How Strm for Artists Is Revolutionizing Artist Success in 2025 With Fernando Gabriel From Strm
Unlock the future of music industry innovation with Strm. In this episode, Brazilian engineer, artist, and tech entrepreneur Fernando Gabriel reveals how his platform Strm is revolutionizing artist success through digital distribution, AI-driven career assessments, royalty advances, and intelligent recommendations. Discover how AI, big data, and a holistic “10 career stages” framework are empowering independent artists to thrive globally. Perfect for musicians, producers, and music business professionals aiming to master modern music tech and finance! 🚀🎵 #MusicIndustry #AIinMusic #MusicBusiness #ArtistDevelopment
Our mission here at MUBUTV is to help independent artists and music business professionals of the future to educate, empower and engage their music career.
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The Music Business Insider Podcast is a deep dive for listeners like you who want to educate, empower & engage their music career. We take you inside behind the scenes through a series of in-depth conversations with today’s leading experts in the Music Industry including A&R, Music Supervision, Artist Management, Marketing, Publicity, Touring, and much much more. You can find it by searching “Music Business Insider Podcast” on any podcast app or platform [ie: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.].
📒 Show Notes and Resources 📒
https://www.mubutv.com/fernando-gabriel-strm-music
⚡️What you'll learn in this episode⚡️
👉 How AI is transforming career development for independent artists
👉 The secrets behind STREAM’s 275-point career assessment
👉 Why strategic connections between artists & producers matter more than ever
👉 and so much more...
Here are the ways to work with us here at MUBUTV:
⚡️Insiders! Secure Your Spot! Get expert music career coaching with Ritch & Eric. Book your 15-min discovery call now: Grab a spot! 👉 https://book.mubutv.com
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Podcast Credits
Produced by: Ritch Esra & Eric Knight
Editor: Eric Knight
Shownotes & Transcriptions: Jermaine Shepherd
DISCLOSURE: Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.
Copyright © 2025 MUBUTV™ Media. All Rights Reserved
Join us as Fernando Gabriel, a music industry veteran, shares his journey from independent artist to tech innovator on the MUBUTV Music Business Insider Podcast. He reveals the inspiration behind Stream, a cutting-edge platform leveraging artificial intelligence to help artists with digital audio distribution and career guidance. Explore how AI can transform career assessments and music business strategies.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
On today's podcast, we sit down with Fernando Gabriel, engineer,
music industry veteran and founder of Strm, the cutting edge
platform revolutionizing how independent artists grow their
careers. Fernando shares his journey from independent artist to tech
innovator, revealing the inspiration behind a platform that combines
digital distribution, royalty advances, career assessments and
(00:21):
AI driven recommendations. We dive deep into the power of
AI to transform everything from career assessments and intelligent
recommendations to the role of advances for artists, the future of
A&R and how strategic connections between artists, producers and
composers are evolving in today's fast moving digital environment.
Plus, Fernando shares his vision for the future, including AI
(00:44):
agents, fan base funnels and the data that really drives
artists success. If you're an independent artist or music business
insider looking to understand the next wave of music industry
innovation, this conversation is one you can't afford
to miss. Insiders, are you ready?
Welcome to MUBUTV's Music Business Insider Podcast where
(01:06):
our mission is to educate, empower and engage artists and
music business professionals who are dedicated to having a successful career
in the new music industry. Here are your hosts, Ritch
Esra and Eric Knight. Welcome back insiders, to another
episode of the MUBUTV Music Business Insider
podcast where our mission is to educate, empower and engage
(01:28):
your music career. On today's episode Reach, we're excited to welcome
Fernando Gabriel, the Brazilian engineer turned music industry
entrepreneur and the innovative mind behind the platform
Strm Spelled S T R M.
Fernando brings to the table years of firsthand experience as an
artist, engineer and industry consultant, giving him a unique
(01:50):
lens on what independent artists truly need to succeed in
today's ever changing music landscape. In this deep dive conversation,
we explore how Strm is changing the game by blending digital
distribution, AI powered career assessments and cutting edge
royalty advances to empower artists globally. Discover how
Fernando and his team use big data to provide tailor made
(02:12):
advice, tackle cash flow issues with multimillion dollar
advances, and connect artists to top producers and composers
worldwide. We get into the details of how AI is already
transforming the A&R process, the importance of strategic
planning for artists at every career stage, and what the future holds for
AI agents in the music business. If you're looking real
(02:34):
world insights on navigating the business side of music, growing your
fan base and making smart decisions in a digital era. This is
a conversation you won't want to miss. Stay tuned,
but first, a word from our sponsor. Hey insiders, are you an
aspiring musician, artist, band or future music business
professional looking to take your career to the next level? Well, look no
(02:56):
further. At MUBUTV we offer personalized career counseling and
Coaching designed specifically for folks like you. Imagine having
both of us by your side, guiding you through every step of your music journey.
Our sessions are tailored to meet your unique needs, focusing on critical
aspects of your music career such as refining your songs, defining
your artist story, identifying your target audience and enhancing your
(03:18):
social media presence, just to name a few. Whether you're just starting out
or looking to elevate your existing career, we've got you covered. Our
comprehensive approach ensures you you get insights on everything
from live shows to branding and marketing strategies. We
understand that every artist is unique. That's why our coaching
is personalized just for you. And here's the best part. We offer
(03:41):
flexible coaching packages that fit any budget. Choose from individual
sessions ranging from 30 to 90 minutes or save with our discounted four
session packages. Experience custom sessions designed to enhance your
music career with opportunities for greater savings. When you choose bundled
sessions, investing in your musical journey has never been more
accessible. Imagine the clarity and direction you'll gain
(04:03):
after just one session. The feedback on your songs, the
strategies to grow your audience and the confidence to perform live. All
tailored just for you. So why wait? Don't let uncertainty
hold you back. Join us for your free 15 minute discovery
call@book.mubutv.com for a
transformative coaching experience that will elevate your music career.
(04:24):
That's book.mubutv.com
hi, this is Andreas. Katsambas, President and CEO at
Charmetric and you're listening to the movie TV Music Business
Insider podcast. Welcome back insiders. Today's featured guest
is Fernando Gabriel, the Brazilian engineer turned music
industry entrepreneur and the innovative mind behind the platform
(04:46):
Strm Spelled S T R M.
Really interesting conversation and again one that we have had
that's ongoing. Eric into some of the new tools and
new opportunities and new platforms that are available for
insiders out there for their music. You know, it's not just
about record labels anymore or artist managers. There's a whole
(05:08):
host of these kinds of platforms that are available. One of the most interesting
ones that I thought, you know that, that, that we spoke of with with Strm
is there's a 275 point criteria
that they have which I think really helps, you know, streams assessment.
It covers more than just the streaming stats, but it
captures both the quantitative and subjective factors that influen
(05:30):
artist's career in terms of reach, in terms of who the demographic is,
who's listening, where they're listening, how long they're. I mean there's
a whole host of things. So this went a lot deeper than Just being a,
you know, platform that tells you you had 500 people listen to
the stream or not. So. Right, that's that. That to me was one of the
features that I thought made this interesting. Yeah. One of the other things that I
(05:51):
love too is that he has this thing called the 10 career stages
framework. Strm developed a methodology that the to
the artist ladder to help classify artists into 10 career
stages, which also helps artists and managers and investors communicate
more effectively. I think he's on to some really good things, really exciting things
that I was excited about during this interview because he's taking the idea of
(06:13):
putting analytics, but also these other data points
that will help the entire team put together a cohesive
plan. Yeah, absolutely. It's like, you know, he's putting
together an entire ecosystem. Correct. That's what makes this
such an interesting platform. It's not just about
documenting what your streams are, but much, much. It's a
(06:35):
holistic approach. Holistic approach toward a career in music.
And with that, insiders sit back, relax and enjoy our
featured conversation from Musexpo 2025 with
Fernando Gabriel. Fernando, welcome.
