The music industry is changing with each day. Between technology and the influx of independent record labels using creative and innovative methods to break their records; today's consumer never knows where they are going to hear or buy their next hit. Downloads and artist distributing their music directly to the consumer is also making it more challenging for independent labels to make their mark over the next product being pushed in the market place. It's almost as if our consumer has A.D.D. They have so many choices it's becoming harder for them to choose. So, the question for today and the topic of discussion with Pure Records CEO, Joe Sapina is: how do you do it? How do you run a successful and profitable independent record label? What steps do you have to take to make it? Where do you put your money? What strategies do you establish for your company's growth pattern? More importantly how do you brand your label so that it sticks out and creates brand loyalty to compete against the majors and the influx of other independent labels doing the same thing as you? Joes's first comment is spirituality but then his background has a lot to do with it also… check it out...With CEO of Pure Records… Joe Sapina

AM: Hello

JS: Hi Amelia, How are you?

AM: I'm fine Joe. How are you?

JS: Doing great. Doing great!

AM: Now, are you in FL with that beautiful sunny weather?

JS: Yes I am. Absolutely! I'm driving; I got the top down and the sun beating on my face. I'm loving life right now.

AM: Oh I'm so jealous I'm in a big fat shearling in the car freezing.

JS: Oh No

AM: So Joe I wanted to start the interview first thanking you for taking the time to speak with us and talk about Joe Sapina the person as well as Joe Sapina the record executive. I like to tell people, in this business people are generally two things; the person that they are and then the business person. I would like you to define both of those people in you, or are they one in the same?

JS: OK well let me give you a little background on myself. I owned an investment banking firm for a long time. I sold it in 1997 to a Malaysian bank. I decided that I was going to pursue a passion of mine; which is racing cars. I raced cars, professionally for many, many years. I wanted to take some time off and just focus on racing. I did that and had some wonderful experiences. I also won a bunch of races. I raced for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and BMW and flew around the world. I had a wonderful couple of years. Then, I decided to pursue another one of the things that I wanted to pursue all my life. I wanted to be in the music business. So, I just put that out there in the universe that music was something I wanted to pursue and then a series of unbelievable coincidences happened. Basically, what happened is that I got a call from a friend of mine that I haven't spoken to in quite sometime. He said; "I don't know why I'm calling you but I have a demo of a female singer that I want you to hear and give me your opinion on them." I told him; "Well I love music but I'm not a producer. I'm not in the business so it's odd that you're calling me but this is something I always wanted to do so come on by." So he came by and I listened to it and it sounded just great. The next day I sent the demo off to a friend of mine who was an entertainment attorney. He heard it and said; "Well we got a real shot here and we can do one of two things; we can sign her, form a record label and sign her to the label. Then go out and try to find a major label to take on the project. Or we can produce the record and probably get a lot more money. Or go independent. So, I said; "If we are going to do it let's just do it. Let's start a label. Who is the best producer on the planet right now?" He said: "Scott Storch." So I said; "Ok let's try to find him."

AM: Absolutely

JS: At that time it was very difficult to find Scott because Scott doesn't want to be found. He works off his cell phone. He didn't have an office or a website so it was very difficult to get in contact with Scott. About a week into establishing the independent record label I found out that I needed and office and a studio of some sort to get demos done. I got a call from a friend of mine who is 25 years old. She just got her real estate license and asked that I come to her open house just to show she was bringing people in for possible sales. To impress her boss, I went to look at this house in Miami. It turned out that the house belonged to someone named Desmond Child. Desmond is one of the biggest rock producers in the world. He had a house that was converted into a recording studio in Miami. That's when I said; "This was just meant to be." So I bought the house.

AM: HOT!

