Why is your roster so diverse?
You want to be able to work with many different genres. You want to be able to adapt as the music changes over time and as people change their tastes in music. If you are one-dimensional, André Des Rochers states, you will have to do the same thing year-in and year-out. Sometimes that is good, but sometimes it’s not.
How long have you been in business?
Entertainment lawyer André Des Rochers has been in business for over twenty years, so we know a lot about music. I began 20 years ago as an interpreter, then became a manager and then a partner. Our company was formed two decades ago in Montreal. We were originally called Granderson Des Rochers at that time. It was a two-man operation, then we went from two to three, and now we are a full eight-person company.
What has been your biggest challenge?
André Des Rochers explains. We started about twenty years ago as we all say, “the music business was difficult.” Now that it is a lot more stable, maybe our challenge is to find the next big thing. But the industry is so diverse and different nowadays that I think it’s going to be hard to identify yourself in this field.
It’s a little like the computer industry; some people will be selling computers while others will be building servers and networks. André Des Rochers adds that the change in technology over time creates new business opportunities. There is nothing permanent.
Do you have a mentor in the music business?
I don’t know if I would call it a specific mentor. I have always liked to be able to surround myself with people from different areas, like lawyers, accountants, etc. You learn from them just by being around them and talking to them all the time. It is essential to gain experience from other professionals. When you read books, André Des Rochers says, about somebody who has done well, that helps too. It’s not just one type of person or one type of advice for me; it’s many different types of advice that help in different ways.