March 14, 2024 • 32 mins
Country music is the biggest radio music format and Nashville’s Scott Borchetta knows the genre inside and out. He’s the founder, president, and CEO of Big Machine Label Group and the founder of Big Machine Distillery. Scott has signed deals with artists like Tim McGraw, Jewel, Lady A, Zac Brown Band, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, and many others. Scott sits down to talk about his impressive career, from how he discovered his place in the music industry to when he knew it was the right time to go out on his own. His optimism, strategic thinking, and competitive spirit has helped him master music promotion and he feels more energized than ever to take on the next big thing.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All the major forms of current pop music came out
of the South, country, blues, rock, jazz. What happens here
travels well, but it always doesn't get the understanding of
the depth of how important it is and the true
artistic value of the artists involved.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I am Bob Pittman and welcome to Math and Magic.
Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Today. We're going to
explore some entrepreneurship and specifically about the modern music business
and how country has evolved to be the biggest music format.
Our guest is the founder, president and CEO of the
Big Machine label group and also the founder of Big
Machine Distillery. Scott is a Southern California kid of the
(00:53):
sixties and seventies bicycle, motocross and skateboarding and empty pools.
By the way, he's still a racer. Will dig it
that more later. His dad was in the music business,
so he grew up with the big stars of those
days stopping by his house. He has been there at
the beginning for artists and assigned deals with Tim McGraw,
Jewel Lady, a, Zach Brownband, Thomas Rhett Florida, Georgia, Lyne
(01:15):
and many more. He was also a mentor on American Idol.
He is a strategic and flexible thinker who runs a
tight ship. He gets things done. It's not just about ideas,
it's about execution. Best of all, he's a good guy
and good friend. Scott.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Welcome, Thank you, Bob. It's great to do this.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Now, before we jump into the meaty topics, I'd like
to do you in sixty seconds. Ready, let's rock. Do
you prefer Nashville or La Nashville, Early Riser or night Eye?
Both listening to music or playing music? Now it's listening dogs,
are cats, Dougs, mountains or beach beach? Vinyl or streaming, streaming,
(01:57):
cooking or ordering in country or rock.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Depends on the mood. I'm gonna say both.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Watching car races or racing cars.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
For me, racing Okay, it's.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
About to get harder. What was your first.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Job working at a bicycle motocross store building bikes?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Favored radio station from.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Your youth k me et Tweedledee.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
When do you do your best thinking?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's shutting the door in my office and getting into
my own groove.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What was the first record you ever bought stuck in
the middle with you? What was your first concert?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It would be Kiss at the Fabulous Forum in nineteen
seventy six.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Final one. If you could be anybody else, who would
you be?
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Mick Dagger?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Okay, let's jump out big topic, country music. Why does
it not get the attention or respect it deserves? Biggest
radio music format, huge artists, sold out tours in the
middle of the culture of this country. But when I
look at what the media covers or what marketing references
is in they're advertising, it doesn't even come close to
(03:05):
reflecting that. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
You know, you really touched on it. It's what the
culture of the middle of the country is all about.
It's not really very often, if ever, the shiny, sparkly thing.
It's something that's consistent. It's telling the stories of blue
collar predominantly and based in southern culture. We're not on
the West coast, we're not on the East coast as
(03:30):
far as our headquarters. When you match that up to
the national buyers of advertising, etc. We're not there, unfortunately
in a meaningful way as often as we need to be.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
And we're a little bit older.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Demographic for a business that's going to go after a
younger demographic. We're predominantly not going to be the first one.
But it's always great when my friends from both coasts
come to visit, hang out a little bit, do some
business with us. They're always blown away at how great
the Nashville system is. Everything here in Nashville is connected.
(04:08):
The Country Music Hall of Fame remains completely relevant, as
does the Grand Ole Opry because it's all centered here,
and the younger artists really have a great knowledge and
respect for that connective tissue.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
You know, it's interesting the most populated part of the
United States is now the South, and I'm not sure
people have turned their focus to it. Do you think
that this feeling we have about country music is sort
of respect issue or do you think it's just lack
of knowledge.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
All the major forms of current pop music came out
of the South, country, blues, rock, jazz. What happens here
travels well, but it always doesn't get the understanding of
the depth of how important it is and the true
artistic value of the artists involved.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
You know a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Still say this, and I've been hearing this for forty years.
It's like, well, I don't really like country music, but
I like that. It's like, well, Morgan Wallin is country music.
So it's almost a guilty pleasure in some places. In
some circles, it's just not cool to like country music.
I don't know what that stigma is. If you look
(05:21):
at some of those southern inflections and the stereotypical aspect
of that, you could point it's like, well, people think
it's cheesy or that it's phony, and that was the
entertainment part of it. But you know, the people who
think that haven't gone past the cover of the book
to see what an amazing, fluid and important music this
(05:45):
is not to just North America but to many parts.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So what's the biggest barrier to elevating country music to
its rightful place?
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Continued exposures.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
There's always a star that starts to shine, So that
gets what my job is, like, Okay, what's on the periphery.
Who's that one artist or two artists that are it's
going to be so strong and it's going to pull
the mainstream to them. We've become arguably the best place
in the world for young musicians to come and be
(06:16):
able to work playing music. That's what Nashville has become.
So what does that mean, Well, that means the next
one's coming. It's right under our nose.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So let's jump a little bit. In the mid nineteen eighties,
you worked for Mary Tyler Moor's record label. Much of
the nineties, you were at MCA Records Nashville. You were
by the way at that point, on a mission to
make it number one, and you did. MCA was label
of the Year every year you were there, even Label
of the Decade, and so first question is how did
you do that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I was playing in rock bands when I moved to Nashville,
and so rock's a big part of my DNA. So
when I came here and discovered Whyland and Willie, that's
what brought me into country. And then once I got
into the game and doing promotion at Mary Tyler Moore,
I was one of just two promotion people and we
(07:07):
were slaying the major label dragons, just the two of
us working with indies, and so I was able to
envision how to win this at a very young age.
And then I went independent in nineteen eighty nine and
I became the number one independent promotion guy in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was part of breaking the Kentucky Headhunters and Dwight
Yoakum and Carlene Carter, and then I started looking at, Okay,
what is my next move? And at that time my
two favorite artist rosters were MCA and Warner Brothers, and
(07:49):
so I went to MCA in January of nineteen ninety one,
and it was one of those things walking in like, Okay.
