September 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Unlock insider knowledge from Jenna LoMonaco, Head of Marketing at ONErpm, in this exclusive Musicians Tip Jar interview. 🎶 With over 20 years in the music industry, Jenna shares what sets ONErpm apart as a 100% independent, self-owned company and how they empower artists with transparent deals, realistic advances, and proprietary technology. We dive into:
More about ONErpm at https://onerpm.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/onerpm/
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
- Common mistakes musicians make on social media (and how to fix them)
- The importance of consistency and content planning
- ONErpm’s artist-first mission and global reach across 43 offices
- How to build a sustainable music career outside of the mainstream
- Using AI as a marketing tool (not a replacement for creativity)
- The most valuable investments independent artists should make
- Career advice on building a team, managers vs. lawyers, and long-term growth
More about ONErpm at https://onerpm.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/onerpm/
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/musicians-tip-jar--4698023/support.
Visit MusiciansTipJar.com for more resources and tools to empower your financial journey.
Intro & Outro Music Donated by: The Magi https://www.themagimusic.comÂ
Intro Read by: David “DJ” Lee of The Magi
https://soundcloud.com/rockababyrockÂ
Pictures by: Kit Chalberg https://kitchalberg.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the show that explores the methods and strategies
on rockin' the financial side of your music business. With
over forty years combined experience, here are your hosts, Chris
Webb and Dave Tamkin.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to you Musicians Tip Driver, where we talk about
musicians and money, where we remind each other and all
of you to push through when times get tough. I'm
Chris Webb, joined by my co host and the guy
who also pushes ice baths onto me, Dave Tampkin.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Oh, better than pushing you into ice baths, that's not one.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's like gatorade for the forty year olds.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're like forty thirty year olds.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well. Today we complete our interview with head of US
marketing at one RPM, Jenna Lomonico. We discuss common mistakes
of musicians trying to gain traction on their socials, what
sets record labels apart, as well as some predictions on
what might be the next big thing in this industry.
Today's quote comes from our guest Jenna. She said, there
are a lot of ways for artists to make a
(01:02):
real good living and have a strong following base and
do what they love on a consistent basis still taking
care of their families and living a good life doing
what they love.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
That could have been your quote, too easily say that
all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
That's why I spoke to me.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
This week's nonprofit is New York Music Institute. It's a
community focused organization that strives to provide opportunities and offer
inspiration for those in our diverse community seeking to achieve
a deep appreciation for music that provide a space for
people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to
learn about music and other parallel arts. It is the
express desire of ny am I to not discriminate towards
(01:39):
anyone on the basis of race, creed, age, gender, color,
sex or sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, ethnic origin, gender identity, disability,
or family income levels. All of its employment, admission and
financial aid programming and policies will work towards being discrimination free.
Please learn more at New York Music Institute.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
If you find this.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Information useful, please rate and subscribe to the podcast and
also slam that like button for on YouTube so we
can help keep you up on the finance side of
your music business.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Jenna Lomonico is a digital marketing expert who used her
love of music and knowledge in the social media space
to help break up and coming artists into the mainstream
music for over twenty years. After studying audio production and
working at a record studio straight out of college, she
truly started her career at pr at Girly Action in
two thousand and five. In two thousand and seven, Jenna
(02:29):
got her first big role at an up and coming
record label, Glass Note Records, as the head of New Media.
It was there where she blossomed her skills in the
digital space, helping break artists such as Mumford and Sons,
Phoenix and Childish Gambino. After five years at Glass Note,
she left to join a new label service branch, Cobalt
Label Services. Jenna worked in the digital department, where she
(02:50):
handled digital strategy for artists such as Martina McBride, Lenny Kravitz,
and New Kids on the Block. In twenty fifteen, as
Island Records was relaunched as a solo label after separating
from def Jam, Jenna joined the Island team to run
the digital marketing department. It was here that she began
to work with newly signed teen artist Shawn Mendez. Using
(03:12):
her social media knowledge, she helped create a social media
strategy to help grow Sean's social following into the multimillions.
She also led the digital marketing effort for artists such
as Nick Jonas, The Killers, Elton, John bon Jovi, Fallout Boy,
and Demi Lovado. Jenna has now joined the one RPM team,
heading up the US marketing team, where she oversees all marketing, DSP,
(03:36):
advertising and digital marketing strategy. When it really comes down
to it here, there are such important differences between record
labels with how they function, what they offer, and the
general culture within. There's so many insights crammed into our
second half of this interview with Jenna, So let's go.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
What are some mistakes you see artists do.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
I think that being disingenuous and like just sort of
posting to post. I think you get into trouble. Then
I think there's a learning process, you know, like where
sometimes artists are like, I really want to be good
at social media, I just don't know how. And so
something that I see often is they'll start posting and
(04:35):
they'll start getting a little bit of pick up, and
then you start to see a little bit of a
decline and then they're like, no, never mind, it's not
working anymore, and consistency really is key and you have
to like push through that lull. And I think that's
the biggest mistake that I see is like when they
start to get their job, they immediately assume that they've
been shadow Vans and then like they don't push through
(04:57):
that lull, and I think, you know, just staying the
course is really important.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
What's funny about that too, is sometimes it's because we're
also as artists, I think, growing and changing, and it's
like you go through these moods where like you don't
feel like doing it anymore. And you talked about that
consistency that is so hard to show up to when
it starts looking like it's going down and you just
feel like not doing it, you know, like the two
(05:24):
go together so harsh against you and you're just like,
forget it. Yeah, it isn't working.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
I know, it's hard, and it's like it sucks for
artists honestly, because it's like back in the day, nobody
had to care about this, right, It's like a whole
new layer of being an artist that didn't exist years ago.
And just because you make music doesn't mean you enjoy
making content and making parents that content's hard. It's a
(05:51):
lot of work. You have to always be thinking about it,
like it's a very big leaning. I also say, like,
don't be afraid to get somebody to help you. It
needs to come. The content needs to be yours. But
maybe you can get somebody help you with editing, or
you can get have a friend that just reminds you like, hey,
this is a good moment to film, or like, you know,
just having people around you to encourage you. I also
(06:14):
find that artist who have content ds, like every Wednesday
from two to four, I am shooting content and I've
seen some artists do really well with that. I think
it just like puts you in because, like I know,
for me, I need to be like mentally prepared to
do certain things. So I feel like when you're like
mentally like, okay, this is my time to do it.
(06:35):
Sometimes that's really helpful.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I love that and I write that down now, Chris,
but have to cancel some stuff we have going on.
I want to move into one RPM and the future
of music. In your opinion, it is no surprise to
us after twenty years of your experience in your career
that you're now the head of marketing. At one RPM,
you lead a global team across forty three offices and studios.
