Transcript Auto-generated by Apple Podcasts

0:00:00- Introduction
0:04:54- Distribution Evolution
0:09:50- Artist Partnership Evaluation
0:12:53- Deal Structures
0:17:59- Intercept Music Strategy
0:23:02- Streaming Economics
0:29:36- Artist Growth Marketing
0:37:25- Industry Learnings

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ROBONZO: Welcome to another episode of The Unstarving Musician.

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ROBONZO: I’m Robonzo, this is my podcast.

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ROBONZO: It features interviews with independent musicians, artists, and creative professionals who share their expertise and experience on recording, touring gigs, the creative process, marketing, and more.

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ROBONZO: I also drop solo episodes that focus on themes from my conversations, research, and off-mic interviews.

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ROBONZO: It’s the podcast intended to help independent creatives better understand the marketing, business, and creative processes that empower us to do more of what we love, create work that matters.

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ROBONZO: Today’s conversation is with Jesse Flores, Vice President of Artist and Label Partnerships at Intercept Music.

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ROBONZO: Jesse has over 20 years of music industry experience in business development and shares insider knowledge from 20-plus years of negotiating deals with major artists and independent labels, and there’s a lot in this conversation for indie artists.

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ROBONZO: Before we get into it, you must know I didn’t get tickets during the pre-sale for Rush in Mexico City.

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ROBONZO: I would kill to see them with Anika Niles on drums.

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ROBONZO: Kill, I tell you.

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ROBONZO: Other than that, my next show is in Las Adas, part of Queretaro’s Centro Histórico.

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ROBONZO: Histórico, Centro Histórico.

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ROBONZO: This Saturday, November 8th, there are still a few seats left.

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ROBONZO: You can find out how to get reservations to this intimate show at robonzo.com.

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ROBONZO: Yes, Jesse Flores, VP of Artist and Label Partnerships at Intercept Music and former Senior Director at Virgin Music Group, shares insider knowledge from over 20 years of negotiating deals with major artists and independent labels, as I mentioned.

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ROBONZO: Before joining Intercept Music, Jesse held key positions at Virgin Music Group, Lyric Financial, EMI Capital and UMG Polygram, where he built a reputation for bringing creative talent and business opportunity.

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ROBONZO: In this conversation, Jesse reveals the specific factors distributors evaluate when considering partnerships, the most common contract mistakes artists make, including the advanced trap that costs artists’ future revenue, and what actually moves the needle for independent artists in 2025.

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ROBONZO: He explains why having a team and release plan matters more than just great music, how to optimize your streaming profiles to attract partnerships, and why listening to your distribution partnership advice is the most overlooked strategy for success.

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ROBONZO: And we talk about a lot more.

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ROBONZO: So whether you’re self-distributing and considering a partnership, or already working with a distributor, Jesse’s insights on deal structures, streaming economics, and strategic planning will help you make smarter business decisions.

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ROBONZO: If you want a complete distribution strategy framework, things I’m working on for the upcoming edition of Liner Notes, the newsletter from yours truly at The Unstarving Musician, include distribution deal evaluation, what to look for before signing, contract negotiation, terms you can negotiate versus non-negotiables, release planning, how to create a strategic plan distributors actually want to see, streaming profile optimization, how to make yourself attractive to partnerships.

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ROBONZO: If you’re not yet a Liner Notes subscriber, the free edition will cover highlights from this and many of the 300 plus conversations done for The Unstarving Musician.

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ROBONZO: You can subscribe at unstarvingmusician.com or the show notes for this page.

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ROBONZO: And the Liner Notes Insider will get you the complete framework.

00:03:41.040 –> 00:03:42.160
ROBONZO: But try the free edition.

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ROBONZO: You can upgrade to the Insider edition at any time.

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ROBONZO: Okay, now here is me speaking to Jesse Flores of Intercept Music.

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ROBONZO: Did you join Intercept earlier this year?

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JESSE FLORES: I did back in, I believe, it’s early April.

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ROBONZO: Okay.

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ROBONZO: And you’d been like 10 years with Virgin Music Group, right?

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JESSE FLORES: Yeah, it was actually Ingru’s Music Group and then they were merged with Virgin.

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JESSE FLORES: So technically with Virgin for about a year before that it was Ingru’s Music Group.

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ROBONZO: And so what attracted, I mean, it may have been partly to do with that merge, but what attracted you to Intercept specifically?

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JESSE FLORES: Honestly, it’s the two CEOs of the company, the people that I’ve known for a very long time, that I was very comfortable with.

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JESSE FLORES: And it came to a point where I was a free agent and they offered me an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse.

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JESSE FLORES: So I took the opportunity to work with somebody that I’ve known with for a few years now.

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JESSE FLORES: And I’ve been watching their company grow and I want to be a part of it going forward.

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ROBONZO: Cool.

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ROBONZO: Yeah, it sounds like an interesting business model, which I definitely want to get into.

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ROBONZO: So, and you have like 20 years at labels, major labels, distribution companies, and now Intercept.

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ROBONZO: So what’s the biggest shift you’ve seen in how artists and labels approach distribution and partnerships overall this time?

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JESSE FLORES: Definitely the structure of the deals, what types of deals are available, and then just how artists and labels now market their repertoire.

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JESSE FLORES: I mean, it’s just a totally different age nowadays where there are no gatekeepers.

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JESSE FLORES: Where back in the day, the labels pretty much handled everything.

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JESSE FLORES: Nowadays, the artists and labels can talk directly with the fans and have that direct connection.

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JESSE FLORES: So I think that’s the main difference.

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ROBONZO: That is an interesting twist too.

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ROBONZO: It’s kind of, that part’s kind of cool being able to have the relationships with fans particularly for the artists.

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JESSE FLORES: Yes.

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ROBONZO: I’m sure for the labels too in a big way.

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ROBONZO: So let’s see.

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ROBONZO: You’ve worked with both major label-backed artists and independents if I have that right.

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ROBONZO: Then so I was curious to know what critical functions do major labels provide the independent artists either need to figure out themselves or can actually live without?

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JESSE FLORES: Basically, it really depends.

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JESSE FLORES: Every artist is different and at different stages in their career.

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JESSE FLORES: Depending on where you’re coming in at, if you’re a new label that has a bunch of developing artists, you obviously want as much support as possible.

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JESSE FLORES: You’re going to want a partner, especially on the distribution side, that has a suite of services that can help grow their labels’ audiences, grow the artists’ audiences and really expose them to the masses.

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JESSE FLORES: If you’re an established artist, a lot of times you have your super fans, you have your core fan base, you have your roadmap on what you’re doing and your plan on how you want to roll out your next releases.

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JESSE FLORES: You really just want a partner out there that’s going to be there to help augment what you’re already doing.

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JESSE FLORES: It’s really a case-by-case basis.

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ROBONZO: Sure.

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ROBONZO: I say that a lot on the podcast.

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ROBONZO: It depends, or it depends, doesn’t it?

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JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

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ROBONZO: Well, for independent artists that are listening, what’s the one piece of major label infrastructure they should prioritize replicating or finding an alternative for?

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JESSE FLORES: I definitely think you need to have a plan for any type of release that you want to put out, really figure out what you want to do, devise a plan for each of the DSPs as well, because they’re all kind of different, each platform.

