What first led you into entertainment retailing?
My route into entertainment retailing was through joining 7digital, with its focus on using technology to offer music to consumers around the world. I practiced law for years in Canada and transitioned to my current role through various positions in the world of entertainment – as founding partner of the law firm Taylor Oballa Murray Leyland, VP of Business & Legal Affairs at DHX Media, and Director of Commercial & Legal Affairs at The Box Plus Network.
How long have you been at 7digital and what’s your role?
I joined 7digital in January 2018 as Head of Legal and Business Affairs. I’m responsible for the strategy and operation of legal and business affairs across 7digital Group plc, which is an area critical to the success and growth of the business.
What do you love about your job?
Hand on heart, all the people here are a pleasure to work with. My team, in particular, is fantastic – but then I would say that! Also, the size of the business is such that it’s large enough to have people of all different talents within one company, but small enough to feel agile like a startup. The work is very varied, too, which keeps things interesting.
Describe the 7digital business
7digital is a predominantly b2b digital music solutions company. We use our technology platform and extensive global music rights to create music streaming and radio services for a diverse range of customers – including consumer brands, mobile carriers, broadcasters, automotive systems, record labels and retailers. We also offer radio production and music curation services, editorial strategy and content management expertise. A smaller, but still significant, part of the business is our collection of 20 7digital-branded download stores serving MP3 and FLAC quality music to customers around the world on a variety of different platforms and devices.
What is the main challenge for the entertainment retail industry today?
The continued transition from physical to digital still presents a huge challenge to entertainment retail. Connected to that - piracy may not be quite as rife as it once was, but it certainly hasn’t gone away and is an ongoing threat to revenues. And the entertainment sector is fighting for audience share at a busy, noisy time in which so many other things are competing for consumers’ attention.
Apart from your own, what is your favourite entertainment retailer and why?
Rough Trade East on London’s Brick Lane is great for browsing and buying – mostly music, but they have a great selection of books and other items too. It’s not far from home and close to the 7digital office in Shoreditch. Plus, the bands that play in store are an added bonus that make the store that extra bit special.
What was the first ever film and album you owned and where did you buy them?
The first film I ever bought myself was Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, but right after seeing the film I went straight to the record store and bought the soundtrack which was/is brilliant. My first album was The Head on the Door by The Cure – I bought that at Records On Wheels, an independent retailer in Canada. My first game was Donkey Kong, purchased from Sears, a North American retail chain.
What non entertainment retailer do you admire and why?
My choices are from the world of fashion – Net-a-Porter and The Outnet are perfect for shopaholics. I love the selection of designers, they deliver quickly, and have a no hassle returns policy. They’ve continually innovated to figure out solutions to customer pain points. If I need an outfit for a particular occasion, these retailers mean I know exactly where to find what I need and avoid that last-minute panic!
You’re stuck in a lift, name the book, album, film, game and person that you would like to have with you.
OK, my choices would be: Moonstruck (film), Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex (book), and as a music lover I think the album question is close to impossible to answer but I will say The Strokes’ Is This It to keep it upbeat in there. The person with me in the lift would be Patti Smith, I love her writing and she’d have great stories. On this particular occasion we would go ‘old school’ and play Scrabble.