The Music Gardener - Artist Manager, Music Marketer

We have recently found ourselves talking with a number of new or indy artist. The first question they hit us with is “can you find me a booking agent?” After going through the “cart before the horse” explanation with them, I can’t help but put a great deal of thought into the process.  Most agents I know only work  “A level talent” with a current record and a charting radio single.  I really can’t blame them as that is the safest, easiest to grab low hanging fruit. But the funny thing is when the bands are looking for label deals, the labels want a band that is touring heavily and preferably with a booking agent in place. That is where the catch 22 reveals itself. A determined band will figure out the booking thing on their own. This whole process really makes me realize what a big demand there is for a booking agent that serves this level of artist. A good booking agent ought to be able to sell a great live band whether they have radio or not?  If I were a college kid interested in the booking world, I would certainly consider launching my own agency to serve these artist as opposed to going for the mail-room job with one of the majors. If I were a major booking agent, I would have at least one entry level position that booked new bands that have no real big story and I would own that market. There is a great deal of potential and a huge niche screaming to be tapped into. Many of the new and Indy artist will become tomorrow’s “A level artist.”   www.artistgardenentertainment.com

I decided to spend a little bit of time today to write about my favorite songwriter/artist, Jon Foreman. Jon amazes me with his prolific songwriting that seems to be bottomless. My personal collection consists of 5 studio Switchfoot records, 4 Jon Foreman solo eps and his latest project, Fiction Family, which is a collaboration with Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins. Most artist begin to run dry on great songs after 2 or 3 records but Jon continues to churn them out. I can honestly say that I haven’t heard one song from Jon that I didn’t absolutely love.

Not only is Jon excellent at his artistic abilities, but he is also quite the marketer. The Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer ep plan last year was brilliant! It was one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments. I am a little surprised though that each of the eps hasn’t sold gold but I would have to guess that many of the Switchfoot fans still haven’t connected the dots.

I would highly reccomend all of Jon’s eps and the Fiction Family record to anyone looking to hear some great music!

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We have recently added blog servicing to our music marketing services at Artist Garden Entertainment. With blogging becoming the new marketing platform, it is natural that we should be utilizing every avenue in the blogosphere. We have worked on building a “trust level” relationship with some very influential bloggers. Being selective and targeted with what music we service to these bloggers is key to our ongoing relationship.  It is similar to servicing radio by format in that you need to know what type of music the blogger enjoys and will potentially write about. The bloggers we target don’t primarily blog about music which makes it even more interesting for their readers. We are looking for the “Oprah effect” as the majority of our bloggers cater to a similar demographic as Oprah. These bloggers have 10,000+ people a day reading their blogs which gives them a huge influence that spans across the US and the world in come cases. Many of their readers are also bloggers which can result in an large multiplying effect. Music blog servicing would be a nice addition to any marketing plan and could prove to be a cure for some of the challenges we face at radio.

Our current blog servicing is best fit for AC, Pop and Christian Music, but we will be expanding into other genres soon.  If you would like to know more about the music blog servicing we offer, please contact us at  www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Artist Garden Entertainment went on a little field trip last night to the newly re-designed 12th & Porter club in Nashville, TN. We went to hear Salvador, one of our favorite bands. WOW and WOW! Salvador put on an amazing show. As always, Nic Gonzales and the guys tore the roof off the place with their incredible live show. Salvador ripped through some tunes from the past along with some of the amazing songs from their most recent record “Aware” If you haven’t seen these guys you should. Not only did we see a great band, but we were also blown away with the new look of 12th & Porter. Justin Roddick, the new owner of 12th & Porter has done an amazing job with the club. The best part of the club is not having to deal with smoke as they are now a “no smoking” club. Yeah!!!!! We will be frequent patrons of 12th & Porter in the future!   www.artistgardenentertainment.com

As a marketer, I have worked with many different artist and genres of music over the years. Often times, I have had to create and execute marketing plans for music that really didn’t appeal to my personal taste. Then there are those projects that make you so proud to be a part of. I find that I am able to give so much more of myself when working records that I enjoy. Recently, Artist Garden Entertainment was brought on to do the digital marketing and Christian/gospel marketing for a new James Ingram record. It had been a while since I had heard Jame’s silky voice and I had forgotten what an incredible talent he is. As I began to work on a plan, I put the cd in the player for a listen. WOW! What an amazing record!  James Ingram “Stand” is just the record I needed to get my marketing mojo going. I want the world to hear this record and that gives me incentive to find new and innovative ways to get it in front of people. I have been reminded once again why I love the music business. If you have a chance, I would encourage you to check out this amazing new record from James Ingram.    Here is the iTunes link http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=302255815

James Ingram "Stand"

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2009 is here and the marketing fury begins! Social networking has become a crucial platform for every marketing plan designed to sell music. As I was working on setting up a new release recently, I was reminded that social networking was present and played a key role in the beginnings of the Christian music industry. Twenty years ago, the Christian radio landscape was very under developed. Yes, there were am talk radio stations in abundance but no real outlet for 24 hour Christian music on FM radio. KLTY in Dallas was just being launched. The marketing plan for a Christian record consisted of touring churches and selling cds at the merch table after the show. As KLTY began to grow, this incredible organic thing blossomed. Listeners would hear new Contemporary Christian Music on the radio in Dallas. Word of mouth would then quickly spread like wild fire across the country. I think it would be safe to call this phenomenon an early version of social networking. Dallas is home base to a major seminary and many ministry organizations. When students returned to their hometowns or spoke to family via the phone they would share their excitement about the music they were hearing on the radio in Dallas. I believe this was the birth of social networking for Christian music. As KLTY became a power house for all music in Dallas, the social network grew into this incredible marketing machine. If your song was played on KLTY, your record was a success and proof was in the sales at Christian bookstores across the country. Gold and even Platinum Records became a reality in Christian music for artist like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Jaci Velasquez, DC Talk and Point of Grace. More of these 24 hour FM Christian Music stations began to pop up around the country. As numerous Christian music stations popped up all over the country, markets like Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Orange County, Houston, Sacramento, D.C. and Grand Rapids all began to play a major role in promoting Christian music artist. Then the landscape began to go through another transition. As Christian radio stations were bought up by corporate America, the social network impact began to wain. No need to buy your music based on what some friend in Dallas was telling you as you had your own Christian radio station in your market. As corporate America began running these radio stations, play list began to shrink. The almighty dollar became more important than playing new music so playlist became stagnant in the name of ratings and testing. Along with this change, came fewer record sales. The fire and excitement of discovering new music was extinguished. Marketing executives at Christian companies became frustrated as the traditional marketing plans which were designed around radio were no longer effective. That brings us to today. If early forms of social networking appear to be the catalysts for the huge explosion of Christian music twenty years ago, why would we all not be running towards any and every new social networking tool available to us today? Some marketers are utilizing social networking tools and those are the ones who will find success in 2009. The marketers who are stuck on MySpace as their only “go to” for social networking will be left behind. MySpace is certainly a great social networking tool for music but there are many more social network sites emerging. Facebook and Twitter are exploding and it amazes me how many people who consider themselves marketers don’t even have an account set up with those networks! Artist Garden Entertainment will be utilizing many of the social networking sites in every marketing plan we design in 2009. We believe that social networking is vital to any marketing plan. Christians are huge evangelists when they believe in something and social networking sites give them the evangelizing platform.  If you are looking for help navigating through the plethora of social networks, contact us for help.   www.artistgardenentertainment.com