This month, Queer Capita is highlighting LGBTQ+ Music Industry Leaders through a new series titled My First Job in Music. February is centered on exceptional Black leaders for Black History Month.

We continue our series with Dae Bogan (He/Him), a seasoned executive and current Head of Third-Party Partnerships at The Mechanical Licensing Collective. Based in Medellín, Colombia, Dae’s journey is a testament to resilience and the power of networking. After overcoming significant hardships in his early career, he has become a respected leader in music rights and artist management. Dae opens up about the ambitious start to his career and the official entry point that changed everything.

Read about other LGBTQ+ Music Industry Leaders and Allies in our community.

Quick Facts: Dae Bogan

Current Roles	Head of Third-Party Partnerships at The Mechanical Licensing Collective
Expertise	Music Publishing, Copyright Administration, Royalty Forensics
Current City	Medellin, Colombia
Education	UCLA and California State University, Northridge
Connect	LinkedIn \| Instagram

What was your first job in music?

My career pursuits began in 2003, when I moved to Los Angeles as an aspiring singer. I was 18 years old, homeless, unemployed and highly ambitious. Over the next five years, I would overcome hardships and work to pay my own way through college while engaging and networking in the LA entertainment and nightlife scene. In 2008, during my senior year at the University of California, Los Angeles, I founded Renaissance Artist Management, which became my official entry into the music industry.

What was a lesson you learned at the start of your career that you still carry with you?

Never burn a bridge because you never know when you’ll need to cross it again. In other words, be intentional about maintaining rapport with everyone. This is something that I learned in my late teens and early twenties when networking with other young aspiring somethings in Los Angeles. There was no social media networking at the time. It was all about who you knew and who knew you.

What was your favorite memory from your first job?

My first music industry job was owning an artist management company called Renaissance Artist Management, and my favorite memory was working closely with the talent that I represented to bring their music to the public. There are so many examples, from helping DJ Sleeper create and produce the “100 Mile DJ Run” to Coachella to raise money for charity to producing my artist A.D.’s “Main Girl” music video. There were so many other moments that it’s hard to call just one moment my favorite.