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JESSE FLORES: So, and your audience may be gravitating towards a Spotify as opposed to a YouTube.

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JESSE FLORES: So, you want to figure out ways how you want to grow your audience in all these platforms, and make sure you’re monetized there as well.

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JESSE FLORES: And then the other thing that I think is very crucial is, especially if you’re an independent artist, you need to have a team around you of people.

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JESSE FLORES: And I call it the Fantastic Five.

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JESSE FLORES: It’s basically a good manager, a good distributor, a good entertainment attorney, also a good publicist, as well as a good online marketing and social media manager.

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ROBONZO: Okay.

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ROBONZO: That’s great advice.

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ROBONZO: Yeah.

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ROBONZO: Great advice.

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ROBONZO: All right.

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ROBONZO: So, in your role securing artist partnerships, what separates artists to succeed with distribution deals from those who might struggle beyond having good music?

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JESSE FLORES: I think a part of it also has to do with what I mentioned before, which is having the team behind you to help strategize and be there to support what you want to do, having a plan, like I said, for every release.

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JESSE FLORES: The other thing is really listening to your distributor.

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JESSE FLORES: It boggles my mind how many artists and managers just don’t listen to the advice that we give.

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JESSE FLORES: A perfect example is scheduling releases.

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JESSE FLORES: A lot of times an artist will finalize a track or a project, and they want to put it out in the next week or two.

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JESSE FLORES: It just doesn’t make sense because the reality is a lot of these DSPs have their pitch meetings for features and for playlisting and all types of support, or three to four weeks before the release date.

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JESSE FLORES: So why wouldn’t you want to plan it out and have that ability to present that release to all your partners and be monetizing your content and putting it out there to the audiences and the masses without having their support?

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JESSE FLORES: It’s different.

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JESSE FLORES: There’s a big difference in having something live at a Spotify or Apple Music, and then having their support behind it and having them help drive some of the marketing initiatives along with you to really make sure that you’re maximizing the awareness for the project.

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JESSE FLORES: So little things like that, just making sure that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.

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JESSE FLORES: We want to make sure that they’re listening to what we say, they’re heeding our advice, and they’re seeing the results as well.

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ROBONZO: Okay.

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ROBONZO: I think I’ve seen the struggle with some artists and their distributors, not really knowing on the inside what’s going on, but I guess it happens a lot and sometimes for relationship-related reasons but sometimes maybe just not listening.

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JESSE FLORES: Right.

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JESSE FLORES: Exactly.

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ROBONZO: When you’re evaluating whether to partner with an artist or a label, what specific factors do you look at and are there things that people should know can raise red flags?

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JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

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JESSE FLORES: We definitely look at the commercial fan base for the artist.

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JESSE FLORES: We want to make sure that there’s music that’s been released and that there’s some type of catalog to see that there’s some type of traction, whether it’s looking at followers and monthly listeners on Spotify or looking at subscribers on YouTube.

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JESSE FLORES: All those numbers matter.

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JESSE FLORES: We definitely look at the social media fan base as well, just to see what kind of interaction they have with their fans.

00:10:28.160 –> 00:10:29.980
JESSE FLORES: We also look at the team that’s around them.

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JESSE FLORES: What kind of infrastructure do they have to support their releases?

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JESSE FLORES: We look at their previous distributor and basically question them as to why they’re looking for a new partner.

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JESSE FLORES: Were there any issues?

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JESSE FLORES: Were there certain services that you needed that weren’t provided previously by your current distributor, that type of thing?

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JESSE FLORES: And obviously the music, we want to know what the upcoming release schedule is for the next 12 months per se.

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JESSE FLORES: We want to listen to some advanced music and just kind of see where their heads at.

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JESSE FLORES: And also really focus on what the work ethic is like as well for the artists.

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JESSE FLORES: If you’re independent, you got to realize that you really need to work hard on your craft in order to take it to the next level.

00:11:07.020 –> 00:11:09.500
JESSE FLORES: That work ethic has to be there.

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ROBONZO: Okay.

00:11:10.740 –> 00:11:24.040
ROBONZO: For independent artists that are listening, what do the successful ones, the successful partnerships have in common, which we may have kind of covered, but what made labels willing to invest?

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ROBONZO: Was it all those things basically you just talked about or is there anything else that comes to mind?

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JESSE FLORES: Yeah, it’s definitely a lot of what we talked about.

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JESSE FLORES: I think a big part of it as well is when you have those fans and you’re connecting with them on social media, you need to be consistent with the messaging and be able to market your music and share it with the fans and have them feel like they’re part of the process because that’s a big part of it nowadays.

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JESSE FLORES: They’ll lead up into the actual release of the project and making the artists, the fans of the artists actually, feel like they’re part of the community and that, you know, when it does come out, that they’re feeling that feeling of success or enjoyment when it finally does come out along with the artist and celebrating it per se.

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JESSE FLORES: That’s a big part of it.

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JESSE FLORES: Also, I would definitely say that, you know, the ones that have the recognition to really build a strong brand and have a unique type of sound are the ones that are able to rise above the clutter as well.

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JESSE FLORES: Because the reality is, there’s just a ton of music being released on a daily basis, hundreds of thousands of new tracks that are being delivered to all the different platforms.

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JESSE FLORES: You know, what is going to separate you from everybody else?

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JESSE FLORES: And, you know, I think having that story of building a strong band is a big part of it.

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ROBONZO: Oh man, there’s so much stuff out there.

00:12:48.680 –> 00:12:49.900
ROBONZO: Yeah.

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JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

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JESSE FLORES: And it’s getting crazier every day.

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ROBONZO: I can imagine.

00:12:53.300 –> 00:13:01.840
ROBONZO: So I’m guessing a lot of independent artists don’t understand the distinction between a distribution deal and a label deal.

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ROBONZO: What should they expect from like a modern distribution partnership?

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ROBONZO: Yeah.

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JESSE FLORES: So with the distribution partnership, you’re essentially as the artist, you are still retaining the rights to all your content.

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JESSE FLORES: So you have 100% ownership of the rights.

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JESSE FLORES: You also usually have 100% creative control, you know, on what you want to put out and how you want to release it as well.

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JESSE FLORES: We obviously there as a distribution partner want to be able to give our two cents and give you advice and help you along with the process, especially with like release strategy and marketing suggestions and that type of thing.

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JESSE FLORES: But yeah, when you’re independent and you have a distribution deal, you’re truly independent.

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JESSE FLORES: You know, as a distribution company, we’re there as a service provider and providing certain services for you, among them, which is distribution, as opposed to being signed to a traditional record label where you’re just getting a percentage of the proceeds, you don’t have the ownership of the content, the label does, per the terms of whatever agreement is signed.

00:14:02.360 –> 00:14:10.300
JESSE FLORES: So you’re pretty much, you know, working hard and you have the support of a big machine, but then you don’t own the rights to your own music.

00:14:10.300 –> 00:14:11.680
JESSE FLORES: So that’s kind of the street off.

00:14:11.680 –> 00:14:13.360
ROBONZO: Yeah.

00:14:13.360 –> 00:14:16.820
ROBONZO: So you’ve been on the label side of negotiations.

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ROBONZO: What are the most common mistakes you see independent artists make when they’re offered their first distribution or label deal?

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JESSE FLORES: Really, it’s always about taking a huge advance or wanting a big advance, you know, for the deal when they, you know, because the reality is these advances are recoupable.