Oh, thank you very much. Thank you for the invite. It's a pleasure to be
here with you guys. It's a pleasure to have you here on the show. You
(06:57):
know, Strm combines digital distribution,
streaming royalty advances, career assessments and AI
driven recommendations. What was the driving force behind
creating such a multifaceted platform and how do you
see it uniquely addressing the challenges that independent artists face
today? Oh, very nice. So I used to be
(07:19):
independent artist myself. So I put my skills and I know
exactly how it feels and the love and
the pain to be an independent artist. So that's
why I didn't have like anyone from my family when I
decided to go after my dream, follow the
call and the music. And I faced like
(07:41):
every single pain and challenge that independent
artist John. It's like facing. And it
was like from 2006, from 2009 that I had my own
career and nowadays it's pretty much the same.
So they are having the same problems, the same issues. And then
I was like, had the privilege to partnership with
(08:04):
some of the biggest names in the music industry in Brazil. I'm from
Brazil and I like to say that I had the mind of engineering
because I studied engineering at college and the soul and the
heart of an artist. So I feel the music
as an artist, but I normally see things in a more
analytical way. So I have like
(08:26):
20 years of experience in the music industry and I was just
looking for patterns because I had such an
important question in my head, why some
artists just reached such a huge success
when others that maybe could be even more talented
and experienced doesn't. So what
(08:49):
happened? So. And I just
start to identify some patterns among the artists that
were reaching like huge success. And then in
2017 I start just putting all
of the knowledge together into to a methodology that we call
that is the artist ladder. So we could classify
(09:12):
10 different stages of career of an artist. And at that
time I was just looking for do the translations
because I've had like consultancy firm that is
more like an M and a boutique for artists. Our goal is to
convert investments for them. Because artists like they
don't know how to build a business plan.
(09:34):
It's very hard. It's like completely out of their
expertise. And that's why we were doing it at that time.
So for us to communicate with investors, we had to
figure out how to attang
something that is very abstract in music. So when you're talking to
an artist, it's very hard for you to get like a common
(09:56):
ground on where they are on their stage of career.
This is something that we, when we just put together all
the information and this 10 stage of career, it was easier
for us just to speak and just
communicate with investors, managers and artists because
we have a common ground and what it means to be in each one of
(10:19):
the stages. And after that
we start building stream as it is today.
So the music distribution, just gathering
these three different worlds. So the music world, the tech world
and financial world. So some of the things that we wanted
to help them is the cash flow issues. So that's
(10:42):
why we have today a $25 million
credit fund to do just to give them advances
for their phonographic catalogs, only recording
rights. The diagnosis to help them to
increase and to raise their consciousness about what is happening
and how they optimize the energy, the efforts and investment
(11:04):
on their career, make better decisions and also music
distribution because everything is happening this digital
world. So that's where we understand that it's
like the most important pilot for them to that
can leverage every other revenue from their careers.
Fernando, thank you so much for joining us on the show. It's really great to
(11:26):
have you. I wanted to ask you, with the use of AI in your
platform, particularly in career assessments and intelligent
recommendations, how do you ensure that the insights that you're providing
are personalized and genuinely beneficial for each artist's growth?
Yeah, very nice question. So as we are monitoring
over 8 million artists, over 150 million
(11:48):
tracks in the world and over 1 million music
producers and composers. We were able just to
clusterize data from each country, its music
genre, its stage of career. And we can understand
the one that the artist that is like doing a better job, that is
growing faster, we know what they are doing,
(12:10):
their release schedule, the frequency of the releases, the season
of each year that has like higher music consumption,
even the audio feature. So the
characteristic of the music there is like have a higher
consumption in that specific season of the year.
So whenever an artist goes through our
(12:32):
platform and we make the full public
data diagnosis, the this is very important to say that we are not consuming
any private data, only public data. We're able to
cross everything and the term help them to understand
what it means to be at their current stage.
So what it means to be there. What are the goals
(12:56):
for them to level up. This is something very like
very hard for artists to figure it out. Many of
the time artists just feel that their career is
like floating. They don't know if it's going forward backwards.
They just don't know what to do. There are many things that they could
do, like enhance their craft,
(13:19):
their talent, try to do more live concerts, go after a
manager, a big label, like release more songs. But
for each stage of career there are like they can't. We
can optimize all of their choices. The energy,
everything that we are recommending is totally
tailor made for that specific artist,
(13:42):
for that music genre, that country and also
that stage of career. So that you guys are painting a picture
of where they're at today and guiding them on. These are the things that you
need to be doing. Yes, definitely. It's all about the concept
on the data industry and data analysis.
The most important thing is know
(14:05):
the exact question that you want to
answer. So just look into raw data
and cross everything just to try to figure out some outputs.
It's not enough if you don't know the end the question that you're
trying to to answer. So for us it's
one step earlier. We just understood
(14:27):
the behavior, how the patterns would find a
methodology with the stages of career. We classify them
all. We just guarantee that everything
was validated by humans. So specialists
in each side of the country or
across the world that everything makes sense.
(14:50):
And after that we start to train our
AI and our algorithms by that
concept. So we have a very strong belief
that music above all and everything,
it's about connection. So it doesn't matter if you
graduated at Berklee, if you play 10 different
(15:11):
instruments, if you are a vocal coach if you are unable
isn't able to create music that connects
with the people lives commercially, you have no impact in
the world. So what our algorithms and AI is trying
to do, it's figure out the level
of connection that an artist have with their audience.
(15:35):
That's amazing. You know, stream offers
advances. You mentioned that about the cash flow situation with
artists. You offer them anywhere from $1,000 to a million
against streaming royalties. My question is, how
do you manage the risk of providing such large advances to
independent artists and are there safeguards in place to ensure
(15:56):
that, you know, both the artists and your platform benefit in the
long term of this? Yeah. So we have been doing
this without any algorithm by ourselves in more
analogical way. So we were at that time
just analyzing the official statements, royalty
statements, historic just making projections
(16:19):
like with Excel sheets. So this is what we were
doing. So we did this a lot and then we start
to apply some technology, algorithms and deep learning
AI and the results were
way better than with what we were doing.
So as a human just trying to figure out because
(16:43):
we were just crossing just a few data points
to try to as a human. So looking for a
limited data to try to predict the future.
And AI could lie. It's more could solve
more complex challenges. So they're crossing the behavior of
consumption. It is crossing data from
(17:05):
around the world, around most 150 million
tracks. So trying to understand how it works, how long lasts
like a song in a specific genre, the behavior since the
release when it achieved the peak, and how long it
stayed there until stop fading. Start fading.
So we believe much more in our algorithms
(17:28):
and our AI predictions than what we're doing
back there by ourselves. So
we have now like more than 500 fences
already signed. Our index of success is
like very, very high in each one of them. And
it's like important say that we're not trying to bet in
(17:51):
an artist that we as individuals
like are just feeling that they
have potential. It's not about quality,
experience and talent. It's about
existing catalog and their performance.
Got it. Okay. This help us a lot because
(18:13):
quality is a very like individual
perception. So what good means quality for me,
not for you. Yeah, it's very what you'd spend your money on.
Yes, yeah, yeah, definitely. So we believe a lot and
we have like proven that our AI
have high level of accuracy. So
(18:35):
whenever our AI says that any
specific artist has that amount of money to advance
that their catalog is going to make that amount.
So we trust and we go for it. Great.
Your stream Career Assessment analyzes
275 vital career criteria. How do you
(18:56):
determine which criteria are most important for an artist's success? And what
role do subjective factors like artistic vision and
personal branding play alongside Data driven insights and your
recommendations? Oh, very nice. This is what
we call the full career assessment. So there
are many data that aren't
(19:19):
available on Internet and will never
be. Like, we never know if your family
supports you in your career. We never know
how much money you have spent on your in your career so
far, how much money you're willing to invest,
how many releases you're planning to
(19:41):
do in the next 12 months, the size of your team.
