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Kristen Williams
November 11, 2019
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Kristen Williams has been with Warner Music Nashville for 16 years, beginning as Manager of Secondary Promotion and working her way up through the ranks until she was promoted to Senior VP/Radio & Streaming in 2016 when the company merged its radio promotion and digital streaming teams. Under her leadership, Warner Music Nashville has notched 50 #1 singles since 2010, as well as seven platinum albums, seven gold albums, 38 gold singles, 31 platinum singles and 13 multi-platinum singles. A Minnesota native, Williams moved to Nashville at age 19 to pursue a music business degree at Belmont University.
Let's begin by talking about leadership. You oversee a team of about 25 people. What do you think the keys are to being both a great leader and an effective manager.
I would say empathy is key, and listening is incredibly important. Oftentimes leaders feel like they need to rule with an iron fist. I don't lead my team in that way. We have a very collaborative environment. Everyone's voice is heard. And, again, being empathetic to the situation, in my opinion, helps ... I think my team knows my leadership style and that they have enough leeway to make the decisions that they feel are appropriate to make. They know that I have their back. When those decisions turn out to be wrong, we'll talk about those. I think an effective manager would say we have to address concerns in the moment and identify when a misstep has been made. But then we move on. We learn from it. Again, I will always have my team's back. If they can explain to me why they made the decision they did, they know that they are protected. Nobody operates out of fear on my team, and I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the fact that everybody feels like they have a voice.
Are there one or two things that you've learned since becoming Senior VP that you wish you knew right at the outset?
Yeah, I would say time management. Trying to do everything right out of the gate and realizing that I couldn't was a big struggle for me. I didn't quite realize while accepting the position and taking on the streaming responsibilities, the doors of possibility that it opened for me. But it also then opened the flood gates of responsibility: partner meetings, partner calls, managers wanting to now not only take meetings about radio but about streaming. I wasn't able to, in my opinion, effectively get up and running as quickly as I had wanted.
Three years later, I feel like I can look back on that now and kind of laugh. At the time, I felt like I was literally drowning. When we came to the conclusion that this was what we were going to do, Espo [Chairman/CEO John Esposito] literally said to me, "You are going to feel like you are drinking out of a fire hose." With every promotion I've ever been given, and with every advancement I've ever made in my career, I never really felt that until this move, and then I truly did. I thought, "Oh man, I hope I've made the right decision." But now, looking back, I know I have.
This kind of goes back to your question about being a great leader or an effective manager, [part of it was] recognizing and admitting that I didn't know everything. My expertise was radio promotion, and here I was now talking to DSPs with a limited knowledge -- some knowledge, but limited on what their platforms offered -- and just admitting the fact that I had a steep learning curve. [It was] recognizing that I would go into these conversations not having or knowing the answers all of the time. But at the end of the day -- whether you're calling on radio or you're calling on streaming -- it boils down to great music, great artists, and great relationships, and that doesn't change no matter who you're speaking to.
Just for fun, let's unpack everything that was involved in the recent and very elaborate launch of your Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber single, "10,000 Hours," from the initial secrecy around the launch to early radio acceptance. It seems like a great example of everything that your job entails.
Oh, I took years off of my life. I turn 40 in December, and I swear to God, I thought maybe I'm not going to get there. [Laughs]
It was incredibly intense in a positive way, but keeping the secrecy and keeping quiet the fact that Justin Bieber specifically was on the track was something I was afraid we might not be able to do. I was really, truly astonished at the team and their efforts. Dan [Smyers] played the song for a few people in the building. Again, [we were] sworn to secrecy. This was in the early days. When we finally got a copy of the song, a secure link to it, we were not allowed to send it to anyone. So we feverishly jumped on planes and played it for people across the country. We were not allowed to send it to anyone, so we had to do it in person. In a couple instances. I played it for people over the phone. It was good, old fashioned radio promotion right there.
Stopping short of having people sign an NDA, we told them the plan and told them they had to keep it quiet as we followed Dan + Shay's release plans on their socials. When they announced it to their fans, then we could talk about it [openly].
We had so much participation from Dan + Shay that it felt like we were all in it together ... Both Dan and Shay [Mooney] were literally with us the entire time, from helping record the audio liners to getting video content. As soon as the single was dropped, they jumped on the phone with Country radio. They did a satellite radio tour all day Friday morning. They made the rounds here in Nashville in advance so that everybody here in town had an opportunity to interview them. They got back on the phones Monday morning when the announcement of their arena tour went live. I don't know exactly how many Country radio stations, but I would venture to guess that they talked to probably 50-plus Country radio stations over the course of those two days, and that does not include the syndication that they hit here in Nashville. They were a huge participant in the launch of this single.
