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L.A Teens' The Drop Factory Emerges As Profitable Music Enterprise

Laura Walsh |
January 25, 2011 | 12:23 a.m. PST

Staff Reporter

Gerard Garouin framed by his fliers for "The Drop"
Gerard Garouin framed by his fliers for "The Drop"

From the Top 40 listeners who have only heard dubstep guide Britney Spears through her new song “Hold It Against Me” to students whose semesters are defined by the massive raves that draw thousands California residents year-round, the growing number of house and dubstep followers anticipate one thing in nearly every song: the drop.

“It’s when the beat builds up. That’s my favorite part,” said Gerard Garoian, an 18-year-old entrepreneur who paid homage to this phenomenon by dubbing his self-started business, “The Drop Factory.”

With 25,000 fliers and over 10,000 invited guests to the company’s upcoming event, “The Drop,” excitement over the upcoming show parallels the build-up of its featured songs. On February 12, the company's launch party will place at Lot 613, where dubstep dignitaries Rusko and Skrillex have made their mark.

Along with his business partner Josh Lev, Garoian said he expects the event to reach its maximum capacity. The two have invested over $20,000 into the project and lined up more than fifteen DJs (including ReidSpeed and Sonic C) in four rooms.

With this in mind, it comes as little surprise that the DJ duo has been involved in the party planning scene before.

“I got seven helicopters called on me in high school,” Garoian said, in reference to his previous party planning business.

Garoian was involved with a group of teenagers who converted house parties with a five dollar admission fee into a profitable — sometimes thousands of dollars — enterprise. Though not officially a student at USC, he has been consequently recognized on campus during many of his consistent trips to Birnkrant to meet up with his friend and business partner, Lev.

Although casually lounging on his bed and hanging with friends seem to put Lev in his natural environment, this business major isn’t exactly your run-of-the mill freshman: he has made over $25,000 through stock investments since he was twelve.

Garoian said he is far less concerned with the monetary gains of the project than providing the community with music.

“This is Day 1. I’m not limiting [The Drop Factory] to anything," Garoian said. “ What I need writers, bloggers, journalists, mathematicians even. They have more power than they think, and they’re not using their potential to the fullest.”

View "The Drop Factory's" Facebook event here.

Reach reporter Laura Walsh here.



 

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