This is like information that is not going
to be available, but it's private information. So we're
crossing everything that we do with public data and then
we ask many of those questions that has to
be answered by the artists or
(20:04):
artists and their team and then we cross it
all. Hey, insiders. We hope that you've been enjoying our featured
conversation. Stay tuned because we've got so much value coming your
way. But before we dive back in, a word from our sponsor. Hey,
Eric, as an artist, what do you find are the most challenging aspects
to a music career, especially when you're starting out? Well, I think one of
(20:26):
the first things is just trying to get the direction of who you are as
an artist. Where you want to go, go where you want to be. And you
know, we've talked about it on the show a lot. Who is your target audience,
who you are, who, what do you stand for? What do you believe in?
What do you think would resonate with an audience? And so those are some of
the things that I would feel being a new artist, obviously what I know now
is different because I know these things. But for people that are out there, like
(20:49):
our audience, that don't have necessarily any direction to go, would be the
first things that I would start off with. And having the songs
incorporate those elements that you're speaking of into it, that's
so important today. Yeah, and I think that's one of the reasons why we started
MUBUTV and why we started this new consulting service that we're offering to all
of our insiders out there. Because that is another one of the big things. I
(21:10):
mean, that is the big thing is like having the great songs. That's what it
really starts off. Our friend Don Grierson always said it always starts with a great
song. So that's probably. Besides putting together what your
audience and what your target audience is, is the single most important thing where
Are your songs at currently today, Are you collaborating with people?
Are you trying to go out to networking events where you can connect with other
(21:32):
songwriters and stuff like that? So, yeah. And what are your strengths
exactly? You know, are you a strong lyric writer? Are you a strong
melody writer? Are you a strong musician? A player. Right. You know,
and it's really important to get really strong clarity on those
issues before proceeding. I totally agree, Rich. And you know, with our
consulting services, we offer a myriad of different packages that we've made
(21:54):
it super affordable for everybody. So, you know, if you guys are interested out there
and connecting with us on a coaching call, you can visit
book.moobutv.com and start off with a free
15 minute discovery call. Well, yeah, absolutely. That we start with an
initial 15 minute call where we can get a sense of who you are, what
are the issues that you specifically have and want to work on.
(22:16):
Exactly. And we can go from there. Absolutely. Yeah. And we tailor everything
to your needs. It's not like a cookie cutter thing. We kind of really want
to get to know who you are as an artist, where you at today? What's
the snapshot of you as an artist today, and then start trying to
craft something that's tailor made for you. So again, if you're interested,
Visit us at book.moobotv.com for your 15 minute
(22:37):
discovery call. Hi, this is music supervisor Stephen Gizicki. Are you an
insider? I am subscribe now, yeah. And I wanted to ask you
just really quickly two sub points. Those advances that you're giving, are those
recoupable advances that you guys will get that back? Yes,
definitely. And then the second question is the models that you're using,
what LLM models? Are those proprietary algorithms? Algorithms that you guys
(23:00):
have created? Yes, we have our own proprietary
algorithms and we use like some AI features
that, that's already in the market, like random forest
neural network. So many of those we don't have to
recreate them. Right. But I always say that AI is only
used on complex challenges
(23:22):
because it's like expensive. So it's like
took a lot of. Take a lot of effort and energy for you to use
AI to answer questions that a simple
algorithm could do. So we only use AI in complex
things that make sense. Do you think
that the. I guess you just talked about that
(23:44):
with regards to AI and it got me thinking, you know, do you
think that AI is going to transform the traditional AR process? Process?
I think it already did. Okay. Yeah. All right.
Because as we're monitoring this, those 8
million artists. If you go to our platform that we call Strm for
labels, we have two kind of interfaces. So one is for labels and the
(24:07):
other one is for artists. Right? The artist one is looking into one
single career of that specific artist and the label side
is looking to the open sea to more than 8 million. You can cross
like you wish you want. So you can just
filter like a specific genre on a
specific country, a specific stage of career.
(24:30):
And then filtering, you have five different thesis. Like
one is for performance, that is it is
measuring the relevance of that specific artist crossing
three different platforms. Poly Spotify, YouTube and Instagram. Together
we have other thesis, that is the growth speed. So
you are able to see artists that are growing faster since their first
(24:52):
release. And it blows each bubble
that you can imagine because many of the
ANRs, they are like in a specific geography trying to
figure out what is happening on that specific scene. They have
networks and as a human, he
is completely unable to monitor
(25:15):
that. Over 100,000 tracks that
is released daily already on Spotify.
So I believe that the first step is
using technology to help them to just put all of
the noise apart and then just look at what is
truly happening. That make sense and then
(25:37):
start the second part. That is the human curation.
So feel the music, know the artists,
know their plan, their mission,
what they have to like to add in this world. So
what are they wanting to
spread as an artist, the word that they are spreading. And
(25:59):
then it just makes a lot easier for you to have
like better decisions to reach the right artists in the
right time. Because it's all about timing. Yes,
absolutely. Strm's platforms promise to connect
artists with key producers and composers. What measures do you
guys take to ensure that these relationships are both productive and
(26:21):
authentic? And how do you see these strategic connections evolving
and especially in such a fast paced digital environment?
Yeah, great. So as we're monitoring over 1 million
music producers and composers, what we are just
analyzing is their performance whenever
they appear in track credit. So the credit
(26:44):
of a track and we can just classify
them into different types of producers.
That one, there is one that we call Hitmaker. There are just
hitting more viral songs, song, sorry,
songs that has like highest peaks. We are not analyzing if
it's lasting longer or not just highest peaks. The other
(27:06):
one is what we call timeless. As the ones that are
hitting songs that is lasting and high
popularity longer than any other tracks with other
producers have many, many kinds of
types of producers that we are measuring their performance and
in each genre, in each country. And then you can
(27:28):
choose whatever you want. So if you are looking for a
producer that can just help you to build tracks
that lasts longer, that is not like viral and just
vanish from market, we can help you to find out
the ones that is doing that job better.
But we always Recommend at least
(27:52):
10 options because knowing the best
producer that is having the best performance, it's one
step. The other step is know each other. Just
understand if the energy is like the same, if
it has like a fit, a real fit. So this is
the second part and that is totally on the artist side, not
(28:15):
on ours. No, it makes sense. Given
Strm's integrated approach to career development and financial
support. Where do you see the platform evolving over the next four or
five years? Yeah, we're already building our
AI agents so we believe that AI agents will
help a lot artists. Nowadays our platform has
(28:37):
like an AI assistant, but it's like
more passive. You have to ask questions for you
to get the outputs and the answers the
agents. Whenever an artist upload
a song, they will automatically start to interact with the
artist just to write
(28:59):
the best pitch ever. And then when it's
done, the agent is going to pitch their song to each
platform by itself and then
generate the pre save link and
write marketing plan to the artist automatically.
And also monitor the result of
(29:21):
the performance just for the artist to know
if they have to keep pushing
that specific release or
it is time to move on and go to the other. Because this one like
it's not working well or is like almost
they done everything that they could in that specific release.
(29:44):
So this is something that we truly believe that we help artists and
like we truly believe that we are just building
tools for them to have firepower and this such
a threatening environment that they truly don't,
don't know if AI is a ally or
an enemy. So we're building like firepower for them to
(30:07):
go to that war with the right weapons. Yes.
We don't know. And that's the thing that's so interesting about all these conversations and
people asking about AI is we don't know if it's. It's probably going to be
both. It's going to be an ally, but there also will be bad actors in
any sector in music and finance and movies. But I think it's
exciting the AI agent perspective for the artist
(30:30):
because I work with a lot of agents and stuff that I've created and stuff.
