Tricia Arnold
Senior Director of Sales and Distribution
Joined The Orchard in March 2012
Congratulations on just being appointed Senior Director of Sales and Distribution, Tricia! Tell us, what the #@&$ do you do now?
Thank you! My job at The Orchard remains rather varied. Firstly, I oversee the international physical distribution network, scheduling releases, providing sales information and tools to international distributors, setting pricing, coordinating campaigns, launching catalogues internationally, pitching our physical distribution network to potential new and existing digital labels. With Mr. Chris Tams sadly leaving us, I am now also overseeing digital marketing for both new releases and catalogue in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, which I had been doing for IODA before it was integrated into the Orchard’s retail marketing, and I am also working to expand our offering and efforts with Amazon Disc on Demand. In addition, I am continuing to client manage for some awesome labels for the time being, including Demon, Townsend, Ace, ZTT and Rocket Girl.
You’re clearly still entrenched in the Physical world… What makes it exciting? And what do you predict up ahead?
I still buy CD’s! Although physical sales are declining of course, it remains a large part of the market internationally and I believe a market will always exist for physical product. Labels just need to be smarter about physical now and what they release and in what format. We’re starting to see more exciting physical releases with special packages, nice vinyl pieces, added value that gives the fan something they can’t make themselves at home. Some people will buy a piece of vinyl even if they don’t have a turntable because it’s a nice collectible piece to have of their favourite artists. I also think programs like Amazon Disc on Demand are an interesting space to watch, giving the option to offer a physical version without the exposure of having a stock holding all over the world.
Hear, hear! Can you tell us a bit more about Amazon Disc on Demand and what it does?
Amazon Disc on Demand uses the digital files of an album to print a CD (or DVD) of MP3′s with artwork for customers who want a physical product. It’s a digital sale that results in a physical copy. No stock is held — the units are printed when the customer places the order, and Amazon is able to ship the next day. They have greatly improved the quality of late with heavier grade paper, and I’ve seen official physical releases that are of a lesser quality. This is a great option for catalogue titles that may not move enough units to justify having stock available in every territory, but still might find some sales for physical units. As Amazon expands this program (and a couple other stores have experimented with something similar), I think it will turn into a real solution to reach fans that would otherwise be missed by not having a physical product available.
Apparently, you met your husband at an Indie club in Philadelphia where Dave Pak was DJ’ing — the same Dave who used to date your roommate. Such great stories! Please, tell us more.
Rumours! Okay, close, but not quite. I did spend quite a lot of time on the dancefloor of Sorted, Dave’s once-upon-a-time monthly club night in Philadelphia, and I’ve consequently known Dave (and a couple of his exes actually, but I won’t tell!) for a scarily long time. It was at an indie club in London though where I met my husband, dancing to “Rocks” by Primal Scream of all things (the first thing he said to me was “Not a great song to make eye contact to, eh?”). We did bring in our first new year together though back in Philadelphia, once again with Mr. Pak on the decks.
Well thank you for clarifying that! We were also tipped to ask you about Duran Duran… Mhmm?
Now I wonder who could have tipped you off to the Duran Duran thing! I may have had a childhood over-enthusiastic appreciation for Duran Duran, a good decade after it was socially acceptable. By “over-enthusiastic appreciation,” I mean that I might have had a poster of Simon Le Bon on my ceiling and still own to this day the Duran Duran trading cards and board game (you have to help the members of Duran Duran find their way into the Arena!). Although I’m a bit less fanatical than I used to be, I still buy every album (even suffering through one listen of the Timbaland-produced one) and catch them on every tour. I swear that it’s a complete accident though that I’ve ended up living pretty close to Simon.
Riiiight, we believe you… Thanks Tricia for sharing what the #@&$ you do and restoring our readers’ faith in the future of physical!
album you would take with you on a desert island: Sci-Fi Lullabies by Suede
favorite spot in London that no one knows about: Shimla Mirch – a tiny, eternally empty Indian restaurant on the Shepherd’s Bush Road that is the best Indian restaurant I’ve come across.
what you’re most thankful for this year: All the new experiences I’ve been lucky enough to have. And Nate Silver.
random fact: The band I’ve seen the most times live is Air Supply. They are my mother’s favourite band and I went to see them with her nearly every year growing up.
It’s HERE! CMJ is happening all over the fine city of New York and we’re ready for it. This year, The Orchard is kicking off their very first Stairwell Series CMJ Edition tomorrow, live from our NYC office. We are hosting the lovely Sophie Auster, the party-inducing Duologue, electro studs Solid Gold, and poptastic Pretty & Nice. Watch this space here for pictures and links to videos! Speaking of great Orchard music, here is our CMJ 2012 mix for your enjoyment in case you missed it.
While the night is left for showcasing and parties, let’s not forget the daytime conference. This year we have loads of Orchard representation. Below are panels you can check out to catch some of our staff chatting about what they do best. And there is something for everyone here.
