Unleashing The Music Industry: Discovering Lady Gaga & Building MusicSoul With Wendy Starland

What does it really take to revolutionize an entire industry while empowering the very artists who fuel it? In this dynamic conversation on Success Unleash’d, innovation and relentless perseverance take center stage as Wendy Starland, the music visionary who discovered and developed Lady Gaga, and now co-founder of the groundbreaking startup MusicSoul, joins hosts Zack Ellison and Shawne Merriman. Hear her incredible journey from touring artist to multi-platinum songwriter for the biggest names in music, to disrupting the industry’s broken compensation models. Discover how her “stupid youth” courage led her to rewrite a Wu-Tang Clan song, and how her unwavering work ethic is now building a platform to create a middle class for artists. This is a story of bold risk-taking, challenging the status quo, and leveraging talent and technology to ignite profound change.

Success Unleash’d Principles From This Episode

1.Embrace Disruptive Innovation

Don’t just identify problems; create entirely new solutions that challenge existing paradigms and create win-win scenarios for all stakeholders.

2.Cultivate Relentless Work Ethic & Discipline

Talent is a baseline; sustained success across any industry is built on unwavering discipline, continuous effort, and a willingness to push through exhaustion.

3.Harness Fearless Initiative

Possess the courage to step up, speak your mind, and take action even when facing intimidating situations or established norms. “Stupid youth” can be a powerful catalyst.

4.Redefine Industry Norms

Actively question and work to dismantle outdated systems that disproportionately benefit some players while disadvantaging others, especially in creative industries.

5.Discern Valuable Advice

Carefully select who you take advice from; prioritize insights from those who have achieved what you aspire to, and learn to filter out negativity and ill-informed opinions.

6.Embrace Your Unique Differentiator

In a crowded marketplace, identify and lean into what makes you or your offering distinct. Your unique “fingerprint” is key to standing out and building a strong brand.

7.Recognize the Power of Consistent Performance

True talent is not just about a single brilliant moment, but the consistent ability to deliver at a high level, even under pressure.

8.Build Your Own Platform & Brand

In the new media paradigm, individuals and creators have unprecedented power to build direct connections with their audience, often bypassing traditional gatekeepers.

9.Be Mission-Driven

Let a clear, impactful mission fuel your motivation, especially when facing significant challenges or when the path ahead seems lonely.

10.Embrace Change as an Opportunity

Recognize that industry shifts and perceived breakdowns can be fertile ground for new solutions and revolutionary platforms, rather than simply obstacles.

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Watch the Episode Here

Listen to the Podcast Here

Unleashing The Music Industry: Discovering Lady Gaga & Building MusicSoul With Wendy Starland

Welcome to another episode of the show. We have with us the one and only Wendy Starland, who discovered and developed Lady Gaga and now is the co-founder of MusicSoul, which is an incredible startup that’s doing big things. Wendy, thanks for joining.

Thanks so much for having me. It’s great to be here.

You are a pretty incredible person who’s got a great story that we’re looking forward to sharing. Talk a little bit about how you got here and how you became what you are.

Artist Beginnings & Early Breaks

I started off as an artist, signed to Universal Music Group and recorded albums, and started touring all around the world. Luckily, my single did very well, and I was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I came back to the US after touring in Europe for a long time, and all of the producers and songwriters all over the country said, “We want this young girl to become our in-house songwriter.”

I ended up going with one who was a multi-platinum producer, became his in-house songwriter, and we were writing songs for the biggest artists on the planet. I said, “This is great. These are all huge artists, though I’m a creator. I want to create an artist from scratch and build their career and take them from zero to hero.” I came back with one person after going over 60 shows, and that person, we turned into Lady Gaga. It was an incredible range of things that happened. That’s the short summary.

When you were starting out in the music industry, how did you break into that, because that’s no small feat?

I really started pounding the pavement. I’ve been writing songs since I was a little girl, and singing since I was born. I had a babysitter growing up named Rosetta Atkins who taught me how to sing as soon as I could speak. My uncle played with Bruce Springsteen and the Allman Brothers, and Black Sabbath. My father played classical piano. Between all of that, I had lots of musical influences. I decided, “Now is the time. This was my outlet.”

This is how I got to express myself. I started to purchase some musical equipment and taught myself how to use it. One day, it broke down, and there was a guy named Dainjamental who came by to fix my equipment. He said, “You made this music?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This sounds nothing like your speaking voice. It’s soulful. It’s great. Have you ever sung on a record before?” I said, “I hadn’t.”

