M:M Music, are the initials of owner Meg MacDonald, she launched the company in 2007. M:M houses the radio team of Meg MacDonald and Rene Magallon at Commercial Radio, Crystal Ann Lea at Non-Commercial & Americana Radio and office manager Nick Silvidi. In 2008, MacDonald was voted at the Triple A Summit as R&R's "Triple A Independent Promotion Executive of the Year" by Radio and Records.
The company has continued its run of super serving their clients and in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020 - M:M Music was voted by Gavin, R&R and FMQB as "Independent Promotion Company of the Year" by both Radio Stations and Record Labels at the Annual Triple A Summit in Boulder.
M:M works with both Major & Independent labels, management companies and radio stations, covering Triple A Commercial, Non-Commercial, Americana and College formats. M:M Music specializes in radio promotion working closely with record labels and radio stations to garner airplay for singles, promotional marketing, booking station shows and scheduling radio station on airs. M:M Music produces the weekly M:M Music Streaming Blast chart complete with editorials, the latest information on artists and the most up to date chart #'s.
Meg MacDonald
After graduating from the University of Iowa and moving to Los Angeles in 1992 Meg found herself working at the Welk Group (owner of several businesses including the then primarily catalog/folk label Vanguard Records). After several months of answering phones, she was offered the job of in house publicist. Welk had decided to make the Vanguard label a large focal point and needed to start building up awareness. She went on to spend 2 years at the label as head of the publicity department and garnered unprecedented coverage for the label's artists with features and reviews in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, the NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. In 1997 Meg was promoted to Radio Promotion Director.
"I've never worked so hard just trying to get stations to call me back. I could get the editors from Rolling Stone and People Magazine on the phone no problem, but not even the little station with a coat hanger for a transmitter would take my call." So MacDonald did the only thing that she knew would work. She took the mountain to Mohammed and piled in a van with 5 guys from the LA based band Venice spending the summer on the road dragging the boys from station to station from one coast to the other making music calls from gas station pay phones. "We were entering a new territory at the label so I was lucky that I was given as much leeway as I was. I don't think many labels today would give a promotion person that kind of freedom."
The time on the road and persistence paid off when, in 1998, for the first time ever, Vanguard Records was nominated by Radio as "Triple A Label of the Year". That same year MacDonald was nominated and won the award for "Triple A Label Promotion Person of the Year". "Winning that award by the vote of my peers still to this day is one of the highlights of my career". Along with Venice, MacDonald worked with critically acclaimed Vanguard artists Peter Case, David Wilcox, Paul Kelly, Alison Brown, Driving Blind and more.
Meg eventually moved into the independent promotion world and in 2007 launched her own company bearing her initials: M:M Music. Along with non-com radio promotion guru Crystal Ann Lea, Meg hired Rene Magallon to work commercial radio. Recently Meg promoted former M:M Music Office Manager Ben Lippman to head up the College Radio department, and together the staff has made it one one of the top independent promotion companies in the country.
In 1999 while at Vanguard Records, Meg was voted Record Label Promotion Person of the Year announced at the Gavin convention. Then her first year running M:M Music, in 2008 she was voted “Triple A Independent Promotion Executive of the Year” by R&R and since then M:M Music has been voted by both Triple A Record Labels and Radio Stations as “Triple A Independent Promotion Company Of The Year 10 years in a row from 2011-2020.
Rene Magallon
Rene’s career in the music business began at Jac Holzman’s (founder of Elektra Records) label Discovery Records in 1994. She started as an intern working her way up to National Director of Triple A and Top 40 promotion. Among the artists she worked with and promoted were Neil and Tim Finn, William Orbit, Morcheeba, Tragically Hip and Guster.
In 1997, Rene left Discovery records to continue her career in radio as an Independent Promoter with Levitation Entertainment where she was the only secondary ever to be nominated for “Triple A Gavin Award for Independent Promoter of the Year.” At Levitation, she worked many different artists’ projects such as Jewel, Coldplay, Tori Amos, Neil Young, Bonnie Raitt, Sarah McLachlan, Van Morrison, Five For Fighting and more. “It is rewarding to have worked with so many quality artists over the years. The special thing about Triple A radio is that while many changes have taken place in the music industry, the format has never lost its integrity and love for the music.”
Rene joined Outsource Music in 2003, continuing her work promoting great artists such as Barenaked Ladies, Madeleine Peyroux, Jamie Cullum, Ray LaMontagne, Citizen Cope, Gavin DeGraw, and Susan Tedeschi to name a few. “It is such a good feeling to be a part of the development of artists and to feel that you have made a difference. Whether it’s helping to launch a new artists’ career or building excitement and momentum for an established artist, it is gratifying to be part of the team.”
Rene joined M:M Music in January 2007.
Crystal Ann Lea
Crystal Ann got an early start in the music industry, while only in high school she promoted DIY shows all over her home town of Omaha, NE.
While studying Music Business at UCLA, Crystal Ann began promoting new music for Peer Pressure Promotion to the Triple A format as it was developing. While interning, she got #1 Most Added with her first campaign and was offered a permanent paying position with the company.
Recruited by BMG to fill the promotion manager seat for High Street Records, Private Music and the Windham Hill Group of labels in the mid 90’s, she drove music by established and emerging artists to the top of the Triple A, Americana, World and College charts. Following her 5 years with BMG, she served as Americana director for KCSN (Los Angeles) in addition to hosting and producing the station’s Saturday morning kids’ show.
After joining M:M Music, Crystal Ann began weekends hosting and producing a late night radio show at the Los Angeles Pacifica station KPFK, for several years, DJing in local clubs and hitting live shows with a passion.
Within the 12+ years of kicking arse and chasing new releases up the Non-Com, Americana, College and World charts with a smile, she’s not lost an ounce of enthusiasm while refining and redefining how to get music played on the radio.
Nick Silvidi
Silvidi segues from Triple 8 Management, where his skills as an intern landed him a promotion and full-time position working directly with artists including Phillip Phillips, Boys Like Girls, Josh Abbott Band, Morgan Evans, and Wheeler Walker Jr., to name a few.
M:M Music owner Meg MacDonald said, “Rene Magallon, Crystal Ann Lea and I couldn’t be happier to have someone with Nick’s experience, passion and know-how joining our promotion family. Nick already has more than a handle on artist relations as well as a knowledge of the music industry with a passion for our format and so many of these traits can’t be taught. He came with such stellar recommendations that it made him hands down the best candidate for the job.”
Silvidi said, “I’ve known about M:M Music for a long time. You can’t have a marketing meeting where their name doesn’t come up as essential to the success of a radio campaign. Their reputation as not only being a promotion powerhouse, but also incredibly passionate about what they do is well known throughout the industry. I’m beyond excited to work with this strong, talented team who are so integral in the Triple A format.
