In March, Coca-Cola® and Warner Music Group’s WMX teamed up to introduce the Coca-Cola® Transformation Team, a talent search inspired by Coca-Cola® Move, the brand’s latest innovation that celebrates “the transformational power of music.” The entry period has since come and gone and three worthy artists were chosen: San Cha, Eduardo Marìa, and Kallitechnis.
The three were given quite the opportunity: an insightful roundtable discussion with Steve-O Carless, president of A&R for Warner Records. He sums up his philosophy, “An an artist, you want to be up to speed with how the business is forever transforming, ever evolving. When something doesn’t fit, I’ve learned you create it. I call it ‘taking the stairs,’ as opposed to waiting for the elevator.”
He also notes, “I find it disappointing when I see artists use old thinking, of what they think the record business is, to kind of set their goals. That’s a huge mistake.”
Those are both nice big-picture thoughts, but during the conversation, he got more granular as well, giving the three Coca-Cola® Transformation Team artists more specific and actionable ideas to consider. Overall, all parties involved had interesting things to say and the difference of perspectives presented strong learning opportunities, so check out the video above.
Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.