We didn't know what to expect, but Country radio has embraced this with open arms. We've been thrilled with the reception this single has had not only with Country radio, but with the fans. And having Justin Bieber on a track really, truly opened the doors for Dan + Shay in a global way.
[But] I just want to be certain that everybody understands that Dan + Shay aren't going anywhere. They are committed to this format. They are committed to Country radio, and they want nothing more than to continue cranking out Country radio hits. But having an opportunity to have Justin Bieber on a song opened up so many more avenues for them and, in my opinion, the Country genre as a whole because of it. It was an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
On special projects like "10,000 Hours," and also just in general, how closely do you work with Warner's L.A. operation, and how do those synergies help your efforts?
We've been working with the L.A. office now for quite some time, specifically with Dan + Shay, but we've had certain [other] projects that we've tossed around back and forth. It's a great partnership. It's growing, and there's a mutual respect. Dan + Shay crossing over in particular has been a very fun experience. We've been allowed to lead the way, and they've been incredibly respectful of the fact that Dan + Shay grew their roots within this format. I like to think that we've been very protective of that relationship.
But there is a great synergy between our record labels and New York as well. Our label in particular has a great opportunity, because when you come into this end of this record label here at 20 Music East, you actually have so many more assets and resources than [those that] are right here on Music Row because of the relationship that we built with our team in New York and the team in L.A.
You have three promotion and streaming teams working different artist projects, WAR, WEA and WMN, but you call them promotion teams rather than imprints. Can you explain the distinction?
I don't know that I can [laughs]. I've been trying to explain it for years and still [see] so much confusion. I guess it all goes back to the beginning days of when I was working records here. I worked artists that were signed to Warner Brothers, like Blake Shelton. I was also working artists that were signed to Atlantic, like Hunter Hayes. And there were other artists that were assigned to specific imprints, like Reprise, and we worked all of them. We had one promotion team, and if it was Country, no matter the imprint it was signed to there was one promotion team and we took it all the Country radio.
As the label grew we had to expand. But knowing that we had artists that were signed to Atlantic and Warner Brothers and all of these different imprints, we didn't want to dismantle the team or separate those artists from the promotion team that they knew. So what we decided to do is rename the teams. The original first team, the one that I came up through, just remained the WMN team. Then we launched another team and we gave them the WAR acronym ... And then the third came along and we decided to stick with the same model and we named them the WEA team. We have had ongoing conversations about whether or not that's the right thing to do, whether we should change the names, but frankly, a name is a name. And as long as people know the artists that are associated with each team, that's all that matters to me.
By now radio's got it down, right?
Oh, you'd be surprised.
What are the biggest challenges in record promotion these days?
There's no question it's a challenging time. Radio consolidation has had an impact on getting new artists played, trying to find that story to break through the onslaught of so many artists that are being brought to Country radio. I think that's our biggest challenge in general is coming to radio with something that they need to pay attention to. Everybody has a "story." It's just how do you tell the right story, and how do you put it in context with what is going on? It's critical for us nowadays that when we bring a new artist, or even established artists, to Country radio, there has to be momentum. There has to be something, whether it's a ticket [sales] story, an early streaming story, an early social story, there's got to be something that we can bring to radio to show them why they should choose artist X over the other two dozen that they have to choose from.
That is essentially the way it's always been. But in a weird way, the format has established so many superstars that are still cranking out hits. We've established, now, some B level acts that continue to crank out hits. And now we have a really great crop of new artists that are delivering hits, and there's only one place for it to go. We don't have the luxury that some other formats do in that there are other places to break. We have one lane, and it's all Country radio. And so we're all fighting for that same spot.
Gabby Barrett is a great example right now. We have a true, honest, phenomenal story developing with Gabby Barrett, and [were] going on 12 weeks and [hadn't] charted the single. [Note: Barrett's debut single, "I Hope," has now been on the Mediabase chart for three weeks since this interview was conducted.] I'm not discouraged by that because the average time to chart a radio single has increased exponentially over the last years. But it's worth it to me. I look at this and I go, "This is an artist worth fighting for, and we will break her through." There's too much going on with the fans for us not to be able to break this through. In my opinion, she is the next Carrie Underwood. She is that good.
Do you have a promotion philosophy?
