Jon Stojan
TEN2 MEDIA started as an ambitious concept – build a company to help developing artists and content creators navigate the tricky landscape of YouTube monetization, content optimization, and music marketing. Now, as TEN2’s impressive roster and impact on the industry quickly grows, Co-Founder Donna Budica shares the foundation of the company’s mission: “To ignite artist independence and democratize access to information, tools, and resources that empower.” Let’s take a look at how she did it.
The innovative media group was co-founded by Donna Budica, a first-generation Iranian Italian who grew up in Philadelphia. With degrees in Finance from The Wharton School and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business, Donna leads Strategy and Operations at TEN2, bringing her impressive pedigree and a unique kaleidoscope of omni-industry experience to the role. Offering an atypical, fresh perspective on the historically monolithic, gate-kept music industry has fostered the company’s unique position within an often commoditized and underserved space.
To reinforce a trite but commonly under-identified reality: We are living in an unprecedented Golden Age of digital content – unparalleled in volume, reach, and immediacy of information dissemination.
Just the exponential capacity of internet bandwidth has leveled the playing field for access to content distribution and has induced the same growth in volume output across all calibers of artists, musicians, entertainers, and creators. In short, the barriers to entry for sharing music and content have been significantly reduced in a very short time.
But the reality is that most artists don’t have the infrastructure or know-how to monetize that output – fully or at all – often struggling to understand and manage the path to sustainable, scalable growth.
TEN2 MEDIA staunchly reinforces its position and ethos around “igniting artist independence” with a roster that showcases how the future of artist independence doesn’t always have to mean ‘independent artist.’ As a Media Network and Content Marketing partner, TEN2 states that much of its (and its clients’) growth can be attributed to transparency by providing artists with tools and knowledge to help grow audiences and careers.
The conception of TEN2 was informed heavily by Donna’s experience with artists early on. “At one point in my career, I personally worked closely with and managed independent artists,” she says. She recognized the droves of emerging talent with no access to trusted, effective marketing resources – no insights, no solutions, no career assistance to help them thrive. “But because I also came from the corporate side of the industry and experienced immense efficiency, structure, scale, and access within that upper echelon, the asymmetry was especially jarring. Still now, there is an ongoing dearth of insight, resources, information available to help independent artists navigate the industry, leaving them somewhat roadblocked to generate sustainable revenue, career longevity, or even understand the varying components needed.”
She adds: “Those experiences are why we vehemently believe in and deliver transparency. True partnership to us means empowering artists with knowledge and insights to help them grow their audience AND generate revenue from their digital footprint – to turn views into value. This is truly when All Tides Rise – because everyone wins.”
TEN2 has already won over both clients and skeptics within the entertainment industry. This is due, in large part, to the fact that the group has set forth TRUST as their No. 1 business metric. TEN2’s focus on transparency, longevity, and long-tail success makes it a bona fide breath of fresh air in an industry fraught with bad actors who brazenly extract value from artists by exploiting those less scrupulous and savvy about the business of show business.
Donna already points to several TEN2 success stories (hinting at many more in the pipeline shortly). TEN2’s work with pop group Crash Adams saw the duo achieve viral success by utilizing YouTube Shorts, securing themselves a major label record deal within less than 12 months.
It’s one of the many wins for Donna – that efforts to educate and empower their clients prove TEN2’s ongoing value because it works.