Nick Petropoulos entered the record business through an internship at RED, which led him to his current post as Head of Promotion for Glassnote Entertainment Group, building the careers of acts like Phoenix, Mumford & Sons, Childish Gambino and CHVRCHES. Petropoulos recently sat down with eQB to talk about his career, Glassnote and the artists that have given back so much to the label that has given them so much.
Nick Petropoulos
By Jack Barton
After eschewing the family restaurant business and going to school for communications, Nick Petropoulos started his broadcast career in television, only to decide it wasn’t for him and he headed back to college, ready to start a career in the tech industry after graduation. But his obsession for music led him to sign up for an internship at RED Distribution, and that’s when things changed.
Working Specialty and Alternative projects for RED, Petropoulos ended up working the debut single from a French band called Phoenix (“1901”), and never looked back. The project put him on the radar of Glassnote founder Daniel Glass, leading to an offer to join the fledgling label in late 2009, and then things got really interesting. Petropoulos started at the “little label that could” just as Phoenix was exploding on all fronts and the label was rolling out a British “Folk” act, Mumford & Sons, which built an unlikely story all its own. With Petropoulos as the Head of Promotion, Glassnote has built a stellar reputation developing artists, with a roster boasting the aforementioned bands along with CHVRCHES, Two Door Cinema Club, GIVERS, Childish Gambino and countless others.
Petropoulos recently sat down with eQB to talk about his career, Glassnote and the artists that have given back so much to the label that has given them so much.
So you were in your twenties, you had an education, a plan, goals and dreams. Then you ditched them for an internship at RED. What were you thinking?
My last semester at St. John’s I had the opportunity to take an internship and just learn about the music industry and, in particular, the major label system, which I was always curious about. So I went through the Sony website that took me to an application for an internship. I went in the following day for an interview and they just determined right away that I’d be a better fit for RED. So I ended up getting an internship there and I realized my first day that a lot of my favorite records that had been released over the last few years were actually released through RED, which drew me in immediately. Then one thing led to another. It was really exciting and connected a lot my passions. It was just way more exciting there than in a normal office.
At the time you did this it was not exactly a burgeoning period for the music industry. Were you aware what was going on in the industry when you made this choice?
Absolutely. Everything was gloom and doom. The industry was falling apart, and here I was trying to build a career. In the beginning I wasn’t really looking ten or twenty years into the future. I was just looking at the rest of the year, and it was exciting. I didn’t know what was going to come of it necessarily. Day after day I just got drawn in more.
So when did you start to realize that you could make a career of this?
It was while I was at RED when I made the transition from doing Specialty radio promotion to co-running the Alternative department, and was responsible for being a part of certain projects. Obviously, the Phoenix campaign was a major one. it was exciting, and I think it was at that point I decided that’s absolutely what I want to do.
What made you believe you were going to be able to survive the contraction the industry was going through?
It was more about not being concerned about surviving. Those things never even entered my head. I was just focusing on that one project: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
So that was the project that pushed you into this?
There were also others. Working Dinosaur Jr. on the Specialty front was cool and exciting for the music geek in me. But it was the Phoenix campaign that totally entrenched me. Working a record for 50-something weeks and going from no awareness at radio to a Number One record and then the band starting that campaign at Music Hall of Lynchburg in New York, and ending at Madison Square Garden, was a wild ride for everyone involved.
Phoenix aside, what other key experiences and people at RED helped you develop?
Danny Buch was the one who really gave me a start; he took me in. When I was there for an internship, I was kind of in no man’s land at first. They had “intern row” with people just doing little things, and then suddenly Danny and I got to know each other. He knew I came from a radio background – that’s what I went to school for, communications – and we just got along great, and he gave me my first shot.
In taking a personal interest in you, what did you specifically learn from him?
Intensity, passion, belief; with Danny, you learn by watching him do what he does. You just get inspired watching him and his work ethic and you just take certain things and it sticks with you. He’ll go above and beyond for his artists. That’s one of the main things I learned from him.
Talk about the transition to Glassnote.
