Episode 256
(FULL Episode) Understanding Audience Engagement in the Digital Age
In this episode Ralph Tashjion delves into the intricate relationship between technology and society, examining how advancements in digital innovations profoundly influence human interactions and cultural paradigms. We explore the multifaceted implications of these technologies, assessing both their benefits and potential drawbacks. Additionally, we engage in a critical discourse regarding the ethical considerations that arise in the wake of rapid technological evolution. Our discussion further investigates the necessity for individuals and communities to cultivate a discerning understanding of these changes to navigate the complexities they introduce. Ultimately, we aim to illuminate the pressing need for a balanced approach that harmonizes technological progress with the preservation of essential human values.
Takeaways:
- In this episode, we explore the profound implications of emerging technologies on society.
- We discuss the ethical considerations that arise with the advancement of artificial intelligence.
- Our conversation delves into the necessity of fostering a culture of responsible innovation.
- We highlight the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing complex global challenges.
- The episode emphasizes the critical role of education in preparing future generations for technological advancements.
- We examine the impact of digital transformation on traditional industries and job markets.
Transcript
From classics to curiosity and where melodies meet me.
Speaker A:Welcome.
Speaker A:Yeah, here we are.
Speaker A:Another episode.
Speaker A:Music Explored podcast.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Got it right this time, I hope.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's funny, but got that part right.
Speaker B:Good start.
Speaker B:You said I always point out the errors of your ways.
Speaker B:I'm one of those friends.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, you are.
Speaker A:But that's okay.
Speaker A:It keeps me on my toes and accountability is important, so I appreciate you for that.
Speaker A:That's a fact.
Speaker A:How are you today, my brother?
Speaker B:You know, me.
Speaker B:Oh, and Ralph.
Speaker B:Oh, sorry.
Speaker B:I mean, we're all brothers here, so it could have went exactly.
Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:Well, Ralph, how are you doing today?
Speaker C:Yeah, brothers, different mothers.
Speaker C:You know, that's what we are, right?
Speaker B:That's what we are.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker C:I'm doing great.
Speaker C:It's great to be here.
Speaker C:D.
Speaker C:Anthony, thanks a lot.
Speaker C:Thanks for the time, you know.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker C:This is my life.
Speaker C:I've been doing it for most of my life.
Speaker C:And, you know, hopefully I have a message that I can.
Speaker C:That resonates with some of your, Some of your fans.
Speaker B:I believe that you do, and.
Speaker B:Yeah, and we're looking forward to that.
Speaker B:First of all, I want to say that some fantastic artwork and memorabilia that you have in the background there.
Speaker B:Love it.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's a.
Speaker C:I'm in Mexico City and I spend half of my time here and then half in the States in San Francisco.
Speaker C:Our company's global Intercept Music is a global company.
Speaker C:So our Latin division is, is doing extremely well, as well as our.
Speaker C:As.
Speaker C:As well as our, you know, the rest of the divisions.
Speaker C:But yeah, I'll just give you a little bit of a.
Speaker C:I don't know if you guys.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's a turntable below there somewhere.
Speaker B:Oh, nice.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's the thing that's come all the way back and it's a, it's a modern day.
Speaker B:Must have.
Speaker B:Once again, I think I'm getting my.
Speaker C:Must have.
Speaker C:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker C:I, I, I, I.
Speaker C:Sometimes I, I wonder how much money I actually spend on it and then.
Speaker C:But, you know, it's a, it's just those things.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, of course, of course.
Speaker B:And the money, the money versus.
Speaker B:We talked about this recently, actually.
Speaker B:Just like tangible and being able to touch the record and all that.
Speaker B:All the senses that are sort of called into play when you're physically playing music from a record or eight track or whatever using there.
Speaker C:Well, Anthony, back in the day, you know, I remember working and running, you know, major record companies like, you know, you know, 20th century and at Motown and, you know, I spent Time at Island, which before it was the Island Def Jam.
Speaker C:And so, you know, the artwork was a huge part of the overall project.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah, Right.
Speaker C:Today it's, you know, a thumbnail and it's like.
Speaker C:But I remember, you know, we would have multiple meetings with art departments.
Speaker C:One, I remember I was dealing with a guy named Armin Boladian, classic guy out of Detroit, who discovered the Detroit Emeralds and the Funkadelic and the money that they would put into the artwork and they get a look and they would keep that look in that theme with all of their releases.
Speaker C:So when you were going through a bin, you were, wow.
Speaker C:Yeah, okay.
Speaker C:I'm familiar with that.
Speaker C:It was a big part of what it is that we did.
Speaker B:That's interesting.
Speaker B:I mean, artwork's a big part of it today in different ways.
Speaker B:Social media.
Speaker B:I know I'm jumping way ahead, but just as far as.
Speaker B:I wonder.
