The Recording Club
Membership Intelligence · Platinum Cohort

Who Is Actually Buying Platinum

A demographic, psychographic, and relational profile of every Platinum member, drawn from primary sources, message history, and verified enrichment.
Key Insight, Cohort-Wide

Six of seven Platinums have effectively zero studio bookings. Only Garrett is a power user.

Platinum is not being purchased as studio time. It is being purchased as community, access, patronage, and venue. Targeting must look for community and affiliation buyers, not heavy studio users. The cohort splits into three distinct buyer archetypes (below), each with its own outreach playbook. (Erin Pillman just converted in May 2026; bookings pattern still settling.)

Cluster A · Patron / family buyer (Platinum is for the kid or family) Cluster B · Institutional buyer (Platinum is for the org) Cluster C · Active musician buyer (Platinum is the artist's base camp)
Cluster A · Patron-Parent of Aspiring Artist

Pennor Family

Primary holder: Karla Pennor. Active relationship: Andrew (Chairman, AMPCO Contracting) and Danielle. Family creative center: daughter Mia, an aspiring vocalist.
Platinum since: 2025-05-07
Tenure: 12 months (longest-standing)
Bookings: 0 lifetime
Email: karlapennor@gmail.com
Age Range
Parents 50s–60s; Mia teens–20s
Location
Orange County, CA (Irvine, Anaheim, LA)
Occupation
Chairman, AMPCO Contracting
Income Tier
$5M+ HNW

Primary Motivation

Launch and develop daughter Mia's music career. TRC is the platform and concierge for her band, rehearsals, recordings, and private performances.

Secondary Motivations

  • Host private performances for family and friends (studio showcases for 20–30 people, Catalina Island gig, The Drake)
  • Give Mia a built-in professional band, MD, and recording context she would otherwise have to assemble herself
  • Belong to a creative LA community as patrons
  • Use TRC as event-production muscle (PA rentals, talent sourcing)

Values

Family-first patronageGenerosityHands-on curationQuality and craft

Wealth Signals

  • Andrew is Chairman of AMPCO Contracting (CA demolition / earthwork firm, $100M+ annual revenue per public sources)
  • Partner at Earthscapes, Inc. (Irvine landscape design / build)
  • Pays $1,800/mo Platinum with zero studio bookings: pure patronage spend
  • Hits $5K daily wire limit, continues sending next day to cover band plus tip
  • Books private performances at Catalina Island (Catherine's Terrace) and The Drake
  • Attends the Hope Gala charity circuit

Creative Signals

  • Mia performs jazz and soul standards (Etta James, Alicia Keys, Roberta Flack, Jobim)
  • Andrew personally curates set lists and song additions
  • Greg has performed alongside Mia; family is open to writing coaches and Warner A&R intros

Why They Pay Platinum

TRC Platinum is the family's all-access patronage tier for Mia's emerging career. They don't book studio time. They pay $1,800/mo to keep Greg and the TRC band and studio infrastructure on retainer as Mia's de-facto management, MD, and A&R pipeline. Real spend lives in the on-top wires for events (Catalina, The Drake, studio showcases). Platinum is the membership that makes the family insiders rather than clients.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Find more OC/LA HNW families whose teen or college-age child has an artistic dream the parents want to fund.

Where to Find Them

  • OC private schools with serious music programs: Sage Hill, Mater Dei, JSerra Catholic, Tarbut V'Torah, Pacifica Christian, Crean Lutheran
  • LA arts feeders: LACHSA, Crossroads, Harvard-Westlake, Buckley, Curtis
  • OC charity gala circuit: Hope Gala (theirs), Hoag Hospital Foundation Gala, Segerstrom Center patrons, Pacific Symphony Gala, CHOC Glass Slipper Guild
  • Andrew's peer industry circles: AGC of California OC chapter, California Demolition Contractors Association, ULI Orange County, OC Business Council
  • High-end vocal coaches: Bel Canto Institute, Voice Studio LA, Catalina Jazz Club's youth pipeline
  • Family foundation circuits: OC Community Foundation, Pacific Life Foundation, Allergan Foundation
  • Catalina + private-venue partners: Catherine's Terrace, Descanso Beach Club booking calendars
  • Internal DB pattern match: Gregbot contacts with $1K+ wires AND a kid's name in the family thread; texts containing "set list", "private show", "my daughter is going to sing"

Marketing Angles

  • "Concierge for your kid's first real career steps." Hero positioning for an OC/LA parent landing page
  • "From bedroom to The Drake in 6 months" Mia Pennor case study (with permission), distributed as a print-quality mailer to peer families
  • Quarterly "Family Showcase Night" at TRC where Platinum kids headline; existing patrons become recruiters who invite peer families
  • Press push: profile piece in OC Register, Coast Magazine, LA Parent, Variety's family-business desk
  • Bundled "Patron Tier" naming: reframe Platinum publicly as "Patron Membership" for this segment. Name does work the price can't.

How to Access Them

  • Pennor as introducer: ask Andrew/Danielle to host one "Bring a Family" dinner per quarter at the studio. Their referral converts at 10x cold
  • School music dept sponsorships: donate "10 lessons + a recording day at TRC" to Sage Hill / Mater Dei / Harvard-Westlake auctions ($5K+ items)
  • Co-host charity gala adjuncts: sponsor a 30-min showcase at Pacific Symphony Gala or Segerstrom donor event
  • Mia's social network: get her age cohort at OC private schools to do a TRC session for free in exchange for parent invite list
  • Private wealth advisors: Northern Trust, Bessemer Trust, City National OC family-office advisors as referral channel for clients with "creative kid" mentions
Cluster B · International Media Org with LA Satellite Need

Joe Harland · BBC

Account type: institutional. Buyer is the BBC (London). Joe is the named producer and internal champion. Funded by UK public license-fee money.
Platinum since: 2025-09-13
Tenure: 8 months
Bookings: 1 (2026-06-01, $2,160)
Email: joe.harland@bbc.co.uk
Age Range
40s–50s (BBC senior since 2003)
Location
London, 8F Broadcasting House
Occupation
Head of Visual & Digital Radio, BBC
Relevant Wallet
BBC Pop Music / Visual Radio budget

Primary Motivation

Secure a reliable, premium, on-brand LA satellite production base for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge video sessions. Platinum guarantees no-friction, hospitality-included, always-available access whenever a BBC-relevant artist is in LA. Materially cheaper and more controllable than ad-hoc booking of premium LA studios.

