15 Megabyte of Fame

“Michael Jackson and the Beatles didn’t have Facebook or Twitter.”

Jörg Rohleder of Musikexpress was questioning Troy Carter from Coalition Media Group. Troy Carter is the manager of Lady Gaga for four years now. Troy sees the digital revolution as a huge opportunity for musicians. “It’s about the right partnerships and thinking out of the box”, he said. Careers start faster, because you don’t have to get the message out in one area after the other, but globally at once. Apparently, Lady Gaga is the only one who tweets on her account, which is followed by 7 ½ million people. Asked about the role of record labels nowadays, Carter said that there are still parts of the business that are oldfashioned, but still work, and that a record label is quite helpful for that.

Rohleder confronted Carter with the question, if Lady Gaga could have a long lasting career in such fast moving times, to which Carter answered: “There were one hit wonders at all times in music history.” He says, that they plan ahead for three years, but that he has done a good job if they can keep the career running for 20 to 30 years. As a crucial thing for artist development he sees touring.

“We don’t look at it from a financial perspective. Touring is about artist development. The live experience is what keeps an artist alive.”