Marauder Celebrates 10 Years in Business

Marauder creates marketing and development programs that directly benefit music communities. By tailoring solutions to each client's unique needs, campaigns are built to ensure long-term growth and sustainability for both the client and its beneficiaries. This award-winning firm strategically integrates brand marketing, special events, and relationship building to drive B2B awareness, community engagement, and consumer adoption.

Recognized globally for its support of the independent music sector, Marauder has enhanced the industry presence of organizations such as Eventim, NIVA (National Independent Venue Association), the European Union, M for Montreal, and Midtopia. Through the creation and management of marketing campaigns and professional programs, Marauder has facilitated millions of dollars in new revenue and hundreds of valuable professional connections within the music industry.

Some of Marauder's milestones over the last decade include...

• At the onset of the pandemic, Marauder organized the first Zoom call with independent venues and stakeholders to discuss COVID-19’s disruption of the industry and its impact on independent venues. This call directly led to the rapid formation of NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) and the #SaveOurStages campaign, which resulted in the passage of the historic $16 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant relief program.
  
  
• Marauder brought Independent Venue Week to the United States in 2018. The event promotes businesses and organizations that are the backbone of the country’s live industry. The last Independent Venue Week Marader produced included over 400 participating venues from 220 cities in all 50 states and Washington, DC.
  
  
• Marauder created and produced the Port Authority Music Export Academy, an eight-month business accelerator program for non-American music professionals looking to export their priority projects to the U.S. Each participant received one-on-one and peer guidance to develop additional competency and business opportunities.
  
  
• For years, Marauder has helped See Tickets North America with its marketing efforts. Through creating the “See Tickets Welcomes” campaign, Marauder was able to help the ticketing platform acquire an unprecedented hundreds of new venue clients and generate millions of dollars in new revenue.
  
  
• When first working with A2IM to produce Indie Week, Marauder successfully pitched the idea to pay what were previously volunteer staff positions. Paying on-site event staff has continued at A2IM and is a tenet in the work Marauder does producing NIVA’s annual conference as well. Being a driving force to the two most prominent voices of America’s independent music industry changing what were previously accepted industry norms is something we’re quite proud of.

What does being 'independent' mean to Marauder?

Being independent is about keeping one’s autonomy while building beneficial relationships with others, especially in the sense of with whom you do business. We are firm believers that independence doesn’t equate to being alone.

What's on the cusp for the Marauder team?

We are helping to launch RockBox USA, an out-of-home digital ad service, in independent music venues across the country. This is an opportunity for venues of all sizes to earn passive revenue. It’s the first time American independent venues will have collective access to these media buyers that otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to connect with so many individual operators.

Later this summer, we’re throwing ourselves a birthday party (you should come), which will be a nice opportunity to hang out with old and new friends alike.

We’re also launching a few new programs soon that are designed to bring different sectors of the music industry together in meaningful ways; the driving force is to expose people to creative and professional opportunities in ways that work for our overstimulated and often-exhausted selves.

What's been the key to Marauder's success?

What people see from the outside is only one aspect of the company. Though we take great care to achieve quality results and certainly have our own expectations of success, we spend a lot of time (and we mean, a lot of time) on ourselves as a team. We do our best to support one another internally, both with work projects and giving people the room to be human.

When we realized that having discretionary time off meant fewer people often used it, we incorporated a minimum number of days each person is expected to take off. As a small business, this can mean that the workload shifts to those that are still around. To address this, we shut the office down for the last week of August each year to make sure folks have a chance to fully step away from their inbox and not shift the burden to someone else. We do our best to incorporate the whole staff in which projects we take on, or have their voice heard where there are concerns. We don’t get it right all the time, but we at least try to create an environment where people’s concerns can be heard and, hopefully, addressed.

What sets you apart from other companies in this business?

We’re fortunate that our clients see the benefit in developing community-based campaigns that create meaningful cultural and economic returns for everyone involved. In helping others, often those with fewer resources or constrained finances, our clients are able to build long-lasting programs that have the ability to affect generations, not just a product cycle.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to launch their own music company or label?

Know who you are prior to getting started. There will be plenty of opportunities to challenge your values throughout an entrepreneurial journey, potentially distracting or detracting from the reason you’ve taken such a challenging path. Having ideals clearly defined will steer the business toward the right opportunities for it and you.

Keep up with Marauder's journey!