Meet Alvin Pipkin Ii

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alvin Pipkin Ii. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alvin , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

It can be hard to stay motivated at times once you reach a certain level of enlightenment. Most individuals in the music industry will see the hurdles and some lose the drive to continue. I personally see a bigger picture and how it was painted and I avoid the hurdles by not taking certain paths. There are several lanes in the creative process in music songwriters, composers, engineers, producers, graphic design and many management positions.

With so many avenues to advance in the music industry, why select only one? If you have the ability to achieve success in multiple positions, should you not attempt to try other roles? You will never know what you can create unless you try.

I have played a role in every position in the music industry and by doing such I never get bored. I take pleasure in helping recording artist drive to reach their goals. For me the key factors of creation are first love what you do and second create for others to enjoy. There are individuals who create to gain fame and notoriety, but never obtain either goal. However, those who create out of love and making others happy find some level of success.

I personally have learned that no one finds success alone and that our personal interactions with others are inspiration to continue. The team I work with continue making efforts to grow the company when I lose my creative drive. After a few conversations and some venting new paths become visible and the journey continues.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My singular goal is to build the AÖIR RECORDS brand into a service equal to a major record label. We are in discussions to build our own digital distribution service similar to Distrokid and Tunecore. But, we have taken steps further than these services to assist songwriters, composers, recording artist and producers to benefit financial from their collaborations.

We are also expanding the genres of music we work with adding Reggaeton and Drill Rap to the platform in 2025.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In the music industry you require knowledge in three different aspects of a record:

1. Production – knowing who you need to produce a record, the tools required and how to produce a hit record.

2. Management – having the knowledge to bring all the parties together (recording artist, composers, producers, record labels, publishers and distributors) to monetize the record.

3. Licensing – the monetization of the record to create royalties to pay all the parties involved with the creation of the record.

Stop chasing the dream and live in reality. The majority of individuals in the recording industry have little to no knowledge of business. This is the “Music Business” so you need to operate as a business to work in the “Music Industry”. Most recording artist are seeking a record label to sign them to a recording deal, “The Dream”.

If you are already finding composers for your music, recording studios to record your records, graphic designers to create album covers for your records, then you are already operating as a Record Label, “Reality”.

Do your research do not ask a friend unless that friend has worked in the Music Industry for decades.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

It is extremely important to be well rounded in any industry. Being well rounded makes you invaluable! There are many different roles within any company, suppose you are the most skilled employee in your position. And, one day the company outsources your position or sells that division of the company. What are you going to do now? A well rounded individual will simply make a lateral move and continue to work within the company. Those who can not make the lateral move to another position will be forced to find employment at another company.

As a small independent company I could not afford a lot of the expenses record labels accure producing records. With 85% of music being consumed digitally, revenue from streaming was low. So, to keep the creative drive and generate some revenue I had to look to my skillets. Example: the average lease for music is $30, one hour in a recording studio $50, recording engineer $20/hour, mixing & mastering a record $50. Imagine what an entire album will cost to produce. A record label can invest as much as $950,000.00 into producing an album for a recording artist.

Having the desire to find any success in the music industry I improved my skills in the areas expenses will accure. I learned to engineer my own recording sessions. Then I built my own recording studio and rented it out. I obtained software to assist with mixing & mastering the records. I purchased CD duplicators and manufactured our own CDs. I learned how to design album covers, promotional flyers, EPKs, business cards and company logos. I became a “One Stop Shop” for your needs in the Music Industry.

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