Brian “Z” Zisook on Redefining Music Discovery & the Power of Remaining Artist-First 

Brian “Z” Zisook didn’t just make a career out of music – he’s spent nearly two decades in multiple disciplines supporting artists across genres. From DJing for his college radio station to helping document the rise of rap’s Blog Era at DJBooth to paving a new future for streaming as Co-Founder of Audiomack, Z has made meaningful contributions to music on many levels. These days, he spends most of his time as EVP of Global Operations and Head of Artist & Label Services at Audiomack, primarily concerning himself with developing the artist-first music streaming and discovery platform. Over the years, he’s become a staple in the industry, and has amassed a reputation online for providing actionable advice and insights for artists at all stages of their careers. We recently had the chance to catch up with Z to talk about how music journalism has evolved over the last decade, what he’s learned in his experiences as a Co-Founder, and how Audiomack manages to remain artist-first in an industry that’s often anything but.

Starting at the beginning, was there a moment when you realized that music wasn’t just something that you liked, but rather something you knew you needed to be around forever? If so, when was that moment?

It was probably when I was a kid. Every day, music was played in our house, and there was never really a moment during my upbringing that wasn’t soundtracked by music. That said, I didn't expect to work in music until I was actually working in music. In college, I was a DJ and worked at WZND, which was the student-run radio station at Illinois State. Out of college, I worked at another radio station as a morning show producer. All the while, I never really thought I’d work in music professionally. I just kept at it, and it just happened. I feel very blessed to work in music because I love what I do. I know that millions of people wake up in the morning and dread going to work, and I’ve never had that feeling. It’s not something I take for granted. 

Long before your days at Audiomack, you built a name for yourself in the music journalist space as a co-founder and editor-in-chief at DJBooth where you spent nearly two decades building-up the platform, writing thousands of articles, and interviewing hundreds of artists. Of all the pieces you wrote and interviews you conducted, what’s one article that still stands out to you today as one of your favorites?  

You stated the sheer volume, so it's really hard to identify one or even a few that stood out, given how many there were. I’d say the interviews I conducted were most memorable. I feel very fortunate that my journey into music journalism coincided with the height of the Blog Era when you had artists like Kendrick, J. Cole, Drake, Big Sean, Big K.R.I.T., and Wale on their come-up. We were able to document this entire period of time. I was able to interview Cole, Big Sean, Big K.R.I.T., Nipsey Hussle, and more. I feel I was able to play a small role in helping document a very important time in not just music history, but hip-hop history specifically.

Looking back on how much music journalism and blogging have evolved since that time, what would you say is the most profound difference in the space today compared to the early 2000s when you started? 

When I got started, the only forms of social media in existence were Myspace and Facebook. Consumer behavior, as it relates to those two platforms, certainly wasn’t what it is today. When I started publishing articles on DJBooth, people were still bookmarking websites. You had to go out of your way to visit a website – it had to be a destination that you wanted to visit. We were able to build up a tremendous following at the height of DJBooth. We were doing 8 million page views per month on our articles, and I want to say the average length of article read time was about six or seven minutes, which is unheard of. 

Today, no one bookmarks websites. Everyone has their designated social media feeds, and they just keep scrolling until they see a combination of pictures and words that get them to stop for more than half a second. Now, it’s challenging for publishers to utilize the audiences they’ve built across social media as the entry point to their work. It’s challenging to gather enough page views to generate enough advertising revenue to pay people to create, write, and edit articles. Publishing isn’t in a good place today, not just within music but generally. The best journalism being done today is hidden behind a paywall, meaning if you want access to information and resources, you have to have the money to get it. If you don’t have the disposable income to pay, then you don’t have access and are resigned to the slop that exists on social media, which sucks. 

Thinking back on your tenure at DJBooth, what would you say was the number one lesson you pulled from your experience as a co-founder?

For several years, the most visited section of DJBooth was our song reviews. We included streams for new songs and would write informative, five-to-six sentence reviews that helped contextualize discovery. You’d stumble upon a song page, press play, start listening to the song, and learn more about the artist all in one place. This was our bread and butter. When Spotify launched and streaming began to proliferate, we recognized that blogs and websites would no longer be a primary source for music streaming and discovery in the same way they were during the Blog Era. So, rather than getting knocked off, we immediately pivoted to long-form, written editorial that leaned toward educational content, because no one else was doing that. Most companies will tell you it’s best to knock off yourself than to wait for someone else to do that. If we continued to publish song reviews at the same volume we were, we probably would have continued to generate more page views and revenue, but only for a short period of time. 

