MBW’s Key Songs in Life… is a series in which we ask influential music industry figures about the tracks that have defined their journey and existence to date. This time the jukebox in his mind is Ole Obermann, global head of music development and IP at TikTok. The “Key Songs in Life…” series is supported by: Published by Sony Music.
One of the ways to lure/trick senior executives into key song positions is to tell them it’s easy. In fact, it’s fun!
Of course, compared to the torture of strategy or the search for financial performance, the unpretentious task of picking seven (or so) tracks that had an impact on their personal and professional lives was an underarm lob; a soft and fluffy style , focusing on music rather than a music career. continue…
Ole Obermann, global head of music development and intellectual property at TikTok, is unimpressed, and rightly so. “It was actually more stressful than any other interview I’ve done because you can’t narrow it down to seven songs, you just can’t!”
It’s truly gut-wrenching when you consider how many tough questions he’ll be asked as his company recently settled its dispute with Universal Pictures (and its supporting cast).
However, like many problems in the modern music industry, Swift found a solution: “I was inspired by the Eras tour. I looked back at my life chapter by chapter and reflected on what happened during those periods, and there was always a song Songs can connect you to those memories and different times in your life.
Olbermann’s industry story so far includes serving as a senior executive first at Sony, then Warner, before joining TikTok parent ByteDance in 2019. An in-depth journey that spans not only time but continents, from Long Island via Ibiza to Nigeria…
1) The Iron Lady, Dare the Eagle (1983)
I grew up on Long Island, outside of New York. My parents are German and Danish, and they moved our family here before I was born.
I think in a way we had a very European experience growing up. I have vivid memories of my father playing classical music on the record player every weekend morning.
The songs I chose during this era were not classical, although I do think that certainly shaped my interest in and appreciation of music – we’ll come back to this later.
Instead, I would go a very different route Where Eagles Dare By The Iron Maiden.
I’ve been a huge metalhead since I was a kid. I was in the high school band and we were pretty good. I have a black Gibson Flying V guitar and a really nice mullet.
We were inspired by Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, the two guitarists from Iron Maiden; I was just so fascinated.
Bruce Dickinson’s singing voice is incredible. They are incredible storytellers. I also love Eddie the mascot, I love everything about them.
There was a venue on Long Island called the Nassau Coliseum, which is still there today. It was a big, old stadium, but all these metal bands would go through there and I saw a lot of Iron Maiden shows there.
I still listen to this song today because it’s a quintessential Iron Maiden song. In general, I keep coming back to metal music. It has stayed with me all my life.
2) The Beastie Boys, Sleepless in Brooklyn (1986)
This is the early/mid nineties, which was my college years and shortly after graduation.
Perry Farrell started Lollapalooza with Jane’s Addiction, and I went to some of the shows, and there were the Beastie Boys, the Smashing Pumpkins, Luscious Jackson, Green Day, a lot of the great bands of that era.
I’m actually really struggling with this because which band do you pick out of all of these, let alone which one? Especially if you join a tribe called Quest, outor de la soul, myself and me; They all represent that era.
but i and Didn’t sleep until Brooklyn Because I remember it being a fun, carefree party time in life, and this song totally represents that. Also, I grew up on Long Island, but I was born in Brooklyn, so I think I can really relate to this song and this genre.
3) Steve Reich, “Music for 18 Musicians” (original ECM recording, 1978)
Now we’ve made a big shift and we’re back to that classical music influenced place that I mentioned at the beginning
My first job out of university was at BMG – there were five majors at the time. I work as a Product Manager for the Jazz and Classical Music portion of Label Systems, which is an entry-level job. One of the brands we distribute is ECM, founded by an incredible man named Manfred Eicher.
We work on all catalogs and new releases on the label, part of Music by 18 musicians Written by Steve Reich. It’s essentially classical music, but very minimalist, almost like the sound of Philip Glass.
He was never widely known, but his music had some die-hard followers. I will keep this album on repeat.
Even today, especially if I want to get into a deep thinking trance, this is the album I’m going to release.
4) Wilco, “Shot in the Arm” (1999)
I left BMG in 1998 and went to graduate school at Northwestern University in Chicago.
When I got there, I already knew Wilco, but I didn’t really know them, not like I would have known them.
Jeff Tweedy lives in Chicago, so they often play smaller venues around the area. So when I lived in Chicago for two years as a graduate student, I met him in a very small place in Chicago.
The song I chose is A shot of cardiotonican earlier one from their discography [from 1999’s Summerteeth].
