In this episode we chat with Ross Nicol, founder of Off Season Creative, a boutique Brooklyn-based creative direction agency with a focus in music. Ross has worked with the likes of Teddy Geiger, Lucius, Mom + Pop Music, Real Estate, Whitney, the list goes on…. So our conversation touches on everything he’s learned in the music industry — from the importance of landscape and location, to understanding the artist mindset, to the indie/major divide (or lack thereof), and how data is more useful on the strategic managerial end than on the discovery and conceptual end. Of course, one of the really important byproducts of the digitization of the music industry is just how much data can actually help empower artists to take control of their own careers. And Ross has been helping artists do just that, drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience with management, marketing, creative direction, and design. Originally from San Diego, Ross went to school in Nashville and eventually migrated even further east to New York City. After a long bout at a major NYC artist management firm, Ross decided to go indie himself, launching Off Season Creative, a company that takes “a holistic and strategic approach in defining and developing an artist’s creative direction through design, photography, and typography.”