There’s the cliché saying – stay ahead of the curve. We felt it was necessary to just be the curve and change before we needed to change. That decision turned out to be a beautiful one because it extended our lifeline for another seven or eight years, and allowed us to differentiate ourselves in a market where everyone else remained stagnant. 

Fast forward to 2012, you and your co-founders launched Audiomack on the premise of it being a free-to-use, unlimited upload platform that had no hidden costs for artists. What initially excited you about the platform, and how has your vision for Audiomack evolved over the last 13 years. 

At DJBooth, we hosted artist mixtapes because, at the time, most artists were haphazardly releasing their music using free file-sharing services. Anyone who used the internet during this time knew that those platforms weren’t built to aid artists or help to disseminate music to a global audience. They provided a terrible experience for users. There was a lot of malware, pop-up ads, and dead links. Not only was the user experience poor, but artists also had no data available to them. 

With this in mind, we started hosting on DJBooth, but learned quickly that it wasn’t our core competency. We didn’t have the infrastructure in place to support that side of the business. When a popular release was hosted on DJBooth, within minutes of the release, our site would crash. If the motivation was to serve artists, and this was the end result, we weren’t actually doing anyone a service.

Audiomack was created with the idea that DJBooth was a trusted name in the business. We built a reputation in the music industry and could provide a secondary platform that would serve the same intended purpose, but without any of the handcuffs. This meant that artists wouldn’t have to pay for access, there were no premium tiers, and you could upload an unlimited amount of music without worrying about storage limits. You’d have analytics at your disposal, which no file-sharing site could offer. You could also control your music dissemination. 

When artists, managers, publicists, and record labels pitched coverage on DJBooth, we’d introduce them to Audiomack and evangelize it as an option. Slowly, this helped us build up the platform. If you told me in 2012 that Audiomack would be where it is today, I wouldn’t believe you. We serve over 40 million monthly active users globally, are the number one streaming service in 18 countries, and make a huge difference for underserved communities, scenes, and genres that don’t get the respect they deserve from larger streaming services. 

The streaming space is often reactive – driven by trends, data, and pressures from major labels. How have you worked to keep Audiomack focused on its long-term impact as opposed to short-term noise? 

By talking to artists, producers, managers, etc. We ask questions! Audiomack isn’t some Silicon Valley-based operation that is disconnected from the actual art. Other streaming services rarely communicate with artists. The only way to get music on Spotify or Apple Music is through a distributor or record label. That’s not us. Audiomack is a hybrid service. We have over 400 licensing agreements with record labels and distributors, but we also allow artists to create accounts to upload directly. We understand what their needs are because we talk to them directly. 

Audiomack also employs people who are themselves artists and producers. Since they have a deeper understanding of artists, our people have built a product that doesn’t just guess what the creative community needs, but caters to exactly what artists need. I think that’s important. Plus, we also have a suite of free creator tools that are available through the Audiomack Creator App. Other companies in our space charge artists for these same tools. Many artists complain on social media that these features should be free, and, you know, here I am with my poms poms saying, “We agree!”

What are some of the biggest misconceptions about Audiomack?

When Audiomack launched in 2012, we were pigeonholeed as a hip-hop mixtape site, similar to DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, and other platforms like that. This was fair 13 years ago, because our audience at the time primarily consisted of hip-hop consumers in the US. Today, we’re a global company. We have a worldwide audience, and over 40 million monthly active users. We’ve spearheaded the evangelism and amplification of Afrobeats, amapiano, and various Caribbean genres on a local and global level. So, for those who base their perception of Audiomack on what the platform was between 2012 and 2016, give us another try!

Are there any new or upcoming projects that you’re especially excited for at Audiomack?  

Last year, we launched an in-app feature called Audiomod, which enables Audiomack users to modify and remix songs in real-time. This was in response to a sharp rise in UGC like slowed down, sped-up, nightcore, chopped and screwed, etc. Artists and labels understand the value of derivatives, but often, they’re scrambling to create their own commercially available versions and issue takedown notices for community-driven UGC. This process is very reactive. 

