October 19, 2025 • 37 mins
What if the difference between “out now” and “taking off” was simply three weeks of planning and the right people answering your email? We sit with Jesse Flores, VP of Artists and Label Partnerships at Intercept Music, to map the modern indie playbook—how to keep your masters, design smarter releases, and turn attention into a durable career.
Jesse takes us from his mixtape‑selling college days to national roles at EMI, then into the services world where distribution is only half the story. We talk through the shift from record stores to streaming, why singles now anchor most strategies, and how playlisting and editorial pitching actually work on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. He’s candid about who is ready for a services deal and who should start DIY, what signals tell him an artist can scale, and why proactive, responsive support is the secret advantage in a crowded market.
We also get into AI’s role—useful for bios, press materials, and workflow, risky when it fabricates artists or fuels fraud—and the surge of cross‑genre collaboration as hip‑hop blends with Latin, Afrobeats, and even country. Jesse shares his “Fantastic Five” team framework: a strong distributor, manager, publicist, entertainment lawyer, and digital strategist. Add focused networking at Music Biz, ASCAP or BMI events, and industry weekends, and you’re not just releasing music—you’re building leverage. If you’ve been wondering when to drop, how to pitch, or what it takes to move from hobbyist to pro, this conversation lays out the steps with clarity and heart.
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Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carmen Lezeth (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome to All About the Joy.
This is the private lounge, andthen the house is Rick Costa.
Cynthia is here, and our guest,Jesse Flores.
How are you?
It's nice to meet you.
Jesse Flores (00:09):
Same here.
Very nice to meet you, andthank you for having me.
I appreciate it.
Carmen Lezeth (00:13):
I'm excited.
Let me just say a little bitabout who you are.
You can tell me if I'm wrong.
Um, you are the vice presidentof artists and label
partnerships at Intercept Music.
Is that correct?
Okay.
And um, it's a for people whodon't know, it's a digital
platform that empowersindependent artists and labels
through marketing, distribution,and strategic growth.
(00:34):
You're a veteran of music.
You've been an executive for 20years, which I was like, what
were you like five when youstarted?
But we'll, you know, we'll talkabout that later.
Um, and you've worked with somebig legends.
You've worked with Ice Cube,Stephen Marley, uh, DJ Premier,
(00:56):
Carla Morrison.
I was shocked to see that.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (00:59):
Um I just have to point out, I just have
to point out Andrea Picelliright behind you.
unknown (01:05):
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (01:08):
Oh, so now you're excited, Cynthia.
She was all nervous, people.
She was so cute.
Well, welcome to the show.
We're glad to have you.
Your person, uh, is her nameMakeda?
Jesse Flores (01:22):
Yeah, Makita Smith is our wonderful publicist.
Carmen Lezeth (01:25):
Yeah, she reached out to me.
And so I've been going back andforth with her, and I was
excited to have you on the show.
Um, I kind of want to talkabout to start off with uh Bad
Bunny, because I know thatyou're Puerto Rican and Mexican,
but we can talk about what youwant to talk about too.
I don't want to bombard you tooquick.
Jesse Flores (01:44):
Yeah, no, I think it's a great opportunity.
I mean, anytime you have aplatform like the Super Bowl,
uh, and you have an artist likea Bad Bunny or even like a
Kendrick Lamar like last year,uh, you're getting that exposure
that's priceless.
I mean, he's getting trueglobal exposure from sports fans
around the world that watchthis one uh event annually that
I believe is the most watchedevent uh ever, you know, from
(02:07):
what I understand.
So uh the exposure is great.
Uh I understand that not not alot of people speak Spanish, but
it's 2025, you know, that's theway uh things are happening,
you know.
The reality is there's a lot ofLatinos out there uh that love
football.
So I think it's a greatopportunity for him.
Carmen Lezeth (02:22):
How did you start in this business?
How did you get your feet wetand and how old were you?
Because it must have been likefive, six years old when you
started.
I'm sorry, I saw his picture, Isaw you in a couple of videos.
I'm like, there's no way he'sbeen doing this for over 20
years.
Jesse Flores (02:37):
So actually he's closer to 30, it'll be 30 next
year.
Yeah, started in 96 in Decemberof 96.
Carmen Lezeth (02:43):
You're gonna have to share your moisturizing
regimen.
We'll talk later.
Okay.
Jesse Flores (02:50):
Yeah, I mean, I actually started in college.
You know, I wanted to get intomusic.
I love music.
Uh, I was a big collector ofalbums and CEs and cassettes at
the time.
And uh I started sellingmixtapes at my college,
University of Florida on campus.
Um, and that kind of part laidinto uh me finding out about an
organization on campus run bystudents that actually uh
(03:10):
promoted shows uh at the school.
So it was basically astudent-run booking agency.
So I joined that and uh, youknow, it wasn't a paid position
or anything, but I got to learnlike certain aspects of the
business and get my foot in thedoor.
You know, we brought some greatacts like um, you know,
Victorious VIG, Farside calledQuest.
Carmen Lezeth (03:27):
Wow.
Jesse Flores (03:28):
Uh yeah, Lost Boys, Red Man, so a bunch of
artists that were relevant atthe time.
And uh, you know, they got amagazine called CMJ.
And in the classifies, therewas uh an opportunity for a
college up in North CentralFlorida for Polygram
Distribution, which was one ofthe big distribution companies
at the time, it was one of themajors.
And I had an interview forthat, I got it, and uh I got my
foot in the door as a part-timecollege up with Polygram.
Carmen Lezeth (03:49):
And that's how it started.
Jesse Flores (03:50):
That's how it started, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (03:52):
We all love music, but a lot of us don't go
into it.
I mean, are are you at all amusician?
Do you sing or whatever?
But did or did you always knowyou're gonna go on the business
end of it?
Jesse Flores (04:02):
I was.
I played instruments phone allthrough uh my youth.
You know, I played uh uhultimate baritone saxophone, and
even my first thread school, Iwas in the program to be, you
know, uh a music major, but atthe end of the day, I was like,
I don't want to major inperformance.
I want to major in music withthe music business.
I didn't have that at my schoolat the time.
So I switched my major tobusiness management and um I
(04:23):
found my way to work in themusic part later on with uh SGP,
that student-run organization,and then later on with Program
as a college.
Carmen Lezeth (04:31):
And so you do a lot of management of artists
right now, right?
Is that what you would more orless say?
Like, so just to explain reallywhat you do nitty-gritty, give
me like a day in the life of.
Jesse Flores (04:44):
Yeah, so my day-to-day uh is really business
development.
So I'm out there for interceptmusic looking for new
opportunities, whether it's anew distribution deal with an
artist or an independent label.
Uh, we're actually doingcatalog acquisitions now.
So any artist or label outthere that wants to sell their
catalog, their rights, um, thatyou know has a fairly mature uh
history of releases and justwants to like, you know,
(05:06):
basically cash in or sell theircatalog, we're into that as
well.
But our core business isdistribution, so we're looking
for any artist out there thatyou know wants to get their
music out there distributed tothe Spotify of the world, the
Apple Music, the YouTubes, uh,Amazon Music.
Uh, we provide that service aswell as marketing services on
top of that.
Because to be honest, there's alot of companies out there that
can get your music from A to B.
(05:28):
We want to add that extra layerof service out there, that
White Glove service, you know,to help you with release
strategy, coming up with amarketing plan, helping out with
some of the advertisingopportunities, all that kind of
stuff.
So that's the kind of companythat Intercept is.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (05:41):
So is it basically like trying to help
the artist like basically keeptheir money, make money on their
own rather than having the biglabels and having them take like
basically like 80% of it, youknow?
Jesse Flores (05:54):
No, you're right.
Yeah, we're definitely intoartist empowerment uh when it
comes to independent artists.
So you do a deal withIntercept, you have 100%
creative control, and you haveownership of your content.
So we're there to provide aservice for you, which is
distribution and marketing.
Rick Costa (06:08):
Um 2025, as opposed to like 50 years ago, what's the
difference between what youwould do now as opposed to how
it was 50 years ago?
Jesse Flores (06:18):
Man, that's a great question because it's
totally changed.
Even in my my career in thepast 25, 30 years, uh the
distribution landscape istotally different because back
then we had record stores andyou know we had physical
products, and we still do now,but it's not to the level that
it was uh back then.
And you know, what I would dowhen I was starting out was go
to each record store and youknow, put up posters and banners
(06:40):
to promote our new releases,set up real retailing stores.
So when an artist comes intown, we take them on a promo
run and do like a signing at theactual record store, or you
know, we take them to radiostations along with the radio
reps.
You know, there's a wholeface-to-face more interaction.
Now everything's digital,everything's online, you're
streaming music as opposed toactually buying it and having
that ownership uh of a physicalproduct, so it's totally changed
(07:04):
and the players have changed aswell.
You know, back then it was youknow Tower Records and Virgin
and you know Sam Goody and BestBuy in Walmart.
Now you go to Walmart and theremight be a rack of it.
And this has totally changed.
And you know, that's how peopleconsume music now, is online
through streaming.
So it is amazing in the factthat you can actually own or
(07:25):
have access to uh millions ofphones on the palm of your hand
with your phone, you know, usingthese apps, these different
platforms.
Uh whereas back in the day, youknow, you had to go to a record
store.
I would like to sit in thestore and you know just spend
hours listening to new albumsand you know going through the
racks.
So totally different.
Carmen Lezeth (07:40):
Do you think something's been lost in like
just buying an entire album?
You would listen to it frombeginning to end, and now people
just listen to one song overand over and over again.
Jesse Flores (07:50):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I think it's definitelymore of a singles game now, you
know.
Um, when I listen to an albumonline, you know, I might add up
to five songs to a playlist.
You know, it's just not like itwas back in the day where you
had uh no-skip albums.
Like one of my favorite albumsis Mary Triplies My Life.
But that album today, you couldplay it from track one to the
end to be happy, and it's justan amazing album, very deep and
(08:14):
just no skip tracks.
Like it's just no fun.
Carmen Lezeth (08:17):
So it's like Lauren Hill's miseducation,
right?
That's another one is no skip.
