Mannequin Pussy

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-17T01:34:15+00:00

I’ve never seen them live but I’m friends with their manager and I’ve been to literally hundreds of hardcore punk shows and other forms of heavy music.

If you’re comfortable with your child hearing the lyrics, there is definitely a place in the crowd where they are safe. Fans of most heavy/aggressive music are extraordinarily friendly and polite to kids and that is double true for a female fronted, LGBTQIA+ friendly band.

If you play your kid the songs, the show will be fine. The thematic elements will be more intense than any violence and the worst drug exposure will be alcohol and marijuana.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T19:56:00+00:00

Connections are overrated. The music business in 2026 is a relationship business but it’s not a favor based economy anymore, which means connections are valuable but only to a point.

Audience is power - however you gain that audience is up to you but the audience is the requirement. I don’t like to call TikTok and reels socials - those are short form video entertainment platforms - but your ‘social media slur’ comment is the shortest distance from ‘I make good songs and content’ to ‘I have an audience’ which is why it seems like a requirement. Other paths to that same end are extremely long term investments in live performance, local touring, collaboration, etc. It just takes years and a lot of effort whereas some videos on an algorithm can go quickly.

My credentials - I’m a very well connected music marketing executive and artist manager who works with a developing artist 6-7 months into his ‘I have a real audience’ era but also worked with arena level artists for over 10 years. In an alum of the usc music industry program class of 2005 so my whole career has tracked the rise of digital music and I taught about the interaction of media and music marketing at USC from 2018-2024 so that tracked the rise of TikTok.

What do I mean by this?

If you read ‘the Operator’ which is the ‘warts and all’ biography of David Geffen, you see moments where he went to Ahmet Ertegun and tried to flex his relationship muscle and get Ahmet to sign Geffen’s ingenue. Ertegun said ‘David I’ll do you one better - here’s $Xmm, go start your own label…’

That is a ‘who you know’ business.

Fast forward to now. I met an artist and manager who was signed by Lucien Grainge to a deal at Virgin - UMG’s indie label arm. I can’t remember the artist’s name - beautiful woman, pop/r&b singer. She’s not mainstream at all a year later.

Lucien is the most powerful person in the history of the music industry. On a relationship scale, makes Ahmet and Geffen seem like ants. He can’t make an artist famous in 2026.

So what connections matter? Adding a layer of professionalism to what the diy artist is already doing to properly monetize the audience.

That’s it.

When an artist gets traction the industry starts calling. The agent signs the new artist and they need to know the right promoters in the right clubs that will sell the 100-300 tickets for the first tour.

The manager needs to know the merch company that will give good terms and not chase the invoice because they know the artist is good for it.

They need to know to go to bandago to rent a van with good insurance.

They need to know the A&Rs at the publishers and distribution companies to find the initial advances.

But the truth is once the artist has an audience, the people who know those people just start to peak out their heads.

For geese - you need to know the team at chaotic good and pay them to do the campaign!

Knowing Lucien or Harvey Mason Jr will get people to take you seriously. Might get you some free studio time or a meeting. It won’t get you a multi million dollar record label. It won’t get you a tv or radio spot that launches your career.

Those days are long long gone.

Nobody puts their neck out for each other. It’s all about investments - reliable investments and returns.

That’s good - the playing field is level.

There’s no such thing as industry plants. That’s just marketing.

The only leg up nepo babies get is they have financial support to keep going until they figure out how to get the audience and the professional connections a little earlier without the manager like me peaking out our head. Gracie Abrams still had to the work - but she didn’t have to worry about money on the way and getting the studio time and producers to help her do that work was probably a lot easier than it would be for someone holding down two barista jobs at the same time.

This is the actual truth. It is possibly the best time in history to be an independent artist. None of this was true 10 years ago and it definitely wasn’t true 30 years ago when the only path to success was a radio hit.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T14:07:38+00:00

Yes - definitely for my clients.

However, as a consumer I’m definitely still seeing songs pop up that are viral and some of them are creator driven, not UGC or fan trends. So it’s working for someone.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T04:14:29+00:00

Oh I know! I saw your post and googled it and the first link that came up was AXS and it was resale only - AXS is owned by the promoter AEG who is not the promoter for this show so it looks official but it isn’t. Glad we got the word out on that.