Speaker B:I wonder how, because you mentioned something that I don't know if I've necessarily thought about.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Recently is just the tie in and the connection, like, also sounds like telling a story through the art, keeping the brand or the artist, whatever, consistency through the artwork.
Speaker B:It's so fragmented now, and I don't want to again jump ahead too far, but I wonder if artists are keeping that in mind of, like, having a central theme behind artwork now.
Speaker B:Because you just see so many random photo shoots and pictures, it's hard to wonder if there's actually a concept behind or hit or.
Speaker C:That's such a great point.
Speaker C:That's such a great point.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And yet we have one artist that we have coming out, Maxi Priest, who's, you know, really out of the UK and he's really particular and we have.
Speaker C:He's actually created some of the art for his artwork.
Speaker C:So, you know, and then we could.
Speaker C:And what we've done is we, in our company, we've one of the only independent distributors that have created a direct link to Shopify.
Speaker C:So we can.
Speaker C:We can, you know, make that available, make posters available for his fans and, you know, it's really great.
Speaker B:Really neat.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That connection between art, artwork, I guess it really ties in all the senses because there's.
Speaker B:Well, it's not as tangible now unless you get merchandise and records and things.
Speaker B:But I still like the overall experience of taking in music, having something to touch, something to look at, something to listen to.
Speaker B:I guess records and things had a smell.
Speaker B:Plugs have a smell.
Speaker B:So I'm getting carried away.
Speaker B:Anyways, though, I want to jump back a little bit.
Speaker B:I know that you've had a lot of involvement over the years in different aspects of the music industry.
Speaker B:It's kind of hard to pinpoint a starting place, actually.
Speaker B:But maybe I'll let you choose.
Speaker B:Like, I know, maybe not all the way back to the beginning because you've done radio.
Speaker B:That was the thing I like to talk about.
Speaker B:You know, what.
Speaker B:What's.
Speaker B:Because radio's taking a lot of hits.
Speaker B:I don't know what the financials are, but what is, like, the tie in.
Speaker B:Like, what.
Speaker B:What do you.
Speaker B:What's the crossover in between radio and your experience there versus where things have changed, too, and the direction we've gone in the last 10, 15 years, you know, that.
Speaker C:That really ties into what's happening today.
Speaker C:It really does.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And, you know, I did have a radio background as a professional promoter working for record companies and.
Speaker C:And, you know, let's.
Speaker C:Let's.
Speaker C:Let's take a look at back then and let's take a look at today, and let's look at the artists and the opportunities and the discovery of music back then and the discovery of music today.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Because that's what this all comes down to.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker C:And what we were.
Speaker C:What happened back then.
Speaker C:And this is where I think radio made some huge mistakes.
Speaker C:I mean, there was a consolidation during, I believe it was the Clinton administration.
Speaker C:Prior to that, radio could own 7AMs and 7 FMS in the entire country.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:They deregulated that.
Speaker C:And so then there were the Clear Channels and all of these cumuluses, and they were owning hundreds of stations and thousands of stations and major medium and tertiary markets.
Speaker C:And then to consolidate and cut costs, they had regional programmers.
Speaker C:And what they were doing was programming to people like we were drones.
Speaker C:So if you didn't get it from them, you didn't get it.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:And what happened in that is a tremendous amount of the creativity went away.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Because they didn't have time to listen to records, to new records, where back in the day when it was, you know, really independent and there weren't these conglomerates that controlled everything.
Speaker C:I remember a time when radio stations used to look for records that maybe were even from another country or from the uk Right.
Speaker C:Competitors didn't know what the hell it was, and there was no Shazam.
Speaker C:And they used that as a competitive edge and was a discovery of music.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Well, that just went, you know, by the wayside from the consolidation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Now.
Speaker C:Now what do we have, man?
Speaker C:We have so many ways to discover music.
Speaker C:I'm a Latin jazz fanatic.
Speaker C:I could do a Latin jazz channel on Spotify or whatever.
Speaker C:And I'm going to get turned on to tracks that I never even knew of or heard artists that I never heard of before.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:They go into my playlist.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:But I will give you the best example that I have.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:So a few years ago, and I'm.
Speaker C:I'm in a car in Boise, and my granddaughter's with me.
Speaker C:She's 13, 15, whatever she was at the time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we're going to see her sister, and she says, you know, do you mind if I play my music?
Speaker C:And I think to myself, oh, God, what am I in for now?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:What am I going to be subject to?
Speaker C:But I want to hear because my whole life has been about, how did you discover it?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:How did you find it?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:So she plugs in her phone and she starts playing doo wop myself.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Now, how did you get them?
Speaker C:Well, I saw it on YouTube and I thought I heard something and it recommended something, and then it recommended something else.
Speaker C:And so I created a.