Jesse Flores (08:22):
Yeah, and even the talent out uh of an artist like
Lauren Hill.
I mean, she could rap with thebest of them, she could sing
with the best of them.
Like she is an amazing talentfor sure.
Yeah.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (08:32):
Oh wow.
So funny because like I have Ihave a few friends that are that
are DJs, and I still rememberback in the day, you know, them
lugging in the big crates withall the records and everything.
And now it's like you justbring a laptop and you're all
set.
You got everything at yourfingertips.
Jesse Flores (08:48):
Yeah, I know the DJs are love in the digital age,
because yeah, that's that's youhave to have to have somebody
with you to do all that forsure.
Right.
Carmen Lezeth (08:56):
Um, how do you think AI is affecting your
industry right now?
Good, bad, or indifferent?
Jesse Flores (09:02):
Yeah, I I think it varies.
You know, when it comes to AI,uh, we actually have AI
incorporated with our databasein our dashboard uh within
Intercept uh as a marketingtool.
So if you're an artist and youdon't have a policy, you can
generate um, you know, a pressrelease or a bio using the AI in
our dashboard.
Um I think where the differenceis uh is when uh use AI for
(09:23):
content creation.
That's a different storybecause you know you're having a
computer-generated song ortrack and you know, or artists
per se, and it's just uh I thinkit takes away from the human
element.
You know, so as a company,Intercept, we definitely support
the marketing side of AI.
When it comes to contentcreation, you know, that could
lead to potential issues.
Because when you have AIcreated content, that could also
(09:44):
lead to fraudulent activity atthe DSPs and having fake streams
and you know to go along withthat quote fake artist.
So that's definitely an issueand something that all the major
platforms are trying to take agood look at now to resolve.
Carmen Lezeth (09:58):
What's one moment in your career that you can
pinpoint that kind of changedeverything for you that you knew
this was what you were going tobe doing?
Jesse Flores (10:09):
Um, I'd say without a doubt, uh when I
started my job at EMI, which wasthe mid-2000s, uh, I went from
being like a regional sales repto an actual uh national
position where I was head of oururban marketing.
And from that I was able tocorrelate into um head of
business development where I hadthe ability to sign
distribution deals with artists.
(10:30):
And these are artists that Igrew up listening to.
So they were alreadyestablished, and most of them
are coming off their major labeldeal.
They didn't want to go back,but also wanted to keep
releasing music uh in anindependent fashion.
And the way we were able to dodeals there was um, you know, I
signed to a dirt third-partydistribution deal with EMI, they
owned the rights, they hadcontrol, we provided
distribution, but we also hadCapital Records, one of our main
(10:52):
labels, provide marketingservices.
So even though they wereindependent, they had capital
providing radio promotion andpublicity and which was huge at
the time.
Right.
That was a big one for them.
Carmen Lezeth (11:03):
What would be your advice for an up-and-coming
indie artist?
What would be like kind of yourbeginning business advice?
Jesse Flores (11:12):
I would definitely say, you know, really sit down
and think about what do you wantto do?
Is this gonna be your careerwhere you wanna you know make a
living?
Is this just something you wantto do on the side?
And if it is something thatyou're serious about and really
wanna uh earn some some money atsome point in the career, you
know, during your career, yougotta have a plan.
Like everything you do, yougotta have a plan and sit there
(11:32):
and really for the next 12months, here's what I want to
do.
I want to release two EPs, Iwant to release an album or
singles or whatever, and thenput together a strategy um, you
know, to approach each platformto optimize the the most uh
ability to basically have thatmajor exposure.
So, say, you know, you put outa release for a single, you want
(11:53):
to have a plan for Spotify, aplan for YouTube, because each
each platform is different, eachplatform has different fans.
So you want to make sure youwant to do that, and then also
incorporate a team that youtrust and that believes in you
that can help you achieve yourgoals.
Carmen Lezeth (12:06):
And that's what you guys do, right?
Jesse Flores (12:07):
I mean that's yeah, and that exactly like a
distributor is part of that teamthat I call the Fantastic Five.
So it's a good distributor, agood manager, um, a good
publicist, a good entertainmentlawyer, and a good online
marketing and social mediastrategist.
Having those five people orfive entities in your uh life
when it comes to being an artistare crucial because you can you
know go back and forth, you canheed their advice, you guys can
(12:29):
throw ideas together, come upwith that plan, and really uh
help grow your business.
Carmen Lezeth (12:33):
Okay, so what is the biggest shift you've seen in
hip-hop?
Jesse Flores (12:39):
Um, I think lately it's been a lot of the
cross-polarization of genres.
You know, you see hip-hop uhbeing integrated with Latin
music per se, Afrobeats as well,um, country, you know, there
are a lot of country uh artistsworking with hip-hop artists
now.
So just hip-hop becoming moremainstream and bleeding into
some of the other genres thatare typically um not used to
(13:00):
having hip-hop being a part ofit.
And you know, hip-hop is justgoing to another level.
We were talking about Bad Bunnyearlier.
He's basically a hip-hop artistthat raps in in Spanish.
So, you know, it's pretty muchglobal now, and I don't think
it's going anywhere.
Carmen Lezeth (13:13):
I don't think it's going anywhere either.
Um, I think, you know, I Idon't know a country artist that
does hip-hop.
Jesse Flores (13:19):
Am I concluding that that really does hip hop,
but I meant like doing a hip-hopsong like with an artist and
having like maybe a countryhip-hop track.
Like I know Nelly did one withum uh um hip-hop artists years
ago.
Like he was one of the firstones.
Carmen Lezeth (13:34):
Oh, okay.
I I'm not a fan of country,everyone knows that.
So I'm like, what?
Jesse Flores (13:39):
Yeah, definitely some mashups, I guess they'd
say, you know, between countryartists and because I think we
kind of need that in a weirdway.
Carmen Lezeth (13:48):
We need there to be more crossing over because I
think it helps bring people fromdifferent genres but different
geographic and political strivestogether, you know what I mean?
And this country kind of needsthat, right?
How big time.
Um, and I think music can playa big part in that.
Rick Costa (14:05):
Uh your company at all deal with uh music videos or
is just tripping music?
Jesse Flores (14:10):
We do.
We do um have a partnershipwith YouTube where you know we
we optimize and monetize uh anyvideos that are posted to
YouTube.
And then I think pretty soon onthe roadmap we're actually
gonna start delivering to likeuh Avivo and some of the other
platforms that sell music videosas well.
Carmen Lezeth (14:27):
If you could build a dream label from
scratch, what three values woulddefine it?
This was totally an AIquestion, by the way, but now I
want to know.
Well, no, what would be yourdream label?
Jesse Flores (14:41):
Uh I think it would have to have definitely um
top-notch customer service, youknow, that's a big part of it
because reality is a lot ofdays, a lot of times now, um,
when you talk to thesedistributors and artists that
are with other distributors,they have a hard time getting
people on the phone, having ahard time, you know, having
somebody email them back in atimely manner.
So just being able to talk tosomeone and reach someone when
(15:03):
you have an issue, you know,that that's important.
Carmen Lezeth (15:05):
Now that's everywhere.
Jesse Flores (15:06):
That's everywhere, exactly.
And I was talking to somebodyabout like my car insurance or
my mortgage company.
I couldn't get anybody on thephone.
I need to talk to somebody.
Carmen Lezeth (15:19):
Okay, so so that's it.
Well, that's one.
Jesse Flores (15:21):
You have two more and then having a perfect blend
of uh music distribution toolsand technology, just providing
tools that are definitely gonnahelp um, you know, the artists
and and label get to their whatthey want to do, whether it's
advertising, whether it'smarketing, whether it's playlist
promotion, you know, developingtools that are actually there
that are gonna help grow thebusiness.
Rick Costa (15:40):
On the personal side, growing up when you were a
kid, what kind of music playedin your house?
Jesse Flores (15:45):
All kinds of music.
Uh, my mom was big into likethe Motown era, so we heard a
lot of uh all that great musicthat Motown had in the 50s and
60s and 70s.
My parents were Latino, sothere was definitely some Sasla,
some merengue, and then I grewup listening to RB and hip-hop,
really.
Uh a little bit of jazz, uhplay jazz in the band.
(16:06):
But um, but yeah, it was a nicemixture of all types of music.
I grew up in the south, I grewup in Florida, so we had art
genres of music as well, bootymusic, all that kind of stuff.
That was big, and definitelyRB.
Like after 10 o'clock, that'sall you heard in the radio
stations was RB music.
Yeah, a good blend of allthose.
Carmen Lezeth (16:22):
Who's your favorite artist?
Jesse Flores (16:26):
Wow, that's a great question.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (16:28):
Um I get in trouble for that.
Jesse Flores (16:32):
I love I always love the artist on Uptown
Records, so I'm a big Jodicefan.
Carmen Lezeth (16:37):
Um Jodicey.
Jesse Flores (16:38):
Oh, yeah, I'm a big Joe D fan.
That because I grew up in the90s and that they were they were
it.
They were like the game backthen.
I'll say Jodice.
Carmen Lezeth (16:47):
Wow, okay.
I I would have lost that bet ifwe had to make a bet.
Okay, cool.
You've worked with some of thebig legends, right?
Ice Cube, Stephen Marley.
I always say Steve Marley.
Why am I saying Steve?
Is it Stephen Marley?
Jesse Flores (17:02):
It's definitely Stephen, yeah.
unknown (17:04):
All right.
Carmen Lezeth (17:04):
You know, we personal friends, so you know.
What's what's a lesson you'velearned from some of the great
artists that you've worked with?
Jesse Flores (17:14):
Definitely work ethic from an artist like uh Ice
Cube.
You know, this is someone thatis you know, I grew up listening
to, so just working with himwas uh a dream, you know.
Uh and then just at the time ofmy career, I was really young,
so I was just getting startedout.
And I noticed that he'sdifferent than a lot of the
artists because he also has uh amovie career.
And when you're in movies, theymove differently.
(17:35):
Like you have to be on time,they just have a different uh
work ethic about them.
Same thing with Tyrese.
