October 20, 2024 • 46 mins
In this second part of our two-part interview with Dan Melnick, now CEO and co-owner of Sonicbids, we pick up where we left off, diving deeper into Dan’s journey and his recent transition to the helm of the company. We explore how Dan’s background as a creative entrepreneur prepared him for this leap, the strategies he uses to combat burnout, and the challenges he’s faced along the way.
Tune in as Dan shares insights on fostering collaboration within his team, creating meaningful partnerships, and how his entrepreneurial mindset continues to shape his leadership at Sonicbids. For creative entrepreneurs and artists, this conversation is packed with invaluable lessons on balancing creativity with the demands of business.
Whether you're curious about the inner workings of the music industry, or seeking advice on navigating creative entrepreneurship, this episode will leave you inspired.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00—Introduction to Part 2 of the interview
1:42—Dan’s transition from General Manager to CEO
3:03—How Dan’s entrepreneurial experience prepared him for leadership
8:24—Managing burnout while leading a company
14:15—Dan’s journey to becoming co-owner of Sonicbids
18:05—Fostering collaboration and innovation at Sonicbids
23:50—Creative problem-solving and what entrepreneurs can learn from challenges
26:53—Music industry trends to watch
32:46—Balancing the artistic and business sides as a creative entrepreneur
43:30—What’s next?
For more on Dan Melnick and Sonicbids, visit sonicbids.com.
To sign up for the weekly Creative Space newsletter, visit: http://eepurl.com/h8SJ9b.
To become a patron of the Creative Space podcast, visit: https://bit.ly/3ECD2Kr.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennifer Logue (00:00):
Just a quick note on this episode you're
about to listen to.
This is the second part of mytwo-part interview with the now
CEO and owner of SonicBids, danMelnick.
If you haven't listened to thefirst part, I recommend you
start there before diving intothis episode.
Enjoy, hello everyone, andwelcome to another episode of
(00:32):
Creative Space, a podcast wherewe explore, learn and grow in
creativity together.
I'm your host, jennifer Logue,and today we have something
special lined up for you.
Today's episode is a follow-upto that previous interview where
we'll explore Dan's transitionto this new role, the challenges
and triumphs he's experienced,and what this all means for
(00:54):
creative entrepreneurs andartists like you.
So here's what we'll be divinginto today how Dan's background
as a creative entrepreneurprepared him for the leap to CEO
and co-owner of SonicBids.
The strategies he's used toovercome burnout and keep his
creative energy vibrant,fostering a collaborative
environment at SonicBids.
(01:15):
And what we can learn from hisapproach, creating meaningful
partnerships.
And, perhaps the most inspiring, how Dan went from working for
SonicVids to becoming a co-ownerand what that journey can teach
us.
So, without further ado, let'sdive into this exciting
follow-up conversation with DanMelnick, now CEO and co-owner of
(01:37):
SonicVids.
Welcome to Creative Space again.
Dan Yo, how's it going.
Dan Melnick (01:42):
It's great.
I mean I just love that introbecause you gave the whole
outline and going into this, youknow, every time I get a
meeting I have to like, allright, I have to drive the thing
and you're driving the thing.
So I'm like this is great, it'salmost like it's like not
driving on a big road trip.
Jennifer Logue (02:01):
Yeah, sometimes it's nice.
Dan Melnick (02:03):
Sometimes it's just you know, you're just looking
out the window changing thetunes.
That's what I feel like rightnow.
Jennifer Logue (02:10):
Thank you, oh oh my gosh, my pleasure.
You can just focus on, you know, curating the playlist.
I'm driving this one, it's cool.
Dan Melnick (02:19):
Yeah, so what do you want to hear?
Well, so, what do you want tohear?
Jennifer Logue (02:24):
Well, it's been.
You've had quite the year.
Like from when you firststarted at Sonic Bids.
How many years ago was that?
You think it was seven 2017,january.
Dan Melnick (02:36):
So it's I don't know math Seven, almost eight
years.
Seven and a half years, almosteight seven and a half.
Jennifer Logue (02:42):
So now you went from where you started to now
becoming the CEO and co-owner.
First of all, we'll get intothis later in the interview.
But how did your background asa creative entrepreneur prepare
you for such a big leap?
Because before Sonic Bids youhad your own thing with
Turnstile for many years.
Turnstile Music Group.
Dan Melnick (03:03):
Yeah, with turnstile for many years.
Turnstile music group, yeah, um, you know, it's funny because I
I have a lot of um, I have somefriends in finance and one of
them was like, uh, after eightyears of you know doing the
nightlife promoting music thing,um, he was like he's like you'd
never, you'd never survive incorporate america and I'm like,
challenge accepted.
(03:24):
So then when I went over toSonicBids, I didn't expect, I
didn't know what to expect,cause I mean I started SonicBids
when I was 23.
So I was a little baby and Inever worked at a larger company
before.
And then I started at theoffice in Dumbo.
God, I mean first off, I wouldsay, from an entrepreneurial
leap to like working in anoffice under other people and
(03:47):
not having to run the day to day.
It was like mini retirement.
It was it was.
I mean I was shocked.
I mean the things people wouldcomplain about who are working
there, like the snacks and likethe, the unlimited time off that
we had at the, at the office,and I mean I was just I would
(04:10):
just laugh, I'd be like you guys, like you guys don't really
know how, how, how well you gotit, how good you got it here and
it did.
It felt like.
It felt like a strange miniretirement after just a constant
grind of working all day frommy small workspace and then
(04:30):
going to the clubs every nightfor eight years.
And honestly I was talking tosomeone about this recently is I
had like kind of a littlemental health decline around
that same time.
I didn't know what was wrongand sometimes I feel like that
happens in everyone's life,where like something's not right
, you can't really put yourfinger on it, and I kind of
(04:52):
found out what it was.
It was like going from asurvival mindset where every day
was every decision and everyminute, every day was taken up,
and it was, you know, the mostpressure to you know what kind
of free snacks should we orderfor the office and how many?
(05:14):
What's your favorite flavor ofLaCroix?
Jennifer Logue (05:17):
Yeah, I love the office LaCroix, that's the best
.
Dan Melnick (05:22):
The LaCroix flavors and I'm like, and it was almost
it was like like mind numbingto a point.
And then I just, you know, Iwas there for about a year and
it took me about two to threemonths to get really acclimated
and then I was just like I'lljust do what I used to do and I
(05:43):
realized I missed doing things.
Jennifer Logue (05:46):
You know, I, I, you were a general manager for a
year at Sonic bids.
Dan Melnick (05:53):
Well, this, this is back when I started.
I started as the promoterdevelopment lead, so it was my
job when it started to get umnew festivals and new venues on
the platform.
Jennifer Logue (05:59):
And uh.
Dan Melnick (06:00):
I got really good at that quickly.
Um and I, they gave me aplaybook of how to do it and it
was just wrong because it no oneI think, uh, at that juncture
into the company actually everworked in the music industry.
So they're going, they're goinglike through like tech
playbooks, uh, and salesplaybooks, but you know, it's a
different, it's a differentworld that you know, we know of
(06:21):
in music.
So, uh, the approach, theapproach that I took, was way
more successful.
So I was able to then pursueother avenues that I thought
were important to the company,because my thing at time was as
much as coming from anentrepreneurial mindset is, the
team around me in my firstcompany was like a family to me,
(06:43):
and the and the reason I, I, I,I worked so hard was to make
sure that they were okay andthat they had a job.
And you know I use that samemindset when I first started
Sonic Biz, because I love mycoworkers and I wanted to
continue to make sure that,again, like they, they had a job
and we all had a job and we allwere able to uh, continue to,
(07:05):
to to have that Um, I w, I, Imean I wish everyone had that
kind of um mentality.
But uh, what I started to do isI started to find other avenues
or flaws that I foresaw in thecompany and um would go to my,
the GM at the time, like hey,I'm going to do this, and he's
like okay, and I'm like cool,and I so I would do what I have
(07:27):
to do, and then I would add Ijust add it to my own plate.
I didn't ask for, didn't askfor stuff to do, I just I just
did it, um.
And then that quickly changedmy role to to become a
partnerships director, and thatwas what I was for the majority
of my years.
Jennifer Logue (07:43):
You owned it, even when you were an employee
at SonicBits.
You were owning it like.
You treated it like it was yourcompany.
That was the attitude you had.
Dan Melnick (07:52):
Exactly, and even I mean the former GM, who's a
good friend of mine, wouldprobably agree to that.
And he's a great guy and he wasgreat to work with and we had
fun together.
Awesome.
He's a great guy and he wasgreat to work with and we had
fun together.
Jennifer Logue (08:05):
Awesome.
Now, the last time we talked,you mentioned burnout as a key
factor in your decision to joinSonicBids.
So now you're in a much moredemanding role.
How do you maintain yourcreative energy and prevent
burnout, especially now thatyou're leading SonicBids?
Dan Melnick (08:24):
I don't know if there's a way.
Honestly, a friend of mine whois one of our advances, new
advisors and helping out witheverything, is a friend, jen
Sellers, of mine, and she worksat this other company.
He was really great co-amusedcheck them out and what they do
is they really concentrate onmental health in
(08:46):
entrepreneurship and also in themusic industry, and we've had a
lot of fun conversations aboutmental health and the music
industry.
But the reason I bring this upis I was talking to her about it
and I don't prevent burnout.
I'm burnt out right now.
(09:06):
I'm literally burnt out rightnow.
I'm burned out every single day.
I'm burned out every singlenight before I go to sleep.
Um, I guess you, just you, justyou have to embrace it, and I
think burnout is probablydifferent for every person too,
like there's certain.
I mean, I know everyone hasdifferent ways of things that
they can handle and things thatwhen they come across, um, when,
(09:29):
when you come across certainconflicts, uh, how how much
stress is it going to cause andalso how much, um, I guess,
creativity that it would spark?
I mean, we literally yesterday,yesterday, sucked, we had a bad
day yesterday, um, today's muchbetter.
What we did is, you know wewent to bed, we, you know we
waited till the next day.
(09:50):
I think my co-founder, bennettJohnson, you know he's one of
his things that he's always saidis, you know, sleep on it,
which I think is such a greatword of advice.
