Apples And Cats Media is a boutique radio promotion company.A&C's mission begins with providing a dedicated promotional home to a select roster of bands and individual artists, we can get behind 100%. Our specialty is college radio promotion, and guiding indie bands and labels through the sometimes murky waters of the music industry. [If we can't help you, we know someone who can.]It is our absolute pleasure to help smaller bands, labels, and artists rocket onto the radar of the college radio community. Although we aren't opposed to working with people who already have an established name ... many of our clients who fall into this special realm are people that we've grown with over the years, or have some prior history with us. [Or we are just crazy uber-fans of them.]
We are in the game for the thrill of making something happen that is truly amazing vs. just simply expected.
THE HISTORY BEHIND A&C:Nina Wilson, college radio geek extraordinaire, founded Apples and Cats Media on a lifelong dream to have a small home of her own for great new bands to grow and thrive.
In late 2006, after over three years with Space 380 Music Promotion, with her former boss and friend Mat Matlack's blessing, she launched Apples and Cats. Nina has over eight years of experience in the music industry ... not including the day she fell in love with The The in the 6th grade ... while listening to the local post-alternative college radio station, KTXT-FM, on her parents' stereo.
Little did she know, someday she would grow up to fill the varied staff positions of General Manager, Music Director, Specialty Music Director, Special Events Coordinator, Promotions Assistant, and janitor at that very radio station throughout her crazy school days at Texas Tech University. During that time she also volunteered answering phones for the fund-drives at KOHM-FM, Tech's NPR station, planned local shows and street teamed for record labels. [She is also one of very few college radio station personnel to ever be featured on the cover of the weekly CMJ New Music Report magazine.] During her senior year of college she managed a temperamental electro-metal band from Wisconsin, and interned for CMJ.
In between her radio station exploits and being a college kid, Nina also managed to be a music writer for the nationally distributed music magazines, Outburn, Industrial Nation and MK Ultra - as well as a contributing writer for The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech's student newspaper. Nina also wrote an essay, compiled recordings of station programming, and statistics that lead to KTXT-FM being nationally recognized and placing for a diversity award at the 2002 CBI [Collegiate Broadcasters Inc.] Convention.
Once Nina left Texas Tech, she didn't really know where the road would take her. [Since her life was pretty much embedded with the college radio station.] She managed through her experience at KTXT to luck into a great opportunity to take a college radio promotion position at Space 380 based in Columbia, MO. This job allowed her to learn the ins and outs of promotion, as well as work with some of her favorite bands ever. After two years as a radio promoter, she worked her way up to Director of Promotion at the company.
Nina also fell in love with the thriving music community in Columbia and began volunteering as a rock department librarian and DJ, at KOPN-FM. [Where she also currently serves on the staff-elected Programming Committee for the radio station.] During this time she also became heavily involved with Emergency Umbrella Records, and took on a label management role within that organization.
Over the years Nina has spoken on many panels at CMJ and SXSW, as well as heading a "talk shop," seminar at CMJ on radio station management. Sadly, Nina has absolutely no musical talent of her own to speak of ... though she does admit to having many fond social memories of playing cello in her high school Orchestra and at Summer Camp.
Suffice to say, she and everyone that works at Apples and Cats Media must understand the plight of the little guy, as Nina's true passion is making things happen for this lovely group of musicians she calls friends ... and she believes that you can never have too much music in your life.