I always joke that when you're an Indy you learn
how to turn water into wine. So I walk into MCA,
I'm like, I don't have to turn water into wine.
You guys have wine.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
We could go.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So walking in coming from nothing as far as leverage
and tools to George Straight and Reba McIntyre and Vince
Gill and Whyonah Judd, It's like, can I this toolbox
over in the corner. I don't see you guys going
over that. Can I use those tools and like run
like hell? And so what I did is very specifically.
(08:31):
Aristo was our big competition at that point, and so
I was scheduling all the singles, and so I would go, Okay,
George Straight for Alan Jackson, Vince Gale for Brooks and Dunn,
We're gonna match them Superstar for Superstar. Where we're going
to win is breaking new artists. So I had a
(08:51):
huge focus on breaking Marty Stewart. I'm breaking David Lee Murphy,
I'm breaking why Nona Judd as a solo artist, I'm
breaking Trisha Yearwood. I made sure that our front line
was throwing smoke at all times, and then building up
that next bench and that next strength. You couldn't catch us.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
You left MCA and then you started DreamWorks Nashville with
Randy Travis. As you're first signing, you were hot right
out of the box. Now, the ironic twist is in
two thousand and four, MCA bought DreamWorks and you were
back at MCA, and by then I think they'd gone cold.
You brought them back again as the head of promotion
and artist development. And what I think is more interesting
(09:33):
is you were on fire, but for some reason you
had this spark that that was the moment that you
wanted your own label. Why what ignited.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
That, Well, it really started at DreamWorks.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
At that point, there weren't a lot of new labels
in the business, and so at dream Works, you know
having the ability, you know, looking at the landscape looking
at the assets that we had. We're full entertainment company.
So I used every weapon that the movie company had
with premieres and all that stuff, and brought that show
business to radio like one of my heroes, Bob Pittman does.
(10:09):
And so we came out of the box smoking. We
took over one of the biggest hotels at the time,
the Hermitage Hotel, and re christened at the DreamWorks Hotel,
to the point where we had flags made up and
we're flying DreamWorks flags at the hotel, and we had
all the pds and mds stay with us.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
We launched like a nuclear bomb.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And so James Stroud, who was the president of the label,
he was more of a producer than he really was
a label heead And what was great about that is
he did the things he wanted to do and really
didn't love the day to day of operations, and so
I would take a little bit more of that every day.
(10:49):
It's like, James, I got that, man, if you're good
with this, you keep doing your thing and I'm going
to learn the rest of this. So being at DreamWorks
and James Stroud giving me so much rope to learn,
not only promotion, which we had mastered, but learned the
next level of marketing, next level of sales, distribution, publicity,
(11:10):
all those things that it's like, Okay, I'm going to
acquire all these skills and knowledge because at some point
I'm going to grab this by the neck and lead it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And so that leads to.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
January of two thousand and four, they come in and
say we're being purchased by Universal and MCA and Universal
were ice cold. This is April now, two thousand and four.
Riba had not had a number one single since I
left in nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
It was painful for me to watch.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Not only was she one of my dear friends, but
we had achieved incredible success and something that a lot
of major labels still do is they take their superstars
for granted.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
And I'm like, you know what.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
It's time for us to return Riba to number one.
We put together the plan. To this day, it's historic
because we had the biggest ever spin increase in the
history of the Billboard chart, and that's when it was
done by spins, and we jumped from I think number
six to number one and we knocked out Tim Murgrau
(12:16):
lived like you were dying which was the biggest song
of the two thousands. We turned that place on its head.
We had the number one on every all three imprints
within the first sixty days, and you know, just breaking
sugar Land and Gary Allen for turning Terry Clark to.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
A number one.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
It's I mean, we had that place just on fire.
And I started thinking about, Okay, now's my next move.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Because I was looking what everybody was doing.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I'm like, you know what, I've got no place where
I feel I can compete with all of these guys.
I don't think any of them are any smarter or
any more wise. It's time for me to jump into
the driver's seat. And so I started putting together a prospectus,
and I started having meetings with investors, and while I
was doing it on the QT, I wasn't hiding it
(13:08):
because I was in the last year of my deal.
And so we get to January of five, and so
I was meeting with the two co presidents of Universal
Nashville and they said, hey, you know, we know you
want to run your own label, but we'd like you
to stay where you are and give you a bunch
more money. And I'm like, I appreciate that, but I'm
(13:29):
not going to do that, and so we pretty much
defined my exit at that point.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
So let's jump to you officially start Big Machine and
just put it in perspective for again, for people that
don't know the music business. You've sold almost two hundred
million albums worldwide, I think, and you've had over one
hundred singles at the top of the charts. So let's
start with the name big Machine. Where did that come from?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
So it comes from two places.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
At that time, I was racing in the NASCAR Weekly
Series and I was a three time NASCAR Weekly Series champion,
and so when the car was really good, we say,
hey man, we got a hot ride.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
We got a big machine.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And then the other thing that kind of took the
scales was that great song by Velvet Revolver Big Machine,
just this big, powerful rock anthem. And I'm like, you
know what, let's just declare ourselves a big machine, all
thirteen of us. I always joked that I never told
the staff at that point.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
That we weren't a big machine. It's like, we are
a big machine, go forth and conquer.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
So how did you operate differently from other music companies.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
One of the things I think about in that moment
in the early two thousands, is just the waste, you know,
and waste of physical product of all the junk, and
just looking at how the spending wasn't lined aligned properly.
And if you look at the leaders of the business
(14:56):
in that moment, they didn't see streaming coming. It was
a very polar moment for me because every week at
DreamWorks we would be on with the entire company and
the Napster conversation came up. So I said, hey, have
you guys been on this? This is amazing. They didn't
give it a chance to be a flower or a weed.
(15:18):
They just said kill it, Scott. If that's on your computer,
you get it off your computer right now and do
not put it back on. And I'm like, this Genie's
out of the bottle man.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And so that was.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
A big, big cast flag to me. I was just like, Okay,
they do not see where it's going, and it has
officially passed our current leaders by I can't go down
with this ship because physical distribution was turning into not
a joke but a joke in certain ways. So it's like,
this is the future. We better figure this out.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I was at MTV. When someone brought in some CD
players from Japan, we had to actually have a power
transformer to play them on our electricity to show us
what it was. We all got one and it was interesting.
