Episode 21: Olivier Chastan, Founder & CEO of Iconoclast

The Accent Podcast

Olivier Chastan is the founder and CEO of Iconoclast, a company acquiring and managing the intellectual property of iconic entertainment artists, creators, and brands. Over the past year or so, Iconoclast acquired the IP of Tony Bennett, The Band, The Murder, Inc. (Ja Rule, DMX, etc.), DJ Diplo, and many others. Olivier has more than 20 years of experience in the music industry, including a decade of running VP Records, one of the largest independent labels in the USA.

We spoke about the music industry's ecosystem, investments in music catalogs and their valuations, his adventures in the music industry, and many other nerdy music-related things.

Timestamps

01:35 Iconoclast

02:55 Music Business

10:15 Attorney’s role

11:55 Artists’ revenue streams

12:55 Who gets paid more artists or the writer

17:55 Covers are paid

18:55 Story behind Iconoclast

24:55 It’s not about Maximizing cash flow

28:40 Valuations of music catalogs

32:10 Is the future technological change included in the price

36:55 Practice helps separate emotions from investment

42:55 The 1960s-70s were a unique era

47:25 Do Interest rates affect music catalogs’ valuations?

50:15:20 Murder, Inc. acquisition

52:25 Irv Gotti is an extraordinary entrepreneur

59:25 Growing up in a village around Bordeaux

01:11:00 Photography

01:17:05 Move to the US and career change

01:23:00 Bass is underrated

01:27:00 VP Records and Greensleeves

01:32:00 What saved the music industry

01:38:30 Irving Azoff

01:46:30 Memorable career moments

01:50:10 Blitz