Meet the guy behind the music you hear when you're shopping at Target and Whole Foods
Danny Turner never dreamed of becoming a doctor, astronaut, or fireman as a kid — all he ever wanted to do was connect with people through music and the power of voice.
While in 2014 he assumed the official title of global senior vice president of programming at Mood Media, a company that designs retail playlists, you could say he's been programming music for as long as he can remember.
"I was that kid who built a radio transmitter in his room so he could do his own version of pirate radio," Turner says. "My sister and the crazy cat lady who lived next door were my biggest fans. This is all I've ever done."
Starting out as a DJ in clubs and on the radio, he says he would work anywhere somebody would let him set up his turntables or plug in his headphones. Turner spent several years on the air programming every genre and format imaginable, running operations for a startup international satellite radio venture, and heading up programming operations for XM Satellite Radio.
Now at Mood Media Turner and his team of music designers create signature playlists for companies like Macy's, Whole Foods, and Target to reflect each brand's unique essence.
Day-to-day tasks include scouring blogs, websites, and daily requests from labels for new music releases and selecting the tracks you hear in restaurants, stores, and hotels all over the world.
Here Turner tells Business Insider what it's really like to work as a music programmer. (Some answers have been edited for clarity.)
Q. What do you do exactly?
A. I like to say that I try to inspire and direct creativity. I have the pleasure of working with some of the most creative individuals I've ever worked with throughout my career. Throughout the day I work with our teams in partnership with many of North America's largest and most iconic brands to create music and media experiences — it's all about making connections. To watch a music concept come together from initial brand discoveries to the curation and design of a signature sound is an amazing and rewarding experience.
My team creates hundreds and hundreds of music programs. From custom, bespoke music programs created in direct partnership with national or global brands, to any one of the hundreds of catalog options we have covering more than 15 different genres, I am charged with ensuring that each and every program offering is well articulated, on point, relevant, and focused.
Program reviews with my music designers are very interesting exchanges: always positive, but quite spirited. How do you decide on specificity in a subjective world?
Q. What skills are most useful to have to work in music programming?
A. Clearly an open mind, an encyclopedic knowledge of multiple genres of music, and an insatiable appetite to learn and consume more.
I always look for something else, though — something else that helps me get a more holistic assessment. How else do you express yourself? So many of our music designers are also working musicians, producers, DJ's, and even artists. It's really a lifestyle thing.
From there, it's an innate ability to understand how, why, or when certain tracks, genres, or even programs "connect." It's more about creating an experience than creating a playlist. A playlist is something your neighbor Arnie puts together for his backyard BBQ … everyone was happy until he dropped that 2 Chainz track into the mix. In music programming, it's about creating an experience, not a singular selection.
Q. Any advice for breaking into the industry?
A. I came at music programming from the perspective of just pouring everything I had into it. I didn't have a Plan B.
Internships are phenomenal opportunities. Be prepared to work for far less than you're worth, but for just enough to keep you coming back. Some of my best hires over the years have been previous interns with me.
Break the mold, innovate, and take chances. The typical media paths laid out over the past 50 years are abandoned. The industry has become fragmented, commoditized, and at times marginalized — we don't "own" content any longer, we really rent it. The successful programmer moving forward will be the one who constantly seeks to create experiences out of disparate sources.
Q. What education background is most helpful?
A. I think some of the most valuable course studies one could target are in marketing, specifically retail marketing and brand marketing. Some basic psychology foundations are helpful, as well. What is driving people's behavior and how do we connect and harness this?
Q. What's the average pay for someone in music programming?
A. It really varies because there are roles from internships and entry level opportunities to executive leadership roles.
Q. What are your perks like?
A. Mood Media has a great competitive benefits package with all the right accoutrements, but moreover, each of our music designers has a "Concert and Festival Allowance" to use each year. We need our folks out living the life and discovering as much new music as possible. I think I've been to six shows already this month. From tiny little clubs or even a record store in Austin, to sold out arena shows, it's a pretty good gig!
Q. How many hours a week do you work?
A. I don't do well in the typical 9-to-5 kind of thing. That's great because our client partners and my team are spread out not only throughout North America, but globally as well. That makes for many late night or early morning conference calls, meetings, and travel.
Q. What's the best part about the job?
A. I've had the incredible opportunity to work next to, collaborate with, and get to know some of the very people that I idolized while growing up. From BB King, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and so many others, I've had the amazing opportunity to connect and share their art and their passion with so many people.
Now, I get to work every day in using the amazing power of music and the spoken word to forge and cement emotional connections. That ain't a bad day.
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