RYAN LESLIE WAS WRONG

RYAN LESLIE WAS WRONG If you get my record, the technologies about scalable communication, personal communication. My name is Brandon Tori. I'm an independent artist and a former Google and Apple engineer. I left Big Tech to build an artist-owned music platform called Share. When Ryan Leslie went direct to consumer in 2013, he unlocked the single most important music business insight of the last 30 years. The beauty of actually knowing every single person who bought my record means that when I went on tour, I can send a text to them. That the holy grail is not streams, not views, but getting the data from the fan so that you can communicate with them directly. But he was wrong about how to get it. At that time, DTC looked a lot like it does today. Artists pitched fans on the idea of directly supporting them in exchange for exclusive access. Ryan did this by releasing his music on his own website. 15,000 records, $10 a piece, that's $150,000. And went straight to my pocket. Proving that the model does work. Then he built Superphone, a product that allows artists to contact fans directly through SMS text messaging. This was brilliant for artists. But the problem with this model is that it is exhausting. Being constantly marketed to, asked to support at a higher price point and texted in a one-directional channel without real engagement causes the relationship to suffer. So what's the correct answer? We have to go back to 2004. In 2004, 34% of all CD sales were bootleg mixtapes. That means that at that time, it wasn't just the label distributing music, it was consumers too. Before streaming, consumers were able to participate in the economy of music and make money. The key is empowering people to do the same thing today, legally. And here's the truth. The industry is afraid to tell you. If your fans make money with you, they replace the label. The future is not texting millions of fans to tell them when your next show is. The future is texting your fans to tell them, let's get this money together. Selling ownership splits to fans can be tricky. If a fan doesn't recoup their investment, that's not fun. That's a disappointment. Ryan Leslie is known as a genius for his early acceptance to and graduation from Harvard University at age 19, scoring a perfect 1600 SAT, and pursuing music while studying government, focusing on political science and macroeconomics. He was a self-taught musician, producer, and tech innovator who navigated being on academic probation by strategically choosing classes for flexibility, supported by mentors who saw his unique potential beyond academics. And this is where Ryan Leslie's genius actually shines. What Ryan unlocked is that the fan data is more important than the money. And since the fan data is more important than the money, we give the splits away for free. And in return, we're getting an email address, a phone number, the highest converting channel that are available outside of corporate controlled algorithms. Fans don't need to sell the music. If a song hits, everybody eats. And the splits are tradeable. This isn't affiliate marketing. It's ownership. It's fun. It's the digital stream. Welcome to the future. Share.stream.