Uploaded July 2010 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
President of Interscope Records, Jimmi Iovine speaks about the state of hip hop, how to start a hip hop production company, and run it successfully. He touches on points such as: Do It All: Write it, produce it, perform it.
Know Popular Culture: Everything we do in business & music is to connect to people.
Learn how to work all of the great equipment: MPC, Pro Tools, read sheet music, run an SSL.
"If someone changes the key, you should know" Have a strong combination of natural talent and learned ability
Hustle, and look for talent: Find the creme of the crop. Focus on 1. Perfecting your music product 2. Your relationships 3. Leverage them. "We (Interscope) do a lot of crazy things... I'll sign anybody that's really gifted at almost anything that resembles popular culture - If I met a great artist, I'd back em."
Get music recorded. It's so easy to get it to the public right now.
Get great live: It's really an asset. Some bands get real audiences in some cities. They go on tour, and they really hustle.
Get your music great: Never cut corners, get the best of the best instead of rushing to save money and cut corners.
Combine other services with your music: It's easy to communicate with people about music. Jimmy Iovine will sign you if you have great music and fans. (i.e. Soulja Boy = 4 million views on his video)
Do self-contained: Get your website really poppin. Get it as exciting as you can. Very interactive. (Games, songs, funy videos, sad videos, music videos, etc.)
Keep your music solid and pure: Do "you", and don't copy anyone else's sound. The more original your music is, plus the quality of the music = musical success. Now, you just need the world to see.
There will always be a top 1 % of the music industry. They will always be rich. Don't worry about the state of the industry, focus on getting to the top 1 % of the industry.
President of Interscope Records, Jimmi Iovine speaks about the state of hip hop, how to start a hip hop production company, and run it successfully. He touches on points such as: Do It All: Write it, produce it, perform it.
Know Popular Culture: Everything we do in business & music is to connect to people.
Learn how to work all of the great equipment: MPC, Pro Tools, read sheet music, run an SSL.
"If someone changes the key, you should know" Have a strong combination of natural talent and learned ability
Hustle, and look for talent: Find the creme of the crop. Focus on 1. Perfecting your music product 2. Your relationships 3. Leverage them. "We (Interscope) do a lot of crazy things... I'll sign anybody that's really gifted at almost anything that resembles popular culture - If I met a great artist, I'd back em."
Get music recorded. It's so easy to get it to the public right now.
Get great live: It's really an asset. Some bands get real audiences in some cities. They go on tour, and they really hustle.
Get your music great: Never cut corners, get the best of the best instead of rushing to save money and cut corners.
Combine other services with your music: It's easy to communicate with people about music. Jimmy Iovine will sign you if you have great music and fans. (i.e. Soulja Boy = 4 million views on his video)
Do self-contained: Get your website really poppin. Get it as exciting as you can. Very interactive. (Games, songs, funy videos, sad videos, music videos, etc.)
Keep your music solid and pure: Do "you", and don't copy anyone else's sound. The more original your music is, plus the quality of the music = musical success. Now, you just need the world to see.
There will always be a top 1 % of the music industry. They will always be rich. Don't worry about the state of the industry, focus on getting to the top 1 % of the industry.
