Labels Indies and DIY- Keepers of the Gate

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The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

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Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs.  You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!


I find myself having the same conversation over and over. Friends in and out of the music business are all asking the same questions. When it comes to the enormous glut of music, with all its variations and mutations and genres, how does any one artist rise through the noise? The field is vastly overcrowded and shows no signs that a slowdown of new music proliferation is imminent. A statistic I cited in my last article of 98,000 new albums in 2009 is a stunning and nearly unimaginable quantity, even in a land that loves music such as the U.S. Who are all those artists? How do you find the one album or single that you might love to hear but are unaware of, hidden among the masses? It is the proverbial conundrum of the “needle in a haystack.” It’s in there somewhere, but how will you ever get your hands on it? Fans can’t enjoy music they don’t know about.
There are at least two remedies for the “lost” music dilemma. One is more obvious and clearly understood to nearly everyone as “marketing.” Marketing a song, album or band is one way to expose a great piece of music or an artist to those who are eager to learn about something fresh. Marketing includes all of the concepts we have explored in previous articles such as, building fan bases, touring and advertising, social media and much more. Some of this can be done with little or no cost; and some at the price of a Ferrari. Publicists and marketing teams are expensive but do bring a level of ROI (return on investment), in most cases. Their job is to take an unknown, little known, or forgotten product or person and raise the profile enough to produce consumers. Through a series of ad campaigns that might include TV, radio, print media, internet and many other exposures, they work (for a limited time based on budget) on reaching a specified market with a specific message. The clever strategies they employ are probably the reason you are reading this on whatever brand of devise you purchased. The work of marketers and publicists has a nearly unscalable influence on what we actually think or want to buy. This can be done to some degree, by any DIY-er who has the will and stamina to commit to the goal at hand. It is tough but can be done.
The second remedy for locating “lost” music is much less manageable. It isn’t about ads or hits on an internet site. It has to do with what I will call “filters” and is completely outside of one person’s shear brute will power to succeed. “Filters” is the old method of culling bad music. It separated the wheat from the chaff and helped the most durable music get to the top of the heap. When you heard a hit on the radio, it was there because it had met with certain scrutiny of record execs who cleared the production for that song. It meant that an artist, producer, A&R guy, a team of songwriters, radio promoters, session players and several others had had a hand in making it a hit. They were responsible for giving that record the green light to get where it was. They were the filters who held back the music that was of lesser quality (based on their set of criteria) and allowed only the music they believed in to go forward. This was further supported by radio, record stores, and jukebox vendors. With all these entities focusing on “the single”, consumers ran by the millions to buy the hit record they had been dancing to and hearing on their car radios.
Now we see few if any filters to help us locate and fall in love with “the single.” We are left to our own devices in trying to uncover the great music of our time. The idea of DIY was that anyone and everyone who had some talent could make a record and so we all did. At last we had slipped the surly bonds of the “corporate system” that had held us all at bay. Little did we know that our newfound freedom to be creative would also produce the lowest record sales in the history of commercial recordings. But where a vacuum exists, something always rushes in to fill it. So what will our new filtering system be? Only time will tell.
 ©2010 WalkWayGroup


Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play


Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs.  You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!

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MORE Labels, Indies, and DIY... and My New Book

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.
The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play


Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) Aaron Blanton has sold over 1 million CDs.  You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!






I read a statistic this week from Digital Music News that really muddys the water.  "... Nielsen Soundscan offered some sobering stats.  A total of 98,000 albums were released in 2009, and just a handful crossed the million-mark.  Perhaps more sobering, just 2.1 percent managed to cross the 5,000-mark, a group that made up 91 percent of total sales.  Suddenly, fresh artists are staring at a near-zero chance of selling even modest amounts, part of a continued drizzle on DIY optimism."  Believe it or not, there does seem to be some life remaining in the big labels.  Many of the big radio/MTV acts are indeed signed to labels.  One might argue that as long as there is an excessive volume of cash flow, artists will continue to be willing to sign deals with labels.  The point is well taken.  Some artists will go with a major label for the world-wide exposure it could bring.  Since we aren’t privy to the deals they sign, we cannot speak to the issue of remuneration in exchange for whatever compromise they may (or may not) have made for a chance at the golden ring.  However, the stories abound of contracts known as “360’s”, named for the encircling financial absconding that engulfs the artist to control every single item marketed with the brand of the artists from downloads to tees to dolls to tours.  It basically means that virtually everything the touches the artist is owned by the label.  The cross-collateralization (redirecting of funds away from the songwriter) of the publishing catalogs for songs written by the artist, as well as recoupment clauses, take an enormous bite out of the artist’s take home pay.  This is one of the reasons we are hearing the loud outcry from artists (signed and unsigned) desperately trying to collect moneys from a variety of revenue sources.  They simply need the cash.  Who can blame anyone for wanting to get paid for the work they have done?

