Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Spence.
Marcus, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am music executive who has been in the music industry for over 19 years now. I began my career working with Timbaland Beatclub Records. This was my first job out of college. This job gave me the chance to learn so much at rapid pass. Some of the more notable names I worked with were southern rapper Bubba Sparxxx and philly female rapper Ms. Jade.
My senior year in college Timbaland offered me a job. I knew nothing I was getting into music business wise. The first thing I did was buy as many music books to quickly realize that the hands-on experience of getting your hands wet would create the best learning experience. We had a minimal success with beat club scoring a gold album with Bubba Sparxxx. The beat club label was a joint venture with Interscope. Which was a whole other thing of learning how to work with a major label. During this time at Beatclub I met Ryan Tedder who then was a solo artist.
We connected and I started managing Ryan Tedder as a producer/Writer along with his newly formed band OneRepublic which was then called republic. Everything during that time was moving so fast our label with Interscope deal ended. So I focused on Ryan and the band. After months of shows, we signed a deal with Velvet Hammer/Colombia. This was a huge accomplishment. The band was on the roster for a while. But what happens around 2006 is magical. Thereafter Timbaland formed a Mosley Music Group and we did a joint venture with Interscope again. Our Roster included International superstar Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, Timothy Bloom, Keri Hilson, Chris Cornell, and Onerepublic. I was brought in as the president of the label. This was a very exciting time for Mosley Music and Interscope.
Along with my record business experience and management practice. My brother Eric Spence and I were the heads of La Creative for then Ole Rights Management this was publishing company that we had previously brought Timbaland catalog over. And part of the deal we positioned to have a joint venture called Bluestone Publishing which we have alot of success cut from Bryson Tiller, To Justin Timberlake to Jay Z. Additionally beside Onerepublic as a pass client I have managed some pretty talent artist, Such as Faith Evans, Guy Sebastian, Mack Wilds, Jacob Luttrell, Michael B Jordan, Rachel O’brien, Jessica Reedy, and more.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anyone has ever had a smooth road when it come to being in the music industry. There have been many deadlines that had too met. Many hoops I had to jump through. And especially coming in the business and with Timbaland being your nephew I kind had to always prove myself. There were many times where I wanted to pull my hair out but this is why we got into this business for the passion. Biggest struggles are you have to be ready for the unexpected from artist. I learned fast to think like the artist so you can be two steps ahead. Many times the struggles are not having assets on time or missing dates for a release. Or artist doesn’t see why they should do this show or event. I can go on and on. Again this is why we got in the business.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Cinq Music LLC – what should we know?
I am the Sr. VP of A&R for Cinq Music we are new age form of distribution. We are great identify talent and guiding them wherever is needed. My job includes discovering, identifying, and signing new talent. And finding clients with music catalogs or more so those that own their masters or control the streaming royalties. My specialty is being an outside the box thinker with marketing. And I have gift at understanding artist and can help cultivate a sound that identifies with the brand of artist. In the nutshell, I am a good matchmaker. I am known for signing and breaking Onerepublic along with managing all of Timbaland business for over 15 years. There are many successes I could touch own but those two that stick out the most. What I think is amazing about Cinq Music is that we are always looking for solutions via technology. We have offices all around the world from the US to Korea to India to Columbia to Mexico. We were the first independent music company to do a deal with YouTube at the same rate as the majors. We have a youtube monetization deal for our company Adshare. This allows us to market digitally properly and growing the audiences for the artist.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The biggest quality that fits me best is determination. There will never be any quit in me I will always figure out a way no matter what.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cinqmusic.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: spenceforce
- Facebook: facebook.com/marcusspence
- Twitter: mlspence
Image Credit:
Brooks Ayola credited photographer
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