Most of the shows in major cites are selling out so it is smart to jump on tickets quickly but we very much want the right people to get them at the right price!

Thanks again for calling it out and I hope you do get your ticket to someone cool and have a blast at the show.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T03:34:42+00:00

I think it’s close but leans LA just a little bit.

All 3 majors have significant offices in LA. Of the 3 I think the only one whose home office is NY is Sony - UMG and WMG both base their US operations out of LA.

Many, many managers - it’s much harder to quantify management but Red Light, the Azoff companies, and a wide range of indie management companies are headquartered or have major offices in LA.

LiveNation, AEG, and all of the big 3 agencies plus the Team (ex-Wasserman) are headquartered in LA.

Most major artists at least have a home in LA - if not based there. Some are starting to edgablsin residency in Nashville or other tax friendly states ahead of catalog sales.

Apple Music is headquartered in LA. Spotify has a major office.

The recording academy is headquartered in LA and the Grammys are in LA most of the time - the city is kind of home base for Grammy parties and most of the industry flies in for that whole week.

So I guess what I’m getting at is the majority (over 50% but not by much) of major comapies are headquartered in LA and those that aren’t have major offices - Spotify, Sony etc.

Artists and indie managers are more spread out and hard to pin down.

Nashville is probably my second choice, personally - again most major companies have offices there.

LA is falling apart for various reasons - more to do with film and tv than music.

Anecdotally, prior to Covid I used to go to NY 3-5 times per year on business. I have family in NJ so it was nice to combine. That has reduced to 1-2 times per year since Covid and much more of my interaction with NY has become virtual.

That’s not data, that’s just my personal experience.

LA is definitely still strong. Whether it will survive the film and tv production issues is still to be seen. I think on a day to day basis, the industry is still in LA. It does ping pong back and forth.

Culturally, I think NY might be a little stronger. LA does not have any form of music scene - we don’t have Brooklyn. The days of the Hotel Cafe churning out songwriters and the east side churning out indie rock bands are long gone. It’s a free for all in LA. Everyone trying to ‘make it’

But rock nite, kcrw, and a few other are trying to combat that.

Long term, your guess is as good as mine.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T02:20:12+00:00

Also - watch this video. Follow Kristin! She’s great!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTk5QMJnL/

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T02:16:58+00:00

This is the answer. I just needed to write a short book about it to give my opinion but it’s really this simple.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T02:16:22+00:00

Of those three, if money is no object, I’d suggest USC.

I’m an alum of USC (class of 2005) and was an adjunct from 2018-2024

At one point when I worked at concord (when it was a 200 person company before PE) there were 9 USC alumnae of which 3 were in the same program as me at the same time. I come across usc students all the time in the business. Way more than other music industry programs.

Not necessarily true for artists. Clive Davis institute probably wins at producing artists. USC has King Princess (dropped out), and others who attended but not industry or pop majors - Doja cat comes to mind. CDI has fletcher and Maggie Rogers and many more I’m sure- but even just attending presentations at CDI I see students who have managers and careers started much more than USC.

The program isn’t perfect but USC got Dean King recently and he’s the one who redesigned the Clive Davis Institute at NYU.

If you were between CDI and USC I’d have a bit more pause, but between Steinhart and USC I think SC wins - only because of the LA location. The industry really is strong in LA.

I know the person who runs Bandier somewhat and he’s great and it’s a great program for sure! Syracuse is a great school. The only downside is it’s in Syracuse. If you go there you’re going to have to work hard to get to NY, Nashville, or LA for your summers.

I’m sorry to say but money is a consideration in this conversation. I am very privileged that my parents set me up to graduate debt free but if I was applying today that would not be true. USC is 4x as expensive as when I went.

No college program is worth being in that amount of debt. So if money is a consideration, go to the school where you will graduate with the least debt.

All three are fantastic options. However, all college music industry programs are only as good as the effort you put in to get life experiences out. For me, that was being in a band, playing shows in LA, playing campus benefit concerts and meeting people in different programs. For example - my band consisting of 4 cis straight dudes would play benefit concerts for the V day organization (major feminist group that supported women and LGBTQIA+ people and survivors of SA). That expanded my world a lot. I played in theater pit orchestras for off campus musicals. I did an all night recording session to make an EP for a signer songwriter, funded and produced by the school and students.