Confronting The Wu-Tang Clan

At that point, I was eighteen years old. He said, “Come sing on a record.” He took me to Staten Island. I opened the door of this studio, and these huge guys were there. They had guns down the front of their pants. They had one hand, and they’re smoking some other substances. It was the Wu-Tang Clan. This was my first gig. They said, “What’s this girl? I cannot believe that you’re having her sing.”

Anyway, they said, “Sing this.” I said, “I’ll sing it, but it stucks. This is not what’s happening.” They’re like, “What are you talking about?” I’m like, “Listen, you got two chords. There’s no tension before the chorus. We’ve got to land in a place.” They’re like, “You think you could do better?” I’m like, “Yes.” I went to the back. I rewrote the whole song. Not their rap parts, but all the chord progressions. I came up with a brand new hook.

I rerecorded it. The guy who took me there was ready to kill me because he’s just like, “Wendy, this is your first record, you’re already causing trouble.” I press play, and they loved it. I ended up writing 30 songs for the Wu-Tang Clan. It turned out that one of them asked me to be in a band with him. We started this band called ESP, we opened up for Sean Paul. We got this major deal with Sony. Anyway, that was my first big gig.

That’s crazy. That’s a great story. I didn’t know that.

I wanted to ask you that because, being an athlete, I get a chance to be around some of the biggest musicians and artists and stuff in the world. I was with CAA most of my whole NFL career. I was with UTA for a while. I was around a lot, but that takes some pause. That is because I know that I can understand. As an athlete, you walk into a room, and people already have a perception of you. It sounds to me that perception could have been there the first time you walked in. What gave you the idea, the courage to take that step? That’s not easy. You’re talking about one of the biggest and most iconic groups of all time, and just having the confidence to step up like that, like you did. Where did that come from?

The Courage To Challenge & Create

It came from stupid youth. I was so young. I was eighteen years old, and I’d been writing songs my whole life. I think I was this kid that it came out of me so naturally that I felt like in music, it just sounds right or wrong to me. I can pick out the parts that are the wrong parts extremely easily. This has always been the gift that I was given. If something sounds wrong, it’s so funny in other parts of my life. I’m so nonconfrontational, like in my personal life, for example, I’m very, “Go with the flow. No problem.”

With music, I guess because I’ve been doing it forever, I just say, “That’s wrong and this part needs to be changed and this is how it needs to be changed.” It’s so black and white. I’m sure how it is with you as sports. You’re just like, “This guy needs to do this and this, and then it’ll be fixed.” That’s how it felt to me and how it still feels to me. I’ve now seen in the music industry how the entire system and infrastructure have collapsed and how that now needs to be fixed. That’s what I’m working on now.

Wendy, before we get into all the problems that you’re solving for, let’s talk a little bit more about your background because I think it’s so fascinating. First of all, I want to ask you, with the Wu-Tang Clan, is there anyone that you are closest that you performed?

The 9th Prince is who I was closest to. RZA’s biological brother as well. They’re brothers. 9th Prince is who I ended up joining, who asked me to be in a band, which had a very much black eyed peas feel to it. It was much poppier. We had just this crazy show opening up for Sean Paul, where I came out, and it was like showtime at the Apollo. Everyone was booing me as soon as I came out. I was such a cocky little kid that I was like, “This isn’t a Bruce Springsteen concert.”

They’re like, “Boo.” I’m like, “It’s not Bruce. It’s Wendy.” I start singing, and then they shut up, and then I end up hitting this Mariah Carey note at the end. I got a standing ovation and like turned the crowd. It gave me the confidence to start performing live all over the place. I put a band together, and we started just performing live. I put a couple of different groups together with different genres of music. That had expanded my role as a songwriter.

I’ve been singing since I could speak and writing songs since I was a little girl. Music was my outlet — a way to express myself, shaped by a family of musicians and a babysitter who taught me to sing. Share on X

All these people from different parts of the world started calling me to write songs, whether it was in hip hop, Capone. I started writing for Capone and N-Noreaga. I started writing and singing on all different kinds of albums, whether it was Moby, which was electronic music, or singing on Billy Ray Cyrus, which is country music, or opening for Jack White and Sheryl Crow, and the Foo Fighters, and all different kinds of acts. I’d say that diversity has helped me as a songwriter to work with so many different people, and that ability to just be flexible and not genre-specific.

Wendy, I got to ask you. You’ve worked with some of the best in the world. What were the common themes that you learned from them? What did they share that made them successful, if you had to boil it down?

