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you really can make a difference there. Offer to
work for free. Be willing to do what-
ever it takes to prove yourself, because that is
the company you want to work for."
MARC GEIGER, VICE CHAIRMAN, ARTISTdirect
NETWORK
Marc Geiger chalks up his remarkable success in
the music business to two words:
"No fear." He grew up in Stamford, Connecticut
and managed bands while still in
high school. While a first year premed student
at the University of California at San
Diego, he managed a record store, promoted
concerts through the campus events
organization, and had an import music show on a
local radio station. "After promot-
ing the first few shows, and them going very
well, I realized it was a potential career
and spent more time on promoting and less at
school." The early success of the
campus concerts led him to form a fulltime
promotion company with a fellow
student, and at age 19, he was hired to run the
San Diego office of Avalon Attractions
and Concerts. In 1982, he opened the seaside
music venue, Humphrey's Concerts by
the Sea. Hugely successful from the beginning,
the enterprise soon attracted the
attention of top talent agents who recognized
Geiger's ability to do sell-out business
with artists who could not fill
comparably-sized venues. His reputation as an aggres-
sive talent buyer and promoter earned him job
offers from Avalon's Los Angeles
office, and from Regency Artists booking
agency. He took the latter and became an
agent. Regency later merged with a talent
agency to become Triad Artists, Inc.
As an agent, Geiger carved out a niche for
himself with underground and alterna-
tive bands. Among his many successes was the
hugely successful Lalapalooza Tour, a
concept fashioned after European festivals.
After eight years as a booking agent,
Geiger wanted a new challenge and found it in
the record business. With several
offers to choose from, he went to American
Recordings as vice president of A&R,
marketing, and artist development. Recognizing
the potential of the Internet to
change everything about the music industry, he
bought a site called UBL (Ultimate
Band List) and built it into one of the biggest
music sites on the Web. With a vision of
how artists would connect with their fans in
the future, Geiger partnered with friends
to launch ARTISTdirect Network in January 1997.
The site set the standard for
Internet music news and information. Geiger
took the company public in 2000. He
served as chief operating officer until 2001,
when Interscope Records founder Ted
Field was brought in as chairman and chief
operating manager and Geiger was
named vice chairman. In that role, Geiger
launched ARTISTdirect's iMusic label.
In 2003, WMA Worldwide head of music Peter
Grosslight enticed Geiger to join
the firm as senior vice president for the
contemporary music department. Grosslight
and Geiger had worked together more than a
decade earlier at Triad and William
Morris. www.artistdirect.com and
www.wma.com
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