Meet Rob Schwartz

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rob Schwartz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rob below.

Rob, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

It comes from rejection from the earlier portion of my life. I’ve always wanted to be in the music industry, but I had no connections, no friends or relatives in the industry, and no real role models. This industry is one of the toughest in the world. I had to carve out my own lane and build the confidence in myself to build it up. My journey is a long one, but I have so much more to accomplish.

Also, I have a hard time digesting the word “no”. When someone tells me I can’t achieve something, I look at it more as a road bump instead of a road block. It becomes a challenge to me.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My career started at a major record label after college. Then I went to Los Angeles to become a songwriter with some known R&B artists. When that didn’t work out the way I hoped, I ended up working in the financial world off Wall Street in Margin/Risk Management. I was unhappy there and created a website that eventually turned into a TV show that aired worldwide. This caused me to leave the financial world and pursue the music industry as my full time job. I started a music distribution company and currently have over 1,000 artists and 300 labels I distribute. I started multiple music TV networks and music TV shows which include about 3,000 interviews. I also because a successful music supervisor for multiple films and TV shows. Just recently, I was elected as the Governor of the Recording Academy (Grammys) for the Philadelphia Chapter as well as a member of the Guild of Music Supervisors.

A year ago, my friends and I created ACX1 Studios, in which we turned a former 4 story shopping mall in Atlantic City into a movie production lot, music incubator, and event space. We started the first radio station on the AC boardwalk and currently working on Distro Fest 3, a four day music conference, music festival, and music film festival to our building

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?

There are many important skills to be successful in the music industry and life in general.

First, you have to have patients. This is one of the toughest industries and success does not happen overnight. You can’t fit a square in a circle. If it wasn’t meant to be, be patient because it may make sense down the line.

Second, you have to be strong. You are going to encounter so many fake and harmful people in this industry. You have to smile and move on. I had to toughen up enough where if I saw someone who screwed me over at a bar, I would still buy them a shot. I can’t carry any negative feelings or bad intentions. Karma is karma, but I always focus on the positive.

Third, you have to be proactive. This industry moves and changes so fast, so you have to be way ahead of the curve. It actually becomes a full time job just discovering the next trends in the industry before they come out.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The most impactful book I read was Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. I chose this book is because as a child, he was under many hardships including the story about his mother going to an institution, descriptions on how poor he was, sneaking into jazz clubs but getting rejected because of his age. It’s amazing what he went through in his journey in life to become one of the most successful music producers in the world. After reading his book, my issues seems so small. If he could be successful in this industry, I knew I could too.

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