When Music Row Pros Attack: Gherming Isn’t Just For Fans

Part of the fun of working in the music industry is getting to work with artists and other celebrities, but should the rules of conduct for industry professionals be different than for fans when it comes to dealing with artists? Music Row publicists are divided on this issue.

After bringing her star client to a recent, high-profile industry event, one publicist was very surprised when—instead of having an opportunity to schmooze with fellow industry professionals—her artist was completely ghermed all night by those very same industry professionals like she was at Fan Fair, not a prestigious, invite-only event.

Once past the red carpet, this uncomplaining artist gamely posed more than 30 times in two hours for personal photos with people inside the party, and there were many more requests for autographs. “It was like she was standing on the corner of 4th and lower Broadway,” this publicist reports.

One label publicist described the scene at her last CMA Awards after party. “Each of our artists were so wedged into corners by party guest—all industry—that they couldn’t move. We actually had to bring food and drinks over to them because they didn’t want to look rude and leave the area.”

This same publicist says, “CMA Music Festival seems to bring out the worst in industry people, for some reason. It’s there that my artists are asked, by attending [industryites] of all kinds, to ‘Sign just one more thing, my daughter’s got an auction at her school . . . ” or “My nephew has a Flat Stanley doll I’m getting stars to pose with,’ the kinds of requests that make your artist ask you incredulously, ‘Now, WHO was that again?’”

Another publicist reports that after her star client finished a recent industry show in Nashville, they found a guest (“who should have known better,” she says), waiting in the parking lot by the artist’s car with a batch of things to be autographed.

This same publicist says gherming an artist at an industry-only event is “simply never appropriate or professional.”

“The main reason it’s sad is because it never allows the artist to just be a member of the music community at these industry events, even among their peers,” says another. “They have to be ‘on,’ and camera-ready.”

Not surprisingly, this gherming behavior is a widespread frustration among professional publicists and other artist handlers who often become bodyguards and human shields at such events when they need to move their artists along. (To encourage candor on this topic, the publicists interviewed for this story were promised anonymity.)

While acknowledging that industry pros can and should be fans of artists too, many feel stars should be able to attend functions like the ASCAP or BMI Awards, parties thrown by the Recording Academy or other professional groups, or CMA and ACM after parties hosted by labels, and not be mobbed and molested by fellow attendees and their plus ones.

Such mobbing behavior “inevitably makes the publicist’s job much harder, even to just keep things on schedule,” says one. “The artist can never be the ‘bad guy,’ so you end up spending all of your time trying to break them away to do what they are there to do.”

Knowing they can expect to be mobbed, even at an invite-only industry event, “lowers [artists’] enjoyment of the event because a ‘party’ becomes just another work event, but this time in a tux or impossibly high heels,” says one publicist.

Others, however, say this is the price of fame and artists should be grateful anyone wants their autograph at all.

“These artists choose this career, knowing that fame and fortune comes with a price,” says one. “If taking photos is the biggest price they pay, they got off easy.”

“The people around the artist should remind the artist that not so many weeks/months/years ago no one cared about a photo or an autograph,” says another industry pro. “And, not so many weeks/months/years from now no one will care about a photo or an autograph. Suck it up; enjoy the fact that someone cares today. VIP rooms, bodyguards, human shields and rude publicists only reflect poorly on the artist.”

One publicist says the appropriateness of such behavior is all a matter of timing. “Most of us in the industry are fans of the music or we would not be in the business,” he says. “I sometimes like to get a photo with someone, but you have to know when the time is right.”

One industry pro admits to having mixed feelings about the whole thing. As a publicist, she says, “I feel the need to protect my clients and I understand an artists’ need for ‘down time’ among fellow industry folks and peers, but I almost think it would be a shame for folks who did this for a living to not be true fans and put these talented artists up on a pedestal.

“For all of us who work really hard at what we do and really care about the artists and their music, it might not be such a bad thing to give industry folks—who dedicate their lives and professional careers to helping artists attain their dreams—the opportunity for a little schmooze of their own,” she continues. “These VIP parties are for everyone to celebrate how hard we ALL work to make ‘stars’ in our industry. I think stars should be respected as people, and there is a time and a place for gherming, but I’m hoping none of us lose that person inside of ourselves who gets excited to see such a talented and special individual among us.”

Still, it’s a frustration for many. “When an artist arrives and is then relegated to a 8 x 12 ‘VIP room’ [to avoid being] mobbed by ‘friends of friends’ and ‘plus ones,’ it takes the fun out of it for everyone,” says one publicist.

While intended as a place for artists to be able to relax, the VIP rooms themselves are a whole other issue, with some people finding them elitist and many others demanding access.

One publicist says such rooms are important. “Sometimes artists need to get away not to be rude or unsocial, but to fix their hair or adjust their bra,” he says. “Camera phones have killed our privacy. An artist does something and we can see it on tmz.com or YouTube within hours.”

One label publicist says her company tried out the VIP room idea at a recent event with interesting results. “You wouldn’t BELIEVE the important industry people—names people would know—who made a stink to the poor kids manning the VIP entrance, pulling variations of the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ phrase that you would think they’d be too embarrassed to use, being so nasty to the kids that were just doing their job. That’s the problem with a VIP room at an industry event in an industry town: EVERYONE thinks that they’re a VIP and deserve to be in there.”

So what, if anything, can be done about Music Row gherms? One publicist suggests printing on the party invitations: “Out of respect for our artists, no personal photographs please.” Another laughingly suggests “some sort of public humiliation system” for the offenders. “Maybe your name gets posted to musicrowgherms.com for all to see. Should I put that URL on hold,” she asks.

“The guest lists to all of these things should be tightened up,” says one publicist. “Award show after-parties are intended to be celebrations by the label, their artists and the companies they do immediate business with.”

One label rep says they sometimes hire their own photographer to “whip off quick snaps of the industry person and the artists so that there isn’t fumbling with personal cameras, flashes that won’t go off, etc. Within a few days, we’re able to supply the photo to the industry person. It costs us money, but it makes the event a lot smoother, and is more comfortable for the artist. Of course, if the event is over at midnight, you can bet that you’ll be getting e-mails by 9 a.m. that next day from people looking for their photo.”