10 Questions with ... Kurt Steffek

1.What made you want to get into the music business and were there any early mentors?

I got the music business bug working in college radio.  I had originally planned to transfer college after two years but loved the station I was at so much, it kept me there for the full four years. I have lots of great early mentors who I learned many different lessons from; At MTV there was Patti Galluzzi, Tom Hunter and Andy Schuon.  When I moved to the label side there was first Jim Guerinot at Time Bomb, then Phil Costello and Bob Divney at Reprise.  Guerinot taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated and to call everybody back.   From Costello I learned how to see the bigger picture in promotion.  Divney taught me it wasn’t just about getting the add, it was about what you did with it once you got a record on.

2. Can you give us a rundown of the record labels and positions you’ve held over the years? 

I started as an intern out of college working for Andy Kipnes at AAM promotion who also had Link Records.  He offered me a gig there full time but the money was just barely enough to pay my commuting costs.  I turned it down, kept working for free which fortunately led me to a job at MTV.  My first “real” label gig was working for Guerinot at Time Bomb where I ran the NY office and did east coast promotion.  From there I went to Reprise where I was Sr. Director of Modern Rock and Rock doing national promotion out of the east coast office.  Then it was to Razor and Tie where I worked my way up to SVP of Promotion. In 2016 we merged with the Concord promotion department where I was the VP of Rock and Alternative. A little over three years ago I launched my own promo company and I've been having a blast ever since.

3. You also worked at MTV for a dozen years. What years were you there and what positions did you hold? 

I started at MTV in early ’87 as the assistant music scheduler and worked my way up with 5-6 promotions over the years to VP Music Programming and Talent & Artist relations and lasted until ’98.  It was a great time to be there in the programming department because we really could be the tail wagging the dog when it came to our music decisions with respect to the rest of the music industry.   I programmed a big chunk of the music but one of the things a lot of people remember me most for was a show called 120 Minutes which I programmed for ten years.

4. You ran the promotion department at Razor & Tie for many years, and also ran the Rock Dept at Concord. Can you give us some of your proudest achievements with these labels? 

There have been a bunch that I’m really proud of.  Breaking the Pretty Reckless and having our first four singles all go to the top of the charts. Watching All That Remains develop from being a really heavy scene band to becoming one of the more consistent bands at Active Rock.  Starset felt like a great job of artist development and we were able to partner with radio on some really creative promotions. Being able to bring back P.O.D. to the top of the rock charts after a long hiatus was a challenge that brought me a lot of professional pride. Having Red Sun Rising as a debut artist top the charts not once but twice. At Concord it was probably helping break I Prevail at the format and taking the label to a record setting year end market share at rock. One that still has not yet been topped.

5. You started your own independent promotion company- Kurt Steffek Promotions- several years ago. What is the biggest difference for you from working at a label and doing your own independent promotion?

I get to pick the projects I want to work. At a label you have to work a record whether you believe in it or not. On the downside it’s not having some of the tools and financial resources at my disposal. It just means I’ll have to work harder and I’m not afraid of that.

6. You just launched the Fozzy “I Still Burn” project at Rock Radio with some great early results. What’s the latest on this project?

We came out of the box strong with "I Still Burn" and followed it up with most increased this week.  Chris Jericho is one of the hardest working guys out there.  Between his band touring schedule, his wrestling TV commitments, a successful podcast, the guy never stops and has done everything for radio that I've asked him to do.  Fozzy kicks off their headline tour on 3/31, launches a new video on the 8th and their new album Boombox launches on May 6th.   We were really happy to share the news that his top 5 single "Judas" just attained RIAA gold certification a few weeks ago.

7. You’ve also been a part of the resurgence of Daughtry at Rock Radio. What’s the latest with his most recent single “Changes Are Coming”?

The Daughtry team has been a fantastic to work with.  I have to thank David McGilvray for bringing me on board a year ago and their manager Jon Linton has been great to collaborate with.  We delivered a top 5 single and one of the best streaming rock songs for the year with "Heavy Is The Crown".  As David would say, with that single we proved the concept that Daughtry works at rock radio.  "Changes Are Coming" has been a steady climb and we just landed inside the top 20 last week.   Their current tour just ended this weekend, and they head back out on the road in May and then starting in July they kick off the summer touring schedule starting with the Danny Wimmer's InKarceration show which is a first for the band.  

8. I know you’ve also been working with Papa Roach and Falling In Reverse on their latest projects. What’s the update on these two Rock releases?

Falling in Reverse picked up right where they left of with "Popular Monster".   Both songs consistently have been the biggest streaming songs at rock during their respective campaigns.  It's kind of mind blowing to see the million + streaming #'s they put up each week, especially for a band only being worked at one format.  Now we are getting back #1 research stories in a lot of markets on "Zombified".  Ronnie Radke has some serious star power!   Epitaph has a forthcoming EP from the band with more touring being announced for later this summer.

Papa Roach has been a joy to work with, as their management is really on top of their game.  "Kill The Noise" ended up being the biggest song of the 4th quarter and has really stuck around in the new year.  That will end up being a library track for most stations and the format needs more of those for sure. The band finishes the first leg of their tour this week and should be announcing the summer tour plans in the next week or so.  Fingers crossed another one of my projects will be their touring mates for a summer blockbuster tour. Their new album Ego Trip launches on the 8th. They have a killer licensing sync with the UFC and ESPN that will include a global TV and internet campaign featuring "Stand Up" and a new version of the video interspersed with UFC footage.  Additionally, later in the month they are partnering with Amazon Originals to create an alternate version of "Stand Up" that will include a marching band. Their management really has been defining how bands need to find additional ways to market a record.

9. Can you tell us some other current projects you are working on and how they are doing, and any future projects you can talk about?

In addition to working with Falling In Reverse, Papa Roach and Daughtry, I'm involved with a number of other projects.  Heather and Allison from Big Machine/Jon Varvatos have had me on the team for all four of the Ayron Jones singles. It's been one of the best artist development stories at rock in recent years and I think everyone feels that Ayron has really blossomed into one of the new bright spots for the future of rock radio.  I've done a lot of work with the Capellini’s over the last few years and we're currently working with The Violent. It's great to be reunited with them, we had such a rewarding time developing the band first as Red Sun Rising and now in their present incarnation. In the very near future we will have the first single from a new Pop Evil album, and I fully expect this song to be another chart topper. Epitaph has new music coming this month from Parkway Drive and then we will pick up where we left off last year with a new album coming from Architects and a stateside tour in the fall.

10. Finally, 2022 has had a ton of great Rock releases so far. While the major Rock acts will always get their fair share of radio airplay, what do you think are some of the keys to help the baby bands/projects break thru the clutter and make noise at the Active Rock format? 

This has been a wild year so far in terms of big new releases. I thought after the crazy 4th quarter that we had things might slow down but if anything, it’s gotten tougher. For radio, this feels like some of the best music they have to choose from in a long time which should bode well for the format. For baby bands the pandemic has made things so much tougher in terms of developing a fan base, especially through touring. While that has been steadily coming back over the last few months, the new monkey wrench I'm now hearing about from agents and management that holds on venues going into fall are 5-6 holds in terms of booking shows. Labels and management are going to need to aggressively seek new avenues of exposure for the developing artists at rock and we are going to really need to have a story to share and not just a great song. There are new artists currently at the format that are starting to raise their hand whether it be Giovanni, Turnstile, Avoid, and more….so I'm optimistic a good song can still break through. It's just going to take longer and need someone to step out and be a leader.