Jason Davis, President and CEO of Fahrenheit Media Group has been involved with the careers of Michael Jackson, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears and R Kelly to name just a few of his mega-star associations.
His company just launched a new Website FahrenheitMediaGroup.com and I’ve been given the rare opportunity to interview this elusive behind the scenes hit music manager!
I was very curious to hear the details of working on such a high level in the music industry, what he thinks of the “new” music industry and what his message is for others in the business.
What struck me most is Jason’s passion for music and commitment to helping artists which shows in his hard work. Here is what he has to say…
Even though certain segments of the music industry are in a revenue decline, what gives Fahrenheit Media Group it’s unique advantage in the new music business?
Fahrenheit Media Group is not a major corporation. We have a small, dedicated team that never takes on too much work. We have the ability to incubate talent, focus on details and test songs. We work with artists on a much closer level than a major label would. We’re not just looking for an artist that is established to throw out to the public like a major label would be. We are looking at artists of all levels, trying to find a seed of possibility in somebody and we are able to spend years with that artist nurturing them.
I understand that your company specializes in “sidelining”, can you explain what that means and give a few examples of your day to day business?
The term sidelining is the outsourcing of services that a few years ago would have been done in house at a major record label. Basically as record labels are merging and the staff is getting smaller inside the actual buildings they are relying more and more on outside help to promote, push and market their up and coming records and songs. So in a nutshell “sidelining” is a term for outsourcing.
What are your insights into how the music business can recover from all the disruptive influences of technology. How is better artist development a solution?
I think that artist development is the only solution. There are so many ingredients that caused the destruction of music and caused technology to take shape as it has. The key ingredient that forced the music industry into its current position is simply that the music of today is not as good as the music of yesterday. There is no band today that can touch what The Beatles did from a song-writing perspective or as an artist. There is no Pop artist today that can touch what Michael Jackson did. The only hope is that there is a heavy focus put into artist development. Artist development is what allows you to develop someone into a great songwriter or musician. It’s the only hope there is.
How have you helped Kelly Clarkson’s hit songwriter Jimmy Messer and can you give the readers a glimpse of the relationships that form behind the scenes of developing such a megastar?
Just being in the music industry I meet all kinds of talent; from talent that is just starting out, to talent that is already on top of the mountain doing well. Jimmy Messer is a guy that used to work with Enrique Iglesias and a group called The Veronicas. My work with Jimmy is to focus on trying to make sure he is busy with projects and listening to his songs. Guidance, management and encouragement.
As far as making a star like Kelly Clarkson? It is all due to the fact that deep down she is such a megastar. She’s a great actress and an incredible singer. Kelly has worked really hard on her voice, much harder than most. As to how a relationship like the Kelly Clarkson / Jimmy Messer is formed. It’s all just a matter of pairing an incredible singer that possesses amazing talent, work ethic and is a very focused individual with an equally talented, focused songwriter / producer that has an equal work ethic and that is as great at writing and producing songs as Kelly Clarkson is at singing them. It’s the marriage of a hardworking, incredible singer and a hard working, incredible songwriter / producer.
What are some other experiences you have had with breaking songwriters like Jimmy Harry’s work on Sober by Pink! and Roy Hamilton’s “Number One” released by R Kelly? What is Fahrenheit’s role in these deals?
Fahrenheit Media Group is the gatekeeper to these songwriters and producers and we help manage their career. Really what we do is support them, making sure that they feel supported, loved and appreciated. We take songs that they write and send them to record labels and campaign for them. There is not a lot of work to do though because as everyone knows it is very easy to sell a great product. When you have a songwriter like a Jimmy Harry, Chris Fudurich or Roy Hamilton the music that they create really sells itself. From a management perspective it is about having the connections and the relationships where we can take what these guys are creating in a studio and bring it to the right people.
I see that you are accepting new music for consideration at your Website. How do you handle establishing relationships with new talent - not only artists, but songwriters and producers as well?
That’s a great question. Anybody in the world who is looking for music or talent, whether it is a major record company, a brand new company starting out, or a company like Fahrenheit Media Group that is already established in the music industry is looking for something inspiring. Something where the artist, producer or songwriter has already done enough work on their own that they really have developed their craft and there is something exciting there that can be worked on, developed and grown. It really boils down to how good the music on show is. How good is that singer, how good is that song, or how good is that recording? How much promise is there? If there is someone that can write good songs out there that’s obviously something we would be very interested in.
What are the three most important things you want others in the music industry to know about Fahrenheit Media Group?
a. Fahrenheit Media Group deeply cares about music, people and what music can do for people. I as the head of Fahrenheit Media Group understand that music is very powerful and can save, or change a life. Even if it’s just one life that’s a very powerful force.
b. Fahrenheit Media Group works very, very hard and everybody we work with works very, very hard. Fahrenheit Media Group is a company that cares and we are a company that works much harder than most
c. Fahrenheit Media Group is really looking for the next big thing. We are really aggressive, much more aggressive than most companies in trying to find great talent. We have a lot of relationships and resources that help us find that talent.
What new Fahrenheit Media Group projects do you want music fans to know about - what is hot and coming soon?
Something we are very excited about is that we are forming a publishing company in Nashville. We are in the process of signing very big and very successful hit country songwriters.
Also, there is an artist that I am a personal fan of that we are working with right now. She is 13 years old and she has one of the best personalities I have ever seen for a young artist. She has an extremely original voice, is focused and hard working. It is something we have not seen before in pop music. She has already recorded songs and has a bit of a Youtube following going on, her name is Alexandra Demattia.