Analyzing Digital and Physical Sales in a Global Market [Cat Kreidich]
With unprecedented mainstream success around the globe, independent labels are proving that the freedoms of the digital world can be far more empowering than the shrinking physical market. Here we delve into what drivers are behind the long-term success of digital music services and, the importance of the independent repertoire and catalogues to their consumers.
PANEL ROOM: 405
October 18th, 2012
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Sifting Through Transnational Licensing Complexities [Miki Tunis]
While the world gets closer from digital opportunities, the complexities of international music licensing grows. This panel of experts will depict, define and try to conquer the current issues at hand while also exposing where good fortune may exist.
PANEL ROOM: 405
October 18th, 2012
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Silver Boardroom Meeting: Social Media Movements [Jaclyn Ranere and Tierney Stout]
An opportunity for aspiring executives to engage in a boardroom meeting environment. Each meeting will have two well established industry professionals running an agenda. Attendees will be challenged to think, share and generate ideas pertaining to the topic at hand.
PANEL ROOM: “Silver Boardroom”
October 18th, 2012
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Seasoned Experience Implemented in a New Music Industry [Richard Gottehrer]
While a shrunken music industry still prevails, the physical and technological boundaries of the world music market have been exploding. Many artists, labels and managers from the US are now also focusing on efforts abroad, and vice versa. These now-modern pioneers will delve deep into the changes of modern music business in both the domestic and international spaces.
PANEL ROOM: 905
October 19th, 2012
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Sure, new apps are great — but updated apps are even better! Why? Because they aim to improve a product based on what people want and need. That’s exactly what DIY Music, the do-it-yourself e-commerce platform, has done with their series of updates to their app. As an Orchard client, you can benefit from all of them via our Marketplace.
So, what’s new with DIY Music these days?
DIY has also revamped its store widgets for a fresher feel. They’re not only better looking, but they’re also easier to navigate. Plus, they have a new Help section to make sure you’re getting the best experience possible.
So go ahead! Try DIY Music out for the first time or rediscover it all over again.
Those of you who use the Orchard’s Analytics product may have noticed the recent appearance of a lovely orange “Add Event” Button. We’re pretty excited about this — it allows you to annotate the graph with events that may have impacted your sales.
By now, you’ve all played with Analytics enough to have noticed some spikes in your sales or streams. And you’ve probably asked yourself why. We certainly have. Events are here to help you understand that. Was your new single featured in a movie trailer? Did your new release get a good review on Pitchfork? By marking these events on your graph, and seeing what happens, we can start developing an understanding of what creates these spikes.
The goal here is to provide an open-ended tool for examining the impact of your marketing efforts. For this first release we kept it simple. Click the Add Event button. Select a date, enter a title for the event, pick an artist and relevant category. Hit save. That’s it. Events are indicated by a grey vertical line; hover on it to see the event, and click on it to ‘pin’ the event in place. Click again to un-pin it. Pinning an event means the event will stay put while you navigate, and also allows you to delete events. Events intelligently filter themselves based on what data you are looking at. The default, label-wide view shows all events; change your view to certain artists or releases, and you’ll only see events relevant to those artists.
There are about 9 million cool features we want to add to Events. For instance, event categorizations doesn’t do anything right now, but in the future this will allow you to hide and show events by their category, as well as tell you what kinds of events get used most often. Another feature already in the works is to automatically show you premium ad placements in online music stores. Combined with the existing ability to filter by country and store, this will provide powerful insights into the effectiveness of those placements.
We have a lot planned for Events. More important, though, is how YOU would use this. What would it do if it were magic? Head over to your analytics, give it a whirl, and let us know how it could be improved.
Introducing Tricia Arnold, International Sales and Distribution Director
Hi everyone! I am happy to be joining the growing number of US expats in the Orchard London office and am excited to be working with all of you!
I am originally from the small town of Middletown, Pennsylvania (if anyone remembers the near nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, that’s where I’m from), which I escaped at the age of 18. My career in music started as a university student in the lovely city of Philadelphia with an internship at Rykodisc which proved to have three main benefits: 1) it shaped the next 13 years of my life; 2) it introduced me to Ms. Colleen Theis; and 3) it paid me with 1 free cd a week, which I thought was awesome!
After graduation and a brief stint in London, I joined Ryko’s Philly office as a copyright administrator for their then publishing company, but moved back to London in 2003 for a Masters degree and an Englishman, one of which I finished with in a year, the other of which I’m still working on. I continued to work part-time for Ryko’s publishing company, but moved over to the label side after completing my degree, joining the international sales department. When Ryko was bought by Warners in 2006, we relaunched the company as ADA Global where I managed and maintained the international distribution network until last week.
My musical tastes are pretty firmly in the indiepop realm, and I still love synth pop and new wave stemming from a childhood over-enthusiastic appreciation of Duran Duran. I also love music from the 50′s and 60′s and am currently trying to establish a respectable collection of Doo Wop. Outside of music and work, I am fairly good at boring people with politics, and I serve on the council of Democrats Abroad UK as well as volunteer in their voter-outreach activities. I also enjoy reading (am currently deep in 20th Century American literature) and I really really really love cheese.
And of course, I glow in the dark.
