Marketing to Tweens

Have you noticed the trend in music these days that new artists signed to music labels are getting younger and younger?   I’m not saying young folks do not have talent but if you do have talent and hit puberty, forget it.  As someone who grew up around the music business, I was often given recorded music by friends, family of friends of friends who were in bands to give to my father in hopes that it would pique the interest of some A&R rep. One day, my teacher pulled me aside and I saw that she had a CD in her hand.  She mentioned that her son was in a band and wanted to know if I could pass it on.  I took the CD and promised that I would pass it on but, obviously, with zero guarantees.  I took a listen on my way home that day and really liked what I heard.  I was excited and called a friend who was the head of A&R at a major music label.  I started to tell them the story and they stopped me in the middle of my pitch and asked me one question: “How old were they?”  I said that I wasn’t sure but I would check and he told me, straight-up, that if they were older than twelve, then they were not interested and that they were looking for “young.”  I thought this group was young but, unfortunately for them, they were not young enough.  I thought, wow, here are some young adults (not on Medicare) with promise and they were shot down due to their age.  Can they really get away with that?  The answer, sadly, is, “Yes.”  True story.

Well, if this is the case (and my story is older than my son who is about to turn eight), what’s next?  Will music types be stalking hospital delivery rooms?  I can hear it now, “That kid’s got a great cry,… SIGN ‘EM!”  Or preschool shows?  Sounds far-fetched but that’s the direction that it’s going.  It makes me long for the days of music talent being signed for – here’s a crazy idea – the music, not the age or image or some reality show.  Can you imagine U2 being turned away for being too old at the tender age of 18?  Can you imagine U2 being “over” after just their second album?  There is, however, hope for the “older and wiser” set.  Savvy musicians are increasingly realizing that they no longer need an established record label.  Notable legends like Prince and David Bowie are shunning the majors and handling their releases on their own.  And even artists with lesser pedigrees are having great success through Pledge Music and Band Camp.  Ah, yes, that pesky internet – for those of us that have graduated middle school.

About the Author: Dana 

A California girl by way of Wyckoff, Dana Pineiro joins The DSM Group as their Office Manager. She brings with her 10+ years of organizational and production skills (not to mention that clairvoyant sense that only a mother can possess) to assist Darren, Christine and Ryerson achieve maximum efficiency. Dana is the internal eyes and ears of the group and will keep track of projects and timelines…something that grammar school teachers forgot to mention that you might need someday.

Dana graduated in 1993 from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor of arts degree in English and a minor in communications. She spent more than a decade working in New York City at Universal Music handling and launching many of its top new releases before deciding that she wanted to start a family and pursue a new career closer to home.

When she heard that her old neighbor, Darren, was hiring, she jumped at the chance to start anew and learn the ins-and-outs of the advertising & public relations industries. Welcome aboard, Dana, and enjoy the ride! In 1993, after graduating from The Catholic University of America, Dana began her career at PolyGram Records (which later became Universal Music) as a new release coordinator. After much blood, sweat and tears she was promoted to manager of new release production and supervised the department. So, you may ask, what’s a girl from the music business doing in advertising? Why living the dream, of course! After a 6-year hiatus to do the mom thing, her next goal was to start an exciting new career mere minutes from home. Bye-bye, arduous commutes to NYC! And what better place than The DSM Group to start anew? Who says that dreams don’t come true? When she’s not exercising, watching SpongeBob with her 6-year-old son or enjoying good food and vino with her husband like any good Mediterranean, you can find her hard at work here at The DSM Group.