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2 Oct, 2015

Leaves Atom Factory, launches Friends At Work

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Stiklorius leaves Atom Factory to start Friends At Work, her own own management company, where she will work with Lindsey Stirling and John Legend. Carter:

The only thing that I love as much as artists are entrepreneurs, and Ty has the makings of a great one. Although I’m sad to see her leave, I’m grateful for our time together and extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last three years. She and John are going to build a great company that will help other artists and have an impact on the community. They’ll always be a part of our family here at Atom Factory.

9 Sep, 2015

SMASHD Labs inductees announced

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Carter announces the first inductees into the SMASHD Labs accelerator program.

We want to be able to open the door to companies to come into our network where we can actually invest money, put a network of investors around them, and put mentors in the room that can help them build a great company.

Inductees include WeTransfer, a file transfer service:

All of our clients on the music side use WeTransfer, so here we have this opportunity to reach 70 million people per month through advertising.

Trakfire, a Product Hunt for music:

Without giving too much away about what they’re working on, it’s the most well-thought out and efficient way of discovering new music I’ve seen so far.

Sidestep, which lets fans order fan gear directly to their concert seats or their house.

You go into the venues and there’s a huge drop-off rate in the merch lines. People don’t want to miss parts of the concert.

Throne, an Ebay for streetwear, which he had seen at a demo day:

The problem with when you look at eBay is that you can put a pair of Jordans next to a frying pan. It’s an altogether different experience compared to having some editorial around it and well-curated experience

Podium, which gives tablets to Uber and Lyft riders:

Having a captive audience in the back of Lyft or an Uber is a pretty great place.

Enrou, a marketplace where buyers can support both the individuals and communities that they buy from. Carter saw the founders on Forbes 30 under 30 list and wanted the company to apply for SMASHD.

This was a company that really checked a box that we were looking for in how can we combine social impact around global culture.

12 Aug, 2015

Licenses ‘All of Me’

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Thomas Sabo licenses John Legend’s All of Me for a two-year marketing campaign to promote the Love Bridge collection, which features bracelets with a sterling silver, 18-carat rose or yellow gold-plated bar designed to be engraved with a personal message. TV ads will start on October 31.

It’s the best love song of the past 20 years and you can see why it sits so well with our new Love Bridge collection…While there are no exclusivity arrangements for the song, it’s crucial for us to combine the very romantic and delicate nature of the recently launched Love Bridge collection with unique imagery as created by photographer Ellen von Unwerth with the most emotional and romantic song imaginable. This is what we believe makes this international campaign really exclusive.

22 Jul, 2015

Billboard interview

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Carter talks about why he started SMASHD Labs to Billboard.

There’s definitely a huge amount of accelerators out there, but there was a void for one that focused on brand, and that’s a space we have a lot of experience at and that makes this unique. Selfishly, it works for the Atom Factory — by being able to put 25 of the smartest entrepreneurs from around the world in your office. We get a lot of value out of that as well…[I want] A diverse team — the crux of my personal mission is to open up entrepreneurship to everybody, so Silicon Valley doesn’t have a patent on innovation. We want to open up the process to people outside of that network — the team would be diverse, hard-working entrepreneurs with technical expertise that are looking to gain traction on their product.

On the importance of data:

There’s always going to be a place for artists — but when you look at what humans have actually done to devalue music, from a pure monetary valuation standpoint, this is the part where our industry needs a lot of help. SoundCloud is worth its $1.5 billion valuation, but there’s no way in the world that SoundCloud should be worth more than The Beatles’ catalog. From a value proposition, we have a huge opportunity to re-value our business… I think the music is undervalued. I think up to this point we’ve done a poor job of valuing our content.

Announces SMASHD Labs tech accelerator

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Carter announces SMASHD Labs, an LA-based accelerator. SMASHD Labs will take between five and seven young tech companies whose focus is entertainment and culture and house them for 10 weeks in Atom Factory’s office, providing them with $50,000 in funding for 3% of the company, as well as providing a weekly “curriculum” in order to focus and define their idea.

Atom Factory Presents: Smashd Labs Season 1

11 Sep, 2014

NBC News interview

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Carter is interviewed by Shriver for NBC News.

