BTM with Arlo Enemark of Xelon/Noisehive

Welcome to the next installment of BTM – a weekly series where we get to shine a spotlight on some of the hard-working people “Behind The Music”; the artists managers, booking agents, publicists, indie label owners, music website editors and so on.

This week’s spotlight is shining on Arlo Enemark who has been one of the main go-to-guys at Australian distribution platform Xelon Entertainment for a little while now, and he’s also been driving the recent launch of their new boutique music distribution platform Noisehive which has been designed to offer premium distribution and hands-on support to upcoming/independent artists.

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Tell us who you are, what you do, and who you represent?

Hey, I’m Arlo and I work for Xelon Entertainment, heading up our boutique music distribution platform noisehive.com. We work closely with artists to get their music available worldwide on all the digital platforms, while giving them more TLC than the anonymous website based services out there.

How did you get into this line of work?

I’ve been at Xelon for 10 years now and have loved working with developing artists. So I jumped at the chance to lead our team and help independent musicians get their music out.

What are some of your biggest achievements?

I love it when we have an artist crack a million streams, that’s an awesome feeling. Kayex, Kids at Midnight, NYUON have all done that. When indie artists can grab that kind of attention, it’s a mad vibe.

Tell us one thing that you would love to see change or happen that you feel

would help make the music industry a better place?

Unnecessary CCs.. oh my god, this needs to stop.. Just email the person you want to do something.. The best way to have something ignored, is to send it to 5 people and not address any of them specifically. I mean, I’m sure you’re talking about something more industry wide, but I just had to vent. There could be better communication between the agents/promoters and the side of the industry that puts records out, but do I think we’re headed in the right direction.

What is your favourite thing about the industry or what you do?

I love how quickly it evolves and changes and how dynamic we are as an industry. We see film go through the same problems that we’ve had to overcome, just five years later. They don’t seem super keen to learn from us, but perhaps you have to find things out yourself sometimes.

What is your least favourite thing about the industry or what you do?

I think there’s a left over cynicism about the music industry that’s still hanging around from the 90s. No one is in the business “Just to make money” it’s possibly the worst business you could be in for that. Everyone I know who works in music is a deadset champion who loves music, artists and the biz. They generally have one or two side hustles on the go too, just to keep ahead.

Where do you see the future of the industry heading?

I’ve had no doubt fans will be able to buy into and artist’s catalog via the blockchain and receive dividends on their success. This has to happen. It’ll just be about who builds the infrastructure.

What do you do to unwind outside of the industry/work?

Can you call Martial Arts an unwind? Perhaps. I burn off extra energy with Karate and Jiu-jitsu. I also like Yoga and I balance all of that out with a healthy dose of Melbourne bar-life. Sitting in a beer garden talking shit with crew and/or randoms, is always such a vibe.