Secondary Motivations

  • Career and portfolio: an LA Live Lounge bureau is a flagship innovation Joe can claim internally as Visual Radio Portfolio Lead
  • Strategic US expansion of Live Lounge without flying artists to London
  • Personal creative collaboration with Greg Spero and access to Greg's artist network (Glasper, Cory Henry, Justin Lee Schultz, Jesus Molina)
  • Make BBC Radio look modern and innovative

Values

Public-service stewardshipProcess and contractual rigorCreativity and craftDry British wit

Institutional Signals

  • BBC commits ~$26,600/year (12 × $1,800 plus initiation), plus per-session engineering costs
  • Joe authorized to commit a public broadcaster to multi-month vendor contracts and to pitch A-list artists directly (chasing Dua Lipa's team Nov 2025)
  • Dedicated team: Andrew Rogers (Live Music Producer), Thom Weller (Producer & Director, Visual Radio), Ty Powell (Business Advisor, Pop Music), Dave King (LA lead)
  • Office on 8F of Broadcasting House (BBC senior floor)

Creative Signals

  • Launched the Zane Lowe show (2003); 20+ years shaping BBC Radio 1's visual identity
  • Producer credit on The Live Lounge Show (Apple TV)
  • Music Week Tech Summit keynote; HuffPost contributor; @TheJoeHarland
"I am pitching to my boss for Radio 1 to join The Recording Club… funding for this is coming from public money in the UK."

Why They Pay Platinum

The BBC needs a reliable, premium, on-brand LA video-recording space for Live Lounge sessions on demand, roughly one per quarter. Platinum is the always-available, hospitality-included, no-friction guarantee. Versus ad-hoc booking of Henson, EastWest, or Conway ($2K–5K/day with unpredictable availability and no relationship), $1,800/mo is cheaper, predictable, on a single PO line, and comes with Greg's curated artist network. The single booking and "cooling" sentiment do not reflect lack of intent. They reflect BBC's slow PR and booking process and quarterly cadence.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Sell "always-available LA satellite production base" to any media org that flies artists to its home city for sessions.

Where to Find Them

  • International public broadcasters with sessions products: Triple J Australia (Like A Version), KEXP Seattle, Radio France / FIP, CBC Music / Q (Canada), RTÉ 2FM, NRK P3 (Norway), Sveriges Radio P3, NTS Radio UK
  • US public radio sessions teams: NPR Tiny Desk (Bobby Carter), NPR Music, WNYC Soundcheck, WFUV Studio A, KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic (LA-based, partner not competitor)
  • Streaming-platform sessions products: Spotify Singles/Sessions, Apple Music Live / Up Next, Vevo (LIFT, DSCVR), YouTube Music Artist on the Rise, Tidal Sessions, Amazon Music Sessions
  • Brand/sessions producers: COLORS Berlin, Mahogany Sessions, Audiotree Chicago, La Blogothèque Paris, Red Bull Music, Boiler Room
  • Major label video / A&R / digital teams: UMG, Sony, WMG/Atlantic, Republic, Interscope, Capitol, Columbia, specifically their visual/video heads
  • Agency artist-video teams: WME, CAA, UTA digital/branded-content
  • Replicable cold-outbound trigger phrases in any pitch deck or job post: "LA satellite", "fly artists to [city]", "on-brand video capture", "visual radio", "sessions"

Marketing Angles

  • "How the BBC built an LA bureau for less than one Henson day" co-authored case study with Joe Harland
  • One-page institutional rate card with the BBC logo on it, sized for forwarding inside a corporate email thread, with PO-friendly terms
  • "BBC at TRC" 90-second sizzle reel for cold LinkedIn outbound to global heads of sessions
  • Industry-press placement: Music Week, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, RAIN News, "Inside the BBC's LA Live Lounge bureau"
  • "Insurance against the A-list session you didn't see coming" language tuned to risk-averse public-money buyers

How to Access Them

  • Joe Harland as introducer: public broadcasters help each other. Ask Joe for 5 warm intros to peer heads at Triple J, Radio France, CBC, KEXP, NTS
  • Conference circuit: TRC sponsor presence at Music Biz (Nashville, May), MIDEM (Cannes, Jan), Music Week Tech Summit, IBC Amsterdam (Sept), NAMM
  • Reverse referral on every session: when any artist records at TRC, ping their label A&R / digital team with "the BBC ran this here, want the same?"
  • LinkedIn Sales Nav sequence: title contains "Head of Sessions", "Head of Visual Radio", "Head of Music Programming", "Director, A&R Video", "Head of Live"; geography = global; outbound deck
  • Productize as "Institutional Membership": add explicit PO-friendly annual invoicing, named-team access, and Greg-curated artist-shortlist deliverable
Cluster A · Affluent LA Family Clubhouse Buyer

Lauren Selig

Founder/CEO Shake and Bake Productions (film/TV finance and production). Daughter of Seattle commercial real-estate magnate Martin Selig. XPRIZE board member.
Platinum since: 2025-11-13
Tenure: 6 months
Bookings: 0 studio; weekly lessons
Email: lauren@shakeandbakeproductions.com
Age
~55
Location
Los Angeles (Century City), Seattle ties
Occupation
Producer, investor, board director
Income Tier
UHNW (family office circuit)

Primary Motivation

A safe, premium, trusted creative-development clubhouse for her family. A place her 6-year-old son Atlas can take weekly drum lessons without her needing to be present, and where she can socialize and learn herself.

