RECORD COMPANY
Senior Vice President • Vice President (national Promotion)
JOB OVERVIEW
The promotion department obtains radio airplay for label artists. Larry Pareigis manages and directs the promotion and marketing efforts to ultimately obtain maximum airplay for Monument label artists.
PREREQUISITES
To succeed, you must possess self-motivation, a friendly and outgoing personality, honesty, flexibility, and the ability to manage and motivate others.
CAREER TIPS
“Have passion for the music and artists, and loyalty to teammates.”
“Hire great people and let them do their work. Don't be intrusive and get in their way. Be there as a resource, but not a block. Help them overcome obstacles and hurdles.”
“Don't worry about money and all the other extraneous stuff. Do what you love and money will tend to follow.”
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Each of Larry Pareigis’ days brings a new set of challenges. Immediately after arriving at the office, he makes phone calls to his independent promotion people and promotion staff to gather information about how radio is responding to the records they are currently working. He meets with Jack Lameier, the senior vice president of promotion for Sony Music, to re-evaluate current strategy. Throughout the rest of the day, Pareigis is on the phone with radio stations and his field staff to exchange information to obtain more airplay. During the week he attends meetings with other label executives to keep abreast of publicity, sales, television appearances, touring dates, and artist information that might help generate more excitement with radio stations. At least one-third of the year, Pareigis is on the road visiting radio stations across the country, often taking new artists in to meet the station personnel. He also attends the yearly Gavin Convention and Country Radio Seminar.
POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH
Get involved at your college radio station to gain some experience. Secure an internship or entry level position with a radio station, or in promotion at a record company. “You have to have a burning passion for promotion. If you do, then go for it.”
LARRY PAREIGIS, FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT RADIO PROMOTION, SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE; PRESIDENT NINE NORTH RECORDS
Larry Pareigis discovered music through the crystal radio sets he built as a child, and fell in love with the songs that came to him at night from far away places. He got a job as a deejay at an AM radio station in Savannah, Georgia in his first year of high school. When his family moved to Tennessee two years later, he found work at a small station outside Nashville, and was promoted to full time music director after graduation. During college, he worked as a deejay at an AM rock station in Nashville, attended classes in the morning, and slept in the afternoon. He pulled the late night shift on weekdays, and worked 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays.
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
“People who are either close-minded or do more talking than listening.”
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
“Working with people who care and genuinely want to forge partnerships. I'm blessed with a great group of teammates, artists, and managers to work with. Sometimes I get to sit back and admire their handiwork, and that's really cool.”
After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University, Pareigis got a job as a part-time deejay at legendary WSM-FM in Nashville, where eventually he was promoted to music director over both the AM and FM stations. At that time, CMT and TNN cable television networks were just starting up their operations. Owned by the same parent company as WSM, the networks hired Pareigis on the side as a consultant for their early music video programming.
In 1990, Pareigis took a job with an Albuquerque, New Mexico station. From there, he hopped to Sacramento, California where he oversaw two country stations and a hot talk station under one roof, then moved on to a station in San Francisco. When hit producer Garth Fundis was tapped to head the Nashville office of Almo Sounds, he offered Pareigis the chance to leave radio and head up the label's promotion staff. Unfortunately, the Nashville office proved a short-lived enterprise. Just as it was closing down, Pareigis was invited to join the promotion team of Sony Music's revitalized Monument label as vice president of national promotions. One of his biggest successes at Monument has been breaking the Dixie Chicks.
Sony consolidated its Nashville-based labels in 2002. In the restructuring efforts, Pareigis was promoted to senior vice president of Epic/Monument. Sony Music later separated promotional duties for its labels, moving Pareigis into the senior vice president or radio promotion for Columbia position. In 2003, Sony merged with BMG to form the second largest music company in the world. Amid layoffs and reorganization of Sony BMG, Pareigis remained in place, serving as senior vice president of radio promotion for Sony Music Nashville.
In early 2007, Pareigis exited Sony BMG to launch virtual record label Nine North Records. As president of the new virtual label, Pareigis is involved in every aspect, from scouting and signing artists, A&R, marketing, and promotion. He hired a team of radio marketing professionals, but others will be hired on an as-needed basis. “We'll be aligned with several highly experienced professionals who can bring sales, marketing, public relations, digital, and artist development skills to the mix on an à la carte basis. This business format will allow us to work with acts from the ground up and with less of a safety net. We may even expand to other genres.” www. my space. com/ninenorthrecords
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