Results tagged “record labels” from Life's a Pitch

Apologies in advance if this post is idiotic.

The remake of Fame is to be held accountable, you see, because I am convinced that in the one hundred and seven minutes I sat watching it in the Ziegfeld theater tonight, I actually became less intelligent. I asked my sister if we could leave halfway through, and she insisted, "I'm not leaving before The Song." The most amazing part, though, is that after we suffered through the thing in all its plotless, driveling, anesthetized glory, THEY DIDN'T EVEN SING THE SONG. THERE WAS NO DANCING ON THE CAR. "Fame" played DURING THE CREDITS! Sigh. "Lame! What a misguid-ed endeavor. I want to know who's to blame. Forget-it, forget-it forget-it forget-it..."

As usual, our friend classical music is portrayed as The Dragon Guarding the Castle of True Self-Expression. The only way one character can get her parents to an intimate but funky club (which turns out to be Webster Hall??) is by telling them they're going to a "classical jazz" concert. Once her parents are safely in the audience, she casts aside her good-girl classical piano-playing image and sings Rap. You can tell she's now a Rap Singer and not a Classical Musician because she has traded in her pink-on-pink polo and sweater combination for big hoop earrings and a checkered "top". Another cool young thing is artistically stifled by being asked to play Bach in his piano lesson. THANKFULLY there's an upright and a sound system in the cafeteria so everyone can jam and be themselves at lunchtime.

Two interesting things, though, in this desert: One, there's a scene in which the two repressed classical music kids and one self-declared rapper-slash-actor are in a meeting with Lauryn Hill's A&R guy. I would throw up a "spoiler alert" here, but really I don't think anyone should see this movie. So, they're in their second meeting, and apparently the higher-ups at the label weren't interested in the guys' music, but they do think the classical pianist-turned-singer's talent is "one in a million" or whatever. Now to the point: this A&R guy says to her, "We're working on a lot of 360 deals right now, partnering with Live Nation and Clear Channel." That's the first time I've heard 360 deals referenced anywhere outside of the music industry, although I know there's been a lot of mainstream media coverage. This was an especially good Times piece on the subject a couple years ago:

Commonly known as "multiple rights" or "360" deals, the new pacts emerged in an early iteration with the deal that Robbie Williams, the British pop singer signed with EMI in 2002. They are now used by all the major record labels and even a few independents. Madonna has been the most prominent artist to sign on (her recent $120 million deal with the concert promoter Live Nation allows it to share in her future earnings), but the majority of these new deals are made with unknown acts.

It's not possible to tabulate the number of acts working under 360 deals, but worldwide, record labels share in the earnings with such diverse acts as Lordi, a Finnish metal band which has its own soft drink and credit card, and Camila, a Mexican pop trio that has been drawing big crowds to its concerts. In the United States, Interscope Records benefits from the marketing spinoffs from the Pussycat Dolls, including a Dolls-theme nightclub in Las Vegas.

The second interesting thing is that this movie took itself very, very seriously, whereas similar but more successful versions of the same idea--like the TV show Glee or the High School Musical movies--have a thick layer of self-awareness and self-mockery. The movies Center Stage and Step Up also took themselves seriously and were also far less commercially successful than Glee and certainly than the High School Musical franchise. I think Newsies, swoon, took itself seriously when it first came out, but now it reads like it's making fun of itself. Also, it can be argued that Newsies is a kind of cult film, whereas Glee and High School Musical have mainstream appeal.

And finally, there is no way that the High School for the Performing Arts would be able to do a student production of Chicago in New York City when the musical is still on Broadway. There are rules about these things. Fact. Check.

If you've ever e mailed with me, you'll know how much I love putting things in quotes. "Quotes"-quotes, air quotes ("   "), quotes where they in no way should be. There's a deli on 125th and Amsterdam called "Harlem" Deli with the "Harlem" in quotes. This is especially funny because it's next to a Citarella, "the ultimate gourmet market," and just down the road from a slew of cute Columbia University brunch spots. "Harlem" indeed.