So, like, whenever conflictarises or whenever there's a big
decision to be made, you know,definitely sleep on it, because
your perspective will change thenext day.
And you know, oddly, thismorning, all the conflicts, the
(10:11):
vendor got back to us finally,so that's great.
And then also the things thatwe thought were conflicts.
Actually we looked more intoresearch wise and we were like,
oh, this is actually opportunity.
So, um, look at that, right, uh, but yeah, I mean, I think you
know the burnout thing man likethe, the single mom who takes
(10:35):
two buses to go work, two jobs,like that's burnout I mean yeah
working, working at a desk.
I, I, I don't want to hate on it, I don't want to hate on on it,
like, but like, yeah, we're allburnt out.
I think right now in the world,especially in the music side,
like I have conversations withpeople all the time like you
have to have multiple gigs, likepeople have multiple things
that they're doing, um, becausethat's how, that's just the
(10:58):
world that we were born into.
Right, that's the time periodthat we live this.
If this was the 90s, I'dprobably have one job, but I
also teach at two differentuniversities, oh that's true.
So starting next Friday I'mdriving two hours both ways into
the city to go teach at NYU.
Oh, that's awesome and I'lltell you when I get back home.
(11:20):
After that drive home andFriday night traffic, i'm'm just
, you know I'm.
I'm burnt out for sure.
Jennifer Logue (11:27):
But you're doing things you love.
I mean, I think that might be adifference here, where it's
like all of your, the work thatyou do is aligned to music and
the music industry things you'repassionate about, that you want
to teach.
Dan Melnick (11:40):
Yeah.
I mean for sure I mean I'm doingI, I guess I start I I always.
I mean for sure, I mean I'mdoing I, I guess I start, I I
always.
I don't know if we talked aboutthis last time too, but I
always tell people, um,especially on the younger side,
or even on the older side, causethere's people who I went to
college with that are like, uh,I'm like we're like I still
don't want to do, I don't knowwhat I want to do when I grow up
, you know, 40.
Right and um, I always say,like, it's for me, it's never
(12:02):
been about the music industry,it's been about it's not like
where you work or who you workfor, or where you're working,
it's how you work, I think isthe most important thing for me.
So I think I did talk about itlast night, I'm not sure, but
it's like for me, I just want tobe, I want to have my life in
my, in my own hands.
Right, I think, in 2024, one ofthe reasons that I'm excited and
(12:29):
comfortable owning a companythat is, you know, every day is
the best and worst day of ourlives is that it's up to me for
it to fail or succeed.
I won't, you know, I don't haveto blame a boss, right?
I don't have to say, oh, theydidn't see my vision, or why are
they so stubborn, or theydidn't do this or that was a bad
idea, like it's on me, so Idon't.
(12:49):
That actually is some stressoff of my shoulders.
That's the way I look at it andI think that you know some
people like to be morecollaborative.
Some people like, maybe I'm atmy house right now, so I'd like
I mean some people don't want towork from home.
(13:10):
I love working from home, Iabsolutely love it, and I well,
I've hilariously worked for homefor all but four years out of
my entire, my entire career.
But I think how you work andthe structure is more important,
necessarily, than, at least forme, like that's my passion.
My passion is theentrepreneurial side.
It's as as as as much as I lovemusic, I love nightlife, I love
events and I really do, I don'treally look at that as my job,
(13:35):
as much as I look at the startupentrepreneur mentality as the
job.
Jennifer Logue (13:37):
That's it.
It's a startup entrepreneurmentality and on that note, I've
got to ask how did thisopportunity come about for you
to, you know, buy like, be aco-owner in Sonic Bids and
become CEO?
Like what was that journey likethis year?
Dan Melnick (13:51):
Well, yeah, so we talked in December.
My plan with Sonic Bids was togrow the brand to back to where
it was pre-pandemic, which wasgood brand to back to where it
was pre-pandemic, which was good, and I'm trying to think of the
things I can say because,literally, for contracts and
(14:11):
NDAs, the private equity firmthat we purchased the entity
from.
Let me think.
Let's just say it was not corefor them, this product In their
umbrella.
It was not core for them, thisproduct In their umbrella,
billions of dollars that theirumbrella is worth.
No company was in the musicspace, so it was not core for
(14:34):
them.
They didn't see it as along-term investment opportunity
for them.
I disagreed and we came to animpasse.
Jennifer Logue (14:50):
And the option was presented to me and I took
it Awesome.
Now, where does Benny figureinto this as your co-founder?
Dan Melnick (14:54):
Great question and it's great.
Working with him has beenamazing.
He is a he's an interestingperson, a personality that I
have not come across before.
He comes from a Wall Streetfinance background.
In the early days of theacquisition, which I was, you
(15:17):
know, I January started I'mtalking to the team, you know
we're ready to kick off our yearand then, like a couple of
weeks in, I'm like everything ischanging now, because now I'm
in acquisition mode forfinancial advice.
(15:42):
I'm not a finance guy, I'mreally not, and I wanted someone
who had experience in M&A orprivate equity.
And I remember meeting Benny andpassing through an old friend
of ours, luke Montgomery, whoused to work for me at Turnstile
and also went to school withhim.
They grew up together and so Ijust reached out blindly to
Benny and I was like, hey, likehere's what I'm dealing with.
(16:04):
I have never done this before.
What kind of advice would youhave?
And he really quickly, justlike, gravitated to my vision of
where I want to take thecompany has been nothing but
amazing.
Uh, amazing support, the, theentire way um has operationally
(16:24):
improved the company as well.
Um, there's a lot of lowhanging fruit that I think was
overlooked for years.
Um that we didn't have accessto, um that because it was
behind the veil of privateequity with domains and other
tech stack and so on and soforth.
(16:44):
So we've been able to pull somelevers and Benny's been
fantastic and I'm really excitedbecause he's one of the hardest
working people I've met andthat's one of the most important
things for me is that we're Imean hell, we're working
tomorrow together.
Labor Day, weekend, we'regetting together to work.
Jennifer Logue (17:00):
You're laboring.
Dan Melnick (17:02):
We're laboring over the weekend.
Jennifer Logue (17:04):
Yeah, oh that's awesome, that's good, that's so
exciting.
So it's been, it'll be this.
You officially became CEO andco-owner.
It was like only a few monthsago, wasn't it?
Dan Melnick (17:16):
yeah, so the the whole acquisition process lasted
from january to uh to june okay, yeah which is super recent
yeah I mean it took it took sixmonths to get done, which is
just in so many ways that thingsI can't speak about is just so
hypocritical and ironic I can'tgo into it.
It it's fine.
Oh no, it's not fine.
(17:38):
It worked out fine it was anightmare.
It was a nightmare six months.
It was awful.
It was a rough slog, but we gotthere.
Jennifer Logue (17:48):
Cool, so now you're here, and so
collaboration.
Obviously you talked aboutworking with Benny.
It's always been a big part ofyour approach even at Turnstile.
Dan Melnick (18:05):
How do you plan on fostering a collaborative
environment at SonicBids as CEO?
That's great.
I'm glad you asked that becauseI wanted to.
You know there's other peoplewho are working with me now,
even from the Turnstile days, onsmall projects that you know I
hope grow to be more long-termand a stable part of what our
future is.
Brian Riccardi, if you rememberhim oh, he's on board.
He just started helping me outon some things.
(18:26):
Nice, hoping that works outreally well.
Randy Pressman's helping outwith content creation.
We're about to announce I guessI could say it on here, cause
it's probably by the time itgets done it'll be done, but
we're we're we're working on acollaborative um, I would say,
with a record label and a and an, a really well-known New York
(18:49):
venue on a, uh perform aperformance capture series, a Q
and a um content series, which,which will be great with it.
It's also with a magazine,hopefully too, that we're
talking to and Brandy's helpingout on that.
And yeah, I mean collaborative.
I constantly bounce ideas off ofpeople all the time and ask for
(19:13):
their opinion.
I mean, I've had some of thebest things come across from
interns over the years.
I really have.
We had a great group of internsover this last summer, just
mind-blowing, Just incredible.
Most of them went to go studyabroad in Europe and I'm like
(19:33):
enjoy that, that sounds great.
I never got to do that but I'mjealous, but I'm glad they went
over there.
But even with them I'll I asktheir opinion.
I always have.
I mean, our, our targetdemographic is not you know me,
it's, you know it's people intheir 20s right, 20s through 30s
(19:53):
.
That's our target to our targetdemo.
They're the tastemakers,they're the people that, uh, I
mean hell to get a friend ofmine to go out to a bar.
Nowadays it's like pulling teeth, right oh yeah yeah, I'm still
there, but um, but uh, for work,of course, uh, but there are
target demographic, you knowsocial media wise.
(20:14):
You know I'm not going toproject my assumptions as fact.
At some of the classes I teachat, I ask my kids it's customer
discovery.
I ask them their opinion onthings.
Who are you guys listening to?
How are you listening to?
Where are you going?
Where are you discovering newmusic?
What venues do you like?
What's important to you?
(20:35):
Even to a point of marketing?
What marketing channels do you?
And even to a point of likemarketing, what marketing
channels do you guys payattention to?
Even down to workflowmanagement, like there's Slack
out there, right.
And then the people, the youngerkids that I've worked with over
the last couple of years islike they're like no, like,
don't do that, just text me.
And I'm like great.
So now we'll do text chatsinstead, instead of paying for
(20:57):
another thing on our tech stack.
We just use, use texts as longas it comes from them, and they,
they want to do it that way.
I'm cool to do it that way.
So, yeah, I've learned.
I've learned a lotcollaboratively from people I've
worked that worked with me overso many years.
You know I still have my visionfor where this company is going
(21:18):
, which has remained, I think,the most steadfast and
continuously proven throughconversations and through
research.
That hasn't really varied toomuch, but the other parts of
what we're doing.
I'm always well and happy tocollaborate around.
Jennifer Logue (21:38):
Cool.
What advice would you give tocreative entrepreneurs in
building strong supportive teams?
Like if you could give threepieces of advice Trust Trust, I
mean find someone you trust.
Dan Melnick (21:54):
Trust is a big word , though, too.
