Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Hernandez.
Jorge, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was a music junkie from an early age. My two older brothers both played instruments and once I started playing guitar at the age of 13, that was pretty much it for me. It’s all I ever thought about or wanted to do. My first concert was the Police during the Ghost in the Machine Tour. I still remember the date vividly, March 12, 1982. It is not hyperbolic at all to say I walked into that venue one person and walked out another. I am a parent of two children and I can honestly say that concert back in 1982 was just as transformative in my life as the day that I became a parent. To be certain though, I obviously love my kids way more than the Police. hahaha.
I attended the University of Arizona on a music scholarship from 1988-1991 and received a music performance degree in Classical Guitar. I then attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and began my Master’s degree in Classical Guitar Performance. Towards the end of my academic pursuit, 1994, I noticed there was a confluence of local talent and music school kids. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was right in the middle of a vibrant music scene that produced a variety of other music executives as well as the record label Secret Canadian. (To be clear, I had nothing to do with Secretly Canadian, I’m only pointing out that we all came out of that same music scene.)
I made a name for myself pretty quickly as an artist manager and before long came to the attention of the major label community. By 1997 I was flying back and forth between Bloomington and New York City and Los Angeles in three-week cycles. After a year of doing that I decided I needed to pick a coast and settled on Los Angeles. Once I arrived, I did A&R for a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and soon after was hired by a newly formed Record label. We quickly found success with a young pop prodigy and signed a joint venture agreement with EMI for $7 million.
By the time that company wound down in 2003, I decided to start my own management company and have been managing artists ever since. At this point, I’ve had at least one act at every major record label and a few on established indies as well. Most recently, I formed a new venture with two other music managers, Mike Kosak from NBD Management and Tim Jones from Pipe and Hat. Our new venture is so new, we haven’t even settled on a name yet. We have created a fully integrated model where we provide all services under one roof for our clients: management, label services, distribution, licensing, publishing, touring / agency, and business management. Our first release is Sam Creighton and her single is called, “Go to Hell.” We just signed our second artist, an artist we’re all incredibly excited about named viisi. Mike, Tim, and I still have our own individual rosters separate and apart from one another. The great thing though is that even with those acts, we are a resource to on another. Some of those acts include: Will Jay, Royal & the Serpent, Faouzia, Flyana Boss, and tween influencer Piper Rockelle.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has never been a smooth road. The path to success on the executive side of the music business is just as treacherous and unpredictable as the pursuit of being a successful artist. The entertainment business is interesting in that your career does not follow a linear path. That is to say, if you wanted to be a doctor, you would do well in high school, study one of the life sciences or be a pre-med student, go to med school, have a residency, etc. etc. Your career will also have a nice smooth curve in terms of what you make and your general advancement. If you speak with a thousand doctors you will hear that story with some variation from doctor to doctor, but the narrative is pretty much the same.
If you take a thousand people that do what I do, you will hear a thousand different and distinctly unique stories. Also, the money you make is lumpy, meaning it’s not predictable over time and comes in spurts. I once had a period of two years where I made $2,500. That’s not a typo, $2,500 over the course of two years. Now, to be clear, I have taken a more entrepreneurial path and with a couple of exceptions, throughout my 26 years in the music business, I have worked for myself which certainly presents some challenges in terms of making money. At the same time, if you did say A&R for major record labels, you would find a lot of lumpiness there as well since there isn’t a lot of job security for A&R executives. To put in perspective, if I look back to say 1997 and look at everyone I knew in the business at that time, I think I have more fingers on my right hand than people that are still in the music business form that time. The attrition rate is incredibly high in this business.
Please tell us about IAT Artist Management and your new venture with Mike Kosak and Tim Jones.
What we do falls under the umbrella of artist development and management. All of us have been primarily working with pop and hip hop artists, and I work with a couple of YouTube influencers too. Speaking for myself, I think I have carved out a name as someone that can bridge the gap between the traditional music business and this new explosion in digital marketing and distribution.
I think what I’m most proud of is that I find talent at a very early stage before anyone else is looking at these artists. I help nurture these artists and help them build a story until they are at the point of being a fully mature music brand so to speak.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I had a mentor named Frankie LaRocka who unfortunately passed away in 2005. The music business is very insular, like the mob really. Lol Ok, maybe not quite that insular, but it’s not a business where you just introduce yourself with a cold call and people take you seriously right away. However, having someone to vouch for you is huge and in the beginning virtually necessary. It opens a lot of doors when someone that knows and trusts you says to someone else in the business, “Hey, this is a good kid, you should talk to him/her.” Frankie did a lot of that for me and he gave me some great advice. One of the greatest life lessons I’ve ever had came from Frankie. It’s just great advice in general regardless of your business or even if its in the realm of your personal life like dating. Picture a really thick Staten Island accent when you read this, “Ayy, hoe-hay, you gotta be a nudge, without being a nudge!” That has served me remarkably well all these years.
In addition to Frankie, I’d have to say my Godfather, Dr. Juan Espinosa, who is a psychiatrist, has also been an enormous influence on me just in terms of the kind of demeanor and person you want to aspire to be. I learned a lot from that man and continue to learn from him to this day.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
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