.. and wouldn't you know it would be the always innovative Larry Pareigis who would be the moving force?
Country Aircheck reports the former Columbia/Nashville Sr. VP/Promotion has launched Nine North Records, a "virtual record label" that will bring artists to Country radio through independent partnerships. Promotion vets Ryan Barnstead (615-414-4665), Tony Benken (615-478-9056) and Greg Stevens (214-488-3590) have joined the company as Directors/Promotion in the NE/MW, SE/SW and SW/WC, respectively. Initial clients include John Berry (Clear Sky Records), Ty Herndon (Pyramid Records), Brent Keith (CMT Networks/Combustion Music) and The Roys (Pedestal Records). Additionally, Pareigis serves as a consultant for Tracy Lawrence and Rocky Comfort Records. The label's mailing address is P.O. Box 58270, Nashville, 37205. Phone is 615-332-5511.
Michael O'Malley asked him to describe the new venture, as we both wished him and his new team well.
Larry Pareigis:
"Thanks for that kind offer Michael – and thanks for the words of encouragement.
"The way my crew and I are defining ‘virtual label’ is that together, we’re a group of music and entertainment industry professionals who can provide the same services that a fully staffed label can provide at a fraction of the cost – because we work with individual artists and projects of real quality and because we’re not functioning out of a giant building with a huge infrastructure to support - nor do we have to pay overhead charges to parent companies in NYC or LA.
"Between cell phones, E-mail, conference calls and actual real-time meetings, we can function together very much as a label would.
"If you came in as Michael O’Malley, potential star, you could work with me alone as a consultant on your project (like Tracy Lawrence is doing), work with my team and I (like John Berry, Ty Herndon, Brent Keith or The Roys), or if you need even more support from professionals in sales, marketing, digital, artist development, imaging, etc., I have a professional representing each of those areas too. Some of the aforementioned acts are taking advantage of much of the expertise ALL the teammates have to offer, and it’s a very exciting process to be a part of.
"The major areas of growth for a company such as this are down 2 avenues:
"One is the act that has had success selling 200K to 500K per project, which is not enough to stay on a major because the artist and the label make no money - large spend and too much overhead. Under the Nine North scenario, costs are held to a much more reasonable (but still effective) standard, and those units become a profit center instead of just an expensive advertisement for a tour or merch, which the label generally sees nothing of anyway.
"Two is the very exciting new talent in country who doesn’t want to wait 2.5 to 3 years to finally appear as a part of the majors’ active roster – it’s like landing planes stacked up at LaGuardia. Not only is it a gamble that the act will even see the light of day, but the people who originally championed that artist might be long gone in that timeframe as major change continues to rock the industry. We can provide a faster on-ramp with comparable quality and duration of much-needed setup, time and commitment.
"Above all, we will remain small and fleet-footed to take advantage of the ever-morphing landscape at both radio and records.
"I hope that explanation helps regarding our reason for being, and I look forward to bringing quality music and artists to you and your clients over the next years under the Nine North banner."
It sure does, and with classy folks like the crew the new "label" has pulled together, you know that they will make it work, but when this new model proves to be effective you have to wonder if eventually all major label music promotion is going to come out of a phone room somewhere in Bangalore..?
Country Aircheck reports the former Columbia/Nashville Sr. VP/Promotion has launched Nine North Records, a "virtual record label" that will bring artists to Country radio through independent partnerships. Promotion vets Ryan Barnstead (615-414-4665), Tony Benken (615-478-9056) and Greg Stevens (214-488-3590) have joined the company as Directors/Promotion in the NE/MW, SE/SW and SW/WC, respectively. Initial clients include John Berry (Clear Sky Records), Ty Herndon (Pyramid Records), Brent Keith (CMT Networks/Combustion Music) and The Roys (Pedestal Records). Additionally, Pareigis serves as a consultant for Tracy Lawrence and Rocky Comfort Records. The label's mailing address is P.O. Box 58270, Nashville, 37205. Phone is 615-332-5511.
Michael O'Malley asked him to describe the new venture, as we both wished him and his new team well.
Larry Pareigis:
"Thanks for that kind offer Michael – and thanks for the words of encouragement.
"The way my crew and I are defining ‘virtual label’ is that together, we’re a group of music and entertainment industry professionals who can provide the same services that a fully staffed label can provide at a fraction of the cost – because we work with individual artists and projects of real quality and because we’re not functioning out of a giant building with a huge infrastructure to support - nor do we have to pay overhead charges to parent companies in NYC or LA.
"Between cell phones, E-mail, conference calls and actual real-time meetings, we can function together very much as a label would.
"If you came in as Michael O’Malley, potential star, you could work with me alone as a consultant on your project (like Tracy Lawrence is doing), work with my team and I (like John Berry, Ty Herndon, Brent Keith or The Roys), or if you need even more support from professionals in sales, marketing, digital, artist development, imaging, etc., I have a professional representing each of those areas too. Some of the aforementioned acts are taking advantage of much of the expertise ALL the teammates have to offer, and it’s a very exciting process to be a part of.
"The major areas of growth for a company such as this are down 2 avenues:
"One is the act that has had success selling 200K to 500K per project, which is not enough to stay on a major because the artist and the label make no money - large spend and too much overhead. Under the Nine North scenario, costs are held to a much more reasonable (but still effective) standard, and those units become a profit center instead of just an expensive advertisement for a tour or merch, which the label generally sees nothing of anyway.
"Two is the very exciting new talent in country who doesn’t want to wait 2.5 to 3 years to finally appear as a part of the majors’ active roster – it’s like landing planes stacked up at LaGuardia. Not only is it a gamble that the act will even see the light of day, but the people who originally championed that artist might be long gone in that timeframe as major change continues to rock the industry. We can provide a faster on-ramp with comparable quality and duration of much-needed setup, time and commitment.
"Above all, we will remain small and fleet-footed to take advantage of the ever-morphing landscape at both radio and records.
"I hope that explanation helps regarding our reason for being, and I look forward to bringing quality music and artists to you and your clients over the next years under the Nine North banner."
It sure does, and with classy folks like the crew the new "label" has pulled together, you know that they will make it work, but when this new model proves to be effective you have to wonder if eventually all major label music promotion is going to come out of a phone room somewhere in Bangalore..?
1 comment:
The first???? Isn't this what Quarterback Records has been doing for a few years now???
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