(06:59):
Can you tell us about one RPM's mission and how
you set yourself aside in the industry as something unique.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, So I think that first of all, something that
sets us apart is we are one hundred percent self owned,
So Manual Zon's are president and owners. He is the
sole owner of our company, which means we do not
rely on any major label support or we don't answer
to any major label when it comes to the rules,
(07:28):
and so that offers us a lot of flexibility and
allows us to really be transparent and just more flexible
in general. Aside from just how we're structured. The other
point is so our deals are not like there are
no two artists deals that are ever the same. We
(07:49):
really build out our artists seals to make sure that
they fully function for the artists and what it is
that they're trying to achieve. So we were originally known
as a DIY distributor, but as the years went on
and when I joined the team in the US, we
really started to build up our marketing capabilities and so
(08:10):
we really have all of the services that you would
get at a major label other than PR and radio,
and we hire out by design for those things. So
if you're an artist and you come to us and
you can say to us, all I'm really looking for
is like DST pitching and advertising, and we can do
that for you. Or you can come to us and say, like,
I want a full team, I want the whole thing,
(08:32):
and we can do that also, And what your deal
is structured like will be reflected upon what those means
that you have. Also, our advances and our marketing funds
are realistic in the sense that you can recoup. We
want you to recruit quickly. We want you to make
money on your music very quickly. We can always re
(08:55):
negotiate a deal to add more money in, but we
don't like to give an artist. You know, there there
are a lot of legels right now that are throwing
like millions of dollars at an artist, and the issue
with that is then you might never make money on
that ever again. Right whereas we offer what we believe
is an achievable amount of money to recoup and then
(09:16):
you are able to then make money on that music
and we can like restart what that looks like. Everything
that we do is meant to be really fair to
the artists and allow them to be more in control
of what their faith looks like.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
You don't hear that every day?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah, and that's really what that's us part.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
You also have proprietary technology as well, don't you correct.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, So we have our own CMF back ends where
all of our project managers, all of our specialists, everybody
works out of this one system. So if you are
an artist or a manager that works with us, and
at two o'clock in the morning, you wake up and
you think, oh my god, that advertising advertising campaign ever happened?
(10:03):
You can sign onto your account and you'll see that
the ad campaign launched on this day at this time,
and you can see everything that we're doing. And so
it's full transparency. You can see what has happened, what
hasn't happened, and it really allows for this like open
line of communication. We also have like a lot of
one on one conversation with all of our artist teams
(10:24):
that's not relying on just that system alone. We are
in constant communication with our artists and that's feedback that
we get a lot that like they find that our
team talks and communicates with artists teams a lot more
than our competitors.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
It has to help musicians have some insight, like you said,
to the back end of the business side of things,
so then they could understand what you're talking about and
what goes into all those campaigns, which some musicians might
not have that access.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yeah, and we're here to educate too. The team here
is absolutely incredible and actually really work to you know,
because we're working with the artists in candem right, Like
we're never saying like, Okay, this is what we're doing,
this is what your marketing plan is. Marketing plans on
every front is we work out budget and how we're
going to allocate that budget, and what the strategy is
(11:18):
with the artists, with the artist's team, and so they're
fully tied into everything because I think nowadays more than ever,
because of the way that social media is and that
artists need to be more business savvy. They're they're entrepreneurs, right,
and it's almost disrespectful to treat them otherwise, like they
need to be involved with those decisions, and that's not
(11:39):
something that I've seen prior before working here.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I think that would also set you up with more
success and less time having to handhold a musician than
it is when you're educating them along the way, right one.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Because it's not just this is how it works, and
then you know for the best it's a constant conversation.
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Do you ever work with artists that are more like
purposefully outside of the mainstream, like the ones that I
think of bands like Dave Matthews bander or artists that
are like I mean, they may have had some success
into the mainstream, but they really live outside of that zone,
like is there marketing strategy is very different in your
approach with them.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I think that you throw less money. I think when
you're trying to be more like mainstream pop, there's you
have to spend more money more aggressively.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Right.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
So the thing I always talk about is what I
realized when I first came to one RPM is my
idea of what success for an artist and then was
really skewed. Right when you come from the major world,
a major legal world. If an artist or a song
is not top top five, top forty, it was a flop, right,
(12:59):
But there are a lot of ways for artists to
make a really good living and have a really strong
following base and do what they love on a consistent
basis and take care of their families and live a
good life doing what they love. And I think that
that level of success is really overlooked by the wider
(13:20):
music industry. But not everybody is going to be the
one person. And how do you validate and really help
lift up these artists that have these careers that maybe
they're not touring doing you know, arena stadium tours, but
they have rabid fan bases and their music means a
(13:42):
lot of people and they make good money. And I
think that that is a level of success too that's
often overlooked today.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah. I love to hear you say that, because I
think there are there's the majority are in.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
There right, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I mean was listening to Ryan Tedder talked the other
day and he's like he's like it's even hardest that
it's ever been for him to get a hit song anymore.
Like he says that what used to be, you know,
one out of twenty is now one out of a
thousand songs that'll write that gets up there, even with
his clout of who he is. Yes, yeah, And so
it seems like it's not getting easier to get that
(14:21):
luck or that that success of that hit song.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, the O.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
The other end of that too is I don't see
that the one hit wonders anymore either. It's like you
either get up there and you're sticking around for a
little while, or you just don't get there.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
Yeah. No, that's very true. And I think right now
I kind of feel like we're in this like lull
of Like you know, we had TikTok during COVID that
kind of like broke through all these different new ways
for people to connect and like we were doing the live
streams and things like that. But as the world was
(14:57):
like settled back in, I feel we haven't gotten I know,
like you know, AI is starting to become more prevalent
and figuring out ways to use that for marketing, but
I don't think there's anything like super exciting right now
in the marketing space, and we're on the cusp of
something great which is not there yet.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Do you see a way that artists are going to
be able to work together with AI that's going to
be friendly.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
I mean that's a tricky one. I don't totally believe
in the whole AI artists thing. I think music needs
to be tied to human emotion, and so I don't
totally love that, but I think that there's ways to
use AI for marketing and to be clever and to
really be able to like use all of the information
that's there for you to aggregate trends for your artists
(15:48):
to help you point you in the right direction of
where you should be going to connect with your fans.
I think it's a tool and not a solution.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well said, let's talk about just some advice for aspiring musicians.