So, we thought, why not enable users to make modifications in real-time, like a modern-day EQ on a stereo, but built into the app, so they don’t feel inclined to create and upload entirely separate versions? The best part? All the streams for modded playbacks count towards the original version instead of breaking up the pie into hundreds of separate versions. This feature has been really exciting, and the response has been fantastic. 

We also introduced another feature called Audiomack Boost. Everyone in the artist community wants one thing: attention. The problem is, when millions want attention, how do get it? Boost is a bonafide, legitimate, above-board feature that allows artists to have their songs slotted into a user’s queue based on two parameters: genre and geographical location. So, for instance, if you’re a rapper from New York, you can set up a Boost campaign for your new song according to these two parameters: hip-hop and the United States. This will enable you to market your music to a hyper-targeted audience on our platform. When a user who checks both boxes has finished listening to the songs in their queue, we serve them the Boosted song. We’ve seen that artists who otherwise would have selected unsavory means like bots, artificial manipulation, stream farms, etc. where you’re at risk of having your account deactivated, are now electing to utilize Boost, which is the safe, organic option. 

In addition to the work you do daily with Audiomack, you have a very active presence on social media, with most of your posts consisting of actionable advice for artists who want to take the next step in their career. If you had to pick your top three tips that every artist should consider today, what would those three pieces of advice be? 

It’s hard to give generalized advice because it all depends on where an artist is in their career. What I will say is, for as long as I’ve been doing this, the advice that typically covers the largest audience is often the most simplistic. To be successful in music or any field, you have to be organized. Maybe organization and operational efficiency occupy a different part of the brain than creativity, but that’s one area where many artists fall short. They’re either massively disorganized or have a team around them that cannot make up for that lack of organization. 

Two, identify who your audience is. We are currently in the niche era, which means that the days of sensations like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Elvis, etc. are long gone. Artists today need to identify their audience and super-serve that audience. If you try to be all things to everyone, you’ll be nothing to no one. 

Finally, a large number of creatives still romanticize the idea of being courted by and signed to a major label, because historically, this was a necessary step for success. What we know today is that independent market share is larger than ever. Major labels have essentially given up on development because it’s far easier and less expensive to acquire what has already been developed. My advice to artists is, whether they’re still developing or emerging or considering signing because they’re being courted, understand how the industry functions today. Your best bet is to not sign early and focus on making the best possible music for the audience you’ve identified. Once you’ve accumulated an audience, every label will knock on your door. That will allow you to evaluate whether or not you want their help, or if they’re even in a position to help you get to the next level. 

What’s something that today’s artists often overlook, that artists from previous generations would heavily invest their time and energy into? 

Songwriting. Songwriting has suffered a great deal. This is, in part, because artists used to be incubated. You were signed, put in a room with experienced, veteran songwriters and A&Rs, and kept writing and writing and writing. What fans ultimately heard was the best of the best, because there had to be more thought put into each song, as it used to cost a lot of money to manufacture and distribute physical records and CDs. You couldn’t just release anything at any time. Today, you upload a file and it’s available to global audiences in seconds. As a result, the songwriting process for many artists has suffered because it’s rushed. Everyone feels the pressure to put out music. Ultimately, this has come at the cost of weakened songwriting.

I also can’t believe how many songs have been released on pop radio or for pop-leaning audiences that have curse words in them. A startling number of songs that were clearly crafted to reach the broadest audience have curse words, which inherently limits their ability to reach said audience. It’s mind-boggling.

If you could put any three artists on a song together, who would you pick and why? 

Man, I love this question. Let’s go with Lauryn Hill, Anderson .Paak, and Tyler, The Creator. 

What’s one album you’d take with you wherever you go? 

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

What does the phrase “big ass kid” mean to you?

It means never forgetting the feeling of being introduced to new things for the first time as a kid. As we grow older, our relationship with music changes. When we’re younger, we’re more carefree, have more free time, and invest in music differently than we do when we’re older and have responsibilities to work and family. When you’re younger, you listen to music purely for enjoyment, whereas when you’re older, it’s often during activities and transit. I try to continually experience music as an adult, like I did as a child. What this means in practice is I often lie down on the couch, in bed, or on the floor of my daughter’s room next to her, and just listen – because that’s what I did as a kid. No screens, no distractions, and just fully immersing myself in the music. If more people did that, they’d reclaim that childlike feeling in adulthood.