Speaker C:A doo wop.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I thought to myself, we have arrived.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:We have arrived.
Speaker C:Because you could really discover music in ways it was never possible before.
Speaker C:And that's a great thing.
Speaker B:That is a great, major thing.
Speaker A:Wholeheartedly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I also think that, like, you had touched on radio, should go back to that.
Speaker A:Curating a audience based on music that the DJs curating and.
Speaker A:And maybe have a little bit of a personality because everything is so boring now.
Speaker A:They're really gossipy.
Speaker A:Prank Callie.
Speaker A:Radio is really, really, really bad.
Speaker C:You're absolutely right.
Speaker C:And, you know, somebody will do it and they'll kick ass, and then everybody will follow.
Speaker A:Follow.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:That's how this market works.
Speaker A:Even with music like you touched on.
Speaker A:It's a lot of follow the leader.
Speaker A:If so and so did this to get on the radio, I'm a sound like so and so.
Speaker A:So maybe I get a better chance on getting on the radio or getting popular or whatever.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I really don't know what radio plans to do in the next five years, but I'm very interested because watching that go from the powerhouse to what it is now is very, very interesting.
Speaker C:And as a music executive, I read some publications every day, and one of the ones I read is Music Business Worldwide.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:It's out of the UK and it's a global music publication.
Speaker C:And today in Music Business Worldwide, there was an article how Cumulus went from the NASDAQ markets down to the over the counter markets.
Speaker C:I mean, that's a major drop in financial market markets.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think they're in real trouble.
Speaker C:I don't know what they're gonna do.
Speaker C:I really don't.
Speaker A:It's gonna be interesting to see how that goes moving forward.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Do you, do you obviously had the foresight or saw something that made you want to start Intercept Music?
Speaker A:So I'm curious, what was the pivotal moment that inspired you to found Intercept Music?
Speaker C:D that's the simplest question in the world to answer.
Speaker C:I lost a lot of money the old way.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:So to brief about it, I saw this coming and I started, you know, I was releasing records the traditional way and had deals, the universals and the emi.
Speaker C:And, you know, I was waiting nine months for money to come and then they're holding reserves and then they're deducting manufacturing and storage costs on the floor of the plant.
Speaker C:And I was like, oh my God, this ain't working.
Speaker C:And then there were some of the newer companies that were getting started and they were paying artists.
Speaker C:You know, every month I go, this.
Speaker B:This is done the new way.
Speaker C:So I released a couple of records, had a top 10 Latin record with a daddy Yankee protege named Miguelito.
Speaker C:We went top 10 on the Billboard charts.
Speaker C:It cost me about a hundred thousand dollars at radio just to promote that, to get it to that point.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker C:And I think we sold about 2,000 CDs.
Speaker C:I said, that's it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:Either we take our toys and go home or figure out a way to.
Speaker B:Reinvent ourselves or one more time, the next iteration.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:Yeah, that, that's very interesting.
Speaker B:You said a few things there that I'm kind of stuck on in my mind.
Speaker B:So I want to ask you this too, just based on, first of all, is radio still relevant as far as breaking artists?
Speaker C:Well, you know, I think yes, but, but okay, at the end, not in the beginning.
Speaker C:So if you build your socials and you build online and you create this solid base as an artist and you develop streams and you, you, you build your career that way, radio might play a role at the end.
Speaker C:Let's look at it like Coca Cola.
Speaker C:Why would Coca Cola buy advertising on radio?
Speaker C:It's just top of mind.
Speaker C:They just want to keep their name out there.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:You've got to do all the other work before then.
Speaker C:Radio may come in last, may come in.
Speaker A:Because you do also want to have that leverage and power and proof of concept before you go there.
Speaker A:For leverage because.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker C:D.
Speaker C:They're looking at that.
Speaker C:Well, they're.
Speaker C:Everybody's going to say to you, what are your socials?
Speaker C:How many streams you remember every time they play a record that is not gonna appeal to their audience.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker C:Somebody's pushing a button.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:They're moving on.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So now is that 100k I think you said that you spent to get that radio time for the artists.
Speaker B:Is that now like a thing that's obsolete?
Speaker B:Is it now just based on social proof?
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker C:You know what, that's another.
Speaker C:Anthony.
Speaker C:They're still paying that kind of money out there.
Speaker A:Oh, that's why image at the end.
Speaker C:Like a major label might pay that later on.
Speaker C:They're not going to pay for radio.
Speaker C:For radio.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You mentioned something.
Speaker B:D.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker B:I don't know if you're.
Speaker B:I don't know what the answer is.
Speaker B:I assume that there's a lot of buying the social proof maybe as it develops.
Speaker B:I don't know if that is something that is a hush hush thing or if it's just known or if it's actually better to stay away from that.
Speaker B:Do you have any advice on that for an artist?
