HYPETRAK INSIGHTS with Three Quarter CEO David Airaudi

The latest installment of INSIGHTS sees HYPETRAK highlighting Three Quarter CEO David Airaudi. An imprint offering 360-degree service – a direction in which the music industry has been headed for years – Three Quarter clearly exists in a realm beyond that of the standard record label. An industry vet with stints at UMG and Interscope Records alongside an MBA from Vanderbilt, Airaudi spoke to HYPETRAK about the label’s start, deals with the likes of Odd Future‘s Tyler, the Creator, and much more. Choice excerpts from the interview can be read below while the piece can be seen in its entirety here.

Can you tell me a little about Three Quarter? What is its exact function? It seems to be not an average record label.
That’s correct. Three Quarter was an idea I had during my time at Interscope Records. It’s a new way to fully service the business of music. It is part record label, part venture capital, part management. I create literal businesses for artists, provide them creative control and manage their talent, property and assets in a the most profitable and efficient way possible. They make the art, it is my job to figure how we, the company, makes money, how to build the brand, the long-term career and how we generate revenue given what the artist wants to focus on. It is a collective effort on creating a broader business and brand opposed to just sell records and producing content.

Full package service indeed.
Yes. For Odd Future, we founded our own record label and did deal through Sony Music to be able to put out music that the guys (Odd Future) want as well as provide the ability to find new talent that they want to push. My function has been facilitating that structural backbone of the operating business. I try not to get involved creatively, unless asked. No matter if they want sign acts, if they want to do comedy or open up a coffee shop, that’s none of my business. I look at my job as figuring out how to properly build and efficiently monetize the talents and, most importantly, passions of my artist partners.

Photography: Kelly Turso

Source: HYPETRAK