Ason Garte Runs One of Radio's Most Successful Imaging Companies. but Back When He First Dipped His Toe in the Radio Business
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A RELENTLESS DRIVE FOR SUCCESS ason Garte runs one of On January 10, 2003, Garte called radio’s most successful his cousin, a lawyer, and she helped him imaging companies. But incorporate the Mix Group. “I remember back when he first dipped his thinking to my 21-year-old self, ‘I’m young toe in the radio business, he enough that if this doesn’t work out I can had no idea what imaging always become a lawyer, a dentist — J was. Garte started his radio something.’ But word traveled fast, and Garte career as a mixer at WPOW/ quickly booked a handful of stations and got (Power 96) in Miami back in 1996, when himself to the point that he was financially he was just 14 years old. The station was stable enough to take the risk of quitting his running promos for a mix-off, inviting DJs to job at WPOW. “At the time of my departure in a local competition. Garte beat 35 others to September of 2004, I had about 11 stations, advance to the semifinals on South Beach, give or take,” he says. “I was on my own, and where he won again. Then it was off to the figuring out how to become a businessman. I finals, which were broadcast live on Power knew my trade well, but running a business, 96. Garte would win the entire competition even as small as we were back then, was and as a result get a spot mixing on the radio certainly challenging, having only known once a week. radio and having no formal background in Garte worked his way up to board op, business management.” then got on the air as a jock. He says that That lack of business background led while hanging around the station, he dabbled to one unlucky business relationship that January 18, 2016 in the production room, learning production almost ended Garte’s company. However, his and how to work all the equipment. Then, in heart and desire to be a success overcame 2000, he was named the very first imaging the obstacles along the way, and today director for Power 96. They paid him $10 an a relationship with Premiere Networks is hour, and it wasn’t very long, he says, “before making him a very successful entrepreneur. I smacked right into the proverbial glass Here’s the story of how Jason Garte and the RADIOINK•COM ceiling while living paycheck-to-paycheck.” Mix Group overcame the odds. 36 RI: What is a mixer at a radio station? there, to KHTY, a Clear Channel urban in San Antonio. Right after Garte: The mixer is also referred to as a DJ, that I got my first big one, WPWX-FM in Chicago, for Jay Alan. We or “turntablist,” who blends music in sync still produce them to this day. Their loyalty is a great blessing, and on beat during what is referred to as and I truly love those guys. That was my fourth station. Once you a mix show. This is not to be confused with pick up Chicago and you start promoting that, people start to pay the jock on the air, announcing. Mix shows a bit more attention to you. are most commonly found on contempo- About a year later, I signed with Premiere Networks on rary CHR, rhythmic, urban, and similar December 10, 2005. I think when we signed with Premiere, we formats. Nowadays, there are even some had grown to about 35 stations or so. Ten years later, we are country mix shows, but that’s pretty much closing in on 1,000 stations. We’ve really grown this thing into a the scope of formats where that applies. monster and are the largest provider of custom imaging produc- When I got my start at the age of 14, tion, proudly maintaining and constantly developing our staff of they’d usually schedule me at 10 p.m. on 18 full-time producers, and never subcontracting. a Sunday night. It was a horrible time slot, We have also done tremendously well with a concept that I but for me it was great fun, as all of my pioneered back in 2007 with the signing of CESD voice talent Pat middle school friends would rave about my Garrett, on WZHT in Montgomery, Alabama. So much, in fact, that performance the next day at school. in 2009, I formed an entirely separate but complementary entity, Mix Talent Management, to market and offer first-rate voice tal- RI: Most people who are in the radio ent to stations on barter. This paved the way to a really strong business starting out would say, “OK, I model of stations being able to get their imaging production and have to go to a different market. I have voiceover done completely on barter, without having to spend a to pay my dues.” You decided to start single dime. your own business. Garte: Very good point, and I actually RI: Tell us about how your relationship with point that out a lot, that I was not nomadic Premiere came to be. in my career, as many people can say Garte: At the beginning of 2005, I was hearing from some of my about theirs. It was actually a blessing, I stations that they had production libraries or similar services that feel. When I started Mix Group, the initial were being furnished to them from networks like Premiere. Some concept was to supplement my income, of these stations were saying to me, “You guys should totally get because I literally couldn’t even make ends into that.” meet just working at Power. I’m telling you, At the same exact time, believe it or not, I was contacted by I was still very young and I recall my mom a fly-by-night company who signed us to offer our services on trying to cram 20s in my hand and saying, barter. At the request of that company, we ended up converting “Your cupboards are bare. Go buy some all of our stations to barter, which was about 30 to 35 stations. food.” They would bill advertisers for us, and collect on our behalf. So I was just trying to get by and used However, they literally kept every single dollar. We never saw a imaging, which I ended up being really single penny. As you can imagine, things got dangerously tight good at, as a tool solely to make ends because we did convert every dollar of cash-paying stations and meet and pay bills. It wasn’t that I was so had effectively sacrificed our entire revenue stream. entrepreneurial, honestly. I really didn’t Obviously, this was for the better, they were telling us. know the first thing about selling it. I didn’t “Stations that are currently giving you $500, you will make know the first thing about sales. I didn’t upwards of $750 or more if you convert them to barter.” In know the first thing about marketing — I theory, it seemed like a fantastic deal, with the only real excep- didn’t know the first thing about anything. tion being the teensy-weensy fact that we never actually got paid. All I really knew how to do was the actual This lasted throughout the entire year of 2005. Finally, at the end imaging. From that, I just built everything of 2005, when all of our stations had already been converted to else. The business part, of running, creat- barter and they weren’t really able or even interested in reverting ing, and growing the business, I learned to paying cash, it seemed like our business was going to implode. all of that along the way. What led me to In a sheer panic and effort to save the company (and my liveli- January 18, 2016 resist exploring options in other markets, hood), I literally called every viable radio network. Most would at other stations, was the fact that I had a tell me, “You’ve only got 30-something stations. There’s not couple of clients that were already on and enough meat on the bones there to make any money.” Finally, in I just said, “Well, that’s working,” and the a last-ditch effort, I called the seemingly most impossible of all word of mouth was traveling. It just kind of options, the largest of them all — Premiere. Believe it or not, they happened. were the only network that was willing to take us on, and asked me to come on out and have a meeting in Los Angeles. RI: Who were some of the first Mike Capozzoli brought me to Eileen Thorgusen, who in turn RADIOINK•COM clients you had? brought me to then-Premiere CFO Dan Yukelson. They saw some- Garte: KZFM in Corpus Christi, Texas, was thing in Mix and sent me back home to Miami with a contract in my first radio station I landed while still hand. I was able to move those barter stations — thank God — working at Power. Amazing story there, over to Premiere and finally monetize them in a 15-month effort actually: Last week we just booked them to get back on our feet. As you can imagine, 2006 was a rocky again! Great to have them back on. Then, year, recovering from 2005, where that other network really from KZFM, I booked KDHT in Austin. From screwed us. 37 RI: Did you ever get anything out of RI: You started out with about 30 stations. really is not as strong a relation between the them in court? How were you able to grow it to the almost two as one would think.