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HOT TOPIC CRANKS ITS MUSIC BIZ
Teen retailer tries
Claiming to be “everything
about the music,”
teen retailer Hot Topic
indie band podcasts was naturally quick to jump
on the potential of podcasting
and recruits music last fall, when it buddied up
with Redmond, Washington-
industry vet to amp based music services provider
PlayNetwork to launch a 20-
up its street cred
minute Hot Topic tune podcast
on iTunes. The venture
has since led to three more
DJ-led broadcasts featuring up-and-coming indie punk bands,
and Hot Topic SVP Chris Kearns says the number of listeners has
grown signifi cantly with each release.
Indie artists tend to embrace the digital arena as a launchpad
more heartily than label-signed mainstream groups, and with
CD sales in a downward spiral, Hot Topic was looking for a
way to position itself as a leading source for new music. “We’re
focusing on baby bands and trying to entertain and educate our
customers by introducing them to music they might not have
heard,” says Kearns.
To manage this business and expand the reach of HT’s branded
music concept into new areas, the retailer has created a new chief
music offi cer position and recruited John Kirkpatrick to fi ll it.
Kirkpatrick comes with 17 years of experience in the music industry,
starting off his career in the A&R divisions of Capitol Records
and Elektra Entertainment and most recently serving as SVP of
music and creative affairs at Paramount Pictures, where he was
responsible for all musical aspects of the studio’s fi lms. Kearns says
22 MAY 2007
b y k a t e c a l d e r
hiring Kirkpatrick was a strategic move that signals the chain’s
intention to expand its reach digitally, especially in relation to its
dealings with music labels.
Priding itself as a resource for music and merch serving the 12-
to 22-year-old punk rock set, Hot Topic has more than 690 mallbased
locations in the US and an online store that sells fashion,
décor and accessories refl ecting teen music culture. Its foray into
providing HT music compilations directly to its customer base
began a little more than a year ago, when the company contracted
PlayNetwork to run a closed-circuit music broadcast that entertains
shoppers in-store with a specialized mix of mainstream and
indie rock. The HT Radio feed also plays on www.hottopic.com,
where Kearns says listeners often leave the stream playing for half
an hour at a time while they surf or IM.
PlayNetwork’s SVP of promotional services, David Brewster,
says that in addition to delivering the podcasts to HT’s web server
and iTunes, the company also chases licenses for individual songs
and advises the retailer on episode themes. But it’s Hot Topic’s
savvy music team that chooses the song lineup, records the DJ bits
and sequences them into the show.
Although the primary goals are to extend the Hot Topic experience
into other forms of entertainment and offer customers a
new way to interact with the brand, the podcasts also serve a marketing
function as they feature some information about special
sales and merchandise available at the chain.
For its part, PlayNetwork, which already has national brands
like Starbucks, Abercrombie & Fitch and TGI Fridays in its roster
of clients, has been entertaining a lot of interest based on its
podcast work for Hot Topic, some of which has been from other
companies operating in the tween/teen space.