MC Bravado chops it up with Elliot Tousley and James Landry, Co-Founders of De Novo Agency

As a longtime artist and educator who doubles as a publicist, I have a vested interest in making sure artists are well-informed and not taken advantage of. Being a creative can feel empty and thankless and in dire attempts to secure validation, artists will also misstep at crucial junctures allowing themselves to be taken advantage of by opportunistic parties. This permeates throughout the industry. Consequently, I’m always thrilled to meet individuals who are very much the antithesis of that. James Landry and Eliot Tousley fit the bill. They are the co-founders of De Novo Agency (DNA) and are as artist forward as it gets. Recently, we chopped it up for GenZHipHop, peep the outcome:
What’s the genesis of your friendship and business relationship? Take me from then to now.
James and I met at the University of New Hampshire, and the first time we met was actually at my first show as an artist at the school. We were never best friends, but we always got along, and we got to know each other more when we both stayed in the area over the summer and he happened to work at the gym I went to.
When James graduated from law school, he was looking to be an agent or manager, something like that. He was looking to build a case study or proof of concept with someone, knew I was still making music, and reached out and offered to be my manager/lawyer.
We did our thing in that role for 2 years or so, booked like 20 shows ish and realized that what we did for myself could probably also help a bunch of other independent artists.
Elliot, tell me about your career as an artist. What made you want to step away from music as a performer and into an advisory role?
I don’t view it as stepping away; I very much enjoy making music and it will always be a part of who I am, but as I grew older it just became more and more evident that being a performing artist was just something that would be a fun hobby for me with some local shows here and there – which is fine! I never really viewed myself as someone who wanted to be ‘famous’, so now I am just grateful that I am still in the music business in one way or another.
James, I’d love to hear about your own love of music. More about why you chose to apply your skill set to entertainment.
I went to law school with the intention of graduating and working in the sports and entertainment industry. It is fast paced and complex. I actually quit my first legal job with Wells Fargo after 8 months because I was bored day to day. Now, I never describe any of my days as boring. I am in a position that I am doing work that is meaningful to me by helping others achieve their goals, something that most lawyers can not say they do while pushing papers behind a desk at a large firm.
Aside from the one time fee vs percentages and royalties, what separates Songflowr from the competition?
Every single music distributor essentially does the exact same service in the exact same way – they all act as toll booths to the same highway.
The difference is in how artists pay for that service.
Artist-friendly distribution means clients no longer have to worry about recurring payments or giving away up to 20% of the royalties they earn to distributors. Once your release is up, you’ll never have to pay another penny to keep that music on streaming platforms and digital stores.
I’m an independent artist. Give me De Novo Agency’s elevator pitch:
We all know that the landscape of internet music marketing is.. Shady at best. A lot of inauthentic people and companies promising authentic results.
At De Novo, we vet the curators we work with so we are able to guarantee that the streaming data generated by our playlists is verifiable in both Spotify for Artists and with an artist’s distributor. What really sets us apart is when James and I get on the phone with our clients to go over their unique results and build a custom plan to grow and protect their music businesses.
I know you’re Cofounders but elaborate upon how your roles differ a De Novo Agency and Songflowr:
Each of those companies presents different circumstances for us to deal with. Elliot and I think and present our ideas or strategies in different ways so we are always both on calls with clients through De Novo. No two artists are the same, so their strategy shouldn’t be either. Songflowr we created and we have hired a team to help everything run smoothly, such as answering client questions. At this point, Elliot oversees the marketing strategy of Songflowr and I am focused on the management and expansion of the platform.
James, any horror stories with regards to song clearances?
The only horror stories I have from song clearances are when people try to clear them AFTER they release. Fees go up 10x after the release because now you have infringed on the work AND admitted to it by asking for the price to clear the sample.

Elliot, tell me more about your record company, Funk Factory. I’d love to hear specifically why there’s an emphasis on keeping it New England.
I don’t really do this anymore… haha (But we have cool hoodies -James)
On that note, tell me about New Hampshire because outside of a little Breaking Bad, I know nothing.
New Hampshire is an awesome place to grow up, not many people know that it has a beautiful coastline, has some amazing seafood (because of some Maine lobster) and IDC what Vermont says, NH has the best maple syrup.
3 desert island albums for both of you:
Elliot: Abbey Road, Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison, and The Chronic by Dr. Dre
James: Mac Miller – Circles; Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon; J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Where are both of you (as well as your ventures) in 5 years?
Elliot: James and I work really well together, so I see us involved in helping musicians grow and protect their music businesses in a few different ways, but I honestly do not think that far ahead. Too much can change, it’s a waste of energy. Covid is the perfect example haha
James: I’ll add on. We have one major project we are working on together right now that I believe will be big for the industry as a whole, but we are not shifting our focus from helping the artists. We are always throwing around different ways we can help, so I have no doubt that we will come up with a few more.
Keep up with Elliot and James as well as their ventures below!!
De Novo Instagram | De Novo Twitter | Songflowr Instagram | Songflowr Twitter
James Landry IG | James Landry Twitter | Elliot Tousley IG | Elliot Tousley Twitter
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