Music Industry Insights

In June 2011 I received a casual email from a Dutch DJ named R3hab. It said — "I think Zedd you probably know him would be cool for a mix. I told him about you. This is his email if you are interested." I didn't know Zedd. But I reached out anyway. And what happened next became one of the most meaningful chapters of my 35 year career in music. How It Started — Houston 2011 A few weeks earlier I had met R3hab in Houston during a radio promo tour. He was DJing somewhere in the

On December 3rd 2009 at 6:47pm I got an email from a DJ named Nick G. It said — "Can you send me a mix to run on my show — Ghetto House Radio. We can use your Adrenaline mixes. Just need 30 minutes. 320 quality. Thoughts??? Holla ASAP." I wrote back immediately. "Yeah that's no problem. Let me know how long." He replied — "Need it by tonight." I sent the mix. I had no idea I'd still be doing that show 15 years later. What I Was Doing in December 2009 At the time I was recordi

Everyone told Houston businesses the World Cup would be like the Super Bowl. It wasn't. At least not for everyone. Here's what actually happened — and what it taught me about timing, strategy, and the difference between waiting for opportunity and creating it. The Expectation Houston's World Cup Host Committee projected 500,000 visitors and $1.5 billion in economic impact this summer. Those numbers are probably still accurate over the full course of the tournament. But the di

Last Friday at Warehouse Live Midtown something happened that nobody in that room expected. And two days later Oliver Heldens told the whole world about it himself. But let me start from the beginning. The Setup A year ago I asked our talent buyers at Disco Presents for one specific thing — a well known European DJ booked for World Cup weekend in Houston. Houston's World Cup Host Committee was projecting 500,000 visitors and $1.5 billion in economic impact over the course of

Last Friday I sat down backstage with Oliver Heldens at Warehouse Live Midtown — the night before Netherlands played Sweden in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It wasn't the first time I'd interviewed him. Back in 2019 during Miami Music Week I had the chance to sit down with Oliver when I was APD and Music Director at KROI Houston. Six years later he was back in Houston, and this time the conversation happened in the backstage hallway of my own venue hours before he took the stage f

A year ago I started planning a show I had no way of knowing would actually work. Houston's World Cup Host Committee was projecting around 500,000 visitors would come through our city this summer. A 39 day Fan Festival taking over East Downtown. Seven matches at NRG Stadium. An estimated $1.5 billion in economic impact hitting the region between June and July. I looked at those numbers and asked myself one question that every live entertainment operator should be asking right

I'm home from Barcelona now. It's been a few days. I've had time to sit with everything — the golf tournament, the discovery in Manresa, the candle at Montserrat, my mother's birthday, the Pope driving by twice on the streets of Barcelona. And there's one moment that keeps coming back to me more than any other. The Cathedral Standing inside the cathedral at Montserrat — after I had lit the candle, after I had prayed, after I had felt everything I wrote about earlier this week

I've been sitting with something since I got back from Barcelona. I'm still processing it. So bear with me because this is different from what I normally write. This is about faith. And connection. And the moments in life that make you realize something bigger than yourself has been quietly guiding you all along. It Started With a Conversation In March 2025 I was at Miami Music Week — one of the biggest gatherings of music industry professionals in the world. I was talking wi

Last week I watched my son Renner compete in an international golf tournament in Barcelona, Spain. It was one of the proudest moments of my life as a father. But this story isn't really about golf. It's about what happens when you show up somewhere completely unfamiliar, face conditions you've never experienced, and have to decide whether to give up or keep going. The Journey to Barcelona Renner is a varsity golfer at Strake Jesuit in Houston, Texas — one of the top Jesuit hi

I said yes to Tommy Boy Records on a Monday morning in San Antonio Texas. By Friday I was getting screamed at by Everlast from House of Pain in a corporate apartment in Manhattan. Nobody told me this was part of the deal. If you missed the first part of this story — how I flew to New York, walked into Tom Silverman's office, told him I didn't know if I wanted the job, and somehow got hired anyway — you can read it here. [link to June 6 post] This is what happened next. The Dr

In 2025 we had our best year of shows since I've been at Warehouse Live Midtown. So I expected 2026 to be even better. The data told me something different. I've been tracking every show at our venue since 2021. Every promoter. Every ticket sale. Every expense. Every dollar of revenue. Four years of data sitting in Google Sheets. In late 2024 I started using Gemini AI to help me analyze all of it. What I saw surprised me. 2021 coming out of COVID was strong. Sales were great

Two weeks ago we had 1,300 people at Warehouse Live Midtown on a Tuesday night. Sold out. Not a Friday. Not a Saturday. A Tuesday. Here's what that taught me about artist momentum. A year earlier a different promoter brought the same artist to our venue. Nearly sold out. 1,000 people. Strong numbers. Great energy. The market responded. Fast forward twelve months and AEG — one of the biggest concert promoters in the world — brings the same artist back to the same room. 1,300 p

In September 1995 I was 25 years old living in San Antonio, Texas. I was going to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos Monday through Thursday. I was mixing on KTFM radio Monday through Friday. I was doing a live broadcast Friday nights from Rock Island nightclub. I was driving to Houston on Saturdays to DJ a live broadcast from Club Shelter on 104 KRBE. I had a pre-recorded mixshow on KHFI in Austin airing on Saturdays. I was also DJing in Austin on Wednesday night

The agents told me it was a no brainer. A proven artist. Strong historical performance in our market. Loyal fanbase. The kind of booking that should sell itself. So we moved forward. We announced the show and the sales didn't come the way we expected. I increased the marketing budget. Hired street teams. Made flyers. Brought in local urban promoters to help push it. I did everything by the book. But something kept nagging at me throughout the campaign. The local urban promote

One thing people misunderstand about live events: Selling tickets is only half the battle. A successful event requires dozens of moving parts working together: • Talent buying • Marketing and advertising • Ticketing strategy • Sponsorships • Production and logistics • Staffing and security • Food and beverage operations • Customer experience I've spent more than 30 years working across radio, record labels, music production, marketing, nightlife, and live entertainment. One