It's like trust is, like youknow, we live in a world of
Zooms and Gchat and Google Meets, right, so which I'd like
Google Meet more now, but that'sbesides the point.
But like trust are they workingas hard as you are, right, can
you, can you, can you do, youknow that, right Like you can't
(22:16):
be an entrepreneur and havechecks and balances because you
can't waste time on that.
That's part of trust.
I think it's such an importantthing.
Without it, it all is dead inthe water.
That's one of the things.
That's one of the things.
(22:37):
Yeah, I think that also from any, if you're an entrepreneur,
you're, you're a leader, rightLike that's, that's what you
sign up to be, and that doesn'tmean that you're judging people,
but you're picking people up,right?
So I think being able to spottalent and bring that talent to
(22:59):
a scenario that they're able tothrive in is an important thing
as well.
And you know getting lucky andfinding people you know, like I
mentioned Benny, who we're goingto put in the 70, 80 hours a
week that are needed for this,you know, and that you know are
fully okay with signing on tolive to work instead of work to
(23:20):
live, which is really thedecision that is made right.
Jennifer Logue (23:22):
That you make when you're a founder of any
co-founder or founder, yeah,someone who's as committed as
you are to the vision.
Dan Melnick (23:29):
Yes, exactly yeah.
Jennifer Logue (23:31):
Now, you touched on this earlier in the
conversation, but can you sharea story about a recent challenge
that required a creativesolution and what lessons
artists and entrepreneurs cantake from that experience of
like taking a challenge andturning it into an opportunity?
Dan Melnick (23:50):
I mean, I'm trying to be like challenges, I'm
trying not to be, I'm trying tothink not as a conflict, right,
more of like an opportunitything.
God, there's been so many.
Oh, I can tell you one, this isa great one.
So I was working as aconsultant for an internet radio
(24:11):
station and we did a series ofevents in New York, um, which
were great and everything wasawesome and I got to meet
everybody on the, on the team um, from the internet radio
station, and it was all goingwell.
But then one day, um, the checkstopped coming, um, and we, you
(24:37):
know, we put on a massive, uhconcert series for them.
And you know, we put on amassive concert series for them
and you know, we weren't wasn'tit wasn't necessarily like you
know a massive, massive deal,but still, the check, the check
stopped coming and at the timeit was very financially bad
because we already set all thesethings up Right, Because that's
how it's going to set things up, so we were able to get through
(24:59):
it.
Unfortunately, I don't thinkthat company ever fully
recovered and through reachingout and the people I met through
that company, we found anetwork of God dozens of people
that were owed hundreds ofthousands of dollars by this
same person.
(25:22):
And you know, I think and thatperson I don't think is a bad
person I think that theyover-promised and they shouldn't
have done that and I hope thatthey learned their lesson if
they are ever watching this, andI have no hatred towards that
person, although it was a roughtime at the time, but, um, I
think what I was able to do isreach out and connect with the
(25:44):
other people that werefinancially harmed by the same
same entity.
Um, and still today, I haveclose professional and personal
relationships with those peoplethat I don't think would have
gotten as as developed if weweren't in the trenches, um,
looking for this massive amountof uh money that was owed to us
(26:08):
consecutively at the same time.
Um, yeah, so I feel like that'sthat's one of the one that's a
rough story.
Um, that I couldn't be toospecific with, but I I do love
that, you know, and two of thosepeople are closely working with
us today in variouspartnerships and other roles,
which is which I'm excited about.
Jennifer Logue (26:27):
Yeah, Sometimes through adversity you meet
people who become partners forlife.
Dan Melnick (26:33):
Yeah, so it's.
Yeah, I like that one.
Jennifer Logue (26:36):
Love that.
So the music industry is alwaysevolving.
What are the biggest trendsyou're seeing right now, and how
can artists and entrepreneursposition themselves to thrive in
this ever-changing landscape?
Dan Melnick (26:53):
Great, great question, great question.
What I am kind of the the vibethat I'm getting is a beautiful
wild west right now.
Um, covid was a pause buttonand it almost it seems like in
some ways it was a reset as well, when it comes to technological
(27:19):
innovations and tools forartists, venues and everyone
involved in the whole, ineverything POS systems not in
everything on the live side,because, again, I do not ever
position myself as an expert on,like you know, record labels
and all of that, and production,it's not my forte, but on the
live side still, even you know,there, labels and all of that,
(27:40):
and production, it's not my,it's not my forte, but on the
live side still, even you know,there's all these technological
advances, there are all thesecompanies.
From an entrepreneurialperspective, I feel like it's a
huge opportunity.
There was a lot of investmentduring the pandemic in virtual
concerts which.
I don't know if we I don't feellike we've made.
This may be also from the lastconversation, but you know, I,
(28:01):
when I was talking to people inthat, in that realm, I was like
this is, it's an inch, it's it's, it's a bold move.
Really.
You know, like there's peoplethat don't you know, I mean
there's probably collectivelyhundreds of millions, if not a
billion dollars dumped intovirtual concerts, right, because
the pandemic hit, and youdumped into virtual concerts,
right, because the pandemic hit,and you know everyone's sitting
at home, and they're like whatdo we do?
What do we do?
What do we do?
And then we're like, oh,virtual concerts go.
Jennifer Logue (28:22):
Yep, yep, yep, it's yeah.
Dan Melnick (28:24):
Not much thought around.
Jennifer Logue (28:26):
Would we ever go back to live concerts?
You know, maybe that was thethought.
Dan Melnick (28:41):
And, you know, maybe it'sed into that arena.
You know, I think theirargument is always it's, but
it's so complimentary to thelive experience, right?
I just from my perspective andthe network of people I've
discussed this with is, and evenfrom people I actually do this
in class.
We talk about it in class, I go, I go raise your hand if you
watched a virtual concert.
Ever and every year it's beenless and less people, obviously,
(29:04):
right, and I'm like, all right,no, raise your hand if you
watched.
You know, keep your hand up ifyou watched two and then
everything goes down.
People will watch one of thoseand then be like what am I doing
?
You know and look there's likesuper fans, Super fan stuff.
It's completely different, bythe way, Like, if you're like a
huge Phish fan is a greatexample.
(29:24):
That's a whole different arena.
Super fandom great Awesome.
Jennifer Logue (29:30):
Like watching YouTube performances of like
from the 70s from Banjo Love.
That's a separate animal thanwatching a whole concert, like
you'd rather see it.
I'd rather see this band inperson, or exactly like a couple
examples.
Dan Melnick (29:42):
If you were to pick up that guitar book behind you
and you're like, listen, I'mgonna do a, a virtual concert
right now, I'd be like can wejust go to a bar?
Can you just go to a bar?
Because I don't, I don't wantto be in my, I don't want to be
it's not about what you're doing.
I just don't't want to be whereI am.
I'm in this little box here.
Jennifer Logue (29:59):
I don't want to be in a box and I think you know
.
Dan Melnick (30:05):
So you asked about the innovations.
Now, I don't necessarily thinkthat is an innovation or a trend
.
You know there's a lot of superfan apps that continue to come
out.
That continues to be a trend.
I do think that there's moreand more tools for artists on a
day to day and there's there'scompetition in that arena.
(30:28):
You know there's great greatcompanies out there, like Song
Tools.
I think is an awesome company.
I think is an awesome company,great, great people doing it for
the right reason Providingartists with tools that they
need and not for, you know,massive chunks of money.
(30:48):
It's not, it's not a money grabthere and complimenting, I think
, the ability today to, as anartist, to compliment your.
Basically, you should have atech stack as an artist, right,
and if someone's listening tothis don't know what that means.
It's like, what technologies doyou use to organize and execute
around your career?
Just like a company has a techstack, what company?
You know what?
What's in your tech stack?
(31:09):
Right?
So, as an artist, an artistshould have their tech stack.
What are the different variousentities and places that you
visit, like your link tree andall this stuff?
But what does your link tree,link to right, and then how to
organize all of those things.
Tools like that continuously arecoming about from both the live
side and also from yourdistribution and licensing
(31:30):
royalties and everything on theproduction side.
I think that's a great place tobe, but also, like I said, you
know, the pandemic kind of waslike a reset and also pause,
where there's technology thatwas available in 2019 that still
hasn't even come to its fullfruition now in 2024.
(31:53):
And you know AI is great.
Ai is part of it.
I love AI.
If you know how to treat it,know how to utilize it in the
right way and you look at it asa tool, not as a replacement,
then you know you can utilizethat in a lot of ways too, in a
positive way that doesn'tconflict with art, I think take
(32:14):
over the things you don't wantto do exactly.
I don't think, I don't know.
I mean, let me ask your opinionon this is like.
My nightmare is you know peopleare like you know AI robots are
going to take over the world orwhatever, right, and you know,
take our jobs, which is allthese things are valid concerns.
My nightmare would be like mykids grow up, they're 16 and
(32:39):
their favorite artist is afucking AI DJ.
That's my nightmare, thatscares me.
Jennifer Logue (32:46):
I you know what, what, and I can't say that it
won't happen because myperspective on it is we become
so used to seeing filtered,censored versions of ourselves
already, like seeing peoplethrough their filters on their
phone, like, which is still theperson right?
But it's like we're slowlymoving into this direction of
(33:06):
like completely fake people andavatars and some of the avatars
are very, very lifelike um I'mactually an avatar who knows,
you might have an avatar one daymy hands are all messed up yeah
, as a ceo, maybe you go tospeaking engagement and see
avatar giving it.
(33:26):
who knows, knows, because thetechnology is speeding up so
quickly, so we don't know whereit will be by the time your kids
are teenagers.
Dan Melnick (33:34):
On the bright side, though, talking about trends.
Live Nation and other liveticketing entities have like you
know, they can continue to haverecord-breaking years.
Jennifer Logue (33:46):
Yes, great connection and.
Dan Melnick (33:49):
Gen Z craves authentic interactions, which is
great.
Good for you, Gen Z.
Jennifer Logue (33:54):
You know, I just think we, as humans, we need
that, and the live experiencewill never go away.
Dan Melnick (34:01):
Yes, hopefully Like digital stuff, no.
Jennifer Logue (34:03):
but I mean you don't feel refreshed staring at
your screen all day long.