So for independent artists just starting out, what are the
most important investments they should make in terms of their
music career from your point of view.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Yeah, obviously first music and the production, right, Like, obviously
that's always first. I think that having a good understanding
of who your fans are and like really understanding you know,
where they live, what they connect with is so important,
(16:33):
and I think that it's often overlooked. Like if you
have one hundred fans, that's that you can build off
of that, Right, there's ways that you can grow and
build off of that, and that's on you to like
really be engaging with them and having them invite their
friends to events and you know, really trying to like
galvanize the fans that you do have. I think advertising
(16:57):
digital advertising is a good way to start, but it
can't just be advertising, right because I've seen a lot
of artists that will like just like boost a post
and it'll get you know, ten thousand views on that post,
but it didn't really mean anything. I think spending your
time and your money on creating content that is a
good use of your investment. And I'm still a believer,
(17:19):
a big believer in live shows. I think that like
that really is a game changer and something oddly overlooked
these days. But a live show going on tour is
I don't know, it's just the tried and true way
to grow your family is.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, it's something I can't take over either yet.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
No, No, absolutely, AI, like you said, can help you
find every room in you know, in the state of
Illinois that has one hundred person capacity.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Absolutely. Yeah, that's a perfect example of using it as
a as a really good tool.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah. I'm curious with all the different countries that your
company works with, if you see that these strategies are
vastly different depending on the different country and market, I
think that.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
The essence of it is all the same I think
the big thing is culturally understanding how fans work there, right,
And that's actually something that we do here is we
do what we call these master classes where the teams
from different territories will teach the rest of us like
what is important culturally and that market, right, because some
(18:30):
markets they only want to consume music of their language,
of that country. Other markets are very hungry for music
outside of their outside of their territory. And then there's
also like how do you make fans feel love from
other places? So, like Australia is a really interesting one
(18:50):
where it's very hard to work. It's very hard to
tour in Australia. Is it expensive to get to Australia?
So a lot of artists can't get there. So how
do you meet those fans fe'll appreciated for being your
fan when you really can't get there, right, Like it's
an expensive beat. So I think the core of it
(19:10):
connecting with the fans, connecting the music to new listeners,
like all all of it is the same, it's just
the cultural nuances that vary.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Every city is so far away from the next that
it's it's right hard to get to you know.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Well, yeah, also I've worked with a lot of artists
that have been like, especially like UK artists, they come
to the US, you know, on tour and they're like,
what is happening? Because you know that we're so it's
so big and so vast, and it's so overwhelming. So yeah,
there's a lot of cultural device there.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
So thinking about the person that started looking for an
internship and going through those liner notes, what if you
could offer like one piece of overarching advice to inspiring
musician listening to us today, what would it be from
from that person all the way now from twenty years
of experience in your career.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I think that it's about, like I said earlier, consistency.
I think, really understanding what your goals are. I think
too often people just see the end game, right, Like
you just want to be a huge track stor right,
But there are many steps that you have to take
(20:32):
in order to get there. You kind of need to
think of it like if you want to play Madison
Square Garden, right, you have to play Mercury Lounge first,
and then you go to Bowery and then like you
need to take those career steps. And so what I
would say is understand what your long term goal is,
but then figure out what those ten pole moments that
(20:53):
you have to achieve along the way are because that
not only is really important to hit those milestones, but
it makes it more achievable, right because it takes I
think oftentimes people feel like an artist just suddenly gets
huge overnight, when in reality, they've all been doing this
for years and years and years, right, So understanding that
(21:16):
it's going to take a while mentally helps you as
an artist to say like, Okay, well yeah, I'm not
there yet because they still haven't done all of these
other things. And that goes back to them also understanding
how the music industry works and what are those key
ten poles. And I think that's why it's important to
eventually work your way to getting a team, Like that's
one of your goal marks, right, getting a manager, getting
(21:40):
an artist team, and it doesn't an artist team doesn't
necessarily need to be you get signed again, you get
signed to a major label, like maybe you first start
with like getting a manager, and then you get like
a marketing person, and you get like a digital person,
and then you work what you sign to some sort
of able distribute or somebody that could be part of
(22:02):
that of that clime, but surrounding yourself with people who
really understand what those needs are is really important.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
This is a debate at the university all the time
about what is the first person to hire on your team?
And it's because I think that there's there's probably not
a right answer, but maybe there's the most common answer,
Like who's the first person that people tend to really
need to help with?
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Right? I think some people will say a lawyer and
some people say manager. I personally think a manager, but
make sure you have like a sound deal and you're
and then and then follow with your lawyer. But I
think I would say a manager, but be very careful
always because you think you know people and you think
(22:49):
you can trust people, but shitty stuff still happens.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, is that the chicken in the egg is the
lawyer and the manager?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Yeah? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Speaking of which came first? Do you think Chris's background
came first? Or the T shirt that he's wearing? But
the T shirt, Chris, where'd your body go?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
We can't thank you enough for taking the time.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
To talk with us today.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Thank you so and just sharing all your expertise and
congratulations on the new addition.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
To your family to that's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
For how many times have we said that talent might
get you in the door, but it won't keep you there.
That's one of the first things she talked about was
mistakes musicians make on social media. Talent doesn't guarantee engagement.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Strategy does.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
It definitely helps, right, But like any venue, like any relationship,
you know, your talent gets you so far. If you're
a not entertaining, be not easy to work with all
of those things that come into play. Those comments I
think help us avoid like time wasters and can help
us like build awareness about what we want to convey
to people watching watching our art on social media. And
(24:14):
it might not just be playing singing or the craft
of songwriting, but you might have to make it entertaining
as well.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Have you ever seen that movie yesterday where I.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Didn't watch anything, I hit a pretty late back day,
got a lot of ur worked one.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Yeah, yea.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
That movie comes to mind when you talk about how
you're presenting the songs, because all these ridiculously great Beatles
songs were being played by someone who's unknown in the
back corner of a bar and for the most part,
nobody cares. You know, it really doesn't matter how it's presented.
And that's kind of also the other end of it.
It's not just about your strategy, about your marketing. It's
(24:53):
about how you're presenting what you're giving.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
To side said that too, you know, go back and
look at your last ten posts and see what kind
of value it brings to the table.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Does it have a clear objective?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
The other end of that is too, of course, just
because you enjoy making music doesn't have anything to do
with whether or not you're gonna enjoy making that content. Right,
Making the content is hard, obviously a lot of work,
and that can also be something that you have to
find a way to push through. She also mentioned don't
be afraid to get help on that, right.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean I'm definitely qualified for someone who
needs help with social media. And when you know she
talks about maybe the guilt or shame of not being
able to know how to do it, I mean that
guilt or shame also comes with asking help, and you
have to overcome that to say, hey, I need help
with this, I need different way of doing things.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Otherwise nothing changes.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
That might be where a lot of people just kind
of stop in their progress because they get to the
point where they just need help, but they don't have
the ego right to be able to ask for it. Yeah,
and the other end of that is consistency, right whether
or not you're being consistent with what is you're trying
to do, because there's going to be those times like
she described, where social your numbers or your results start declining,
(26:12):
and that is an easy spot for most people to
be like, you know what, this isn't working forget it.
But that's just not how it works.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It's not And the fact that you might have to
feel like you have to do it all now that
can feel like a lot of weight on your shoulders.
