New Era Of Music Streaming

On March 31^st, 2015, the Sunday Express posted an article about new music streaming service named Tidal. Tidal is own by Shawn “Jay Z” Carter and a few other known artists such as Calvin Harris and Chris martin. Jay Z stated that he didn’t like the direction music was going and that’s why he took the initiative to create his own brand.

Tidal is a music streaming service based on membership. It is currently competing with rivals like Spotify and Pandora. The one thing that differentiates Tidal from the others is that they aim for the consumers who want higher quality, lossless audio. In order to make all of this possible, Jay Z had to invest 56 million dollars buying tech company Aspiro earlier this year. The membership fee for Tidal is 20 dollars a month when Spotify is 5 dollars a month.

Jay Z recently took to social media in response to his peers who were claiming that his company was unsuccessful and his response was that all these other companies did not start at the top which is life in general, you have to start small and work your way to the top. The main purpose of Tidal was for artists to get paid for their work because with all the technology nowadays, people don’t have to buy music. They can just download from different sources and get music for free. 

In my opinion, getting all these big celebrities to be part of Tidal and saying that they are not making enough money is non-sense because if they have already made it in the industry. Consumers would be more willing to pay the 20 dollars a month for Indy artists or new artists that are trying to get their music out. I personally think that Tidal will be a failure because nobody will want to pay for music streaming that they can get for either cheaper or for free.

Working For A Record Label

   When I think about my future, I often find that it leads me to my passion which is managing a celebrity. It could be either a basketball player to a music artist, as long I get to manage them, represent them, direct them to the right path and assist them in making the best decisions for their careers. I want to work at a Record Label or a sport agency after obtaining my Masters at Full Sail in 2016, starting from the bottom working my way up. I have found myself inspired by two talent managers, Scooter Braun and Maverick Carter. These gentlemen manage two successful individuals who are Justin Bieber and Lebron James.

   Scooter Braun is an American music manager. Born in New York, New York, Scooter Braun was a successful athlete during his school years, and an award-winning filmmaker. He attended Emory University, and began organizing parties while he was a student. His parties became so popular that he was asked to organize after-parties for stars such as Britney Spears, Eminem, and Ludacris. He was subsequently invited to work for So So Def Records, and he became their executive director of marketing while he was still a student. He left school after his junior year to focus on his career. He managed events for the NBA and for all of Britney's Spears Onyx Hotel Tour. He now works primarily as a talent manager and runs his own record label, Schoolboy Records. He is also the co-founder of Raymond-Braun Media Group with recording artist, Usher Raymond. His clients include Justin Bieber, Asher Roth, and Cody Simpson, among others.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Scooter Braun net worth as of 2015 is 50 millions.

    Maverick Carter is an American businessman. Maverick Carter was born in North Akron, Ohio, and grew up as a close friend of Lebron James. He is the man behind the "Lebron James Machine", and has served as his manager and closest confidant for years. During the period of time when Lebron was deciding whether or not to switch teams, Maverick Carter took almost as much heat as Lebron did. He is the founder and CEO of LBMR, the management firm that controls much of Lebron James publicity, marketing, and promotional deals. LBMR also advises Mr. James on entertainment investments. Recently, Maverick Carter backed Lebron on a series development deal with Starz. He has been instrumental in re-positioning Lebron James' reputation post his move to Miami. He credits their successful working relationship with the fact that they are able to be totally honest with each other, since they have known each other since childhood.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Maverick Carter net worth as of 2015 is 15 million.

   During an interview with Scooter Braun, Gail Mitchell said to him that he enjoyed success as a manager in a short time, what was his secret. Braun responded: “The typical idea of management is that you're working for someone and doing what he says. That's not my character. I can't manage someone who wants a yes man. I have a real relationship with my clients; they're going to get the truth from me. It's also important for them to shape their own opinions and disagree if they feel passionate. They're able to get some real perspective, and so am I because there are times when they are right and I need to listen”.  

   A Manager with this mindset will always be successful. Just because his clients are the one with all the money, it doesn’t mean he has to be superficial or always agree with whatever decision or opinion they have. He is not afraid to tell them when they are wrong and is open to hear their opinions. He is just a small kid that had a big dream and became very successful. He has multiples clients and recently opened his own company, SB projects. 

   While these professionals are both talent managers, Braun manages a music artist and Carter manages an athlete. They share similar journeys because both came from nothing, they only had big dreams and were able to work hard and put in the time. They are both CEO's and manage successfully clients. They have a certain level of expertise that for me can follow their path. I plan to incorporate their advice into the process on becoming a talent manager. It might be worth your while to do the same and you won't regret it.