00:14:35.320 –> 00:14:38.380
JESSE FLORES: So you’re going to have to pay them back before you even say a dime.

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JESSE FLORES: So, you know, when you have a good manager and a good attorney, you know, they’ll be able to relay that to the artist and be like, look, you know, you could take a big advance, but at the same time, you’re not going to see money until, you know, it’s fully recouped.

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JESSE FLORES: So, you know, why don’t you take some money, you know, to kind of help you with the process of, you know, getting the record done or setting it up or shooting some videos, get what you need and, you know, therefore you’ll be able to see, you know, some results and some royalties sooner than later.

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JESSE FLORES: So I think that would be the main thing is wanting that big advance in front.

00:15:10.960 –> 00:15:21.160
ROBONZO: So what terms or contract elements should indie artists absolutely think about negotiating and which ones are typically non-negotiable from a labels perspective?

00:15:22.940 –> 00:15:33.100
JESSE FLORES: I think you definitely want the best distribution fee you can get, you know, depending on what kind of services you need for your artists or for your project.

00:15:33.100 –> 00:15:37.920
JESSE FLORES: You know, some companies and artists, they just need access to the pipes.

00:15:37.920 –> 00:15:39.120
JESSE FLORES: You know, they don’t really need support.

00:15:39.120 –> 00:15:44.460
JESSE FLORES: They got their own team internally that’s handling the marketing and doing all the label functions, per se.

00:15:44.460 –> 00:15:48.520
JESSE FLORES: So they really just need a distributor to get their content from A to B.

00:15:48.520 –> 00:15:50.760
JESSE FLORES: That could justify a lower fee.

00:15:50.760 –> 00:16:13.860
JESSE FLORES: Now, if you need like a full service, you know, type of distribution deal where everybody’s hands are on deck and you have, you know, the distributor helping out with project management or label management or artist development and helping you out with, you know, the marketing plan and release strategy and all that, that could, you know, that could require a higher fee.

00:16:13.860 –> 00:16:15.940
JESSE FLORES: So you got to take that into account.

00:16:15.940 –> 00:16:23.960
JESSE FLORES: And then maybe it’s a situation where you’re an artist that’s looking for a distribution deal for your upcoming new releases, but you also have some catalog that you want to bring over.

00:16:23.960 –> 00:16:32.220
JESSE FLORES: If that’s the case, then you could potentially negotiate a better fee for the catalog because it’s already released material that’s earning, you know, revenue.

00:16:32.220 –> 00:16:42.360
JESSE FLORES: But for the new releases where you require, you know, services and marketing promotion, that could be a higher fee, you know, just because it needs that extra added service.

00:16:42.360 –> 00:16:49.020
JESSE FLORES: So there’s a whole different, they’re different, I guess, scenarios per se for types of deals.

00:16:49.020 –> 00:16:53.480
JESSE FLORES: And you can always customize it to, you know, what fits you.

00:16:53.480 –> 00:16:55.880
ROBONZO: Okay.

00:16:55.940 –> 00:17:12.760
ROBONZO: Have you seen the, like, a balance of power shift between artists and distributors and labels with the rise of, like, DIY distribution platforms or are there, and are there, like, traditional partnerships that are still necessary for most artists?

00:17:12.760 –> 00:17:21.020
JESSE FLORES: Oh, without a doubt, there’s definitely been a shift over the years, especially with, you know, independent artists and distribution deals.

00:17:21.020 –> 00:17:27.320
JESSE FLORES: Because you see a lot of the established artists that are superstars now, they don’t have that traditional record deal with their label.

00:17:27.320 –> 00:17:36.340
JESSE FLORES: They might still be with that label, but instead of, you know, them being an artist that’s signed, they are now licensing their content to that label.

00:17:36.340 –> 00:17:44.580
JESSE FLORES: And, you know, retaining the rights, you know, in basically having that label provide all the major label services that they were providing before.

00:17:44.580 –> 00:17:58.100
JESSE FLORES: So that’s been the huge shift because I think I’ve seen eight out of ten times those major artists that are signed to those labels are now having exclusive license deals and you can see that in the P&C lines on the releases.

00:17:58.660 –> 00:17:59.800
ROBONZO: Okay.

00:17:59.800 –> 00:18:03.500
ROBONZO: So you guys, did you guys just secure 50 million in catalog acquisitions?

00:18:03.500 –> 00:18:05.080
ROBONZO: Is that accurate?

00:18:05.140 –> 00:18:05.460
JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

00:18:05.460 –> 00:18:11.240
JESSE FLORES: So I’m glad you mentioned that because we did send a press release out a couple of months ago in regards to funding.

00:18:11.240 –> 00:18:16.860
JESSE FLORES: So we are now open for business when it comes to catalog acquisitions or catalog buyouts.

00:18:16.860 –> 00:18:35.540
JESSE FLORES: So any artists out there that has a fairly mature catalog that’s looking to sell master rights or maybe PRO rights or publishing rights, we’re actively looking for those types of opportunities where we could obviously purchase the master rights but also the distribution rights as well.

00:18:35.540 –> 00:18:42.520
JESSE FLORES: That will be the ideal situation where there will be a catalog up for sale looking for a buyout that also includes the distribution rights.

00:18:42.520 –> 00:18:45.260
JESSE FLORES: So any of those types of opportunities we’re definitely open to.

00:18:45.260 –> 00:18:45.600
ROBONZO: Okay.

00:18:45.600 –> 00:18:51.280
ROBONZO: Does that catalog strategy fit with supporting indie artists or more established or established?

00:18:52.680 –> 00:18:53.200
JESSE FLORES: Yeah, it’s both.

00:18:53.200 –> 00:19:03.960
JESSE FLORES: I mean, there’s definitely so many artists out there that have extensive catalog that are maybe with like a Distro Kid or a Tune Core that are just really trying to move on to bigger and better things.

00:19:03.960 –> 00:19:05.320
JESSE FLORES: They want to sell their catalog.

00:19:05.320 –> 00:19:06.240
JESSE FLORES: We’re open to that.

00:19:06.240 –> 00:19:11.220
JESSE FLORES: There’s also established artists that are assigned to majors that are now getting the rights to their catalog.

00:19:11.220 –> 00:19:16.720
JESSE FLORES: So now that they have 100 percent ownership, they’re willing to look at buyout opportunities.

00:19:16.720 –> 00:19:18.220
JESSE FLORES: So either way works for us.

00:19:19.360 –> 00:19:29.880
ROBONZO: So what’s the pitch to indie artists about why they should partner with Intercept versus going with one of the services that you just mentioned or another distributor?

00:19:31.080 –> 00:19:32.940
JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

00:19:32.940 –> 00:19:40.420
JESSE FLORES: The way I envision Intercept Music, it’s not just being a music distributor for indie artists and labels, it’s also being their strategic growth partner.

00:19:40.420 –> 00:19:46.200
JESSE FLORES: We want to help you grow your business with executives that have the necessary background in music distribution to provide exceptional service.

00:19:47.840 –> 00:19:51.680
JESSE FLORES: Also, we have that relationship with all the DSPs, the top of it all off.

00:19:51.680 –> 00:20:03.540
JESSE FLORES: I think having the perfect blend of music distro, technology and exceptional customer service can really mark our niche out there and make a difference.

