#i think its because i paid for spotify premium

[twopoppies]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.billboard.com/business/streaming/taylor-swift-spotify-streams-how-much-worth-1235524477/amp/

After seeing your post about Snoop not even making 45k for a billion streams, it reminded me of this article. It was written on December 1st, and at that time, T*ylor had 26.1 billion streams, which would amount to around $97 million in music royalties, according to Billboard. Billboard then estimated that by the end of the year, she would most likely reach around 27.2 billion streams, which amounts to around $101 million in music royalties. The article then says that if you add in the publishing revenue, her music will make around $131 million in royalties. Now I know Snoop is only around 1 billion streams compared to T*ylor's estimated $27.2 billion, but the math isn't mathing for me (unless I'm just actually too stupid to figure this out). So, what is going on? And like you said, where is the money going?

And are they giving certain artists special treatment? Like you put your music back on Spotify, which T*ylor took off in 2014 because they weren't valuing her art aka paying her enough money and is a fair complaint/criticism of streaming, and we'll pay you more than we pay other artists. Wouldn't be surprising because of how popular she's always been, even with her "cancellation." Plus, Idk how it works with big artists and streaming services but if they negotiate with big artists like her, someone who had already taken her music off the platform before, it wouldn't surprise me if they do pay her more especially as her popularity and success has reached the highest it's ever been.

I also saw another article. Maybe you or someone else has seen it as well, but isn't Spotify implementing a policy that an artist has to meet certain requirements before they can even get paid? Which is fucking insane.

Yeah, all of that is super fishy to me. And I honestly would not be surprised if they pay some artists more than others. But as you say, “the math isn’t mathing” if you compare what he’s saying versus what they’re saying about her. It’s been clear for a long time that artists don’t make their money off of streaming. but there are tons of people paying for premium subscriptions, and there are tons of advertisers on Spotify… from the calculators below it looks as though when you reach a certain number of streams the percentage of what you earn is a lot greater. 27×5000 isn’t 130 million. But also, it’s not $45K (as Snoop said).

The amount calculated will represent a blended rate of all the tiers offered by the services. So, in the case of Spotify, the rate shown is a blend of its paid tier rate, its ad-supported tier rate, and other tiers; while the Apple rate is also a blend of its various tiers.

The payout totals are based on the subscriber and advertisement fees that Spotify and Apple collect each month and the number of plays. Because those numbers fluctuate, the calculator will be updated on a monthly basis, but usually with a three-month lag, due to when the services information becomes available. Currently, the rates shown are based on reported data from June.

Obviously, Snoop Dogg earns lots of money in many different ways, but if you think about your average artist whose music plays on Spotify, the amount they make is pitiful.

Also, as a caveat, math and business dealings are not my forte by a long shot. So if anyone has better info here, please add on.

In reference to this

[carpedzem]

I hope you are doing okay and that the work news aren't too bad

Wheever i try to add a song a second time to a playlist it just tells me that the song is on the playlist already and wont let me add it again

On Youtube Music it says 'song already on playlist, add again? And lets me choose if i want to add it again or not 🤷

I think that spotify is tainted in my mind mainly because of its horrible free version i tried to stream uieud on it a few months back and tbh it was just a headache and i never wanted to use it again

Any app that tries to force its user to pay by deliberately messing up their free version is bad in my book tbh

the news is bad heh my sister is convincing it to quit lmao and i found out on my free day only bc my boss wrote to me on messenger that she needs my help so . im not having fun right now

i think there might be just something wrong with your app honestly like i literally created a playlist that looks like this and i can easily add the same song more than once

and ill be honest i dont really remember how the free version works bc i have been using a paid one for years know (the student version was like 10 pln which is insanely low lmao and the regular one costs the same as yt premium) but the only annoying thing i remember was like. one skip per hour? and adds obv

and if yt music works for you then thats great and i hope you enjoy it and im glad you could save some money

[vaor]

obviously the trend to have to subscribe to a service and pay a monthly fee instead of buying it once like you would've a few years ago is sickening like what average person do they think shits enough money to subscribe to all netflix, hulu, prime, d*sney+, nordvpn, youtube premium, adobe programs, antivirus software, spotify, paramount, picsart, memberships to keep playing games that you already paid $59.99 for and most annoyingly NEWSPAPERS

newspapers. neutral journalism. the thing that provides the public with crucial information on things that directly affect each and every one of us being locked behind a 2.99 paywall is honestly making me sick to my stomach. i would much rather keep giving them 5.00 a month voluntarily if it means someone less fortunate can access the same articles like they should be able to. free journalism is no longer free and that is a dangerous thing. corporate greed is designing a future where the poor can no longer access reliable sources of information and the ones that ARE free are funded by the very corporations that profit from manipulating the public's view on things. also its just fucking annoying. a multibillionaire bought twitter because he felt like it. we need to get out the pitchforks

[i-like-gay-books]

my life has changed since i re-learned how to scratch the itch in my brain

[focsle]

I didn’t want to put this on the Actual Post, but saw a post going around talking about the evils of Spotify premium and people getting locked into streaming services and paying for things that were once free when they just had like…their own cds and music libraries, and every addition to the post was how to pirate music with not a single mention of…how to support artists one likes in the face of Spotify’s terrible pay structure for musicians.

I’m gonna sound like a wet blanket but as a small creator it’s so tiring to see people uphold pirating media of all kinds as an Objective Moral Good that hurts no one. Like, Disney, Adobe, sure, whatever. But I can guarantee that MOST authors and MOST musicians are not swimming in cash like Disney and rely on people who enjoy their work actually……paying them for it. And it’s a nice thing to do! Art has value! And immediately just jumping to ‘I will pirate this because I can!’ further contributes to the idea that art doesn’t have value and creators don’t deserve a share for their work.

Libraries for instance carry my book. I get paid every time someone checks out the audiobook, and if someone puts in the request for a physical copy at their branch, I get paid for that too. The book is free and accessible to whoever wants to read it, I get a little return for the work and personal money I’ve put into it, and you’re supporting your local library. And with all that, if someone for whatever reason reached out to me and said that they couldn’t afford my book but really want to read it I’d…happily just give them a copy. And I don’t think I’m alone in that. But I would be upset if someone pirated my work without trying those things above.

It’s maybe a little harder with musicians who might be more obscure or new releases, but libraries carry music too (though I don’t know about the ins and outs of it myself)! And if you can in any way support a musician and understandably don’t want to give Spotify money like….find them on bandcamp or something. A lot of artists sell digital and sometimes physical albums there, and sometimes they’re pay what you wish, etc. Bandcamp also has days where they waive their fees so artists get even more of a share for their work.

Corporations like Disney are incomparable to most authors and musicians. Disney will keep churning out its shit. But if you want creators who aren’t huge to keep making the things you love, they need money sometimes. Art has value and creators need to eat and pay for their needs so they can continue to create, sorry!

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

Why is BTS's Butter not performing as well as Dynamite?

Firstly, I should answer this question...

Is Butter performing well?

Well, the answer would be YES! It's currently number 1 in various charts including the Hot 100 for 4 straight weeks. I also believe it still will be number 1 next week because the vinyl and cassette sales will be added (despite a fuck up with deliveries) because they were officially released last weekend and can now be counted. Also, it's doing reasonable well on the radio.

So why are MV views and streams lagging behind Dynamite, and Radio spins supposedly stagnating?

To me, the answers is very clear... Dynamite had more things benefiting its success...

When released it had no real competition released at the same time. Dynamite was released at the tail end of summer after all the major hits had already been released. This time Butter is dealing with big new releases from hit new acts and songs finding their radio play highs at the right time (like Dua Lipa's Levitating).

The second but possibly most important reason is that Dynamite benefited from nearly 8 weeks of sustained promotions (mostly in the US). Butter really only had 2 weeks of promos before Festa and Muster drew ARMYs attention away somewhat and BTS now are in the middle of a 2-week promo for the Japanese Best Of album. So American promos have been 'neglected' in 4 of the 6 weeks since Butter's release. As a result interest in Butter hasn't been sustained and thus MV views and streams are less than what ARMY expected.

A knock-on effect of this is that MV views and Streams are largely being driven by ARMY alone and the general population is less aware of it because of not seeing it on their screens on shows like Fallon and Corden and of course there is no iHeart Radio Festival this time round to boost interest.

It was the first BTS English song. Whilst Butter is superior it was not the first so to speak.

And Dynamite sustained itself through to Christmas because of BE release. We have to wait another week and a bit for the CD release to help drive interest.

But what about the MV & Audio streams/radio play?

The current 3million worldwide and 500k US does look poor, and if you compare Butter to Dynamite then, of course, it looks bad, but compared to Boy with Luv it's amazing. Also, remember lack of promotion doesn't help BTS streams/airplay, compared to Olivia Rodrigo who was promoting on several shows as well as staring in well known Disney+ show. Promotion matters, it gets you seen and heard and the more who do will spend time playing your song either by streaming or requesting on the radio.

Also remember, the quality of streams matter too... I've already argued that perhaps Spotify is not BTS/ARMY's best streaming friend and perhaps ARMY/KPOP fans should switch to YouTube Music Premium/YouTube Premium, where paid-for MV streams in addition to audio streams would boost visibility in the industry and the charts.

And don't forget that in terms of radio spins it is all about the long game. Remember Watermelon Sugar took around 10 months from its release to get to Number 1 all thanks to radio spins. It was a B-Side song on the album and never intended to be a single until it started getting traction on the radio. So whilst spins have slowed it's still ahead of Dynamite and will likely continue to increase in the coming weeks if the single CD/new song help boost awareness in the wider general public.

It's probably all about the Grammys in the end...

However, the last point is that I think could prove to be Butter's second wind. Why? A CD with a new song, possibly also in English, that they can use to promote alongside Butter on various TV shows.

Either next week or the week after, I expect BigHit/Hybe to announce a series of interviews/promo events probably to include Jimmy Fallon and/or James Corden, as well as a possible link up with one or two of the popular daytime talk shows.

I'm also going to expect another announcement at some point next month about an album dropping in mid to late August or early September because that's when the Grammy cut off is. I think BTS/BigHit want to cover multiple bases, by having a top-selling single and album to help boost Grammy nomination chances and potential wins.

It's clear they want to vie for the key award categories of Album of the Year / Record of the Year / Song of the Year, in addition to the expected Best Pop Duo/Group Performance nom if this is what they actually do. Remember most artists will have already released their albums by the end of July as there is usually a lull towards the cut off point. This gives BTS an opportunity to dominate the pre/post-Grammy Cut Off point window where not many artists are releasing music, just like they did with Dynamite last year, particularly in the US.

So in conclusion...

Butter is doing well but without the Dynamite like 6-week promo window, it's stagnating slightly but will probably get a boost as BTS do a second and possibly third promotional tour around the American TV & Radio stations when the CD Single and possible Album drop.

Additional thought...

So during Festa and Best of Japanese promos isn't it interesting that HYBE chooses to have TXT and SEVENTEEN Comebacks. Almost like they knew BTS would leave a promo window open.

[lucidaciddxx]

Apps I Recommend to Everyone

Keep in mind that I own an Apple product; I’m not sure if these are in the Google Play Store, but they most likely are.

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector: Literally a game about collecting cats. This game makes cat buttholes cute.

Wordscapes: A word game that’s fun and easy to play in your downtime. I’m on level 1023 right now; super addicting.

Freeprints: You can get up to 85 (I believe) photos printed out and sent to you for free each month. Just pay a small shipping fee, it’s never over $5 for me!

Aloe Bud: A great self-care companion!! You can set up reminders on your phone with this app and it will alert you when to take your meds, take a shower, eat, or drink water. It’s very helpful, especially when I forget my meds a lot.

Flo: A wonderful period-tracking app; it can predict your ovulation dates as well. It has a lot of features that relate to female health, whether it be reproductive health or physical health.

HelloWeather: A really cute weather app; accurate and has a cute little sunshine as its logo. You set your exact location (address) with this app and it will tell you what the weather is like around you. It gives you an hour-by-hour forecast as well.

Moody: It’s in the name -- it’s a mood-tracking app and gives you expert tips and daily reflections, as well as weather insights. It’s great in regards to reporting your mood.

Sweatcoin: You can get paid for walking; however, you have to keep the app running in the background for it to track your steps. You can’t import your steps from the Health app. It also only counts your outside steps, but I just started using it and I already have $60.

Waze: Much better than Apple Maps!! People can report accidents or hazards in the road, as well as police sightings. You can connect this to your Spotify while you drive as well, it’s very easy to use.

Genius: An app that has lyrics to songs. It’s helpful and the annotations make understanding songs a lot easier. Artists also have the ability to write about the song and let people know what it’s really about.

Shazam: It can detect any song in seconds. It’s super easy to use and helps a lot when I’m in public and don’t know the name of a certain song.

