Brand Building
What I do is really heavy on the development side. We need to build up the house. We build the house so there’s no question as to who the brand is or who this artist is. Because if we don’t build the house and we go out there like, “Oh, we’ve got a hot song, but there’s no foundation,” when something goes wrong the house is going to fall down. And something will go wrong.
Are You Ready?
What attracted me to TuneGO was wanting to spend time developing talent and then giving them to the attention of labels. Being on the label side for so long, you see everything and it’s like, “Okay, are these artists serious or are they joking?” Having that experience on the other side makes me go into situations with artists on this platform and say, “Let’s analyze this person and see if they’re in the right state.” For us to get to the next level, we need to make sure they’re ready. And if they’re ready, we’re going to put everything behind them. Sometimes, it’s up to the artist. When they want something, they come.
Becoming the Ultimate Industry Destination
I hope TuneGO grows and becomes the main resource for our industry. I want people to see that we care about the music and the art. I want it to be a hub where people look at it like, “Man, I need to go to TuneGO because their artists are ready.” If we create that hub, it could be a great resource for labels, sync companies, publishing companies, across the board. I want us to be the hot platform to go to that people think, “I know they have their artists right; they’re the best in the industry and we need to go there.”
Know Yourself
Know what kind of artist you are. Figure out what you want to be as an artist. Do research. Go through the history books and artists you feel you’re comparable to. Study their music but don’t follow or imitate their music—take some of the essence of what they created. You know yourself as an artist better than I do. I shouldn’t need to dictate to you what you should do. You should already know who you are. If I’m going to Burger King, I know I’m getting a Whopper. I’m not getting a Big Mac. So as an artist, who are you? That’s what a lot of artists don’t think about. You have to know yourself as a brand. I don’t want to have to figure it out. I can’t tell you what to do, because if I do then it becomes contrived. You become a puppet and no artist wants to be a puppet.
The Streaming Release Model
Radio’s not going anyplace, but streaming is only going to grow bigger. It’s going to get to a point where labels sign a bunch of artists and just put them out there. They’re going to use TuneGO as a resource for their analytics and they’re going to plug it into all the streaming services and keep releasing albums. It’s going to be less focused on spending eight weeks to build up a song at radio and then releasing the album two weeks later. It’s going to be more of just putting it out there and letting everything grow. If you put the music on a platform, eyeballs are going to see it and, once the music is out there, you can grow from there.
Music As Inspiration
I like to see art being put out there, seeing the results of the artist and how many people this art touches, how the music makes people feel. Music touches you and takes you to another feeling. If you’re having a bad day, you can listen to a song and it changes your whole day around. That keeps me going, because even through rough times I love music. As many times as I hate the business side, I love the music and I’m excited to see artists grow. And I’ve seen a lot of them grow. We’re changing people’s lives, and seeing the result is inspiring.
Years with Company: Less than one year
Clients: Jacob Saylor, Adam Roose, Brooke Toia.
For more information, visit tunego.com.
