Alex Heiche of Sound Royalties On 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in The Music Industry

Relationships. The music industry is very tight knit. Plenty of people would take a meeting with me at the beginning, but it wasn’t until I developed real relationships where people could truly see who I was and what my intentions were, that people would actually work with me and the company.

As a part of our series about creating a successful career in the music industry, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Alex Heiche.

Alex Heiche, Founder and CEO of Sound Royalties, is a strong and outspoken music advocate, supporting the growth of songwriters, producers and artists, as well as highlighting the importance of musicians being compensated for their work while retaining their music rights and royalties. Alex possesses decades of experience in providing funds and finance raising strategies to music creatives, large annuity recipients, and professional athletes. He has worked with leading music industry professionals, including GRAMMY-Award winners, platinum recording artists and notable music industry executives in every genre, always with the utmost discretion and privacy.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a middle class family. My father was born in Germany and became the chief scientist for the U.S. Navy. My mom came from France. She was a French chef and was always cooking amazing dishes. It was a very culturally enriching experience with a lot of great food. As for me, I just liked playing music and riding my bike. I loved music and ended up playing about a half dozen instruments when I was a kid.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

As a student, I realized that music was my first love. But I also realized that it wasn’t my first language. By that I mean, I could understand the language of music, but I couldn’t speak it. For instance, I was in a high school jazz band. When I performed a solo, I was just imitating someone else’s solo. I could condition myself to play just about anything, but I wasn’t speaking the creative language of improvisation or able to create something new. I’ve always been in awe of people who could play music with their own voice. That left me somewhat frustrated with music, so I transitioned to software as a career. I spent a decade doing high-tech software and then moved to specialty finance for another decade. It wasn’t until 2013 that I returned to my love for music, my passion for music, and my awe of music creatives. That’s when I realized I really wanted to pursue the business side of music, where I could apply the knowledge I had gained in my career thus far and make an impact helping music creatives finance their dreams.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There have been countless people who have helped me. But one person that embraced me and the concept of Sound Royalties early on was Linda Moran. She’s the president of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has spent a lifetime in the industry. She was also a prominent executive at companies like Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group. She understands the industry and has watched it evolve. Pretty early on, she understood my vision for Sound Royalties. She took the time to learn about who I am and what my goals were. She strategically supported the vision and connected me with the right people. She also gave me sound advice and the direction I needed to really find my footing in the industry.

You probably have a lot of fascinating experiences. Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I’m always fascinated when I get to see the human side of a global superstar. Armando Pérez, also known as Pitbull, is one of our clients. He shared with me his story as a troubled teen, and how one day his high school teacher saw him rapping in front of a bunch of kids and encouraged him to follow his passion. But he’s not just a successful artist. He’s a successful entrepreneur and activist who’s investing in the education system, starting in metro Miami. He has a foundation called SLAM! that supports the expansion of tuition-free, public charter schools in underrepresented communities nationwide. Today, SLAM! serves about 7,000 students across 14 schools in four states. To me, one of the best parts of my job is seeing the human side of artists. That’s what really inspires me.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I came to Nashville blindly, not knowing the inner workings of how the music industry viewed financial institutions. I just dove in and met with entertainment bankers and private financial institutions to see if we could work together. And I look back and kind of laugh because banks were turning away 85% of the creatives that came through their door looking for funding. And private financial institutions were offering solutions that were no better than a pawn shop. But because of this blindness, I was able to keep pushing forward and offer something new. It took time for people to accept that we weren’t just another pawn shop for copyrights. Over time, the industry has come to realize that we aren’t a last resort option for funding, but rather a great solution for any type of creative, whether you’re a global multi-platinum superstar or a music creative just getting underway and developing a career.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

We started Sound Royalties with the concept of being a customer service driven platform. I’m really excited that we’re leveraging new technologies to expand our offerings. But I’m also proud that we have maintained our live, one-on-one approach to customer service. While it’s great that our clients can click on a button and get funding, they will still want to talk to someone live and understand how it’s going to impact their royalty streams and their income. We’ll always be a company with that human touch, no matter how advanced our technology platform gets.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

If you’re daunted by the prospect of failure, understand that every setback is a viable lesson that ultimately gets you one step closer to success. It’s not about being perfect from the beginning. Rather, it’s about having the right intent and understanding that setbacks are an inevitable part of the process.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in the music industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Know your “why”. Why are you in this industry? Why are you passionate about music? Why do you want to help creatives? If you know your “why”, the rest just comes naturally.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in The Music Industry” and why?

1: Relationships. The music industry is very tight knit. Plenty of people would take a meeting with me at the beginning, but it wasn’t until I developed real relationships where people could truly see who I was and what my intentions were, that people would actually work with me and the company.

2: Principles. Hold fast to your foundational principles and always have the right intent. For us, it was never about making money. It was about wanting to do the right thing. And that gave us time to get the business right. For instance, in the first year of Sound Royalties, we did a handful of deals at most. We weren’t in a rush. Rather, we wanted to make sure we were running the business the right way, and then grow it from there.

3: Passion. You’ll always question yourself, but if you love what you do, you’ll never stop. Passion is what keeps you moving forward, even when things get really hard.

4: Grit. There will always be people who won’t understand or don’t want to understand what you’re trying to do. A few years into our business, we agreed to give a substantial advance to a well-known songwriter. Right before we finalized the paperwork, the creative called me in tears. Her attorney had somehow convinced her we would take her copyrights. I said, absolutely not. I immediately got on the phone with that attorney and stressed that there are no penalties, no late fees, and that we never foreclose on the copyrights. The songwriter ended up moving forward with us and is very happy to this day, long after the transaction fully recouped. But we still have to battle negative perceptions and people not understanding or not wanting to understand what we do.

5: A desire to learn. The music copyright industry is very complex, with over 50 different income streams that creatives can collect on. It’s sometimes hard to keep track of everything. Just a couple of years ago, we were working with a global, multi-platinum superstar with an excellent business management team. But when he came to us, our team discovered he was failing to collect some of the royalties that were due to him. Even though he had a great team around him, some of these royalties were still slipping through the cracks. My point is that everyone in the industry should have a desire to learn about these complexities, understand the flow of music royalties, and continue to learn as things are always evolving.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? (You never know what your idea can trigger.)

I would ensure that all children have access to musical instruments to be able to express themselves. Actually, I am part of a fantastic nonprofit called Free Guitars 4 Kids. Our mission is to give away a million guitars to children, and we’re well underway. In fact, earlier this month in Nashville, we gave away 100 electric guitars and amps through a partnership with Gibson. We’re doing different giveaways across the nation regularly. Music is something that needs to be part of the education curriculum. Every child should be able to experience both the joy and the tangible benefits of owning a musical instrument, regardless of his or her ability to purchase one.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Chase the vision, not the money.” That’s how we approach every day at Sound Royalties. That’s how we built our business to the point where we are now in 18 countries and growing. If you chase the vision, the success will end up following you.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Clive Davis. He’s a legend in our industry. He’s a master of discovering and nurturing musical talent. While technology has gone a long way in automating and opening the doors to enable many more inspiring artists to create music and release music, I think it’s important that we don’t lose the skillset of nurturing and growing that talent. I want to understand his process and his approach to identifying and developing talent.

How can our readers continue to follow your work online?

https://www.instagram.com/alexheiche/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-heiche/

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!