So these people that are notjust artists, you know, they're
really about their business,they have a bigger team around
them, they uh have moreopportunities come about, they
you know seem to uh movedifferently and not sleep, you
know, just but still be able tofunction and do what they need
(17:57):
to do.
Um, so I think learning thework ethic from those type of
artists really helped me realizewhere I could fit in and what I
can do better.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (18:04):
Have you ever been starstruck by any
artists that you've worked with?
Jesse Flores (18:09):
Uh I wouldn't say starstruck, you know, but I do I
might get a little nervous.
Like when I first met someonelike DJ Premier, who I really
looked up to, um, I kind offumbled my words to begin with,
and I'm like, oh boy, just didthat.
But not so much starstruckwhere I was like, oh my god, I
can't talk to them type ofthing.
It was more so being a littlenervous.
Carmen Lezeth (18:27):
Is there anyone that would make you fumble in a
big way?
You know what?
Because I I felt the same wayuntil I met um James Earl Jones.
Okay.
And I was beside, you know,like I mean, I meet a lot of
celebrities, but that was likeone of my heroes, and it was
really hard when I first methim.
Um, but it was cool, but Ididn't think I would do that.
(18:50):
So I'm wondering, is thereanyone that would do that to
you?
Jesse Flores (18:53):
You know what?
I think the answer would bedifferent if I was just starting
out my career, because I wouldprobably say, yeah, there's
so-and-so.
But now that I've been in thisbusiness for a while, you
realize that everybody's humanand everybody's just like you uh
in some sort of way or startedout just where you were.
So I mean, I was just you know,I don't think I'd ever be
really starstruck to be honestat this point, this point in my
career.
Carmen Lezeth (19:13):
Really?
See, I started I would be, Ithink I would be some people,
yeah.
I don't know.
I'm trying to think now if Iwould be, but I think I would
be.
I think there were a few peoplethat would just throw me.
Yeah, I I would cover itthough, right?
I would I'd be like totallychill, but inside I'd be dying.
unknown (19:35):
Really?
Carmen Lezeth (19:35):
Inside dying, yeah.
I think so.
I think people like um, I mean,you know, may may he rest in
peace, but like Robert Redford,like meeting Robert Redford
would have been really cool.
You know, um Prince, you know,I mean, I love Prince, and I
never saw you know, like I wouldhave been like beside myself.
Jesse Flores (19:53):
Yeah, I think you know what now that I think about
it.
If I had met Halle Berry in the90s, I probably would have been
spread for it.
Carmen Lezeth (20:05):
Interesting.
I may know certain people, Idon't know.
Can't really talk about it.
You know, NDA.
I'm just getting NDA.
Um, what's next for you?
Jesse Flores (20:17):
Uh we're just excited about what's down the
road for me, for the company atIntercept, because you know,
we're poised for great growthover the next year or two.
Just with the you know, whowe're hiring, you know, we're
adding people to our team wherea lot of the major companies and
music nowadays areconsolidating and merging.
Yeah, and it's deciding time tobe an independent artist.
(20:37):
You know, independent uh recordlabels and artists own, I
think, at least 40% market sharenow out of the entire music
industry, which is crazy tothink.
Carmen Lezeth (20:46):
Wow, that's I didn't know it was that much
really.
Jesse Flores (20:49):
Yeah, it's like 38 to 40 percent now of the music
consumed is coming from anindependent artist or label.
Carmen Lezeth (20:54):
That's really good, actually.
Jesse Flores (20:56):
That's amazing, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (20:57):
That would be amazing if it could happen like
in television and movies aswell.
Like I mean, I think it'severything's changing, you know?
That's amazing.
unknown (21:06):
Yeah, definitely.
Carmen Lezeth (21:07):
So that kind of inspires independent artists.
I mean, saying that, yeah, Ithink it's kind of inside I
don't think people realize that.
Jesse Flores (21:15):
Yeah, it's true, and that's the reason why I
wanted to join Interstatebecause uh, you know, I've been
working with independent artistsfor uh years now, and I I see
it, and I see what happens whenyou uh have results and you work
as a team and you'restrategically grow their
business along uh with whatyou're doing as a company.
And you know, there's just somany ways that you can you know
(21:36):
optimize and monetize uhdifferent content.
You have total control of howyou want to release things and
what you want to release, likejust the whole independent
spirit is something that drivesme and something I want to do
going forward.
Carmen Lezeth (21:50):
Not talking about music, but from a point of view
as a manager, as somebody whoknows business, what would be
your advice to someone who'sjust starting out in any kind of
way, wanting to start acreative career?
What would you say to thatperson?
Jesse Flores (22:06):
I would say do your research, you know, really
go out there and see foryourself what this business is
that you're doing.
So, say if you are an artist ora label and you want to get
into the business, you need tostart going out to different
events and you know, that someof the companies out there have.
Like, you know, the performingrights organizations for music,
(22:26):
uh, ASCAP, BMI, and CSEC, theyconstantly have events that you
can attend.
There's conferences that youcan attend because you want to
see who is part of the businessthat you want to be in.
You want to see where you fitin, observe, or at least that's
what I would do.
Um, just to kind of get the layof the land.
So you know you're not going inthere blind.
Uh, that's the first thing Iwould do.
The second thing I would do isum mix and mingle and meet
(22:48):
people, network, and try andfind a mentor, because that's
one thing I'd I would say I didnot have in my career, is having
a mentor that could kind oftake me under their wing and
show me the ropes.
I didn't really do that, butthe type of person I am, I I
learned on my own and just fromyou know observing and being
part of the business.
But having that mentor, I thinkdefinitely helps, uh,
especially in the long run,because you never know in an
(23:08):
industry like uh music, which isvery volatile, uh a lot of
people get laid off, a lot ofpeople lose their jobs, or
something happens.
I've been in the businessalmost 30 years, I've been laid
off twice, uh, only due tocompany mergers, you know, not
due to cause.
So there's just things that areinevitable that happen that you
got to deal with.
And having those people in yourcorner that believe in you and
trust you can only help you uhwith your next move.
Carmen Lezeth (23:30):
But let's do it a little bit more concrete,
right?
You said mix and minglenetwork.
Like in the music industry, Idon't know where that happens,
right?
So LinkedIn, like what do youdo?
Like, how do you find out theseplaces that you could go and
meet people?
Jesse Flores (23:46):
Yeah, so there's different organizations that
hold events.
Um there's also musicconferences, like there's a big
conference in Atlanta every yearcalled Music Biz, uh, where
everybody pretty much on thebusiness side of the music um
industry, they go there and youknow present their new releases
and have um you know panels thathave discussions and showcases.
So those type of events,they're not as many conferences
(24:07):
as there used to be, but there'sstill some around.
That's a great place to kind ofget your foot in the door and
learn about the music business.
And and then there's differentevents in bigger cities, like
even the event weekends like BTAwards weekend or NBA All-Star
Weekend or Grammy weekend, thoseare all events where you want
to be in the city becausethere's constantly people that
are in the business you want tobe in that are there out and
(24:28):
about.
Carmen Lezeth (24:28):
Oh, yeah.
So you're just saying likenetworking around in those
areas, finding out in your city,whatever.
Jesse Flores (24:33):
So you know what?
Carmen Lezeth (24:34):
What's your website name?
I can't believe I didn't writethat down.
Jesse Flores (24:37):
So the website is interceptmusic.com, and we also
have an Instagram handle.
It's at Intercept MusicOfficial.
Carmen Lezeth (24:42):
Okay, and I'll make sure to put that down or
whatever.
So it's um say that again,interceptmusic.com.
And Instagram is what?
Rick Costa (24:51):
At Intercept Musicofficial.
I got some.
Remember back in the day whenthey had those memes, it's like
what they think I do, what myfamily thinks I do, what I
really do.
Like, can you think of like amisconception or two of what
people think you do?
But it's like, nah, Brian,doing that.
What do you talk about?
Jesse Flores (25:08):
Yeah, my people back home, they definitely think
I mix and mingle with starslike 24-7.
This is just so nothing.
Carmen Lezeth (25:13):
I think you do too.
Jesse Flores (25:15):
No, no, when you're in distribution, you're
in the business side of themusic business for sure.
Like there are definitely timeswhere there's a listening
party, or you know, you you haveanother um an artist go around
uh to different, you know,meetings with you know Apple
Music or or you know uh Spotifyor something like that.
But for the most part, it'sdefinitely a business side.
(25:36):
Like we have marketingmeetings, we have sales
meetings, we have businessdevelopment meetings, um, and
it's all like you know, it's allwork.
Carmen Lezeth (25:44):
And you're talking to all of their
entourage people.
Jesse Flores (25:47):
Yeah, yeah, we're not talking to the artists,
we're always talking with theirmanager.
Carmen Lezeth (25:50):
Yeah, I can't tell you how many times like
I'll like people will expect myclient to show up, right?
Because I work for some people,and it'll just be me and our
assistant, and they'll be like,oh yeah.
Jesse Flores (26:22):
So it's work.
It's yeah, it's definitely thebusiness side for sure.
Carmen Lezeth (26:24):
So so what makes you so happy?
Like you said, it's the work,you love what you do, so what is
it?
Jesse Flores (26:30):
I can't see myself doing anything else.
I mean, I I've always wanted tobe in music, and and yes, when
I was younger and I had those uhI guess what I would call lower
level jobs, it's it'sdefinitely more fun because
you're basically on the roadgoing to record stores and
promoting music and having boxesfull of CDs and posters and
stuff that kids would love tohave.
And you know, I would literallygo to hotels, you know, that
(26:52):
would need to stay in going onthe road and give them a box of
a few CDs and get like a freeroom, you know, stuff like that.
But those days are gone becausewe don't have anything to
barter with anymore.
But yeah, I mean, and then youknow, you just you just it's
just a part of lifestyle.
It's like you just part of yourlife.
Like I can't see myself doinganything else, like working at a
bank or or something.
It's just I don't know, itwouldn't be the same.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (27:16):
Now, where are you based out of?
Jesse Flores (27:18):
So I'm by coastal, I live in LA and also Atlanta,
but I spend most of my time inLA.
Carmen Lezeth (27:22):
Where are you right now?
You're in LA?
