How I Fell Into the Music Industry
A year ago I started a business out of my college library in Scranton, PA. My digital marketing agency helped other student entrepreneurs and local small businesses leverage social media and ecommerce to drive sales.
Fast forward 12 months and I’m living in Los Angeles as a 22-year-old Talent Acquisition Manager at Krue, a startup poised to disrupt the music industry.
How?
I’m still trying to figure that out.
It all started with Periscope. I downloaded the app on Day 1 and fell in love with the intimacy of live streaming. I made some friends and started gaining a following, but my favorite broadcasts to watch were the awesome musicians playing in their living rooms around the world.
Two days before graduation, I had an idea to create the first digital marketing agency just for artists on Periscope. I called it Periscope Global — and soon changed it to PeriScout to avoid any emails from Twitter’s lawyers. Unlike traditional agencies, I offered services on a freemium model: free social media marketing plus premium paid services like merchandise and web design.
PeriScout quickly transformed from a marketing initiative to an artist management service without me even realizing it. I was discovering talent on Periscope and amplifying not only their reach, but their careers through marketing, PR, branding and even booking gigs in New York City. I was dealing with managers, agents, A&R and promoters and realized I had somehow created a brand with 100+ artists and some credibility in the quickly-changing music business.
My journey hit a high note at the Periscope Summit, the largest user-generated conference for Periscopers, where I organized and hosted 2 concerts featuring some of the top musicians on Periscope. The founder of the event, @Ryan_A_Bell, and I developed a strong friendship built on trust, vision, and helping others. Ultimately, this friendship changed my life.
Ryan was also working at Krue, a young startup that was building a live streaming platform just for musicians and music lovers. Based on our work together, Ryan convinced them to offer me a job as Talent Acquisition Manager. No interview, no résumé. Although I had just started a new job in Manhattan, this was a no-brainer. The only question was whether I would work remotely from my mom’s house in Queens or move across the country to Santa Monica, CA.
Today, my job is to make people famous. I Uber across LA and scour the Internet to find talent and invite them to the Krue Artist Discovery Program — a career accelerator for musicians that I closely modeled after PeriScout. I choose who gets featured on Krue.tv, who gets to monetize their channel, and who gets put on stage at the upcoming Krue Concert in San Francisco.
Why?
Because although I knew nothing about music management when this all started back in May, I wanted to make this new passion a reality. I read countless articles, watched hours of videos and fell in love with the idea of helping people pursue their dreams. Most importantly, I went out and did it. I spoke to artists to find out what they needed and I figured out a way to deliver. I have a horrible voice and never played an instrument (except for 1 year of trumpet in 6th grade), but evolving from a distant fan to a real friend of some of the most talented people I’ve ever met has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
So, hello music industry. It’s nice to meet you. I might be new around here, but you should get to know me.
