Despite having two winners on his roster (D.Phelps<\/strong> and DK The Punisher<\/strong>), Joie Manda<\/strong> did not attend the Grammys this year.<\/p>\n His daughter preferred to grab some sushi and watch on TV, so he joined her and gave his tickets to one of his artists, up-and-coming R&B star Girlfriend<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted her to be inspired,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to see it to know that it can happen. It\u2019s still early days for her, but I said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to see what this could be, if you keep working at it and we have some luck\u2026’\u201d<\/p>\n But then, in a storied career that has taken him from the club (he started out as a promoter at legendary New York nightspot The Palladium<\/strong>) to the boardroom, Manda has always worked hard \u2013 and usually made his own luck, taking plenty of artists to the top in the process.<\/p>\n He first moved into the label world via his production work with DJ Funkmaster Flex<\/strong> (\u201cJust being able to walk into those buildings freely, and them wanting me to come in \u2013 that was beyond my wildest dreams as a kid,\u201d he marvels) and went on to serve in senior positions across the major label landscape.<\/p>\n At Asylum<\/strong> and Warner Bros<\/a><\/strong>, he worked under Lyor Cohen<\/a><\/strong>, signing a host of big rap artists and labels before deciding to walk during what he today calls \u201ca tough contract renegotiation with Lyor\u201d.<\/p>\n Lucian Grainge<\/a><\/strong> and Barry Weiss<\/strong> then brought him in to become the first President of Def Jam<\/strong> since Jay-Z<\/strong>. After a single year of success with 2 Chainz<\/strong>, Nas<\/strong> and Frank Ocean<\/strong>, personal reasons meant he had to relocate to the West Coast and he transferred to Interscope<\/strong> as Executive Vice-President (\u201cDon\u2019t tell anyone in New York I said this, but this is an easier way of life,\u201d he quips).<\/p>\n Interscope scaled the heights during his tenure, as he helped to bring in the likes of Playboi Carti<\/strong>, J Cole<\/strong> and Juice WRLD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And, now, after spending much of his career at the majors, Manda is forging his own path. Having left Interscope in 2020, he set up a label, Encore Recordings<\/strong><\/a>, in 2022, followed by his first foray into music publishing, Platinum Grammar Publishing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And four years in, the hits are starting to flow. At the Grammys, PGP writer-producers were behind three gongs: D.Phelps saw his work on Leon Thomas<\/strong>\u2018 Mutt<\/em> album honored as Best R&B Album, while Kehlani<\/strong>\u2018s mega-smash Folded<\/em>, co-written and co-produced by DK The Punisher, picked up Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.<\/p>\n Encore and Platinum Grammar are entirely self-owned by Manda, although both can draw on the firepower of The Orchard<\/a>\/Sony Music<\/a><\/strong>, a \u2018strategic partnership\u2019 that comes with the added bonus of one-to-one chats with Rob Stringer<\/a><\/strong> for Manda. (\u201cRob loves to listen to music and talk about artists and records \u2013 that guy has got a lot of energy, man, he still loves this!\u201d)<\/p>\n The arrangement suits Manda\u2019s global approach \u2013 his rosters include the likes of Puerto Rican rap sensation Dei V<\/strong> and South Africa-based amapiano star Uncle Waffles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It also justifies Manda\u2019s brave decision to walk away from the mega-successful Interscope empire \u2013 where he also helped broker landmark JVs with the likes of Dreamville Records<\/strong>, LVRN Records<\/strong>, CMG<\/a><\/strong> and Todd Moscowitz<\/strong>\u2018s Alamo Records<\/strong> \u2013 and go it alone.<\/p>\n \u201cBrave, stupid, who knows?\u201d he laughs. \u201cIt was difficult to make the decision \u2013 John<\/strong> [Janick<\/strong>, Interscope CEO] was incredible to work with every day. But it was, \u2018If not now, when?\u2019 I owed it to myself to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s why the notoriously press shy exec (\u201cI\u2019m not a big self-promoter,\u201d he warns) has granted MBW<\/em> a rare audience in his LA office, ready to talk the differences between indies and majors, streaming and the current state of hip-hop\u2026<\/p>\n We know these songs are great, the world knows they\u2019re great, but them getting celebrated is awesome. I\u2019m super-happy for them.<\/p>\n We have some good hits, for sure. And this is just the beginning for both those guys. They\u2019re both pretty prolific, and they\u2019re in great rooms.<\/p>\n Phelps is working on the next Leon [Thomas] album and, because of the success of Folded<\/em>, everyone\u2019s trying to get in with DK, so we\u2019re managing his diary closely.<\/p>\n I\u2019m exactly where I\u2019m supposed to be. Everyone I talk to is like, \u2018Do you miss Interscope?\u2019 And of course I miss Interscope, I love the staff and the artists, what we did there was great and what they\u2019re continuing to do is incredible.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I miss Interscope, but boutique is what I always wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But boutique is what I always wanted to do since I was a teenager buying records and paying attention to the piece of vinyl and the logo on it, whether it was Def Jam, Loud or Jive\u2026 Those brands were small, had a point of view and meant something to me. That was always what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n [Laughs] I don\u2019t think about that much! The advantage of being indie is you have more time; you have a smaller roster, so you can focus and really talk to people.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re running a big company, you have more HR issues to deal with, more back office, more dealing with corporate, more budgeting, more financial projections\u2026 Just more! The positive of the big company was a bigger team. It\u2019s just a different animal.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t want to jump from the majors, onto a hamster wheel for investors and have them in my business every day.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had some success and some good luck, so I figured I\u2019m fine with starting off without [issuing] the press release [saying] that I raised a few hundred million dollars. That doesn\u2019t mean much to me.<\/p>\n I was a proud member of Merlin<\/a><\/strong>, using FUGA<\/a><\/strong> as a pipe to release my records. I had direct deals with some of the bigger DSPs; that was great at first, but the best part of it was learning. If Interscope was a restaurant, I didn\u2019t spend much time in the kitchen, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t understand it as well as I\u2019d always wanted to and should have. I probably now know too much about distribution and how the DSPs work, but it\u2019s been really healthy.<\/p>\nHow did it feel to see your clients win at the GRAMMYS?<\/h6>\n
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What does that success tell you about where your companies are at, four years in?<\/h6>\n
\n
What\u2019s the big difference between running an indie, compared to a major \u2013 apart from the expense account?<\/h6>\n
Presumably you could have got funding from elsewhere, why did you go it alone?<\/h6>\n
Initially Encore did its own distribution\u2026<\/h6>\n