Plant Nanny: A fantastic waterminder app!! It reminds you to drink water because you have to take care of the plants. It’s beneficial to both you and those innocent little cartoon plants.

Spotify: Better than Apple Music. Right now, if you have Spotify Premium, you can connect it to your Hulu account and pay for both. So, it’s $9.99 a month for both Spotify Premium and Hulu (with ads). It’s really beneficial, Hulu has a lot of great shows.

Pixel Weather: This app is $0.99, but it’s super cute! It’s essentially a retro weather app and is similar to HelloWeather. It’s Kawaii AF though.

Terrarium: An idle terrarium game. It’s fun when you’re trying to kill time and want to check in on your terrarium.

Two Dots: An addicting game that’s great to play in your downtime, I like it more than Candy Crush.

GoodRx: You can get up to 80% off your prescriptions! It can save so much money if your meds are super expensive.

Moodpath: Another mood tracker app. You can answer questions in the morning, midday, and evening to track your mood. The app itself will question you every 14 days in addition to these. It’s great if you’re in therapy and can never think of anything to talk about. Get your phone out and look to the app to find things to talk about.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Hello! I'm struggling a bit with a pretty multi-faceted thought problem that I'd love to hear your take on, if you're willing. I *know* that streaming pays artists and songwriters literal fractions of pennies. But I'm very grateful for the creation of streaming services because it makes music accessible to me in a way that it really wasn't before. I used to have to rely on the radio or cds friends burned for me (and then as tech advanced, shared files). 1/?

Streaming seems a little better than that because at least the artists are getting something versus the nothing they’d get from a friend making me a copy. I know the “better than nothing” argument isn’t a good one and is just a device of late-stage capitalism, but as a bandaid on our existing system, it feels valid. I mean, like, I think we need to overthrow capitalism, but I also want to provide immediate relief to people who need it, not just think about long-term solutions. 2/?

I know that the most immediate relief I could provide to the artists I like who are not multi-millionaires would be to buy their albums, but, like I implied before, it’s not in my power. So then I’m like, well, I could stream their albums. But then – and this is the real thought problem, everything else was just laying the groundwork – am I listening to their music because I want to listen to it or because I feel obliged to? Do these things necessarily cancel each other out? 3/?

Does listening to a song or whatever because I want to increase its streams/put another .0004 cents in an artist’s pocket somehow taint the desire to listen to the song because the desire is influenced by capitalism? If I choose *not* to listen to a song because I don’t want to listen to it on the basis of increasing streams, is that not essentially the same as choosing *to* listen to it on the basis of increasing streams? Because either way the motivation is influenced by finances? 4/?

Does any of this make any sense? I keep going around and around and I’m making myself insane. (I know this is a crazy thing to be thinking about in the midst of a global pandemic, but as a distraction it’s certainly working). If you have any thoughts, I’d appreciate them. I hope you’re doing okay! 5/5

**************

Hi anon, 

Thanks for your thoughts anon.  

I want to talk a little bit about the problem you laid out - and then talk a bit about some big picture stuff in this.

I’ve been reasonably clear that I am very much against the term ‘streaming’ rather than listening as a way of engaging with music. But I think it’s important to understand that there’s no pure way of listening to music outside of capitalism, recorded music has always been listened to in ways that were shaped by capitalism.  I think the useful answer is probably: Do what you like - it won’t make any difference to anyone but you.

There’s also a practical answer - which is that payments for streaming are based on a dynamic model, so streaming more does’t have the impact you might think it does (this is something I learned from Tom Gray today).  Spotify doesn’t pay out at a fixed rate, but as a percentage of total revenue.  So with spotify premium, all the monthly payments go into a big pot, and is given to record companies based on the amount their artists were streamed.  If everyone doubled the amount they were streaming because they were home all day for coronavirus, the payment per stream would just be halved.  Now in reality not everyone is going to stream more at hte same time, so you streaming will have a small impact, but it’s pretty tiny.

The bigger picture is that consumers can’t change an exploitative production practice as consumers.  I think there are two things that consumers can do - the first and most important is that when artists are organising support them politically.  It’s always a good idea to join your union, and one reason is that that strengthens the union movement and that will provide support for musicians unions.

But I also think it’s important to avoid rhetorically any moves that suggests that meeting consumers’ desires is more important than paying workers.  I’ve made my feelings about people who suggest consumers should be the priority in cancelled tours pretty clear. And I feel the same way about streaming - people demanding that a system that is absolutely broken system that does’t pay people doign the work, because it works for them. 

I once read an argument that has stayed with me about this - consumers are spending much more money on the ability to consume media and much less on music. I’ll use myself as an example - my phone plan costs £19 a month and my internet bill costs £15.90.  My phone cost £150 pounds and my computer £350.  So I’m spending £418.80 a year on the ability to consume media, as well as larger outlays much more regularly than anyone would buy a new record player, CD player, or walkman. Facing this reality, it does make me a little bit uncomfortable when anyone talks as if they’re entitled to unlimited access to content free.

Tech companies are excellent at making sure that they’re paid first, whether you’re buying hardware or access to the internet. What I actually value about the internet is the content and the ability to communicate, but I’m not paying for that - I’m paying the tech companies. (The same is true in advertising where Google and Facebook make sure they’re paid first).  And so are record labels - who make billions from streaming, while the people who make the music don’t make a living wage.

That has to change - it will not work.  And I really hope that some organised efforts to change the way the industry works that work better for artists will come out of the current catastrophe.  But it’s importat to understand that that will have to be led by the people who make the music, and the consumer’s role is not to get in the way.

[minyoongihoseok]

do you think its fair when bts comes out with new stuff, like the Burn The Stage series they did, a lot of fans that didn't want or coud pay, saw them illegally, or the movie, or any photoshoots they do and people just download the picture book instead of buying it. i feel guilty every time i do any of those, and i cant justify it. whats your opinion on that?

personally i don’t think you need to buy anything i think being a fan just means you love them and their music/art and there are ways to support their music without spending extra money such as streaming their songs on spotify, apple music, melon or whatever music app you use (because that translates into money for them) and you can watch their mvs and bangtantv content to show their content is being engaged with and there’s other ways too but beyond that i think it’s all about what you can afford and what you want to spend your disposable income on because bts put out so much paid content that it’s unrealistic to expect everyone to buy everything for so many reasons

like some people don’t have the money some people don’t have the easiest time finding someone to buy it from and shipping is expensive, sometimes you just don’t want to spend the money, sometimes you have money but you know you should be spending it on something more important, bts dvds are very bulky you might just not have the room or can’t justify spending x amount on an hour long dvd and things like burn the stage the series that was only available in 5 countries so people outside of those have no choice but to watch “illegally” and even people who live in those 5 countries youtube premium is like $12 a month like you can’t even buy burn the stage to keep forever (like you can vlive channel plus content) you have to keep buying for it every month and like i don’t blame people for not wanting to do that when i’m sure they have plenty of other things to pay for monthly like even if all you buy in a year is their albums if they put out 2 albums with 4 versions that’s like $200 and some people just don’t have that kind of money like yeah some countries you can just go to the store and get it but other people have to add shipping costs on top of that i know lots of people that love bts who don’t have their albums because it’s expensive or who don’t buy other content but they still love bts like bts make so much money from their albums, concerts, bt21, their advertisements like they’re fine they have their chanel clothes and ap watches and bighit is making a huge profit annually without the fans that don’t buy extra stuff because there’s still a lot of people that do buy stuff i buy way more than i need to and i see so many fans that buy like 20 albums and go to the line store every day and all that stuff and at the end of the day it’s your choice how to spend your money and none of that dictates whether you’re a good fan or not as long as you love bts and enjoy their music that makes you a fan so i wouldn’t feel guilty i hope that was helpful

[bristoluni-acs]

Take a break! You deserve it.

The importance of taking a break!

Hey guys,

Take a break! You deserve one.

We’re now going into the 6th week of the academic year Your schedules are filled, and you have many demands and commitments to fulfil.  I know a lot of you are deeply feeling the pressure of academic life and some of you are doing are doing just fine. Wherever you fall on this spectrum just know that its okay to take a break, you deserve one.

The fact that university life is so busy, some of you might feel as if you are too busy to take a break, and this line of thought can make one think that they are underserving of one. Breaks are so important for your wellbeing: physically and mentally. Hopefully this post will make you realise that. I hope to make you understand the importance of taking breaks and why you shouldn’t feel guilty for taking one.

Why should you take breaks?

I can think of two good reason as to why you should take a break. These reasons can be applied to when you are studying and other tasks that you undertake.

1.      Breaks can help to improve your productivity.

A small break every hour so when studying can significantly improve your productivity and improve your ability to perform tasks. Working for long periods of time without a breather makes it difficult to concentrate. According to a study from the University of Illinois, “brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one’s ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.”

2.      Breaks can help you manage your stress.

The stress we experience can sneak up on us, and often we are less able to recognize when we feel overwhelmed and this puts us at risk of burning out. This isn’t ideal so early in the year. Burning out is less likely when you take frequently.

STOP FEELING GUILTY ABOUT TAKING BREAKS!

Yes, it is necessary for me to put this in all caps. I’m very guilty of it and I’m sure a lot of you are too. If taking breaks have been proven to help us reduces stress, improve our focus and productivity why do we still find it difficult to take one

At uni, it is easy to feel this guilt because there is constantly work to do and there is pressure to constantly be productive and meet the demands needed for your course and extracurricular activities. Breaks are essential for your overall wellbeing and feeling guilty about taking one doesn’t do you any favours.

Breaks don’t have to be goal orientated, but it must be stress free in order to feel relaxed! It could be something as simple as going for a walk, watching a tv show, or even taking a nap (20mins, not 4 hours yeah) are all appropriate ways to recharge your mind and body so that you can feel refreshed.

You’ve worked really hard so far and its important for you to keep going. Please take a well-deserved break.

Andrew

                       List of available services at University of Bristol, around Bristol and online services. All those with the asterisk (*), means that they have a long waiting list for treatment:

Uni:

Student Wellbeing Service* - they offer counselling, CBT and other services

Bristol Nightline - a free helpline you can call between 8pm and 8am. If there’s a time you really need to speak to someone, and you’re not comfortable with speaking to a friend, family etc. This service is only over the phone, and it’s for free. They are like Samaritans. They are 100% confidential and are run by students. 

SHERPa

They offer emotional regulation classes i.e. help you find ways to understand and deal with your emotions. However, they are only accessible via the GP

Around Bristol

BigWhiteWall Free service

IAPt - local NHS run service. They are the equivalent of just getting help from the NHS.

Online:

Headspace

With headspace, there are several ways to access it:

The have a Free version/trial if you don’t want to commit yet

The fully paid versions

The fully paid version, for free, if you have Spotify premium on     the student discount

[wineanddinosaur]

VinePair Podcast: Do We Really Need More Celebrity Booze?

Celebrities have long been involved with the beverage alcohol industry, and the volume of celebrity brands continues to grow exponentially. On this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” co-hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe reflect on why celebrities get involved in the industry, and how their products resonate (or don’t) with the public.

For the Friday tasting, the three try out a popular celebrity wine — Snoop Dogg’s 19 Crimes Cali Red. Was it a celebrity wine worth buying again for the group? Tune in to find out.

Additionally, Teeter sits down with Sovereign Brands CEO Brett Berish for a conversation on his successful partnerships with celebrities like Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Berish talks about his approach to celebrity brand partnerships, why he doesn’t look at market research, and what it takes for a celebrity-backed product to find success.

Tune in, and learn more about Brett Berish’s Sovereign Brands at https://www.sovereignbrands.com/.

LISTEN ONLINE

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

OR CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION HERE

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: And in Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: As a very iconic singer would say, “It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.” Dude, what happened to Rebecca Black? Come on, Rebecca. Well, she’s on TikTok now. Anyway, she’s a celebrity, and what we’re going to talk about today is celebrities. We are going to talk about celebrity alcohol.

Celebrities have always been involved in alcohol, whether as spokespeople, whether as consumers, et cetera. Alcohol is a sexy space for celebrities to be a part of. They’re premium products. They’re lifestyle products. They’re fun. It feels like, in the last decade or even five years, the amount of celebrities getting involved in alcohol products has absolutely exploded. Some have been massively successful. Some have been massive failures where someone came out with it and then you never heard about it again. What do you both think about celebrity spirits, wines, and beers? If a celebrity is involved with something, are you more or less likely to consume it or try it?

J: I find it just so curious how it’s been such a recent development and how many there are. I don’t find it more appealing when a celebrity is attached to a brand. I probably actually feel the opposite, because I’m really suspicious of the quality of it. That’s my take. I think it’s so interesting how it’s evolved from celebrities being spokespeople for a brand to being involved and having a cut of it.

