We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brenessa Roach a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brenessa, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

At Behind The Beat, our mission is to support and uplift small and emerging independent artists. These artists, often with fewer than 10K streams, face significant challenges in gaining exposure. It’s difficult for them to get playlisted, secure interviews, or receive press coverage without paying a lot of money or without having a huge audience. We also believe that earning streams and success organically is far more rewarding than paying for it.

We are dedicated to providing a platform for artists with potential, helping them to shine and grow. By sharing their stories and offering our support, we aim to make a meaningful difference in their journey to success.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Brenessa Roach, a 24-year-old music industry professional from Toronto and the founder of the music organization Behind The Beat. I graduated in 2022 from Toronto Metropolitan University’s RTA (Radio, Television, and Arts) Media Production program with a concentration in Radio/Audio. My journey into the music industry began in 2021 when I was the marketing director for my fourth-year thesis project, “The Airtime Project.” Alongside six others, we recorded a single and produced a music video for four Toronto artists impacted by COVID-19 who had never been in a studio setting before.

During my last semester of university, I interned remotely with Sony Music Canada’s A&R department. This opportunity extended into a summer internship, allowing me to work in the office and gain industry experience. Following this, I assisted with general fan engagement and meet-and-greets for several K-Pop concerts, my first being for JUNNY, an artist I have admired since 2019. Seeking more stability and tired of working for free, I founded Behind The Beat in November 2022 and officially launched it in January 2023.

Initially starting as a blog, Behind The Beat has grown into a vibrant community of over 1,100 people in just over a year. We now offer artist consultation services, press coverage for new releases, exclusive interviews , concert photography and coverage, and will be hosting our first Artist Showcase event this August in Toronto. Currently, I am the sole person working at Behind The Beat, but I love it because I have numerous ideas I want to bring to life, and it’s incredibly rewarding to say that I created and run this myself.

Throughout my three years in the music industry, I’ve gained many skills I never anticipated, such as music journalism and concert photography. I even got to photograph my favourite band, The Rose, in October 2023, which was surreal and beyond my wildest dreams. I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet so many incredible people and work with artists I’ve admired for years. Watching my community grow and evolving alongside the artists I highlight is truly rewarding.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Since Behind The Beat operates solely online, having a social media presence and audience is crucial. When we first launched Behind The Beat, I already had a personal following of 1000 people on Instagram, thanks to networking and being active in the music industry. Before launching the Behind The Beat website, I posted teasers on my story and shared the Instagram account, encouraging people to follow it ahead of the first post. Once the first post went live, we began gaining followers since we were featuring small, independent artists who would then share our posts on their stories, driving their followers to engage with our account. My amazing artist friends also supported by sharing my posts when the blog first launched. Over the last year, our audience has continued to grow as we feature diverse artists. Our main goal with Behind The Beat is to be the most inclusive platform out there, with a special focus on artists in the BIPOC community, which has significantly contributed to our audience growth. However, we highlight artists from all backgrounds.

Social media has enabled us to build a global audience, with one of our largest followings in Malaysia.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being a creative and owning my own business has allowed me to gain and master many skills, which I find incredibly rewarding. I am constantly overflowing with ideas, and Behind The Beat is a fantastic outlet for me to share those ideas and combine all my passions. Growing up, I always loved writing – so much so that teachers often said I wrote too much in my essays. I have also always been passionate about taking photographs, making graphics – basically, anything in the creative field.

Another rewarding aspect of being a creative is meeting others like me. I have made many amazing friends who are artists, managers, producers, and more, and I’ve had wonderful coffee chats and conversations with people who encourage and inspire me. I also have incredible artist friends who are willing to help me achieve my personal goals. Currently, I am collaborating with someone to hopefully release my own single in the future. Additionally, earlier this year, I made my acting debut in my friend Kuiper’s “Lullaby” music video. Being in music videos is something I have always wanted to do, and while I love being behind the scenes, I definitely want to explore more of these opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://behindthebeat.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behindthebeatmusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenessaroach/
• Other: I would love my personal Instagram shared as well:

  https://www.instagram.com/brenessaroach/

Image Credits

Brenessa Roach for all photographs except:

The Kuiper MV photograph: Alex Van (@alexminivan), Leo Kato (@leotk.mov) and Samuel Han (@samsjhan)