Jesse Flores (27:24):
I'm in Los Angeles.
Carmen Lezeth (27:26):
Oh, the city is cool.
I'm in Los I didn't know you Ifor some reason I thought you
were in Atlanta, but okay.
Rick Costa (27:34):
What would you say would be something you could say
that sets apart your company asopposed to other ones?
Jesse Flores (27:40):
Uh I definitely think it's our customer service.
You know, as I stated earlier,you know, you're not gonna be
chasing us, you're not gonna beable to have an issue getting
somebody to talk to, any aboutyour issues, because a lot of
times when you have an issuewith the a distributor, it's
because something's not up at acertain platform or you need to
deliver something, you know,late and you want to make sure
(28:00):
it gets live on time.
So you need that urgent, youknow, response.
And I think that's kind of whatwe excel at is basically being
there and also trying to beproactive.
You know, if you're an artistand you put something out and
you know you turn into music andyou're like, oh, I want this to
come out this Friday, we'regonna push back and say, hey,
look, it makes more sense to doit, you know, three, four weeks
from now, because the reality isthat Spotify or Apple Music,
(28:22):
they have their pitch meetingsthree weeks before a release
date.
So why would you want to putsomething out if you can't at
least discuss it with them andget in front of them?
You never know how they'regonna support.
They could, you know, give youa playlist or they might you
know feature your project.
You just don't know until youknow you let them know that it's
coming.
So little things like that, Ithink, could definitely help and
are beneficial to any of ourartists and label partners.
Carmen Lezeth (28:42):
What is it that you're looking for in people
reaching out, you know,talent-wise?
Um, and what are you notlooking for?
Like what would be a reason youwould reject someone?
Jesse Flores (28:55):
So, yeah, we're definitely looking for artists
and labels that want todistribute or that help them
take to the next level.
You know, uh, definitely preferartists that have a commercial
fan base, so somebody that hasfollowers on Spotify,
subscribers on YouTube.
Uh, the one thing that weprobably wouldn't accept at this
point is just like a brand newartist that has never released
music before because we justdon't know what kind of
(29:16):
following they have or you know,what kind of interest there is
in their music.
So we wouldn't necessarilyreject them, we just say it's
not the right time.
You know, come back to us,let's revisit it once you've put
out some releases and to seewhat kind of fan base you
generate.
So anybody that's out therethat's got some type of
commercial fan base that'slooking and ideally a catalog
that could transfer over, uh,we'd be looking forward to
(29:37):
working with.
Carmen Lezeth (29:38):
So the the fan base could be on any social
media.
So if you have TikTok followersor whatever, like that would
work too.
Jesse Flores (29:45):
More so ticks, the the the monetized uh platforms
for with music.
So say like a like you said, aTikTok, a Spotify, a YouTube,
Apple Music, uh Amazon, aPandora, those type of
platforms.
Carmen Lezeth (29:56):
Right.
Right.
So you're not looking forbeginner people.
Sorry.
Rick.
No, I'm just kidding.
Jesse Flores (30:04):
There's distributors for them though.
There's like District Kid andTuneCore.
Those are the distributors thatthat work with the DIY type of
artists where they're justgetting started.
And then you know, once we getto a certain level, you can
start generating some sales andsome some streams.
That's where you can look atother distributors.
Carmen Lezeth (30:19):
But those guys aren't your competitors?
I thought I read they were yourcompetitors.
Jesse Flores (30:23):
They can be, but they offer different types of
services.
Like if you're a DIY and you'reat a TuneCore or distro kid,
you probably don't havemarketing services involved.
This is strictly distribution.
So we're we are a differentcompany that's kind of fits in
the middle of a distro kid inlike an uh orchard.
Carmen Lezeth (30:38):
Right.
And you again, I think it likefor people who are not in the
music business, to me, it soundslike complete management.
But is that wrong?
I think that's management whatyou do.
Jesse Flores (30:49):
It's definitely like artist.
I say artist or labelmanagement.
That'd probably be the correctterm for it.
Because that's essentially whatwe're doing as a distributor.
Carmen Lezeth (30:58):
Right.
Jesse Flores (30:58):
Right.
Rick Costa (30:59):
Okay, cool.
What's on the youngest andoldest person you've dealt with?
Wow, who would be the oldest?
I'm trying to think.
Not the name, but like the age.
Oh, the age, yeah.
Jesse Flores (31:17):
We probably wouldn't know who it is.
The oldest, yeah.
It's not that old, probably inher 50s.
Um, and the youngest is teens,you know, late teens.
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (31:28):
Okay, now I do believe that you're in your 30s,
you know, that you've beendoing this for 30 years because
nobody who's really young wouldbe like, you know, young, like
50s.
That was your tell.
Okay, I believe it now.
Yeah.
Jesse Flores (31:41):
Hey, I'm I'm one year away from 50.
Carmen Lezeth (31:43):
So really, well, you look fantastic.
I'm just saying.
We are doing makeup tipsafterwards, so you can tell what
you do with your skin cream.
Um, if somebody comes andthey're 14 years old and they
have a huge crowd base orwhatever, how much of that role
matters, like especially iftheir mom and dad are heavily
involved or not?
Jesse Flores (32:03):
It depends because if the mom and dad is like the
manager, then yeah, I think itdefinitely uh is a factor.
But usually when you're a youngartist that you know might not
be a little mature or might notbe emotionally ready or stable
to deal with uh the industry, weusually have like a buffer.
We usually have a manager thatwe deal with strictly.
Like the only time we reallydeal with an artist is like when
(32:25):
they're actually there and atlike an event that we're you
know, we we sponsored or orbrought to the table.
Um, now there's also the casewhere you're an employee at a
music company and you you havethat situation.
That's a different storybecause it can get tough.
Like there's been meetings andstuff where people's gotten
yelled at and it's gotten tenseand or a little high stress, or
(32:46):
you know, deal with deal withadversity, you know, deal with
crazy situations where you'regetting calls in the middle of
the night, so-and-so's left andup, you know, how can we fix
this?
Uh, I don't want them on myproject anymore.
Don't let the guy touch myrecord, that kind of thing.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (32:59):
That happens a lot.
That happens a lot.
Jesse Flores (33:01):
Exactly.
So you have that on both sides,the artist level and on the
business side as well.
Carmen Lezeth (33:06):
Yeah, it's very painful.
No, I'm just thinking aboutlike, you know, dealing with
especially people who arehigh-end artists.
Um, and the thing is that whenthey get upset, because it takes
a lot usually, because by thetime because it's gone, it's
filtered through 15 people.
Yeah, right.
They're entourage of people.
So if they're upset, it's awhole different ballgame.
unknown (33:26):
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (33:26):
Like we're now in the weeds.
Yeah, and we usually have tofire whoever they're upset about
because if it's gone that far.
I don't know about your yourindustry, but it must be the
same thing.
Jesse Flores (33:35):
Yeah, it's very similar.
If they're not fired, say ifit's like a product manager, we
switch product managers, likeit's somebody else going forward
that's gonna handle that artistgoing forward, type of thing.
So yeah, this is the backgroundjuicy.
I haven't seen whereeverybody's fired.
Carmen Lezeth (33:51):
Right.
In the same respect, wheneverything goes well, you don't
usually hear anything.
That's it.
Yeah, isn't that true?
Like if everything goes spot onperfectly, it's and it and it
doesn't matter how hard youworked or whatever, no matter
how hard the team worked, you'renot gonna hear like a thanks,
or I'm not saying all the time,but you know what I mean.
Jesse Flores (34:11):
Oh, yeah, it's to be expected uh at certain times,
but yeah, but not hearinganything sometimes is a good
thing, especially.
Carmen Lezeth (34:17):
Yeah, no, no, no, it's always a good thing.
Yeah, that that's what youwant, but it's so interesting
how and and you're saying it'sthe same in the music industry.
It's kind of the same thingwhen you're dealing with
high-end people, it really is afilter of a whole bunch of
entourage-pew, and then youknow, it takes a lot of work to
make people look magical.
And if it works, it's great,but if it doesn't, it's it's
(34:40):
bad.
Yeah.
Rick Costa (34:40):
Exactly.
When you retire, is theresomething like a dream or a
bucket list thing like, oh yeah,this was a hard time doing
this?
Jesse Flores (34:48):
I haven't really thought about that deeply, but
I'm definitely all about peaceand tranquility in my life.
So whatever it is, I'm gonna belike, you know, I'll be college
football fans, I'll be watchingfootball on the falls, uh, a
little bit of baseball in thisin the spring, and just uh
spending time with my lovedones.
Yeah, nothing.
Carmen Lezeth (35:07):
You know what?
It's so funny because I thinkwe all need some peace and
tranquility.
Man, and that is what musicgives me every day.
What does music do for you?
Jesse Flores (35:15):
Let's it does it all.
I mean, there's music for everyevery type of emotion and
feeling.
You know, if I want to work outand really get into it, I
listen to my my run playlist.
If I want to just chill andrelax, I have like a chill jazz
playlist.
So it just varies, you know.
For any mood you're in, there'sa music for it.
Carmen Lezeth (35:34):
Yeah, somebody today at work, it was so funny
because I was listening toSting.
I was listening, I forget whatit which album, but it's not the
police, it's Sting.
And I just had it on the Ididn't think anybody was in the
office.
And one of the guys was like,You're listening to this?
I didn't know you'd like.
I'm like, what do you like?
I don't just walk around onlylistening to Beyonce and Prince.
(35:55):
You know what I mean?
Everything changes, right?
There's like a different, Idon't know, it was just on in
the car, and then I went intothe office and I put it on, you
know.
Uh whatever.
There's music for each mood.
Absolutely.
unknown (36:09):
Very true.
Carmen Lezeth (36:10):
Well, it was really good to have you.
It's just I you're veryefficient.
I don't know.
I have never done my list ofquestions and gone through them
all.
No, this is a compliment toyou.
That feels special or a diss tome for not doing better work.
But we appreciate having youon, Jesse.
(36:32):
And if people want to if peoplewant to reach out to you, could
they do that personally, orwould you rather that they just
go check out the website?
Jesse Flores (36:39):
Yeah, definitely check out the website, IG, or
they can send me an email.