A: There are definitely different ways you can go about it. You can either be the spokesperson that makes it seem like you have a lot to do with the brand. Matthew McConaughey is a great example of that. He’s the creative director of Wild Turkey. Wild Turkey’s already owned by Campari, though. He may have a stake in it. I have no idea at this point. I think he has his own line, too, with Wild Turkey. That’s a little different than starting the brand yourself a la The Rock or Conor McGregor, who then sold to Proximo. I was going to use Ryan Reynolds as that example, and then a lot of people on our team have reminded me that Reynolds didn’t actually start the brand. He came onto the brand a few years in, but then they cut him in and made him an owner of the brand.

J: Is that still the case?

A: Diageo owns it now.

Z: They sold it.

A: It sold for, like, $700 million. Clooney started Casamigos. Zach, what do you think? Are you more or less likely to buy because there’s a celebrity attached?

Z: I think there are maybe a couple different genres of celebrity alcohol products. In wine, you think of Francis Ford Coppola or someone like that. On the one hand, they never hid who was behind the winery. His name is on the bottles. The cachet of the product is, in part, that it’s a wine nominally made, or at least owned, by a famous director. At the same time, you could look at the winery and say, “OK, presumably Coppola was really into wine and decided he wanted to have a winery.” He was not hesitant to put his name all over it, but like —

J: He actually was. He didn’t want his name on it.

Z: Oh, that’s true. You guys interviewed him. Somehow, marketing people were able to get him over that. You don’t have to dig to figure out what celebrity is behind that.

J: Exactly.

Z: Then, there are these other things that fit into this weird middle ground. That’s like McConaughey with Wild Turkey. Obviously, Wild Turkey existed long before Matthew McConaughey was born. What a creative director does is hard to say. But, there’s obviously something more than just an endorsement going on there. Then, there are also the run-of-the-mill endorsements.

I don’t know that I have an answer to your question, Adam, other than to say that as a buyer at a restaurant, we certainly had Aviation Gin and Wild Turkey. We didn’t have a lot of these other products that are so clearly branded with a celebrity imprimatur.

What is fascinating to me is this: You think about this especially with hip hop music. We went from name-checking luxury brands as a way to prove your status — like saying “I can buy a Cristal” — to name-checking a brand that you own or are heavily involved with. That’s a whole ‘nother level of flex. It’s like saying, “I can’t just buy a Cristal, I also have my own Champagne.”

That kind of cachet and the way that it motivates consumption is fascinating. Maybe people still think, “I’m going to buy Ace of Spades because that’s what Jay-Z drinks and I want to be like Jay-Z.” That money’s going to Jay-Z, you know? It’s a great move. It’s savvy. Why should Roederer, who dissed you, get that money for Cristal when you can get that money. That’s pretty brilliant if you’re an entrepreneur. What I want your guys is opinion on is, are we getting to a point now where there are so many celebrity products that they no longer stand out?

J: Yes. There are so many of them. There’s this ranking that Aaron Goldfarb did in Esquire of 63 of them. That’s a lot, and it’s not even all of them.

A: He only did spirits. He didn’t even touch Cameron Diaz’s clean wine. Vera Wang has a Prosecco. John Legend has a wine. There is a lot. What’s interesting with these brands is that the only way they’re successful is if the celebrity actually lives and breathes them and feels very committed. Then, the brands actually do grow. Where they grow is not on, but off premise. They become huge off premise. A lot of these brands are massive off-premise brands. It’s people who love MMA and Conor. He drinks his whiskey in every press conference. He’s talking about Proper Twelve all the time. So, when they watch an MMA fight, they drink Proper Twelve. They’re not going to the bar looking for it. At the bar, I would guess Proper Twelve has still had a very hard time unseating Jameson, which is basically its direct competitor.

Same with Teremana. A lot of people probably have Teremana at home. Ken Austin, who created both those brands with Dwayne and Conor, told us when we interviewed him a few months ago that his belief is that if you don’t live the brand and are not fully committed, that he doesn’t want to do it with you because it will fail. A lot of times, there’s the belief among a person’s team that, “We’ve done this with perfume. We’ve done this with other things. Why would this not work with alcohol?” Alcohol is such a different beast.

When I’ve talked to some of the top executives at Diageo, Campari, and others, they’ve all echoed this. The only successful partnerships they’re ever had are when the celebrity is fully invested. Cîroc was, and is, successful because Sean Combs has a piece of the brand, is very connected to the brand, and really controls how it shows up in public. People know his attachment to it is authentic. Same with Matthew McConaughey. It’s a very authentic connection to Wild Turkey. People don’t see him as just this paid spokesman who’s trying to trade on his name. They really, truly believe he loves that bourbon.

Z: That’s the difference. You have to believe that the celebrity drinks the thing that you’re buying. In the luxury realm, if someone has a sponsorship with Burberry and they wear Burberry a lot, it probably helps. But, no one expects that’s the only clothing they’ll ever wear.

With beverage alcohol, it has to be plausible that the celebrity would actually drink this stuff. You can’t fake that. People’s detectors are good enough on that kind of stuff, that a product that does not align with a celebrity’s public image in any way would have a really hard time.

A: I think that’s 100 percent on point. It’s why Kendall Jenner got so much crap when she released her tequila. Everyone thought, “Drinking 1942 doesn’t mean that you know how to make tequila.” That’s great that she loves that product. It’s a great product, but that doesn’t mean she should be making tequila. That doesn’t mean people should believe she has any connection to it and that she’s going to be someone people believe is passionate enough about this, that she’s going to make a great liquid, which she probably is not.

Z: There’s also this cultural appropriation element to it, too. It’s going to be much more pertinent with something like tequila than with gin, say.

I have one other question in this space for both of you: Do you think that this social media age that we’re in now is part of the reason why this works? Celebrities just have such incredible followings. These days, that following is so unfiltered. You can literally follow them on whatever social media platform. It gives them that direct access that must be like a slot machine going off in a beverage alcohol company’s brain. They don’t have to pay for placement in a magazine or on TV this way.

If the celebrity’s got a piece of it, they’ll want to post about it because it’s money in their pocket. They can live it through social media, which is the only way any of us ever access them anyhow, and it feels authentic. Ten years ago, no matter how passionate someone might have been about a product, it was going to be very hard. You had to play ball with publications to get that message out. It was uncertain whether you’d reach your audience. Now, you know you can reach your audience because your audience is hanging on your every post.

J: I don’t follow Cameron Diaz on Instagram, but I peeked at her Instagram recently. It was all Avaline. She lives it.

Z: On social media, at least.

A: Why don’t we listen to this interview I did with Brett Berish of Sovereign Brands. He’s created Ace of Spades, D’USSE, Luc Belaire, and a bunch of really amazing brands with a bunch of very famous people, including Jay-Z and Rick Ross.

CONVERSATION WITH BRETT BERISH, FOUNDER AND CEO OF SOVEREIGN BRANDS

A: I am super excited to be talking to Brett Berish, who is the founder and CEO of Sovereign Brands. Brett, thank you so much for joining me.

Brett Berish: Thanks, Adam. Happy to be on.

A: Can you give me a little bit of background on yourself and on Sovereign?

B: Yes. I grew up in the liquor industry.

A: Are we talking about being born into it?

B: Born into it, in different capacities. I like to think that we’re third generation. My grandparents on my mother’s side were distributors in Madison, Wis. My dad worked for the same liquor company for 45 years. I have three older brothers and what we all remember best about being christened into liquor was when we were in first grade. We walked to school with bottles in our hands to take them to teachers as gifts.

A: That’s amazing.

B: We were always around it. I grew up in this industry based on my father. That’s all he ever talked about. He has a true passion for it.

A: That’s awesome. You’ve created some pretty famous brands. I’d love it if we could chat about that and what made you start Sovereign. You started Ace of Spades, which a lot of people are very well aware of now, thanks to Jay-Z. There’s D’USSE, which is his Cognac. How did that happen? How did you start creating these brands and how did you do it with someone like Jay-Z?

B: I’m in the liquor and wine space, so that’s all I know. I’m a fan of music. I’m a fan of sports. I couldn’t do music. I couldn’t do sports. All the brands were created for the industry, though. It’s based on me and my team thinking, “Can we make a product better? Can we do better in the Champagne category? Can we do better in the rum category? Can we do better in the gin category?”

The basis of all the brands are based on that. How we then roll them out and put ourselves into lifestyle, that’s organic. If I use a brand, like our Bumbu rum, it’s the No. 1 rum in Canada. No one from my company, and I, have never been there. With Jay or anybody else, everything is organic for me. I don’t want to force brands into anybody’s hands. I’m the guy who wants to discover things, and I think consumers want to discover things.

A: How did you get into collaborating with artists? There’s so many brands that want to be able to do that. There’s not a lot of people who’ve really ever done it and done it to your level of success. Someone may have done one brand with an artist and the brand doesn’t work for one reason or another. I have to assume, prior to Ace of Spades, you had done other things. How did that come about?

B: It’s such a tough question to answer. If you think about it, there are so many celebrities that have had brands and wine and spirits is one space. For so many celebrities, it hasn’t worked. I think that I’m fortunate in that the brands we create, there’s a place for them. They should exist.

When we worked with Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Post Malone, or A Boogie, it’s not like I knew these people. There wasn’t a relationship that I had with them before the brands. The relationship exists because of the brands. They found them. They drank them. They pursued them. It was something they already saw. Rick Ross was the biggest fan of Belaire, but Belaire was out for two years before I ever met Rick.

A: Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that.

B: It’s that way with all the brands. Sometimes celebrities get involved. I used to say that Martha Stewart was a huge fan of Ace of Spades. She has nothing to do with the brand but she loved the brand. It almost takes on a whole persona, but that’s what you want. That’s a good brand.

A: Right. In terms of something like Ace of Spades, was that something that you created initially and then got connected with Jay-Z, or was that something that you created together? In the legend of Ace of Spades, everyone tells that story of how Jay-Z decided to start drinking or making that Champagne. Is that legend true? Was it because he really didn’t want to drink Cristal anymore and wanted his own thing? And did he come to you?

B: One has nothing to do with the other. I was developing a brand. So, if I had you at my office, I would let you taste it and show you everything I’m doing. I like getting people’s opinions and reactions. We don’t do market research. It’s just very organic. Like a lot of things I do, people hear and talk about it. Ace of Spades existed, the Armand de Brignac, and Jay and his team heard about this brand as many other people did. They wanted to see and experience it. Fortunately, I didn’t give any bottles, because they’re expensive. He bought bottles, became familiar with it, and loved the brand. That’s normal in everything we do. People find it and discover it, just like my Canada example. They’re finding it, discovering it, and holding on to it. That’s what I hope for all our brands.

A: How much do you think packaging has to do — and how striking so much of the packaging of the brands that you create — with the finding and discovering process? A lot of times we want to believe packaging isn’t as important. We say, “Oh, it’s all about the liquid.” A lot of what makes your brands pop is that packaging. It’s what causes someone to take it off the shelf in the first place. How much do you think about that?

B: It’s huge for me. There’s two things, and they go hand in hand. There are gorgeous packages, designs, and bottles out there. If the liquid isn’t good, no one’s ever going to come back. There are brands that have tremendous liquid. What’s in the bottle is fantastic. If the package doesn’t stand out though, you may just never notice it.

To me, both sides matter. I’m the little guy. I’m competing against the Diageos and the Bacardis. I don’t have their money. Package becomes even more important because it’s the most important thing you have to try to stand out. I think we’ve done a good job. Again, it’s all organic. It’s all developed in house. We’re creating, what I always hope, is an iconic image and feeling. My goal is always that I want you to buy two bottles — one to put on the shelf and one to open. That’s my goal.

A: Nice. Do you try to have a relationship with someone attached to the brand in each brand you create? Do you want some of the brands you create to live without an association with Rick Ross or Jay-Z?

B: I’m not smart enough to know what works and what doesn’t. I can go back to my example that there are major celebrities in every single industry, and brands don’t work. For everybody who thinks that their next video they put on Instagram is going to go viral, it never does.

The way I build brands and the way I think about it is that my product is better than what I’m competing against. My job is to get people to taste it and see where it goes. I’ll give you an example in our industry that you’ll appreciate. There’s an expression. You sell it on premise to bars and restaurants to then sell at retail. That’s what everybody thinks. That’s the norm.

A: Right. On premise is what makes you famous, then you want everyone to buy an off premise. Totally. That’s the standard model that everyone uses.

B: Had I thought — for Belaire, for example — that it had to be an on-premise brand and that’s the only way it would ever work, I wouldn’t have realized the reality, which is what happened. We’re 10 years in and we’re 98 percent retail.

A: Wow.

