About IDB:
InfiniteDecibel was started by music industry veteran John Gaenzler in 2013 as a vehicle to share his years of experience on both sides of the music fence with young artists and businesses looking to advance their businesses and brands.
John writes:
Starting out as a recording and touring musician out of college in the 90's, I learned all of the important music industry lessons the hard way, by being an independent artist booking and managing, writing, recording and producing music and self-promoting and marketing myself. I made all of the big mistakes and actually did a few things right. My bands sold thousands of records, I played every major city with bands ranging from Anthrax to Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty and in 1999 was even invited to audition for the almighty Foo Fighters. As an artist, I was sponsored by Budweiser, signed a publishing deal and most importantly made music that many people enjoyed.
In 2000, I re-focused my energy into learning every aspect of the music industry so that I could one day help other talented artists advance their promising careers. I spent the next 7 years learning the live entertainment industry in the Client Services department of Ticketmaster NY. I immersed myself in the entertainment space and had clients ranging from Giants Stadium, Nassau Coliseum and Apollo Theatre to AEG, NY Islanders, NJ Nets and NJ Devils.
In 2005, I left the corporate ticketing world for a small 2-person start-up called Artist Arena where I ran operations. At Artist Arena, our goal was to help artists increase their touring revenue by monetizing pre-sale ticketing, fan clubs and VIP fan packaging/fan engagement. We built the business by becoming family members of our clients, the bands. We were part of their team and truly helped many of them support their touring. I worked very closely with artists ranging from Justin Bieber to Rihanna, Green Day and Mumford & Sons among many others. I established friendships with many artist managers and booking agents, most of whom I still call friends. I learned how successful artists got to be successful. I worked with labels that nurtured their artists and sadly, many that stifled and ended promising careers. Most importantly, I learned that becoming successful in the music industry is about making wise, educated decisions and that it takes a vast degree of understanding and years of experience to develop that industry wisdom as well as the cognition to know that the rules and technologies change every day. We grew Artist Arena into a $40M international Artist Services company with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville and London. The company was sold to Warner Music Group in 2011.
When I launched InfiniteDecibel in 2013, I made the decision that if I was to be of value as an advisor, consultant and manager, I would need to be dedicated to learning more than ever. The music space is much different today and literally evolves (and dissolves) daily. Web 3.0, NFTs, Live-Streaming, Digital Rights Sales, Intellectual Property Protection. The importance of Streaming, Licensing, Music IP, Touring efficiently, Sponsorships etc... It's all important and it's the future of music.
I know a whole lot about music and the current landscape of the music industry and that makes me a valuable strategic advisor. But what makes me a truly valuable partner to my artists and clients is that I want to know more in order to steer them toward success.