The lawyers at that moment said we have to kill
it because this master quality recording will be good enough
that the pirates can steal everything. And a couple of
(16:15):
people said, it is coming. We can't fight it. We
should embrace it. It'll be good for us. And as
you know, the nineties were the go go years of
the record business because everybody bought a CD and I
don't think they had ever had anything quite like that.
So the business people won, not the lawyers. And I
remember when Napster came, it was sort of the same thing,
(16:36):
that no, we can't do this because basically coming from
a legal point of view. And what was interesting was
at that moment the lawyers won, not the business people.
And as you know, the music business probably stunted for
five to ten years because they missed that moment and
had to catch up a little bit more Mathet magic
right after this quick break, Welcome back to Math the Magic.
(17:02):
Let's hear more from my conversation with Scott Boshadow, I
want to go back in time a little bit to
your youth, just to get some context. You were born
in southern California in the California Heyday sixties and seventies,
and you actually got us start in racing at that time,
racing BMX bikes and then went on the quarter midget cars.
Describe that time and place for us.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Going back to those southern California years, we just lived outside,
you know, we were on our motocross bikes all the time.
And once we got into skateboarding, what happened is we
would hear about a pool in the valley somewhere and
there was this group of us like, okay, let's meet
there at three o'clock, and you know, whether it was
(17:44):
an abandoned home and we'd clean the pool out and
skate in it, or if there was a pool that
was empty or that it was dirty, had been swimming
and whatever. And so then we'd go back around to
the front door, knock on the door. Person comes to
the doors, and we would hustle them basically said hey,
if you'll let us skate in your pool for a week,
we will clean it. So it was always like Okay,
(18:06):
where's the next one. It's like finding the next great
concrete wave. Just being Southern California kids. You know, you
don't realize it when you're doing it, but we were
real culture leaders with all that, going from BMX to
skateboard culture to the music culture, which we were just
surrounded by it. You know, what was happening with punk rock,
(18:26):
and then what happened when Motley Crue took over LA
and going to Guns n' Roses, and so it was
always there. And once I got old enough, we were
in Hollywood all the time, three or four nights a week,
whether going to the Starwood or the Whiskey, or Gazaries
or the Rainbow Roxy, all those clubs down there. You know,
(18:48):
I can go right back there. I mean I could
feel the sunshine on my facetop.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So you quoted as saying you had good grades but
were an angry, rebellious kid who was kind of anti everything.
You dropped out of college, by the way, a trait
we see often on the Entrepreneurs here on Mathem Magic.
You started playing bass in a new way bands, country
punk bands. What was the peak of your career as
(19:14):
a musician and why did you stop doing that.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
The reason I left LA in nineteen eighty one is
that I felt like I knew what was going on there,
and I just wanted to see what else was going on.
And my intent was to come to Nashville for the summer,
where my dad had moved in nineteen seventy nine. And
so I was here in Nashville for a few weeks
and one of the independent artists that my dad was
(19:38):
working needed a bass player. And I'm like, it's a
country I don't know because they're on tour. I'm like,
they're on tour, nineteen years old.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Game on.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So I went in auditioned, got the gig, and bob.
It was so great because I had really never been
out of southern California for very much, and it was
seeing the rest of the country and then all of
a sudden, I'm like, oh my god, it opened that
aperture of my existence exponentially. I really didn't know my
place yet, I knew, I was determined. I knew that
(20:09):
I was not going to be poor. I hated growing
up in southern California not having money, and so I
did that for eight months. I traveled through thirty eight
states in eight months, and when I came back to Nashville, like,
I feel like I'm home. And so I started building
working for my dad. During the day, I still was
playing in bands, rock bands.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
We had a couple fun moments where we had some
great record company showcases. We opened up for Cheap Trick
and a couple other big artists. We made some of
our own independent records, but we never got signed. We
never got that next break. And it's like, Okay, I'm
not going to be a rock star. I see it,
(20:51):
I'm friends with it. That's not my strength. And I
started allowing myself to follow the energy because I tried
to stay out of the record business because my dad
wasn't it and I didn't want to follow in his footsteps.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
And I wanted to be my own man.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
And when I stopped fighting, that is when my record
career really just started to take off.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
So let's jump to some of your philosophies. Company culture.
The first time I visited the Big Machine offices in Nashville,
I was probably most struck by what a cohesive and
passionate culture there was throughout the building and among everyone
I met. How do you build a company culture?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
You know, it's a gut feel for me because it's
not something for me personally that I can put a list.
It's like, Okay, you check all these boxes, You're going
to fit perfectly. It's the same way with signing artists.
I know most of the time within the first five
ten minutes, is this somebody I want to work with?
Is this an artist I want to sign? I like
people who are very matter of fact and passionate about
(21:56):
what we do.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
And also, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
One who's out for credit on any day of any week.
I'm truly It's not a cliche when I say it.
I'm a team builder, and I am inclusive and I
am transparent, and that is really kind of the foundation
of the culture because when everybody knows what's going on,
when the goals are as clear as can be and
(22:22):
you've got the passion to execute, That's how I built
all of my companies.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So let's talk about creative artists. You obviously deal with
them day in and day out. It's your job. What's
the secret for people who don't deal with them but
find themselves there? What advice can you give them?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I always say, there's an artist's language, and you can
learn it, but because I was around it from such
a young age, you know, it came natural. So it's
really talking to them about trying to look at things
through their eyes, adding in creative thought. And it's never
(23:03):
ever putting an artist in the corner saying you have
to do this. If you don't do this, then it's
never going to happen. It's like, here's the playing field,
here are the options. I'm going to tell you right now.
There's not a wrong decision. There's just a better decision.
But whatever you decide, it's your name that's on the marquee.
(23:24):
I'm here to help you try to make the best decision.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So about fifteen years ago I started Costan Tregonez Tequila
with my partner Vitta Gonzalez, and the one thing I
learned is it's not for the faint of heart, So
tell us why you have big machine distillery.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So the idea to have our own Tennessee whiskey started
from an activation we did with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
in twenty ten. We had been working with them wanting
to do more. They had been back and forth with
Crown Royal and they didn't get the deal done with Crown.
