Meet Trubify – an award-winning, disruptive live music streaming technology platform, that offers fair pay to artists. Its founder and CEO, Stevie Tyszka, have launched Trubify with the vision to create better outcomes for his fellow musicians.
In this interview, Stevie talks about the origin of the brand name, why they chose Trubify.com as a domain, and what’s new and interesting in their future plans.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how Trubify got started?
My name is Stevie Tyszka. I am a lifelong musician who comes from a family of musical virtuosos – most notable is my Auntie, Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White from the Walt Disney classic. In 1996, legendary music producer Eddie Kramer encouraged me to move from the East Coast to Hollywood, CA to pursue music professionally. At 21, I was busking on Hollywood Blvd for tips by day; by night, I was sitting-in at local clubs. Soon I was headlining shows on Sunset Blvd and earning regular studio session work. I opened my first commercial music studio and was working non-stop, either recording, performing, teaching, mixing or mastering music and was still a starving artist. I learned first hand the challenges artists face trying to make it in the music industry.
I was sitting on a beach in Costa Rica and thinking of all the problems with the music industry. As a musician, I was having a hard time just finding a platform I could perform on and monetize my talents. I started to pool ideas together using my technology experience and music industry background. I was able to identify several major problems with viable technology solutions. The key was to create a platform that would result in win-win outcomes for all aspects of the music industry, from artist to fan to record labels and copyright holders.
How did you get the Trubify.com domain name? Why was it important to get that one exactly?
From the very beginning we knew we needed a name that was catchy and easy to remember but that hadn’t been previously coined.
Stevie Tyszka, Founder and CEO of Trubify
The name Trubify comes from the word “Troubadour” – traveling poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, who would travel around to broadcast their message.
Trubify represents the age of the digital troubadour. We felt this concept was completely on brand for the company’s mission, so we secured Trubify.com along with @trubify usernames on all major social media channels.
What was the vision and purpose of your company when it first started and how has Trubify evolved as a brand since?
Trubify was created originally to solve ‘Starving Artist Syndrome’ – meaning, we focused primarily on helping artists monetize their content at a higher rate than our competitors. Initially, we were focused on livestreaming capabilities because these contributed most to artists’ ability to monetize their performances.
After collaborating with dozens of Trubify’s early artists, we realized that ‘success’ means something different to every artist, and many didn’t consider making money to be their top goal. Additionally, many fans prefer to consume content in an on-demand format as opposed to livestreams. We’ve since focused our mission on providing a platform that helps artists ‘succeed’ under their individual goals, and to provide fans with ways to consume the best music content on-demand. In short, you could say that Trubify is democratizing music.
What would your advice be to entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
My advice:
- Have a clear vision of what you want to do.
- Be decisive, you don’t always get what you want, make the best choice, and move forward.
- Always extend your runway in any way you can.
- Hire people that are strong where you are weak.
What is next for Trubify?
Trubify is raising $12MM for our Series A financing round. This capital will be used to further develop the product while ramping up our marketing spend on proven user acquisition channels. Trubify will introduce more artist-first modules that function as creator tools on the platform, which will strongly differentiate us from the features that are available on existing social media platforms. These features provide discrete á la carte monetization and unique, intimate fan engagement experiences – all of which contribute to our mission of artist success while empowering creators to choose various ways to monetize and engage their audiences.
Last thing, if some of our readers have more questions. Where can they reach you online?
Trubify is free for iPhone or Android. And you can email us with any specific question at: support@trubify.com.
To learn more about the company, you can visit their website or follow them on Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok.
How does your brand name match your company vision? What new horizons can a better name open? Get in touch if you feel your brand deserves a better name, we are always happy to help.
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