Pete Cosenza

Pete Cosenza has been promoting records to Adult radio formats for over 17 years. Yet don't let the longevity and consistency fool you. Radio promotion, while staying true to the basic concept, has evolved markedly over the years, as Adult radio formats splinter, with some staying unique and others merging back into one. Add to that the new paradigm of a consolidated radio world, now being impacted by the PPM in major markets, and it's clear to see that Cosenza has had to adapt to the times to succeed. Here's how he has done it:

"Relationships" has always been considered to be the key to promoting records to radio. Is that still the case in today's radio environment ... and if it is, is it anymore difficult to maintain them?

The relationship is still the #1 most important thing between a record label and a radio station. Without relationships, you have nothing. And I don't think it's any more difficult nowadays; it's still about the people, how you present yourself and your company, and how you follow through on doing good business.

Do you alter your promotional strategies or style when working the various niches of Adult radio, be it Adult Top 40, Hot AC, Modern AC or Triple A?

I don't look at it that way. I don't believe there are niches in the format; I see this as one big umbrella with a few different names for what I believe is the same thing - an adult-appeal station that plays pop music. Some are more aggressive than others and lead the way; others follow up

The only thing that makes my job harder is that programmers are more and more picky and choosy about what they play, whether it's a pop record or a softer Rhythmic-based. There's a lot more for programmers to choose from, but the way I see it, stations that play the most hits for adults are the most successful. It doesn't matter if the record's coming from the Top 40 world, the Alternative world or the Rhythmic world. If the song is a hit with adults, you get it on the air. Stations that create a real sense of musical balance have the most success.

You mentioned stations that are aggressive with new music and those that follow. Is it still important to get your record on the big "influential" station first because the others will be more likely to add it if they see that station is on it?

I don't believe so. So many stations have the market to their own that they are comfortable going in their own direction. They have great programmers at their stations who have great tools to work with in terms of research and access to information. They work with consultants or group PDs. With so many resources in hand today, I don't believe that stations follow the more influential or bigger-market stations. The days of programmers closely looking at each other's adds -- so that when one big station jumps on a record, 15 others fall in line -- are gone. Our job is to get airplay on as many stations as possible, week after week, no matter what sized market they're in.

That kind of an environment would seem to make your job more difficult.

It absolutely makes it harder, but also to a certain degree, it makes it more fun. I get to go out and work each and every station to put our records into rotation. Things just don't fall in line as quickly anymore.

Would I be correct in presuming that the current era of syndication and Premium Content is also more of a challenge, on that it cuts into the available slots to get your records played?

If all I was considering were the stations that use syndicated programming, yes. But it isn't more difficult for me because I haven't changed the way I do my job. I always felt that if a station has a signal and any personality likes your music, I went after them. I don't care if it's a reporting station or not ... and it doesn't matter that much to me who the person is -- if I can get people excited about my music, I talk to them. I've been doing that for 17 years at Columbia; I just believe in getting everybody and anybody excited about my music. Not just the PD and MD but the marketing people, jocks, specialty programmers, producers ... whoever might be talking about music in the halls and the music meetings.

People have noticed how the PPM impacted radio, in terms of format flips changing the clocks and relying more on music. How has the PPM impacted the way you promote your records?

The only way it has affected me is that it is showing how the Adult Top 40 format in general has many more listeners than its ever been given credit for. Because of that, the format is being looked at as being more important, so I think it's great. I always believed Adult Top 40 stations had more listeners than they were given credit for; when you go to their events and see the results -- people talking about concerts and giveaways - and see how the audience reacts. That's the best judge of who's really listening to your station. The old diary system wasn't giving Adult Top 40 enough credit for its listeners. Getting PPM has shown Adult Top 40 has a significant audience.

But aren't you concerned that the PPM will prompt programmers to play it safer and take fewer chances on new music from new or unknown artists?

Initially I was, but there's a misnomer about why people tune out on radio stations. If you talk to people at Arbitron and other research people, you'll find out that new music is NOT a tune-out. Bad music is ... bad music by anybody. But new music by new or established artists is not necessarily a tune-out. It takes programmers who are first introduced to PPM a little time to get passed that preconceived notion. When they do, they get right back into the game. It's very exciting to see the learning curve with PPM.