(24:08):
This was further NASCAR race the Brickyard four hundred, and
so we got the call it say, hey, this title
sponsorship is open. What do you got I said, why not?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Have you money?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
But what if I bring Rascal Flats and the Van
Perry and Brandley, Gilbert and Thomas. Let me bring you
a festival in exchange. They're like, you can do that,
and we did it and it blew everybody away, and
so that started the relationship. So Crown comes back the
(24:38):
next year, so it's the Crown Royal Brickyard four hundred
powered by Big Machine, and so we start this wonderful
relationship with Crown and Diagio. So we're a few years
in marketing. Medium said, hey, you know what, We're a
Tennessee label. I'd love to have a Tennessee whiskey. We
became aware of a distillery an hour south of Nashville.
The products were fantastic. They didn't know a thing about marketing,
(25:01):
and I'm like, wow, physical product that needs to be marketed.
We don't get to market CDs or albums anymore. I
got this. We purchase the distillery and everything that we do.
The distillery and the spirits product and the racing. It
all leads back to entertainment. It all leads back to
(25:22):
an experience, and so in my mind, all of these
things are connected, and so what we do with our
Spirits brands. It also gives me the ability to sponsor
the race team, So every dollar that goes to the
race team is an expense marketing expense for the distillery.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I love it. So let's move to racing for just
a second. Racing is a huge part of your life.
You're actually a serious driver yourself, you have a racing team.
What about racing draws you in and what lessons have
you learned from racing which you apply to other parts
of your life.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
There's a certain freedom and liberation when you're it's maning
machine and it's just you and the car. And when
you're doing that and you're on the edge and you're
performing at the highest level, there's no other feeling I've
ever had. You know, maybe the biggest artists in the
(26:20):
world when they're playing the fifty thousand people and they're
all singing, maybe it's that same feeling and being competitive.
Everybody wants to win and it's finding out those ways
to win. It's a chess game at you know, one
hundred and eighty miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I rode motorcycles for a lot of years of my life,
and I was a pilot for fifty years of planes
and helicopters, So I get it. But I know we
talk about racing and talk about the great things with racing,
but you had a very serious accident. Talk to us
a little bit about it and what got you through that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
We were at road Atlanta and it was March twenty sixth,
and we're mid race.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
I start picking up the pace, my paces.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
As fast as the leaders. We're passing cars, We're moving up.
So going into turn one at over one hundred and
fifty miles an hour, our brake zone because in road
racing you break really hard, and so I go to
the brakes at the three fifty foot mark, no brake,
not a soft break, no break. The right brake caliber
(27:23):
had exploded, and so all of a sudden I am
in a heap load of trouble. They estimate that I
hit the wall at one hundred and nine miles an
hour and I.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Was knocked out for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's a longer story, but I was I call it
my evil canevil list of injuries.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
I broke both ankles, both.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Tibias, cracked my pelvis in four places, four cracked vertebra,
five broken ribs, some internal injury. I ripped my stomach open,
and I almost died in the ambulance. Everything hurt. One
of my meditations is counting backward from a thousand, and
(28:07):
so in that moment, I just said, let go try
to get to the next minute and start counting backwards
from a thousand.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
So that was my mantra.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Just I was counting and then get to the next minute.
And so went into emergency.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Well gut.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
My wife was there, several friends, several race friends. So
from after everything went absolutely wrong, everything started to go right.
We had the best lower extremity doctor in the world,
and Bob, here I am nine months later, and I'm
ninety nine percent yield. I'm so fortunate. I don't have
a head injury or a spine injury. I'm walking normally.
(28:42):
You wouldn't know it. So I've been really fortunate in
my recovery. I've always felt like I was very good
at being present and living in the moment, and I
think that's been underlined and highlighted. You ask yourself, Okay,
I'm still here, what is the next big thing that
I can do? Because I'm still here and I'm energized
(29:03):
by it. I'm probably as energized in my life right
now as ever coming out of this thing because I'm
still here.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Well, there are two through lines that we talk about here.
Is you have one of the most can do positive
outlooks in life of anyone I know. And two, you're
lucky and thank goodness it continued there. Absolutely we always
finish each episode of Math and Magic with a shout
out to the great biz folks from both skill sets,
(29:33):
the analytical, organized math type person and the charismatic, creative
promotional the magic person who gets the shout outs for
each from you.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So the Math is my now COO Andrew Katz, who's
been with me literally from day one. We're getting ready
to touch on nineteen years together. He's always been my guy.
I'm like, Andrew, I know we can figure this out,
and he has to this day always found a way.
And then the great creative marketing person is John Zarling,
(30:08):
And ironically he was with me from the startup Big
Machine as well, because as I was cleaning out my
office at Universal. He came into my office and he goes,
can I come with you? And even though I didn't
physically do it, in my mind, I dropped to my
knees and thank God. It's like, if John will come
with me, this is the best gift I could get.
And to this day, he and I are the ones
(30:30):
who've always brainstormed and challenge each other for the biggest
promotions we've ever done, taking over the Statue of Liberty
with Florida, Georgia Lyne. You know, he's just he's my
big thinker and he always delivers for me.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Scott, You've had a magical life. You've pushed a lot
of boundaries, still pushing them, You've taken a lot of risks,
still taking them, and you have created so much. Thanks
for sharing those lessons with us. There are a few
things I picked up for my conversation with Scott. One
follow the energy. Scott has a true passion for the
(31:06):
music industry. For a while, following that passion, touring with
rock bands, but eventually he realized his greatest strength wasn't
playing guitar, it was how well he knew the business.
It's important to know what interests you, but also to
figure out where you excel. Let that momentum guide you
to success. Two. Pull all the leavers you have. As
(31:26):
an independent promoter, Scott says he had to learn how
to turn water into wine. When he joined a major company,
he realized not every tool was being used. Leverage every
opportunity at your disposal, whether you're selling a product, creating
an experience, or marketing talent. When Scott took on responsibilities
that didn't interest his business partner, he gained new skills
(31:48):
that he later used to start his own company. Three.
Be competitive. Whether it's on the racetrack or the billboard charts.
Scott doesn't shy away from competition. It energizes him. It's
not a bad thing to compare yourself to those around you.
It can be essential for gaining a leg off, and
you may even realize you have what it takes to
(32:09):
lead innovative new company. I'm Bob Pittman. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening
to Math and Magic, a production of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special thanks to Sidney
Rosenbluff for booking and wrangling our wonderful talent, which is
no small feat. Mathematics producers are Emily Meronov and Jessica Crimechitch.
