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10 Questions with ... Lindsay Reid
January 20, 2014
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I started in radio promotions at Sugar Hill Records in 2003 when they were based in Durham, NC. When they moved their offices to Nashville in 2007, I started my own company under the title Reid Promotions. In 2009, I joined Thirty Tigers full-time as their radio promoter but still work the occasional indie project.
1. What got you interested in the record business?
I've always loved music, from the moment my dad gave me my very first REM cassette tape (I think it was Reckoning). I'd always thought it would be cool to work in the music industry but just didn't know how to get involved. I was working in public television actually and fell into a career in music thanks in part to the rich local music scene in Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham. I met Steve Gardner through going to see live music around here and he hired me at Sugar Hill when they had an opening for a radio promoter.
2. Explain to us all the services under the Thirty Tigers umbrella.
Thirty Tigers is a multi-faceted company. We offer independent artists distribution, marketing, management, publicity and radio, depending on their needs.
3. What is your relationship with Thirty Tigers?
I am their full-time radio guy. I work full-time with Thirty Tigers out of my home in North Carolina. Their home office is in Nashville but I communicate with them on a daily basis.
4. What are some of your biggest challenges as an independent record label?
Well, just to clarify, Thirty Tigers isn't a normal record label. We work with artists who start up their own labels and provide them with distribution and whatever else they need. But just in general it's sometimes tough to compete with the big money of major labels. Since our labels are funded by the clients themselves, often there's just not much to budget to work with.
5. Who do you see as the next breakthrough artist for the label.
Definitely St. Paul & The Broken Bones. They are one of the best live acts I've ever seen. They are a classic soul band out of Birmingham, AL. We just launched the single to radio. I think people are going to hear a lot about them in 2014. Also keep an eye on Parker Millsap. He's a young (20 years old) singer/songwriter from Oklahoma and is a pretty amazing talent.
6. Things are changing rapidly in our business. Were it up to you, what would you change in our "system" to give your bands a better shot?
I really like the Thirty Tigers model, our artists retain ownership of their music, so we only succeed they do.
7. What's the wildest thing you ever did to get "the add" at a station?
Well, I'm not exactly a wild dude so not sure of anything specifically. But I'll often just keep bringing up a record over and over again to radio and once in a while that seems to work.
8. What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?
Whether or not radio as we know will continue to exist. How online streaming and streaming apps are changing the way folks listen to music. Hopefully, there will always be a place for some sort of local terrestrial radio.
9. What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?
I would probably still be in the television world. I was a producer for North Carolina Public Television before joining Sugar Hill.
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ...
... Coffee! (even though that's boring and what everyone says)
Bonus Questions
Last non-industry job:
Television producer
First record ever purchased:
R.E.M. Document
First concert:
Yes on the Big Generator tour in 1984. Random I know.
Favorite band of all-time:
Tied between R.E.M. and The Smiths
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Pretty average stuff -- going to see live music, drinking beer, watching football, hanging out with my wife.
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