Relationl founder and CEO Max Bernstein
Max Bernstein, founder and CEO of the fast-rising music industry systems development firm Relationl, is an Airtable authority who says conventional spreadsheets and dated workflows are holding music companies back. Even worse, disconnected systems are making it difficult or even impossible to develop and break artists at scale.
Relationl has been overhauling systems at labels like Atlantic Records UK for years. But start talking systems, spreadsheets, and relational databases to creative types, and founder Max Bernstein often gets an eyeroll.
“‘Stop with the apps and find me the hits,’” Bernstein relays as a typical industry response. But that’s exactly the issue: overwhelming, data-redundant systems are making music companies frustratingly inefficient. Just recently, Relationl partnered with DMN to broaden awareness of this issue (DMN readers can schedule a chat with Relationl here).
Part of the problem, according to Bernstein, is an over-reliance on releasing breakout hits. That’s important, but it can come at the cost of ignoring core systems.
For decades, the music industry has been plagued by what Bernstein calls the ‘hit record panacea,’ or the belief that a smash hit — or string of smash hits — essentially cures any problem at a label, publisher, management agency, or other artist-driven company.
Part of that theory is true: a label or artist spinning out lots of hits has the hardest part figured out. But imagine giving a great company the ability to increase the chances of landing hits, while further maximizing their return once songs take off.
“I get it, nobody wants to think about systems,” Bernstein said. “But as an industry we’re completely lost when it comes to setting them up. It’s a culture of chaos, and why people are constantly feeling behind and trying to catch up.”
At the core of this dilemma, according to Bernstein, is the traditional, well-meaning spreadsheet, which organizes data on one level but is typically out of date, redundant with other spreadsheets, and, most importantly, not communicating — or relating — to the rest of the company.
Replace that very common setup with a relational database, and the impacts, according to Bernstein, are totally game-changing. In a typical roster of artists, songwriters, or both, music companies like labels, publishers, management firms, agencies, and law firms are managing thousands of associated release dates, touring schedules, clearances, DSP stream totals, collaborators, and social media accounts. In that complexity, a relational database — which Bernstein powers with Airtable — offers a ‘single source of truth’ upon which innumerable other systems can connect.
The immediate impacts are transformative, according to Bernstein’s experience working with dozens of companies throughout the music industry. Gone are workflow-interrupting meetings, check-ins, internal email threads, and fires rooted in the need to confirm redundant information.
The phrase ‘a single source of truth’ sounds religious but actually refers to an authoritative, dynamic, and up-to-date relational database structure upon which all company systems are built.
Strangely enough, just interacting with Bernstein feels transformative, based on his firm’s ability to quickly spin up relational systems that vastly simplify and automate workflows.
The downer is the realization that traditional spreadsheet-based approaches are quickly becoming obsolete, and leaving its adherents behind. “We’re in the middle of a systems renaissance,” Bernstein assessed.
The upside is that processes, both simple and complex, can suddenly be managed with far greater control and oversight — and far less work. That includes the endless chores that often underpin an artist or writer’s success story, including release or composition management, budget approvals, rights clearances, digital campaigns, and artist timelines.
But why Airtable, exactly?
According to Bernstein, whose firm is a top Airtable services partner, there’s simply no comparison to other popular project management tools*. “Airtable is the most accessible software development platform in history,” he says, “Your company can have a custom software system that otherwise would take years to develop, in a matter of hours.” That’s proven to be the right choice for a number of Relationl partners, including Warner Music Group, RCA, Spirit, Big Machine, Spinnin’, Reservoir, Jacobs Law Group – the list goes on.
(*So there’s a story behind this strikeout: here’s more from Max).
In fact, Relationl is so wedded to Airtable and its success stories that they’ve adopted a fun tag line: ‘Airtable for music moguls.’
“We take companies to a totally different place very quickly,” Bernstein relayed. “Business culture is evolving fast and it’s our mission to make sure the music industry gets ahead of it.”
Digital Music News readers can schedule an introductory call with Max Bernstein here.