Secondary Motivations

  • Personal creative reawakening, started guitar lessons in Nov 2025 (pays $100/lesson on top of Platinum)
  • Loves the social events and community feel; brings industry friends as guests
  • Connector instinct: actively introduces Craig Kallman (Atlantic Records), Michael Nash, her piano teacher Matthew into Greg's orbit

Values

FamilySafety and trust around kidsLifelong learningPhilanthropy (XPRIZE)High-trust intros

Wealth Signals

  • Father Martin Selig, Seattle commercial real estate; Lauren was Director of Development at Martin Selig Real Estate 2003–2012
  • Education: Lakeside, Phillips Exeter, Georgetown BS, LSE, JD-MBA from UW + Northwestern
  • Executive producer credits: Hacksaw Ridge (6 Oscar noms), Rocketman, Lone Survivor, American Made, Everest, Wheel of Time
  • Featured speaker at UAE and West Coast Family Office and HNW Annual Conferences
  • Full-time live-in nanny, 3 kids (20, 16, 6); casual Mar-a-Lago travel

Creative Signals

  • Started guitar lessons herself, Nov 2025: "loved my first lesson. got the guitar. gonna practice."
  • Son Atlas (6) takes weekly drum lessons, bundled into Platinum
  • Connected to Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman and Michael Nash
  • VR / immersive media background (VALIS, Emmy for Mt. Everest VR)
"do you wanna bring any guests on February 18? We have room for a couple more music people."

Why They Pay Platinum

Platinum is a family creative-clubhouse membership, not a recording-studio product. Value stack: (1) convenience and safety, a trusted premium space where Atlas can be dropped off for weekly drum lessons; (2) social events and hospitality-rich community; (3) her own $100/lesson guitar lessons booked through TRC; (4) Greg Spero as the personal relationship anchor she trusts. The "0 bookings" metric is a category error: lessons and events are tracked separately. At her wealth tier, $1,800/mo for trusted care plus curated room for the whole family is below threshold of consideration.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Find UHNW LA moms with school-age musical kids who want a safe creative third place for the family and a learning room for themselves.

Where to Find Them

  • LA private schools (parent communities): Crossroads (Santa Monica), Harvard-Westlake, Buckley, John Thomas Dye, Curtis, Wesley, Mirman, Wildwood, Brentwood School, PS1 Pluralistic, Carlthorp, Vistamar, The Willows, Westside Neighborhood, Marlborough, Marymount
  • LA arts-pipeline programs: Colburn School (DTLA), MUSE School, Pasadena Conservatory of Music, LACHSA
  • Women's HNW + family-office circuits: 100 Women in Finance LA, The Helm, West Coast Family Office & HNW Conference attendee list (Lauren is on it), Milken Conference
  • Adjacent boards / donor lists: XPRIZE, MOCA, Hammer Museum, Eli & Edythe Broad Stage, Step Up Women's Network
  • Premium pediatric music programs: Music Together LA premium tier, Pasadena Conservatory kids, School of Rock Brentwood/Santa Monica
  • Mom-influencer LA orbit: @lalaland.moms, @beverlyhillsmommy, parenting podcasters with HNW audiences

Marketing Angles

  • "Drop off your kid, stay for your own lesson, host your friends." Three-in-one Platinum-mom pitch as the hero billboard
  • "Why I sent my 6-year-old to drum lessons, and the mom stayed." Lauren testimonial (with permission), distributed to peer mom communities
  • Quarterly "Parents' Night at TRC": bring a friend, free 1-hour group lesson, charcuterie + wine + studio tour
  • "Creative Reawakening for Women" half-day workshop, co-branded with Step Up or The Helm
  • School auction items: "10 lessons + a recording experience at TRC" donated as $5K+ auction lots, converts buyers to members AND seeds the school parent newsletter

How to Access Them

  • Lauren as patron node: formalize "Patron Referral", $X membership credit per Platinum convert, plus a signed thank-you experience. She already brings industry friends; pay her for it
  • School music-program sponsorships at Crossroads, Buckley, Harvard-Westlake, JTD, Curtis. Sponsor in exchange for inclusion in parent newsletters and room-parent introductions
  • Tiny Room Gives gala expansion: annual mom-and-music-industry gala, invite parents from 3 schools each year as Lauren's named guests
  • Pediatric music-therapy referral channel: partner with Beverly Hills / Brentwood pediatricians and child therapists who recommend music exposure
  • Private wealth advisors with LA family-office books: Northern Trust, Bessemer Trust, City National Private Client, Goldman PWM, equip them with a 1-pager to share with "creative kid" clients
  • Co-host a "Daughters Who Drum" or "Moms Who Strum" night at TRC, Lauren's exact narrative made shareable
Cluster C · Career-Pivot Musician Using TRC as Base Camp

Garrett John Perkins

Just quit a stable tech-startup engineering job (Shinkei Systems, Founders Fund Series A) to go full-time on music. Cal Poly SLO grad, Songfinch PM alum. The cohort's lone power user.
Platinum since: 2026-02-18
Tenure: 3 months
Bookings: 19 in 90 days, $10,620
Email: gperkins11@gmail.com
Age Range
27–29 (Cal Poly 2015–2020)
Location
Los Angeles (Central Coast / 805 origin)
Occupation
Full-time musician (recent pivot from tech)
Income Tier
Runway-funded (deliberate burn)

Primary Motivation

Building his music career as a serious profession, just starting in earnest. TRC is his base camp. Per Greg directly: the network and community are the main reason he's Platinum, ahead of the recording capacity itself.

Secondary Motivations

  • Network access: bringing collaborators into a credible space, plugging into TRC's roster of working artists
  • Identity transition: Platinum as a credibility marker that signals "I am a professional musician now"
  • Founder DNA applied to a creative project (two prior startups: Songfinch PM, Cal Poly founder of Ethic/FIG)

Values

All-in commitmentCraft and sustainabilityCommunity-firstWarmth and gratitude

Financial Profile (Caveat)

  • Important: NOT ultra-wealthy. The $1,800/mo plus ~$10.6K bookings is deliberate runway investment, not pocket change
  • Runway likely sourced from tech-startup salary and equity at Songfinch and Shinkei (both well-funded)
  • Pattern of deliberate-investment thinking, not consumption: founded two startups before this bet

Creative Signals

  • TRC profile genre: Afro Caribbean funk (defined niche, suggests a specific band project)
  • 19 bookings in 3 months across 2 studios: the most active Platinum, by far
  • Worked at Songfinch (music-tech), so he has industry literacy and a musician network from that role
  • Unprompted on first meeting with Greg, pitched a product feature (shareable booking links for collaborators)
"You're so welcome, thank you for being receptive and creating such a wonderful thing!"

