With music industy revenue decreasing, there have been tons of think-pieces of how musicians are suffering but what about the record industry executives? I mean, when two big labels merge, there is only so much room at the top for an executive in charge of office supplies or whatever positions labels have nowadays, so eventually people get cut.
One such executive decided to take pre-emptive action.
The NY Post has a story about former record exec Josh Katz, who left his cushy job 10 years ago to form El Media Group, a company that specializes in curating playlists for top restaurants and hotels in New York City. At first glance you might say: "Really? All he does is make a playlist? I can do that!" Well, his company also installs all the audio and video in the location to ensure the best sound possible (and also markup the final price I'm sure).
Katz, who got his start on the team that launched Britney Spears, and Lake have DJs on staff. They find out what the restaurateurs want, the vibe of the restaurant and come up with the customized playlists.
“Sometimes, the restaurateurs are very involved, and sometimes they aren’t at all,” Katz said. He puts together sample hearings for his clients the way chefs put together sample tastings.
“Ten years ago, when we started, people would say, ‘Music in restaurants, what do you mean?’ Now you can’t open a great restaurant without a great playlist,” Katz said.
I have to say Katz figured it all out. He realized consumers weren't going to pay top dollar for music anymore, so he concentrated his efforts on niche marketing to very wealthy locations like hotels and restaurants and even airports now. I actually did some journalism and called up the company and asked for their pricing and it's as insane as you think:
For a restaurant under 2000 square feet, there is a $299 setup fee. Larger establishments pay $499. These fees pay for the audio equipment rental. Then there is an initial playlist fee of $1250 followed by a monthly fee of $119 which covers music royalties and playlist updates (like a seasonal playlist, for example).
God bless people finding new ways to make money in the music business.