JS: Maybe about a week or two later my attorney still has not contacted Scott so I just turned around and said well let's just find someone else. I was out that night with a friend and we bumped in to this guy. We started talking and he said his name was Scott. I was like what do you do? He said; "I'm a music producer." That's when I asked him if his last name was Storch. He said, "Yes." I said; "I've been looking for you!" Then we started talking and he needed a studio to work out of at the time. So we opened up a studio called; "The Sound Cellar."

AM: That is a beautiful studio.

JS: So now I had a female artist that Scott happened to like very much and then I had Scott who in my opinion is one of the best record producers in the country and I had a studio to work out of, so now I'm basically in business. All I needed was distribution. So, I jumped on a plane to NYC and set up a meeting with Sony. I met with Sony. I decided I wanted to do it independently and signed with Sony Red for my distribution. That is basically the very short version of what happened. Even though it sounds like a long story because I have been talking for a while it's really a very short version of what really happened.

AM: Now let's go back to the person Joe verses the record executive Joe are they two in the same? Or do you have to have a different mindset to run a record label as opposed to just chillin and being yourself?

JS: The music business is like no other business. I've ran several companies and several businesses. I have had thousands of employees and been around the block as you might say. Yet, the music business is quite different. You can't run the music business as aggressively as you might run another more corporate business. I found out that it's because there is an artistic side to the music business that needs to be nurtured and built around the artist. You can't really force a project.

AM: Right

JS: So… I had to learn my biggest challenge as a record executive: (that) is to deal with the timing of the creative mind. To understand, that if they (artist) say three o'clock they might not be showing up until five or they might not show up at all. You can't call up screaming, you just have to be like, why don't we reschedule it. It's a very different mindset. That new mindset has helped me tremendously to add balance into my life because I'm a very aggressive businessman. Being more passive and being more patient has brought a lot of balance into my personal life as well because you got to give people opportunities to work at their own pace and create.

AM: I'm glad you said that because that's what I was hoping you would expound on. Having a Wall Street background and a banking background everything in those industries is so to the matter of the fact. It is what it is and doesn't really deviate from that, but, when you start dealing with the creative side it's a whole different realm. Let's go back to when you first had the demo and you actually put Na'Sha in the studio and birth this new sound. Going from that, to the first time you heard it on the radio. As a record executive what did that tell you?

JS: It was the most amazing thing because what happened with me was I had pretty much everybody in the business betting against me. Everybody, from the creative side said look you're a businessman you're not a record guy, you're not gonna make it. There is no way. You will not get that record in stores. So I set that as my goal because it is very difficult to get a record on the shelf. I set the goal of getting the record in stores. That was the goal. My goal was never to sell five million records; my goal was never to sell a million records. My goal was to make what I felt was the best possible product I can make with the best possible people in the business and to get that product on the shelf, and that was the goal. My goals weren't so lofty that they weren't achievable. So everyone was kind of betting against us. Then one day, once we got the record the distribution and the manufacturing, we had some of the records shipped to our house. There were two simple things that happened that really changed me. The first time I opened up the box and I actually saw the Pure Records, Na'Sha cd. I looked at it and I was so proud of it. I took it out of the case and I put it in my cd player and I listened to the record front to back. I'm so proud of it! It's a wonderful record! Then I got in the car that night oddly enough, I was driving down to Miami to meet a friend and all of a sudden I heard it on the radio. I just started laughing because that's the real test. Will people want to listen to it on the radio and they did and they took a liking to it. So, it was an amazing accomplishment and I must make clear to you that it has been a benefit and a detriment. I must make clear to you that we did this whole project in about 11 months. So from start to finish in the stores 11 months with the quality of producers we have; Cool & Dre, Scott Storch, Neyo wrote two records for her. It's just an incredible product. That's really where we are at.

AM: Yes, I think she's an incredible artist. However, what I found very interesting was that one of the first tours you had for Na'Sha was in Milan. Why Milan?

JS: It's just worked. We have a lot of friends in Europe and we were at a point that we just wanted to do everything different. A friend of ours became partner in one of the popular clubs in Milan. He met Na'Sha and was just blown away by her and he wanted to throw her a party. We thought it was a great idea so that's what we did.

