Description
Today’s guest ran music licensing for Google and now is the GM of a new app called Spotlite. You will discover his tips on how to work with music labels, how to contact for licensing and how his app is bring a proven business model from Asia to the United States.
Gary Chen is the GM at Spotlite.
Show Notes
Contacting and Working with Music Labels
Other than building a great product, they have to get copyright licenses from publishers to launch such app. In order to do this, you need to approach music labels or publishers to get the needed audio files for them to make the songs available.
You can start by looking for contacts via LinkedIn using the keyword ‘licensing’ (or you can download the Spotlite app and contact Gary, wink, wink) and when you do get someone’s attention, just be honest. You can be a small startup with not much money to give to these music labels but just present them your vision and dreams confidently. Your small budget should not hinder you in getting them to desire to work with you. Just show them that you may be small but you have a big faith.
The Gifting Model
Gifting is where a fan pays their favorite artists, performers or those they like with virtual gifts. Gary’s company is trying this model out in the US. This model is already mature in Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, China and even in the gaming industry but not in the States. After launching it in a couple of weeks, they have seen in the numbers that people are buying virtual gifts and giving it to the performers that they like.
Show Mention
– Fav app: Shazam: (iTunes | Google Play)