Carmelo Anthony, Quavo, & Bose CEO Jim Mollica Talk Basketball, Music, & Business With Rich Kleiman

0:00For a long time, it was two different cultures. Music was a culture, sports was a culture. Now you're seeing sports, music, fashion, branding, collaborations, partnerships that you've never ever could imagine being together. What's up, everybody? Welcome. Welcome to Boardroom Talks Live, presented by Bose.

0:24Thank you guys for coming out. We're going to talk a little sports, a little music, a little business, a little brand. and again thank you Jim and thank you to our partners at Bose. On stage tonight to my left we have artist, entrepreneur, actor, philanthropist, my man Atlanta Zone Quavo. Please welcome Quavo.

0:54Jim I don't have as long of an intro for you my friend but my partner and a big supporter and somebody who has encapsulated the intersection of both sports and music through his role as CMO of Bose please welcome Jim Malika thank you and in the middle we have NBA legend from New York and Beemore businessman man. And just today, fresh off the presses, first ballot Hall of Famer, Carmelo Anthony. Yeah.

1:33Welcome to Boardroom Talk. So Jim, I'm going to start with you. The intersection of music and sport, well-documented, the history well-documented. But in taking this role at Bose, how did you approach the strategy and look at sports and music and make it an integral part of what you wanted to accomplish? Look, I don't know how you how you don't start with sports and entertainment and music when you have an audio brand, right? It's all about culture. It's all about the connection to culture. And I think for too long, there are a lot of companies out there that argue the technical specs and the ones and zeros of the engineering.

2:14No one cares about that. Music's about passion, about emotion. That's why it's so compelling to all of us. And, you know, the idea there was, you know, we're this fiercely independent company that only does music. All the other competitors out there, like they make, they're multinational companies. They make phones, laptops, washing machines, TV shows. They do all that. All we do is make stuff for music. And so for us, it had to be super authentic, really integrated into you know places where it's most meaningful so things like sports fashion entertainment like those were the areas that we were going to start and we weren't going to start with the biggest we were going to start with like the artist artists and the people that really love music and it like flows through their entire soul and so if you start to do that like people that really are into music like they get it after a while they start to see the signal of oh this companies run by people that love music.

3:12And for the two of you guys who have obviously had a ton of partnerships and work with a ton of brands, it's clear when you can see a brand that understands what Jim is saying and when a brand that doesn't, what is it that you think that brands have done wrong in the past in trying to connect with an audience through music and through sport? And what have brands more recently been able to do right? I would say like using the culture the right way um sometimes we get the ball kind of a little late after everything has simmered down when you're in the height of your career like having a hot song like bando or jumping out the gym we need to attack those when they hot and ready so that's how i feel yeah like the brands can't move quick enough sometimes to seeing where things are moving yes mellow what do you feel about that i just i think the difference now is that we in the times of being collaborative like before it wasn't no concept of collaborating with athletes and the musicians when it comes to company when it came to companies like a bowls or these other big fortune 500 companies now they realizing that our culture is leading a lot of the way and we kicking in doors we knocking out doors but we also are able to do it at an elevated way We're able to do it in a luxurious way, but we're also able to do it where we can galvanize communities and have real conversations about what this partnership could actually be.

4:40And so I think that's what we like. We in a collaborative time right now. So I'll say, hey, by like take advantage of that, because it's a special time when it comes to that. And have you seen from when you got in the league, have you seen the shift in brands being more cognizant of that, that weren't aware of it maybe earlier on in your career, earlier on in your career? Well, I just think at that point, we're talking about early 2000s. It was very corporate. It was very, we doing it this way, and you come over here, you market our product, and that's the way it's going to be. So 360 down, fast forward now, you sitting at the table with a seat, and we all going through the actual creative and the strategy of what this actual rollout is going to look like in Atlanta, in New York, globally.

5:23Whereas we didn't have a seat at the table early on. When I first came in the NBA, we didn't have a seat. And tech, beyond just brands awareness, I think, of that shift, and quite frankly, doors getting kicked down by the two worlds that we're talking about, tech obviously has opened that up, right? And innovations in tech have changed the entire fan experience. So for you guys at Bose, how do you kind of manage innovation and still try to push forward with having these authentic relationships with fans and utilizing the worlds of both sports and music to do so. Look, I think you guys are bringing up a lot of really interesting points.

