As an entrepreneur seeking to become a music manager, I was honored to get the opportunity to interview Yvette Medina, a music manager. Yvette Medina has been a music manager for several years, but recently opened up her own music management company in 2012. The company is located in New York City and operates in New York and Miami. Through hard work and dedication, she has been able to acquire several artists and continues to pave her way into success.
Yvette Medina owns M Artist Management, a music management company. She is the sole owner of the business and works as CEO of the company. At the moment, the company is in its early stages of gaining recognition in the music industry against leaders, such as Sony. The company provides music management services. This entails managing music artists by handling their schedule and contracts and acting as a representative to the artist. In her services, she accompanies artists to their concerts, photo shoots, sound check, and meetings. This company is based in New York City, however, operates in New York and Miami, Florida. While she does not employ anyone at the moment, she has several notable artists in the music industry, such as Sensato del Patio and EliJas.
Yvette Medina has worked as a music manager for several years. She has worked for Sony and Mr. 305 Inc., two major labels in the music industry. In these years she was apart of these companies, she decided she wanted to venture out into her own company. At this time, she decided to move to New York City from Miami in order to be in the music capital of the world. Since she did not quit her position at Mr. 305 Inc, she was very fortunate in being able to have had financial stability. She was able to have an income while starting up her own business, but was also given a flexible schedule since she was away from the headquarters. In addition, she had incurred low costs to start her company since she did not find a need to have an office out of her home. Therefore, she did not find herself in a difficult position. Yvette was able to start her business quickly, as she already had many contacts in the industry. She quickly acquired EliJas, a female singer in New York City.
While the entrepreneur had a relatively comfortable experience opening her management company, she did still face some challenges. First, she found herself in a new city. While she had traveled to New York City on occasion for work, she never stayed for a long period of time. This was hard for her since she needed to learn to adjust quickly so she could continue on with her daily operations. She found it hard to learn directions without a car. She had become accustomed all her life to driving, and now, owning a car was impractical while living in Manhattan. Similarly, a new city meant new people. Her network in New York City existed, but wasn’t nearly as big as her network in Miami. She found herself needing to build new business relationships in a very competitive, cut-throat industry. This was hard since her relationships in Miami had been developed over years of trust. Now, she felt as if she was a rookie even though she had been in the industry for quite some time. She is still trying to overcome this, however, since moving has been able to create relationships which have survived her first years in New York City.
In addition, she did not have the luxury of having her own office. In Miami, she was able to utilize Mr. 305 Inc.’s office to conduct meetings and do paperwork, but now she found herself relying on friend’s offices or public places to have these encounters. This was a change for her since she felt it was less professional than what she had been used to. At first, she felt she would not be taken seriously even though she had the experience. However, she was able to overcome this change and realized in the end, it wasn’t much of a difference. Most of the meetings were successfully conducted in other client’s offices or in cafés or restaurants, where it was less informal but provided a more personal setting making meetings more enjoyable.
Lastly, the odd, long hours have posed as a challenge. During her twenties, she willingly attended late-night parties or events. However, now as a manager, she is required to attend. This is difficult for her since the circumstances have changed. While she enjoys going to late album release parties or awards shows and concerts, she is finding it more difficult to wake up in the morning. For instance, she often finds herself having to attend events until three in the morning and then is expected to wake at five in the morning for her artist’s photo shoots. This is a challenge she constantly has to overcome. In the interview, she mentioned that she has learned to cope with this challenege by taking short naps. She still attends every event and keeps her mind fresh by allowing herself a day off or a late start ever so often. She stated she accepts the hours and welcomes them since every hour brings something different to the table. In her entrepreneurial career, she has never found herself bored or in the same situation twice. She is always learning and witnessing creativity, which has kept her awake throughout the day.
Regardless of her challenges, Yvette has been able to maintain her motivation and create success for herself. She claims the number one thing which motivates her is her passion for music. While her job requires her to work odd, long hours, she reminds herself that she is happy at the end of the day. She believes this is the most important thing which has kept her determined. She also looks at her past and current successes and realizes that if she wasn’t meant to manage, she wouldn’t have been able to reach all of the goals she has. She always had a positive mindset while building her career and business. She interned at several music labels and then worked for two major labels. She was able to learn through these experiences the skills, such as organization and communication, needed to advance in her endeavors.
Her boss, Pitbull, who is an artist and music label owner, was very helpful in teaching her about music management and how to create a business. He was very supportive, even when she announced that she was planning to start her own venture. She feels he was one of her most valuable resources, along with several other networks including Johnny Marines, another manager to Romeo Santos and Aventura. These two networks introduced her to many important people in the industry and even helped her acquire artists, such as Sensato del Patio. They have helped her find producers for her artists and have included her in parades, festivals, and events, which have accelerated her company greatly in gaining recognition in the public and among the industry.
Even though Yvette has proven to be successful thus far, she believes she would have done one thing differently in the past had she had her current knowledge. Yvette would have opted to open her own venture much sooner. While she is grateful for the experience and opportunities of working for such labels, she realized that some of the experience and lessons could have been acquired while she had her own venture. She wishes that she would have been more confident in herself to stray away from the major labels so she could have worked on building her own business, rather than another person’s business. She would have also started saving money sooner. She feels that because she didn’t intend on opening her own business since she didn’t know she would be able to handle it, she didn’t spend as wisely as she should have. Had she known this then, she would have saved for an office or moved to New York City sooner.
Yvette Medina is continuing her successful career in management. As she is acquiring more artists, she hopes to expand her business into more cities.