But if you go to a concert, youfeel in person, you feel alive
again.
If you want to hike outside,you feel alive again.
I don't feel alive from likestaring at, like the fake nature
scenes on my Peloton, LikePeloton's.
Great when I can't get to thegym, but I'm sorry.
Like as humans, great when Ican't get to the gym, but I'm
(34:24):
sorry.
Like as humans.
We still need community andreal, the real stuff I don't
know how to describe it.
Dan Melnick (34:33):
That's right, that's that's my assessment, is
I really do think that you knowthat will, that will never end.
And even someone who's you know, someone who's addicted to tech
, you know, I think there comesa time in everyone's life.
I think part of growing up ingeneral is like when you, when
(34:54):
you taste that first bit ofcamaraderie in that live setting
at a concert, you know it'sdifferent than like a sporting
event.
You know, like sporting event,there's people who are mad about
things consistently, which Ifind is great because it's both
entertainment.
But like the reactions from thecrowds are so much different.
But when you're at a concertand everyone there, you know, is
there to love the thing that isbeing presented to them, most
(35:16):
of the time because they'veexperienced that in a positive
manner, no matter what the genreis, and sharing that experience
and meeting the people thatalso share that same kind of
connection with that art.
I mean it's like there'snothing like it.
Jennifer Logue (35:30):
There's nothing.
It's pure love.
It's wonderful, it's likethere's nothing like it, and I
don't think that's ever going togo away.
Dan Melnick (35:38):
Hopefully not.
I'll just make sure my kidsdon't do that Like daddy DJ AI
and I'm like nope nope, dj AI,and I'm like nope, nope, no DJ.
Ai for you, nope, nope.
Jennifer Logue (35:54):
Parents just don't understand.
Dad, that's what I'm hearing.
I'm like, oh God, oh no, itcomes sooner than you think so
many creatives, dan, and youknow this.
They struggle with balancingthe artistic side of their work
with the business side.
You know this they strugglewith balancing the artistic side
of their work with the businessside.
Dan Melnick (36:12):
What advice do you have for them to balance those
two sides?
There's two major things Iwould say.
One is you will not well, Iwon't say you won't you will
lower your percentage of chancesof success, however you measure
that word, which I think isanother thing that you should do
for yourself is define whatsuccess looks like for you.
But you can, you know,guarantee a lower success
(36:37):
percentage of a chance ofachievement if you do not
concentrate on a businessmindset because you are a small
business and I know it's acliche and I know some people
actually also hate that too, butI believe it to be true because
, like we talked about earlier,you know the yin and yang and
the non-holistic side, but, um,as you know, someone myself,
like I, used to look at myselfas primarily an artist when I
(36:59):
first started out, um, workinguh in in music.
But you know, I was working inmusic to support my art, not the
other way around, which I thinka lot of us end up doing.
But I I think that makinglogical decisions around what
you're doing is huge.
(37:19):
And the other another majorthing I've seen the it's like a
repeat thing is theperfectionist of the, the really
artistic mind sometimes tendsto be a perfectionist and
they're like no, I can't releasethis, it's not ready.
We have to wait another threemonths for this to get mastered
again or this to be produced andjust put yourself out there,
(37:40):
man, you got to do.
That's what separates.
I think that's my own mentalitytoo.
Some people may not even I justlike.
That's my own mentality too.
Some people may not even like Ijust do, I'm going to do.
I'm going to think about whatI'm doing, but I'm not going to
wait until it's perfect, I'mjust going to.
You're going to do it andyou're going to.
You can improve on the nextiteration of whatever that thing
is.
You need game tape to actuallymake improvements.
Jennifer Logue (38:04):
So that's a great, that's great advice.
Perfect improvements so that'sa great, that's great advice.
Perfectionism destroys progressof any kind, you know, because
then you wait too long for it tobe perfect, and then you put it
out there and we think it'sclose to where you want it to be
, and then maybe it wasn't theright thing at all.
Dan Melnick (38:19):
Maybe the response people are always better artists
than I ever were once.
Right, I mean they're.
They're not perfect thing.
I'm like you kidding me I wouldlove this right can I have that
voice?
You give that to me and thenyou know I'll put it out as is
and it'll be good yeah, we'reour own worst critics as artists
.
Jennifer Logue (38:37):
Seriously, um, let's see so how this is.
On that subject, how canartists set and pursue their
long-term goals?
Dan Melnick (38:51):
Oh, it's so important, right.
You have to like setting yourlike yearly goals, right, and
then breaking those down toquarterly and then breaking
those down to monthly, right.
And then also, you know, Idon't think it's rocket science,
as an artist, to structure whatyou want to do, right.
And I don't think, like yourlong-term goal needs to be like
how am I going to play MadisonSquare Garden?
(39:12):
Right, but your long-term goalis like, how am I going to
improve myself as a, as anartist, over the next year?
Right, and it's the same thing.
Like you could use the samementality for business, for
personal right, for evenrelationships.
I'm like, how am I going toprove myself, improve myself as
X, y or Z over X, y, z time?
Right For artists.
I love that question becauseit's just so important to have
(39:34):
that conversation with yourselfand, oddly, like right now is
not the time to have it.
It is January.
I always find like literallynext week post Labor Day, that's
really the new year, right?
Jennifer Logue (39:45):
I agree.
I think I like to say any dayis a chance to start fresh.
It's true and so, like, justyou know, you have another day,
give it all you got, so I guessso with that you should do it
anytime, that's true.
Dan Melnick (39:59):
But how, how I look at the year from a musician
standpoint and I and I teach tooI'm like, first of all, you
know, plan the year ahead.
How do you, how do you want tobreak it down with your plays,
live schedule, right?
I think that's the best way todo.
It is, if you're, if you're anartist, you're a performing
artist, you're saying, okay,what am I doing in January?
(40:20):
What am I doing in January,february, march, and then, you
know, spring, summer, fall.
I would say one is only playyour own market once a quarter,
right?
I used to think, as a promoter,it was once a month, and then I
was like it should really onlybe once every six weeks, and
then now I'm like it shouldreally be once, only once every
three months, your own market,right.
(40:41):
So if you're in New York,you're living in Brooklyn, you
know, play New York once aquarter, right.
And then look at the quarters,like you should do a winter show
, right.
And then you're doing a springevent, right, and then it's
summer, right.
Should do just one thing in thesummer and then same thing.
But every one of those thingsshould be like an album release
show or a video release show andor a birthday show right,
(41:03):
there's tons of reasons to dothese kinds of things.
Oh yeah, and then some peoplehate on that mentality too,
because they're like I should beable to play as much as I want.
Like, yeah, you can play asmuch as you want if you want to
do it for fun.
If you're doing this as a hobby, go ahead and go do it as a
hobby, play it every fucking day, who cares?
(41:24):
But like, and don't look at itlike, oh, I want to play
coachella.
It's not going to happen rightnow.
Right, because anyone who'slistening to anything that we're
talking about is not playingcoachella.
Um, but the independent artistis saying, okay, like, what is?
Maybe you don't live in newyork or maybe I want to go play.
Um, you know these main streetusa festivals that are available
(41:45):
?
Jennifer Logue (41:45):
on SonicBits now .
Sign up right now.
Oh good, Good to know.
There we have all these.
Dan Melnick (41:50):
So that's what you should be doing in the summer,
and then growing your brand ofthese festivals.
The festivals in the summer aregreat because you can play as
much as you want.
You can always play as much asyou want, but just not in your
own market.
Jennifer Logue (42:00):
Yes, because you'll saturate yourself.
Dan Melnick (42:02):
Yeah, and you don't want to, and also don't go on
that tour guy.
Stop with the tours.
You're not running a tour.
Until someone's paying for yourtour, do not tour.
Build your audience from whereyou are Playing at VFW Hall in
Nebraska is not going to doanything for you.
The only people there are theother bands and their
significant others.
Jennifer Logue (42:21):
It's true.
What a waste of gas money.
Dan Melnick (42:23):
Do it for the planet.
Jennifer Logue (42:25):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I mean, touring can be fun forthe experience of it, like if
you want to travel and meetpeople, and but maybe it's not
the best business strategy inthe beginning of your career.
Dan Melnick (42:38):
No, of course, Exactly I mean.
But also, if you're in New York, go play Boston on a weekend,
jump on the train, exactly.
Jennifer Logue (42:44):
Go play Philly.
Dan Melnick (42:45):
Great places in Philly.
Jennifer Logue (42:47):
Come to Philly.
Dan Melnick (42:48):
Go play DC and if you if you do it correctly you
meet other bands while you'rethere and you're not just so
self-centered that you are justonly worrying about yourself,
then you can meet other acts andbe like oh hey, you know like
we really like, you know yourvibe, and why don't you come
play our next New York show withus and we'll play your next
Philly show?
Or you know, we'll do thesethings together, um, and we'll
(43:09):
grow together as a, as acommunity, cause that's the only
way to do it.
I think that's really the Imean God.
I could go down this road forliterally hours, and I do on on
Fridays at NYU.
Jennifer Logue (43:22):
Cool, it starts next week.
Dan Melnick (43:23):
So next week, which is my whole class, is me waxing
poetic about this for an hourand 40 minutes?
Jennifer Logue (43:30):
The power of community, so important on so
many levels, for artists, forbusiness leaders, entrepreneurs.
Dan, what's next for you?
Dan Melnick (43:40):
Well, my kid comes home from school in a couple of
minutes, and so what's what's oh?
Outside of minutes?
And so what's what's uh, oh,outside of that?
Um, we are in the midst of anamazing customer discovery
campaign.
We have devs that are firing upthe next version of our
software.
Um, we're, we're just excited.
(44:02):
We have really good strategicpartnerships that are going to
be popping out on press releasesover the next few weeks to a
few months.
It's just nose to thegrindstone and getting out there
, finding people that we want towork with that fit our culture,
our work culture, our vision,continuing to give our users
(44:22):
what they deserve, which is thelargest vetted directory of
opportunities on the internet.
Sign up now and hopefully, Ithink we have a lot of different
ways that we're going to bedoing things and we're excited
about the future.
Jennifer Logue (44:40):
Awesome, dan.
Congrats again.