Why They Pay Platinum

Garrett quit his tech job to go full-time as a musician, and TRC is his base camp for that career bet. Platinum delivers three things he can't easily replicate: (1) daily and on-demand studio access to record and build out the Afro-Caribbean funk project; (2) a credible professional venue where he can bring collaborators and demonstrate he is running a real operation; (3) most importantly, the surrounding community of working artists at TRC as a recruiting and collaboration pool. He is also extracting a status and credibility benefit during the awkward early period before he has the recordings or shows to prove he is a working musician.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Find ambitious late-20s/early-30s career pivoters with runway from a tech/finance/PM job who treat the studio as base camp for the bet.

Where to Find Them

  • Music-adjacent tech alumni networks: Songfinch, Splice, Spotify For Artists, Stem, Symphonic, Apple Music/Beats, DistroKid, TuneCore. Target ex-employees who play
  • Broader LA tech alumni with music side-projects: Stripe, Notion, Figma, Patreon, Snap, Riot, Activision. LinkedIn search "former PM at..." plus music interest tag
  • LA music-school transitional alumni: USC Thornton Popular Music, Berklee LA campus, LACM Pasadena, ICON Collective, Musicians Institute Hollywood, Cal Poly SLO music + LAES programs
  • Indie LA venues for pre-launch artists: The Echo / Echoplex, Zebulon (Frogtown), The Lodge Room (Highland Park), Resident DTLA, Moroccan Lounge, Permanent Records Roadhouse, The Wayfarer (Costa Mesa)
  • Niche scene nodes for Afro-Caribbean funk: Brainfeeder / Stones Throw orbit, Cumbiatón, Tropicalia LA, Worldy roster events
  • Internal pattern matches in Greg's iMessage/email: "I quit my job", "going full-time", "leaving my job", "leaving corporate", "decided to focus on music", "left tech", "left finance", "sabbatical", "going all in", "next chapter"
  • Spotify Listener Discovery: LA-based artists with 500–5,000 monthly listeners, released in last 6 months (early-career signal)
  • TRC calendar cross-ref: Garrett's co-bookers on his 19 sessions, each is a Garrett-shaped prospect

Marketing Angles

  • "Base camp for your career bet." Direct positioning, posters in indie LA venues + r/WeAreTheMusicMakers paid post
  • "Quitting your day job? Here's where to record." LinkedIn Sponsored Content targeted at LA-based "Software Engineer" / "Product Manager" age 25–35 with Music interest
  • Garrett testimonial video: "Why I joined Platinum the month I quit my job", distributed to Songfinch/Splice/Spotify alumni Slacks
  • "Founder mindset, musician body": content speaking to the PM/engineer brain applied to music careers, newsletter or Twitter content series
  • "Recording Club Showcase" monthly at The Echo or Zebulon, TRC-branded indie night where pre-launch members open for headliners

How to Access Them

  • Garrett as scout: he runs collaborator-heavy sessions. Profile his TRC co-bookers, comp them a session, convert the engaged ones to Platinum
  • Cal Poly CIE Hatchery + HotHouse Accelerator alumni: Garrett's path, could speak/sponsor there and surface peer pivoters
  • Distributor partnerships: co-marketing with DistroKid, TuneCore, Stem to LA artists who recently published their first track
  • Music-school career-services partnerships: USC Thornton, Berklee LA, LACM, "first-year-out artist support" co-branded
  • Indie venue sponsorships: The Echo / Zebulon / Lodge Room, TRC-branded monthly night with member opener slot
  • "Career-pivot scholarship": 3 months Platinum at 50% for someone who can document they quit a corporate job for music in the last 90 days, manufactures testimonials AND finds the next 10 Garretts
Cluster B · Young Founder, Status + Social Hosting Buyer

Cole Marston

Co-Founder and COO of Fanhaven, a digital ticketing and fan-intelligence company in the music space. Clients include Coachella, Live Nation. LMU 2024.
Platinum since: 2026-03-24
Tenure: 1 month
Bookings: 0 lifetime
Email: cole@fanhaven.com
Age Range
23–25
Location
Los Angeles (626, San Gabriel Valley)
Occupation
COO, Fanhaven (PitchBook-tracked)
Income Tier
Founder-deferred, high optionality

Primary Motivation

Status and social hosting. Per Greg directly: Platinum "really sort of puts him up on a pedestal." It is an elite venue he can use as his social hub, bringing friends and hosting gatherings in a hospitality-rich space, plus the identity payoff of being a Platinum member at 23. The membership IS the flex.

Secondary Motivations

  • Bringing artists to TRC as a venue, directly useful for Fanhaven biz-dev since artists are upstream of every label and festival deal
  • Peer-impressing: hosting friends and contemporaries in a Santa Monica recording club they can't access on their own
  • Maintaining founder credibility and scene presence inside the LA music-operator class

Values

Founder gritProximity to artistsData-driven fandom

Wealth and Signal

  • Co-Founder and COO of a startup with Coachella, Live Nation, Oxymorrons, Pixel Grip, Lollipop Star as public clients (meaningful enterprise traction at 23)
  • Fanhaven listed on PitchBook (suggests a tracked, likely funded round)
  • Willingness to commit $1,800/mo with zero bookings for 1+ month: founder-class sunk-cost optionality

Creative Signals

  • Built a company entirely inside the live-music / artist-fan space, chose the music vertical deliberately
  • Came out of LMU Techstars Startup Weekend 2023, survived a 14 → 2 person team selection
  • Coachella attendee April 2026 (his first week as a Platinum member)
"Cole and I are willing to drop out… willing to sacrifice everything for this." (Co-founder Kaden, on Cole)

Why They Pay Platinum

Platinum is primarily a status and social-hosting purchase, with biz-dev as a real-but-secondary bonus. For $1,800/mo Cole gets (1) the pedestal, being a Platinum member is identity-shaping for a 23-year-old founder and the title itself does work in every room he walks into; (2) a hospitality-rich elite LA venue to host friends and gatherings he otherwise could not host as a young founder; (3) a credible place to bring artists, which doubles as Fanhaven biz-dev. Zero bookings in month one fits perfectly: he is not buying studio time, he is buying the membership card and the venue access.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Find young LA music-adjacent founders who want a venue to host peers and a status badge while they build their company.

