Over on MusicBizAdvice.com, we've posted two new articles containing dos and don'ts of Marketing and Promotion:
Marketing and Promotion Blunders Part One: Don't Let This Happen to You
and
Marketing and Promotion Blunders Part Two: Four Crucial Tips to Remember .
I wrote these articles using real-life examples from promo pieces sent to my email box. When I write How-Tos, I prefer to focus on how you can get it right, as opposed to what others do wrong, but the blunders in these were so unbelievably bad, I had to share them with you. (One was from a company that teaches marketing webinars and charges thousands of dollars for their marketing software.)
Here's hoping these tips will help you, and that you'll have more success with your marketing and promotion efforts than the senders of the original emails!
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
© 2013 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com .
Showing posts with label music business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music business. Show all posts
Friday, November 22, 2013
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Music Business Survival: Three Important Questions Every Artist Should Ask When Making Career Decisions
On MusicBizAdvice.com I've posted a new article, Music Business Survival: How to Balance Practicality with "Being Yourself," and Three Important Questions.
The articfle was originally meant to be a blog post for this space (hence the blog-style writing of it), but during the editing process I realized it contained the three questions that are crucial for artists to ask themselves if they want to maintain their mental stability while pursuing a career in the music business. So, I reworked it as a post for MusicBizAdvice.com's Body and Soul section.
In this business, or any high-stakes business, people will constantly ask you to do things you do not want to do. Some will ask you to do things that are illegal, unhealthy, against your set of personal ethics, or what many people may consider to be morally reprehensible. Some will even push your boundaries just to see how far they can take you out of them.
That doesn't mean everyone does any of these things, but at some point, you will be asked.
A music industry career can be fun. The "business" part of the "music business" is also deadly serious.
You must learn how to handle this.
Hopefully, my post will give you some ideas of where to begin.
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
© 2013 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com . All rights reserved.
The articfle was originally meant to be a blog post for this space (hence the blog-style writing of it), but during the editing process I realized it contained the three questions that are crucial for artists to ask themselves if they want to maintain their mental stability while pursuing a career in the music business. So, I reworked it as a post for MusicBizAdvice.com's Body and Soul section.
In this business, or any high-stakes business, people will constantly ask you to do things you do not want to do. Some will ask you to do things that are illegal, unhealthy, against your set of personal ethics, or what many people may consider to be morally reprehensible. Some will even push your boundaries just to see how far they can take you out of them.
That doesn't mean everyone does any of these things, but at some point, you will be asked.
A music industry career can be fun. The "business" part of the "music business" is also deadly serious.
You must learn how to handle this.
Hopefully, my post will give you some ideas of where to begin.
RR
Follow me on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice .
© 2013 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com . All rights reserved.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Book review: Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful
Book review originally posted by me on Amazon.com earlier today, under my Amazon screen name Randi Reed "MusicBizAdvice Editor":
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful
****" Great photography, something for casual or hardcore fans, and even a bit of practical advice for musicians"
How does a band sum up over 25 years worth of career that's spanned more than half their lead singer's life, thousands of concerts, and sales of well over 120 million albums? Not to mention survived more than 8 different music trends (at last count)and umpteen label management changes (10? 12?), while doing their own thing. By Jovi, this'd better be good.
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful is indeed a very good anthology of a great career. Arranged by subject instead of the more predictable chronological order, it's narrated by the band members themselves and loaded with photos from a perspective rarely seen of the band, who publicly admit to not letting many people into their tight circle. There's much here to surprise the public, and maybe even a few hard core fans.
For one thing, this is not a picture book full of pretty, posed studio photographs of cute guys in the 80's. Although a couple of those are there for scrapbook purposes, the majority of the book's photos are either original, Phil Stern-style behind-the-scenes candids that were snapped for the book and its accompanying documentary (many of these photos are in black and white) or are photos of the band onstage. In both cases, the style and quality of the photographer's work shares equal billing with the subjects, with great results.
As a serious photography hobbyist, the photos on pages 8-9,13,15,43,126-27,and 137 are among my favorites, because I know how deceptively difficult they are to do. Because of this, my copy of Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful isn't kept with the other music biographies in my collection. Instead, it resides on a shelf of favorite photography books, between works by Phil Stern and Life Magazine: these are the kind of artist photographs I'd like to achieve.
When We Were Beautiful also contains snapshots from the band members' personal collections, photo session outtakes, and previously unapproved photos. Some of these are hilariously not so great...such as the series of an extremely sleepy/sleeping Jon Bon Jovi on a plane to Moscow in 1989 (page 48-49), complete with large red X's and thick lines drawn on the photos to indicate someone's disapproval (presumably management's or Jon's). Every major artist has marked-up contact sheets of unapproved, goofy photos in their files. Bon Jovi actually lets you see them.
The text shows the expected business savvy, tenacity, and personal growth of the individual band members, as well as their wit (David Bryan, page 59--drinking liquid while reading not recommended). But it can also be surprisingly revealing, such as on page 138. There's even an "Eeeeew"-provoking gross-out moment from, of all people, Jon Bon Jovi (page 142).
From a practical standpoint, for aspiring artists (and their aspiring managers and tour managers), the Backstage section is most helpful, especially Jon's wisdom on page 139. Pages 138-144, 150,152, and 175 are of special note...particularly page 152, which gives the reader something to think about.
Bon Jovi:When We Were Beautiful is certainly not the type of sordid tell-all that publishers and the media like to see from a rock band, so don't expect this book to get much media attention. Nor is it the bare-it-all autobiography a lot of rock fans and celebrity watchers may prefer. But by all accounts, Bon Jovi are guys who deeply respect their families, especially their kids, who don't happen to be in the spotlight. In Jersey parlance, ya gotta respect that. And ya gotta respect the band for doing it their way.
After all, it's worked for 26 years.
Verdict: ****
Want it? Buy it here:
Disclosure of Endorsements/Recommendations/Financial Compensation or Business Relationships per FTC Blog Disclosure Regulations in effect December 1, 2009: In the 90's I worked for a concert promotion company that presented many Bon Jovi shows. Since that time I've received no financial compensation or free product in direct connection with the band. I have, however, interviewed their recording engineer for MusicBizAdvice.com, and the MusicBizAdvice.com website sells Amazon products as an Amazon Associate.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful
****" Great photography, something for casual or hardcore fans, and even a bit of practical advice for musicians"
How does a band sum up over 25 years worth of career that's spanned more than half their lead singer's life, thousands of concerts, and sales of well over 120 million albums? Not to mention survived more than 8 different music trends (at last count)and umpteen label management changes (10? 12?), while doing their own thing. By Jovi, this'd better be good.
Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful is indeed a very good anthology of a great career. Arranged by subject instead of the more predictable chronological order, it's narrated by the band members themselves and loaded with photos from a perspective rarely seen of the band, who publicly admit to not letting many people into their tight circle. There's much here to surprise the public, and maybe even a few hard core fans.
For one thing, this is not a picture book full of pretty, posed studio photographs of cute guys in the 80's. Although a couple of those are there for scrapbook purposes, the majority of the book's photos are either original, Phil Stern-style behind-the-scenes candids that were snapped for the book and its accompanying documentary (many of these photos are in black and white) or are photos of the band onstage. In both cases, the style and quality of the photographer's work shares equal billing with the subjects, with great results.
As a serious photography hobbyist, the photos on pages 8-9,13,15,43,126-27,and 137 are among my favorites, because I know how deceptively difficult they are to do. Because of this, my copy of Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful isn't kept with the other music biographies in my collection. Instead, it resides on a shelf of favorite photography books, between works by Phil Stern and Life Magazine: these are the kind of artist photographs I'd like to achieve.
When We Were Beautiful also contains snapshots from the band members' personal collections, photo session outtakes, and previously unapproved photos. Some of these are hilariously not so great...such as the series of an extremely sleepy/sleeping Jon Bon Jovi on a plane to Moscow in 1989 (page 48-49), complete with large red X's and thick lines drawn on the photos to indicate someone's disapproval (presumably management's or Jon's). Every major artist has marked-up contact sheets of unapproved, goofy photos in their files. Bon Jovi actually lets you see them.
The text shows the expected business savvy, tenacity, and personal growth of the individual band members, as well as their wit (David Bryan, page 59--drinking liquid while reading not recommended). But it can also be surprisingly revealing, such as on page 138. There's even an "Eeeeew"-provoking gross-out moment from, of all people, Jon Bon Jovi (page 142).
From a practical standpoint, for aspiring artists (and their aspiring managers and tour managers), the Backstage section is most helpful, especially Jon's wisdom on page 139. Pages 138-144, 150,152, and 175 are of special note...particularly page 152, which gives the reader something to think about.
Bon Jovi:When We Were Beautiful is certainly not the type of sordid tell-all that publishers and the media like to see from a rock band, so don't expect this book to get much media attention. Nor is it the bare-it-all autobiography a lot of rock fans and celebrity watchers may prefer. But by all accounts, Bon Jovi are guys who deeply respect their families, especially their kids, who don't happen to be in the spotlight. In Jersey parlance, ya gotta respect that. And ya gotta respect the band for doing it their way.
After all, it's worked for 26 years.
Verdict: ****
Want it? Buy it here:
Disclosure of Endorsements/Recommendations/Financial Compensation or Business Relationships per FTC Blog Disclosure Regulations in effect December 1, 2009: In the 90's I worked for a concert promotion company that presented many Bon Jovi shows. Since that time I've received no financial compensation or free product in direct connection with the band. I have, however, interviewed their recording engineer for MusicBizAdvice.com, and the MusicBizAdvice.com website sells Amazon products as an Amazon Associate.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Facebook Follies
Arrrgh! Over on my personal Facebook account, Facebook's automatic spam catcher has banned me from sending private messages. It's infuriating because I'm adamant about MusicbizAdvice.com staffers adhering to CAN-SPAM Act rules, and neither we, nor I, engage in it.
I also don't use Facebook's Friend Find function, nor do I contact random Friends of Friends that Facebook recommends. (Maybe Facebook is pissed off that I don't?) In my opinion, and according to my understanding of the CAN-SPAM Act, THAT would be spam. And, as those of you on my Facebook Friends lists know, I rarely send Facebook messages or event notices, choosing to keep in touch with Facebook Friends by using the Wall / update function instead.
Here's how it happened, so it doesn't happen to you:
The supreme irony is, the Friend requesters contacted me first, not the other way around...
So, rather than just rudely ignoring people, I responded to the Friend requests from people I didn't know by using the "send message" option to ask them to please join me at my business Facebook instead, "as this one is my personal account" and included a link to my business Facebook (the facebook.com/MusicBizAdvice account). I've been doing it this way over on MySpace for years with no problem, and it's led to a lot of great conversation and a few actual working relationships and friendships...which is how social networking was originally supposed to work, right?
I sent 10-12 of these responses today, with a total of a mere 25 since opening my personal account in June. (Facebookers usually find me via my /MusicBizAdvice account, so there's really not much message traffic from my personal account.)
In sending the responses, I was afraid of accidentally triggering the anti spam filter, so I made a point of changing the wording and personalizing each one. I manually entered the captchas properly. Facebook gave me a popup warning telling me to "slow down". So I did. Then Facebook banned me from messages anyway.
(Sidebar: Facebook was the first entity ever to accuse me of being a fast typist, by the way. I'm a decent writer, occasionally even a good one, but a lousy typist. Our staffers and my former employers will have a good laugh at that.)
Simple solution: If Facebook offered a "Confirm friend to other account instead" option in its Friend acceptance options, and allowed the Friend requester to check a box that opted them in to being transferred over, this wouldn't happen.
That way, people could leave their privacy settings open just enough that their actual friends and relatives can find them, thus ENcouraging use of Facebook, rather than DIScouraging it.
Another irony: Over time, for direct communication, I've been gradually using Twitter more and more. (Why send a "message" when you can talk with someone directly, at a faster pace?) At this rate--first Facebook's privacy issues, then Facebook's content ownership / licensing issues, etc.--my Facebook accounts are rapidly headed toward being used simply to garner search engine results, with very little actual one-on-one conversation (kind of like MySpace has become)...which is the very thing Facebook was trying to avoid when it was created.
That doesn't seem fair to those of my family, friends, colleagues, and readers, who do enjoy using Facebook. Who wants to be used? But even more than that, it's not fair to the whole concept of social networking.
Get it together, Facebook.
I also don't use Facebook's Friend Find function, nor do I contact random Friends of Friends that Facebook recommends. (Maybe Facebook is pissed off that I don't?) In my opinion, and according to my understanding of the CAN-SPAM Act, THAT would be spam. And, as those of you on my Facebook Friends lists know, I rarely send Facebook messages or event notices, choosing to keep in touch with Facebook Friends by using the Wall / update function instead.
