How one musician composed her behind-the-scenes business future

At a 2010 industry event in Los Angeles, Kristen Agee waited in line to meet Darryl Jones, bassist for the Rolling Stones since 1993. She had one simple question: “Can you teach me bass lessons?”

Agee was already a touring musician at the time and a lifelong fan of music, receiving her first drum kit when she was five years old. She wanted to learn from one of the greats.

Jones said no.

But, days later he picked up the phone and told Agee he had changed his mind. She thinks it’s because he was ready to pass his knowledge on to the next generation. “I think he got to this point in his career where he wanted to start giving back,” Agee told Founder Brew. “He took me under his wing.”

Jones taught Agee about more than the bass. “It was in his lessons that I realized that the longevity of music was in copyrights and ownership of music and recordings. I shifted gears from trying to be a hired bassist to starting this company,” she said.

“It was this turning point for me,” she told Founder Brew. “I can be a famous ‘rock star,’ or bassist, or be on stage and tour, or I can go and start this company. And I went with the latter because it just was the right vibe for me.”

In 2012, Agee started 411 Music Group, a publishing company that manages music rights and synchronization (when a song is used in visual media like a TV show, movie trailer, advertisement, or music video). According to Agee, the company has sound-designed trailers for major releases like Oppenheimer and licensed music for the recent documentary on girl group Katseye.

In an interview with Founder Brew, Agee laid out what it was like to switch from being a career creative to a small business founder.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What made you decide to start a licensing company?

Because I liked a lot of different styles of music, doing synchronization work really made sense for me. I worked a little bit on the label side, I worked in studios, and having to pick one specific lane of only rock, only pop, only hip-hop wasn’t for me…Just generally not being pigeonholed into one single category of one thing, like being a bassist that felt limiting to me and felt like it didn’t have so much longevity. Starting a company and being able to oversee the whole process felt more like I had control of my future.

DId you see it as a way to supplement your income or it was your main focus?

I did keep composing and writing for other people and performing while I was growing the company for many years…But, the focus was always on the company, and I always felt like there were people who were always going to be better composers, better producers, better engineers than me. My role I really saw as being good at aggregating music, executive producing music, and putting people together.

The bit for me was accepting that I wasn’t going to be composing anymore because I grew up playing music my whole life. Being a classical violinist and then not having time to do that or to compose, everybody kept asking me, “Do you miss composing? Do you miss violin? Is this really the direction you want to take?” Ultimately, I say now, people still ask me this, and I say “If I wanted to play violin, I would.” I would find time for it, even though I have kids and a more than full-time job and there’s no time. You find time to do the things that you love.

What business knowledge had you already soaked up from being in the industry? And what did you still need to learn?

I had read agreements as a composer, so I knew how to red-line agreements, and I understood basic terms…I actively chose to learn about it and actively chose to ask other business owners who had started music libraries and sync houses how they did it: Who was the owner? Did they get funding? Was there a process? I read all their agreements as a composer, and then I had an attorney I would run things by. But in the beginning, you just can’t afford attorneys, so I did a lot of it by myself.

What would you have done differently starting out?

It’s good to partner with people. I just did it by myself and it was hard because I was on my own. My advice to composers or artists who are starting is to work with other people, partner with people, and don’t be scared to do it. I remember originally I wrote a lot of songs and I was like, “These are amazing songs. I should hold on to them because Katy Perry’s going to cut them,” or whatever, but then they just sat on my hard drives and collected dust. I always encourage people to get the songs out there and get your work seen by others, and really just partner with people to try to get something going. For me, that’s been the most interesting part of my work now, is having people to work with, to bounce ideas off of, and then they can fill in the gaps where I’m not as good at things. You don’t have to do it by yourself. It’s an easier road when you have other people working with you, alongside you, and pushing for the same goal.