6:01I think in the end, you have to be able to move as fast as culture moves, and big companies, I think, struggle with that. So you have to have trust in the people that are driving that message and culture within the company. And then at the same time, if you don't have a relationship, like it's collaborative because if it's not a relationship, then like you can't put your heart into it and everyone knows it. And it's like the idea is not authentically you and it feels, you know, off and false. And, you know, those things are super challenging. And I think it comes across as like a fake, inauthentic play.

6:37If you are part of the process and it's part of who you are and you develop a relationship and it's something that we're focused on all the time, it's like I want to make sure that we have really strong relationships with our partners, not just our talent, but like our partners that are building these businesses because we're going to get better work, better ideas, because you care about somebody. Like, I'm invested in your success. You're invested in my success. And then when you take that over to the innovation and technology side, like, that's where you can start to play bigger roles, right?

7:05I think, you know, for my company, we're really known for outstanding, like, over-the-top premium audio. And you're going to pay a premium for it, but, like, the value exchange is there for the consumer. For us, the innovation is all about how do we keep making it better and how do we go into new and different areas that other people just can't because they're not only focused on it. They treat music as a side hustle. And so if we keep coming out with new form factors like those open earbuds that you guys just got, nobody else will come out with that because they don't have a vested interest in doing that.

7:40So if I can find more ways that I can give you incredible listening experiences for Quavo's music in that moment when you need it, and it's elevated from that, then that's like an incredible innovation. That's what I'm most proud about. And how do you balance innovation with brands sometimes? Because as innovation is moving quickly and you have a brand DNA that you're trying to maintain, sometimes those always don't align. And the innovation in tech sometimes is harder for a consumer to capture, whereas the brand has to continue to elevate. Yeah. Yeah. Well, look, we have a very strong DNA and we use that DNA to serve as a filter if we do something.

8:20And it ultimately, we will use technology if it elevates the listening experience. If it does not elevate the listening experience, it's something else in there, then we're not doing it because we have, you know, we're going to focus our time, energy, and money on the stuff that's really focused on the music fan and like their interests. So it's hard because like stuff happens and you're like, oh, maybe we should chase this. And I think through, it's like training. It's like an athlete where you're disciplined. And it's like, nope, this is what I do. This is what I do. I'm going to set this pick.

8:52I'm going to get this, like, I'm going to grind. And I think that level of discipline is necessary. And if you continue to do that, you end up with the best innovation. Because the best innovation comes through constraints. Mello, you talked about earlier in your career, the relationship was very transactional. And corporate America didn't really understand what we're even talking about. This was foreign. And I came from the music business where I think that conversation shifted first in a lot of ways and then has transitioned over into NBA culture. And now being in sports in a lot of ways, NBA culture, I think, kicks doors down even before hip hop culture has, even though they're very intertwined.

9:30It could have to do with me shifting over into sports from music, but maybe not. for you Quavo obviously basketball has played like a big part in your DNA right from playing from rapping about it what would you say the game of basketball has done for you as a as a star in this world in terms of inspiring your music your movements off the off the studio so to speak I mean I feel like basketball was like my plan A everybody dream you know and I was an athlete growing up. So it's kind of like either I was playing basketball or listen to some music to turn me up. So that ended up being my plan B, unfortunately, music.

10:12So like, I just think like me experiencing both sides, I always use players as references. Like I said, jumping out the gym was one of our songs that actually took our career off alongside band doing Versace. So it was those three songs that helped me out, me doing player references and And all my ad libs is balls going in the bucket, you know what I'm saying, splash and, you know, stuff like that. So it's just second nature to me. And I look up to these guys and we either dress like them, play basketball and go do some bad shit and make some music. So it's just like a formula of my life. I don't know nothing else.

10:52and this for you and for mella have you guys seen that shift as well in terms of just the power that nba culture has had from earlier in your career or even earlier in your career where i think it was the reverse right and you saw so much influence coming from hip-hop in sport and now i think it happens so much on the other side it's so much into intertwined when it comes to music and in sports again we can't get ready we don't work out we don't train without listening into music. Certain songs make us do certain things on the court. It's a vibe that we get. It's a rhythm that we look for from maybe a song that Cuavo was doing.