Speaker B:Should they go out and as they build buy as well?
Speaker C:Well, I think, you know, look, it's.
Speaker C:It's a combination of things and.
Speaker C:And it's a.
Speaker C:It's a timing thing.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Sometimes you may need to go out and boost things.
Speaker C:However, whatever you do to boost something or buy into a program or do some Spotify ads or some whatever it.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker C:If that.
Speaker C:Just doing that is not going to make your career.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Let's go back to the fundamentals of this.
Speaker B:Yes, please.
Speaker C:Which are two things.
Speaker C:Which is the number one thing is the music.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And if you can't connect with your fans, if you can't build your socials, I don't care how much money you have, you're not going to connect.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker C:It's got to be.
Speaker C:The song has got to be first.
Speaker C:The music has got to be first.
Speaker A:I agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker C:Music is something that resonates within us.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:It's not like going to Macy's and they put a bunch of displays of sport coats out there.
Speaker C:Well, you look.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like that one.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You gotta feel something with it.
Speaker C:So, you know, I think young artists need to make sure that their music is competitive as it possibly could be.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And focus on that.
Speaker C:And they have to build their socials.
Speaker C:And their socials are the key to taking things to the next level, whether it's streaming, whether it's selling merchandise, whether it's getting gigs.
Speaker B:True.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Big.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's, that's.
Speaker B:That those are key points.
Speaker B:Makes a lot of sense.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:And there's one thing I always wonder about, too, because you mentioned the music, which is huge.
Speaker B:More so these days.
Speaker B:Well, I guess it appears that we're just taking in music, you know, through videos, through streaming, through radio, but there are still a lot of people and a lot of tickets being sold for live shows.
Speaker B:Is there a point of artist development or should it be a constant from the beginning where people are musically being.
Speaker B:Getting themselves prepared for live audiences?
Speaker B:Like, where does that fit in today versus even years back?
Speaker C:You know, that that's a.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker C:It's something that's come up on a few of these podcasts that I've done, and that.
Speaker C:That's probably as good as things are today.
Speaker C:With respect to discovering music.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:That artist development piece is not necessarily there.
Speaker C:With respect to.
Speaker C:To the major record companies.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker C:Yeah, they don't.
Speaker C:They, they, they.
Speaker C:It's too expensive.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker C:Everybody seems to have.
Speaker C:One of the problems today is everybody seems to have the attention of a fruit fly, and they just go from one thing to the next, and if it doesn't happen instantaneously.
Speaker C:Back in the day.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:There was something.
Speaker C:It was development.
Speaker C:And if you believed in an artist, you'd stuck with them for a period of time.
Speaker C:And what's crazy about it is today the biggest grossing artists out there are the ones from back in the day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Tour still.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:In terms of gross.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:And you even see some of the newer ones falling apart.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You see the Beyonce's falling apart.
Speaker C:You see some of these other ones.
Speaker C:The, the, the.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:The are just.
Speaker C:They're not.
Speaker C:They can't sell tickets.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That's happening a lot.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:Or artists thinking that they could do venues that they're probably not ready to do.
Speaker C:Probably.
Speaker A:That's an easy, humbling experience as well.
Speaker C:That's another real problem.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My gosh, that's.
Speaker B:That's interesting.
Speaker B:I want to ask you here because as we're talking, I'm like, my mind's going all over, but what I'm getting from you is not only just your wealth of experience and knowledge, but just a ton of passion.
Speaker B:And this is just a question for me.
Speaker B:I'm so curious.
Speaker B:How have you kept that alive over the years and through all the changes?
Speaker B:Or has it come and come and gone?
Speaker C:You know, I think.
Speaker C:You know what, you have to keep going forward in life.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You have to keep going forward.
Speaker C:You have to think of ways to reinvent yourself.
Speaker C:You can't go through life thinking negatively.
Speaker C:You've got to think positively.
Speaker C:My father taught me this as a young, young man.
Speaker C:Always look forward.
Speaker C:Don't dwell too much on the past.
Speaker C:And, you know, I just have that.
Speaker C:It's in my genes, I guess.
Speaker C:It's in my DNA.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:When I started this company, it was like, at the last thing that I was gonna do, and I.
Speaker C:But one of the beautiful things about was that I met my partner who's a tech genius, and I want to make sure that I'm really clear with people here.
Speaker C:I failed miserably at this in the beginning until I met my partner, Todd Turner, who was able to build a platform that we think today at Intercept Music is technology with transparency.
Speaker C:We think we have the most comprehensive reporting platform, customer service platform in the independent distribution music world.
Speaker C:But it wasn't possible without him.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But it's a mindset, you know, you've got to believe in yourself and you've got to keep moving forward.
Speaker C:You know, one of the things that I'm going to share, I'm sure you have a lot of young people that, that, that.