So I know the power of what that can do. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Let me ask you, Fernando, are there any innovations or expansions that are
in the pipeline at stream to further empower artists in
their careers. Yes, definitely one of the
improvements going to be the AI agents and there is other
(30:53):
that we call the fan funeral because for us the
most important thing for an artist is to build their fan base
and know how it works. It's gonna help
them a lot to make decisions. So the first step
of the funeral is like the reach of a song. So whenever they
release a track, they have to know if they are
(31:15):
reaching the amount of people that can truly
help them to convert into followers. So if
they're not, the call to action is you have to
promote better your song because it's not reaching the
minimum of people. The second step
is the level of interest. So
(31:38):
we are here at this room. So if it was playing like
a song that we got like interesting,
what was the view our reaction so to grab our phone to
Chazam Music. So try to search
for a piece of lyric. This is level of interest.
If you are just showing your your track to like a bunch
(32:00):
of people and none of them are like
interested in knowing who you are. So
that's something really wrong. So
whether you are showing your track, you're promoting
to the wrong audience or your song is
not working at all. So you have to deal with that. So you have
(32:22):
to make some decisions. The third step is
whenever someone look for you and search for you and find your
profile, they're gonna scroll your feed and know if you
are interested enough for them to follow you. If
not, they're just pass. And
that is like the most important moment for an artist. The
(32:44):
moment that they retain the audience that they were just
looking for. If you're not, the artists have to
make sure that their best posts are pinned. The communication
is all synchronized. And the fourth stage
of career, whenever someone follows you, your content is
going to appear more often. And then
(33:06):
you have to we're going to measure the level of
engagement. So likes, comments, interactions
and the last one is how shareable is your
content. So tracking each one of the
steps will help you make decisions. In each
part of the process you are not doing well.
(33:28):
And each part we are doing well and we able to do
as like Instagram does. Like whenever
one of your posts is doing well, it just appears like a message in
your face saying this post is performing better than
80% of your post. So keep pushing.
Yeah, this is something that artists just don't know. Right?
(33:51):
And now we can get the data for it. Fernando, I wanted to ask you,
throughout your life, have there been any books or Films or
documentaries that have been particularly inspiring to you
professionally that you could recommend to our audience.
Oh, there is but as I am Brazilian
title is in Portuguese. I don't know if it would be the same title
(34:13):
but I definitely can recommend. There was about I love to play
tennis and it's such a like a therapy for me.
And there was like a book that just
teach you the two sides of
a tennis match. So you are always
(34:33):
facing the other, the other player, the
competitor and you are facing at the same time
you as an opponent. So
how the book explains how you
deal with your challenges your yourself
differentiate the ones that is like doing better and
(34:57):
reaching better results. So it was like
what's the name. Of the book in Portuguese? You could say it in Portugal if
you remember it. Like we'll try to find it I. Guess
Self in, self out. Okay. I will just
figure out. Yeah, yeah. Because it was like really
good read and helped me a lot to understand many things. I'm a huge tennis
(35:18):
fan myself too. I love to play as well. So it's great. Very nice. What
advice do you have for those who are committed to building a career in music
and a career today? Focus on
the music streaming platform on your releases
because I truly believe that artists have like four
main revenues streams like merchant publicity, publishing
(35:40):
rights, recording rights and live concerts.
If I just. If I had to choose one
that could leverage the auditory, it
would definitely be the recording rights.
It's there that they are building their fan base because you have
many influencers like YouTubers or celebrities that
(36:03):
has like, like huge revenue from publicity from
merch but doesn't mean that if they release a
song they're gonna be good on the music industry
as a music career. So I
talked with a lot of artists from different countries here
at the Musexpo and also last week on South by Southwest
(36:26):
and they are not focusing, many of them
weren't focusing on digital streaming platform
on a consistent release plan
on their music. So this is something that I
truly believe that they kind of even then they're
putting a lot of effort, energy try
(36:50):
to make their career happen. It's going to be much,
much harder. It's going to be very limited. If they
put that specific effort and energy
on the streaming platform to build a real fan base.
Fernando, how can people reach you? Is it through the website or through your
socials or what's the best way. I'm going to leave? Like our website
(37:13):
is strm music
AI and they can find me
out also on LinkedIn. Fernando
Gabriel. Fernando Gabriel. Okay. So I'm gonna
be like, I'm very accessible so
I always trying to connect as many professionals as I can
(37:36):
make good trades. So I'm very open to it.
Fernando, we want to thank you so much for coming by and, and talking to
us about the stream. Very exciting platform. Very exciting. And
it's wonderful to meet you. Yeah, thank you very much. It was a pleasure,
love. Let's keep in touch and. Absolutely. So
thank you. Just fascinating. Yeah, yeah.
(37:58):
Really, really interesting. I mean a lot of things to, to
unpack you and talk about. Eric. One of the things I mean as, as.
As we all know, you know, those who are listening and, and you and I
have spoken about this many times, is that we're living in a world of so
much music coming into the sphere every day. You know,
literally hundred thousands of songs a day, one person
(38:20):
can't possibly keep up with, with that volume.
So one of the things I thought was so interesting about this conversation is,
you know, how he talked about how the A&R process, how
AI is now actively involved in the
A&R process, finding out what kind of activity,
who's listening, when are they listening, where are they listening? You
(38:42):
know, he talked about how AI has already changed A&R.
I think that the quote he said was, you know, as we monitor eight
artists, many ANRs are in specific geography areas
trying to figure out what's happening in those areas. As a human,
it's completely impossible to monitor over a hundred thousand
tracks released daily on Spotify. The first step in using technology
(39:05):
to filter the noise. Then you do the human curation, which is a very. I
mean, it tells me he understands that whole process. Not every song that
is, you know, doing activity is. Is going to mean that it's a
hit record or that that artist needs to be signed. Right. But what
is important is the fact that we tools that can illustrate this,
that can give artists and you too insiders
(39:28):
genuine feedback on your music in comparison to
where it is in the ecosphere, what's happening with it, who's
listening to it. You're getting metrics and data that we never had the
ability technologically to get before. And I thought that was one of
the more interesting aspects of this conversation which dealt with a
larger issue of A and rich in the world today. Yeah,
(39:50):
another area that I thought was simply crucial and
it's something that I've always thought about. And you know, he's come
the closest, I believe we've talked about, you and I, a
couple of things. One that's been the Most important is that you as an
artist, you go and you spend all your time, effort and energy producing a great
sounding record. And then when it comes to market it, you just put it out
(40:11):
there and then it just fails. And you wonder why. One of the other parts
of that equation is financing. And I think having the money
and the budget to do what you need to do properly, and I think this
is why. What makes Strm so exciting. He talks about connecting
music, tech and finance for artists. We started building Strm
as it is today, gathering that these different worlds, the music world, the
(40:33):
tech world and the financial world. One of the things that we always wanted to
help with was, was cash flow issues. And that's why they have a $25 million
credit fund to give advances for their phonographic catalogs. Now,
I'm not sure what the of that money, what they get in return
and all that stuff. Those are details that we'd have to find out more about.
And I think he talks about it a little bit in the interview, but I
(40:53):
think that that's one of the crucial aspects of artists having
success in their careers, is having that financing. That's why we say,
don't lose your day job. Don't, you know, keep getting money coming in because
you are going to have to invest. Which is another misnomer that you and I,
Rich, have talked about. There seems to be this old mentality that has carried
over into the newer generations where they feel like, oh, if a record company
(41:16):
comes, that's it, it, that's all I need. Or if a manager comes, that's the
answer to my questions. That's the answer. You know, I'm on, on easy street. And
that could be nothing further from the truth. Yeah, absolutely. And
you know what the reality is today, as you well know, Eric,
we're in an era where recording is less expensive
than it has ever been. You know, it wasn't that long ago that we
(41:38):
lived in an era where, you know, the whole A&R process or recording an album
or body work, you had to go into these things called recording studios.
They cost a lot of money and you couldn't find people to do that kind
of work on Craigslist. It was a very, very expensive
proposition and we just don't live in that world
anymore. But to your point, it's not about necessarily the cost
(41:59):
of recording. Right. To your point, it's about the marketing element
and thinking, you know, beyond what I have just made,
how am I going to get it out there? Do I have a plan? Do
I know who do I want to reach? How am I going to do that?
