Opinion
Stoute: Labels Avoided Spotify Fan Data Deals to Preserve Power
“The record companies, I believe, never negotiated that when they had that leverage, because they didn't even want to have to share that information with the artist.”
Insight
Stoute: Cultural taste, not ethnicity, drives consumer music purchases
“The music business taught me that The idea that people listen to certain records had nothing to do with their ethnicity. DMX was selling in Iowa. The radio station in Iowa didn't play DMX. Where Eminem was being played, was being purchased in Harlem. It had no…”
Opinion
Stoute: Black consumers are the world's best by buying unmarketed goods
“Black consumers are the best consumers in the world. Because they buy products that aren't marketed to them.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Stoute: A direct-to-fan creator data platform will emerge within three years
“The next evolution of this in the next three years, I have to be able to go direct, and I have to be able to collect that fan data. I want to send out the newsletter. I want to send out the fan, the sort of correspondence. Like, it's the platform you own. I no…”
Assertion Contradicted
Stoute: Independent music has outgrown major labels in frontline new release market share
“So I guess the good news out of all of this, since we started United Masses, is that the independent music space, and there's a lot of us, have outgrown on the front line The major labels. So if you talk about new releases, market share, the independents have …”
Insight
Stoute: Booming business models temporarily reward and financially applaud mediocrity
“That when an industry is booming, sometimes when it's booming because of the business model itself, mediocre gets rewarded. And like, and then over time it catches up. But in the beginning, mediocrity is applauded and financially awarded.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stoute: Nike missed lifestyle footwear by focusing strictly on performance
“What was clear was Nike wasn't doing lifestyle at that time. They just thought, like, Just Do It was all about athletes and performance, so what I was trying to do was tap into the truth, which was people were wearing sneakers, Not to perform at all. Just so i…”
Assertion Supported
LeBron James rejected a $10M Reebok signing bonus in high school
“His wife wrote a personal check for ten million dollars, and the driver, when we landed, had the check. We went to the meeting, And Paul says, LeBron, I know, you know, a hundred million dollars, you know, Adidas is gonna offer that when you go see them next, …”
Disclosure
Stoute: BigXthaPlug Made Over $20 Million on UnitedMasters This Year
“We have an artist on United Masters, Big Extra Plug. He's made twenty million dollars this year.”
Insight
Stoute: Online creators and independent artists are the modern SMBs
“The SMBs that used to be flower shops and bodegas and this, that, and the third are now streamers, independent artists, influencers, podcasters, vloggers, and writers on Substack, they're the new SMBs.”
Assertion Supported
Stoute: Ryan Coogler negotiated an unprecedented rights reversion deal with Warner for 'Sinners'
“The rights of that movie reverts back to him. So what he did when he negotiated his deal with Warner to put out Sinners, which he wrote and directed, was that he would only put it with a studio that would allow him to get the rights back in a certain period of…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Stoute: Art galleries will lose relevance as artists demand resale carry and go direct
“You're gonna start to see that take place when artist sells work and they get a carry every time that work is sold. The galleries, which are the, at this point, necessary middleman, because the galleries are like, you wouldn't have an audience if it wasn't for…”
Assertion Supported
Stoute: Jay-Z wrote Snoop Dogg's parts on 'Still D.R.E.'
“Every line Snoop says in the hook is fucking Jay wrote. I was like, this guy's different. He wrote Snoop's parts on that song.”
Opinion
Stoute: Nas and Jay-Z rank alongside Shakespeare and Maya Angelou
“What people need to know Is I am not taking anything away from the great writers, Maya Angelou, Shakespeare, you name the writers, nothing. Nas and Jay-Z are in that conversation. They're that good.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stoute: Beats by Dre video placement was inspired by Men in Black
“The idea that Jimmy was putting the Beats headphones in music videos was literally a derivative of that idea.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Stoute: Coca-Cola Turned Down iTunes Partnership Deal Twice
“Jimmy was trying to get a deal done with Coca-Cola. An executive at Coca-Cola, Steve Hyatt, turned it down twice.”
Disclosure
Stoute: Larry Page Was the First Investor in UnitedMasters
“Larry Page was the first guy that invested in United masses.”
Assertion Supported
Stoute: Usher was the first independent artist to play the Super Bowl
“Usher was the first independent artist to play the Super Bowl.”
Opinion
Stoute: Beyoncé, Kobe, and Ray Lewis have the highest work ethics
“Beyonce. She's at the top. I mean, the work, from everything I've seen, like, work ethic, I know Michael Jordan obviously has a strong work ethic, I don't, but I don't know that firsthand. Beyonce, Kobe, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.”
Opinion
Stoute: Jay-Z has the strongest work ethic of all rappers
“I would say Jay has the, has, out of all of them, has the strongest work ethic.”
Assertion Contradicted
Stoute: HP Distributed Early iPods Because Apple Lacked Retail Sales
“Remember HP was the partner for the iPod. They, they're the ones who put it in all of the best buys and circuit cities or whatever the retailers were around the world. Apple didn't have the sales team to do that.”
Disclosure
Stoute: Left a multimillion-dollar salary at 29 for $150K agency role
“When I left the record business, you know, I was making a couple million dollars a year at 29. And I went to an agency in which I got paid a 150,000 dollars and 20% equity.”
Steve Stoute