10 Questions with ... Joe Guzik

NAME:Joe Guzik TITLES:Vice President, Alternative and Rock Promotion COMPANY:Columbia Records FORMATS:Alternative & Rock LOCATION:New York, NY BORN:Passiac, NJ RAISED:Garfield, NJ

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

WSOU (Seton Hall University) DJ, Sony Music College Rep, National Promotion Roadrunner Records, Columbia Records

1. What made you want to get into the music business? Early mentors? First job?

I always wanted to be a professional musician. I can play a mean guitar but when I realized my song writing wasn't great I turned to the business side. Luckily for me, I have always been able to distinguish a great song and I can't help myself. I have to spread stuff I love to everyone I know. One of the great feelings for me is it to turn someone onto a new artist and then it becoming a favorite of theirs.

2. Too many records, too few slots. What data seems to be most important to you when jockeying for an open slot on a radio station and why? Ticket sales? Tour info? Prior success? Retail? Other stations?

Without a doubt the most important thing about competing for a slot is the song! A great song will always win in the long run. It's when a programming friend doesn't hear it on first listen that you have to building a great story. Depending on the friend, each person's criteria is different. That's the art of promotion. When you excite someone about hearing a song, press play and by the end you hear the magic words, "We are there, when do you want us," nothing else matters, does it?

3. It seems that set-up is more important now than ever. What do you do to inspire your staff for success in the field on a daily basis with the amount of material that recording companies are releasing in today's market place?

Set-up is always key. Again for the same reasons mentioned above every programming partner and song is different. Like a fine wine, each open up and come into their own at different times, and with different methods. It's an art.

4. Things are changing rapidly in our business. Were it up to you, what would you change in our "system" to give your bands a better shot?

Without a doubt, our future is about digital products for both on-line and traditional spaces. The greatest thing we can do for our artist is to encourage more retailers to go into the digital music space. Once true market forces take hold of the digital retailing environment our growth will explode. Competition from new retailers will explode creating new and innovative offerings, prices will drop and quality will go up. Similar to the phenomenon, tap water is free but yet bottled water and all its off shoots like vitamin water are outpacing growth of all other beverage segments. We also need to help the brick and mortar stores by creating digital musical products that kids will buy. One example, we need to sell the traditional albums on media like jump or flash drives. Kids feel the CD is an old technology, but I believe they'll buy a brand new album on a digital platform that's cool, like a key chain flash drive. So let's put a high quality digital version of a new album on it. We need to give them a reason to go back to the store and we need to get our floor space back.

5. Who do you consider the current tastemakers in the ROCK world?

I truly believer any station can be a tastemaker. If a station has the courage to play a new song a lot, they can start a movement. It's amazing how many successful artists started with one person believing. I won't site any examples, but in my office many of the plaques on the wall can be traced back to one or two people who had the courage to believe and be first, then the rest is history.

6. It has become apparent that in this research driven time, records are taking much longer to "test.. How do you go about making sure that your record will be given a fair shot?

If you put together a plan to make every programming partner, and station staffer a fan, you never have to worry about the above scenario.

7. What is the strangest record you ever worked and what ended up happening to the band?

I worked a band called A.C. years ago. (very extreme - nothing you talk about in polite company). In one week Sluggo played a song called "311 Sucks" about 50 times on WXRK in NYC. Even PD Steve Kingston thought it was funny. The song was all of four seconds. Even though it wasn't in regular rotation, Sluggo played it over and over during his breaks ... the sales went from 50 units in NYC to over 600 units that week.

8. What current based rock artist do you see having the ability and skills to stick around for several records in today's instant gratification oriented society?

There are so many. Music is better than ever and the artistry is so impressive. The Sword, David Vandervelde, Arcade Fire, Interpol, Cansei De Ser Sexy (CSS), Shadows Fall, The Gossip, The Hold Steady, Lupe Fiasco, Mew, Wolf Parade, Motion City Soundtrack, Annuals. There are so many great artists. It's an amazing time to have an MP3 player. I would break my back carrying around all those discs.

9. What are the most important tools/resources you use to stay on top of the rock formats growth and constant daily changes?

I truly don't know how promotion people did their jobs in the olds days without BDS, Mediabase, and stations websites. If you do your homework on a station and truly want to be their partner, you'll learn everything you can before you pick up the phone and you'll be 10 steps ahead of your competition. You can sit in your office and actually listen and its so important to learn the stations personality. Doing your homework is a must, otherwise you waste your partners valuable time. And your next call won't be returned too quickly.

10. The lost art of Artist Development. What do you do to ensure your artist is building a career as opposed to just breaking a song? And does it even matter anymore?

Artist Development is so important. We talk about all the traditional things, but it's so much more. Think of it in these terms. You have to build what I call a "business" for your artist. Each artist is a brand and everything you do should help your business become a self-sufficient, long-term success.

BONUS QUESTION: You are the remaining survivor on a remote tropical island with no chance for rescue. You have a CD/DVD player with endless power. What five CD's are a "must" to have with you? What five movies?

If my iPod were broken and it only played five albums, they would be:
The Police, Synchronicity
Queen, A Day at the Races, plus bonus MP3 "The Show Must Go On," the ultimate song about an entertainer life and record execs too!
At The Gates, Slaughter of the Soul
Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death
The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America
(Honestly, I couldn't live without tons of new music. I would go mad.)

MOVIES: I'm not a movie guy, I would rather listen to a new album and read.