February 15, 2025 • 20 mins
Music industry legend, Ernie Singleton joins Tiffany Hobbs and he is holding nothing back. He shares his phenomenal history and how he overcame barriers. He also shares his views on music then versus now. Also BREAKING NEWS on what is next for this icon. Take a listen.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, if I am six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app Tiffany Hobbes here with you until seven, and
I am excited. I am extremely excited because when we
found out we were going to have this next guest,
I did my homework. I do my homework for every guest,
whether there's name recognition or business recognition, and.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I knew I recognized this name.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So I did my homework. And what I found out
from my research was that not only did I recognize
this name, but that my entire adolescence, my young adulthood,
my childhood was crafted by this man's influence, by his
musical influence, by what he did in the recording industry
(00:48):
that I wasn't even aware of. That he was the
proverbial man behind the magic or the man behind the
iron curtain. And I was just so thrilled to know
that he would give our show some of his very,
very very valuable time. Let me tell you a little
bit about Ernie Singleton. The music industry is a challenging
(01:10):
space to navigate for artists and staff alike. It's synonymous
with here today, Gone tomorrow. Sticking around is a feat
afforded to few those who experience success narrow that list
even further. But our next guest has managed to do
both for more than thirty five years, and you can
add another decade plus to that when you include the
(01:32):
street level promotions work he was doing that made him
a must have acquisition in the recording industry. With one
hundred and thirty nine gold and platinum records to his
credit and a legitimate claim to being the one to
revolutionize black music in the eighties and nineties, mister Ernie
Singleton has been described as a legend by his peers
(01:55):
and artists he has worked with. You might recognize them,
Addie LaBelle Share, I'll be sure, Shaka Khan, Alanis Morissette, Jodasy,
The Beg's New Edition, Miles Davis, Bone Thugs and Harmony,
Prince and Quincy Jones to name a select few. And
(02:19):
I want to play a little compilation of some of
the music that I just listed.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Name Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
What makes mister Ernie Singleton a legend is his mightas
touch ability to transform struggling labels and imprints MCA, Warner
Brothers and Ruthless Records into top performers across the charts.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What has kept.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Mister Ernie Singleton in his legendary status is his ability
to transcend boundaries, be them artistic, cultural, or within an
industry that is moving into new and innovative ways of
marketing and distributing talent. Without the marketing and promotional talents
of mister Ernie Singleton, the music industry and how we
(03:44):
consume it would be very different. Mister Singleton holds the
keys to the past, present, and future of music with
his own company, Singleton Music Corp. Focusing on entertainment, management, consulting,
and marketing. From his personal beginnings in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Shout out to Southern University Go Jags to his promotional
(04:06):
foundation in radio that landed him in Los Angeles and
exposed him to the global reach of the music industry.
We are proud and so very grateful to welcome mister
Ernie Singleton to k f I. Mister Singleton, Hello.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Hello, Hello, Wow. That's pretty impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Even for me to hear it.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Almost an out of body experience, right, that's you. You
did all that, mister Singleton.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, well, you know, thank you so much, first
and foremost for having me on your show. What an
honor and a privilege to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I feel the same way, and I know that we
could spend an entire show just reading off your accolades
and what you've done and the music that you've helped
promote or executive produce. But I have some really introspective
questions that I want to share with you, and questions
that I think if people had the opportunity to sit
(05:09):
down with you and get five minutes of your time,
they might want to ask. So, mister Singleton, again, it's
my privilege and my honor, and I am happy, very
very happy to have this time with you. You ready
to get into some.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Questions, I'm ready, Yes, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
When you took the helm at MCA Records, it had
been known at that time as a legacy label for
country and rock artists. You had Leonard Skinnard, and that
was very different from what MCA then became. Then you
come along and MCA becomes a juggernaut for urban, which
(05:48):
is coded for black music. Was the label resistant at
all to that transition?
Speaker 4 (05:57):
No, they were not. I think it important for people
to understand that I've always been big in black culture,
being a native of New Orleans as a kid. When
I was riding the bus, I have a little bit
of an annoyance riding down on Bergen Street or whatever
(06:20):
street on the bus hitded to my desire project neighborhood.
