Client Testimonials

LETTERS FROM PAST CLIENTS

OF THE CREATIVE SERVICE COMPANY

 

The true test of whether we have satisfied clients is that many of them have returned for second and third campaigns.

 

*     *     *

 

Randall has been terrific. He's thoroughly engaged in any project he undertakes, and is very, very knowledgeable. He works passionately and tirelessly on behalf of his clients. I can't recommend him highly enough. You'll be in good hands.

Timothy Cooper
New Piano Age

(2 projects)

 

 

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

My publicist, Randall Davis, is a genuinely great guy, and someone I trust to give me honest, and relevant feedback.  As depressing as it is, it appears promotional dollars must be spent to garner any recognition above and beyond what one can accomplish locally.  If you check out my website, a majority of the reviews you will find excerpts from are reviews that were via Randall.  I have found this resultant information incredibly useful in a marketing sense, and my overall feeling is that it was money well spent.  I have found that spending my advertising budget in a publicity/promotional sense nets me larger rewards then any kind of advertising dollars ever have.  And, on a personal level, I like Randall a lot, and find him to be trustworthy and professional.

We have worked on two campaigns together. I find him to be meticulous, experienced, efficient and true to his word. I don't really tour so when we began working together we literally had to create my bio from years of background, without commercial endeavors/exposure to enhance it with. He put together an honest, commercially viable accounting of my musical experience, which in turn gave me an excellent springboard to pitch from. He knows how to position you so that you are accessible to the genre. You will receive numerous reviews which are all incredibly helpful for marketing and promotion. Randall will work hard to promote your project. I recommend his work highly.

 

Best,

Anne Trenning

[new age pianist]

(2 projects)

 

 

 

Randall:

Thanks again for a great job and splendid writing.

Best wishes,

Mike Longo

[traditional jazz pianist; played with Dizzy Gillespie for 25 years]

(4 projects)

 

 

You guys are terrific. Working with you was a very great pleasure. I will highly recommend you to all my musician friends.

Bob Weisenberg

[traditional flamenco guitarist]

 

 

 

Hi Randall,

Thank you for everything you have done for me.  Thanks to you I've had a lot of successes in this business.  I also wish you the best in all that you do.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Gregory

[smooth jazz guitarist]

 

 

 

Hello Randall.

Thank you for your support on my last 3 projects.  I always appreciate your professionalism,
communication skills, and ability to get results!

Best always,

Ron Kaplan
Kapland Records

[traditional jazz singer]

 

and a testimonial from him...

 

I worked 3 projects with Randall and I can tell you that I did enjoy working with him and his team, and that we also got a number of results from airplay to online and print reviews, as well as radio interviews.  I know that without his assistance I wouldn't have had as many good things happen.  As an indie label I was able to do a lot on my own, but with a publicist such as Randall I made strides I would not have otherwise.  Randall keeps you up-to-date and is willing to work within your budget.

 

-- Ron Kaplan

 

 

 

Randall Davis and The Creative Service Company have generated a wonderful buzz about my newest solo piano album!  Randall is the consummate professional.  He has worked in this business for many years with some of the best artists you’ve heard of, and you’ve probably heard of those artists because of Randall.  

 

The Creative Service Company was masterful at acquiring interviews and press coverage that were previously unattainable for me.  Randall also spends a lot of time getting to know his artists in order to promote them effectively and generously sharing his vast knowledge with his clients to help them shine in the public eye.  I would highly recommend Randall Davis and The Creative Service Company for your next publicity campaign!

Lisa Downing

Vision Quest Entertainment

 

 

 

I have used Randall Davis and The Creative Service Company promotion services for three albums I have released.  He has been great to work with.  I get a report from him every week on what reviews and radio spins I have received and he is definitely worth the money. My CDs have both received a lot of great reviews, which really helps; and with the new CD he has been able to get my music played on many radio stations, mostly in the US, but also in Canada, Australia, Spain, and Columbia.  I found Randall through the Internet and was a little concerned about hiring someone I'd never met, but he gave me a list of references and I contacted those people, and after getting their positive response I went ahead and hired him.  It was the best thing I did for promotion.  I had tried to do my own promotion for my first release "Summer Samba" for several months and it just required way more work than I ever imagined. The research on finding places to submit for reviews was so daunting and time-consuming I didn't have time to work on my music.