I would say that in the music industry, as far as I’m concerned, it’s like the Olympics. Everybody is talented. There’s nobody who is completely untalented. They’re talented in some way. Not all of them are Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston vocally, but all of them have some entertainment value. J.Lo is a great dancer.

Work Ethic: The True Separator

Does she sing like Aretha Franklin? Maybe not, but she is unbelievably entertaining. The baseline is talent in some capacity. Your work ethic is what is going to make you last. Not everybody has the work ethic and the discipline. You have to do things, go out and network when you’re not in the mood to. You have to make sure that you’re pounding the pavement at all times. You to rehearse when you don’t want to.

You have to take care of your voice if you’re a singer instead of going out and partying the night before. You have to stay in great physical condition to have the capacity for all that cardio on stage. Imagine climbing up a mountain and singing. I mean, that’s how Beyonce used to go up running canyon. Her father would be like, “Train. Go up running Canyon and sing at the same time so that your breathing is appropriate. You cannot be out of breath on a microphone. Everything is amplified.” There’s the discipline to be great, not just talented is really across the board, what I’ve seen.

That’s funny because sometimes when I get around like regular people and they talk about the second or third string player on the team in the NFL, “That guy s***. He’s not playing.” I said, “Let me tell you something. Everybody in the NFL is good. Now you got some that are all-stars. You got some that are just freakish athletes that do incredible things. Let me tell you, that third-string guy who never gets into the game is probably the most athletic person you’ve ever met before in your life.” It sounds like the same thing.

What I’m hearing is really the separation. I say this all the time. The separation is work ethic, discipline, and just how far you’re willing to go. You’ve come across artists, and you probably looked at them like a waste of talent, but man, you could be so good if you just applied yourself. You could be so good if you had discipline. You could be so good. What I’m getting at is there are a lot of similarities when you’re talking about just talent in general in both industries, being an athlete or being in your industry, that everyone’s good, but the great ones are willing to just do more than everyone else.

That’s a perfect analogy. That’s true for the music industry, too. Sports and music go hand in hand, absolutely the same mindset that you need to succeed.

I’ll mention, too, Shawne and I talk about this a lot with guests on the show. It is universal. That work ethic is the fundamental building block of success. It’s no different, really, in any job. I think about the finance and investing industry, it’s the same thing. People who are successful are those who are relentlessly hardworking. When I was younger, and worked in investment banking, where the hours are notoriously long.

Sometimes you’re working 80, 100 hours a week. A lot of people cannot do that. Their dream is to become more senior, where they’re like a managing director running a group, because they think it’s going to mean less work. The reality is that the people who are running those groups work even more. I think, like Shawne and I both know, and you know too, Wendy, we probably work harder than anybody we know.

The junior people don’t work as hard as we do. I think to be successful over a long period, it’s just about always putting in the work and never really giving up. When you think you’re going to get a break, you don’t really. That’s the thing I’m learning. As I get more and more senior and successful, I’m learning that it doesn’t get any easier. I always thought, “If I do this and this, then it’ll be easy or easier, and it just gets harder.”

There’s this new challenge. You get to the NFL, first you get to like a D1 college, and then you’re like, “I’m going to the league.” You become a starter. You’ve got to stay a starter. You got to see if you can become an all-pro. You got to stay at that level. The whole time, you’ve got people coming behind you that are trying to tear you down, or that are trying to overtake you. It’s so simple, but it’s so true. Just work ethic is everything. Wendy, I want to ask, so you worked with all these amazing artists.

A big part of that was the fact that you had the initiative and were fearless, and obviously very talented and hardworking. With what you’re doing now, having worked with many of these stars, you’ve demonstrated and shown that they’re not getting paid what they’re worth. I want you to talk a little bit about that, because to me, it’s a huge theme in the music industry that we’ve heard from celebrities like Snoop Dogg and many others. Talk about how the compensation structure works in the music industry and why that’s broken, and then also what you’re doing to fix it.

It's $0.004 per stream. Snoop Dogg got less than $45,000 for a BILLION streams on Spotify. Great performance no longer equals great reward. We're fixing that. Share on X

The Broken Music Industry Model

It’s $0.004 per stream. I want you to think about what that means. With Snoop Dogg, he had recently said that he received a billion streams, a billion, the capital B, on Spotify, and received less than $45,000 for a billion streams. At what point, when great performance no longer equals great reward, what are you doing it for? I mean, you got to survive. How many jobs do you think you can have? It’s just ridiculous.

