by Adam Hildebrand
Todd C. Roberts has written for Rolling Stone Magazine, and has been part of some of the more prolific and eclectic online resources for music information. One of which is The Daily Swarm, which he co-founded in 2007. With over 100 contributors per day, The Daily Swarm is a stunningly abundant source of information. Wired Magazine has called it “The Drudge Report for the music business.” All in all, whatever is happening on the music scene, The Daily Swarm is bound to have at least seven articles about it.
But Todd Roberts’ main focus isn’t The Daily Swarm. His true passion is his artist management, music consulting and media production company, Truant Media. Having worked for labels like Virgin and Astralwerks, Todd knows the business well. So back in the early 2000s Roberts saw potential in the digital paradigm shift. He would use it as a tool to help manage rising artists’ careers, and push them into the light.
“I chose management because I felt that most labels were a little bit further out from the process than they needed to be,” he says. “Not that I necessarily want to have a huge impact on the creative side. I think the A&R with the marketing and business side in mind is really where I see myself.” Todd helps artists with developing the content that will connect them with potential audiences. But the problem is that the audience he mostly focuses on is the youth.
Youth culture is a strange animal. Even though we see it all around us, there are countless breeds and creeds. And each one is seemingly self-generated, incompatible with other sub-cultures. When you try to bag one and resell it, it often goes rotten in the process, and fails miserably. You market to youth culture using youth media, and this is Todd Roberts’ specialty. Thought youth culture represents the largest market, the experts in this area are few and far between.
“There are less people than you might think conveying real information about what’s going on and making an impact on what kids have at their disposal,” says Roberts. “I went to a meeting for a big sportswear company. I sat in on a sales team meeting, and it was largely people in their sixties. And these are guys who are going to meet with other guys who are in their sixties on the retail side. I was the youngest person there, and I’m in my forties.”
Historically, companies had been run by a certain demographic. And that demographic generally made products they could sell to other similar demographics. But within the past few decades, the youth culture has become the biggest industry. That means a whole lot of men in their sixties trying to sell crap to kids with a lot of disposable income, who may or may not want to buy what they have to sell.
“Kids really want to try to be different from their older peers,” says Roberts. “So they’re always looking and striving for the thing that’s next. And they’re also gonna be a lot closer to the street, in terms of what is going to change and what trends are happening, even in business.” This translates into a volatile and risky market. Even if you strike it rich, you can’t settle down, because these wells are shallow. And every month of success is a month closer to your target audience growing up and out of the current trend.
“I think it’s a dynamic that changes,” says Roberts. “But it’s a dynamic that’s always been there.” It’s a struggle as old as the day is long. And if they had their way, the sixty-something businessmen would probably put a freeze on the youth culture. Making a profit off the youth would certainly be easier that way.” To mitigate this problem of change, Roberts informs us, “There are some huge consultants that just go out and take pictures of kids. They’re just saying to Kodak, to Polaroid, ‘This is what’s up.’”
But figuring out what kids will fork over their cash for, and nailing down to a formula is impossible, because even the biggest successes have happen entirely by mistake.
“[Big music companies] don’t understand why somebody like Justin Bieber blows up,” says Roberts. “It’s all youth. And it happened without me even paying attention. But guaranteed: from that person to that person, it was a very organic relationship. It just so happened he was doing it for a multi-national company who was listening and open to the opportunity.” In other words, despite what we all thought, there was no sinister mastermind behind Bieber who forced him into success. From the company’s viewpoint, he was a complete fluke.
Labels and companies invest in a variety of potential hits in the same way a studio will invest in a variety of films each year. They don’t know which ones will be blockbusters; they’re completely feeling around in the dark, hoping to strike a nerve with the people. For big labels, every once in a while the investment pays off, and you’ve got yourself the next King of Youtube on your hands. But even still, this is incredibly rare, and as Roberts indicated, the best the other companies can do is to attempt to tap into that Bieber Magic everyone apparently loves.
I predict a lot of androgynous boys romping on and off the American bandstand over the next year or two. We can only hope that the impending doom of these poor souls will happen as quickly and painlessly as possible. And after the other Biebers fall and dust settles, Todd Roberts and Truant Media will surely still be around.
Todd recently started working with a four-piece from Sacramento called Sister Crayon. “They’re just hungry,” Roberts says. “And I don’t say that dismissing their talent. But I think they get it. They get why they matter, and that’s exciting to me as much as their music. I think their music is good. A lot of other bands may be good, but I just don’t get that [these other bands] are ambitious enough for what they need to be doing—really understanding how difficult it is. Kids watch TV, and they see that this band blew up, and this guy is on American Idol, and they think, ‘Oh! I’m gonna sign up.’ Well… that was one out of how many people? So for me, I’m excited when I see a band who’s excited—who knows the reality, but is still excited.”
Trying to find the next Bieber may not necessarily be Todd Roberts’ goal, but who are we kidding? Anyone could certainly use that kind of money. But attempting to do so can be a demoralizing venture. It’s increasingly becoming a circus show out there, and most often it’s the biggest clowns who walk away with the gold. “It’s easy to be pessimistic,” says Roberts. “And that’s why I give those kids credit for sticking it out, because they know the odds aren’t great, but they’re gonna do it anyway. And that is to me why I chose the lane that I’m in.”
Todd C. Roberts, creator of Truant Media, has the daunting task of bagging one of the most ubiquitous but elusive and mystifying elements in all of nature: Youth Culture.
