For more than a decade, branding and lifestyle are two words that have been hammered into the skulls of entertainment professionals more than any others. With the advent of the digital age, entertainment, recreation and information went supernova, exploding into the living rooms of virtually every human with a modest amount of disposable income and willingness to investigate and spend money.
Many different brands and lifestyle-oriented endeavors emerged, but few have been as successful as Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre’s Bodog digital empire. What started off in 1994 as an online gaming technology and eCom services company would soon evolve into a multidimensional, all-compassing digital entertainment brand encompassing music, publishing and television.
“The concept is actually quite simple,” says Ayre in his online biography. “We’ve managed to build upon existing forms of recreation and repackage them into a whole new style of entertainment. This, combined with a sexy, edgy and attractive brand, built on the best possible customer service you can offer, is the secret to Bodog’s success.”
Well, the secret is out, and about a lot more than betting on football or playing hands of poker. We caught up with Ayre recently and picked his brain more specifically about his newest endeavor –Bodog Music.
Tell us what led to the creation of Bodog Music?
Since the beginning, I always envisioned Bodog being a brand that represented digital entertainment in all its forms. Being a huge fan of music myself, starting a record label was amongst the first extensions of the brand I wanted to move forward with once we really got things rolling. Being closely associated with some of Canada’s most influential people within the music industry also really helped propel Bodog Music into its current state.
Since its launch, how much has the company grown?
Bodog Music has grown immensely since the start and our roster is always growing. We’ve moved from a corner office in our marketing headquarters to numerous international bases located in Vancouver, Toronto, Philadelphia, London and Berlin. The point we are at now has enabled us to ink distribution deals with internationally revered groups such as Wu Tang Clan as well as rapidly develop our own artists.
What sets Bodog Music apart from other major and independent record labels?
I like to think of it as a unique cross between a major and independent label. We have a great deal of overall brand recognition and in-house artist development, yet have never lost touch with the grassroots movement; always keeping our ear to the street.
Tell us a bit about how the Battle Of The Bands was executed and received…
It’s been a great success in a multitude of ways. A large degree of the growth the label has experienced as a whole can be attributed to the Bodog Music Battle of the Bands program. Through it, we’ve been able to grow the recognition of the label’s brand, find some of the most talented independent musicians in North America and create compelling TV and internet broadband content.
What have been some of the most successful marketing and promotional tactics for your artists, are you heavily cross-promoting via all of your Bodog platforms as well?
Again, Battle of the Bands was a great concept for the label’s growth. We were able to develop our artists through the critique of experienced rockers such as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, all the while simultaneously promoting them before we even officially signed them. Bodog is a central brand and Bodog Music along with all the other properties are essentially extensions of this brand. Anytime you see the Bodog brand, be it at a Bodog Fight event in Russia, a Bodog Music artist at an international music festival or simply a billboard in Times Square, every property of Bodog is reaping the benefits associated with cross-promotion.
What new artists are you currently promoting and what’s in the pipeline?
Recent releases from the label include Neurosonic – Drama Queen, The Vincent Black Shadow – Fear’s in the Water, Nazanin – Someday and Overkill – Immortalis.
As far as upcoming releases, we have the two finalists from Bodog Battle of the Bands, Fall From Grace and Fear Nuttin’ Band both working in the studio right now. We’re expecting those to release in early 2008. As well, The Heck is currently in the studio and the legendary Wu Tang Clan are releasing 8 Diagrams through Bodog Music in Europe on various dates throughout the region starting November 30th. For tours, we have Fear Nuttin’ Band and Neurosonic on tour in the US, Overkill in Europe and The Vincent Black Shadow on tour in both the US and Europe. In terms of what’s in the pipeline, we’re in talks with some more very established hip hop artists, but we’ll wait until that’s official before we let that out.
What are your goals for Bodog Music and where do you see the label in two years?
To state the obvious, continual international growth is the primary goal. However, as I previously mentioned, we want to be sure we’re always keeping the edge that a lot of record labels seem to lose touch of when they grow too fast. In a few years I see the Bodog brand becoming a major player in the music industry and definitely in the online music realm as we are after all, a digital entertainment company.
Where do you think major labels have erred or failed as far as their approach to adapting and embracing the digital age?
It’s hard for me to judge from my position due to the fact Bodog has always been on the progressive side when it comes to technological changes. I would have to say that the music industry seems to have been somewhat late in terms of adapting to the many large changes that have taken place. A lot of artists become seemingly disenfranchised with the industry when there is resistance to change from above and as we’ve seen, this will cause the artists with enough recognition such asRadiohead and Madonna to take matters into their own hands.
