Interview with Studio2Bee CEO, Skip Bishop

I recently had the pleasure to speak with Skip Bishop, a key player in the Nashville music scene who has held numerous positions, and has even more stories. Skip is currently working as the President and CEO at Studio1Bee Executive Music Consulting & Management. With a palpable love for music and lively demeanor, Skip is effervescent about his career and the music industry as a whole. In our conversation, we covered a range of topics including his own personal journey, how terrestrial radio needs to evolve, ways in which artists can earn more in the current era, his own favorite artists, the beast of touring, and advice he’d pass along. We start out with Skip saying, “Well, I’ve been around for a long time, and I do have a lot of strong opinions, some of them popular and some not. Where would you like to begin?”

OK: We’ll start from the beginning, you graduated from Auburn with a dual major in broadcasting and English - was a career in music always in the cards for you, or did you fall upon it unintentionally?

SB: There was no other route to anything. From day one, I was infatuated by the radio. I was particularly interested in the records that they play, why they played them, and the actual singles themselves - I would collect records and learn the little things, like the producers and the writers, and I just became fascinated. I went to sleep every night with the radio under my pillow listening to stations. When I was in college, I was doing the morning show at the campus station. I’d get off around 9:00 am, class from 9:00-11:00 am, and in the afternoon, I would go by the record shop that I was managing and spend three or four hours there. After that, I would go to the other station in town, the commercial station, where I did a shift from about 4:00 pm till 7:00 pm. After I got off the air in the evening I would go next door to the bar that had one of the first disco systems - it was the first time I’d ever seen a control room in a bar! It was so unheard of. They hired me to play records there after that. So I was completely immersed.

OK: Your history is very extensive and winding. Of all the positions you have filled, which has been the most fulfilling for you?

SB: It’s odd that you ask that question because I think about it a lot. I really miss doing a morning radio show. It was so creative - we would do little bits, you know, we’d poke fun at anything that was happening in politics and whatnot, we’d have little character voices. It was one of those full-blown morning shows where there were multiple people in the control room and it was awesome. It was like being onstage for four hours every morning. And then when you’re catching your breath you’re playing a great record! You got the music track and then everyone’s going okay, well what are we doing next? Next we’re going to come out and pump everyone up, and we’re constantly tearing the news wire off to see if there’s anything current that we can poke fun at. So as far as absolute creative energy and a real feeling of spiritual satisfaction, that was probably it. But I’ve loved everything that I’ve done; there’s not one thing that I haven’t loved - I’m lucky that way.

OK: What a great work environment. With the shift towards streaming and podcasts, do you feel as though radio’s heyday has passed? Or is it still prominent, but in a different way?

SB: Terrestrial radio as we know it is in deep trouble. This is a personal opinion, but radio can’t compete with streaming. I mean, it’s an impossible thing to win. You can go to Spotify and choose exactly what you want to hear from an infinite library of songs that you’ve put together yourself, as opposed to listening to a stream of music that someone else is curating for mass appeal. And it’s interrupted by something called commercials. The only way they’re going to survive is news and entertainment, right? If you tune in and listen to something then I’d go back to the theater aspect. Put comedians on the weather section, have TV stars coming in for interviews - pure entertainment. Quick bites… people don’t listen to the radio for four hours at a time anymore, you’ve got four minutes.

OK: I’d definitely be on your side for that argument as well. For you, having stated that you loved being in the kind of creative environment that hosting a radio cultivated, have you thought about podcasting?

SB: A lot of people have encouraged me to do that. I've got many friends in media that are tremendously successful in podcasting. I would love to do that and I thought about it. I liked the whole idea of being able to record it into a computer with sound effects together. Yeah, podcasting is kind of like the Wild West.

OK: Absolutely.

SB: You can write a short story and play it out. Or you can review a song and play it out. There's so much that you can do, it's a blank slate. And it all goes back to which podcasts are gonna get listened to - the ones that are highly entertaining.

OK: It's super interesting - I don't even know how many podcasts there are now. It feels like every day there's hundreds of new ones. So it does feel like the Wild West in that aspect. Changing gears slightly, with the shift from downloads to streaming it feels, at least to me, that there's been a devaluation of music in terms of payment. What is your take on how artists can earn more in the current era?

SB: Well, the answer is the same as it was 50 years ago: it’s putting butts in seats and touring. And the new world of technology with the availability of different vehicles of exposure, to me, is a godsend to a lot of artists. All you had before was radio and touring. Now you can be on 32 different playlists, be on some sort of feature on Apple Music, and have complete saturation on Spotify. Ticket prices are going up and a lot of people are complaining about it, but I don’t complain about ticket prices rising because artists have to survive. Bruce Springsteen can sell a $2,000 ticket, but emerging songwriters, they should be able to sell a $150 ticket and people should pay that. Because it’s worth it, and I do think that the shares they’re getting are not quite fair. Yet. But they’re getting better. There’s enough legislation and advocacy groups beating down the doors of Congress to get these things fixed. The artists, and particularly the writers, are not making the amount of money that they should. It’s getting better because people are fighting for it. I know that was a long, rambling answer.