Here's how it happened, so it doesn't happen to you:
The supreme irony is, the Friend requesters contacted me first, not the other way around...
So, rather than just rudely ignoring people, I responded to the Friend requests from people I didn't know by using the "send message" option to ask them to please join me at my business Facebook instead, "as this one is my personal account" and included a link to my business Facebook (the facebook.com/MusicBizAdvice account). I've been doing it this way over on MySpace for years with no problem, and it's led to a lot of great conversation and a few actual working relationships and friendships...which is how social networking was originally supposed to work, right?
I sent 10-12 of these responses today, with a total of a mere 25 since opening my personal account in June. (Facebookers usually find me via my /MusicBizAdvice account, so there's really not much message traffic from my personal account.)
In sending the responses, I was afraid of accidentally triggering the anti spam filter, so I made a point of changing the wording and personalizing each one. I manually entered the captchas properly. Facebook gave me a popup warning telling me to "slow down". So I did. Then Facebook banned me from messages anyway.
(Sidebar: Facebook was the first entity ever to accuse me of being a fast typist, by the way. I'm a decent writer, occasionally even a good one, but a lousy typist. Our staffers and my former employers will have a good laugh at that.)
Simple solution: If Facebook offered a "Confirm friend to other account instead" option in its Friend acceptance options, and allowed the Friend requester to check a box that opted them in to being transferred over, this wouldn't happen.
That way, people could leave their privacy settings open just enough that their actual friends and relatives can find them, thus ENcouraging use of Facebook, rather than DIScouraging it.
Another irony: Over time, for direct communication, I've been gradually using Twitter more and more. (Why send a "message" when you can talk with someone directly, at a faster pace?) At this rate--first Facebook's privacy issues, then Facebook's content ownership / licensing issues, etc.--my Facebook accounts are rapidly headed toward being used simply to garner search engine results, with very little actual one-on-one conversation (kind of like MySpace has become)...which is the very thing Facebook was trying to avoid when it was created.
That doesn't seem fair to those of my family, friends, colleagues, and readers, who do enjoy using Facebook. Who wants to be used? But even more than that, it's not fair to the whole concept of social networking.
Get it together, Facebook.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx Hates the Internet: My Response
Update 7/20/2009 2:06PM: A link to Nikki Sixx's response to the Wall Street Journal article appears at the end of this blog post.
Gotta love Nikki Sixx...The man knows exactly what to say to get attention!
Wall Street Journal Interview & Commentary: Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Hates the Internet
( http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/07/19/motley-crues-nikki-sixx-hates-the-internet/ )
My response, from the Comments section after the Wall Street Journal article (in blue italics here, so I don't have to rewrite it):
"MusicBizAdviceEditor wrote:
Joe in Poughkeepsie or Sue in Roanoke has always "decided when something is a great show".It’s called Word of Mouth. The only difference is that now, instead of sitting around in their living rooms or hanging at a diner out with friends, Joe and Sue are talking to millions of people at once. You just have to keep what you can under wraps, then let Joe & Sue do your marketing for you once the cat’s out of the bag. As for Twitter, it’s long past the "eating a ham sandwich" stage and has morphed into a viable medium for quickly sharing & finding information…as well as an instant focus group."
I do, however, understand Nikki's feelings about trying to maintain the mystique. For good or bad, when fans find out "too much" about their favorite artist, it alters whatever image they've created in their own minds about that person (kind of like meeting an Internet email pal, or--if you go farther back--kind of like meeting a pen pal).
Based on their feeling about what they find, you stand a 50/50 chance of being rejected by them.
But, it can also work in your favor. There's a certain celebrity, who shall remain nameless, that I wasn't a fan of at all (to put it mildly) until I happened upon them on Twitter. This celebrity's tweets---this celeb writes their own-- have continually shown this person to be a fun, cool person with interesting things to say away from the business, who not only cares about their family, friends and fans, but about the planet as a whole. Had I not seen their tweets on Twitter, I probably would have continued to have a negative image of this person.
So tread lightly, yes, but don't reject the idea out of hand completely...
Especially if you're blessed to be as entertaining as Nikki Sixx, whose old posts from the early infancy of AOL are still legendary!
For those who don't find Twitter "ridiculous" (just kidding, Nikki), or who do but want to give it a second chance, follow me at http://twitter.com/MusicBizAdvice . I'm not as entertaining as Nikki Sixx, but I have a lot of fun talking with our readers and try to give interesting info.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Update 7/20/2009: You can read Nikki's response to the Wall Street Journal article & comments here.
Disclosure of Endorsements/Recommendations/Financial Compensation or Business Relationships per FTC Blog Disclosure Regulations in effect December 1, 2009: In the early 90's I worked for the talent agency that booked Motley Crue, and before that I worked for a concert promotion company that presented many Motley Crue shows. Since that time I've received no financial compensation or free product in direct connection with the band or its individual members. The MusicBizAdvice.com website, and by extension, this blog, sells Amazon products, including music, as an Amazon Associate.
Gotta love Nikki Sixx...The man knows exactly what to say to get attention!
Wall Street Journal Interview & Commentary: Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx Hates the Internet
( http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/07/19/motley-crues-nikki-sixx-hates-the-internet/ )
My response, from the Comments section after the Wall Street Journal article (in blue italics here, so I don't have to rewrite it):
"MusicBizAdviceEditor wrote:
Joe in Poughkeepsie or Sue in Roanoke has always "decided when something is a great show".It’s called Word of Mouth. The only difference is that now, instead of sitting around in their living rooms or hanging at a diner out with friends, Joe and Sue are talking to millions of people at once. You just have to keep what you can under wraps, then let Joe & Sue do your marketing for you once the cat’s out of the bag. As for Twitter, it’s long past the "eating a ham sandwich" stage and has morphed into a viable medium for quickly sharing & finding information…as well as an instant focus group."
I do, however, understand Nikki's feelings about trying to maintain the mystique. For good or bad, when fans find out "too much" about their favorite artist, it alters whatever image they've created in their own minds about that person (kind of like meeting an Internet email pal, or--if you go farther back--kind of like meeting a pen pal).
Based on their feeling about what they find, you stand a 50/50 chance of being rejected by them.