I'm at jesse.flores atinterceptmusic.com.
Carmen Lezeth (36:45):
That is so awesome.
All right.
Well, people heard that.
I'll make sure to put that outthere.
Um really grateful to have youon the show, and thank you so
much.
And everyone, remember at theend of the day, it really is all
about the joy.
Thanks, everyone.
Bye.
Don't hang up, Jesse.
Don't hang up yet.
unknown (37:04):
Okay.
Carmen Lezeth (37:06):
Thanks for stopping by.
All about the joy.
Be better and stay beautiful,folks.
Have a sweet day.
Hey everyone, welcome to All About the Joy.
This is the private lounge, andthen the house is Rick Costa.
Cynthia is here, and our guest,Jesse Flores.
How are you?
It's nice to meet you.
Jesse Flores (00:09):
Same here.
Very nice to meet you, andthank you for having me.
I appreciate it.
Carmen Lezeth (00:13):
I'm excited.
Let me just say a little bitabout who you are.
You can tell me if I'm wrong.
Um, you are the vice presidentof artists and label
partnerships at Intercept Music.
Is that correct?
Okay.
And um, it's a for people whodon't know, it's a digital
platform that empowersindependent artists and labels
through marketing, distribution,and strategic growth.
(00:34):
You're a veteran of music.
You've been an executive for 20years, which I was like, what
were you like five when youstarted?
But we'll, you know, we'll talkabout that later.
Um, and you've worked with somebig legends.
You've worked with Ice Cube,Stephen Marley, uh, DJ Premier,
(00:56):
Carla Morrison.
I was shocked to see that.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (00:59):
Um I just have to point out, I just have
to point out Andrea Picelliright behind you.
unknown (01:05):
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (01:08):
Oh, so now you're excited, Cynthia.
She was all nervous, people.
She was so cute.
Well, welcome to the show.
We're glad to have you.
Your person, uh, is her nameMakeda?
Jesse Flores (01:22):
Yeah, Makita Smith is our wonderful publicist.
Carmen Lezeth (01:25):
Yeah, she reached out to me.
And so I've been going back andforth with her, and I was
excited to have you on the show.
Um, I kind of want to talkabout to start off with uh Bad
Bunny, because I know thatyou're Puerto Rican and Mexican,
but we can talk about what youwant to talk about too.
I don't want to bombard you tooquick.
Jesse Flores (01:44):
Yeah, no, I think it's a great opportunity.
I mean, anytime you have aplatform like the Super Bowl,
uh, and you have an artist likea Bad Bunny or even like a
Kendrick Lamar like last year,uh, you're getting that exposure
that's priceless.
I mean, he's getting trueglobal exposure from sports fans
around the world that watchthis one uh event annually that
I believe is the most watchedevent uh ever, you know, from
(02:07):
what I understand.
So uh the exposure is great.
Uh I understand that not not alot of people speak Spanish, but
it's 2025, you know, that's theway uh things are happening,
you know.
The reality is there's a lot ofLatinos out there uh that love
football.
So I think it's a greatopportunity for him.
Carmen Lezeth (02:22):
How did you start in this business?
How did you get your feet wetand and how old were you?
Because it must have been likefive, six years old when you
started.
I'm sorry, I saw his picture, Isaw you in a couple of videos.
I'm like, there's no way he'sbeen doing this for over 20
years.
Jesse Flores (02:37):
So actually he's closer to 30, it'll be 30 next
year.
Yeah, started in 96 in Decemberof 96.
Carmen Lezeth (02:43):
You're gonna have to share your moisturizing
regimen.
We'll talk later.
Okay.
Jesse Flores (02:50):
Yeah, I mean, I actually started in college.
You know, I wanted to get intomusic.
I love music.
Uh, I was a big collector ofalbums and CEs and cassettes at
the time.
And uh I started sellingmixtapes at my college,
University of Florida on campus.
Um, and that kind of part laidinto uh me finding out about an
organization on campus run bystudents that actually uh
(03:10):
promoted shows uh at the school.
So it was basically astudent-run booking agency.
So I joined that and uh, youknow, it wasn't a paid position
or anything, but I got to learnlike certain aspects of the
business and get my foot in thedoor.
You know, we brought some greatacts like um, you know,
Victorious VIG, Farside calledQuest.
Carmen Lezeth (03:27):
Wow.
Jesse Flores (03:28):
Uh yeah, Lost Boys, Red Man, so a bunch of
artists that were relevant atthe time.
And uh, you know, they got amagazine called CMJ.
And in the classifies, therewas uh an opportunity for a
college up in North CentralFlorida for Polygram
Distribution, which was one ofthe big distribution companies
at the time, it was one of themajors.
And I had an interview forthat, I got it, and uh I got my
foot in the door as a part-timecollege up with Polygram.
Carmen Lezeth (03:49):
And that's how it started.
Jesse Flores (03:50):
That's how it started, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (03:52):
We all love music, but a lot of us don't go
into it.
I mean, are are you at all amusician?
Do you sing or whatever?
But did or did you always knowyou're gonna go on the business
end of it?
Jesse Flores (04:02):
I was.
I played instruments phone allthrough uh my youth.
You know, I played uh uhultimate baritone saxophone, and
even my first thread school, Iwas in the program to be, you
know, uh a music major, but atthe end of the day, I was like,
I don't want to major inperformance.
I want to major in music withthe music business.
I didn't have that at my schoolat the time.
So I switched my major tobusiness management and um I
(04:23):
found my way to work in themusic part later on with uh SGP,
that student-run organization,and then later on with Program
as a college.
Carmen Lezeth (04:31):
And so you do a lot of management of artists
right now, right?
Is that what you would more orless say?
Like, so just to explain reallywhat you do nitty-gritty, give
me like a day in the life of.
Jesse Flores (04:44):
Yeah, so my day-to-day uh is really business
development.
So I'm out there for interceptmusic looking for new
opportunities, whether it's anew distribution deal with an
artist or an independent label.
Uh, we're actually doingcatalog acquisitions now.
So any artist or label outthere that wants to sell their
catalog, their rights, um, thatyou know has a fairly mature uh
history of releases and justwants to like, you know,
(05:06):
basically cash in or sell theircatalog, we're into that as
well.
But our core business isdistribution, so we're looking
for any artist out there thatyou know wants to get their
music out there distributed tothe Spotify of the world, the
Apple Music, the YouTubes, uh,Amazon Music.
Uh, we provide that service aswell as marketing services on
top of that.
Because to be honest, there's alot of companies out there that
can get your music from A to B.
(05:28):
We want to add that extra layerof service out there, that
White Glove service, you know,to help you with release
strategy, coming up with amarketing plan, helping out with
some of the advertisingopportunities, all that kind of
stuff.
So that's the kind of companythat Intercept is.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (05:41):
So is it basically like trying to help
the artist like basically keeptheir money, make money on their
own rather than having the biglabels and having them take like
basically like 80% of it, youknow?
Jesse Flores (05:54):
No, you're right.
Yeah, we're definitely intoartist empowerment uh when it
comes to independent artists.
So you do a deal withIntercept, you have 100%
creative control, and you haveownership of your content.
So we're there to provide aservice for you, which is
distribution and marketing.
Rick Costa (06:08):
Um 2025, as opposed to like 50 years ago, what's the
difference between what youwould do now as opposed to how
it was 50 years ago?
Jesse Flores (06:18):
Man, that's a great question because it's
totally changed.
Even in my my career in thepast 25, 30 years, uh the
distribution landscape istotally different because back
then we had record stores andyou know we had physical
products, and we still do now,but it's not to the level that
it was uh back then.
And you know, what I would dowhen I was starting out was go
to each record store and youknow, put up posters and banners
(06:40):
to promote our new releases,set up real retailing stores.
So when an artist comes intown, we take them on a promo
run and do like a signing at theactual record store, or you
know, we take them to radiostations along with the radio
reps.
You know, there's a wholeface-to-face more interaction.
Now everything's digital,everything's online, you're
streaming music as opposed toactually buying it and having
that ownership uh of a physicalproduct, so it's totally changed
(07:04):
and the players have changed aswell.
You know, back then it was youknow Tower Records and Virgin
and you know Sam Goody and BestBuy in Walmart.
Now you go to Walmart and theremight be a rack of it.
And this has totally changed.
And you know, that's how peopleconsume music now, is online
through streaming.
So it is amazing in the factthat you can actually own or
(07:25):
have access to uh millions ofphones on the palm of your hand
with your phone, you know, usingthese apps, these different
platforms.
Uh whereas back in the day, youknow, you had to go to a record
store.
I would like to sit in thestore and you know just spend
hours listening to new albumsand you know going through the
racks.
So totally different.
Carmen Lezeth (07:40):
Do you think something's been lost in like
just buying an entire album?
You would listen to it frombeginning to end, and now people
just listen to one song overand over and over again.
Jesse Flores (07:50):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, I think it's definitelymore of a singles game now, you
know.
Um, when I listen to an albumonline, you know, I might add up
to five songs to a playlist.
You know, it's just not like itwas back in the day where you
had uh no-skip albums.
Like one of my favorite albumsis Mary Triplies My Life.
But that album today, you couldplay it from track one to the
end to be happy, and it's justan amazing album, very deep and
(08:14):
just no skip tracks.
Like it's just no fun.
Carmen Lezeth (08:17):
So it's like Lauren Hill's miseducation,
right?
That's another one is no skip.
Jesse Flores (08:22):
Yeah, and even the talent out uh of an artist like
Lauren Hill.
I mean, she could rap with thebest of them, she could sing
with the best of them.
Like she is an amazing talentfor sure.
Yeah.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (08:32):
Oh wow.
So funny because like I have Ihave a few friends that are that
are DJs, and I still rememberback in the day, you know, them
lugging in the big crates withall the records and everything.
And now it's like you justbring a laptop and you're all
set.
You got everything at yourfingertips.
Jesse Flores (08:48):
Yeah, I know the DJs are love in the digital age,
because yeah, that's that's youhave to have to have somebody
with you to do all that forsure.
Right.
Carmen Lezeth (08:56):
Um, how do you think AI is affecting your
industry right now?
