The Music Gardener - Artist Manager, Music Marketer

Beth Whitney

The Music Gardener has found the perfect new music to usher in the fall season! The September “Pick of The Month” is a wonderful singer/songwriter out of Snohomish, WA named Beth Whitney. I am so thankful that her producer, Brandon Bee, introduced me to her music. Beth’s new record “Yellow” has become a favorite around our home. Her perfect blend of pop and folk pairs well with any dinner, coffee or hang time on the porch like my wife and I do so often . If you enjoy music heard on TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or Brothers & Sisters, then I think you will really like Beth’s new album titled “Yellow” Please visit the “Pick of The Month” page to hear more about Beth and sample some of her music.

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: I am the President of Artist Garden Entertainment, an artist management and marketing company. I only recommend music that I personally believe is exceptional and would be enjoyed by my readers. I was not compensated in any way for reviewing this record or for the “Pick of The Month”  I did receive free music for review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Covering the basics is important to every marketing plan whether it is marketing mainstream music or Christian music marketing. Last week we defined our target consumer for Circleslide. Now it’s time to cover the basics for marketing the release. I define the basics as radio & publicity. It you don’t have a plan for at least one of those, then you may as well pack up and go home because no one is going to know that your record exists. It is possible to launch a record with either radio or publicity alone but if you want the best chance for success then your plan should include both.

Radio - One thing Circleslide has been missing in the past is radio. We worked two years with the band on their writing to ensure that we have strong contenders for radio. While there is still no guarantee that radio will play the songs, we feel confident we have great radio songs. Finding the right radio team is vital. There are several Christian radio promotion people who are great at what they do but we thought James Riley would be our best choice for Circleslide. James has been part of the success of many #1 songs throughout his major label career and he really believes in Circleslide’s music. He helped us narrow down to the song “Looking Up” which is the song he thinks has the best shot at radio. With Jame’s direction, we decided to work both Christian AC and CHR radio simultaneously.

Publicity - Publicity is vital to any record release! I have seen records succeed without radio airplay as long as the publicity campaign was strong. The publicist’s job is to secure press coverage in the places where your target consumer hangs out. The only way consumers know that a product is available is if somebody tells them. The publicist also helps get a current bio in place which is a key item needed in telling the story. Circleslide’s record label, Save The City Records, has a publicist on staff so there was no need to hire an indy. I recommend a 5 month plan for publicity campaigns. Ideally, the story should begin being told a couple months prior to release and continue for at least a few months after release. Below are some of the various stories/angles we will be rolling out for Circleslide.

1) signing with a new Provident/Integrity distributed label, Save The City Records

2) new record “Echoes of The Light” streeting October 5

3) Circleslide has been through much opposition the last year including their home & music gear destroyed in the Nashville flood, gall bladder surgery for front man Gabe Martinez, Gabe’s bout with E coli, death of loved one and immediate family diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

4) new partnership with Mercy Ministries

5) other nuggets we will reveal over the next few weeks

Do you have radio or publicity experiences to share?

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Define Your Target

The first step in any marketing plan, regardless of what kind of product you are marketing, should be to define your target consumer. It is extremely unproductive to begin a product launch without knowing who you are targeting.

The marketing plan that I will be rolling out in this blog series is for the band Circleslide. Circleslide primarily records and plays shows for Christian audiences. That makes it pretty easy to determine the first trait of the consumer we are targeting. Our target consumer would be a Christian who listens to music. That is still a very broad target as it could be anyone from a young child to a 90 year old who rocks to the hymnal every Sunday. I had some preconceived notions of Circleslide’s audience when I first began to work with them. Assuming their audience was a male rocker 18-30 couldn’t have been further from the actual. That is why a little research is always a great idea. I traveled to a few shows and observed. Who attended the shows? Of those attendees, who seemed to enjoy the show? And who swarmed the merch table to buy cds? Much to my surprise it was Becky! Becky is a name the Christian music industry uses to describe “soccer moms” age 25-45 who listen to Christian radio and frequently buy Christian music and books. The Becky’s of the world love the band when they see them live and they especially love the stories that frontman, Gabe Martinez weaves into the show.The reason this was such a surprise is that Circleslide has seen very little Christian AC radio airplay preventing them from being exposed to the Becky masses. However, their new record has several songs that promise to be strong contenders at Christian AC airplay. There are even a couple worship songs on the record which tends to please Becky. All that being said, it is apparent that Becky will be our primary target. Circleslide also has a rock edge. Not screamo or metal but more of a Bruce Springsteen/Zeppelin/U2 kind of rock. The kind of rock Becky’s husband Todd might appreciate. This really helped narrow our focus. The record has enough medium to ballad AC songs that Becky will love while offering enough rock to keep Todd interested. Becky and Todd can finally share and enjoy the same cd!