And maybe setting aside a few hours one day a
week and then that mightcro into a full day is
key to having not only consistency but then also easier
to ask for help for only a few hours of
(26:40):
a day. And that's repetition like anything else. The way
you practice music, the way you write songs, you have
to get into a flow to do that. Did she
say content sprint that what she referred to it as,
or maybe that was Megan Burt when she was saying
she was doing raising money for her album that she
said it was easier for her just to do like
two or three day to get everything spread out for
(27:03):
the entire like advertising campaign, but batching that does reduce
the stress on it.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Well, let's talk a little bit about what she finds
so unique about one RPM and what their mission is
and how how much that was refreshing for us to
hear from all the different labels that we've talked to
and heard from.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Yeah, she's they're fighting for the artists. It's like you're
teaching them to fish, you know, you're not just giving
them fish. So they want you to be successful and
be able to do things on your own and build
your own career as them as a partner, not just
giving you the fish to eat.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
You know. Yeah, I don't know why I had to
repeat that.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's a good analogy. You know, you gotta keep fishing
for that one or others. I mean, I'll take debit.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
I think.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Also, just talking about not inflating advances, that's a really
important part of what we're here to talk about, which
is like how do you handle the money side of
this stuff? So often it's it's become that these large
labels are banks, and where they're going to make their
money is by loaning you money and expecting you to
pay a ton of interest back while you repay that loan.
(28:11):
That can be the killer of an artist's career. At
least it can create a huge amount of challenge around
growing and building a financial successful career. So it really
means a lot to hear them talk about let's make
sure that this is what you need, not not just
some inflated number that's going to make you your ego
(28:33):
big and your bank account broke.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
And how are they measuring that.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
They're giving you insight to their back end to show
you how your numbers are growing. And that's something we
teach here, is to look at your numbers on a
monetary level to see where the money is going. What's
wrong with taking that same thought process and saying, Okay,
how many new social followers that I had this week,
how many T shirts did I sell? How many people
streamed my music? What can I do next week to
(28:58):
get even more of them? That to happen, you know,
So having a strong CRM like that is super helpful.
And if they've already built one, man, it's just giving
you gold.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah, and it makes it easier for all the tracking,
like you said, but also the transparency also, the communication
gets easier to be specific about what you're talking about.
All of that improves, you know, all of that is
a part of this process that sometimes can feel super
mysterious if you don't have access to that information.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
I think they're also taking what.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
They learn from one artist and being able to kind
of mold that for different niches, which is nice too
because it's from I think I do that in my
marketing consulting. When I first started fifteen years ago doing consulting,
I had a music background for ten years, and I
was able to say, hey, this is what works in
the music world, and this is an emotional product. Why
(29:50):
not take what I've learned here and bring it over here.
So it makes sense when she's like, I don't see
too many differences between say a country artist and nine inch.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That really is from that business mind that she has right,
that understanding that marketing is marketing right, and these are
universal truths no matter where in the world you are
trying to make a dent into an economy or into
a market, and that's very powerful to understand. It's just
once you understand these skills, you can repeat them right,
(30:20):
and you could do them well no matter what style
you're doing. And like we talked about, there's so much
room for multi genre crossover and still finding ways to
make it effective for both of the kind of dominating
origins of those genres at the same time.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
How many times have you heard all you need is
a thousand true fans?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
How many times have you ever heard you need one
hundred true fans?
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yeah, not too often, So it was nice to hear that.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's like, at least it's somewhere to start and feel
like if you have a goal to hit there she said,
you know, she'd rather have an artist have that than
a thousand passive Yeah, so, I mean another reason to
increase your loyalty word of mouth support. Do something on Instagram,
to run a short poll or question box asking fans
(31:13):
you know what they're interested and just like we did,
just do something to have that conversation go back and forth.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
The more you understand your income streams, the easier you
can delegate your time towards these things, right, and if
your two main areas are going to be playing shows
and releasing music, then both the marketing obviously and the
outreach on social media is incredibly important. But the other
end in which she also supported was live shows and
how important a good live show is and how important
(31:44):
putting that energy and creativity and marketing into live shows
can be an effective tool in growing your true fans.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Andy Fresco, totally yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Understanding what your goals are and then also fully understanding
those steps to get them. It's really helpful to say
one hundred fans first instead of a thousand fans, right.
It's it's easier to say I'm going to sell out
fifty tickets at this show instead of going straight to
the big stuff. And it seems very logical when we
say it out loud, but I don't think people break
it down that way. Like you said, you really should
(32:15):
start with something that is an achievable goal within a timeframe.
If you understand that better, you're more likely to achieve
it and then be able to move back and grow
that what you're going for to a bigger number.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Even when you set up here to do list for
a day, how many times is it so easy to
get all the simple stuff out of the way instead
of saying, hey, this is first, second, and third top priority.
So you have movement throughout your day, you're actually doing something,
but is it progress? Do you feel like you're moving forward?
So being able to measure that is important with strategy, and.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
If that strategy goal is to be signed to a label,
then looking at all this from that perspective can be
really useful.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
What did we talk about that makes someone attractive to
a label?
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Right?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
It's building true fans. Right, It's not having a bunch
of numbers. That's not what they're looking at. Right. That
they're not stupid. They know the difference between engaged audience
and just a bunch of fluff. Right, So understanding what
it is you need to do to be attractive to them?
Is it part of your job if you're an artist
trying to become signed to a label like one RPM,
(33:24):
so our one access set for you this week is
to take a hard look at how attractive you are
to a label in your current state. If this is
something you're interested in achieving as an artist, there needs
to be a clear list of what it is that
needs to be done to improve what you have to
offer in order to achieve this goal. So one way
to do that would be to set deadlines on your
(33:46):
list of what it is that needs to improve and usually,
and I think that our theme of our season has
been saying the first place to start nowadays is on
your social media and your engagement, in which you can
measure how many true fans you actually have. We know
your time is valuable and we appreciate you spending this
time with us being a part of this community. It's
our hope that you feel that sense of community here
at musicians tip jar and that you'll help spread the
(34:09):
word to make us all stronger. Special thanks to our
guest Jenna Lomonico for being here with us and giving
her time today as well. If you'd like to get
a hold of us or Jenna, what's the best way
to do that?
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Check out musicians tipjar dot com for tools, resources and
discounts built specifically to help keep you up on the
finance side of your music business, and reach out to
us anytime at musicians tipjart gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
We'd love to hear your story.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
If the episode resonates with you, share it with a friend,
leave a review, or hit that like button if you're
watching on YouTube. It helps us grow this community and
support more musicians like you. You can also check out
more on Jenna at one rpm dot com and you
can find her on LinkedIn at Jenna Lomonico.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
As always, thank you for joining us, and remember there
is ourdy enough for everyone. You just need to know
how to get what you want. Until the next time
on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself Chris web stay happy,
healthy and wealthy. Perhaps the most difficult to do is
to know yourself, and the second is to share you
with the world. This is Musician's Tip.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
Jar Somebody Somebody.
