Designed from the ground up to put the artist in the Driver's Seat.
ABOUT
In an ever-changing industry that is synonymous with the Wild West, Clay Neuman, founder of Driver's Seat Entertainment, has spent his 20-year career as a pioneer in artist development.
In 1997, Clay started working full time in BMG’s Dallas branch as a coordinator in the radio promotion department for Arista Nashville. Witnessing the decline of the traditional model, Clay saw a crucial need for true artist development. With Arista’s blessing he started work to bridge the gap between major label commerce and grassroots marketing by utilizing the M Street radio station directory along with Soundscan sales monitoring. This entrepreneurial effort resulted in growing Arista Nashville’s 20-plus secondary country radio station database to 80-plus based purely on their ability to influence record and concert ticket sales.
In 1999, Clay served as Head of Radio Promotion at Arista Austin. This imprint focused heavily on Adult Alternative Album (AAA) and the new Americana Music format. In addition to the core formats, he oversaw hiring and working with radio promotion independents for Adult Contemporary and Alternative radio. In his first year alone, he helped Arista Austin earn the coveted title of “Major Label of The Year” while he received a nomination for "AAA Promotion Person of The Year," and won "Americana Promotion Person of The Year" at the 2000 Gavin Awards.
In 2001, Clay founded the independent radio promotion company APEX Music. His first clients included the bluegrass trio Nickle Creek (Sugarhill Records) and then-independent powerhouse, Pat Green. Over the next decade and a half, Clay and his team served as a trusted radio promotion team for many of the most successful core artists in the Texas Music format, including Randy Rogers, The Turnpike Troubadours, Stoney LaRue, Jason Boland and Parker McCollum. In 2011, with the irrefutable rise of the “independent artist,” Clay reinvented his company’s stronghold as a driving force towards the future of promotion and marketing with the launch of Vision Entertainment. The company’s multifaceted infrastructure not only embraced all the key pieces required to raise an artist through the ranks of the industry, but also provided the building blocks needed to win their game.
In 2019 Clay launched Driver's Seat Entertainment. This versatile company has been designed from the ground up to truly put the artist in the "Driver's Seat".
“Clay has been a pivotal part of my career over the past few months. Creating a team atmosphere to work together to achieve set goals. Teaching vital tips, tricks, and methods you can take with you as you progress in your career. You won’t meet a harder working individual in the music industry than Clay!”
- Kyle Elliot
SERVICES
Promotional Campaign Development
Driver's Seat Nashville will develop a recommended promotional campaign based on what makes your brand unique along with many years of incomparable industry expertise.
Brand Development
We learn everything there is to know about you, and what makes your brand unique. We will then develop a plan to amplify brand perception and visibility.
Campaign Funding + Strategic Endorsements
Funding options can include any combination of private raise, strategic endorsements and crowdfunding.
Campaign / Team Management
Driver's Seat Nashville will secure and manage a team to execute your campaign goals. These positions will be mutually agreed upon and may include promotional team members with a proven track record in distribution, project management, radio promotion, streaming promotion, publicity, photography, branding, digital marketing, and live performance coaching, among other relevant services.
"Our growth exploded since bringing on Driver's Seat Entertainment!"
- Hayden Coffman (Recording Artist)
TRACK RECORD
Clay Neuman
Campaign Development
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An award-winning Radio Promotion and Artist Development pioneer known for his instrumental role in the growth and development of the modern day Texas / Red Dirt Music radio format and genre.
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Proven track record of building and driving systems to scale focused on measurable goals of revenue and audience growth for artists, radio stations and the talent buyers alike.
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Promotional force driving the startup development for 2/3rds of the formats' top earning artists ($1-4 million annually).
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Spearheaded a genre renaissance reflected in surge of its niche festival market today with more than $20 milliom in annual revenue as well birth and growth of it’s niche TV program "Texas Music Scene" hosted by nine-time GRAMMY Award winner Ray Benson.
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A key force in the format’s spread to international radio and touring overseas in Europe and Central America.
AS FEATURED IN
"If Clay Neuman says it's gonna be done - then it IS gonna be done. Count on it."
- Al Moss