I'm so excited to see where youtake SonicBiz, Because I you
know that was such a big part ofmy journey as a musician all
those years too, and it's coolto see you bringing it into its
next chapter for artists coming.
Dan Melnick (44:56):
It's going to be a great ride.
I can't wait to do this again.
We'll do it again, for sure.
Jennifer Logue (45:00):
That's all for this episode of Creative Space.
Thank you so much for joiningus for the season 3 premiere.
For more on Dan Melnick andSonic Bids, you can visit
sonicbidscom, and if you want tosupport the podcast, please
leave a review on Apple Podcastsor wherever you get your
podcasts.
(45:20):
This podcast is a labor of loveand every single review counts
in getting it out to more people.
So, anyway, I appreciate youlistening.
As always, my name is JenniferLogue.
Until next time, thank you.
Just a quick note on this episode you're
about to listen to.
This is the second part of mytwo-part interview with the now
CEO and owner of SonicBids, danMelnick.
If you haven't listened to thefirst part, I recommend you
start there before diving intothis episode.
Enjoy, hello everyone, andwelcome to another episode of
(00:32):
Creative Space, a podcast wherewe explore, learn and grow in
creativity together.
I'm your host, jennifer Logue,and today we have something
special lined up for you.
Today's episode is a follow-upto that previous interview where
we'll explore Dan's transitionto this new role, the challenges
and triumphs he's experienced,and what this all means for
(00:54):
creative entrepreneurs andartists like you.
So here's what we'll be divinginto today how Dan's background
as a creative entrepreneurprepared him for the leap to CEO
and co-owner of SonicBids.
The strategies he's used toovercome burnout and keep his
creative energy vibrant,fostering a collaborative
environment at SonicBids.
(01:15):
And what we can learn from hisapproach, creating meaningful
partnerships.
And, perhaps the most inspiring, how Dan went from working for
SonicVids to becoming a co-ownerand what that journey can teach
us.
So, without further ado, let'sdive into this exciting
follow-up conversation with DanMelnick, now CEO and co-owner of
(01:37):
SonicVids.
Welcome to Creative Space again.
Dan Yo, how's it going.
Dan Melnick (01:42):
It's great.
I mean I just love that introbecause you gave the whole
outline and going into this, youknow, every time I get a
meeting I have to like, allright, I have to drive the thing
and you're driving the thing.
So I'm like this is great, it'salmost like it's like not
driving on a big road trip.
Jennifer Logue (02:01):
Yeah, sometimes it's nice.
Dan Melnick (02:03):
Sometimes it's just you know, you're just looking
out the window changing thetunes.
That's what I feel like rightnow.
Jennifer Logue (02:10):
Thank you, oh oh my gosh, my pleasure.
You can just focus on, you know, curating the playlist.
I'm driving this one, it's cool.
Dan Melnick (02:19):
Yeah, so what do you want to hear?
Well, so, what do you want tohear?
Jennifer Logue (02:24):
Well, it's been.
You've had quite the year.
Like from when you firststarted at Sonic Bids.
How many years ago was that?
You think it was seven 2017,january.
Dan Melnick (02:36):
So it's I don't know math Seven, almost eight
years.
Seven and a half years, almosteight seven and a half.
Jennifer Logue (02:42):
So now you went from where you started to now
becoming the CEO and co-owner.
First of all, we'll get intothis later in the interview.
But how did your background asa creative entrepreneur prepare
you for such a big leap?
Because before Sonic Bids youhad your own thing with
Turnstile for many years.
Turnstile Music Group.
Dan Melnick (03:03):
Yeah, with turnstile for many years.
Turnstile music group, yeah, um, you know, it's funny because I
I have a lot of um, I have somefriends in finance and one of
them was like, uh, after eightyears of you know doing the
nightlife promoting music thing,um, he was like he's like you'd
never, you'd never survive incorporate america and I'm like,
challenge accepted.
(03:24):
So then when I went over toSonicBids, I didn't expect, I
didn't know what to expect,cause I mean I started SonicBids
when I was 23.
So I was a little baby and Inever worked at a larger company
before.
And then I started at theoffice in Dumbo.
God, I mean first off, I wouldsay, from an entrepreneurial
leap to like working in anoffice under other people and
(03:47):
not having to run the day to day.
It was like mini retirement.
It was it was.
I mean I was shocked.
I mean the things people wouldcomplain about who are working
there, like the snacks and likethe, the unlimited time off that
we had at the, at the office,and I mean I was just I would
(04:10):
just laugh, I'd be like you guys, like you guys don't really
know how, how, how well you gotit, how good you got it here and
it did.
It felt like.
It felt like a strange miniretirement after just a constant
grind of working all day frommy small workspace and then
(04:30):
going to the clubs every nightfor eight years.
And honestly I was talking tosomeone about this recently is I
had like kind of a littlemental health decline around
that same time.
I didn't know what was wrongand sometimes I feel like that
happens in everyone's life,where like something's not right
, you can't really put yourfinger on it, and I kind of
(04:52):
found out what it was.
It was like going from asurvival mindset where every day
was every decision and everyminute, every day was taken up,
and it was, you know, the mostpressure to you know what kind
of free snacks should we orderfor the office and how many?
(05:14):
What's your favorite flavor ofLaCroix?
Jennifer Logue (05:17):
Yeah, I love the office LaCroix, that's the best
.
Dan Melnick (05:22):
The LaCroix flavors and I'm like, and it was almost
it was like like mind numbingto a point.
And then I just, you know, Iwas there for about a year and
it took me about two to threemonths to get really acclimated
and then I was just like I'lljust do what I used to do and I
(05:43):
realized I missed doing things.
Jennifer Logue (05:46):
You know, I, I, you were a general manager for a
year at Sonic bids.
Dan Melnick (05:53):
Well, this, this is back when I started.
I started as the promoterdevelopment lead, so it was my
job when it started to get umnew festivals and new venues on
the platform.
Jennifer Logue (05:59):
And uh.
Dan Melnick (06:00):
I got really good at that quickly.
Um and I, they gave me aplaybook of how to do it and it
was just wrong because it no oneI think, uh, at that juncture
into the company actually everworked in the music industry.
So they're going, they're goinglike through like tech
playbooks, uh, and salesplaybooks, but you know, it's a
different, it's a differentworld that you know, we know of
(06:21):
in music.
So, uh, the approach, theapproach that I took, was way
more successful.
So I was able to then pursueother avenues that I thought
were important to the company,because my thing at time was as
much as coming from anentrepreneurial mindset is, the
team around me in my firstcompany was like a family to me,
(06:43):
and the and the reason I, I, I,I worked so hard was to make
sure that they were okay andthat they had a job.
And you know I use that samemindset when I first started
Sonic Biz, because I love mycoworkers and I wanted to
continue to make sure that,again, like they, they had a job
and we all had a job and we allwere able to uh, continue to,
(07:05):
to to have that Um, I w, I, Imean I wish everyone had that
kind of um mentality.
But uh, what I started to do isI started to find other avenues
or flaws that I foresaw in thecompany and um would go to my,
the GM at the time, like hey,I'm going to do this, and he's
like okay, and I'm like cool,and I so I would do what I have
(07:27):
to do, and then I would add Ijust add it to my own plate.
I didn't ask for, didn't askfor stuff to do, I just I just
did it, um.
And then that quickly changedmy role to to become a
partnerships director, and thatwas what I was for the majority
of my years.
Jennifer Logue (07:43):
You owned it, even when you were an employee
at SonicBits.
You were owning it like.
You treated it like it was yourcompany.
That was the attitude you had.
Dan Melnick (07:52):
Exactly, and even I mean the former GM, who's a
good friend of mine, wouldprobably agree to that.
And he's a great guy and he wasgreat to work with and we had
fun together.
Awesome.
He's a great guy and he wasgreat to work with and we had
fun together.
Jennifer Logue (08:05):
Awesome.
Now, the last time we talked,you mentioned burnout as a key
factor in your decision to joinSonicBids.
So now you're in a much moredemanding role.
How do you maintain yourcreative energy and prevent
burnout, especially now thatyou're leading SonicBids?
Dan Melnick (08:24):
I don't know if there's a way.
Honestly, a friend of mine whois one of our advances, new
advisors and helping out witheverything, is a friend, jen
Sellers, of mine, and she worksat this other company.
He was really great co-amusedcheck them out and what they do
is they really concentrate onmental health in
(08:46):
entrepreneurship and also in themusic industry, and we've had a
lot of fun conversations aboutmental health and the music
industry.
But the reason I bring this upis I was talking to her about it
and I don't prevent burnout.
I'm burnt out right now.
(09:06):
I'm literally burnt out rightnow.
I'm burned out every single day.
I'm burned out every singlenight before I go to sleep.
Um, I guess you, just you, justyou have to embrace it, and I
think burnout is probablydifferent for every person too,
like there's certain.
I mean, I know everyone hasdifferent ways of things that
they can handle and things thatwhen they come across, um, when,
(09:29):
when you come across certainconflicts, uh, how how much
stress is it going to cause andalso how much, um, I guess,
creativity that it would spark?
I mean, we literally yesterday,yesterday, sucked, we had a bad
day yesterday, um, today's muchbetter.
What we did is, you know wewent to bed, we, you know we
waited till the next day.
(09:50):
I think my co-founder, bennettJohnson, you know he's one of
his things that he's always saidis, you know, sleep on it,
which I think is such a greatword of advice.
So, like, whenever conflictarises or whenever there's a big
decision to be made, you know,definitely sleep on it, because
your perspective will change thenext day.
And you know, oddly, thismorning, all the conflicts, the
(10:11):
vendor got back to us finally,so that's great.
And then also the things thatwe thought were conflicts.
Actually we looked more intoresearch wise and we were like,
oh, this is actually opportunity.
So, um, look at that, right, uh, but yeah, I mean, I think you
know the burnout thing man likethe, the single mom who takes
(10:35):
two buses to go work, two jobs,like that's burnout I mean yeah
working, working at a desk.
I, I, I don't want to hate on it, I don't want to hate on on it,
like, but like, yeah, we're allburnt out.
