Album Capsules
by Mark E. Waterbury
Unwritten Law - Live Music in High Places
Click here for the review
Erik Norlander - Music Machine
Click here for the review
Evanescence - Fallen
Click here for the review
Q-Ball - In Space
Click here for the review
The Codetalkers with Col. Bruce Hampton
Click here for the review
Cider - Sugarcoat
Click here for the review
Carrie Newcomer - The Gathering of Spirits
Click here for the review
Big Fat Jam - Welcome to Wonderland
Click here for the review
Agatha Crawl - Insolence
Click here for the review
Steve Gibb - Zig Zag
Click here for the review
Crossroads: Pat Kim - Unwritten Law's Bassist
by Mark E. Waterbury
Click here
Industry Profile - Jim Pitulski - President of Inside Out America
by Mark E. Waterbury
Click here
Unsigned Musician Spotlight: Erik Norlander
by Mark E. Waterbury
Click here
Scott Turner's Song Publisher's Perspective
Click here
Music Biz Opportunities
Click here
Music Industry Marketing Showcase
Click here
Serge Home
Click here
Music Morsels archives
Click here
About Music Morsels
Click here
Submission Guidelines
Click here
Ad Rates
Click here
Scott Turner Tapes
Click here
Music Morsels News
Click here
Sponsorship Information
Click here
Sponsors:
MUSIC MORSELS SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
To SUBSCRIBE to our FREE e-mail version of Music Morsels, send an email message to MusMorsels@aol.com and put the word "Subscribe" in the subject field. That's it. Expect to receive your email issue the first week of every month. Please note: We do not share or sell our mailing list with anyone so your privacy is protected.
MUSIC MORSELS - The legal stuff:
Music Morsels is distributed worldwide the first week of the month by subscription.
The e-mail version is FREE. That's 12 educational issues brought to your computer screen! Feedback is always welcome at MUSMORSELS@aol.com. Thank you for your support!
Disclaimer: Just because we print the stuff that doesn't mean we necessarily endorse it. Problems with content? Contact us ASAP and we'll tell you how we can help.
Music Morsels reserves the right to reject certain advertisements based on content.
Copyright 2004 by Music Morsels, a Serge Entertainment Publication.
Editor: Sandy Serge
Contributing Columnists/Writers:
Mark E. Waterbury, Scott Turner
Music Morsels
P.O. Box 2760
Acworth, GA 30102
A division of the Serge Entertainment Group
|
|
 TM© May 2003
Industry Profile - Jim Pitulski - President of Inside Out Americaby Mark E. Waterbury
Back in the 80's there was a metal band in Pittsburgh called Angus Grim that was more influenced by horror movies by John Carpenter and Roger Corman than their musical peers. Sitting around a table one night they were trying to divine their future in the steel city's sparse music scene. One of the band members Jim Pitulski came up with an idea. "I asked "Who wants to go to New York?' And everyone was "sure, why not?" And within just a couple of weeks we all picked up and went to New York City." This is not the beginning of a success story for a rock and roll band, but it put Jim in a position where he could take the path of success on the professional side of the music business. He made a connection or two during the time he worked at the famous Eides Music Store in Pittsburgh, Jim had a day job lined up already when Angus Grim moved to New York as a salesman for Caroline Records. "When I worked at Eides Music, we were one of the really cool proactive stores promoting underground music at the time," Jim recalls. " Many of the record companies were catering to us because they wanted exposure in our store and an introduction to the Pittsburgh market. Bands from labels like Metal Blade and Combat used to play in town, and I'd put them up at my place or get them gigs, and sometimes promote the shows. I kind of got the feel for it then what it was like to do marketing at a street level with underground music."
