Music Industry Veteran Connects Artists, Fans

The music industry is facing many challenges. Flush with profits only a decade ago, it is now something of a sinking ship. Illegal file sharing — the process of stealing music via the Internet — is decimating sales, and legitimate MP3 services like iTunes are not coming close to making up the difference. While U2, Eminem and Mariah Carey won’t have to sell their yachts anytime soon, less-popular artists — not to mention peripheral players like promoters, label employees and music writers — are feeling the pinch.

What’s the solution? David Sherbow, JD ’76, a 35-year music industry veteran, believes the key lies in strengthening the relationship between artists and fans. Through his website, LiveMusicMachine.com, he is attempting to ­facilitate that process by helping individuals book bands directly from the Internet. Besides making music lovers’ dreams come true — no more driving 500 miles to see your favorite group — it helps the acts maximize revenues from concerts and merchandise like T-shirts. “In this direct-to-fan model, it’s all about artists monetizing themselves,” Sherbow explains.

He takes pride in having attended concerts featuring some of the most iconic rock performers in history, everyone from Elvis Presley to Janis Joplin. As an independent record promoter, he also helped break rap stars like Kanye West and Jay-Z. But for a time, Sherbow seemed fated for a legal career. His ­grandfather pushed him to attend law school, which brought Sherbow to Washington University in the mid-1970s. He has nothing but fond memories of his time at the university.

“It was one of the first schools to let you do research using computers,” he remembers. “Amazing speakers visited the school. Jimmy Hoffa spoke to our class, and I talked to him.”

Sherbow’s interests lay more with rock ’n roll than the Socratic method, however, and he found himself spending an increasing amount of time attending shows at venues like ­Mississippi Nights and co-managing a band called The Sheiks. Back then, St. Louis was a first-rate place for live music, he notes. “It was a super-prolific time for bands to be touring,” he says. “Due to St. Louis’ location in the middle of the country, everybody stopped there.”

After graduating, Sherbow returned to his native Maryland to clerk for that state’s Court of Appeals. As soon as his clerkship ended, Sherbow began a 17-year stretch in which he discovered, managed, booked and secured recording contracts or put out independent album releases for a number of major regional rock, funk and rap artists. In 1995, he began doing radio promotion principally for Def Jam as well as other major labels, and he eventually helped to break nationally more than 100 No. 1 urban tracks. “All the major labels had enormous amounts of money,” he remembers. “We were always on the road, going all over the country visiting program directors and convincing them to play our records.”

Before founding LiveMusicMachine.com, Sherbow briefly headed the urban promotions department for Asylum Records. He now ­focuses on his consulting business, DAS Consulting Group, and various other ­musical ventures attempting to harness the power of the Internet.

“In 1999, record label guys refused to acknowledge things like [MP3 download site] Napster, but I’ve always thought the industry was headed for radical changes,” he says.

Sherbow’s now defunct first effort, MPTrax.com, was a music discovery and e-commerce platform built to find and introduce emerging talent to the mainstream, while his MySpace360Wizard.com currently helps bands maximize their presence on the social networking site MySpace. LiveMusicMachine.com, which he co-founded in 2009, allows fans from all over the country to directly book bands in their hometowns. The site’s widget can be placed on major social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and informs users of groups’ booking costs and schedules, simplifying the booking process by bringing it within the general public’s grasp and effectively cutting out the middlemen.

As for his future plans, Sherbow remains focused on growing LiveMusicMachine.com. Though he says it has yet to turn a profit, he is confident in his business model.

“Most kids, if they knew how easy it was to book a band, they would,” he notes. Indeed, one gets the ­impression that this veteran of the music ­industry — who has witnessed its highs and lows — is ahead of his time.

Ben Westhoff, AB ’99, is a freelance writer based in Summit, N.J.