Las Vegas Weekly

July 27, 2010 · 11:59 AM

Studio at the Palms’ Zoe Thrall shares new model of music development

By Robin Leach

Michael Lowman.

Photo: Courtesy

From July 14 through Aug. 4, Robin Leach will be relaxing under the Tuscan sun on his annual vacation and keeping his eyes on what’s happening in Las Vegas from Italy. Meantime, a kindly crew of Las Vegas celebrities and VIPs has agreed to write guest columns for Vegas DeLuxe.

By Zoe Thrall, guest columnist

In the past 10 years, there have been enormous changes in the music recording industry as technology has advanced. Long gone are music stores with racks and racks of CDs (or vinyl!) where you could go spend an afternoon browsing the latest releases and walk out with a dozen new records. Now, you are very likely introduced to new music through a TV commercial, an online radio source like Pandora, a link from a Web site and by one of the many music sites that will navigate you through your kind of music.

The change also has spilled over to the way artists are signed to record companies. Island Def Jam artist Justin Bieber (who performed to a sold-out crowd in Planet Hollywood on Saturday) was discovered when his mother posted videos of him performing in his home for their family to see. Who would have thought the world would have Bieber Fever from a family’s home video?

Island Def Jam found Bieber using new media. In South African artist Michael Lowman’s case, he used new media to scout out the label. While searching the Internet one day for any information on how to get his music heard, Lowman stumbled across a video blog on YouTube of Authentik Artists label CEO Scott Austin advising artists on marketing their music.

Photo: Courtesy

Michael Lowman.

Authentik Artists is an outlet built for independent artists who want to get their music out to the masses, a vision Lowman honed. He decided to contact Austin directly and ask the industry insider if he would give him input on his songwriting. Austin agreed but did not promise the young artist anything other than taking a listen. Lowman emailed the raw tracks, and Austin was taken by Lowman’s melodies and the ease in which he delivered them.

Here this artist went out on a limb, reaching out to anyone who would listen, found one person who was thousands of miles away to say yes, and that’s the call that made it happen. Austin contacted me to see if I would be interested in working with him to develop Lowman and assist with recording. As soon as I heard Lowman sing, I agreed to work with the new team. Within a few months, Lowman was flying to Las Vegas (his first time in the States!) to record at Studio at the Palms.

Studio at the Palms, an already legendary studio that has seen the likes of everyone from Michael Jackson to Maroon 5 to Mary J. Blige, became Lowman’s home for the next week, not bad for your first trip to Las Vegas! He was teamed up with producer Mark Needham, who has worked with The Killers, Fleetwood Mac and many others. Seasoned session musicians including Chris Chaney, Dave Palmer, Robin DiMaggio and Eric Schermerhorn were brought in, and the result is the eight-song EP In My Own Words.

Photo: Courtesy

Michael Lowman.

Distributed via Authentik Artists and using online outlets to push the album, In My Own Words was a featured record at iTunes and the music/pop culture blog Rickey.org within its first two weeks of release. By combining the marketing and distribution strengths of Authentik Artists with the creative and production expertise of the Studio at the Palms, what started as a grand experiment of breaking an artist found online is now a template for a new model of music development.

For more information on Studio at the Palms and Authentik Artists, go to StudioatthePalms.com and AuthentikArtists.com.

Zoe Thrall manages the Studio at the Palms. Peepshow and Holly’s World star Josh Strickland and chefs Rick Moonen of RM Seafood in Mandalay Bay and Barry S. Dakake of N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms are tomorrow’s guest columnists.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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