But that same argument goes for the hard-working labels as well.  If they really get behind an artist, there could be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars spent on marketing, branding, recordings, duplication, tour support and publicity.  The contracts they write are intended to support the bottom line and reward the stockholders (regulated by the Federal Gov.) without a creating Congressional investigation and showing up on C-SPAN. It is a sword that swings and cuts both ways.  In my estimation, everyone who works should get paid for their labor.  Labels and artists should reap the bounty as co-workers toward the same goal.  The reality is that greed drives too many decisions and the smell of money has an intoxicating affect on those who get engulfed in its aroma cloud. 

Conversely, there are artists who would give up everything of value and meaning to have the applause of the cheering, approving, world audience.  They need to play.  When these two extremes of label and artist meet up, it is more like a drug dealer supplying an addict than like a business arrangement.  By now you know I am always about balance and moderation and it is no less true in the music business.  The labels tend to be an over-the-top entity and the seeds of destruction are within.  The more it functions like the old model, the more destructive it is to its own survival.  These are of course, generalizations.  There are labels with different and healthier business models that may take them through to continued viability, but not without some morphing.
     
As musicians take back ownership of the music they create the less they need the glut of the label and all its excesses.  These players will seek out and find Indies who can and will step up in a partnership with the artist.  Indies don’t generally offer 360 contracts but look more like 180 deals.  180’s allow for the artist to direct and control rights of the publishing, merch and certain marketing pieces in an amicable arrangement with the Indie label.  Some Indie labels are offering ala cart deals that allow for picking and choosing the most needed areas of support.  Some share the cost of the record production rather than shouldering the cost alone.  This gives the artist much more power and shifts some of the successful marketing and sales back to the music maker himself.  In some cases, you must come to the party with some financing in hand in order to take on your share of the expense as you partner with the Indie.  This is a model that has existed in one form or another for many years.  It has moved in and out of vogue and has had a bit of a bad reputation because some of the Indies (formerly called custom record labels) were little more than glorified record mills.  They simply recruited anybody who had money to make a record, good or bad, and put a label on the record.  But the more recent incarnation of the Indie is a much healthier iteration of the custom recording company.  They generally offer some form of distribution (an ever evolving thing) to get the record in the marketplace.  Theoretically, they can and will do all the things that one individual couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t do for his musical career.  Besides distribution, they know who will help build a buzz through the right publicity and who’s who in the music business for the right kinds of connections.  I alluded to this in the previous post but, what is all that worth to you?  You are trading something whether it is points (percentages of sales) or something less monetary such as limiting your rights in some area.  It is about trading and compromise.  It is true; we can’t have it all.  If 98,000 albums are released in 2010 as well, how will you climb to the surface for some airtime? If you are one of the fortunate 2.1%, you will only sell 5000 units.  That isn't enough to buy the baby milk.  You must decide what you need help with and find someone to partner in your musical venture, formally or informally.  Find someone who has what it takes to help move your music out into the world where it can be appreciated.  Strategize a plan as soon as you finish reading this and go make it happen!  And even if you aren't a songwriter, you need to pick up a copy of my new book to give you insight into the world of music.  Until next time... Go Get Creative!    



The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!


©2010 WalkWay Group

Labels, Indies, and DIY... Plus My New Book!

Click here to download sample pages of this 174 page book.

The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of the new EP by Aaron Blanton (a Grammy nominated and multi Dove Award winning artist.) You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer!





