Mike Wilpizeski, National Publicity Manager, Verve Records, PolyGram Classics and Jazz

From Peace Corps to Publicity.

Like a lot of folks in the music industry, I started out as a musician -- staying out till three in the morning, lugging an amp and guitar all over the city. and barking out songs at bars for just enough money to cover the cab fare. One time when my band had finally scraped together enough cash to record and press 1000 records (the minimum order), we realized that after giving away 100 to our friends and family, there was really no audience for the remaining 900 copies. We didn't know anything about publicity -- how to get the word out about our band and use it to sell records. Like most bands, we would never be able to coordinate a good press campaign with a solid radio and retail plan. A publicist might have helped us get some press, but we didn't know how to get our music or concerts reviewed in even one newpaper.

"Norwegian Wood" does a fine job of demonstrating the past tense.

I started playing music in third grade, after I saw the Monkees on TV. For much of the '60s, I patterned my life after their guitarist, Mike Nesmith. By the '70s, I had moved on to punk, dragging my guitar to Penn State in a pillow case and scratching "no future"on the front of it. After college, I joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Morocco where I taught English at a high school for girls (!). While I was there, I played Arabic pop music with a local wedding band -- a gig which really helped me to learn the language and meet a lot of people. Upon my return to the US, I went to graduate school and received a Master's Degree in Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language). I soon found myself at Queens College, teaching students from China, Vietnam, Turkey and many other fascinating places. Of course I brought my guitar to class, and if there had been a method to teach English through pop songs, I would have used it. Finally, teaching had became a way for me to finance my guitar-playing lifestyle.

Remember the LP?

I turned 30 around this time and, with my wife strongly suggesting that I get a "real" job, began looking seriously at the music business as an alternative to teaching. After working first at a recording studio, then in the mailroom of a small, independent jazz label, I landed a job with PolyGram. I was a New Release Coordinator -- just as the CD boom was about to hit. I learned everything from compact disc manufacturing and inventory to printing and pricing. I oversaw the monthly new release of dozens of compact discs, cassettes, and LP's for such distinguished PC&J labels as Deutsche Grammophon and Verve. I soon realized that PolyGram Classics and Jazz is a special place -- especially in terms of the great music and the talented people who work there.

Being a former English teacher comes in handy.

I officially joined PolyGram Classics and Jazz when I was promoted to Assistant Product Manager at ECM Records, a respected modern music label. This is when my career as a publicist began. Mostly what I did was help represent the company to the press and radio, as well as to the PC&J sales and marketing force. I learned that publicity is like teaching -- I constantly need to "educate" people about the music and the projects I am working. I also organized tour support (arranged interviews and preview articles in the local newspapers), worked on radio and retail chart activity (like the Billboard Classical and Jazz charts), and wrote press releases and artists biographies. I also did a lot of proofreading.

When you work at Verve, people return your phone calls.

Now, almost ten years later, I work as a publicist at Verve -- a respected giant of jazz labels. In 1996, we were voted "jazz label of the year." I still work on a lot of press releases and bios, but I spend most of my day on the phone, talking to jazz critics from all over the country. I help arrange interviews, photo shoots, promotional tours, TV appearances, and lots more. Every day is busy, but always exciting.

When was the last time you saw a jazz musician perform on television?

Publicists are always on the lookout for new magazines, emerging writers, and now, more than ever, coverage on the internet. TV is great if you can get it, but it remains unfriendly to most jazz artists. Another thing that a publicist does is create customized databases for mailing promotional CDs to writers. Publicists work within a budget, and this helps determine how many CDs are mailed out. At Verve, we have lists for jazz writers, pop writers, fashion critics, you name it. By now, everyone uses sophisticated databases to sort and locate all their different contacts, like a big rolodex with thousands of writers arranged by publication, location, and musical preferences. Some people are very secretive about their mailing lists and won't show them to anyone. Other people see them as a tool, ultimately not very effective without a personal knowledge of the human behind the mailing label.

"Mike, if you still want to make the cover of our April issue, we'll need that color slide of Ella by tomorrow morning..."

If record companies could be sure that every writer who is sent a CD will eventually review it, then there would be no need for publicists. So my favorite part of the job is contacting writers to find out whether they like the CDs they've been sent -- but first I have to get them to find my new release in that stack of 200 sitting on their desk. Quite often we start up talking about the Yankees or their sister's vacation. However, the conversation eventually gets back to the new release and whether they will write about it. Sometimes they end up writing a review, but it's just a few lines long. Sometimes a journalist writes a positive review, but then the editor won't run it for lack of space. When a great review finally does make it into print, it's so satisfying that I want to read it over and over again. One reason that great reviews happen is because the music on Verve is among the best in the jazz world. Another reason is because I try to build solid relationships with the writers I deal with. I've know many of them for a long time. When they ask me to help set up an interview or if they want a press kit (usually a folder with a promotional CD, a bio, a set of the best press clips and a B&W photo), they know that I will take care of their requests right away.

It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

What I think publicists are known for most is schmoozing and going to concerts. I spend several nights every week in the New York jazz clubs enjoying Verve artists play their music -- and I have been to some fantastic concerts. On almost any given night, there is a good chance that I will run into several prominent writers at these places. I always try to remember the first law of schmoozing -- writers need promo CDs the way publicists need reviews. Working at Verve has given me a great opportunity to hear some of the best music in jazz, and being a publicist here has given me the chance to work directly with some of the great journalists who honor this music by writing about it.