Jay Holz Speaks on Music Management and Public Relations
Jay Holz Speaks on Music Management and Public Relations, How He Got into Journalism, Expanding His Positive Vibe Ent. Brand, and Much More.
The behind the scenes aspect of the music industry is one business that helps mold an individual for bigger and better things. If you are able to maneuver and finesse the way one should in regards to building up a great contact list as well as gaining as much knowledge as possible, you’ll be setting yourself up for success in the long run when it comes to any future endeavors. Also, just having a basic understanding of how the industry works is always a huge plus. I met Jay Holz about a year ago during a panel series and his name was one that constantly came up on my social media when it came to music related topics and inside stories related to the industry.
Jay formerly held a position as the Managing Editor for Karen Civil’s website but recently parted ways with them to focus on his own brand, Positive Vibe Ent., a management, marketing and PR company structured to help emerging artists.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Jay to talk about Positive Vibe Ent., the main goal for expanding the brand, his take on journalism and what he considers a good PR person and music manager. Check out our full interview below.
1 – What inspired you to be a part of the music industry?
Ever since I was a young kid, I always looked up to entertainers and athletes and I think it just stuck with me my whole life. By the time I was ready to graduate high school and go to college, a lot of rappers were coming up through the Internet and you could start to see how all of the success was happening. I watched people like Will Dzombak (Wiz’s manager) and Quentin Cuff (Mac Miller’s business partner) be so important to Wiz and Mac’s success that I thought, ‘Shit, I can do this too!’
2 – How did you get involved in the industry?
It all started in 2009/2010 when I met my brother Malik Ferraud (@MalikFerraud). At the time, he was going by the rap name Money and he and his old crew had a song called “B4LT1M0RE” that was really popular in the city. I instantly became a fan and started reaching out to him. We met in Ocean City, MD in the summer of 2010 and we connected right away. We put in work! From there, I started to network with a ton of different people in the industry and the rest is kind of history. Malik and I are still working together till this day, as well as our other day 1 homies Donate Benjamin (@TaysWorld410) and Charlie Peacher (@CharliePeacher).
3 – I know you previously worked as the Managing Editor for Karen Civil’s website. What made you want to get into journalism? Was that something you always wanted to do?
To keep it 100 with you….I never had a true passion for journalism. I just knew that if I could get some type of job/position in the industry, I could eventually build up a nice network and get back to my management/PR roots, which was always my long-term goal. That being said, once I got into the journalism game, I started to really love it. In 2012, my good friend Sermon gave me a chance of a lifetime and allowed me to start writing for his site — with literally 0 experience. A year later, after Sermon taught me a bunch of stuff, I landed a job with HipHop-N-More, thanks to the blog gawd Navjosh. He turned me into a blog monster. Then of course in 2014, I started working for Karen Civil as a contributor. A year later, I was the managing editor for the site and serving as her number 2. We did some amazing things together. Forever appreciative of her allowing me to grow and accomplish some bucket list items of mine. Major shout out to Niki McGloster for believing in me, and to my team Shawn Grant, Ayanna Sinclair, Alley Olivier, Lindsey India, Keith Reid-Cleveland, Kia Imani, Lupe Llerenas, Travis Grier, Michelle Locke, Pennie, Micia and anyone else I forgot.
4 – You’re currently running your own business, Positive Vibe Ent, which is a management and PR company. What inspired you to launch this business?
They say it’s not as fun working for someone else, so I decided to work for me! After I quit my job with the Baltimore Orioles in 2016 (thank god I did that, by the way), I was ready to start a company and get back to managing and doing PR/marketing full time. Wallah, Positive Vibe Entertainment was born. I owe a big thanks to Malik and Dontae for coming up with the idea/concept behind PV a long time ago. And I give myself thanks for bringing it to life.
5 – What is Positive Vibe Ent’s main objective?
Our main goal is to help launch careers for our clients and spread positive energy to the world in the process. The nuts and bolts of our business are Management, PR, Marketing, and Consulting, however, I want PV to grow into its own platform that promotes positivity every day. We’ll be creating empowering content via our website and social media accounts, releasing thoughtful merchandise, hosting events, and much further down the line. I gotta get my baby off the ground before we can take over. We will though!
6 – In your opinion, what do you think makes a good PR person? What do you think makes a good music manager?
Consistency, timeliness and the willingness to do whatever for your clients. That goes for both PR and management. Being a good PR person entails having great networking and communication skills, and always being up-to-date on the trends of whatever industry you’re doing PR in. As for management, you have to have an enormous amount of patience, great negotiation skills, confidence and most importantly, the ability to see the bigger picture.
7 – You’re also the road manager for rising act Tate Kobang. How did you land that position?
That’s my dawg! Shout out to Tate and shout out to our big homie Shawn Caesar. Shawn runs DTLR + DTLR Radio and at the beginning of 2017, he started working closely with Tate. They were gearing up to drop Tate’s mixtape Silent Waves (hosted by DJ Flow) around that time and they wanted to bring me on to do PR for it. From there, Tate, Shawn and I got extremely close and I started doing more than just PR for Tate. As we were all progressing and making moves, we realized he needed a day-to-day road manager and it just made sense for me to take that role. To be honest, though, I don’t look at Tate as a “client”. That’s my brother and I’ll go to war for him.
8 – What struggles did you face and/or still going through as you make your way through this industry?
The oversaturation makes it tough to break through and a lot of the corny/goofy behavior from the industry as of late makes it hard to stay motivated sometimes. That being said, my dreams and goals are sky high, so whenever I have that down moment, I just think about why I’m doing this in the first place, and then I quickly snap out of it. Positive Vibe, ya dig?
9 – What are you currently using as your source of inspiration?
My clients, my city, my family. Everything around me inspires me. Seeing different parts of the country and the world, meeting different people, etc. If you allow yourself to, you can find inspiration almost anywhere.
10 – What type of advice would you give to the aspiring business owner, publicist, and music manager?
Never ever give up. Remove the words, “can’t” and “won’t” from your vocabulary. Always remember your “why” and your purpose in life. And the biggest piece of advice that I give to every single person I meet is to make happiness your number 1 priority. There is not one thing more important in this world than finding happiness and peace. Make that your top goal every day, and you can’t possibly lose.
11 – What’s next for Jay Holz for the second half of 2018? What can we expect from Positive Vibe Ent as well as the acts you’re managing?
I have some exciting things I’m working on for the rest of the year. One of which is another showcase in Baltimore to follow up my one from last year. I’ll be launching PV’s website very very soon. You’re going to see a bunch of great content, partnerships and overall excitement from the likes of Da Kid Gowie, Tate Kobang, Young Money Yawn, Malik Ferraud, Charlie Peacher, Dontae Benjamin, Tracksmith, my Swisher Sweets family and much more. Most importantly, you can expect a boatload of positive energy for as long as I’m breathing.