RECORD COMPANY
Marketing And Artist Development: Senior Vice President Marketing
JOB DESCRIPTION
Staff in these areas oversee all aspects of marketing artists and their music. They are responsible for coordinating the efforts of the creative services, marketing, and publicity departments (which include packaging, video, advertising, and sales campaigns) to ensure the consistency of imaging between artists and their music, and to maximize the contributions of each to ultimately increase sales.
PREREQUISITES
To succeed, you should have flexibility, and the ability to manage and motivate people. You need to have a creative eye for imaging and an ear for music. You must be able to strategize an all-encompassing marketing campaign, and have a clear understanding of how each department at the record label works. “You have to have a sense of what an artist is about; being able to find the unique traits of each artist. We're not manufacturing Ford trucks here, where every truck will be the same, just a different color and interior. There are so many dynamics that separate artists from other artists.”
CAREER TIPS
“I've always had great people working for me. I give them the freedom to just do their jobs. I'm not the type of boss who watches over them. If I hired the right person, I know I can put my trust with them to perform.”
“You have to be flexible. You don't get to choose the artists you work with. At a record company, you are given artists to work with and you have to be able to treat them each as individuals and find their strengths.”
A DAY IN THE LIFE
“I have the best laid plans for my day,” says Fletcher Foster, “but they never work out.” On his drive to the office he begins making calls to artist managers and continues to do so throughout the day, sometimes meeting with some in person. He arrives at the office around 10 a.m. and resolves any crises from the night before that demand an immediate response to the media. At some point he responds to e-mail and faxes, returns phone calls, listens to new music, watches new videos, plans marketing strategy, and reads trade magazines. Throughout the week Foster attends publicity, production, artist development, marketing, and other meetings with the label staff.
POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH
Foster's path toward senior vice president of marketing began in the publicity department. Because the position manages several different departments, the best course is to pursue an internship or any entry level position, then learn all you can and do a good job so that when an opening arises, you will be hired or promoted.
FLETCHER FOSTER, FORMER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING, ARISTA RECORDS NASHVILLE; SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF UNIVERSAL SOUTH RECORDS
Before he was ten years old, Kansas native Fletcher Foster cut a record that got local country radio airplay and caught the attention of the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC). He became a junior spokesperson for ARC, and cut several more records to raise funds in his region. After his parents vetoed schools in New York and Los Angeles, he entered the music program at Belmont College in Nashville. He supported himself by recording advertising jingles and served an internship at Sony Music. “That was really where I learned the business end of the music business,” Foster said. “The foundation of what I know now, I learned there.”
Foster graduated at a time when the country music industry was in a slump. He worked three part-time jobs at the Country Music Association (CMA&Rpar;, Mercury Records, and Sony Music, before landing a full time position as a junior publicist at CMA, writing for Close Up magazine. He then moved to Sony as manager of publicity and worked his way up to director of artist development.
THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
“What annoys me the most are the preconceptions that certain things supposedly have to be done a certain way.”
THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:
“It is really gratifying to be able to have somebody get signed to the label, knowing it's been their lifelong dream to be an artist, and to be a part of that and really see them become successful. It's hard when it doesn't happen, but when it does, it's just an amazing feeling.”
Foster moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to work for Arista Records, overseeing the label's West Coast promotion activities at a time when Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton were achieving their first big successes. His primary responsibilities involved lining up media appearances for the label's artists, including Houston, Braxton, Annie Lennox, TLC, and Kenny G. He landed alternative rock band Live their first television appearance on Saturday Night Live which helped launch them toward triple-platinum success. After three years, he hired on at MCA Records, staying for two years while the label underwent major personnel changes. Released from his MCA contract early, Foster returned to Nashville in 1998 and was soon hired as president of artist development at Arista Records. He was promoted to senior vice president of marketing about 18 months later during a change in label management.
During his tenure at Arista, Foster was responsible for getting several artists their first national network exposure, including Alan Jackson on the Grammy's and Billboard Awards shows, Pam Tillis on The Tonight Show, and Brooks & Dunn on Arsenio Hall Show. “At the time, Arsenio was key to Arista because we had so many R&B/Urban artists on the roster. But the show didn't book much country, so it was really a coup to be able to showcase Brooks & Dunn to a brand-new audience early in their career,” Foster recalled.
He also executive produced the soundtrack for the Miramax film Happy Trails. The album featured performances by Keb Mo’, Joan Osborne, Pam Tillis, Emmylou Harris, and BR549, and earned two Grammy nominations.
Foster moved to Capitol Records/Nashville and served as senior vice president of marketing where he was instrumental in the success of Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Trace Adkins, and others. He arrived at a key point in Urban's career. Through television appearances and an intense industry awareness campaign, he raised the singer's profile. Due in part to Foster's marketing plan, Urban won the CMA Horizon Award and the ACM New Top Male Vocalist Award.
In late 2006, he was appointed senior vice president and general manager of Universal South Records. www.universal-south.com
Additional topics
- RECORD COMPANY - Senior Vice President • Marketing Director (strategic Marketing) • Vice President (special Markets)
- RECORD COMPANY - Sales: Senior Vice President Of Sales • Vice President Of Sales
Job Descriptions and Careers, Career and Job Opportunities, Career Search, and Career Choices and ProfilesCareers in the Music BusinessRECORD COMPANY - Executive Office (major Or Large Label): Chief Operating Officer • President, President/general Manager • Vice President/general Manager