Fellow ArtsJournal blogger Greg Sandow sent this over yesterday and kindly said I could post it. It's a blurb from the Philadelphia Orchestra website advertising violinist Janine Jansen's February concerts with them:

"Downloaded"? ("  ")? Allegedly that's what happened? Like my ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend "Lauren", if that was even her real name? You know, the "hot" one from "Kansas" "City"? "MO"? In this case, I think the orchestra feels "downloaded" is a scary and possibly not-real word. As in, "You know, downloaded: like what the kids are doing with their rap music." Or, "We remember hearing something about her and 'iTunes', but we're not entirely sure that exists." Four years ago, Jansen's Four Seasons album was in the iTunes Top 20. Currently, digital sales of that record account for over 75% of the total sales. Amazing! Why not, then, say "iTunes sensation Janine Jansen" or "iTunes it-girl Janine Jansen" and provide some background information about her success? 

Back in the "real" world, the Yo-Yo Ma box set will be selling for...$789. From the e mail to the press:

In celebration of his 30th anniversary with Sony Music Yo-Yo Ma is releasing a 90 disc box set encompassing his entire recorded career and then some. Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside The Box includes Yo-Yo's entire recorded career plus 2 bonus discs as well as a 312 page hard bound book. This is a limited edition piece with each unit numbered. Outside The Box is available for pre-order through our direct to consumer store at YoYoMa.Skyroo.com. This special D2C offer is available to only the first 200 orders worldwide and includes a personalized note from Yo-Yo Ma, a signed never-before-released photo of Mr. Ma, and a guaranteed low numbered box set, set aside exclusively for this special offer.  The standard 90 disc box set will be available at Amazon on October 26th with pre-sales being taken now.

Eight. Hundred. Dollars. Eight hundred dollars. Eight - OK, I'll stop. ((($800!))) Remember when the global economy collapsed a year ago? You know how the recently released Beatles stereo box set is only $200?

A few months back, I wrote in defense of the box set on this blog. I suspect that in not so many years time we will see strictly digital and special edition CD packaging, that is, the two extremes of the spectrum. Either I want the music in a more immediate, cheaper, and less wasteful form (digital) or I want something special, something more unique: a souvenir of an experience (a concert, a post-performance signing) or a more expensive gift in a beautiful package. The Christmas PBS' Broadway: The American Musical mini-series was released, my grandmother, father and mother all separately gave me some combination of the CD box set, the DVD box set, and the hardcover book. I think I ended up with two books, two DVD sets and three CD sets.  I still have a Borders gift card with money left on it from the returns of the multiples. Do I have room in my apartment for a stack of CDs that would go straight to my computer/iPod? No. Do special box sets make good gifts? Absolutely.

An eight hundred dollar box set, though; that is another level of gift. You could buy Art for that. Proper Art. Original Art. What could possibly come with this that would make it worth the price? A lock of Yo-Yo Ma's hair for cloning purposes? Yo-Yo glasses a la Sarah Palin glasses? The chance to play the triangle on the next "& Friends" album? Yo-Yo Ma as the godfather of your child? 

It strikes me as odd that there doesn't seem to be a digital component of this celebration. Couldn't there be a $30 30-track online version? A dollar and a track for every year he's been on the label? Wouldn't that be more in line with an "Outside the Box" campaign?

The Virgin Megastore in Union Square closes this weekend.

Yikes - it has been a long time since I posted an interview. We have some really good ones coming up, though, I promise. For those of you just joining us now, every week I get my act together, I'll post an interview with someone far more knowledgeable than myself on specific marketing and publicity subjects. This week, Naxos of America Press and Media Manager Paula Mlyn on selling records without actually selling records, that famous Naxos album art, and networking, networking, networking.


Paula Mlyn is the Manager of Press and Media for Naxos of America and a composer-performer.
 