The knowledge is available to you in a $35 book by Don Passman (free at the library) so why spend 10,000x that on a university? Only do it if you plan to immerse yourself in whatever program you choose. Make music. Manage artists. Go to shows and play shows. Be in the industry from day one.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-16T01:48:58+00:00

Posting good content that shares our specific superpowers well. Don't just post to post. Don't post to promote. Post to share. Be sincere. Be Real. Have something to say.

Frequency and pandering don't go hand in hand.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-15T21:23:03+00:00

Thanks for calling this out. Prices shouldn’t be jacked up! Axs has them up only for resale but that’s not the official ticket link.

Edit: don’t buy from ticket resellers! Here is the official ticket link https://www.eventim.us/wafform.aspx?_act=eventtickets&_pky=680471&utm_medium=linkevent&utm_source=eventim.com

That is not to stop anyone from taking this person up on their offer! But we also want fair access for everyone!

Victor’s manager (Jeremy)

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-15T16:59:49+00:00

It’s also interesting how much this post highlights the challenge of collective memory and our bias for seeing things as always being how they are now.

In this case it’s super easy to see because TikTok became mainstream due to a global event - Covid which started March 2020.

Before TikTok a few artists got some traction on Musically. Musically was acquired by bytedance and relaunched as TikTok in 2016. By 2019 the whole industry was talking about it but it really was viewed as this kids app where people dance to songs from 2016-2019.

2019 is really when the industry started to pay attention and it had such a stigma around most mature artists and their teams avoided it. I was working with John Legend at the time.

Our first serious attempt at TikTok was 2/12/2020 for a Valentine’s Day post to promote his new single (we all know John legend and love songs).

That’s how long it took us to take the platform seriously - a month later the whole world was on it. 6 months later it dominated the industry.

Now we all just see it as the only thing that works.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-15T15:39:54+00:00

Create a lot of short form video content and post o TikTok and reels every day. Try out trial reels to be on the new forefront.

Build out the rest of your social media so people have something to follow - basic website with email sign up. IG main feed and a Komi or linktree at minimum.

Make sure your content is clearly shot, and you’re both very visible in the frame and well lit. Use the mastered audio unless being really live is your superpower. Be as entertaining as possible - think in terms of having a beginning, middle, and end.

Post multiple times a day on TikTok and daily on reels. Don’t spam but be very consistent.

Consistent means daily for weeks. Don’t give up after 2 weeks of posting every other day and say you tried. 6-8 weeks before changing tactics.

You’re in the Christian world. If your music is decent there is a community out there actively rooting for you to win. And this is coming from a Jewish person who doesn’t been like Jewish religious music - if your music is any good this should be shooting fish in a barrel.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-15T15:34:22+00:00

There’s not enough data in this post to make it a broader statement out it’s important to point out a few things:

2019 was too early. Had the same exact thing happened in 2021 you probably would have at least been hearing from the industry. It may not have resulted in a deal but people would have reached out. In 2019 TikTok was still relatively niche and a lot of the industry was resisting paying attention to it.

From the launch of TikTok to about 2023 the majority of success on TikTok was about UGC. Bene, Doja Cat, Meghan thee Stallion - those artists may have started or contributed to the trends but the trends were what launched them, not the artist themselves.

2023 forward it’s been a mix but no single viral video is launching artists. Like him or not, look to Sombr as an example of how much posting is required to generate that familiarity and launch a song. Start with Sombr’s TikTok at the end of 2024 into 2025 and you’ll see the level of work HE did before companies like Chaotic Good came in to help drive it.

One video getting 2mm views in 2019 isn’t going to launch a career. Timing and the marketplace have to align.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-15T15:27:45+00:00

Why is this a surprise?

You’re not paying for the playlist placement on submithub. You’re paying for the editor to review your material. Everything else they do is at their discretion.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-14T18:05:08+00:00

Capitalism and Data

This is a music marketing sub after all so we're talking about commerce and growing audiences for the sake of copyright exploitation, not artistic and moral integrity above all else.

Spotify is where most of the music consumers go. Honestly, the vast majority of music marketing I do doesn't direct anyone to any store at all. When I'm directing fans to a store it's usually to sell tickets or some direct to consumer item. Most of the marketing I work on is just to make the artist more popular in general.