Target Consumer: Women age 25-40 who listen to Christian AC radio and their husbands. Circleslide’s “Echoes of The Light” presents a unique music experience that will appeal to Becky while giving her husband (Todd) enough rock to make it a record that they can enjoy together.

Do you have experiences in defining a target consumer that you would like to share?

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The Ultimate Vacuum!

If your marketing doesn’t SUCK maybe you need a better plan? The whole idea of marketing is to create a plan that causes consumers/customers to joyously suck up your goods or services. In order to create the suction, you need a plan.

Before Diana and I launched Artist Garden Entertainment, I logged 20 years working for record companies. I worked on the distribution side and we were dependent on our record labels to provide marketing plans. Surprisingly, for the last seven years that I worked for one of the big Christian music companies, I saw very few marketing plans from our 15+ labels. There were a few exceptions, Big Idea and INO, who did provide exceptional marketing plans for every release. It’s no surprise those two companies continue to excel while the others went out of business or soon will be closing their doors. The frustration I had with the absence of marketing plans in Christian music drove me deep into a study of marketing. What I found was, it’s really not that difficult to write and implement a plan. The marketing plan is your road map to reaching the consumer. As Dora The Explorer says “Without a map how would we know where to go? Can you say map?” (Can you tell I spend time with children?)

I do quite a bit of marketing these days and without a marketing plan, I would be lost. I thought it would be fun to roll out one of my plans on The Music Gardener blog. Over the next month or so, I will be posting a blog series called “The Marketing Plan” Wow! I know that title is creative but “it is what it is.” I’m saving my creativity for the actual plan. Hopefully, you will glean something out of what I share. I encourage you to leave comments with your thoughts. Input from creative people is priceless!

Tomorrow I will begin the series with “Defining your Target Consumer”

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Circleslide

Seattle, Wash. (August 16, 2010) - Save the City Records is excited to announce the signing of critically acclaimed Christian rock band Circleslide, whose debut project landed on Christianity Today’s 2006 Year in Review “Best of” round-up, among other accolades.

Since then, the band — frontman Gabe Martinez, lead guitarist Jonathan DeAnda, bassist Eric Vickers and drummer Lee Yoder — has toured unceasingly, refining their modern rock ruminations, while keeping their ministry agenda firmly in focus. In addition to shows with Newsboys, TobyMac, MercyMe, Casting Crowns, Salvador, Jaci Velasquez and Downhere, the Nashville-based band has headlined everything from clubs to churches and colleges, with plenty of youth camps and outreach events in between — all of which build off the group’s Youth With A Mission beginnings.

“Throughout all the traveling, our goal has always been to make music that could inspire people, touch hearts and lead them to Christ,” says front man Gabe Martinez. “We’re so excited to be a part of the Save the City Records family, because we know that is where their hearts are as well.”

“We are proud to partner with Circleslide, one of the highest-caliber and hardest-working bands in Christian music today,” comments Derek Hoiem, President of Save the City Records. “They are full of energy, excellence and passion, as their many fans can attest. Their new album showcases their versatility and artistry, and they are a fantastic addition to our artist family.”

Circleslide is currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on their upcoming project, Echoes of the Light, set to release in October.

For more information on Circleslide, visit http://circleslide.net

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com

School starts back this week in Nashville and in other cities around the country over the next couple of weeks. Parents begin the task of getting their kids up early and ready for school. Pressure and stress rise to peak levels as the new schedules make it tougher to get to work. Wouldn’t you like something to get your morning going along with that cup of coffee?

THE ANSWER - Listen to Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers new song “Get On Up” Play it for your kids as they are getting ready or on the way to school. Then play it for yourself as you are rushing to work. This is guaranteed to give you a positive start for your day! Leave a comment here on the blog today and win a chance to receive a personal morning wake up call from Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers himself!