It's not that much different than when the monitoring systems came into being. Mediabase and BDS initially changed the game, the way people looked at records being hits. Eventually it became something really good because it showed what really was happening with records. The labels adjusted to it, made the changes they needed to make to show people where the records were successful and were selling. It actually helped the record companies. It'll be the same with the PPM; it will help the industry by making radio stations even better. It's already showing that they're better than given credit for in terms of drawing a large audience. Once people realize how to use this new information, it'll make for even more exciting radio.

Some have noted that having some markets use PPM and other use diary creates two different kinds of radio stations built around their respective monitoring systems. Do you promote your music differently depending on if the station is under the PPM or a diary?

No, you promote your records with excitement and enthusiasm ... and show people why your record belongs on their station. Whether it's market #1 or #101, a PPM market or not, we have to show people why we believe our songs are having success, be it sales, research or audience reaction. We have many tools at our disposal.

How important is it for you to have your Adult records cross over into (or from) other formats?

It depends on the artist. Some artists and music can have great success at one particular format, but it doesn't cross over. However, most often, for 95% of our records, we do our best to spread the music to as many formats as possible.

Does the fact that more programmers are overseeing multiple stations make it easier to do that?

Not easier. Most companies we deal with don't do group adds or when one PD gets excited about a song, spreads it to 10 others in chain. So it's not any easier or harder.

As you noted, BDS and Mediabase has changed the way the labels sell and market their records - in that case, set up a record to optimize first-week sales. Have you tweaked your promotional set-up to optimize out-of-the-box adds?

Absolutely not. It's much more important to have a game plan, of building a base of stations over certain period of time. That's far more important than gearing up for a gigantic debut.

Set-up is still crucial, but it's different now. We don't gear it for an impact week; our set-up is for impacting a couple of months. Instead of launching a project for a certain add day or time, we want an impact within a certain time frame. It's more about the first couple months instead of just the first or second week. It can take anywhere from two to three months to set up a record before release; that depends on the artist and the music being well known.

Are you spending more time promoting your records to alternative media, such as satellite and Internet radio?

I wouldn't say more of my time. I do find the people who care about music and want to play new music ... and we approach those people and work them as often as we can. I certainly won't ignore people in Internet radio and the satellite world who are excited by our music.

Have you considered promoting your music on Pandora?

I love Pandora. The concept is brilliant but because of what it is, I'm not sure that promotion really fits into the model. If the model changes and what it's about changes, it would be possible to promote there. But the way I see and use Pandora, it's not somebody promoting me or telling me I should like something because the station think it's cool, it's telling you, through an algorithm of the way the music sound and feels, that it's something similar to music you already like. That's what makes it so cool.

Does the performance royalty issue ever come up in your conversation with programmers, or is that subject something you don't want to bring up?

I've had conversations with people about this on occasion. If they want to talk about it, I'll be happy to talk about it. I do feel it's out of my hands ... and to certain degree it's out of the programmer's hands. It's more of a governmental/political issue that I'm not involved in heavily. People whose job it is to program contemporary radio have to play contemporary music; the threat of [a royalty] isn't slowing them down so far. I'm not the kind of guy who's worried about what could happen. If the law ever passes, I'll deal with what's dealt to me.

Let's talk about what you're dealing with today. What bands are you excited about working?

Right now, we're breaking Angel Taylor, who has incredible talent, passion and charisma. When she gets in front of people, she is very charming. It's incredibly gratifying to see how her audience has grown over the past few months thanks to the great early exposure she's gotten from radio and VH1. She has toured non-stop ... and has truly developed as an artist. I'm extremely excited about the follow-up singles from Train and John Mayer. Even though these tunes are following up gigantic first singles, radio is just as excited about the new music, which doesn't happen too often. We have a couple of bands -- Temper Trap and Band Of Horses - that are just really cool. I love their sound and overall vibe.

And...... there's Miranda Cosgrove, who is coming from Nickelodeon and the pop world. I believe she is going to be a giant force at Adult Top 40. She has some great pop music that appeals to kids, but also has tremendous adult appeal.

Finally, what about your personal outlook: After almost 20 years in the business, do you still have a 10-year plan for achieving goals, or have you adopted more of a couple-years-at-a-time perspective?

I do a bit of both. I do have a two to three-year forecast of how I see things happening for me and the company, as well as a five-10 year outlook. I don't really focus on one more than the other.