The opportunity came in December of 2009, again during the Phoenix campaign. When I was at RED, I worked closely with everyone at Glassnote, and Daniel Glass, in particular, and there was an opening. At that time the label was smaller, but the position was offered and I took it. The roster was a lot smaller as well, so it was a no-brainer for me. Just getting to know the label and Daniel through the Phoenix campaign, I found it was just a different world with a different energy that was infectious. Hearing Daniel throughout that campaign, understanding his vision for the label and the vision for the future, I wanted in.
Can you elaborate on that vision a little bit?
What’s funny is Daniel can walk into a room and explain his vision, and it would sound almost impossible, and then it would happen. An example is Mumford & Sons. I remember my first day on the job he said “Little Lion Man” is going to be a number one Alternative hit. And I wondered how that was going to happen. It obviously happened, but only because of Daniel’s guidance and his drive. He just saw that road map and he helped guide us there.
Tell us a little about that road map.
The first 90 days of “Little Lion Man” was a blood bath, it was hard to find people who wanted to support it. One by one, we stayed focused on it, because we saw what was going on across the world. And one by one we found people who understood it and got behind it, and every station that got behind it saw an incredible response from listeners, drove track sales, and that just continued to grow and develop.
How has the artist roster and business model changed in your time at Glassnote?
Obviously, the size and the number of artists, but the approach has been the same; always attention to details and intense focus on everything. The reality is it really is about broad terms. You’ll hear Daniel say this a lot, that one of the main criteria for artists to get signed here is if they’re a great live band. Our marketing plans for our artists always include bringing people out to see them live. I know we have passed on certain artists because they were good live, but not necessarily great. That’s one of the main focal points here, if an act is a great live band. That’s one of main reasons why Mumford & Sons broke, or Childish Gambino, or Two Door Cinema Club, or even Phoenix. They’re great live bands. It might seem old school, but when our bands are on the road, we make sure we maximize all our opportunities. Whether at radio, or press, or so on and so forth. That’s really what it boils down to is bringing people out to see our bands live. They also have to have great music.
How has your role changed as Glassnote has grown?
When I first came here, initially I started working in the Triple A and non-comm world a lot deeper, as well as having a national responsibility for Alternative radio. And then, as Phoenix grew and was ready to cross over – and the same with Mumford – I suddenly had to be responsible for all formats, branching out to Hot AC and Top 40 radio and even Rhythmic to a certain extent. There’s a lot of growth in that, especially when Phoenix “1901” crossed over, and Mumford on the second album, and now we’re taking CHVRCHES from Alternative to Hot AC.
What skills were you able to apply to these newfound formats coming from the Specialty and Alternative field?
What I learned from Specialty is that it’s really a microcosm for radio promotion in general. You have the have the same issues there, maybe on a different plane or different level, but it’s the same: it’s just about super-serving people. There are a number of radio stations that have been the greatest partners and really helped us grow our artists, so we need to understand them and their needs and serve them in the best way to help them with their goals.
Talk about the recent expansion and growth of Glassnote.
The biggest change has been the promotion department. We’ve expanded to six people. Michael Starr has been with us a few years, he’s based in Austin, Texas. We have Fred Shade, who just joined us from Cleveland, Elliot Garstin in Atlanta, and Greta Van Raam in Los Angeles, and now Nathan D’Oria in New York. That’s a large team, showing significant growth from one person, myself, in 2010.
Another big change here is what’s happening throughout whole world for Glassnote. In the last six months to a year, we opened offices in Toronto and London; it’s becoming a world-wide focus now. For example, Jeremy Messersmith comes from Minneapolis and now we have the resources to take his music to London. He has support throughout the world from the label that signed him, Glassnote. What that means for the artist is that he gets the same dedication, focus and passion throughout the world from us that we are able to give him domestically.
As Glassnote grows and the industry changes, what is radio’s role in helping you break artists and build careers?
I hope that moving forward, radio doesn’t stick to this formula of playing less new music. It’s obviously safe to stay familiar, but if we don’t work together and continue to break new artists, then it’s going to be diminishing returns on both sides. Look at SiriusXM, its model is based on a lot of new music and they’re thriving right now. For both sides to survive and thrive, both labels and radio have to take some chances and break artists together.
[eQB Content By Jack Barton ]
