Who am I?

Alex Scholte, 41 years owner and founder of G&A artist management, an agency that deals with the management and artist handling of DJs & performers. In this I am responsible for Don Diablo and Julian Jordan, but we also have names such as Sander van Doorn and Pretty Pink in our database that we accompany.

 

What do I stand for?

What do I think is important? In this profession and at this level, one quality is the most important and that is honesty. Certainly at this level you get fortune seekers on all sides, everyone promises everyone mountains of gold, but in the end they are there purely for themselves. That’s why honesty and trust between you and your artist is essential to achieve the best results.

 

Where does your story begin?

Actually about 10 years ago. I owned a number of wholesalers in a totally different industry. I managed 80 people, built up my knowledge there for 20 years and especially learned about everything at every level of management. At the time, I was a bit younger, I attended many festivals and parties as a visitor and through my network I got more and more behind the scenes where I built up friendships with the label managers, the bookers, the publishers, but also the DJs of course. There was no intention of doing anything with it, but everyone knew about my strengths in the business world. As a result, many DJs asked even then if I could not work for them to represent their interests.
With the company I ran, that was out of the question and I always held it off due to lack of time. Until I received an offer to sell for about 4 years and accepted it. Actually, my idea was to take it easy, to enjoy the free time and to be able to practice my hobbies. However, soon a number of befriended DJ’s were on my doorstep with the question whether I wanted to represent their interests. Then, 4 years ago, I said I would do it, but only for those where I think I can add value myself. So I now coach 3 artists, all in a different genre and in a different phase of their career. I could add 3 big names from the top 50 tomorrow, but I want to have the time to keep the quality high. Thus, my current artists also rely on my full dedication to them and to be honest with these three I already have an agenda that is almost full.

 

What were the highlights in my (musical) career?

The growth of my artists both as a person and as an artist. Even in this difficult time, they are positive, calm, confident and ambitious. It is now easy to let their heads hang down, but I see it as a team effort that they do not have that at all yet and develop themselves further every week in different areas. As an artist I have only experienced highlights with them so far. They grow in their music styles, in their fan base, in their following, their profile and for what it’s worth their listings in the well-known lists.

 

What is the masterclass about?

Actually I want to talk about 2 things; on the one hand I would like to tell you what the music industry looks like in practice; what parties are there, what do you have to deal with, where do you have to pay attention when releasing your music, your contracts, etc. But on the other hand, I also want to talk about how you get there before you even have to deal with those parties. How you can stand out among all those thousands of fellow producers and how you can take the next step towards a “stage” in your music. In short, how do you make a career from your productions.

 

Why do I find this interesting?

Every day I receive dozens of requests, demos, Collab requests, etc etc. I am, but it will be with many people from an A&R man anger and a label manager to a promoter, publisher and other artist managers. 99 of every 100 people don’t even get an answer, nothing more frustrating than that, but that’s how this industry works unfortunately. The supply is many times greater than the demand. If I see how many people already lose weight with me purely because of their questioning and ignorance then that is a shame. I am sure that a lot of talent will be lost this way and people will not get fair opportunities in the industry. I hope to be able to make some positive contribution to this so that more people have a greater chance of success.

 

Why am I doing this job?

So it actually got a bit out of hand. I do it because I know that friends need my knowledge to become a better artist. I am not creative myself but purely businesslike, with them it is exactly the opposite so those two styles together gives a lot of energy and satisfaction.