I must also mention the project with Billy Bragg Mermaid Avenue, they wrote and recorded some songs with never-before-heard Woody Guthrie lyrics. I absolutely love these albums.
There are a lot of songs out there that I could and would choose, but the one that really jumps out, if I had to choose one, is “Shot In The Arm.”
5) Radiohead, Black Star (1995)
After graduate school, I moved to San Francisco where I met my wife, Stephanie.
We were actually set up by some friends and we had a nice dinner on our first date, but that’s not what we remember most.
What we remember most is that after dinner we went to an amazing record store called Amoeba Music and we spent a few hours together browsing the vinyl racks and talking about music.
There are a lot of connections between us, but Radiohead is definitely a band we both like. Again, it’s really hard to pick a song here, but black Star He went with me. We were talking about those days before this conversation, and we both completely associated this song with when we first met, when we first got to know each other; it’s an incredible memory for me.
6) Black Coffee, Stimela (2005)
Here again we have quite a shift.
I love Ibiza. I spent a lot of time there, as much time as I could.
Even a long time ago, I was attracted to electronic music. There was a series called Global Underground in the late 90s/early 2000s that featured DJs like Danny Tenaglia, Deep Dish, Sasha and Digweed, so I listened to a lot of that stuff.
Then when we moved to London I spent more and more time in Ibiza and I got to know the DJs in the clubs there.
What I want to choose here is black coffee. In fact, it’s really hard to choose one of his songs because I consider the set he plays as a whole. But there was a song called “Stimela” that broke his heart.
I really love following what DJs like Dimitri Vegas and ANOTR DJ are doing in the dance music community because they are both really involved in the culture and they are often the first to play and sample authentic music from around the world Fun music people, we’ve been leading the way on this for a long time – ahead of most of the rest of the industry, in fact.
In fact, I will relate it again to classical education. I think a lot of electronic music, especially some of the deeper house music, is very orchestral. The way these talented DJs produce and engineer music is like composing a symphony.
7) The Stand, Chinatown (2020) starring Bruce Springsteen
This is a song I only recently discovered, but it really stuck with me.
As I mentioned, I was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, but I also lived in New Jersey for many years.
Bruce Springsteen is obviously from New Jersey and I was lucky enough to see a Broadway show he did a few years ago and the story of his life was told through his songs, which I can really relate to.
But the song I’m going to choose is a song with Sting. Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers has a track called ChinatownWorking with Bruce Springsteen, it was critically acclaimed but not as well known as it should have been.
This is the most amazing song. The lyrics are great, the harmonies are great, and these two sing together…and of course Jack is from New Jersey, so it’s really special to hear two generations come together.
The funny thing is, when I saw Sting on Broadway, I sat next to Jack. I didn’t know him at the time. I mean, I knew who he was, I was working at Warner Music at the time, maybe I should introduce myself. But I didn’t because he loved the show as much as I did.
Now, I’ve been lucky enough to meet him and I’ve discovered a lot of Bleachers songs and I love them. We’re also working with Bleachers on TikTok, which is really exciting.
8) Kay, Ionwanditi (2019)
Sorry, I need extra tracks.
I’ve been working on TikTok for about five years now, so I went back and thought about all these songs that were popular during that time.
They are so diverse, they come from all over the world, it’s hard to choose one, but there’s a song called aianwanditi Created by Nigerian artist Ckay.
It’s an Afrobeat song, a very beautiful, slow, melodic love song. Very early on, our people working in the sub-Saharan African market shared this and told us this was really going to explode and said it could eventually blow up and become a global thing.
Sure enough, weeks/months later he was a huge hit in the UK charts, US charts and global charts, with sold-out shows in London and New York and elsewhere.
I have to mention this because it represents my favorite thing about TikTok over the past five years. I feel like I’ve been able to be a part of these songs, and in most cases, people haven’t even heard of these artists. And then you have some crazy viral moment on TikTok and two weeks later you get 50 million views, 1 million creations, it starts running on Spotify and Apple, it’s on the charts…
That’s what I enjoy most about working here, which is why I really wanted to make it a bonus track.
“The Key Songs of Life…” is supported by Sony Music Publishing. SMP represents classics including The Beatles, Queen, Motown, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Leiber & Stoller, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones, as well as contemporary favorites Authors such as Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Calvin Harris, Daddy Yankee, Gabe Barrett, Jay-Z, Ye, Luke Bryan, Maluma, Marc Anthony, Miranda Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Sarah Bareilles, Sean “Love” Combs, Travis Scott and more .
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