 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2015) |
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| Industry | Marketing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founders | Bob Chiappardi, Walter O'Brien |
| Website | concreteplanet |
Concrete Marketing is an independent marketing company based in New York, USA, founded by Bob Chiappardi and Walter O'Brien in 1984.
Concrete Marketing was founded by Bob Chiappardi and Walter O'Brien in 1984. [1] Chiappardi was working in the mail room of Arista Records in New York whilst managing a few bands from Long Island and O'Brien was the founder of Relativity/Combat Records. The company name was chosen by plucking a name blindly from the Yellow Pages. [1] Concrete’s first client was RCA’s Grim Reaper. It was during the group's first tour that Chiappardi and O'Brien decided to start working as a marketing company, realizing that there were few people out there to properly service the metal community. [1]
During the 1984 New Music Seminar, they distributed around 200 flyers advertising Concrete and its services and by the end of the first day they had been approached by Rick Dobbis, then vice president of marketing at Chrysalis Records, and were hired to work the first full length Armoured Saint record. [1]
In 1990, Chiappardi and O’Brien amicably split as business partners with Chiappardi taking the helm of Concrete Marketing and several other companies they had created, whilst Walter O’Brien took Concrete Management, [2] the management company that looked after Pantera, White Zombie and Prong. [3]
In 1992, the company began Concrete Corner, the purpose of which was the promotion and distribution of heavy metal records. This was achieved at a retail level by creating a unified sales force from the blending of independent and select chain stores that would adopt the program thus promoting select hard rock/metal/hardcore/alternative releases.
The format of the program was a store within a store concept and featured point of purchase displays, instore play, sales pricing, clerk recommendations and 15,000 monthly sampler CDs. [4] A free hard music magazine Concrete Corner was available for the consumer, while ‘Network Newz’ provided information for the store owner. [5] Key reasoning behind these strategies was that small retailers fared better with niche markets such as heavy metal.
Occasionally for selected record launches, listening parties and midnight sales would be held the day before the release of the album proper. [6] The first listening party and midnight sale, in which 318 of the 325 stores participated, was for a Metallica boxset.
Listening parties would be advertised through instore banners, syndicated radio shows, and in magazines that featured the SoundScan hard music chart, owned by Concrete. [4] Invitations would go out to Concrete’s 20,000 strong database of fans and stores would invite their targeted customers by mail. [6]
The program was successful in offering more to the consumer who received freebies, discounts and won raffle prizes; to the store whose staff won prizes for the best display and to the label which could be certain that their product was being pushed to their target audience.
Other promotions that spun off Concrete Corner were "bonus disc" giveaways, where a bonus disc of artists from different labels was shrink wrapped to a highly anticipated new release from one of Concrete's clients. [7] The first of these type of promotions was for Korn’s album Follow the Leader in which 100,000 copies of a compilation CD featuring tracks of breakthrough artists approved by Korn, as well as a previously unreleased Korn track were given away to each person who purchased the record. Baby band artists, at the time, featured on the first disc included Kid Rock, Powerman 5000, Orgy and Limp Bizkit. [1] Subsequent programs like this were executed for Megadeth and Rob Zombie, [8] among others.
In 1994, a Concrete Corner Tour was also put together. The concept of the tour was to initiate monthly events in each city where the tour was routed, with the focus of the shows being more on creating an affordable, fun evening of music [9] rather than being based specifically on recognition of the bands' names. This club tour allowed for the exposure of the bands to ticketholders who may not have seen them otherwise. Shows featured raffles and giveaways, and the first in the tour series saw Greta, Varga and Shootyz Groove take to the road. [10]
In 1998, Concrete Corner and Concrete Marketing won the ‘Related Products and Services Supplier of the Year’ award from National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), [11] the trade organization of music retail industry. This was the first time this award was ever presented. In subsequent years, Concrete was nominated two more times.