A few weeks ago I met with several record label execs in separate meetings to discuss an artist I am working with. It was fascinating to listen to their stories of success and failure and the lessons they had learned from each. The proudest moments they had were those spent building a career from almost nothing into a prominent act that changed the course of their company and the artist. In fact, that is what everyone dreams of; going from the struggling artist to the world famous internationally known star.

The stories of “rags to riches” successes have gotten fewer and farther between. The fact is that regular labels are struggling to find a new gravity. The siphoning off of sales from on line download stores that don’t require hard copies is only the tip of the iceberg. Add to the mix pirated sales in countries like China and Spain, file sharing, desktop CD replication and even the reduction of plays as terrestrial radio share declines, and the problem of revenue loss is self evident. Where dollars were being realized from the sale of each CD now has become only pennies. The business model that has worked for a hundred years has been turned on its ear without apology. The reduction in profits has taken its toll on the cash flow of many major labels and some, like EMI have hit bottom. As a music attorney friend said, “the business has changed and it’s not coming back.”

The challenge for the “business as usual” crowd is how to keep the lights on. They are sandwiched between the “all music should be free” crowd and the “I demand to be paid for my work” consortium. While some may believe that making a profit is somehow evil, the fact is that without profit the next big music act may be a long time in coming. Profit is the single motivator to keep companies involved in development and without it, well, why bother. Altruism is a fabulous ideal but doesn’t pay the bills.

Something always rushes in to fill any vacuum and it is no less true for the music business. The indies have done a great job, in many cases, of being the support and extension of the artist. They are less duty-bound to long histories and big staff payrolls. This makes them more agile and able to turn instantaneously to meet market demands. However, they do have considerably less influence than their leviathan counterpart. But when it comes to the music business, this is the day of miniaturization where less is more and smaller is better. An indie label is a sort of miniature label that is independent of the usual well-heeled “big boys” industry expectations. Often they find new and innovative ways to get the music delivered to the fans with a minimum of cash flow and a maximum of effort. Sometimes it is entirely a grassroots achievement and they just help the grass grow. Indies, who were the “outsiders”, have moved up in prominence and prestige. And as long as they can remain the source for new and burgeoning artists to find help, they will continue to enjoy their own levels of success.

The irony of any small and agile label being successful is of course, the possibility of becoming so successful that the “small and agile” parts become large and lumbering. In which case, they would simply be a major label. Weird, huh? That is the two edged sword that follows them around threatening to dethrone them. There is always another small-label-startup trying to take their slot in the marketplace.

Sometimes, even an indie label can’t help you make a living in the music business. They either don’t have a slot for your music, or are simply maxed out on their resources. I believe that we should be as self directing as we can be and have advocated that musicians should take control of their own careers. If you think through what is going on in signing with any label, you will discover that you are hiring someone, sometimes for an outrageous fee, to do things you either can’t or won’t do; and sometimes for good reason. Each artist has his skill-set limitations but I think we could all do more for our own careers by focusing more on what matters to the success story.

If you have read anything I have written you will see a reoccurring theme here. I am always saying, “it is about making fans.” Whatever you are selling requires that someone somewhere wants what you are offering. In music, it is and ever shall be the need to create interest in your music and the peripheral merch. The fan is the quintessential factor that holds any career together. You are the best advocate for bringing people on-board with you. If you are unknown, it will be your invitation they will respond to. Giving them music they love and an experience they crave are the key factors in developing fan loyalty. And this is something you can do yourself; no label needed. As your fans grow in number, you will become of greater value to labels that are looking to expand their roster with artists in your genre. You will in fact, have done the hardest work of surviving and developing your sound pre-label. If you are going for a label deal, this will make the negotiations a little more tilted in your favor. Fans are valuable to the entire music food chain. Without them, there cannot be a success story to tell. So get out there and DIY.


The Songwriter's Toolkit: From Pen to Push Play

Click on the book to purchase now. Pre-sell purchases include a free download card of Aaron Blanton's new EP. You'll get a free ringtone and at least six brand new songs recorded in L.A. and Orange County. The download card will ship at the time the book ships. This is a limited time offer... REALLY!


©2010 WalkWay Group