B: Everything is just about letting things breathe. See where a brand works and where it achieves success. Build on that. I think of that with everything I do. I’m not smart enough to know where it should go. I have a North Star. I know where I want to go, but how I get there is going to change every day.

A: It seems like you have a little bit of a specialty, right? You’ve done two Cognacs. You’ve done a bunch of sparkling. Is that because you love those products? It’s a sweet spot? How much are you looking at data to see where the opportunity is? I am always so curious how much someone like yourself, who is truly an alcohol entrepreneur and launching different brands, is looking at data and the market to figure out what that next brand is.

B: I look at no data.

A: Oh, wow. OK.

B: Nothing. I consume my brands. I was never a rum drinker until I started drinking rum. I was never a gin drinker until I started drinking it and learning about it. There’s no category that I’m not interested in. I just have to consume it and become familiar with it. Then, it becomes a question of, “Can I come up with a better product than exists? Can I come up with a story that’s better than something else out there that exists?” Because of my dad, I know whiskey so well. It’s easy to me. Only in the past year or so have we come up with what we think is going to make a difference, but I can’t force it. I’m not going to put out a brand just to put out a brand. The second thing I’d say is that the only thing I do look at is if everybody’s running one way. I don’t want to go that way. I want to go somewhere else.

A: So, everyone is circling around premium tequila right now. Is that what you’re saying?

B: Correct. A perfect example is rum. Bumbu is the single largest premium rum now in the U.S. It’s No. 1 in the U.K., Canada, Latvia, Czech. When we launched that five years ago, our industry told us, “Don’t do it. You should go to tequila. Tequila’s the hot thing.” To me. it’s not about that. I want to do things that we feel really good about what we created. It doesn’t matter the category. I think I can compete. It doesn’t matter the category as long as I have a discernible difference in a product.

A: Interesting. I’m curious about your thoughts. As someone that has launched so many great brands, done well, and has sometimes done it with celebrity partners, what do you make of this massive celebrity tequila movement? Do you think it’s a bubble that’s going to burst anytime soon? Do you think there are things about the spirits industry that people don’t realize who are getting in right now?

B: I’d love to give you a thoughtful answer. To me, it’s still about the product. It has to be a good tasting product. It has to have a story. I don’t drink brands because of somebody. I’m drinking the brand because I have a connection to it. I like the taste. That has longevity. It’s hard for me to answer because I don’t think like that. I only think about it from the perspective that it’s all about the brand. It’s not about who’s tied to it. It’s all about the brand.

A: The only person I think that is probably also as well known as you for launching brands like this is Ken Austin. He has said to us before — and it seems like you’re giving a similar answer — that it’s about the brand and for a lot of this, it’s about being all in. I think a lot of people who get involved in the alcohol world don’t realize how much of a grind it is and how much authenticity really matters. Do you agree with that?

B: Oh, completely. It’s history, authenticity, the taste profile, the look and feel. It has to have a connection. I remember 30 years ago, being at a club in South Beach with my dad, and someone ordered a bottle of Ketel One. I’d never heard of it before. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. That became the brand I wanted to consume.

Consumers need a connection. They need a real connection to the brand. If you’re banking on celebrity, to me, that’s not it. I don’t know how to build brands that way. For every Conor McGregor, there’s 1,000 other ones that didn’t make it. I don’t know why his brand made it. No clue. I couldn’t give you an answer as to what’s the recipe for that.

A: Interesting. There’s a lot of noise from marketing executives that millennials and Gen Z aren’t brand loyal. They don’t care about brands anymore. Do you buy that?

B: No. Brands just have to have meaning to you. They have to have a soul. They have to have a connection. When we first did our brand with Ace, we didn’t have social media. It was built based on traditional block and tackling articles, magazines, newspapers, and blogs.

When we did Belaire, Instagram started coming. We thought, “Wow, that’s kind of neat. You get to see how people react to your brand.” Now, take Bumbu. Bumbu has more followers on Instagram than any brand of rum — more than Captain Morgan and Bacardi. They have billion dollar budgets. I don’t spend any money on advertising. I’m connecting with the consumer. To me, that means something. My brand has a meaning to them, just like it has a meaning to me. I tell people all the time, the way I think about our brands is that they’re my children. You’ve got to get them to learn to walk, talk, and position them. You need to see where they need help and where they don’t need help. That’s how I do it. Sometimes, not having a plan is a really good plan. As long as you can pivot constantly, you’ll get there.

A: It’s really interesting. When you have the idea for these brands, where do the names come from?

B: For the names, the bottles, and the icons, I’ll see something. I’ll have an idea. I’ll think of something. Then, I park them. Take Bumbu. When we were learning about rum, I ended up learning that in the 14th century, when merchants who traveled the West Indies drank rum, they didn’t like the taste of it. That was called grog. That was their normal rum. They started blending their own and they called it bumbu. It’s almost like you’re birthing an idea from that. You get it. That’s where the inspiration came from.

Villon’s story is just so cool. In the 14th century, there was a poet named François Villon in France. He was an iconoclast who went against the grain. He fought against bad cops and the government. He was kicked out of Paris. He ultimately was killed by a monk. Some people think the word villain comes from Villon. That’s the brand’s soul. It’s going against everybody else in this category. The names, bottles, and designs are all done in house. They’re all critical to me in how you build that loyalty with a consumer.

A: That’s really fascinating. Well, Brett, it has been really interesting to talk to you. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell us a little bit more about yourself and the brands that you’re building. I think all the people who listen are familiar with at least one, if not many of them. I love the way that you talk about how you’re thinking about the brand, how it fits into people’s lives, and that attachment. I think a lot of people who listen are probably pretty jealous that you don’t spend any money on advertising. So, congrats to you for all that success. Thank you so much again for joining me.

B: Thanks, Adam. Really appreciate being able to talk about our industry. New brands are the lifeblood of the industry, so I love it.

THE VINEPAIR TEAM TRIES SNOOP DOGG’S 19 CRIMES CALI RED WINE

A: That was a super-fun interview. Brett was really great. Let’s jump into this, though. There’s a lot of celebrity wines we could have chosen to taste today, but the one we all have in front of us is Snoop Dogg’s. It’s just been everywhere recently. It’s called 19 Crimes. This is a perfect example of a collaboration. I don’t think Snoop has any ownership in this. He probably gets paid very well.

Z: Treasury folks, I know you listen, if you want to let us know exactly what you’re paying him, that’d be cool.

A: Seriously, Treasury. Hook us up. It jumped every other 19 Crimes, which was already wildly successful. This is what I see now, everywhere. I think he’s come out with a rosé, too, which also proves that this has got to be the most successful in the entire line. I’m standing for this.

Z: Is that out of respect, or what?

J: He’s only associated with his picks, right? Like, the Snoop Cali Red?

A: Yeah. The other 19 Crimes with a guy from Australia is how the brand started and then they connected with him. I think that this is way more successful than anything else. Don’t quote me, if you want to email me and tell me, Adam, you’re wrong, cool. I think it is very successful. I’ve never had it before.

Z: Let’s talk a little bit about this. Everyone has seen this bottle, presumably, if you’ve ever been in a grocery store before.

A: It’s full black. You can’t see the wine in it.

Z: It’s definitely a matte finish, a little translucent. It fits the broader 19 Crimes look, but it’s also very distinctly its own thing. That’s in part because it’s got Snoop Dogg’s face on it, which is pretty recognizable.

A: Literally the foil around the whole neck says “Snoop.”.

Z: The cork, if you haven’t gotten it open yet, has his visage on it as well, which is cool. That’s going in my cork collection.

A: It’s a little weird quirk at the top.

Z: I’m actually mildly surprised that this wine has a cork. This might have been a thing that would have made sense with a screw cap.

A: Oh, my gosh. It’s hilarious. As you’re pulling the cork out, it’s his face.

Z: Oh, yeah. Snoop stares at you. We’ve been doing this whole recording with him kind of glaring at me. It’s mildly intimidating.

A: It’s kind of cool.

Z: It’s very, very dark in color, unsurprisingly.

A: It’s very purple.

Z: Joanna, have you tried it yet?

J: I have not.

Z: And Adam, you have not tasted it yet, right?

A: I have not tasted it.

Z: OK. Joanna, do you think this wine will be sweet or not?

J: Oh, I don’t think it will be sweet. Is it sweet?

Z: Well, taste it and tell us.

A: Are you quizzing everybody or just Joanna?

Z: OK, do you think it will be sweet, Adam, or not?

A: I think it’s going to be sweet, but deceptively so. It’s going to have sugar, but it’s not going to be in your face like Moscato. Now, do I taste it?

Z: Yeah, go for it.

J: It’s sweet.

A: It’s sweet, but like I said, it’s deceptively so. This wine is very well engineered.

Z: Oh, yeah.

A: This is a flavor lab, we’re going to figure out how to deliver this at exactly—

J: Like blending? Is that what you mean?

A: Oh, they are doing a lot more than that.

Z: Oh Joanna, you sweet summer child.

A: This wine is sweet. It’s almost no tannin.

Z: And almost no acidity. It’s very, very smooth.

A: This is what someone thinks of when they say they want a smooth wine. It’s super dark. This is like crushed velvet.

Z: My thinking on this wine when I first tasted it is that their inspiration for this wine was, “How do we make a $12 bottle of the Prisoner?”

A: That’s 100 percent what that is.

Z: The Prisoner is not this sweet. It has more tannin, but it has that very smooth blended fruit character. I interviewed the winemaker, Chrissy Wittmann, a while back. She talked about how one of the huge things for Prisoner is that they know that their drinkers want to drink the wine right away. They’re not going to age it. The tannins have to be very supple and integrated. They go for a lot of fruit ripeness, and that’s what they’re going for. Maybe all of 19 Crimes is trying to piggyback a little bit on that vague esthetic. But, this feels to me like, “What can we make that we can sell that’s basically the Prisoner, but we can sell it in every gas station and grocery store around the country?”

J: Maximally appealing.

Z: It’s not bad. My wife was very curious to try it. She said, “This is the kind of wine that if someone invited me over to have wine and chocolate, this is the wine they should serve me.”

J: Oh, interesting.

Z: I think it’s a good point. It’s a good wine for that kind of thing.

A: It has a little acidity, but you’re right. There’s not a lot of oak either.

Z: The other thing about this … there’s almost no aftertaste to this wine. It’s gone almost instantly. What does that make you want to do? It makes you want to fill the glass and drink again. It’s a drink-the-whole-bottle kind of thing.

A: This wine is so engineered. It’s crazy. Wow, this is awesome. I feel like we didn’t hate it. I would not buy it, but I also really understand why people love it. I didn’t think it was disgusting. I don’t hate it. Zach, I think your wife is right. If you had a wine and chocolate event, I could get down with this. It’s an interesting beverage. To me, is it an interesting wine? No. It’s an interesting beverage, though.

J: Maybe I’d mull this wine.

A: Ooh, yeah.

Z: I think it could be a great wine for sangria. It’d be a great wine for making a New York Sour, a cocktail with red wine.

A: Or a Kalimotxo.

Z: It’s cool stuff. Glad I finally had an excuse to try it. I’ve seen it sitting out in the grocery store for years now.

A: Me too. Well guys, talk to you Monday.

J: See ya.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now, for the credits, VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: Do We Really Need More Celebrity Booze? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-celebrity-booze/

[ericleo108]

Read 108

Official Release

This is my first release and exemplifies my aspirations and skill. The song is about, expands on, compliments, and promotes my book “108 a The Story of Discovering Earth's Consciousness.” When I press an album this will be the title track. I wrote this in December 2018. It tells the book’s story better than any track so far. I am currently working on and paid for an animated music video for this track which will be out later this year and have its own post.

The beat is from Tantu at Tantubeats.com. I chose it because it was popular on his YouTube. A special thank you to Tantu because I actually won the premium license by commenting on one of his Instagram posts. The track was professionally produced, tracked, mixed, and mastered by David James of “ Double D productions”

You can stream or download “Read 108” wherever music is sold. Click here for Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon music. New music is released every first Friday of every month.