I know how to pick really good people. From great artists to great partners. I call it my ‘West Philly Spidey Senses’.

On women:

I attract really strong women! My wife is CFO of the company and the CFO of the house…and mother of five. My COO is a woman. The president of my company is a woman. I surround myself with really, really strong women.

5 Mar, 2014

Named co-presidents

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Erving and Stiklorius are named co-presidents of Atom Factory by Carter. Carter:

J and I have a long history, dating back to 2000 when we co-founded Erving Wonder Management. He has proven to be an exceptional deal maker and music manager. Ty has been an incredible addition to the team.  Her strategic thinking and creativity has given the company and our clients a tremendous amount of added value.  I’m looking forward to having the two of them help grow and scale our management business.

Erving:

Troy and I both grew up in Philly and have been friends since early on in our careers. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he has accomplished, and I am looking forward to adding value to the Atom Factory platform; whether it is in branding, technology, or management.

Stiklorius:

Atom Factory provides an innovative and creative platform for artists to thrive in, and I am pleased to partner with Troy and J to help lead the company in continuing to push the boundaries of what a forward-thinking artist management company can be.

10 Jan, 2014

Hires Carter as manager

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Mayer hires Carter as his manager, the first time Carter’s will work with a major rock artist. A source says they met through mutual friends:

It’s just getting started but great new things will be announced as the year progresses.

23 Oct, 2013

Announces $75M+ tech fund

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Carter, through AF Square, announces the formation of a new fund of between $75 million and $100 million, which will invest mostly in seed and Series A stages. He doesn’t say where the money is coming from, but that he’ll be taking the same approach with his investments as he takes with the musicians he brings in under his management. He describes his investment strategy as:

Opportunistic

22 Apr, 2013

Signs Carter as manager

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Stirling signs Carter as her manager. Carter first discovers Stirling through Atom Factory’s Stiklorius, who encourages her boss to check out Stirling’s YouTube channel. He flies to Orlando, FL., to check out one of her gigs, and is impressed by her ability to sell out a 1,200-seat venue without any mainstream radio support. Stirling has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, a sold-out European tour and has sold 108,000 copies of her self-titled, self-released album. Carter:

By looking at the numbers, automatically you could see this girl knew how to move the needle and understood YouTube was a venue to engage fans both online and offline.

Several companies had approached Stirling about representation:

After every other meeting I remember feeling so confused. But with Atom Factory, they were up to date on current things and trying new stuff all the time, and I felt so creatively alive when I met with them.

5 Aug, 2012

Hires Carter as manager

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Chopra hires Carter as her manager. Carter:

She’s a triple threat—she has the ability to sing, dance, and act which is a rare trait amongst artists. She will be the first bonafide pop artist to come directly out of India. The primary plan is to let the music speak for itself. Priyanka and Red One made a great record that we think will stand on its own. People won’t buy the music just because she is who she is. We want them to buy it because it’s good. PC’s strength is her work ethic. She’s one of the hardest working artists that I know. I was really impressed by the level of dedication she’s given to the recording process. She’s approached it in a manner that a seasoned artist would approach it.

7 Jun, 2012

Banks, Carter split

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Carter confirms he is no longer working with Banks:

I can confirm that I ended the business relationship with Azealia last month on very amicable terms. She’s incredibly talented and I wish her nothing short of an amazing career.

18 Apr, 2012

Hires Carter as manager

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Banks signs Carter as her manager.

I just switched management.. Literally like three days ago, and have a whole new set of resources to take advantage of. We’re gonna vamp this up and make it official.. No more ghetto mixes and closet recording.. I have a budget now.

2012

Founds AF Square, A\IDEA

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Under the umbrella of Atom Factory, Carter founds A\IDEA, a product development and branding agency, and AF Square, an angel fund and technology consultancy that holds interests in many technology companies at various stages of growth.

2010

Founds Atom Factory

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Carter founds Atom Factory, a “multi-dimensional entertainment and artist management company” based in Los Angeles, CA, where he serves as chairman and chief executive officer. He says the company can be much more than a simple artist-management firm.

It was more about building a platform on top of music—because music, we realized, sells everything but music.