John's Blog

Brenden (@bmull) founded and runs ArtistData (http://www.artistdata.com), a company at the forefront of how musicians are leveraging social media. He's a music industry guy who lives in Chicago, spends a lot of time in California, and has 1/2 an MBA.

Q.  Many of my readers are small business owners or those who are interested in starting their own business.  Could you share some insights about what motivated you to create ArtistData?

A. Like most entrepreneurs, I saw a real need an the industry and didn't see anyone addressing it. When I was working at Aware Records, I was in charge of the digital media initiatives for some of our artists. One thing that came with that responsibility was maintaining a consistent message across a lot of different social platforms. Updating websites started to take more and more of my day and I knew there must be a better way of leveraging a central dashboard which could publish information out to multiple destinations.

Once I saw the real need, I spent a LOT of time talking to other people in the industry to check and see if I was the only one noticing this pain point (my version of market research). I wasn't alone, and the response convinced me to spend more time exploring the idea.

I left Aware and consulted music companies for a year. During that time I moved from Chicago to Southern California where I continued the conversation with artists and industry execs about the need for a centralized management tool. The enthusiasm was incredible, so the following year I founded ArtistData. I brought on an ex-record label guy in Nashville as a business partner and together we hired an offshore development team and started building the ArtistData Dashboard.

Q.  What were the early days at ArtistData like?

A. Scrappy, quiet, focused. Typical startup: Save every penny. Spend every dollar like it was your last. Freak out about every bug or delay. By overly concerned about every alpha user showing frustration. But it was fun. Our purpose immediately struck a chord with artists, which made continuing to develop the platform a pleasure.

Q.  Successful startups are always evaluating the market and how they best fit into the market.  You've made some exciting changes recently to become more of a development platform.  What prompted this?

A. I actually just wrote a long blog post about this today, because it's a great question.

We entered the market hoping to bring some of the best platforms together and give artists an easy way to access and update them. The rollout went well, but there were always a few issues concerning data flow that we could never agree on with most partners. Over time, we started developing more standalone tools, and improving our Dashboard experience instead of rapidly expanding the network. The focus was shifting from being a neutral platform to being a competitive artist promotional tool provider. It didn't feel right.

Also, as the company's visibility grew and user base ballooned, we started getting tons of requests to expand our feature set. Artists were showing a clear desire for a central hub to access a bunch of services, but also a preference for ArtistData to be the one providing them, because they preferred our approach to syndication.

I took a hard look at where we were headed and realized it was straying from the original intention. So I started talking with tons of artist services companies about building a central, neutral, platform for them all to build apps on and give artists the convenience they wanted. It's a win-win in my opinion. The developers get to focus on their niche without worrying that artists will leave them for a platform with more services and artists get a set of high quality tools built by dedicated teams easily accessible through a central interface. For artists it means convenience of access, decreased data entry, and an easy way to subscribe and pay for services. For developers it means drastically reduced development time, a pre-built billing system, and immediate access to a large target market. For ArtistData it means we can return to our original focus.

Q.  All companies have their ups and downs.  Was there a moment when you asked yourself if it was worth it?

A. There have been some major peaks and valleys. The nice thing is that I was used to that from working in the music industry. When you are trying to break an artist, there is a LOT of hard work, but every once in a while there is some really good moments that makes all the work worth it. For example, I was part of the team that initially signed Mat Kearney back in 2005. That year, Mat and I drove around the midwest in a sedan hoping for crowds larger than 20 people. Then, in 2007, I helped Mat out by tour managing him and the band while they were on tour with John Mayer. The last night of the tour, we played to a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York. Standing there watching him play to 18,000 screaming fans made all the hard work worth it, and I'd do it again.

ArtistData is the same way. There are some really tough times, like when a competitor releases a feature days before we were going to release the same one or when the site goes down unexpectedly after a big launch. There's also constant long days and little reward, but every time I get a glowing "thank you" or "your site is amazing" email from a user, it makes it totally worth it.

Q.  The platform that you have constructed would work well for non-music markets, have you considered pushing into other areas?

A. Many times, and maybe one day we will. Most likely, someone else will. All I know is that I have a great understanding of what artists need and it's my goal to continue providing them the best solution possible before one day moving onto a market that might offer greater opportunity. I'm a young entrepreneur. ArtistData doesn't need to be my legacy. Right now, I can serve a small total available market that I understand way better than a a bunch of larger markets that I don't have a connection with.

Another bonus is that mistakes in a smaller market aren't as big of a deal as a huge one, so it's a great time to learn. And artists are forgiving. They're in a similar boat as startups, and they understand that we're both trying to create something that other people will value. So, I'm very happy in the music market. I love music and I love working with people who put everything on the line to share their creativity with the world. It's inspiring.

 Q.  When you're not working, what do you like to do to relax?

A. Well, it's summer in Chicago, so I spend as much time outside as possible and surround myself with people I respect, admire, and enjoy spending time with. Unfortunately, even when I'm not working, I'm always thinking about something tied to ArtistData. Little things like user interface decisions are constantly circulating in my mind. It's annoying, but I enjoy what I do.

Q.  Brenden, what's your favorite sport?  What team do you cheer on when you have some free time?

A. Again, summer in Chicago means right now I'd say baseball and the Cubs. But I think overall I enjoy football the most. Watching it, not playing it.

Q.  What's next for ArtistData?

A. Building a robust platform that developers can use to build valuable, meaningful tools for artists. That's the goal, and we're excited about working with tons of artists, developers, and entrepreneurs to achieve it.

If you have any additional questions for Brenden, let me know.

John