But, it can also work in your favor. There's a certain celebrity, who shall remain nameless, that I wasn't a fan of at all (to put it mildly) until I happened upon them on Twitter. This celebrity's tweets---this celeb writes their own-- have continually shown this person to be a fun, cool person with interesting things to say away from the business, who not only cares about their family, friends and fans, but about the planet as a whole. Had I not seen their tweets on Twitter, I probably would have continued to have a negative image of this person.
So tread lightly, yes, but don't reject the idea out of hand completely...
Especially if you're blessed to be as entertaining as Nikki Sixx, whose old posts from the early infancy of AOL are still legendary!
For those who don't find Twitter "ridiculous" (just kidding, Nikki), or who do but want to give it a second chance, follow me at http://twitter.com/MusicBizAdvice . I'm not as entertaining as Nikki Sixx, but I have a lot of fun talking with our readers and try to give interesting info.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Update 7/20/2009: You can read Nikki's response to the Wall Street Journal article & comments here.
Disclosure of Endorsements/Recommendations/Financial Compensation or Business Relationships per FTC Blog Disclosure Regulations in effect December 1, 2009: In the early 90's I worked for the talent agency that booked Motley Crue, and before that I worked for a concert promotion company that presented many Motley Crue shows. Since that time I've received no financial compensation or free product in direct connection with the band or its individual members. The MusicBizAdvice.com website, and by extension, this blog, sells Amazon products, including music, as an Amazon Associate.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
New Name for American Idol?
Wow, must the producers of American Idol be ticked (more specifically, the artist management arm of the show): Just when American Idol had finally achieved a sense of legitimacy within the music industry and we'd almost forgotten the Taylor Hicks debacle...BAM!
No surprises on American Idol's finale tonight, but I am thinking American Idol should be renamed...Here are a few suggestions:
"Rock" Star Lite (with the word "rock" in ironic quotation marks, as shown)
The Guy (or Girl) the American Idol Audience is the Least Afraid Of
The Music Idol of Christian Conservatives
The Guy Next Door Who Can Sing and Had Some Nice Moments but Who Doesn't Have as Much Star Quality as the Guy Who Really Should Have Won
The Guy Who Has Some of the Elements of the Total Package But Still Needs a Little Work on One or Two of Them
The Guy or Girl Most Appealing to Fox
Come on People! Kris Allen is talented, and he has some nice moments. But when Kris himself on the winner's stage seemed genuinely shocked and said, with true sincerity, that it should have been Adam, there's a problem.
As I wrote in our MBADC American Idol Armchair Quarterback column on MusicBizAdvice.com, of the two finalists, Adam Lambert is the total package: vocal ability, stage presence, looks, star quality, and needs the least development to be great.
Kris Allen has some, but not as many, of those elements. I'm not saying he doesn't have the potential. I even chose him as one of my favorites on one of his performance nights in the early part of the competition. But an idol needs more than potential. It should be there already. Adam already has it.
Idols are supposed to be different than the guy next door. Paraphrasing what Simon Cowell said recently in an interview, stars sparkle like diamonds and should be rare. I wholeheartedly agree.
On the upside, at least Adam doesn't have to sing or promote the winner's song ever again!
Advice to next year's wannabe winners on Idol: Pretend to be an evangelical, and talk about it a lot in interviews. Looking at the show's track record of winners, you'll apparently have a better shot.
(I'm kidding, so relax. I have nothing against religion, just a problem with those who try to make their own religion everyone else's. Believe whatever you like, live and let live, and don't exclude others who don't happen to believe what you do. Excluding others on the basis of their beliefs is what led to a whoooooooole lotta trouble in Germany, among other places.)
Someone, please bring back Rock Star (and its music director and house band with it)...It was sooo much better than American Idol. And a hell of a lot more believable!
Meanwhile, if you want to read our week by week rundown of the entire American Idol season, it's here:
http://www.musicbizadvice.com/American%20Idol%20Armchair%20Quarterback.htm
No surprises on American Idol's finale tonight, but I am thinking American Idol should be renamed...Here are a few suggestions:
"Rock" Star Lite (with the word "rock" in ironic quotation marks, as shown)
The Guy (or Girl) the American Idol Audience is the Least Afraid Of
The Music Idol of Christian Conservatives
The Guy Next Door Who Can Sing and Had Some Nice Moments but Who Doesn't Have as Much Star Quality as the Guy Who Really Should Have Won
The Guy Who Has Some of the Elements of the Total Package But Still Needs a Little Work on One or Two of Them
The Guy or Girl Most Appealing to Fox
Come on People! Kris Allen is talented, and he has some nice moments. But when Kris himself on the winner's stage seemed genuinely shocked and said, with true sincerity, that it should have been Adam, there's a problem.
As I wrote in our MBADC American Idol Armchair Quarterback column on MusicBizAdvice.com, of the two finalists, Adam Lambert is the total package: vocal ability, stage presence, looks, star quality, and needs the least development to be great.
Kris Allen has some, but not as many, of those elements. I'm not saying he doesn't have the potential. I even chose him as one of my favorites on one of his performance nights in the early part of the competition. But an idol needs more than potential. It should be there already. Adam already has it.
Idols are supposed to be different than the guy next door. Paraphrasing what Simon Cowell said recently in an interview, stars sparkle like diamonds and should be rare. I wholeheartedly agree.
On the upside, at least Adam doesn't have to sing or promote the winner's song ever again!
Advice to next year's wannabe winners on Idol: Pretend to be an evangelical, and talk about it a lot in interviews. Looking at the show's track record of winners, you'll apparently have a better shot.
(I'm kidding, so relax. I have nothing against religion, just a problem with those who try to make their own religion everyone else's. Believe whatever you like, live and let live, and don't exclude others who don't happen to believe what you do. Excluding others on the basis of their beliefs is what led to a whoooooooole lotta trouble in Germany, among other places.)
Someone, please bring back Rock Star (and its music director and house band with it)...It was sooo much better than American Idol. And a hell of a lot more believable!
Meanwhile, if you want to read our week by week rundown of the entire American Idol season, it's here:
http://www.musicbizadvice.com/American%20Idol%20Armchair%20Quarterback.htm
Saturday, February 28, 2009
LIve Nation / Ticketmaster Merger and the Future of Live Music? Stuff Everyone's Forgetting
Lately there's been a lot of back and forth discussion in the industry about the proposed Live Nation / Ticketmaster merger and its possible effects on the music industry (particularly the live concerts end of the business). With the recent judiciary hearing on whether the merger should even be allowed, more of my colleagues, former bosses, mentors, friends, and even foes are piping in.
