From newspapers hemorrhaging red ink for a decade to Uber undercutting cabbies more recently, a number of industries have struggled to survive the Internet economy. But the poster child for how not to respond to digital disruption remains the music business -- free falling from peak sales of $38 billion in 2000 to less than half that now.
Alumnus Jason Feinberg is one of the music industry executives trying to turn around a business that's changed wildly since he got his start spinning records at UNLV's campus radio station.
"I started at in 1994, which was a wonderful time for the industry," said Feinberg, vice president of digital strategy at Epitaph/Anti- Records in Los Angeles. "There were record stores everywhere, physical sales were increasing on a yearly basis, and labels were investing heavily in developing artists. All those things are now reversed."
As head of digital marketing for two of the nation's largest independent music labels, Feinberg is tasked with ensuring performers get the most out of their Internet presence. His team crafts campaigns for 's roster of punk bands like Bad Religion and Rancid, as well as the diverse lineup on sister label , from singer-songwriters Neko Case and Tom Waits to indie rockers Wilco and living legends such as Mavis Staples.
Faced with dwindling sales and disappearing record stores, digital strategists like Feinberg have thrown out the marketing playbook that record labels deployed for a half century. Gone are the days of campaigns aimed solely at driving fans into physical stores to purchase CDs, cassettes and vinyl. Instead, digital marketers leverage an array of online platforms -- from social media to targeted ads and artist websites -- to build buzz about performers.
"Now, it's a fight for attention," said Feinberg, 38 . "Obviously, a sale is the ideal end result, but now the strategy is often focused on engagement -- getting someone to watch, listen, comment, like, or share."
But Feinberg's job isn't just hanging out on Facebook pushing the labels' latest singles. He ensures that everyone at Epitaph/Anti- understands and uses the data resulting from his team's efforts. Reading the digital tealeaves has become a progressively complex task as the number of digital strategies, social media sites, apps, and other platforms expands. For instance, a robust social media campaign in the very near past likely included Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google Plus, Vine, and Instagram. But next week's strategy could involve a nascent networking tool unknown to the masses but flourishing amongst teens and 20-somethings, the industry's most coveted demographic.
"We have to pay attention to a near-infinite list of customer touchpoints, and where our audience hangs out shifts on a regular basis," Feinberg said. "We also have to focus on scale. Fans who used to generate dollars sometimes now only generate a few pennies. We need many more of them."
Sales trends indicate they are increasingly getting them. In just a few years, digital has gone from choking the business via file-sharing piracy to representing its lone glimmer of hope. While physical sales of CDs and vinyl sank 11.7 percent to $7.7 billion in 2013, global digital music revenue rose 4.3 percent to nearly $6 billion last year, according to industry trade group IFPI.
Rather than selling consumers song files to download, digital music's fastest-growing revenue stream is services like Spotify, Beats Music, and Rdio, where users pay a subscription fee to access millions of tracks.
Feinberg believes this model is the industry's future.
"In five to 10 years, we will see access being the predominant consumption model," he said. "The shift has already started. There will be further consolidation of places to consume music, with a few clear leaders emerging.
"There will be even more avenues to market and reach fans, but that also creates more noise. This will require much smarter strategy to target fans."
London Calling
Twenty years before he was speaking as an expert on these matters at industry conferences like South by Southwest, Feinberg was a Bonanza High School student missing a career map. "I had no idea what specific job I wanted, but I knew from a very early age that my two passions were computers and music," he said.
So he followed those passions at UNLV, studying management information systems for three years, becoming a lab monitor for System Computing Services, and angling for radio airtime. Feinberg was a fan of campus radio years before he arrived at UNLV. In the early-to-mid-1990s, KUNV 91.5 FM focused on alternative and underground music, anchored by 16 hours of daily "Rock Avenue" programming. "It was the only place I could hear bands like Misfits, Bob Mould, NWA, and Bauhaus, often in the same night," Feinberg recalled. "The second I set foot on campus as a freshman I enrolled in their DJ training and made a demo tape. I was on the air the next week."
Cueing his first track as a DJ remains a highlight of his college career. "It was 'London Calling' by The Clash, chosen because it is both a mighty song and the intro was extremely easy to segue into," he said. "The feeling of pushing culture out over the airwaves was empowering, exciting, and addictive."
Less than a year later, he would be promoted to music director at KUNV, responsible for label relations, chart reporting, and selecting music for 80 hours of weekly programming. Among the perks of the post was representing one of the nation's biggest college stations at the CMJ Music Marathon, the annual industry festival where more than 1,000 emerging bands play nightclubs and theaters across New York City. "Hanging out with all record label guys made me feel so connected, and I was partying at legendary clubs like CBGB and Irving Plaza," Feinberg said. "I learned so much about the industry in such a short, intense period of time. It showed me what was possible if I worked hard and focused on my passions."
Back in system computing services department, he rose in the ranks from lab monitor to working alongside UNLV's professional tech team and system administrators.
"These two experiences gave me pro-level exposure to music and tech at a gloriously formative time in my life," he said.
Although much valuable career training unfolded outside the classroom, he credits C/C++ Programming as the UNLV course that opened up his mind.
"It really supercharged my understanding of software development, systems, and the logic and thought patterns you have to understand to coax a computer to do your bidding."
Looking back, Feinberg had little notion that the seemingly disparate interests he was pursuing at UNLV would dovetail into a skill set tailor-made for the coming digital revolution in music. He finished his degree at Western Washington University. Things worked out in the form of a dream job situated at the intersection of technology and music. Even had they not converged into a career path, he'd still be spending his time pursuing those two passions.
"Getting paid for it is just a massive bonus."
Jason Feinberg
Family: Married to Jennifer Sneider, a TV producer.
Essential Listening: His taste spans a multitude of genres. Among his favorites acts are Black Sabbath, Dr. Dre, The Cult, Bad Religion, Neil Diamond, Prince and David Lee Roth.
Career Highlight: A 2002 lesson from guitar virtuoso and Grammy winner Steve Vai led to a unique opportunity. "After playing guitar for an hour, we talked about the business for three hours," Feinberg said. "At the end of that, he offered me a job at his record label." Vai's Favored Nations Records would be the second of four labels on Feinberg's resume.
Academic Lowlight: "My lowest grade of all time was in History 101," Feinberg said, "although it may have had to do with it being an 8 a.m. class following a 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. radio shift."
