Go figure, the world is small

So the other day, out of the blue, I decided to email a raw...and I mean raw track to the head of urban buying for approximately 800 FYE stores, just to get some feedback. Now, let me explain (back story)why I felt comfortable emailing a track to someone in this position.

It was about five, six at the most, years ago, when someone we had sent a few demo tracks to in Las Vegas contacted my partner and told him some encouraging news. He had let a few people in the music industry listen to the tracks and they were enthusiastic about the potential. (not until later did I understan that potential is not enough)

One of those people, was this buyer for FYE. This contact said he would pass on our information to this buyer, and as we waited, and the music we had presented them with began to evaporate before my eyes due to growth of the artists, I celebrated more than a few birthdays(yeah, me) and learned how to dye my own grays.

Jump ahead three years or so (approximately 2007)and on one of my many trips to Los Angeles, while sitting in my hotel room, wondering what that small stain on the floor was (eeww) I received a call from one of my new clients. He informed me that his friend, who works in a halfway house, is friends with someone who is friends with this FYE buyer, and he had made contact with this person. Now, mind you, he had no idea I knew who they were (oh, yeah, I googled them six years ago)so he was uncertain if this was a good connection to make. Now this FYE buyer is not just any run of the mill person in the industry. They have been in the music industry for over 30 years. Have worked at various labels as an A&R, and was even mentioned on both an Eminem and a Prince track. You can understand the "wow, this is only God" moment I had.

My client had their personal cell phone number, business and personal email addresses...and now so did I. I called them immediately, and was invited to email some tracks for feedback. I did that, got the feedback, which was very positive by the way, and asked them if I could meet with them on my next trip to California. I was relieved by the, "most definately".

Jump ahead to my next trip. I met this person at their office and talked about the industry and how they could help me. They said they would buy my artists' CD in their region once they secured distribution. YEAH!

Since then, three years now if you're counting, I have been in contact with this person for advice, to verify if so in so really works at Universal records as he claims (yeah, people lie about stuff like that...smile) and just to say hello. That is why I felt very comfortable submitting the new material to them for feedback.

Whew....so, to continue. The reply I got was something to the effect of, "I hate when I get asked to give feedback because I can only be honest, but in this case it's all good".....God is good, and although we need to have a completed project in order for this person to really do anything for us, we are going to celebrate every positive step even if we have to wipe some things off the bottom of our shoes every once in a while. They make travel sized baby wipes, just for such an occasion.

Edified,

Jai