Marie Lindstein
Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.
We are an independent do-it-yourself label. It’s basically a hands-on entrepreneurial situation, almost like a state of constant start-up. The world of music licensing is dynamic, fragmented and complex. Being small actors on a global market, we constantly need to evaluate our business model options and a lot of time is allocated to investigating new ideas and upcoming trends that influence our space.
We work in projects that typically span 3-6 months. The first few weeks are all about market research, figuring out niche opportunities and predicting potential sales volumes. After that, production kicks in which entails everything from songwriting and recording to writing sales copy and managing copyright issues. When a track is mastered and ready for distribution, we switch to targeted marketing and sales efforts, and then there’s the whole administrative side with everything from accounting to customer support.
What interested you about the field/company/role you are currently in? How did you get involved in music production/artist promotion?
I have always loved to sing and music has been a very important part of my life. I also have an undying passion for Excel spreadsheets and crunching numbers. In my work I get to combine these two passions of mine. When at SSE I joined the school orchestra “Mercblecket” where I was lucky enough to meet my future husband and business partner.
Why did you choose to study your subject area at SSE?
The marketing major was an obvious choice for me since I believed it contained many relevant skills and insights valuable for running your own business. I was also interested in the Media Management program and Marketing Research, which remain my favorite courses to date.
How did your time/education at SSE help guide you to the career journey you have embarked on?
SSE has a strong connection to the business community. Participating in different company presentations it was easy to get an idea of how a career in for example finance would be like. Meeting people ahead of the career journey definitely helped me to evaluate different options and to understand where I would feel the most at home. Another major impact on my career journey was of course meeting my future business partner at SSE.
What path did you take from graduation to where you are now?
I dedicated one year after SSE to various music projects, and my first employment was as a Market Analyst/Brand and Communication Consultant at Blue Carrot. When Blue Carrot was acquired by Nepa I had the opportunity to work as Head of Brand Tracking Operations. In the meantime, me and my husband Oscar Lindstein recorded and produced songs for licensing and streaming. In early 2018 I was able to work full time with our own company Lindstein Music.
Following your time studying, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students? For example, what do you know now that you wish you had known or someone had told you when you were studying?
My main advice is to get involved in the Student Association (SASSE). It is a great way to find people with common interests and life goals!
What are three words that sum up your time at SSE?
Fun, Educational, Exciting.