Tag Archives: Ellie Goulding

Entertainment Down at the Beaches of Los Angeles

Posted in Music, Songs by

VeniceSo I have a big announcement readers…I am moving to Los Angeles in less than ten weeks and much of my immediate family has decided to move with me, including my parents and younger brother. During some time out there in April, my brother and I spent time down at the beaches (of course!). Unlike normal people on vacation who feel the need to cram every tourist like activity into a few days we were way more low key. We spent a lot of time walking around and checking out the beach communities including Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, Venice, and Santa Monica. The beaches are covered with people playing instruments and trying to pass samples of their music to people passing by in hopes that they have given their CD to a record executive.

So, here is what you got – Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey are the local crowds. Friends hanging out, passing around their guitar, and just relaxing. Venice is where people are passing around music with headphones and then once they give you the music they want a donation for giving you something, which to me is kind of shady.  If you are going to give out your music maybe you should do some promotion with the people that your talking to instead of giving them a CD and asking for a donation.  Your best way would be to get personal and give them a flyer to your next show.  Maybe they are a record executive and you just missed your shot by being lazy.  Anyway, if you are looking to avoid this “let me give you a CD and then ask for a donation thing” – during the day it is less frequent, but in the late afternoon/ evening it becomes a heavy crowd of ‘artists’ doing this.

The third area is Santa Monica. This is the best area to really hear people play music. We hung around the Third Street Promenade where there were many art acts from ‘Dancing Dave’ who didn’t really have much rhythm to musicians. There were two types of musicians – really hot guys who decided it was best to play with an open shirt.  I mean seriously dude have some respect for yourself.  If people like your music they will come and listen, and if not then keep practicing and playing eventually it will happen.  Is it really necessary to have your shirt open and make yourself a piece of meat?

Then there was this violinist.  He played all current radio hits like Shake It Off (Taylor Swift), Jealous (Nick Jonas), and Love Me Like You Do (Ellie Goulding).  Now mind you I am not a huge fan of Ellie Goulding’s new song and I made that known every time we were in the car and it came on the radio and I changed the station.  Do you know when you hear a cover of a song and you don’t recognize it at all?  Well, when this violinist started playing this song I made my brother sit and listen.  I was totally mesmerized by this young man’s playing and I am pretty sure I was going on and on about how beautiful the song was that the violinist was playing.  Of course, having complained about this song all week my brother started laughing and thought I was kidding. Needless to say I didn’t hear the end of it for a few days, but it was totally worth listening to him play.  He slowed down the tempo and had a smoothness to his playing.  Plus in my opinion everything sounds amazing with a string instrument.  He had business cards to promote himself saying that he played at parties, weddings, and studio contract work.  He also had CDs to sell as well as stayed in the area to talk to people after he was done playing. He was extremely personable and connected with his audience.  Street musicians study this man!  He knows what he is doing.  We came back for two or three days in a row and he always had a crowd around him.  I wouldn’t doubt if we see him playing Walt Disney Concert Hall someday.

Martin Kierszenbaum – The Genius Behind Cheerytree Records

Posted in Music Business by

cherrytreerecords“A mom and pop shop in a department store.” That is the way Feist describes Cherrytree Records. Ten years ago, Martin Kierszenbaum started Cherrytree under the Interscope-Geffen-A&M umbrella at Universal Music Group, but it was a long road getting there. His love of music began as a child. Since his mother was a piano player he began lessons at eight years old and at ten he started to learn music theory and began songwriting. From there he started bands in high school and college where he was not only writing songs, but producing and mixing their work as well as being the manager of the band that dealt with the club promotors. This allowed him to hone his skills as a negotiator at a young age as well as meet people in the industry at a personal level. Kiersenbaum is one of the few music executives I have discovered so far that has finished school.  He went to University of Michigan for his bachelors degree and University of Southern California for his Masters in Communications Management (Songwriter Universe, Dale Kawashima).

During graduate school was where his music executive climb began.  He got an internship at Wing/ Polygram Records where he eventually got a job in the mailroom.  In 1989 he was hired as a publicist in the International department at Warner Brothers Records. He spoke Spanish because he grew up in Argentina which was the tipping point that got him the job. At Warner Brothers Records he worked with artists like Madonna, Jane’s Addiction, Devo, B-52s, Prince, and Rod Stewart.  He eventually moved to A&M Records where he was a publicist that work with Sting, Sheryl Crow, and Bryan Adams. In 1998 A&M was bought out my Universal Music Group and Interscope-Geffen-A&M was born. Kierszenbaum was kept on as Head of International under Jimmy Iovine. At this level he was able to work with artists like Eminem, Vanessa Carlton, and the Black Eyed Peas.

Kierszenbaum is the best of both worlds. “His advice and mentoring come from being a musician and not purely from a business standpoint” (LATimes, Melinda Newman). Jimmy Iovine recognized this and Kiersenbaum began doing A&R work for Interscope while managing his international publicist responsibilities. His first signing was an Italian Opera singer, Alessandro Safina. Safina didn’t do well in the U.S. partly because the PBS special that was create for the artist’s coming out was released around when the September 11th attack happened. It goes to show that it is all about timing. On a positive note Safina sold 250,000 copies in Sweden so Interscope looked at as a success.

In 2005, Cherrytree Records was born. Kierszenbaum signed artists such as Lady Gaga, Far East Movement, LMFAO, Roybn, Ellie Goulding, and Tokio Hotel. In the LA Times he stated “I don’t sign things of the moment, I sign things of the moment to come.” He has a gift of signing artists that are ahead of the curve, but still can connect to the mainstream.” Let’s take Lady Gaga as an example. She was a young kid who decided to drop out of college for a music career, but she had a vision for her music. She wanted to create an identity and a brand like Prince. She was the future and Kierszenbaum knew that because he was able to connect with her on a personal level. With his publicity, musicianship, and international background he was able assist in co-writing four songs on her album (The Fame), do a 40-part series introducing Gaga to the world, as well as break her to number 1 in the Swedish market before she became big in the U.S.

I think Jimmy Iovine said it best, “His musical background gives him a feel for the records the artists want to make, and his international mindset gives him the advantage in breaking them on a worldwide level” (Hollywood Reporter, Ashley Lee). Kierszenbaum is constantly on the look out for artists who have a point of view, a distinctive voice, and an extraordinary repertoire. In 2013 he signed a band from Vancouver Canada named Marianas Trench. Led by Josh Ramsey (co-writer of Call Me Maybe), he has great musicianship, a way with words, and heart in the last three albums the band has created. I look forward to the plans that Cherrytree has for Marianas Trench and if it is anything like Gaga everybody better be on the lookout for the fireworks.

Click here for a playlist of the artists that have been and are on Cherrytree Records.