CMT Blog: Archive

Remember when the only way to find out what a country artist was up to was on country radio? Or when the fan club packets came the old-fashioned way -- in the mail? Well, Genevieve Jewell has changed all that. Now it's all very, very viral.

Jewell's job is director of new media at Borman Entertainment, the artist management company that represents Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and others. And she's only been there for three years, but look how far those artists have come. I mean, three years ago, did any artist have a Facebook page? Did they Twitter? Did they document almost their every move on camera to let fans in on behind-the-scenes happenings? Kind of makes you understand why Jewell was one of Billboard's Top 30 Executives Under 30 a couple years ago.

So when Urban's videographer wants to write a road blog from the Stagecoach festival, Jewell is there. Or when Urban wants to give fans a look at the latest video shoot, she handles that, too. Same with Lady A's "Webisode Wednesdays" and any other digital means of getting the band's music and personality out there. And when it comes to social networking, Jewell says, "People say social networking has caused the demise of industry, but we take seriously what the fans love and react to. When they are out there with constant comments, we try to reward that."

It's nice work, if you can get it. So, how did she get it? "Gary [Borman] is such a visionary, and I knew I wanted to work for him," she said. "So I just sent him my resume. I was just this random person writing him, but I'd always been an industry geek. You get into this because of your love of the music and artist. If you want something bad enough, there's always a way to get it done."