Radio Edit | 9.18.23

w/ our friends

Author

Radio Edit Team
September 18, 2023

Since we’ve had a bunch of new subscribers over the past few weeks, we realized that they’ve likely missed some of the great interviews we’ve already featured in the newsletter. For that reason, we wanted to dedicate today’s newsletter to the friends who were kind enough to provide interviews early on when Radio Edit was just starting out- we couldn’t be more appreciative!

  • Nicole Alvarez- (on-air host, KROQ) on radio’s musical and cultural influence

  • Vanja Primorac- (CEO, TASTEMADE) on creating multi-sensory events for artists, bringing their music to life

  • Anna Lee- (tour photographer, Coldplay) on capturing one of the largest shows on the planet

  • Jessie Allen- (director, GRAMMY U) on the program’s new membership eligibility and opportunities within

  • Andre Cisco- (manager, Machine Gun Kelly) on MGK Day and its philanthropic contributions to the city of Cleveland

  • Jim Merlis- (publicist, Big Hassle) on the changing landscape of PR over the course of his time working with Nirvana, The Strokes, The Lumineers + more

  • Lloyd Norman- (svp, Big Loud Rock) on Hardy’s success at Rock radio

  • Jess Severn- (creative director, Dead Happy) on building creative campaigns for everyone from Justin Bieber to Ariana Grande to Olivia Rodrigo

  • Matt Thomson- (singer, The Amazons) on the challenges international artists face in trying to connect with American audiences

  • Shira Knishkowy- (manager, Another Mgmt ) on the rollout for Blondshell’s debut album

  • Alex Lunt- (manager, Beauty School Dropout) on the band’s unique label situation and maximizing an opportunity like opening for Blink-182

  • Jeremy Groves- (creative director, SMACKsongs) on the modern songwriting landscape and Nashville’s influence within it

  • Ashley Daily- (manager, Breakroom 17)- on managing artists’ mental health and introducing artist wellness coaches to their broader team

How Olivia Rodrigo is getting $20 tickets into the hands of fans

In an effort to circumvent ticket scalpers, Olivia Rodrigo is implementing a creative strategy to get cheap tickets to fans.

For her upcoming Guts tour, Rodrigo will be selling two-seat packages for $40 apiece to buyers her team can verify as fans. While details on the process are sparse, it appears that her team will directly select fans to participate in the promotion. Notably, seat locations for these ‘Silver Star’ tickets are unknown until day of show and must be picked up at will call.

While not fool-proof, this strategy will surely increase the difficulty in selling these tickets on the secondary market as sites like StubHub require resellers to list the general vicinity of the seat location.

Utopia discount codes lead to massive sales bump

Posting to r/travisscott and it’s 234k members, a Reddit user shared a discount code making vinyl versions of Scott’s new album, Utopia, just $5. The discount code helped the rapper move 88,500 vinyl copies (and 160k total equivalent albums) in its fourth week on the charts. Note: $4.99 is the lowest an album can be priced and still count on the Billboard charts.

Interestingly, these sales likely came at a loss as double LPs cost around $7 apiece to produce. In a genre dominated by streaming the way that hip-hop is, a marketing exercise like this is likely intended to achieve a delayed sales bump and boost fan engagement. Since the discount code was unlocked once buyers’ purchased at least $120 on the rapper’s web store, the move also helped incentivize fans to purchase non-vinyl merch as well.

Utopia is now the second-highest selling vinyl album of 2023, behind only Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

ROSTR Pro gives you unlimited access to contact details, signings, advanced search, tour & festival directories + more

SIGNINGS

Seven Mantels’ Jaime Levine signs Rosaliá to management

Agency moves: Alesso has signed with CAA, Peggy Gou to WME

STREAMING | RADIO

Daylist, a new playlist from Spotify, will update throughout the day to match your mood

LABEL | PUBLISHING

Labels eyeing global expansion: WMG opens new Berlin office; Big Loud Records expands into Australian and the UK markets

Range Media has launched a new publishing division; will be led by Casey Robinson

Looking to pay down debt, Hipgnosis to sell almost $500 Million in song catalogs to elevate stock

Warner Chappell co-chairs Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall extended through 2028

UMG Nashville has launched a new comedy album; first release will be Nate Bargatze’s new album

ELSEWHERE

Music investment platform JKBX is now live

APPOINTMENTS

Dick Clark Productions has hired Richard A. Pizante as new senior vp of production

Music credits database Jaxsta, has upped Alli Galloway to chief marketing officer and Jessy Trengove to chief product officer

Matt Oliver has joined LA-based creative marketing firm Super Evil Genius Corp as head of communications

DEPARTURES

AEG president of global touring Gary Gersch has announced his departure

‘Tiny Desk’ creator Bob Boilen announces his departure from NPR

Following 98% drop in stock value, Faze Clan CEO Lee Trink is out

Doesn’t it seem like the best jobs are never posted online? That’s why each week we’re going to share an unlisted job opening from our network in an effort to connect people and opportunities.

This week’s unlisted job:

Day-To-Day Manager | Los Angeles

If you’re interested, send us your resume here and we’ll pass it on