Good, bad, or indifferent?
Jesse Flores (09:02):
Yeah, I I think it varies.
You know, when it comes to AI,uh, we actually have AI
incorporated with our databasein our dashboard uh within
Intercept uh as a marketingtool.
So if you're an artist and youdon't have a policy, you can
generate um, you know, a pressrelease or a bio using the AI in
our dashboard.
Um I think where the differenceis uh is when uh use AI for
(09:23):
content creation.
That's a different storybecause you know you're having a
computer-generated song ortrack and you know, or artists
per se, and it's just uh I thinkit takes away from the human
element.
You know, so as a company,Intercept, we definitely support
the marketing side of AI.
When it comes to contentcreation, you know, that could
lead to potential issues.
Because when you have AIcreated content, that could also
(09:44):
lead to fraudulent activity atthe DSPs and having fake streams
and you know to go along withthat quote fake artist.
So that's definitely an issueand something that all the major
platforms are trying to take agood look at now to resolve.
Carmen Lezeth (09:58):
What's one moment in your career that you can
pinpoint that kind of changedeverything for you that you knew
this was what you were going tobe doing?
Jesse Flores (10:09):
Um, I'd say without a doubt, uh when I
started my job at EMI, which wasthe mid-2000s, uh, I went from
being like a regional sales repto an actual uh national
position where I was head of oururban marketing.
And from that I was able tocorrelate into um head of
business development where I hadthe ability to sign
distribution deals with artists.
(10:30):
And these are artists that Igrew up listening to.
So they were alreadyestablished, and most of them
are coming off their major labeldeal.
They didn't want to go back,but also wanted to keep
releasing music uh in anindependent fashion.
And the way we were able to dodeals there was um, you know, I
signed to a dirt third-partydistribution deal with EMI, they
owned the rights, they hadcontrol, we provided
distribution, but we also hadCapital Records, one of our main
(10:52):
labels, provide marketingservices.
So even though they wereindependent, they had capital
providing radio promotion andpublicity and which was huge at
the time.
Right.
That was a big one for them.
Carmen Lezeth (11:03):
What would be your advice for an up-and-coming
indie artist?
What would be like kind of yourbeginning business advice?
Jesse Flores (11:12):
I would definitely say, you know, really sit down
and think about what do you wantto do?
Is this gonna be your careerwhere you wanna you know make a
living?
Is this just something you wantto do on the side?
And if it is something thatyou're serious about and really
wanna uh earn some some money atsome point in the career, you
know, during your career, yougotta have a plan.
Like everything you do, yougotta have a plan and sit there
(11:32):
and really for the next 12months, here's what I want to
do.
I want to release two EPs, Iwant to release an album or
singles or whatever, and thenput together a strategy um, you
know, to approach each platformto optimize the the most uh
ability to basically have thatmajor exposure.
So, say, you know, you put outa release for a single, you want
(11:53):
to have a plan for Spotify, aplan for YouTube, because each
each platform is different, eachplatform has different fans.
So you want to make sure youwant to do that, and then also
incorporate a team that youtrust and that believes in you
that can help you achieve yourgoals.
Carmen Lezeth (12:06):
And that's what you guys do, right?
Jesse Flores (12:07):
I mean that's yeah, and that exactly like a
distributor is part of that teamthat I call the Fantastic Five.
So it's a good distributor, agood manager, um, a good
publicist, a good entertainmentlawyer, and a good online
marketing and social mediastrategist.
Having those five people orfive entities in your uh life
when it comes to being an artistare crucial because you can you
know go back and forth, you canheed their advice, you guys can
(12:29):
throw ideas together, come upwith that plan, and really uh
help grow your business.
Carmen Lezeth (12:33):
Okay, so what is the biggest shift you've seen in
hip-hop?
Jesse Flores (12:39):
Um, I think lately it's been a lot of the
cross-polarization of genres.
You know, you see hip-hop uhbeing integrated with Latin
music per se, Afrobeats as well,um, country, you know, there
are a lot of country uh artistsworking with hip-hop artists
now.
So just hip-hop becoming moremainstream and bleeding into
some of the other genres thatare typically um not used to
(13:00):
having hip-hop being a part ofit.
And you know, hip-hop is justgoing to another level.
We were talking about Bad Bunnyearlier.
He's basically a hip-hop artistthat raps in in Spanish.
So, you know, it's pretty muchglobal now, and I don't think
it's going anywhere.
Carmen Lezeth (13:13):
I don't think it's going anywhere either.
Um, I think, you know, I Idon't know a country artist that
does hip-hop.
Jesse Flores (13:19):
Am I concluding that that really does hip hop,
but I meant like doing a hip-hopsong like with an artist and
having like maybe a countryhip-hop track.
Like I know Nelly did one withum uh um hip-hop artists years
ago.
Like he was one of the firstones.
Carmen Lezeth (13:34):
Oh, okay.
I I'm not a fan of country,everyone knows that.
So I'm like, what?
Jesse Flores (13:39):
Yeah, definitely some mashups, I guess they'd
say, you know, between countryartists and because I think we
kind of need that in a weirdway.
Carmen Lezeth (13:48):
We need there to be more crossing over because I
think it helps bring people fromdifferent genres but different
geographic and political strivestogether, you know what I mean?
And this country kind of needsthat, right?
How big time.
Um, and I think music can playa big part in that.
Rick Costa (14:05):
Uh your company at all deal with uh music videos or
is just tripping music?
Jesse Flores (14:10):
We do.
We do um have a partnershipwith YouTube where you know we
we optimize and monetize uh anyvideos that are posted to
YouTube.
And then I think pretty soon onthe roadmap we're actually
gonna start delivering to likeuh Avivo and some of the other
platforms that sell music videosas well.
Carmen Lezeth (14:27):
If you could build a dream label from
scratch, what three values woulddefine it?
This was totally an AIquestion, by the way, but now I
want to know.
Well, no, what would be yourdream label?
Jesse Flores (14:41):
Uh I think it would have to have definitely um
top-notch customer service, youknow, that's a big part of it
because reality is a lot ofdays, a lot of times now, um,
when you talk to thesedistributors and artists that
are with other distributors,they have a hard time getting
people on the phone, having ahard time, you know, having
somebody email them back in atimely manner.
So just being able to talk tosomeone and reach someone when
(15:03):
you have an issue, you know,that that's important.
Carmen Lezeth (15:05):
Now that's everywhere.
Jesse Flores (15:06):
That's everywhere, exactly.
And I was talking to somebodyabout like my car insurance or
my mortgage company.
I couldn't get anybody on thephone.
I need to talk to somebody.
Carmen Lezeth (15:19):
Okay, so so that's it.
Well, that's one.
Jesse Flores (15:21):
You have two more and then having a perfect blend
of uh music distribution toolsand technology, just providing
tools that are definitely gonnahelp um, you know, the artists
and and label get to their whatthey want to do, whether it's
advertising, whether it'smarketing, whether it's playlist
promotion, you know, developingtools that are actually there
that are gonna help grow thebusiness.
Rick Costa (15:40):
On the personal side, growing up when you were a
kid, what kind of music playedin your house?
Jesse Flores (15:45):
All kinds of music.
Uh, my mom was big into likethe Motown era, so we heard a
lot of uh all that great musicthat Motown had in the 50s and
60s and 70s.
My parents were Latino, sothere was definitely some Sasla,
some merengue, and then I grewup listening to RB and hip-hop,
really.
Uh a little bit of jazz, uhplay jazz in the band.
(16:06):
But um, but yeah, it was a nicemixture of all types of music.
I grew up in the south, I grewup in Florida, so we had art
genres of music as well, bootymusic, all that kind of stuff.
That was big, and definitelyRB.
Like after 10 o'clock, that'sall you heard in the radio
stations was RB music.
Yeah, a good blend of allthose.
Carmen Lezeth (16:22):
Who's your favorite artist?
Jesse Flores (16:26):
Wow, that's a great question.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (16:28):
Um I get in trouble for that.
Jesse Flores (16:32):
I love I always love the artist on Uptown
Records, so I'm a big Jodicefan.
Carmen Lezeth (16:37):
Um Jodicey.
Jesse Flores (16:38):
Oh, yeah, I'm a big Joe D fan.
That because I grew up in the90s and that they were they were
it.
They were like the game backthen.
I'll say Jodice.
Carmen Lezeth (16:47):
Wow, okay.
I I would have lost that bet ifwe had to make a bet.
Okay, cool.
You've worked with some of thebig legends, right?
Ice Cube, Stephen Marley.
I always say Steve Marley.
Why am I saying Steve?
Is it Stephen Marley?
Jesse Flores (17:02):
It's definitely Stephen, yeah.
unknown (17:04):
All right.
Carmen Lezeth (17:04):
You know, we personal friends, so you know.
What's what's a lesson you'velearned from some of the great
artists that you've worked with?
Jesse Flores (17:14):
Definitely work ethic from an artist like uh Ice
Cube.
You know, this is someone thatis you know, I grew up listening
to, so just working with himwas uh a dream, you know.
Uh and then just at the time ofmy career, I was really young,
so I was just getting startedout.
And I noticed that he'sdifferent than a lot of the
artists because he also has uh amovie career.
And when you're in movies, theymove differently.
(17:35):
Like you have to be on time,they just have a different uh
work ethic about them.
Same thing with Tyrese.
So these people that are notjust artists, you know, they're
really about their business,they have a bigger team around
them, they uh have moreopportunities come about, they
you know seem to uh movedifferently and not sleep, you
know, just but still be able tofunction and do what they need
(17:57):
to do.
Um, so I think learning thework ethic from those type of
artists really helped me realizewhere I could fit in and what I
can do better.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (18:04):
Have you ever been starstruck by any
artists that you've worked with?
Jesse Flores (18:09):
Uh I wouldn't say starstruck, you know, but I do I
might get a little nervous.
Like when I first met someonelike DJ Premier, who I really
looked up to, um, I kind offumbled my words to begin with,
and I'm like, oh boy, just didthat.
But not so much starstruckwhere I was like, oh my god, I
can't talk to them type ofthing.
