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10 Questions with ... Lynn McDonnell
December 6, 2021
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I’ve had an illustrious career, spanning many great companies including Radio & Records, Interscope Records, Time Bomb Recordings, The Firm, Reprise Records, Live Nation, Epic Records, MARS Music.
1. What got you interested in the record business?
Interestingly enough, I had no idea such jobs existed. I always wanted to be a network TV news anchor. I envisioned myself as the next Diane Sawyer. When I first moved to L.A., I was working overnights at KFWB (All News 98) pulling newswire and running the cart machine. There, I met Yvonne Olsen. She was the News Talk Editor at R&R and picked up weekend shifts to make extra money for her impending nuptials to now KINK/Portland OM/PD Gene Sandbloom. She encouraged me to apply for an opening that was available as an assistant at R&R.
That led to meeting Michael Papale. He was a rock indie at the time and bribed me with concert tickets, backstage passes and meet and greets to slip him the chart numbers early. Back in those days all the Promo VPs were on hold at the front desk impatiently awaiting their weekly numbers. He got to look good, and I had a blast at shows. We became great friends and he courted me to come work at a new label called Interscope. I couldn’t believe people got paid to talk on the phone all day about music, go to concerts and meet bands. I thought I died and went to heaven.
2. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?
My parents listened to WKBW/Buffalo -- Danny Neaverth in the Morning. That was my introduction to morning radio, and radio in general. I then went on to listen to WGRF/Buffalo, the rock station. I interned at WPHD/Buffalo with John Hager. Since we were right across the border from Canada, CFNY/Toronto was also one of my favorite stations. They were and still are cutting edge and cool.
3. What have you been up to the past couple of years?
I took a two-year hiatus from the music industry to see what else is out there. I have a keen interest in human behavior, what makes people who they are, and how conditioning and beliefs are the foundation of habits. I got certified as a life coach and hypnotist and used those skills to work as the Dean of Discipline and Attendance at the local High School. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience. I learned a lot about family dysfunction, and how your environment plays a key role in your model of reality. Most of the kids I encountered daily were in some sort of crisis. It certainly was a 180 from the music business, or is it? lol
4. What prompted you to get back “into it” and apply for the All Access Triple A Editor position?
Honestly, I always kept in touch with people and in tune with what was happening. I still read All Access, and even wrote my personal-development column there until recently. I think my heart has always been in it, I just didn’t know where I fit anymore. I didn’t want to go back to a corporate setting, and Indie work was too volatile. When the Triple A Editor job surfaced, I thought it was a perfect combination of being in the business yet working in a family environment. Win/Win.
5. As someone who has mostly viewed Triple A from the outside in – what are your impressions of the format and the community?
Here’s where I will share a recent experience that sums up the format for me. I was visiting my friend Kelly in New York; she is an avid WFUV listener and supporter. She told me how she cried when Rita Houston passed away. This is a person who doesn’t know her personally but was so immersed in the station that it moved her to tears. It’s a format that is passionate about music, where the community they serve is literally “invested” in their success through pledging financial support, and whose personalities are a brand that the listeners would consider a friend.
6. How do you think that perspective will give you a fresh approach to the job?
I am perceiving myself as the Ted Lasso of Triple A. It’s been an ancillary format for me, but the crux of the business is the same. Football vs. Soccer - coaching is coaching. It’s still all about relationships, and an aligned passion for music. In fact, a lot of the Alternative players have pivoted to Triple A. I think it’ll be refreshing, as the Alternative format has become quite cookie cutter and nationally branded.
7. What do you view as the most important issue facing radio today?
Getting back to the root of serving a community locally. The pandemic was a prime example of people turning to local news outlets and radio for information on what’s happening in their neighborhood. They didn’t want to know national covid numbers and shutdowns, they wanted to know what was going on where they live from people they know and trust. Local personalities, local programming. Community and connection! Triple A has mastered this.
8. What is your best advice for up-and-coming radio folks and promotion reps?
Although a job in the Music industry is immensely fun and rewarding it’s not your identity. I remember when I lost my job at Reprise, I experienced an identity crisis. I lived and breathed my job and made it my lifestyle. I identified myself as “Lynn from Reprise.” This is not who I really am at my core. It’s just something I did to provide for my family.
By definition, an identity crisis is a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society. Here’s the kicker, nothing in life is certain, except uncertainty. The shit-show of 2020 is a prime example of it. So many people in our industry lost their jobs. Many communicated “This is all I know.” It’s not, it’s just what you DO for now. You are not a label that society slaps on you because of a trade or skill that provides you an income. You are not more or less important than your friends, neighbors or colleagues should you lose the title or job that goes with it.
So, my advice is to show up at 100% everyday, have fun, mentor people on your team, build relationships and be authentically YOU. Then go home and leave it at the office, or in the living room if the office is your house - lol.
9. What would surprise people most about you?
Honestly, I am not sure if there’s anything surprising about me. I am pretty open about most things, and what you see is what you get. I am a straight shooter. Perhaps people may not be aware of my vulnerable side. I spent most of my life as a promo person operating from a YANG male energy. I do have a soft heart and can be very compassionate and YIN.
10. Fill in the blank …
… I can’t get through the day without meditation, exercise and coffee!
Bonus Questions
Are you involved in any charity or philanthropic organizations?
I am involved with PVED -- Parents Via Egg Donation. I had my 13-year-old twins when I was 44 through the gift of an egg donor. I would not be a parent without her. PVED is a supportive, informed organization that helps people battling infertility learn about third party family building.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Learning about quantum physics and why we are all here in the jungles of space and time called Earth.
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