Q. Thank you for your time Toby, Can you tell us briefly a little about your work history and how you got started in this industry?
My interest in music creation began over 20 years ago when I downloaded a very early version of FL Studio (back then Fruityloops). I was instantly drawn in to how easy it was to create music on the computer and how much of a fun creative outlet it was. I was quickly creating subpar loops in no time! As my knowledge and experience grew, people started liking my music and I developed a bit of a following. My knowledge of FL Studio became extensive, and I was asked to join the Image-Line beta testing team. I helped provide presets and demo tracks to them over time and got some interesting insights into the inner workings of a music software company. It was very cool to witness plugins such as Harmor being developed from start to finish. As my career progressed, I began signing record deals with various electronic music labels, and started DJing many shows and raves. However doing the artist grind does not pay the bills unless you are at the very top, so that is when I started to pursue other revenue streams such as sample packs.
Q. How did Black Octopus Come to be? And how has it grown in terms of the products and services you offer?
Ever since I purchased my first sample pack and being amazed at what a difference it made in the quality of my music. It was a mystery to me on how the sounds were created and I became interested in sound design - Who made these sounds and how were they being made? I taught myself sound design by reading many issues of Computer Music magazine and studying some project files of Joel Zimmerman (Deadmau5). Before he blew up and became world famous I was lucky to learn some tips from him via the ancient communication technology known as MSN Messenger. After many grueling hours and failed attempts, I finally produced my first FX sample pack and pitched it to Sample Magic. They liked the pack and it was a big financial success so they hired me back to produce several more FX sample packs. I always wanted to launch my own platform and that was when Black Octopus was born. I had 3 packs at launch – Monster Kicks Volume 1, Electro Bass Tools, and Siren by Veela and since then our shop has grown to well over 1000 products and we work with over 90 very talented music producers.
Q. Any advice for plug-in resellers who only carry Strictly plug-ins and not sample packs? Coming from a web-store that sells both?
Sample packs currently make the bulk of our revenue on Black Octopus Sound so there is huge market out there if you reach the right audience. Since most music producers also use sample packs there is a good chance if you sell music software then you already have a market built up for sample packs.
Q. How has Black Octopus been doing during COVID19 and have you been offering anything extra to customers who are stuck at home?
My heart goes out to all the businesses and professions that really have been struck negatively by the pandemic. We are lucky and grateful that our business has not been negatively impacted. I especially feel for all the touring musicians, DJs, and performing artists who depend on live events for their income. We thought it would be a good idea to try and help some of the artists on our roster who have lost out on income by paying them to produce a sample pack and “Stay at Home Beats” was born. We gave the sample pack away for free as money is also tight for many artists with the loss of performance income. The pack was such a smash hit we ended up producing a follow up pack “Stay Inspired Beats” and gave that one away for free as well.
Q. In checking out your SoundCloud, I see you are a very talented musician, any personal go-to plugins you can’t live without that are available on XCHANGE?
Some of my current favorites are everything by U-he (Hive, Repro, Diva & Zebra especially). Sugar Bytes makes some incredible tools and Looperator & Effectrix get used in almost every production session here. Special shout out to the Image-Line folks who have been working with me since the beginning of my career. Some of my favorite Image-Line plugins that get regular use are Harmor, Maximus, IL Vocodex all programmed by the legendary Didier Dambrin (Gol). There is too much to list, I probably own way too many plugins for my own good.
Q. How has XCHANGE impacted your business?
XCHANGE has been a great addition to our business, being able to offer music software with our sample packs goes hand in hand and has provided an extra revenue stream and value-added service to our customers when they browse our shop.
Q. What can you say about your experience so far being integrated with XCHANGE?
For me personally it has been a smooth experience. The occasional hiccup here and there which is often sorted out quickly.
Q. Are there any standout features, tools or tabs within the portal on XCHANGE that you have found helpful?
The Promos tab is incredibly useful for me and is one of my most visited areas in XCHANGE. I have recently started using the favorites function as well which is going to be handy the more I use it. During Black Friday I used the “Repeat last order” function quite a bit which saved me a lot of time. I also check out the growth report quite often, which Is helpful for me to see what my progress has been like.
Q. Are there any features or tools you would like to see implemented within XCHANGE?
A few things that I would find very useful would be a column when you login and see the highlights of all the latest price changes and products added. While my XCHANGE rep and other vendors are usually great at communicating to me these things, it would still be nice to have them all in one place when I login. Also a feed from the Vendors anytime one of their products is updated with a cool new feature would be useful as things get updated so often in the software world. Updates are always great selling features to market to our customers.
Q. What’s your outlook on the future of the online music software business?
Things are changing so rapidly these days it is really hard to predict where it will go. VR is something that always interested me and I could see huge potential growth here for virtual studios and VR Music software in the future. In fact there are already some virtual modular synthesizer apps out. It is incredible what is available now compared to what was available 20 years ago. I’m always interested to see what developers will come up with next as well. With so much innovation going on and new people interested in music creation everyday this industry will no doubt keep growing rapidly for a while.
Q. Any last thoughts, recommendations or shout outs?
Shout out to all the hard-working developers out there who are creating all the amazing tools. Also shout out to the Image-Line team as they will always have a special place in my heart, as they are one of the reasons I was drawn into music production in the first place. Thanks to the team at XCHANCE and Rajiv who is my main contact who helps keeping me up to date on promos. Also a huge thanks goes out to all of our customers who decide to do business with Black Octopus Sound and allow us to keep doing what we love!