It is mixed and mastered by Baheied Fraser. Our executive
(32:37):
producers are Nikki Etoor and Ali Perry, and of course,
of big thanks to Gail Raoul, Eric Angel Noel and
everyone who helped bring this show to your ears. Until
next time
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
All the major forms of current pop music came out
of the South, country, blues, rock, jazz. What happens here
travels well, but it always doesn't get the understanding of
the depth of how important it is and the true
artistic value of the artists involved.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I am Bob Pittman and welcome to Math and Magic.
Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Today. We're going to
explore some entrepreneurship and specifically about the modern music business
and how country has evolved to be the biggest music format.
Our guest is the founder, president and CEO of the
Big Machine label group and also the founder of Big
Machine Distillery. Scott is a Southern California kid of the
(00:53):
sixties and seventies bicycle, motocross and skateboarding and empty pools.
By the way, he's still a racer. Will dig it
that more later. His dad was in the music business,
so he grew up with the big stars of those
days stopping by his house. He has been there at
the beginning for artists and assigned deals with Tim McGraw,
Jewel Lady, a, Zach Brownband, Thomas Rhett Florida, Georgia, Lyne
(01:15):
and many more. He was also a mentor on American Idol.
He is a strategic and flexible thinker who runs a
tight ship. He gets things done. It's not just about ideas,
it's about execution. Best of all, he's a good guy
and good friend. Scott.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Welcome, Thank you, Bob. It's great to do this.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Now, before we jump into the meaty topics, I'd like
to do you in sixty seconds. Ready, let's rock. Do
you prefer Nashville or La Nashville, Early Riser or night Eye?
Both listening to music or playing music? Now it's listening dogs,
are cats, Dougs, mountains or beach beach? Vinyl or streaming, streaming,
(01:57):
cooking or ordering in country or rock.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Depends on the mood. I'm gonna say both.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Watching car races or racing cars.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
For me, racing Okay, it's.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
About to get harder. What was your first.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Job working at a bicycle motocross store building bikes?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Favored radio station from.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
Your youth k me et Tweedledee.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
When do you do your best thinking?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's shutting the door in my office and getting into
my own groove.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
What was the first record you ever bought stuck in
the middle with you? What was your first concert?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
It would be Kiss at the Fabulous Forum in nineteen
seventy six.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Final one. If you could be anybody else, who would
you be?
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Mick Dagger?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Okay, let's jump out big topic, country music. Why does
it not get the attention or respect it deserves? Biggest
radio music format, huge artists, sold out tours in the
middle of the culture of this country. But when I
look at what the media covers or what marketing references
is in they're advertising, it doesn't even come close to
(03:05):
reflecting that. Why is that?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
You know, you really touched on it. It's what the
culture of the middle of the country is all about.
It's not really very often, if ever, the shiny, sparkly thing.
It's something that's consistent. It's telling the stories of blue
collar predominantly and based in southern culture. We're not on
the West coast, we're not on the East coast as
(03:30):
far as our headquarters. When you match that up to
the national buyers of advertising, etc. We're not there, unfortunately
in a meaningful way as often as we need to be.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
And we're a little bit older.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Demographic for a business that's going to go after a
younger demographic. We're predominantly not going to be the first one.
But it's always great when my friends from both coasts
come to visit, hang out a little bit, do some
business with us. They're always blown away at how great
the Nashville system is. Everything here in Nashville is connected.
(04:08):
The Country Music Hall of Fame remains completely relevant, as
does the Grand Ole Opry because it's all centered here,
and the younger artists really have a great knowledge and
respect for that connective tissue.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
You know, it's interesting the most populated part of the
United States is now the South, and I'm not sure
people have turned their focus to it. Do you think
that this feeling we have about country music is sort
of respect issue or do you think it's just lack
of knowledge.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
All the major forms of current pop music came out
of the South, country, blues, rock, jazz. What happens here
travels well, but it always doesn't get the understanding of
the depth of how important it is and the true
artistic value of the artists involved.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
You know a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Still say this, and I've been hearing this for forty years.
It's like, well, I don't really like country music, but
I like that. It's like, well, Morgan Wallin is country music.
So it's almost a guilty pleasure in some places. In
some circles, it's just not cool to like country music.
I don't know what that stigma is. If you look
(05:21):
at some of those southern inflections and the stereotypical aspect
of that, you could point it's like, well, people think
it's cheesy or that it's phony, and that was the
entertainment part of it. But you know, the people who
think that haven't gone past the cover of the book
to see what an amazing, fluid and important music this
(05:45):
is not to just North America but to many parts.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
So what's the biggest barrier to elevating country music to
its rightful place?
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Continued exposures.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
There's always a star that starts to shine, So that
gets what my job is, like, Okay, what's on the periphery.
Who's that one artist or two artists that are it's
going to be so strong and it's going to pull
the mainstream to them. We've become arguably the best place
in the world for young musicians to come and be
(06:16):
able to work playing music. That's what Nashville has become.
So what does that mean, Well, that means the next
one's coming. It's right under our nose.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So let's jump a little bit. In the mid nineteen eighties,
you worked for Mary Tyler Moor's record label. Much of
the nineties, you were at MCA Records Nashville. You were
by the way at that point, on a mission to
make it number one, and you did. MCA was label
of the Year every year you were there, even Label
of the Decade, and so first question is how did
you do that.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I was playing in rock bands when I moved to Nashville,
and so rock's a big part of my DNA. So
when I came here and discovered Whyland and Willie, that's
what brought me into country. And then once I got
into the game and doing promotion at Mary Tyler Moore,
I was one of just two promotion people and we
(07:07):
were slaying the major label dragons, just the two of
us working with indies, and so I was able to
envision how to win this at a very young age.
And then I went independent in nineteen eighty nine and
I became the number one independent promotion guy in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I was part of breaking the Kentucky Headhunters and Dwight
Yoakum and Carlene Carter, and then I started looking at, Okay,
what is my next move? And at that time my
two favorite artist rosters were MCA and Warner Brothers, and
(07:49):
so I went to MCA in January of nineteen ninety one,
and it was one of those things walking in like, Okay.
I always joke that when you're an Indy you learn
how to turn water into wine. So I walk into MCA,
I'm like, I don't have to turn water into wine.