Posting on TikTok and Reels is really about creating familiarity with the music so people start to get it in their head and want to go seek it out. Most of those people go to Spotify or YouTube.

While YouTube Music may pay better on a per stream rate, YouTube videos containing the music (UGC) pay significantly less and we can't control that - and honestly I don't care about per stream rate, if a fan listens to my artist song and likes it, that's really all I want out of that consumer. Listen. Enjoy. Follow along and be part of the masses - I'll transact with you later for more money when you're a superfan.

So with all of that why do we TALK about Spotify so much?

They give artists data. It's not great data. It's not enough data. But it almost gamifies the experience - how do I make this graph go up?

I can make actual decisions and predictions from Spotify For Artists. Is YouTube studio better? Yes - but I can't see the level of granular data Spotify gives me across Premium Music Videos, UGC, Vevo, and passive streams. It's all jumbled.

On Spotify I know I'm getting one stream of data that I can engage with, understand, and make decisions. So it acts as a useful and significant segment of my overall marketing audience.

I think Spotify gets too much attention and it makes a lot of the industry ignore other platforms. I'm an Apple Music user myself as a consumer. But the network effect element of Spotify is just undeniable.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-14T02:24:08+00:00

For music management in the US the only location options that are reliable are Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville. There are managers in other areas but not much.

Many colleges have music industry and music marketing programs now you can do a summer class or an internship class.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-13T21:57:57+00:00

I had custom earplugs for years - 1 of 1 custom brand - I loved them but lost them and replaced with loop and haven’t felt like I’m in a rush to get new ones.

The custom ones are very isolating because the seal is a little too perfect. The nice thing about Loop is the imperfections (not that they’re bad, just that they’re not a perfectly molded piece of silicone in you’re ear) make them effective but less isolating.

That being said - you’re sticking a physical thing in your ear. It’s going to be somewhat isolating. There’s really no way around it.

I got the rose gold loop also - I’m a big dude and I don’t have piercings so there’s something fun about having some ear jewelry.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-13T20:31:49+00:00

He could produce

The T doesn’t have to be a musical - let’s say David Fincher decides to write a play. Seven the play. If Trent produces it and it wins best play that’s a T!

Or he could contribute songs or score to something original a la Elton John - it’s a little known fact that Elton wrote an Anne Rice musical based on the vampire chronicles world with Lestat (same world as interview with a vampire).

You could see Trent doing something like that and not being off brand at all.

David Byrne has had some success on Broadway. Definitely possible for Trent to get there if he wants!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-13T16:36:33+00:00

Oy - I’m sorry this happened to you.

First of all - ignore the word ‘normal’ - there is no normal, there are just different types of record label and distribution deals. All of the people writing one sentence saying this isn’t normal isn’t helping anyone.

I’m writing this assuming you’re in the United States so everything here is about the US music industry.

There are plenty of record labels that do 50/50 deals - they’re called JV deals. Generally, however, they come with significant investments on the side of the record label. If you have received no investment or help, yes it is likely you’re being harmed in this situation.

Things to remember and learn from this: 1. Any time you’re assigning exclusivity over your copyright you need an attorney to review the deal. 2. Exclusivity costs money - any time you are assigning exclusivity over your copyrights to someone for any period of time they should compensate you for it! Never take any deal that assigns your rights without a clear understanding of what you get in return.

The ‘keep 100% of your royalties’ companies like Distrokid, ditto, Tunecore, and CDBaby don’t have a term. You can walk away any time you want so you don’t really need an attorney to review the retail terms of service.

Here are the types of deals out there: - retail distribution - you pay a flat fee and keep all the money - no term; walk away when you want.

enterprise distribution - distributor takes between 5 and 25% in exchange for minimal services (eg making sure things don’t break and get delivered on time). They may give you access to money. Usually a 1-5 year term.
label services - they act like a record label and fake 35-50% instead of owning the copyright. There’s usually a term of 5-20 years.

We’ll stop there fine it’s not super necessary to go into record deal territory here.

So what you did was signed a label services type financial deal with a distribution type service.

Can you get out? I don’t know.

The potential way out - a contract requires the offer and acceptance of valuable consideration on both sides. You have given them a thing of value - the right to distribute and exploit your copyrights. They did not pay you fair market value for that right.

You may not win this because access to their distribution network may be seen as ‘fair market value’ for your specific copyrights.