And because I knew behind those buildings used to be
slave quarters.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yes, yes, so I can have a good.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Vibe about my town from that perspective. And I knew
that New Orleans was the birthplace of gospel and jazz.
But not because New Yormstrong and Mao J. Jackson and
all those people just kind of got jiggy with it.
That was because black the indentured servants in the late
(06:51):
eighteen hundreds were allowed to play music in a place
called Congo Square. It just exist in Orlands Congo where
the slaves could play music only on Sundays when the
master was off. It's interesting we're having this conversation considering
the dynamics that's going on in our country right now
government wise. But so when I when I finally transitioned
(07:14):
from radio into the record company. Uh and and I'm
a degree thecounter but I never did the accounting work.
But when I started mc A, fortunately I was I
was working with a buddy of mine, guy named Gerald Busby,
whom I had worked with during my class Cape Blanca
(07:35):
days when I was a street So when I was
a street soldier with George Clinton cameo and long story.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
See George Clinton cameo, mister Singleton.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
George Clinton cameo down the summer. This ain't funkytown. That's
that was. That was my cast of Blanca days as
a as A as what we called the regional Marketing Rep.
So I you know, I was in and out of
the raad those stations. So long story chart. When I
joined the ranks with Busby. Busby and I had worked
(08:07):
together at Casablanca, so we were friends already. And hats
off to Ergan Azof who was the master mind, by
the way, behind the recent fire aid concerts that just
happened in Los Angeles. But Ergin brought Jet, bought Busby in,
(08:27):
and a month later he brought me in. And you know,
we used to refer to m c A, which stands
for the Music Corporation of America. On the streets, we
refer to m c A as the Music Cemetery of America. Well,
because MCA didn't have any real hits, they had great art,
(08:48):
the BB King who was one of my best of
friends until till the day he died. But they had
BB Body Bland one way, but they never had real major,
major hits. So I wasn't happy I'm coming to MCA
unless they would they would leave us alone and let
us do what we did, what we could do. And
(09:09):
that's what Erbie did. He gave Gerald and High free
reigns and in any time anything happened. The Patti LaBelle
we took from from Sony from CBS. Uh, come your broadcast.
They're now called Sony okay. We When Jerl and I
were getting ready, we're trying to swing Patty into coming
(09:30):
to MCA. We had the conversation, man, what did we
do with pat LaBelle? How do you get a Pady
La Bell to come to the label?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And you were and you were able to mister Singleton,
you and your kind of infancy in the music industry
were able to pull this huge artist. You know, we're
up against the clock, mister Singleton, and I want to
I want you to continue in this line of thinking.
We're going to talk more about that free reign that
you were given, as well as some other questions I
(09:59):
have for you. We're going to take a break and
then we'll come back and we'll get back into those questions.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Okay, is that okay? Can you hang out for a
little bit longer?
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I'm with you, oh man.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
We are talking to mister Ernie Singleton, music industry executive,
legendary executive behind the hits that you didn't even know
were his. He has a long repertoire in the music
industry and he is giving us a bit of his
time here on KFI to talk about his time at
these different record labels. And we're talking to music industry
(10:33):
executive mister Ernie Singleton. He is the executive behind the
massi appeal of artists like Prince Share, the Beg's Alanis
Morrissett Own Thugs in Harmony, and mister Singleton, we were
just talking about the free reign that you were given
while you were with MCA and its infancy.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
When you came on.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It was a new birth of MCA at the time,
and you were able to turn it into something that
became ground breaking. And speaking about being groundbreaking, music seems
to be embracing fewer boundaries in regards to race and culture.
There are still some holdouts, of course, evidenced by many
(11:16):
currently in the country genre who've been reluctant to accept
Beyonce's latest album. But your work has transcended racial boundaries,
bringing white artists into black spaces and vice versa. Do
you think that racial boundaries should at this point be
removed altogether from the conversation when it comes to music,
(11:39):
are or are there benefits to keeping some aspects of
those boundaries.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
I think that it's important that the boundaries remain in
place because our music is not their music. And I'm
not talking about white I'm talking whether you want to
go the classical, you want to talk about Latin music
before we integrated the Latin music into the into the Grammys.