00:20:03.540 –> 00:20:10.500
ROBONZO: Is it fair to say that it’s pretty scalable for the indie artists depending on where they’re at in their career?

00:20:10.500 –> 00:20:12.020
JESSE FLORES: I think it is.

00:20:12.020 –> 00:20:14.860
JESSE FLORES: Intercept Music is one of the few companies out there that are actually growing.

00:20:15.640 –> 00:20:21.820
JESSE FLORES: The reality is, a lot of the majors are consolidating now, going through mergers, and we’re adding to our team.

00:20:21.820 –> 00:20:24.800
JESSE FLORES: And it’s been a great ride so far.

00:20:24.800 –> 00:20:27.960
JESSE FLORES: I’ve only been on board for about six months.

00:20:27.960 –> 00:20:32.800
JESSE FLORES: But since I’ve been here, I think we’ve added like five people to the team.

00:20:32.820 –> 00:20:34.420
JESSE FLORES: We’re truly a global company.

00:20:34.420 –> 00:20:37.860
JESSE FLORES: And then we’re definitely poised for great growth over the next year or two.

00:20:37.920 –> 00:20:40.000
ROBONZO: Okay, cool.

00:20:40.000 –> 00:20:44.200
ROBONZO: So Viral New Wave, this is another little fact check moment for you.

00:20:44.200 –> 00:20:49.500
ROBONZO: Viral New Wave generated 100 million streams in their first year using Intercept’s platform.

00:20:49.500 –> 00:20:56.780
ROBONZO: Assuming that’s accurate, what did they do right that other labels or artists might try to replicate?

00:20:56.780 –> 00:20:59.500
JESSE FLORES: You know, Viral New Wave came on board before I joined the company.

00:20:59.500 –> 00:21:03.660
JESSE FLORES: But from what I understand, when they came on board, they only had a handful of artists.

00:21:04.100 –> 00:21:18.940
JESSE FLORES: And then once they got on the dashboard and were fully on boarded and figured out, you know, what to do with Intercept Music, they decided to be aggressive and go out there and sign artists and really sell what we’re doing over here.

00:21:18.940 –> 00:21:26.600
JESSE FLORES: And like a year later, all of a sudden, we’re looking at the analytics on our dashboard and we’re like, oh my gosh, is this real?

00:21:27.260 –> 00:21:27.680
JESSE FLORES: And it is.

00:21:27.680 –> 00:21:31.440
JESSE FLORES: They just have been extremely aggressive with their releases.

00:21:31.440 –> 00:21:33.820
JESSE FLORES: They have a consistent release schedule of artists.

00:21:33.820 –> 00:21:37.100
JESSE FLORES: They’re picking and choosing the right artists, not casting a wide net.

00:21:37.100 –> 00:21:39.480
JESSE FLORES: They’re choosing artists that have a commercial fan base.

00:21:39.480 –> 00:21:43.040
JESSE FLORES: And they’re helping them grow their business.

00:21:43.040 –> 00:21:47.500
JESSE FLORES: And they’re basically a sub-distributor of Intercept Music, which is amazing.

00:21:47.520 –> 00:21:49.460
ROBONZO: That’s interesting.

00:21:49.460 –> 00:21:54.800
ROBONZO: How are major labels and independent distributors relating to each other these days?

00:21:54.800 –> 00:21:56.600
ROBONZO: Like more competitive or collaborative?

00:21:57.020 –> 00:22:04.660
ROBONZO: And what should indie artists understand before about those dynamics when making distribution decisions?

00:22:04.660 –> 00:22:11.060
JESSE FLORES: Yeah, you know, it’s a situation where they definitely are collaborative in the right situation.

00:22:11.060 –> 00:22:16.700
JESSE FLORES: You know, a lot of indie distributors do partner with some of the majors.

00:22:16.740 –> 00:22:20.260
JESSE FLORES: You know, when I was at Virgin and in Ingrooves, it was a perfect example.

00:22:20.260 –> 00:22:26.420
JESSE FLORES: You know, we had relations with some of the major labels over our universal distribution because UMG owned all of us.

00:22:26.420 –> 00:22:32.980
JESSE FLORES: So we had relations with Interscope, with Universal Republic, and with Island Def Jam.

00:22:32.980 –> 00:22:35.460
JESSE FLORES: And sometimes we would upstream artists to them.

00:22:35.460 –> 00:22:37.320
JESSE FLORES: A lot of times they would downstream artists to us.

00:22:37.360 –> 00:22:50.400
JESSE FLORES: So if the new artists, the developing artists that, you know, they weren’t really sure if they would, you know, sign them to an actual record deal, they would downstream down to Ingru’s just to put out the releases.

00:22:50.400 –> 00:22:56.820
JESSE FLORES: And then if something really, you know, took hold and it gained some traction, then they would upstream them and sign them to a deal.

00:22:56.820 –> 00:22:58.580
JESSE FLORES: So it definitely worked both ways.

00:22:58.580 –> 00:23:02.200
JESSE FLORES: And I see that continuing in the near future as well.

00:23:02.200 –> 00:23:12.880
ROBONZO: So streaming economics have been pretty heavily debated, excuse me, and artists often feel they’re not earning enough per stream.

00:23:13.420 –> 00:23:23.140
ROBONZO: From the distribution and label partnership side, are there aspects of how streaming revenue flows and gets split that artists could or should better understand?

00:23:25.340 –> 00:23:26.040
JESSE FLORES: There is.

00:23:26.040 –> 00:23:28.840
JESSE FLORES: I mean, a lot of times it constantly changes.

00:23:28.840 –> 00:23:35.980
JESSE FLORES: So the reality is that, like you said, the streaming economics are just fractions of a penny.

00:23:35.980 –> 00:23:40.920
JESSE FLORES: And obviously, we all wish that the artist share was a lot better than it is right now.

00:23:40.920 –> 00:23:43.740
JESSE FLORES: There’s a constant fight to get to that point.

00:23:43.740 –> 00:24:02.180
JESSE FLORES: But it’s good to have them at least understand how it works, where if you’re an artist and you’re getting streams in the US., more than likely your streaming royalties rate is a little bit higher than it is in some of the other countries, just based on pure economics and advertising and all that.

00:24:02.180 –> 00:24:05.980
JESSE FLORES: So same thing with the DSP platforms in general.

00:24:05.980 –> 00:24:13.500
JESSE FLORES: You’re going to earn more on Apple Music or Spotify than you are on YouTube, just based on how they monetize their content.

00:24:13.500 –> 00:24:31.860
JESSE FLORES: So anytime the label artist does have a question with that, we do like to try and sit down and explain how it works, especially when it comes to their statements, because when they get their monthly statements, they always have questions as to why they earn this amount from this territory or from this platform.

00:24:31.860 –> 00:24:36.480
JESSE FLORES: It’s always a benefit to have a company like Intercept that will sit there and explain that to them.

00:24:36.480 –> 00:24:46.240
ROBONZO: I wonder if anyone’s done any good, and I know it would have to be something that gets updated a lot, but anyone who’s done any good explainer videos, that would be easy to watch.

00:24:47.680 –> 00:25:01.260
ROBONZO: I cannot remember the name of this one explainer YouTube channel that is really fun to watch, that talks about kind of scientific related stuff, but I know from reading about and trying to understand some of it myself, it’s very complicated.

