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10 Questions with ... Scott Emerson
March 30, 2009
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NAME:Scott EmersonTITLE:OwnerCOMPANY:Emerdood PromotionBORN:Plymouth, Ma (America's Home Town) December 2, 1962RAISED:Duxbury, MA
Please outline your radio career so far:
Top 40 radio station 106 WIGY in Bath - Me Night Jock - 1986-1988
Howard Rosen Promotion - Top 40 Promotion - 1989-1991
Platinum Marketing - AC Promotion - 1992-1993
A&M Records - National AC/Hot AC - 1993-1999
Interscope/Geffen/A&M - Hot AC Guy - 1999-2007
Emerdood Promotion - Hot AC Promotion - 2008-Present1) What led you to a career in the music business?
I bought my first Beatles album when I was seven. It's framed and hangs on my wall today. I learned guitar and drums at a very early age as well and I played in bands in high school.
In 1981 while in college back in Boston I worked at the Orpheum Theater and was front row center for some of the most amazing shows by Frank Zappa, U2, Bob Dylan and countless others. I've collected records all my life and when I found a job existed where you could talk about records and get paid for it, that's all I needed to hear, sign me up.
2) What's been your most rewarding project to work?
Well, it wasn't one project as much as it was one artist. I worked every Sheryl Crow single from her first album, "Tuesday Night Music Club" in 1993 to "Wildflower in 2005." I remember her getting on our promotion conference call and thanking everyone for helping T.N.M.C. go gold. It has been fun throughout the years going to shows, seeing the audience grow and still hearing her hits from those days on the radio today.
3) What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?
WBCN in Boston. The music was great, the personalities were big; Charles Laquidera and the Big Mattress, Captain Ken Shelton, Mighty Mark Parenteau (before he was brought up on charges). Each shift really was its own show, not just the next guy on the air. That was a great radio station.
4) What is the biggest thrill about breaking new music to the masses?
I always get a kick out of hearing a song I am promoting on the radio for the very first time. It never gets old. Its fun to drive in the car with someone and watch them turn up a song they like and know I worked it.
5) What's the worst excuse you ever heard from a programmer?
God, I've heard a million of them, I'm sure if a bunch of us (Record Promoters) got together we could probably create a lovely coffee table book full of them. It's actually fun calling guys out and saying do you hear yourself dude? I remember working a Vanessa Carlton song and the programmer told me "I don't know, she sounds really young, I'm going to have to wait a week". "No problem man, I'll call you next week, I'm sure she'll sound much older by then". That wasn't the worst, I can't repeat the worst.
6) What's the longest road trip you've ever been on, and where did it take you?
I was in the middle of an East Coast trip. I was on my second day of it when I got a call saying I needed to go to Hawaii to cover a show. I woke up the next morning in Philly, Drove to a breakfast meeting in Baltimore, lunch in Washington DC, an early dinner in Norfolk, then it was off to the airport for a connection in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and then finally to Honolulu where it started pouring fifteen minutes after I arrived. Good times.
7) Do you think that showcases, artist visits and conference room concerts are all viable in getting new acts introduced to radio? Are they worth the investment?
I do believe it is very important. We can talk about an artist until we are blue in the face, and it just doesn't compare to seeing the act live. Nothing can replace it. Anything can happen when an artist and a programmer connect. I can't tell you how many times I've seen programmers come up with great ideas or opportunities to expose the artist in their markets after spending some time with them and seeing them do their thing.
8) Are you finding that today's "baby" bands are getting a fair shot at radio and more importantly, are they being given the airplay they need to break through to the masses and be recognized?
No. There is so much great music that most of the country will never hear. Gone are the days where we'd work an album for two years. It's really a shame.
9) If you could change one thing about the current state of radio, what would you change?
I wish more programmers had the autonomy to really be able to call the shots and play the songs they really felt would be best for their markets. I understand the dollars and cents behind a lot of what's going on today. I just wish there were more opportunities for a programmer to hear a great song in his or her office, walk down the hall to the studio and tell the jock to throw it on right then.
10) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?
A friend of mine said something when we were both starting out in this business. He said, "It doesn't matter what your position is or which company you work for, the most important thing you take with you is your word." I believe that and have made sure I have kept mine throughout my entire career.
Bonus Questions
1) Who is your favorite artist that you have ever met or worked with?
Sting, a lot of young artists could stand to read the section from the Sting playbook entitled "Doing What It Takes." We went around the country several years ago with him and did some of the most amazing sound check parties I've ever seen. The band would be getting ready for the show. There were radio winners sitting in the hall watching. Sting would come out with a music stand and a bunch of lyric sheets, he then invited members of the audience to come up and sing any Sting or Police song while the band played behind them and he sang back up....doesn't get much better than that.
2) What's the best concert you've been to so far this year and why?
This year? Believe it or not it was a seventies band, Sweet. It was so much fun. "Love is Like Oxygen", "Ball Room Blitz", "Fox on The Run"......C'mon, you know that sounds like fun.
3) What was the first concert you ever attended?
Bad Company with the Climax Blues Band opening at The Boston Garden tickets were $7.00 (and a decant bag of weed was $20)
4) Name a record person, not on your label, that you really admire?
That's easy. Lori Anderson at Wind-up. There is not a better promotion person in the business. She is passionate, driven and without a doubt the most thorough promotion person there is.
5) What do you do in your spare time?
I like to Hike Runyan Canyon and Ride the bike path between North Hollywood and Woodland hills, about 30 miles round trip. Another favorite past time these days is stay the hell out of the way while my fiance' plans our upcoming wedding. We made a deal, she's just going to send me an invitation so I know when and where to be.
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