Zach Quillen and his Independent Success Story

Few people know who is Zach Quillen. He is an example of hard work and perseverance. Quillen, a former employee of the Agency Group met Ben Haggerty in 2010. Ben Haggerty is an American rapper born and raise in Seattle and known by his stage name Macklemore. Today, Zach Quillen is the manager of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

 Zach’s career began in college while he was studying at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He started an internship at a small venue close to campus. During this internship, he did everything from runner to accompanying bands to radio interviews. Due to his impressive work in the internship, his boss helped him get an interview in The Agency Group in New York. The agency offered Quillen a position of booking assistant for Peter Schwartz. This opportunity taught Zach everything about touring, marketing, and the booking industry.

In March 2010, the Blue Scholars introduced Macklemore to Zach Quillen. Zach noticed the Fur coat and it got stuck in his head. After following Macklemore through online platforms for few months and seeing his local success in Seattle, Quillen proposed him a management deal. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis looked at the deal as a good opportunity since they had been doing everything by themselves. Since that moment, they started to build a massive success.

Zach Quillen is a case of study due to Macklemore’s & Ryan Lewis achievements without the support of a record label. Zach Quillen attributes this success to basic principles and simple strategies. Thanks to the rapper local popularity, the team was generating capital to afford expenses such as the recording of the album and making of music videos. Their vision was to keep the exposure through touring, YouTube, and social media. Quillen key strategy was based on only booking shows he knew were going to be sold-out, even if they were in small venues. The sold-out buzz meant something to the fans and public in general. The connection with the audience was crucial. First, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were performing for 200 to 300 people, then 1000 to 2000, and the fan base grew reaching up audience of 10.000.

Everything was turning out according to plan. Zach thought they were ready to go mainstream and Warner Music Group was the perfect partner. Although they didn’t sign any agreement, Quillen thought it was a smart move to use ADA (Warner’s subsidiary) expertise and structure to distribute Macklemore’s first album. The result was as expected, the album was on every shelf but there was something still missing. Some alternative radios were supporting their music but they knew they had to be in the top 40 radio stations. In an unconventional negotiation, Warner agreed to work with Quillen and his team by promoting Macklemore’s first single “Thrift Shop.” The single resulted in sales for over 7 million copies in the US alone and more than six weeks at the #1 spot on Billboard charts.  

Zach is not the most experienced manager in the industry. He hasn’t had any playbook to follow and many of his decisions have come from that guts feeling. However, Quillen humbleness has kept his ego always in check with no hesitation when it comes for help and advice.

The formula is simple, great talent, online exposure (social media and YouTube), and touring. However, there are few who have worked as hard as Ben Haggerty (Macklemore) & Ryan Lewis. Zach Quillen believed in them and understood the responsibility of accompanying these demanding artists in that difficult journey.  Planning, smart and guts decisions, honesty, and friendship, have been the major key of their success today.