We were lucky to catch up with Jeff Blue recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeff, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” It’s true. The greater the risk the greater the reward. I live by these mantras. My entire career was betting on myself. I decided to intern for music companies while in law school and after I passed the California Bar exam, I worked my way into becoming a music journalist as a point of entry into the music business.

In my first job as a music publisher I spent three years developing artists that no one else believed in: They all became Grammy winners including Linkin Park, Macy Gray, Daniel Powter, Korn, Limp Bizkit and more. I taught myself how to produce and write music, resulting in numerous number one hits and platinum albums.

I then wrote my life story which I received a publishing deal and two movie deals.

The biggest risk in life is not taking any.

Jeff, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey everyone, my name is Jeff Blue. I have helped creatives achieve success. I’m a multi-platinum music producer, A&R executive, award winning song-writer, best-selling author, platinum selling music supervisor and music publisher, attorney, manager, and film/tv producer. I know it seems like a lot but my work has resulted in sales of over 170 million albums worldwide, 6 Grammy winning artists, and Exec. Producer of the biggest selling debut album of the 21st Century.
My artists include Grammy winning icons such as Linkin Park, Macy Gray, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Daniel Powter, Hoobastank, Better Than Ezra, DJ Ashba of Guns N’ Roses, & music supervising multi-platinum soundtracks such as Aaliyah’s Queen of the Damned.

I’ve held Sr. VP A&R/Staff Producer positions for Warner Bros. Records, Interscope Records, Virgin/Capitol Music Group, Sony/BMG/Jive Records, Atlantic Records, Lava-Universal Republic, and RCA/J Records. I’ve won two BMI song-writing awards for songs which have been heard in hundreds of films, tv, and commercials worldwide.

In 2022, I partnered with Mark Wahlberg’s production company to create two music docuseries and my best-selling book “One Step Closer”, (Simon & Schuster) is being made into a major motion picture. I currently serve as Head of Entertainment for Asset Entities, the first publicly traded Discord related company on the NASDQ.

I lecture at universities and music conferences worldwide and have appeared on TV shows, and regularly on FOX, ABC, CBS, CNBC, and NBC news.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

What drives me in my creative journey is challenging myself to succeed into any arenas that I find interesting. If someone tells me that my dreams are too difficult or I don’t have the experience, I find a way to make those unattainable dreams come true.

I have always felt connected with music and film. I was in law school I felt disconnected from my true purpose: music. Fear of ignoring my passion and following what others believed to be my “smart/logical” career path inspired me to act quickly in my early 20’s and take a bet on myself. I taught myself how to become a journalist in order to gain credibility in the music business. From there I secured a junior executive gig where I quickly learned about music publishing, managing artists, performing, writing and production. Within 4 years I had signed and developed artists that went on to change the world of music, winning dozens of Grammys, and selling over 171 million albums. Absorbing the details in the studio allowed me the confidence to produce and write music and I went on to write and produce #1 hits for multi-platinum albums.

A few years later, I felt that authoring a book would be incredible, but daunting. I forced myself to write my story on how Linkin Park and myself built the band and our journey of having the most rejected band in history becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. I ended up receiving a publishing deal and the book has now been translated into 7 different languages.

I also taught myself how to create a docuseries, write a screenplay, and how to produce films, all which are in the works with Mark Wahlberg and other production companies.

So is there a goal or mission driving my creative journey? YES It’s the thrill and satisfaction of being creative! Life is a wild ride and if you’re able to take the reins and steer into the direction you’d like to go with persistence and belief in your abilities, you’re likely to succeed in your creative journey.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Rejection is part of the creative journey, and resilience and belief in one’s self is the main solution. At every point in my career, I was told I didn’t have the experience, the talent, the contacts, etc. I took these rejections and negativity and turned them into inspirations and personal goals. I would not give up.

When I was in law school I was told I would never be able to break into music. Right after I passing the CA Bar Exam, I became a well known journalist with the goal to establish my name in music. I was told I would never be able to get an executive job in music. Based on the skillset I designed during my journalistic journey, my first job in music publishing skyrocketed into a full executive career. I believed in my artistic talent as well as my business talent so I started co-producing and co-writing for the artists I was developing, thereby becoming a successful executive at the same time I was becoming a successful creative.

I understood that complacency is the onset to failure, so I was always evolving and looking forward to the next stage in my career. I forced myself to write a book about my life. This goal was designed to open up other creative opportunities. That’s exactly what happened. I ended up producing music docuseries, appearing on music shows as talent, writing a screenplay, and then becoming head of entertainment for a Discord company.

Specific examples of resilience is the Linkin Park story. We were rejected by every single person and company in the music world. I knew in my heart we had the talent so we kept moving forward using the rejections as fuel for the evolution of our success. We ended up having the biggest selling album of the 21st century. It would have never happened if we gave up after 3 years of rejection. The band has since inspired and changed the lives of millions worldwide.

Contact Info:

• Website: jeffbluemedia.com
• Instagram: jeffbluemusic
• Facebook: jeffbluemusic
• Linkedin: jeffblue
• Twitter: jeffbluemusic
• Youtube: jeffbluemusic

Image Credits
Photo headshot credit : David Levin