Someone asked me what my favorite thing was about working in the music business? The answer is perspective.

It’s difficult to grasp the new music biz in same way if you weren’t brought up in the throes of the old one. I and a surprising amount of Tinderbox’s staff have been fortunate enough to own large studios, labels, booking agencies and retail distributors during the late nineties, when our industry was still a juggernaut. Honestly, you don’t know the value of a company, an opportunity or an idea until you’ve tried it. Some of the things you float out there just sink and some are glorious successes. We have learned what works and what doesn’t when promoting music. The further the old guard disintegrates, the more the folks in the trenches of everyday musician’s lives suddenly have gained value. That’s where we’re at now – we relish the role of being problem solvers.

The music business evolves and reinvents itself, now in bytes, every couple of years. I personally love its generous challenges. Music makes life better and that’s been going on for a seriously long time!

Oh yeah, I like my family, dogs, baseball and playing a guitar.

Brandon started with Tinderbox in the summer of 2001. He worked his way up to Director of Radio in 2002. When he’s not slinging albums to radio stations he is an avid Disc Golfer and has traveled all over the country playing in tournaments. He became a sponsored professional in 2010. He also enjoys Home Brewing, Mountain Biking, and playing Hockey.

Jordan is the Specialty Radio Director here at Tinderbox, specializing in Hip Hop and RPM music.  He is a native of Cedar Rapids, IA, before moving to Minneapolis and becoming involved in the music biz.  He attended Iowa State University, studying Communications and Music Technology.  He got his start in radio at KURE (the college station at ISU), and completed internships at multiple professional radio stations while in college.

When he’s not at Tinderbox, he also works at 1500 ESPN Twin Cities as a Weekend Producer, and occasionally works freelance as a Production Assistant.  He has worked on national TV shows for networks such as Fox, MTV, Nat Geo, and The Food Network, as well as music videos for artists such as Atmosphere and Prof.

Jordan has held many positions in the radio industry, both professionally and non-professionally including On-Air Talent, Music Director, Hip-Hop Director, Producer, Board Operator, and Event Staff.  He has worked many releases to college/non-commercial radio, and is deeply invested in independent music and the CMJ specialty genre circuit.  Hip Hop and Electronic music are his forte, and he’s excited to hear your beats/raps/sounds/etc.

Most importantly, he likes retro video games, bad movies, puppy dogs, espresso, Ninja Turtles, and funny jokes.

Follow Jordan on Twitter @JordanYoung189