Every Friday we share one non-obvious insight from your favorite creators in our newsletter.
June 24, 2022

What a Record Label Can Teach B2B Marketers About Building a Brand, with Alex Heddle

In this replay episode, we talk to Alex Heddle, Vice President of Publishing at Big Machine Music.

The player is loading ...
B2B Growth
In this replay episode, we talk to Alex Heddle, Vice President of Publishing at Big Machine Music.
Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:13.279 Conversations from the front lines of marketing. This is be to be growth. 2 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:22.640 Welcome into Friday show. Excited to share a featured conversation with you, a 3 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:27.839 replay episode from our Archive, as we always do on Fridays before we get 4 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:32.399 their friends. Have a bit of an announcement here now. As you know, 5 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:35.880 for sweet fish media and for be to be growth, we are on 6 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.359 a mission to help in house be to be marketers, continue to innovate, 7 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:44.640 create amazing content and we want to help feel your growth. So, that 8 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.679 being said, we are going under construction as a podcast, and what I 9 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.320 can say for now is that I am excited about what we're going to do 10 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:58.520 between now and the end of two thousand and twenty two, but we need 11 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:02.960 some time to make it happen. So in this pivot season we're going to 12 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.959 move from five episodes a week to three episodes a week and we're going to 13 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.760 start that next week. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for each 14 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.239 and every one of you for listening to the show, for supporting it, 15 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:21.400 for giving US feedback last month on our survey. Always feel free to connect 16 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:26.239 with me on Linkedin and can't wait to share all that we have coming down 17 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:33.879 the road for this podcast. All right, so going from five to three 18 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:37.599 episodes. But what are we doing today? Today we're going to share a 19 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:44.120 throwback conversation what a record label can teach be to be marketers about building a 20 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.719 brand with Alex Hedel. Let's talk about brand building. Let's learn from the 21 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:53.400 music industry. Let's dive in to today's featured conversation. Here we go. 22 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.879 Welcome back to be tob growth. I'm looking lyles with sweet fish media. 23 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:07.120 I'm joined today by Alex Hedel. He's the VP of publishing at big machine 24 00:02:07.240 --> 00:02:09.960 music. Alex, welcome to the show. How's it going today? Man, 25 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.919 thank you so much, Logan. It's going great, beautiful day in 26 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.000 Nashville. Absolutely so. As as listeners can probably tell from your title, 27 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.199 you are not a b Tob Marketer, at least in in your current role, 28 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.039 and so people might be thinking. Will hold on a second. We 29 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:30.719 are normally interviewing marketing leaders at BEDB tech companies. Why are we talking to 30 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:34.639 Alex here from from a record label? And what we're going to be talking 31 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:39.080 about is what marketers in BETB can learn from the tactics, in the strategies 32 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.360 that you employ every day at a record label. So for a little bit 33 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.120 of context, Alex, tell us a little bit about your current role, 34 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.879 what you're doing at the record label and and some context to kind of tea 35 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:53.800 up this conversation. So my current role at big machine music is I lead 36 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.240 creative for the publishing arm of the of the label group, and so that's 37 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:04.159 very much the career great of side of of the company. I manage and 38 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:10.039 develop songwriters and also develop artists who write their own songs. We currently have, 39 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:15.000 I think, around twenty songwriters or were songwriter artists on our on our 40 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:21.599 roster, and it's really our job to, you know, develop them for 41 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.560 the market. So these are people with talent, people that write songs on 42 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:29.719 a daily basis and really just making sure that they are producing songs that are 43 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:35.120 competitive that then we can take and shop out two different artists or TV shows 44 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.560 or movies or video games or really anywhere a copyright can make make money. 45 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:45.159 Where we've really excelled is just in the country radio and now pop radio game 46 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.120 though. So you know, whether it's yeah, like you know, finding 47 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:53.560 a young luke combs or a young Brett young and believing in what they're writing 48 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.199 and then and really just focusing on making sure that it's competitive sonically for the 49 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.360 market. And then, of course, then you are selling it to different 50 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.080 people within your own company, making sure people are prepped with right information. 51 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:06.759 You know, on that side we're very much in product development, I guess 52 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:13.120 you would say. We obviously we call it artist development, but with songwriters 53 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:17.600 it's kind of the same thing. And then yet even more where we are 54 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:21.199 instructing them on what is competitive in the market. We're keeping them fresh on 55 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:26.240 what artists are doing well right now, what we think that we can we 56 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.480 can go after. I mean, whether it's an artist that you know doesn't 57 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.519 write their own songs and you know they're writing songs in a room, and 58 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:34.800 then I am taking those songs and pitching it to the artists in our person 59 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:41.199 the artists themselves, their producer, really anyone who's involved in that decision making 60 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.199 process