11:32We try and identify something in that song that make us take us up to that next level. So when you talk about collaboration and culture, for a long time, it was two different cultures. Music was a culture, Sports was a culture. Now you're seeing sports, music, fashion, branding, collaborations, partnerships that you've never, ever could imagine being together. So that's what we're seeing now. So the growth of our our community and just the industries is all intertwined into one now. So it's very hard to identify the NBA, music, fashion. It's all intertwined now. so as far as the collaborations and all of that goes and where the game was at then and where the game is at now I mean if you think about it there's no sports without music you can't be in the arena warming up before the game without no music you can't you know what I mean we need that type of energy so music and sports will always go hand to hand down to the fashion you know so like early 2000s them boys was looking like they can drop an album with the chains and the ice back in the day So like it just it just made it just made great sense, you know, to put it together.

12:44We Mello and I were talking like two weeks ago and he talked about how underrated he thinks his Nuggets era was in terms of influencing style and dress and culture. Hey, I'd love to hear both your guys kind of point of view on that era, because when he said it, it was so obvious. It was so eerily similar in a lot of ways to what the Fab Five did. And then with that, Jim, I'd love to know how you approach talent. You guys obviously have a relationship with Anthony Edwards and have signed a ton of people throughout sport and music. But how you've looked at talent and approach talent and what your kind of filter is in terms of what you want to look for in a partnership.

13:20And less so in terms of what you mentioned earlier, but more so in terms of just what kind of mimics the DNA of what Bose wants to communicate. You don't sign an athlete. We don't sign an athlete. It's different. I used to work for Under Armour. It's different. You're signed athletes. They represent a sport for you. Here, I'm looking for really passionate music fans. What Mello was saying, they use music to get up, to get into the grind, to train, to be focused before the game when they're going through the tunnel. It just flows throughout every aspect of who they are. And, you know, with Ant and getting to know him a little bit, started to talk to him, his passion and love of music.

14:03If he didn't care about music and it wasn't so important to him in his life, we never would have signed him. I mean, he's an incredible player. We're super selective on all talent when it comes to that. It's like, what's your connection to music? Like the deal, you know, when we first started talking with Ronnie from Kiv, the deal didn't really like, we didn't really go down a path of partnership until we bonded over 90s hip hop. and then we started exchanging playlists and like then it happened right and i think it has to be that kind of connection that kind of vibe with somebody it was like oh yeah like they're one of us then you're in and that's what happened that's how we do it it's there's it's a little bit a little bit of science but a whole lot of art and feel you're obviously able to identify people right like we talk about ant i mean be blind to not see the impact that he could end up having on this league and on people and on culture there must be something quavo when you see this kind of new generation of players right talking about the denver nuggets in that era their teams are players that from your vantage point you see have it a bit that have that intangible to have a little bit of what ai had and what some of these players that kind of transcend the game jamal crawford certain things about a player and how they move or a team and how they operate that kind of transcends your Stats.

15:19Yeah. I've been knowing Ant since he was like 16, 17 years old in high school. We used to go pick him up and ride around Atlanta and make sure he was taken care of. I made sure his head was on straight. I'm one of the first ones that gave him a culture chain at the McDonald's All-American game. Just seeing it on him, man. We already, like, sometimes it be in you and not on you. And Ant was one of those ones. and coming from his background, you know, having that hunger and drive from losing loved ones, you just see the character that you're going to be great and you got a spot in the world, you know, so he's a special kid.

15:59When we did that deal with him, he was a rookie. Like, it wasn't, like, in the last year or so with all these things. It was still as he was coming up. And to be able to see that in him, like Quavo said, like, you saw it early. and being able to be a part of that and build with him was really important for us and i'm one of the first ones to say man that boy played and looked like jordan i swear to god mellow like let's you know we were talking about cayenne out in the back and when you see cayenne move he obviously has this presence and aura about him right that like as his game continues to grow he clearly knows it and he knows how to move in a room.

