A Letter from Our CEO

Before anything, thank you for showing interest in Symphonic and taking the time to read this letter.

Like the rest of our team members, I am incredibly honored to be able to work for artists, musicians, record labels, managers, songwriters, and others all over the world. It’s a responsibility we take very seriously.

I will try to be brief and ensure that I don’t bore you along the way.

When people ask me what makes Symphonic different from other distributors, here’s what I believe and what I say:

Music Distribution, label services, music marketing, playlist promotion
Music industry internships, label services, music marketing, playlist promotion

First, we are truly independent.

We’re not owned by a major record label. We’re not the so-called “independent” arm of a huge corporation. That means we have the flexibility to work with who we want to. It also means we can challenge the status quo.

Second, our technology is proprietary, and it was built with indie labels, managers and artists in mind.

Some “distributors” are actually using another larger distributor to access the DSPs, and often their clients are not aware of this. Others “rent” software tools from others. At Symphonic, our technology platform is our own in-house, purpose built content management and distribution system, specifically built for the needs of independent labels, managers and artists. We have even patented portions of our platform.

Third, we will give it to you straight.

It’s hard to “make it” in music. I know, because I started Symphonic back in 2006 to distribute my own releases. Over the years, we’ve helped a lot of clients gain traction, breakthrough, and even become superstars… but we’re not going to tell you it’s easy. It turns out, money is not the answer to every challenge in music. If there’s something you should be doing differently or something you should consider, we’re going to tell you, and we’re going to help you get better results with our resources, our team, our network, and our experience. But we’re not going to give you false hope or BS.

Fourth, we put our clients first.

We are focused on our clients’ careers and their content. At Symphonic, you will talk to a Symphonic employee, not a “bot” or an overseas contractor. Everyone who has been in the industry awhile knows an artist (or several) who has gotten a big sales pitch from a major label, signed on the dotted line, and now they can’t get their emails and calls returned. If your application is accepted, we’re not going to “ghost” you!

It hasn’t been easy and it never will be.

Now that we are an established player in the industry, I’ll admit that building Symphonic up from scratch was tough. You see, we’re artists and record label owners, just like you. We know how hard it is to get a business and a brand off the ground and we’ve done a lot of great things but, as a company, we’ve made mistakes too. When you’re going all in, sometimes you try or test things that don’t work out. I know that every musician, manager, record label, and artist can identify with that. It truly takes time, hard work, blood, sweat, tears, you name it! All of that goes into becoming something and making an impact.

Music keeps evolving.

We’ve seen the industry go from physical to downloads and now, from downloads to streaming. It has been a truly remarkable experience for me to have seen this and serve many clients that have been with us since day one and that continue to be with us today.

Basic distribution is only step one.

Perhaps you have used one of the “do it yourself” software platforms to distribute your music so far. Your music may or may not be reaching the entire global network of 195+ partners with whom a world class distributor like Symphonic integrates. But, your music has reached some of the major platforms, and your fan base is growing. The question is… now what? How do you get to the next level?

This is where Symphonic comes in. With our broad capabilities, strong reputation with DSPs, and flexible offerings and terms, we can meet you where you are and help where you need it most. The larger “DIY” software platforms have hundreds of thousands of clients (millions in some cases)… are they really delivering a world class client experience to that many people? These platforms can be a great way to get started in your career, but at some point you will need to graduate up and find a partner for the rest of your journey. 

We think cheap distribution is super expensive. Ask yourself, what’s the true cost of not having a trusted and highly competent team pitching your music to playlist curators at Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer, TIDAL, Beatport, and others? What’s the true cost of not being able to get a hold of a trusted advisor to your career when you need an important question answered?

Getting started is easy. Getting 10 million+ streams requires a team.

So the question becomes, who is the right team for your record label? For your career? For your artists?

It Takes A Team

Everyone that is independent, whether artist or label, needs a solid team to maximize their brand, sound, release strategy, video strategy, and more in today’s music industry.

Since day one, our plan has been to build a strong team, invest in our technology, and ensure that record labels and artists have a true partner in Symphonic. Our team and our technology platform continue to grow!

Finally, if you are still with me, I felt compelled to close this out on a topic of “guarantees.” We often hear of false promises given to clients from previous relationships. This is what we as a company will guarantee you.

Symphonic will always:

  • Understand our responsibility. We are being trusted with art and it is important that we always work hard to ensure that art is heard and seen by as many individuals all over the world.
  • Never over promise what we cannot deliver. We will only promise you that we will work hard for you every single day that we are able to.
  • Work hard to be sustainable. We’re not looking to build a business just to be big, we want to build a business that can reinvent, reshape, and reinvest to provide a better experience for you as we look to the future.
  • Hire and build the best team that we can. Symphonic’s team is not just for Symphonic. It’s for you! We will work hard to ensure that we’re bringing aboard and taking care of the best music industry executives and managers to ensure that you are supported by a truly incredible team and that they have the tools to help you be successful.
  • Show you results. We aren’t doing this for fun, even though it is often a lot of fun. We’re doing this to help you expand your reach and to help you grow and that only happens with us delivering results.
  • Be selective. While this may scare off a few of you, we want to ensure that we can work with artists, labels, and managers that we feel we can truly help, that are talented, and that are dedicated to doing what it takes to be successful in this industry. We want to partner with people who are doing it the right way, and who are willing to put in the work.
  • Seek to distribute and promote the best music possible. Whether you make Hip Hop, Latin, Electronic, Country, Jazz, or anything else that is unique and compelling, we will be here to distribute and market the best and most quality driven music possible.
  • Continue to invest in creating incredible technology. We want to give you as much transparency, ease of use, and personal touch as possible. If we can’t build it today, we’ll find a way to get you what you need. And, as a recent announcement, part of Symphonic’s technology platform is now patented!

Thank You!

Thank you for reading this and, of course, thanks to our friends, fans, clients, and partners. The team is always growing and we will continue to develop and improve our unique and powerful solution for our clients. Stay tuned, this ride is not stopping!

Sincerely,

Jorge Brea
Founder & CEO
Symphonic Distribution