We recently connected with Patrick Avard and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Patrick thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?
It’s a challenge. When you launch a company, you start with a nucleus of talent who share a common goal, but as you begin to grow, you bring on other team members who may not be as closely tied to your original mission. That requires another level of oversight. You need to manage growth to ensure you don’t stray too far from what got you where you are. Getting a small, creative company off the ground is quite an accomplishment, it takes blood, sweat and tears, but it’s only the first step. Taking it to the next level is harder. How do you grow and evolve, while maintaining your creative spark and staying fresh? It’s easier to get there than to stay there.
Our business depends on delivering outstanding music in all forms, especially vocal music. That’s what we’re known for. It takes incredible songwriters, great singers and exceptional musicians. It also requires flawless technical execution in the way the music is arranged, recorded and mastered. Every detail must be perfect. We want our music to be as well-written, performed and recorded as the hits you hear on the radio. We won’t settle for anything less.
It takes special people to do that. We have a rolodex of composers, singers and musicians and we’re always looking for new talent. But we are very selective. When we bring on new talent, we tap a toe in the water. We introduce people to our world a little bit at a time because it’s not always a home run. We want to be sure it’s a good fit and they meet our standards.
I am confident that we will continue to deliver the quality and creativity that our clients expect because we have built a great team. I believe in myself, and I believe in the people around me. We have great resolve, a strong work ethic and a relentless drive to succeed. We are making a mark in this industry.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Patrick Avard, is a pioneering entrepreneur, multi-award-winning music producer, and the founder of Atlanta based company, Level 77 Music. Avard’s music has been featured on numerous television shows, commercials, feature films and documentaries like the Emmy Award winning series CHEER on Netflix. He is widely considered the leading music producer in the world of cheer. With over 87 world championships, the teams he produces dominate the sport. Avard’s focus now is on building Level 77 Music as world leader in production music. The company brings a cutting-edge approach to production music, sync licensing, original scoring and more. Music from its vast catalog had been featured in television projects for Fox Sports, Hulu, ESPN, ABC and others.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
As a production music library, our success depends on monetizing our catalog in every way, shape and form. Today’s media landscape is incredibly diverse, and we can’t afford to miss a single opportunity. We are in the process of releasing Level 77 Music through all the major streaming platforms. You can find us on Apple Music, Spotify, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Social platforms have become a big market for us. Reels and stories on TikTok need music and a lot of it comes from production music libraries like ours. We’re also pushing to expand our network. We’ve formed strategic partnerships in markets all over the world. We work with publishers in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and elsewhere. They pitch, sell and distribute our music, and collect the royalties. In the U.S., we collect royalties from all the major societies including PROs, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. We’re represented by a radio broadcast aggregator, Alpha Libraries for Radio, that pitches our music to radio stations. We also have an in-house sales team that is constantly looking for new verticals where production music is used. No stone goes unturned.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I’m very structured in managing my employees and set high expectations, but I don’t micro-manage. I empower my team. I give individuals the responsibility and freedom they need to do their jobs well. We have regular meetings—daily huddles—where we talk about what we are going to do that day. Everyone has a chance to say what they want to do to make the company better and grow. Everyone sets their own goals and objectives so that at the end of the day they know they’ve accomplished something. Managing and maintaining morale can be difficult, especially now, when many people are working remotely. Remote work is hard. You might think that remote work leads to lower productivity, but I find that my employees often do more. They work longer hours and make greater effort because they value the flexibility their job allows. There are benefits to that, of course, but there are tradeoffs. It can lead to burnout. People forget to take breaks, to take care of themselves. I tell my team: go to dinner, go to lunch, get in a workout, take care of your kids, go to your son’s soccer game. All those things are a part of life. Working for the company isn’t meant to be your life. It’s meant to enhance your life and provide opportunities for yourself and your family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.level77music.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/level77music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/level77music
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/level77music/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI4qr3CzsYXwBHUOw6ocQ4A/videos
- Other: patrickavard.com
Image Credits
Jasmine Johnson, Level 77 Music