Monday, Dec. 4, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.
What: Billboard Music Awards
When: 8 tonight
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Tickets: $50 to $195; 891-7777
On TV: Live, KVVU Channel 5
She is the youngest executive editor of one of the oldest magazines in the United States.
Tamara Conniff is 33 years old. Billboard, the 112-year-old music industry bible, has been rejuvenated by Conniff's youth serum, a concoction made up of equal parts enthusiasm, talent and modern technology.
Since Conniff took over two years ago, after working as a writer for the company's sister publication The Hollywood Reporter, the magazine has seen a dramatic reversal - newsstand sales are up more than 10 percent and its ad pages have quadrupled.
Conniff, daughter of the late conductor/composer/arranger/musician Ray Conniff, has been busy the past few weeks working her magic to help create this year's Billboard Music Awards, which will be televised live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena at 8 tonight. The show has been held in Las Vegas for the past 11 years.
The Killers, Janet Jackson, Fergie, Mary J. Blige and Gwen Stefani are scheduled to perform. There will be special appearances by Rihanna, Chris Brown, Katharine McPhee and Chris Daughtry. Scheduled presenters include Big & Rich, Carmen Electra, Kristen Bell, Flavor Flav and Kathy Griffin.
Tony Bennett, 80, will receive the Century Award, Billboard magazine's highest honor.
Conniff recently took time to talk about her magazine and the Billboard Music Awards.
Q How involved are you in the ceremony?
I'm actually pretty involved, helping book all the talent. I've been involved in the creative end - the production and the set and stuff. I've been extremely involved, actually.
Anything new in this year's production?
We keep focusing on what we do well. What differentiates us is our production and our sets and the creativity that goes behind each performance. Our performers this year are going to transform the whole room.
The ceremony has been held in Vegas for 11 years. Any thoughts of moving it?
No. We love Las Vegas. Las Vegas definitely has become the entertainment capital of the world. It really kind of lends itself to the party atmosphere and the fun vibes that the show has.
What goes into selecting the talent for the show?
A couple of different things. We look for talent, obviously, that are finalists. But we also book talent that we think is going to be big down the road. We try to be psychics in a way, to see what we believe is going to be extremely important to the industry, and then also to reflect the great artists of the past year.
Las Vegas' hometown group, the Killers, are among the performers.
Yes, they are. Actually, we are the only awards show they will be doing this year. They chose to do our show.
You became executive editor of Billboard two years ago. What was your objective when you took over?
Billboard is over 110 years old. Over time, it's easy to get into a routine. My primary objective was to update the magazine. The first thing we did was redesign it. We took it out of the trade tabloid look and made it look like a true music magazine.
Your circulation is up by about 10 percent or more, so the redesign must have helped.
Yes. The redesign has been very successful. It's always very scary to take a brand as important as Billboard and redesign it. We also refocused our editorials to be more forward-thinking, more interesting to the industry.
You started your career as a writer. Do you still do a lot of writing?
Actually I still do some writing, much to the chagrin of my staff. I always make my deadlines, but I'm always a little late. I'm sometimes up writing until 3 in the morning, after I do business all day. I did probably five cover stories this year. I also still write opinion pieces.
Given your background - daughter of Ray Conniff - how did you not end up a musician?
I was trained as a pianist. I studied classical piano from the time I was 4, and I actually performed with my father. I toured with him and would sit in occasionally. By default, I am a musician, because I play and I can sight read and I understand music, but I always wanted to be a writer. Everyone has a creative passion that he or she favors, and I always thought writing was my calling.
I would definitely say iTunes is one of the most important tools for people to buy and discover music. I think another extremely revolutionary tool is MySpace, which is sort of like the new radio. Back in the day, you listened to the radio because you listened to your favorite DJ because he would play songs that you would like and you trusted his or her judgment of what the playlists were. But radio isn't like that anymore, so you go to MySpace or iTunes and say, "Oh, well, my friend is listening to these songs, maybe I'll like them." I think these two tools have revolutionized the way people consume music.
What are some of the technological changes at Billboard magazine?
In the past two years we've launched a mobile application - Billboard Mobile, which essentially is a consumer application you can get on your mobile phone. Our carrier right now is Cingular. You can order and download ring tones off of our charts. We also do newsletters, and blogs and we have ring tone charts.
We have brought Billboard into this century in terms of how people consume our information.
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