(12:10):
Our music is the foundation of music that comes from
North America, and the music that comes from North America
is the foundation of music globally in terms of popular music.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Yes, yes, so you know so you can't.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
One of the one of the dilemmas that has happened
in the music business is we and this is not
to knock anybody, We have white executives now in driver's
seat of the of the black departments, and they're not
They don't function from the heart. I keep hearing in
the back of my head, I keep hearing Kendrick Lamars, They're.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Not like us, all right, all right, we're not.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
It's not. It's not racist. The rhythm, the African rhythms,
and the and the and the harmonies that comes from
our music that separates and redefines Black gospel versus White
Christian music. It's it's not going to change.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
No, no, it's not, and it shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yep. But we now have algorithms and AI and a
few other technological marvels that are really good. And I
only hope and pray that more parents open the door
for their kids, educate their kids on the past, and
open their door for their kids to figure out how
(13:31):
to manipulate the computer or the technology or AI so
that the creative the creative force that we bring the
table continues to be brought to the table.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And speaking about AI and digital technology, social media, the
streaming age that we're in, I myself spent a few
years working under a regional marketing executive in Los Angeles
at Universal Music and did that for a couple of years,
moved on through a few different labels, and one of
my favorite things was actually getting out there physically and
(14:06):
setting up promotional materials in records stores, whether it was
Tower Records on Sunset or the VIP Records in Long
Beach or a Warehouse music store, setting up those in
caps and introducing artists to meet and greets with their fans.
Kind of the personalization of the relationship between artists and fans.
(14:28):
People actually got to see them up close and personal.
We've spoken a lot about what that was like, whether
it was the Sony Walkman that you loaded with music
and took to the radio programmers to have them listen
to the music and get it on air, or going
out and setting up those in caps in records stores.
All of that created that connection. It helped foster and
(14:50):
strengthen that connection between artists and fan. Today, digital media, streaming, AI,
social media that seems to promote a bit more of
a disc connect. Yes, we have access to these people,
but it is still a bit removed from that person
to person interaction. Do you think that that disconnect, if
there is one, in fact, can translate to a fan
(15:13):
experience that is ultimately lacking.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I think yes. The answer is yes. We've got to
stop living in the past. When I was a kid,
it was the grappanola, and later on the A trax
came along, and later on the cassette came along, and
the vinyl with the seven inch and twelve inch. All
(15:43):
this was the normal music industry. No one today that's
under forty has a music collection at home. I would
be stunned to find that person. Yeah, so we're in
a different era. Ladies and gentlemen, and a lot of
us are fighting the transition of what's going on musically.
(16:06):
I remember when music was a standard thing in school,
and all of a sudden it was taken out of schools. Yes,
and the computers became very, very prominent. I was stunned
when I looked at people like Teddy Raleigh and see
how he made music the way he did. Yeah. Yeah,
(16:28):
but that whole generation they began to find ways to
make the music in the early days of cassio and
all these little technological music pieces we had.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yes, so.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I'm not the one, you know is this would be
a conversation for me for you to have with Jimmy
jam and Terry Lewis or my buddy John Nettlesbyy and
people like that who who really speak music creativity from
a different experience than mine.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
They are more than welcome to come on the show.
I would love to.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Talk to them.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
But I only say that because I'm sure some of
those kind of people are in your audience, whether they're
accomplished jam and Lewis La n Face kind of people
or Nettlesby, or whether they're just young people who have
a passion for music and trying to figure it out.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And go ahead, go ahead, mister Singles.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And I'm sorry, so don't knock it. Let's open the
door wider for the young people. The average kid now
that's ten, eleven, twelve years old. They you know, they
got they got to access herself on it. Now they're
gonna have one real soon. And they got some kind
of device. Yes, and it's probably not the device that
(17:41):
my kids had in the seventies when they were ten
eleven years.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Old, right, I'd be a little different.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
So I only wish I had had encouraged my kids
and put them in some other schools to learn how
to create pac Man and some of the games that
we're playing.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Mister Singleton, if I may, because as much as I
would love to spend two hours, three hours, five hours
two days with you, asking questions and just absorbing. I
just want to sit at your knee and just listen
to you talk. I could do that, and I would
love to do that sometime. I have time for one
more question. And in a few words, you are far
(18:22):
from finished. People might expect you to just kind of
put your feet up and just bask in your success.
