On his recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Bruce Springsteen commented on how difficult it would be for him to launch his career today; that the structure of the business, the nature of a streaming ecosystem, and the lack of label strength and radio relevance all make it more difficult than ever for kids starting out in music. As true as that all might be, it’s also pretty difficult for established artists to navigate this new world order and find ways to connect with fans that are dynamic, collaborative, and let’s face it…commercial.
That is quickly changing.
Boston-based Inveniem was founded to do just that. As the company states, Inveniem is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and expanding the legacies of some of the world’s most important cultural figures, enhancing their direct connection with their fans across multiple integrated channels. Over the last 12 years, Inveniem’s client list has grown to include some of the biggest names in hard rock, classic rock, hip-hop, alternative, and country music. They also now work with athletes, actors, and international brands. Their client roster includes Metallica, Chris Paul, Eric Idle, the Naomi Judd estate, Nancy Wilson, Def Leppard, and others.
Inveniem’s Definitive Authentic division describes its mission as follows: “build digital and physical experiences, create compelling narratives, and tell stories through technology for [our] clients’ physical and digital artifacts.” Its platform is designed to enable talent and their estates to generate previously untapped revenue across “live” experiences. Examples include the band Ghost’s immersive touring museum experience, the creation of “virtual museums” with limited-edition collectibles, like the The Metallica Black Box and the The Def Leppard Vault, and one-of-a-kind artifact auctions like basketball player Devin Booker’s charity initiative.
The company is known for both its obsession with confidentiality and its message to its clients: Your Past is Your Future. Copper caught up with Inveniem/Definitive Authentic founder Brad Mindich to talk about how the company came to be; what success looks like; how, where and when the process of engaging with Inveniem begins; and what other applications there might be for a platform that is changing the past and future for some of the most iconic names in pop culture.
Brad Mindich of Inveniem.
Ray Chelstowski: How did this all begin?
Brad Mindich: I’d love to say that I had some amazing epiphany and that this appeared out of nowhere. But the reality it [that] was by accident. I had left my family’s business, which is in some ways the foundation for why this could happen. I came from a content and audience background in the media world. So, the need to deliver extraordinary content to people who care was something I understood.
This started very slowly. It took us four years to get [our] first three clients, because our entire business is based on trust. So, getting these artists, actors, or bands to trust you is a long process and we worked really hard to demonstrate our ability for them to trust us with these artifacts and these relationships, in an industry where integrity and protecting artists is not typical.
RC: How do you know that your model will work for an artist? Is there a checklist of things that have to be in place to move forward?
BM: I think it really comes down to the definition of “work.” For some people, [what] we deal with is protecting and preserving what they have. They often don’t know what they want to do with it, but making sure [their assets] are safe, knowing where they are, and having control over that is pretty important. I’ve had enough experience in this world now to know that very bad things can happen if that first step isn’t taken. That’s the fundamental part of this.
Then, regardless of where an artist is in their journey, it begins with their origin story. It’s an important part of engaging with their audience. Everything, however, does matter and everything has value. It’s about helping clients navigate and determine what they should do when.
Nancy Wilson, solo artist and formerly of Heart. Courtesy of Shore Fire Media.
RC: Is there an established queue that you move clients through, and is there a perfect strike point in a band’s career for them to begin working with you?
BM: We do put processes in place and there are [artist] managers out there who really get it and see the value in this. Putting a filtering process in place to ensure that the technical and the artistic [aspects] are equally followed is important, because it’s really expensive to go backwards. So, it’s better to do all of this when you’re on a creative upswing. If you don’t start doing this until you are 40 years into a career it becomes a lot [more difficult] to go through.
RC: I would imagine that having fans participate in content creation and curation is important.
BM: We do outreach for bands, and there are a few great examples of this; for example, where we have a [channel on Vimeo] called “Show Us Yours.” We’ve done video interviews with superfans of bands and artists, where they show off their collections and it’s amazing; not just what they’ve collected but [also] their knowledge about the artist. We’ve actually had artists tell us to “talk to so and so, because they know more about us than we do!” We all are fans of someone or something, so to be asked by your favorite band to participate and share things is cool for the fan, [and] it’s great for the audience and the artist. It makes the overall “ecosystem” that much better.
RC: In this streaming world, I would imagine that this could become an interesting platform to introduce and sell new music.
BM: Look, everything will continue to evolve. The way we look at it is, the more that the artist can [manage] their relationship with their fans, engage with them, or as we like to say “surround” their fans, the better. In that scenario there can be digital [media], there can be physical; there can be other kinds of immersive experiences, or partnerships. At this point we don’t know how a fan is going to enter into an artist’s ecosystem. It could be through streaming, or a video game. So having an artist understand all of the spokes of the wheel is really important.
One of the primary goals of artists we work with is getting new fans. So, the discovery process is critical. Once you pull them in, then you can walk them into a journey backwards and show them other records or [footage from] tours [they might not know about]. It almost immediately connects that fan and artist in ways that go beyond someone just hearing a track on Spotify. A great example of this from not long ago was [for] Metallica and the use of one of their songs on the television show Stranger Things. All of a sudden there were millions of people who discovered Metallica through that entry point.
RC: You work with musicians and athletes, but where else can this kind of idea be applied?
BM: We started with music and expanded into athletes. But we also have actors and celebrities as clients, as well as brands. It’s this whole concept of connecting extraordinary content to audiences, which is again where my career began. It can apply to any of these verticals and allows for all sorts of creative expression.
RC: Inveniem’s offering is so comprehensive, and assembling it properly must take time. How much work can you handle?
BM: Every client is different. Some start off small. But we’ve built our infrastructure/value chain in a way that we can super-serve any client, depending on what they want done. I think where we’ve had the most success is in giving clients the comfort to know [that] if they work with us, we’ve got them [covered]. We’ll take care of them faithfully, properly, and professionally. That sense of comfort is critical because they obviously have other things to focus on.
Here are some examples of Inveniem's offerings:
Motley Crue Cruseum: https://www.crueseum.com/
Backstage with Bon Jovi: https://backstage.bonjovi.com/
Nancy Wilson Shop: https://www.nancywilsonshop.com/
Header image: Nancy Wilson, courtesy of Shore Fire Media.
