10 Questions with ... Tony Bracy

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Worked in radio promotions for my hometown radio station, KRBE/Houston. In 2005 I began working in promotion for Virgin Records which morphed into Capitol Music Group in both Houston and Los Angeles for nearly fifteen years. In 2018, I joined SB Projects.

1. What got you into the business?

My goal has always been to be close to the music. What’s funny is that I studied music all of my younger life, even attending a performing arts high school with Grammy award-winning artists/producers like Robert Glasper, Brian Michael Cox and Beyonce. I eventually realized that I simply wasn’t a great enough performer to be a pro, but I was good at creative marketing ideas around music. So, I pivoted and figured out how to work for my local radio station. My first ever real job was working for Six Flags in their marketing department, where I worked with all the local radio stations during remotes. When a job opened up at KRBE, I went for it! While there I would watch the record reps come in for meetings and I befriended locals and nationals from all the labels. After several years at KRBE, Danny Cooper, who was then with Virgin, called me and the rest is history. After nearly 15 years in the label world, I’ve recently landed a job I was always interested in -- working in artist management.

2. What did you dream of becoming when you were a kid?

That’s a loaded question because I had a lot of childhood dreams. Police Officer; FBI agent; television reporter; Jazz saxophone artist; music executive.

3. What was the biggest change in the move from Houston to Los Angeles?

The transition moving across the country wasn’t terribly difficult as I had a lot of support from my work family as well as a ton of support back home. It’s a three-hour flight, which is pretty easy (like driving Houston to San Antonio).

4. Comparing Houston and Los Angeles; What Houston thing could Los Angeles use more of?

Tex-Mex and southern hospitality! All joking aside, I’ve been pretty fortunate being out here. It’s been about five years and like any change of scenery you find your own footing in due time.

5. How is your job at SB Projects (Scooter Braun) different from working at a major record label?

Well, my Mondays and Tuesdays are a bit different! Actually, that’s not true. I thought they’d be but speaking with radio every day is in my blood. The biggest change is working on strategy from the very beginning stages of an artist's career, which was a piece of the business that always interested me.

6. Didn't you also work in radio? Where did you work?

I sure did! I worked in both sales and the promotion department at KRBE, which was and still is one of the most successful Top 40 stations in the country. Getting to work for the station and air taken I listened to growing up was surreal!

7. How did your experience in radio help you going forward in the music business?

I don’t think a person can fully understand what happens day to day inside a radio station unless they’ve worked on the inside. Knowing how to navigate the inner workings really helped me in creating opportunities for my artists that were win-win.

8. If you weren't in the music business, what do you think you'd be doing professionally?

I’m pretty good in the kitchen so I’d like to believe I’d either be a personal chef or restauranteur.

9. What do you like to do with the spare time you have?

I don’t have much of it, but I’d refer back to question #8. Love cooking and spending time with my wife as we both have pretty hectic schedules.

10. What's on the way from SB Projects?

We’ve got some surprises up our sleeve that I can’t even talk about yet. I’m really excited with the bodies of work some of our newer artists like Baby Jake are about to release. Watch out for him.

If you could be on any TV reality show or game show, which would you want to be on?

Family Feud or Master Chef. Lately, I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of Family Feud YouTube clips. Not sure why, but I’m in the algorithm now so there’s no turning back.

What's your favorite thing about living and working in Los Angeles? ...Least favorite?

I love that there’s so much to do outdoors year-round. You just can’t beat the weather here. Least favorite thing is the lack of thunderstorms. There’s nothing like a good, loud, thunderstorm on a Saturday afternoon every now and again. We tend to get teased with sprinkles.