At an early age Brett Bassock, rising music manager, felt a huge draw to the entertainment industry. He dreamt of one day becoming a film director and producer, where he could have a direct impact on all phases from beginning to end. His parents bought him a camera at the age of 10, giving him the chance to realize these fantasies and pursue his childhood dreams. After writing his own original screenplays, he would invite all the neighborhood kids over and do everything from directing, to acting and editing. This came very natural to Brett, as his instinctual drive for creativity and bringing people together was rather remarkable for someone his age.
As he continued to develop this distinct combination of traits, he uncovered a newfound interest for philanthropic endeavors. His innate skills were a perfect combination for these kinds of causes in which he could bring people together with original and creative ways. Brett’s first experience with this was at 14-years-old, when his grandmother’s Parkinson’s disease took a turn for the worst. He decided to create a Facebook group to raise awareness for the disease and his grandmother’s battle. After inviting all 150 of his friends, the group rapidly snowballed to 6,000 members within a month – Brett was stunned. The local news then picked up the story, and vaulted the group to a staggering 56,000 members. This initial success only fueled Brett to partake in other charitable activities, as he oversaw large events including benefit concerts. All told, Brett has helped to raise an astounding $500,000 in nine years since he started his philanthropic endeavors.
Although Brett’s instincts were a driving force in his maturation and development, the person who he looked up to the most was equally important. He considered his grandfather the ideal role model. He was a huge inspiration and exemplified the epitome of success in Brett’s eyes. Not only was he a caring father, husband, and brother, but also a successful businessman, friend and person. This type of well-rounded life is what Brett began to strive for, and each action and decision he made was with his grandfather in mind. 
His past experiences and influences ignited his entrepreneurial spirit and led him to create a concert promotions company in Southern Connecticut, where he grew his name and brand for three years. Through this, Brett developed and fine-tuned his skills, built instrumental relationships and learned the ins and outs of the music industry. He was doing what he loved and he was being successful at it. With success comes failure, though. As Brett continued to steadily climb the industry ladder, he was met with his first real struggle. For the first time ever, he had taken a huge loss on a show that he had organized. Fortunately, Brett was not someone to let his failure get him down, but it taught him a valuable lesson about how to handle the highs and lows of working in this business and how to get through them. This experience gave him a fresh perspective where he could appreciate both the highs and lows that come with his line of work. It was a defining moment in his career, but more importantly in his life.
As Brett pressed on with his career, he interned for two years in New York City, first at a booking agency and then at Atlantic Records. Thanks to Jeff Levin (Senior Director of A&R – Atlantic Records), a mentor and older brother figure to Brett, he was brought on as an A&R scout/consultant. Eventually this lead him to a position in A&R at Lava Records. While there, he came across Steve James, a budding star in the scene today. He was “incredibly impressed by his pop sensibility and timeless melodies” and leveraged his past experiences and relationships to become an important asset to Steve and his team. He worked on properly marketing and branding the quickly rising artist, and explained how he approaches his job: “I feel like the artist is the business, the music is the product, and as a manager I’m the CEO. It’s my job to oversee and grow the brand.” Working alongside co-manager Jay Cao – one of the owners of EDMTunes – they were able to bring their diverse skillsets to the table to compliment each other in a healthy and positive way.
Aside from managing Steve James, Brett oversees a slew of other songwriters and producers. Back when Brett was running his concert company, a talented musician by the name of Eben Wares regularly played at his shows. They both moved out to Los Angeles around the same time to pursue their musical endeavors and reconnected then. He immediately set him up with Steve James and the first day together they wrote the foundation to what later became “Purpose”, the title track on Justin Bieber’s latest album. This was a defining moment in Brett’s career. Seeing everything come full circle, from the time he originally met Eben in Connecticut to now helping produce a song on one of the year’s most popular album – it was surreal. With such a huge accomplishment to his name already, Brett is only scratching the surface. He has so much more to learn but also so many more highlights and milestones up ahead.
Thus far, Brett’s journey has been a long and windy road. Through his past experiences he has been able to uncover what makes him passionate in life and pursue it. Each struggle encountered has only helped accelerate the young man’s developments and maturation level, giving him a clear advantage to his peers. The natural born instincts he acquired at an early age are the same core characteristics that have gotten Brett to where he is now. That’s why it is important to always remember to follow what comes natural to you and take each experience, good and bad, as a chance to grow and learn valuable lessons.