AM: I think it was a great idea because it took her outside of the norm. You don't hear very many brand new artists doing something at that level, with a brand new record and a brand new record label. Hats off to you; that definitely made a sentence. In International marketing, we call it; "coming thru the back door." However, Pure Records came thru both the back and the front at the same time. Tell us the process… you have the label, you have the artist, you see the records on the shelves, hear it on the radio, put her on tour and now the moment of truth because she is performing at a huge benefit with Kanye West. (In a relatively short time from the release of the record.) How did that feel? And what did that performance tell you as an executive of the label?

JS: I'm a very spiritual person and I feel if you put things in the universe it will come to you. I'm on the board of directors for a charity that was throwing a concert with Kanye. I just took the record to the board meeting and played it and everyone was just blown away. I just said; "I would like her to sing and open up for Kanye." They said; "Yes!" That was an amazing thing to go on stage with an artist of that caliber and do as well as she did. It was an amazing feeling and I cherish every one of those moments as a huge accomplishment. It was also an example of what we are trying to do as a family moving forward. It was a blown away feeling of accomplishment, conquering sort of another industry that is generally untapped by people who don't have experience in that industry.

AM: Very clear… now I noticed that you are also embracing another group with more of a rock influence. Is that to make your company more of a full service company or is it another example of you maintaining to the credibility of what you want to do as a label; put out quality product?

JS: It comes down to the quality. Deadstar is a local rock band that has a huge following. It's very odd because the image of the band doesn't at all tell the bands true colors. These are guys that have unbelievable jobs. They probably make six figures each a year. They're good, honest, wonderful, hardworking people, who have a dream and that is absolutely what we will always look for; people who have a dream and are willing to work for that dream. That is what Pure Records is all about. They just blew us away. So we signed them.

AM: Yes they are really incredible. You know as rock records go they are incredible but as far as your label goes that's really incredible. I was in awe. This is a young record label that is making strategic moves that is similar to the moves of Atlantic Records and some of the other well known branded record labels. Let us know, were these moves something intentional or was it just coming from the musical appreciation of who Joe is and what he wants to have for his label?

JS: What it comes from is something again very hard to describe. What it comes down to is a spiritual connection and belief that the universe is going to provide wonderful acts for us when we need them. The moves that we make are less strategic but more of this unbelievable plan to build a moxie label. That's the way it looks on paper. All we basically do is go on our instincts and we're surrounded by good people. And that's the key cuz the musical business can be a little shady. My partner, Maliah just as an example, worked for my investment baking firm ten years ago and she's been with me ever since. DJ has been a dear friend of mine for many, many years and we are a family and we make decisions together. Whatever our percentage ownership is irrelevant. We are all treated as equals and we go out there and we work very hard and we make stuff happen. Pure Records is going to be a force in the music business and it's gonna happen from a grass roots stand point and it's gonna happen one record at a time and one act at a time.

AM: I definitely foresee that for you Joe and Pure Records. Now I want to talk about Battlerap. When I checked it out I thought it was such a good idea. Yet it's most impressive from the business perspective. Here is a vehicle that will enable your label to add a data base for your label as well as having a very creative and innovative means of A&R. Was that your intention when you created it? I would like you to talk a little about that.