16:38How important is that for a young athlete, right? It obviously cannot replicate the hard work and what you have to do on the court, but how important, especially in the NBA, is it to kind of be cognizant of that, but how important is that in the evolution for athletes now? It's very important. I mean, it's basketball you got basketball right he's playing he's developing he is understanding the game he's only 17 years old right so we a lot of times we put a lot of pressure on our younger generation to go out there and be this this this superstar at 17 years old with me I'm on the flip side I still got to be a parent I still got to be a father I still got to teach him I so it's things that I that we still have to go through this process of and then oh yeah by the way we're gonna go work out we're gonna go talk the game we're gonna watch the game it's just little nuggets that I can give him from being inside the NBA or being inside the game that the average person just won't understand what I'm talking to him about so when you getting that information at 9 10 11 years old it's only right by the time it's starting to connect and click it's autopilot and I think that's what we're seeing with with kai now we've been talking about this journey and process for so long that now it's starting to connect the game is starting to connect his maturity is starting to connect like you say he got aura he think he'd have fly like he just it's he got a different type of aura with him also being in new york and running around in those streets and getting that but then this generation also has a different business mindset it's like do it yourself today Like they have the opportunity to do things that we couldn't do.

18:22They got more resources. They got more people that support them. They got collaborations that you can go to. Like it's they working on themselves. Whereas I'm always now learning. I got to stay two, three steps ahead of them because they the ones that's making this industry and this game go. So it's difficult a little bit, too, because you got to really strategize and really understand what the hell is happening out here. And I'm on both sides of it. I'm on the business side of it. So I got these things that I got to tell him that I didn't think I had to tell a 17-year-old. But now with the way that they're getting money today and the way that these NIL deals and all of these collaborations, I got to be real with you.

19:02So now I got to talk to you about taxes at 17 years old. I got to talk about how you budget at 17 years old. At 17 years old, we was running around. We ain't known about no budget. You give me$100, we're going to bust that down with our friends. We had to learn it. We had to learn math and how to budget the hard way. Now you're able to see. You are, I told him the other day, I said, you in my tax bracket now. You 17 in my tax bracket. You part of the 1%. So now I can't hide that information from you. I got to tell you, you're getting 60 % of your money taken. Don't ask me where is that. I ain't got it.

19:38You know what I mean? So that's, those are the conversations that we have to have. They fun conversations because he's on the right. He's on the right path and he want to listen, he want to learn, but it takes the kid, it takes the individual to understand exactly what they want. But this ain't overnight. This seed been planted for a long time. Quavo, for you, does the business of music ever, in your mind, interfere or get in the way of the beauty of making music for you? Sometimes, for sure. You just got to get it right, but you always know it's more people. I feel like like you said like one percent that's a one percent so like you dealing with that behind the scenes you got the world to still feed in your position so I never make them I never make my fans be halted because I ain't get my business or something together I got to do that that's something I started I got to finish it do you think the conversation about business and making money and building your own brand for young artists has in a lot of ways allowed them to sacrifice like the art of the music most definitely you know i'm saying sometimes you don't the building don't you don't get what you want from the building so you hold out on art you know so you hold out on being creative sometimes when you just one hit away from changing everything in the room or changing everything in the building so i feel like you shouldn't stop your creative process It's just like if you shoot 0 for 30 one night and have a 50-point game, three games straight, here come the shoe deals.

21:10So you just got to keep working and keep shooting that shot. Yeah, straight up. Jim, from when you started till now, Bose has grown. I think the halo over the brand, you've done an incredible job. what is success starting to look like for you and like what do you want to achieve out of this kind of era that that you're having right now at the company well thanks for the kind words i think it's you know look i think for me this company is like incredible legacy around music and if i can create this indelible mark for the brand where you know everybody out there if you're a passionate music fan, it's one of the brands that you're proud to carry through and make sure that everyone knows that you're a part of that tribe, then I think that's success.

22:03All the other things, the economics all come from that. So, you know, if we keep doing good work, if we keep, you know, creating interesting products and experiences for people and we have the right partnerships and we're doing the right thing to support music in all the really important places, not just the biggest places, then I think we're going to do just fine. And Mello, you've obviously achieved so much on the court. You're being recognized, deservedly so. And we talked about this a few weeks ago in a lot of ways, like that ends the conversation as it relates to basketball and the work you put in your whole life.

22:43And we talked also about the businesses you're building and what still Mello is and your production company and the wine business that you guys are building which is incredible but what do you what's success for you at this point um in life right still so young and have accomplished so much what is success and like how do you motivate yourself to find that same purpose around some of the things that you're doing now i think success for me personally it's i i don't know what success looks like right i know what success looked like in basketball i don't know what success looks like in business. For me, the way I look at it is like, I just want to be passionate about the things that I do.

