Blog posts and interviews on the music industry
Rennie is arguably one of the most forward-thinking managers in the business. He understands which old school promotions methods still work and which don’t. He has opinions on which digital strategies produce measurable results and which are wastes of time and money. And he wants to share this knowledge with you free of charge with no strings attached. Steve Rennie pulls no punches. No topic is off-limits, ever.
Today I'm talking with the head of music supervision at Elias arts and Saturday night host on KCRW, Jason Kramer.
Elias arts is a prestigious music production company based in Santa Monica and New York. Elias Arts specializes in original music composition, sound design, music supervision, and audio branding for television, film, and commercials, and has won countless awards for over the years. Jason’s extensive knowledge of music coupled with a great intuition makes him an integral part of the Elias Team. His job is to help find the perfect music solution for every project.
Over the last few years Brian has carved his niche in the current music industry. After having been head buyer for a popular Canadian music retail chain, he has now become an advocate of the freemium music model. His Twitter bio reads: "creative coach. music marketer. podcaster. blogger. guy behind The DIY Daily Newsletter & Podcast" and for those of you who don't know, Brian puts out a podcast every day! Wow!
In 2005 Doug Grean appeared on the 47 th annual Gammy awards with Velvet Revolver as keyboardist performing with an allstar cast including Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Bono, Steven Tyler, Brian Wilson and Allison Kraus.
Doug Grean has worked or performed with many talented artist including. Sheryl Crow, Riki Lee Jones, Glen Campbell, Stone Temple Pilots, Scott Weiland, Slash, Velvet Revolver, Tim Mcgraw, Cindi Lauper, Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow), Corey Glover (Living Color), The Crystal Method, Camp Freddy, DJ Hurricane and John Taylor (Duran Duran).
Mark has been working in the web space since the early 90′s, launching his first B2C ecommerce play in early 1996. In 1999, he co-founded echo, a company focused on building communities around entertainment brands. He was the co-creator of the patented platform echotools™, a direct to consumer delivery and data management system which ultimately grew to serve millions of users and distribute hundreds of millions of pages, data feeds, and e-commerce transactions. In 2007, the company was acquired by Barry Diller’s IAC/Ticketmaster for eight figures.
David has had great success working with some of the worlds most impressive brands, including Coca-Cola, Nike, Ford, Budweiser, Right To Play, P&G, and every mobile company to name a few. David was an integral part of the team that created the phenomenon that was “Dove Evolution,” and the campaign for real beauty. David also divides his time working on feature films, new media ventures and supervising music for A-list televisions series like HBO’s “Less Than Kind” and CBC’s hit comedy series “The Kids In The Hall - Death Comes To Town”. David is also lead music supervisor on the new Ubi-Soft video game “Shaun White Skateboarding.”
Bas Grasmayer is a futurist, communication consultant, DJ and music lover from The Netherlands. He is currently the Head of Information Strategy of Dream Industries - which operates Zvooq, Bookmate and T&P-. He majored in International Communication Management which looks into branding and identity, intercultural communication, trendwatching and concept development, as well as PR.
Cameo has been at the forefront of the digital music revolution from its earliest stages. Billboard Magazine named her one of the industry’s top mobile executives.
She has been involved in radio, from terrestrial to online, and was the rock and alternative music director for AOL Music. She spent three years as manager of label relations and music programming at iTunes and has been the executive VP of Universal MoTown Republic where her role included mobile, online and digital sales, promotions and business development for artists such as Drake, Amy Winehouse, Lil Wayne, and Jack Johnson to name a few.
Mike has had success with artists of all styles. Kelly Rowland "Unity" - released worldwide on her Diva Deluxe album - Top 10 radio hit in Canada, Delerium "Dust In Gravity" - Hipjoint were the top line writers on this track that achieved US Billboard #1 status on the Dance/Club Play chart in 2010, Calvin Klein CK1 - Hipjoint's song "We Are One" was used as the positioning track for Calvin Klein's worldwide relaunch of CK1 in 2009 Mika Nakashima "Candy Girl" - The Japanese superstar recently took this Hipjoint track to #4 on Japan's Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, Shiloh "Operator (A Girl Like Me)" - Hipjoint discovered this Canadian artist at 13 and wrote and produced her platinum debut hit for her (Universal Music Canada/Universal Republic), Nikon Cool Pix - Nikon used Hipjoint's track "Bounce With Me" by Kreesha Turner as it's positioning song for a series of Nikon Cool Pix ads featuring Ashton Kutcher, NFL Network - The NFL has chosen the Hipjoint written and produced "Crank It Up" by The Young Goulets to promote 2010 NFL Thursday Night Football.
Over the course of Michael's career he has been a touring musician playing 6 nights a week (sharing the stage with the likes of Bon Jovi), recorded over 6 albums of original material, had his music placed in T.V. and Film, owned and operated live music venues, produced countless artists, written hits for other artists in more that 6 countries with major label distribution, spoken at MIDEM, and whole lot more! Because of the fact that Michael's career has allowed him to see such a full spectrum of the industry, he was a great person to have come in to the classroom. Having been successful at everything he has put his mind to, I had a few question as to how he approaches each project so as to have successful outcomes!
