Hillary Brown co-owns the music marketing firm On Pitch in Des Moines while maintaining a full-time job at Lava Row, a social media consulting, strategy and education company, as a social media strategist. She said On Pitch is “more of a passion project” for her and co-owner Jill Haverkamp.

Brown hosted a panel Thursday at South By Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. 

What was your major at Iowa State?

My major was advertising with an emphasis in pop culture.

What were you doing before On Pitch?

Before Jill Haverkamp and I launched On Pitch, I was just working at Lava Row full time and doing a lot of volunteer work with the Greater Des Moines Music Coalition. Jill and I were doing so much music marketing work on the side that it only made sense to legitimize our efforts and turn our passions into a real company.

I moved back to Des Moines in 2008 from Los Angeles, where I lived for six years.

How did you learn about music marketing?

I learned about music marketing in Los Angeles. While I was there, I gained music marketing experience through a variety of music and entertainment marketing companies, including a youth marketing agency called A.D.D. Marketing + Advertising that focused on entertainment clients — film, music and video games — and Passenger, a social media software company, where I also worked with several entertainment-focused clients.

What exactly do you and your partner do for your clients? What kind of clients do you have? 

We provide a full range of marketing services for our clients, including media relations, social media, online marketing, grassroots marketing and integrated marketing.

Our client base ranges from DIY artists to bands to music venues and music festivals. We also work with a few local businesses, which we categorize as lifestyle companies.

Why did you decide to start this business in the Midwest?

Jill and I started our business in the Midwest, specifically Des Moines, because we saw a huge opportunity and a need for it. We both left Des Moines and moved to bigger cities — Los Angeles for me and Chicago for Jill — and decided to move back, bringing our experience with us to grow our careers here in the Heartland. Jill always wanted to start a music marketing company, so she was really following her dream. Music has always been a passion of mine and marketing my profession, so us teaming up seemed like a perfect fit.

How did you get involved with South By Southwest?

I first got involved with SXSW in 2009. This was my first year attending the conference, but I did not attend SXSW Music that year; only Interactive through my full-time job at Lava Row. In 2010, I returned for my second year of Interactive and first year of SXSW Music with Jill; her first year too. We actually launched our company and website at SXSW Music last year.

How did you get selected to be a moderator?

Jill and I submitted our idea through SXSW’s PanelPicker last June. The PanelPicker is an online system that allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming Interactive, Film and Music conference activities: panels, presentations, discussions, demonstrations, etc.

Jill and I first submitted a proposal for our idea, and then the SXSW community got to rate which of these proposals they think would be a good fit. Public voting accounted for 30 percent of the decision-marketing process, along with SXSW staff [30 percent] and an Advisory Board [40 percent]. Our panel was selected, and thus I get to moderate it, which includes selecting the panelists, planning the panel and moderating the live panel on March 17.

How did you get the panelists to participate?

When we created our panel idea, we also created a wish list of music industry professionals we wanted to be speakers on our panel and share their experiences, insights and advice about their career paths and how they launched their careers in the Midwest. As soon as we found out that our panel was accepted into the programming for SXSW Music 2011, we started to reach out to them to see if they would be interested in participating. Fortunately, all of our top picks were available, and we ended up with a rockstar lineup; literally.

What questions do you plan on asking?

We’ll be asking a variety of questions specific to our panelists’ career paths and experience, and in doing so we hope to answer the following questions :

• Do I have to move to the coast, a big city or a music mecca to have a successful music career?
• What do I need to know to determine where I should launch my career in the music industry?
• What are the key ingredients for musicians or music industry professionals to be successful in a small to mid-size city?
• What are the benefits of launching your music career or business in a small to mid-size city?
• What challenges will you face launching your career in a small to mid-size city and how can you overcome them?

What is your advice to people trying to create a music career in the Midwest, or places that aren’t entertainment-flooded?

My advice to people who are trying to launch a music career in the Midwest or places that aren’t entertainment-saturated is to seize the opportunity. Since the Midwest isn’t saturated with music and entertainment companies like the coasts, and musicians and bands typically don’t flock here to get signed or find success, there’s a ton of opportunity to carve your own path and stand out.

I would also encourage anyone who is considering creating a music career in the Midwest to really analyze his or her goals. While the Midwest is full of opportunity, maybe your town or city isn’t right for your goals but another city nearby is.

For example, Des Moines was a great place for Jill and I to launch a music marketing company because of the growing music scene, but we might not have been as successful in a city that lacked a music scene altogether.

The same goes for bands that are trying to grow their fan base. If your hometown is lacking a music scene, get out and tour or relocate to a bigger city that has more resources to offer musicians: recording studios, music venues, etc.

What, in your opinion, are benefits of launching a music career in “flyover land”?

Whether you’re a musician who’s trying to build your fan base or an aspiring music professional launching your music-focused company or career, there are a variety of resources and benefits available to you in “flyover country” that you won’t find in the entertainment-saturated cities.

Some of the benefits of launching a music career in the Midwest include lower cost of living and less saturation with musicians and music professions — it’s easier to catch the bait or seize opportunity when you’re a big fish in a small pond versus a small fish in a big, overpopulated pond. Another benefit is location. While we joke that it’s flyover country, the Midwest is actually conveniently located between the two saturated coasts; perfect for touring musicians and a great home base for music professionals.

What are your future plans for On Pitch?

We hope to continue to grow our music and entertainment client base locally, while hopefully expanding to take on more projects and work with clients regionally.