Joe Riccitelli
Joe Riccitelli leads with his heart, always has…and when it comes to promotion passion plays, few come close to his energy and intensity levels. From college rep to EVP, Joe’s done it all in his twenty-one year promotion career, but you’d never know it by the enthusiasm put forth in every project he’s attached to. Riccitelli is one of the most respected promotion execs in the biz, as evidenced by his tireless work ethic and the multiple industry awards he’s amassed this decade. He’s won FMQB Promotion Executive of the Year honors in 2003, 2004 and 2006. With a brave new world ahead and all of its inherent challenges, the Zomba Label Group artist roster couldn’t be in finer hands.
eQB presents excerpts from the April FMQB magazine Cover Story withZomba Label Group EVP Joe Riccitelli
On the significant changes in his job scope versus a decade ago…In the post-Spitzer environment all of our jobs have changed drastically and it all centers around the way you deal with radio and your approach in promoting records. When I was a local Promotion Manager, the job was hanging out with programmers. Everything felt quite natural and radio reacted favorably to that kind of personal contact. Now the style of promotion has changed. Good, bad or indifferent, it’s definitely changed. The way we interact with radio has changed. The types of information we present has changed. It’s not just about showing up and hanging out, not at all.
On the role passion plays in the record/radio relationship today…It is so much more analytical today. I don’t want to say it’s sterile because I still am a huge believer in passion in what we do. I’d like to think that radio still has it. I know I still have a great passion for what I do. The Spitzer investigation may have dampened the promotion process a bit, but I still think it all starts with passion and that has to lead the way.
On promotion protocol of the day… I am not too sure if any of the record companies are as comfortable with promotion departments having the approach of ten years ago. They want to see promotion departments approaching things from a more business like manner, providing them with sales, marketing plans, as well as digital and on-line information. They want promotion executives as concerned about budgets and compliancy as they are about getting records played.
On label self-sufficiency with respect to radio promotion…I can tell you that we have seen a significant drop off in budgets for independent promotion. It’s somewhere in the seventy-five percent range over the last 24 months; never mind the last ten or fifteen years. We also are relying more than ever on our own people when it comes to radio airplay. We need the best people we can hire and arm them with all the right info tools and sources…and hopefully a lot of hit records.
On the biggest mistakes made by the music industry in ignoring early recognition to the digital space…The biggest mistake back then was the feeling of invincibility. The industry was feeling great about itself regarding the gains made on a regular basis from catalogue sales, and the high CD sales levels that were being routinely met by hit artists. The industry became a bit arrogant by the success and really didn’t feel threatened at all. At the same time the consumer base was fractionalizing and discovering a new way to consume music. The early Internet days were the most destructive because the music industry was complacent and not as actionable as it should have been. The consequences became quite severe.
On the most effective steps music industry leaders can take today to ensure a healthy future… It’s important to recognize the shortcomings of the past and aggressively move on. In a recent article you sent me from the New York Times about file sharing networks becoming public property, the one line that stuck with me was, ‘The music industry is not going to tell the consumer how to consume.’ Well you can take it one step back and I think our industry has to be so much more open minded about how the consumer does consume. It’s more about knowing that before it happens.
On radio’s emphasis on the Internet… Since the beginning of this year I’ve spent a lot of time on the road, mainly trying to get the P!NK record all the way home, and I’ve visited a lot of stations up and down the east and west coasts. I’ve seen a lot of program directors and this subject comes up frequently. I know after speaking to some major market Clear Channel programmers, when they were down in San Antonio this past year a lot of time was spent on making sure they have the content that is going to drive their listeners to their Web sites. They realize how important their Web sites truly are. Radio is playing catch up in the new media arena, especially with Web presence in a big way, but they’re heading in a direction to be content leaders with music artists.
On the effectiveness of HD radio…I’d like to see it develop because I think they really need it for the medium, the same way that we need to develop other configurations to help us sell through. They need to find those music intensive people and reinforce their position as a great source to hear new and breaking music again. I look at HD radio in the same vein as satellite radio. I listen to satellite radio because I’m a music intensive person. Radio has to get to that point with consumers with the HD channels. Those passionate listeners are out there. It’s up to radio to win them over.
On how critical it is for the music industry that radio reconnects with the younger demo…The 12-24 buyer is still king for us. We need 12-24! We will not survive by focusing in on 18-24, 25-34. We need 12-24, primarily 12-18, because that’s where you’re going to make your volume. If radio can find its way through the maze, and actually get itself back on track with the young end, and identify with that 12-17-year-old/12-24-year-old/young end buyer, we’d all be back in business in a big way.
On some radio stations decreasing imaging and bumpers in an attempt to relate more to the iPod generation…I think it’s a loaded gun because iPod is iPod and radio is not the iPod. I get the idea of where they’re going with it, but they’re imitating something that is the most successful innovation of our day for music listening. Are they really going to swing the pendulum back their way by doing this? The innovator usually wins the game, not the imitator.
On his promotion philosophy…I’ve always noticed growing up through the promo biz that the great heads of promotion over the last twenty years always had the total kick-ass promotion staff. They play like a team in every sense of the word. The team comes first, there is strength at every position right from the VP’s to the directors, field and support. Great heads of promotion are always a reflection of a great staff and vice-versa.
** QB Content By Fred Deane **
