Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Langston.
Ethan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life. I played in bands growing up and was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to tour with an established artist relatively early in my career. I knew at that point that, while touring was such a cool experience, being a road warrior (nor studio production work, which I also dabbled in) wasn’t what I wanted for myself. But I definitely wanted to stay in and around music.
My first job out of college was at an artist management company called Blind Ambition, a boutique company that represents a number of Grammy award-winning Americana acts. I worked there for several years before joining forces with my current business partner, Michael Morrison, to form Groundwork Music, an artist management and development company working with primarily pop artists.
As the Chief Operating Officer at Groundwork, I oversee pretty much everything going on in every one of our artists’ careers on a daily basis. It’s a lot to keep track of, but it’s worth it for the big wins – when you see your artist on stage at the Grammys, in Rolling Stone, on Good Morning America… Even better if you’re there with them! Plus, I get to work with some pretty cool people – my artists and colleagues feel like some of my closest friends at the end of the day.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m not sure I know anyone that works in music (especially entrepreneurs) that would call their journey a “smooth road.” There’s a lot of allure to working in the music industry, but it requires a lot of time and energy that often goes unrewarded (at least in a monetary sense). At Blind Ambition, I started out at the bottom of the totem pole, as most music industry employees do. I was working part-time on a modest hourly wage and doing work I didn’t always particularly enjoy. After learning the ropes and showing my willingness to get into the weeds, I was given more responsibility and eventually was given my own clients to oversee.
So much of our work at Blind Ambition revolved around our artists’ tours, which obviously came to a screeching halt during COVID. That was a hurdle at first glance, but all of the downtime allowed me to refocus and hone in on long-term goals, which ended up leading me to co-found Groundwork Music with my business partner, Michael. Since founding the company, we’ve encountered a number of obstacles, but that’s just part of trying to build your own business from the ground up.
We’ve been impressed with Groundwork Music, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Groundwork Music is composed primarily of Groundwork Artist Management and Groundwork Artist Development. We started out as a management company with a focus on early-stage artist development. Our goal from the start has been to scout early-stage pop talent regardless of follower and streaming numbers in an industry that is so numbers-centric because we’re firm believers that with the right team (doing the right work), the best talent rises to the top.
Over time, as our roster has grown in size and some of our artists have moved from the “developing” to the “established” category, we made the decision to officially launch “Groundwork Development” alongside the management company to make it clear that, while have made a name for ourselves in scouting and developing talent, we are still an artist management company at our core. One unique aspect of our company is that we have a dedicated in-house marketing and branding team, as we strongly believe that having a unique and cohesive artist brand is essential to succeeding as a music artist.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk is an unavoidable part of building a business, but finding the line between ‘enough to grow’ and ‘over-exposed’ is difficult. I’m grateful to have a collaborative team environment that allows us to assess risk and decide on a path forward together.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.groundworkmgmt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundworkmgmt
Image Credits
ColeCreatives
Rachel Grae
Thomas Nguyen
