The music industry isn’t what it used to be. With streaming, global accessibility, and ever-evolving technology, today’s independent artists have unprecedented opportunities — and challenges. In a recent conversation with Bree Noble on Female Entrepreneur Musician Podcast, industry veteran Ralph Tashjian, founder of Intercept Music, shared insightful stories and practical wisdom from decades in the business.
A Career Built on Passion and Reinvention
Ralph Tashjian’s journey in music began in San Francisco, pounding the pavement as a local promotion guy for MCA Records. He recalls those early days with a smile, saying, “You went to every radio station, you saw a tower, you drove over there, you had a record in your bag for it. Didn’t really matter, right?… I felt right into it. I was a street guy raised in a neighborhood in San Francisco, and very fortunate to have had this career.”
That spirit of hustle and openness to reinvention defined his decades in various roles — promoting artists, running labels, and, more recently, building digital tools for independent musicians.
Old School vs. New Opportunities
Tashjian doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges of the “old” system. Working with major labels wasn’t always glamorous or artist-friendly. Reflecting on the shift, he notes: “The old system… doesn’t mean you may not have to go to [traditional record companies]… but the opportunities today are if you break before that time… you can craft yourself a much better favorable deal than you can if you go to them with your hat in your hand.”
Perhaps most telling is how major labels have backed off genuine artist development: “They’re not into the passion of this anymore. They’re looking at social media. They’re seeing where things are breaking… They don’t develop artists. Today, they don’t develop artists.”
Breaking Through the Noise
With millions of new tracks released each month, standing out can feel impossible. Ralph stresses, “You better have some songs that stand out and some music that stands out… from back in the day to today has not changed. It all comes down to the music and the art.”
He also shares candidly about his own failures — and why they matter: “I failed miserably… I failed at that miserably… until I met my current partner, Todd Turner, who is an absolute tech Genius… That was how this started with me and my vision.” These setbacks, he believes, build resilience and authenticity for artists and industry pros alike.
A Different Kind of Platform
Tashjian founded Intercept Music to fill the gaps he witnessed — especially for career-minded indie artists and labels. Unlike “just get your music on Spotify” distributors, Intercept is hands-on and focused on transparency and artist support.
“We like to say it’s transparency, it’s with technology… With our platform… we could tell you if you made a quarter of a cent in Belarus with a stream. But that’s only where it starts… We create a store for you and that store is a, is through Shopify… You could sell T-shirts and make more money than you can in streaming.”
Beyond distribution, Intercept provides marketing tools, customer service reps you can call, and even AI-driven social media post planning. As Ralph explains, “We have a tool that you can go in and ask AI: here’s my song, this is what the song’s about, here’s who I am as an artist, and it’ll spit out about 30 potential posts… and then we’ll automatically go out for the next 30 days.”
Ecosystem of Success: Music, Merch, Touring, Marketing
For artists, success comes from weaving together music creation, social media, touring, and smart marketing. Tashjian is clear: “Touring is, is ultimately, you know, today, even if you look at some of the biggest artists in the business, it’s touring and merch that they probably are real, real profit centers for them.”
On social media and AI, he offers encouragement: “If you don’t like what it spits out, you don’t… you don’t post it… It just gives you an idea of where you should do it or where it thinks you should do it. Then you go from there.”
Don’t Give Up
At the heart of Ralph’s message is perseverance — for musicians and industry folks alike. “The people that believe and have the passion are the ones that will prevail. You have to have that drive. It’s not a part time thing… We’ve built a company that we think is really what we know is really artist friendly. But we built something that had marketing, that has marketing services and it’s somewhere between a major and just a pure distribution company.”
And his advice for any artist, whether aspiring or a few albums in? “Don’t give up. You know, you’ve got to be able… it’s a passion, it’s a love… have an open mind and you have to just have tenacity and not give up.”
Final Thoughts
Ralph Tashjian’s story is proof that both success and setbacks shape an enduring career. In today’s landscape, opportunity abounds — for those who combine great music, persistent marketing, and a willingness to adapt. As Ralph puts it, “There. There is a business behind all of it. It’s called the music business. And… you’ve got to make some money in order to keep going… The market is so flooded with so much content that you’ve got to figure out a way to rise above the noise.”
Learn more about Ralph Tashjian and Intercept Music at [interceptmusic.com](https://interceptmusic.com).
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*“Be true to yourself, be true to your career, and don’t give up.”*