Music has always been my passion. I changed my major from psychology to
journalism because journalism students were allowed to interview artists and
were included in official entertainment press junkets. I ran my own entertainment newspaper right
out of college - back in the days when you had to pay for typesetting,
publishing and distribution!
I discovered that I had a knack for recognizing
trending talent when I started getting calls from much more seasoned
journalists, radio programmers and news syndicators about my “little paper.” I learned the value of networking (although I
still don’t think I’m quite clued in about the finesse of advertising) because
after my little paper shut down, one of those connections invited me to handle
PR duties at the independent label that he worked for. While there, I met a
woman well versed in music licensing and supervision (more networking), who
asked me to work with her at her licensing company, where she handled all the
clearance duties for Aaron Spelling Productions. She later was asked to run
Paramount Television’s music licensing division and invited me to join her
team.
I worked with Paramount Television’s Music
Division for the next 15 years, placing music in Paramount’s network,
syndicated and cable television shows, including “Girlfriends,” “The
Game,” “Medium,” “Frasier” and four of the five “Star Trek” series.
As part of my duties, I was asked to concentrate on
country music, giving me a reason to make numerous trips to the Music City. I
moved to Nashville in 2007 where I became much more involved with the other
side of the placement game, working with publishers and artists wishing
to have their music placed in film and television projects.
Having worked on both sides of the aisle, I’ve
gained insights on the needs and questions posed by those seeking music and
those eager to have their music used. To that end, I have been coordinating
networking events for film and music makers via an organization called
Hollywood Meets Nashville, where those seeking music and those making music can
converge for their mutual benefit.
This blog is an extension of that effort.
