The Music Never Stopped
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” — Plato
This post was originally published on Mark Solon’s blog.
Back in 2011, I walked into Topspin Media’s office for the first time and this bearded dude in a faded brown tee shirt popped out of his chair, and with a big smile stuck out his hand and said “Hey, I’m Bob, you must be Mark.” So began a special friendship which culminated in our announcement yesterday of Techstars Music and I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Bob Moczydlowsky to the Techstars family as Managing Director of this incredibly exciting new program.
So first thing’s first. Music as a business? Let’s face it, it’s been a difficult industry for startups to succeed in. Actually, it’s been brutal. I learned that as an investor in Topspin where Bob, Ian and an insanely passionate and talented group of people created a company that was genuinely disrupting how artists connect with their fans. Yet we lost money in that investment. Simply put, the dynamics of the industry have historically made it difficult for startups to scale.
So why are we placing a bet on a rock pile where so many pick axes have been broken? Well, let’s start with the fact that more people listen to music every day than log into Facebook.
Music is unlike anything else, it’s the cultural scaffolding that unites people from all walks of life. It completely transcends socioeconomics and touches every human being in a deeply unique and personal way.
However, from a business perspective, the music industry is underinvested in for good reason. Less than 2% of mobile ecosystem dollars goes to the music industry and yet the average mobile user consumes close to an hour of content every day. There’s opportunity there!
We recognize that it’s going to be hard, but for the first time in history, we’ve been able to bring some of the most important players in the ecosystem together to collaborate and we’re willing to take a stand and say hey, this is important and we’re going to do this.
There’s new technologies and business models emerging, as well as new delivery & consumption paradigms which lead us to believe the industry is at a tipping point.
We’ve wanted to do a music accelerator for a long time, but believed that the key to doing it well would be a consortium model where the most important players in the ecosystem were deeply engaged.
That’s a tall task given the historic dynamics in the industry and there’s only a few people that could pull something like that off. Bob’s one of them. He’s universally liked and respected in the industry and that’s rare. He’s also grinded away in startups himself so he has a deep and genuine empathy for founders — perhaps the single most crucial characteristic we look for in our Managing Directors. More than anything though, like all of us, Bob never stopped being a fan. Take a moment and watch his brilliant TED Talk, Think Like A Fan.
Most importantly, there’s no way we could possibly attempt this without the leadership and forward thinking of our partners in this endeavor. I’m blown away that Warner Music Group, Sony Music, QPrime Management, Silva Artist Management, Era of the Engineer, Harmonix Music Systems, SONOS & Bill Silva Entertainment all came together to partner with us. It’s really hard to get your head around the breadth and depth of mentorship & access these startups are going to get.
There will be a lot more information in the coming weeks. LA is the perfect place for us to do this and we’re seriously stoked to launch another program in one of the most important and fast-growing startup communities in the world. Techstars is absolutely #LongLA. For startup founders who would like more information about the program or how to apply, please contact music@techstars.com.
Finally, if you’re wondering why there’s a big Stealie on top of this post, that’s simple. I’m a deadhead from way back and I’ve been waiting a long time to use one in a post. Seems like the perfect moment.
There’s a band out on the highway
They’re high-stepping into town
It’s a rainbow full of sound
It’s fireworks, calliopes and clowns
Everybody’s dancing…
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This post was originally published on Mark Solon’s blog.