But again, you are far from finished. So what's the
next chapter for Ernie Singleton.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
That's a good question. I am. I'm actually a partner
right now in a private equity firm. We have alternative
ways to fund projects. But you know, I mean that's
and there's a lot involved in that. But that for
(18:58):
me because we don't do little projects. Okay, we're we're
we're focused on making big deals that are worth ten
to twenty million dollars. If it's not those kind of deals,
typically it's not something that we would have an interest in.
That's one. I am also launching a new company that
(19:23):
premature to talk about it, but I'll mention it. We're
going to be acquiring catalogs. Oh my catalog catalogs under
ten million dollars, but we want to repurpose those catalogs you've.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Just you've just just given us an exclusive mister Singleton,
thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Yeah, oh my goodness, breaking news.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
That. So that's a short version because we're not we're not.
We're not doing a two hour show here. So well,
we're going to have you back.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
We're going to have you back and we are going
to continue this conversation and ask more of the questions
that we have that our listeners will submit and your
knowledge is boundless. Timing unfortunately is not, so we do
have to let you go. But mister Singleton, thank you
so very much for giving us your time. I appreciate
(20:14):
it from the bottom of my heart. This was amazing
to talk to you. A dream come true, and I
thank you for everything you have done. And I take
you up on that lunch. I'm taking you to lunch
when I come out your way.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thank you, Tiffany, thanks for your time, and thanks for
forheaving me.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You are so welcome.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
He is mister Ernie Singleton, man behind the biggest musical
acts in history, in history transcended, the man with the
Midas Touch. This is kf I Am six forty Live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Okay, if I am six forty live everywhere on the
iHeartRadio app Tiffany Hobbes here with you until seven, and
I am excited. I am extremely excited because when we
found out we were going to have this next guest,
I did my homework. I do my homework for every guest,
whether there's name recognition or business recognition, and.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I knew I recognized this name.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
So I did my homework. And what I found out
from my research was that not only did I recognize
this name, but that my entire adolescence, my young adulthood,
my childhood was crafted by this man's influence, by his
musical influence, by what he did in the recording industry
(00:48):
that I wasn't even aware of. That he was the
proverbial man behind the magic or the man behind the
iron curtain. And I was just so thrilled to know
that he would give our show some of his very,
very very valuable time. Let me tell you a little
bit about Ernie Singleton. The music industry is a challenging
(01:10):
space to navigate for artists and staff alike. It's synonymous
with here today, Gone tomorrow. Sticking around is a feat
afforded to few those who experience success narrow that list
even further. But our next guest has managed to do
both for more than thirty five years, and you can
add another decade plus to that when you include the
(01:32):
street level promotions work he was doing that made him
a must have acquisition in the recording industry. With one
hundred and thirty nine gold and platinum records to his
credit and a legitimate claim to being the one to
revolutionize black music in the eighties and nineties, mister Ernie
Singleton has been described as a legend by his peers
(01:55):
and artists he has worked with. You might recognize them,
Addie LaBelle Share, I'll be sure, Shaka Khan, Alanis Morissette, Jodasy,
The Beg's New Edition, Miles Davis, Bone Thugs and Harmony,
Prince and Quincy Jones to name a select few. And
(02:19):
I want to play a little compilation of some of
the music that I just listed.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Name Wow.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
What makes mister Ernie Singleton a legend is his mightas
touch ability to transform struggling labels and imprints MCA, Warner
Brothers and Ruthless Records into top performers across the charts.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What has kept.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Mister Ernie Singleton in his legendary status is his ability
to transcend boundaries, be them artistic, cultural, or within an
industry that is moving into new and innovative ways of
marketing and distributing talent. Without the marketing and promotional talents
of mister Ernie Singleton, the music industry and how we
(03:44):
consume it would be very different. Mister Singleton holds the
keys to the past, present, and future of music with
his own company, Singleton Music Corp. Focusing on entertainment, management, consulting,
and marketing. From his personal beginnings in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Shout out to Southern University Go Jags to his promotional
(04:06):
foundation in radio that landed him in Los Angeles and
exposed him to the global reach of the music industry.