Lyrics:

This for your soul,  you gotta listen to me Look within, realize, set yourself free x2        :17

I got talent, I got skill  Following me big shoes to fill If you check I'm write but they'll claim I'm ill That's alright, you'll learn what's real Use logic and reason you'll see that the seasons Lightning and weather Are the atmosphere breathing The planet and the atmosphere- are alive  Like carl sagan said, a thin film of life.  the internal dynamo a magnetic brain Lightning act as a synaptic chain Yourself and God are electronic waves Embodied by a physical chemical cage Known as skin or crust in different shapes But look inside AND the elements the same Don't deny yourself this, truth be told This IS the knowledge to better your soul

Open your mind and see the light Reveal the mystery, that is life Let soul inside be your guide And listen to the philosophy that i rhyme here to tell you that God’s the planet Read 108, study, understand it  Concious magnetism, Imagine the feild  You’re mind is immerse in a frequency sheild    x2

What is love without truth Without love, what's the use It’s hard to find what's right to do Let science guide your mind, get schooled understand concepts arcane and complex response is cognitive  Ego centric to hominids Do you think peace is in our epigenetics the moral of the story in the meta message.  hope you live for virtue, party like wedding Love the vibe, make life a blessing What’s the point if not to be free Love, health, wealth, peace Look to the future, live for today I'll tell you what it'll say on my grave I was here, a loving friend I think, therefor, I am 1:49

Open your mind and see the light Reveal the mystery that is life Let soul inside be your guide And listen to the philosophy that i rhyme here to tell you that God’s the planet Read 108, study, understand it  Concious magnetism, Imagine the feild  You’re mind is immerse in a frequency sheild    x2

[blogagent155]

Mp3 To Deezer

Hint: Use the deezerdownload.com Bookmarklet or get with the share button (if you are logged in).The track URL should look likethe following: https://www.deezer.com/track/78691374 or go here: https://deezerdownload.com/online/popular-genres

Convert Mp3 To Deezer

Deezer Mp3 Downloader

Mp3 To Dropbox

Insert link

Convert Spotify playlist to Deezer Spotify has some great playlist, Now you can move those playlists to Deezer! You can also convert your Spotify liked songs and the Spotify albums you are following. Download Deezer to MP3 simply Run your web browser, navigate to Deezer and sign in your account. Hit the REC button on the Audio Recorder as soon as you start playing the song or playlist that you want to download. Wait for the playback to complete and press the REC button again to save the MP3 file to your computer. Step 1 Open Deezer web page or desktop app and log into your Deezer account. Then click on the user name from the left panel to navigate the profile page. Step 2 Navigate to 'More' tab and choose 'My MP3s'. Step 3 Click 'Select MP3s' and start choosing the local MP3s files you would like to upload to Deezer. Transfer Your YouTube Favorite Music Into Your Deezer Account. TuneMyMusic allows you to transfer your entire YouTube library to Deezer in a few minutes. The service is 100% online. Try Deezer Premium free for 3 months. Deezer Premium Deezer Free. A world of music in your pocket. Find new loves and old favorites from over 73 million tracks. With Deezer Premium, you don't need to be connected to enjoy your favorite tracks.

Google does not offer older Versions of Chrome, in the name of Security. You may find older versions on The Chromium Project, although the version may differ slightly on the last number component. You may have a look at some Chrome clones. For example, Slimjet is a Webbrowser based on Chrome does provide some older versions of Chrome. (Optional) Contact support: Open a support case to track the Chrome downgrade. It also helps us. Older versions of Chrome It's not uncommon for the latest version of an app to cause problems when installed on older smartphones. Sometimes newer versions of apps may not work with your device due to system incompatibilities. Until the app developer has fixed the problem, try using an older. Google only provides an online setup file for Google Chrome which installs the latest version of Google Chrome. It happens frequently that a user upgrades to a new version of Google Chrome and gets upset by an unpleasant feature, a missing option or an annoying bug. Therefore, some users want to roll back to an older version of Google Chrome to preserve a useful feature, option or support some legacy technol. Google Chrome 80.0.3987.149 Released: 23rd Apr 2021 (a few seconds ago) Google Chrome 80.0.3987.87 Released: 23rd Apr 2021 (a few seconds ago) Google Chrome 1.3.35.422 Released: 23rd Apr 2021 (a few seconds ago). Old chrome.

To open the audio copy the track url to the field.

Click DOWNLOAD (PRESS ENTER)

For starting download, please press 'Download' button (press ENTER)

Enjoy music

Deezer - website with music in streaming format. Allows users to listen to various devices online or offline recordings major labels such as Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group. Created in France in 2007. In his library at the beginning of 2016 are more than 40 million licensed tracks, over 2 million music albums, more than 30 thousand radio channels and more than 100 million playlists. Its monthly audience reaches 16 million users and 6 million paid subscribers.

Convert Mp3 To Deezer

If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you'll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you'll get to where you want to be

People don't realize it, but no one lives that rock and roll life 24-7. They think it's hundreds of bottles of champagne flowing and private jets and money. But there's a lot of time when you're traveling - time to think, time to be lonely. Sometimes it gets to you.

When I first saw you with your smile so tender, my heart was captured, my soul surrendered

Maybe this won't last very long. But you feel so right. And I could be wrong. Maybe I've been hoping too hard

You can't shut off the risk and the pain without losing the love that remains

Many dreams come true and some have silver linings. I live for my dreams and a pocket full of gold

Your love's a never ending dream, a castle by a stream of sweet understanding

A lot of people make money off of fear and negativity and any way they can feed it to you is to their benefit in a lot of ways. You can’t avoid it completely; you have to be open enough that shit doesn’t stick on you, it goes through, because you are gonna be hit and bombarded all the time with negativity … You just let things go on through without trying to stop them or block them.

As known that Deezer is an Internet-based music streaming service. With Deezer, users can listen to music content from record labels including Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group on various devices online or offline.

Even all of them are music streaming services, Deezer is different from both Spotify and Apple Music. Deezer currently has 53 million licensed tracks in its library, with over 30,000 radio channels, 14 million monthly active users, and 6 million paid subscribers as of 3 April 2018.

Deezer Mp3 Downloader

Users can also use Deezer on Web, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS and Windows, MacOS.

Like Spotify, Deezer also supports Free, Premium and Family three subscriptions. Kepler 16b. Generally regular streaming and MP3s stream at 320kbps, if you subscribed Premium account, you can stream at 16-Bit / 44.1 kHz of FLAC quality, so you can hear all the bits that existed with the original analog audio sources.

With Deezer Premium, you can download the music files once and listen offline whenever you want. As well, if you want to load your local music files to Deezer, you need to be Deezer Premium users. You can only load files like MP3 files (320 kbps and 45MB file size) to Deezer, and the entire folders are not allowed.

Please don't worry, in the following we will show you three methods to load local files to Deezer easily and quickly.

Method 1. Directly load local MP3 files with your Deezer Premium account

Step 1. Open Deezer web page or desktop app and log into your Deezer account. Then click on the user name from the left panel to navigate the profile page.

Step 2. Navigate to 'More' tab and choose 'My MP3s'.

Step 3. Click 'Select MP3s' and start choosing the local MP3s files you would like to upload to Deezer.

Sometimes we don't directly save our music files on the computer. We save the Spotify music songs and create a unique playlist for yourself. Sometimes you want to move them from Spotify to Deezer, how to do.

Macsome Spotify Downloader can easily download and convert Spotify music songs and playlists to MP3, AAC, FLAC and WAV with fast speed and excellent output quality.

First of all, click the next download button to free download the latest version of Spotify Downloader, and double click to Launch it on Windows, and Spotify application will open automatically at the same time.

Mp3 To Dropbox

Step 1. Add Spotify Music to the program.

Click '+' icon to manually drag & drop any music file or playlist from Spotify into the program, then press 'OK' button to add them. If you are a Mac user, please download the Spotify Downloader for Mac version.

Step 2. Choose Output Format.

Click setting button to set the output format and other related output settings. Here you can select format as MP3, AAC, FLAC or WAV and choose output quality up to 320kbps.

Step 3. Start to downloading music from Spotify.

When you compelte the above steps, you can click the 'Convert' button to start downloading Spotify to MP3.

Step 4. Upload converted Spotify files to Deezer.

After conversion, find the converted files and then go to Deezer.com (premium account is needed) on computer - Click My Music - Tap the More tab - Tap My MP3s - Select the downloaded MP3 files from computer for uploading the downloaded Spotify playlists to Deezer.

Whether you load the local MP3 files or protected Spotify music songs, the guide will help you solve the both problems.

[orbemnews]

On Spotify, an Arranged Marriage Between Music and Podcasts Danyel Smith used to make a podcast in her kitchen. Smith, an author, journalist and former editor in chief of Vibe magazine, recorded it with her husband, Elliott Wilson, a fellow journalist and the founder of Rap Radar, between the sink and a bowl of fruit. As one might expect of a show hosted by longtime music journalists, the podcast, “Relationship Goals,” which ran from 2015 to 2016, featured lots of music — in between playfully adversarial banter about domestic and professional headlines. The song placements, like the show itself, were done off the cuff — without much forethought, professional assistance or official permission. “It was a little bit of pirate podcasting,” Smith said. “We weren’t a part of a network, and this was before podcasting had become super popular. We would just sit at our little kitchen table and play music and talk about it.” In its lack of authorized music, “Relationship Goals” wasn’t unusual — the process of licensing music from official rights holders often takes resources that many independent podcast publishers don’t have. But when Smith decided to start a new podcast last year, inspired by her work on a coming book about the history of Black women in pop music, she knew she wanted to do things differently. As it happened, so did Spotify. “Black Girl Songbook,” Smith’s new podcast, is one of several music-focused shows introduced on the platform in the last year that take a novel approach to one of the industry’s oldest problems. It uses a hybrid format, which Spotify calls “shows with music” or “music and talk,” that allows creators to incorporate full songs from the service’s vast catalog into their podcasts free of charge. (Spotify takes a 30 percent cut of ads set up through the service.) The format gives podcasters easy access to music that would be difficult or too costly to attain on their own and presents listeners with a seamless interface for learning more about a song or adding it to their library. Those listeners have to be using Spotify — the format, designed to exploit Spotify’s existing deals with music companies, isn’t compatible with other platforms. And only users with a premium subscription will hear full songs; everyone else gets a 30-second preview. But for Smith and others, the trade-offs have so far been worth it. “Full songs are where the magic is,” Smith said. “There’s nothing like teeing up a song that means so much to me and that I know will mean so much to others if they just have the opportunity to hear it.” All podcasters who want to use third-party, pre-existing music have faced the same obstacle. Unlike radio broadcasters, who can purchase blanket licenses that give them rights to most popular songs, copyright law requires podcasts and other forms of on-demand media to license songs individually. The costs, which, for a typical three-year term, can range from $500 to $6,000 per use, add up quickly. Last fall, Hrishikesh Hirway, the host of the popular music podcast “Song Exploder,” announced on Twitter that he would have to remove some episodes of the show because of mounting licensing fees. (The tweets were later deleted. Hirway declined to comment.) “Relationship Goals” faced similar challenges — most episodes of the show are no longer online. Many podcasts that feature music get around licensing through an exception to copyright law known as “fair use,” which allows for the usage of small portions of copyrighted material for specific purposes, including comment and criticism. But fair-use defenses have an inconsistent track record in court, and as podcasts have grown in popularity, rights holders have become more aggressive. Deborah Mannis-Gardner, a music clearance expert — she has worked on the podcasts “Broken Record” with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam; and “The Midnight Miracle,” with Dave Chappelle, Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli — said she has seen an uptick in inquiries from D.I.Y. creators. “They have to determine how important the music is to them, how relevant it is to the podcast and whether or not that’s worth the few dollars they have in their budget,” Mannis-Gardner said. “I always tell people, ‘If you just want something that sounds cool, have a composer do a work-for-hire or use a music library.’” When Smith was conceiving of “Black Girl Songbook,” she wanted to create a platform that celebrated and uplifted artists, particularly the overlooked or underappreciated. Her book, “Shine Bright,” due in September from One World, is part memoir, part reappraisal of Black female musicians through history, from Big Mama Thornton to Rihanna. The podcast takes a similar approach but brings together personal reflections, archival recordings and artist interviews alongside the music itself. One episode charts Sade’s journey from London-based immigrant studying fashion design to international superstar; another revisits Natalie Cole’s media-fueled rivalry with Aretha Franklin; an interview with Corinne Bailey Rae connects her ebullient hit, “Put Your Records On,” to her early experiences wearing a natural hairstyle. “So many times when I’m interviewing someone, the women will say to me, ‘No one has ever asked me that,’” Smith said. “Even when Black women are in the spotlight, they’re rarely getting the kind of critical attention that they deserve.” As with all music-and-talk shows on Spotify, the subjects of “Black Girl Songbook” receive not only the usual press exposure but compensation: Artists are paid for plays within the show just like they are elsewhere on the service. (Many musicians say those payments remain too small.) Courtney Holt, a vice president at Spotify, compared the format to Spotify playlists, describing it as a new way to deepen the company’s relationship with users. “We think more people want to have these types of content-based conversations around music,” he said. “It ultimately drives more music engagement, it drives more artist love, and it makes Spotify that much more sticky.” Spotify allows anyone to create a music-and-talk show through Anchor, the podcast-production software it purchased in 2019. There are currently over 20,000 music-and-talk shows on the service, many of which are similar in tone and structure to FM radio. Most of the more ambitious shows so far are produced by Spotify or its subsidiaries: “Black Girl Songbook,” for example, is produced by The Ringer; and “Murder Ballads,” a story-driven series that spotlights lurid folk songs covered by the likes of Nirvana and Johnny Cash, is from Gimlet. Rob Harvilla, a longtime music critic and the host of another Ringer music-and-talk show, “60 Songs That Explain the ’90s,” said the podcast, his first, affords him a more tactile relationship with the music he covers. Each week, the show dives into a different song from the 1990s — Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” — with an opening monologue from Harvilla and a conversation with a special guest. “What cracked the show open for me was being able to interact with the songs,” Harvilla said. “People listening can hear the tone of voice, the lyrics, the guitar solo — it makes things so much more vivid, whether I’m doing astute critical analysis or just a dumb joke.” For Smith, who, as the editor of Vibe in the late ’90s, was an early champion of artists like Master P and Lauryn Hill, the new format has meant a return to old principles. “At Vibe, my entire life was about putting people on the cover that other magazines wouldn’t — people that couldn’t get booked to perform on ‘The Tonight Show,’” she said. “I wanted to create more space to serve the underserved, not only for the women who are featured, but for the listeners who don’t get enough of what makes them happy.” Source link Orbem News #arranged #Marriage #Music #Podcasts #Spotify

[johnboothus]

EOD Drinks With Dia Simms CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila and Mezcal

In this episode of “End Of Day Drinks,” VinePair’s editorial team is joined by Dia Simms, CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal. Simms details life before entering the spirits industry, explaining how her prior experiences working in the U.S. government and at Combs Enterprises laid the foundation for where she is today.