Eventually Angus Grim broke up, and Jim left Caroline for Mechanic Records, fully pursuing the business side of music. Learning directly and indirectly from various mentors including Metal Blade's Mike Faley, Shrapnel's Mike Varney and famous Cleveland deejay Kid Leo, Jim began to polish his marketing skills in the burgeoning metal scene. "I was really part of the first wave of metal marketing specialists. It was partly being in the right place at the right time, because when I moved to New York metal was starting to get big. And there was a group of us working in indie labels that started getting hired by major labels for their metal departments. We brought in the street level marketing strategies such as working with college radio and indie music stores. And once you're with a major label you start learning how things are done on a larger level." After working at Mechanic, Jim was offered a position in metal marketing at Columbia, eventually moving on from their to work in marketing at the Polygram Group.
Jim may have gotten his start when metal was really starting to get its legs, but in 1990, the music industry itself was mired in tough times. About the time that Jim left Polygram, he secured a different opportunity that was far removed from his previous work. During his tenure at Mechanic, he heard demos from a new band called Dream Theater that really impressed him. He managed to turn label exec Steve Sinclair on to them, and Steve signed them to Mechanic. Years later while Dream Theater was set to release their "Images and Words" album, their managers inexplicably quit on them. So the band approached Jim about managing them. At first, Jim had just taken the position to help the band out, but it eventually became a full time commitment "I had actually at the time been looking for a new label gig. The (Dream Theater) opportunity came along and it was the most lucrative thing I had done at the time. It was so exciting because we put the album out and didn't expect much. We printed 8,000 units. Then we did an edit of the song "Pull Me Under,' and it just exploded on rock radio. We kept touring, touring and touring. I was working with a band that I understood and loved more than any band I could think of, and I feel that I was part of their rise to success." Jim called his management company Round Table Entertainment and also became the manager of Spock's Beard and Marillion's lead singer Fish.
While working with Dream Theater, Jim made a connection that put him on a career path closer to the one he had originally chosen. During a European tour, he met Thomas Waber, president of the Germany-based label Inside Out which specialized in progressive rock bands. In the late 90's, Thomas approached Jim about starting a division of Inside Out in the United States. At the time, Jim left the management side of music and returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh. "It seemed like it was back in tune with what I originally wanted to do. I actually started Inside Out America with an office in my apartment. Thomas had done such an excellent job with Inside Out in Europe, and the European market for prog is about four times what it is in the States. When Dream Theater and bands that followed them started to break, we realized there were a lot of people who were into that type of music, but it didn't get a lot of support from music television or radio. But with the internet, these "prog heads" found each other and it started building again. We were positioned perfectly, developing the bands that brought the whole thing back." Inside Out America kept growing, and now has formal offices and a number of employees vanguarding more than forty musical entities including bands, individual artists and side projects from prog rock players. "It's nice to be working with this type of music and it's real gratifying to see this become successful on different levels. We almost have the responsibility to redefine what progressive music is. It's up to us to find new bands that have some new edge and are pushing the envelope beyond what has already been done, so they can reach back and bring the older progressive audience with them but also reach out to a new and younger audience."
Along with overseeing the growth of Inside Out America, the bands and the musicians on their roster, Jim is thinking of going back into management, as well as perhaps delving into producing concert or documentary style videos somewhere down the line. He is obviously satisfied with his career choice, and the way he blazed his own particular path is a sound example for others who may want to go into the business side of the music industry. "One thing that I've always done is closed my eyes and just jumped into it. I took a lot of chances, and I got lucky in a lot of ways. You have to maintain your love of music and understand what it is about music that appeals to certain people. Then take your best verbal and analytical skills and put that all together and get ready to work really really hard."
Jim Pitulski's advice to musicians: "First of all know who you are, don't waffle. You have to take a chance - you may never make it - but if you try to straddle the top of the fence then it's not going to happen for you. You have to have a real strong sense of identity and who you are. Then I would try to build up the biggest local following that you can. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it's record companies finding out about what a band is doing on a local leve that can actually attract them to you. Be the biggest fish in the smallest pond you can find."
|
|