OK: No, I was all in it. These are all the topics that I’ve been touching on a lot amongst friends, especially on the discrepancy in touring. Touring is the way to make money if you’re an artist - major artists can sell out arenas immediately, but the emerging, more niche artists that want so badly to tour are so often doing so at a net loss.

SB: Well, I think you’re going to have to be creative about how to tour. You can’t get caught up in your own success - you’ve got to keep on just like any other business, and keep your overhead down to a minimum. And you’ve got to be good. It’s really about being good. I always talk about Eric Church - he toured and toured and toured and never stopped, before he ever had a radio hit. He kept going down the Eastern seaboard and cutting down through the South, and people were like, “this guy is freakin awesome!” and when he came back through they’d say, “Oh, that $20 went up to $25 - and I don't care, I’ll pay for it.” By the way, he was cruising this with a band and there was no bus. The people that are willing to work for it and stay in shitty hotel rooms, they’re the ones that are going to succeed. And it’s hard work, but there's no more fun work in the world than getting out there, playing, and doing the same thing all over again the next day. It’s all about building a fan base, managing your costs, and continuing to swing the bat. It’s not working if no one is showing up.

OK: Yeah, you have to make something people will actually want to listen to and pay for. In addition to all that, I wanted to get your take on the internet era and how that plays into music. Do you find that many key players in the business are leaning into social media usage or shying away from it?

SB: I would say that it’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity, right? It’s where the people are living. I’ve probably been on Instagram seven times today already, for one reason or another. I can give you three or four artists that literally started their career from making cover tunes in their bedroom and got signed to Warner Brothers. And those records became big hits! There’s artists like Bailey Zimmerman that have built a fan base online and record companies are scooping them up after the fact.

OK: I was going to bring him up as well, he’s really catching on. It’s been interesting to watch because lots of artists gain traction, and most are just flashes in the pan, whereas others really do garner a fan base. So it’s cool to watch them from the start and see which people really carry on. Tik Tok has been helpful in terms of allowing fans to feel like they’re growing alongside the artists, which I think is pretty neat.

SB: I’d never really thought of it before, but that does create a sense of ownership and a feeling of being along for the journey. That’s a really good point, I’m going to steal that if you don’t mind.

OK: Of course, all yours. Shifting a bit, I want to know who your favorite artist is.

SB: There’s no question - my ultimate favorite artist is Miles Davis. We actually have a Miles Davis memorial library in our house with lots of photographs. Yeah, he’s everywhere. We even have a Miles Davis shower curtain, alongside a Joni Mitchell shower curtain.

OK: That’s amazing - I’m glad I asked! We talked about artists that have gained a following on their own, like Zach Bryan or Bailey Zimmerman - do you find that a lot of emerging artists get molded into some sort of ‘hit machine’ as opposed to their own authentic sound?

SB: Yes, all the time. It’s a sad thing. I’ve told many artists that the worst thing that can happen to you right now is to get a record deal. And I know that’s kind of hard to believe but it’s true, because as soon as you do, they’re going to try and make you into something they want.

OK: That makes sense. It does feel a bit counterintuitive, but I could see how that would dim one’s creativity in a sense.

SB: But once they do it themselves, then they’re going to have the power to remain who they are because they’ve already established that fan base.

OK: That makes a lot of sense. Last question here - what’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received and that you’d pass along to someone wanting to enter into the business?

SB: To believe in what really moves you; don’t be influenced by what the industry wants or expects - trust your heart. You have to believe that something is great, believe in yourself, believe in your instincts, and trust your gut. You got to go with your gut first, because otherwise you’re just dealing with a conglomerate of opinions.

OK: I heard a speaker recently, a woman who works A&R for Sony, say similarly that her best piece of advice is to know the ‘why’ that you’re in it. What motivates you every day and what lights your fire continuously. I thought that was insightful of her and it harkens back to what you were also saying.

SB: It’s been the reason behind some of my own personal successes and failures - when you get caught up in questioning your own stuff because the crowd is telling you something differently. I always say when you’re throwing a really wide net, you really get plenty of water and mud. And I kind of believe that’s what you get when you have 40 people in a room and you say, “Okay, let’s decide what we’re going to do with this artist / this song / this approach.” You’re going to get a watered-down strategy. I believe in maybe three people getting together and figuring these things out. And these are people that you know, that you trust, and that get moved by the music and the art form.

OK: That’s great advice, thanks for sharing. Thank you again for taking time to sit down and talk with me today. I really appreciate it, I know you’re a busy man.

SB: Thanks so much, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Interview with Studio2Bee CEO, Skip Bishop

XX: Female-Focused Playlist

‘Good Riddance’ Album Review