As president of Combs Enterprises, Simms oversaw the meteoric rise of Cîroc. Her leadership helped ease the transition into the spirits industry. Lobos 1707’s forward-thinking approach — with its focus on diversity and inclusion — caught the eye of celebrity investors such as LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the tequila-drinking population as a whole. Finally, Simms lists Lobos 1707’s current lineup, which includes a Joven, Extra Añejo, Reposado, and Mezcal coming soon.

Listen online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check out the conversation here

Cat Wolinski: Hello and welcome to “End of Day Drinks” with VinePair. I am Cat Wolinski, VinePair’s senior editor recording in Brooklyn, New York. I’m here with members of our editorial team. We have our tastings director and producer Keith Beavers, our assistant editor Emma Cranston, and we have Elgin Nelson, editorial assistant. We are speaking today with Dia Simms. She is the CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal. It’s a brand that launched last year, and it’s just the latest in a long line of very impressive things that Dia has been involved in. She previously served as the president of Combs Enterprises, as in Sean “Diddy” Combs Enterprises. She was in that role as the company’s investment in Cîroc vodka transformed that brand into a billion-dollar ultra-premium vodka brand. She’s also been on Ebony’s Power 100 list and Billboard’s Women In Music list. And on our list, as someone we’ve really been looking forward to speaking with and having on the show. So before I give too much away, Dia, take the mic. Say hello!

Dia Simms: Ooh, la la. That’s a wonderful intro.

C: You’re a wonderful guest. I had to pull out the stops.

D: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here today.

C: First of all, where are you joining us from?

D: I’m in sunny Los Angeles, and I know this is probably cliche to say out loud, but it is actually enormously, incredibly gorgeous today. It’s extra L.A. today.

C: Surprisingly, it’s actually a nice day here on the East Coast, too, but that’s pretty rare. Are you usually in L.A.?

D: I mostly grew up in Queens, N.Y., and I am between New York and Maryland most of the time. However, we have lots of exciting things going on with Lobos 1707 in L.A., Miami, and all over the country. I travel wherever I have to go to move this wonderful tequila.

C: Absolutely. And where is the company operating right now? Is it mostly in Maryland?

D: No, the company is in the Lower East Side in New York. We would love to have you by our office. We had great investors behind the brand, and we could have gotten a swanky office. No, we want to be at the heartbeat where culture is being created. The Lower East Side is so famous for everything from the height of sneakers to the coolest trends coming out for the last 100 years. In some ways, it is very much one of the last zip codes that represents the tradition of old New York. We built our office in the spirit of a wolf pack to be able to be an actual den. We have a full stage, a huge bar, and a super-long table that our founder actually built with his own hands. Once we start to move out of the pandemic, which I believe is happening, we already extended our reach to the community. They can hold community board meetings here. If you’re a young artist and you need to shoot your campaign or cover art, you can come to shoot here because it actually used to be a studio, so the lights are incredible. We wanted to build an office that serves the consumer. It is not just a one-way experience, and we want to walk it like we talk it. We love the space, and we’d love to have you guys there.

C: Wow. We would, of course, like to come by. VinePair is actually based in Manhattan. We’re all remote right now. Some of us are Brooklyn, some of us are in New Jersey, Elgin is actually in the Bahamas.

D: Oh, OK.

C: Anyway, that sounds like such a cool space. Is it part office and experiential marketing space?

D: Yeah, we can host events and dinners. We actually have a kitchen in there. We’re having dinner actually on Monday, Covid-19 safe, with an amazing chef. It’s a flex space, but it was more important to us. After last year, we are living in a transition of what an office even is, because obviously, it doesn’t matter where we are. Train, plane, or hotel, you’re at your office if you have your device with you. We thought that it doesn’t need to be so traditional. It’s really an opportunity for us to survive as a company.

C: That is so true, and I think what you’re saying speaks to your adaptability as a businesswoman. I’d love it if you could take us through your career track, what led you here, where did you start, and everything in between.

D: Oh, yeah. My career track was not at all linear. It definitely wasn’t the plan to go to school and then going into the spirits business. It was 100 percent not the case. I am a super geek, and I love to learn. The only thing that was consistent was how can I bring the utmost excellence in every single thing I do. My job title was so very different from tequila. I started off working for the Department of Defense, negotiating defense contracts, and I was very young. I was 21, and I was handed a $120 million contract to negotiate.

C: Wow!

D: Exactly. As you can imagine, the contract I was negotiating, people were thinking, “What is this whippersnapper doing in the room? You really should be getting my coffee.” It was the absolute best training ground for every single thing I did. After that, I was sent to what was called then the Defense Acquisition University, where I was trained in negotiations. I had a secret clearance. I felt that was very cool, but most importantly, I had to be in a space with people who had been in the industry, respectfully, for 50 to 60 years. I was brand new, and I understood very much on day one that frankly, extensive knowledge is going to be my only weapon. If I had to memorize the federal acquisition regulations and know them backward and forwards, if I had to fight for the taxpayer’s money like it was my own money, then I would do so. Beyond that, it was the things I learned there, negotiating for trainer jets, helicopters, and integrated logistics support for jets at a tripartite agreement with Singapore friends. That was it. I didn’t know it then, but when I had to negotiate deals for Puff Daddy, fast-forward 15 years, or when I wanted to pick the movie with my husband in the kitchen, everything I learned, the Department of Defense had everything.

C: Wow. That is just worlds away from what we think of as being in the spirits industry, but it’s transferable skills, right? I love the example about watching the movie with your husband. We’re negotiating things every day, and whatever we’re doing involves the entire globe.

D: Yes, so from defense I obviously got bored, and I had an opportunity to apply for a job in advertising, sales, and radio in Maryland. I applied, I got it, and took the job. Again, very different from the rigor of working for the U.S. federal government. This was basically sales, but it’s what you call “eat what you kill.” You get a certain amount you’re paid, but you have to sell enough in order to cover it. I always say it’s like selling crack without any addiction. It’s drama and excitement, but there’s no addiction. You really have to sell the thing. It was one year of learning a lot about advertising and marketing. Again, I got great training. I was working with Clear Channel, so they trained me on out-of-home, television, and radio ads. This is way back when we were getting trained on a fax machine. Now, what I really learned is the right marketing demographic, how the demographic focuses, how to segment your marketing approach, and how to sell. Again, it is just an invaluable thing no matter what job you’re in. And after actually doing it for a year, it occurred to me I could be doing it for myself. I got with some girlfriends, and we launched our own marketing company called Madison Marketing, which is where I really first got into spirits. I got Seagram’s as a client, and then I ran a small on- and off-premise promotions team in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area. I’ve always been focused. If I send a promotional model to a liquor store, I want to ensure that we sell enough bottles that we pay for ourselves. I always wanted to go back to Seagram’s and say, “You may have paid us X, but we moved this many bottles.” That was intuitive as an entrepreneur. It helped build a good reputation in the beginning and give me my first entree into the service industry. Then, I was on and off in sales for a while and ended up back in New York working for Power.105 Radio, which was, at that time, a brand new hip hop station.

C: Oh, my gosh, yes.

D: It was a big deal back then because Hot97, in hip hop, it’s the first biggest hip-hop station in the world. Puff, at the time, refused to advertise on the other station Power105 out of his great loyalty to Hot97. When I started working there, I ended up inheriting all the music labels as clients and I was told Bad Boy Records will not advertise on that station so we really wanted to get them as a client. I made it a mission and eventually convinced them, the executives, to take a chance on them, and we started to get more business for Bad Boy Records. At some point, one of the marketing executives called me and said, “Look, Puff is looking to hire a chief of staff. I think you guys would get along, and you send me a lot of emails at 3 in the morning. So I think you don’t sleep, he doesn’t sleep, so you can interview for the job.” So I took the interview. It was a super-fast interview, maybe five minutes. I had no idea how it went, but they called me and said, “I would like you to come to take the job but because you haven’t managed really large teams before, would you be willing to start as an executive assistant?” I told them I didn’t care what they called me, and I’ll be there in a couple of weeks.

C: Wow, that’s amazing. OK, so did he end up advertising on Power105?

D: Oh, yeah.

C: As president of Combs, if I’m correct, you were the first person to also become president of that company ultimately?

D: Yes. I was there for 14 years and again, I started off as an executive assistant, and then I grew to become the first president in the history of the company. Puff always acted as the president himself so I am always forever honored and grateful that he gave me a chance to run the company because that’s been his real baby since he was 19. It felt like a family business to him, and I am always grateful for that chance.

C: Wow. Were you also involved with Cîroc? Could you tell us about how that happened?

D: Before I had a baby, Cîroc was my first baby. Puff, as you can imagine, was offered tons of opportunities to work in the spirits industry, but he took it really seriously. When this opportunity came about with the Diageo, we were really thinking about how the approach would be, how we’d make sure there was responsible consumption, and if minorities were going to be supportive of this brand, how do we make sure that they benefit economically? When we had the chance I went to him and said, “Look, I am actually trained in negotiations. I know I’m your chief of staff today, but I would like to be on the team to negotiate with you for this plan. Would you include me?” He said, “Sure.” It was a very small group of us. We worked with Diageo for about 10 months, and they were phenomenal partners throughout. When we finished the deal and were getting ready to launch Cîroc, we went back and said, “All of your legacies have been rooted in exceptional marketing.” At that time, the marketing team was very small. I said, “I would like to relaunch the agency you had before called Blue Flame and take lead on Cîroc, which would mean I would step away from my current role.” As chief of staff, I managed all of his estates, security, everything to do personally as well as all the businesses. It would mean stepping away from that and focusing on this one vertical. He basically said, “Sure, if you replace yourself, you can do it.” I went to get Blue Flame funded and then started hiring people and did both jobs for a year. A year later, when Cîroc was doing crazy numbers, up 1,000 percent in multiple zip codes, I knew I needed to just work on this. If you look at the efficiency of our time, this is why we have an amazing brand here that people are really responding to. He finally agreed and then we were off to the races.

C: That’s obviously its own job completely. I can’t believe you’re doing both for a year.

D: Yeah, it was intense. It’s funny because I started in 2005. It was the same year I got married too, so that was a crazy year of my life.

C: Oh my gosh, you had time for a wedding? That’s amazing.

Emma Cranston: Hey, Dia, this is Emma just chiming in. Fast-forwarding to Lobos, what has it been like to move from vodka to tequila? What do you think you’ve been able to really do with Lobos that you couldn’t do with Cîroc? Is there anything, possibly in terms of the mission statement, that you feel are really proud of Lobos?

D: Well, I’m incredibly proud of Lobos 1707 as the brand and for the team. I previously worked in that space. I worked with Sean on another tequila at one point. I’m super familiar with the category and was excited to have this chance to launch a brand at this time. I think the biggest difference is less about the specific brands and a little bit more about the timing. We’re living in such unprecedented times. It was really important to the founder, and we launched 1707 to be really respectful of that. I mentioned earlier about the way we built the office, we wanted inclusion to be built into the core of what we do. It is not an afterthought where it is something you do on Tuesday night and one person does during left-handed purple hair day, it needs to be part of the footprint and the heartbeat of the way we build the company. I’m really proud to say now, coming up a year later, we’re intentionally 50 percent women-led and we’re over 60 percent diverse. I think the foundation of who we are being set before we spent the time on what we are, I think makes a difference all the way down to the liquid.

