Episode Details

“What can we do to make that number a thousand? That’s the kind of stuff we really focus on. We have tools and analytics within our dashboard to kind of help guide you with that and provide insight onto what strategies are needed to get to that place. But also, I think what makes a lot of sense is to have the right team around you for independent artists. You’ve got to have a really good manager, obviously a great distributor, a good entertainment lawyer, a good publicist, and a good online marketing and social media strategist. If you have those five people in your camp, you’re off to good start.” – Jesse Flores

This week’s guest was recently named VP, Artist and Label Partnerships at Intercept Music. He’s a seasoned music industry executive with over two decades of experience in business development, artist partnerships and label relations, and, as Senior Director of Label and Business Development at Virgin Music Group, he played a pivotal role in securing and managing relationships with high-profile artists and independent labels, working with artists such as Stephen Marley, Slum Village, Carla Morrison, Dax and more. With a background in both tech and sound, he’s built tools that treat music not just as art but as a powerful business asset.

His name is Jesse Flores, and in this episode, we’ll be talking about what it really means for artists to own their sound, why marketing is part of the creative process, and how the right tools can help great music get the recognition it deserves.

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(00:00) – Jesse’s Journey into the Music Business

Our conversation starts off with Jesse’s early memories of sound, particularly an unforgettable concert when he was a child. “It was my first concert ever,” he recalls. “I was seven years old, and it was the Jacksons’ Victory Tour. Obviously, at the time, Michael Jackson was probably the biggest artist in the planet. And I was young, but I was a fan.” He shares his professional journey, from music student to music executive in Los Angeles, and how narrowly he avoided an early career pitfall. “I really had a good time to, you know, sit down and think about it and weigh the pros and cons,” he explains, recalling a job transfer that would’ve sent him across the country. “And, at the end of the day, I decided to stay in L.A., which was a blessing and the right decision because if I’d moved to Miami, I probably would have lost my job in the next year or two because they closed that office down.”

(9:45) – Working with Independent Artists

Jesse tells us more about his work at Universal and what goes into building an up-and-coming musician’s brand. “We had a team just nationwide of people where, you know, they bring them into our market and we were the experts in our region,” he says. “So we knew exactly where to take them, what stations made the most sense, what retailers were really supporting them, where we were selling the records.” He talks about his transition from Universal to Intercept records