Speaker 6 (35:22):
Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or
professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, business, or
financial professional for individualized advice. Individual results are not guaranteed,
and all discussed strategies have the potential for property. Last
the most are operating on behalf of Musician's Tip Jar
LLC exclusively
Welcome to the show that explores the methods and strategies
on rockin' the financial side of your music business. With
over forty years combined experience, here are your hosts, Chris
Webb and Dave Tamkin.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to you Musicians Tip Driver, where we talk about
musicians and money, where we remind each other and all
of you to push through when times get tough. I'm
Chris Webb, joined by my co host and the guy
who also pushes ice baths onto me, Dave Tampkin.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Oh, better than pushing you into ice baths, that's not one.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's like gatorade for the forty year olds.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're like forty thirty year olds.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well. Today we complete our interview with head of US
marketing at one RPM, Jenna Lomonico. We discuss common mistakes
of musicians trying to gain traction on their socials, what
sets record labels apart, as well as some predictions on
what might be the next big thing in this industry.
Today's quote comes from our guest Jenna. She said, there
are a lot of ways for artists to make a
(01:02):
real good living and have a strong following base and
do what they love on a consistent basis still taking
care of their families and living a good life doing
what they love.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
That could have been your quote, too easily say that
all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
That's why I spoke to me.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
This week's nonprofit is New York Music Institute. It's a
community focused organization that strives to provide opportunities and offer
inspiration for those in our diverse community seeking to achieve
a deep appreciation for music that provide a space for
people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience to
learn about music and other parallel arts. It is the
express desire of ny am I to not discriminate towards
(01:39):
anyone on the basis of race, creed, age, gender, color,
sex or sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, ethnic origin, gender identity, disability,
or family income levels. All of its employment, admission and
financial aid programming and policies will work towards being discrimination free.
Please learn more at New York Music Institute.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
If you find this.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Information useful, please rate and subscribe to the podcast and
also slam that like button for on YouTube so we
can help keep you up on the finance side of
your music business.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Jenna Lomonico is a digital marketing expert who used her
love of music and knowledge in the social media space
to help break up and coming artists into the mainstream
music for over twenty years. After studying audio production and
working at a record studio straight out of college, she
truly started her career at pr at Girly Action in
two thousand and five. In two thousand and seven, Jenna
(02:29):
got her first big role at an up and coming
record label, Glass Note Records, as the head of New Media.
It was there where she blossomed her skills in the
digital space, helping break artists such as Mumford and Sons,
Phoenix and Childish Gambino. After five years at Glass Note,
she left to join a new label service branch, Cobalt
Label Services. Jenna worked in the digital department, where she
(02:50):
handled digital strategy for artists such as Martina McBride, Lenny Kravitz,
and New Kids on the Block. In twenty fifteen, as
Island Records was relaunched as a solo label after separating
from def Jam, Jenna joined the Island team to run
the digital marketing department. It was here that she began
to work with newly signed teen artist Shawn Mendez. Using
(03:12):
her social media knowledge, she helped create a social media
strategy to help grow Sean's social following into the multimillions.
She also led the digital marketing effort for artists such
as Nick Jonas, The Killers, Elton, John bon Jovi, Fallout Boy,
and Demi Lovado. Jenna has now joined the one RPM team,
heading up the US marketing team, where she oversees all marketing, DSP,
(03:36):
advertising and digital marketing strategy. When it really comes down
to it here, there are such important differences between record
labels with how they function, what they offer, and the
general culture within. There's so many insights crammed into our
second half of this interview with Jenna, So let's go.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
What are some mistakes you see artists do.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
I think that being disingenuous and like just sort of
posting to post. I think you get into trouble. Then
I think there's a learning process, you know, like where
sometimes artists are like, I really want to be good
at social media, I just don't know how. And so
something that I see often is they'll start posting and
(04:35):
they'll start getting a little bit of pick up, and
then you start to see a little bit of a
decline and then they're like, no, never mind, it's not
working anymore, and consistency really is key and you have
to like push through that lull. And I think that's
the biggest mistake that I see is like when they
start to get their job, they immediately assume that they've
been shadow Vans and then like they don't push through
(04:57):
that lull, and I think, you know, just staying the
course is really important.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
What's funny about that too, is sometimes it's because we're
also as artists, I think, growing and changing, and it's
like you go through these moods where like you don't
feel like doing it anymore. And you talked about that
consistency that is so hard to show up to when
it starts looking like it's going down and you just
feel like not doing it, you know, like the two
(05:24):
go together so harsh against you and you're just like,
forget it. Yeah, it isn't working.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
I know, it's hard, and it's like it sucks for
artists honestly, because it's like back in the day, nobody
had to care about this, right, It's like a whole
new layer of being an artist that didn't exist years ago.
And just because you make music doesn't mean you enjoy
making content and making parents that content's hard. It's a
(05:51):
lot of work. You have to always be thinking about it,
like it's a very big leaning. I also say, like,
don't be afraid to get somebody to help you. It
needs to come. The content needs to be yours. But
maybe you can get somebody help you with editing, or
you can get have a friend that just reminds you like, hey,
this is a good moment to film, or like, you know,
just having people around you to encourage you. I also
(06:14):
find that artist who have content ds, like every Wednesday
from two to four, I am shooting content and I've
seen some artists do really well with that. I think
it just like puts you in because, like I know,
for me, I need to be like mentally prepared to
do certain things. So I feel like when you're like
mentally like, okay, this is my time to do it.
(06:35):
Sometimes that's really helpful.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I love that and I write that down now, Chris,
but have to cancel some stuff we have going on.
I want to move into one RPM and the future
of music. In your opinion, it is no surprise to
us after twenty years of your experience in your career
that you're now the head of marketing. At one RPM,
you lead a global team across forty three offices and studios.