We are proud and so very grateful to welcome mister
Ernie Singleton to k f I. Mister Singleton, Hello.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Hello, Hello, Wow. That's pretty impressive.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Even for me to hear it.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Almost an out of body experience, right, that's you. You
did all that, mister Singleton.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, well, you know, thank you so much, first
and foremost for having me on your show. What an
honor and a privilege to be here.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I feel the same way, and I know that we
could spend an entire show just reading off your accolades
and what you've done and the music that you've helped
promote or executive produce. But I have some really introspective
questions that I want to share with you, and questions
that I think if people had the opportunity to sit
(05:09):
down with you and get five minutes of your time,
they might want to ask. So, mister Singleton, again, it's
my privilege and my honor, and I am happy, very
very happy to have this time with you. You ready
to get into some.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Questions, I'm ready, Yes, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
When you took the helm at MCA Records, it had
been known at that time as a legacy label for
country and rock artists. You had Leonard Skinnard, and that
was very different from what MCA then became. Then you
come along and MCA becomes a juggernaut for urban, which
(05:48):
is coded for black music. Was the label resistant at
all to that transition?
Speaker 4 (05:57):
No, they were not. I think it important for people
to understand that I've always been big in black culture,
being a native of New Orleans as a kid. When
I was riding the bus, I have a little bit
of an annoyance riding down on Bergen Street or whatever
(06:20):
street on the bus hitded to my desire project neighborhood.
And because I knew behind those buildings used to be
slave quarters.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yes, yes, so I can have a good.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Vibe about my town from that perspective. And I knew
that New Orleans was the birthplace of gospel and jazz.
But not because New Yormstrong and Mao J. Jackson and
all those people just kind of got jiggy with it.
That was because black the indentured servants in the late
(06:51):
eighteen hundreds were allowed to play music in a place
called Congo Square. It just exist in Orlands Congo where
the slaves could play music only on Sundays when the
master was off. It's interesting we're having this conversation considering
the dynamics that's going on in our country right now
government wise. But so when I when I finally transitioned
(07:14):
from radio into the record company. Uh and and I'm
a degree thecounter but I never did the accounting work.
But when I started mc A, fortunately I was I
was working with a buddy of mine, guy named Gerald Busby,
whom I had worked with during my class Cape Blanca
(07:35):
days when I was a street So when I was
a street soldier with George Clinton cameo and long story.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
See George Clinton cameo, mister Singleton.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
George Clinton cameo down the summer. This ain't funkytown. That's
that was. That was my cast of Blanca days as
a as A as what we called the regional Marketing Rep.
So I you know, I was in and out of
the raad those stations. So long story chart. When I
joined the ranks with Busby. Busby and I had worked
(08:07):
together at Casablanca, so we were friends already. And hats
off to Ergan Azof who was the master mind, by
the way, behind the recent fire aid concerts that just
happened in Los Angeles. But Ergin brought Jet, bought Busby in,
(08:27):
and a month later he brought me in. And you know,
we used to refer to m c A, which stands
for the Music Corporation of America. On the streets, we
refer to m c A as the Music Cemetery of America. Well,
because MCA didn't have any real hits, they had great art,
(08:48):
the BB King who was one of my best of
friends until till the day he died. But they had
BB Body Bland one way, but they never had real major,
major hits. So I wasn't happy I'm coming to MCA
unless they would they would leave us alone and let
us do what we did, what we could do. And
(09:09):
that's what Erbie did. He gave Gerald and High free
reigns and in any time anything happened. The Patti LaBelle
we took from from Sony from CBS. Uh, come your broadcast.
