We recently connected with John Joubert and have shared our conversation below.
Hi John, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?
One of the biggest trends I see now in the music business is a lack of artist development. In the past an artist would have to go through developmental phases which included, studio etiquette, stage presence, songwriting training, vocal lessons, public relation awareness and much more and this led to a well rounded professional recording artist. Today’s artist lack the basic fundamentals of what we would call a “polished” professional. I think our industry has become so fixed on making a quick return on their investment that they’ve ignored this process which leads me to the 2nd trend which is too much emphasis on analytics. In today’s market much of the perceived success is based off of digital numbers driven on digital platforms. I understand the importance of analytics, however I still think it needs to be more balance because this trend could stifle the creativity of artist who would compromise their work just to mimic those who have large numbers do to popularity or trending subject matter.
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 was born and raised in Detroit, MI so growing up in Detroit, I developed a love for music being a fan of the Motown era and sound. I was always fascinated with the “process” of how music was made and distributed to the world. Early on I got into management managing several up and coming artist. I did this off and on for approximately 10 years developing and helping artist bring dreams to reality. In 2016 I first created Ikonic Management and managed several.music industry veterans. This eventually led to the culmination of Ikoninc Entertainment Group in 2019. It was created to provide a platform for talent in the entertainment industry i.e., music, comedy and film. In 2020 Ikonic entered into a partnership with WhoMag Multimedia and secured a distribution deal with Orchard a subsidiary of Sony music. Through this partnership we provide a platform to distribute artists’ music of all genres. I believe what separates me from others is the ability to bring the best out of a person and to help them reach their maximum potential wherever that may be. One of my proudest moments is witnessing one of my former artist transition into a successful music executive fulfilling their dream.
Any advice for managing a team?
My advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to develop and practice good habits and stay consistent. It’s very important to identify and set reachable goals for your team. This helps build confidence and empowers everyone to feel apart of something special. Throughout this process you have to stay consistent and have open communication.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn how not to compare myself to other industry peers that I thought were doing better than me based off of perception. At one point I would compare myself to an industry peer that started out about the same time as me. I would look at their material possessions and often wondered how they attained so much so fast. After some time went on it was discovered that those material things never belonged to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ikonicentgroup.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ikonic_entgroup
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-joubert-mba-411b95148
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IkonicManageme2?t=R03vk1Pj9dpKT1xk6cwEeg&s=09