Speaker C:That are following you guys.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, one of the other big, big, big transformations in my life, and I share this really proudly, was getting sober, and that changed my whole outlook in perspective.
Speaker C:Had I had not done that, I don't know if I would have had the drive to keep doing this.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:And by the way, in my career, in my humble opinion, this is the greatest thing that I've ever done.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:Is this independent distribution platform.
Speaker B:It's incredible.
Speaker C:So to young people that are out there, you know, stay focused, believe.
Speaker C:Don't give up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, you.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You know, sometimes the.
Speaker C:The best thing is yet to come.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And this is a journey.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:This isn't an instant gratification thing.
Speaker C:It's a journey.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:You got to enjoy the process and you got to enjoy.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker A:I totally agree.
Speaker C:Faith.
Speaker C:You've got to have faith, whatever that is.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:You have to have faith to keep moving forward, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And thanks for sharing that, by the way.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:And I'm sure it helps somebody listening for sure.
Speaker B:Because there's so many distractions.
Speaker B:There's so many things that people get caught on, caught up on in Life, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, whatever it is.
Speaker B:Habitually, things that just kind of can make you feel trapped.
Speaker B:You're pushing ahead 10 steps, but there's that thing that holds on to you that feels like it's pulling you back.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's invisible because it's right here, but because you're so used to it, you feed into it in one way or the other.
Speaker B:So I do appreciate you sharing that with us.
Speaker B:Doriki.
Speaker B:I, I love the tech stuff, but do Ricky, I don't want to say nerds out, but you kind of do.
Speaker B:You love it.
Speaker B:You, you love, love it.
Speaker B:So I want to let you take over.
Speaker B:You mentioned your partner bringing in the tech.
Speaker B:I'm curious about that.
Speaker B:And I'm sure the Ricky's ready to go.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:I, I, I, I definitely love to geek out on, you know, innovations and tech.
Speaker A:Yeah, I really think it's fascinating what it's doing to the music industry.
Speaker A:And I know for someone that's knee deep in it that you obviously have your ear to the ground.
Speaker A:I'm curious for a couple things.
Speaker A:Why do you think a lot of people are so scared?
Speaker A:This is actually not tech related, but, so forgive me, but why do you think so many people are in the industry scared to be transparent when it comes to the numbers and what you mentioned you're doing that nobody else really do.
Speaker A:And to me, what you said was like, wow, finally someone is talking about transparency, which is something that's really rumbled up in the last little bit because of the Drake and Kendrick situation with Universal.
Speaker A:So I'm always curious as to why nobody believes in transparency in the music industry and was wondering if you could maybe elaborate on that.
Speaker A:And as to what drove you to do, to be so transparent with your artist question.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:This is, this is the, this is the last project for me.
Speaker C:And for me, what's really, really important to me is to legacy.
Speaker C:I don't know if any of that means anything because, you know, once you're gone, you're gone.
Speaker C:People don't really care.
Speaker C:But this is an industry that has been really, really good to me.
Speaker C:Yes, I've had, you know, real, some, some things that are not too pretty and I've had some great things over the course.
Speaker C:And it's a, it's an industry that has, it's always embraced me, that's always given me another chance.
Speaker C:And to me, this is a, this is what I feel that, that, that I'm really proud of, to be able to give back to an industry and young people.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker C:Really good.
Speaker C:To me, the, the, the, the numbers game, like, you see with some of the majors, we don't, I don't want to talk about anybody, but they've always played a shell game with all of that.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it's not just with the reporting.
Speaker C:The reporting might be just the, the, the surface of it right behind that reporting.
Speaker C:What have they charged back against that artist?
Speaker C:I mean, did they charge executive dinners where they boug, you know, 500, 500 bottles?
Speaker C:One.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:They're advertising.
Speaker C:That was bought along the way and it wasn't approved by the artist.
Speaker C:What we've done is given you an opportunity to control your own destiny.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it's been a game that they've played.
Speaker C:I just hired an executive.
Speaker C:We just hired an executive from Universal here in Mexico.
Speaker C:And he said it was one of the most difficult things that they ever had was getting artists actual statements that they were comfortable with or, you know, ours is on our dashboard and it's so clear that you don't need it.
Speaker C:You don't need an accountant to figure anything out.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or an auditor to.
Speaker C:Yeah, you don't need anything.
Speaker C:It's there.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's, it's one of the darkest things.
Speaker A:The, the shifty music industry.
Speaker A:Count accounting.
Speaker A:Hollywood's known for it too.
Speaker A:Just entertainment in general.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Weird accounting.
Speaker A:Weird books, you know, a lot of secrecy and a lot of almost smoke and mirrors, if you will.
Speaker A:And now with the bots into streaming, we're seeing a lot of, you know, major streaming sites acknowledging that they had to remove some bots out of their, out of their system.
