The Music Gardener - Artist Manager, Music Marketer

It’s New Year’s Eve and the holidays will soon be coming to an end. Not only the holidays will be ending but so will 2008. As I reflect on the Christian music industry, every marketing plan and idea that I contributed to this year scrolls through my brain. WOW Hits 2009, Jaci Velasquez, Barlowgirl, Francesca Battistelli and God Bless the USA were some of the releases I played a role in this year.  The one common denominator with all of them is “how could I have marketed smarter?” Marketing music changes so rapidly that methods used in January 2008 didn’t work so well in November 2008.  The new set of web 2.0 skills that I obtained in November sure would have been nice to have had in place in January. This year I have resolved to stay on the cutting edge of marketing and in no way settle for the comfortable traditional marketing models. Marketing Christian Music in 2009 will be certainly be an adventure. Artist Garden Entertainment is ready for the adventure! Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

What does management really entail? For us at Artist Garden Entertainment, it means doing whatever it takes to grow an artist career and ministry. We try not to put ourselves in a box. Obviously, we take care of the normal management duties including guiding the artist career, finding and creating touring opportunities, finalizing contracts for live shows, working with the record label to make sure all cylinders are running at full potential. We want our artist to focus on creating music without having to worry too much about the business side of their career. Our goal is to create marketing opportunities that capitalize on the artists strengths, whether through endorsements or other innovative marketing. Helping our artist find new ways to engage their fans by staying on top of the latest technology is also something we take very seriously. Most of all, we live life with our artist. When an artist signs with us, we become family. Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Artist Garden Entertainment met today with Deana Ivey at Visit Music City, Nashville’s Visitor Bureau. We saw a recent video they put together to promote tourism in Nashville. The video featured Gabe Dixon, Heidi Newfield, Martina McBride, Jaci Velasquez, Nic Gonzales, Kirk Whalum and others. These guys do a fantastic job promoting Nashville utilizing some of Nashville’s finest artists. I encourage you to visit the website http://www.visitmusiccity.com and see how Nashville is marketed to potential conventions and tourist. Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Is your music available on iTunes but not featured? It’s tough to sell music if it isn’t featured. iTunes buyers are huge impulse buyers. Artist Garden Entertainment can help you get your music positioned where consumers will see it on the Christian page. We specialize in putting together effect digital marketing promotions with iTunes. Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Artist Garden Entertainment is looking at 2009 with an optimistic view. Despite the economy, we think there is great opportunity for Christian music in the coming year. The old ways of marketing will probably yield disappointing results, however, there are new more effective ways to consider when developing your marketing plans. Think social networking in ways you never dreamed of. (and I’m not talking about MySpace)  Facebook and Twitter are exploding! And others soon to follow. Let us help you formulate your 2009 plans. Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Artist Garden Entertainment spent some time in Atlanta with producers and record labels this week. Three of our favorite visits were with Brash Music, Scott Huie and producer, Scotty Wilbanks.

Brash Music is home to Aaron Shust, Chris Sligh and the Michael Gunger Band. Steve Jones, President of Brash, has brought his mainstream level of doing business to the Christian market place. He learned the Christian business in a very short period and developed a very successful model. His no nonsense approach to selling music is refreshing! We discussed the future of marketing and how important the blogging world has become.

Scotty Wilbanks is quietly (or noisily!) making a huge impact on the Christian music business from his home in Canton, GA. Two of Scotty’s recent productions are DecembeRadio and Echoing Angels. Both artist have seen great radio success over the past couple of years. Scotty started his Christian music career playing with NewSong and now tours with Third Day playing keyboards.

We also met with Scott Huie, booking agent for the Newsboys, Superchick, DecembeRadio. Who would ever guess that such a successful booking agent would be based in Snellville, GA?

Unfortunately we were unable to meet with Shelly Giglio with Passion but hope to the next time we are in Atlanta. Passion is home to Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band and Louie Giglio.

We were also turned on to a few new Atlanta bands that could develop into a management relationship for us. Stay tuned!

Atlanta is a hotbed for Christian music. It just happens to be home to Casting Crowns, the top selling artist in Christian Music and we plan on keeping our eye on this city! Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Today I did a little brainstorming to come up with new ideas on how to market a song from one of our artist without Christian radio. As I was brainstorming, I wondered how many cd purchases are actually triggered by airplay. Comparing Soundscan with radio there isn’t always a strong correlation. That brings forth the question “why do we put so much of our marketing efforts toward radio” I had a discussion with an Independent Radio promoter tonight  at a Christmas party and she seemed a bit surprised when I told we were working on a marketing plan that doesn’t include radio. Christian radio playlists are so small that we have to find a replacement. What will it be? I’m sure it will have something to do with the internet. Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

During this Christmas season, I am reminded of a strange incident that happened to me a few years back while pitching a Point of Grace Christmas cd to the music department for Target stores. After I made the big presentation about the incredible marketing we had in place and how many cds we planned on selling, the head of purchasing spoke a few words that I will never forget. In a very serious tone she informed me “we try to stay away from Christian music during the Christmas season…it just doesn’t sell” Thinking there was a punch line on the way, I remained silent. No punch line followed. At that moment, I realized how far away the world has really gotten from the reason we actually celebrate Christmas. Christmas has become one of the biggest consumer marketing terms ever in history of the world. Some businesses do 60% of their business during Christmas every year! It appears that the single biggest contributor to the world’s economy is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Imagine how our economy would change if we celebrated the birth of Jesus year round?  Imagine how the world would change if everyone who celebrated Christmas actually knew what they were celebrating? Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Last night I attended a Christmas party and found myself discussing similarities in marketing music and real estate. My wife and I were introduced to Holly White, who owns a real estate company in Nashville. After participating in the Lifework 2.0 seminar just a few days earlier, I was of course ready to discuss my newly discovered world of blogging. Holly ranks at the top of the Nashville Real Estate page for Google so I was very interested in learning how long she has been using the internet to generate traffic for her site. Turns out that Holly’s family also owns a recording studio on music row called 16 Tons Studio. We discussed the affect that surrounding real estate has on the perception of 16 Tons studio. It reminded me how music and real estate are so intertwined in Nashville. Maybe it’s not an accident that Nashville is called Music City? Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Lifework 2.0 proved to be an incredible seminar. Randy Elrod and Spence Smith appear to be the smartest guys in the blogosphere! My brain is still swimming with information overload 2 days after the seminar. The way Artist Garden Entertainment markets music will drastically change for the better with the knowledge we now have. I would highly reccomend Lifework 2.0 for any person in the marketing field! Visit us at www.artistgardenentertainment.com