I interviewed a Puerto Rican member of the music community, DJ New Era, who works as a disc jockey for La Mega 97.9, a popular Latino radio station in New York City. He has been apart of this community for ten years since he was sixteen; first as a roadie who carried music equipment for other disc jockeys and now at twenty-six years of age, has been a disc jockey for five years. DJ New Era is one of the top DJ’s On The Rise believes people should most look out for, as his prevalence in the music community has sky-rocketed over the years. He is making his way to the top and continues to strive for more. Through his clear talent and dedication, On The Rise approves him as one of the Must Follow DJ’s.

Miryam with La Mega 97.9 DJ AJ El Kallejero (Left) and DJ New Era

 

Q: What country does your family originate from?

A: My parents come from Puerto Rico.

Q: Have you always lived in New York City?

A: Yes, I am a Brooklyn native. My parents and I have always resided in East New York.

Q: How many years have you been in music?

A: I have been in music for 10 years. But as a DJ? I have been a DJ for 5 years. I started as a roadie and worked my way up to an MC. From there, I went on to becoming a DJ.

Q: Was music a big part of your home life growing up?

A: Yes. Growing up, I learned to play the congos from my father. That’s how I really learned about listening to beats and working with tempos. I also remember my mom always singing in the house all of her salsa songs when I was growing up.

Q: How did you gain an interest in music?

A:I really gained an interest when I was a roadie. At first, I would see my bosses get paid. These guys were all DJ’s and I would think “I want that!” When I started really learning how to DJ though, I grew passion for music and discovered a talent I never knew of. That’s when it became less about the money and more about sharing music with others, creating an experience for them, and showing the world my talent.

Q:Why did you decide to continue working in music as a career?

A: Once I got that passion and drive, there wasn’t turning back. I left college to continue my career as a DJ. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else once I realized how much of an impact music had made in my life. When I started to get really good at mixing, I knew I had to keep on working on it. I didn’t want to give up on something which I felt I could really succeed in.

Q: What events do you participate in as a DJ? Tell me about your experience in these events.

A: I go to several music festivals and the usual club scene. Now that I’m apart of La Mega 97.9, I’m going to a lot of concerts to DJ the start of the shows. I also have been involved in some charity events and fundraisers involving Autism awareness.

Q: How do you identify yourself in the music community?

A: Honestly, I like to consider myself as a role model. Disc jockey would be the term most people identify me as, but I see myself as more than that. I have eyes on me at all times and realize that my actions impact others. I want to be seen as an inspirational and motivational figure. I want to be able to teach those in underprivileged neighborhoods, especially, to keep on working hard because their dreams really can come true no matter the circumstances they are in right now. I want to show them how they can remove themselves from the bad influences and concentrate on reaching their goals.

Q: What music genre are you mostly involved in?

A: I’m involved in Latino music. For the most part: dembow, bachata, merengue, tipico. I do branch out into hip-hop, rap, and house though.

Q: What encouraged you to decide on this genre?

A: My Puerto Rican background definitely got me into Latino music. As far as I can remember, I have always been exposed to Latino music in my house and in my neighborhood.

Q: Do you have any musical influences?

A: Alex Sensation is my musical influence. He is one of the best DJ’s in our Latino community. So many people admire him and he is extremely talented. I aspire to be on his level of expertise one day.

Q: Do you think New York City differs from other musical communities you have been to? If so, in what ways?

A: Of course. It is the music capital of the world. I have seen other communities, such as Miami, North Carolina, New Jersey, and others. New York City is so diverse. You can find any type of genre here and all types of artists doing completely different things from the mainstream. New York City is so diverse and being here, you get exposed to different music and artists without even needing to search for it. Music is all around in New York; on the subways, in parks, radio, parades. You can’t get away from it.

Q: What are your goals or aspirations while being a part of this community? Have they changed throughout time from the beginning of your involvement to this present time?

A: My goal was to become a recognized DJ. Now that I am on the radio, I need to just work on my skills. I am so thankful for where I am today. In the future, I want to be able to open up a music school for underprivileged kids. I want to teach them the skills needed to become a DJ, artist, or musician. I want to give them a positive influence and somewhere safe to go. I also want to be able to raise money in order to provide scholarships for them so their financial status won’t be much of a factor for them to go to college or music programs.