Today we’d like to introduce you to Woot Johnson.
Woot, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ll start by saying music chose me. I didn’t choose music. I graduated college in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Communications Arts. I knew that I was very creative, very talented, and had a very entrepreneurial spirit about myself, but I was lost. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. Ultimately, I entered corporate America and took a job at Enterprise, the rental car company. I worked hard and was able to climb through the ranks to become a branch manager, operating my own stores.
At the same time, I felt like God was trying to get my attention. Random people were beginning to reach out to me to manage them as artists, and I didn’t know where it was coming from. I begin to consider the management and people skills I’d gained working with Enterprise. So, in the span of four to five months, two or three people reached out to me about managing them and I quickly declined because I just didn’t see that for myself. I thought of music as a hobby or something fun to do. I didn’t see the potential to grow myself, my brand, or business within it. A few months later, people were still contacting me and I decided to take a step back and check-in with myself spiritually to explore my true purpose. I was still fostering and strengthening my relationship with God as well as praying and seeking direction. So, when the last couple of people reached out to me, I didn’t dismiss it. I took some time to consider it more deeply.
I originally started out assisting an artist out of Dallas, helping him with networking, scheduling video shoots, and getting him acquainted with the city. He had just moved to Atlanta. One of my co-workers saw and heard about what I was doing for this artist and wanted to introduce me to her little sister. She thought her sister had the talent and capability to pursue music. Her sister, Asia Graves, is now my client today and is a rising R&B sensation to look out for. At the time I was introduced to Asia, I had relationships with people in the music industry, but it wasn’t easy to get started. I reached out to one of my good friends in the industry who had a lot of connections. We scheduled a meeting which went well; however, after some thought, I didn’t feel it was the direction I wanted to go with Asia as far as her music career.
Coupled with beginning to manage Asia in 2015, I was introduced to my now business partner Keyz, ½ of the Grammy award-winning producer duo Ayo N Keyz. We’d met through some mutual friends and developed a genuine friendship. There was no music business involved. Yet, I was trying to figure out what to do with Asia. I decided to reach out to him for assistance and invited him to dinner. I laid it all on the table. I let him know. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do to get her music career off the ground. I just knew she had the talent, the look, and I saw a superstar in her. I realized I needed the help, and he was all for it. I recall him saying, “whatever you need, let me know, bring her to the studio tomorrow.” The rest is history. From that day forward, Keyz and I have been side by side. I started coming around, sitting in as many studio sessions as I could in order to learn. I learned about the writing process and soaked up as much information as I could on the music industry, both creatively and from a business standpoint. People were willing to help and they accepted me quickly within that circle.
2015-2017 was all about educating myself on music, in and out. We’d begun investing in Asia out of pocket with our personal funds. But for me, it wasn’t about the money. It was about the vision, the goals and where we wanted to be. Keyz and Ayo were also revamping their business, the Upperclassman Music Group (UCMG). We sat down and talked about their vision and where they wanted their company to be. They wanted to sign more talent. That meant more artists, more producers, more writers, and staff. All goals they originally set out to accomplish. They were blessed in being able to accomplish those goals, becoming key players in some big records with Cardi B, Yo Gotti, Ty Dolla $ign, Chris Brown, Wale, and more. This led to more opportunities and as they were growing as a duo, so was UCMG. We were able to expand and run an efficient company. Keyz asked that I come on board to do management and A&R. We ended up signing more producers, then writers, and eventually, I ended up co-managing every producer on the label.
From there, I started to assert myself. I really wasn’t making money. It was about gaining the knowledge, expanding my network, and increasing opportunities. I didn’t deserve the money at that time because I hadn’t put the work in that warranted me to receive a paycheck. So we worked, grinded it out, and moved around the city. Keyz started introducing me to some execs in the industry, such as Chris Jones, the SVP at Atlantic, Tuo Clark, the SVP at Def Jam, Ray Daniels at Warner, and Chubby Baby, who helped Future’s career. As I began to maneuver in more influential circles, I asked the right questions and learned from these guys. I picked their brains on how to gain success in the music industry and they provided me with as much game as I needed.