They're now called Sony okay. We When Jerl and I
were getting ready, we're trying to swing Patty into coming
(09:30):
to MCA. We had the conversation, man, what did we
do with pat LaBelle? How do you get a Pady
La Bell to come to the label?
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And you were and you were able to mister Singleton,
you and your kind of infancy in the music industry
were able to pull this huge artist. You know, we're
up against the clock, mister Singleton, and I want to
I want you to continue in this line of thinking.
We're going to talk more about that free reign that
you were given, as well as some other questions I
(09:59):
have for you. We're going to take a break and
then we'll come back and we'll get back into those questions.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Okay, is that okay? Can you hang out for a
little bit longer?
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I'm with you, oh man.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
We are talking to mister Ernie Singleton, music industry executive,
legendary executive behind the hits that you didn't even know
were his. He has a long repertoire in the music
industry and he is giving us a bit of his
time here on KFI to talk about his time at
these different record labels. And we're talking to music industry
(10:33):
executive mister Ernie Singleton. He is the executive behind the
massi appeal of artists like Prince Share, the Beg's Alanis
Morrissett Own Thugs in Harmony, and mister Singleton, we were
just talking about the free reign that you were given
while you were with MCA and its infancy.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
When you came on.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It was a new birth of MCA at the time,
and you were able to turn it into something that
became ground breaking. And speaking about being groundbreaking, music seems
to be embracing fewer boundaries in regards to race and culture.
There are still some holdouts, of course, evidenced by many
(11:16):
currently in the country genre who've been reluctant to accept
Beyonce's latest album. But your work has transcended racial boundaries,
bringing white artists into black spaces and vice versa. Do
you think that racial boundaries should at this point be
removed altogether from the conversation when it comes to music,
(11:39):
are or are there benefits to keeping some aspects of
those boundaries.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
I think that it's important that the boundaries remain in
place because our music is not their music. And I'm
not talking about white I'm talking whether you want to
go the classical, you want to talk about Latin music
before we integrated the Latin music into the into the Grammys.
(12:10):
Our music is the foundation of music that comes from
North America, and the music that comes from North America
is the foundation of music globally in terms of popular music.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Yes, yes, so you know so you can't.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
One of the one of the dilemmas that has happened
in the music business is we and this is not
to knock anybody, We have white executives now in driver's
seat of the of the black departments, and they're not
They don't function from the heart. I keep hearing in
the back of my head, I keep hearing Kendrick Lamars, They're.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Not like us, all right, all right, we're not.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
It's not. It's not racist. The rhythm, the African rhythms,
and the and the and the harmonies that comes from
our music that separates and redefines Black gospel versus White
Christian music. It's it's not going to change.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
No, no, it's not, and it shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Yep. But we now have algorithms and AI and a
few other technological marvels that are really good. And I
only hope and pray that more parents open the door
for their kids, educate their kids on the past, and
open their door for their kids to figure out how
(13:31):
to manipulate the computer or the technology or AI so
that the creative the creative force that we bring the
table continues to be brought to the table.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And speaking about AI and digital technology, social media, the
streaming age that we're in, I myself spent a few
years working under a regional marketing executive in Los Angeles
at Universal Music and did that for a couple of years,
moved on through a few different labels, and one of
my favorite things was actually getting out there physically and
(14:06):
setting up promotional materials in records stores, whether it was
Tower Records on Sunset or the VIP Records in Long
Beach or a Warehouse music store, setting up those in
caps and introducing artists to meet and greets with their fans.
Kind of the personalization of the relationship between artists and fans.
(14:28):
People actually got to see them up close and personal.
We've spoken a lot about what that was like, whether
it was the Sony Walkman that you loaded with music
and took to the radio programmers to have them listen
to the music and get it on air, or going
out and setting up those in caps in records stores.
