Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Fraser.
Kristen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always wanted to work in music although when younger I don’t think I knew the vast variety of jobs within the field. I grew up in South Florida and would volunteer my services (passing out flyers, hanging up posters, taking tickets) when concerts and shows came to town just to be close to it. I then started spending my summers in NYC interning for Cornerstone Promotion/The Fader Magazine, which turned into my first job in music, as an assistant to the CEO. I learned a lot there about the brand partnership world and the importance of merging artists and brands for more visability. Most of my roles that followed focused on just that- after working for a few agencies, I worked in brand marketing at Nike, then lead Brand and Strategic Partnerships for Island Def Jam Records then on to work on the Music Marketing team for Beats by Dre, which is how I made my way to LA. With the experience on both the label and brand side, I made the jump to bet on myself in 2018 and started PVTL – my agency where we work with both artists and brands and help guide them through and manage their partnerships.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
While there has been a lot of magic – it hasn’t always been smooth. When I was younger, I just wanted to work in music so I’d work odd jobs on the side just to work full time in a job in music that maybe didn’t pay so well. In music, you really have to have good instincts and that comes from experience so learning and sharpening my tools was always apart of the work. Now, being an entrepreneur, I feel like this is the biggest challenge of my life. Working hard to stay afloat, manage a team and align with projects we feel good about is a constant effort- and plus now you have to think of every aspect of the business, not just the fun stuff. I’m enjoying the learning process but every day is a rollercoaster of emotions!
Please tell us about PVTL.
PVTL specializes in creating, building and maintaining the relationships between artists and brands. We service artist clients and help them with their project release strategies while finding the right brand partners to align them with along the way, which provides more visibility and additional support. We also service brand clients and help them align with the right talent for their campaigns, events and overall messaging. A lot of brands want to play in the music space and we help them find the right way to do so for them. We also tend to do a lot of event programming- a lot of activation comes out of these partnerships!
Our relationships set us apart and make us most proud – we work with clients that we truly align with and make the best decisions we can for them, we keep it very honest – good, bad, indifferent and I think our clients value that we always have their best interest in mind.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Not a damn thing (can I say that?) each bump and bruise has been a lesson and I genuinely appreciate the experiences I have been through. I work in a field that I love, why start over?! Music has brought me some of my greatest friends, best collaborators, world travel and best moments- I wouldn’t trade my journey at all.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pv-tl.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @pv_tl
Image Credit:
Jennifer Johnson/@jenjphoto
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