JS: Well my intention and why it was created is an unbelievable story. My intention was too simple. I was interviewing so many rappers and they always had so many excuses. If I had a Kayne beat, if I had a Cool & Dre beat, I would be as good as anybody. If I had this, if I had that, if I had Protools, if I had beats from this one, etc. So many of them went on and on and on about what they're missing to be great. The reality of it is whenever someone is missing something to be great then they can't truly be great because greatness is a state of mind. I ‘m quite sure Kanye didn't have the best equipment when he started out but he worked with what he had and was great in what he had and that's really the step that needs to be taken. However, I really wanted to fill that need and in the process quite honestly build a database to build an online community that can be utilized for many different products and services to build Pure Records. Build an unbelievable team of hip hop artists/producers and naturally get some of the greatest artist that is out there and get them under our wing. That was the goal from day one. That was very, very clear from the start. We were very clear. The minute we came up with the idea we knew it was an amazing thing. That next day I started reaching out to some web designers and some people that were friends of mine that knew the digital world and asked their opinion. We found out not only was it achievable, but we did it and we did it probably in a shorter time frame then anybody ever dreamed.

AM: How long did it take you to achieve this dream? The first project you did took eleven months. How long did it take from start to finish?

JS: This project should have taken a year and a half to build and we basically got this whole thing up and running and ready to be tested in 6 months. I came up with the idea at 3:00am and Wednesday at 7:45am web designers were retained.

AM: That's crazy. I only have three more questions because I don't want to take up all of your time. What can we expect from Pure Records one year from now to five years from now?

JS: I'm going to start out by saying what everyone expected from Pure Records was absolutely nothing. At Pure Records we would rather be the turtle than the rabbit. We're gonna build slow, we're gonna build strategically and we're gonna make something that no one else has been able to build. We're gonna do it faster, better and more professionally than any one else out there. And over the next five years we will be exactly what you said we will be; one of the biggest labels out there. There's no question.

AM: I believe it. I truly believe it. Now I want to talk about the business and the technology. Technology is the hot topic right now and I noticed with Pure Records you're not only building your brand from a musical side but you are also building it from a technological side getting your consumer to enjoy new media thru music like, Battle Rap. That was very innovative. With the death of joint ventures happening right now and the influx of independent record labels, do you feel that this whole transition is going to change the face of music going forward in the music industry?

JS: We're gonna change the face of music because we are incorporating business experience with a spiritual commitment and putting quality projects out there. We have the ability to change the industry because we are not stuck. We really don't care what the industry is doing we know what we want to do. If you're not in the machinery, your records don't sell. It kinda just winds up just sitting there. We know what the records business is, we know it's difficult to make money, we know that it's gonna be a challenge, however, selling CD's is a small part of what we will be doing over the next five years. Yet it is a very necessary thing we need to do.

AM: I'm glad you mentioned that because diversifying your practices, for a record label is really going to be necessary. With technology the way it is right now and mostly everybody doing everything over the internet, how long do you think physical distribution will be the main avenue of getting your music out there verses the technology we have right now?

JS: I'm not sure that it works. Look, Musicland is out of business, everything having to do with the music business is saying that buying CD's is a dying business. Yet, Starbucks just got a bundle by a little company called; Hear Music and they are doing phenominal. In that particular case it wasn't technology it was just a damn good idea. Let's play the cds in the store and let's make the cd available. If you are creative and have the technology combined with great ideas you can do anything. We think we have another opportunity that is going to revolutionize the way people will buy music and we are moving forward to introducing that within the next 18 months.

AM: Hot! Well I will definitely be looking out for it. Any last comments you want our folks to know?

JS: If you are a rapper, if you are a mc, you have the opportunity to download for 99 cents a fifty to hundred thousand dollar beat. Then you have the opportunity to go buy a twenty dollar mic, plug it into your computer and go for it! You can win One hundred thousand dollars and a record contract. My last comment; we are taking opportunity and putting it on the front door of every mc in the country. Let's see if you are as good as you say you are and if you are, cream will rise to the top and you will be signed to Pure Records and you will have a check for $100,000.00. You will live the life that you dreamed of living. It's all right there in your computer. It's right there on your doorstep. You don't have to chase it anymore; it's coming to you… Battlerap.com

AM: I liked to thank you so much. I tell people all the time that dreams are only a fore thought to your reality. Joe on behalf of the world of HHNLive we want to thank you for time and knowledge. Peace!