About Josh T Smith
A lot of people in the music industry probably exaggerate that they’ve spoken with thousands of artists in their career. Not as many have the job history, KPI reports and archived emails to back it up.
With my work experience and being an artist producer myself, I know the real troubles that artists face and think every single day about how to solve them.
I’ve been involved in many projects that have worked on solving some of these problems and it’s where I find a lot of my life’s purpose.
I see my mission as doing something significant for the independent music industry. I’m focused on ideas, solutions, platforms and strategies that increase the probability of an artist living solely dedicated to their art, and reducing friction between ideas and outcomes for all involved in making that happen.
I have worked in leadership positions that have involved complex strategy, concepts, development and execution for innovative business models.
Timeline of my experience
My "why"
There was no immediate opportunity in the music industry, I had to hustle.
I began creating music seriously when I was around 14-15 years old. I wrote rap songs and produced beats in high school.
Pursuing my passion for creating music, I achieved a Music Diploma. My focus then shifted to production instead of performance, so I took a Music Technology Diploma. With a passion for Music Production, I pursued a BA Honours Degree in the field and graduated in 2011.
Writing my dissertation on the upcoming servitisation of music commodities, I realised that a career as a music producer wasn’t a wise choice in 2011. Spotify had just been released, and it was unclear if it would be successful.
The music industry had no entry-level roles for me, and even with remote working capabilities, working outside of London was not an option. This has been something I’ve wanted to change for others ever since.
I concluded that the only way to succeed in the music industry was to gain knowledge of startups, business development, sales, and marketing in profitable markets, and then use that knowledge to revolutionise the music industry.
Those years were about gaining first-hand experience, both by growing businesses in established industries and building my own music business at the same time.
In addition to running my own record label, in my early working days I developed my career in IT Network Infrastructure to the point of leading a sales and marketing department. I helped the company grow and it eventually formed a successful merger.
Seeing how unhelpful people in the music industry were for helping an aspiring producer outside of London into the industry, I vowed to be part of making a difference to this situation. Seeing how useful I could be at making money in another industry, I felt sure I could do the same in the music industry.
I worked in the music industry full time for 6 years. From music sync tech, through publishing, to DSP (streaming) specialisation at a high profile record label.
Later, after years of chasing the answer to making money in the music industry, I realised that I had lost touch with what I really loved about music, making it, and this changed my whole perspective. I now teach artists that it’s as important to hold onto the magic of their art as it is to chase making money from what they create. It’s too easy to get lost in the latter.
How I got here and what gives me the credibility to consult and coach artists
After spending a year running my record label full time, burning through all the commission I’d earnt in a successful sales role, I pursued my first full-time job in music tech, at a sync tech company called Music Gateway.
Here, leading the Customer Success department, I learnt the concepts and operations of tech startup growth and retention inside out. I spoke with 300+ artists and label owners per week by email, through support tickets and on the phone. I got to learn the deep needs, desires and problems they faced with artist development and sync.
I also learnt about music publishing, sync and music production companies to a deep level.
Skills
- Project management
- Strategy: knowing the processes an artist needs to follow to effectively develop
- Music production
- Songwriting
- Coaching
Experiences
- Music producer
- Ran a record label
- Worked for a sync agency
- Worked for music tech companies and have spoken with uncountable number of artists and know their experiences and problems
- Set up and ran a publishing division for a leading music tech company
- Managed A&R for a social network
- Worked as DSP (streaming) specialist for a successful independent record label
Personality traits
- Anti-conformist
- Self-empowered
- Humorous
- Encouraging
Qualifications
- B A Honours Degree in Music Production
- Diploma in Music Technology & Music
Creating Vampr Publishing and DSP (streaming) specialisation at Chillhop Music
I consulted music tech startups until I started work as Head of A&R at Vampr, where I worked for 2 years.
Here, I developed a repertoire of artists I scouted from the platform and beyond as part of Vampr Publishing, a division of the company I conceptualised and built.
I’ve worked in most areas of the music industry, such as sync, artist development, A&R, artist discovery, catalogue management, catalogue sales, music promotion, music publishing, and music distribution. I have held full-time executive positions in music, including Head of Customer Success, Enterprise Business Development, and Head of A&R.
I have extensive experience with tech startup skills such as user behaviour, growth, marketing, sales, customer support. To coincide, I also have music industry-specific skills and experience; such as music publishing, licensing, record releases/distribution, artist development, A&R and more.