Transcript

How I Built Resilience: Troy Carter of Q&A (June, 2020)

Hey everyone, just a quick announcement before we start the show. So A lot of you may know how much I miss seeing all of you at the live in-person shows that we do around the country during normal times. So I am really excited to finally announce our first how I built this virtual event. It's happening next month with Jay Shetty. Jay is a best selling author, former monk, and wellness coach, and if you're searching for purpose, peace, and clarity in your life, or you're struggling to find meaning and motivation at work, you will not want to miss this conversation. Please join us. It's happening on Thursday March eleventh, and anybody around the world can take part. For more information and tickets,

Head to NPR presents. dot org. And I hope to see you there. Hello everyone and welcome to How I Built This Resilience Edition from NPR. I'm Guy Raz.

Each week, on Thursdays, we invite entrepreneurs and other business leaders to come onto the show live to talk about how they've been building resilience into their businesses this year. And you can join us every Thursday at 9 a.m. Pacific, 12 Eastern on the How I Built This Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn pages, or on NPR's YouTube page to hear the live conversation and maybe even ask a question. And today we're gonna run one of our favorite episodes from the archives, Troy Carter, founder of QA, a music and technology company. Troy grew up in West Philadelphia with no money, no connections, and he rose to become one of the most influential people in the music industry, and one of the kindest as well. Troy has managed like Lady Gaga and John Legend, and he's also founded several of his own media and music companies. We first met about three years ago on the podcast and I talked to him most recently for our resilience series last summer.

And for that conversation We had planned to talk about how the pandemic had disrupted the music industry, and you'll hear we did. But this was back in June, at the height of the protests that were sweeping the country after the death of George Floyd. So of course Troy and I Talked a lot about that too.

How are you talking to your kids about it? You know what my my seventeen year old daughter She was actually at the protest in LA. For me, as scary as it is, you know, to Have her at

One of these protests To be honest, which you is just as scary to be black in America. But Not wanting to stop her from expressing her feelings. And exercising her rights as an American citizen.

And you know, on the phone with my twenty four year old son, as you know, you got protesters going throughout his the neighborhood that he lives. Um just making sure that he's Physically safe. So you know, I think where I think it's a is an eye opening moment for a lot of people in America, just to to be honest, this is like everyday life for a lot of African Americans in in in our country.

And um You know, recently I was on a trip probably five months ago with my YPO forum, which is you know young presidents um organization. And we did a retreat to Mexico City and it's ten of us. We get out of our SUV to pull up to the hotel, all of the guys go in the back to get their bags. And since the moment I go in the back to get my bag, I get attacked by security, like physically.

Attacked by security. Yeah. You know, and I'm the only black guy in my YPO forum. But it was a crazy moment because you know they've heard me talk about this before. But to actually see this in action.

It's just as biased as kind of built in. But I'm glad this is being addressed, and um now it becomes a real conversation. I mean, yeah, I mean, as a parent, Troy, like I'm sure you struggle, right? Because on the one hand, I mean your kids are independent adults, right? And they want to Be there and express

their anger and you want to support that, but also as a parent you're worried about their safety. And I'm sure that must have been kind of an anguishing Thing for you to To go to kind of think about. Yeah, absolutely. And um

It's the reality of of of what we have to deal with though. One of my sons is in the music industry. And I worry about him traveling. These are things that I genuinely worry about. I was on the phone with you know my best friend and co founder Jay Irvin um the other day and um I have this airstream and he called up asking to borrow the airstream to drive from LA to North Carolina where his mother lives.

And his mother called him from North Carolina and said, I'm worried. about you driving down here because You know, the south is still the south. When he and I spoke. It's like this is like a conversation that a mother would have with her son in the fifties or sixties during the civil rights movement.