It was more so being a littlenervous.
Carmen Lezeth (18:27):
Is there anyone that would make you fumble in a
big way?
You know what?
Because I I felt the same wayuntil I met um James Earl Jones.
Okay.
And I was beside, you know,like I mean, I meet a lot of
celebrities, but that was likeone of my heroes, and it was
really hard when I first methim.
Um, but it was cool, but Ididn't think I would do that.
(18:50):
So I'm wondering, is thereanyone that would do that to
you?
Jesse Flores (18:53):
You know what?
I think the answer would bedifferent if I was just starting
out my career, because I wouldprobably say, yeah, there's
so-and-so.
But now that I've been in thisbusiness for a while, you
realize that everybody's humanand everybody's just like you uh
in some sort of way or startedout just where you were.
So I mean, I was just you know,I don't think I'd ever be
really starstruck to be honestat this point, this point in my
career.
Carmen Lezeth (19:13):
Really?
See, I started I would be, Ithink I would be some people,
yeah.
I don't know.
I'm trying to think now if Iwould be, but I think I would
be.
I think there were a few peoplethat would just throw me.
Yeah, I I would cover itthough, right?
I would I'd be like totallychill, but inside I'd be dying.
unknown (19:35):
Really?
Carmen Lezeth (19:35):
Inside dying, yeah.
I think so.
I think people like um, I mean,you know, may may he rest in
peace, but like Robert Redford,like meeting Robert Redford
would have been really cool.
You know, um Prince, you know,I mean, I love Prince, and I
never saw you know, like I wouldhave been like beside myself.
Jesse Flores (19:53):
Yeah, I think you know what now that I think about
it.
If I had met Halle Berry in the90s, I probably would have been
spread for it.
Carmen Lezeth (20:05):
Interesting.
I may know certain people, Idon't know.
Can't really talk about it.
You know, NDA.
I'm just getting NDA.
Um, what's next for you?
Jesse Flores (20:17):
Uh we're just excited about what's down the
road for me, for the company atIntercept, because you know,
we're poised for great growthover the next year or two.
Just with the you know, whowe're hiring, you know, we're
adding people to our team wherea lot of the major companies and
music nowadays areconsolidating and merging.
Yeah, and it's deciding time tobe an independent artist.
(20:37):
You know, independent uh recordlabels and artists own, I
think, at least 40% market sharenow out of the entire music
industry, which is crazy tothink.
Carmen Lezeth (20:46):
Wow, that's I didn't know it was that much
really.
Jesse Flores (20:49):
Yeah, it's like 38 to 40 percent now of the music
consumed is coming from anindependent artist or label.
Carmen Lezeth (20:54):
That's really good, actually.
Jesse Flores (20:56):
That's amazing, yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (20:57):
That would be amazing if it could happen like
in television and movies aswell.
Like I mean, I think it'severything's changing, you know?
That's amazing.
unknown (21:06):
Yeah, definitely.
Carmen Lezeth (21:07):
So that kind of inspires independent artists.
I mean, saying that, yeah, Ithink it's kind of inside I
don't think people realize that.
Jesse Flores (21:15):
Yeah, it's true, and that's the reason why I
wanted to join Interstatebecause uh, you know, I've been
working with independent artistsfor uh years now, and I I see
it, and I see what happens whenyou uh have results and you work
as a team and you'restrategically grow their
business along uh with whatyou're doing as a company.
And you know, there's just somany ways that you can you know
(21:36):
optimize and monetize uhdifferent content.
You have total control of howyou want to release things and
what you want to release, likejust the whole independent
spirit is something that drivesme and something I want to do
going forward.
Carmen Lezeth (21:50):
Not talking about music, but from a point of view
as a manager, as somebody whoknows business, what would be
your advice to someone who'sjust starting out in any kind of
way, wanting to start acreative career?
What would you say to thatperson?
Jesse Flores (22:06):
I would say do your research, you know, really
go out there and see foryourself what this business is
that you're doing.
So, say if you are an artist ora label and you want to get
into the business, you need tostart going out to different
events and you know, that someof the companies out there have.
Like, you know, the performingrights organizations for music,
(22:26):
uh, ASCAP, BMI, and CSEC, theyconstantly have events that you
can attend.
There's conferences that youcan attend because you want to
see who is part of the businessthat you want to be in.
You want to see where you fitin, observe, or at least that's
what I would do.
Um, just to kind of get the layof the land.
So you know you're not going inthere blind.
Uh, that's the first thing Iwould do.
The second thing I would do isum mix and mingle and meet
(22:48):
people, network, and try andfind a mentor, because that's
one thing I'd I would say I didnot have in my career, is having
a mentor that could kind oftake me under their wing and
show me the ropes.
I didn't really do that, butthe type of person I am, I I
learned on my own and just fromyou know observing and being
part of the business.
But having that mentor, I thinkdefinitely helps, uh,
especially in the long run,because you never know in an
(23:08):
industry like uh music, which isvery volatile, uh a lot of
people get laid off, a lot ofpeople lose their jobs, or
something happens.
I've been in the businessalmost 30 years, I've been laid
off twice, uh, only due tocompany mergers, you know, not
due to cause.
So there's just things that areinevitable that happen that you
got to deal with.
And having those people in yourcorner that believe in you and
trust you can only help you uhwith your next move.
Carmen Lezeth (23:30):
But let's do it a little bit more concrete,
right?
You said mix and minglenetwork.
Like in the music industry, Idon't know where that happens,
right?
So LinkedIn, like what do youdo?
Like, how do you find out theseplaces that you could go and
meet people?
Jesse Flores (23:46):
Yeah, so there's different organizations that
hold events.
Um there's also musicconferences, like there's a big
conference in Atlanta every yearcalled Music Biz, uh, where
everybody pretty much on thebusiness side of the music um
industry, they go there and youknow present their new releases
and have um you know panels thathave discussions and showcases.
So those type of events,they're not as many conferences
(24:07):
as there used to be, but there'sstill some around.
That's a great place to kind ofget your foot in the door and
learn about the music business.
And and then there's differentevents in bigger cities, like
even the event weekends like BTAwards weekend or NBA All-Star
Weekend or Grammy weekend, thoseare all events where you want
to be in the city becausethere's constantly people that
are in the business you want tobe in that are there out and
(24:28):
about.
Carmen Lezeth (24:28):
Oh, yeah.
So you're just saying likenetworking around in those
areas, finding out in your city,whatever.
Jesse Flores (24:33):
So you know what?
Carmen Lezeth (24:34):
What's your website name?
I can't believe I didn't writethat down.
Jesse Flores (24:37):
So the website is interceptmusic.com, and we also
have an Instagram handle.
It's at Intercept MusicOfficial.
Carmen Lezeth (24:42):
Okay, and I'll make sure to put that down or
whatever.
So it's um say that again,interceptmusic.com.
And Instagram is what?
Rick Costa (24:51):
At Intercept Musicofficial.
I got some.
Remember back in the day whenthey had those memes, it's like
what they think I do, what myfamily thinks I do, what I
really do.
Like, can you think of like amisconception or two of what
people think you do?
But it's like, nah, Brian,doing that.
What do you talk about?
Jesse Flores (25:08):
Yeah, my people back home, they definitely think
I mix and mingle with starslike 24-7.
This is just so nothing.
Carmen Lezeth (25:13):
I think you do too.
Jesse Flores (25:15):
No, no, when you're in distribution, you're
in the business side of themusic business for sure.
Like there are definitely timeswhere there's a listening
party, or you know, you you haveanother um an artist go around
uh to different, you know,meetings with you know Apple
Music or or you know uh Spotifyor something like that.
But for the most part, it'sdefinitely a business side.
(25:36):
Like we have marketingmeetings, we have sales
meetings, we have businessdevelopment meetings, um, and
it's all like you know, it's allwork.
Carmen Lezeth (25:44):
And you're talking to all of their
entourage people.
Jesse Flores (25:47):
Yeah, yeah, we're not talking to the artists,
we're always talking with theirmanager.
Carmen Lezeth (25:50):
Yeah, I can't tell you how many times like
I'll like people will expect myclient to show up, right?
Because I work for some people,and it'll just be me and our
assistant, and they'll be like,oh yeah.
Jesse Flores (26:22):
So it's work.
It's yeah, it's definitely thebusiness side for sure.
Carmen Lezeth (26:24):
So so what makes you so happy?
Like you said, it's the work,you love what you do, so what is
it?
Jesse Flores (26:30):
I can't see myself doing anything else.
I mean, I I've always wanted tobe in music, and and yes, when
I was younger and I had those uhI guess what I would call lower
level jobs, it's it'sdefinitely more fun because
you're basically on the roadgoing to record stores and
promoting music and having boxesfull of CDs and posters and
stuff that kids would love tohave.
And you know, I would literallygo to hotels, you know, that
(26:52):
would need to stay in going onthe road and give them a box of
a few CDs and get like a freeroom, you know, stuff like that.
But those days are gone becausewe don't have anything to
barter with anymore.
But yeah, I mean, and then youknow, you just you just it's
just a part of lifestyle.
It's like you just part of yourlife.
Like I can't see myself doinganything else, like working at a
bank or or something.
It's just I don't know, itwouldn't be the same.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (27:16):
Now, where are you based out of?
Jesse Flores (27:18):
So I'm by coastal, I live in LA and also Atlanta,
but I spend most of my time inLA.
Carmen Lezeth (27:22):
Where are you right now?
You're in LA?
Jesse Flores (27:24):
I'm in Los Angeles.
Carmen Lezeth (27:26):
Oh, the city is cool.
I'm in Los I didn't know you Ifor some reason I thought you
were in Atlanta, but okay.
Rick Costa (27:34):
What would you say would be something you could say
that sets apart your company asopposed to other ones?
Jesse Flores (27:40):
Uh I definitely think it's our customer service.
You know, as I stated earlier,you know, you're not gonna be
chasing us, you're not gonna beable to have an issue getting
somebody to talk to, any aboutyour issues, because a lot of
times when you have an issuewith the a distributor, it's
because something's not up at acertain platform or you need to
deliver something, you know,late and you want to make sure
(28:00):
it gets live on time.