What are the platforms and the specifics that I have? Do I have the money
and the budget to do that? That's, that's the part that I thought
(42:21):
was most interesting about the point you just made and overall about
the you. Are the record company now. You have to be making all the decisions.
You're the A&R company, you're the A&R president, you're the marketing department.
You're all of those elements. That's you now,
especially at the early stages of a career, it's
absolutely essential that you get that about your own music.
(42:43):
Because if you don't get it it, no one else is going to get it.
Hey insiders, thanks so much for tuning in to this episode. We really
appreciate it. To get show notes, links and everything that was
mentioned during this interview, head on over to our official
website at
mubutv.com/podcast/shownotes. If you're enjoying the
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(43:05):
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(43:27):
ending with the handle mubutv, which is spelled M U B U T
V. Don't forget to catch our flagship show, the MUBUTV Music
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this show was produced and created by Ritch Esra and Eric Knight, theme
music by Disciples of Babylon. And be sure to tune in next week for another
(43:50):
episode of the MUBUTV Music Business Insider Podcast.
On today's podcast, we sit down with Fernando Gabriel, engineer,
music industry veteran and founder of Strm, the cutting edge
platform revolutionizing how independent artists grow their
careers. Fernando shares his journey from independent artist to tech
innovator, revealing the inspiration behind a platform that combines
digital distribution, royalty advances, career assessments and
(00:21):
AI driven recommendations. We dive deep into the power of
AI to transform everything from career assessments and intelligent
recommendations to the role of advances for artists, the future of
A&R and how strategic connections between artists, producers and
composers are evolving in today's fast moving digital environment.
Plus, Fernando shares his vision for the future, including AI
(00:44):
agents, fan base funnels and the data that really drives
artists success. If you're an independent artist or music business
insider looking to understand the next wave of music industry
innovation, this conversation is one you can't afford
to miss. Insiders, are you ready?
Welcome to MUBUTV's Music Business Insider Podcast where
(01:06):
our mission is to educate, empower and engage artists and
music business professionals who are dedicated to having a successful career
in the new music industry. Here are your hosts, Ritch
Esra and Eric Knight. Welcome back insiders, to another
episode of the MUBUTV Music Business Insider
podcast where our mission is to educate, empower and engage
(01:28):
your music career. On today's episode Reach, we're excited to welcome
Fernando Gabriel, the Brazilian engineer turned music industry
entrepreneur and the innovative mind behind the platform
Strm Spelled S T R M.
Fernando brings to the table years of firsthand experience as an
artist, engineer and industry consultant, giving him a unique
(01:50):
lens on what independent artists truly need to succeed in
today's ever changing music landscape. In this deep dive conversation,
we explore how Strm is changing the game by blending digital
distribution, AI powered career assessments and cutting edge
royalty advances to empower artists globally. Discover how
Fernando and his team use big data to provide tailor made
(02:12):
advice, tackle cash flow issues with multimillion dollar
advances, and connect artists to top producers and composers
worldwide. We get into the details of how AI is already
transforming the A&R process, the importance of strategic
planning for artists at every career stage, and what the future holds for
AI agents in the music business. If you're looking real
(02:34):
world insights on navigating the business side of music, growing your
fan base and making smart decisions in a digital era. This is
a conversation you won't want to miss. Stay tuned,
but first, a word from our sponsor. Hey insiders, are you an
aspiring musician, artist, band or future music business
professional looking to take your career to the next level? Well, look no
(02:56):
further. At MUBUTV we offer personalized career counseling and
Coaching designed specifically for folks like you. Imagine having
both of us by your side, guiding you through every step of your music journey.
Our sessions are tailored to meet your unique needs, focusing on critical
aspects of your music career such as refining your songs, defining
your artist story, identifying your target audience and enhancing your
(03:18):
social media presence, just to name a few. Whether you're just starting out
or looking to elevate your existing career, we've got you covered. Our
comprehensive approach ensures you you get insights on everything
from live shows to branding and marketing strategies. We
understand that every artist is unique. That's why our coaching
is personalized just for you. And here's the best part. We offer
(03:41):
flexible coaching packages that fit any budget. Choose from individual
sessions ranging from 30 to 90 minutes or save with our discounted four
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(04:03):
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hold you back. Join us for your free 15 minute discovery
call@book.mubutv.com for a
transformative coaching experience that will elevate your music career.
(04:24):
That's book.mubutv.com
hi, this is Andreas. Katsambas, President and CEO at
Charmetric and you're listening to the movie TV Music Business
Insider podcast. Welcome back insiders. Today's featured guest
is Fernando Gabriel, the Brazilian engineer turned music
industry entrepreneur and the innovative mind behind the platform
(04:46):
Strm Spelled S T R M.
Really interesting conversation and again one that we have had
that's ongoing. Eric into some of the new tools and
new opportunities and new platforms that are available for
insiders out there for their music. You know, it's not just
about record labels anymore or artist managers. There's a whole
(05:08):
host of these kinds of platforms that are available. One of the most interesting
ones that I thought, you know that, that, that we spoke of with with Strm
is there's a 275 point criteria
that they have which I think really helps, you know, streams assessment.
It covers more than just the streaming stats, but it
captures both the quantitative and subjective factors that influen
(05:30):
artist's career in terms of reach, in terms of who the demographic is,
who's listening, where they're listening, how long they're. I mean there's
a whole host of things. So this went a lot deeper than Just being a,
you know, platform that tells you you had 500 people listen to
the stream or not. So. Right, that's that. That to me was one of the
features that I thought made this interesting. Yeah. One of the other things that I
(05:51):
love too is that he has this thing called the 10 career stages
framework. Strm developed a methodology that the to
the artist ladder to help classify artists into 10 career
stages, which also helps artists and managers and investors communicate
more effectively. I think he's on to some really good things, really exciting things
that I was excited about during this interview because he's taking the idea of
(06:13):
putting analytics, but also these other data points
that will help the entire team put together a cohesive
plan. Yeah, absolutely. It's like, you know, he's putting
together an entire ecosystem. Correct. That's what makes this
such an interesting platform. It's not just about
documenting what your streams are, but much, much. It's a
(06:35):
holistic approach. Holistic approach toward a career in music.
And with that, insiders sit back, relax and enjoy our
featured conversation from Musexpo 2025 with
Fernando Gabriel. Fernando, welcome.
Oh, thank you very much. Thank you for the invite. It's a pleasure to be
here with you guys. It's a pleasure to have you here on the show. You
(06:57):
know, Strm combines digital distribution,
streaming royalty advances, career assessments and AI
driven recommendations. What was the driving force behind
creating such a multifaceted platform and how do you
see it uniquely addressing the challenges that independent artists face
today? Oh, very nice. So I used to be
(07:19):
independent artist myself. So I put my skills and I know
exactly how it feels and the love and
the pain to be an independent artist. So that's
why I didn't have like anyone from my family when I
decided to go after my dream, follow the
call and the music. And I faced like
(07:41):
every single pain and challenge that independent
artist John. It's like facing. And it
was like from 2006, from 2009 that I had my own
career and nowadays it's pretty much the same.
So they are having the same problems, the same issues. And then
I was like, had the privilege to partnership with
(08:04):
some of the biggest names in the music industry in Brazil. I'm from
Brazil and I like to say that I had the mind of engineering
because I studied engineering at college and the soul and the
heart of an artist. So I feel the music
as an artist, but I normally see things in a more
analytical way. So I have like
(08:26):
20 years of experience in the music industry and I was just
looking for patterns because I had such an
important question in my head, why some
artists just reached such a huge success
when others that maybe could be even more talented
and experienced doesn't. So what
(08:49):
happened? So. And I just
start to identify some patterns among the artists that
were reaching like huge success. And then in
2017 I start just putting all
of the knowledge together into to a methodology that we call
that is the artist ladder. So we could classify
(09:12):
10 different stages of career of an artist. And at that
time I was just looking for do the translations
because I've had like consultancy firm that is
more like an M and a boutique for artists. Our goal is to
convert investments for them. Because artists like they
don't know how to build a business plan.
