"Start With Why"

The most common words of advice in marketing nowadays are “start with why?” - essentially asking for the reason your company exists.

As this is our first post I figured it was only fitting to begin with an introduction and why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Back in 2010 my co-founder and I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University - one of the largest Music Industry programs in the U.S.. Due to the affordability of Nashville at that time - my first rent was $350/mo - all of our closest college friends stayed in the area to pursue careers in various parts of the industry. We’ve grown together and worked on each other's projects as we’ve tried to navigate the complex maze to succeed in music. Some of us are musicians. Some of us started labels. Some of us manage. It’s been an all-encompassing view of the industry from the ground up and our passion since we were kids.

My path took me down the website development and ecommerce route, eventually landing a job at a digital agency where I learned much of what I know today. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the largest names in country music - Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, Lady Antebellum, Sam Hunt - and hundreds of independent artists while directing product development for Bombplates.com.

I have massive respect for the musicians I’ve worked with regardless of where they are in their career - it’s an extremely tough profession. It’s why I’ve always focused on making things that will hopefully grow their careers.

Taylor’s post-MTSU path took him to Virginia Tech to pursue a Computer Science degree, ultimately landing back in Nashville after securing a second degree and more student loans. Prior to this endeavor he was an Architect at a mortgage bank - it’s why I tend to joke “if he can help secure money, he can secure your music”. I could always tell he wanted to be focusing on music in some capacity and I’m glad I was able to convince him to join me on this path.

The idea for Single came to me one night while thinking about the issues my agency was having with Shopify and the 50+ artist shops they managed. If this is where most high-level artists are headed, why are there no publicly available music solutions? Seemingly simple things like a tracklist with previews and reporting physical sales to SoundScan would cost thousands - prohibitively expensive for indies and “not worth it” for many majors. I sent Taylor a text that night and the rest is history currently being written.

We have many ideas how this can be something much bigger than simple tools and direct-to-fan music distribution, but we also don’t want to exist in a bubble. If there are any ways you’d like to see us improve or features you’d like to see added, just let us know.

We’re here to help.

-Tommy