(06:59):
Can you tell us about one RPM's mission and how
you set yourself aside in the industry as something unique.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Yeah, So I think that first of all, something that
sets us apart is we are one hundred percent self owned,
So Manual Zon's are president and owners. He is the
sole owner of our company, which means we do not
rely on any major label support or we don't answer
to any major label when it comes to the rules,
(07:28):
and so that offers us a lot of flexibility and
allows us to really be transparent and just more flexible
in general. Aside from just how we're structured. The other
point is so our deals are not like there are
no two artists deals that are ever the same. We
(07:49):
really build out our artists seals to make sure that
they fully function for the artists and what it is
that they're trying to achieve. So we were originally known
as a DIY distributor, but as the years went on
and when I joined the team in the US, we
really started to build up our marketing capabilities and so
(08:10):
we really have all of the services that you would
get at a major label other than PR and radio,
and we hire out by design for those things. So
if you're an artist and you come to us and
you can say to us, all I'm really looking for
is like DST pitching and advertising, and we can do
that for you. Or you can come to us and say, like,
I want a full team, I want the whole thing,
(08:32):
and we can do that also, And what your deal
is structured like will be reflected upon what those means
that you have. Also, our advances and our marketing funds
are realistic in the sense that you can recoup. We
want you to recruit quickly. We want you to make
money on your music very quickly. We can always re
(08:55):
negotiate a deal to add more money in, but we
don't like to give an artist. You know, there there
are a lot of legels right now that are throwing
like millions of dollars at an artist, and the issue
with that is then you might never make money on
that ever again. Right whereas we offer what we believe
is an achievable amount of money to recoup and then
(09:16):
you are able to then make money on that music
and we can like restart what that looks like. Everything
that we do is meant to be really fair to
the artists and allow them to be more in control
of what their faith looks like.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
You don't hear that every day?
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah, and that's really what that's us part.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
You also have proprietary technology as well, don't you correct.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, So we have our own CMF back ends where
all of our project managers, all of our specialists, everybody
works out of this one system. So if you are
an artist or a manager that works with us, and
at two o'clock in the morning, you wake up and
you think, oh my god, that advertising advertising campaign ever happened?
(10:03):
You can sign onto your account and you'll see that
the ad campaign launched on this day at this time,
and you can see everything that we're doing. And so
it's full transparency. You can see what has happened, what
hasn't happened, and it really allows for this like open
line of communication. We also have like a lot of
one on one conversation with all of our artist teams
(10:24):
that's not relying on just that system alone. We are
in constant communication with our artists and that's feedback that
we get a lot that like they find that our
team talks and communicates with artists teams a lot more
than our competitors.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
It has to help musicians have some insight, like you said,
to the back end of the business side of things,
so then they could understand what you're talking about and
what goes into all those campaigns, which some musicians might
not have that access.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yeah, and we're here to educate too. The team here
is absolutely incredible and actually really work to you know,
because we're working with the artists in candem right, Like
we're never saying like, Okay, this is what we're doing,
this is what your marketing plan is. Marketing plans on
every front is we work out budget and how we're
going to allocate that budget, and what the strategy is
(11:18):
with the artists, with the artist's team, and so they're
fully tied into everything because I think nowadays more than ever,
because of the way that social media is and that
artists need to be more business savvy. They're they're entrepreneurs, right,
and it's almost disrespectful to treat them otherwise, like they
need to be involved with those decisions, and that's not
(11:39):
something that I've seen prior before working here.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I think that would also set you up with more
success and less time having to handhold a musician than
it is when you're educating them along the way, right one.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Because it's not just this is how it works, and
then you know for the best it's a constant conversation.
You know.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Do you ever work with artists that are more like
purposefully outside of the mainstream, like the ones that I
think of bands like Dave Matthews bander or artists that
are like I mean, they may have had some success
into the mainstream, but they really live outside of that zone,
like is there marketing strategy is very different in your
approach with them.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I think that you throw less money. I think when
you're trying to be more like mainstream pop, there's you
have to spend more money more aggressively.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Right.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
So the thing I always talk about is what I
realized when I first came to one RPM is my
idea of what success for an artist and then was
really skewed. Right when you come from the major world,
a major legal world. If an artist or a song
is not top top five, top forty, it was a flop, right,
(12:59):
But there are a lot of ways for artists to
make a really good living and have a really strong
following base and do what they love on a consistent
basis and take care of their families and live a
good life doing what they love. And I think that
that level of success is really overlooked by the wider
(13:20):
music industry. But not everybody is going to be the
one person. And how do you validate and really help
lift up these artists that have these careers that maybe
they're not touring doing you know, arena stadium tours, but
they have rabid fan bases and their music means a
(13:42):
lot of people and they make good money. And I
think that that is a level of success too that's
often overlooked today.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah. I love to hear you say that, because I
think there are there's the majority are in.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
There right, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I mean was listening to Ryan Tedder talked the other
day and he's like he's like it's even hardest that
it's ever been for him to get a hit song anymore.
Like he says that what used to be, you know,
one out of twenty is now one out of a
thousand songs that'll write that gets up there, even with
his clout of who he is. Yes, yeah, And so
it seems like it's not getting easier to get that
(14:21):
luck or that that success of that hit song.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, the O.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
The other end of that too is I don't see
that the one hit wonders anymore either. It's like you
either get up there and you're sticking around for a
little while, or you just don't get there.
Speaker 5 (14:35):
Yeah. No, that's very true. And I think right now
I kind of feel like we're in this like lull
of Like you know, we had TikTok during COVID that
kind of like broke through all these different new ways
for people to connect and like we were doing the live
streams and things like that. But as the world was
(14:57):
like settled back in, I feel we haven't gotten I know,
like you know, AI is starting to become more prevalent
and figuring out ways to use that for marketing, but
I don't think there's anything like super exciting right now
in the marketing space, and we're on the cusp of
something great which is not there yet.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Do you see a way that artists are going to
be able to work together with AI that's going to
be friendly.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
I mean that's a tricky one. I don't totally believe
in the whole AI artists thing. I think music needs
to be tied to human emotion, and so I don't
totally love that, but I think that there's ways to
use AI for marketing and to be clever and to
really be able to like use all of the information
that's there for you to aggregate trends for your artists
(15:48):
to help you point you in the right direction of
where you should be going to connect with your fans.
I think it's a tool and not a solution.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Well said, let's talk about just some advice for aspiring musicians.
So for independent artists just starting out, what are the
most important investments they should make in terms of their
music career from your point of view.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Yeah, obviously first music and the production, right, Like, obviously
that's always first. I think that having a good understanding
of who your fans are and like really understanding you know,
where they live, what they connect with is so important,
(16:33):
and I think that it's often overlooked. Like if you
have one hundred fans, that's that you can build off
of that, Right, there's ways that you can grow and
build off of that, and that's on you to like
really be engaging with them and having them invite their
friends to events and you know, really trying to like
galvanize the fans that you do have. I think advertising
(16:57):
digital advertising is a good way to start, but it
can't just be advertising, right because I've seen a lot
of artists that will like just like boost a post
and it'll get you know, ten thousand views on that post,
but it didn't really mean anything. I think spending your
time and your money on creating content that is a
good use of your investment. And I'm still a believer,
(17:19):
a big believer in live shows. I think that like
that really is a game changer and something oddly overlooked
these days. But a live show going on tour is
I don't know, it's just the tried and true way
to grow your family is.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, it's something I can't take over either yet.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
No, No, absolutely, AI, like you said, can help you
find every room in you know, in the state of
Illinois that has one hundred person capacity.
