Connect Music CEO George Monger appreciates Memphis’ storied musical past, and the local institutions that help bring it to life. He also, however, wants to make sure the city is looking forward — and not just back.
“We have a great musical history; we should keep our museums open,” Monger said. “But we’ve got to be focused on building the music city of today.”
So, to work toward this, Connect Music has made a major move. For about $2.5 million, the local startup has purchased the 31,000-square-foot building at 158 Vance Ave. in Downtown, where it’s placing its headquarters.
And the plan is for the space to do more than just house its employees.
“I feel a responsibility [for it] to be a gathering space, a collaborative space … a space for entertainment-focused entrepreneurs to intersect with content creators,” Monger said. “We’ve got to build a community, that when out-of-town music executives come into Memphis, it feels akin to the same thing they may have experienced — from an infrastructure perspective — in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, or Nashville.”
Connecting to its new space
The purchase comes as Connect Music continues to gain momentum. A music monetization startup, it distributes songs globally, and ensures that its artists, writers, and producers receive compensation and recognition for their work.
Already, Connect Music has about 220 label clients, and acts as a sub-distributor for five other music distribution companies. It exceeded $1 million in revenue in its first full year, completed a $600,000 seed funding round in the fall, and is gearing up to launch another round — with the lofty goal of raising $15 million to $20 million.
Less than half a mile away from both FedExForum and the National Civil Rights Museum, 158 Vance is the former headquarters of marketing agency Oden, which closed in June 2020. Connect Music has inherited the eight-year PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) that Oden had for the facility, and it plans on making significant changes to the space — ones that Monger hopes will turn it into a “collaborative, cultural center for creative commerce.”
This doesn’t mean the startup is installing a recording studio in the building; Monger maintains that Memphis already has “excellent” physical recording studios.
“I don’t want to be in the studio business,” he said. “I want to be in the music monetization business.”
New plans
But he and his team are set to add an array of other features that could be enticing to members of the music industry.
For example, besides desks and offices for its own employees, the facility is expected to have a coworking space for other music business startups and entrepreneurs. The basement is set to be converted into a listening lab, while another area could be used for events.
In addition to this, a portion of the building is likely to be turned into a private area with four-to-six-bedroom suites, for clients — and potential clients — from other cities.
“If you’re a music executive coming in from LA, and you are scouting talent, or wanting to spend time with the community … you can stay there,” Monger said. “We want to focus on building a creative ecosystem.”
Even the facility’s parking garage could be altered to host live events or tour routing practice, with Monger noting that “a great number of things are on the table.”
“Over the next year, this property will be very different,” he said. “We’ll reimagine a very different property.”
MBJ asked for the costs of renovations, along with the architect and contractor Connect Music plans to work with; and Monger said the cost was still being firmed up, while the list of potential architects and contractors has been narrowed down.
The startup is still deciding exactly how to utilize the entire space. But he’s confident the facility purchase and renovations will bolster the music ecosystem in Memphis.
“It’s our job to help augment the infrastructure we already have,” he said, “And to leverage that, to do good for building our music city."
