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by Tom Kidd
Chris Hower
President A&R
PlayTyme Entertainment
Address: 126 East Shore Trail, Sparta, NJ 07871
Phone: 845-369-6344
Fax: 845-369-6345
E-mail: chower@playtymemusic.com
Website: www.playtymemusic.com InsideCx: What is Playtyme looking for?
CH: We’re an independent label that’s distributed through ADA. We’re a full-service label as opposed to being an independent label that only puts out independent music. We do anything from R&B and rap to alternative. We do indie stuff as well. We’re like a little major, which is what we set out to be.
InsideCx: What gets your attention?
CH: It’s really a matter of taste. It’s good songwriting and whatever is pleasing to our ears. I don’t listen to a lot of commercial radio. I’ll watch the charts, but it doesn’t influence what I go after. I’m not one to really follow buzz bands. Usually by the time I hear it, it’s something Universal or whoever is after. By that time, it’s usually too late, it’s not something I would want anyway and it’s not likely something I could afford.
InsideCx: What does an act need to accomplish before they approach you?
CH: Touring is good. They have to be able to have a great live show. There has to be some kind of stage presence and charisma. They have to be able to perform and be able to bring that air of specialness when they hit the stage. Songwriting and stage presence do it for me.
It’s nice if they have a previous sale history. For example, Shanice, our R&B artist we released in February, used to be on La Face Records and had a hit a while back called "I Love Your Smile." That record sold [around] 800,000 units. She’s been through the major label system and has done the dog and pony show enough times to know what to put out there. That record is doing really well for us right now.
The rock act I have, Vaeda, have been touring on their own for the last two years and have an incredible MySpace following. It’s somewhere [around] 106,000 friends. They book their own tours and have been solely living off the road. We’re stepping in and helping to raise awareness of them in the public eye nationally.
The other band, Kunek, out of Stillwater, Okla., is probably our most indie-sounding band. They had a really strong following in the Oklahoma City/Tulsa area. The last group, Little Mojo, have had a run of success touring on their own. It’s two brothers who have toured colleges for the last three or four years. They have a cumulative sales history of a little over 10,000 units without any marketing or promotion except what they’ve done on their own.
InsideCx: How did Little Mojo get to the label?
CH: I lived in Los Angeles for about eight years. I was lucky enough to get a job at Interscope Records, and I was playing in a band called Radford at the same time. In 1998 we got signed to RCA. We put out a record, did the whole national touring thing and got dropped a couple years later. We got picked up by Universal and put a record out for them.
The day that we got signed was like the best and worst day of my life. At that time they were still throwing heavy money around. It was like getting catapulted into an unrealistic place. You feel like you’re going to explode overnight. Then the rug gets pulled out from under you.
It was like getting catapulted into an unrealistic place. You feel like you’re going to explode overnight. Then the rug gets pulled out from under you.
After going through that twice, I decided I didn’t want to play in a band anymore. I wanted to put together a company that helped artists have a career. I moved to New York, set up my production company, and out of a couple hundred demos that were submitted, Little Mojo was the only act I signed.
InsideCx: How do you want artists to approach you?
CH: E-mail is fine. I would prefer not to get MP3s. I would rather go and check it out. If I get an e-mail from a band and they tell me where to find their stuff on a website, I will listen to it and send them a reply if they give me a couple weeks. I won’t ask them to send anything out unless they don’t have anything on the Web.