 

Irene Nachreiner (Irene & Her Latin Jazz Band)

[jazz singer]

 

 

 

I am more than happy to speak about my experience working with Randall and the phenomenal services he was able to provide.  I am a solo pianist and composer and was originally contacted by Randall when he noticed my work on MySpace (so he found me).  At the time I was preparing to release my first recordings.  Randall had approached me frankly at the perfect time, when I needed help with many levels of promotion, particularly on the radio, with general publicity and critical review.

 

As you may already know, Randall has a background in the music industry that stretches back over many years.  He used to be an executive over at Capitol Records.  Just in terms of general music industry knowledge, he has a lot to say and can be a great source of advice.  But for our genre, in contemporary instrumental, he has developed a particular specialty and knows how to drive great results.  He has worked with many of the great names in our genre, and when I hired him I also reached out to his previous clients. Suffice to say that all of them said extremely positive things about working with Randall.

 

I don’t know how much you know about the industry, or the solo piano market in general, but no matter what your level of knowledge, Randall can be a great source of help. One of the things that amazed me working with him was how detailed he was and how he delivered exactly what he said he would. I hired Randall for two major campaigns; the first was for general publicity which included writing a professional press release, gaining critical reviews and press release postings all over the internet.  The second campaign was to generate radio airplay with relevant stations in the contemporary instrumental market.  Randall first spent many hours with me over the phone, to get to know me as a musician and to gain an understanding of what my albums were about.  Since I was releasing two different albums spanning 10 years of writing, we decided to only promote the newer of the two.  Randall essentially interviewed me to learn the history of the album and what it was about; its themes, intent, and the basic story behind the music.  He used that information to produce a very professionally written press release / bio which we could then send out in my packages.

 

Randall was able to then send out my albums along with the press release to hundreds of locations that could produce reviews of my music, commentaries, or simply post the press release online.  This was the essential product of my general publicity campaign; critical reviews and press release postings.  In that effort Randall was extremely successful and I had dozens upon dozens of reviews to show for it.  I was able to then post those reviews on my website to further advertise my music.  Not only were these reviews helpful in promoting my music, but they also proved invaluable feedback to me from knowledgeable critics.  In other words, hearing comments from professional critics was helpful in guiding me to improve my music.  I enjoyed reading these reviews a lot, even if not all of them were positive (which you can’t expect even with the best album).  It was also great that all these reviews were posted on the Internet at the review websites, which could then be seen by the entire audience of those websites.  So as you can see there are many facets and advantages to this type of publicity.

 

For the radio campaign Randall produced remarkable results.  He submitted my music to highly-targeted radio stations that focused on the contemporary instrumental genre.  This was very important just to simply get airplay, since these are the stations that play solo piano music.  Secondly, Randall deals with radio stations that report results to Zone Music Reporter (ZMR), which is essentially the only radio chart out there for contemporary instrumental.  Thanks to Randall (and the strength of my album), “A Still Motion” debuted on this chart in the #9 position. By the second month it had moved up to the #5 position. After that it remained in the top 100 for 6 months consecutively.  This is not an easy thing to accomplish.  Because not only do you need a great album for that, but also the time and resources to get your music into the hands of the radio stations most likely to play it, and report to ZMR.  Suffice to say I was elated at having a Top 5 album on the ZMR chart. I have Randall to thank for that.

 

All in all I sent Randall 400 albums.  200 of those were sent out for critical review, and the other 200 were sent on to radio stations.  If you look at this simply in terms of time and the work it takes to prepare and send out that many targeted packages; the advantages of working with Randall becomes evident.  You can of course do all of these things on your own; but it takes a great deal of time and research.  Randall is also well known and respected in the music community, and therefore you benefit from this since the packages he sends out are taken more seriously than if you did this yourself.  One of the most impressive things working with Randall are his reports.  He provides an array of detailed reports for your campaign(s), and he sends these out to you weekly so you can monitor his progress.  No doubt many publicists are not this organized, and it’s difficult to know you are getting what you paid for.  With Randall there is total transparency.  You receive each and every report on time, and with loads of information.  I knew literally every radio station playing my music, where it was located, which people were reviewing my music, which websites this was on.  Randall even sent me playlists from the radio stations, and the reports they send into the ZMR.  His level of detail was incredible, and frankly, was exactly what I needed.