And the fact that we still have to worry about Our lives as we drive across the country to do to do a road trip. It's just a different set of concerns that. we still live with as parents and as and as citizens And it's hard for people to really understand it. And especially like somebody made a comment in a chat room I was in the other night. About how

Money could change it. And I'm like Money doesn't matter. And power doesn't matter. It's just this bias that that's sort of baked in and the recipe of of of America.

that we've had to live with. But now I think what we've seen that's different with these protests. This is what I consider just a merger of the left behind. Where this just these are white. Black

Asian Hispanic. People that had been you know saddle with student debt people who can't pursue the American dream because of just the way the the economic divide right now. People who feel like, you know, they they're not gonna have their shot. And what we're seeing in the streets right now is just a merger of all of this built up.

Frustration. Yeah, Troy, I In this past decade, you know. We've had Trayvon Martin, we've had so many examples, but I mean it's strange because already ten years ago I I feel like

We started to have these conversations and nothing has changed, and it's um It's just very, very Depressing. Yeah, it is um I wrote a letter to my staff yesterday and'cause it it it took me a while just to kinda even

really talk openly about this. And I reference Rodney King, right? You know, we had technology at that point, which was like the camcorder. You know, with in the till you didn't have technology to sort of address that, right?

And then when we saw the incident with Karen and and the Bird Watcher in Central Park. And we saw, you know. A white woman weaponized Her privilege. And actually

It was Fascinating to me. To actually watch the process. And the octave go up in her voice with fear. That octave was

A dog whistle. That people who who could hear it knew what that note was. Um to see the process of of privilege in action I think hit a nerve with people because people aren't used to actually seeing that and then seeing the innocent person on the other end.

What kinda pissed me off with it though, you know, in the news the next day. You know, I'm reading the New York Post and everything and it's talking about, you know, the guy had a Harvard degree, you know, he he was a bird watcher, he's on the board of this, you know, society and these things. Who cares? You we shouldn't have to justify any of those facts. He shouldn't have to have a Harvard degree or be a bird watcher. to be an innocent person being accused of s of of something like that that could ended up in in

Him being arrested or or his death. And You know, I think within a truncated period of time. People have been able to see

These things all back to back on camera within a matter of a few weeks. At a time when people have had this pent up frustration. From being in their homes, being away from their friends, being away and so people are just bursting at the scene right now and and all of this frustration. What I hope

Is that This isn't a moment. That this isn't just a blip on our historical radar, that this can be A catalyst for change because if this is just the moment, shame on America. You know, Troy, I um I lived in Germany for for two and a half years as a as a reporter

And what what really struck me about Germany and Germany is an imperfect country. There's racism, there's anti semitism But they they embarked on a decades long experiment to reckon with their past. It's not perfect. But they have Become a healthier society and a stronger society. And really a

A more peaceful society because they have made a collective national attempt to reckon with their past. United States has never done that. And it sort of occurs to m to me, I think to to m many people that we're sort of reaping what we sowed as a country. You know, for our failure to

To reckon with. four hundred years of slavery and oppression. So so like in in in America You still have statues of Oppressors.

You know, with Uh like only Five years ago. Uh we were managing Making Trainer. And we went on this concert tour of state fairs.

And this was our first time doing it. So I decided to take my wife and my two daughters We're on a tour bus and we get to Troy, Pennsylvania, ironically. We Got off the bus.

And I remember my one if my daughter who's six now was one, so she was just starting to walk, and and me and my daughter who's seventeen now. We're walking through the fair. And it's all these merch stands with Uh Confederate flags. Uh one after another.

And a guy walked up to me and you know basically said like you know what what what are you doing here? Like, you know, are you a dancer? Like, you know, what like what are you doing here? And this is Pennsylvania. I grew up in Philadelphia. So you would have never and then we went to Ohio after En on stage

It was a Confederate flag. right behind the stage and Charlie Pooth. refused to go on to his sound check. Until they took that flag down. This is five years ago.

So we're still reminded of our place in in this country. So you'll never get the tr to reconciliation. We all know the truth. But we'll never get the reconciliation. That's Troy Carter.

When we come back in just a moment, we'll switch gears a little bit. I'll ask Troy about how the music industry can play a role and what it still has to learn in this very difficult moment. Stay with us, I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to How I Built This. From NPR. And one more thing, the New York Times best selling book, How I Built This, is now available. It's a great read and a great gift for anyone looking for ideas, inspiration, wisdom, and encouragement.

to have the courage to put out an idea into the world. It's filled with tons of stories you haven't heard. About how some of the greatest entrepreneurs you know and respect Started out at the very bottom. Check out how I built this the book.

