Meet the #1 fan of music, Ian Rogers, CEO of Topspin Media. Topspin is a technology driven company that enables artists and labels to achieve easy direct-to-fan marketing, management and distribution. Joining topspin in 2008, Rogers is one of the most highly sought after music marketing guru. But he never intended it that way. It all started with simple rebellious thoughts against mainstream media and major label releases during his childhood.
Rogers grew up in Northern Indiana, close to Michigan. Armed with his skateboard, a degree in computer science and a passion for music, Rogers embarked on a journey about which he admits, “I actually avoided music as a career as long as I could.” Strangely his stubbornness launched him into the music business, towards building companies that facilitate the dissemination of good music to hungry music lovers. His philosophy is simple. People will listen to relevant music that they love.
A pioneer in his field, Rogers helped a lot of bands get online in the early days. He reminisces about the early days when “record execs didn’t even have a computer in their office. They had to go down the hall to look at it on someone else’s computer.” When the Beastie Boys invited Rogers to go on tour with them in 1995, he was still living in Indiana. That six-week tour was the beginning of his life in Los Angeles, and a continual career in music. Rogers asked himself a pivotal question. What was a guy with a computer science degree doing working at a record label? “I remember this distinct feeling of working with people at the record label, and realizing that I cared more about their product than they did,” he explains. “For them it was a job, and for me it was a passion. Maybe these guys go home at night and watch TV, because they spend their days dealing with music. I would rather spend my days dealing with computers, and go home at night and listen to music.”
Rogers has been a record collector since he was five years old, so his whole life was marked by what music he was into at that moment in time. He adds, “Right around that time was when I really started getting into punk rock and didn’t care about anything that was on a major label. That mentality stuck with me through my early twenties at least. I remember buying seven inches by bands that would include their phone number, and you could just call them up and have a conversation with them,” says Rogers. “And that level of approachability really meant a lot to me as a music fan. To know that I could call up some band in Berkeley and actually talk to them was just amazing. It felt like you were part of something.”
“The first record I ever put a needle on was Kiss’ “Rock and Roll Over.” I have a brother that is nine years older than me, and I got his hand me downs. Then later, in second grade, I listened to ACDC’s “High Voltage.” Every day at recess, I would literally go out with my Panasonic tape player and sit on a stump and listen to ACDC’s “High Voltage” over and over. That’s a lot of who I am in a way. I could still listen to that record over and over today. Such great songs, a little bit of humor rolled in some great rock n roll attitude. I was kind of a loser, a nerd. If it was cool, it wasn’t cool to anybody but me. And I don’t think it was cool to me, I just don’t think I knew what else to do. Then later I got more into Zepplin, Rush, Zappa. The big change for me was punk rock. I remember watching Ian MacKaye in “Another State of Mind” and identifying with what he was saying so strongly. He said something about not knowing what he wanted to be, but knowing what he didn’t want to be…that was exactly how I felt,” remembers Rogers.
“My very favorite record is Sly and the Family Stone’s “Fresh.” In college I made a zine out of ‘Fresh’ and ‘Small Talk.’ I have Sly tattooed on my right arm. For me in general, the perfect record are those records that people just couldn’t help but make. I want to listen to music by people whose music is coming from some inner place. Maybe there’s a combo of calculation and timing of the sound for the market, but really it’s coming from somewhere deep inside people who really wouldn’t be good at anything but making that music,” says Rogers. “Fresh” embodies the anomaly of a perfect record that has the perfect balance of loose and tight. It was so in the pocket. The rhythm section is tight and everyone else is really loose. It’s just so soulful to me. It’s something really magical.”
Optimistic about the music industry, Rogers says, “I feel like every year, I hear more and better music than the year before. I’d like to be enabling people to experience music. Whether it’s what we did at Winamp, where you make consumption of music easy for people, or the kinds of things we’re doing at Topspin where we make the distribution and marketing of music easy for people. It’s a hard line to draw, but I realize now that I’m definitely in the business of music for the rest of my life.”
Ian Rogers, a self prescribed music addict, an avid skateboarder, a defunct guitar player, and CEO of Topspin Media.
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