I think right now in the world,especially in the music side,
like I have conversations withpeople all the time like you
have to have multiple gigs, likepeople have multiple things
that they're doing, um, becausethat's how, that's just the
(10:58):
world that we were born into.
Right, that's the time periodthat we live this.
If this was the 90s, I'dprobably have one job, but I
also teach at two differentuniversities, oh that's true.
So starting next Friday I'mdriving two hours both ways into
the city to go teach at NYU.
Oh, that's awesome and I'lltell you when I get back home.
(11:20):
After that drive home andFriday night traffic, i'm'm just
, you know I'm.
I'm burnt out for sure.
Jennifer Logue (11:27):
But you're doing things you love.
I mean, I think that might be adifference here, where it's
like all of your, the work thatyou do is aligned to music and
the music industry things you'repassionate about, that you want
to teach.
Dan Melnick (11:40):
Yeah.
I mean for sure I mean I'm doingI, I guess I start I I always.
I mean for sure, I mean I'mdoing I, I guess I start, I I
always.
I don't know if we talked aboutthis last time too, but I
always tell people, um,especially on the younger side,
or even on the older side, causethere's people who I went to
college with that are like, uh,I'm like we're like I still
don't want to do, I don't knowwhat I want to do when I grow up
, you know, 40.
Right and um, I always say,like, it's for me, it's never
(12:02):
been about the music industry,it's been about it's not like
where you work or who you workfor, or where you're working,
it's how you work, I think isthe most important thing for me.
So I think I did talk about itlast night, I'm not sure, but
it's like for me, I just want tobe, I want to have my life in
my, in my own hands.
Right, I think, in 2024, one ofthe reasons that I'm excited and
(12:29):
comfortable owning a companythat is, you know, every day is
the best and worst day of ourlives is that it's up to me for
it to fail or succeed.
I won't, you know, I don't haveto blame a boss, right?
I don't have to say, oh, theydidn't see my vision, or why are
they so stubborn, or theydidn't do this or that was a bad
idea, like it's on me, so Idon't.
(12:49):
That actually is some stressoff of my shoulders.
That's the way I look at it andI think that you know some
people like to be morecollaborative.
Some people like, maybe I'm atmy house right now, so I'd like
I mean some people don't want towork from home.
(13:10):
I love working from home, Iabsolutely love it, and I well,
I've hilariously worked for homefor all but four years out of
my entire, my entire career.
But I think how you work andthe structure is more important,
necessarily, than, at least forme, like that's my passion.
My passion is theentrepreneurial side.
It's as as as as much as I lovemusic, I love nightlife, I love
events and I really do, I don'treally look at that as my job,
(13:35):
as much as I look at the startupentrepreneur mentality as the
job.
Jennifer Logue (13:37):
That's it.
It's a startup entrepreneurmentality and on that note, I've
got to ask how did thisopportunity come about for you
to, you know, buy like, be aco-owner in Sonic Bids and
become CEO?
Like what was that journey likethis year?
Dan Melnick (13:51):
Well, yeah, so we talked in December.
My plan with Sonic Bids was togrow the brand to back to where
it was pre-pandemic, which wasgood brand to back to where it
was pre-pandemic, which was good, and I'm trying to think of the
things I can say because,literally, for contracts and
(14:11):
NDAs, the private equity firmthat we purchased the entity
from.
Let me think.
Let's just say it was not corefor them, this product In their
umbrella.
It was not core for them, thisproduct In their umbrella,
billions of dollars that theirumbrella is worth.
No company was in the musicspace, so it was not core for
(14:34):
them.
They didn't see it as along-term investment opportunity
for them.
I disagreed and we came to animpasse.
Jennifer Logue (14:50):
And the option was presented to me and I took
it Awesome.
Now, where does Benny figureinto this as your co-founder?
Dan Melnick (14:54):
Great question and it's great.
Working with him has beenamazing.
He is a he's an interestingperson, a personality that I
have not come across before.
He comes from a Wall Streetfinance background.
In the early days of theacquisition, which I was, you
(15:17):
know, I January started I'mtalking to the team, you know
we're ready to kick off our yearand then, like a couple of
weeks in, I'm like everything ischanging now, because now I'm
in acquisition mode forfinancial advice.
(15:42):
I'm not a finance guy, I'mreally not, and I wanted someone
who had experience in M&A orprivate equity.
And I remember meeting Benny andpassing through an old friend
of ours, luke Montgomery, whoused to work for me at Turnstile
and also went to school withhim.
They grew up together and so Ijust reached out blindly to
Benny and I was like, hey, likehere's what I'm dealing with.
(16:04):
I have never done this before.
What kind of advice would youhave?
And he really quickly, justlike, gravitated to my vision of
where I want to take thecompany has been nothing but
amazing.
Uh, amazing support, the, theentire way um has operationally
(16:24):
improved the company as well.
Um, there's a lot of lowhanging fruit that I think was
overlooked for years.
Um that we didn't have accessto, um that because it was
behind the veil of privateequity with domains and other
tech stack and so on and soforth.
(16:44):
So we've been able to pull somelevers and Benny's been
fantastic and I'm really excitedbecause he's one of the hardest
working people I've met andthat's one of the most important
things for me is that we're Imean hell, we're working
tomorrow together.
Labor Day, weekend, we'regetting together to work.
Jennifer Logue (17:00):
You're laboring.
Dan Melnick (17:02):
We're laboring over the weekend.
Jennifer Logue (17:04):
Yeah, oh that's awesome, that's good, that's so
exciting.
So it's been, it'll be this.
You officially became CEO andco-owner.
It was like only a few monthsago, wasn't it?
Dan Melnick (17:16):
yeah, so the the whole acquisition process lasted
from january to uh to june okay, yeah which is super recent
yeah I mean it took it took sixmonths to get done, which is
just in so many ways that thingsI can't speak about is just so
hypocritical and ironic I can'tgo into it.
It it's fine.
Oh no, it's not fine.
(17:38):
It worked out fine it was anightmare.
It was a nightmare six months.
It was awful.
It was a rough slog, but we gotthere.
Jennifer Logue (17:48):
Cool, so now you're here, and so
collaboration.
Obviously you talked aboutworking with Benny.
It's always been a big part ofyour approach even at Turnstile.
Dan Melnick (18:05):
How do you plan on fostering a collaborative
environment at SonicBids as CEO?
That's great.
I'm glad you asked that becauseI wanted to.
You know there's other peoplewho are working with me now,
even from the Turnstile days, onsmall projects that you know I
hope grow to be more long-termand a stable part of what our
future is.
Brian Riccardi, if you rememberhim oh, he's on board.
He just started helping me outon some things.
(18:26):
Nice, hoping that works outreally well.
Randy Pressman's helping outwith content creation.
We're about to announce I guessI could say it on here, cause
it's probably by the time itgets done it'll be done, but
we're we're we're working on acollaborative um, I would say,
with a record label and a and an, a really well-known New York
(18:49):
venue on a, uh perform aperformance capture series, a Q
and a um content series, which,which will be great with it.
It's also with a magazine,hopefully too, that we're
talking to and Brandy's helpingout on that.
And yeah, I mean collaborative.
I constantly bounce ideas off ofpeople all the time and ask for
(19:13):
their opinion.
I mean, I've had some of thebest things come across from
interns over the years.
I really have.
We had a great group of internsover this last summer, just
mind-blowing, Just incredible.
Most of them went to go studyabroad in Europe and I'm like
(19:33):
enjoy that, that sounds great.
I never got to do that but I'mjealous, but I'm glad they went
over there.
But even with them I'll I asktheir opinion.
I always have.
I mean, our, our targetdemographic is not you know me,
it's, you know it's people intheir 20s right, 20s through 30s
(19:53):
.
That's our target to our targetdemo.
They're the tastemakers,they're the people that, uh, I
mean hell to get a friend ofmine to go out to a bar.
Nowadays it's like pulling teeth, right oh yeah yeah, I'm still
there, but um, but uh, for work,of course, uh, but there are
target demographic, you knowsocial media wise.
(20:14):
You know I'm not going toproject my assumptions as fact.
At some of the classes I teachat, I ask my kids it's customer
discovery.
I ask them their opinion onthings.
Who are you guys listening to?
How are you listening to?
Where are you going?
Where are you discovering newmusic?
What venues do you like?
What's important to you?
(20:35):
Even to a point of marketing?
What marketing channels do you?
And even to a point of likemarketing, what marketing
channels do you guys payattention to?
Even down to workflowmanagement, like there's Slack
out there, right.
And then the people, the youngerkids that I've worked with over
the last couple of years islike they're like no, like,
don't do that, just text me.
And I'm like great.
So now we'll do text chatsinstead, instead of paying for
(20:57):
another thing on our tech stack.
We just use, use texts as longas it comes from them, and they,
they want to do it that way.
I'm cool to do it that way.
So, yeah, I've learned.
I've learned a lotcollaboratively from people I've
worked that worked with me overso many years.
You know I still have my visionfor where this company is going
(21:18):
, which has remained, I think,the most steadfast and
continuously proven throughconversations and through
research.
That hasn't really varied toomuch, but the other parts of
what we're doing.
I'm always well and happy tocollaborate around.
Jennifer Logue (21:38):
Cool.
What advice would you give tocreative entrepreneurs in
building strong supportive teams?
Like if you could give threepieces of advice Trust Trust, I
mean find someone you trust.
Dan Melnick (21:54):
Trust is a big word , though, too.
It's like trust is, like youknow, we live in a world of
Zooms and Gchat and Google Meets, right, so which I'd like
Google Meet more now, but that'sbesides the point.
But like trust are they workingas hard as you are, right, can
you, can you, can you do, youknow that, right Like you can't
(22:16):
be an entrepreneur and havechecks and balances because you
can't waste time on that.
That's part of trust.
I think it's such an importantthing.
Without it, it all is dead inthe water.
That's one of the things.
That's one of the things.
(22:37):
Yeah, I think that also from any, if you're an entrepreneur,
you're, you're a leader, rightLike that's, that's what you
sign up to be, and that doesn'tmean that you're judging people,
but you're picking people up,right?
So I think being able to spottalent and bring that talent to
(22:59):
a scenario that they're able tothrive in is an important thing
as well.
