My story
I’m Rob Griffith - a professional drummer, producer, and music industry lifer with over 20 years of experience.
For the last two decades, I’ve toured the world, made records, and lived inside the music industry. I’ve worked with countless artists on stages and in studios, and I’m a member of the indie rock band Bronze Radio Return.
You may know us. You may not. At one point, we were described as “the band everybody has heard, but may not have heard of.” That reputation came from nearly 200 major TV / Film / Advertising syncs, hundreds of millions of streams, and years of touring around the world. Our music has been featured in commercials for Apple, Starbucks, Nissan, Home Depot, The PGA Tour, and more. Along with countless TV shows like Shameless, American Idol and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show; to feature films like St. Vincent.
We’ve played festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Firefly, and Hangout. We’ve toured internationally, including shows in China. We’ve performed on cruise ship festivals like The Rock Boat and Cayamo. We even once played a show mid-air on a Southwest 737 from Denver to Minneapolis. Yes, that really happened.
Outside of the band, I work as a drummer and producer for hire. I’ve toured and recorded with artists including Tyrone Wells, Sophie B. Hawkins, Stephen Kellogg, and Seth Glier (most of them Grammy-nominated — unfortunately, not me). These days, I record drum tracks remotely from my studio in Connecticut and spend most of my time producing artists.
I’m also a father of three, which means I spend more time in the studio than on the road lately — but I’m always open to making great music with great people. I count myself incredibly lucky to do what I do.
Rob endorses:
Vater Drumsticks
Evans Drumheads
Big Fat Snare Drum
Telefunken Microphones
Sterling Drums (Formerly Green Mountain Drums)
Getting started
I graduated from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music with degrees in Music Management and Jazz Performance. That was useful, but the real education started when I entered the industry.
My freshman year of college is when my career actually began. I started gigging professionally around town, at first one or two nights a week, and eventually up to nine or ten gigs a week in different bands and genres. It was a great time for live music.
At the same time, I was:
• producing small and large concerts on campus
• house managing a 1,000-seat theater
• interning for a local concert promoter
• interning in the A&R department at Universal Republic Records
Meanwhile, I was still playing constantly and going to class. And while college was great for personal growth, it quickly became clear that I was learning far more from being inside the industry than from reading about it.
That’s when I became obsessed with having a 360-degree view of the music business. I wanted to soak in every bit of it.
Starting a band… and running a business
Halfway through my senior year, some friends and I started Bronze Radio Return. We didn’t know where it would go, but we were determined to build something bigger than a local band.
Not long after joining the band, I landed my first real tour playing drums in a Broadway production of “Evita.” I joined the musicians union, started earning a salary, and learned a lot - including that I didn’t want to spend my life touring with Broadway shows (no offense to anyone who loves that world — it just wasn’t for me).
When I got home, it was full speed ahead with Bronze Radio Return.
We saved money, hired a producer, and made our first EP. Then reality hit: we had music, but no one to sell it. So I put on the manager hat.
For the first two years, along with my bandmates, we booked our tours, promoted shows, organized showcases in New York for labels, managers, agents, attorneys, and PR companies, and did everything we could to spread the word. When we didn’t get signed right away, we raised money ourselves and made a full-length record.
Eventually, that led to building a full team:
manager, booking agent, record label, publisher, sync agents, publicists, radio promoters, lawyers, accountants, touring crew, merch sellers — the whole ecosystem.
Even with all of that in place, I remained the band’s front-facing business point person. Every show, every deal, every contract, and every dollar ran through me first. I’d analyze it, track it, then bring it to the band so we could make decisions together before reporting back to our team.
One of my longest-running roles in the band has been Tour Manager. No matter the size of the tour, what continent we were on, or how many crew we traveled with, I handled logistics. It was extra work, but it saved money and made life easier for my bandmates - and it eventually led to me doing the same job for other artists.
Being a drummer who could also tour manage turned out to be a valuable combination.
Building assets
With Bronze Radio Return, we built more than songs and performances - we built a catalog and a brand that will forever generate income. Royalties, syncs, and rights-holding became assets. Some people call it “mailbox money.” What it really is, is ownership, and ownership is what sustains a career.
That shift in thinking changed how I saw the entire industry.
What they don’t tell you
This probably sounds like a fun career path. It has been. But it’s also been full of mistakes and hard lessons.
We’ve dealt with:
• copyright infringement
• bad contracts we couldn’t escape
• stolen music in foreign countries
• publishing catalogs sold without consent
• stolen gear in multiple countries
• dishonest labels and executives
• venues lying about ticket sales
• royalty money disappearing
• people trying to claim credit for work they didn’t do
We’ve played shows for two people. We’ve slept on dirty apartment floors. We’ve eaten Subway more times than we care to admit. We’ve peed in cups and bottles on long highway drives.
But every bad experience forced us to stop, figure out what went wrong, and learn how to handle it better next time.
That’s how you actually learn the music industry.
The long game
Throughout my 20+ years as a professional musician, I’ve focused on understanding how every part of the music business connects - even the parts I wasn’t immediately involved in.
You might not need to understand publishing today. But the moment you co-write your first song, it suddenly matters. You might not need to understand tour management now - until you’re suddenly on the road having to settle shows.
Every sector of this industry has its own language, systems, and rules. Spending years around those people, not just reading about them, is how you really learn what they do.
That obsession with a 360-degree view of the music business has shaped my entire career. And it always will, as I continue to evolve as a musician and human.
-Rob