Speaker 5 (17:50):
Absolutely. Yeah, that's a perfect example of using it as
a as a really good tool.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah. I'm curious with all the different countries that your
company works with, if you see that these strategies are
vastly different depending on the different country and market, I
think that.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
The essence of it is all the same I think
the big thing is culturally understanding how fans work there, right,
And that's actually something that we do here is we
do what we call these master classes where the teams
from different territories will teach the rest of us like
what is important culturally and that market, right, because some
(18:30):
markets they only want to consume music of their language,
of that country. Other markets are very hungry for music
outside of their outside of their territory. And then there's
also like how do you make fans feel love from
other places? So, like Australia is a really interesting one
(18:50):
where it's very hard to work. It's very hard to
tour in Australia. Is it expensive to get to Australia?
So a lot of artists can't get there. So how
do you meet those fans fe'll appreciated for being your
fan when you really can't get there, right, Like it's
an expensive beat. So I think the core of it
(19:10):
connecting with the fans, connecting the music to new listeners,
like all all of it is the same, it's just
the cultural nuances that vary.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Every city is so far away from the next that
it's it's right hard to get to you know.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Well, yeah, also I've worked with a lot of artists
that have been like, especially like UK artists, they come
to the US, you know, on tour and they're like,
what is happening? Because you know that we're so it's
so big and so vast, and it's so overwhelming. So yeah,
there's a lot of cultural device there.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
So thinking about the person that started looking for an
internship and going through those liner notes, what if you
could offer like one piece of overarching advice to inspiring
musician listening to us today, what would it be from
from that person all the way now from twenty years
of experience in your career.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I think that it's about, like I said earlier, consistency.
I think, really understanding what your goals are. I think
too often people just see the end game, right, Like
you just want to be a huge track stor right,
But there are many steps that you have to take
(20:32):
in order to get there. You kind of need to
think of it like if you want to play Madison
Square Garden, right, you have to play Mercury Lounge first,
and then you go to Bowery and then like you
need to take those career steps. And so what I
would say is understand what your long term goal is,
but then figure out what those ten pole moments that
(20:53):
you have to achieve along the way are because that
not only is really important to hit those milestones, but
it makes it more achievable, right because it takes I
think oftentimes people feel like an artist just suddenly gets
huge overnight, when in reality, they've all been doing this
for years and years and years, right, So understanding that
(21:16):
it's going to take a while mentally helps you as
an artist to say like, Okay, well yeah, I'm not
there yet because they still haven't done all of these
other things. And that goes back to them also understanding
how the music industry works and what are those key
ten poles. And I think that's why it's important to
eventually work your way to getting a team, Like that's
one of your goal marks, right, getting a manager, getting
(21:40):
an artist team, and it doesn't an artist team doesn't
necessarily need to be you get signed again, you get
signed to a major label, like maybe you first start
with like getting a manager, and then you get like
a marketing person, and you get like a digital person,
and then you work what you sign to some sort
of able distribute or somebody that could be part of
(22:02):
that of that clime, but surrounding yourself with people who
really understand what those needs are is really important.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
This is a debate at the university all the time
about what is the first person to hire on your team?
And it's because I think that there's there's probably not
a right answer, but maybe there's the most common answer,
Like who's the first person that people tend to really
need to help with?
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Right? I think some people will say a lawyer and
some people say manager. I personally think a manager, but
make sure you have like a sound deal and you're
and then and then follow with your lawyer. But I
think I would say a manager, but be very careful
always because you think you know people and you think
(22:49):
you can trust people, but shitty stuff still happens.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, is that the chicken in the egg is the
lawyer and the manager?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Yeah? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Speaking of which came first? Do you think Chris's background
came first? Or the T shirt that he's wearing? But
the T shirt, Chris, where'd your body go?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:13):
We can't thank you enough for taking the time.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
To talk with us today.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Thank you so and just sharing all your expertise and
congratulations on the new addition.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
To your family to that's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
For how many times have we said that talent might
get you in the door, but it won't keep you there.
That's one of the first things she talked about was
mistakes musicians make on social media. Talent doesn't guarantee engagement.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Strategy does.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
It definitely helps, right, But like any venue, like any relationship,
you know, your talent gets you so far. If you're
a not entertaining, be not easy to work with all
of those things that come into play. Those comments I
think help us avoid like time wasters and can help
us like build awareness about what we want to convey
to people watching watching our art on social media. And
(24:14):
it might not just be playing singing or the craft
of songwriting, but you might have to make it entertaining
as well.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Have you ever seen that movie yesterday where I.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Didn't watch anything, I hit a pretty late back day,
got a lot of ur worked one.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
Yeah, yea.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
That movie comes to mind when you talk about how
you're presenting the songs, because all these ridiculously great Beatles
songs were being played by someone who's unknown in the
back corner of a bar and for the most part,
nobody cares. You know, it really doesn't matter how it's presented.
And that's kind of also the other end of it.
It's not just about your strategy, about your marketing. It's
(24:53):
about how you're presenting what you're giving.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
To side said that too, you know, go back and
look at your last ten posts and see what kind
of value it brings to the table.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Does it have a clear objective?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
The other end of that is too, of course, just
because you enjoy making music doesn't have anything to do
with whether or not you're gonna enjoy making that content. Right,
Making the content is hard, obviously a lot of work,
and that can also be something that you have to
find a way to push through. She also mentioned don't
be afraid to get help on that, right.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean I'm definitely qualified for someone who
needs help with social media. And when you know she
talks about maybe the guilt or shame of not being
able to know how to do it, I mean that
guilt or shame also comes with asking help, and you
have to overcome that to say, hey, I need help
with this, I need different way of doing things.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
Otherwise nothing changes.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
That might be where a lot of people just kind
of stop in their progress because they get to the
point where they just need help, but they don't have
the ego right to be able to ask for it. Yeah,
and the other end of that is consistency, right whether
or not you're being consistent with what is you're trying
to do, because there's going to be those times like
she described, where social your numbers or your results start declining,
(26:12):
and that is an easy spot for most people to
be like, you know what, this isn't working forget it.
But that's just not how it works.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
It's not And the fact that you might have to
feel like you have to do it all now that
can feel like a lot of weight on your shoulders.