EC: Yeah, that’s awesome. Specifically, I’d read so much about Lobos’ mission to build a bigger table and everything you were talking about with your offices, it sounds like you have a super-dynamic, inclusive space. How has the Lobos team reflected that, and what does that look like in action?

D: Absolutely, so a couple of things. Here’s a simple thing that I think is a good example, though. When we did our launch creative, and fortunately I built a lot of brands where you come up with some cool idea, shoot it, and it’s all about the cinematography. We really said, “Look, the easy thing to do is tell the truth.” Our creative featured the actual jimadors who worked on this brand. The actual owners of the brand and everybody in our launch creative commercial are a real part of the Lobos family, which is different from a lot of other brands. Even in tequila space, you’ll see the jimadors blurred out, obviously a lot of times in the background. They really are the rock stars of the brand when you think about it. Even though we’re so fortunate to have huge luminaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James behind the brand for us, the liquid, the people, and the humanity in the way our brand operates? That’s the real superstar.

Elgin Nelson: That is a perfect segue to my question. Last year, VinePair published an article on why celebrities want to create a tequila brand. That’s the thing now, everyone wants to make a tequila brand, and celebrities are backing that. Given your investment from LeBron James, how has Lobos benefited from that? Also, what is your position regarding celebrity tequila, because it is a big thing right now?

D: It is. I don’t believe in celebrity brands for the sake of celebrity brands and the consumer is too smart. They can read very quickly through inauthentic pairing, right? With LeBron, that’s really natural. I can spend a little time on this to help give a heartbeat to this. Lobos means wolves in Spanish. Our overarching cry is this famous Kipling quote, which is very familiar with us: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and for the strength of the wolf is the pack.” LeBron — besides falling in love with the actual liquid, the heritage, and the true story of the fact that our founders’ family have been in the industry for 400 years and that we use barrels from his bodega in Spain — all of that truth was really attractive to LeBron. Beyond that, he’s such a big believer in the need for respecting every member of your team, and the fact that each one of you being strong together makes all of us strong as a collective. His presence is quite natural to the brand. I think the other key piece is that all the people who are behind our brand wrote checks as investors. It is not an endorsement deal, this is not somebody who doesn’t really drink the brand and is doing it because they’re getting a check every couple of weeks. They believe in it as businessmen, they believe in the proposition, and they believe in the product. I think you can very much sense the difference when something is authentic and when it’s forced.

EN: As a team, when you say wolf pack and LeBron bringing that mentality to the Lobos team, what other investors helped bring the brand along that weren’t necessarily part of the wolf pack? That is central in launching a global brand, and you see that a lot with these celebrity tequila brands as well.

D: Well, a lot of times the people, frankly, are not necessarily the names everybody knows. People that we’ve hired, I’ve worked with for years on other brands, and they are the difference makers. The real experience makes it different. This is not the sexy answer, but I think the reason why our brand is five times our original forecast is that we have experienced people who understand how to build a brand and industry. Especially on this podcast, you guys get it more than most. It’s not as easy as having a cool idea, adding a celebrity, and then you can go sell it. You need to really understand and respect every liquor store owner who is busting their butt and feeding their family on this. I think our team, when I look at who really makes a difference, it’s the woman who used to be my assistant, my chief of staff, and now she’s running business development. She goes into this as her family business. That is a difference-maker. LeBron and Arnold Schwarzenegger would say that as well: “You guys have built an incredible team that I’m proud to work alongside everyday.”

E: I think that’s really exciting. You mentioned earlier, too, about your team and how it’s 50 percent women-led and 60 percent diverse. I’m just curious, where do you see the future of women and people of color in general entering the world of spirits? It’s something we talk about a lot on this podcast. How do you see other spirits brands creating those entryways? And how has that become such a priority for Lobos? Do you think other brands should be adopting this approach?

D: The good news is we’re at an inflection point where we can now speak unabashedly around why diversity is just very simply good for business. The first thing that has to change is the idea that adding diversity to a business is some type of charitable endeavor. Every bit of research shows that when you have diversity of thought, you have higher profits, are better for business, are better for retention, and you drive more sales. I think you have to change the approach. The second piece is we look at at a broader level, not just spirits, but as a country. There’s a lot of outstanding conversation and great passion around civil rights but I actually feel the thing that we don’t talk enough about is entrepreneurship, real equity, real ownership. I’ll give you just an example that I spent a lot of time on, but I think this likely reverberates to many diverse populations. In America, the average white American is worth 13 times than the average Black American is worth. When you get down to just business owners, that drops to just three times, which is very exciting news. If you believe there’s been 400 years of civil inequity in this country, and it’s already just a three-times difference, we have to focus on entrepreneurship and ownership as a path forward. We look at the spirits industry and the number of founders who have built a company successfully. We look at the Aviation stories, the Casamigos stories. Less than 1 percent of them, in a meaningful way, have Black and Brown constituents. Women are a little bit better, but it’s still in the single digits. That doesn’t make any sense. Women are 50 percent of the population. The spirits industry has a lot of work to do at every level, from every tier, but the great news is every conversation I’m having, everybody’s ready to do the work. The more we have these conversations, I feel like we’re progressing forward. It just needs to be a math-based, metric-based approach, not just theory.

C: Absolutely. I couldn’t have said it better myself. This is actually a perfect way to conclude our conversation. I know you’re a very busy woman, probably on the way to somewhere.

D: I’m so grateful, guys, for the time and the chance to talk about this. We’re really thrilled. Lobos 1707, we have our Joven out now, our Reposado, our Extra Añejo, and our Mezcal coming soon. If you guys haven’t personally tried and you guys indulge, please do try and let me know what you think about it. I’m really proud of it.

C: The Extra Añejo sounds amazing to me.

D: Incredible.

EN: Dia, can you also shout out your socials? Anywhere we can follow you?

D: I’m on all social media accounts Instagram, Twitter @diasimms.

C: Thank you so much, Dia, it’s been a pleasure.

D: Thank you so much. Have a great one.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of “EOD Drinks.” If you’ve enjoyed this program, please leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps other people discover the show. And tell your friends. We want as many people as possible listening to this amazing program.

And now for the credits. “End of Day Drinks” is recorded live in New York City at VinePair’s headquarters. And it is produced, edited, and engineered by VinePair tastings director — yes, he wears a lot of hats — Keith Beavers. I also want to give a special thanks to VinePair’s co-founder, Josh Malin, to the executive editor Joanna Sciarrino, to our senior editor, Cat Wolinski, senior staff writer Tim McKirdy, and our associate editor Katie Brown. And a special shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, VinePair’s art director who designed the sick logo for this program. The music for “End of Day Drinks” was produced, written and recorded by Darby Cicci. I’m VinePair co-founder Adam Teeter, and we’ll see you next week. Thanks a lot.

Ed note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article EOD Drinks With Dia Simms, CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila and Mezcal appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/eod-drinks-dia-simms/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/eod-drinks-with-dia-simms-ceo-of-lobos-1707-tequila-and-mezcal

[wineanddinosaur]

EOD Drinks With Dia Simms, CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila and Mezcal

In this episode of “End Of Day Drinks,” VinePair’s editorial team is joined by Dia Simms, CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal. Simms details life before entering the spirits industry, explaining how her prior experiences working in the U.S. government and at Combs Enterprises laid the foundation for where she is today.

As president of Combs Enterprises, Simms oversaw the meteoric rise of Cîroc. Her leadership helped ease the transition into the spirits industry. Lobos 1707’s forward-thinking approach — with its focus on diversity and inclusion — caught the eye of celebrity investors such as LeBron James and Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as the tequila-drinking population as a whole. Finally, Simms lists Lobos 1707’s current lineup, which includes a Joven, Extra Añejo, Reposado, and Mezcal coming soon.

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Cat Wolinski: Hello and welcome to “End of Day Drinks” with VinePair. I am Cat Wolinski, VinePair’s senior editor recording in Brooklyn, New York. I’m here with members of our editorial team. We have our tastings director and producer Keith Beavers, our assistant editor Emma Cranston, and we have Elgin Nelson, editorial assistant. We are speaking today with Dia Simms. She is the CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal. It’s a brand that launched last year, and it’s just the latest in a long line of very impressive things that Dia has been involved in. She previously served as the president of Combs Enterprises, as in Sean “Diddy” Combs Enterprises. She was in that role as the company’s investment in Cîroc vodka transformed that brand into a billion-dollar ultra-premium vodka brand. She’s also been on Ebony’s Power 100 list and Billboard’s Women In Music list. And on our list, as someone we’ve really been looking forward to speaking with and having on the show. So before I give too much away, Dia, take the mic. Say hello!

Dia Simms: Ooh, la la. That’s a wonderful intro.

C: You’re a wonderful guest. I had to pull out the stops.

D: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here today.

C: First of all, where are you joining us from?

D: I’m in sunny Los Angeles, and I know this is probably cliche to say out loud, but it is actually enormously, incredibly gorgeous today. It’s extra L.A. today.

C: Surprisingly, it’s actually a nice day here on the East Coast, too, but that’s pretty rare. Are you usually in L.A.?

D: I mostly grew up in Queens, N.Y., and I am between New York and Maryland most of the time. However, we have lots of exciting things going on with Lobos 1707 in L.A., Miami, and all over the country. I travel wherever I have to go to move this wonderful tequila.

C: Absolutely. And where is the company operating right now? Is it mostly in Maryland?

D: No, the company is in the Lower East Side in New York. We would love to have you by our office. We had great investors behind the brand, and we could have gotten a swanky office. No, we want to be at the heartbeat where culture is being created. The Lower East Side is so famous for everything from the height of sneakers to the coolest trends coming out for the last 100 years. In some ways, it is very much one of the last zip codes that represents the tradition of old New York. We built our office in the spirit of a wolf pack to be able to be an actual den. We have a full stage, a huge bar, and a super-long table that our founder actually built with his own hands. Once we start to move out of the pandemic, which I believe is happening, we already extended our reach to the community. They can hold community board meetings here. If you’re a young artist and you need to shoot your campaign or cover art, you can come to shoot here because it actually used to be a studio, so the lights are incredible. We wanted to build an office that serves the consumer. It is not just a one-way experience, and we want to walk it like we talk it. We love the space, and we’d love to have you guys there.

C: Wow. We would, of course, like to come by. VinePair is actually based in Manhattan. We’re all remote right now. Some of us are Brooklyn, some of us are in New Jersey, Elgin is actually in the Bahamas.

D: Oh, OK.

C: Anyway, that sounds like such a cool space. Is it part office and experiential marketing space?

D: Yeah, we can host events and dinners. We actually have a kitchen in there. We’re having dinner actually on Monday, Covid-19 safe, with an amazing chef. It’s a flex space, but it was more important to us. After last year, we are living in a transition of what an office even is, because obviously, it doesn’t matter where we are. Train, plane, or hotel, you’re at your office if you have your device with you. We thought that it doesn’t need to be so traditional. It’s really an opportunity for us to survive as a company.

C: That is so true, and I think what you’re saying speaks to your adaptability as a businesswoman. I’d love it if you could take us through your career track, what led you here, where did you start, and everything in between.

D: Oh, yeah. My career track was not at all linear. It definitely wasn’t the plan to go to school and then going into the spirits business. It was 100 percent not the case. I am a super geek, and I love to learn. The only thing that was consistent was how can I bring the utmost excellence in every single thing I do. My job title was so very different from tequila. I started off working for the Department of Defense, negotiating defense contracts, and I was very young. I was 21, and I was handed a $120 million contract to negotiate.

C: Wow!

D: Exactly. As you can imagine, the contract I was negotiating, people were thinking, “What is this whippersnapper doing in the room? You really should be getting my coffee.” It was the absolute best training ground for every single thing I did. After that, I was sent to what was called then the Defense Acquisition University, where I was trained in negotiations. I had a secret clearance. I felt that was very cool, but most importantly, I had to be in a space with people who had been in the industry, respectfully, for 50 to 60 years. I was brand new, and I understood very much on day one that frankly, extensive knowledge is going to be my only weapon. If I had to memorize the federal acquisition regulations and know them backward and forwards, if I had to fight for the taxpayer’s money like it was my own money, then I would do so. Beyond that, it was the things I learned there, negotiating for trainer jets, helicopters, and integrated logistics support for jets at a tripartite agreement with Singapore friends. That was it. I didn’t know it then, but when I had to negotiate deals for Puff Daddy, fast-forward 15 years, or when I wanted to pick the movie with my husband in the kitchen, everything I learned, the Department of Defense had everything.

C: Wow. That is just worlds away from what we think of as being in the spirits industry, but it’s transferable skills, right? I love the example about watching the movie with your husband. We’re negotiating things every day, and whatever we’re doing involves the entire globe.