I'm very, very clear with my team [that] I want to be the most honest and the most transparent record label in town, and those radio partners and streaming partners that we have excellent relationships with notice. We don't shuck and jive. We don't spin a tale ... We're going to bring you hits [but] I like to think that if we recognize we don't have a hit, that we are going to come off of that. We're not going to continue to come to radio with stuff and try to shove it into an already clogged chart if it doesn't matter.
Just a little over three years ago you added streaming to everyone's titles and duties in the radio promotion department. There was a little bit of push back from radio at the time, with programmers thinking that they were being devalued. How did you overcome that initial concern?
I don't know that there was necessarily "push back," but there were a lot of questions and comments about the fact that we were adding streaming to our daily routine, and the best way to combat that was just through constant communication. Espo and I recognized right out of the gate that this could be a potential issue. As soon as the announcement had been made, I actually called all of the format captains within the Country genre and explained to them that this was only going to be a positive, that that we weren't taking our eye off the ball on radio whatsoever.
We did understand, and still understand, that Country radio is a key driver for new music discovery. But this gave us the ability to super serve some of our streaming partners the way that radio has been super served for years. At the end of the day, I think most people understood that and didn't question our commitment to radio based on the fact that we were still unwavering in our support. Any concern that arose died down quickly based on the fact that we were still there calling radio every day and being the best and most transparent label in town.
Obviously three years ago streaming was a big deal. It's an even bigger deal now. How much did that decision to combine radio and streaming turn out to be a smart move for your company?
I have to give a lot of credit to my team. We collectively recognized where the puck was headed. We recognized three years ago that streaming was going to [continue to be] be a big part of our business. It definitely has grown. I would like it to grow further. I think we still have a long way to go when it comes to the Country genre as a whole and getting our fans to adapt to this new consumption model. But I do feel strongly that we were ahead of the curve as a label and, because of that, our relationships at the DSPs in particular have never been stronger.
In addition to giving some of my radio team members streaming responsibility, we actually were able to hire people dedicated just solely to the streaming model. And we've grown and super served our partners in a way that I don't know that all labels are doing right now.
At the end of the day, I think that everyone has benefited: the label side has benefited, radio has benefited, and so has streaming.
The perception is that streaming services are easier to work, embrace records earlier and play more records than radio. But what are the particular challenges involved in working records to streaming services?
Believe it or not, they're very similar. The great thing that DSPs have to offer, and that the streaming services have to offer, is that there are multiple playlists that an artist can be added to. But the reality is that everybody wants the big, premiere playlists out of the gate. And those premiere playlists have only a certain number of slots, programmed by an individual who has editorial decision on the playlist. So it's not unlike radio in that way ... DSPs however, do offer -- as do some radio chains -- other marketing opportunities. Video has become such a big player in the streaming space. And there are other ways of artist discovery through those platforms rather than just getting added to the premiere playlist ... But once you are placed on a playlist, the song needs to perform, and the song needs to research and provide the metrics that those editors want to see in order to remain in that playlist. So, very similar challenges.
Describe a couple of things that you and your team have accomplished in the last year that you're particularly proud of.
The launch of Ingrid Andress is an ongoing endeavor, but I'm incredibly proud of that setup. We knew that Ingrid was very, very special the moment we met her, and she started turning in music that was insanely good. So we knew that the setup had to be insanely impactful. [VP/Radio & Streaming] Tom Martens, [WEA National Dir./Radio & Streaming] Adrian Michaels and team WEA, took that artist and her music and set it up perfectly. We tried some different things. We did not just do a traditional, coast-to-coast radio tour because we recognized that might not be the right setup model for her. So we did some different things, and it was incredibly effective. We put her in front of the right people at the right time and, of course, it helps that she's brilliant. But I'm just so proud of that setup. It was lengthy. We took our time, and it was done flawlessly.
Dan + Shay would be the other right now that I would point to. I came into Dan + Shay's career midway ... Here we are six #1s later, and this massive launch with "10,000 Hours." I'm thrilled to see their star rise. No one deserves it more. They are the hardest working duo in this format. We joke that Dan is our fifth regional. He talks to Country radio as much as we do. They've earned every bit of success that they've achieved. And to be a small part of that has just been an incredible ride. It's such an accomplishment, and to look at it and say, "We're just getting started with these guys," that's exciting to me.
What music do you have coming up in 2020 that you're especially excited about?
We've got some new albums coming. We've got a new album by Blake Shelton that's going to come at the end of this year. And, we're going to have some new music coming from Kenny Chesney [in 2020], and new Dan + Shay music. We always have a special new artist or two that we'll be focused on for next year. And I gotta tell you, we've got a really great crop of developing artists. It'll be exciting to see what 2020 brings.
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