And maybe setting aside a few hours one day a
week and then that mightcro into a full day is
key to having not only consistency but then also easier
to ask for help for only a few hours of
(26:40):
a day. And that's repetition like anything else. The way
you practice music, the way you write songs, you have
to get into a flow to do that. Did she
say content sprint that what she referred to it as,
or maybe that was Megan Burt when she was saying
she was doing raising money for her album that she
said it was easier for her just to do like
two or three day to get everything spread out for
(27:03):
the entire like advertising campaign, but batching that does reduce
the stress on it.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Well, let's talk a little bit about what she finds
so unique about one RPM and what their mission is
and how how much that was refreshing for us to
hear from all the different labels that we've talked to
and heard from.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Yeah, she's they're fighting for the artists. It's like you're
teaching them to fish, you know, you're not just giving
them fish. So they want you to be successful and
be able to do things on your own and build
your own career as them as a partner, not just
giving you the fish to eat.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
You know. Yeah, I don't know why I had to
repeat that.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
That's a good analogy. You know, you gotta keep fishing
for that one or others. I mean, I'll take debit.
Speaker 5 (27:49):
I think.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Also, just talking about not inflating advances, that's a really
important part of what we're here to talk about, which
is like how do you handle the money side of
this stuff? So often it's it's become that these large
labels are banks, and where they're going to make their
money is by loaning you money and expecting you to
pay a ton of interest back while you repay that loan.
(28:11):
That can be the killer of an artist's career. At
least it can create a huge amount of challenge around
growing and building a financial successful career. So it really
means a lot to hear them talk about let's make
sure that this is what you need, not not just
some inflated number that's going to make you your ego
(28:33):
big and your bank account broke.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
And how are they measuring that.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
They're giving you insight to their back end to show
you how your numbers are growing. And that's something we
teach here, is to look at your numbers on a
monetary level to see where the money is going. What's
wrong with taking that same thought process and saying, Okay,
how many new social followers that I had this week,
how many T shirts did I sell? How many people
streamed my music? What can I do next week to
(28:58):
get even more of them? That to happen, you know,
So having a strong CRM like that is super helpful.
And if they've already built one, man, it's just giving
you gold.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah, and it makes it easier for all the tracking,
like you said, but also the transparency also, the communication
gets easier to be specific about what you're talking about.
All of that improves, you know, all of that is
a part of this process that sometimes can feel super
mysterious if you don't have access to that information.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
I think they're also taking what.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
They learn from one artist and being able to kind
of mold that for different niches, which is nice too
because it's from I think I do that in my
marketing consulting. When I first started fifteen years ago doing consulting,
I had a music background for ten years, and I
was able to say, hey, this is what works in
the music world, and this is an emotional product. Why
(29:50):
not take what I've learned here and bring it over here.
So it makes sense when she's like, I don't see
too many differences between say a country artist and nine inch.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That really is from that business mind that she has right,
that understanding that marketing is marketing right, and these are
universal truths no matter where in the world you are
trying to make a dent into an economy or into
a market, and that's very powerful to understand. It's just
once you understand these skills, you can repeat them right,
(30:20):
and you could do them well no matter what style
you're doing. And like we talked about, there's so much
room for multi genre crossover and still finding ways to
make it effective for both of the kind of dominating
origins of those genres at the same time.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
How many times have you heard all you need is
a thousand true fans?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
How many times have you ever heard you need one
hundred true fans?
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Yeah, not too often, So it was nice to hear that.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's like, at least it's somewhere to start and feel
like if you have a goal to hit there she said,
you know, she'd rather have an artist have that than
a thousand passive Yeah, so, I mean another reason to
increase your loyalty word of mouth support. Do something on Instagram,
to run a short poll or question box asking fans
(31:13):
you know what they're interested and just like we did,
just do something to have that conversation go back and forth.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
The more you understand your income streams, the easier you
can delegate your time towards these things, right, and if
your two main areas are going to be playing shows
and releasing music, then both the marketing obviously and the
outreach on social media is incredibly important. But the other
end in which she also supported was live shows and
how important a good live show is and how important
(31:44):
putting that energy and creativity and marketing into live shows
can be an effective tool in growing your true fans.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Andy Fresco, totally yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Understanding what your goals are and then also fully understanding
those steps to get them. It's really helpful to say
one hundred fans first instead of a thousand fans, right.
It's it's easier to say I'm going to sell out
fifty tickets at this show instead of going straight to
the big stuff. And it seems very logical when we
say it out loud, but I don't think people break
it down that way. Like you said, you really should
(32:15):
start with something that is an achievable goal within a timeframe.
If you understand that better, you're more likely to achieve
it and then be able to move back and grow
that what you're going for to a bigger number.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Even when you set up here to do list for
a day, how many times is it so easy to
get all the simple stuff out of the way instead
of saying, hey, this is first, second, and third top priority.
So you have movement throughout your day, you're actually doing something,
but is it progress? Do you feel like you're moving forward?
So being able to measure that is important with strategy, and.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
If that strategy goal is to be signed to a label,
then looking at all this from that perspective can be
really useful.
Speaker 5 (32:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
What did we talk about that makes someone attractive to
a label?
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Right?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
It's building true fans. Right, It's not having a bunch
of numbers. That's not what they're looking at. Right. That
they're not stupid. They know the difference between engaged audience
and just a bunch of fluff. Right, So understanding what
it is you need to do to be attractive to them?
Is it part of your job if you're an artist
trying to become signed to a label like one RPM,
(33:24):
so our one access set for you this week is
to take a hard look at how attractive you are
to a label in your current state. If this is
something you're interested in achieving as an artist, there needs
to be a clear list of what it is that
needs to be done to improve what you have to
offer in order to achieve this goal. So one way
to do that would be to set deadlines on your
(33:46):
list of what it is that needs to improve and usually,
and I think that our theme of our season has
been saying the first place to start nowadays is on
your social media and your engagement, in which you can
measure how many true fans you actually have. We know
your time is valuable and we appreciate you spending this
time with us being a part of this community. It's
our hope that you feel that sense of community here
at musicians tip jar and that you'll help spread the
(34:09):
word to make us all stronger. Special thanks to our
guest Jenna Lomonico for being here with us and giving
her time today as well. If you'd like to get
a hold of us or Jenna, what's the best way
to do that?
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Check out musicians tipjar dot com for tools, resources and
discounts built specifically to help keep you up on the
finance side of your music business, and reach out to
us anytime at musicians tipjart gmail dot com.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
We'd love to hear your story.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
If the episode resonates with you, share it with a friend,
leave a review, or hit that like button if you're
watching on YouTube. It helps us grow this community and
support more musicians like you. You can also check out
more on Jenna at one rpm dot com and you
can find her on LinkedIn at Jenna Lomonico.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
As always, thank you for joining us, and remember there
is ourdy enough for everyone. You just need to know
how to get what you want. Until the next time
on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself Chris web stay happy,
healthy and wealthy. Perhaps the most difficult to do is
to know yourself, and the second is to share you
with the world. This is Musician's Tip.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
Jar Somebody Somebody.
Speaker 6 (35:22):
Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or
professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, business, or
financial professional for individualized advice. Individual results are not guaranteed,
and all discussed strategies have the potential for property. Last
the most are operating on behalf of Musician's Tip Jar
LLC exclusively
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