In Conversation with Pete Manriquez
This past Monday evening, the Intercept Instagram hosted Pete Manriquez on our Live for a Q&A session. A true jack of all trades in the industry with experience in music production, DJing, radio, not to mention music business – we are honored to have Manriquez on the Intercept team as the VP of Latin A&R. He’s worked with artists such as Don Omar, Wisin Y Yandel, Aventura, Romeo Santos, J Balvin, Chamillionaire, Koolio, Smashmouth, Lil Jon, Baby Bash, Akon, Pit Bull, Enrique Iglesias, and Daddy Yankee, and has excellent insight on how to navigate the ever-changing music industry. Here are some words from the interview:
Intercept: “Where are you reporting from?”
Pete: “I’m based out of Houston in the middle of the country, but I’m from Chile and California.”
Intercept: “Let’s start from the beginning. Did you always want to be involved in music?”
Pete: “I started in the music business in California. I was a teenager and got into it DJing, and then I got introduced to producing music which was always my passion. And then I became interested in radio, on radio stations. So I’m like okay I guess I DJ for house parties, I want to be the Dj for the city. So I just kept asking this company ‘can I be your intern, can I be your intern’ and the guy goes ‘alright stop! If I get you a meeting to be an intern, will you leave me alone?’ And I’m like ‘sure.’
So I went down to the radio station and I met with the program director at the time. He said, ‘you know you work for free, right?’ and I said yeah, and he said ‘well you can work for college credits’ and I was still in high school. But we found a way to make it happen! So I started in radio through DJing, but from there it’s been radio and has taken me all over the world.”
Intercept: “What was it like transitioning from working as a producer/DJ to being on the business side?”
Pete: “It was amazing because I had really great teachers. I was always taught taht if you’re in this music business, you’ve got to teach people and knowledge is power. But I had amazing teachers and people who believed in me. I was a very young music director, and I evolved as an intern through promotions to the person who picks the songs for radio stations. That was a really big deal, and I was the youngest one in the country. I had really good teachers who showed me how to do things right and produce results. Then from there it was a smooth transition that took me to bigger markets. Then from there it was San Jose, then San Francisco, then Los Angeles. But I had amazing teachers and the transition was a lot smoother than it should’ve been. It was really cool.”
Intercept: “So what’s next?”
Pete: “After California I took a hiatus and started focusing on production. I owned a record label with Coolio, you know, Gangster’s Paradise Coolio. So I focused on that for a couple years and put out some really good music. And then I got back into radio. And the interesting part about getting back into radio was something that I was a pioneer of launching: the urban movement, today known as Reggaeton. So from that Latin radio transitioning to me launching a format of music that has hit all over the world was a phenomenal experience. I’m talking about creating a platform for amazing artists to be heard, like Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, even Bachata artists, which was pretty amazing.
And my team was phenomenal. When you sit and look agt a Jay Balvin who is a monster and icon in the music industry worldwide, and then you have an artist like Bad Bunny who is breaking all of the records in the world and just keeps growing and growing, it’s really exciting to see. Everything that myself and my amazing team was a part of is really cool.”
Intercept: “Pete is now the VP of Latin A&R for Intercept Music. Pete, what brought you to Intercept?”
Pete: “You know what’s funny – Ralph Tasjian, the founder of the company, and I go back since I was 17 years old at the radio station I was interning for. And he talked about this project to me almost 10 or 11 years ago. To him it was a concept that was going to come to fruition, but at that time it wasn’t right for either of us. But now the opportunity arose and here I am. We go back for many many years. And then we have Tod Turner, the CEO of Intercept, and it doesn’t get any better than that. The way these guys think – it’s on some other level!
It’s not always easy, but surround yourself with the right people and always do your research. And that’s something that gets me so excited about Intercept: how transparent it is. So Intercept is your one-stop shop. It’s your distribution, your marketing services, an instant merch store, and then you have your dashboard. Like I said, knowledge is power. And if you’re an independent artist or label, our goal is to surround you with the right tools that you need to succeed. And that’s what’s so exciting about us. The team is solid, the product is amazing, and it’s really empowering the artist. Imagine if you have one place with everything you need. If you need help with any part of your career, we’ve got you. It’s an opportunity for you to succeed as an artist, and you control the shots. You have your resources, and you know where your resources are going. And I think that’s a plus, adn really excited me to be a part of this company. It’s innovative.”
Intercept: “What are the top three changes you’ve seen in the music industry throughout your career thus far?”
Pete: “It’s definitely got to be the social media and social networking, and the influence it has on music and the way people consume the content and the product. Coming from making the music and also the radio part, I can see how people consume music from the radio was a lot different than it is now. And I think those are some of the biggest changes. It’s something that you knew was coming, but at such a rapid pace? It’s phenomenal.
And at the end of the day, these are things that we educate our artists and labels with because if you have a resource, budget, or any type of idea, we’re going to direct you to success. So it’s not just ‘hey, let’s go spend this and hopefully it works!’ No. When you have a dashboard telling you exactly what’s going on with your music, what’s moving and what’s grooving, you’re going to sit there and go ‘ohhhh now I get it.’ These are tools that are so powerful for any indie artist.”
Intercept: “Do you have any advice for artists entering the music scene right now?”
Pete: “Just do research and do your homework. Do your due dilligence, seriously. Stay on top of your business because if not, who can? And look at some of the most successful artists in the game – they’re on top of even their day-to-day business. I talked to Residente, who’s a huge artist in the Spanish world, and he’s on top of his game. Completely aware of what’s going on in the music business, what’s happening with his music, you know. And that’s very impressive because they’re busy, but not too busy for the business. Sometimes you’re an independent artist and can’t focus on this 100%. However, it’s that sacrifice, that extra step, that dedication. You do your 9 to 5 and then you focus on your music. And I think now we’re empowering more artists and educating more artists, and it’s going to be really exciting in the next few years because it’s about to BOOM. It’s happening already, it really is.”
Intercept: “What’s been your biggest surprise in all these industry changes?”
Pete: “My biggest surprise is the consumption of content from the Latin American world. It’s pretty powerful. I knew it was big, however studying, analyzing, and researching how they consume, whether it’s YouTube or a different platform, it’s pretty phenomenal. Holy moly. It’s a great opportunity as an artist to grow. Like I said, I knew it was powerful, but holy moly.
And mind you guys, when we launched the urban movement we believed there was an audience, but it wasn’t as popular to the world yet. And now we’re number one New York, number one Chicago, and all these major cities across the country. There’s obviously a demand for it. So you knew it was big, but then you’re watching YouTube, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Bad Bunny has had 8 billion views. That’s like, ‘what?!’”
Intercept: “How do all the Latin markets fit together? Is it a hierarchy, or just depends on where they start?”
Pete: “I think it depends on where you start. The big ones are always there but it’s time for the independent. It’s time for us to shine, because we have tools. Intercept can give you the edge, and it’s our time to shine. It’s hard to do, but it’s possible. And the big ones are sitting down going, ‘what’s happening here? How is it that these guys have all these views? How do they distribute music to the world?’ Well you know, it’s something like us.”
It was such a pleasure hosting Intercept’s VP of Latin A&R Pete Manriquez on our Instagram Live this week! Watch the full interview HERE, and stay tuned for more from Intercept.