You guys have wine.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
We could go.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So walking in coming from nothing as far as leverage
and tools to George Straight and Reba McIntyre and Vince
Gill and Whyonah Judd, It's like, can I this toolbox
over in the corner. I don't see you guys going
over that. Can I use those tools and like run
like hell? And so what I did is very specifically.
(08:31):
Aristo was our big competition at that point, and so
I was scheduling all the singles, and so I would go, Okay,
George Straight for Alan Jackson, Vince Gale for Brooks and Dunn,
We're gonna match them Superstar for Superstar. Where we're going
to win is breaking new artists. So I had a
(08:51):
huge focus on breaking Marty Stewart. I'm breaking David Lee Murphy,
I'm breaking why Nona Judd as a solo artist, I'm
breaking Trisha Yearwood. I made sure that our front line
was throwing smoke at all times, and then building up
that next bench and that next strength. You couldn't catch us.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
You left MCA and then you started DreamWorks Nashville with
Randy Travis. As you're first signing, you were hot right
out of the box. Now, the ironic twist is in
two thousand and four, MCA bought DreamWorks and you were
back at MCA, and by then I think they'd gone cold.
You brought them back again as the head of promotion
and artist development. And what I think is more interesting
(09:33):
is you were on fire, but for some reason you
had this spark that that was the moment that you
wanted your own label. Why what ignited.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
That, Well, it really started at DreamWorks.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
At that point, there weren't a lot of new labels
in the business, and so at dream Works, you know
having the ability, you know, looking at the landscape looking
at the assets that we had. We're full entertainment company.
So I used every weapon that the movie company had
with premieres and all that stuff, and brought that show
business to radio like one of my heroes, Bob Pittman does.
(10:09):
And so we came out of the box smoking. We
took over one of the biggest hotels at the time,
the Hermitage Hotel, and re christened at the DreamWorks Hotel,
to the point where we had flags made up and
we're flying DreamWorks flags at the hotel, and we had
all the pds and mds stay with us.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
We launched like a nuclear bomb.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And so James Stroud, who was the president of the label,
he was more of a producer than he really was
a label heead And what was great about that is
he did the things he wanted to do and really
didn't love the day to day of operations, and so
I would take a little bit more of that every day.
(10:49):
It's like, James, I got that, man, if you're good
with this, you keep doing your thing and I'm going
to learn the rest of this. So being at DreamWorks
and James Stroud giving me so much rope to learn,
not only promotion, which we had mastered, but learned the
next level of marketing, next level of sales, distribution, publicity,
(11:10):
all those things that it's like, Okay, I'm going to
acquire all these skills and knowledge because at some point
I'm going to grab this by the neck and lead it.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And so that leads to.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
January of two thousand and four, they come in and
say we're being purchased by Universal and MCA and Universal
were ice cold. This is April now, two thousand and four.
Riba had not had a number one single since I
left in nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
It was painful for me to watch.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Not only was she one of my dear friends, but
we had achieved incredible success and something that a lot
of major labels still do is they take their superstars
for granted.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
And I'm like, you know what.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
It's time for us to return Riba to number one.
We put together the plan. To this day, it's historic
because we had the biggest ever spin increase in the
history of the Billboard chart, and that's when it was
done by spins, and we jumped from I think number
six to number one and we knocked out Tim Murgrau
(12:16):
lived like you were dying which was the biggest song
of the two thousands. We turned that place on its head.
We had the number one on every all three imprints
within the first sixty days, and you know, just breaking
sugar Land and Gary Allen for turning Terry Clark to.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
A number one.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
It's I mean, we had that place just on fire.
And I started thinking about, Okay, now's my next move.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Because I was looking what everybody was doing.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I'm like, you know what, I've got no place where
I feel I can compete with all of these guys.
I don't think any of them are any smarter or
any more wise. It's time for me to jump into
the driver's seat. And so I started putting together a prospectus,
and I started having meetings with investors, and while I
was doing it on the QT, I wasn't hiding it
(13:08):
because I was in the last year of my deal.
And so we get to January of five, and so
I was meeting with the two co presidents of Universal
Nashville and they said, hey, you know, we know you
want to run your own label, but we'd like you
to stay where you are and give you a bunch
more money. And I'm like, I appreciate that, but I'm
(13:29):
not going to do that, and so we pretty much
defined my exit at that point.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
So let's jump to you officially start Big Machine and
just put it in perspective for again, for people that
don't know the music business. You've sold almost two hundred
million albums worldwide, I think, and you've had over one
hundred singles at the top of the charts. So let's
start with the name big Machine. Where did that come from?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
So it comes from two places.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
At that time, I was racing in the NASCAR Weekly
Series and I was a three time NASCAR Weekly Series champion,
and so when the car was really good, we say,
hey man, we got a hot ride.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
We got a big machine.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
And then the other thing that kind of took the
scales was that great song by Velvet Revolver Big Machine,
just this big, powerful rock anthem. And I'm like, you
know what, let's just declare ourselves a big machine, all
thirteen of us. I always joked that I never told
the staff at that point.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
That we weren't a big machine. It's like, we are
a big machine, go forth and conquer.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
So how did you operate differently from other music companies.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
One of the things I think about in that moment
in the early two thousands, is just the waste, you know,
and waste of physical product of all the junk, and
just looking at how the spending wasn't lined aligned properly.
And if you look at the leaders of the business
(14:56):
in that moment, they didn't see streaming coming. It was
a very polar moment for me because every week at
DreamWorks we would be on with the entire company and
the Napster conversation came up. So I said, hey, have
you guys been on this? This is amazing. They didn't
give it a chance to be a flower or a weed.
(15:18):
They just said kill it, Scott. If that's on your computer,
you get it off your computer right now and do
not put it back on. And I'm like, this Genie's
out of the bottle man.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And so that was.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
A big, big cast flag to me. I was just like, Okay,
they do not see where it's going, and it has
officially passed our current leaders by I can't go down
with this ship because physical distribution was turning into not
a joke but a joke in certain ways. So it's like,
this is the future. We better figure this out.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I was at MTV. When someone brought in some CD
players from Japan, we had to actually have a power
transformer to play them on our electricity to show us
what it was. We all got one and it was interesting.
The lawyers at that moment said we have to kill
it because this master quality recording will be good enough
that the pirates can steal everything. And a couple of
(16:15):
people said, it is coming. We can't fight it. We
should embrace it. It'll be good for us. And as
you know, the nineties were the go go years of
the record business because everybody bought a CD and I
don't think they had ever had anything quite like that.
