2 Minutes With … Rich Sica, Advising CD at Juice Music

Rich serves as advising creative director for Juice Music. He’s has a decade of experience at agencies like R/GA and 72andSunny, plus posts in the music industry. Also, the former TikTok music licensing executive spent two-and-a-half years with the company, overseeing the North America and LATAM markets. In that capacity, Rich worked with brands that leveraged the platform’s first audio library, as well as its SoundOn distribution service.

We spent two minutes with Rich to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired.

Rich, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

Bronx, New York and now I live in Central Florida.

Your earliest musical memory.

“More Than Words” by Extreme. My mom would put on VH1 when I was a toddler and I was always fascinated by the song and gravitated to the TV whenever it was on. 

Your favorite bands/musicians today.

Omar Apollo, Q, Blxst, Bad Bunny, Chris Stapleton, Jungle, and Rosalia—and so many more.

One of your favorite projects you’ve ever worked on.

I would say licensing “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac for the Ocean Spray and TikTok collaboration/commercial. It is my favorite, because no one knew it at the time, but it would mark the new order of music in the digital space. In 2020, Nathan Apodaca‘s car broke down, so he decided to skateboard to work with a large bottle of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and record himself drinking it while listening and lip syncing to “Dreams.” Although there have been trending songs and artists before this, it was so powerful. We saw the way the digital world propelled a song and an action from an organic moment into a viral trend that everyone and every outlet was talking about and replicating.

A recent project you’re proud of. 

I’ve learned throughout my career that you never know where each collaboration is going to lead you to. I worked on two projects with Aleena Bissett and Jack Bradley at HiFi Project for TikTok campaigns with Bobbi Brown and Oikos. Not only did we have great creative synergy on those projects, but we really aligned on the unique needs of music for social and ended up working together to launch Juice Music. I am proud of this because to continue to evolve in this space, we need to find ways to move faster. We are seeing how trends can last a few weeks (if not shorter) and brands need the ability to find tracks that are synonymous with social (:15 and :30 in length) while having something completely bespoke and tailored to their needs by partnering with emerging composers and producers.

One thing about how the music world is evolving that you’re excited about.

The metaverse interests me the most. I am eager to see how the space provides opportunities for artists, composers, producers and rights holders to monetize creative ideas independently or in partnerships with brands. 

Someone else’s work, in music or beyond, that you admired lately.

I have been reading several books from my high school classmate, Adam Silvera (NYT bestselling author) called They Both Die in the End and The First to Die at the End. I enjoy seeing people succeed and it is that much more enjoyable when you know the person.

A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.

The podcast New Music Business with Ari Herstand.

An artist you admire outside the world of music.

Leonid Afremov

Your favorite fictional character.

Don Draper

Someone worth following on social media.

Derek Wolf. He has great content focused on food and recipes. 

Your main strength as a marketer/creative.

Understanding and comprehending what is being asked of me. Understanding is so important to earning trust and confidence, but to also ensure you are doing the best work and not steering partners astray or delaying their goals and success. 

Your biggest weakness.

Despite being extremely dedicated to everything I do, I am also too critical and am always questioning if I could have given more.

Something people would find surprising about you.

I once interrupted Fat Joe while he was getting a massage to negotiate and finalize a music license. 

One thing that always makes you happy.

Family and spending time together.

One thing that always makes you sad.

When a good series/movie ends with no additional seasons/series to be produced. I felt this way at the end of Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Dexter, though there have been others too. Even when there is a spinoff or a movie adaptation, I still have that feeling of missing new friends that I’ve connected with.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the music business.

I’d probably aspire to be in Special Forces in the military. I am very structured and organized, always staying active, and up for a difficult challenge.