The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 55 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 2 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Troy Carter: White executives literally hold 'head of Black music' titles
“You actually, believe it or not, have white people that are the heads of black music with a title at some of these companies.”
Troy Carter: America will never achieve true racial reconciliation
“So we're still reminded of our place in, in, in this country, so you'll never get to reconciliation. We all know the truth, but we'll never get to reconciliation.”
Music industry executive diversity is far worse than the NFL
“The music industry is much, much worse than the NFL. What black music has contributed financially to the music industry, What black culture has contributed, you know, financially to the music industry, and when you look at the ratio of actual black executives …”
White executives hold 'Head of Black Music' titles at some labels
“You actually, believe it or not, have white people that are the heads of black music with a title at some of these companies. You know, it's, and literally you have qualified black executives in the company, but actual white people with a title, the head of bl…”
Troy Carter: America will never reach true racial reconciliation
“So we're still reminded of our place in, in, in this country, so you'll never get to reconciliation. We all know the truth, but we'll never get to reconciliation.”
Troy Carter: Black founders need equal capital access, not charity
“Like, those Black businesses should be held to the same standard of return on capital. It's just the opportunity to have access to that capital, have access to the support and training that Y Combinator companies may get, or that, you know, first-round capital…”
Troy Carter: The era of high digital ad returns is over
“Because I just feel like you're never gonna get that return back from ads. What it is, is that, that era's over with, you know, so, so I feel like the storytelling piece of it is the way you can sort of get the attention you need around it.”
Black founders need equal capital access and standard ROI expectations, not charity
“Like those black businesses should be held to the same standard of return on capital. It's just the opportunity to have access to that capital. Have access to the support and training that Y Combinator companies may get, or that, you know, first-round capital …”
Carter: Record labels have 'screwed over artists for generations'
“Record income traditionally has been your smallest piece of the pie because record labels have screwed over artists for generations. So you're always forced to go on the road and sell merchandise and do all of these other things to subsidize the income essenti…”
Lady Gaga Fired Carter by Asking to Go in Another Direction
“She walked in and say I'm, I want to go in another direction, basically.”
Carter: Label Wanted Lady Gaga's Songs For Britney Spears
“And, you know, I think we worked on the music for almost nine or 10 months, and then we took it to the record label, and the record label said, oh, those songs are great, let's give this to the Pussycat Dolls, let's give this to Britney Spears.”
Troy Carter: The majority of celebrity brand partnerships do not work
“You know, it's most celebrity partnerships don't work. The majority don't work.”
Troy Carter: Transactional celebrity brand partnerships usually fail
“You know, making sure that is not transactional. You know, if it was me sitting in that seat, I would want somebody who's in love with my product and mission aligned with the vision of the company. And if you didn't have to pay them that they still would promo…”
Carter: Behind-the-scenes advisor input moves the needle more than forward-facing promo
“Even with my business, we set aside advisory shares, you know, so it's certain artists I call, some product people I call, and they're just incredibly helpful, you know, and so, and sometimes you may need somebody to do something forward facing, but a lot of t…”
Troy Carter: Wealth doesn't protect Black Americans from systemic racial bias
“Money doesn't matter, and power doesn't matter. It's just this bias that, that's sort of baked in and the recipe of America that we've had to live with,”
Charlie Puth refused to soundcheck until venue removed its Confederate flag
“And then we went to Ohio after, and on stage, it was a Confederate flag right behind the stage, and Charlie Puth refused to go on for his soundtracks. Until they took that flag down.”
Troy Carter in 2020: Live music touring won't normalize until 2022
“On the touring side, it's catastrophic, and the reality is we probably won't see this look normal until twenty-twenty-two, in my opinion.”
Troy Carter was attacked by hotel security during a YPO retreat
“Recently I was on a trip probably five months ago with my YPO forum, which is, you know, Young Presidents Organization, and we did a retreat to Mexico City, and it's 10 of us, We get out of our SUV to pull up to the hotel. All of the guys go in the back to get…”
Troy Carter viewed 2020 protests as a multiracial coalition of the left-behind
“I think what we've seen that's different with these protests, this is what I consider just a merger of the left behind, where this, these are white, black, Asian, Hispanic people that have been, you know, saddled with student debt, people who, Can't pursue the…”
Black victims shouldn't need elite credentials to be presumed innocent
“He shouldn't have to have a Harvard degree or be a bird watcher to be an innocent person being accused of something like that, that could have ended up in, in him being arrested or his death.”
Charlie Puth refused to soundcheck until a Confederate flag was removed
“And on stage, it was a Confederate flag right behind the stage, and Charlie Puth, Refused to go on for his soundcheck until they took that flag down.”
Carter predicted in 2020 that live touring wouldn't normalize until 2022
“On the touring side, it's catastrophic, and the reality is we probably won't see this look normal until twenty-twenty-two, in my opinion.”
