Jed: Our name is MusicSkins because we started off by licensing music imagery before we got into fashion and art. We were also focusing primarily on music related devices such as mp3 players and laptops. We thought about changing it when we extended the brand into other markets, but we felt that it all fell under the same culture, lifestyle, and genre as music. Music, art, fashion…they are all extensions of each other. We decided to stick with the name and brand the product a MusicSkin similar to how Kleenex did tissues.
illRoots.com: The importance of MusicSkins.com to an ever growing tech market?Jed: The importance of MusicSkins is that it is the ultimate personalization of the ever growing personal device market. Our product allows people to express their individuality and set themselves apart from the sea of generic devices.
illRoots.com: What new Skins can we look forward to seeing?
Jed: New MusicSkins coming soon include Lil' Wayne, Kings of Leon, Bow Wow, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, System of a Down, Hatebreed, 3 Doors Down, The Maine, Young Jeezy, Mayday Parade. New clothing brands coming soon include Frank 151, Hellz Bellz, Skelanimals, Married to the Mob, Amongst Friends. New artists include Derek Hess, Phil in the Circle, Gabe Urst, Chet Zar, Lou Patrou, Carson Grier, and some surprises you would not expect.
illRoots.com: How did you go about establishing the site?
Jed: My business partner and best friend, Vince Bartozzi, was an A/R at Asylum Records (Warner Music Group), when he saw some guys at a tradeshow doing the skins for high end art like Picasso and MC Esher. He asked them if they had thought about doing music and one thing lead to another. He joined them to start their music branch as well as eventually becoming their national head of sales for the whole brand. Then we broke off together to do it ourselves and expand the brand.
illRoots.com: Whats the process you guys use to sort out what artwork to use and not to use?Jed: We try to pick artwork that is not only aesthetically pleasing and unique, but from influential and recognizable artists in our target market. Beyond that I leave it in the hands of our Creative Director, Vinny Panza, who has been with us since the beginning. I don’t have the artistic eye and trust him unequivocally.
illRoots.com: What separates your site from all other similiar sites that offer the same service?
Jed: The two things that separate MusicSkins from the 100’s of other skin companies out there is our expansive catalog and the quality of our material. The majority of companies are selling generic crap like flags, stars, hearts, patterns, etc. Everything on our site is licensed directly from the artist and can’t be found anywhere else. The quality of our product is unsurpassed by anybody else in the business. We use a patented 3M vinyl, which is the highest quality material on the market. Most other companies are selling glamorized stickers, which will leave residue on your device, will rip, will stretch, will curl on the corners, aren’t very durable, and will leave you unsatisfied. We guarantee our product and you will never have any issues with it. We’ll even give people 50% off of a MusicSkin if they send the any junk skin they’ve ordered to us.
illRoots.com: What else do you have in the future that we should look forward to?
Jed: We have many things dropping soon but I know that all of our competitors will be reading this so everyone will just have to wait and see what we have in store for them.