Speaker A:And that, to me was something that we've kind of understood.
Speaker A:It's probably, you know, the streaming version of Payola or we think that there.
Speaker C:Might have been something else, some sort.
Speaker C:But you know, what you're doing, what they're doing, really what they're doing ultimately is they're hurting themselves.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker C:You know what, guys?
Speaker C:I don't care what anybody says.
Speaker C:You gotta live in the real world.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Part of the real world.
Speaker C:You have to build something organically.
Speaker C:Just fooling yourself, otherwise it's just true.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's good money after bad.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're right about that.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's.
Speaker A:That to me.
Speaker A:Sorry, I, I just wanted to ask somebody like yourself what's happening all the time now?
Speaker C:You even mentioning anytime there's somebody that's going to try to Make a buck.
Speaker C:They're going to figure out another way to game the system.
Speaker C:You know, it's always been that way.
Speaker C:It'll probably be that way till the end of time.
Speaker C:And whatever the future brings, you know, there's going to be somebody along the way that's going to try to game the system.
Speaker A:Agreed.
Speaker A:And speaking of gaining the system, a lot of people have been leveraging AI for the advantage of leveraging the system.
Speaker A:How do you, how do you balance out that, that blending of human creativity with AI powered tools, you know, does, does intercept really worry about that part of AI kind of taking over creativity, taking over algorithm, you know, whatever it could be, but just does intercept that have a, a balance between right now the artist and AI powered tools.
Speaker C:What we have are a couple of third party systems that we run things through and if it's AI generated music.
Speaker A:We won't distribute it so you can detect it.
Speaker C:However, we use AI to help create bit marketing plans.
Speaker C:We use AI to help create a strategy for buying advertising with respect to a specific project.
Speaker C:Based on, based on the genre.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Based on the amount of users the actual artist has and how many monthly listeners they have on Spotify, AI could help us create something that's intelligent.
Speaker C:Based on where you are today, that makes great sense.
Speaker C:So then you can then go to the next step as you, you build from that point.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:It's really silly to do something that you're not ready for as an artist in your career.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Look, we have to get our hands around AI we our arms around AI I, I, it would be really disappointing.
Speaker C:AI can't replace human creativity.
Speaker A:I I wholeheartedly.
Speaker C:Yeah, we can't allow that to happen as a society.
Speaker C:And if we do, we're in a heap of, you know what.
Speaker B:Yep, that's true.
Speaker A:It can facilitate, but yeah, like you said, it can never replace tool.
Speaker A:You guys have definitely found a good balance of, you know, letting the human do the creativity and then using AI for all the stuff that, you know, the artist doesn't really need to concern themselves.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:In the sped up and the slow down and the manipulation of all of these things.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And it's only to create some money and they make some money for themselves and then they're gone.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:It's not, it's not really, it's not, you know, we cannot lose the soul and the passion of the music and the creativity.
Speaker C:If we do that as a society, we have a real problem.
Speaker A:If AI is able to mimic that in any way, shape or form.
Speaker A:You're right.
Speaker A:We're in.
Speaker A:We're in big, big trouble.
Speaker A:Because I really feel the soul is what separates us.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The human.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's so true.
Speaker B:But I'm glad to hear you mentioned, like, using AI as a tool as help to do some of those things and not as, you know.
Speaker B:Well, I was going to say crutch, but really, fraud.
Speaker B:I mean, if you're.
Speaker B:If it's not your body of work, then I.
Speaker B:Oh, it is fraud.
Speaker B:As an artist, as a musician.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's fraud.
Speaker B:It's a tool.
Speaker B:It's not something that replaces you and makes you look.
Speaker B:When it's not your work.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:If you're doing that, please stop right now.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:I have a.
Speaker B:I want to ask you about this because I know you as a.
Speaker B:I guess as a.
Speaker B:You know, as a company in this digital age.
Speaker B:What are.
Speaker B:What does artist development and even like, seeking or what's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker B:Like, finding artists.
Speaker B:What does that look like now in this day and age versus before.
Speaker C:Discovering of artists?
Speaker A:I think what he wants is like, how does an artist get on your radar to the point where you want to have a working relationship with them?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Really?
Speaker B:Discovery.
Speaker B:I was trying to find that one.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:That's a great question.
Speaker C:Okay, here's where we are as a company.
Speaker C:Here's where Intercept Music is as a company.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:We have.
Speaker C:There are levels of, you know, independent distributors.
Speaker C:Believe me, we have competitors.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:We won't mention them.
Speaker C:They all do their job.
Speaker C:And a lot of the independent distributors play a role.
Speaker C:I mean, they.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:They have.
Speaker C:We're at about 49% of overall distributed music right now is going in the independent area.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:What we have done to separate ourselves a little bit a lot from our competitors, and we like to look at ourselves as somewhere in between the.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker C:In the sole independent distributors and majors.
