Launching a career in the music industry can be difficult for up-and-coming artists, but music education platforms like LiveThe.Biz are dedicated to assisting aspiring entertainers and professionals in kick-starting their careers.
Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Walter J. Tucker, the Black-owned brand has been successful in hosting networking events for a membership of over 12,000 music enthusiasts. In June, the company launched an Instagram TV (IGTV) series titled “LiveThe.Biz Presents: Music, Mind, & Motivation” (#LiveTheBizMMM), where Tucker engages in essential discourse with notable icons in the industry. Among the featured guests, producer Teddy Riley, music manager Ashley Moss and BET network executive Trenton Pratt, have all shown love so far.
Generating over 500K views, the weekly digital panel explores a variety of topics like developing industry-based careers, maintaining mental and physical health, and dealing with current racial issues.
Tucker recently sat down with rolling out to discuss his brand, the new series and professional experiences within the music industry.
What inspired your passion to work in the music industry?
My love for the music industry started from reading the back of the album credits. When I was in third or fourth grade, [I] began reading more about the industry. I’m from Portsmouth, Virginia, so I started seeing people like Teddy Riley move to the VA, Timbaland [and] Pharrell from the Neptunes. When I went to college at Johnson C. Smith University, I majored in marketing and music business. From there, I started doing various internships with directors at record labels. [Then] I began working in the industry full time. I worked at Kobalt Music Group, Harry Fox Agency [and] Nielsen Music, where I’ve done artist analytics for Warner Music Group.
How did you come up with your new IGTV series, “Music, Mind, & Motivation”?
We were going to have another panel for the summer, but obviously, COVID-19 happened. I still wanted to find a way to connect our members because the panel was the way we got our information out to our networking group. There was a lot of sadness for our community, and anger, so I wanted to pour it into something positive to uplift the Black voices. In June, I did the trailer, and every week after that, from June through September, we had a new episode.
What caused you to create LiveThe.Biz, and use that platform to elevate the Black culture?
In my previous roles, I was dealing with artists [eho] didn’t know as much as I thought they needed to know about the industry. They didn’t know about music publishing, how to set up a label deal, corporate LLCs and trademarking. So I wanted to create a platform that could educate, not only the young Black creatives in the music space, but also the Black executives [who] want to be in the music space. That was the goal.
