Meet Ethan Langston | Artist Manager & COO of Groundwork Music

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ethan Langston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ethan, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I first started out, my dream was less about “building a business” and more about channeling my energy into a project that I was passionate about. My business partner and I shared a passion for developing artists, and wanted to work together to apply that fervor to the pop music space. It all started with one artist, whom we spent over 2 years developing before really turning our work into an official business with an entire roster of clients. Establishing our company’s identity, workflow, and mission was the key first step – building the groundwork so to speak. From there, it was all about learning how to scale in a way that continued to provide our clients the hands-on attention that they were used to.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
At Groundwork, our team is built to give each and every artist on our roster the most hands-on management experience possible. Michael, our CEO, almost doubles as a therapist at times… He spends hours each day on Facetime and Zoom with our artists, sharing laughs and tears with them. As the COO, I’m making sure things get DONE on a daily basis, whether that’s meeting deadlines or creating them. But a major differentiator about our team is that we handle our artists’ marketing in-house. Our marketing team creates extensive content plans and stays ahead of the curve with recent trends, hashtags, etc. In a world that’s so dominated by social media, having top-notch content is more important than ever when marketing your music and your brand.

We’re also known for finding pop talent at the earliest stage. We take great pride in the supremely talented roster that we maintain, and we’ve had success taking artists from the “developing” stage to a more “established” stage. It’s definitely not easy – it takes a lot of time and dedication – but it’s super rewarding when you start to see it pay off.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a huge advocate for Atlanta – it’s such a beautiful city. There are so many green spaces and beautiful landscapes interwoven throughout the city, and honestly the best way to experience that is the beltline. It’s a pathway throughout the city (blooming from a retired railway corridor) that visits a number of great spots such as Piedmont Park, Ponce City Market, and Krog Street Market. You could spend an entire weekend walking or biking along the beltline and visiting parks, restaurants, bars, and plenty of other destinations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It’s hard to pick just one! The list grows constantly – I work in such a collaborative industry. I definitely want to give a shout out to the University of Georgia’s Music Business (MBUS) program. Nowadays, I find myself hiring interns from college programs all over the country, and while I’ve worked with some incredible students from a number of universities, the UGA students continue to impress me. The program did a great job of setting me up for success, and is clearly continuing to do the same for each new generation of students.

Charles Driebe, who hired me just out of college, has definitely had a major impact on my career as a manager so far, and there’s no one I spend more time on the phone with nowadays than my business partner Michael Morrison – whether to discuss the latest record deal offer or talk smack about our respective college football teams (he went to Michigan, so collectively our schools represent the last 3 national championships). Most importantly, following my dreams would be infinitely harder without the support of my wonderful wife Rebekah.

Website: https://www.groundworkmgmt.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/groundworkartistmanagement

Image Credits
Zach Foty, Michael Arteaga