R Bowles Group- Rick Bowles, President
As President of R Bowles Group, Rick Bowles is able to share with clients
the benefit of his diverse background and the insight of experience
gained over his 20 plus years in the entertainment industry. “My
purpose is to assist my clients in reaching their desired goals; to
develop a plan for success and see it through.”
Shortly after college graduation, Bowles decided to introduce mainstream
radio to contemporary Christian music programming while working as a
youth minister. “Spirit Songs”, a two-hour weekly program
on a local Top 40 radio station, provided Bowles with just enough of
the radio “bug” to launch a 14-year love affair with mainstream
and contemporary Christian radio. It was during this time that he tried
his hand at concert promotion, working with churches to bring in artists
such as 2nd Chapter of Acts and Rick Cua. In his spare time, he was
able to manage an independent Christian bookstore while continuing his
work in college & youth ministry. He eventually moved from creating
and hosting weekend contemporary Christian and country gospel shows
to serving as Program/Music Director for a contemporary Christian radio
station and then as News/Sports Director at a successful country radio
station in Waco, Texas before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992.
Intrigued with the combination of country music and inspirational lyrics,
Bowles ventured into the world of “Positive Country”, a
trademark he would later own as part of his association with a promotion/compilation
CD business by the same name that was launched with the guidance of
long time entertainment guru’s, Charlie Douglas and Paul Lovelace.
He would lead that company with success until accepting an offer to
head up the marketing department of a mainstream country record label
launched by Word Entertainment. Word Nashville allowed Bowles to enjoy
the challenges of marketing new projects from artists such as Brent
Lamb and Skip Ewing. He was also involved in the marketing campaigns
for projects by Kenny Rogers and Collin Raye through partnerships developed
between Word Nashville and each of their respective labels.
In 1998, Bowles joined the Gospel Music Association (GMA) and its sister
organization, the Christian Music Trade Association (CMTA) as Director
of Marketing. Here he was able to help further the progress of introducing
two very important strategic technologies from the mainstream world
to the Christian music industry: Nielsen SoundScan, which is the premiere
technology used in the entertainment industry to track sales of recorded
music throughout the United States, and Broadcast Data Systems (computer
monitoring of spins/airplay of music at radio), with the leadership
of Nielsen BDS, New York. Bowles also enjoyed spearheading promotions
for the Dove Awards which included working with record labels, retail,
radio and corporate sponsors such as American Airlines and Opryland
Hotel. “My time with GMA was extremely rewarding; not only because
the work was gratifying but also because of the relationships I developed
within the industry. I’m very much a people person and having
the opportunity to work together with so many different people to accomplish
a variety of initiatives was something I enjoyed immensely.”
His experiences with GMA combined with an innate entrepreneurial bent
led him to pursue a consulting career in 2002. One of his first clients,
Toonacious Family Entertainiment, out of Burbank, California hired him
on to help launch a new line of animated children’s product. He
eventually agreed to accept a position as their VP of Sales and Marketing
after helping secure a distribution agreement with Word Entertainment.
“I found the world of animation intriguing. I’ve always
loved experiencing new challenges and learning about other aspects of
the entertainment industry.”
Still, it didn’t take long to realize that he needed to get back
to the original “calling” he felt to start his own consulting
company. So, in 2003, R Bowles Group, Inc. was officially back in business.
“My vision was to start a company where I could utilize everything
I’ve learned from my past experience in the industry to help other
companies and individuals attain a desired objective. I like the idea
of working with a team so I plan to include some of the many talented
people I’ve worked with over the years, from multiple areas of
expertise, to assist in making those objectives a reality.”
This is the mission of R Bowles Group – To meet the needs of every
client by providing RESOURCES, building RELATIONSHIPS and producing
successful RESULTS.