00:25:01.260 –> 00:25:03.020
JESSE FLORES: It is.

00:25:03.020 –> 00:25:07.000
JESSE FLORES: We usually leave that up to the finance guys to help us out with explanation.

00:25:07.880 –> 00:25:09.720
ROBONZO: It’s nuts.

00:25:09.720 –> 00:25:16.600
ROBONZO: Let’s see, at Virgin Music Group, you worked with both hip-hop artists and Latin artists like Carla Morrison, I believe.

00:25:16.640 –> 00:25:17.120
JESSE FLORES: Yes.

00:25:17.120 –> 00:25:24.840
ROBONZO: Are there meaningful differences in how distribution and marketing strategies work across different genres or cultural markets?

00:25:26.280 –> 00:25:28.380
JESSE FLORES: Yeah, definitely.

00:25:28.380 –> 00:25:38.820
JESSE FLORES: A lot of times we rely on the label of the manager for the artists to help basically maneuver through those different channels because they are different.

00:25:38.820 –> 00:25:51.240
JESSE FLORES: An artist like Carla, who’s from Mexico, she is obviously an amazing singer-songwriter, had gained a lot of fame, even earned Latin Grammys and Grammy nominations.

00:25:52.300 –> 00:25:55.760
JESSE FLORES: One of the goals was to try to really break her into US.

00:25:55.760 –> 00:26:06.760
JESSE FLORES: One of the strategies that we utilize was having her tour the US just to get her name out there, get her in front of the audiences and crowds, and really build her awareness and fan base here in the States.

00:26:07.460 –> 00:26:10.340
JESSE FLORES: Because outside in Latin America, she was a superstar.

00:26:10.340 –> 00:26:27.920
JESSE FLORES: So yeah, definitely it’s a collaborative effort when it comes to that kind of thing, because a lot of times someone like myself, who’s mainly worked in the US market, I would rely on the team that we have in those other markets to really come up with a plan that works for both markets and territories.

00:26:27.920 –> 00:26:30.280
ROBONZO: What kind of music does Carla Morrison do?

00:26:30.600 –> 00:26:34.380
ROBONZO: I wasn’t familiar with her, but since I’m in Mexico, I’m curious.

00:26:34.380 –> 00:26:39.420
JESSE FLORES: She’s a singer-songwriter, kind of like alternative rock, pop.

00:26:39.420 –> 00:26:40.560
ROBONZO: I’m listening.

00:26:41.740 –> 00:26:43.140
JESSE FLORES: No, she’s amazing.

00:26:43.140 –> 00:26:44.840
JESSE FLORES: She’s actually along with the company.

00:26:44.840 –> 00:26:49.620
JESSE FLORES: I believe she’s with Warner now, or one of the Wee labels.

00:26:49.620 –> 00:26:53.360
JESSE FLORES: But yeah, she was really great to work with and super talented.

00:26:53.360 –> 00:26:53.860
ROBONZO: All right, cool.

00:26:53.860 –> 00:26:54.600
ROBONZO: I’m going to check her out.

00:26:54.800 –> 00:26:58.340
ROBONZO: So the first two things you said were like of interest to me.

00:26:58.340 –> 00:27:00.240
ROBONZO: Nice.

00:27:00.240 –> 00:27:03.140
ROBONZO: It sounds like Intercept is expanding to Latin markets.

00:27:03.520 –> 00:27:12.800
ROBONZO: Should independent artists think about international distribution strategically, like rolling out regionally or just go everywhere at once from day one?

00:27:14.120 –> 00:27:19.440
JESSE FLORES: Yeah, I definitely recommend always releasing music globally because you never know where your fans are.

00:27:19.440 –> 00:27:27.100
JESSE FLORES: It’s always shocking to see a release and all of a sudden see a spike in some market in Europe or somewhere where you’re just like, where did that come from type of thing?

00:27:27.100 –> 00:27:29.900
JESSE FLORES: So definitely release your music globally.

00:27:29.900 –> 00:27:54.720
JESSE FLORES: But then when you do look at the analytics and ideally, you want to get that within a day or two, you’ll be able to see updates, you’ll see where things are reacting because then you want to find out, here are my top streaming markets, maybe I should obviously think about including these on my next tour or doing a promo run or doing a collaboration with the artists in that territory to be kind of even gain more attraction.

00:27:54.720 –> 00:28:03.100
JESSE FLORES: So there’s all different types of things that you can focus on to really grow your audience to more than just where you’re currently located at.

00:28:03.220 –> 00:28:07.260
ROBONZO: You made me think of something that was funny to me when I was a kid.

00:28:07.260 –> 00:28:14.740
ROBONZO: There was this kind of a joke or meme about artists who were really big in Japan, even though they were US artists.

00:28:14.740 –> 00:28:24.920
ROBONZO: But there was, I believe, it was actually the case with Bon Jovi who was like ginormous in Japan before he made it big in the US.

00:28:24.920 –> 00:28:32.060
ROBONZO: But yeah, I was half hoping you were going to say Japan, like you find out you’re looking at the dashboard and you find out you’ve got a lot of fans in Japan.

00:28:32.060 –> 00:28:33.240
ROBONZO: Yeah.

00:28:33.240 –> 00:28:40.420
ROBONZO: I know a blues artist who’s currently based out of Memphis, and he’s been at it for a lot of years.

00:28:40.420 –> 00:28:45.060
ROBONZO: He’s a really talented singer, guitarist, and tours.

00:28:45.060 –> 00:28:51.440
ROBONZO: He’s a road dog, tours a lot, but internationally, and he’s in Japan right now, and he has a good time there.

00:28:51.440 –> 00:28:52.380
ROBONZO: He really has fun there.

00:28:52.380 –> 00:28:55.860
ROBONZO: So I’ve learned through him there and actually watching some videos.

00:28:55.860 –> 00:29:00.020
ROBONZO: They’re so passionate about blues and especially Chicago blues.

00:29:00.020 –> 00:29:01.320
ROBONZO: It’s kind of interesting.

00:29:01.320 –> 00:29:01.480
ROBONZO: Yeah.

00:29:01.480 –> 00:29:05.960
JESSE FLORES: There’s a ton of artists out there that are really making a living just outside of their home market.

00:29:05.960 –> 00:29:12.800
JESSE FLORES: I mean, a lot of these heritage hip-hop artists from like the 90s who obviously were huge here, and hip-hop fans can be fickle.

00:29:12.800 –> 00:29:16.380
JESSE FLORES: They’ve moved on to the new younger artists that’s doing whatever kind of music.

00:29:16.860 –> 00:29:20.180
JESSE FLORES: But these heritage artists are touring Europe like every year.

00:29:20.720 –> 00:29:23.180
JESSE FLORES: They’re making significant money.

00:29:23.340 –> 00:29:32.080
JESSE FLORES: They’re doing fine, and they’re happy just to go to their 10, 15 markets in the Europe every year, and come back and do it again the following year.

00:29:32.080 –> 00:29:32.560
ROBONZO: That’s cool.

00:29:32.560 –> 00:29:34.680
ROBONZO: I love that label, heritage artists.

00:29:34.680 –> 00:29:36.160
JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

00:29:36.660 –> 00:29:51.640
ROBONZO: If an independent artist is self-distributing right now and considering whether to seek a distribution partnership, what metrics or milestones should they hit to try and make themselves look attractive to companies like Intercept?

