‘225’: B.R. singer applies marketing savvy to the music industry

We all know Timberlake, and of course we know Bieber, but now it’s time to know the next Justin on the pop scene: Baton Rouge’s own Justin Garner. The vibrant, Plaquemine-born professional pop star-in-the-making has been crafting his talent since 2004. Armed with a set of pipes, polished pop tracks in the vein of Usher via David Guetta and a marketing degree from Southern University, Garner has been able to launch himself into career-changing opportunities with MTV and other musical powerhouses. In April 2010, Garner was a featured artist on Myspace.com and from there was tapped by Sony/BMG/Japan to perform shows in Japan and the UK. While that may be a major feat for any independent artist, for Garner, it was only the beginning. This past May, iTunes Japan promoted the single “We Rule the Night” from Garner’s I Am album (released in July), which prompted Amazon.com to name him one of the nine artists in its monthly Artists on the Rise spotlight—he was one of only two unsigned artists selected. And, while all of this may seem like a huge lucky draw, Garner wants artists to know that while talent plays a big part, much of his success is attributed to his marketing knowledge and music business savvy. Read the complete story in the current issue of 225 magazine by Leslie D. Rose here.