Where to Find Them

  • LA young music-tech founders (22–30): Audius, BeatStars, Royal, Sound.xyz, Catalog Works, Bandwagon, TuneGO, Bandsintown, DICE, Triller, Snap Music alumni
  • Adjacent live-events and creator tech: Sevenrooms, Resy, Posh, Partiful, Luma, LA-based founders/early team
  • LMU founder pipeline: LMU Center for Entrepreneurship (Startup Village), LMU Techstars Startup Weekend alumni (Fanhaven's origin)
  • LA university founder programs: USC Greif, UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator, Pepperdine Most Fundable Companies
  • LA early-stage accelerators: Founders Inc, South Park Commons LA, On Deck LA, Atlas Fellows alumni
  • Music + creator-economy VC portfolios: Patron (LA seed, music/creator focus), Slow Ventures music portfolio, Female Founders Fund LA, Bedrock Capital, MaC Venture Capital, Acrew
  • Festival/biz-dev orbits: Coachella attendee networking (Cole was there), Goldenvoice partner list, Live Nation BD team peers
  • Status venues they aspire toward: Soho House Hollywood / Warehouse waitlist, NeueHouse Hollywood members, LinkedIn lookalike
  • LA Tech Week 2026 attendee list (every September), music vertical sub-list

Marketing Angles

  • "The membership card that opens every artist room in LA" Soho-style aspirational, photo-led, no pricing visible until application
  • "Where founders host the gatherings they can't host at home" venue-utility framing
  • "Bring an artist to Platinum night" quarterly invite-only social where members bring artist guests; both sides win, content shoots itself
  • Founder Twitter/X content ammo: photo template, "just got off a session at @therecordingclub", give members easy-to-post brag content
  • "Platinum tasting" application page apply-only, 24-hour studio pass, Cole-style social conversion

How to Access Them

  • Cole as social-graph entry: track who attends his nights and convert his guests. Offer Cole "Host Credit" each time a guest converts
  • LA Tech Week host venue: TRC hosts a music-tech founder dinner during LA Tech Week, listed on the official map
  • LMU Startup Village partnership: TRC offers a young-founder "tasting" at LMU founder events; Cole as co-host
  • Coachella weekend tail event: "Platinum Sundowner at TRC" the Monday after weekend one each year, Cole's exact moment, predictable cohort
  • Music-VC partnership: co-sponsor a Patron or Slow Ventures music-vertical dinner at TRC, surface their portfolio founders
  • Press placement: The Information's creator-economy desk, LA Tech Newsletter, MusicTech, Inc., Forbes 30 Under 30 referrals
  • Productize "Founder Membership" same price, optional 4 included "host nights" per year, makes the social-hosting use case explicit
Cluster B · Recurring LA Artist-Community Host Org

Kylie Hayes · Musiversal

Events & Community lead at Musiversal (Series A music-tech, Lisbon HQ). Runs the Marketing/Events/Community team. Membership functions as a preferred-venue partnership.
Platinum since: 2026-04-01
Tenure: 1 month
Bookings: 0 (institutional value)
Email: kylie.hayes@musiversal.com
Age Range
Late 20s–early 30s
Location
Los Angeles (UNC Greeley alum)
Occupation
Events & Community Lead, Musiversal
Relevant Wallet
Musiversal corporate event budget

Primary Motivation

Securing a recurring, high-quality monthly venue at preferred-partner rates for Musiversal's LA artist-community programming. Platinum unlocks a $2K partner hosting rate (versus the $5K public rate), priority calendar access, and co-branded alignment with TRC. The math: at one event per month, the rate discount alone covers the membership and then some.

Secondary Motivations

  • Activating Musiversal's deep LA session-musician network into TRC's space, benefiting both sides
  • Co-marketing: Musiversal gets an LA storefront for its US community; TRC gets programmed event nights
  • Personal network leverage: Kylie's job IS music-community-building in LA, and TRC is the densest room
  • Talent pipeline: Musiversal connects songwriters with session players, TRC members are exactly that audience

Values

Community over transactionHybrid in-person + virtualCreator-economy ethos

Institutional Signals

  • Membership almost certainly expensed to Musiversal corporate, not paid personally
  • Musiversal: Series A on Wefunder plus traditional rounds, marketing budget for venue partnerships
  • Producing Grammy-adjacent events (NAMM After-Party with major-label execs)
  • Active TRC programming already in flight: Musiversal Meet-Up (4/8), DB Jam presented by Musiversal (4/25), at 1660 9th St Santa Monica

Creative Signals

  • Career fully inside music-tech, events, and community
  • Hosts Musiversal's livestreamed jams ("No Limits Live")
  • Connected to producers, label execs, and music-tech founders via her event programming

Why They Pay Platinum

Platinum functions as TRC's preferred-venue partnership tier for Musiversal. The $1,800/mo unlocks a $2K monthly event hosting rate (versus the $5K public rate), priority calendar access, and co-branded alignment. If Musiversal hosts one or more quality events per month, which they do, the rate discount alone covers the membership and then some. Bookings = 0 because the value is institutional (recurring monthly programming plus LA-musician network exchange), not personal studio time. Kylie is the named member because she runs the events.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Sell preferred-venue partnership to any music-tech, label, or PRO that runs a recurring LA artist-community event series.

