10 Questions with ... Ayappa Biddanda

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

After graduating from the University of Tennessee, I worked with underserved communities in San Diego as part of AmeriCorps. While there, I interned a year-and-a-half with Vanguard Records, beginning in 2002 (as a Street Team member). I moved to Los Angeles for grad school at UCLA and while there was asked to apply for a job in the Vanguard Marketing Dept in 2004, was hired to support our touring artists, then asked to move over to Radio Promotion in 2006. I fully appreciate that strange and seamless career trajectory and know how privileged I am to have this highly coveted seat. I tell myself that every day -- even after an off-day with frustrating radio calls.

1. What got you interested in the record business?

Music has always been a passion of mine. Discovering there was a possibility to support those artists was like a door opening to a magical new kingdom ... and I am thrilled to be part of it all.

2. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

WIVK/Knoxville for Country music and UT Volunteer football; WWST (Star 102.1)/Knoxville for the hits; and WJXB (B97.5)/Knoxville when my parents were driving (though I secretly loved those AC songs). I still get a huge sense of appreciation connecting Vanguard/Sugar Hill artists with Knoxville stations like the above or WFIV, WDVX, WUTK and others.

3. Who are your mentors?

In the Promotion field, I've genuinely learned from every colleague I've had:

• Art Phillips -- relationships matter and repeated interactions are sacred
• Tom Cunningham -- class matters
• Mitch Mills -- passion is vital
• Patty Morris -- do what it takes to serve the artist
• Dennis Reese -- passion, knowledge, dedication and results can actually co-exist
• Rhonda Herlich -- nothing can replace genuine enthusiasm for an artist

4. The Welk Music Group has a great heritage. How do you use that to help develop new artists?

Being able to say we have a track record of 60 years is invaluable. The music business can be transient and being able to prove we have real anchors and legacy reinforces our commitment to quality art. The fact that Vanguard Records began as an outlet for blacklisted artists who deserved to be heard also proves that point. Joan Baez had her first albums on Vanguard ... and the label put out recordings from Paul Robeson, Camille Yarborough, The Weavers, Odetta, Mississippi John Hurt, Country Joe and the Fish and plenty of other eventual legends with seminal albums. That history of serving authentic musicians with a real story to share continues to this day.

5. What are some of your biggest challenges as an independent record label?

Leverage is something that's always been an obstacle for indie labels over the decades. It must be nice to have a conversation where in one breath you can discuss a #1 Billboard artist and in the next breath discuss an emerging artist. But "leverage" is taking on a different meaning in today's more niche-focused world. In a changing landscape where the music business -- and therefore radio -- needs to satisfy a wider array of interests than ever before, it's us independent labels that can provide that content in a turnkey manner.

6. Every promotion person has a record close to their heart that for one reason or another never broke through -- "The One That Got Away." What is your "One That Got Away," and what did you learn from that record?

The reason I came to Vanguard was for two specific artists: Peter Stuart (of the band Dog's Eye View) and Garrison Starr. In fact, when I was living in San Diego, I would drive up when they had shows at The Mint in L.A. The fact I had the honor of working their albums (at that time, in a tour marketing capacity) was sheer joy. No matter what our sales were each week, I wanted double from the buyers because I knew how great these artists were and I wanted the entire world to know. That experience has not dampened my desire to reach every person in the world with our music, but it has taught me to do that, you must serve the base first and allow them to stoke the fires.

In today's world, music listeners don't want to be screamed at nor lectured to-they want to discover music that fills a void for them and then turn others on to that experience. Now in promotion, rather than feeling like I am the end of the process to an add, I view my role as a facilitator in getting quality music to listeners' ears who can then turn their friends onto their next favorite song. They will then continue that process onward.

7. What has been your biggest career highlight so far?

In my admittedly young career, I've been lucky to have a number of highlights I'll treasure. Matt Nathanson's cross-format radio success was truly well deserved after he spent a decade of hard work building up a devoted fan base. Then seeing him play the KLOS Mark & Brian Christmas Show at the Nokia Theater to a capacity audience and bringing them to their feet was true bliss. In a night that featured Heart, Rob Halford and even Slash, it was Matt Nathanson who got a standing ovation. Incredible!

It's being able to see artists bring their dreams to fruition that excite me: Shawn Mullins going #1 at Triple A was cool, but his joy at reaching #1 at Americana radio, a format he truly respects, was especially satisfying. Getting multi-Platinum Country star Deana Carter's music honoring her father Fred Carter, Jr. to Triple A and Classic Rock audiences was special since her dad was instrumental on so many hits in those formats (Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer," Neil Young's "Old Man," Roy Orbison's "Cryin'," The Band's "The Weight," and more). Being able to book Deana to play at halftime of a UT Vols football game in front of 110,000 people with the entire stadium singing along to her music while her father and mother looked on was an unforgettable moment.

Getting airplay for Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles on KCRW, Indie 103.1, KKGO Go Country, and both community radio stations (KCSN and KPFK) was special for it's a rarity in reaching such a wide spectrum of outlets within Los Angeles.

Sharing the music of activists like the Indigo Girls, The Duhks and Nellie McKay and advocates like Trevor Hall, Chely Wright, Victor Wooten and Indigenous is special to me and reminds me of the noblest purposes of Art. Any opportunity to break down genres and format walls is satisfying and lets us know that listeners are ultimately seeking good rather than same.

8. How do you stay in touch with the latest music trends?

It's exciting to try to keep a pulse on what's fresh and progressive today. The world of entertainment is so quick-moving that new fads, trends and movements tumble right over each other in ever expanding heights. That's a great phenomenon, but it forces us to stay dialed in to what is exciting to our listeners and how to reach them with our music.

There's no one source with all the answers: it comes from conversations with friends inside -- and outside! -- the industry, scouring a variety of websites, listening to young people, listening to older people and just paying attention to the world around us.

9. What is the toughest part of your job?

The democratization of music is the best and worst thing that could have happened. It allowed music making to be unfettered and allow any musician with a laptop to create an album. That's a boon for society when self-expression can be unleashed. However, it's an extra tidal wave of obstacles when you're trying to get airplay on a station with a limited playlist that now suddenly has to consider hundreds of more records. The fact that our artists have the Vanguard or Sugar Hill label on their package helps immensely, but I sympathize with stations that have more material than ever to sort their way through. Music shouldn't be a zero-sum situation, but in a radio universe with charts, adds, bullets and dayparts, the intangibles of music can truly be boiled down to black and white.

10. If you were to leave the record business today and you could choose any other occupation, what would it be?

Music will always be an overwhelming part of my life, even if the record business isn't. Public Policy is a field I've always been interested in -- the idea of how to progress as societies. Art & Social Action is especially appealing because it unites artistry with concrete action towards progress.

What would surprise people most about you?

I spent some time in college working the graveyard shift with the U.S. Postal Service. I can fully understand how folks can "go postal." Typing zip codes over and over and over for hours at a time got a bit mind numbing. But I can tell ya the zip code for Grand Rapids!

Last non-industry job:

Director of a non-profit afterschool program and youth center for 8-18 years-olds in San Diego.

First record ever purchased:

"Thriller" by Michael Jackson (on vinyl ... back when vinyl was standard issue and not a hipster purchase)

First concert:

MC Hammer

Favorite band of all-time:

Counting Crows (!)