Speaker C:Right, right.
Speaker C:We're like somewhere in the middle.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:You just can't sign up with us.
Speaker C:You can't.
Speaker C:You know.
Speaker C:Okay, well, I'm going to sing my version of Happy Birthday and I want my mom to see it.
Speaker C:That I have a song on Spotify.
Speaker C:Right, right, right.
Speaker C:When there's, you know, tens of thousands of songs coming out a day.
Speaker C:We're somewhere in the middle.
Speaker C:You kind of have to qualify to get with us.
Speaker C:You submit your music.
Speaker C:If the music is.
Speaker C:We're not here to ANR or Judd.
Speaker C:We're here to just make sure that the music is of quality.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:The recordings are right.
Speaker C:That it's just gotta flow and it's not.
Speaker C:It's a real recording.
Speaker C:We do that manually.
Speaker C:We do that ourselves.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:And you just submit to us and.
Speaker C:And if we decide and you've got some socials and you've done a little bit of work, we're not interested in somebody that's not work, not in helping themselves.
Speaker B:What's the point there?
Speaker C:Yeah, right.
Speaker C:If you got, you know, 5,000 in your followers on Instagram and you know, those are all the kind of things that we look for to qualify an artist and.
Speaker C:Or a label to distribute their music, then.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:We also have marketing tools to help you move those things along.
Speaker C:And that's critical.
Speaker C:Without the marketing tools, without marketing, you're just another number.
Speaker C:And there's millions of tracks.
Speaker C:Tracks being released a month and, you know, how do you rise above the noise?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:That's something that artists need.
Speaker A:I'm glad you brought it up because artists really need to understand if you build it or write it or create it, they will not necessarily come.
Speaker A:And you need a marking strategy.
Speaker A:It just like any business, you.
Speaker A:No one knows you exist.
Speaker A:You need to have a strategy to get your name out there.
Speaker A:And I'm glad you bring it up.
Speaker A:And I wish more artists understood.
Speaker A:Yes, creativity and the art is important, but delivering and distributing that art is equally as important, especially if you're trying to make a living out of it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You could have the greatest song ever written.
Speaker A:If nobody hears it, it doesn't matter, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It doesn't count wholeheartedly.
Speaker B:And I guess it doesn't count if only you call it the greatest song either.
Speaker C:Because if you know artists, right there, the last song they did is always the greatest song.
Speaker C:That's just the way that it is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And that'll never change.
Speaker C:But you know, it's the one that the people can.
Speaker C:That resonates with the folks out there, you know, for sure.
Speaker B:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker A:Do you.
Speaker A:Do you see any or.
Speaker A:Because like, again, I know you're really into the industry and obviously tech is your.
Speaker A:One of your major differentiators.
Speaker A:Is there any technology that you are hearing about that excites you or any emergencing emerging technologies that you think are really going to do more for the independence?
Speaker C:You know, I think it's evolving all the time.
Speaker C:We do have a tool that we have that we have on our platform that I think is really, really great.
Speaker C:And I think that besides the fact that on our platform that you can, you know, create your own store.
Speaker C:You make 30% of the gross of every sale.
Speaker C:So that's equivalent to three or four thousand streams on a T shirt.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, not bad.
Speaker C:Not bad.
Speaker C:And you're not putting any money up front.
Speaker C:You're not advancing any money, you're not inventory.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Everything's print on demand.
Speaker C:Another thing that we've done as a technology that.
Speaker C:Because here's a problem with artists, let's just break it down and call it for what it is.
Speaker C:They don't do anything, they create the music.
Speaker C:But when it comes to the marketing side, Dee, like you were mentioning before, they get lazy.
Speaker C:Well, we have a tool that'll allow you.
Speaker C:If you have somebody that's familiar with social media and using AI, we have a tool that allows you to use AI, create posts that you can edit based on the lyrics of your song based on different things that you plug into it.
Speaker C:And then we also have a calendar where you could schedule those songs and do it.
Speaker C:Those posts and do it a month in advance.
Speaker C:So you constantly, consistently have something coming out in order to help communicate with your fans.
Speaker C:Because today more than ever before, you have an opportunity to have a direct relationship with your fan necessarily exist years ago.
Speaker C:And that's what fans want.
Speaker C:They want to know how you feel.
Speaker C:They want to know what makes you tick.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we have.
Speaker C:There are technology things that we're using that help with that and we're really, we're proud of that.
Speaker C:That and it's.
Speaker C:It works incredible.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's interesting point too because I know when you think about it, social media can be like this sometimes it's a bad word for me.
Speaker B:It's just everywhere.
Speaker B:It's everything but that direct relationship.
Speaker B:If you use it right, you can foster direct relationships and build super fans.