 

Even after my campaign officially ended, Randall continued to send me post-campaign reports for a few weeks.  He also would send me any additional reviews, or radio airplay he came across.  This went on for about an entire year!  You will not find this kind of dedication anywhere else in my opinion.  You get what you pay for with Randall! He also is willing to provide feedback about your music and help guide you in this very challenging business. After knowing Randall a few years now, I consider him a friend and someone who I can always turn to for advice in this industry.

 

With that said, if you are looking for targeted publicity, Randall is definitely worth going with!  The fact he specializes in our genre makes him a particularly rare find.  My only caution to you would be to recognize that there is a difference between publicity and advertising, and that even great publicity like Randall can provide does not guarantee music sales.  Randall will deliver exactly what he promises to you, loads of critical reviews, press release postings, commercial radio airplay, public and college radio airplay, the chance to make the ZMR charts and more detailed reports then you’ll know what to do with.  He cannot guarantee sales though, and no publicist ever could.  If you understand this though, and are ok knowing what your money is really going for; then you cannot go wrong with Randall. I highly recommend him!

 

Anyways… I hope this helps you make an informed decision. I have no regrets about working with Randall, and am in fact planning to hire him again to promote my upcoming album, “Rapture” which will be released later this year.

 

Sincerely,

Michael Samson

[solo piano]

 

 

 

Randall is my publicist.  I can assure you he is exactly who he says he is, and my first contact with him was when he spoke at the 1st Annual New Age Music Convention in L.A. in (or around!) 1988.  Before Randall was an independent publicist, he worked at Capitol Records.  He's truly an industry veteran and I have seen him in action for a long time.

 

I thought that Randall (i.e. the Creative Service Company) did a fine job on the publicity end of things, securing interviews and reviews of my CD worldwide.  He made himself very familiar with the music on my CD, and suggested that not only should I approach the traditional "New Age" market but also the Prog fans, and this turned out to be a very successful idea.  What I'm trying to say is that Randall didn't just "grind out the job," he engaged and participated in a very active way. He did exactly what he said that he would do, including keeping me up to date week by week of the contacts he was making on my behalf.

 

Best regards,

 

Ian Tescee

[new age-electronica multi-instrumentalist]

 

 

 

Randall Davis and The Creative Service Company have worked on 2 CD campaigns for me.  My experience working with Randall was extremely positive.  I find him very direct and honest.  I worked with another publicist before Randall, and I could never find out exactly what he was doing.  With Randall, you have an over-all publicity plan, and every week you are sent updates and press clippings.  He continues to do updates well after the official end of the project.  I experienced very positive results.  Randall works very hard in a difficult business where there are no guarantees, but he will do his utmost for each client.  I recommend Randall to you (as I have to other people) for help in promoting your music.

 

Good Luck,

 

Falkner Evans

[traditional mainstream jazz pianist]

 

 

 

Hey, Randall,

 

First of all I would like to thank you for all the fantastic work you have done for me.  You were really most helpful and you have done more than I expected.  I am ever so grateful to you for your professional honest advice as well as your sensitive way of dealing with the entire matter of promoting my CD.  You did not just concentrate on the commercial side of it, but also have shown great interest in my music and also the philosophy of Wittgenstein by whom my production was influenced.  All that has really touched and impressed me very much.  What I see is that you are making really a great job.  Thank you for the moment.  It’s very interesting and big fun working with you.  Thanks a lot!!!

 

Best wishes!

 

Uwe Gronau

[German keyboardist]

 

 

 

Dear Randall,

My chart number is really great.  I am very exited!  Many thanks for your continuous hard work.  It is great to see my music finding its way out into the world.

Best!

Annette Cantor

[new age vocalist]