around them. Or if it's an artist that does write their own songs, 61 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.079 then I take one of our his songwriters try to make an introduction in 62 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.720 a natural sense, which is, you know, really where sales comes in. 63 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.079 You know, whether you're pitching a song, I mean you're built a 64 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.199 relationship. You got to report reputation that you can put forth and really leverage 65 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.639 to, you know, then make sure that there are giving you the time 66 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:06.240 and respect that you need to really show you you know, hey, I 67 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:11.199 have a great product. He please take this seriously. And then or, 68 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.079 you know, if you're shopping your songwriter to collaborate with an artist, then 69 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.439 you're really just kind of trying to work on style, you know, lyrics, 70 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.680 things that you know these this artists are definitely going to connect to in 71 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.839 order to try and make that connection for them to get in a room together, 72 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.240 or really pedigree. So it's if it's a hit songwriter that has written 73 00:05:30.279 --> 00:05:32.360 a bunch of hits. Well, like sometimes like, let's say, I'm, 74 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.120 I don't know, kind the sky, like a guy like Sam hunt 75 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:39.120 or something like that, that, you know, I'm trying to shop one 76 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.920 of my writers over to write with. Well, I know Sam, you 77 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:47.079 know, certainly likes more artistic, you know, forms of contemporary music, 78 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:51.600 and so somebody who can really write great lyrics. So somebody who really respects 79 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:56.079 and slows down the creative process. I mean just thinking about these kind of 80 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:00.680 micromoments in a room. And then, you know, really just marketing that 81 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.240 towards person's you're making this connection to two people that can create together and in 82 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:10.360 a way that hopefully yields a hit. So I love how much relationships were 83 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:15.319 just woven throughout kind of that background and context, Alex, and I'd like 84 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.600 to dig into that a little bit because I do think there are some parallels 85 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:23.800 for bb sales and marketing leaders, because you know, in bb we usually 86 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:28.800 have a very targeted list, a targeted focus of the market that we're trying 87 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.240 to serve. We're trying to serve, you know, VP's of sales at 88 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:38.680 technology companies or operations managers at manufacturing companies. We kind of know that profile 89 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:42.240 and in bb we're not trying to reach the masses, we're not trying to 90 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.800 reach millions, billions of people. And when you think about a record label 91 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.279 you think about all the consumption on the consumer level of the music. But 92 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:56.600 really in your role it's about focusing first on those key relationships and then being 93 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:00.240 able to identify how do I build those relationships, how do I open open 94 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:03.360 those doors to new relationships, how do I foster them, and then how 95 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:08.560 do I connect what I know about them, not in kind of a baetan 96 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:12.120 switch sort of way, but what I understand to match what I have to 97 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:15.399 offer to them. So what are some of the things that you think have 98 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:19.360 been helpful for you and in both opening those doors to new relationships and continuing 99 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:24.439 to foster those with the folks in the market that you're trying to serve? 100 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.879 You mention a couple key personas that you're building relationships with, for for your 101 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:32.720 company and for the songwriters that you represent. What are some of those things 102 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:40.199 that have been your secret sauce? I mean really it's just managing what I'm 103 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.199 putting forward to people. I mean I always my goal is to always be 104 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:47.319 bringing value to somebody. I never want to hustle anybody because honestly, they 105 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.360 want to work with me again. And the music community, I mean the 106 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:55.560 country music community, is small but like if you really look at the music 107 00:07:55.560 --> 00:07:58.639 community, like you can when we go to the grammys ever every year, 108 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.240 you realize how big of a world of music it is, but you also 109 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:05.120 realize how small the community of success it is, and so if you want 110 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:09.399 to play ball then you better bring your best every day. So that's why 111 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.240 I focus so much. I'm, you know, just knowing intimately the people 112 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:16.560 that I'm working with, you know, my songwriters. I need to know 113 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.240 what they love with it, how they represent themselves in the room, how 114 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:22.600 they want to win as a big thing for me too, because, you 115 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:24.519 know, if they are passionate about the direction that we're heading in, then 116 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:30.480 I have, you know, somebody who's making our quote unquote, product that 117 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:33.000 is passionate, feels inspired, knows that every day they're going in and doing 118 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.519 something that is very purposeful for them. So, you know, once you 119 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:39.480 have that, once you have somebody that is excited to, you know, 120 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:43.080 go in and make a collaboration happeners writing these songs that then I can, 121 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:46.080 you know, become passionate about and bring to these people, I think that 122 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:50.799 that is just kind of a contagious factor, you know, when you have 123 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:54.799 something that is