Where to Find Them

  • Music-tech community/events leads: Splice, BandLab, DistroKid, UnitedMasters, Songtrust, BeatStars, Spotify For Artists, Output (LA), Native Instruments, Ableton (Loop ambassadors), Roland, Korg, Universal Audio
  • Performing rights orgs (LA chapters): ASCAP Experience LA, BMI LA, SESAC LA, SoundExchange, Recording Academy / NARAS LA chapter
  • Major label community / A&R / NextGen teams: UMG Capitol Studios events, Sony Music sessions, WMG/Atlantic NextGen, 300 Entertainment, Republic, Interscope, Columbia
  • Streaming creator/A&R LA teams: Spotify EQUAL/Frequency/RADAR, Apple Music Up Next, Tidal Rising, Amazon Music Breakthrough
  • Music-tech meetup organizers: LA Music Tech Meetup, Women in Music LA, She Is The Music LA, MusicTech LA
  • Adjacent event-throwing orgs: Sofar Sounds LA, NPR Music's Tiny Desk Contest LA judging events, Coachella + Outside Lands community teams
  • Co-working music-creator spaces: NeueHouse Hollywood / DTLA, The Riveter, Bond Collective

Marketing Angles

  • "Your LA event series, on a single PO line, at half the Henson rate." Direct rate-card hook
  • Case-study one-pager: "How Musiversal got an LA storefront for $2K/event", co-branded with Musiversal logo
  • "Programming Partner of the Year" gamified annual recognition for event-throwing orgs that host most at TRC
  • Productize "Programming Partner" tier publicly, explicit sub-product with member rate, priority calendar, co-marketing, so the offer is shoppable, not negotiated
  • Cross-brand event series: co-curated quarterly nights with Splice, BandLab, ASCAP, Musiversal Meet-Up as the template

How to Access Them

  • Kylie as connector: Musiversal sits inside the music-tech community-manager peer circle. Ask her for 5 warm intros to Splice, BandLab, UnitedMasters, BeatStars, Output peers
  • LinkedIn Sales Nav sequence: title = "Community Manager" OR "Events Lead" OR "Programs Manager" AND industry = Music AND location = LA, surfaces ~200 named prospects
  • PRO-chapter sponsorships: sponsor ASCAP Experience LA happy hour, NARAS LA chapter mixer, BMI How I Wrote That Song LA stop
  • Conference targeting: NAMM Anaheim (Jan), Music Biz Nashville (May), Music Tech Fest, ADE Amsterdam, booth + partner-rate sell sheet
  • Mutual programming pitch: "Bring your series here at recurring rate; co-brand all promo; and bring your artist roster into our membership pipeline", value flows both ways
  • "Partner-of-Partner" referral: when a partner org hosts a successful event, their attendees' employers become next prospects, capture sign-ins at events
Cluster C · Returning Multi-Career Artist · Connector Hybrid

Erin Pillman

Santa Monica based multi-passionate. Singer-songwriter (two prior releases, 2013 and 2020) reactivating her music identity, while continuing to run a professional home-organizing business (Organizing With Erin), startup-to-investor matchmaking, and a community non-profit. Joined TRC Dec 10, 2025; converted to Platinum May 2026.
Platinum since: May 2026 (new)
Tenure: < 1 month at Platinum, ~5 months at TRC
Bookings: Pattern still settling
Email: erinpillman@gmail.com
Phone: 310-428-4687
Age Range
Mid-to-late 30s (estimate; 2013 first release)
Location
Santa Monica, LA
Occupation
Singer-songwriter · Pro organizer · Startup/investor matchmaker · Non-profit founder
Income Tier
Multi-stream service entrepreneur (not VC, not legacy wealth)

Primary Motivation

Promoting music from "one of several careers" to "the lead identity". Erin spent 13 years running parallel professional lives with music as an intermittent thread (releases in 2013 and 2020, a long gap, then deep TRC engagement in late 2025). The Platinum jump is the moment she stops calling music a side project. She is not quitting her other businesses, but she is hiring TRC to be the place that makes the music identity load-bearing in her week.

Secondary Motivations

  • Community fit: TRC's writer's forum, masterclasses, and curated jams match her values (warmth, sustainability, vulnerability, soulful expression)
  • Service-exchange relationship: she has already organized TRC's storage space (Feb 2026) and pitched a "green sustainable business benefits" partnership; the membership and the vendor relationship reinforce each other
  • Connector identity: Erin is structurally a matchmaker (literally, professionally, between startups and investors). Bringing friends into TRC is who she is, not an extracurricular ask

Values

VulnerabilitySoulful expressionSustainabilityConscious communityService to othersWarmth and care

Financial Profile

  • Multi-stream small-business income, not VC-funded and not legacy-wealth: Organizing With Erin (Santa Monica), startup-to-investor matchmaking, paid clothing-swap and community events via her non-profit
  • Tied into the LA sustainable-business / co-op ecosystem: Santa Monica Green Business Council, Sustainable Works, Culver City Sustainable Business Cert, Coopportunity (her contact Greg Richard at coopportunity.com)
  • Budget-conscious entry path: in Dec 2025 she was asking about the $1K locker tier (does it include studio-time credit?); converted to full Platinum five months later. The escalation curve is from price-sensitive to all-in, driven by community embedding
  • Partial barter potential: organizing services have already been exchanged informally; a recurring barter line (organizing for membership credit) is a clean lever if she ever softens on price

Creative Signals

  • Spotify artist page: open.spotify.com/artist/78Klw0PdRPj9INAp95Qhpb
  • Two prior releases: "Beloved" (2013), "It is Given" (2020). Seven-year gap, then five years quiet, now reactivating in 2026
  • Self-described voice: "soulful, crystalline", "vulnerability shines through" (her own Gravatar bio)
  • Genre lean: devotional / conscious-music adjacent, fits LA's kirtan / breathwork / wellness music scenes
  • Earlybird engagement signals: joined TRC writer's group within 24 hours, brought first new prospect (Lavanya) within 11 days, then a second (Kat Marenzi), attended NYE, masterclasses, curated jams, NAMM
  • Reciprocal music-share rapport with Greg: sent him a song Dec 10, 2025 (YouTube link, with "And here's a song for you 🤩"); Greg returned a song May 2, 2026 ("It's so tasty thank you!!"). This is the cohort's most musically-personal Greg relationship
"Hi Greg! This is Erin Pillman 🙏🏽💜🎶🌹✨" (her first iMessage to Greg, Dec 10, 2025 — the entry).
"Last night was 🔥" (Erin to Greg, Jan 30, 2026, after a TRC event).

