In Chapter 11 of 15, Andy Epstein shares what happened when he and his boss first heard Rhianna's song "Umbrella" in the Island Def Jam offices. Both men stopped, sensing the song's appeal, understanding the popular culture and business implications. Fundamental to both, whether working in music or simply enjoying music, is connecting with others by shared emotional experiences.
In Chapter 10 of 15, Island Def Jam promotions executive Andy Epstein shares how the band Phish connected with him in college at the University of Michigan and the resulting relationship value cultivated over time. The concert experience and touring lifestyle enable fans to find connection. Epstein highlights how bands and their labels prioritize providing these community-driven fan experiences to build relationships over time.
In Chapter 9 of 15, music executive traces his relationshp with music from pre-high school Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead concert experiences. Not only does this early experience blossom into deeper appreciation for live music, especially the Grateful Dead and, later, Phish, but also it shapes way Epstein later will participate in this relationship as an Island Def Jam record label operations executive.
In Chapter 8 of 15 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interiew, Island Def Jam Records and its business of making big-time superstars provides Columbia University MBA Andy Epstein a platform to manage operations and budget within the record label promotions group.
Transcript:
Erik Michielsen: So now you manage operations in the promotions department at Island Def Jam Records in NYC. Tell me a bit more about your job.
Andy Epstein: IDJ (Island Def Jam) is one of the major record labels. Island is celebrating its 50th anniversary, Def Jam its 25th. Everyone knows Def Jam and everyone knows Island Records from Bob Marley to U2. The major label game has shifted. There are still major labels, big time record labels, in the business of making big time recording superstars. Part of that game is promotion, is getting these artists out across the country and heard by many, many, many ears. You cannot have a superstar, you cannot have a Kayne West, if a 100 million people are not hearing their songs a week. That is the promotion department’s job, to make sure those songs are heard. My job is to make sure everything gets done and happens within a budget. Managing a budget is part of my job. My promotion department colleagues are salesmen trying to promote, promote, promote, sell, sell, sell. This is hot, this is what you gotta to know about. And then they call me up and say this is what I did and I made this deal and this deal and I say, oh man, we didn’t have any money for the deal. OK, tell me again, let`s figure out how we are going to make this work and I go through what they do and just make it work. Make it work within the systems.
There`s compliance, there are budgets, there are finance and operations. The guys out selling don`t worry about these things. They check back in with me, sometimes every couple hours… this is what I’m doing, ok, that will be fine or that will not work and you`ll have to slow it down.
In Chapter 7 of 15, University of Michigan graduate Andy Epstein leaves teaching for music, starting fresh in his late 20s. The transition leads him to a temp agency, where he is placed into Island Def Jam Records.
In chapter 9 of 9 in his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, New York City journalist Yoav Gonen shares why he finds working in a big city so fulfilling. Rather than meeting famous individuals or attending important events, Gonen finds satisfaction in the common things. Namely, he enjoys traveling five boroughs to report on the people and things that make New York City run each day. Gonen is an education reporter for the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned a masters in journalism from NYU and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 7 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, reporter and journalist Yoav Gonen finds joy in the assortment of experiences and people he meets writing news. He carries this passion for exploring to travel the world in his personal life, visiting cultures dissimilar from the United States and embracing their respective, different ways of life. Gonen is an education reporter for the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned a masters in journalism from NYU and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 6 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, journalist Yoav Gonen shares challenges newspapers and news organizations face in consolidating or eliminating overlapping resources. Given Internet capability to share content beyond traditionally defined newspaper territory boundaries, it remains important to have many parties contributing their own perspective to a story. Gonen is an education reporter for the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his masters degree in journalism from NYU and his BA in English from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 5 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, reporter Yoav Gonen reflects how changing news delivery models impact a generation conditioned to embrace printed newspapers and force behavioral change. Gonen highlights the different news reading behavior older and younger generation experience and calls for an openness to embrace change through continued industry evolution. Gonen is an education reporter at the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his masters in journalism from NYU and his BA in English from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 4 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, New York Post journalist Yoav Gonen shares views on taking a lighthearted and entertaining storytelling approach in reporting and why it should be accepted as long as news facts are truthfully stated. Gonen is an education reporter at the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his Masters in Journalism degree from NYU and his BA from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 3 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, reporter Yoav Gonen shares how using motivation and imagination contributes to his favorite part of the job: pitching stories. Journalism provides Gonen the platform to explore, investigate and probe, then pitch the stories. For Gonen, there is nothing quite like connecting his curiosity to the proposal. Gonen is an education reporter at the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his Masters in Journalism degree from NYU and his BA from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 2 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, New York Post reporter Yoav Gonen shares important differences between online personal reporting and original newsroom reporting. In particular, newsroom infrastructure and financing play important roles enabling consistent original reporting. Gonen is an education reporter at the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his Masters in Journalism degree from NYU and his BA from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 1 of 9 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, reporter Yoav Gonen decides on journalism after years working as a writer and book publisher. Fundamental is the appeal embracing the unexpected and engaging an array of personalities provides day-to-day in the job. Gonen highlights one experience, reporting in the Bronx on a guy living with a tiger, as a defining moment. Gonen is an education reporter at the New York Post newspaper in New York City. He earned his Masters in Journalism degree from NYU and his BA from the University of Michigan.
Since 2009, Capture Your Flag has interviewed a cohort of rising leaders who share lessons from their journeys to help others plan, pursue and achieve life and career aspirations. The resulting 3000+ Near Peer Video Library can be licensed for commercial use.