00:29:51.640 –> 00:30:03.120
JESSE FLORES: They really need to focus on the different DSPs out there, the different platforms, the Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer.

00:30:03.120 –> 00:30:08.480
JESSE FLORES: These are the first numbers that anybody at a distributor label will look at.

00:30:08.480 –> 00:30:25.520
JESSE FLORES: So you want to make sure that you have best practices for each of these platforms and really basically not adapt your profiles, but make sure your artist profiles on all these platforms are up-to-date and consistent.

00:30:25.800 –> 00:30:28.320
JESSE FLORES: You’re pinning your latest releases to the top.

00:30:28.320 –> 00:30:38.520
JESSE FLORES: You’re really focusing on trying to grow your audiences, whether it’s your Spotify subscribers or your listeners, or those numbers really matter.

00:30:38.520 –> 00:30:45.120
JESSE FLORES: Social media is something that we definitely looked at, but like I said, the commercial DSPs are absolutely vital.

00:30:45.400 –> 00:31:01.140
JESSE FLORES: You want to make sure that you’re growing your audience there with each release, maybe putting a few ad dollars there, whether it’s with social media marketing or advertising, or when you book us, I think Spotify offers advertising as well, same thing with YouTube.

00:31:01.140 –> 00:31:05.320
JESSE FLORES: These are all things that if you have as part of your plan, we all take notice of.

00:31:05.400 –> 00:31:11.220
JESSE FLORES: Then when you are looking for that deal with a distributor or a label, you would definitely want to have a plan.

00:31:11.220 –> 00:31:24.660
JESSE FLORES: You want to have your written down, not so much a marketing plan per se, but just some type of strategy that you have, that you’ve worked on, that you could say, here’s what we wanted to do, here’s what we actually did, this is what was executed.

00:31:24.660 –> 00:31:46.160
JESSE FLORES: Just to show that you can plan something and you can execute it, and whether or not the results are what you expected, you learn from it and you’re ready to move to bigger and better things on your next project, and take that info and data that you learned from the last report and applying it to what you want to do going forward.

00:31:46.200 –> 00:31:59.140
ROBONZO: What’s one thing indie artists consistently overlook or under-invest in that significantly impacts their ability to secure partnerships or succeed with distribution?

00:32:01.800 –> 00:32:15.040
JESSE FLORES: I think just listening, being able to listen because the reality is, at a company like Intercept or a lot of the other major distributors, these people have been around the block, they’ve had the experience and they know what they’re talking about.

00:32:15.160 –> 00:32:28.480
JESSE FLORES: So when they do give you advice or give you some type of insight on how to roll things out, don’t be stubborn and just say, hey, I’m used to doing things this way, I’m going to continue to do it this way.

00:32:28.480 –> 00:32:31.180
JESSE FLORES: Well, maybe that’s why you’re not seeing the results you want to see.

00:32:31.180 –> 00:32:35.460
JESSE FLORES: Give us a chance to advise you and augment what you’re already doing.

00:32:35.460 –> 00:32:43.920
JESSE FLORES: Give us a chance to utilize the tools that we’re providing you to really market your content in a new and different way.

00:32:45.440 –> 00:32:51.020
JESSE FLORES: It might not work, but usually it does work, or else we won’t be recommending it.

00:32:51.420 –> 00:32:59.940
JESSE FLORES: I would say that being able to listen to what your partners tell you will obviously help you and benefit you in the long run.

00:32:59.940 –> 00:33:22.200
ROBONZO: If there are any promotional tactics that are kind of emerging or that you’re excited about or Intercept is excited about in the coming year beyond like Spotify playlists, and I’m talking about in the realm of marketing or promotional tactics, what if any come to mind do you see actually moving the needle for indie artists?

00:33:22.200 –> 00:33:23.820
JESSE FLORES: Oh man, that’s a great question.

00:33:23.820 –> 00:33:26.800
JESSE FLORES: It’s also the million dollar question.

00:33:26.800 –> 00:33:32.340
JESSE FLORES: Definitely, I think what we’re doing at Intercept is part of that, which is using AI as a marketing tool.

00:33:32.340 –> 00:33:44.720
JESSE FLORES: I think that can only help going forward with marketing and being able to really figure out what the best way is to promote your upcoming releases.

00:33:45.740 –> 00:33:58.180
JESSE FLORES: Obviously, Discovery, when it comes to music discovery, TikTok and YouTube are still the kings, so developing a great TikTok and YouTube strategy on how to use those short form videos to your benefit.

00:33:58.180 –> 00:34:07.000
JESSE FLORES: Short form video content, I think is definitely something that is highly engageable and something that fans resonate with the fans.

00:34:07.000 –> 00:34:16.820
JESSE FLORES: So using those two things, I think, will definitely, having that part of your strategy can only help you bring more fans to the table.

00:34:16.820 –> 00:34:18.940
ROBONZO: Okay.

00:34:18.940 –> 00:34:31.060
ROBONZO: For the artists that do secure a distribution deal, what should they expect from the distributor in terms of marketing support promotion and artist development, and what responsibilities remain entirely on the artist’s shoulders?

00:34:32.240 –> 00:34:34.980
JESSE FLORES: Well, definitely creative side is on the artist’s shoulders.

00:34:35.020 –> 00:34:40.360
JESSE FLORES: We want to make sure you deliver your content and deliver it to us in a timely manner.

00:34:40.360 –> 00:34:47.780
JESSE FLORES: Ideally, we want to have it in the system and upload it three to four weeks before release date, and giving us lead time.

00:34:47.780 –> 00:34:57.280
JESSE FLORES: I think that’s the main thing as well is giving us time to present this new music to the DSP platforms, having those conversations.

00:34:57.280 –> 00:35:06.740
JESSE FLORES: So we have the opportunity to get those features or a playlist or any type of marketing support that they have, because you never know what they’re working on.

00:35:06.740 –> 00:35:09.900
JESSE FLORES: Until you let them know what you have coming, they don’t know what you’re working on.

00:35:09.900 –> 00:35:22.620
JESSE FLORES: So having that open line of communication, making sure it’s done transparently, making sure it’s done with enough lead time, can open the possibilities to the endless marketing and promotion opportunities.

00:35:22.620 –> 00:35:30.840
ROBONZO: So if you could give one piece of strategic business advice to indie artists trying to build a sustainable career, what would it be?

00:35:30.840 –> 00:35:37.320
JESSE FLORES: I would say if you’re an indie artist looking to make it in this business, you need to be patient, you need to be resilient.

00:35:37.320 –> 00:35:39.740
JESSE FLORES: The reality is, music business is a tough industry to be in.

00:35:39.740 –> 00:35:42.520
JESSE FLORES: It’s super highly competitive.

00:35:42.520 –> 00:35:48.380
JESSE FLORES: There’s just a lot of content out there and it’s a lot of clutter, and you need to rise above the noise.

00:35:48.480 –> 00:35:56.760
JESSE FLORES: So, being consistent with how you want to go forward with your career, be consistent with the number of releases you put out.

00:35:56.760 –> 00:36:03.600
JESSE FLORES: You don’t want to be an artist that puts something out for a year or two and then go away for four years and try to restart it again.