YOU CAN OWN “GET ON UP” FOR ONLY 99 CENTS!  Click Here!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am the President of Artist Garden Entertainment, an artist management and marketing company. I only recommend music that I personally believe is exceptional and would be enjoyed by my readers. We do manage Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers and are compensated indirectly when someone purchases his music. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Brandon Bee Creation West 2010

The Music Gardener spent the last two weeks of July on a musical adventure that took my wife and I on a journey through the beautiful states of Washington and Oregon. While its good to be back home in Nashville, we are already missing the cool dry northwest weather.

Our first stop was Enumclaw, WA for the Creation West festival. The new festival location made for a different experience than in the past. The views from the Gorge of past years were missed, but Mt Rainier as the new back drop wasn’t such a bad thing. One of our artist, Brandon Bee, had the privilege of playing for the communion ceremony just after the Newsboys performance. I must say that Brandon did a fabulous job leading 10,000+ people in worship while Harry Thomas, founder of Creation, presided over the ceremony.

The following day, another one of our artist, Holly Starr, took the main stage revealing some new songs from her soon to be released record, Tapestry. Showing a new rock side to her show, Holly strapped on a Fender Strat for the first couple of tunes. It is always nice to see an artist you work with, giving it everything they have to entertain and engage an audience and Holly did just that!

Mr Talkbox, Mike Silva, Kevin Thornton

After Creation, we took a drive down to Albany, OR for Mike Silva’s Willamette Celebration. Circleslide took the main stage on Friday evening and rocked out 18,000 attendees just before Skillet and the Newsboys. The following day Brandon Bee and Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers brought their music to the festival. Brandon Bee and his band really rocked it out in the 100 degree heat just after the Metal Mulisha did their motorcycle stunts.  Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers the did his thing bring the crowd to their feet and making the evening a blast for festival attendees.

We then traveled up the Columbia River Gorge towards Quincy, WA. What an unbelievable drive! Diana and I spent a couple of days on Lake Chelan in strategy meetings with our newly signed artist, Holly Starr. We held most of our meetings on a boat sitting in the middle of the lake. I think that has to be one of the best meeting locations we have ever used! Isolated from the rest of the world, we were able to accomplish some great planning.

From Lake Chelan, we made our way back to Seattle via a scenic pass through the majestic mountains of Washington. Another beautiful drive! Seattle then became our home base for the remainder of the week. We had marketing meetings with our partner, Save The City Records, and prepared for the Soul Shine event topping off the week. Byron “Mr Talkbox” Chambers, Bejiman, Kevin Thornton and Rachel Lampa really brought an incredible show to the Experience Music Project in Seattle on Friday night!

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com

Audrey Assad

Since the Music Gardener is hitting the road for the rest of the month, I decided to go ahead and put up the August “Pick of The Month” up a couple weeks early. The August Pick is Audrey Assad, a voice that you are sure to love! If you like Sarah Mclachlan then you are going to love Audrey. Please visit the “Pick of The Month” page to hear more about Audrey.

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com










Disclosure of Material Connection: I am the President of Artist Garden Entertainment, an artist management and marketing company. I only recommend music that I personally believe is exceptional and would be enjoyed by my readers. I was not compensated in any way for reviewing this record or for the “Pick of The Month”  I did not even receive free music for review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Taylor Swift

I often wonder why people in the music industry like to bash successful recording artists? Could it be they are jealous of their success? It often seems as if people in the music industry feel like they have been assigned the position of judge for talent after the talent has already succeeded. The funny thing is, consumers and their wallets actually the judge who gets the top positions on the sales charts. When an artist has the one of the top selling records in the country, the majority of the public is saying “we like this artist,  they are worthy of our dollars and they should be put at the top of the list” Taylor Swift has been a perfect example of this over the last couple of years. She is currently one of the top selling recording artists and has the #3 grossing tour for the year. (Probably could be the #1 but she chooses not to gouge her fans with the exorbitant ticket prices that other artists are serving up) A day doesn’t go by where I don’t hear someone in the industry bashing her. Why is this? New artist Beckah Shae, recently tweeted the following “What if.. the music industry, Instead of being comparative, competitive & critical, Began to celebrate & cheer for each other?” I love that! I was personally convicted and have decided to take on that challenge. There will of course be exceptions in the case of artists who give music a bad name through stupid antics on and off stage and I will have a difficult time cheering them on. But for the rest, I would like to say thanks for your contributions! You keep this music thing going!

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This is one of the early post from The Music Gardener blog. IT dates back to when I was using the Wordpress.com platform. I decided to re-post it as it has been one of the most popular post since I began blogging. Most of the the info holds true well into 2010.

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