RetailVision was a service Concrete provided which was based upon in-store video play. Concrete kept a database of 1200 stores nationwide, organized by genre in order to provide appropriate video reel compilations to each in the four genres of alternative (AlternateVision), rap (RapVision), hard rock (MetalVision) and pop music (HitVision). [8] The appropriate video cassette was distributed to each of the stores which allowed the active consumer to see all the new hits, while at the same time let new bands reach a wider audience because of the ever-expanding record store network. With this program, Concrete could help promote 30 - 40 new bands/songs a month. [5] Bands were selected for RetailVision via a regular weekly meeting of heavy metal fans who could vote for their favorite entries, thus helping the program maintain credibility and quality. [5]
Before producing Foundations, the first exclusively heavy metal trade publication, Concrete were contributing to Friday Morning Quarterback ( FMQB ). By the time they had worked the first Metallica record and the second Anthrax record and were beginning to amass a lot of metal clients, they decided it was time to begin their own newsletter, and so the first issue of Foundations was distributed in January 1988.
It was a bi-weekly publication that provided release information, tour itineraries and a breakdown of all of Concrete's current projects, the idea behind it being that it should mimic the underground fanzines that were rife within the scene. It also featured the Concrete/Soundscan Hard Music chart. This chart was also syndicated not only in US regional publications such as Radioactive, Good Times and The Aquarian , but also in worldwide publications like Entertainment Weekly , Metal Hammer and Guitar World , reaching a combined readership of somewhere in the region of three million. [12]
Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal bands have drawn elements and influences from a variety of musical styles, including multiple genres of heavy metal. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos or other displays of technical competence; the genre is heavily syncopated and based on guitar riffs. Many nu metal guitarists use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to feature a heavier sound. DJs are occasionally featured in nu metal to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic backgrounds. Vocal styles in nu metal include singing, rapping, screaming and growling. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Staind is an American rock band formed in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki. The lineup has been stable outside of the 2011 departure of Wysocki, who was replaced by Sal Giancarelli. Staind has recorded seven studio albums: Tormented (1996), Dysfunction (1999), Break the Cycle (2001), 14 Shades of Grey (2003), Chapter V (2005), The Illusion of Progress (2008), and Staind (2011). The band's activity became more sporadic after their self-titled release, with Lewis pursuing a solo country music career and Mushok subsequently joining the band Saint Asonia, but they have continued to tour on and off in the following years. In 2016, Lewis reiterated that the band had not broken up, and would possibly create another album, but that his then-current focus was on his solo career. The band reunited more permanently in 2019 for several shows, continuing with live appearances in 2020. Many of their singles have reached high positions on U.S. rock and all-format charts as well, including "It's Been Awhile", "Fade", "Price to Play", "So Far Away", and "Right Here".
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Orgy is an American rock band formed in 1994, from Los Angeles, California. They have described their industrial rock music as "death pop". The band is best known for their cover version of the New Order song "Blue Monday", and the song "Stitches", both from their 1998 album Candyass.
Korn is the debut studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 11, 1994, through Immortal/Epic Records. Before recording the album, the band was approached by Immortal/Epic Records after a performance at Huntington Beach, California. The band signed to their label because they did not want to "sign away all of their creative freedom". The band would record at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California with producer Ross Robinson, who also produced their 1993 demo Neidermayer's Mind. The recording took place from May to June 1994. After the recordings, Korn toured with Biohazard and House of Pain.
Issues is the fourth studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on November 16, 1999, through Immortal Records. The album was promoted throughout 2000 by the band's highly successful Sick and Twisted Tour.
Life Is Peachy is the second studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 15, 1996 through both Immortal Records and Epic Records. After the release of Korn's 1994 self-titled debut album, the band asked Ross Robinson to produce and went back to Indigo Ranch to record. Life Is Peachy has fourteen tracks, excluding the hidden track after "Kill You". Korn released three singles from Life Is Peachy: "No Place to Hide", "A.D.I.D.A.S.", and "Good God". All three singles went on the UK Singles Chart. Life Is Peachy features such themes as drugs, social encounters, sex, and revenge. The album's cover art was designed by Martin Riedl, and its name is credited to Korn's bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu.