00:36:03.600 –> 00:36:12.780
JESSE FLORES: Five years later, it’s not going to happen because the reality is, people have moved on to other artists and other types of music.

00:36:12.780 –> 00:36:14.320
JESSE FLORES: So, you want to be consistent.

00:36:14.380 –> 00:36:26.240
JESSE FLORES: Always put out music, I’d say, at the very least, maybe two releases a year if you’re doing EPs or albums, just so you can stay relevant and stay as part of the algorithm per se.

00:36:26.240 –> 00:36:27.980
JESSE FLORES: All these platforms have algorithms.

00:36:27.980 –> 00:36:35.340
JESSE FLORES: So, if you’re really looking for playlisting or placements, you got to have a consistent release schedule of quality music.

00:36:35.340 –> 00:36:48.300
JESSE FLORES: And when I ask artists and labels to submit their music, our last thing to do is make sure that it’s timeless and make sure it’s something that you feel resonates with you and your fans.

00:36:48.300 –> 00:36:50.500
JESSE FLORES: Something that can stand the test of time.

00:36:50.500 –> 00:36:53.940
JESSE FLORES: Because that’s the type of music that’s going to be playing around for decades on end.

00:36:53.940 –> 00:36:54.120
ROBONZO: Wow.

00:36:54.120 –> 00:36:56.840
ROBONZO: Do people actually think about that timelessness?

00:36:56.840 –> 00:36:58.920
ROBONZO: Yeah.

00:36:58.920 –> 00:37:01.060
ROBONZO: Every time I listen to some of these songs are great.

00:37:01.240 –> 00:37:12.340
ROBONZO: I was listening to one at lunch with my wife and there was some song by a band called Ice House and I said, it has that crappy 80s drum sound on it.

00:37:12.380 –> 00:37:13.380
ROBONZO: Right.

00:37:13.380 –> 00:37:21.100
ROBONZO: Well, some of those sounds that were unique to the 80s on the drums were great but some of them were just like, man, it just doesn’t hold up well to me.

00:37:25.420 –> 00:37:25.800
ROBONZO: All right.

00:37:25.800 –> 00:37:27.180
ROBONZO: Bonus questions.

00:37:28.560 –> 00:37:30.320
ROBONZO: For me, I didn’t think I’d get this deep into it.

00:37:30.320 –> 00:37:34.660
ROBONZO: I appreciate you being so knowledgeable in what you do.

00:37:34.660 –> 00:37:35.120
ROBONZO: That’s great.

00:37:36.140 –> 00:37:38.740
ROBONZO: So you’ve worked with legacy artists and newer independent artists.

00:37:39.620 –> 00:37:49.300
ROBONZO: How do veterans approach distribution and marketing differently than emerging artists and what can each of those two sides learn from one another?

00:37:49.300 –> 00:37:53.760
JESSE FLORES: I think the veteran artists that I work with, they really obviously have been around for a while.

00:37:53.760 –> 00:37:57.720
JESSE FLORES: I know the lay of the land and they’re the ones that have that plan.

00:37:57.720 –> 00:37:59.300
JESSE FLORES: They say, this is what I want to do.

00:37:59.300 –> 00:38:02.860
JESSE FLORES: I’m just really picking and choosing the right partner for distribution.

00:38:03.540 –> 00:38:07.580
JESSE FLORES: Here’s my team, here’s where we already have laid out.

00:38:08.820 –> 00:38:10.400
JESSE FLORES: What can you guys bring to the table?

00:38:10.400 –> 00:38:18.060
JESSE FLORES: At that point, we know what we’re dealing with and we can get things done faster and things pretty much run a lot smoother.

00:38:18.060 –> 00:38:21.200
JESSE FLORES: When it comes to the newer artists, they’re really green.

00:38:21.200 –> 00:38:23.820
JESSE FLORES: A lot of times, it’s just the artist and the manager.

00:38:23.820 –> 00:38:37.140
JESSE FLORES: They really need a lot of hand holding, a lot of onboarding, a lot of time basically just letting them know what they need to do and trying to help them out and constantly following up.

00:38:37.140 –> 00:38:43.480
JESSE FLORES: A little more babysitting, I would say, which is fine because at the end of the day, for a lot of them, it’s worth it.

00:38:43.480 –> 00:38:49.860
JESSE FLORES: But yeah, it’s just a different approach, I’d say, in dealing with the two different types of artists.

00:38:49.860 –> 00:39:01.480
ROBONZO: Are there any good books or videos or artists worth just like mentioning that it would be great for those who were so inclined to study to try and get a leg up and feel like maybe they’re not going in so green?

00:39:03.060 –> 00:39:03.900
JESSE FLORES: That’s a great question.

00:39:03.900 –> 00:39:06.340
JESSE FLORES: I actually don’t know of any books or anything like that.

00:39:06.340 –> 00:39:12.100
JESSE FLORES: But what I do recommend for any new artists is, if they don’t have a performing rights organization, to join one.

00:39:12.180 –> 00:39:23.920
JESSE FLORES: That’s either CSAC, ASCAP or BMI because they always have workshops and conferences and panels and different ways to learn different things about the industry.

00:39:23.920 –> 00:39:28.580
JESSE FLORES: They’re always there to support their roster of artists and songwriters and producers.

00:39:28.680 –> 00:39:49.320
JESSE FLORES: So learning from them and even I do that, I always sign up for some of these workshops and webinars because the reality is the business is constantly changing and you can’t know everything because something pops up every month or so as far as a new company or a new way doing business or a new platform or something.

00:39:49.320 –> 00:39:55.880
JESSE FLORES: So being on top of that and registering with one of those, even if you’re not an actual member, I think you still sign up for some of their events.

00:39:56.380 –> 00:40:01.580
JESSE FLORES: Just going out there and learning and being a sponge is the way to go forward and how to learn about these types of things.

00:40:01.580 –> 00:40:08.220
ROBONZO: That’s great advice and actually I should do that just for the podcast alone.

00:40:08.220 –> 00:40:11.040
ROBONZO: Yeah, would help but as a musician too, it’s good stuff to know.

00:40:13.820 –> 00:40:27.360
ROBONZO: I don’t see myself pursuing a partnership like the many artists that you work with would, but still it’s great to know so that I can support some of the ones who are trying to figure it out.

00:40:27.360 –> 00:40:28.480
ROBONZO: Yes.

00:40:28.480 –> 00:40:32.760
ROBONZO: What role does data play in your partnership decisions?

00:40:32.760 –> 00:40:37.160
ROBONZO: Like what streaming or social metrics actually matter versus vanity metrics?

00:40:38.500 –> 00:40:40.740
JESSE FLORES: It’s a big part of it.

00:40:40.740 –> 00:40:50.800
JESSE FLORES: When a release comes out, we’re constantly looking at the data and to see what platforms are responding, what playlists are working, what markets we’re getting some traction in.

00:40:51.820 –> 00:41:00.180
JESSE FLORES: If maybe there’s a market where they’re getting mix show airplay or we just went to this city, we want to see if they’re having any reaction.

00:41:00.880 –> 00:41:20.140
JESSE FLORES: The data is extremely important and we build a dashboard that includes all those tools and data reporting analytics where you can actually sit there and analyze it and figure out what you want to do because you never want to know when you want to put some ad dollars in a certain market because something’s really taken off there, or you want to make that a next stop on your next tour date.

