#021: Robb McDaniels, Beatport CEO & Music Industry Disruptor

Robb McDaniels always knew he wasn't going to spend the rest of his life working in merchant banking, where he started his career. He knew the pull of the dance music scene that he loved so much was going to get him in the end. Yet when he started his first company, to bring the UK dance music he loved to the USA digitally (this was pre iTunes...), he couldn't even name all the major record labels... Roll forward a few years, and that company - INgrooves - was handling digital distribution for over four million tracks in the States, and counted one of those labels, the Universal Music Group, as a client. Robb was in demand as a music industry investor, while his entrepreneurial streak led him to start a management services company, which ended up working with names like Thievery Corporation and Paul Oakenfold. Nowadays he heads up electronic download store Beatport, and is spearheading that company's drive into streaming with Beatport LINK, as well as expanding its reach to the more mainstream pop, Latin and hip-hop music scenes via its collaboration with DJCity: Beatsource. In this episode of Tales From The Dancefloor, Robb looks back over his rise, shares some great stories from the music industry, and gives his thoughts on what comes next in dance culture.