Alan Wolmark of C.E.C. Management -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 1/27/2006
Last Visited: 9/12/2009
Alan Wolmark of
C.E.C. Management
...
- manager Alan Wolmark to future client and major label recording artist Ben Folds Five.
...
Riding the latest success in the making with Ben Folds Five (550/Sony), this issue's manager spotlight focuses on the 21-year career of Music Managers Forum (MMF) member Alan Wolmark.
...
Wolmark considers the MMF as "the first opportunity for managers to formally interact.
He cites the organization as critical to establishing ties between once disparate managers at different points in their careers so all can communicate regularly and become more informed in their field.
Thus, new managers can be more effective in creating, maintaining and developing their artists.
As a manager, "one is always learning something", Wolmark continues, "and managers are quite often winging it".
Such is the need for an organization such as the MMF for new managers.
But Wolmark's career began without such an establishment so he spent his time working a variety of situations to learn his craft.
Wolmark started teaching at college, then broke into the music business by writing for the trade publication Record World Magazine (Billboard's competitor in the 1970's).
His writing assignments centered on the usual album reviews but would also include the burgeoning FM radio airplay charts which kept Wolmark in contact with 50 stations across the country.
With a respected taste for music and the ability to relate with radio programmers in the same age group, Wolmark then caught the attention of the music industry's leading major record label for Album Oriented Rock (AOR) music - Atlantic Records - the label then home to such legendary acts for the format as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Yes, AC/DC, Blues Brothers, Pete Townshend, Genesis, Foreigner and so on - a music enthusiast's dream.
...
In the early 1980's, music was emerging that did not easily fit into tried and true radio formats, but Wolmark stuck to what would become a backbone of his management philosophy to seek out and promote artists with "great songs, drive and great performance skills that break new ground" - the key ingredients of any artist's long-term career.
...
Many acts on the RCA roster were British, and to Wolmark - the Anglophile, he would keep in close contact with managers from the U. K.
In the aftermath of RCA Record's corporate shakedown, Wolmark broke into the field of artist management in 1988 starting the Management Consulting Team (MCT) on his own offering U.S. representation to overseas acts and then in partnership with noted manager Barry Taylor.
...
Wolmark furthered the U.K.-U.S. worldwide management concept by joining forces with Peter Felstead (currently in MMF-U.K.) to form a true international management company that continues today as C.E.C. Management.
...
Wolmark also cites the strong development of new bands breaking out of the U.K./C.E.C. office including Ballroom (Mother/Island) and The Montrose Avenue (Columbia).
A challenging and comprehensive roster for which Wolmark has assembled a solid New York based team with day-to-day management and tour coordinator Jessica Nathanson (ex-William Morris) and Tim Broun (ex-MBJ Management and Setanta Records).
...
One example of focus in this spotlight - the continuing success story of Ben Folds Five featuring singer, songwriter, accomplished pianist Ben Folds who Wolmark remarked upon first witnessing as "somebody really incredible".
...
Wolmark professes one has to work for "a band you believe inŠthat you honestly believe can reach the massesŠand then have the patience even when those around you may not.
By example, Wolmark illuminates the successes of a legacy of bands from the Beatles to the Police, to Dave Matthews Band - all working hard from the earliest stages by touring incessantly and building their audiences grass roots style.
...
New manager Alan Wolmark and the band all agreed to pursue music in which the real piano element was critical in all recordings and performances, no exceptions.
Soon some rehearsals led to a string of eight North Carolina gigs, all booked by Wolmark, starting at The Blind Tiger in Greensboro, NC.
Sensing the band was getting tight, Wolmark chanced two low-key showcase gigs back up in New York but he did not invite any record labels.
"I invited journalists, Ben's publisher, booking agents and mostly friends," claims Wolmark, "and told them they were going to see something amazing" So the buzz of amazement began on May 21, 1994 at the Greenwich Village jaunt friendly and familiar to new talent, the Lion's Den.
Wolmark is still so struck by the band's live show he swears he "conducts no business when the band plays - I just don't want to miss anything" which reveals that there is always time to schmooze before and after the performance and the band will also appreciate their manager's full on-stage attention.
Wolmark worked BFF's strengths to an advantage in the developmental stage by booking the band solid in New York (New Music Seminar, Brownies), the Carolinas and all in between - as well as investing the band's early gig stash in a Ryder Truck big enough to ensure the delivery of the piano to every performance.
By Spring 1995, BFF headlined their way through small clubs and found a devoted audience.
By creating a live demand for the band, the record labels perked up with interest, though Wolmark never pitched the band and only sent out a few tapes, declaring victory for the piano in a world of alternative guitars - and for the concepts of hard work and patience.
...
By the time the band's self-titled debut release on Caroline came out July 25, 1995, William Morris Agency's Marsha Vlassic was on the team and the buzz had grown so huge that Wolmark had to begin steps to negotiate out of the indie deal for the long term interest and security of BFF.
...
With major label A&R flying in to all shows in the second half of 1995, Wolmark took his time deciding on a major to recommend to his client.
...
By January 1996, BFF and Wolmark chose 550/Sony, the major that convinced them they would not interfere with the band's steady development.
...
With Sony/550 ready to break BFF to a wider mass audience with the second full length release, Wolmark cautioned that he had to carefully and politically reinforce to all involved in the project that the best approach was to pick up from where they left off, to "slowly build and understand where the band isŠbut now we had better distribution, a better sales force, were playing bigger venues, all the while radio was still not breaking the band into the top 20 in the U.S." With the new release Whatever and Ever Amen, in early 1997, Wolmark approached the world with BFF by staggering release dates territory-by-territory so the band can follow each release with tour dates.
...
Alan Wolmark's bands do things to contribute to the industry and our musical culture, and so does he as a manager and his commitment to the MMF.
"There's a need for it - I want to do things to contribute - it's the same reason I became a manager in the first place - to contribute in our shared world of music.
He, and this writer, encourage all members to act and do the same - contribute, communicate, learn this management craft.
"I'm always learning something" - Wolmark ends the interview.
23 online sources [ view sources ]
Profile is not claimed [ claim profile ]
