The entertainment industry is a rapidly expanding commercial sector. With over 40 years in the entertainment industry, Lionel Lodge has been active in a wide range of industries. Lionel has spent his whole adult life in the entertainment sector, both as a creator and a business manager.
Lionel Lodge serves as the CEO of SyncLodge, an innovative tech company that focuses on empowering creative in the music sync licensing industry. While Lionel leads the company, he strongly emphasizes teamwork and collaboration within the SyncLodge team. They work closely together, openly communicate, discuss growth strategies, and share ideas.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted of Lionel Lodge:
Tell us something about yourself? What inspired you to start your journey in this industry?
I have worked in and been involved with the entertainment industry all my life. My father was a fairly big name in the UK in the 60’s and so I grew up in that world.
I started my entrepreneurial journey early, starting my first business at the age of 10. Over the years, I have worked as a musician, performer, songwriter, producer, and engineer, while also founding and managing several successful companies. The combination of these experiences has given me the gift of clarity on the mechanics of the industry and an understanding of the needs and challenges within.
SyncLodge was a thought in autumn 2017 and was registered as a corporation in January 2019.
In the mid-2000s, I was living off my music, enjoying my life and the world I lived in, but CD sales were dying, so I needed to find a new revenue stream to replace or at least supplement the decline in my income.
What solutions or services does SyncLodge offer to its clients? Would you tell us the overall vision behind SyncLodge and your focus today?
SyncLodge is a highly innovative tech company focused on the needs of the sync licensing sector of the entertainment industry. We look at the whole industry, not just sectors. We look at how all the parts work together and how it is changing. We answer the needs of the industry with digital solutions.
Our focus is to bring together the different sectors of the industry, bring together the many tech innovations delivered by other companies, supporting cross-industry growth and innovation.
When did you recognize the need for SyncLodge and what were some of the challenges in putting together your offering?
I first started to recognize the need for SyncLodge at conferences, speaking with industry professionals, learning about their workflow and workload. They told me about being creative people but spending 80% of their time doing administration work. I thought, that is not right, someone needs to fix this with technology. We spent over 3 years building the system with direct input from these hundreds of industry professionals.
Every CEO has numerous responsibilities, being a fearless leader at SyncLodge what added responsibilities are you dealing with?
I am the CEO of SyncLodge, which is a very innovative tech company focused on empowering creative in the music and visual production industries. I am speaking at a lot of industry conferences, moderating panels on the industry, and giving interviews like this one. We are also being invited by some of the world’s most respected learning institutions to discuss industry structure and revenue streams. It is important for SyncLodge as it is the next generation and they will start using SyncLodge to learn the industry.
How would you describe your leadership style, and what has been your success mantra?
One of the company’s mantras is “Pulling together so we all move forward.” Another is “The power of clarity.” It is said that respect is earned. There are many levels of respect, and one great aspect of gaining respect is giving it. It is showing respect by listening, having patience with another understands or lack of. We are a startup with very large long-term goals. At SyncLodge it is an energized atmosphere where personal egos are left at the door; ideas are thrown on the table and sometimes taken back off just as quickly.
Tell us something about your team and the culture of your company. How are you keeping them motivated in current times?
We are a team. Every member, regardless of their position in the team, is just as important as any other member of the team. We share what is going on, we discuss and look for the outside perspective. When we collectively accepted that the world was round it made navigation and exploration a lot more efficient. When we work as a team that cares about each other on a human level, cracks become beneficial tools for moving forward.
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“We believe in cooperation, building bridges and opening gates.”
What are the key milestones you have set for your company for the year 2024? What does the next six months to a year look like for SyncLodge?
Long-term thinking is key to any successful business or relationship. In the long run, I envision myself being busily involved with continuing to make the entertainment industry function with more clarity and a lot less friction. We see SyncLodge becoming the standard, global system for IP licensing within the entertainment industry.
We have a detailed roadmap of innovative technologies that we will introduce over the next 6 months, year, 5 years, 10 years. We are expanding into many countries and will continue to do so. We are focused on bringing clarity to the industry.
What has been your biggest learning experience in the industry? What did it teach you?
It is hard to say what has been your biggest learning experience. There have been many and I am sure there will be many in the future. I think the most frustrating and revealing was learning the true state of the data in the music industry. There are many working at fixing this problem but we still have a long way to go.
If you want to share a message or give a suggestion to our readers, what would it be?
Our development team now works remotely and so does our management team. We all are openly happier this way and we find people are more productive. Plus, with our network of advisors and the many companies we work with, everyone is more comfortable to just jump on a vid meet to discuss an issue. It seems communication processes have become a lot easier.
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“Music has been a core focus throughout my life, as a creator as well as a business director.”