Available wherever you buy your books. Hey, welcome back to How I Built This Resilience Edition. Troy Carter has built an amazing career in the music industry, and in the early days, he relied on live performances and world tours to grow his clients' fan base. But With concerts canceled for the year and fans stuck at home? I asked Troy what will the music industry look like in the next year or so? The good thing with the music industry

Our product on the the record side is Mostly digital. So you know, we had the luxury of not having to rely on manufacturing plants or trucking and all of those things to get our product. You know, from here to there. And if we were still in the CD business, we'd be really screwed, you know, if if people had to actually go to a store.

To to buy the product. So I think on that side, we're fine. On the touring side is catastrophic. And the reality is we probably won't see this look normal until twenty twenty two, in my opinion. You know, just'cause I I think you have one Still the social distancing.

You think about economically whether people are gonna be able to afford tickets But on a positive side. I think it's gonna accelerate technology in terms of finding better options around live streaming. Yeah. I was just telling a friend recently like The live concert experience is good in one sense, terrible in another sense because

Only a small percentage of people have really good seat because some of the seat is just terrible, like where you don't see the details. And artists work so hard on like these detains and the nuance with lighting and all of these things. And I think technology can provide everybody with a much better seat and a much better experience. So I I don't think live would go completely away, but I do think technology can provide a very rich experience. And if I'm over the age of sixty five. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to a U two or Eagles concert with

A hundred thousand people in the audience, right? Um, so I think you know, seeing some of these legacy bands is gonna be tough. I don't think people are really gonna take that risk, but I do think this is gonna provide a good opportunity. I wanna ask a week actually getting some questions. And this is from Andrea. She's asking, um she says it doesn't feel right to me to be all over social media with anything other than Black Lives Matter content. Or even to release non political music right now. What are your thoughts on releasing music in the coming weeks?

Music is a healer. You know, I think at the end of the day we still need things that are gonna Uh make us smile, bring people together. I think there's gonna be a lot of politically and socially driven music that's born out of this moment. But I do think where where I do agree is

We can't walk away from the subject. We can't pretend that this moment didn't didn't happen. I don't think people should be tone deaf in this moment and not address it. But the way I feel, like last night I got sick of watching the news and I I just needed some Netflix for a second just to take my mind off of it. So so hopefully people are still releasing content where we can step away. And sort of refresh and and have a moment where it just doesn't break us down completely.

Um, this is a question from Will Plays. Do you think that the music industry is is suffering right now? I mean, you can't physically promote music, you can't perform live. I mean, is the industry taking a hit right now? Funny enough, I think it's taking a hit in two ways, right? So I think both crises is showing the vulnerability of the music business. You know, I think with the pandemic, you know, we talked about the fragility of the touring business, promotion business, even down to going out to visit radio stations and promote the records and doing Late night shows and all of that stuff, you know, you s you sort of see what a fragility is. So that's covet related. We're seeing with the sort of racial crisis that's going on.

People talk about how the NFL only has, you know, three or four black coaches and No African Americans in the front office. The music industry is much much worse than the NFL. What black music has contributed financially to the music industry. What black culture has contributed, you know, financially to the music industry.

And when you look at the ratio of actual black executives in the music industry, it's appalling. You actually, believe it or not, have white people that are the heads of black music. with the title at some of these companies. You know, it's and literally you have qualified black executives in the company. But

Actual White people With a title The Head of Black Music. It's like it's crazy. And so

Like the fact that the music industry that prides itself on being progressive Um Providing opportunities Still has these structures in place. And I think the last couple of weeks ha has sort of brought this part of the conversation to to a head as well. It sounds like

If ever there was gonna be a kick in the butt. Now would be that moment. He would hope. It's about being fair, guy. When we think about

Fairness. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna rephrase that because I I I wanna be very, very, very frank. A lot of people are under the impression that it's like, okay Everybody has a has has a shot. We live in a country where everybody has a shot. But when you look at the education system, you look at

Where people actually start from I know for a Fact. My personal journey. Was

Incredibly Yeah for call. And I know how much luck was on my side. I know how much

Things just had to go completely right at any given moment for things to go well. But I had to get very, very lucky to get where I am today. And we don't want handouts.