Do I have a solution? No. Just suggestions. But whether the merger happens or not, there are some points everyone seems to be forgetting:
1. Despite the current economy, Movie ticket sales are up because people are looking for an escape. They could be spending that money on music tickets instead.
Why aren't they? Because just 20 years ago you could buy a ticket to see a top act for only a little more than twice the price of a movie ticket. Now a concert ticket costs more than 10 times the cost of a movie ticket.
Doesn't anyone else in this business think it's insane that in many markets, an airline ticket is cheaper than a concert ticket? (In Los Angeles in recent years, I've seen fares to Europe that were cheaper than the face value on a ticket to see the Stones or Madonna.)
The music business is collectively putting itself out of business by way of greed, and it's gotta stop.
2. Everyone seems to forget the simple concept of perpetual audience growth: new customers across several demographics.
Whether it's Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers, or the Eagles or Bruce, when you break it down, the majority of "new" customers at big shows are the kids of parents who happen to be wealthy enough to take them. Since it's the parent buying the ticket, that means in reality, it's actually one demographic for all those artists. (As opposed to what would have been two or three separate demographics a mere 15 years ago.)
With such an ultra-targeted demographic (whose kids are off to college soon, and whose 401ks have imploded) how can there possibly be growth?
Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers fans grow up. And God knows I love the Eagles, Bon Jovi, and Springsteen, but however much we'd like them to, they can't tour forever (though I'm starting to believe Bruce and Bon are part Energizer Bunny). Who's the next round of arena acts, and who will go to see those next acts? Remember what's happened to symphonies in the US during the past 20 years? The audience is literally dying off without a new audience coming in.
3. More on audience growth: In many areas of the US we now have an entire generation and a half of kids who haven't had music programs in their public schools. (I know a lot of you reading this have kids in private schools with great music programs, but your kids get tickets for free, so we're not talking about them.) How can you generate interest in something that doesn't exist?
Ask the average 17 or 18 year old who goes to a public school what was the last concert they went to. (Or better yet, if they've ever even attended one in their life.) I stopped asking intern applicants "what's the last concert you went to" long ago because most haven't been at all.
And in case anyone hasn't noticed, MySpace and Facebook are actually a passive, as opposed to an active, way to enjoy recorded music. It's thinly disguised as active, but the main attraction on MySpace isn't the music; it's how many Friends kids rack up to become "famous" themselves. (If music were really the main attraction, wouldn't they be called MusicPlace or MusicBook?)
4. Do we really need a new damn arena every 10-15 years???
New arenas = higher venue costs= higher ticket prices. Yes, in many cases fans voted for them to be built. But fans are concerned with economic prosperity for their towns, not show expenses. That's our job.
(And now that some of the banks from those branded arenas have imploded, now what?)
Suggestions for dealing with the challenges
I don't have a solution, but I do have suggestions. At first glance some of them may look like the ship has sailed, but in the right hands, I really don't think so. Everything comes back around, just in a different way.
1. Figure out a way to get back to basics: Music. Not ring tones (Muzak is dead, won't ringtones, which are essentially the same thing on a different device, die too?). Not texts. Not games. Not anything that doesn't put the music at the forefront.
2. Hire people who start in music and work their way up... Not former telecom execs, not computer guys, not your brother-in-law who worked at HBO...not people from other industries. Hire people with a passion for music and for making money at it. I'm not saying don't hire business-minded people. I'm saying, hire business-minded people who want to make money in music, not just make money.
After all, isn't that the secret to Irving's success? Regardless of what you think about him, the man knows music and the people who perform it.
Remember the first piece of business advice successful people always give to someone who's tying to figure out a career goal: "Follow your passion, apply hard work, and the money will follow."
And what about Clive Davis? The man worked with Bob Dylan 1963 and is still a name in the business because he gets the music.
3. Remember the concept of "Sell to the Masses if you want to wear a Rolex". We've gotta find a way to keep ticket prices at bay so more people can afford an escape.
Selling to the masses worked for Ebay. Selling to the masses also got our current president elected.
Some artists are doing their best to try to keep ticket prices at bay. But there's a hell of a lot of pressure to make those Boxscore numbers so people will keep hiring them, and it's become a vicious circle.
4. Work with team owners and city officials to find alternatives for building new arenas. Empty arenas would be everyone's problem, so everyone needs to be in on prevention.
5. Have more respect for the fans. Remember back when you were a music fan? (If not, I'm sorry, but you're in the wrong business.) Fans pay our salaries, so the least you can do is be grateful. If not for the fans, none of us would have ever had a music industry job in the first place.
And I'll let you in on something: more than ever, fans are aware of their importance. Why do you think over the past 15 years fans are more likely than ever to sue if something goes wrong at a show? It's because they resent the flat-out greed they've observed in the industry over the past 15 years.
We've gotta stop holding music fans hostage with ticket prices before we lose them completely.
6. Think like the entertainment moguls did during the Great Depression.
The media is filled with people comparing today's economic crisis to the Great Depression. Yet despite the unemployment rate of 25% in the 1930's, the entertainment business was booming. Expensively made movies were kicking *ss at the box office. It was also the dawning of the Big Band era, which ushered in commercial radio and the recording industry as we'd come to know for nearly 60 years.
In fact it was only a couple of decades ago that the entertainment industry was still thought to be one of the few industries that was "mostly recession proof" because people would always need an escape.
If people in the '30's took advantage of the opportunity to develop business models and multiple new technologies that created demand and made live music affordable for consumers, why can't we?
I haven't said anything in this we didn't already know. It's just time we remembered it.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
c 2009 MusicBizAdvice.com
Do I have a solution? No. Just suggestions. But whether the merger happens or not, there are some points everyone seems to be forgetting:
1. Despite the current economy, Movie ticket sales are up because people are looking for an escape. They could be spending that money on music tickets instead.
Why aren't they? Because just 20 years ago you could buy a ticket to see a top act for only a little more than twice the price of a movie ticket. Now a concert ticket costs more than 10 times the cost of a movie ticket.
Doesn't anyone else in this business think it's insane that in many markets, an airline ticket is cheaper than a concert ticket? (In Los Angeles in recent years, I've seen fares to Europe that were cheaper than the face value on a ticket to see the Stones or Madonna.)
The music business is collectively putting itself out of business by way of greed, and it's gotta stop.
