I’m a musician…
I’m a songwriter, singer, saxophonist, guitarist, keyboardist, producer, and engineer - you can listen to a bunch of music I’ve been a part of via this playlist
I’ve made music in the studio and/or on stage with folks like Jon batiste, Sufjan Stevens, ra ra riot, Panama wedding, Pete Francis of dispatch, Hiromi, Peter Himmelman, Ryan Andrews, Rebecca Brandt, miles, and many others
I received an American songwriting award for a song of mine called “smokescreen”
I was shortlisted for a grammy award for producing Rebecca brandt’s “numbers & shapes”
2024: my main musical focus is an artist project called J. Bryan Marcus, comprised of Ryan Andrews, ben jacobs, and myself
I’m an entrepreneur…
I co-founded “decisiondesk”, the first multimedia-enabled online application for colleges, in use at thousands of universities worldwide. acquired by embark.
I founded “wifi music school”, an online marketplace for private music lessons via Skype with some of the top musicians and educators in the world. acquired by flint hills music.
I was listed as one of Bloomberg Businessweek’s Top 25 entrepreneurs for my work starting “CitizenGroove” (later renamed to “DecisionDesk”)
2024: my main entrepreneurial focus is a project I created called “Beast”, which is a bespoke a.i. that completely rethinks music marketing. currently in use for both independent and major-label acts.
I’m a professor…
I teach at nyu’s Clive Davis institute of recorded music
sometimes creating art, sometimes creating business plans; I get to blend my interests in music and entrepreneurship and teach students to architect sustainable (and hopefully profitable) careers in the music industry
a conversation series I host at the university has brought in some of the most influential names in music, technology, and business, including Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter & Square), Scooter Braun (manager to Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Kanye West), Ryan Holiday (best-selling author), Theo Katzman & Jack Stratton (Vulfpeck), Rostam (Vampire Weekend), Rob Moose (Phoebe Bridgers), Merck Mercuriadis (founder of Hipgnosis songs fund), Jack Conte (co-founder of Patreon, band-member in Pomplamoose, and Scary Pockets), Sylvan Esso, Herb Alpert, and many more.
my students have gone on to write number-one hit songs, launch new music festivals, win grammy awards, and, most importantly, make what they want to make on their own terms