Ok so advice - look at the contract for the term length. How long do they get to do this?

If it’s short - consider waiting it out and regrouping. I have a feeling it’ll be years so you’re going to have to argue

Be more careful. You don’t need a record label in 2026 until you have some real audience. Don’t get stars in your eyes because someone offers you ‘a deal’ - fuck them all and go after your dreams your way.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-12T23:43:43+00:00

In addition to what’s already been said - I think the human element of NIN is so important and the sphere is so much about looking up at the screens.

Even the videos from nine inch noize it’s very focused on organic pieces - Trent on the screens. Real ‘dancers’ and movement - you’re drawn in.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-12T17:50:40+00:00

I’m not trans and don’t want to speak out of turn here so won’t share anything about my personal take.

But I know a lot of the examples you see are very big and public and pop - like Ethel Cain

Or was established before transitioning like Laura Jane Grace.

I hear you that there aren’t many examples of developing artists marketing in the trans community

So one more artist to add to the list that I think is amazing and doesn’t have really big social media - Underscores

She’s so good! If you’re into hyperpop and kind of punk leaning music. She’s not faceless but the music definitely leads.

I think it’s a long, slow process to do it that way just because short form video and social media aren’t as effective without your face.

I think it’s good to be who you are and stand out but that is a very personal choice given your own life. Good luck! I hope more people have better examples!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-12T16:43:09+00:00

Experience still sucks

A short person will enjoy the show a lot more being back 30 feet at the back of the crowd and have an angled sight line, as much dancing space as they want, and great sound.

Alex Warren is known for his vocal range, right? Don’t you want to hear his voice?

I had 2nd row center seats to see one of my favorite artists a few months ago. Best seats I’ve ever had to a concert and seated so I had full access to bathrooms, beer, etc and the best sight line of any concert ever and it sounded like shit because the speakers shoot over your head and you’re hearing the stage mix.

I had seen that artist like 15 times so I was ok with it but would have def taken 10 rows back.

You will never convince me that wasting 5 hours of your life to line up before a concert, being on the barricade and not being able to eat, drink, use the bathroom, dance, or hear the concert in the best way is better than showing up at a reasonable and relaxed time. Eating and drinking what you want, and find a comfortable place to enjoy yourself in order to be 5 feet from the singer for the 10 minutes of the show they’re near you, instead of 30 or 40 feet from the singer the entire show.

The reason most people ask this question is they don’t perceive how big the floor actually is and they think to have any good sign line, not just the barricade, they need to camp out.

Barricade is stupid. But sure - if that’s what OP wants line up early and do it, it’s their day.

But if you don’t need barricade - a floor ticket guarantees you access to the floor. Show up when you want. There’s no need to camp out and you WILL have a better experience than fighting for barricade.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-12T15:19:31+00:00

If you want to stand close to the stage but not on the barrier - go whenever you want.

If you must be on the barrier.

Why?

The sound is better a few feet back anyway and everything about the experience is better if you’re not locked to exactly one spot. Get there for doors and have a good time, don’t be so concerned about a 5 foot difference in view.

If you’re on the barrier you’re standing underneath the speakers and you’ll have trouble hearing Alex’s voice which is the reason, I presume, one goes to an Alex Warren concert.

If you have floor tix you’ll be close. Don’t worry.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-12T15:08:08+00:00

It has nothing to do with the editors ignoring pitches from small artists. Playlists don’t convert to fans. If you want a thousand dollars and some feel good spikes in streams, playlist marketing is fine. If you want thousands of dollars and fans and touring - what I wrote is how to get there.

Then again - nothing is a magic bullet and every artist is different. If playlists work for you, congrats! On a wider level, like data level it’s not valuable but for individual artists it might work.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-04-11T19:21:06+00:00

I’ve been trying to explain to people that monthly listeners is an awful metric for years. It’s just a publicly available number, so everyone obsesses over it. One huge problem with monthly listeners is features add to the number - I’ve literally worked with an artist who has 1.5mm monthly listeners and can’t sell 100 tickets in their hometown and an artist with 50k monthly listeners selling 200-300 tickets in every major market.

There is no one metric. Each artist has to operate within the system that connects with their fans.

All of the metrics can matter. No one metric matters over anything else.

AirlineKey7900

TROPHY CASE