We recently connected with Sam Odeh and have shared our conversation below.
Sam , thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?
This world is full of people who are consumed by emptiness and envy. They have no sense of purpose or direction of their own and live their lives in redundancy running on a hamster wheel, either too afraid to take the leap to do what they believe in or are being held back by lack of self belief and conviction. So they lash out at anything and anyone who is different, who thinks for themselves and is outside the norm. They know better than anyone else, they are always right and everyone else is a fool. People like this should be pitied and ignored because they are everywhere, and more than likely closer to you than you think, some can be immediate family members. I used to let them in, and let these people get to me. All it ever got me was misery, self doubt and I woke up when I noticed one day that I was becoming one of them. You have to have conviction and belief in what your doing, don’t get me wrong you need logic and reality as well, but overall if it makes you feel good, if at the end of the day you believe you have contributed something useful and meaningful to this world then you’re in the right direction. As my father used to say “You will never get anywhere in life if all you do is listen to and try to impress others. Do what’s good for you and do it well, otherwise don’t do it at all.”
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Born and raised in Dubai, back then it wasn’t the oasis that is is now. It was a desert, we had one TV station in English, 2 Arabic ones, and playing outside was not an option most of the time. There was no public transport so as a kid you relied on your parents and their schedule to drive you back and forth. As you can imagine boredom quickly set in. My older brother (by a good 7 years) was a teenager and he used to (like most teenagers) be in his room listening to this music, I wasn’t allowed in of course but I would hear it here and there and the intrigue was born. The day he was leaving to University, he was packing some final things in his bags and I was trying to sneak some of his cassettes for myself. He tossed me this bootleg tape with Anthrax on one side and Iron Maidens first album on the other. Of course as soon as he was gone I ran to what is now MY room, and put it on. Ill never forget that first time I heard Anthrax Metal Thrashing Mad on that boombox. The sound that came out was out of this world, and that was it, I was hooked. Hook line and sinker, I dedicated every second I had to knowing more about this music, learning it, I decided then and there at the age of 9 that I wanted to do music for a living. listening to albums and analyzing everything about the covers. lyrics etc. I kept noticing Geffen, Universal, Capital, Road Runner and other labels were a common thing on the covers, soon I learned what they did and realized, there is more than just being a musician, there are the ones that help them become who they are.
Fast forward a bunch of years, I’m in Canada attending Concordia, and later McGill, started my own bands and the usual underground musician gauntlet. I started learning the business of music, there were no schools for music business back then, it wasn’t like today, you had to learn by learning regular business and marketing, how people react to and consume music, and a ton of trial and error and not forgetting the mockery, nay sayers which of course just motivated me even more to prove them wrong!
Fast forward again band turned into booking agency, which turned into a management & merch services company and then to Covid era when the entire industry died overnight. I was managing 4 artists then, and like most bands they had nothing better to do than write and record. Albums later they started asking to label shop. I got 12-15 different label offers at that time. Each one exactly the same, “We love the album, here’s the contract and send us money.” I’m scratching my head at this point. everything I learned was the other way around, its not one or two companies, so it isn’t a scam its 12-15 different ones from around the world, this seemingly was the new industry standard for indie labels! So I sat back and looked at the big picture, people were having a hard time adjusting to this new world where people consumed music in a whole different way. They were stuck in the 80s and 90s trying to force the old way to stay and the artists were the ones paying the price. But time doesn’t stop for anyone. Being a manager on the ground level knowing the market first had, I saw an opportunity, to do things different, to sign artists, to guide and release their music the way it is being consumed today. To actually try and make a difference in how things work and actually help these new bands grow. No one was doing things this way, we would be (and probably still are) the only ones doing this type of deal. Well it was Covid, business was dead and I had nothing to loose, if it works then fantastic, if not, well it was Covid and like everyone else we tried something new.
Here we are 3 years later a Record Label with almost 100 artists, a whole bunch of them on the radio charts, and we are constantly growing and adding more services and benefits that we can provide them. We went from our original 4 artists a couple releases per month, distribution and some promotion to now having 3 releases per week, a media (radio, magazines, blogs, tv etc…) mailing list of 20000 contacts, a booking agent, a Metal Incorporated Subdivision, guaranteed Endorsements for the artists, and much more.
Its not all flowers and sunshine but that’s business, the tide ebbs and flows, but I’m proud of what its become, and where its going.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
– Find something you love! This is the most important thing it will bring everything else, conviction, determination and perseverance. If I didn’t love what I do I wouldn’t have lasted this long. Don’t get me wrong there are days when I want to pull my hair out because things can and will go wrong, but its that passion that makes me keep going back to fix and more importantly, improve and grow. Don’t take no for an answer, if they say no find another way around the issue. If they laugh, you need to have that little voice that says “oh yeah Ill prove you wrong!” As my dad once told me “In business you need to be like flowing water, when it hits a wall it will always pass through the cracks and around it, it will always find a way to flow!”
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
There is no such thing as going all in on our strengths. We are human and we cannot separate strengths from weaknesses in our behavior and personality. Yes jump all in, but know your weakness and MIND IT! If you’re starting from scratch keep track of things and as soon as you can, bring in someone who will cover your weakness with their strengths. This is how you should start building your team. Your biggest strength should be knowing your weakness.
Don’t keep non believers around, they will be like a cancerous dead weight dragging you down with negativity. Lastly look at your journey with a bit of humor, learn to laugh at yourself.
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