You're one of the last remaining Directors of PR at a classical record label! How does it feel? Is Naxos weathering the storm, so to speak?
 
Not quite ... but I am lucky to work for Naxos. And while I may be Manager of Press and Media for Naxos of America, I'm part of an 11-member marketing team.
 
Naxos is a multi-faceted label, which is why it is so successful. First off, it's global, with offices around the world. Also, we've been poised for the changes in the music business for years ... for example, we began digitizing our catalog in 1996.
 
Our business model is diverse enough to help cushion the company in bad economic times and to keep us focused on the future of the music business. Naxos isn't just a "label"--it is the largest distributor of premiere performing arts labels in the U.S.. We have been at the forefront of the digital explosion, with Naxos imprint and our distributed label titles available on all the major DSPs and e-retailers. We also have our own download site, COL (ClassicsOnline.com), which offers more than 22,000 DRM-free albums at 320 kbps. We also are going to be adding select lossless downloads in the coming months.
 
Naxos Music Library, available by subscription, is the world's largest streaming collection of classical, jazz, wind band, and choral music. We recently added Nettwerk Music Group titles to its offerings, expanding into independent popular music. We also have regular Podcasts (which include interviews with artists, discussions about repertoire, and samples of music), not to mention our own online e-retail outlet, Naxos Direct, and we license our recordings for movies, television, commercials, and so on. And--this is very, very important to the general health of music in the U.S.--we partner with orchestras and music organizations and sell, wherever permitted, our artists' recordings at the concert venues where they are performing.
 
There are so many ways to make music available to consumers and to generate revenue. The great strength of Naxos is that we have never stopped thinking of new ways to market music and to get it out there to retailers, consumers, and the press. In short, if you think the only way to make money is to sell physical CDs, you're in trouble--and we still sell thousands of discs every week, BTW.
 

Roughly how many albums does Naxos release per month?
 
It varies. January's catalog had approximately 25 Naxos CDs, one Marco Polo, and three Naxos DVDs--not to mention all of the distributed label titles we carry. The January catalog ran 52 pages. (BTW: I e-mail it out each much as a Virtual Paper document, along with an order form. We send very few physical copies nowadays).
 

How are you dealing with the shrinking numbers of classical critics? Do Naxos artists and your colleagues understand?
 
There are so many ways to get reviews, and these days, nobody relies solely on print media. While one major goal is to see a review in a big newspaper or magazine, we also work closely with bloggers and online music sites with a regular review schedule, so it isn't a matter of anyone understanding. The business has changed--the world has changed--and anyone reading a newspaper (online or not) understands that marketing concert music is a different animal than it was even a year ago.
 

How is pitching a record different than pitching a concert?
 
It can be hard to pitch both. I once worked on a project with a fabulous string quartet (they've since disbanded). They were a first-rate ensemble with a terrific program, concept, and concert planned at Merkin Hall. They should have received a review, but they didn't. There is no magic bullet. Sometimes concerts are a bitch to promote, particularly for a new artist who hasn't been on the critics' radar long enough. With recordings, it is always helpful if a new release is tied to a concert or another event, but it isn't necessary. But it has to be the right recording, and that is something of which our marketing department is very mindful. And, let's face it, not every recording is going to be reviewed or featured. I don't want to jinx anything, but we've had a great year getting our recordings--and those of our distributed labels--reviewed.
 

Is it just me, or are record reviews getting shorter?
 
No, it isn't just you. But these cuts are not news anymore. It was over five years ago, I think, that major changes in culture coverage were first announced at The New York Times. Of course, it has gotten worse all over the country with the current economic climate, job losses, and major cuts in culture coverage. However, many former newspaper critics have started their own blogs and still cover recordings and events, or they are working as freelancers. And there are still many magazines and publications that continue to cover CDs and DVDs on a monthly basis. Also, there are a number of wonderful online review sites--I'd mention them by name here but if I forgot one, I'd get an e-mail!
 

