Sharon Douce Profile
By Ashanty Infantry

As a marketing manager at Universal Music Canada, Sharon Douce is responsible for coming up with national marketing plans for urban music artists on Def Jam Records, Motown Records and select Universal Records. That means planning creative promotion for releases from the likes of Erykah Badu, India Arie and Nelly. With Douce at the helm, Def Jam had its first No. 1 record debut on Soundscan this year ... Ja Rule's Pain Is Love.

Douce got into the music industry after completing co-op placements at the Design Exchange and the Canadian Opera Company while doing a Bachelor's degree in arts management at the University of Toronto. While in university she had a mentor through Each One Teach One and later participated in PhemPhat as an audition judge and a panelist. Douce, 28, hopes to return to school in the near future to pursue an MBA with an eye on being in senior management in the entertainment industry.

AI:How did you break into the music industry?

SD:"My boss at the Canadian Opera Company told me about an independent label, Attic, that was looking for a publicity/promotions person. Although I didn't have a music background I had a pretty diverse arts background and I got the job. I worked a lot of jazz and Euro dance, but not much hip hop and r'n'b. I'd been there for two years when a friend told me Polygram Music Canada was looking for an urban marketing coordinator. I thought marketing would offer more control and creativity than publicity/promotions. Six months after I landed that job they merged with Universal. I thought I'd lose my job, since it's usually last one hired, first fired. But I survived the layoffs and was promoted first to assistant marketing manager and then marketing manager. I've been there three years."

AI:What does a marketing manager do?

SD:"I'm the point person for all the different ways we market the record in Canada. I work with my counterparts at the U.S. label; they tell me what their sales strategy is and send me parts for pre-production ... the masters, videos, artwork ... and I work with our salespeople to figure out what we're going to do here in terms of planning and creating advertising, promotions and media campaigns."

AI:What's the difference between publicity, promotions and marketing?

SD:"Publicity is more artist relations ... taking them to interviews and maintaining relationships with journalists. Promotions is about working the tracks at radio and video. Marketing is the big umbrella: I give those people the tools to do their job."

AI:How much autonomy do you have in devising a strategy to market a record?

SD:"We have a lot of freedom, because our U.S. labels trust us. There, when they market a record the artist is always involved from start to finish ... for advance press and cross-country promo tours. But we don't have that luxury. We rarely get the artist in this market, so we have to be more creative."

AI:How do you come up with marketing strategies?

SD:"Because we have so many records coming out (about one a week) I make this rule for myself: I want to do at least one special thing per record. In this industry, I can almost tell what somebody's marketing plan is without actually reading it, because some people follow a formula: they're going to do street posters, a bite on Flow, campus radio. We all have a tendency to do that, but you have to distinguish the record, understand the personality of the artist and how they want to be positioned in the U.S., and take advantage of that and do something different and special."

AI:What's an example of a unique marketing idea you came up with to sell an album?

SD:"We did something recently with Jay Z Unplugged. An unplugged album is all about the live experience and since MTV Canada is not seen in as many homes as Much Music and the album is fabulous, we organized with radio stations across the country to do a special screening at Famous Players to view the show. It was the first time we did anything like that."

AI:Can a record break without support from commercial radio?

SD:"Definitely. That's the success of a lot of our hip hop records. However, things are changing as more urban stations come on board; we're seeing the impact in terms of sales and breaking artists. People become exposed to the songs through urban radio, so it becomes easier for commercial radio to take a chance with urban artists. Now that we're selling records and there is money to spend, I think if pop radio wants to be competitive and they realize I do have money to buy advertising for an Ashanti record or Ja Rule and I'll probably spend that money with the station that's been supporting the artist."

AI:Do your personal views impact how you market a record?

SD:"There are some records I connect with more, maybe as a woman, but even though I have my favourites it doesn't affect how I do my job. Everyone has an opinion and artists are held to that opinion, but this is what we do ... provide entertainment. The artist is allowed their point of view. I haven't worked anything extremely controversial like an Eminem record, so I've never been put in that position."

AI:How much contact do you have with the artists?

SD:How much contact do you have with the artists?

"When they come here for shows and promos and I get an opportunity to talk to them, I talk to them about everything but music. What really inspires me is when I can talk to an artist and find out we have things in common ... whether we talk about food or family or how we grew up. That makes it a bit more real to me and I think they might appreciate it too because they're always being asked about their jobs."

AI:Who are your mentors?

SD:"Chonita Floyd, the senior director of international for Def Jam. I really connect with her; she's young, she's black, she's been with Def Jam for nine years. I trust her instincts and the guidance she provides me. Also, Donna Lidster who is the director of country marketing at Universal. We don't work the same genre, but I really respect what she's accomplished internationally."

AI:What is it like for women in your field?

SD:"I think there are always challenges for women, especially the way we are portrayed in urban music. But people need to understand that it's just about the music. There are a lot of very powerful women, especially in the U.S., who are directors and senior v.p.'s and these women do have a say in the images that are created for these artists. I try to be as professional as I can and I find that people respect that."

AI:How do you chart your progress?

SD:"What makes me feel successful is that we're selling a lot of records, I get a lot of respect from international, and a lot of people in the industry respect what I do and understand the challenges that I face in doing my job."

AI:What were your triumphs in 2001?

SD:"I take great pride of the sales success of a few records: Nelly - whose Country Grammar was four times platinum here, a huge accomplishment; also India Arie which sold platinum ... rare for a developing artist."