00:41:20.860 –> 00:41:26.140
JESSE FLORES: A tour run or whatever, so all those things really matter and they’re very important.

00:41:26.140 –> 00:41:26.660
ROBONZO: Cool.

00:41:27.020 –> 00:41:39.180
ROBONZO: And with Intercepts, like two billion streams across its roster, what patterns do you see in artists who reach significant streaming milestones versus those who plateau?

00:41:39.180 –> 00:41:44.920
JESSE FLORES: The ones that are a big part of those streams, they’re excited and they want to keep releasing music, which is great.

00:41:44.920 –> 00:41:49.780
JESSE FLORES: So it kind of gives them a momentum to want to keep pushing forward.

00:41:49.780 –> 00:41:54.640
JESSE FLORES: It gives them gratification that, hey, what I’m doing is resonating and it’s delivering results.

00:41:54.640 –> 00:42:05.540
JESSE FLORES: So therefore, I want to continue what I want to do, put out more music, give the fans what they want, and basically build on what they’ve already garnered up to this point.

00:42:05.540 –> 00:42:12.500
JESSE FLORES: So yeah, anytime they see those numbers increase, it’s taken as a positive.

00:42:12.560 –> 00:42:20.020
JESSE FLORES: Any time there’s a spike, they want to figure out ways to find a spike somewhere else or with some other content or maybe some catalog.

00:42:20.020 –> 00:42:30.460
JESSE FLORES: Find some way to create an activation where it affects not only that current release that you have out there, but also generate some buzz on the catalog that you have out there as well.

00:42:30.460 –> 00:42:31.020
ROBONZO: Great.

00:42:31.020 –> 00:42:34.760
ROBONZO: How did you get into the business, so to speak, to start with?

00:42:34.760 –> 00:42:36.620
ROBONZO: What drew you to it?

00:42:36.620 –> 00:42:36.900
JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

00:42:36.900 –> 00:42:41.000
JESSE FLORES: So I was in college at the University of Florida and I always wanted to meet in the music business.

00:42:41.000 –> 00:42:41.640
JESSE FLORES: I love music.

00:42:41.760 –> 00:42:43.720
JESSE FLORES: Obviously, I was a huge fan.

00:42:43.720 –> 00:42:48.900
JESSE FLORES: But I didn’t want to major in music performance, which is the only major my school had at the time.

00:42:48.900 –> 00:42:57.560
JESSE FLORES: So I switched over to business management and then I joined a company or a student-run organization with the school called Student Gumber Productions.

00:42:57.620 –> 00:43:01.440
JESSE FLORES: They basically were a student-run booking agency.

00:43:01.440 –> 00:43:08.800
JESSE FLORES: So it was a school that was funded by, I’m sorry, it was an organization funded by the school that brought artists and bands to perform.

00:43:09.000 –> 00:43:16.100
JESSE FLORES: And it was a huge eye-opener for me because I never really knew about that side of the business.

00:43:16.100 –> 00:43:23.200
JESSE FLORES: And then they got CMJ Magazine at the time and they were looking for a classified section.

00:43:23.200 –> 00:43:30.520
JESSE FLORES: And one of the distributors, Polygram Music, was looking for a distributor college rep in North Central Florida at the time.

00:43:30.520 –> 00:43:32.420
JESSE FLORES: And I applied for that and I got that.

00:43:32.420 –> 00:43:37.360
JESSE FLORES: So that was my first official foot in the door was being a part-time college rep in college.

00:43:37.620 –> 00:43:44.940
JESSE FLORES: And from that point on, I graduated and was able to get an entry-level position as a marketing rep in Los Angeles for Polygram.

00:43:44.940 –> 00:43:46.440
JESSE FLORES: That’s kind of where things got started.

00:43:46.440 –> 00:43:46.660
ROBONZO: Wow.

00:43:46.660 –> 00:43:48.260
ROBONZO: Are you from LA?

00:43:48.260 –> 00:43:49.500
JESSE FLORES: No, I grew up in Florida.

00:43:49.500 –> 00:43:50.420
ROBONZO: Okay.

00:43:50.420 –> 00:43:50.800
JESSE FLORES: Yeah.

00:43:50.800 –> 00:43:53.900
JESSE FLORES: I moved out to LA for the job after I graduated.

00:43:54.100 –> 00:43:55.920
ROBONZO: So you’ve been there for quite a while, huh?

00:43:55.920 –> 00:44:00.300
JESSE FLORES: I’ve been here for 25 plus years.

00:44:00.300 –> 00:44:05.720
ROBONZO: You see, well, when we first connected here today, I was like, oh man, this guy’s young.

00:44:05.780 –> 00:44:07.720
ROBONZO: This will be interesting.

00:44:07.720 –> 00:44:11.920
ROBONZO: I mean, just knowing what your background was, I was like, yeah, that’s pretty cool.

00:44:11.920 –> 00:44:13.620
ROBONZO: Well, you’re still looking young.

00:44:13.620 –> 00:44:14.140
JESSE FLORES: Thank you, man.

00:44:14.140 –> 00:44:15.000
JESSE FLORES: I appreciate it.

00:44:15.000 –> 00:44:15.520
ROBONZO: Yeah, for sure.

00:44:15.520 –> 00:44:17.440
ROBONZO: I really appreciate your time today.

00:44:17.440 –> 00:44:25.200
ROBONZO: I know that people can find you on LinkedIn, FloresJesse, and then interceptmusic.com.

00:44:26.340 –> 00:44:34.140
ROBONZO: You’re on Instagram at InterceptMusicOfficial, and you guys are also on Facebook at InterceptMusicSocialMedia.

00:44:36.220 –> 00:44:37.200
ROBONZO: Yes.

00:44:37.200 –> 00:44:39.100
ROBONZO: Was there anything else you wanted to?

00:44:39.100 –> 00:44:39.400
ROBONZO: Yeah.

00:44:39.400 –> 00:44:42.320
JESSE FLORES: I’m also obviously willing to get my email out.

00:44:42.320 –> 00:44:45.520
JESSE FLORES: So if anybody wants to email me directly, I’m at jesse.flores.interceptmusic.com.

00:44:47.600 –> 00:44:48.300
ROBONZO: Cool.

00:44:48.300 –> 00:44:50.800
ROBONZO: Jesse, man, I really appreciate your time and good talking with you.

00:44:51.580 –> 00:44:51.880
JESSE FLORES: Thank you.

00:44:51.880 –> 00:44:53.400
JESSE FLORES: I appreciate the time.

00:44:55.140 –> 00:44:58.040
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00:44:58.040 –> 00:45:00.080
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00:45:00.080 –> 00:45:02.920
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00:45:02.920 –> 00:45:05.640
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00:45:05.640 –> 00:45:14.600
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00:45:14.600 –> 00:45:16.920
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00:45:16.920 –> 00:45:19.160
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00:45:20.200 –> 00:45:31.940
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00:45:31.940 –> 00:45:36.500
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00:45:47.480 –> 00:45:51.780
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00:45:51.780 –> 00:45:56.640
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00:45:56.640 –> 00:46:06.840
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00:46:07.320 –> 00:46:11.380
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00:46:13.920 –> 00:46:15.300
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00:46:15.300 –> 00:46:17.480
ROBONZO: Peace, gratitude, and a whole lot of love.