By Dave Mainella

Those in attendance at last Tuesday’s SF MusicTech Summit were treated to a full day of thoughtful events and discussions from some of the brightest and most forward-thinking in the industry.  SoundCtrl Co-Founder, Jesse Kirshbaum, had the opportunity to lead a conversation and Q&A with Funkmaster Flex, the legendary DJ and producer on the leading edge of radio and digital.

Funkmaster Flex has a full and diverse resume, as one of the premier radio DJs for the last 20 years and as someone who’s turned the art of radio DJing into a successful digital brand – with a website that attracts over a million unique visitors and an app attracting 16 million page views a day.

The two discussed the evolution of radio, DJing and the “mix-tape”, and finding and playing new music, in a 20-minute conversation spanning the history of hip hop.

Talking with Kirshbaum about his early days at Hot 97 and in New York’s hip hop scene, Flex offered a unique perspective on the lineage of the genre.  Flex mentioned the 90′s in particular as a turning point for the music.  “The 90′s were key,” he said, “because it was a period where we thought hip hop might go away.  We didn’t know it was going to be mainstream, but it was getting more ears, more eyes.”

Kirshbaum recognized that Flex has the top rated radio show in all of terrestrial radio, to which the joking and humble DJ replied, “I’m number 1 by far.  But you know, I’m probably one of the few DJs around the country still allowed to pick their own music and records, and that’s something that I’ve never abused.”

Before taking questions from the attentive audience, Kirshbaum asked Flex’s opinion on developments in the music tech space.  The DJ targeted streaming music services as both a drawback and an opportunity for the evolution of a different kind of radio.

“There are a lot of good streaming services for the hits,” Flex explained.  “But I would like to see a lot of these streaming services try to really be radio.  They’re going to have to break artists.  And they’re going to have break music.  And they’re going to have to break talent.  I think where it’s going to go.  You’ll go to a streaming service and hear the hits, something new, and something unsigned all in the same place.”

Visit www.inflexwetrust.com

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