Tom Coyne

Tom Coyne (born December 10, 1954, Union, New Jersey, USA – died April 13, 2017) was an American mastering engineer. Coyne's first job was at Dick Charles Recording Inc., where he first met Lee Hulko. In 1978, he began working at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs, where he specialized in dance and R&B throughout the 1980s. In 1989, he moved to The Hit Factory, where he established himself as an expert with hip-hop and contemporary R&B. In 1994, he moved to Sterling Sound. In 1998, Coyne, Ted Jensen, Greg Calbi, Murat Aktar (Absolute Audio co-founder) and the UK-based Metropolis Studios bought Sterling Sound from Lee Hulko. Coyne won multiple Grammy Awards for his work on recordings, including Adele (3)’s “21” and “25,” and Taylor Swift's original version of “1989.” One of his distinctive marks was the cents symbol ¢ (see image). When found in the runouts, please credit as "Lacquer Cut By [Runout Etching ¢] - Tom Coyne". except when DMM is found alongside the signature, in which case "Direct Metal Mastering By" should be used.