This week I am interviewing Solveig Whittle. Solveig is involved in the North West Music Experience, a music conference debuting next year in Seattle. She is a singer and music marketer as well as a software developer. As she puts it: "I’m a high tech marketer who has a serious music habit I’ve been feeding for the past 30 years. I love how these two interests are finally coming together for me." Starting her professional career in music a little later in life she has applied her previous success in business to her career in music. With her own success she is helping other aspiring musicians to do the same.
After speaking with experts on the business side of the industry as well as established artists, now it is time to talk to the consumer and fan! This week I have 15 year old Shimon on the show. Shimon has been a great person to talk to as he is a music consumer, music fan and a budding young musician. He is a potential client for producers and studios, and is part of the generation targeted by a lot of the experts I have spoken to.
Jo has written, toured, recorded and performed with many artists including Jason Bonham, Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers, Black Sabbath, Elton John, Bob Geldorf, Roger Taylor, Bryan Adams, The Troggs, Freddie Mercury and many more. From flying across borders and passport controls in private jets, being led by police escorts, performances on navy ships, and having Mick Jagger in the audience while Madonna was the waitress... Jo has a few stories to tell!
David Weiss is President of D Media, Inc. (www.dwords.com) and is an internationally published freelance journalist. He is the former NYC editor of Mix magazine, the world's leading pro audio publication, and his work has appeared regularly in publications such as Systems Contractor News, Archi-Tech, Digital Television, TV Technology, Time Out NY, Remix and Drum! magazine. He is also co-author of the book Music Supervision: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Licensing Music & Sound Design for Media, published by Schirmer Trade Books in September, 2005.
Jo was a founding member of Sector 27 with Tom Robinson - and a member of Virginia Wolf with Jason Bonham. Burt also recorded with Freddie Mercury on his solo album, Mr. Bad Guy and was the bassist for Black Sabbath during their 1987 tour in support of the album The Eternal Idol.
He has written, toured, and performed with many other artists, including The Troggs, Brian Setzer, Bob Geldof, Roger Taylor, James Reyne, The Sweet and many, many more.
Marty Neumeier started out as a graphic designer and he developed hundreds of brand icons, retail packages, and other communications for companies such as Apple, Adobe, Netscape, Kodak, and HP. Eventually, Marty evolved into an editor, and launched CRITIQUE, a magazine that quickly became the leading forum for improving design effectiveness through critical analysis. Later in his career, Marty started Neutron, a design think-tank focused on brand-building processes that drive organizational change. Today, as Liquid Agency’s Director of Transformation, Marty offers high level consulting for some of the world’s most respected brands, while also writing and lecturing worldwide on the subject of branding, business and innovation. Marty’s books have been hailed as breakthroughs by Fast Company, BusinessWeek, and Harvard Business Review. His books have been described as a “practical field guide on how to create and grow a world-class brand”, and “ZAG” was recently named one of “The 100 Best Business Books of All Time”.
I have to say speaking with Steve was a fascinating experience. The world of audio branding and how it brings music into our everyday is very cool. How music affects the way we purchase and consume products and experiences, as well as remember and associate them is eye opening.Steve's psychology background mixed with his branding and marking experience and his passion for music make him the audio branding guru he is!
I have been following Wes for some time online and especially enjoyed an interview/case study with him in Hypebot. He shared some information on the marketing success he had with Nashville band "Vinyl Thief," how they had used the different tools available to them and what worked best.Wes is fairly new to the industry. I thought it would be interesting to interview somebody who is starting out on the premises of what the new music industry offers and how they are making it work for them.
I have known Devon since 2007. He is a soulful singer and passionate guitar player. He also happens to be the son of Greg Allman of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. This being said he has made his own path and found his own place in music.I have found it interesting to see the evolution of Devon's career over the last few years. This interview was from a while back and I thought it was an interesting point to listen to him talk about his expectations for 2012 and to now realize that they have already come to fruition.
Battling against the over-exposed and the under-talented, Eric has handled the PR for Bob Geldof, Ringo Starr, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Barry Manilow, Randy Bachman, Sasha and Digweed, Sinead O’Connor, Steve Miller, The Smashing Pumpkins, Little Big Town, The Black Angels, Natalie MacMaster, DJ Khaled, Curt Smith, Dr. John, Dwight Yoakam, Fred Eaglesmith, Harry Shearer, Dan Zanes, Opeth, Cradle Of Filth, Jordan Knight, Chickenfoot, Bush, Jeff Dunham, A-Trak, Judy Collins, Supersuckers, Joan Baez, Slash, Andy Kim, Pete Seeger, Joan Armatrading, Amy Ray, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, Honeymoon Suite, Robert Munsch, Jeff Martin, J. Dilla, The Wiggles, Bill Wyman, Sly and Robbie, Frank Black, Steve Earle, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mick Fleetwood, The Prodigy, Madlib, Deborah Cox, In Flames, Ray J, Mastodon, Kim Mitchell, Jim Jones, Charlatans UK and many more.
