Exclusive interview with Patrice Wilson

Patrice Wilson, the producer of the viral YouTube videos "Friday" and "It's Thanksgiving" emailed The News-Letter about his role at Pato Music World and where he thinks his success stems from.

The News-Letter(N-L): Mr. Wilson, you write the songs and appear in many of the videos ultimately produced by your clients. What is your motivation in being such an integral part of the creative process?

Patrice Wilson (PW): Most of my artists want me to be a part of their video, also as much as the puplic complain about me being in the artists' music video, I think they also want to see me in it, its like a love/hate thing. The music video gets more interesting having me in it. However I will not make an appearance in a video, unless the artist requests I be in it.

N-L:  How do you see yourself in the creative process at PMW? Are you the creative director or a talent manager? How do you balance the demands of creating new material with managing and mentoring young talent?

PW: I am part of the creative process throught the artists project. I start with the songs and I come up with the idea for most of the videos. PMW serves as an overall platform throught the artist project. its like a one stop shop, until we launch their music video into the world.

N-L: You've succeeded twice in 18 months in creating wildly viral videos. How do you attribute this success? Is it your innovative publicity process or an alignment of the right talent matched with the right creative  material for that talent?

PW: Well, I will say it's both my innovative publicity process and the right talent matched with the right creative material for a specific talent. My formula works, but also we need the right artist and the right material to go viral.

N-L: Critics might compare you to the many talent shows now widely syndicated on international television such as American Idol and the X-Factor in that you make the promise of fame and a national audience to all but can only deliver that promise to a few, and bring very public humiliation to many. How do you answer this charge? Do you see your business model as something in the same vein as American Idol and the like or is it different?

PW: Well, the first thing we do during an audition is tell the artists and parents that we do not promise fame and fortune. We will give the artist the same platform we have given other successful artists and if it is meant to be, it will happen. However the artist should just enjoy the process and the project and have fun. This is a great experience and when you dont think about the money and fame, then it's most likely to happen. We are totally different from American Idol and Xfactor. We are geared towards the independent world and beleive that you dont need to be signed to a major record label to be sucessful, you can make that happen yourself.

N-L: Is your business model one which is path breaking for the 21st century in that it is apparently able to consistently harness the vast power of the internet to quickly to sell a product (in this case young, aspiring artists)?

PW: Many people have tried to dominate the internet, many people have tried to find ways to acheive the same success that I have acheived in the past. My business model is proven now, because you cannot strike lightning twice, the second time around means that the formula works well, however my main secret is that I'm a believer in Christ and I put God first in my business, that is why my formula and model works.

N-L: What are your biggest management challenges? How have you overcome them?

PW: In this business we work with a lot of parents, stage mums and dads. Every parent feels that their child is the best singer, however not every artist is going to go viral. It's just dealing with the families that expect so much and being honest with them about the reality of it all. Also, another big challenge is how the world will accept a new artist I have, they will always compare them to Rebecca black and thats when the bad comments start coming in. It doesnt bother me, but I am concerned for the artist.