People shouldn’t have to be reliant on these ancillary means of income, like ticketing for concerts or merchandise. They should be able to, like an athlete, have a salary. Artists get advances from record labels, but those advances are mainly spent on the record, on creating the record. It’s one of these things where you need to be paid for your music. What about the artists that don’t have record labels, which is 99% of them? There are plenty of extremely talented artists that don’t have the ability to tour because they don’t have the finances to go out and make that happen.

Introducing MusicSoul: A New Paradigm

They should be able to make money not by being a t-shirt salesman, but by being a musician, which they’ve spent their whole lives developing this skill and mastering that craft. I’ve created a platform called MusicSoul. MusicSoul is basically the answer for artists being able to make money off of their music, the common man, the artist, the influencer, and even charities. What we do is we use AI to create brand partnerships with the user and match them based on a set of shared criteria. When you go onto the app, you answer a bunch of questions like a dating app.

Based on the answers to those questions, the AI will match you with a brand. Let’s say the AI matched me with, for example, Estee Lauder. Estee Lauder pushes it out to their 150 million opt-in consumers, and it automates the engagement between the artist and the opt-in consumers from that brand, and then gives the artist 70% of both streaming and advertising revenues.

All of a sudden, you don’t have to come with a million artists because we’ll give you 150 million, for example, Estee Lauder, 100 million from Home Depot, or whatever brand was matched with you through our AI on the system. It becomes like the Uber of media. With Uber, if you had a car, you had a job, and you don’t have to go searching on the side of the road to see who your next passenger is, it’s teed up for you by the Uber app.

With us, we are like that for media. If you have music, if you have videos, if you have anything, we will not only tee up the next eyeball, we’ll tee up the next hundred million eyeballs and drive them to you and automate that engagement and then give you 70% of both streaming and advertising. It is a brand new model. Nobody else is doing it this way, to my knowledge. We think that it’s going to create a bunch of jobs for people all over the world.

I like to call things the ultimate disruptor. You’re coming in disrupting industry, pissing a lot of people off, which is great. That’s my favorite thing to do. What is the biggest pushback you are getting? This is so out of the norm to what’s out there, and I think sometimes it’s hard for people to wrap their head around that this is even available because you just explain what Snoop is getting and what happened to Snoop. For this even to be an opportunity, what is the biggest pushback? Are you getting people saying that they cannot believe that this is true? What are people saying when you tell them that you guys are able to do this?

Navigating Pushback & Due Diligence

I think artists probably feel that it’s too good to be true, that they cannot believe it. The labels, as we’ve explained to them, this is a great opportunity for them. It costs at least a million dollars to launch a single for any artist. Instead of just throwing it against the wall to see if it sticks or base it on social media followers and numbers, which can be manipulated, here you have an opportunity to see how it does on a mass scale before investing that money.

It is a great due diligence tool for the record labels. If artists are making money on their own directly, maybe they might be afraid that “Maybe they won’t sign to us because record labels take 85% of what the artist makes.” It’s one of these things where there’s going to be pushback, but for brands, it’s fantastic, especially for brands, because Netflix and Apple TV and all these things, they don’t have commercials.

How are brands supposed to advertise and get in front of their opt-in consumers on a daily basis, and get new ones? This is a perfect place where people can cross-promote, finally, where the artists, the brand, and charities all come together. Charities, they’re making money just mailbox money by uploading their educational content. There’s a whole section within MusicSoul where you can upload your educational content.

I was inducted into the United Nations Council on Global Change this year, and I got a chance to speak and said to the UN, “Listen, you can make mailbox money to be able to upload for free. It’s free for the user. It’s free for the charity to upload your educational videos and make 70% of the streaming and advertising. Our AI will match you with brands that will give you more eyeballs, and now you’ll make 70%. It’s a wonderful tool.” There’s going to be pushback with any change in life, but this is one that is a win-win for everyone.

Wendy, I want to take a half-step back and ask you about some things I’ve been very curious about for a long time. One of them is how talent is developed in the music industry. You don’t need to talk about your specifics around anyone in particular, but you do have a lot of experience developing some of the best-known talent in the world. Talk a little bit about how talent was developed in the old model, and then also how you see that changing now that we’re in this new media and entertainment paradigm.

Talent Development & Consistency

In terms of talent development, the key thing, the most important thing, and Shawne, I’m sure you could speak to this in sports as well, is that somebody might have a great game where they throw a great pass or something like that, they catch a great pass. Having that consistently every time, every game, is what I look for in talent. Singing great one night means nothing.

