We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Cruz Hernandez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel Cruz, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Most of my law school peers are occupied with the fear of not finding a job post-graduation. I often propose an unconventional solution: “Why not create your own job?”

Law school does not teach us to start a business. The value of starting a law practice often becomes evident to lawyers only after feeling trapped in a cycle of serving someone else’s clients. If only the focus shifted towards entrepreneurship early on, many could serve their clients on their own terms.

In today’s world, the currency of success is attention. In this attention economy, being well-known and trusted often trumps perceived expertise. The legal industry has been slow to adopt the internet, as many industries have been. Fortunately, those of us who use the internet and meet clients where they are will be the first to work with the new wave of superstar clients.

Before and during my time in law school, I spent my years hosting various podcasts and interviewing people across the music industry. This venture not only enhanced my comfort in front of the camera but also allowed me to build a platform and reputation that delivered genuine value. It paved the way for building a vast network with successful artists and executives.

Another core belief of ours is that the best way to compete is not to compete at all. Rather, we focus on a niche. By occupying a small space in someone’s mind, you become the obvious choice in the market. Being niche-focused means you don’t require a massive following to achieve success. In most industries, there are not many influential content creators. Today’s algorithms direct audiences towards the sub-communities of these few creators, where they can become the go-to experts in their market.

A common pitfall for many businesses is bombarding potential clients with an exhaustive list of services. This can lead to decision paralysis and make it difficult for clients to effectively spread the word about your service. A more effective strategy is to leverage a niche focus to initiate conversations, and then introduce other services.

Take Producer Royalty as an example – we offer far more than just our “debt collection” service. We assist clients in maximizing the value of their catalogs. We shop clients for publishing deals, send their beats out, and run a client beat store. We also sell merchandise, copyright music, form LLCs, and much more. However, if we listed everything at the start, clients would find it harder to remember us for anything specific. Instead, we bring clients in for one specific problem: they have not received payment for a placement. Once they’re in and trust has been built, we start telling them what else we could offer.

Hyper-specialization is still in its infancy in many industries. Specialists set themselves apart from the numerous other options available to clients. The preference for specialists over generalists is often obvious. Consider this: would you prefer to hire a general practitioner or a heart specialist when faced with a heart problem?

Ultimately, the key to achieving business success lies in having a deep understanding of and connection with your target audience. By catering to a specific community, you are able to effectively communicate with them, build trust, and identify unaddressed issues.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The music industry is an endlessly evolving field. Amidst its evolution, certain communities often find themselves overlooked. Everyone knows the industry is full of systems that suppress creatives from getting what they’re owed. But, in recent years, one community in particular has been facing an epidemic of payment issues – music producers.

I am the founder of ‘Producer Royalty,’ a “debt collection” management company and educational content brand for producers. In a few months, I will receive my attorney license. Then, we will be launching the ‘Producer Royalty Law Firm.’ It will be the first law firm entirely dedicated to meeting the unique needs of producers.

The idea for Producer Royalty came to me after working as a paralegal for music lawyers. I noticed that major label artists frequently use a producer’s beat without paying. Many of the biggest songs in the world have been released without properly clearing the rights with the song’s “beatmaker.” Yet, the music industry has done little to solve this.

I didn’t go to law school to become a lawyer. My mission was to build systems and a law firm that empowers creatives to reap the full benefits of their craft. I saw beginning from the legal side as a means to gain access to impactful opportunities to spark change and to understand the business at a deeper level. Once I discovered the issues that producers face, I decided to devote the early part of my career to supporting producers with their business. Since its inception, our brand has lead the charge in bringing producer-related issues to the forefront.

I envisioned seamlessly integrating educational content with professional representation to address producer’s challenges. My hypothesis was that, if we did this, we could establish a positive reputation and make a major impact faster than anyone in the legal or management field ever has. So far, my belief has proven accurate.

Since our inception, our management team has helped producers collect payments from over 100 major label artist “placements.” These artists include Lil Baby, Gunna, Rod Wave, NBA Youngboy, and many others. We’ve recently partnered with A1 Music Group who has also represented producers for hundreds of major songs. Our content has educated tens or hundreds of thousands of people. We have collaborated or partnered with some of the most influential individuals in the industry. This has established Producer Royalty as a leading voice for the producer community.

We expect that the Producer Royalty Law Firm will be the largest law firm debut in history. At our current pace, my team projects that we will have between 125-175 clients. We will also be connected to one of the top music media platforms. We are working towards building the law firm of the future by using the internet to brand, educate, and empower clients.

