Kevin Churko Co-Writes Single to New Emerson Drive Album

The new Emerson Drive album, a greatest hits package titled "Decade of Drive," is out now. The lead track is "Let Your Love Speak," which was co-written and produced by Kevin Churko.

Marketing Latin Alternative Music Through Social Networking Sites

When I started to research marketing Latin Alternative music to consumers, the only two resources I utilized were the Internet and Billboard magazine. Yes, I was aware of some of the marketing basics regardless of the genre, but I wanted to customize my marketing strategy to Austria’s “Nada” album as best I could. The question that came to mind every time I began a research session was, “Why isn’t there a book or an instruction manual on how to market Latin music through the Internet?”

Fortunately, I began running a filtered search on Google covering anything and everything having to do with Latin pop music, and in one of those filters I found my Holy Grail: Marketing Latin Alternative Music Through Social Networking Sites. Finally, someone was asking the same questions I was – and then providing some of the answers. These answers, in the form of a thesis, came from San Jose State University graduate student, Vanessa Garcia.

Through various surveys and interviews, this information-packed paper directly addresses not only how independent artists market to music consumers, but how some of the Latin music industry markets to them, as well. It even reveals what goes through the minds of Latin music fans when looking for new music.

Not surprisingly, many of the tactics are similar to marketing to American rock and pop, such as keeping an artist’s website content fresh, updating fans on upcoming shows, etc., however, in her report, Garcia reveals where an artist should service its music, such as Al Borde, Remezcla, Pandora and others that are dialed into the Latin Alternative scene. Someone who does not know the Social Networking players in the industry could very easily find themselves crawling around in the dark, haphazardly sending links or discs to companies that are not necessarily where consumers are going to go to learn about new Latin Alternative music.

I could go on and on praising Garcia’s paper and the important information she brings to the surface, but it might be more effective simply to spend some time reading her paper and noting the passages that are key to you (artist, publisher, label, booking agent, publicist, marketing guru), as there is definitely something for everyone who is connected to the Latin Alternative arena to learn from this report.

As important as this paper is, Social Networking is evolving and new strategies and key companies will surface in the future, so it is my hope that Ms. Garcia will from time to time keep us informed on marketing Latin Alternative music through the Internet and its ever-changing world.

Kevin Churko Wins Third Juno

Kevin Churko won his third Juno for Engineer Of The Year for his work on Ozzy Osbourne's Scream. Kevin's other two Junos were for his work on Simon Collins' U-Catastrophe and Ozzy's Black Rain. Currently, Kevin is in the studio working on the follow-up to Five Finger Death Punch's War Is The Answer.

Kevin Churko Back in the Studio with 5FDP

Kevin Churko is back with the Five Finger Death Punch guys recording the follow up to "War Is The Answer." The inside word is that "War" is approaching 500,000 in sales (Gold) in the U.S. More details on the sessions as they develop.

Austria to Perform at Trova Rosarina Festival

Austria has been invited to play at this year's Trova Rosarina Festival. The Trova Rosarina is one of the biggest festivals in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. The event, which takes place Monday, March 7 at Julio Parc, will feature some of Rosario's greatest artists including Silvina Garré, Rubén Goldín, Fabián Gallardo and Adrián Abonizio. Austria was invited by Pichi de Benedictis to share the stage with him - a coveted spot for the band amongst so many luminaries. In addition, the guys will be performing their own material, much of it from their new release, "Nada." This festival has become more and more popular as years go by and festival officials expect a crowd of 2,500 at this year's event.

How Does Austria Really Fit into the Latin Alternative Scene?

Just because someone dubs your music a certain genre doesn’t mean that you’re a part of the pack. When I first started hanging out with people in the Latin music scene such as Christian Mejia of Intoroq, I was referring to Austria as a “Rock en Español” group, but I soon found that the guys are really Latin Alternative. Once that was established, I set out to find artists that were similar to the guys so I didn’t have to constantly describe them as “Latin Coldplay” (which is still a legitimate description). The thing is, I have yet to find a group that really reminds me of Austria. There are some great artists out there that probably could share the same fans as Austria (and I believe some of them do), but I am finding that the artists that share the most common threads with Austria are female singer/songwriters – which is great! I find myself mentioning Ximena Sariñana and Carla Morrison as references, but so far I haven’t found a male rock band that carries strong similarities to the guys. I’m sure I’ll find one sooner or later, but in the meantime, if anyone out there has a good comparison, make me look bad and give me the answer.

Are Austria's Lyrics Any Good?

Someone pointed out to me that Austria’s lyrics aren’t very sophisticated when translated into English. I told her that is why the songs were written in Spanish; it sounds and reads a whole lot better in the native tongue. This individual, who was trying to poke holes in Austria’s artistic reputation, then came back with, “but if you don’t speak Spanish, you won’t like the song because you don’t know what they’re saying!”

I took my time formulating my answer, trying really hard not to make this person sound like a fool. “What about La Bamba?” I asked slowly.

“Isn’t that song in English?” The individual asked.

I told her it was in Spanish, but not to take my word for it and check out the recordings herself. (I don’t know if she ever did, but she never brought up the subject again.)

The exchange does bring up a good question: Do non-Spanish speaking music fans listen to music in Spanish? The answer is yes. I believe The Latin Alternative is geared for people who like music in Spanish, but don’t necessarily speak it. NPR's Alt.Latino might reach out to non-Spanish speakers, as well.

So how does this affect Austria? It doesn’t, really. Many people focus on the melody and the beat when listening to a song (La Bamba), and the lyrics can almost be secondary; but here’s a secret: I spoke to two people whose native language is Spanish and are both in the music business and they both say the same thing – the lyrics are really, really good.

Should you be a non-Spanish speaker and then learn the language and then read Austria’s lyrics, rest assured, you will be impressed by not only what they say, but how they say it.