LENNY BEER ON PROMOTION: RISING STARS

The next generation of promotion stars is emerging, breaking new artists and showing their mettle every day.　Let’s take a look at a few of these key players.

1. Peter Gray: Gray started as an independent promoter in Cincinnati and was brought to New York under the tutelage of the Pope of Promotion, Richard Palmese, during the Clive Davis regime at Sony.　When labels were merged and the new RCA was created, Gray headed West to take over the #1 promo position at Warner Bros. There he built a top-notch staff that has been delivering first-timers like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Passenger and Nico & Vinz to the top of the charts. Now buoyed by the confidence that has been afforded him by label head Cameron Strang, Gray and his team have been accepted by gatekeepers as a force to be reckoned with as they continue to line up and break new artists at multiple formats.

2. Todd Glassman: Epic’s head of promo is the latest—and possibly the last—of a breed that was first tutored in the school of hard knocks known as Columbia’s Don Ienner regime, which has produced multiple industry megaplayers (Joel Klaiman, Charlie Walk, Lee Leipsner, etc.). And speaking of hard knocks, he also worked for promotion development guru Daniel Glass and under former Motown head Sylvia Rhone (he has of course rejoined Rhone at Epic). Glassman and his team of up-and-comers at Epic have broken A Great Big World and KONGOS at radio and are off and running with hot newcomer Meghan Trainor. Breaking three new artists in his first year at the helm is more than just a singular accomplishment; considering that KONGOS have the ONLY rock record currently on Top 40 radio, the feat is clearly magnified.　

3. Nick Petropoulos: Speaking of the Daniel Glass promotion school, his latest protégé has emerged in the last year as his own man—and one to watch closely in the years to come. With challenging radio projects in multiple formats, the Glassnote roster does not easily translate to heavy-rotation airplay. Yet Petropoulos is well-prepared and laser-focused to expose and deliver the critically acclaimed music from Mumford and Sons and score the highest independent win of the year on the always-difficult Rhythm chart with Childish Gambino, currently resting at #8 and working its way into contention for crossover Top 40 airplay.