In your experience, how much does album art affect the commercial and critical success of an album, if at all?
 
Amanda, are you really going to ask me that old question about Naxos cover art? [Yes I am. I'm obsessed with cover art.] Personally, I think the way something looks does affect people in some subliminal way. But a pretty picture won't make a bad performance into a good one.
 

When and why did Naxos launch a blog? Do all the label employees contribute? Is it just one more thing to do, or is it fun?
 
The blog launched in late 2006, I believe. Blogging is a great way to get the word out, pure and simple. And, yes, the label employees contribute, and it is, indeed, fun.
 

How about the Naxos Twitter account? Who on staff "tweets"? Does tweeting sell albums?

Yes, we have a Twitter account, but our Facebook network is far more important than Twitter. 

 
I'm strangely fascinated by the "Music for Movies" section of your website. Was that developed as a promotional tool? To show that classical music - Naxos recordings, specifically - are omnipresent?
 
Yes, it shows how many Naxos recordings appear in films (I'm not sure this link is up-to-date though). However, as I said earlier, the licensing part of our business extends to commercials and television as well--and here's one for you--musical greeting cards (you know, the ones you buy at the drugstore). Our recordings are used in very creative ways.
 

As you know, a lot of artists are self-releasing albums these days. What is your best advice to them for getting reviews? Is there any chance of getting a New York Times review, or should they aim smaller?
 
There is no one answer to that question. You need to have a decent web site, if you can afford it, or at least a website; you need to be on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; and, of course, you need sound clips and upcoming events, posted on your site. As for reviews, the most important thing is for an artist to build a following, which can happen in many ways: network with other performers and composers, attend their concerts, and invite them to your performances, no matter how small. The bigger your personal network, the better. CD Baby is a great tool if you have a self-released recording. Include a link on your website to CD Baby or to an e-retailer where your music can be purchased. And, please, please, please have your recordings at your concerts. The best way to get that review is to promote your performances and/or your music. It may not happen immediately, but the more you are out there, the better your chances.


Would you recommend that artists self-releasing albums write press releases in their own voice (first person) or in the third person? Should they send out press releases under their own name, or a general account?
 
Hey, some of the coolest press releases come directly from artists.


Ideally, how long should a press release about an album be?
 
Sometimes I write long releases, because it is special project, or a release that truly requires extensive explanation. "The shorter, the better" has always been the general rule, but I don't always follow it. Also, we send our press releases in our physical press kits (along with the CD), as e-releases, and also in these unbelievable e-cards, which our marketing department creates and sends to press, consumers, and e-retailers. A writer can digest as much of a release as he/she wants.  Note: if you are e-mailing a release, the subject line really does count. It is often the only thing that will get your press release read. As you know, writers get tons of e-mails from PR and marketing people pitching this or that. If you don't have a clear subject line, that delete button might be hit pronto. (I'm still working on this.)


In your opinion, what is the most important thing an artist self-releasing an album can do to get press attention?
 
Please network. After all what goes around comes around. Support your colleagues and they will support you. And, while I really hated that movie, this quote really does apply: "If you build it, people will come." Including the critics.


Correction, 1/30, 10am: Naxos actually has THREE blogs. They are here, here, and here. 
 

I learned a lot about the Billboard charts while subbing at the record label this fall. In the classical realm at least, it's shocking how little of a difference there is sales-wise between debuting at the top spot and coming in around number four or five. All the more reason not to turn our collective noses up at coverage on targeted blogs that get 600 - 1000 hits a day: they may not have the readership numbers of your local paper, but that's 600 potential buyers already engaged in what you're trying to sell. And if 100 of them buy the record, it may actually make a difference.