Why They Pay Platinum

Erin is not pivoting careers; she is re-ranking them. After a decade of music as one of several professional lines, she is using Platinum to make music the lead in her week. Three things are doing the work for her: (1) a credible, value-aligned community of working artists that mirrors her identity rather than asking her to perform a new one; (2) 24-hour access and prioritized booking so her writing and recording can survive a multi-business calendar; (3) a deep belonging signal she can use socially, since she is structurally a connector and her network will read her commitment to TRC as a recommendation. Notably she is also the cohort's strongest natural referral engine: two named prospects brought in within her first 11 days. Platinum-plus-ambassador is the right frame for her, not Platinum alone.

Lookalike Targeting & Outreach Playbook
Find mid-30s LA multi-passionate women with a real music history that has gone quiet, a values-aligned service business, and a network they actively connect.

Where to Find Them

  • The "returning artist" signal on Spotify: LA-based artists with 2+ releases, latest release 3+ years ago, social activity ramping in last 12 months, follower count 500–10K. Pull via Spotify API + Chartmetric, filter by LA
  • Professional organizer networks: NAPO LA chapter, Marie Kondo–trained KonMari consultants, Tidy Living LA, the Home Edit alumni. The organizer-creative-side-quest pattern is unusually common; pitch a chapter happy hour at TRC
  • LA sustainable-business ecosystem: Santa Monica Green Business Council member roster, Sustainable Works alumni, Culver City Sustainable Business Certified list, Coopportunity member-circle, Erewhon vendor list. Public directories, easy enrichment
  • Conscious / devotional / wellness music scenes: Bhakti Yoga LA, Wanderlust, Liberate, ecstatic dance LA, breathwork facilitator networks, kirtan circles. Erin's musical adjacencies live here
  • Women-founder + conscious-commerce networks: Indiegrrl, Women in Music LA, GRAMMY U women's events, repair cafes, refill stores, swap-event hosts
  • Startup/investor matchmaker peer set: Erin's day-job world. Pulls in operator-types who also make music quietly. LA Tech, OnDeck, South Park Commons LA, female-founder syndicates
  • Internal pattern matches in Gregbot: contacts with a Spotify artist URL + a Yelp small-business page + 3+ event RSVPs to TRC within first 90 days. That triple is the Erin fingerprint

Marketing Angles

  • "Make music the lead, not the side." Aimed at the multi-passionate who keeps deferring
  • "Make the album you have been carrying since [year of last release]": personalize the line per artist, served via a quiz / landing flow
  • "For the artist who never stopped, just kept the volume low": the returning-artist hook, suits Instagram + Substack
  • "Conscious community. Real studio. One key.": values-led positioning for the wellness / sustainability overlap
  • Erin testimonial video, "What happened in my first six months at TRC", distributed to NAPO LA, Sustainable Works alumni list, kirtan and wellness scenes
  • Returning-Artist Showcase (quarterly): a TRC live night curated by Erin, featuring 4 artists with previous releases 3+ years old. Sells itself; manufactures stories

How to Access Them

  • Erin as scout (formalized): she already brings prospects unprompted (Lavanya, Kat Marenzi). Productize a $1K referral credit per converted Platinum, and a $250 credit per Member. Brief her once, then let her network do the work
  • Erin-hosted intro events at TRC: a quarterly "Conscious Creatives" night co-hosted with her non-profit; her network treats her invites as warm
  • SMGBC partnership: co-create a "Green Recording" certification or one-evening member education event at TRC. Surfaces Santa Monica eco-business owners as a pipeline
  • NAPO LA chapter sponsorship: sponsor a chapter mixer at TRC. Many organizers carry a creative side identity; the venue does the conversion
  • Coopportunity / Sustainable Works newsletter swap: Erin's footprint in both. Co-promotion of a Returning-Artist Showcase reaches a values-aligned audience cheaply
  • "Returning Artist Residency": apply-only, 3 months Platinum at 50%, requires a prior release 3+ years old and a one-page plan for what gets recorded this cycle. Mirrors the Year-One Artist Grant but skews 5–10 years older and female-leaning
  • Startup-matchmaker barter: Erin's investor network includes founders who could fit the Theme 01 "Space to Impress" lane. Ask her for 5 warm intros each quarter
PART II · CROSS-CUTTING THEMES

Beneath the demographic clusters: three jobs-to-be-done that actually drive the purchase.

The A/B/C clusters above describe who these buyers are. The themes below describe what they are hiring Platinum to do. Each theme is its own marketing lane with its own language, channels, and acquisition motion. A prospect can fit a theme without fitting a cluster, which widens the funnel.

Theme 01

A Space to Impress

Hire TRC as a status venue and creative-community office. The membership is a backdrop: bring a client, a date, a board member, a co-founder, and let the room and the community do the introducing.
Current Roster
Cole Marston · Fanhaven
Kylie Hayes · Musiversal

Taglines & Marketing Lines

  • An address that already says yes about you.Hero line · top of funnel
  • The cultural living room you can put on a calendar invite.
  • Bring them to a place that does the introducing.
  • Your LA office, in the room where the music gets made.
  • The studio is the meeting. The community is the pitch deck.
  • Co-work by day. Host by night. Same room. Same key.

Where to Find More of Them

Founder & Operator Channels

  • Music-tech founder lists: Crunchbase + PitchBook filter on Series A/B, LA satellite, music or fan-engagement vertical. Cole and Kylie both come from this slice.
  • Soho House LA waitlist refugees: applied, declined or paused, still want a third place to host. Capture via partner referrer pages.
  • YPO / EO Los Angeles forums: chapter event sponsorships, "host your forum dinner at TRC" landing page, one chapter = ~40 qualified founders.
  • LMU / USC / UCLA young-founder pipelines: LMU Startup Village, USC Lloyd Greif, UCLA Anderson VC fellows. Cole's exact origin.