So the business people won, not the lawyers. And I
remember when Napster came, it was sort of the same thing,
(16:36):
that no, we can't do this because basically coming from
a legal point of view. And what was interesting was
at that moment the lawyers won, not the business people.
And as you know, the music business probably stunted for
five to ten years because they missed that moment and
had to catch up a little bit more Mathet magic
right after this quick break, Welcome back to Math the Magic.
(17:02):
Let's hear more from my conversation with Scott Boshadow, I
want to go back in time a little bit to
your youth, just to get some context. You were born
in southern California in the California Heyday sixties and seventies,
and you actually got us start in racing at that time,
racing BMX bikes and then went on the quarter midget cars.
Describe that time and place for us.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Going back to those southern California years, we just lived outside,
you know, we were on our motocross bikes all the time.
And once we got into skateboarding, what happened is we
would hear about a pool in the valley somewhere and
there was this group of us like, okay, let's meet
there at three o'clock, and you know, whether it was
(17:44):
an abandoned home and we'd clean the pool out and
skate in it, or if there was a pool that
was empty or that it was dirty, had been swimming
and whatever. And so then we'd go back around to
the front door, knock on the door. Person comes to
the doors, and we would hustle them basically said hey,
if you'll let us skate in your pool for a week,
we will clean it. So it was always like Okay,
(18:06):
where's the next one. It's like finding the next great
concrete wave. Just being Southern California kids. You know, you
don't realize it when you're doing it, but we were
real culture leaders with all that, going from BMX to
skateboard culture to the music culture, which we were just
surrounded by it. You know, what was happening with punk rock,
(18:26):
and then what happened when Motley Crue took over LA
and going to Guns n' Roses, and so it was
always there. And once I got old enough, we were
in Hollywood all the time, three or four nights a week,
whether going to the Starwood or the Whiskey, or Gazaries
or the Rainbow Roxy, all those clubs down there. You know,
(18:48):
I can go right back there. I mean I could
feel the sunshine on my facetop.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So you quoted as saying you had good grades but
were an angry, rebellious kid who was kind of anti everything.
You dropped out of college, by the way, a trait
we see often on the Entrepreneurs here on Mathem Magic.
You started playing bass in a new way bands, country
punk bands. What was the peak of your career as
(19:14):
a musician and why did you stop doing that.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
The reason I left LA in nineteen eighty one is
that I felt like I knew what was going on there,
and I just wanted to see what else was going on.
And my intent was to come to Nashville for the summer,
where my dad had moved in nineteen seventy nine. And
so I was here in Nashville for a few weeks
and one of the independent artists that my dad was
(19:38):
working needed a bass player. And I'm like, it's a
country I don't know because they're on tour. I'm like,
they're on tour, nineteen years old.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Game on.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So I went in auditioned, got the gig, and bob.
It was so great because I had really never been
out of southern California for very much, and it was
seeing the rest of the country and then all of
a sudden, I'm like, oh my god, it opened that
aperture of my existence exponentially. I really didn't know my
place yet, I knew, I was determined. I knew that
(20:09):
I was not going to be poor. I hated growing
up in southern California not having money, and so I
did that for eight months. I traveled through thirty eight
states in eight months, and when I came back to Nashville, like,
I feel like I'm home. And so I started building
working for my dad. During the day, I still was
playing in bands, rock bands.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
We had a couple fun moments where we had some
great record company showcases. We opened up for Cheap Trick
and a couple other big artists. We made some of
our own independent records, but we never got signed. We
never got that next break. And it's like, Okay, I'm
not going to be a rock star. I see it,
(20:51):
I'm friends with it. That's not my strength. And I
started allowing myself to follow the energy because I tried
to stay out of the record business because my dad
wasn't it and I didn't want to follow in his footsteps.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
And I wanted to be my own man.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
And when I stopped fighting, that is when my record
career really just started to take off.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
So let's jump to some of your philosophies. Company culture.
The first time I visited the Big Machine offices in Nashville,
I was probably most struck by what a cohesive and
passionate culture there was throughout the building and among everyone
I met. How do you build a company culture?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
You know, it's a gut feel for me because it's
not something for me personally that I can put a list.
It's like, Okay, you check all these boxes, You're going
to fit perfectly. It's the same way with signing artists.
I know most of the time within the first five
ten minutes, is this somebody I want to work with?
Is this an artist I want to sign? I like
people who are very matter of fact and passionate about
(21:56):
what we do.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
And also, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
One who's out for credit on any day of any week.
I'm truly It's not a cliche when I say it.
I'm a team builder, and I am inclusive and I
am transparent, and that is really kind of the foundation
of the culture because when everybody knows what's going on,
when the goals are as clear as can be and
(22:22):
you've got the passion to execute, That's how I built
all of my companies.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
So let's talk about creative artists. You obviously deal with
them day in and day out. It's your job. What's
the secret for people who don't deal with them but
find themselves there? What advice can you give them?
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I always say, there's an artist's language, and you can
learn it, but because I was around it from such
a young age, you know, it came natural. So it's
really talking to them about trying to look at things
through their eyes, adding in creative thought. And it's never
(23:03):
ever putting an artist in the corner saying you have
to do this. If you don't do this, then it's
never going to happen. It's like, here's the playing field,
here are the options. I'm going to tell you right now.
There's not a wrong decision. There's just a better decision.
But whatever you decide, it's your name that's on the marquee.
(23:24):
I'm here to help you try to make the best decision.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
So about fifteen years ago I started Costan Tregonez Tequila
with my partner Vitta Gonzalez, and the one thing I
learned is it's not for the faint of heart, So
tell us why you have big machine distillery.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
So the idea to have our own Tennessee whiskey started
from an activation we did with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
in twenty ten. We had been working with them wanting
to do more. They had been back and forth with
Crown Royal and they didn't get the deal done with Crown.
(24:08):
This was further NASCAR race the Brickyard four hundred, and
so we got the call it say, hey, this title
sponsorship is open. What do you got I said, why not?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Have you money?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
But what if I bring Rascal Flats and the Van
Perry and Brandley, Gilbert and Thomas. Let me bring you
a festival in exchange. They're like, you can do that,
and we did it and it blew everybody away, and
so that started the relationship. So Crown comes back the
(24:38):
next year, so it's the Crown Royal Brickyard four hundred
powered by Big Machine, and so we start this wonderful
relationship with Crown and Diagio. So we're a few years
in marketing. Medium said, hey, you know what, We're a
Tennessee label. I'd love to have a Tennessee whiskey. We
became aware of a distillery an hour south of Nashville.
