Music industry whiz kid Dean Ernst felt out of his league during negotiations with one of the major pop record labels out of New York.

“Calgary?” demanded a label executive. “Isn’t that in New Jersey somewhere?”

You can’t fault the puzzled exec. Ernst, the 34-year-old president and sole owner of Calgary-based Promo Only (Canada), was pitching a revolutionary idea: Using Canadian technicians to digitally remix hit records for club and alternative radio play.

Canada? Man, that’s a long way from Tin Pan Alley.

Larry MacDougal photo, Business Edge
Dean Ernst is red-hot as Promo Only’s techno-wizards turn out the hits.

But Ernst, who brought with him an enthusiastic referral from legendary pop/soul label Atlantic Records, persisted. Ultimately, he landed the sale.

Since then, the hustling Ernst has redirected a remarkable volume of business north to Calgary from industry meccas such as Manhattan, Nashville and L.A.

Working with some of the world’s biggest labels (Epic, Jive, BMG), his hand-picked team of techno-wizards has remixed chart-busting hits by Celine Dion, Justin Timberlake, Michelle Branch and super-diva Britney Spears.

“We have an extremely good relationship with Jive Records, Britney’s label,” Ernst explained. No wonder. Promo Only techs remixed two radio hits (Cry Me A River and Senorita) for Jive dreamboat Timberlake and both versions went to No. 1.

“We put a little Latin guitar spin on Senorita to give it more of an up-tempo feel,” continued the former dance-floor deejay, who first entered business for himself at 16.

Maverick Records, meanwhile, asked Ernst and his team to add some kick to Breathe, the mega-smash sung by Michelle Branch.

“The label came to us and said that several U.S. stations (using a dance format known as rhythm radio) weren’t playing the record,” he said. “We toned down the rock edge, intensified the tempo and they had a No. 1.”

Ernst employs a network of remix teams across the country and handed the assignment of juicing up the third single, a ballad, from Britney’s latest album to his specialists in Edmonton (Hi-Bias) and Toronto (Dr. Octavo).

“We provided Jive with two versions of Everytime. They loved it. The Hi-Bias version is the one they’re taking to radio and Dr. Octavo’s version has gone to the clubs.”

If you tuned out Top 40 radio back in the disco era, an update may be in order.

Remember musicians? Well, they’re kind of extraneous now. In the digital age, skilled sound engineers can replace unsatisfactory instrumental backing tracks with a few educated pecks at a computer keyboard.

In the case of Spears, the label forwarded only a raw vocal track of her ballad to Ernst’s magic-makers. Jive execs asked Promo Only to enhance the record’s appeal for the dance crowd.

“Same song, brand-new feel. Everything we do comes from scratch,” said Jeff Beck, Ernst’s executive programmer.

They can beef up a ballad or smooth the rough edges of a guitar-heavy rock tune, making it more palatable to a pop or nightclub audience.

For Ernst, whose small company (nine employees) generates annual sales of about $1 million a year, the work is a natural extension of his love of music.

At 16, the precocious youngster started his first company (Westrax Music Promotions, which grew to become Alberta’s largest deejay service) while in school.

“I convinced my parents to co-sign for a loan of $5,000” smiled Ernst.

As Westrax prospered, Ernst branched into the business of supplying music-to-order to industry professionals. He built a relationship with U.S.-based Promo Only, launching an independent but affiliated corporation north of the border in 1997.

“We began licensing, compiling and distributing hit singles on CD, and servicing the disc jockey market,” he said. “We take the best songs from various artists, put them on one CD and come out with a new one every month. So professional deejays get the best and latest pop, country, rock or Latin music in one package, not available to the general public.”

With 4,000 customers on Ernst’s subscription list, this “music supply” end of the business remains his bread and butter. But as record companies respond to his sales pitch, professional remixes are taking up more of the company’s time.

Why Calgary, though? We’ve heard of off-Broadway, but this is ridiculous.

“We’ve been persistent in our marketing. Generally, the labels say, ‘OK, you’re calling me every other week: What will it take for you to either stop calling us or prove you’ve got something I should listen to?’ ” said the boy wonder with a grin.

With his foot in the door, Ernst walks in and delivers – on budget and on time.

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)