That's the thing, like where I w I had to explain to somebody this weekend, uh, you know, they're like, okay, we want to do a foundation for black businesses And I'm like, no, it's not a foundation. Like those black businesses should be held to the same standard of

Return on capital. It's just the opportunity to have access to that capital. Have access to the support and training. that why combinator companies make it. Or that you know, first round capital companies may get like

It's just a it's just a matter of Access and even when in places where Certain individuals may fall short. Because they may not have the background. Let's lean in a little bit more.

understand and That there may be a little bit more of a learning curve. But giving them the ability to catch up. That's the part that's challenging. I went through something a couple of years ago, like a dispute. And what I was explaining to the person on the other side of the dispute.

I made a statement along the lines of I said as a black executive There's a lot of other black executives behind me. So You hurting me isn't just hurting me.

It's hurting a lot of black executives behind me. And the person said They actually l said it to T M Z. They said Troy Carter uses the race car. Yeah.

Said the race car, I'm like You're b you're born with the with the deck of cards. You use that deck every single day. So the fact I have to educate you. On the impact.

of what you're doing and how it impacts other people. It the the results are different. If we um If we watch this video. in five or ten years from now, and you could

You can imagine how how this moment who change things or impact things. Um What do you think could happen? I mean, are you it's I don't want to ask if you're hopeful because I hate that question, but it's sort of a version of that question, you know, are you Do you think that this moment can really actually change things and move the needle in a significant way that other moments haven't? If American history teaches us anything

The answer would be no. But as a as a entrepreneur and somebody who is just crazily optimistic about about everything. I am optimistic that This is gonna have An impact on this generation.

Who may not put up with What they're seeing right now. because it impacts them on a personal level as well. So where Race may not impact you. But

I can promise you the lack of economic opportunity is gonna impact a lot of people. That's gonna be the bigger impact guy. Where we have a lot in common in terms of across every single race. And ethnicity

And gender. And religion. Is Economic divide. And with economic divide.

That's when we're gonna see opportunities go away. And so if we're looking in ten years. We're gonna see the impact. that technology is gonna have on a workforce. And how many jobs are gonna go away.

And when we look at where education is Right now. Education won't keep up with technology. Yeah so We need we need to have a lot more empathy right now.

I just beg people. Just be empathetic. Look at what happens in communities in our country. Look at like when people talk about Black on black crime.

People talk about what's what's happened in family structures. Look at the psychological. Impact. That slavery has had on families. Where I can imagine My kids being torn out of my arms.

I can imagine All of these things and so Just have some empathy around this issue. Let's just admit that we got it wrong as a country. And take a step back and try to fix this moving forward.

Let's have some empathy right now. Troy Carter Um Thank you for joining us. Thank you for um being here and your wisdom and um

Hope to see you when we get when we're all able to see each other face to face again. Yes, and thank thank you, guy. And thank thank you for giving us this platform. We appreciate it. Thanks. That's an excerpt from my live conversation back in June of last year with Troy Carter, the founder of QA, a music and technology company. If you want to see the interview in its entirety or any of our past live interviews, You can find them on the How I Built This Facebook page or at youtube.com slash NPR. And if you want to join our conversations live and maybe even ask questions, They happen every Thursday at nine Pacific noon eastern. If you want to find out more about the How I Built This Resilience series or other virtual NPR live events,

you can go to nprpresents dot org. This episode was produced by Candice Lim with help from Liz Metzger, Farah Safari, Casey Howard, Bruce Grant El Mannion, Gianna Capadona, John Isabella, Julia Carney, Neva Grant, and Jeff Rogers. Our intern is Janet Ujong Li. Thanks for listening, stay safe, and I'll see you back here in a few days. I'm Guy Raz and you've been listening. To how I built this Resilience Edition.

From NPR.