
2016 – Glory Days – Little Mix
2016 – Dream Machine – Tokio Hotel
2016 – Lady Wood – Tove Lo
2016 – "How To Be A Human Being" – Glass Animals
2016 – Fantôme – Hikaru Utada
2016 – Made – BIGBANG
2016 – Selamanya Cinta - Shila Amzah featuring Alif Satar
2016 – My Journey - Shila Amzah
2015 – 25 – Adele
2015 – Hamilton (Broadway Cast Recording)
2015 – Lesser Oceans – Fences
2015 – Daya – Daya
2015 – The Bass Bass (Trail Mix) – Franzone
2015 – Piece of Music – Franzone
2015 – Uptown Special – Mark Ronson
2015 – Confident – Demi Lovato
2014 – 1989 – Taylor Swift
2014 – Rose ave. – You+Me
2014 – Four – One Direction
2014 – Sex and Love – Enrique Iglesias
2014 – Sweet Talker – Jessie J
2014 – Trail – Franzone
2014 – My Everything – Ariana Grande
2014 – In the Lonely Hour – Sam Smith
2014 – The London Sessions – Mary J. Blige
2014 – Rise – Taeyang
2013 – Moriagaro – Ai
2013 – In limine – Silvia Tancredi
2013 – 3.0 – Marc Anthony
2013 – Super Best Records: 15th Celebration – Misia
2013 – BEYONCÉ – Beyoncé
2013 – Avril Lavigne – Avril Lavigne
2013 – Midnight Memories – One Direction
2012 – The Truth About Love – P!nk
2012 – The Heist – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
2012 – Overexposed – Maroon 5
2012 – Independent – Ai
2012 – Looking 4 Myself – Usher
2012 – Red – Taylor Swift
2012 – Songs of the Third and Fifth – The Mark of Cain
2011 – 21 – Adele
2010 – Body Talk – Robyn
2010 – This Is the Warning – Dead Letter Circus
2010 – "Mr. Saxobeat" – Alexandra Stan^[17]

References

^ "Coyne's obituary". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
^ Coyne, Tom. "Tom Coyne". Sterling Sound. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
^ Coughlin, Kevin. "Tom Coyne, Grammy-winning music engineer for Adele and Beyoncé, dies at 62", MorristownGreen.com, April 15, 2017. Accessed September 24, 2017. "Born in Elizabeth and raised in Union, Coyne graduated from Roselle Catholic High School and earned a B.A. from Kean University."
^ Verna, Paul (December 14, 2002). "Sterling's Reputation: Pushing The Sonic Envelope For 33 1/3 Years". Billboard. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ "Dick Charles Recording". www.discogs.com. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ "Mix Magazine". mixonline.com. October 2001. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ "Dominick Romeo". discogs.com. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ "Sterling Sound Billboard Celebrating 33 1/3 years in the business – Special Supplement S-1 – S-15". books.google.com. December 14, 2002. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ "Mastering Pros Plan NYC Studio". books.google.com. September 26, 1998. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
^ "Phil Demetro Interviews Mastering Legend Tom Coyne". Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2015.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ Miles Bowe (April 13, 2017). "Legendary mastering engineer Tom Coyne has died". Factmag. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
^ "Grammy-winning mastering engineer Tom Coyne dies aged 62 – Music Business Worldwide". April 13, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
^ "Tom Coyne, Grammy Award-Winning Mastering Engineer, Dies at 62". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
^ "Tom Coyne". Grammy.com. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
^ "Tom Coyne-Biography". sterling-sound.com. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
^ Manzella, Fran. "FM Design". www.fmdesign.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
^ Deliu, Cătălin (September 12, 2010). "Lansare: Alexandra Stan – Mr. Saxobeat" [Release: Alexandra Stan – Mr. Saxobeat] (in Romanian). HeavyRotation.ro. Archived from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2022.