There’s so much competition out there; you’ll fail if you don’t know how to compete. Share on X

Having your voice not crap out after your 30th show on tour and hitting the center of the note every single time, your tone, your timbre, your ability to connect with the audience, live is where it’s at for me to be able to see that they can perform consistently every time. Secondly, the record labels and brands, and everyone, are basing somebody’s greatness with their social media numbers, which is so ridiculous. I cannot even tell you how ridiculous that is.

It’s like saying, “I think Picasso is better than Monet because he has more followers or more likes on something. It’s just the most ridiculous thing in the world. Art is not compared by that type of metric. Dave Grohl is incredible. I don’t know if Taylor Swift may or may not have more Instagram followers, but who cares? There are many different types of music, and you need to be able to fill a niche category first that is unique in order to become popular because you need some differentiating factor that is unique to you that will be your fingerprint and can be attributed specifically to you.

That could be a whole variety of things. For someone like Alanis Morissette, it might be the way she pronounces her words, her vowel sounds. I know that this is getting very granular, but for somebody else, it might be their style and the way they dance. The tone or timbre of their voice. Each of these things is the development of how you build a brand, and you have to see yourself as a brand, as an artist, because there’s so much competition out there that you will fail if you don’t compete in the marketplace.

The Power Of The Individual Brand

One of the things that Shawne and I have talked about with others is, especially in the media space, is that the game has changed and so that the gatekeepers don’t have nearly as much power. Like in the old days, there were only a few television networks, and if you didn’t get on with them, you weren’t getting a spot.

Now, like what Shawne’s done building out Lights Out Sports TV is he’s created his own streaming television channel that’s got live and on-demand content. A lot of people now are realizing that, like you just said, Wendy, the individual’s brand is so powerful that when it’s strong enough, they can get to where they want to go and bypass the gatekeepers. I wanted to see what you thought about this as it relates to the music industry, because like you said before, you were talking about record labels and how they take roughly 85% of the profit from the artists.

Do artists necessarily need a record label? If you can develop your own following on platforms. Maybe it’s platforms that you can control access to, whether you’re starting out on Instagram or TikTok, or YouTube. You get on other platforms like yours that you’re developing music for, and others. Do you even need to have a record label? What’s the point of having a record label? If you had a hundred million followers, then you don’t even need a record label. You’re your own record label in a sense.

Record Labels: Still Necessary?

Listen, record labels are great for a couple of different things. Record labels, finance tours, they help you create your brand. There are lots of great things, but they will buy the top spot on a playlist on Spotify. They will take you out of obscurity. With MusicSoul, I tried to tackle a bunch of those problems by having the brand do some of that work and some of those jobs.

MusicSoul automates the process of engagement through our AI and because of that, you no longer have this process of, “If I uploaded something, let’s say I owned 100% of it and I uploaded on Spotify, who’s ever going to find me if the label’s not buying the top spot on a playlist? There are hundreds of millions of artists on there. Who is ever going to find me?” What MusicSoul does is it creates the attention and the following, in addition to just the monetization of giving away 70%. It also does that curation process for you based on data.

We know we have machine learning inside of MusicSoul. We know that if you bought this t-shirt and bought this concert ticket and watch this podcast, played this video game, and this is a one-stop shop that you would probably like this artist and this content, and so will automate the engagement between the two. I think that a record label they’ve got all these traditional means and avenues of distribution that will help blow up your brand. I tried to tackle that problem for people who maybe aren’t with a record label, and to be able to create a middle class for artists and to create visibility that doesn’t exist in the current climate.

We’ve only got about five minutes, so I wanted to do some rapid-fire questions to get your best insights that you’ve learned over the years. The first question is, when you’re not motivated or when you’re struggling, what’s one thing that gets you fired up so you can get through tough days?

At least with the music solo, I’m totally fired up by the thought of completely restructuring the music industry and giving millions of people jobs. I’ve worked with so many great artists and not having them not having to have a second job to pay their rent, that gets me fired up.

You sound like you are looking to help out a lot of people and give advice. I mean, what advice would you give somebody who was in your shoes back when you first started out? I look at I was the youngest draft NFL player ever, but I’m looking back like, “If I knew what I knew now. Somebody who told me this.” What information would you pass on to somebody else who is breaking through like you did?

Advice For Aspiring Artists

I would tell them to hustle when you’re too exhausted. Network when you’re too exhausted to do it. Only take advice from people that you would trade places with. Don’t allow negative speak. If you would trade places with them, really listen to the advice and see how you would adjust your sales, so to speak. Take constructive criticism, but don’t listen to all the people who have something negative to say about you. Everyone’s going to have their opinion. You got to go for it and trust your gut.