Follow the Leader is the third studio album by American nu metal band Korn. The album was released on August 18, 1998, through Immortal/Epic. This was their first album not produced by Ross Robinson. Instead, it was produced by Steve Thompson and Toby Wright.
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal music which combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
Take a Look in the Mirror is the sixth studio album by American nu metal band Korn. Released on November 21, 2003 through Epic Records, it is the last Korn studio album to feature their full original lineup, as their original guitarist Brian "Head" Welch left the band in February 2005 until his return in 2013. Original drummer David Silveria also left Korn before the end of 2006 after the release of their next album See You on the Other Side. It was also the last studio album by Korn under the Epic and Immortal labels.
Type O Negative was an American gothic metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele, Kenny Hickey, Josh Silver, and Sal Abruscato, who was later replaced by Johnny Kelly. Their lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "the Drab Four". The band went platinum with 1993's Bloody Kisses, and gold with 1996's October Rust, and gained a fanbase through seven studio albums, two best-of compilations, and concert DVDs.
Otep is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2000. They have released two EPs, eight studio albums, and one live album. They are currently are signed with Napalm Records. The band has sold over 500,000 albums worldwide.
"Freak on a Leash" is a song by the American nu metal band Korn, featured on the group's 1998 studio album, Follow the Leader. After Follow the Leader's release, the song was released as a single on February 25, 1999, and since then, it has been re-released over ten times. The song uses dissonance, distortion, various guitar effects, and a heavy, aggressive style.
The 1998Family Values Tour was the first edition of the critically acclaimed fall music tour that initially combined nu metal, alternative metal, and rap acts. The tour was created and headlined by Korn.
State of the World Address is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Biohazard, released on May 24, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records. Sen Dog has a guest performance on the song "How It Is". Until 2012's Reborn in Defiance, this would be the final album to feature guitarist Bobby Hambel, who would leave the band after touring due to musical differences.
Foundations Forum was the first exclusively heavy metal music industry convention, held annually from 1988 to 1997 in Los Angeles. The convention was set up by Concrete Marketing who had in January 1988 created the first industry trade magazine for the heavy metal world – Foundations. Realizing there was little or no attention or focus on this growing market, and having seen the far reaching distribution of the trade magazine, they decided to put together an annual meeting, bringing together key industry personnel, vendors and artists offering advice on surviving the industry, discussing the changing climate of the scene and business, and allowing people to network.
Love and Death is an American Christian metal band formed by Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch. The group was officially announced in February 2012 as a re-branding of Welch's solo music project.
Blood is the fourth studio album by American rock band In This Moment. It was released on August 14, 2012, by Century Media Records. As has been the case with every In This Moment album, the record has a different sound, dropping many of the traditional metalcore elements in favor of electronic samples and further experimentation. This is the first album to feature rhythm guitarist Randy Weitzel, bassist Travis Johnson, and drummer Tom Hane.
Nothing More is an American rock band from San Antonio, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band spent much of the 2000s recording independent albums and struggling to maintain a steady lineup or attract record label interest. Towards the end of the decade, the band's long-time drummer, Jonny Hawkins, decided to switch to being the band's frontman and lead vocalist, stabilizing the band's core lineup along with other long-time members Mark Vollelunga (guitar) and Daniel Oliver (bass). The band self-funded and recorded their fourth studio album, Nothing More, over the course of three years and used it to gain the attention of Eleven Seven Music record label, who signed the band to a five album record contract upon hearing it. The album became the band's breakthrough release in 2014, with multiple charting singles, including "This is the Time (Ballast)", which hit number 1 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart and number 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, and "Mr. MTV", "Jenny" and "Here's to the Heartache" all charting in the top 15 of both charts.
Islander is an American rock band from Greenville, South Carolina, founded in 2011. The group is currently signed with Better Noise Music. Their releases include numerous singles as well as two EPs, Side Effects of Youth (2012) and Pains. (2013), and three studio albums, Violence & Destruction (2014), Power Under Control (2016), and It's Not Easy Being Human (2022). The band is known for its uniquely dynamic and interactive live performances, as noted in various concert review publications.
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