The Smoking Gun
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009THE SMOKING GUN
We’ve recently uncovered this internal e-mail from the president of a major label to the entire A&R and marketing staff. Like Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG, we’ve decided to keep names confidential to make sure that when those in the know read this, they don’t go crazy and stake out the homes of the guilty.
To: A&R Staff, Marketing Department
CC: [Deleted], [Deleted]
From: [Deleted]
RE: Commitment to Artist Merchandising
Dear Team,
As you all know, securing the merchandise rights for Artists that we sign to the label has become increasingly important to our overall strategy. Despite what Live Nation may claim, we all know that we created the 360 Deal first, and it is our job to perpetuate this strategy more effectively than the competition. To be sure, we’ve taken our licks, like the time when we launched [Deleted]’s web-store with 400 products and only managed to gross $300, but I think we can all learn from our mistakes and forge on. After countless hours of meetings (of which I’ve unfortunately missed due to obligations I had with my contractor and my wife’s charity), we’ve reached a few milestones with respect to setting up the infrastructure of our merchandise operation. As outlined:
1) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON HOT TOPIC – In the past few weeks we have secured a Hot Topic vendor number. After our sales team had 6 meetings with the Hot Topic buying team, we have reached an agreement whereby Hot Topic will give us test orders for any of our Artists that have been requested by Hot Topic customers. Thanks to [Deleted] and her team for driving this hard bargain; I expect it to pay dividends in the future.
2) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON [DELETED] SCREENPRINTING - We have also arranged for [deleted] Screenprinting to be our preferred Hot Topic manufacturer. [Deleted] has also agreed to pre-ticket and pack our orders, which I believe gives us a competitive advantage over our competitors. Further, we have negotiated reduced screen charges for orders over 10,000 units, which should lead to considerable cost savings.
3) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON CONCERT VENDING – As some of you may know, EMI (Event Merchandising, Inc.) has agreed to be our exclusive vendor for tour merchandise in the buildings that they have concession rights for. In what I believe to be an unprecedented deal, they have agreed to relieve us of the local sales tax liability and vend our merchandise at the rate pre-negotiated by the Artist’s booking agent. This is good news, as I am confident that our Artist’s booking agents are team players and feel a tremendous responsibility to makes sure the vending fees are as low as possible.
4) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON PREFFERED T-SHIRT PRICING – We established our merchandise division over a year ago now, and it seems that the major mills and blank t-shirt dealers now realize we are a serious player. As of March 1st, we will be granted case pricing and free freight on any orders that are over 6 dozen t-shirts. Let’s take advantage of this, stock up quickly and buy as many shirts as we can for future use.
5) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON THE BEST MUSIC BEING CREATED IN THE WORLD – As the A&R Team knows, we are preparing a new slate of signings representing the best of the best in the Urban Contemporary, Singer-Songwriter, and Dance genres. All of these Artists are signing to the label under 360 deals. Though we need to acknowledge that we’ve had a little trouble signing established, rock & roll, and country acts to 360 deals, I feel confident that the tide will turn when we prove ourselves with the Artists we have signed to the 360 model.
I believe that the above represent the 5 keys to the future. As we move further into 2009, I want to remind everyone of our commitment to merchandising. I truly believe that Artists understand the economy, are sympathetic to our plight, and understand our ability for synergy & honesty despite our past reputation and corporate bureaucracy. After all, we are the strong, and the strong will survive.
Let’s go kick some major ass!!!!
Regards,
We’ve recently uncovered this internal e-mail from the president of a major label to the entire A&R and marketing staff. Like Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG, we’ve decided to keep names confidential to make sure that when those in the know read this, they don’t go crazy and stake out the homes of the guilty.
February 12, 2009
To: A&R Staff, Marketing Department
CC: [Deleted], [Deleted]
From: [Deleted]
RE: Commitment to Artist Merchandising
Dear Team,
As you all know, securing the merchandise rights for Artists that we sign to the label has become increasingly important to our overall strategy. Despite what Live Nation may claim, we all know that we created the 360 Deal first, and it is our job to perpetuate this strategy more effectively than the competition. To be sure, we’ve taken our licks, like the time when we launched [Deleted]’s web-store with 400 products and only managed to gross $300, but I think we can all learn from our mistakes and forge on. After countless hours of meetings (of which I’ve unfortunately missed due to obligations I had with my contractor and my wife’s charity), we’ve reached a few milestones with respect to setting up the infrastructure of our merchandise operation. As outlined:
1) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON HOT TOPIC – In the past few weeks we have secured a Hot Topic vendor number. After our sales team had 6 meetings with the Hot Topic buying team, we have reached an agreement whereby Hot Topic will give us test orders for any of our Artists that have been requested by Hot Topic customers. Thanks to [Deleted] and her team for driving this hard bargain; I expect it to pay dividends in the future.
2) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON [DELETED] SCREENPRINTING - We have also arranged for [deleted] Screenprinting to be our preferred Hot Topic manufacturer. [Deleted] has also agreed to pre-ticket and pack our orders, which I believe gives us a competitive advantage over our competitors. Further, we have negotiated reduced screen charges for orders over 10,000 units, which should lead to considerable cost savings.
3) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON CONCERT VENDING – As some of you may know, EMI (Event Merchandising, Inc.) has agreed to be our exclusive vendor for tour merchandise in the buildings that they have concession rights for. In what I believe to be an unprecedented deal, they have agreed to relieve us of the local sales tax liability and vend our merchandise at the rate pre-negotiated by the Artist’s booking agent. This is good news, as I am confident that our Artist’s booking agents are team players and feel a tremendous responsibility to makes sure the vending fees are as low as possible.
4) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON PREFFERED T-SHIRT PRICING – We established our merchandise division over a year ago now, and it seems that the major mills and blank t-shirt dealers now realize we are a serious player. As of March 1st, we will be granted case pricing and free freight on any orders that are over 6 dozen t-shirts. Let’s take advantage of this, stock up quickly and buy as many shirts as we can for future use.
5) WE NOW HAVE A LOCK ON THE BEST MUSIC BEING CREATED IN THE WORLD – As the A&R Team knows, we are preparing a new slate of signings representing the best of the best in the Urban Contemporary, Singer-Songwriter, and Dance genres. All of these Artists are signing to the label under 360 deals. Though we need to acknowledge that we’ve had a little trouble signing established, rock & roll, and country acts to 360 deals, I feel confident that the tide will turn when we prove ourselves with the Artists we have signed to the 360 model.
I believe that the above represent the 5 keys to the future. As we move further into 2009, I want to remind everyone of our commitment to merchandising. I truly believe that Artists understand the economy, are sympathetic to our plight, and understand our ability for synergy & honesty despite our past reputation and corporate bureaucracy. After all, we are the strong, and the strong will survive.
Let’s go kick some major ass!!!!
Regards,
[Deleted]
