Portrait Of A Man

POAM(Portrait of a Man) has set out to build a more equitable music industry environment by providing independent artists with innovative tools and a platform where they can co-create, license, track, and share intellectual property while inviting their audiences on the journeys they will never forget.

It all started in the late 2023, when I was still polishing glasses at my last restaurant job, feeling anxious and wondering: how can I, as an artist, sustain myself in a world where art seems to be losing its soul? Will I ever be able to do what I love?

Meanwhile, during Music Marketing 101 at Berklee, it hit me—I couldn’t do this alone. Later that week, I was sitting at the docks in South Beach, watching the sky paint the sunset, searching for a concept compelling enough to unite the diverse musicians and producers in my network.

Then, the best thing ever happened—I was saved by an algorithm. ‘Portrait Of A Man’ by S. J. Hawkins was shuffled to me.

And there it was:

My concept was to expose as many facets of human beings as possible through our differences, only to find that there are core things of what it means to be one.

SO WHATS THE PROBLEM?

Well, I love Spotify. Or so I used to. There are still so many things to love about it, yet this love does feel a bit toxic.

Spotify's mission statement is to "unlock the potential of human creativity" by giving artists the opportunity to live off their art and fans the opportunity to enjoy it.” yet professional and successful artists who have around 4000 listeners a month - make around 12$ a month.

“If I judge by the Grammy ratings—down again—the public is not engaged by the recording industry. Only 15.4 million people watched this year, although this event once drew 50 million viewers.

That’s not a decline. It’s a total collapse.

This is what cultural stagnation looks like, my friends. And it will get worse, not better—unless something big changes soon.” - Ted Gioia

Out of about 8 million artists globally who are actively releasing music only ~400,000 are signed to a label. That's only 5%.

This tiny fraction is also what the general public gets exposed to on a daily basis. (Commercial Music). No wonder, the audience is starving.

Originally, we planned to co-produce a one-time album featuring a mix of covers and original songs. After our initial meet & greet it was clear - The traditional Marketing Approach does not encompass our project’s potential.

Vision remains to “paint the portrait of a human” through a diversity of sounds, hearts, minds, and cultural perspectives.

Today’s consumers seek engagement and involvement rather than being passive recipients. This shift is pivotal to our project’s success as it wonderfully aligns with the strengths we embody.

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