D: Yes, so from defense I obviously got bored, and I had an opportunity to apply for a job in advertising, sales, and radio in Maryland. I applied, I got it, and took the job. Again, very different from the rigor of working for the U.S. federal government. This was basically sales, but it’s what you call “eat what you kill.” You get a certain amount you’re paid, but you have to sell enough in order to cover it. I always say it’s like selling crack without any addiction. It’s drama and excitement, but there’s no addiction. You really have to sell the thing. It was one year of learning a lot about advertising and marketing. Again, I got great training. I was working with Clear Channel, so they trained me on out-of-home, television, and radio ads. This is way back when we were getting trained on a fax machine. Now, what I really learned is the right marketing demographic, how the demographic focuses, how to segment your marketing approach, and how to sell. Again, it is just an invaluable thing no matter what job you’re in. And after actually doing it for a year, it occurred to me I could be doing it for myself. I got with some girlfriends, and we launched our own marketing company called Madison Marketing, which is where I really first got into spirits. I got Seagram’s as a client, and then I ran a small on- and off-premise promotions team in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area. I’ve always been focused. If I send a promotional model to a liquor store, I want to ensure that we sell enough bottles that we pay for ourselves. I always wanted to go back to Seagram’s and say, “You may have paid us X, but we moved this many bottles.” That was intuitive as an entrepreneur. It helped build a good reputation in the beginning and give me my first entree into the service industry. Then, I was on and off in sales for a while and ended up back in New York working for Power.105 Radio, which was, at that time, a brand new hip hop station.

C: Oh, my gosh, yes.

D: It was a big deal back then because Hot97, in hip hop, it’s the first biggest hip-hop station in the world. Puff, at the time, refused to advertise on the other station Power105 out of his great loyalty to Hot97. When I started working there, I ended up inheriting all the music labels as clients and I was told Bad Boy Records will not advertise on that station so we really wanted to get them as a client. I made it a mission and eventually convinced them, the executives, to take a chance on them, and we started to get more business for Bad Boy Records. At some point, one of the marketing executives called me and said, “Look, Puff is looking to hire a chief of staff. I think you guys would get along, and you send me a lot of emails at 3 in the morning. So I think you don’t sleep, he doesn’t sleep, so you can interview for the job.” So I took the interview. It was a super-fast interview, maybe five minutes. I had no idea how it went, but they called me and said, “I would like you to come to take the job but because you haven’t managed really large teams before, would you be willing to start as an executive assistant?” I told them I didn’t care what they called me, and I’ll be there in a couple of weeks.

C: Wow, that’s amazing. OK, so did he end up advertising on Power105?

D: Oh, yeah.

C: As president of Combs, if I’m correct, you were the first person to also become president of that company ultimately?

D: Yes. I was there for 14 years and again, I started off as an executive assistant, and then I grew to become the first president in the history of the company. Puff always acted as the president himself so I am always forever honored and grateful that he gave me a chance to run the company because that’s been his real baby since he was 19. It felt like a family business to him, and I am always grateful for that chance.

C: Wow. Were you also involved with Cîroc? Could you tell us about how that happened?

D: Before I had a baby, Cîroc was my first baby. Puff, as you can imagine, was offered tons of opportunities to work in the spirits industry, but he took it really seriously. When this opportunity came about with the Diageo, we were really thinking about how the approach would be, how we’d make sure there was responsible consumption, and if minorities were going to be supportive of this brand, how do we make sure that they benefit economically? When we had the chance I went to him and said, “Look, I am actually trained in negotiations. I know I’m your chief of staff today, but I would like to be on the team to negotiate with you for this plan. Would you include me?” He said, “Sure.” It was a very small group of us. We worked with Diageo for about 10 months, and they were phenomenal partners throughout. When we finished the deal and were getting ready to launch Cîroc, we went back and said, “All of your legacies have been rooted in exceptional marketing.” At that time, the marketing team was very small. I said, “I would like to relaunch the agency you had before called Blue Flame and take lead on Cîroc, which would mean I would step away from my current role.” As chief of staff, I managed all of his estates, security, everything to do personally as well as all the businesses. It would mean stepping away from that and focusing on this one vertical. He basically said, “Sure, if you replace yourself, you can do it.” I went to get Blue Flame funded and then started hiring people and did both jobs for a year. A year later, when Cîroc was doing crazy numbers, up 1,000 percent in multiple zip codes, I knew I needed to just work on this. If you look at the efficiency of our time, this is why we have an amazing brand here that people are really responding to. He finally agreed and then we were off to the races.

C: That’s obviously its own job completely. I can’t believe you’re doing both for a year.

D: Yeah, it was intense. It’s funny because I started in 2005. It was the same year I got married too, so that was a crazy year of my life.

C: Oh my gosh, you had time for a wedding? That’s amazing.

Emma Cranston: Hey, Dia, this is Emma just chiming in. Fast-forwarding to Lobos, what has it been like to move from vodka to tequila? What do you think you’ve been able to really do with Lobos that you couldn’t do with Cîroc? Is there anything, possibly in terms of the mission statement, that you feel are really proud of Lobos?

D: Well, I’m incredibly proud of Lobos 1707 as the brand and for the team. I previously worked in that space. I worked with Sean on another tequila at one point. I’m super familiar with the category and was excited to have this chance to launch a brand at this time. I think the biggest difference is less about the specific brands and a little bit more about the timing. We’re living in such unprecedented times. It was really important to the founder, and we launched 1707 to be really respectful of that. I mentioned earlier about the way we built the office, we wanted inclusion to be built into the core of what we do. It is not an afterthought where it is something you do on Tuesday night and one person does during left-handed purple hair day, it needs to be part of the footprint and the heartbeat of the way we build the company. I’m really proud to say now, coming up a year later, we’re intentionally 50 percent women-led and we’re over 60 percent diverse. I think the foundation of who we are being set before we spent the time on what we are, I think makes a difference all the way down to the liquid.

EC: Yeah, that’s awesome. Specifically, I’d read so much about Lobos’ mission to build a bigger table and everything you were talking about with your offices, it sounds like you have a super-dynamic, inclusive space. How has the Lobos team reflected that, and what does that look like in action?

D: Absolutely, so a couple of things. Here’s a simple thing that I think is a good example, though. When we did our launch creative, and fortunately I built a lot of brands where you come up with some cool idea, shoot it, and it’s all about the cinematography. We really said, “Look, the easy thing to do is tell the truth.” Our creative featured the actual jimadors who worked on this brand. The actual owners of the brand and everybody in our launch creative commercial are a real part of the Lobos family, which is different from a lot of other brands. Even in tequila space, you’ll see the jimadors blurred out, obviously a lot of times in the background. They really are the rock stars of the brand when you think about it. Even though we’re so fortunate to have huge luminaries like Arnold Schwarzenegger and LeBron James behind the brand for us, the liquid, the people, and the humanity in the way our brand operates? That’s the real superstar.

Elgin Nelson: That is a perfect segue to my question. Last year, VinePair published an article on why celebrities want to create a tequila brand. That’s the thing now, everyone wants to make a tequila brand, and celebrities are backing that. Given your investment from LeBron James, how has Lobos benefited from that? Also, what is your position regarding celebrity tequila, because it is a big thing right now?

D: It is. I don’t believe in celebrity brands for the sake of celebrity brands and the consumer is too smart. They can read very quickly through inauthentic pairing, right? With LeBron, that’s really natural. I can spend a little time on this to help give a heartbeat to this. Lobos means wolves in Spanish. Our overarching cry is this famous Kipling quote, which is very familiar with us: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and for the strength of the wolf is the pack.” LeBron — besides falling in love with the actual liquid, the heritage, and the true story of the fact that our founders’ family have been in the industry for 400 years and that we use barrels from his bodega in Spain — all of that truth was really attractive to LeBron. Beyond that, he’s such a big believer in the need for respecting every member of your team, and the fact that each one of you being strong together makes all of us strong as a collective. His presence is quite natural to the brand. I think the other key piece is that all the people who are behind our brand wrote checks as investors. It is not an endorsement deal, this is not somebody who doesn’t really drink the brand and is doing it because they’re getting a check every couple of weeks. They believe in it as businessmen, they believe in the proposition, and they believe in the product. I think you can very much sense the difference when something is authentic and when it’s forced.

EN: As a team, when you say wolf pack and LeBron bringing that mentality to the Lobos team, what other investors helped bring the brand along that weren’t necessarily part of the wolf pack? That is central in launching a global brand, and you see that a lot with these celebrity tequila brands as well.

D: Well, a lot of times the people, frankly, are not necessarily the names everybody knows. People that we’ve hired, I’ve worked with for years on other brands, and they are the difference makers. The real experience makes it different. This is not the sexy answer, but I think the reason why our brand is five times our original forecast is that we have experienced people who understand how to build a brand and industry. Especially on this podcast, you guys get it more than most. It’s not as easy as having a cool idea, adding a celebrity, and then you can go sell it. You need to really understand and respect every liquor store owner who is busting their butt and feeding their family on this. I think our team, when I look at who really makes a difference, it’s the woman who used to be my assistant, my chief of staff, and now she’s running business development. She goes into this as her family business. That is a difference-maker. LeBron and Arnold Schwarzenegger would say that as well: “You guys have built an incredible team that I’m proud to work alongside everyday.”

E: I think that’s really exciting. You mentioned earlier, too, about your team and how it’s 50 percent women-led and 60 percent diverse. I’m just curious, where do you see the future of women and people of color in general entering the world of spirits? It’s something we talk about a lot on this podcast. How do you see other spirits brands creating those entryways? And how has that become such a priority for Lobos? Do you think other brands should be adopting this approach?

D: The good news is we’re at an inflection point where we can now speak unabashedly around why diversity is just very simply good for business. The first thing that has to change is the idea that adding diversity to a business is some type of charitable endeavor. Every bit of research shows that when you have diversity of thought, you have higher profits, are better for business, are better for retention, and you drive more sales. I think you have to change the approach. The second piece is we look at at a broader level, not just spirits, but as a country. There’s a lot of outstanding conversation and great passion around civil rights but I actually feel the thing that we don’t talk enough about is entrepreneurship, real equity, real ownership. I’ll give you just an example that I spent a lot of time on, but I think this likely reverberates to many diverse populations. In America, the average white American is worth 13 times than the average Black American is worth. When you get down to just business owners, that drops to just three times, which is very exciting news. If you believe there’s been 400 years of civil inequity in this country, and it’s already just a three-times difference, we have to focus on entrepreneurship and ownership as a path forward. We look at the spirits industry and the number of founders who have built a company successfully. We look at the Aviation stories, the Casamigos stories. Less than 1 percent of them, in a meaningful way, have Black and Brown constituents. Women are a little bit better, but it’s still in the single digits. That doesn’t make any sense. Women are 50 percent of the population. The spirits industry has a lot of work to do at every level, from every tier, but the great news is every conversation I’m having, everybody’s ready to do the work. The more we have these conversations, I feel like we’re progressing forward. It just needs to be a math-based, metric-based approach, not just theory.

C: Absolutely. I couldn’t have said it better myself. This is actually a perfect way to conclude our conversation. I know you’re a very busy woman, probably on the way to somewhere.

D: I’m so grateful, guys, for the time and the chance to talk about this. We’re really thrilled. Lobos 1707, we have our Joven out now, our Reposado, our Extra Añejo, and our Mezcal coming soon. If you guys haven’t personally tried and you guys indulge, please do try and let me know what you think about it. I’m really proud of it.

C: The Extra Añejo sounds amazing to me.

D: Incredible.

EN: Dia, can you also shout out your socials? Anywhere we can follow you?

D: I’m on all social media accounts Instagram, Twitter @diasimms.

C: Thank you so much, Dia, it’s been a pleasure.

D: Thank you so much. Have a great one.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of “EOD Drinks.” If you’ve enjoyed this program, please leave us a rating or a review wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps other people discover the show. And tell your friends. We want as many people as possible listening to this amazing program.

And now for the credits. “End of Day Drinks” is recorded live in New York City at VinePair’s headquarters. And it is produced, edited, and engineered by VinePair tastings director — yes, he wears a lot of hats — Keith Beavers. I also want to give a special thanks to VinePair’s co-founder, Josh Malin, to the executive editor Joanna Sciarrino, to our senior editor, Cat Wolinski, senior staff writer Tim McKirdy, and our associate editor Katie Brown. And a special shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, VinePair’s art director who designed the sick logo for this program. The music for “End of Day Drinks” was produced, written and recorded by Darby Cicci. I’m VinePair co-founder Adam Teeter, and we’ll see you next week. Thanks a lot.

Ed note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article EOD Drinks With Dia Simms, CEO of Lobos 1707 Tequila and Mezcal appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/eod-drinks-dia-simms/