The Good:
Grace and my trip “Down Under” to Australia and New Zealand was a life highlight. We had a very comfortable flight to New Zealand. It was a great start to the year for Cavetown where we welcomed in a new band member. I got to see blink-182 (and a little Taylor Swift) in Sydney. Our time in Melbourne was a particular highlight. And the views and atmosphere of New Zealand was like nothing I had experienced before
Hot Mulligan played Madison Square Garden in support of Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World. A real full circle moment where I was able to bring Matthew and Tiffany with me. I remember listening to Fall Out Boy in a pool by the Lake in with the two of them when I was a young teenager
Many Hats Distribution paid out $1,000,000 in a single month for the first time, and then kept going. MHD paid over $12,000,000 to artists and independent labels in 2024. My goal from last year was to reach $10M and we blew past it. I’m really hoping we can push closer to $15,000,000 paid out in 2025. Many Hats was able to grow overall in part from our employee, Grace P., taking the lead across multiple areas of our pipeline that freed Fred and I up to expand our goals. It has been a 10 year process for me to slowly give up control over areas of my companies and it helps when you have a great team
Grace took me on a surprise birthday trip to Portland, ME. I did not know where we were going until we were past security at the airport. Getting to eat at Palace Diner is one of the best things you can do in life
The Wax Bodega Tour happened and was a massive success. It was so exciting seeing how many fans on Twitter and Reddit posted about it on a daily basis
I attended my 1000th show! Some days I would consider having that in The Bad. I went to 74 shows in 2024
Grace and I got to take another extended trip to Europe in May. The highlights included the “hike” out and back to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, plus seeing one of my oldest friends Emily get married to Jeff in Italy. The middle of our trip included 24 hour excursion to Copenhagen with Thomas to hit a threepeat of Noma. That was probably my favorite day of the entire year
One of the strangest delights of my career has been working with artists whose songs have been certified. Cavetown, Cafuné, Yot Club, and Vundabar all received Platinum or 2x Platinum certifications in 2024. It is a feeling that doesn’t get old
Cavetown headlined Red Rocks. Just like Platinum records, it was an achievement I never thought I’d experience in my career. I remember the deep regret I had of not going to Brand New’s show there in 2016. I was so lucky to have that moment in 2024 and I was able to bring Grace and her parents out for it. The Cavetown band and crew had a challenging tour, but made the most of it and had great success. They played to over 100,000 people in 24 shows
I continued my deep dive into tennis and got to go to my first US Open with Jenny
After years of anticipation, Grace and I went to Gator Weekend in Gainesville with Thomas, Matt, Ellen, and many other of their friends. It was a true collegiate experience
I can now officially eat one nut: Walnut. Getting allergy tested consisted of a nurse at UPenn feeding me chopped up walnuts for two hours and making sure I did not die. I am now including walnuts in yogurt and salads. It’s an exciting development, but I am sad to confirm I am still deadly allergic to all of the other nuts
Pietramala continued to be a press darling and finished the year in the Inquirer Top 10 for 2024
Alternate Side ended the year with a retreat in the Catskills. It was our best retreat yet and a real joy to have all nine of us in one space for three days. We can’t wait to do it again next year
I got to see one of my favorite bands play one of my favorite songs for the first time to end 2024
The Bad:
We lost Stevie in January after a grueling few months of business turmoil at SCP
A close friend experienced a lot of hardship, but has taken the right steps forward
For the second year in a row, I chased a big fish and it pulled me off level footing for a while. This time worse
The largest tour of my career was a true success, but the stress of pulling it off was high and long
Yot Club got a surprise Lollapalooza slot and cancelled it due to impossible weather events that left us all demoralized
Elektra Music Group was shuttered in a wave of layoffs at Warner Music Group that left many of my friends without a job, some of our artists without a label, and forced Evange and I to say goodbye to Public Consumption
My favorite bar, Martha, closed for unimportant reasons in a way that made Kensington and Fishtown feel more hollow
We closed Hello Donuts + Coffee after seven years of business. A bittersweet end
Once again, I travelled more than ever before. 70 total flights. Far too many
2024’s Goals Revisited:
Work to be more thoughtful about flights and shows → An impressive failure
Actually work on better exercise routines, especially when traveling → Progress is happening, but I need to work more on exercising when traveling if I’m gone 100 days a year
Drink less and eat less meat → A success that started about halfway through the year and materialized in muscle gain and healthy weight loss
Be on vacation more when on vacations in February, May, and August → I realized I do better on vacation in distant timezones because makes breaking free from work much easier
Empower employees to take the next steps they want in their careers at my companies → Genuine success thanks to a great and motivated team
Go on more local dates with Grace → We went out dramatically less on our own in Philly in 2024. Some due to travel, some due to dieting
Eat new shapes of pasta → I’m not sure…
2025 Goals:
Try to fly closer to 60 than 70 times
It’s okay not to go to every show
Figure out that travel workout routine and get into working out quicker once home from elongated travel
Visit Eric and Alex in Maine
Host a dinner party
Go to the Philadelphia suburbs at least twice
Eat the Royal Chirashi at Royal Izakaya
Find a business coach
Consider the question, “What is enough?”
End of the Year:
As always, I’ve published lots of media, data, and other information from my personal life this year, which all can be found below:
Activity Log: There were a lot of great moments in 2024
The Year in Music: I enjoyed a few albums a lot in 2024. It wasn’t a deep year of surprises for me, but the good ones were really good
Shows: 74! Crept up, as it always does
Works: What a weird year! Hello Donuts, Public Consumption, and Bad Timing have closed. Alternate Side and Many Hats found new levels of success
Enjoy Philadelphia: I was much more active updating this list over the year
Allergic Reactions: I wrote three blog posts in 2024, not counting the EOTY list. I was proud of my writings on Stevie and Hello, despite the sadness in both subjects