In a similar vein, here's something to chew on, from Ronen from Brooklyn Vegan from MTV: The band Animal Collective released their new album on a "deluxe double-LP 180-gram gatefold vinyl format" along with a full digital download on January 6, while the album wasn't available on CD until January 20. MTV writer Gil Kaufman incorrectly but interestingly predicted that the album would make history by breaking the charts with vinyl sales alone:

We were really pulling for Panda Bear and crew. When I wrote last week that Animal Collective might make it onto the Billboard 200 charts this week based on the first-week sales of the vinyl edition of their Merriweather Post Pavilion album (raved about this week by our own James Montgomery), the underdog quality of that potential feat was kind of exciting ... and subversive.

But, alas, despite selling out all 4,500 copies of the first run of Pavilion almost instantly across North America, with so many of those sales happening in indie shops that don't report to Nielsen SoundScan, the scrappy sonic experimentalists just didn't make the cut.

According to next week's Billboard albums chart, Pavilion officially moved 1,500 copies, which put them just outside the big game, even in this moribund time of year when the majority of the albums in the top 200 saw double-digit sales dips. Had they been able to scare up another 1,000 official sales, they might have sneaked in above the likes of former "American Idol" Kellie Pickler, Lifehouse, OneRepublic and Framing Hanley, all of whom sold in the 2,400 realm, which was enough to sneak them onto the bottom of the charts.

Better luck next week, when Pavilion is officially released on January 20, with a good chance to score an old-fashioned chart debut thanks to the flood of already rapturous reviews it's received as one of the best albums of the year so far.

In classical music - at least in the US - I think limited edition special album packaging and then digital-only releases is the way of The Future. Audience members can take home true souvenirs of their concert experiences (get their discs signed by the artist, etc.), and record labels won't have to worry about pitching physical product to a shrinking retail market. Additionally, the availability of special product at concerts gives marketing departments another reason to e mail out about their concerts to their lists - "this concert is the only place you can buy a physical copy of the new Hilary Hahn album" - and gives artist publicists and PR departments an interesting state-of-the-industry story to pitch as well. Perhaps the Animal Collective timetable is a good place to start - for a month, the album is only available in special edition form at concerts and digital, and then is released on a disc - but then again, the physical CD follow-up is becoming increasingly less of an option.

Atlantic Records' digital sales beat physical sales, so says The New York Times and lots of research-y people. HOWEVER:

This performance is sharply at odds with the trends in the music industry over all, where data show that sales of compact discs still account for more than two-thirds of music sales. Forrester Research does not expect digital music to reach 50 percent of the overall pie until 2011.

Fear not, gentle readers, Atlanta Records President Julie Greenwald has "figured it out", "it" being, presumably, how to sell records in 2008?

"I think we've figured it out," said Julie Greenwald, president of Atlantic Records. "It used to be that you could connect five dots and sell a million records. Now there are 20 dots you can connect to sell a million records."

It seems the 15 additional dots include extras (or, apparently, essentials) like ring tones, ringbacks, satellite radio and subscription services. I didn't know what a "ringback" was, so I looked it up. Ah yes, that explains the awful remix of "Take on Me" I have to listen to every time I call my cousin. I've never heard classical music while calling someone, though. Perhaps none of my friends select it (possible), or perhaps classical labels haven't tapped into it? I would make my ringback "Clapping Music", should it become available. "Please enjoy the clapping while your party is reached."

The Times article also explains that, record labels not being as "flush" (seriously, that's the word used) as they once were, spending on album marketing, tour publicity and music videos has been cut. Music videos, and my childhood, are dead anyway, or didn't you hear?

Atlantic chairman and CEO, Craig Kallman, clarifies what record labels have to do, by way of...Leonard Bernstein?

"Today you have to be like Leonard Bernstein," said Mr. Kallman, "making sure everyone is hitting the right notes at just the right millisecond. The tipping point, if you will, is when everything converges and your timing with everything is impeccable."

Mr. Kallman is perhaps more right than he knows: record labels do need to be like Leonard Bernstein, but not simply like Bernstein-as-name-dropped-stand-in-for-orchestral-conductors-everywhere. Like Leonard Bernstein insofar as connecting with communities, educating listeners in a non-patronizing way, creating original content, being a force of personality and brand identity, and shattering preconceived notions of what their role in the music industry is and can be.

