October 2022
With 15 years of experience in Production Music, Rob now serves as Senior Vice President of Global Creative Synch for both Extreme Music and KPM Music, two of the biggest brands in the industry.
Extreme Music is renowned as production music’s most prolific music library, known for its notorious punk rock energy. Talent represented includes masters Quincy Jones, Hans Zimmer, Sir George Martin, Snoop Dogg, Atticus Ross, Rodney Jerkins, Clint Mansell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Christopher Lennertz, John Digweed, Michael Giacchino, Amon Tobin and John Powell.
KPM created the benchmark within the industry for high quality production music. The world's premier source of production music for over 50 years, its comprehensive catalogue crosses every musical genre imaginable and encompasses large-scale orchestral recordings, archive recordings spanning the 20th century through to underground dance and cutting edge Indie. Let’s hear from Rob…
MASA: Can you tell us a bit about your musical background?
ROB: Growing up my parents had us on a steady diet of Beatles, Stones, Doors, AC/DC, CCR, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel.
As a teenager I got right into punk, metal and hip hop. Attending concerts inspired me to be more than just a spectator. Seeing Public Enemy live in ‘92 was a highlight. While in high-school I performed in some local musical theatre productions, really surrounding myself with creative people.
I started singing in rock/metal bands in Sydney in my late teens. This cemented my love for music and performing. At that point I knew I really wanted to have a career in something music related. Like most people, when I found out I wasn't going to be a rockstar, I pivoted to music business and haven't looked back. I've always loved music more than anything else. It's a privilege to have a career in an industry that ignites my passion.
MASA: Such a wonderful privilege! And the lowdown on your career path to date? How did you get your first break into the industry?
ROB: I went back to music college as a mature age student and did an international music management course. I had two inspirational lecturers who recognized my potential. A friendship formed and we started an independent record label. I learnt so much from that experience as we had to performed all aspects of the business from A&R, publicity and working with distributors. The label ended shortly after the industry shifted to a more digital format.
This lead me to apply for an entry level position at Extreme Music in our Sydney office in 2007. In 2014 I was promoted and began work in the LA office, leading client-facing teams.
MASA: Extreme and KPM are certainly top of their game in terms of reputation and quality. What do you think it is that makes them stand out amongst the competition?
ROB: I think the secret lies in being as adaptable as you can to evolve with an ever-changing industry whilst maintaining a strong brand identity and a commitment to quality over quantity. We seek out the best talent we can find to produce music to the highest standard and our A-List collaborations are unmatched in the production music landscape. Having a team of self-confessed music geeks working behind the scenes to make it all happen helps too. We all take pride in the business that we do and I think that our clients appreciate that.
MASA: Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?
ROB: We are making some significant changes to our website which we think will be a game changer for our clients. We have a few big projects brewing but can’t really say more at this point.
MASA: How do you really get to the crux of what it is a client is looking for?
ROB: That’s always a challenge. Particularly if the client doesn’t quite know yet. It’s a culmination of knowing the context of what the client is looking for and making sure we know which aspects of the reference track or brief are important to the client. Then ask for feedback and pivot until we get it right.
MASA: Which you clearly always do! Another question… is there anything about the industry that you’d like to see change?
ROB: I think the erosion of royalties for songwriters is a concern but I also think there are many opportunities for Sync as the convergence of media continues.
MASA: And lastly, how do you think a competition like The Music+Sound Awards impacts the industry?
ROB: I think it’s incredibly important to shine a light on the extremely talented people working behind the scenes to bring all kinds of projects to life. Music is the last thing anyone thinks about on a project but it can make all the difference. And in particular the Music and Sound Awards are the only global awards event for our industry.
MASA: Thank you Rob. It was so great to have you on the judging panel this year. We look forward to seeing the website developments and to following your future work.
