Working Away at Radio Margaritaville
Technical Guru and Internet Marketing Whiz to the Music World
What do you do for an encore after
you've helped create the most successful
Internet radio station on
the planet? If you are Coleman Sisson,
general manager of Jimmy Buffett's
Radio Margaritaville, you launch
BubbleUp, a Woodlands, Texas based
company that creates, manages and markets
websites for musicians and corporations.
BubbleUp was launched in 2005 and
with its creation Coleman was able to
combine his lifelong love of music with
the expertise and experience he gained as
a senior executive in the high tech field.
Throw in some old fashioned, small town
customer service inherited from his parents
and you've got a company that creates
websites that allow fans to keep up
with their favorite musicians, purchase
their favorite songs, sign up for newsletters,
and stock up on merchandise.
BubbleUp is a one stop shopping experience
for the artist looking to connect
more effectively with fans via the Internet.
Combining music and technology is
the natural evolution of Coleman's
diverse interests and careers. As a kid in
Arkansas, he grew up appreciating and
enjoying music, and learned to play several
instruments.
"My first instrument was the trumpet
but I discovered you can't get dates with
that," said Coleman, "so I picked up the bass
guitar, then the harmonica, then the guitar. I
finally was able to get dates even though I
was a computer nerd in the mid 70's."
But his aptitude for computer science
led him away from music and into a lucrative
career in the high tech field. After he
graduated from The University of Arkansas with a degree in Data
Processing and Quantitative Analysis,
Coleman was CEO, President or Vice-
President of several high tech companies,
including Liberate, CyberSafe,
Powersoft and Compaq Computer
Corporation. While these high profile jobs
were rewarding on a professional level,
they left him personally unsatisfied. He
toiled for years at the corporate jobs not
because he wanted to, but because he felt
it was what he had to do. But deep inside
Coleman knew he wanted more - he
longed for a career in music.
In 1989, fate lent a hand. Coleman was
working in Houston as Manager of
Customer Support of Compaq
Computer Corporation. One memorable
day, a phone call came in from Florida.
"It was from a Compaq dealer in
Florida who said Jimmy Buffett's computer
had crashed with a lot of important
information on it. Now I had some fun
people working for me at Compaq
Customer Support and they loved practical
jokes. So, thinking it was a joke, I told
the guy I'd make sure it got fixed but only
if I could speak to Jimmy. The next day,
Jimmy called. I'd been a fan of his for
years. He'd been working on his second
book, 'Where Is Joe Merchant?' and had
the whole manuscript in his computer and his hard drive crashed. He was a little anxious,
as you can imagine. I got his computer
and fortunately, we were able to
recover the manuscript."
Coleman and Jimmy hit it off, and
although he spent most of his time climbing
the Silicon Valley corporate ladder,
Coleman began moonlighting as a technological
advisor for Mr. Buffett.
"In ’97 or ’98, Jimmy called and told
me he wanted to buy a Key West radio station.
He was a fan of the old outlaw radio
stations in the '50’s and '60’s and had the
idea that he’d buy a station and broadcast
whatever he wanted, from music to Cuban
baseball games. Jimmy asked if I could
help him," Coleman explained. "I suggested
he start an Internet radio station
instead because it would reach a worldwide
audience. Jimmy listened to the idea
and decided to go the Internet radio route.
So, I just had to figure out how to make it
all work. We did, and we’ve been on the
air now for nine years."
Coleman is still the General Manager
of Radio Margaritaville, which broadcasts
a mesmerizing blend of spicy
Caribbean rhythms, lively beach music,
rock, a little folk and lots of Buffett’s own
tunes. It is so successful that in 2005,
Radio Margaritaville became the first
Internet radio station to cross over to
satellite radio and can now be heard on
Sirius channel 31, and on Dish Network television channel 6031. The
radio station and BubbleUp won the
2006 Web Marketing Associations’ Best Radio Website Award.
"We (BubbleUp and Jimmy Buffett)
were fortunate to win Best In Class, which
is the top spot, in the Internet Radio category
for Radio Margaritaville,"
Coleman said. "We also were awarded
Outstanding Web Site in the Music category
for MuzikMafia.com. We were one
of only two companies recognized in that
category out of thousands of entries".
BubbleUp’s awards carry serious
clout in the Internet marketing industry.
"The WebAwards, sponsored by the
Web Marketing Association, recognizes
the best Internet sites across 96 industry
categories. Radio MargaritavilleTM captured
the 'Best in Class,’ spot in the
Internet Radio category. MuzikMafia.com
was recognized as an 'Outstanding Web
Site’ in the Music category," said Amanda
Van Nuys, Executive Director of
Marketing at Organic, Inc., a leading digital
marketing company, whose CEO,
Mark Kingdon, served as the Chair of the
Web Awards. "The judges review thousands
of sites, so these awards are a hardwon
and a well-deserved honor."
As Coleman’s dissatisfaction with the
corporate world grew, Buffett’s Internet
success gave him an idea – what if he
could help other artists embrace the same
emerging Internet technology that Jimmy
did to more effectively reach their fan
bases? With that simple notion,
BubbleUp was born.
"There are a handful of clever entrepreneurs
out there reinventing the music
business. Coleman is one of these individuals
who sees what the future can be for
musicians and is working to create that
future through BubbleUp, " said Dave Kusek, author of The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music
Revolution and vice president of the
Berkeley School of Music Online.
Having been one, Coleman knows first
hand about a musician’s plight.
"Musicians don’t make a lot of money
from album sales," Coleman said. "They
make money from concert ticket sales and
merchandise, like T-shirts. BubbleUp
was founded on the concept of helping
artists get more money from their music,
to literally help more money bubble up to
the artist."
Coleman draws on his past experience
to create websites that attract fans and gets
them involved. Giving fans easy access to
the musician’s songs, merchandise and
information is BubbleUp’s plan for generating
more revenue and exposure for its
clientele.
In only two years the BubbleUp staff
has grown to be as diverse as Coleman’s
own career path, including hard-core
computer code geeks, experienced corporate marketers, graphic designers and
more than a few musicians.
"I think that’s part of what makes us
well-suited to work with our clients," says
BubbleUp Vice President Lee Totten,
whose resume includes nine years as a
full-time singer/songwriter and a Grammy
voting membership. "We understand the
needs of musicians because we’ve been in
the industry, and yet we also have the best
technical and marketing people to implement
the solutions we come up with. It’s
the best of both worlds."
And yet BubbleUp isn’t only concerned
about entertainment industry
clients – its list of projects includes more
than its share of customers from
Coleman’s previous corporate life.
"I learned a long time ago that companies
have fans too," Coleman explains.
"They just call them 'customers’ instead
of fans."
It would seem the years of hard work
and innovation are finally paying off for
Coleman. He has transitioned. He married
his high school sweetheart, Tammy, and
left the career field where people told him
he should be and ventured out into the
field of his dreams. He remains the technology
guru for Mr. Buffett. Last year,
BubbleUp launched 28 new websites for
customers. Its client list includes Barbra Streisand, John Mellencamp, Gretchen Wilson, Ralph MacDonald and Big and Rich. BubbleUp even expanded its base
to serve businesses outside the music
industry, such as Celebritycellars.com,
Sam Houston Race Park, Sterling First Aid and the Retirement Pros. His business
is growing, he gets to spend time in the
music world, and he no longer needs a
date.
Things have certainly "bubbled up"
for Coleman Sisson.
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