And you know getting lucky andfinding people you know, like I
mentioned Benny, who we're goingto put in the 70, 80 hours a
week that are needed for this,you know, and that you know are
fully okay with signing on tolive to work instead of work to
(23:20):
live, which is really thedecision that is made right.
Jennifer Logue (23:22):
That you make when you're a founder of any
co-founder or founder, yeah,someone who's as committed as
you are to the vision.
Dan Melnick (23:29):
Yes, exactly yeah.
Jennifer Logue (23:31):
Now, you touched on this earlier in the
conversation, but can you sharea story about a recent challenge
that required a creativesolution and what lessons
artists and entrepreneurs cantake from that experience of
like taking a challenge andturning it into an opportunity?
Dan Melnick (23:50):
I mean, I'm trying to be like challenges, I'm
trying not to be, I'm trying tothink not as a conflict, right,
more of like an opportunitything.
God, there's been so many.
Oh, I can tell you one, this isa great one.
So I was working as aconsultant for an internet radio
(24:11):
station and we did a series ofevents in New York, um, which
were great and everything wasawesome and I got to meet
everybody on the, on the team um, from the internet radio
station, and it was all goingwell.
But then one day, um, the checkstopped coming, um, and we, you
(24:37):
know, we put on a massive, uhconcert series for them.
And you know, we put on amassive concert series for them
and you know, we weren't wasn'tit wasn't necessarily like you
know a massive, massive deal,but still, the check, the check
stopped coming and at the timeit was very financially bad
because we already set all thesethings up Right, Because that's
how it's going to set things up, so we were able to get through
(24:59):
it.
Unfortunately, I don't thinkthat company ever fully
recovered and through reachingout and the people I met through
that company, we found anetwork of God dozens of people
that were owed hundreds ofthousands of dollars by this
same person.
(25:22):
And you know, I think and thatperson I don't think is a bad
person I think that theyover-promised and they shouldn't
have done that and I hope thatthey learned their lesson if
they are ever watching this, andI have no hatred towards that
person, although it was a roughtime at the time, but, um, I
think what I was able to do isreach out and connect with the
(25:44):
other people that werefinancially harmed by the same
same entity.
Um, and still today, I haveclose professional and personal
relationships with those peoplethat I don't think would have
gotten as as developed if weweren't in the trenches, um,
looking for this massive amountof uh money that was owed to us
(26:08):
consecutively at the same time.
Um, yeah, so I feel like that'sthat's one of the one that's a
rough story.
Um, that I couldn't be toospecific with, but I I do love
that, you know, and two of thosepeople are closely working with
us today in variouspartnerships and other roles,
which is which I'm excited about.
Jennifer Logue (26:27):
Yeah, Sometimes through adversity you meet
people who become partners forlife.
Dan Melnick (26:33):
Yeah, so it's.
Yeah, I like that one.
Jennifer Logue (26:36):
Love that.
So the music industry is alwaysevolving.
What are the biggest trendsyou're seeing right now, and how
can artists and entrepreneursposition themselves to thrive in
this ever-changing landscape?
Dan Melnick (26:53):
Great, great question, great question.
What I am kind of the the vibethat I'm getting is a beautiful
wild west right now.
Um, covid was a pause buttonand it almost it seems like in
some ways it was a reset as well, when it comes to technological
(27:19):
innovations and tools forartists, venues and everyone
involved in the whole, ineverything POS systems not in
everything on the live side,because, again, I do not ever
position myself as an expert on,like you know, record labels
and all of that, and production,it's not my forte, but on the
live side still, even you know,there, labels and all of that,
(27:40):
and production, it's not my,it's not my forte, but on the
live side still, even you know,there's all these technological
advances, there are all thesecompanies.
From an entrepreneurialperspective, I feel like it's a
huge opportunity.
There was a lot of investmentduring the pandemic in virtual
concerts which.
I don't know if we I don't feellike we've made.
This may be also from the lastconversation, but you know, I,
(28:01):
when I was talking to people inthat, in that realm, I was like
this is, it's an inch, it's it's, it's a bold move.
Really.
You know, like there's peoplethat don't you know, I mean
there's probably collectivelyhundreds of millions, if not a
billion dollars dumped intovirtual concerts, right, because
the pandemic hit, and youdumped into virtual concerts,
right, because the pandemic hit,and you know everyone's sitting
at home, and they're like whatdo we do?
What do we do?
What do we do?
And then we're like, oh,virtual concerts go.
Jennifer Logue (28:22):
Yep, yep, yep, it's yeah.
Dan Melnick (28:24):
Not much thought around.
Jennifer Logue (28:26):
Would we ever go back to live concerts?
You know, maybe that was thethought.
Dan Melnick (28:41):
And, you know, maybe it'sed into that arena.
You know, I think theirargument is always it's, but
it's so complimentary to thelive experience, right?
I just from my perspective andthe network of people I've
discussed this with is, and evenfrom people I actually do this
in class.
We talk about it in class, I go, I go raise your hand if you
watched a virtual concert.
Ever and every year it's beenless and less people, obviously,
(29:04):
right, and I'm like, all right,no, raise your hand if you
watched.
You know, keep your hand up ifyou watched two and then
everything goes down.
People will watch one of thoseand then be like what am I doing
?
You know and look there's likesuper fans, Super fan stuff.
It's completely different, bythe way, Like, if you're like a
huge Phish fan is a greatexample.
(29:24):
That's a whole different arena.
Super fandom great Awesome.
Jennifer Logue (29:30):
Like watching YouTube performances of like
from the 70s from Banjo Love.
That's a separate animal thanwatching a whole concert, like
you'd rather see it.
I'd rather see this band inperson, or exactly like a couple
examples.
Dan Melnick (29:42):
If you were to pick up that guitar book behind you
and you're like, listen, I'mgonna do a, a virtual concert
right now, I'd be like can wejust go to a bar?
Can you just go to a bar?
Because I don't, I don't wantto be in my, I don't want to be
it's not about what you're doing.
I just don't't want to be whereI am.
I'm in this little box here.
Jennifer Logue (29:59):
I don't want to be in a box and I think you know
.
Dan Melnick (30:05):
So you asked about the innovations.
Now, I don't necessarily thinkthat is an innovation or a trend
.
You know there's a lot of superfan apps that continue to come
out.
That continues to be a trend.
I do think that there's moreand more tools for artists on a
day to day and there's there'scompetition in that arena.
(30:28):
You know there's great greatcompanies out there, like Song
Tools.
I think is an awesome company.
I think is an awesome company,great, great people doing it for
the right reason Providingartists with tools that they
need and not for, you know,massive chunks of money.
(30:48):
It's not, it's not a money grabthere and complimenting, I think
, the ability today to, as anartist, to compliment your.
Basically, you should have atech stack as an artist, right,
and if someone's listening tothis don't know what that means.
It's like, what technologies doyou use to organize and execute
around your career?
Just like a company has a techstack, what company?
You know what?
What's in your tech stack?
(31:09):
Right?
So, as an artist, an artistshould have their tech stack.
What are the different variousentities and places that you
visit, like your link tree andall this stuff?
But what does your link tree,link to right, and then how to
organize all of those things.
Tools like that continuously arecoming about from both the live
side and also from yourdistribution and licensing
(31:30):
royalties and everything on theproduction side.
I think that's a great place tobe, but also, like I said, you
know, the pandemic kind of waslike a reset and also pause,
where there's technology thatwas available in 2019 that still
hasn't even come to its fullfruition now in 2024.
(31:53):
And you know AI is great.
Ai is part of it.
I love AI.
If you know how to treat it,know how to utilize it in the
right way and you look at it asa tool, not as a replacement,
then you know you can utilizethat in a lot of ways too, in a
positive way that doesn'tconflict with art, I think take
(32:14):
over the things you don't wantto do exactly.
I don't think, I don't know.
I mean, let me ask your opinionon this is like.
My nightmare is you know peopleare like you know AI robots are
going to take over the world orwhatever, right, and you know,
take our jobs, which is allthese things are valid concerns.
My nightmare would be like mykids grow up, they're 16 and
(32:39):
their favorite artist is afucking AI DJ.
That's my nightmare, thatscares me.
Jennifer Logue (32:46):
I you know what, what, and I can't say that it
won't happen because myperspective on it is we become
so used to seeing filtered,censored versions of ourselves
already, like seeing peoplethrough their filters on their
phone, like, which is still theperson right?
But it's like we're slowlymoving into this direction of
(33:06):
like completely fake people andavatars and some of the avatars
are very, very lifelike um I'mactually an avatar who knows,
you might have an avatar one daymy hands are all messed up yeah
, as a ceo, maybe you go tospeaking engagement and see
avatar giving it.
(33:26):
who knows, knows, because thetechnology is speeding up so
quickly, so we don't know whereit will be by the time your kids
are teenagers.
Dan Melnick (33:34):
On the bright side, though, talking about trends.
Live Nation and other liveticketing entities have like you
know, they can continue to haverecord-breaking years.
Jennifer Logue (33:46):
Yes, great connection and.
Dan Melnick (33:49):
Gen Z craves authentic interactions, which is
great.
Good for you, Gen Z.
Jennifer Logue (33:54):
You know, I just think we, as humans, we need
that, and the live experiencewill never go away.
Dan Melnick (34:01):
Yes, hopefully Like digital stuff, no.
Jennifer Logue (34:03):
but I mean you don't feel refreshed staring at
your screen all day long.
But if you go to a concert, youfeel in person, you feel alive
again.
If you want to hike outside,you feel alive again.
I don't feel alive from likestaring at, like the fake nature
scenes on my Peloton, LikePeloton's.
Great when I can't get to thegym, but I'm sorry.
Like as humans, great when Ican't get to the gym, but I'm
(34:24):
sorry.
Like as humans.
We still need community andreal, the real stuff I don't
know how to describe it.
Dan Melnick (34:33):
That's right, that's that's my assessment, is
I really do think that you knowthat will, that will never end.
And even someone who's you know, someone who's addicted to tech
, you know, I think there comesa time in everyone's life.
I think part of growing up ingeneral is like when you, when
(34:54):
you taste that first bit ofcamaraderie in that live setting
at a concert, you know it'sdifferent than like a sporting
event.