23:23I'm not going to do nothing that I don't, is not part of my daily lifestyle. I'm not going to do nothing that's not part of everything that I do. So when I'm thinking about success, I'm thinking about scaling the business. I got to also keep in perspective that I don't need it. At the end of the day, I'm just being frank. Like I've made a lot of money playing basketball if I wanted to retire and just chill out and I'll be good but I know me and I need something to keep me busy I need to be challenged in the way that the wine industry challenges me but it's a fun industry for me right cannabis you know a lot of people think oh getting into cannabis just put your name on the on the pack and go from there it's like nah like we really gonna tell you we're gonna teach you how to smoke we're gonna tell you what to smoke like we're gonna tell you you smoking the wrong and this is how you should be smoking it like but we're gonna tell you we're gonna take you through the science of why you should be smoking and what you're taking and what you're intaking into your body the wine industry is fun we get to travel the world we get to drink the best wine we get to eat the best food we get to travel to the best countries meet new people and then those stories alone that's content right so you knocking dominoes down one by one without you even knowing it.

24:36I'm knocking three dominoes down by traveling to France and doing the wine because I can create this content and I can put it online. And I also can create a dinner and bring a top chef from around the world and create this whole experience and bring Cravo in to do the music. That's how I look at the actual business. So for me, that's success for me. We have these different pillars. They're all different businesses. But at the end of the day it all makes sense that part of the ecosystem it's different for an artist than an athlete right there is no kind of end date in some ways i think two-part question do you feel like you'll make music for the rest of your life regardless of what like traditional success may look like record sales or or selling out arenas and for you with the success you've had Like, how do you look at new challenges?

25:25How do you drive yourself to find purpose when you work so hard from a young age to kind of get on? Right. Like that's the first goal, ultimately, to make sure you can get money to take care of your family. Then it's generations you want to take care of. Then you want people to regard you for what it is that you do. But how do you continue to push yourself to find that purpose and to find what success looks like for you? just being where I come from, you know, just coming from nothing, you know, being black, young, one parent, mom. I just feel like I just want more. It's never, it's never enough.

26:01I want more for my family. I feel like I need to help more people, you know, so, and I got kids that's relying on me. It's like, I'm talking about like basketball kids, Huncho 707, Huncho basketball in my town. So I feel like if I come down slacking, they're going to try me. So I can't never be not off my shit. So it's never enough for me. I'll be 50 still performing. I'll be whatever the people want. I'm still going to be here standing as long as God, you know, giving me breath. I ain't mad at my life I'm choosing. So I'm good. These weekends have changed a lot, right? From what All-Star weekend was for you earlier in your career, I'm sure for you earlier in your career and when you were at Under Armour.

26:47What do you try to get out of a weekend like this? And how incredible is it to see, you know, I was at Super Bowl last week. It's the same thing. All these worlds that are converging. And I think sports now is so powerful. And so much of this is rooted in sport. How have you seen these weekends shift? And what do you try to get out of being at these weekends from a business standpoint? All of you. Oh, hopefully a new balls deal. as music and you know that sound about right pressure i mean for me it's about you know aligning myself with people like yourself and companies like bowls to be able to implement my wines and implement things that i have going on and just making it fun it's fun conversations drink some wine conversations get better on the second glass so like you know we i'm very aware of that but i just try to incorporate myself into the things that's going on and to figure out how to stay one step ahead but also not try to do too much i think when you try to do too much you know that that causes failure i'm still trying to think about that comment that cuevo said about a half an hour ago that music was plan b he's so talented that that was his plan b it's amazing um look i i look at this weekend is like this is a cultural celebration right it's Yeah, there's some events and there's some basketball, but it's really a culture.

28:12For me, the whole thing's about relationships. It's seeing old friends. It's like sort of a catalog of my history and my career, running into people and saying hello, which is always awesome. And it's establishing new relationships with people. That's the most meaningful thing. And as I continue to progress throughout my career, that's the stuff that really matters. It's it's the people that you can work with that you want to work with and build really cool interesting things Like that's what it's about for me Amazing and it's all-star so seeing all the stars is always a great thing He did all right.

28:52Well Quavo Mello. Thank you guys for a very honest and real conversation Jim, thank you for the partnership. Thank you to the entire Bose team and boardroom team This is boardroom talks live in San Francisco NBA all-star. Thank you guys. Thank you guys Thank you.