Brand & Community Manager Channels

  • LinkedIn Sales Nav: title contains "Community", "Events", "Programs", "Partnerships" AND industry Music/Entertainment AND LA. ~200 named prospects.
  • Conference floor lists: NAMM Anaheim (Jan), Music Biz Nashville (May), Music Tech LA, SXSW Music. Booth + partner-rate sell sheet.
  • Adjacent music-tech partner orgs: Splice, BandLab, UnitedMasters, BeatStars, Output, Sweetwater Studios. Ask Kylie for the warm intro.
Buyer signal to listen for   "Where can I bring my [investor / client / co-founder / parents] in LA that isn't a steakhouse?"
Theme 02

A Musical Concierge for the Family

Hire TRC as a white-glove musical guide for the kid. The parent has the wallet; the kid has the dream; TRC has the network, the lessons, the room, and the credibility. Not a music school. A concierge.
Current Roster
Lauren Selig · son Atlas (drums)
Pennor Family · daughter Mia (vocals)

Taglines & Marketing Lines

  • A musical concierge for your family.Hero line · top of funnel
  • Where your kid gets to be the artist, not the student.
  • The studio that grows with them.
  • Their first real session. Their first real room. Their first real producer.
  • Private lessons, real records, the same building.
  • The closest thing in LA to having a band manager for your fifteen-year-old.

Where to Find More of Them

Private-School Pipelines (LA)

  • K-12 music-program partnerships: Crossroads, Wildwood, Vistamar, Marlborough, Harvard-Westlake, Buckley, Brentwood, Curtis, Viewpoint. Offer "TRC artist-in-residence" half-days, opt-in parent sign-ins.
  • School auction sponsorships: donate a "Record Your Kid's First EP at TRC" package to 5 school spring auctions per year. Already the Selig pattern.
  • Music-teacher referral fees: $500 per Platinum referral to private drum/vocal/piano teachers in west LA. They already know which families have the wallet AND the kid-with-the-dream.

Family & Wealth Channels

  • Family-office concierge desks: single-family offices in LA / Beverly Hills source "experience" providers. List TRC as a music-experience vendor with three offerings (studio session, songwriting camp, in-house lesson series).
  • Tweens-to-teens summer camps: partner with GRAMMY Camp, Berklee summer programs, Idyllwild Arts. Parents who pay $6K for a 2-week camp are the exact wallet for a $20K Platinum.
  • Birthday-experience referrals: "your kid's 13th / 16th birthday as a real recording session". Parents talk to other parents at school pickup.
  • Tiny Room Gives expansion: Lauren's annual mom-and-music gala already does this; productize as a recurring 3-school invite list each year.
Buyer signal to listen for   "My kid is really into music. We've been doing private lessons but they want more." Watch for wires into youth music programs AND a kid's name in family text threads.
Theme 03

The All-In Year

Hire TRC as a one-year, all-in residency for the year they go full-time on music. Maximum studio time, 24-hour access, prioritized member status, the credibility of belonging. Willing to spend serious money because they are committing to the work, not hedging around it.
Current Roster
Garrett John Perkins · ex-Shinkei
Erin Pillman · multi-passionate returner

Taglines & Marketing Lines

  • Bet on yourself. We hold the room.Hero line · top of funnel
  • Go all in on your music career.
  • Ditch the job. Keep the community.
  • The year you become the artist.
  • Twenty-four hours. Twelve months. One record.
  • For the year you stop calling it a side project.

Where to Find More of Them

Quit-The-Job Cohorts

  • Music-adjacent tech alumni Slacks: Songfinch, Splice, BandLab, Spotify, SoundCloud, Output, iZotope, Native Instruments. Garrett's exact origin pool. Garrett-testimonial video distributed to these channels.
  • Founder-engineer pivot stories: filter LinkedIn for "transitioning to music full-time", "pursuing music", "left tech to make a record" in the last 90 days. Manually surface ~30/month.
  • Sabbatical and pivot communities: Recurse Center alumni, On Deck Fellowships, Pause-On-Career groups. The pivot is the trigger event.

Conversion Mechanics

  • "Year-One Artist Grant": 3 months Platinum at 50% off, requires documentation that they went full-time on music in the last 90 days. Manufactures testimonials AND surfaces the next 10 Garretts. (Frame as a grant, not a scholarship; aspirational, not need-based.)
  • Garrett-as-scout retainer: Garrett earns a finder credit for each Platinum he refers from his session collaborator graph. He already runs collaborator-heavy sessions; turn that into a pipeline.
  • "Year-One Artist" application page: apply-only, requires a 1-page artist plan and proof of pivot. The selection itself is the marketing.
  • Cal Poly CIE Hatchery / HotHouse Accelerator alumni: Garrett's institutional path, sponsor a speaker slot, surface peer pivoters.

Internal framing only   Analytically these are high-conviction career bets, the year someone goes full-time on music with no guaranteed landing. Never use "Hail Mary", "last shot", "desperate", "pivot scholarship", or "rescue" language externally. These buyers identify as serious artists making a defining year, not as people in trouble. Mirror their self-image; don't name their risk.

Theme footnote   Garrett and Erin are both Theme 03 but at different ages and from different on-ramps. Garrett is a 27-29 male tech-pivoter going from zero to full-time in a single move. Erin is a mid-late-30s multi-passionate woman re-ranking her existing portfolio so music takes the lead. Same job-to-be-done, two distinct lookalike pipelines. Don't collapse them in copy.

Residual / outside the three themes

Joe Harland (BBC) does not fit any of the three themes above. He represents a fourth, narrower lane: institutional media organizations renting a credible LA satellite. Worth its own one-off motion (PO-friendly annual invoicing, named-team access, BBC-style case study) but not a volume lane. Treat as a hand-sold enterprise account, not a marketing campaign.