It seems like years since I've posted an interview here, which, I assure you, is my fault and not my subjects'. The good news is, we have an exquisite line-up for the next few Fridays. For those of you just joining us now, on Fridays I'll (try to) post an interview with someone far more knowledgeable than myself on specific marketing and publicity subjects. This week, FatCat USA label manager Anna Bond on record placement in iTunes vs. stores, being a girl, and how the industry needs to reinvent itself.


Anna Bond has been co-label manager of FatCat USA for two years. She has worked in the music industry in NYC for just over five years, and has spent time in artist management and retail in addition to record labels. The only things she likes more than records are vegetables.







Can you please tell the scores of Life's a Pitch readers about the classical imprint on the label? First, what is an "imprint"? What was the reasoning behind creating it?

130701 was created in order for FatCat to release modern composition records that didn't fit with the aesthetic of FatCat proper. Artists released on the label include Max Richter, Sylvain Chaveau, Set Fire To Flames, and Hauschka. "Imprint" means different things, technically, depending on where you are, but for FatCat, it's simply a genre marker - the same folks work on promoting and selling the records as for all FatCat releases. At a major, an imprint might be a subsidiary label with an entirely separate staff and office.


Do you think record labels have become literally-labels? For example, if pianist Max Richter was on Decca, he would be classical, but because he's on FatCat, he's "indie"? Conversely (or, similarly, depending on how you look at it), when an artist on a classical label does anything in another genre sphere, they are immediately labeled as (and often criticized for being) "crossover".

This is a tough question. To an extent, I think the answer is yes. Some music buyers notice and even follow labels, but I think the importance is more in the industry realm - retail, press, and radio, who will all influence the way an artist is perceived by the music-buying public, are more likely to know different labels and their rosters, and therefore have notions of what to expect from them. Labels who become closely identified with one very specific type of music, like Americana or heavy rock, may have a tough time shaking those preconceptions, and releases outside their mold may suffer.


How do you submit an artist like Max Richter to iTunes? To record stores? Are we dealing with different genre labels for those different platforms?

Lots of record stores don't have classical sections, or if they do, they don't carry modern composers - just your Carmina Burana, all the big guns, La Boheme, and the holiday stuff, because that's all that will sell in a lot of markets - so we use our wiggle room as an "indie" or rock label to classify Max Richter as "rock" for retail solicitations, so that those stores who don't buy classical don't ignore the record. Once store buyers do read our solicitation materials, they'll know what the music is, but in order to get them to that point, we can't be under the classical heading. And honestly, that's an appropriate genre classification for a lot of the buyers of his music: sure, avant-garde heads will pick up the CD, but a lot of our sales will be to folks who are also looking for Sufjan Stevens, Yeasayer, or Godspeed.

The digital realm, on the other hand, presents its own challenges and opportunities. Placement on sites like iTunes and eMusic is very competitive for rock releases, especially for crowded fall release dates, but less so for classical, so in the digital realm, we find it more advantageous to group it with classical releases, where we have a much greater chance of featured new-release placement - and a greater chance of reaching curious fans of classical music. With digital, we don't have to worry about a retailer choosing not to carry the release due to its genre classification.


Are indie record sales as bad as classical record sales? Do you think the whole industry will actually croak? When? Exact date and time, please.

Sales overall have obviously decreased, but there are pockets of hope everywhere, especially with vinyl and special packaging. I think the music industry will continue to change radically - to the extent that it may be unrecognizable to many in, say, ten years - but it's hard for me to believe it will dissolve entirely. That could be wishful thinking, though.


How many rock/electronica critics are women? How many managers? Publicists?

I'm not sure exactly, but I'd estimate roughly that no more than 25% of the writers we send to are women. I have long noticed that women are disproportionately represented as managers and publicists vs. in other areas of the industry, which I can't help but attribute to our acculturation as nourishers and communicators.
 