so real to, you know, already a few people and 124 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:58.000 then you're bringing it to the buyer, which is, you know, really 125 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:03.320 an Aar person at a record label or a or producer or an artist or, 126 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.039 honestly, sometimes on pitching stuff to video games and film and TV and 127 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.600 stuff like that too, and that's a bit of a different game, but 128 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.559 it's still great that you believe in your products. I mean, if you 129 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:16.919 really believe in your product, other people will start to leave as well. 130 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.200 Hey, everybody logan with sweet fish here. You probably already know that we 131 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.519 think you should start a podcast, if you haven't already. But what if 132 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.720 you have and you're asking these kinds of questions? How much has our podcast 133 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:35.360 impacted revenue this year? How is our sales team actually leveraging the PODCAST content? 134 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.480 If you can't answer these questions, you're actually not alone. This is 135 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:45.600 why I casted, created the very first content marketing platform made specifically for be 136 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:50.559 tob podcasting. Now you can more easily search and share your audio content while 137 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:56.120 getting greater visibility into the impact of your podcast. The marketing teams at Drift 138 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:01.240 Terminus and here at sweetfish have started using casted to get more value out of 139 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:05.240 our podcasts, and you probably can to. You can check out the product 140 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:15.320 in action and casted dot US growth. That's sea St Ed dot US growth. 141 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.440 All right, let's get back to the show. Absolutely I love that 142 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.919 you talked. You know, we kind of started down this trail talking about 143 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.320 relationships and you touched on something. They're knowing what the the people in the 144 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.879 market that you're trying to serve what they're passionate about and I think in in 145 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:37.120 BB marketing we kind of skip over the emotional aspect of it with you know, 146 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:41.279 if you're selling a crm software or a sales engagement platform, it's well, 147 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:46.120 we're missing this time and and this feature fits this problem and solves and 148 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.759 provides this benefit. But what's the emotional situation of the people that were selling 149 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:54.200 to? What gets them fired up, what gets them frustrated, what really 150 00:10:54.279 --> 00:11:00.720 takes them off right and and how can we determine where their emotional state aligns 151 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:05.399 with what we're passionate about as a brandon and what our what our why is? 152 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:09.480 And then in telling a story where your product or your service weaves in, 153 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:13.360 weaves into that. You kind of mentioned another thing that we're very passionate 154 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.799 about here, Alex I. It was kind of subtle and what you said 155 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:20.000 there, but you essentially alluding to playing the long game, that you're always 156 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:24.399 adding value. You're not looking to every interaction. I deposit this, I 157 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.159 get this back out right. I'm going to deposit, I'm going to deposit, 158 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:30.320 I'm going to deposit. Like Gary V says, Jab Jab Jab right 159 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:31.759 hook. It's not Jabb Right Hook, Jab right, Hook right. I'm 160 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:33.919 going to give and take, give and take. It's give, give, 161 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.559 give, and then it's probably going to come back to you before you even 162 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:43.399 ask if you're if you're giving enough. At the same time, you do, 163 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.279 you know, as marketers, as salespeople, we've got quotas to hit, 164 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:52.360 we've got pipeline to generate. There is a responsibility for the business results. 165 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:58.240 So how do you balance that mentality and being competitive and somewhat aggressive, 166 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:03.000 passionate about out what you do and getting that message to the right people, 167 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.000 without coming across as hey, I'm just trying to hustle? It's that's really 168 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.120 my end game. How do you balance that? What do you think other 169 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:13.320 sales and marketing folks could learn their Alex? I mean, I think it 170 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.879 depends on the context of first of all, there's a quote that I love 171 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.559 from our CEO. He always says like, you know, welcome to the 172 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:22.879 music business. Like how long do you want to play, as in like 173 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.240 welcome to the Casino? How long do you want to play? Do you 174 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.679 want to throw all your money down and walk away in two weeks, or 175 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.159 you want to learn the game? You want to figure out how you can 176 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.279 play the longest, how you can be involved and how you can make the 177 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:39.000 biggest impact. And you know, I think it depends on the context. 