The Stats:
Name: Venus Kitagawa-Stojsic, Spafax / Southern California (Orange County, Buena Park)
Programs: Various programs for VIRGIN AMERICA, LUFTHANSA, SCANDINAVIAN, DELTA, CATHAY PACIFIC, ALASKA AIRLINES, AEROMEXICO.

Q: How do you find music for your programs?
We’re constantly checking Billboard, UK, Canadian and Asian charts and i use a lot of sites like Metacritic, MusicWeek, Media Control and Soundcloud to see what’s out there. We rely heavily on promo, PR and lifestyle marketing companies (like Shoplifter, Co-Sign, Distiller, Giant Step, Cornerstone/FADER, Renegade, etc. etc.) because they understand our needs. Independent labels, publishers and publicity firms are so good to us, and we do what we can to stay in touch with 700+ that we have licensed. We use all formats from CD audio to 320k mp3s to encode promos, downloads and/or purchases onto the aircraft.

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The Stats:
Name: Nick Bewes, KVHstudios, Leeds UK
Programs: ASDA, House of Fraser and so many more

Q: How do you find music for your programs?
Apart from the music that comes in from labels etc, I keep an eye on BBC Radio playlists, always good sources for new material. Then of course there are labels like Tru Thoughts and Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood among many others. A couple of colleagues in our office are always sending links to things that they like, which is good. I check out loads of blogs on a regular basis and of course Hype Machine is essential to help highlight the best tracks. I subscribe newsletters from the likes of Juno Records, and Resident Advisor and follow loads of DJ’s, producers, blogs and artists on Twitter. I would say that Twitter has revolutionized the way I hear about new music. An unusual way I find new music is from American TV shows like Greys Anatomy, The Following and Stalker. They have some great cover versions on their soundtracks. Just recently Stalker had a cover of “Better Together” by Spin, which was just amazing, and will be heading to our playlists soon!

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