Brian Waites

About Brian Waites

Most independent music businesses don’t fail because of talent or \"taste\".They fail because their systems can’t keep up.Look, the truth is that at some point:Artists outgrow spreadsheets.Managers drown in admin.Indie labels struggle to stay organized as rosters expand.I’m a recording artist, systems builder, and entrepreneur with 5+ years of experience across content strategy, digital marketing, label operations, sponsorship activations, and social media strategy. I’ve worked across multiple sides of the music business, which gave me a firsthand understanding of where things break once growth starts to happen.As both a recording artist and an operator, I saw firsthand how quickly momentum breaks down without the right structure.I founded REVIVE to create the systems that I honestly, just could not find. Creating tools and workflows designed to bring operational clarity and scalable structure to independent music businesses as they grow without losing control.REVIVE is a creative operations studio that designs management systems, workflows, and internal tools for independent artists, managers, and indie labels. Using platforms like Notion, I build operating systems that centralize assets, streamline releases, improve collaboration, and support long-term growth.Whether you’re:• An artist running your own business• A manager overseeing multiple clients• An indie label scaling a rosterREVIVE builds the backend that keeps everything moving.This isn’t just about \"templates\".it’s about infrastructure.Templates are simply one way that infrastructure becomes accessible.If you’re building something in music and need systems that can scale with you, let’s talk.

Experience

1. Founder & Product Lead

   Revive

   Aug 2025 — Present · US

   Founder and product lead behind Revive, a music-first operations platform designed to help independent artists, managers, and small teams organize projects, assets, and collaboration as they scale.+ Responsible for product vision, customer discovery, and system design—translating real-world music workflows into structured, scalable software.+ Led the development of Revive’s initial systems as a Notion-based operating framework, validating demand through paid adoption and feedback from indie artists and music professionals.+ Oversee roadmap planning, feature prioritization, and early go-to-market strategy while conducting ongoing research into music business infrastructure, rights management workflows, and artist-owned operations.+ Act as the primary point of integration between creative needs and technical execution, laying the groundwork for Revive’s evolution into a full SaaS product.Background as a DIY artist and former Breakr team member informs a product approach grounded in firsthand experience across both creative and business sides of the music industry.

Education

• Texas Southern University

  Bachelor's degree, Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services

• Udemy Alumni

  Certificate, Digital Marketing

  2020 — 2020