The products were fantastic. They didn't know a thing about marketing,
(25:01):
and I'm like, wow, physical product that needs to be marketed.
We don't get to market CDs or albums anymore. I
got this. We purchase the distillery and everything that we do.
The distillery and the spirits product and the racing. It
all leads back to entertainment. It all leads back to
(25:22):
an experience, and so in my mind, all of these
things are connected, and so what we do with our
Spirits brands. It also gives me the ability to sponsor
the race team, So every dollar that goes to the
race team is an expense marketing expense for the distillery.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I love it. So let's move to racing for just
a second. Racing is a huge part of your life.
You're actually a serious driver yourself, you have a racing team.
What about racing draws you in and what lessons have
you learned from racing which you apply to other parts
of your life.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
There's a certain freedom and liberation when you're it's maning
machine and it's just you and the car. And when
you're doing that and you're on the edge and you're
performing at the highest level, there's no other feeling I've
ever had. You know, maybe the biggest artists in the
(26:20):
world when they're playing the fifty thousand people and they're
all singing, maybe it's that same feeling and being competitive.
Everybody wants to win and it's finding out those ways
to win. It's a chess game at you know, one
hundred and eighty miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I rode motorcycles for a lot of years of my life,
and I was a pilot for fifty years of planes
and helicopters, So I get it. But I know we
talk about racing and talk about the great things with racing,
but you had a very serious accident. Talk to us
a little bit about it and what got you through that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
We were at road Atlanta and it was March twenty sixth,
and we're mid race.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
I start picking up the pace, my paces.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
As fast as the leaders. We're passing cars, We're moving up.
So going into turn one at over one hundred and
fifty miles an hour, our brake zone because in road
racing you break really hard, and so I go to
the brakes at the three fifty foot mark, no brake,
not a soft break, no break. The right brake caliber
(27:23):
had exploded, and so all of a sudden I am
in a heap load of trouble. They estimate that I
hit the wall at one hundred and nine miles an
hour and I.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Was knocked out for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's a longer story, but I was I call it
my evil canevil list of injuries.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
I broke both ankles, both.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Tibias, cracked my pelvis in four places, four cracked vertebra,
five broken ribs, some internal injury. I ripped my stomach open,
and I almost died in the ambulance. Everything hurt. One
of my meditations is counting backward from a thousand, and
(28:07):
so in that moment, I just said, let go try
to get to the next minute and start counting backwards
from a thousand.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
So that was my mantra.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Just I was counting and then get to the next minute.
And so went into emergency.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Well gut.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
My wife was there, several friends, several race friends. So
from after everything went absolutely wrong, everything started to go right.
We had the best lower extremity doctor in the world,
and Bob, here I am nine months later, and I'm
ninety nine percent yield. I'm so fortunate. I don't have
a head injury or a spine injury. I'm walking normally.
(28:42):
You wouldn't know it. So I've been really fortunate in
my recovery. I've always felt like I was very good
at being present and living in the moment, and I
think that's been underlined and highlighted. You ask yourself, Okay,
I'm still here, what is the next big thing that
I can do? Because I'm still here and I'm energized
(29:03):
by it. I'm probably as energized in my life right
now as ever coming out of this thing because I'm
still here.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
Well, there are two through lines that we talk about here.
Is you have one of the most can do positive
outlooks in life of anyone I know. And two, you're
lucky and thank goodness it continued there. Absolutely we always
finish each episode of Math and Magic with a shout
out to the great biz folks from both skill sets,
(29:33):
the analytical, organized math type person and the charismatic, creative
promotional the magic person who gets the shout outs for
each from you.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So the Math is my now COO Andrew Katz, who's
been with me literally from day one. We're getting ready
to touch on nineteen years together. He's always been my guy.
I'm like, Andrew, I know we can figure this out,
and he has to this day always found a way.
And then the great creative marketing person is John Zarling,
(30:08):
And ironically he was with me from the startup Big
Machine as well, because as I was cleaning out my
office at Universal. He came into my office and he goes,
can I come with you? And even though I didn't
physically do it, in my mind, I dropped to my
knees and thank God. It's like, if John will come
with me, this is the best gift I could get.
And to this day, he and I are the ones
(30:30):
who've always brainstormed and challenge each other for the biggest
promotions we've ever done, taking over the Statue of Liberty
with Florida, Georgia Lyne. You know, he's just he's my
big thinker and he always delivers for me.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Scott, You've had a magical life. You've pushed a lot
of boundaries, still pushing them, You've taken a lot of risks,
still taking them, and you have created so much. Thanks
for sharing those lessons with us. There are a few
things I picked up for my conversation with Scott. One
follow the energy. Scott has a true passion for the
(31:06):
music industry. For a while, following that passion, touring with
rock bands, but eventually he realized his greatest strength wasn't
playing guitar, it was how well he knew the business.
It's important to know what interests you, but also to
figure out where you excel. Let that momentum guide you
to success. Two. Pull all the leavers you have. As
(31:26):
an independent promoter, Scott says he had to learn how
to turn water into wine. When he joined a major company,
he realized not every tool was being used. Leverage every
opportunity at your disposal, whether you're selling a product, creating
an experience, or marketing talent. When Scott took on responsibilities
that didn't interest his business partner, he gained new skills
(31:48):
that he later used to start his own company. Three.
Be competitive. Whether it's on the racetrack or the billboard charts.
Scott doesn't shy away from competition. It energizes him. It's
not a bad thing to compare yourself to those around you.
It can be essential for gaining a leg off, and
you may even realize you have what it takes to
(32:09):
lead innovative new company. I'm Bob Pittman. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening
to Math and Magic, a production of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special thanks to Sidney
Rosenbluff for booking and wrangling our wonderful talent, which is
no small feat. Mathematics producers are Emily Meronov and Jessica Crimechitch.
It is mixed and mastered by Baheied Fraser. Our executive
(32:37):
producers are Nikki Etoor and Ali Perry, and of course,
of big thanks to Gail Raoul, Eric Angel Noel and
everyone who helped bring this show to your ears. Until
next time
Host
Bob Pittman
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