Symphonic Distribution President & CEO interviewed on Brazilian Blog!

Earlier this week, Ilan Kriger, a talented DJ, Producer, Record Label owner (Eletrodomesticos Records), and owner of a popular blog in Brazil stopped by to interview Symphonic Distribution’s President & CEO Jorge Brea. The interview touches on some opinions from Jorge Brea as well as other educational topics. To read the interview in Portuguese, click here! Otherwise, read below and enjoy! Symphonic Distribution thanks Ilan Kriger for this interview posted on his site and translated in English for SymBlog.com!

1) Who is Jorge Brea?
I am a business owner, DJ, and Producer. I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States at the young age of 7 in 1992. I got into the DJ scene due to my brother’s influence and began producing and DJing soon after. From a production standpoint, I used to do music in the Breaks genre but went ahead and have switched over to all House. In my day I have had about 46 Vinyl Releases, 6 CD releases, and more on the digital front. In 2004, I launched Nulogic Records (now under new ownership) and in 2006 began Symphonic Distribution which distributes 600+ labels from around the world. I am the President and CEO of Symphonic Distribution and even though it is an interesting job title, I am connected to all aspects of the business from sales, marketing, content distribution, and support. I am very pleased to be representing what I feel are the best labels in the industry today. Aside of the distribution aspect of the business, I am also a Producer/DJ/Label owner as well, thus, myself and my team are very aware with the challenges and work that labels do. I am happy and blessed to be doing what I love with my close friends, and our great labels. Also happy to be doing this interview!

2) What do you about the future of the music industry?
Well, the next 10 years will definitely be what changes the industry. I think we will see CDs fade to almost nothing and for DJs, new technology that makes them less dependant on Vinyls. For a new producer, I think it is the best time to be in music because our industry is very indie-driven. If you produce music, you don’t need to really have a big record label to be successful. I see Digital Sales rising to greater heights. It is estimated that by 2013, we should see Digital Music sales at about 80% of the music industry as a whole so to answer this question, I believe that Digital and Digital retailers are the future of the industry. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to go back to pressing a physical product and/or doing much in that field as the technology is quickly dying and the companies manufacturing and distributing are starting to die as well.

3) What advice you can give to new labels?
I can give a lot of advice to labels! First, work hard! Second, plan, plan, plan and plan. It is vital for a label to have releases ready for 6+ months. If you make one song, you are not a label and you really shouldn’t be running a label. Third, while I am a supporter of Beatport, we see too many labels thinking that it is the only way to make it in the industry. A lot of emphasis is placed on GETTING ON Beatport which we would love to do for all labels, unfortunately, its not a possibility. What we look for is a label with a good release plan, marketing plan, and business plan. We start by sending them our application and really finding out what they are about. If they are ready for Beatport, we submit, if not, we guide via our communications. We have a lot of documentation that is available in our educational site that discusses what labels can do to grow their brand. The site is www.symintranet.com. Labels and artists need to treat their music seriously. This isn’t a game and we see TOO many labels come and go just for a quick buck. If you want to make it in the industry, be consistent, organized, plan well, and treat it like a business. Aside of that, the most important thing, MAKE QUALITY MUSIC! If you lay a music beat down it doesn’t mean it’s a completed track. Last but not least, labels and artists need to be open minded. Nobody is a Tiesto right off the bat, you must be open to criticsm and look at what others are doing. Keep the egos down!

4) Is it possible today to get a label in Beatport directly?
Its possible. New labels are added monthly or so but just because you are a label, you will not be on. If your music is not up to par, they will not approve it. If you do not have a release schedule that’s consistent, we will not submit it. If you are patient, work hard, and still build your brand on other retailers FIRST, then you have better chances of a label that is brand new. Of course, if you have a major artist attached, I’d say your chances are better but be consistent, have a good plan, be patient, get your label a good buzz on other retailers, and then think about Beatport. When dealing with labels, we must remind them that we are DISTRIBUTION company. We distribute to retailers NOT just Beatport. With this said, don’t offend other retailers by putting your eggs in one basket because there are a lot of good hard working retailers and people out there that are accepting of labels. We believe a label should have the focus of getting on Beatport but when on Beatport, should look at stepping up their game as best as possible and still keep into consideration other retailers to better help their brand. I also do not believe that limiting a label to one store is the best bet, frankly, it’s stupid. If you are a label and you want to focus on one retailer such as iTunes or whatever, then really, you are limiting all of your possibilities.

5) How many labels works with your distribution company?
We have 600+ labels including several aggregators that we deal with. We value each and every partnership deeply and while there are challenges that each of them have and may pose to us, we try our best to work through them. We believe our communication is great and very transparent and I know I didn’t have this when I dealt with other physical or digital distributors.

6) Are you accepting any new labels? How they can apply?
Yes! We love new labels and in fact have special documentation for them to help them. In addition, if you are an artist and you want to start a label, we can help with this as well! We offer many services and have brands that are all helpful to newcomers as well as established partners. We think that other retailers are also really accepting of new labels. I have seen good support from JamVana.com, JunoDownload, TrackItDown, Digital-Tunes.net, and many more.