(09:34):
It's very hard. It's like completely out of their
expertise. And that's why we were doing it at that time.
So for us to communicate with investors, we had to
figure out how to attang
something that is very abstract in music. So when you're talking to
an artist, it's very hard for you to get like a common
(09:56):
ground on where they are on their stage of career.
This is something that we, when we just put together all
the information and this 10 stage of career, it was easier
for us just to speak and just
communicate with investors, managers and artists because
we have a common ground and what it means to be in each one of
(10:19):
the stages. And after that
we start building stream as it is today.
So the music distribution, just gathering
these three different worlds. So the music world, the tech world
and financial world. So some of the things that we wanted
to help them is the cash flow issues. So that's
(10:42):
why we have today a $25 million
credit fund to do just to give them advances
for their phonographic catalogs, only recording
rights. The diagnosis to help them to
increase and to raise their consciousness about what is happening
and how they optimize the energy, the efforts and investment
(11:04):
on their career, make better decisions and also music
distribution because everything is happening this digital
world. So that's where we understand that it's
like the most important pilot for them to that
can leverage every other revenue from their careers.
Fernando, thank you so much for joining us on the show. It's really great to
(11:26):
have you. I wanted to ask you, with the use of AI in your
platform, particularly in career assessments and intelligent
recommendations, how do you ensure that the insights that you're providing
are personalized and genuinely beneficial for each artist's growth?
Yeah, very nice question. So as we are monitoring
over 8 million artists, over 150 million
(11:48):
tracks in the world and over 1 million music
producers and composers. We were able just to
clusterize data from each country, its music
genre, its stage of career. And we can understand
the one that the artist that is like doing a better job, that is
growing faster, we know what they are doing,
(12:10):
their release schedule, the frequency of the releases, the season
of each year that has like higher music consumption,
even the audio feature. So the
characteristic of the music there is like have a higher
consumption in that specific season of the year.
So whenever an artist goes through our
(12:32):
platform and we make the full public
data diagnosis, the this is very important to say that we are not consuming
any private data, only public data. We're able to
cross everything and the term help them to understand
what it means to be at their current stage.
So what it means to be there. What are the goals
(12:56):
for them to level up. This is something very like
very hard for artists to figure it out. Many of
the time artists just feel that their career is
like floating. They don't know if it's going forward backwards.
They just don't know what to do. There are many things that they could
do, like enhance their craft,
(13:19):
their talent, try to do more live concerts, go after a
manager, a big label, like release more songs. But
for each stage of career there are like they can't. We
can optimize all of their choices. The energy,
everything that we are recommending is totally
tailor made for that specific artist,
(13:42):
for that music genre, that country and also
that stage of career. So that you guys are painting a picture
of where they're at today and guiding them on. These are the things that you
need to be doing. Yes, definitely. It's all about the concept
on the data industry and data analysis.
The most important thing is know
(14:05):
the exact question that you want to
answer. So just look into raw data
and cross everything just to try to figure out some outputs.
It's not enough if you don't know the end the question that you're
trying to to answer. So for us it's
one step earlier. We just understood
(14:27):
the behavior, how the patterns would find a
methodology with the stages of career. We classify them
all. We just guarantee that everything
was validated by humans. So specialists
in each side of the country or
across the world that everything makes sense.
(14:50):
And after that we start to train our
AI and our algorithms by that
concept. So we have a very strong belief
that music above all and everything,
it's about connection. So it doesn't matter if you
graduated at Berklee, if you play 10 different
(15:11):
instruments, if you are a vocal coach if you are unable
isn't able to create music that connects
with the people lives commercially, you have no impact in
the world. So what our algorithms and AI is trying
to do, it's figure out the level
of connection that an artist have with their audience.
(15:35):
That's amazing. You know, stream offers
advances. You mentioned that about the cash flow situation with
artists. You offer them anywhere from $1,000 to a million
against streaming royalties. My question is, how
do you manage the risk of providing such large advances to
independent artists and are there safeguards in place to ensure
(15:56):
that, you know, both the artists and your platform benefit in the
long term of this? Yeah. So we have been doing
this without any algorithm by ourselves in more
analogical way. So we were at that time
just analyzing the official statements, royalty
statements, historic just making projections
(16:19):
like with Excel sheets. So this is what we were
doing. So we did this a lot and then we start
to apply some technology, algorithms and deep learning
AI and the results were
way better than with what we were doing.
So as a human just trying to figure out because
(16:43):
we were just crossing just a few data points
to try to as a human. So looking for a
limited data to try to predict the future.
And AI could lie. It's more could solve
more complex challenges. So they're crossing the behavior of
consumption. It is crossing data from
(17:05):
around the world, around most 150 million
tracks. So trying to understand how it works, how long lasts
like a song in a specific genre, the behavior since the
release when it achieved the peak, and how long it
stayed there until stop fading. Start fading.
So we believe much more in our algorithms
(17:28):
and our AI predictions than what we're doing
back there by ourselves. So
we have now like more than 500 fences
already signed. Our index of success is
like very, very high in each one of them. And
it's like important say that we're not trying to bet in
(17:51):
an artist that we as individuals
like are just feeling that they
have potential. It's not about quality,
experience and talent. It's about
existing catalog and their performance.
Got it. Okay. This help us a lot because
(18:13):
quality is a very like individual
perception. So what good means quality for me,
not for you. Yeah, it's very what you'd spend your money on.
Yes, yeah, yeah, definitely. So we believe a lot and
we have like proven that our AI
have high level of accuracy. So
(18:35):
whenever our AI says that any
specific artist has that amount of money to advance
that their catalog is going to make that amount.
So we trust and we go for it. Great.
Your stream Career Assessment analyzes
275 vital career criteria. How do you
(18:56):
determine which criteria are most important for an artist's success? And what
role do subjective factors like artistic vision and
personal branding play alongside Data driven insights and your
recommendations? Oh, very nice. This is what
we call the full career assessment. So there
are many data that aren't
(19:19):
available on Internet and will never
be. Like, we never know if your family
supports you in your career. We never know
how much money you have spent on your in your career so
far, how much money you're willing to invest,
how many releases you're planning to
(19:41):
do in the next 12 months, the size of your team.
This is like information that is not going
to be available, but it's private information. So we're
crossing everything that we do with public data and then
we ask many of those questions that has to
be answered by the artists or
(20:04):
artists and their team and then we cross it
all. Hey, insiders. We hope that you've been enjoying our featured
conversation. Stay tuned because we've got so much value coming your
way. But before we dive back in, a word from our sponsor. Hey,
Eric, as an artist, what do you find are the most challenging aspects
to a music career, especially when you're starting out? Well, I think one of
(20:26):
the first things is just trying to get the direction of who you are as
an artist. Where you want to go, go where you want to be. And you
know, we've talked about it on the show a lot. Who is your target audience,
who you are, who, what do you stand for? What do you believe in?
What do you think would resonate with an audience? And so those are some of
the things that I would feel being a new artist, obviously what I know now
is different because I know these things. But for people that are out there, like
(20:49):
our audience, that don't have necessarily any direction to go, would be the
first things that I would start off with. And having the songs
incorporate those elements that you're speaking of into it, that's
so important today. Yeah, and I think that's one of the reasons why we started
MUBUTV and why we started this new consulting service that we're offering to all
of our insiders out there. Because that is another one of the big things. I
(21:10):
mean, that is the big thing is like having the great songs. That's what it
really starts off. Our friend Don Grierson always said it always starts with a great
song. So that's probably. Besides putting together what your
audience and what your target audience is, is the single most important thing where
Are your songs at currently today, Are you collaborating with people?
