By: Jenny Castro
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/16/24 – Entrepreneur and Professor Karla Ortiz is making waves in the entertainment industry with her drive and passion to elevate and teach others the fundamentals of digital music distribution as a professor at the Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) while running her own company Monark Entertainment. With an impressive background surrounding entertainment, Ortiz interned for Ryan Seacrest and spent years at Universal Music Group where she became a digital marketing executive after initially entering as an intern. Reflecting on her journey thus far, Ortiz offers insight, “While in college, I double majored and have a degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations thinking that I wanted to be a publicist and then I have a degree in sociology,” she said.
Eventually, Ortiz took inspiration from her brother which propelled her interest in music, “My inspiration to work in music really stemmed from being motivated and truly inspired by my older brother who worked at Virgin Records,” she said. Adding, “The record label back when they were based in Beverly Hills, and during that time they had Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Fat Boy Slim and the overall roster at the label was incredible. I was fortunate to be able to attend a few different entertainment events with my brother that really just kind of exposed me to the behind-the-scenes of what it’s like to work in the music business as well as a few visits to the record label headquarters in Beverly Hills during a time where I could visibly see the different departments and the flow of what the music industry culture seemed to be and I was extremely fascinated by that.” Finding her passion with music, Ortiz was eager to venture more so in-depth into the business and spent over a decade working at Universal gaining hands-on experience and knowledge which saw her rise as an intern to digital marketing executive. During her time there she came into contact with many artists including a 14-year-old Taylor Swift who was signed to Universal at the time, “We had a meeting with her in our conference room where she played songs on her guitar which exposed us to her artistry. She was so talented and her penmanship was so mature in terms of the content she was writing, it was pretty incredible and to watch her grow over the years and obviously become a global success and megastar has been incredible. Aside from her, I met Rihanna early on, worked on some of the early releases in her career, and met Jay-Z early on when he was heading up as an executive at Island Def Jam,” Ortiz recalled.
Ortiz also had the chance to meet Mary J. Blige, Daddy Yankee and Andrea Bocelli. While at Universal, Ortiz worked on a variety of projects ranging from marketing campaigns to sales, “Back when brick and mortar was still a real thing and tangible music product was a big thing,” she said. Adding, “We would call the departments and divisions under the marketing and sales umbrella and work on different marketing initiatives so various types of engagement marketing campaigns that were more lifestyle and culture and based locally. In later years with more of a digital focus it was a matter of coming up with holistic marketing campaigns that would introduce new releases and artists to audiences in different places online with everything from online editorial to media.” Currently, Ortiz runs her own company in Monark Entertainment which provides a variety of services to music artists, “I would say that we’re a boutique digital marketing agency, and we’ve actually expanded and worked with other influential individuals in other industries as well,” she said. Adding, “The core is with music artists, and we really try to educate them on the business side of music and make sure they have an understanding and a clear picture of what their online digital footprint is and what’s missing and how that can be improved. We help them improve and enhance that, and then from there it’s about figuring out what content to create and bring to the market.
As a Professor at the Los Angeles College of Music (LACM), Ortiz teaches a course in digital distribution/music marketing, “It’s a subject matter and topic that I’m passionate about but feel very comfortable and acquainted with and have since over the last two decades worked with a ton of different distributors in different capacities,” Ortiz explained. Adding, “I feel like I have a pretty strong understanding as it relates to the nuances of digital distribution and I always tell my students that in our classroom it’ s a partnership between us, and know that whether they are striving to be either a musician, producer, or an executive of some kind on the business side of music, my goal is to just educate and equip them with knowledge and the importance of digital distribution and landscapes from a major label versus the indie side.”
As a Latina and woman in a male dominated space, Ortiz has managed to successful navigate through challenges as it relates to her background, “I would say stereotypes and assumptions that have been made a lot of times because I am Latina, people assume I’m not from the U.S. and I’ m from some somewhere in South America when I was born in LA,” she said. People have also made the assumption that Ortiz’s first language is Spanish when in fact it’s English. Bilingual, Ortiz has utilized her versatility and has tapped into both the English and Latin music markets and beyond, “While I’m definitely very well- versed and networked in the Latin space, I work in a slew of different genres and have relationships with people from around Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of the world which help equip me to facilitate releases of different genres and cultures.”
Advice for others interested in the music distribution, Ortiz says, “I would start out by tapping into online resources that are free and extremely credible and impactful. There are different accreditations that are offered for free online and I highly encourage those to seek out any opportunities to really lean into mentors that can help connect or elevate them in some capacity.”
Follow Karla Ortiz on Instagram here.
Monark Entertainment Official Website.