Carter: Industry told early Lady Gaga she needed a nose job
“I remember people telling her she was gonna have to get a nose job, you know, because, you know, her nose was too big to be a pop star, or she was gonna have to give these songs to the Pussycat Dolls because she wasn't famous enough. Or this record needed to g…”
Carter: Independent artists get better label terms by building audiences first
“We're starting to see a generation of independent artists now that have broken that barrier that are starting to make money off of music as well, because they're putting out this music. The record labels are discovering them because they've already blown up es…”
Carter: Childhood poverty fundamentally changes an entrepreneur's relationship to risk
“I'll talk to some of my friends who, you know, are successful entrepreneurs or business owners and, But grew up, you know, middle class or whatever, right? So, it's a different set of worries when it comes to running a business, or being an entrepreneur, or ev…”
Carter: Most founders in our portfolio lack prior industry experience
“Most of the entrepreneurs that we've invested in haven't done anything in that space that they're getting ready to go into.”
Sanctuary Group Bought Carter's Management Firm for $2.275 Million
“It was a two million dollar check. It was two point, actually, the actual number was two, two million 275,000 dollars was the actual number, because I remember when the wire went through, and I called and checked the automated bank machine about 10 times to ma…”
Eve Left Carter's Firm to Sign With His Mentor
“She came into my office, you know, she sat down on the couch, and she said, I think I want to go in another direction. Wow. And I said, well, what do you mean? She said, well I think I'm gonna find new management. I said, well, why? She said, well, I think I w…”
L.A. Reid Dropped Lady Gaga From Def Jam Before Carter Signed Her
“Actually, L.A. Reid, who had done your show had just dropped her from Def Jam.”
Lady Gaga Was an Early Adopter of Social Media for Fandom
“She was brilliant, and, you know, one of the first music voices who really knew how to use and leverage social, and it really worked, so we started building these sort of underground followings,”
Carter's Relationship With Lady Gaga is Cordial, Not Friendly
“You know what, I wouldn't say friends, but cordial.”
Carter Was an Early Investor in Spotify, Uber, Dropbox, and Slack
“Spotify, Warby, Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, Slack really great companies that we're proud of.”
Carter: Growing Up Poor Causes Permanent Financial PTSD
“It's funny talking to, like, people who grew up poor. You suffered financial PTSD. You know, so, so Going through financial PTSD, you always have that fear.”
Carter: L.A. Reid Dropped Lady Gaga From Def Jam
“Actually, L.A. Reid, who had done your show had just dropped her from Def Jam. But, you know, she, in all fairness to L.A., she was a piano singer.”
Troy Carter: Lady Gaga pioneered leveraging social media in music
“She was brilliant, and you know, one of the first music voices who really knew how to use and leverage social, and it really worked”
Carter: Lady Gaga abruptly ended their management relationship
“Yep, she walked in and say I'm, I want to go in another direction, basically.”
Troy Carter Was an Early Investor in Spotify, Uber, and Slack
“Yeah, yeah, Spotify, Warby, Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, Slack really great companies that we're proud of.”
Carter: Early business collapse led to home foreclosure and pawned wedding rings
“It w, it was over. You know, I didn't have the cash flow, and the phone started ringing, and it was the landlord of that building saying, you know what, rent hasn't been paid. You know, all, all of my vendors, you know, started calling me. My house was under f…”
Carter: Will Smith relied on his conservative manager to mitigate extreme risks
“Will had this thing where his manager, JL, is the most stable person I know, like just very, very conservative, so, and those two have been together for over thirty-something years, so Will had this thing where Will would jump out the window, and JL's figuring…”
An Artist Manager Operates as CEO of the Artist's Business
“The manager's sort of, you know, is like the hub of an artist's career. So, you know, I go out and I hired a booking agent who books the shows. I hired a publicist who does interviews and television. I bring in the record label who distributes the music. So it…”
Carter's Family Pawned Wedding Rings to Stop House Foreclosure
“My House was under foreclosure, and my wife and my mother-in-law ended up pawning their wedding rings to, you know, to save the house”
Vincent Herbert Discovered Lady Gaga on Myspace and Introduced Her
“He had called me and said, you know, Carter, I got this girl that I saw in MySpace that I want you to check out, and he brought her in, And she played her music, which was great, and was Lady Gaga.”
Radio Stations Initially Refused to Play Lady Gaga's Music
“And we went out, and we took those songs to radio, and it was a disaster. The radio wouldn't play it.”
Carter Has Invested in Nearly 100 Early-Stage Tech Companies
“I think it's, I, I've invested in close to a hundred early stage technology companies now.”
Carter: An Artist Manager Functions as the CEO of the Artist's Business
“The manager's sort of, you know, is like the hub of an artist's career. So, you know, I go out and I hired a booking agent who books the shows. I hired a publicist who does interviews and television. I bring in the record label who distributes the music. So it…”
Troy Carter: Sanctuary Group acquired his management firm for $2.275 million
“The actual number was two, two million 275,000 dollars was the actual number, because I remember when the wire went through”
Carter: House faced foreclosure and family pawned wedding rings after business collapsed
“My, House was under foreclosure, and my wife and my mother-in-law ended up pawning their wedding rings to, you know, to save the house, you know, and even down the, you know, the kids were in private school, and having to tell, you know, The head of school ask…”