What are your thoughts on the current legal battle involving streaming and copyright issues?
In general, these issues are a hindrance on progress and innovation in any technological space. A large majority of these are money grabs and cash cows and show very little validity for actual copyright infringement beyond that. Specifically referring to the legal battle regarding our domains being hi-jacked, you could say Bodog is the latest victim of an attempt by “Patent Troll” lawyers to stick up a successful company. However, this time around, much to their dismay they have stumbled upon a different beast in their attempts to intimidate. We moved on from those URL’s within a 12 hour period and on the operational side, haven’t looked back since. Bodog is a brand, not simply a name of a website, which is why we were able to so easily transition to a new online home and keep things at full speed.
Of slumping CD sales?
I think the slumping sales have more to do with sub-standard music than many would like to acknowledge. There is still a huge amount of talented artists out there, but the current day and age is also no stranger to “ringtone musicians” – the creators of catchy one-hit wonders that are the flavor of the month when they are released, but show very little longevity thereafter. We live in a fast paced society where instant gratification is the norm, but from my perspective, and this applies to everything I do, instant gratification should never come at the expense of overall quality. If record labels were to slow down a few notches and work with artists to develop albums from start to finish, CD sales might just stabilize and I think these sentiments are echoed throughout by fans and artists alike.
How important is terrestrial radio in the way Bodog approaches artist development?
Every avenue of distribution for music plays a part in how Bodog Music develops its artists, be it standard radio, satellite radio, television or broadband content. All these mediums for exposure collectively reflect the listener’s preferences and expectations when it comes to music so we pay attention to all of them. Going back to my analogy of Bodog Music being a hybrid of a major and independent label, we want our artists to be commercially successful and have the marketing expertise to facilitate that, but at the same time we give our artists ample autonomy to stay true to their art.
What lessons have you learned about the power of branding that perhaps our readers in the music community could benefit from?
Recognizing the leveragability of a strong brand can allow a label to promote a broader range of artists and products and people will still listen with open ears because the brand stands for quality. Being able to extend beyond your standard product can present many opportunities for growth. You’re starting to see video game companies, beverage companies and mobile network companies partnering with record labels and the list goes on. Provided the labels never lose sight of their first priority being good music, there are endless opportunities for cross promotion and further brand recognition.
As a huge MMA fan for a few years now, what led to the creation of Bodog Fight?
Since the inception of Bodog, I’ve always tried to minimize the gap between work and play. That being said, I’m a huge fan of mixed martial arts, so it was pretty easy to make the decision to start Bodog Fight. MMA is rapidly growing in popularity and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. When looking at Bodog Entertainment, one might assume that we try and capitalize on what is currently hitting in our targeted demographic, but really, these are all forms of entertainment that I’m actually interested in myself which plays a huge role in our success across so many different properties.
How has that grown in the last year and where do you see it heading?
Bodog Fight has definitely grown in the last year. We’ve had major events held across the globe and have filmed six seasons, five of which have already aired on major networks across North America. Additionally I think we’ll be increasing the broadband Bodog Fight content we provide online to a much larger extent in the near future.
Tell us about the Calvin Ayre Foundation.
The Calvin Ayre Foundation is the philanthropic organization I founded a few years back. I’ve always been someone that believes in giving back to the communities we have a physical presence in and abroad. The growth Bodog has experienced has allowed me to dedicate a reasonable degree of my time and that same energy into the Calvin Ayre Foundation. To date, we’ve done some work in the Philippines, Vietnam, Costa Rica, North America, Antigua and Barbuda. We’ve built houses, provided scholarships, built school facilities and donated to a wide span of causes. Something I’m also passionate about is animal rights. We have partnered with large animal rights outfits such as WSPA to end bear bile farming in Asia and will continue doing our part in the fight.
You’ve built an impressive entertainment empire over the last ten years, what new endeavors can we expect from Bodog in the near future?
With international expansion already in progress, you can expect to see the Bodog brand and accompanying entertainment properties much more visible around the world. Once we’ve established ourselves in Europe, which is where expansion is currently targeted, we’ll be continuing into Asia and the rest of the globe will follow. We’ve always considered ourselves a digital entertainment company, so as technology and entertainment evolves so will Bodog. We pride ourselves on being progressive and ground-breaking, so you can expect us to continue offering new and innovative forms of digital entertainment.
** QB Content by Mike Bacon **