178 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.279 With us, when we were starting this company out eight years ago, we 179 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.519 were we were small. We had a budget that had kind of been set 180 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:46.759 out in front of us of money that we're going to be able to grow 181 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:50.200 our company with, but it wasn't through acquisitions. It was it was really 182 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:54.799 through signing and development. So I mean really for us it was like, 183 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:58.120 you know, when you have like three or four or five songwriters early on, 184 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.080 you have a lot of places you can go. And so, yeah, 185 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.799 there is always a need to be in front of people in selling, 186 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.440 but you know, if you have other avenues, if one if one area 187 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.440 is not appropriate just yet, well, you can still build a relationship by 188 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.679 like, you know, sharing good content with that person or sharing time with 189 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:20.120 that person or just honestly becoming a friend or at least building reputation where you're 190 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.600 showing, Hey, I'm doing this over here and I'm going to come come 191 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.440 to you at some point. But you know, there's other for me it 192 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.320 was always I can go focus on this over here, build more reputation for 193 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:33.279 our song where to build more of a story over here, so then eventually 194 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.639 I can bring it over here to a place that, you know, I 195 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:37.639 couldn't go over and try and hustle, but I'm just not going to do 196 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.960 it. I'm going to go when it's appropriate and when I'm really bringing value 197 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:43.000 to them. So I think it's just being really respectful of timing, because 198 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.279 it really does play so much into into growth, you know. I mean 199 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.320 it's knowing, knowing when you're we're when you're ready to take advantage of the 200 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.039 right situation. Yeah, absolutely makes sense that I hit the nail on the 201 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:58.080 head there. Yeah, absolutely, and I have a follow up question to 202 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:01.120 that, Alex, because I think that the stage you describe kind of talking 203 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:07.399 about the earlier days of the company, when you're kind of that that disruptor 204 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:11.200 you're not the the biggest player in town yet, that sort of stuff. 205 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:15.000 There are a lot of companies that we talk to that are maybe at that 206 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:18.480 stage in their own start up journey. Maybe they've got their seed round or 207 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.399 they've got a series a of funding and they're just starting to kind of try 208 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.120 and take on the bigger names in the in their space and in very different 209 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.360 industries and so they've got to make a decision. How do we go to 210 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.519 market? Do we do we try to, you know, run a bunch 211 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:37.960 of ADS and and try to get a bunch of direct response? Do we 212 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:43.279 go the the long game of creating more content and building very strategic relationships, 213 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.000 it sounds to you, as opposed to kind of pounding the phones and making 214 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:52.039 a ton of sales calls and and and try and say hey, do you 215 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:52.519 want to work with us? Do you want to work with us? Do 216 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.240 you want to work with us? That was that was not the them that 217 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.039 you took, even though it's like hey, I'm I'm responsible for you know, 218 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:05.600 we've got to drive new business. Do you think that that's a leadership 219 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.360 thing that at some organizations, I can imagine, you know, the CEO 220 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.440 saying, well, we don't have time to kind of play the long game, 221 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.759 like we've got a sink or swim. Now, as much as I 222 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.200 see kind of this long game that you want to play building relationships and in 223 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.759 adding value without that direct ask was that a struggle to kind of balance that 224 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:26.480 for you in the early days or not? And and how did leadership kind 225 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.200 of play a role in that? I mean, no, they were. 226 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:35.360 They were definitely on our tails when, I will were losing money, but 227 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:39.320 luckily we were able to turn that around pretty quickly. I think that it 228 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.120 can. You know, it depends, once again, depends on the product. 229 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:45.000 Some things you just had to mass market, you know, sometimes you 230 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.279 sometimes you have to spend that money just to freaking honestly shove it down people's 231 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.240 throat until they know that they need it, they know they want it. 232 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.159 But I think that there's a happy medium there because, you know, when 233 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.399 you're not able to play the long game and you, you know, do 234 00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:03.279 have that pressure of maybe some finances and or bosses or owners or whatever partners, 235 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.799 whatever you're dealing with, I think that there's, you know, a 236 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.799 strategy that we like to use so much is, let's identify, you know, 237 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.600 the tastemaker, like let's identify that that point in the market that can 238 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.960 of make ways and let's people make a fan of of that person. So 239 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.399 it's like for us, it's like yeah, okay. Like on our creative 240 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.440 side, you know, I'm marking usually to marketing, usually two individuals and 241 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:29.559 trying to get them to you know, record a song or to take my 242 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.759 song and put it, you know, in a room with another artist. 