Meet Forbs West | Rising Music Industry Professional

We had the good fortune of connecting with Forbs West and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Forbs, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The reason why I started The Media Industry Guru podcast was because I love helping out people. A lot of students and people in their 20s don’t have the time, bandwidth, or resources. In college, I was an anomaly in that I was able to hustle and garner internships at WVUE News 8, Irwin Entertainment (Produced: NBC Tonight Lilly Singh), Atlantic Records, Red Light Management, TikTok, and SiriusXM. Also, it is a great way for rising professionals, industry executives, creatives, and more to promote their upcoming professional and personal goals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I do four primary things currently.

I work as Programming Specialist at SiriusXM (under Pandora Music). During the day, I uplift artists through curation and pitching new ideas to develop in EDM and Kids and Family Genres. I have created channels such as StudyJams: Elementary, Middle and High School, PE Pump, and for national video games day this past year Power On: Gaming Music. These are all featured on Pandora Music. I love being able to pitch new creative ideas to the team in order to target new consumers.

My primary entrepreneurial spirit stems from my podcast, The Media Industry Guru (starting in 2021) which weekly educates others on the different sectors of the entertainment business and provides accessibility with a plethora of resources to those that do not have them. I have developed over 160 episodes and releases one a week on Tuesdays at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST.

I also provide artist management consulting services with rising artists in LA, NY, and Nashville including Bruce Gordon, Brett Altman, Adi Wineland, and Rosso Rosso and is currently in the process of expanding his roster.

While juggling these, I’ve also been getting my MBA by night at NYU Stern specializing in Finance and Strategy. I sit on the board of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association as the VP of Treks and Student Engagement hosting company visit engagements for students who don’t come tend to come from a traditional media background. I have hosted company visits including at: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Downtown Music Publishing, Live Nation Entertainment, Warner Music Group amongst others.

One of my biggest challenges especially in college was comparing myself to others. I saw a lot of peers in Los Angeles and New York garnering opportunities within the entertainment landscape and thought it was initially difficult to get opportunities in New Orleans. Yet, I was totally wrong!

It was all about the hustle. I started my music industry journey my junior year of college in 2019 creating a self-designed double major in mathematics and music business at Tulane University. In order to get his self-designed major in music business approved (paired with his math major) I wrote three petitions to the dean and a proposal on why this would help his academic and professional endeavors. This changed his career path. Once I got my first internships at Irwin Entertainment, and Live Nation, it was all downhill from there. Timing, and persistence are key. Don’t give up and a no isn’t a no forever. It’s a maybe for now.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In Los Angeles, I would take my friends to some of the most iconic venues especially Whisky A Go Go, The Troubadour, The Peppermint, Walt Disney Concert Hall. It would be a music tour of Los Angeles. We’d also eat at some of my favorite spots in North Hollywood and DTLA including Republic of Pie, the eateries at Grand Central Market, Ospi Italian Pizza, and obviously In N Out. As far other experiences, hiking near the Hollywood sign, running along Venice Boardwalk. So much to do in such a short week!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to first and foremost thank my parents for their encouragement and support throughout this journey. Initially I applied to professional fraternities in college and unfortunately was rejected my first year. My dad encouraged me to find an outlet in music as I was passionate about that. I sought out radio as he thought it would be a great outlet since I couldn’t stop talking. I’m glad that the initial fraternity rejection happened!

Furthermore, I would like to thank my mentors along the way. There are so many that I cannot list out all of them but some of them include: Tel Baillet (WTUL New Orleans), Vanessa Mojica (SiriusXM), John Snyder (Loyola New Orleans), Ari Temkin (SiriusXM), Jonathan Beckerman (UTA), Jon Peck (Apple), and Cathy Borruso (SiriusXM). I would also like to thank some of the best HR recruiters out there including Molly Kemper (WME), Alison Rivera (SiriusXM) to name a few who have given professional transparency throughout my journey.

Additionally, I would like to thank VoyageLA, Shoutout LA, and CanvasRebel for sharing my story.

Finally, I would like to thank all of these artists out there that have supported me along this journey. Without you I wouldn’t have grown to be the professional who I am today and especially a shoutout to my first client and formerly Jank Setup in New Orleans.

Website: anchor.fm/forbs-west2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forbzwest/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forbs-west/

Other: Media Industry Guru Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mediaindustryguru/?hl=en
If you’re interested in Forbs’ management consulting services, please email forbswest1998@gmail.com. If you’re interested in being featured on his podcast, please email: mediaindustrygurupodcast@gmail.com

Image Credits
NYU Stern-Entertainment, Media, and Sports Association-Los Angeles Sony Pictures Entertainment Trek Yellowbrick-40 Under 40 Publication SiriusXM+Pandora-Power On: Gaming Music