LEAD Magazine

The Face Behind mybandstock.com

A look at a fellow Wolverine's music startup.

By Nicole Bowling
November 2, 2009

If you think the normal student lifestyle is busy, you should meet Bobby Matson. The senior BBA student from Boston somehow balances taking classes, playing drums in his band, Farewell Republic, managing the student entrepreneurial organization Maize Ventures, and running his own company. Oh yeah, and he says that he has time to have fun too. Even though Bobby is only 21, his music startup company, mybandstock.com, is receiving national attention. Why? Because it has the potential to change the entertainment industry.

Mybandstock.com works like this: fans visit the website and buy stock in bands. By "investing" in a band, fans are able to support it and form a personalized relationship, while the band can reward fan loyalty with exclusive incentives like concert tickets or custom song lyrics. Mybandstock.com started as a way for local artists to raise money for things like tour expenses, but now, the company is working with larger artists and record labels. The site acts as a way for the record labels to monetize content by utilizing a new revenue stream. By hosting established artists on the website, mybandstock.com provides more audience access, which Matson says, is more valuable than just buying a song on iTunes.

When I asked Bobby what made him start mybandstock.com, he replied, "I have no explanation for that question. I never set out to start a company, I just love music." In fact, Bobby came to the University of Michigan freshman year for the music school's jazz program. "Music is and will always be #1 in my life," Matson said, and it's this passion that drove Bobby to develop mybandstock.com into what it is today. The company was started about a year and a half ago when Bobby's business partner, Drew Leahy, came to him with the idea. At the start, it was just Bobby, Drew, and three tech guys. The team has changed frequently and dramatically since then, and Matson has had as many as 15 people working with him on promotions, graphic design, artist relations, financial modeling, and web development.

As the head of the company, Bobby told me that he spends about 30 hours a week working on mybandstock.com in his "office" at the TechArb, a student coworking space on E. Washington St. He confessed that, initially, balancing his time was the biggest challenge of being a student and an entrepreneur. Now, Matson says that the most difficult thing is being able to "translate". "I've had to figure out how to translate what I know and what I'm learning in school to my company. Lucky for me, the business school has really helped me with that," Matson explained. Who knew that what you learned in school could actually be useful in real life?

Besides trying to utilize what you learn in school, I'm sure many people want to know what kind of advice a successful guy like Bobby would give to us fellow students. Pay attention -- here it is. "I know it sounds clich," he said, "but I would say my advice is 'don't hesitate'". Matson advises students to use their resources, like he did when he helped create the TechArb. "Talk to people who would know what you need to know. I think that people feel like if they don't study something, they can't do it. Just because you think you don't know how to start a business doesn't mean you shouldn't. Don't hesitate, just go for it!" he declares.

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