Hustle when you're too exhausted. Network when you're too exhausted. Share on X

One of those, my favorite one, I tell people all the time, “Stop taking advice from people that you don’t want to end up like.” Someone got an aunt or uncle or somebody that’s in a bad position, they’re giving you advice, like walk away, because obviously the advice they’re giving you is what got them there. I don’t take advice from people I don’t want to end up like.

Exactly. Especially, you said an aunt or an uncle. It’s really difficult when you love someone and to ignore that advice, but you’ve got to listen to your gut and take advice only from people who have been to where you’re going.

A 100%. Everybody’s got their advice these days, and everybody’s an expert now because they’ve all got their social media platforms. I think one of the key skills for people is learning what advice to accept, that you guys both nailed, knowing what advice applies to what situation. There are certainly people who have given me great advice in certain areas, but I wouldn’t trust them in other areas.

I would say that advice is not equally powerful across different areas, depending on what the person’s level of expertise is. That’s one thing I was thinking about is, even if they’re a smart person and they’re trying to be helpful, it’s not necessarily something you should do, but I do think it’s very powerful to get opinions from people that you think differently from. Oftentimes, people that you might think are idiots, quite frankly, like I see a lot of stuff on LinkedIn and social media, and these people are absolutely off the wall.

I have no idea what they’re talking about, but that gives me insights because it tells me what the market is. It tells me what the average person is thinking or select groups of people are thinking. Sometimes, the more idiotic I think someone is, the more valuable their opinion can be, believe it or not, because they’re almost like a contrarian indicator. When certain people say things, I just think to myself, “I should look at the opposite of that because I know they’re an idiot. It works. That’s how you make money in the investment markets. If you just do what everyone else is doing, the best-case scenario is you’re going to get average results.

Don’t walk into the most crowded space. You got to walk into the space where there’s room.

Innovation & The Lonely Path

I mean, innovation is tough because in the beginning, you oftentimes feel lonely or like you’re on the wrong path because you’re doing something that no one else has done. All three of us are doing things that literally nobody else in the world has ever done. It’s pretty tough because who can give you advice if they’ve never done it also. It’s a little bit difficult when you’re an innovator and a trendsetter.

I can tell you with Lady Gaga, when I was taking around to meet people at the beginning, the climate in the music industry was so pretty and perfect. Beyonce had her all-female band and Jessica Simpson was in her Daisy Dukes, and Nora Jones had sold probably 25 million records or something insane. Everything was very soft, feminine, and perfect. I was like, “Let’s go in the exact opposite direction and fill a hole in the marketplace that isn’t being filled.” Many people said, “Wendy, what are you doing? People are laughing at you. Nothing is popular like this.” I was like, “We’ll see.” Years later, it’s worked out pretty well. It’s awesome.

Wendy, thanks so much for coming on. This has been great. I love what you’re building, too. Think that MusicSoul has this huge potential, and you are a disruptor, which Shawne and I both appreciate.

Thank you so much. I’m very mission-driven. I feel like if you can build it, they will come. I’m building it. Looking forward to everybody coming on this ride with me.

Thanks, Wendy. Appreciate it.

Thanks so much.

Wendy, take care.

Bye.

About Wendy Starland

Discovered & Developed Lady Gaga

Co-Founder & President of MusicSoul

Wendy Starland discovered and developed 14-time Grammy, Oscar, and two-time Golden Globe winning icon Lady Gaga. Starland developed Lady Gaga’s career during the recording of Lady Gaga’s debut album The Fame , which received Billboard ‘s most prestigious ‘Album of the Decade’ – having logged 62 of its record-setting 108 total weeks at No. 1 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart this decade.

Forbes writes: Starland was honored by the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Grammy nominated on Moby’s album Last Night, and was awarded ‘VH1’s Best Emerging Artist.’

Wendy Starland has written and licensed hundreds of songs and has performed and/or recorded with: Lady Gaga, Moby, Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Black Eyed Peas, Steve Aoki, Sheryl Crow, the Foo Fighters, Jack White, MTV, VH1, NBC, ABC, E!, CBS, FOX.

Starland was inducted into the United Nations Council of Global Change. She is the Co-Founder & President of MusicSoul: A one-stop streaming platform that uses AI to cross promote brands with artists – allowing them to retain 70% of streaming and advertising revenues.