So you need that urgent, youknow, response.
And I think that's kind of whatwe excel at is basically being
there and also trying to beproactive.
You know, if you're an artistand you put something out and
you know you turn into music andyou're like, oh, I want this to
come out this Friday, we'regonna push back and say, hey,
look, it makes more sense to doit, you know, three, four weeks
from now, because the reality isthat Spotify or Apple Music,
(28:22):
they have their pitch meetingsthree weeks before a release
date.
So why would you want to putsomething out if you can't at
least discuss it with them andget in front of them?
You never know how they'regonna support.
They could, you know, give youa playlist or they might you
know feature your project.
You just don't know until youknow you let them know that it's
coming.
So little things like that, Ithink, could definitely help and
are beneficial to any of ourartists and label partners.
Carmen Lezeth (28:42):
What is it that you're looking for in people
reaching out, you know,talent-wise?
Um, and what are you notlooking for?
Like what would be a reason youwould reject someone?
Jesse Flores (28:55):
So, yeah, we're definitely looking for artists
and labels that want todistribute or that help them
take to the next level.
You know, uh, definitely preferartists that have a commercial
fan base, so somebody that hasfollowers on Spotify,
subscribers on YouTube.
Uh, the one thing that weprobably wouldn't accept at this
point is just like a brand newartist that has never released
music before because we justdon't know what kind of
(29:16):
following they have or you know,what kind of interest there is
in their music.
So we wouldn't necessarilyreject them, we just say it's
not the right time.
You know, come back to us,let's revisit it once you've put
out some releases and to seewhat kind of fan base you
generate.
So anybody that's out therethat's got some type of
commercial fan base that'slooking and ideally a catalog
that could transfer over, uh,we'd be looking forward to
(29:37):
working with.
Carmen Lezeth (29:38):
So the the fan base could be on any social
media.
So if you have TikTok followersor whatever, like that would
work too.
Jesse Flores (29:45):
More so ticks, the the the monetized uh platforms
for with music.
So say like a like you said, aTikTok, a Spotify, a YouTube,
Apple Music, uh Amazon, aPandora, those type of
platforms.
Carmen Lezeth (29:56):
Right.
Right.
So you're not looking forbeginner people.
Sorry.
Rick.
No, I'm just kidding.
Jesse Flores (30:04):
There's distributors for them though.
There's like District Kid andTuneCore.
Those are the distributors thatthat work with the DIY type of
artists where they're justgetting started.
And then you know, once we getto a certain level, you can
start generating some sales andsome some streams.
That's where you can look atother distributors.
Carmen Lezeth (30:19):
But those guys aren't your competitors?
I thought I read they were yourcompetitors.
Jesse Flores (30:23):
They can be, but they offer different types of
services.
Like if you're a DIY and you'reat a TuneCore or distro kid,
you probably don't havemarketing services involved.
This is strictly distribution.
So we're we are a differentcompany that's kind of fits in
the middle of a distro kid inlike an uh orchard.
Carmen Lezeth (30:38):
Right.
And you again, I think it likefor people who are not in the
music business, to me, it soundslike complete management.
But is that wrong?
I think that's management whatyou do.
Jesse Flores (30:49):
It's definitely like artist.
I say artist or labelmanagement.
That'd probably be the correctterm for it.
Because that's essentially whatwe're doing as a distributor.
Carmen Lezeth (30:58):
Right.
Jesse Flores (30:58):
Right.
Rick Costa (30:59):
Okay, cool.
What's on the youngest andoldest person you've dealt with?
Wow, who would be the oldest?
I'm trying to think.
Not the name, but like the age.
Oh, the age, yeah.
Jesse Flores (31:17):
We probably wouldn't know who it is.
The oldest, yeah.
It's not that old, probably inher 50s.
Um, and the youngest is teens,you know, late teens.
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (31:28):
Okay, now I do believe that you're in your 30s,
you know, that you've beendoing this for 30 years because
nobody who's really young wouldbe like, you know, young, like
50s.
That was your tell.
Okay, I believe it now.
Yeah.
Jesse Flores (31:41):
Hey, I'm I'm one year away from 50.
Carmen Lezeth (31:43):
So really, well, you look fantastic.
I'm just saying.
We are doing makeup tipsafterwards, so you can tell what
you do with your skin cream.
Um, if somebody comes andthey're 14 years old and they
have a huge crowd base orwhatever, how much of that role
matters, like especially iftheir mom and dad are heavily
involved or not?
Jesse Flores (32:03):
It depends because if the mom and dad is like the
manager, then yeah, I think itdefinitely uh is a factor.
But usually when you're a youngartist that you know might not
be a little mature or might notbe emotionally ready or stable
to deal with uh the industry, weusually have like a buffer.
We usually have a manager thatwe deal with strictly.
Like the only time we reallydeal with an artist is like when
(32:25):
they're actually there and atlike an event that we're you
know, we we sponsored or orbrought to the table.
Um, now there's also the casewhere you're an employee at a
music company and you you havethat situation.
That's a different storybecause it can get tough.
Like there's been meetings andstuff where people's gotten
yelled at and it's gotten tenseand or a little high stress, or
(32:46):
you know, deal with deal withadversity, you know, deal with
crazy situations where you'regetting calls in the middle of
the night, so-and-so's left andup, you know, how can we fix
this?
Uh, I don't want them on myproject anymore.
Don't let the guy touch myrecord, that kind of thing.
Cynthia Ruiz Lopez (32:59):
That happens a lot.
That happens a lot.
Jesse Flores (33:01):
Exactly.
So you have that on both sides,the artist level and on the
business side as well.
Carmen Lezeth (33:06):
Yeah, it's very painful.
No, I'm just thinking aboutlike, you know, dealing with
especially people who arehigh-end artists.
Um, and the thing is that whenthey get upset, because it takes
a lot usually, because by thetime because it's gone, it's
filtered through 15 people.
Yeah, right.
They're entourage of people.
So if they're upset, it's awhole different ballgame.
unknown (33:26):
Yeah.
Carmen Lezeth (33:26):
Like we're now in the weeds.
Yeah, and we usually have tofire whoever they're upset about
because if it's gone that far.
I don't know about your yourindustry, but it must be the
same thing.
Jesse Flores (33:35):
Yeah, it's very similar.
If they're not fired, say ifit's like a product manager, we
switch product managers, likeit's somebody else going forward
that's gonna handle that artistgoing forward, type of thing.
So yeah, this is the backgroundjuicy.
I haven't seen whereeverybody's fired.
Carmen Lezeth (33:51):
Right.
In the same respect, wheneverything goes well, you don't
usually hear anything.
That's it.
Yeah, isn't that true?
Like if everything goes spot onperfectly, it's and it and it
doesn't matter how hard youworked or whatever, no matter
how hard the team worked, you'renot gonna hear like a thanks,
or I'm not saying all the time,but you know what I mean.
Jesse Flores (34:11):
Oh, yeah, it's to be expected uh at certain times,
but yeah, but not hearinganything sometimes is a good
thing, especially.
Carmen Lezeth (34:17):
Yeah, no, no, no, it's always a good thing.
Yeah, that that's what youwant, but it's so interesting
how and and you're saying it'sthe same in the music industry.
It's kind of the same thingwhen you're dealing with
high-end people, it really is afilter of a whole bunch of
entourage-pew, and then youknow, it takes a lot of work to
make people look magical.
And if it works, it's great,but if it doesn't, it's it's
(34:40):
bad.
Yeah.
Rick Costa (34:40):
Exactly.
When you retire, is theresomething like a dream or a
bucket list thing like, oh yeah,this was a hard time doing
this?
Jesse Flores (34:48):
I haven't really thought about that deeply, but
I'm definitely all about peaceand tranquility in my life.
So whatever it is, I'm gonna belike, you know, I'll be college
football fans, I'll be watchingfootball on the falls, uh, a
little bit of baseball in thisin the spring, and just uh
spending time with my lovedones.
Yeah, nothing.
Carmen Lezeth (35:07):
You know what?
It's so funny because I thinkwe all need some peace and
tranquility.
Man, and that is what musicgives me every day.
What does music do for you?
Jesse Flores (35:15):
Let's it does it all.
I mean, there's music for everyevery type of emotion and
feeling.
You know, if I want to work outand really get into it, I
listen to my my run playlist.
If I want to just chill andrelax, I have like a chill jazz
playlist.
So it just varies, you know.
For any mood you're in, there'sa music for it.
Carmen Lezeth (35:34):
Yeah, somebody today at work, it was so funny
because I was listening toSting.
I was listening, I forget whatit which album, but it's not the
police, it's Sting.
And I just had it on the Ididn't think anybody was in the
office.
And one of the guys was like,You're listening to this?
I didn't know you'd like.
I'm like, what do you like?
I don't just walk around onlylistening to Beyonce and Prince.
(35:55):
You know what I mean?
Everything changes, right?
There's like a different, Idon't know, it was just on in
the car, and then I went intothe office and I put it on, you
know.
Uh whatever.
There's music for each mood.
Absolutely.
unknown (36:09):
Very true.
Carmen Lezeth (36:10):
Well, it was really good to have you.
It's just I you're veryefficient.
I don't know.
I have never done my list ofquestions and gone through them
all.
No, this is a compliment toyou.
That feels special or a diss tome for not doing better work.
But we appreciate having youon, Jesse.
(36:32):
And if people want to if peoplewant to reach out to you, could
they do that personally, orwould you rather that they just
go check out the website?
Jesse Flores (36:39):
Yeah, definitely check out the website, IG, or
they can send me an email.
I'm at jesse.flores atinterceptmusic.com.
Carmen Lezeth (36:45):
That is so awesome.
All right.
Well, people heard that.
I'll make sure to put that outthere.
Um really grateful to have youon the show, and thank you so
much.
And everyone, remember at theend of the day, it really is all
about the joy.
Thanks, everyone.
Bye.
Don't hang up, Jesse.
Don't hang up yet.
unknown (37:04):
Okay.
Carmen Lezeth (37:06):
Thanks for stopping by.
All about the joy.
Be better and stay beautiful,folks.
Have a sweet day.
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