How many women artists are on FatCat? The indie rock industry seems very male-dominated to me, but then again, so does the classical music industry. And...life in general.

FatCat has several women on the active roster, including two of our highest-profile artists, Vashti Bunyan (she is on FatCat in the UK only) and Nina Nastasia. Also Silje Nes, members of Múm, Welcome, and Vetiver (again, Vetiver is on FatCat in the UK only)... once you include the inactive roster and the split series, there are lots more. But there are definitely more male artists, by a wide margin.

Yes, the music world is quite male-dominated, but so is pretty much everything except like, elementary school education and social work. My theory about this would take pages to expound, but I think one reason most popular bands are male is because the most passionate music followers are male.

This is not because men are innately more passionate about music than women, but because women are pressured to cast aside hobbies and passions like record-collecting or insatiable music-listening earlier than men are, in favor of practical responsibilities like, say, getting one's career sorted before it's time to have babies.

On the same token, it's likely that these pressures also discourage musical women from pursuing the slow grind toward making music as a career.

It's hard to make this claim without sounding flippant or reductive, but it's certainly been my experience, and that of my close women friends, both in and out of the music industry.


Between you and me and whomever's reading, do you ever leak albums? Like, send them to bloggers from a secret Gmail account or whatever?

Nah, they leak soon enough on their own. Though I have noticed that the lag between mailing and leak, even for relatively high-profile releases, has increased. Maybe leaking for leaking's sake has gotten old? I'm not sure.


What press is considered the Holy Grail for your albums? Pitchfork? Why does everyone keep saying Pitchfork is over? I'd really like to know...

Pitchfork is a big one, but I don't think there is a Holy Grail. It's a combination of attention across the board from print and online press. For a couple of years - 2004-2005 maybe? - Pitchfork was a massive sales driver, with the ability to launch careers seemingly out of nowhere. But the record had to appeal to enough people who sought it out after the Pitchfork review to become a real phenomenon like the Arcade Fire or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - I'm pretty sure William Basinski's Disintegration Loops didn't sell 100K after getting Pitchfork's Best New Music, and I know that Max Richter didn't. Though both releases undoubtedly received more attention due to the Pitchfork review than they otherwise would have.

Now there are simply so many review sites, mp3 blogs - so many sources for reading about music - that it's impossible for one site to have as much impact anymore. Getting a high Pitchfork rating is still a boon in terms of press attention and sales, but it's definitely not going to guarantee success, especially for artists who are more left-field.


Our friends at Sequenza21 offered three free Max Richter track downloads, but, to my knowledge, that was one of the first times a classical blog has ever done that. Do the blogs you usually work with offer free downloads all the time? How does giving away product for free like that affect album sales?

Rock sites do a lot of mp3 download giveaways and streaming audio samples - it's standard at this point. We generally offer one or two mp3 download giveaway tracks for each record, and we consider the attention drawn to the music by these early previews an upside greater than any downside in terms of sales.


Have you found an online equivalent to flipping through CDs/records/tapes in bins at record stores, or do you think that's irreplaceable?

I am going to be totally honest with you: I can count on the fingers of one hand how many albums I have ever downloaded. I'm a dinosaur. I work at computers - why would I want to shop for records at one? I love record stores, possibly to a fault in terms of my marketing perspective, and definitely to a fault in terms of my wallet. There is no substitute for walking into a friendly place, checking out the new release rack, looking at employee suggestions, asking the person behind the counter what's good and new...I know it's not how everyone prefers to shop for music, but to me, it's absolutely irreplaceable.

I think an important moment in the industry happened at my "day" job today: we got rid of the New Media section of a marketing report, and instead moved topics like e-cards, banner ads and blogs into the community outreach, advertising and press sections.

I got kind of emotional about the whole thing. It was embarrassing.

Now if someone would just remove the "adventurous" label from contemporary music programming...