2. Everyone seems to forget the simple concept of perpetual audience growth: new customers across several demographics.
Whether it's Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers, or the Eagles or Bruce, when you break it down, the majority of "new" customers at big shows are the kids of parents who happen to be wealthy enough to take them. Since it's the parent buying the ticket, that means in reality, it's actually one demographic for all those artists. (As opposed to what would have been two or three separate demographics a mere 15 years ago.)
With such an ultra-targeted demographic (whose kids are off to college soon, and whose 401ks have imploded) how can there possibly be growth?
Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers fans grow up. And God knows I love the Eagles, Bon Jovi, and Springsteen, but however much we'd like them to, they can't tour forever (though I'm starting to believe Bruce and Bon are part Energizer Bunny). Who's the next round of arena acts, and who will go to see those next acts? Remember what's happened to symphonies in the US during the past 20 years? The audience is literally dying off without a new audience coming in.
3. More on audience growth: In many areas of the US we now have an entire generation and a half of kids who haven't had music programs in their public schools. (I know a lot of you reading this have kids in private schools with great music programs, but your kids get tickets for free, so we're not talking about them.) How can you generate interest in something that doesn't exist?
Ask the average 17 or 18 year old who goes to a public school what was the last concert they went to. (Or better yet, if they've ever even attended one in their life.) I stopped asking intern applicants "what's the last concert you went to" long ago because most haven't been at all.
And in case anyone hasn't noticed, MySpace and Facebook are actually a passive, as opposed to an active, way to enjoy recorded music. It's thinly disguised as active, but the main attraction on MySpace isn't the music; it's how many Friends kids rack up to become "famous" themselves. (If music were really the main attraction, wouldn't they be called MusicPlace or MusicBook?)
4. Do we really need a new damn arena every 10-15 years???
New arenas = higher venue costs= higher ticket prices. Yes, in many cases fans voted for them to be built. But fans are concerned with economic prosperity for their towns, not show expenses. That's our job.
(And now that some of the banks from those branded arenas have imploded, now what?)
Suggestions for dealing with the challenges
I don't have a solution, but I do have suggestions. At first glance some of them may look like the ship has sailed, but in the right hands, I really don't think so. Everything comes back around, just in a different way.
1. Figure out a way to get back to basics: Music. Not ring tones (Muzak is dead, won't ringtones, which are essentially the same thing on a different device, die too?). Not texts. Not games. Not anything that doesn't put the music at the forefront.
2. Hire people who start in music and work their way up... Not former telecom execs, not computer guys, not your brother-in-law who worked at HBO...not people from other industries. Hire people with a passion for music and for making money at it. I'm not saying don't hire business-minded people. I'm saying, hire business-minded people who want to make money in music, not just make money.
After all, isn't that the secret to Irving's success? Regardless of what you think about him, the man knows music and the people who perform it.
Remember the first piece of business advice successful people always give to someone who's tying to figure out a career goal: "Follow your passion, apply hard work, and the money will follow."
And what about Clive Davis? The man worked with Bob Dylan 1963 and is still a name in the business because he gets the music.
3. Remember the concept of "Sell to the Masses if you want to wear a Rolex". We've gotta find a way to keep ticket prices at bay so more people can afford an escape.
Selling to the masses worked for Ebay. Selling to the masses also got our current president elected.
Some artists are doing their best to try to keep ticket prices at bay. But there's a hell of a lot of pressure to make those Boxscore numbers so people will keep hiring them, and it's become a vicious circle.
4. Work with team owners and city officials to find alternatives for building new arenas. Empty arenas would be everyone's problem, so everyone needs to be in on prevention.
5. Have more respect for the fans. Remember back when you were a music fan? (If not, I'm sorry, but you're in the wrong business.) Fans pay our salaries, so the least you can do is be grateful. If not for the fans, none of us would have ever had a music industry job in the first place.
And I'll let you in on something: more than ever, fans are aware of their importance. Why do you think over the past 15 years fans are more likely than ever to sue if something goes wrong at a show? It's because they resent the flat-out greed they've observed in the industry over the past 15 years.
We've gotta stop holding music fans hostage with ticket prices before we lose them completely.
6. Think like the entertainment moguls did during the Great Depression.
The media is filled with people comparing today's economic crisis to the Great Depression. Yet despite the unemployment rate of 25% in the 1930's, the entertainment business was booming. Expensively made movies were kicking *ss at the box office. It was also the dawning of the Big Band era, which ushered in commercial radio and the recording industry as we'd come to know for nearly 60 years.
In fact it was only a couple of decades ago that the entertainment industry was still thought to be one of the few industries that was "mostly recession proof" because people would always need an escape.
If people in the '30's took advantage of the opportunity to develop business models and multiple new technologies that created demand and made live music affordable for consumers, why can't we?
I haven't said anything in this we didn't already know. It's just time we remembered it.
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
c 2009 MusicBizAdvice.com
Friday, September 19, 2008
Mortgage Foreclosures / Credit Crisis Means Local Promoter, Club, and Small Label Crisis? How Musicians Can Avoid Getting Ripped Off
How does the mortgage foreclosure / financial crisis /credit crisis affect touring musicians and indie label recording artists?
This article on MusicBizAdvice.com explains how, along with giving you some simple tips to keep from getting burned.
This article on MusicBizAdvice.com explains how, along with giving you some simple tips to keep from getting burned.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Want the Same Results? Hire the Same Team
OK...I really do try not to get political in this blog, because that's not what most of you come here for.
But as someone whose job entails coordinating PR and marketing campaigns to highlight (or help to create) an artist's desired image, I cannot sit by silently while the political PR machine is used so ludicrously to take the focus off the issues. (Pig in lipstick outrage? Puhleeze. Looks like somebody'd trying to distract the public from thinking about the war, the economy, healthcare, and education.)
Watch this and decide who you want to vote for.
Are these people really who you want in office?
I'm always advising clients, "If you want success, hire a team of people who have helped successful people do what you want to do." That's exactly what McCain did; he's hired some of the very same people from the Bush team to run or advise his campaign. (Karl Rove anyone?) And I'm sure there are more to come if he gets elected.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...
So again I ask, are these people really the people you want in office after the election? Because that's what you'll get if McCain wins the election.
Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? How 'bout almost 8 years ago? What about the economy? Is that better? Are we really safer? What about our ports?
Personally, I say ENOUGH!!!!
