10 Questions with ... Bob Hathaway

1. What made you want to get into the music business and who were some of your early mentors?

When I was in college at University of Colorado, I got a job working at the College Radio Station KAIR. That led to a job working for CBS Records as a College Rep. I had many people who influenced me back then. People like Diarmuid Quinn, Steve Backer, Al Carolonza, Greg Thompson and others. It’s really crazy to me to look back at that CBS Records College team to see the success that came from that group. Having that job at CBS Records directly led to me having to work for a label. I moved to LA in 1985, and had many jobs including a brief stint in the Radio & Records mailroom. There I got to meet such folks as Joel Denver, Jeff Gelb, and many more. Networking was key, and all these people helped in one way or the other. Ultimately, I wound up at Warner Bros, and the rest is history I guess….

2. What was your first job and give us a rundown of the labels and positions you’ve held over the years?

My first real High School job after I left the bike shop, was working in a local record store. Then, as mentioned above, I went to college and while there got hired at CBS Records as a College Rep. I moved to LA, worked for Wherehouse Records, had a brief stint in the R&R Mailroom, worked for 3 years for Macey Lipman Marketing, then in 1989 landed my dream job at Warner Bros Records.I was at Warner Bros for 23 years, then I “left” (haha) and started Bob Hathaway Music Marketing in 2011. In 2013 I joined up with Bob Divney and crew at The Artist Cooperative. In 2015 I joined up with FM Music Management as a partner/manager.Currently, I work at FM Music Management and The Artist Cooperative.

3. You worked at Warner Bros in the Midwest for many years and helped break many bands. What are some of the best highlights of your time with WB?

Nothing was more special to me that working hard and breaking a band. I remember many of the fights with programmers over songs like “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction or “Give It Away” from Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s crazy today, that programmers resisted those songs. As I mentioned, I love breaking bands. I helped launch the careers of Candlebox, Trapt, Linkin Park, Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, Flaming Lips, The Black Keys, Goo Goo Dolls, and many others.

4. How long ago did you start your own company Bob Hathaway Music Marketing?

As mentioned above, I started Bob Hathaway Music Marketing in 2011. I’m not going to lie; it was VERY hard to get hired to work projects. Not because I wasn’t good at promotion, but because many of the people hiring people to do freelance promotion had never heard of me. Thank god for people like Tom Biery, Heather Luke and Barry Lyons. They helped keep food on the table in the beginning of this chapter of my life.

5. In 2013 you joined The Artist Cooperative as well, and recently was promoted to VP/Active Rock Promotion for the company. Congrats on the promotion. Who are some of the bands you are working with via The Artist Cooperative?

Currently we are getting ready to launch the next single from Tetrarch called “You Never Listen”. We are also working with Weapons of Anew and their track “Sick Boy” currently in the Top 30! We just finished up our Top 20 campaign on the Royal Bliss track “Medication”. There are a few more things in the pipeline that are exciting as well!

6. You’ve been in the record promotion business for a long time. What are the most important tools/resources you use to stay on top of the Rock formats' growth and constant daily changes?

There is so much data, and so many spins on that data, it’s really hard to figure out what is what. I generally look at the radio tracking on singles. I look to see what is moving up or down the charts, but more importantly why. I look to see what a song’s dayparts look like and what stations are playing as well. That will tell me a lot about what programmers are thinking about a particular song. I then will look at Streaming numbers to see what is or isn’t happening. I look at single sales, not for big numbers (as there really aren’t any), but to see if anyone at all is buying it. Shazam tagging is the last thing I look at. It’s really about a wide variety of things. It’s important that you look past the information right and front of you and take time to get the real story. I can’t tell you how many times a record appears to be over (based on loss of spins), and you look and see it’s one station that dropped a song, leading to it looking like it’s over. While many others are moving that same song up.

7. Now let’s talk about Active Rock music and the Rock format overall. What’s your take on the State of Rock Radio today?

This question sadly has the same answer I gave last time I answered it. As much as I completely understand why it happens, I wish it didn’t. What I’m talking about is how stations automatically play a marginal song from their core bands. Just because bands have had past success in the past 10-15 years, doesn’t mean everything they do is great or needs to walk on the radio. There are many up and coming bands making great music. They deserve their shot as well. I know it won’t happen, but I wish a new format of Rock Radio would emerge. Think of it this way. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, there was really only one Rock radio station in a market as there weren’t any classic rock songs yet. Then as those bands and songs aged, Classic Rock formats began to emerge. This cleared the way for Active Rock stations to emerge and play the “new” rock music. Since there hasn’t been a new format created in a very long time, Active Rock radio is the only outlet for many bands that got their start 20+ years ago. This creates a lack of space on playlists. Maybe someone could create a new Classic Rock format or something. Then we could have new stations to play the new bands. Sadly, there are only a handful of stations out there that really look for new rock. The problem with that idea is that almost every consultant I know will tell you they just follow the research. And the research says people want to hear what they already know. If that’s true, then these new stations probably wouldn’t succeed. Which would be a problem. Or…. how about dumping some of the library tracks, and add in more new music slots? A guy can dream, right?

8. In 2015 you started a management company with your partners called FM Music Management. Who are your partners in this venture and how did it all come about?

Frank Mastalerz, Chris Jones, Dino Kourelis and myself make up the core of our management group. Frank and Chris were managing bands together, and Dino and I were managing bands together as well. We decided to partner up in 2015 to create FM Music Management. One of the very first clients of FM Music Management was Justin McCain and his band Through Fire. We began building our company with different bands and managers joining us. Many of them brought the bands they currently had. So, our artist roster began to build. Our staff has really taken shape over the past couple years. In addition to Myself, Frank, Dino, and Chris we also added a few great people. Jeromy Jerome who works as the Tour Manager for Breaking Benjamin joined us. As did Jeff Buttermark, who we met while branding our bands with his Rock’d Coffee. Tim Bucheroth joined us as well, was most recently at 10th Street. To help us out with Publicity is Shauna O’Donnell. Shauna also manages our band Dark Station. To give me an assist with radio and setting up interviews for the bands is Maria Musatief. For those that know Maria, she brings a lot of energy and great ideas to the group. The underlying concept of the management group is to assemble a variety of expects in different aspects of the music business. With the group we currently have, there isn’t much that can happen without someone knowing full well how to navigate though.

9. Who are some of the bands that FM Music Management is working with and what are some of your best success stories as an artist management company?

We are rather busy at the moment. We have Through Fire eyeing the Top 20 at radio with their single “Doubt”. Our band Ra just put out their first new song in 7 years, and “Intercorrupted” is now Top 30. We just finished up the Royal Bliss Top 20 campaign on the single “Medication”. Additionally, our Brazilian band Electric Mob just finished a very successful introductory campaign for ‘Devil You Know.” We just released the new single from Breaking Benjamin’s guitarist Keith Wallen called “Dream Away” last week (#8 Most Added). Additionally, this past week we serviced the new single from A Killer’s Confession called “Remember”. We recently signed Kenny Aronoff and his band Supersonic Blues Machine. We have new music in the wings from Madame Mayhem, The Orphan The Poet, Tense Machine, Versus Me, The Native Howl, Discrepancies, and even a new

Nonpoint in the near future. And if all that isn’t enough, our favorite Australian, Shim, has been hard at work creating new music with his fans.

10. Finally, what do you like to do for fun and relaxation when you’re not in “work” mode??

I’m not sure what you mean. Working all day and night, leaves very little time for other activities. I do like sports and movies though.