Post-Spotify, John Marks Shares Streaming, Industry Expertise in New Venture
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2021 JULY 6 CountryInsider.com | Sign Up For Daily Email Here Post-Spotify, John Marks Shares Streaming, Industry Expertise In New Venture. John Marks is taking his experience at Spotify, SiriusXM and terrestrial radio and applying that knowledge to his new artist-consulting company. “I’ve learned through watching data over the last five-and-a-half years and how people behave to have some coaching ideas that I can help people at all levels,” Spotify’s former global head of country tells Country Insider. Marks resigned from Spotify in April and opened the doors to his new company in late June, availing both new and established artists with coaching opportunities based on more than 30 years in radio and streaming services. (Continued on page 4) COUNTRY INSIDER TOP 5: The Long, Slow Rise Of Larry Fleet’s “Where I Find God.” FGL, Friends To Launch First Tennessee Amphitheater With Feeding Nashville Benefit Show. Seven Mountains Media Expands ‘Bigfoot Country’ In Wilkes-Barre, PA And Elmira, NY Markets. Consultant Joel Raab Wonders: Is Content Really King? And If It’s Not, What Is? Teamwork: Chris Young and Kane Brown’s “Famous Friends” Tops The Mediabase Chart. 1 | JULY 6, 2021 CountryInsider.com John Scott Bob Delmont My Top 5 Male “Robbie, John and Toni” My Top 5 Country Middays - WPOC Mornings, WQIK Songs Of All Time: Bands Of All Time: Baltimore, MD Jacksonville, FL 1. He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones 1. Alabama 2. Believe - Brooks and Dunn 2. Zac Brown 3. There Goes My Life - 3. Little Big Town Kenny Chesney 4. If Tomorrow Never Comes - 4. The Chicks Garth Brooks 5. Old Dominion 5. Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell “Together: Feeding Nashville” To Christen New Franklin, TN Amphitheater. Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris, Lauren Alaina, Russell Dickerson and Lily Rose lead the lineup for “Together: Feeding Nashville,” the first concert at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, TN. The Aug. 3 concert benefits Feeding Nashville, a nonprofit started last year by Hayley Hubbard, who is married to FGL’s Tyler Hubbard, and Taylin Lewan, the wife of Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan. “These artists that are involved are great people with great hearts and jump at an opportunity to do what we love for a greater cause,” Tyler Hubbard tells Country Insider. Barstool Sports’ “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, which Taylor Lewan co-hosts, is the concert’s presenting sponsor. Tickets go on sale Friday. Matt Stell Staging “Frontline Fest” For Healthcare Workers. “That Ain’t Me No More” singer Matt Stell teams up with Whiskey Jam to honor frontline healthcare workers with “Frontline Fest” on Monday, July 12. Frontline workers who show up with their work ID will get to skip the line to get into the concert, which takes place in the parking lot at Losers, near Music Row. Collin Raye, Walker Hayes, Tenille Arts, Adam Doleac, Hannah Dasher and Southerland are set to join Stell for the free concert. Carly Pearce Gets Country’s First Gold Record Of July. The Recording Industry Association of America has certified Carly Pearce’s “Next Girl” gold, for downloads and streams totaling 500,000 units. “Next Girl,” which sits at No. 17 on this week’s Mediabase country chart, is Pearce’s fourth single to receive RIAA gold certification, along with “Hide the Wine,” “Every Little Thing” (now platinum) and, with Lee Brice, “I Hope You’re Happy Now” (platinum). FGL, Bebe Rexha’s “Meant To Be” Joins YouTube’s “Billion Views Club.” ‘Meant to Be,” the 2017 crossover hit from Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, joins the list of videos in YouTube’s “Billion Views Club.” It’s FGL’s first entry into the club and Rexha’s second, following “Hey Mama,” a David Guetta track on which she was featured with Nicki Minaj and Afrojack. Korean entertainer Psy had the first video to garner a billion views with 2012’s “Gangnam Style.” 