The Blue Collar Exec Podcast

Charting a new path that can sometimes seem unclear will always be daunting. Yesterday we learned that Josh Niemyjski hasn’t let that hold him back from pushing forward in the industry of production music. As he continues to trailblaze in this space, he’s learned some tips and tricks along the way, which have slowly become good habits, for him to use as well as his team.

In today’s episode we’ll learn how Josh has figured out a way to keep his team motivated to create, and to remain focused on the goal of building an amazing library. While the team has their heads down, Josh has kept a quiet watch, observing all things surrounding their world. Trying to gain an advantage wherever he can.

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Imagine going from being an A&R for a popular music label, to creating your own popular indie music label and website. Enduring the harsh realities of running a label after streaming completely takes over. From there you make the hard decision to jump head first into building a library specifically made for sync licensing. Bridging the gap between traditional music distribution with artists and producers, to making music for TV, film and radio. That’s the story of my guest today. Josh Niemyjski, known as Plastic by many in the community, and Founder of ILLECT Recordings, has been a quiet trailblazer in the world of independent music labels and now production music. A few weeks ago I had a chance to catch up with him to talk about all that’s going on in his world at the moment, and how he’s continuing to make significant headway in this new space. Be sure to check back this week for the next parts in this conversation!

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"Epidemic Sound, which was founded in 2009, said that the new investment would “be used to further accelerate [our] customer acquisition and invest even more aggressively in [our] core user experience”. In addition, Epidemic said the money would be used to fuel the company’s international expansion, both in existing territories and new markets. It will also be used, said Epidemic, “to develop and localize [our] digital offerings, continue investment in music, and unlock wider market potential”. - Music Business Worldwide

Big win for Epidemic. Potentially an even bigger win for creators around the world.

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It's only a matter of time before multidisciplinary creators launch into these spaces regularly. Producers are gonna produce. Period. Lena Waithe—the writer, producer, and actor from shows including The Chi, Master of None, Twenties, and more—has launched a new partnership with Def Jam Records with the formation of a new label called Hillman Grad Records. A new press release described the label as an effort to identify, support, and “develop the next generation of underrepresented artists.”

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“This is a momentous occasion not only for Verzuz and Triller but the music business as a whole,” Swizz Beatz and Timbaland said in a joint statement. “By putting Verzuz in the Triller Network ecosystem and expanding the Verzuz brand to be side by side with the powerful Triller app, we will be able to continue to grow and evolve the music business as a whole, as we have been doing. To have partners in Triller who share our vision, specifically to celebrate and elevate the amazing artists who continue to shape culture around the world and give the consumer more direct access, is game changing.”

This episode was important for us to speak on. Having had the pleasure of going through an acquisition and attaining equity from the parent company, this conversation needs to happen more in our community of creators. Hope you enjoy!

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Sony Music Group (SMG) today announced Beyond The Instrument, a new, annual program designed to stimulate creativity, advance educational resources and promote career development within the music industry. Smythe and I sat down to discuss the positive impact this could have on this community of future music professionals, and if we see more of this happening in the future with other major labels. 

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I read an article over the weekend from Variety, written by Andrew Hampp, entitled: Songs for Screens: Inside Tyler The Creator’s Original Score (and Single) for Coca-Cola, ‘Tell Me How’. In this article Andrew goes in depth about the latest Wieden + Kennedy ad with Coca-Cola, that features a brand new track by Tyler the Creator. Not only was this track used for the commercial, but they decided to release the song via DSP's for casual listening by fans as well. It's always been odd to me that more artist, producers and labels don't do this regularly. To speak more directly to this dilemma, I caught up with my good friend Swoope, who just last year, landed a huge sync placement with JBL, featuring the reigning two-time NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo. You definitely don't want to miss this conversation!

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We've come to the end of our first official week of our daily show. In these episodes we'll cover a few topics that we couldn't cover through the week. In this episode we specifically discuss Sound Design & A Lawsuit, Nike VP Quitting After Report Reveals Family Ties to "West Coast Joe" Reseller, and Billboard Charts Now Incorporating Facebook Music Video Streams. 

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Is this Jack Dorsey’s version of Jeff Bezos buying Wondery to get a foot into the audio/podcast world? He bought them for $300 million, so it seems a comparable sales price. Spotify stepped into a different position by buying properties, and this seems like another chess move to keep up. What about Spotify worries these bigger names and companies? Is this just a race to gather up for “subscribers”?

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Starting on April 1, SoundCloud will become the first major streaming service to implement a “user-centric” payment system, changing the way the it pays independent artists. Could this be the official new way of streaming services paying the artists they distribute? We'll see...

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