Are you trying to go out to networking events where you can connect with other
(21:32):
songwriters and stuff like that? So, yeah. And what are your strengths
exactly? You know, are you a strong lyric writer? Are you a strong
melody writer? Are you a strong musician? A player. Right. You know,
and it's really important to get really strong clarity on those
issues before proceeding. I totally agree, Rich. And you know, with our
consulting services, we offer a myriad of different packages that we've made
(21:54):
it super affordable for everybody. So, you know, if you guys are interested out there
and connecting with us on a coaching call, you can visit
book.moobutv.com and start off with a free
15 minute discovery call. Well, yeah, absolutely. That we start with an
initial 15 minute call where we can get a sense of who you are, what
are the issues that you specifically have and want to work on.
(22:16):
Exactly. And we can go from there. Absolutely. Yeah. And we tailor everything
to your needs. It's not like a cookie cutter thing. We kind of really want
to get to know who you are as an artist, where you at today? What's
the snapshot of you as an artist today, and then start trying to
craft something that's tailor made for you. So again, if you're interested,
Visit us at book.moobotv.com for your 15 minute
(22:37):
discovery call. Hi, this is music supervisor Stephen Gizicki. Are you an
insider? I am subscribe now, yeah. And I wanted to ask you
just really quickly two sub points. Those advances that you're giving, are those
recoupable advances that you guys will get that back? Yes,
definitely. And then the second question is the models that you're using,
what LLM models? Are those proprietary algorithms? Algorithms that you guys
(23:00):
have created? Yes, we have our own proprietary
algorithms and we use like some AI features
that, that's already in the market, like random forest
neural network. So many of those we don't have to
recreate them. Right. But I always say that AI is only
used on complex challenges
(23:22):
because it's like expensive. So it's like
took a lot of. Take a lot of effort and energy for you to use
AI to answer questions that a simple
algorithm could do. So we only use AI in complex
things that make sense. Do you think
that the. I guess you just talked about that
(23:44):
with regards to AI and it got me thinking, you know, do you
think that AI is going to transform the traditional AR process? Process?
I think it already did. Okay. Yeah. All right.
Because as we're monitoring this, those 8
million artists. If you go to our platform that we call Strm for
labels, we have two kind of interfaces. So one is for labels and the
(24:07):
other one is for artists. Right? The artist one is looking into one
single career of that specific artist and the label side
is looking to the open sea to more than 8 million. You can cross
like you wish you want. So you can just
filter like a specific genre on a
specific country, a specific stage of career.
(24:30):
And then filtering, you have five different thesis. Like
one is for performance, that is it is
measuring the relevance of that specific artist crossing
three different platforms. Poly Spotify, YouTube and Instagram. Together
we have other thesis, that is the growth speed. So
you are able to see artists that are growing faster since their first
(24:52):
release. And it blows each bubble
that you can imagine because many of the
ANRs, they are like in a specific geography trying to
figure out what is happening on that specific scene. They have
networks and as a human, he
is completely unable to monitor
(25:15):
that. Over 100,000 tracks that
is released daily already on Spotify.
So I believe that the first step is
using technology to help them to just put all of
the noise apart and then just look at what is
truly happening. That make sense and then
(25:37):
start the second part. That is the human curation.
So feel the music, know the artists,
know their plan, their mission,
what they have to like to add in this world. So
what are they wanting to
spread as an artist, the word that they are spreading. And
(25:59):
then it just makes a lot easier for you to have
like better decisions to reach the right artists in the
right time. Because it's all about timing. Yes,
absolutely. Strm's platforms promise to connect
artists with key producers and composers. What measures do you
guys take to ensure that these relationships are both productive and
(26:21):
authentic? And how do you see these strategic connections evolving
and especially in such a fast paced digital environment?
Yeah, great. So as we're monitoring over 1 million
music producers and composers, what we are just
analyzing is their performance whenever
they appear in track credit. So the credit
(26:44):
of a track and we can just classify
them into different types of producers.
That one, there is one that we call Hitmaker. There are just
hitting more viral songs, song, sorry,
songs that has like highest peaks. We are not analyzing if
it's lasting longer or not just highest peaks. The other
(27:06):
one is what we call timeless. As the ones that are
hitting songs that is lasting and high
popularity longer than any other tracks with other
producers have many, many kinds of
types of producers that we are measuring their performance and
in each genre, in each country. And then you can
(27:28):
choose whatever you want. So if you are looking for a
producer that can just help you to build tracks
that lasts longer, that is not like viral and just
vanish from market, we can help you to find out
the ones that is doing that job better.
But we always Recommend at least
(27:52):
10 options because knowing the best
producer that is having the best performance, it's one
step. The other step is know each other. Just
understand if the energy is like the same, if
it has like a fit, a real fit. So this is
the second part and that is totally on the artist side, not
(28:15):
on ours. No, it makes sense. Given
Strm's integrated approach to career development and financial
support. Where do you see the platform evolving over the next four or
five years? Yeah, we're already building our
AI agents so we believe that AI agents will
help a lot artists. Nowadays our platform has
(28:37):
like an AI assistant, but it's like
more passive. You have to ask questions for you
to get the outputs and the answers the
agents. Whenever an artist upload
a song, they will automatically start to interact with the
artist just to write
(28:59):
the best pitch ever. And then when it's
done, the agent is going to pitch their song to each
platform by itself and then
generate the pre save link and
write marketing plan to the artist automatically.
And also monitor the result of
(29:21):
the performance just for the artist to know
if they have to keep pushing
that specific release or
it is time to move on and go to the other. Because this one like
it's not working well or is like almost
they done everything that they could in that specific release.
(29:44):
So this is something that we truly believe that we help artists and
like we truly believe that we are just building
tools for them to have firepower and this such
a threatening environment that they truly don't,
don't know if AI is a ally or
an enemy. So we're building like firepower for them to
(30:07):
go to that war with the right weapons. Yes.
We don't know. And that's the thing that's so interesting about all these conversations and
people asking about AI is we don't know if it's. It's probably going to be
both. It's going to be an ally, but there also will be bad actors in
any sector in music and finance and movies. But I think it's
exciting the AI agent perspective for the artist
(30:30):
because I work with a lot of agents and stuff that I've created and stuff.
So I know the power of what that can do. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Let me ask you, Fernando, are there any innovations or expansions that are
in the pipeline at stream to further empower artists in
their careers. Yes, definitely one of the
improvements going to be the AI agents and there is other
(30:53):
that we call the fan funeral because for us the
most important thing for an artist is to build their fan base
and know how it works. It's gonna help
them a lot to make decisions. So the first step
of the funeral is like the reach of a song. So whenever they
release a track, they have to know if they are
(31:15):
reaching the amount of people that can truly
help them to convert into followers. So if
they're not, the call to action is you have to
promote better your song because it's not reaching the
minimum of people. The second step
is the level of interest. So
(31:38):
we are here at this room. So if it was playing like
a song that we got like interesting,
what was the view our reaction so to grab our phone to
Chazam Music. So try to search
for a piece of lyric. This is level of interest.
If you are just showing your your track to like a bunch
(32:00):
of people and none of them are like
interested in knowing who you are. So
that's something really wrong. So
whether you are showing your track, you're promoting
to the wrong audience or your song is
not working at all. So you have to deal with that. So you have
(32:22):
to make some decisions. The third step is
whenever someone look for you and search for you and find your
profile, they're gonna scroll your feed and know if you
are interested enough for them to follow you. If
not, they're just pass. And
that is like the most important moment for an artist. The
(32:44):
moment that they retain the audience that they were just
looking for. If you're not, the artists have to
make sure that their best posts are pinned. The communication
is all synchronized. And the fourth stage
of career, whenever someone follows you, your content is
going to appear more often. And then
(33:06):
you have to we're going to measure the level of
engagement. So likes, comments, interactions
and the last one is how shareable is your
content. So tracking each one of the
steps will help you make decisions. In each
part of the process you are not doing well.