From there, I just started to build a brand for myself, and that’s where I’d say it started. People would recognize my face and look into my story. I am now head of A&R and Publishing for The UCMG. At the top of this year, I accepted another Lead A&R position with Songtrust/Downtown Music Publishing based out of New York, in which I head operations in Atlanta. Last, I have my own management firm, WootXclusive. So, I get to wear many different hats in the music industry.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Anyone who knows the music industry as well as I do, knows that it can be filled with empty promises, a lot of over-promising and under-delivering. There’s just a lot of smoke in mirrors. With that being said, there’s been a lot of times when I’ve been told things were going to happen, “we’re gonna sign this artist,” “this placement is gonna come out,” but nothing happened. So early on, there were a lot of things I had to learn. There’s a lot of darkness that exists in entertainment, and I had to grasp that everything is not always what it seems. Coming from corporate America, when we say we’re gonna do something, we’re gonna do it, and we mean that.
The music industry has its own rules, and there are no guarantees or anything to solidify verbal commitments or “contracts.” Verbal agreements mean nothing in the music industry. So there were a lot of bumps in the roads. There was a lot of time and money spent on building artists up and placing producers in rooms, and sometimes nothing came out of it. But at the end of the day, we had a goal and a purpose. Sticking to the plan was critical to gaining leverage in any situation. What’s meant for you will always be for you, and I’m a strong believer in that.
Please tell us about The Upperclassmen Music Group (UCMG) and SongTrust Music Publishing.
The Upperclassmen Music Group is a full-service boutique record label, meaning we sign artists to deals, we manage producers/writers/singers, we offer a variety of publishing and co-publishing deals, and we also offer administration services.
What do I specialize in? I wear many, many hats. On one end, I manage my artist, Asia Graves. As management, we’re helping her work towards getting a deal with a major label. We facilitate the creative process of rolling out her projects and are moving her around to get as much exposure as possible. I manage a few multi-platinum producers who have placements with Teyana Taylor, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Eric Bellinger, PnB Rock and more. Ultimately I am responsible for building their careers. My role in that is to make sure they are securing placements and building those relationships with artists.
I am also the head of publishing for The UCMG. We’ve started a publishing entity where we are able to sign talent to co-publishing deals. I’m the first one to look into these deals and figure out what would be the best situation for artists/producers, and what we can offer them as far as publishing services. Most recently, we’ve started an administration entity where we are helping unsigned artists/creatives in the industry to collect their royalties. We’re doing this in an effort to expand our brand and our position in the industry.
What I am most proud of as a company, is that literally, every single goal we have written down and talked about has become a reality. I’m proud of the success of our younger producers, artists, and songwriters because everyone has a major placement at this point, and everyone’s career is growing and advancing. We are a family-oriented company, and everyone just wants to see each other win and succeed. The biggest thing that sets us apart is that there are no egos. Everybody just wants to see the next person win and we have a supportive vibe. When you have this type of behavior amongst a company, it allows the company to grow. When one of us wins, we all win. We laugh together, eat together, pray together, travel together, whatever. One team, one dream, that’s the key to success.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would honestly probably do everything the exact same way. I believe everything I had to endure, the trials and tribulations, and the sacrifices that had to be made were essential. Or else, I wouldn’t be able to be the rising music executive I am today. I wouldn’t be here without my experiences, the late-night studio conversations, and without the “grunt” and dark side of the music industry. I had to go through all of that to get here. It taught me understanding, how to persevere, and how to overcome adversity. Even where my career started. The corporate America jobs and opportunities taught me how to deal with people from different backgrounds, operate efficiently, professionalism, structure, and overall how a business should be run from the ground up.
Those skills have been transferable to my current business and the music industry as a whole. Having that foundation has taught me how to be organized and carry that mentality over to the music, which is a huge advantage on my end. Those moments built character for me. I needed to see the good, the bad, and the ugly that comes with the music industry. It taught me patience and how to better assess situations, so everything I’ve gone through has definitely taught me a valuable lesson and I wouldn’t change anything about it. I believe the lessons that I endured are ultimately going to make me one of the biggest music execs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theucmg.com
- Email: wootxclusive@theucmg.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theucmg/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.songtrust.com/
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