You know, like sporting event,there's people who are mad about
things consistently, which Ifind is great because it's both
entertainment.
But like the reactions from thecrowds are so much different.
But when you're at a concertand everyone there, you know, is
there to love the thing that isbeing presented to them, most
(35:16):
of the time because they'veexperienced that in a positive
manner, no matter what the genreis, and sharing that experience
and meeting the people thatalso share that same kind of
connection with that art.
I mean it's like there'snothing like it.
Jennifer Logue (35:30):
There's nothing.
It's pure love.
It's wonderful, it's likethere's nothing like it, and I
don't think that's ever going togo away.
Dan Melnick (35:38):
Hopefully not.
I'll just make sure my kidsdon't do that Like daddy DJ AI
and I'm like nope nope, dj AI,and I'm like nope, nope, no DJ.
Ai for you, nope, nope.
Jennifer Logue (35:54):
Parents just don't understand.
Dad, that's what I'm hearing.
I'm like, oh God, oh no, itcomes sooner than you think so
many creatives, dan, and youknow this.
They struggle with balancingthe artistic side of their work
with the business side.
You know this they strugglewith balancing the artistic side
of their work with the businessside.
Dan Melnick (36:12):
What advice do you have for them to balance those
two sides?
There's two major things Iwould say.
One is you will not well, Iwon't say you won't you will
lower your percentage of chancesof success, however you measure
that word, which I think isanother thing that you should do
for yourself is define whatsuccess looks like for you.
But you can, you know,guarantee a lower success
(36:37):
percentage of a chance ofachievement if you do not
concentrate on a businessmindset because you are a small
business and I know it's acliche and I know some people
actually also hate that too, butI believe it to be true because
, like we talked about earlier,you know the yin and yang and
the non-holistic side, but, um,as you know, someone myself,
like I, used to look at myselfas primarily an artist when I
(36:59):
first started out, um, workinguh in in music.
But you know, I was working inmusic to support my art, not the
other way around, which I thinka lot of us end up doing.
But I I think that makinglogical decisions around what
you're doing is huge.
(37:19):
And the other another majorthing I've seen the it's like a
repeat thing is theperfectionist of the, the really
artistic mind sometimes tendsto be a perfectionist and
they're like no, I can't releasethis, it's not ready.
We have to wait another threemonths for this to get mastered
again or this to be produced andjust put yourself out there,
(37:40):
man, you got to do.
That's what separates.
I think that's my own mentalitytoo.
Some people may not even I justlike.
That's my own mentality too.
Some people may not even like Ijust do, I'm going to do.
I'm going to think about whatI'm doing, but I'm not going to
wait until it's perfect, I'mjust going to.
You're going to do it andyou're going to.
You can improve on the nextiteration of whatever that thing
is.
You need game tape to actuallymake improvements.
Jennifer Logue (38:04):
So that's a great, that's great advice.
Perfect improvements so that'sa great, that's great advice.
Perfectionism destroys progressof any kind, you know, because
then you wait too long for it tobe perfect, and then you put it
out there and we think it'sclose to where you want it to be
, and then maybe it wasn't theright thing at all.
Dan Melnick (38:19):
Maybe the response people are always better artists
than I ever were once.
Right, I mean they're.
They're not perfect thing.
I'm like you kidding me I wouldlove this right can I have that
voice?
You give that to me and thenyou know I'll put it out as is
and it'll be good yeah, we'reour own worst critics as artists
.
Jennifer Logue (38:37):
Seriously, um, let's see so how this is.
On that subject, how canartists set and pursue their
long-term goals?
Dan Melnick (38:51):
Oh, it's so important, right.
You have to like setting yourlike yearly goals, right, and
then breaking those down toquarterly and then breaking
those down to monthly, right.
And then also, you know, Idon't think it's rocket science,
as an artist, to structure whatyou want to do, right.
And I don't think, like yourlong-term goal needs to be like
how am I going to play MadisonSquare Garden?
(39:12):
Right, but your long-term goalis like, how am I going to
improve myself as a, as anartist, over the next year?
Right, and it's the same thing.
Like you could use the samementality for business, for
personal right, for evenrelationships.
I'm like, how am I going toprove myself, improve myself as
X, y or Z over X, y, z time?
Right For artists.
I love that question becauseit's just so important to have
(39:34):
that conversation with yourselfand, oddly, like right now is
not the time to have it.
It is January.
I always find like literallynext week post Labor Day, that's
really the new year, right?
Jennifer Logue (39:45):
I agree.
I think I like to say any dayis a chance to start fresh.
It's true and so, like, justyou know, you have another day,
give it all you got, so I guessso with that you should do it
anytime, that's true.
Dan Melnick (39:59):
But how, how I look at the year from a musician
standpoint and I and I teach tooI'm like, first of all, you
know, plan the year ahead.
How do you, how do you want tobreak it down with your plays,
live schedule, right?
I think that's the best way todo.
It is, if you're, if you're anartist, you're a performing
artist, you're saying, okay,what am I doing in January?
(40:20):
What am I doing in January,february, march, and then, you
know, spring, summer, fall.
I would say one is only playyour own market once a quarter,
right?
I used to think, as a promoter,it was once a month, and then I
was like it should really onlybe once every six weeks, and
then now I'm like it shouldreally be once, only once every
three months, your own market,right.
(40:41):
So if you're in New York,you're living in Brooklyn, you
know, play New York once aquarter, right.
And then look at the quarters,like you should do a winter show
, right.
And then you're doing a springevent, right, and then it's
summer, right.
Should do just one thing in thesummer and then same thing.
But every one of those thingsshould be like an album release
show or a video release show andor a birthday show right,
(41:03):
there's tons of reasons to dothese kinds of things.
Oh yeah, and then some peoplehate on that mentality too,
because they're like I should beable to play as much as I want.
Like, yeah, you can play asmuch as you want if you want to
do it for fun.
If you're doing this as a hobby, go ahead and go do it as a
hobby, play it every fucking day, who cares?
(41:24):
But like, and don't look at itlike, oh, I want to play
coachella.
It's not going to happen rightnow.
Right, because anyone who'slistening to anything that we're
talking about is not playingcoachella.
Um, but the independent artistis saying, okay, like, what is?
Maybe you don't live in newyork or maybe I want to go play.
Um, you know these main streetusa festivals that are available
(41:45):
?
Jennifer Logue (41:45):
on SonicBits now .
Sign up right now.
Oh good, Good to know.
There we have all these.
Dan Melnick (41:50):
So that's what you should be doing in the summer,
and then growing your brand ofthese festivals.
The festivals in the summer aregreat because you can play as
much as you want.
You can always play as much asyou want, but just not in your
own market.
Jennifer Logue (42:00):
Yes, because you'll saturate yourself.
Dan Melnick (42:02):
Yeah, and you don't want to, and also don't go on
that tour guy.
Stop with the tours.
You're not running a tour.
Until someone's paying for yourtour, do not tour.
Build your audience from whereyou are Playing at VFW Hall in
Nebraska is not going to doanything for you.
The only people there are theother bands and their
significant others.
Jennifer Logue (42:21):
It's true.
What a waste of gas money.
Dan Melnick (42:23):
Do it for the planet.
Jennifer Logue (42:25):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I mean, touring can be fun forthe experience of it, like if
you want to travel and meetpeople, and but maybe it's not
the best business strategy inthe beginning of your career.
Dan Melnick (42:38):
No, of course, Exactly I mean.
But also, if you're in New York, go play Boston on a weekend,
jump on the train, exactly.
Jennifer Logue (42:44):
Go play Philly.
Dan Melnick (42:45):
Great places in Philly.
Jennifer Logue (42:47):
Come to Philly.
Dan Melnick (42:48):
Go play DC and if you if you do it correctly you
meet other bands while you'rethere and you're not just so
self-centered that you are justonly worrying about yourself,
then you can meet other acts andbe like oh hey, you know like
we really like, you know yourvibe, and why don't you come
play our next New York show withus and we'll play your next
Philly show?
Or you know, we'll do thesethings together, um, and we'll
(43:09):
grow together as a, as acommunity, cause that's the only
way to do it.
I think that's really the Imean God.
I could go down this road forliterally hours, and I do on on
Fridays at NYU.
Jennifer Logue (43:22):
Cool, it starts next week.
Dan Melnick (43:23):
So next week, which is my whole class, is me waxing
poetic about this for an hourand 40 minutes?
Jennifer Logue (43:30):
The power of community, so important on so
many levels, for artists, forbusiness leaders, entrepreneurs.
Dan, what's next for you?
Dan Melnick (43:40):
Well, my kid comes home from school in a couple of
minutes, and so what's what's oh?
Outside of minutes?
And so what's what's uh, oh,outside of that?
Um, we are in the midst of anamazing customer discovery
campaign.
We have devs that are firing upthe next version of our
software.
Um, we're, we're just excited.
(44:02):
We have really good strategicpartnerships that are going to
be popping out on press releasesover the next few weeks to a
few months.
It's just nose to thegrindstone and getting out there
, finding people that we want towork with that fit our culture,
our work culture, our vision,continuing to give our users
(44:22):
what they deserve, which is thelargest vetted directory of
opportunities on the internet.
Sign up now and hopefully, Ithink we have a lot of different
ways that we're going to bedoing things and we're excited
about the future.
Jennifer Logue (44:40):
Awesome, dan.
Congrats again.
I'm so excited to see where youtake SonicBiz, Because I you
know that was such a big part ofmy journey as a musician all
those years too, and it's coolto see you bringing it into its
next chapter for artists coming.
Dan Melnick (44:56):
It's going to be a great ride.
I can't wait to do this again.
We'll do it again, for sure.
Jennifer Logue (45:00):
That's all for this episode of Creative Space.
Thank you so much for joiningus for the season 3 premiere.
For more on Dan Melnick andSonic Bids, you can visit
sonicbidscom, and if you want tosupport the podcast, please
leave a review on Apple Podcastsor wherever you get your
podcasts.
(45:20):
This podcast is a labor of loveand every single review counts
in getting it out to more people.
So, anyway, I appreciate youlistening.
As always, my name is JenniferLogue.
Until next time, thank you.
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