(33:28):
And each part we are doing well and we able to do
as like Instagram does. Like whenever
one of your posts is doing well, it just appears like a message in
your face saying this post is performing better than
80% of your post. So keep pushing.
Yeah, this is something that artists just don't know. Right?
(33:51):
And now we can get the data for it. Fernando, I wanted to ask you,
throughout your life, have there been any books or Films or
documentaries that have been particularly inspiring to you
professionally that you could recommend to our audience.
Oh, there is but as I am Brazilian
title is in Portuguese. I don't know if it would be the same title
(34:13):
but I definitely can recommend. There was about I love to play
tennis and it's such a like a therapy for me.
And there was like a book that just
teach you the two sides of
a tennis match. So you are always
(34:33):
facing the other, the other player, the
competitor and you are facing at the same time
you as an opponent. So
how the book explains how you
deal with your challenges your yourself
differentiate the ones that is like doing better and
(34:57):
reaching better results. So it was like
what's the name. Of the book in Portuguese? You could say it in Portugal if
you remember it. Like we'll try to find it I. Guess
Self in, self out. Okay. I will just
figure out. Yeah, yeah. Because it was like really
good read and helped me a lot to understand many things. I'm a huge tennis
(35:18):
fan myself too. I love to play as well. So it's great. Very nice. What
advice do you have for those who are committed to building a career in music
and a career today? Focus on
the music streaming platform on your releases
because I truly believe that artists have like four
main revenues streams like merchant publicity, publishing
(35:40):
rights, recording rights and live concerts.
If I just. If I had to choose one
that could leverage the auditory, it
would definitely be the recording rights.
It's there that they are building their fan base because you have
many influencers like YouTubers or celebrities that
(36:03):
has like, like huge revenue from publicity from
merch but doesn't mean that if they release a
song they're gonna be good on the music industry
as a music career. So I
talked with a lot of artists from different countries here
at the Musexpo and also last week on South by Southwest
(36:26):
and they are not focusing, many of them
weren't focusing on digital streaming platform
on a consistent release plan
on their music. So this is something that I
truly believe that they kind of even then they're
putting a lot of effort, energy try
(36:50):
to make their career happen. It's going to be much,
much harder. It's going to be very limited. If they
put that specific effort and energy
on the streaming platform to build a real fan base.
Fernando, how can people reach you? Is it through the website or through your
socials or what's the best way. I'm going to leave? Like our website
(37:13):
is strm music
AI and they can find me
out also on LinkedIn. Fernando
Gabriel. Fernando Gabriel. Okay. So I'm gonna
be like, I'm very accessible so
I always trying to connect as many professionals as I can
(37:36):
make good trades. So I'm very open to it.
Fernando, we want to thank you so much for coming by and, and talking to
us about the stream. Very exciting platform. Very exciting. And
it's wonderful to meet you. Yeah, thank you very much. It was a pleasure,
love. Let's keep in touch and. Absolutely. So
thank you. Just fascinating. Yeah, yeah.
(37:58):
Really, really interesting. I mean a lot of things to, to
unpack you and talk about. Eric. One of the things I mean as, as.
As we all know, you know, those who are listening and, and you and I
have spoken about this many times, is that we're living in a world of so
much music coming into the sphere every day. You know,
literally hundred thousands of songs a day, one person
(38:20):
can't possibly keep up with, with that volume.
So one of the things I thought was so interesting about this conversation is,
you know, how he talked about how the A&R process, how
AI is now actively involved in the
A&R process, finding out what kind of activity,
who's listening, when are they listening, where are they listening? You
(38:42):
know, he talked about how AI has already changed A&R.
I think that the quote he said was, you know, as we monitor eight
artists, many ANRs are in specific geography areas
trying to figure out what's happening in those areas. As a human,
it's completely impossible to monitor over a hundred thousand
tracks released daily on Spotify. The first step in using technology
(39:05):
to filter the noise. Then you do the human curation, which is a very. I
mean, it tells me he understands that whole process. Not every song that
is, you know, doing activity is. Is going to mean that it's a
hit record or that that artist needs to be signed. Right. But what
is important is the fact that we tools that can illustrate this,
that can give artists and you too insiders
(39:28):
genuine feedback on your music in comparison to
where it is in the ecosphere, what's happening with it, who's
listening to it. You're getting metrics and data that we never had the
ability technologically to get before. And I thought that was one of
the more interesting aspects of this conversation which dealt with a
larger issue of A and rich in the world today. Yeah,
(39:50):
another area that I thought was simply crucial and
it's something that I've always thought about. And you know, he's come
the closest, I believe we've talked about, you and I, a
couple of things. One that's been the Most important is that you as an
artist, you go and you spend all your time, effort and energy producing a great
sounding record. And then when it comes to market it, you just put it out
(40:11):
there and then it just fails. And you wonder why. One of the other parts
of that equation is financing. And I think having the money
and the budget to do what you need to do properly, and I think this
is why. What makes Strm so exciting. He talks about connecting
music, tech and finance for artists. We started building Strm
as it is today, gathering that these different worlds, the music world, the
(40:33):
tech world and the financial world. One of the things that we always wanted to
help with was, was cash flow issues. And that's why they have a $25 million
credit fund to give advances for their phonographic catalogs. Now,
I'm not sure what the of that money, what they get in return
and all that stuff. Those are details that we'd have to find out more about.
And I think he talks about it a little bit in the interview, but I
(40:53):
think that that's one of the crucial aspects of artists having
success in their careers, is having that financing. That's why we say,
don't lose your day job. Don't, you know, keep getting money coming in because
you are going to have to invest. Which is another misnomer that you and I,
Rich, have talked about. There seems to be this old mentality that has carried
over into the newer generations where they feel like, oh, if a record company
(41:16):
comes, that's it, it, that's all I need. Or if a manager comes, that's the
answer to my questions. That's the answer. You know, I'm on, on easy street. And
that could be nothing further from the truth. Yeah, absolutely. And
you know what the reality is today, as you well know, Eric,
we're in an era where recording is less expensive
than it has ever been. You know, it wasn't that long ago that we
(41:38):
lived in an era where, you know, the whole A&R process or recording an album
or body work, you had to go into these things called recording studios.
They cost a lot of money and you couldn't find people to do that kind
of work on Craigslist. It was a very, very expensive
proposition and we just don't live in that world
anymore. But to your point, it's not about necessarily the cost
(41:59):
of recording. Right. To your point, it's about the marketing element
and thinking, you know, beyond what I have just made,
how am I going to get it out there? Do I have a plan? Do
I know who do I want to reach? How am I going to do that?
What are the platforms and the specifics that I have? Do I have the money
and the budget to do that? That's, that's the part that I thought
(42:21):
was most interesting about the point you just made and overall about
the you. Are the record company now. You have to be making all the decisions.
You're the A&R company, you're the A&R president, you're the marketing department.
You're all of those elements. That's you now,
especially at the early stages of a career, it's
absolutely essential that you get that about your own music.
(42:43):
Because if you don't get it it, no one else is going to get it.
Hey insiders, thanks so much for tuning in to this episode. We really
appreciate it. To get show notes, links and everything that was
mentioned during this interview, head on over to our official
website at
mubutv.com/podcast/shownotes. If you're enjoying the
content and what we're doing here on the show, please subscribe to the podcast on
(43:05):
Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to
podcasts from. And don't forget to rate and review our show at iTunes.
Five star reviews are always welcome and help to ensure that our
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itunes and our space. You can also find us at social media at
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(43:27):
ending with the handle mubutv, which is spelled M U B U T
V. Don't forget to catch our flagship show, the MUBUTV Music
Business Insider Video Series. Airing every week on YouTube
at YouTube.com/@mubutv
this show was produced and created by Ritch Esra and Eric Knight, theme
music by Disciples of Babylon. And be sure to tune in next week for another
(43:50):
episode of the MUBUTV Music Business Insider Podcast.
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