Speaker B:Which is, which is really different.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you can really see in real time, get real time response on like day to day things.
Speaker B:Do you have maybe a formula or just a number really?
Speaker B:How often people should be.
Speaker B:Or artists should be posting or engaging with their fans on social media platforms.
Speaker C:I couldn't.
Speaker C:I think it needs to be consistent.
Speaker C:I think and you have to use discretion and you have to use.
Speaker C:You want to be somewhere between, you know, getting your message across and not being overbearing and too much where you're nuisance.
Speaker C:So that, be that, that just used, you know, here's a term that would.
Speaker C:That I like to use common sense.
Speaker C:You know, let's just use some common sense.
Speaker C:On, you know, how you're going to approach your career and how you're going to approach your.
Speaker C:Your posting.
Speaker C:And if you're overboard, it's probably going to have a negative effect.
Speaker B:Yeah, he keeps smiling.
Speaker B:We've seen artists who have posted three, four times a day consistently and get muted on social media because of it.
Speaker C:I don't know if that's the way.
Speaker B:We've also had a few people who I'm sure just googled common sense as well.
Speaker B:That doesn't say anything about where you are in life.
Speaker B:It's not used too often these days.
Speaker C:You guys are great.
Speaker C:You guys are really great.
Speaker B:We've had a lot of fun.
Speaker B:I have a lot more questions.
Speaker B:Hopefully we could get you back and have a little bit more fun.
Speaker C:What a vibe.
Speaker C:You guys have got a great vibe, man.
Speaker A:Appreciate it.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:You fit.
Speaker B:You add right to it.
Speaker B:So appreciate what you brought to the table.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm fascinated by the stories, man.
Speaker B:I would love to have you back on just to talk.
Speaker C:Yeah, we'll do it.
Speaker C:I got great ones.
Speaker C:I've got some great ones.
Speaker C:You let me know and I'll share a couple with you.
Speaker B:Yeah, I guess the is just, I guess something to leave us with.
Speaker B:Well, we'll get to where people can find you and information, that stuff too.
Speaker B:But do you have anything, any projects coming up that we can look out for?
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, I got one that's releasing tomorrow in Latin America.
Speaker C:It's called Misa Symphonia.
Speaker C:And these.
Speaker C:This is a classic example of social media.
Speaker C:These guys broke in like it would be in New York in the subway stations.
Speaker C:They broke into subway stations here in Mexico City.
Speaker C:And he's got 5,000.
Speaker C:5 million followers on YouTube.
Speaker B:Oh, nice.
Speaker C:2.
Speaker C:200,000 on monthly listeners on Spotify.
Speaker B:That's big.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we have a track dropping with them.
Speaker C:It's a Mexican Latin punk project and there's over 14, 15,000 pre saves already.
Speaker C:It's coming out tomorrow.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And they've done this all through social media without a major record company.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker C:They've done this on their own.
Speaker C:This is really amazing.
Speaker C:And millions on Instagram and Tick Tock.
Speaker C:And so it's a, it's a consistency.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Don't give up, be smart.
Speaker C:Keep things balanced.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:And have faith.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I think that's the best way to wrap this up with that.
Speaker A:Can you maybe express to everyone where they can, you know, join in on watching the journey watching or the company.
Speaker A:Your socials, websites.
Speaker C:Yeah, they're all intercept music at Intercept Music, Instagram, TikTok, all of the above info@interceptmusic.com and if anybody wants to reach out direct, directly to me in my life at this stage of my life, it's very important to be able to give back and have somebody that's serious about their career has some questions, they can certainly reach me@ralph tashianterceptmusic.com and maybe you can put that on your.
Speaker C:On your podcast there.
Speaker A:I don't know if you want a flood of emails from our fans.
Speaker C:You know what, look, you know what?
Speaker C:If I could be of help to somebody that's serious about their career and give them a little bit of guidance.
Speaker C:That's what I'm here for.
Speaker A:You know, beautiful.
Speaker C:That I do in my life today.
Speaker C:I think it's incredible.
Speaker C:I think it's important as a society and we can leave with this to be of service, whatever that may mean for you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Try to be of service to somebody.
Speaker C:I don't know, beautiful, whatever it is that you do, try, do your best because that's what's going to make the world a better place.
Speaker A:I agree.
Speaker B:That's a fact.
Speaker A:I agree.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:What a beautiful conversation from a beautiful soul.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker A:I really, really hope we get to talk again, man.
Speaker A:I like your vibe and I know you've got a lot of stories.
Speaker C:I really enjoyed this and I love your vibes.
Speaker B:All of you, thank you so much.
Speaker B:We appreciate you from the bottom of our hearts.
Speaker B:Really do.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, until next time, God bless.
Speaker A:Take care of yourself and each other.
Speaker B:Sa.