My life’s mission extends beyond business. It’s about creating systems that help individuals achieve their grandest dreams. I take pride in knowing that Producer Royalty empowers creatives to earn a living from their art. It also provides jobs for people who love what they do. We found a way to take the side of the creative in every instance, and to push back against the systems that funnel money away from them. Producer Royalty is committed to bringing integrity to an industry that has historically lacked it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I am fascinated by people. They are far more complex, interesting, and knowledgable than we often give them credit for. This belief is at the core of all of Producer Royalty’s actions.

In the music industry, positive social interactions are essential for success. Clients and partners pick individuals they like and trust over mere skillset. We take a genuine interest in others, and ensure our interactions are personalized and memorable. This lays the foundation for a trusting long-term relationship. Every person in the music industry has diverse experiences. We can learn from all of them. Being interested in people helps us form relationships effortlessly and allows us to learn quickly.

Producer Royalty is also committed to providing value without expecting anything in return. Instead of demanding compensation for every minute, we give as much as possible to the community. By helping more people than our competitors, we generate more referrals and attract more profitable clients. We aim to outshine our competitors by openly sharing knowledge and services, allowing us to be the first to work with rising talents.

Additionally, we understand the importance of celebrating and sharing our achievements. Many people fear that being loud about their successes may make others see them as arrogant or self-centered. This will be true for some of your audience. However, the reality is that the more people who are aware of your achievements, the more opportunities that present themselves. We see no harm in being vocal about our success in assisting clients in collecting tens of thousands of dollars, thereby enabling them to support their families or quit their day jobs. Being loud about success only fosters a cycle of continuous success.

Building a “brand” is synonymous with building a reputation. The more supportive, memorable, and loud we are, the stronger our reputation becomes.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Before and during my time in law school, I spent my years hosting various podcasts and interviewing people across the music industry. This venture not only enhanced my comfort in front of the camera but also allowed me to build a platform and reputation that delivered genuine value. It paved the way for building a vast network with successful artists and executives.

I strongly believe that hosting interviews with niche experts is the most effective strategy for building an impactful content brand. Not only do interviews expand your network and improve your on-camera presence, but they also boost your personal expertise.

You may be surprised to find that many highly successful individuals are eager to be interviewed, regardless of the size of your platform. By hosting interviews, you establish relationships that go beyond the show. Our most engaged and renowned followers are often those we have interviewed. Once someone has appeared on your show, they become invested in your brand and story, as they are now a part of it. Additionally, when you collaborate with someone, their entire audience is exposed to your brand as well.

Moreover, interviews offer consistent opportunities to improve your on-camera skills. By focusing on your guest during interviews, you have the chance to practice speaking on camera without being the center of attention. Over time, this helps reduce nervousness and enables you to become the leading face of your content with ease.

The topics of the interviews will revolve around the area in which you are developing your expertise, offering you an hour long, in-depth learning experience. These conversations will also teach you the art of asking effective questions. As a host, it is your responsibility to ask the best possible questions and guide conversations that yield specific, valuable results. This skill is invaluable in every part of life.

Confidence is typically the main obstacle for people looking to get into content creation. Here are a few principles to keep in mind that have helped boost my confidence in content creation:

– My cheat code for interviews is to save every good question or topic I think of or hear in my everyday life. I organize these questions based on the type of person they may be asked to (artists, lawyers, managers, etc.). Then, I study and pick them before an interview or social interaction. Remember, making others feel seen is key to becoming seen yourself. While I may not be the most interesting person in the room, I make it my mission to be the most interested.

– Rather than feeling the need to be an expert, I view myself as a student sharing my learning experiences. I found comfort in accepting that interviewers make a career out of being the least knowledgeable person in every conversation. You don’t need to know everything about a topic to release content about it. You just need to share what you know with your audience or share the conversations you’ve learned from. People tend to learn best from those who are only a few steps ahead of where they are. The focus should be on being a vessel that distributes or simplifies the ideas of others.

– If appearing on camera feels unbearable at the moment, consider starting with written content. While videos with your presence can help build your reputation and brand more easily, writing is still great practice for organizing, expressing, and testing your ideas. Many audiences prefer written content, especially for complex topics. Then, successful written materials can be transformed into video scripts.

– Remember, the first draft of everything is shitty. The polished and “perfect” videos you see are the result of piecing together the “best” of the shitty takes. You won’t feel confident about your first videos. As you gain experience, you’ll just get more comfortable with the creation process, and your drafts will become less wasteful. But accepting that the drafts will always be shitty has allowed me to power on to the next idea.

Contact Info:

• Website: producer-royalty.com/daniel-cruz
• Instagram: instagram.com/daniel.cruz.music
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/daniel-cruz-hernandez-66b210158
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/musicdanielcruz
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Producer-royalty?si=gJIfANXW57Ag_JyU