Today we’d like to introduce you to Raphael Cartier.
Raphael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I’ve always been a huge fan of music, my Mom has been singing for as long as I can remember. She introduced me to George Michael, Prince, Anita Baker, and others. I started ripping CD’s and giving songs and albums to friends myself and continued that from the probable end of elementary school and continued literally up until my senior year of High School, I buy music now though!
Anyways, a friend of mine Stephn (@stephnnmusic on twitter) wanted to start his singing career, and he literally asked me to help manage him because he knew I knew a lot about the music industry, and am just passionate about music in general.
When Stephn asked me to help manage him, it inspired a real spur of the moment decision, and I decided I wanted my own entertainment management company, which was the official birth of Cartier Collective Entertainment. I’ve always enjoyed finding new artists and watching them rise to stardom, so from there I started looking for other artists to help manage and I was blessed to find Tina Jay (@itstinajay) and also MP the MC (@lifeof.mp on IG) as well as producer/engineer CJ Shallow (@cj_shallow on IG).
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been everything but smooth in all honesty. I think the biggest struggle has been navigating without any kind of guidance or “mentorship.” Granted this is an industry that doesn’t need some sort of formal training, but there are a lot of things that you literally just don’t know unless somebody tells you. Which I think has its positives and negatives, because it forces me to seek out information and solutions to literally everything which is positive. Everything that I know about the music industry was gathered from YouTube, Google and an embarrassingly large amount of interviews that I’ve watched.
Cartier Collective Entertainment – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from others?
Cartier Collective Entertainment (CCE) is an entertainment management company. We specialize in the advancement of the careers of entertainers. Booking shows, arranging studio time, A&R work pairing the artists with the right producers, engineers, and visual artists to help bring these creative ideas to real life.
As a company, we are most proud of the progress each artist has made. This is a long game, but every day each artist personally inspires me because they’re all really committed to making music a career and not some fad.
I think what sets CCE apart from others is that we’re really goal-oriented. Each artist sits down and has a conversation about where it is they want to be and we really draw out maps to get there. We’re also huge on Artist Development. There’s a new artist almost by the hour, but barely any of the last and that’s because they haven’t built the skills to have a sustainable career. I personally comb through everything about every artist, identify weaknesses. For example, if stage presence is a weakness, we’ll practice in a smaller space, and rehearse with the volume drowning out the microphone to get an artist to project more when they actually perform and be more comfortable on a larger stage because they practiced in a smaller setting.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I personally define success as a triumph. I view everything as a challenge or an aid if something is an aid then great, but for the challenges how do I overcome them? Overcoming challenges is what I define as success. Some of the markers that I look out for in viewing success is confidence. When I feel like I can do something again, it tells me that I’ve overcome something, but whats success if it can’t be replicated? Another marker of success for me is progress. As more opportunities are presented to me, I see that sort of like beating a game and moving to the next level. So, to sum it up, markers of success for me are my self-confidence and progress.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cartiercollective.com
- Phone: 301-357-5586
- Email: ccentmgmt@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raphaelcartier_/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/raphaelcartier_
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/cartiercollectivent/
Image Credit:
@Youssefier, @Musaytaylor
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