3 | JULY 6, 2021 CountryInsider.com John Marks’ New Venture. (Continued from page 1) “There are a lot of people who [ask], ‘How can I get Swindell, Chase Rice and Mitchell Tenpenny. playlisted?’” Mark says. “I’ll give you the answer: There is no answer to that.” “John was one of my early believers — he is Instead, Marks’ boutique company crafts a strategy a true music lover and unique to each individual at their particular career has a passion for artists,” level. Tenpenny says. “Everyone has a different set of needs,” he says. Marks championed many “The streaming areas in particular, playlisting is not other acts during his a strategy, it’s an outcome. time at Spotify, including independent artist Kaylee “If you’re lucky enough to get playlisted early that’s Rose. She says his help was invaluable. fantastic, but you can’t rely on that. You need a foundational process for building your artistry, “John took a chance on my songs during a time building your following, building your social media when other people in the industry shot them platforms. Those are the fundamentals I coach.” down,” says Rose, whose songs have been featured on Spotify’s Wild Country and Fresh Finds: Country Methodology, however, will be very different for a playlists. “He’s not afraid to take a risk on an legacy act than for a new artist. independent artist if he believes in the sound and “Legacy artists are rooted in FM radio,” Marks says. vision, and because of that I am forever grateful “They’re challenged with bringing their audience for him. His support helped give my music a bigger into the streaming world or finding the audience platform and opened the door to other amazing that’s currently there.” opportunities. I’ve even had my songs played on huge primary radio stations due to his exposure he For newcomers, Marks first dispels the delusion gave me on Spotify.” they should take their music to radio immediately. Marks moved to Nashville in 2010 to head “I think radio is still an important component for SiriusXM’s country country music artists,” he says. “But the focus music programming needs to center on building an audience, building after more than 30 your touring, building merchandising sales and years in terrestrial building a good foundational approach to your radio. He started his social media.” radio career in high school at WPFB in Once that foundation is built, Marks suggests a Middletown, OH, with consistent, strategic release of music with content stops at Cumulus supporting those releases. “Only when all of these Media KKAT-AM Salt elements come together will radio notice a new act, Lake City, UT (860) and iHeartMedia KWNR Las he says.” Vegas (95.5), before spending seven years with then-Lincoln Financial Media (now Audacy) KSON Marks’ strategies for introducing acts have proven San Diego (103.7). successful. During his five- Marks’ radio experience provides backup when he year tenure as advises his clients that streaming success doesn’t senior director always equate to radio success. But that doesn’t of country mean radio is entirely out of the question. programming for SiriusXM, he “I have seen areas where radio hits don’t translate played a key role inside of streaming and some streaming hits may in familiarizing not translate into radio,” he says. “One size doesn’t country listeners fit all every time. There are times when a song is with Florida Georgia Line, Maren Morris, Cole going to kill it in one area of music and maybe not another.” 4 | JULY 6, 2021 CountryInsider.com Why Stations Keep Finding Larry Fleet And “Where I Find God.” Singer-songwriter Larry Fleet finds God in nature’s tough for a brand new artist to break at radio. It was beauty when he’s hunting and fishing. He may have probably not the safest move you would go with, but it also found God in his long, slow rise up the country just seemed to work and people loved it.” charts. WXBQ in Johnson City, TN, added the song in May Fleet’s debut single, “Where I Find God,” has been 2020. “We played it and said, ‘What do you think?’” played at country radio for more than a year, officially says WXBQ’s Bill Hagy. “It exploded. We played it for going for adds last October. While its peak spins came over six months in a heavy rotation because it kept in March, stations keep adding it: SummitMedia’s six testing. It was the best-testing song that we’ve had in stations added it in June, five adding it two weeks ago, the last year.” more than 35 weeks into the record’s life. Stacy Blythe, Senior VP of promotion for Big Loud The song may be a bigger hit than its chart position Records, says, “Bill Hagy called me early in the record suggests, as its adds have been spread out over and said, ‘Listen, we have to put this in power. Our months. listeners just want to hear it more.’ They are at almost 1,300 spins into this record at this Fleet says the song’s long rise has been both point.” gratifying and nerve-wracking. “I don’t think we would have survived “There was a lot of steam after without those stations that were the early we put it out,” he says. “We believers. They were building our story and were getting research back the story that we needed to gain the belief of and for a lot of places it was some others.” the top song that they had on their station, and they played it Blythe says she has never a lot.