243 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:34.399 But I think more than anything it's like, you know, we also use 244 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:38.399 publications. You know, we buildboard, we use rolling stone, we use 245 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:45.559 various professional music publications and songwriter magazines, stuff like that. People things that 246 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.159 we know that are you know, our industry, you know, pays attention 247 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.399 to and we folks on making sure that our songwriters are regularly doing interviews, 248 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:57.519 they're they're making there's themselves more of a public profile over time. And then, 249 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:00.759 you know, really if it's, for instance, Scott or Chet who's 250 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:03.119 the CEO of our company, you know, if we need get something done 251 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:06.640 really quickly, will we can go right to him, because we do that 252 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.519 relationship and he can make big ways. You know, there's sometimes you're looking 253 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:12.960 to kind of build a grounds, grounds well and sometimes you looking to make 254 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.200 a splash. And you know, I think that having the ability to do 255 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.880 both and having respect for the timing of each of those situations and for what 256 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:26.319 situation it's appropriate is very essential. Yeah, absolutely, Alex. as we 257 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.079 ground out the conversation today, I want to draw one more parallel between your 258 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:34.480 world in the music industry and be tob sales and marketing and something you alluded 259 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:40.720 to earlier. It's the relationship between taking taking your product market and then giving 260 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:44.079 feedback. So in a beebe context, that might not it's not going to 261 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.559 be songwriters, but it is going to be your your product development team, 262 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:51.480 your product team who is providing updates if you, you know, have a 263 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:56.480 Sass platform something like that. And so I think the lesson there for sales 264 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.920 and marketing teams is is to if you don't have that line of communication into 265 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.960 your product team at at some level to be able to provide some feedback. 266 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.640 We're hearing this about our service. We're we're seeing demand for this in the 267 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.839 market, but we don't have an answer for it. To make sure that 268 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.359 you open those lines of communication. Do you think that's that's kind of the 269 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.079 lesson there as we try and bridge that gap between music industry and be to 270 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.400 be a one more time today. I mean I think the close, the 271 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:27.920 closer your product developers are to the actual market, the better. You know. 272 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:33.599 I really think that you know people that are creating creating a product. 273 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:37.240 For me it's, once again, songwriters. I am constantly telling them, 274 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.640 Hey, so andso is getting ready to record a new album, hey, 275 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.680 so andso is getting you know, looking for a hit to put on the 276 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:47.000 radio. So and so it's looking for, you know, a song for 277 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.000 their new EP. You know, we're always informing people on this and then 278 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:52.680 we're also informing of like what's coming up. Oh, there's this new sound 279 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.480 over here that you should check out. I think she's really take take a 280 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:56.799 look at this and see what you can add to it, to see where 281 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:02.440 you can take this because honestly, if they're just you know, some people 282 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:06.480 can create magic in a dark room, in that you know, in the 283 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.799 back corner or someplace in Silicon Valley or Nashville, Tennessee, or in New 284 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.680 York City or you know wherever it is. But more often than not we're 285 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:18.759 improving on existing ideas and so we have to know what those existing ideas are 286 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:22.839 at the market in order to really take that next step. So I really, 287 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.359 I really believe that sales teams, and once again I'm kind of a 288 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.119 bridge gap. Ay, I do a little bit of both, but I 289 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.599 really believe that, you know, the more informed, the more information that's 290 00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:36.000 going from your sales staff, it's your product development company. With respects, 291 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:41.319 that is important because that relationship can become contentious. The better because that's how 292 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:45.000 people grow, that's how people are challenged, that's how people think creatively and 293 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:48.880 don't get complacent. Yeah, absolutely, and that's how you create products that 294 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.799 the market actually wants. You know, I love one of the I forget 295 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:56.839 where this quote is from, but don't don't take your product and try and 296 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:00.079 find people to to buy it. Find what people are wanting to buy and 297 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:06.559 create a product to offer them. I'm at really not quoting that well, 298 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:10.000 but hopefully I get the point across there. That kind of sums up what 299 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:11.240 you were talking about there, Alex. well, this has been a great 300 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:15.880 conversation, man. I really appreciate you being down for this. I think 301 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:18.920 it was a little bit of a changeup episode, and a fun one at 302 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.880 least. A great conversation for me. I hope listeners got some value out 303 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:25.240 of it. Alex, if anybody wants to reach out, get connected with 304 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.880 you, or just anything else exciting that you guys have going on at the 305 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:32.279 company that you want to share with listeners today, what's something you want to 306 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:37.359 share their I mean what's going on the company? Last week was our eighth 307 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:41.039 year anniversary and we've actually in the same week we celebrate our thirty number one 308 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:47.640 hit song as well as currently we're, we've been thirty five weeks straight at 309 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.160 the top of the billboard hot country songs chart, with two songs, specifically 310 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.240 tenzero hours by Justin Bieber and Dan and Shay Co written by our writer, 311 00:20:56.359 --> 00:21:02.079 just you're, Dylan and Laura Velt's co wrote the bones by Mary Morris that 312 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:03.920 then took over for that mistaken it. So we're having a hell of a birthday