But as someone whose job entails coordinating PR and marketing campaigns to highlight (or help to create) an artist's desired image, I cannot sit by silently while the political PR machine is used so ludicrously to take the focus off the issues. (Pig in lipstick outrage? Puhleeze. Looks like somebody'd trying to distract the public from thinking about the war, the economy, healthcare, and education.)
Watch this and decide who you want to vote for.
Are these people really who you want in office?
I'm always advising clients, "If you want success, hire a team of people who have helped successful people do what you want to do." That's exactly what McCain did; he's hired some of the very same people from the Bush team to run or advise his campaign. (Karl Rove anyone?) And I'm sure there are more to come if he gets elected.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...
So again I ask, are these people really the people you want in office after the election? Because that's what you'll get if McCain wins the election.
Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? How 'bout almost 8 years ago? What about the economy? Is that better? Are we really safer? What about our ports?
Personally, I say ENOUGH!!!!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Get to the Truffles
Overheard in conversation between MBADC Contributing Writer Darcie-Nicole Wicknick and MBADC Editor-in-Chief:
"You gotta dig through the dirt to get to the truffles."
"You gotta dig through the dirt to get to the truffles."
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Hotter Than Hell: A Motley Copyright (Licensing) Quiz
MusicBizAdvice.com staffers were singing this over the weekend:
[Sung to the tune of "Louder than Hell" by Motley Crue]
Hotter
L.A. is hotter than hell
Hotter
L.A. is hotter than hell
Oo I don't like it
I Don't like it
It's heeeeeeell!
(Nikki Sixx and his co-horts got the hell out of dodge to their gig in Canada just in time, by the way...Once again, they escape by the skin of their teeth! No, I don't know Mr. Sixx personally; I just thought it was ironic.)
Really, this is worse than Phoenix (and is one of the many reasons why I left)...At least in Phoenix everyone has central air when it's 112 out. I don't know what's going on, but I've lived in So. Cal off and on since 1980, and L.A. is definitely hotter, and hotter more often, than it used to be. What's up with that?
Still, I love, love, love this town. Only in L.A. in the midst of a power outtage in a heat wave can you hang out with good friends and a news crew comes to your door asking to film the inside of your fridge. (I'm not into being on camera and had no perishables in my fridge so I abstained, but my friends had a lot fun being on the Channel 7 news.)
Copyright (licensing)Pop Quiz: Ten points if you know what kind of licensing / permissions would have been needed, and from whom, if the above MusicBizAdvice.com staffers had been performing their version of "Hotter than Hell" live for an audience, or if they'd planned to record and release a studio version (God forbid).
Twenty more points if you knew that reprinting lyrics requires licensing / permissions as well.** 10 more if you knew that because only a small portion of the lyrics were used here AND were used in the context of an educational discussion, their use in this blog entry falls under the Fair Use exemption of the Copyright Act.
So, what's your score? Answers are in Darcie-Nicole Wicknick's MusicBizadvice.com article, "Publishing and Royalties 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Songwriting Income".
**Yes, I know some of you will try to argue that people reprint lyrics all the time without paying for them. I'm just here to offer you the facts so you have information that can help you. What you do with those facts, or whether or not you choose to use them at all is up to you. Ignoring something doesn't make it cease to exist.
Sorry about the rambling entry. It was take 2 after another power outtage this afternoon wiped out the first draft just as I was finishing the last paragraph.
I'm off to get water...
Stay cool,
RR
Friday, April 11, 2008
ASCAP I Create Music Expo Report: It’s My Life Interview and Q&A Highlights with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora 4/10/2008 Interviewer: Erik Philbrook
This week Researcher Extraordinaire and I checked out the ASCAP “I Create Music” Expo in Hollywood. Yesterday one of the events was a Q&A session with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. (That was me, rapidly scribbling away on a yellow legal pad in the front row.) Here are my notes, in their raw form. Although I’ve arranged them by subject matter for easier reading, I won’t rewrite them into article form here, preferring to let Jon and Richie speak for themselves. For photos of the event check out our Snapfish photo album here.
On Jon and Richie’s Writing process:
Richie said their songwriting process is the same as it always was: “a couple of guitars or a piano and a rickety old cassette tape recorder.” The audience laughed when he and Jon said almost at the same time, “Because we don’t know how to work anything else!”
(“Who Says You Can’t Go Home” was written at the kitchen table, with the above-mentioned rickety tape recorder.)
Richie went on: “I come from the adage that you can’t polish sh*t. If we sang ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ right here a capella, it still sounds like a good song.”
Jon and Richie’s process is to come up with the song title first, then come up with a chord progression that fits the mood of the title, then go back and do lyrics last. Said Jon: “It was never about jamming for hours and saying, ‘I like that chord’.”
Richie said when he writes, he keeps the artist who will sing it in mind, and suggests beginning songwriters do the same: “I write for Jon. Think about what artist you’re writing for, and the demographic. See where you’re gonna put it.”***
As an aside, Jon said he sometimes “regret[s] writing some of those high notes!”
Jon said sometimes they get lucky and a song “falls from the sky.” Other times, it doesn’t come so easily. Moderator Erik Philbrook asked how long they stick with writing a song when it's not happening. Jon said they're very stubborn about it because they “never want to be quitters, so even if the song will never make it to the band you try to finish it.” Then he said he'd always wondered if there's a notebook of unfinished Beatles songs, "because the Beatles were aliens from another planet." ...Jon related that he saw Paul McCartney at an event, and he told Sir Paul this--including calling the Beatles “aliens from another planet.” ("It was after a few glasses of wine," said Jon sheepishly.) Jon said to Sir Paul, "There's gotta be a notebook!" Nope, no notebook. OK, what about a song that you struggled with? Sir Paul thought and thought and finally said, "Oh! Yes, there was one! Finally I said, ‘Let's just say 'Beep beep beep beep yeah' and move on."
On Collaborating with other songwriters:
Jon said when he and Richie write together, the strength of their collaboration means “One plus one equals three.” And that adding another collaborator makes it grow even more.
Richie said one of the keys to successful collaborating is to “find the right people who are going to commit” and that it’s about always “working on relationships.”
On the collaborative process in Nashville, Jon said there’s very little ego involved there: “The process of songwriting there is like Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
Asked what producer-songwriter John Shanks brought to the table when they worked with him, Jon quipped: “A.D.D.! Shanks isn’t here because he’s running around the building.” (Richie added that John Shanks works very quickly, and that his studio set-up is complete and efficient, “like a factory. But a factory in a good way.” Jon said, “Maybe more like a mad scientist’s lab” and Richie agreed.)
