We recently connected with Tarik Bradford and have shared our conversation below.

Tarik, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

One of the main issues that I feel corporate America gets wrong in my industry is the basic lack of knowledge about how the world of film, tv and advertising placements works. Oftentimes there is an assumption that any song or artist that is signed to a label should have great success in the sync world if they have a certain amount of sales, followers or social media engagement. Most of the songs and artists that have success in the licensing world do so because they create songs that fit a particular narrative or style need that’s in demand.

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.

I entered into the music industry by interning at several music and film related companies while I was a student at Cal State LA. I took on internships for any company that had any kind of connection to music or film including management, radio, record labels and film studios. After working in the licensing and synchronization department for several years at major music corporations like Warner Music Group, Universal Music and EMI Music Publishing I started my own 3rd party licensing and publishing company, Dahomey Music Enterprises, that represents a variety of record labels, publishers, distributors and independent artists for placements in the world of TV, Film, Advertising, Video Games, Promos and Trailers. One of the problems that I try to help my clients with is creating music that is in demand in the film and tv sync world as well as making sure they are aware of the type of songs that studios and networks are looking for. Although I have a diverse musical background many people know me for my knowledge of Hip Hop and Soul music and one of the goals of my brand is to assist artists in those genres with creating music that lends itself to being licensed.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had worked at major labels and major publishers for all of my career but once I was laid off from EMI Music Publishing I knew that I needed to pivot and move forward with a different approach. For me that different approach was taking on the challenge of starting my own sync rep and music publishing company applying the skills that I had learned and developed for years working for major corporations to my own venture. I would be funding the company completely on my own so it was a risky move but I felt that the eventual payoff could be gratifying on many levels. 11 years later my company is thriving and continuing to grow in a difficult and crowded market.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I funded my business in a variety of ways including consulting for companies, handling music rights and sample clearance for independent labels and I even drove for Lyft for a while to keep money coming in as I was building up my company and acquiring clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dahomeymusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dahomey_music/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarik-bradford-a98aa45a/
• Twitter: @DahomeyMusic

Image Credits
Pictures provided by Michelle Bradford