"I signed my first group when I was 17."
IndieU founder and entrepreneur Natalie Edell joined Mark and Patrick for a rousing discussion about her startup and the Indie music movement.
This wide-ranging conversation covered a lot of ground including:
-What's the story behind IndieU and why now?
-How she is building a network of campus reps
-What it's like to wear all the hats - including product development and QA and work till 3 am, and be a guest early in the morning
-Working with 40 talent scouts in Colleges and Universities across the country
-Why they only take unsigned musicians
-What 'being indie' means in terms of legitimacy with her target market
-How IndieU is different and financially viable with so many choices for players out there.
-How partnering with brands is helping to build out their platform
-Why she's going into ticketing and Events - and why that's an excellent idea. -Booking - Tours - Ticketing
-Listening to your market (for product ideas) Listeners: have we heard this a few hundred times now?
-Basement Parties (Is this a thing? Yes.)
-Her story about getting her first taste of dealing with the music industry - this is a story about persistence. Something that is a hallmark of a true entrepreneur
-How the licensing model (in music today) works
-Her favorite thing about the business? Listening to the artists
-A bit about her Dad (works at the company, formerly one of the early guys at MySpace.)
-This was one of those interviews that we didn't want to end. Natalie has a ton of energy and passion to spare when it comes to talking about her vision.
