Dani Thompson is Making Noise in the Music Industry to Empower Independent Artists and Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Dani Thompson is the founder of DNT Entertainment. DNT Entertainment is a boutique artist management, artist development, music marketing, and PR agency. DNT Entertainment is a leader in artist development and has been empowering artists to succeed independently without compromising on their creative control.

Dani, Thank you for talking with us. The journey of an Entrepreneur is never an easy one. Kindly describe your journey as an Entrepreneur.

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): My journey as an Entrepreneur has not been an easy one. Lots of research, time, tears, sacrifice, money, late nights, 3 phones, side hustles, full-time jobs to fund my passion, coffee, wine, and at least 2 diet cokes a day. To top it off I birthed 2 humans in the past 7 years while I was building my business, worked a side hustle as a Regional Sales Director for one of the largest financial processing companies in the health and fitness industry, and survived homeschooling and nannying my wild boys during a global pandemic. My journey has been a bit nuts to be quite honest. I thank god for getting me through it, and my family, friends, and clients for their encouragement and support. I honestly would not have been able to do it without them.

What were the initial challenges that you faced in your endeavor as the music industry has a lot of competition?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): I have always been one to learn everything in life the hard way. This applies not only to my personal life, but also my business journey. It is those hard lessons that have given me the knowledge to lead others, and therefore I know they were a difficult but necessary part of my journey as an entrepreneur. I faced many challenges and still do to this day.

I would say the biggest ongoing challenge has been finding a work/life balance. Knowing when to clock out and turn off my devices so I can live in the moment. Regarding the music industry and the competition there, to be honest I look ahead and not around me and I know there is only one of me. Sure there are amazing people in the industry that I look up to, but I don’t see them as competition. I feel like we are stronger together and collaboration is key to success in this industry. I’m not in a race to win anything. I have a long way to go before I will have reached what I feel would be the ultimate level of success in my career. I know that surrounding myself with people that have accomplished what I hope to someday in my life are not my competitors, but are mentors and are people I can learn from and grow with. The moment you look at your peers as your competition, you will fail. Instead you need to align and focus on finding partners that you can offer a mutual benefit to. We are stronger together. 

How and when did you come up with the idea of DNT Entertainment?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): After graduating college I was asked by a family friend to manage and run a publicity campaign for an artist named Macy Kate. Her family sought my guidance because I had personal experience as an artist from my high school and college years, and had a degree in journalism and the ability to write. I also built an amazing network of creatives and music business professionals, worked with local studios, and had experience in photography, video, and live show production.

My resume and network landed me that first management client and I knew I needed a way to track income and expenses, draft invoices, have a professional public web presence, and all the other things that come with representing talent in the industry. I came up with the name DNT Entertainment which is my initials “Dani Nichole Thompson,” and the rest is history. 

Business-wise, 2021 and 2022 had their own challenges. How exciting the future of business looks for you in 2023?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): I am very excited for 2023. I feel like our industry is slowly but surely recovering from the Covid 19 pandemic that set us all back the past few years. Live music is finally coming back, event mandates are being lifted, interviews are resuming in person, and the industry shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This gives me great hope for our continued growth in 2023. I am also very excited to be working with our growing roster of amazing artists and the all-female creative and development team at DNT that have brought their talents to the table and have made a significant impact on the success of our clients. I’m also very excited for our continued partnership with Thomas Barsoe and OC Hit and their amazing new recording studio location in Orange County, CA.  

Do you believe that music companies have been traditionally exploiting artists?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): I feel like the label system has a lot to offer artists in terms of marketing, publicity, tour support, team support, global distribution, credibility and radio promotion. I wouldn’t necessarily say artists are exploited, because labels are essentially investors and are taking on such a great risk when they sign talent. If a label or publishing company offers an artist/writer a signing bonus, at some point they need to be able to recoup their investment. That’s the way it works. You get nothing for nothing. To say that the recoupment of investment is “exploitation” would be wrong.

I feel artists need to do their due diligence and research before diving head first into the first label deal they are presented with, and make sure it is the best next step for them. A label deal is not the answer for everyone, especially not artists that want to retain creative control over their projects and ownership of their music. When signing a label deal many times artists are voluntarily signing away that creative control, their catalogs, and their image and brand in exchange for promotion to help them connect with a larger audience and get their music out on a larger platform. Lack of financial investment at an independent level is why artists sign major label deals. They need the money to continue creating music, marketing, promotion, video production, travel, radio, and all the other things that are almost impossible for independent talent to self-fund. Therefore they sign a big part of their lives away knowing that they will be exploited. Why else would a label sign them? They sign them not to help them, but to make money off them. It’s a business. 

There are very clear contracts laid out and I feel like it is the duty of the artist to consult with a legal team and mentor before they rush into deals that they will later regret. Labels take a lot of risks when they sign an artist and invest in them financially with no guarantee of return. This is why you see the label deals these days only going to established artists or artists who have cultivated a following on their own. That presents a lesser risk to the label. Create your package, build your following, tie a pretty bow on it, and then present it to a label. At that point, you actually may be in a position to negotiate a mutually beneficial deal and not one where you will feel used and taken advantage of. The best first step is artist development and that’s what we do at DNT Entertainment.  

Doing business is all about solving problems. It is equally important to help others in business and in your case, you want artists to remain independent. What are your views on this?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): I’m not going to say that every artist needs to remain independent. By all means, if they do not have the financial backing to continue the pursuit of their dreams of being an artist, and as long as they know the risks and benefits of signing a label or investment deal, they can make that decision and I will support whatever they feel is the right thing for their career. Every artist has different goals and based on those goals my job is to help build a strategy that will help them get there.

Are there any last thoughts you would like to share with our readers?

Dani Thompson (Dani N Thompson): In the world of entertainment and entrepreneurship, there is no guarantee that you will be successful, but I have learned that the more you put into anything you do in life the more you will get out. You can’t fail if you set realistic goals and if you have the motivation and drive to succeed. Work for love and not money. The money will follow if you are passionate about the work you do. Stay focused and grind it out. Have faith and trust in God and his plan for your life. Don’t look back. Don’t look around. Stop caring what everyone else thinks. Nobody will work harder for you than you, so start there and everyone else will get on the train. 

Where to find Dani Thompson

Website: https://www.danithompsonmusic.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danithompsonmusic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danithompsonmusic/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/danithompsonmusic

DNT Entertainment 

Website: https://dnt-entertainment.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dntentertainment/