All of that created that connection. It helped foster and
(14:50):
strengthen that connection between artists and fan. Today, digital media, streaming, AI,
social media that seems to promote a bit more of
a disc connect. Yes, we have access to these people,
but it is still a bit removed from that person
to person interaction. Do you think that that disconnect, if
there is one, in fact, can translate to a fan
(15:13):
experience that is ultimately lacking.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I think yes. The answer is yes. We've got to
stop living in the past. When I was a kid,
it was the grappanola, and later on the A trax
came along, and later on the cassette came along, and
the vinyl with the seven inch and twelve inch. All
(15:43):
this was the normal music industry. No one today that's
under forty has a music collection at home. I would
be stunned to find that person. Yeah, so we're in
a different era. Ladies and gentlemen, and a lot of
us are fighting the transition of what's going on musically.
(16:06):
I remember when music was a standard thing in school,
and all of a sudden it was taken out of schools. Yes,
and the computers became very, very prominent. I was stunned
when I looked at people like Teddy Raleigh and see
how he made music the way he did. Yeah. Yeah,
(16:28):
but that whole generation they began to find ways to
make the music in the early days of cassio and
all these little technological music pieces we had.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yes, so.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I'm not the one, you know is this would be
a conversation for me for you to have with Jimmy
jam and Terry Lewis or my buddy John Nettlesbyy and
people like that who who really speak music creativity from
a different experience than mine.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
They are more than welcome to come on the show.
I would love to.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Talk to them.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
But I only say that because I'm sure some of
those kind of people are in your audience, whether they're
accomplished jam and Lewis La n Face kind of people
or Nettlesby, or whether they're just young people who have
a passion for music and trying to figure it out.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
And go ahead, go ahead, mister Singles.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
And I'm sorry, so don't knock it. Let's open the
door wider for the young people. The average kid now
that's ten, eleven, twelve years old. They you know, they
got they got to access herself on it. Now they're
gonna have one real soon. And they got some kind
of device. Yes, and it's probably not the device that
(17:41):
my kids had in the seventies when they were ten
eleven years.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Old, right, I'd be a little different.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
So I only wish I had had encouraged my kids
and put them in some other schools to learn how
to create pac Man and some of the games that
we're playing.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Mister Singleton, if I may, because as much as I
would love to spend two hours, three hours, five hours
two days with you, asking questions and just absorbing. I
just want to sit at your knee and just listen
to you talk. I could do that, and I would
love to do that sometime. I have time for one
more question. And in a few words, you are far
(18:22):
from finished. People might expect you to just kind of
put your feet up and just bask in your success.
But again, you are far from finished. So what's the
next chapter for Ernie Singleton.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
That's a good question. I am. I'm actually a partner
right now in a private equity firm. We have alternative
ways to fund projects. But you know, I mean that's
and there's a lot involved in that. But that for
(18:58):
me because we don't do little projects. Okay, we're we're
we're focused on making big deals that are worth ten
to twenty million dollars. If it's not those kind of deals,
typically it's not something that we would have an interest in.
That's one. I am also launching a new company that
(19:23):
premature to talk about it, but I'll mention it. We're
going to be acquiring catalogs. Oh my catalog catalogs under
ten million dollars, but we want to repurpose those catalogs you've.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Just you've just just given us an exclusive mister Singleton,
thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Yeah, oh my goodness, breaking news.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
That. So that's a short version because we're not we're not.
We're not doing a two hour show here. So well,
we're going to have you back.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
We're going to have you back and we are going
to continue this conversation and ask more of the questions
that we have that our listeners will submit and your
knowledge is boundless. Timing unfortunately is not, so we do
have to let you go. But mister Singleton, thank you
so very much for giving us your time. I appreciate
(20:14):
it from the bottom of my heart. This was amazing
to talk to you. A dream come true, and I
thank you for everything you have done. And I take
you up on that lunch. I'm taking you to lunch
when I come out your way.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thank you, Tiffany, thanks for your time, and thanks for
forheaving me.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
You are so welcome.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
He is mister Ernie Singleton, man behind the biggest musical
acts in history, in history transcended, the man with the
Midas Touch. This is kf I Am six forty Live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
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