Nick Cianfaglione of Artist Republik
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Nick Cianfaglione, the founder and CEO of Artist Republik, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Artist Republik – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
Over the past 8 years, I have worked in pretty much every aspect of the music industry. From tour management, show promotion, event management, event marketing, artist marketing, and more, and through all of it, I was able to see how many flaws and fatal errors the music industry had. Over time, as I continued to see these flaws, I started to realize that they were not one off or isolated, but rather massive structural failures in the music industry that continue to impose a financial and exponential burden on music artists, independent venues, music industry vendors, and more.
I knew there had to be a better way for the music industry to operate, and that is how the idea of Artist Republik came to fruition. I realized that a lot of the structural failures can be fixed through removing the middleman, altering the fee structures, and building a digital system that hosts all the systems an artist needs, and in return, we let the artist control what they do, when they do it, and how much they do. Ultimately, we are building an open format marketplace for the music industry that puts the power back in the hands of the creator instead of the middlemen.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
I think one of the biggest hurdles was building a tech company as a person who has no background in coding or technology. Prior to Artist Republik, the most advanced thing I knew about technology was how to set up a VPN and build a Wix website! But early on, I surrounded myself with a lot of really strong mentors and talented developers who were able to fill in my knowledge gap and thus helped me push forward without having an extensive technology background of my own.
What does the future hold for Artist Republik?
I truly believe the future is very bright for Artist Republik. Like an iceberg floating in the ocean, the world has only seen about 5 or 10% of what we have planned. This company is designed for long term innovation and success, and we are nowhere near done. I am super excited to show the world what we have up our sleeves and how we are ready to change the music industry forever.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Providence?
I truly love it. I think Providence is one the best places to start a company! It has the resources, the talent, the innovative spaces, the fun after work activities, and a lot of other entrepreneurs who all support one another. It’s really an amazing environment.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Never give up. I know entrepreneurs hear this a lot, but it is so true. I am coming up on my 9th year in the music industry. I have over 5 different startups under my belt – some succeeded, some failed. But throughout them all, I rolled with the punches, never gave up, and just kept on moving until I found one project that really hit the market and was well developed – I then dived 1000% in. The other part of not giving up is not giving up on networking. Every success that we have had with Artist Republik has come from continuous and relentless networking with other people in the industry such as investors, marketers, mentors, industry leaders, artists, and more. So whatever you do in your entrepreneurial journey, just don’t give up.