Client Spotlight | Marcus Cobb of Jammber

 This week, our client spotlight is Marcus Cobb, founder and CEO of Jammber. TenantBase helped Marcus find a new office space in downtown Nashville order to accommodate his growing team and so that he could start planning the upcoming national launch of Jammber. 

We spoke with Marcus about the challenges that face the music industry, and how Jammber became the one-stop solution for both musicians and labels. We were inspired by his passion for entrepreneurship and empowering the Nashville community. 

About Jammber:

Jammber is a platform built for the entertainment industry. The web and mobile app helps influencers and agencies focus on what they really love - music! Jammber's technology ecosystem eliminates hours of work on operational tasks and project organization. Jammber places itself at the intersection of commerce and data for the music industry as an online platform which optimizes the team projects, paperwork and payment aspects of the business. 

The Problem:

"Firstly, we knew it was wrong that people in the entertainment industry weren't getting paid." In fact, Marcus noted that 30-60% of the time, musicians are often paid between 3 months to 2 years post-project, or they aren't getting paid at all. "This isn't malicious, its just the matter of an inefficient marketplace that was breaking down. A lot of people touch a project, everything is hand written on paper, and it is a highly error-prone process. Conversely, this is where technology excels."

Marcus' "aha" moment came after interviewing musicians and labels to understand more about the backend process of how music is created. When he heard, "sometimes you get paid, sometimes you don't" he was shocked! "Its just the way its is and always has been," musicians told him.

The Jammber Solution:

Jammber had to be a third party platform, because musicians work with multiple labels and labels work with multiple musicians. So how did they create something that benefits both parties? A project management system on steroids, bringing all collaborators together in one place. In fact, when musicians "check out" of a project, all of the paperwork is immediately generated, which they are able to sign from their phone or desktop. E-a-s-y.

With this convenient technology,  musicians can get paid in 48 hours rather than every 2-12 weeks (or never). Now, Jammber is finishing their beta and launching nationally.

Marcus’ Advice for Nashville New Businesses:

“Jammber is growing as fast as we are because of Nashville (at 53% MoM). Every person we have met has introduced us to 5-10 others. If you take care of this community, it will take care of you. ”

What is the best aspect of being an entrepreneur? For me, what's most rewarding about being an entrepreneur is creating great places to work. We have a saying here: "the goal is profits, the reason is people."

What are some great tools startups should use? Take advantage of large companies' startup perks! To support new businesses, Microsoft and Google give companies cloud credits through startup programs. You can can receive between $60,000 and $100,000 worth of free credits to start. 

Marcus’ Nashville Recommendations:

• Favorite Recreational Activity: Walking in Nashville and socializing on rooftops 

• Best Place to Get a Martini: The Southern

• Favorite Neighborhood: Germantown

Jammber hosts showcase events in every city; writing rounds with emerging singer/songwriters and invited industry friends from some of the top labels in the world. Monthly in Chicago and Nashville.

Thank you to Marcus for sharing his wisdom and speaking with us about this exciting business! To learn more about Jammber, visit www.jammber.com or email hello@jammber.com.