Jon and Richie said “Bad Medicine,” which they wrote with Desmond Child, was written with Richie standing “in a nasty pool of water” while the band was shooting a Japanese television commercial.
On today’s music industry: Jon said Bon Jovi were fortunate in that with their first two albums they had the opportunity to grow a regional following and “form the voice of the band. The poor kids now, they come off Idol and if you don’t have a number one single out of the box? That’s it. That’s tough.”
Richie added, “Now you don’t get a second chance. The music business is cold…” (and got a huge laugh from the audience because of the face he made, and his timing when he said it).
Regarding Radio Formats and country crossovers in today’s industry, Jon said: “The big corporate entities that own the radio stations have this pigeonhole kind of mentality. And it affected the video era, and what’s happening on television, and then it ultimately takes away personality. What they’re missing there is that country people like rock and roll, and rock and roll people like country music. It’s just the people’s music, and people are affected by a lyric. Take the tag off of it and do the blindfold test and let people hear the music.” This probably got the biggest applause of the afternoon.
Asked what he thinks of downloading, Jon says, “That’s a very good question. But I couldn’t answer it without asking probably ten others that no one seems to have the answers to: How many records were actually downloaded? Did the records turn into hits because of it? If I write a song and it gets to the point where it’s on the record and I’m that proud of it, I want to share it with the world. I want you to hear it any which way you can. But do I know if ASCAP has collected royalties for every digital download? I don’t go crazy worrying about that. But I like to see people get the opportunity to get paid for the craft that they’ve worked so hard at, because it’s our job.”
Advice for songwriters: Jon: “Try to hold onto [your publishing]. Try not to take the short-term, first kind of deals that are given to struggling writers. And that’s not always easy to do. But it is called the music business for a reason.”
On whether a songwriter should move to Nashville (or another music industry center): Jon said it can be “helpful, but not a necessity. Bob Dylan was going to be Bob Dylan in Minnesota or New York.”
On the longevity of their careers: Jon said, “We’ve stayed true to who we were. We didn’t jump on fads or fashions. We’ve been around long enough to have seen the boy band cycle come and go twice…We’ve seen hip hop and grunge come and go. We never pretended to be something we weren’t. You can like it, you can dislike it. But it’s true.”
Jon also added, “The theme of our body of work has had a universal optimism. There’s faith in faith, and hope in hope.”
Asked for insight about how they stay current, Jon said, “It’s not about staying current. It’s about staying true.”
Insight into Jon’s aspirations, and what he wants to accomplish as a songwriter and artist: “I remember back in the 80’s having a conversation with a guy from a young band and saying ‘you don’t understand. Basically your aspirations are to be on the cover of Circus [a popular rock magazine at the time]. Mine are to be on the cover of Time.”
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
------------
***7/24/14: Due to Richie Sambora's no-show /departure from the 2013 Bon Jovi tour and subsequent interviews in which he appeared to express anger for the resulting consequences, some Richie Sambora supporters have tried to turn a sentence from one paragraph of this ASCAP Report into Richie talking about being a hired gun songwriter for Jon.
I'll be blunt:
That's asinine. ASCAP's "I Create Music Expo" is a songwriter's event. Jon and Richie were there to discuss their writing process, in depth, and members of the media were there in the front row.
I was in the room, sitting in that front row, directly across from Richie when he said it. The people who are trying to create dirt out of my ASCAP report were not there. I know who was in the media row with me. The people who are making this stuff up never seem to remember the "I Create Music Expo" Jon and Richie were at was in Los Angeles (specifically, Hollywood), and that being local, I know who was there.I can assure you, that is not what Richie was saying. And they're doing Jon, Richie, and Desmond Child--who happened to be sitting behind me when Richie said it--a major disservice with that misinterpretation.
When Richie referred to writing for Jon's vocal range when he said "I write for Jon" they'd been talking about how, as writers, it's important for them to go away from each other and then come back to the writing table with fresh ideas and new material, and how sometimes they arrive with songs they'd started individually.
I'd need to get the recording out of a safety deposit box to quote the moderator's exact question, but I'm one of those people with an annoyingly photographic memory for details, so here's what I can tell you:
The moderator wanted to know how, as writers, Jon and Richie determine which will be solo material and which material will be brought together for further collaboration as a band. Richie replied that it's really easy for him, because as soon as he sits down to write, he thinks of who will be singing it. Richie was speaking specifically about writing for Jon's vocal range when he said, "i write for Jon" and then he turned toward the audience of songwriters and gave them the advice about thinking about the artist who will sing it and the demographic.
Jon nodded as if to say, "Yeah, me too" to what Richie said, and that's when Jon added the part about regretting "writing so many high notes" as a young songwriter. Jon got a laugh from the audience when he said it, and one of the times he and Richie said the same thing at the same time was when they both said, "'because you have to actually sing them!" Then they riffed on "Don't write what you can't sing" jokes.
That's it. I remember the "I write for Jon" quote clearly because I was sitting directly across from Richie, and when he turned toward the audience to say the second part, he had to turn toward me. It also happened right after a hilarious incident that was part of why my audio of the event was never posted. I didn't write about it then, but now that time has passed, I'll tell you about it in a minute.)
The meaning of that 'I write for Jon" quote was very clear and non-controversial in person, at the event. Jon was sitting right beside Richie and nodded in agreement, and Desmond Child was there and heard it, too. Desmond was sitting either directly behind me or one person over. He has a great laugh and I could hear him behind me, and I saw him as I was leaving afterward.
Desmond Child is a very outspoken guy who had his own songwriter's panel there, which I also attended. If Desmond thought Richie meant anything other than starting a song with Jon's vocal range in mind, Desmond would have said so at his own songwriting panel. He's not a guy who minces words.
Seriously, guys, you're looking for a smoking gun that isn't there. When I originally posted this piece, there was no discussion of the "I write for Jon" quote at all.
Now that time has passed and the person in question won't see this, I can tell you a funny thing that happened right before the guys said the thing about the "rickety old cassette tape recorder". It was one of the reasons why I never posted my audio for this event:
There was a guy sitting next to me in the media row, who clearly wasn't media or anyone who worked at the event, and he didn't seem to be a fan or a songwriter either. Remember, the media row is the front row, directly in Jon and Richie's sight-lines. Jon and Richie are on stage facing us, and I'm across from Richie, maybe ten to twelve feet away?
So Jon and Richie and the moderator are in the middle of the discussion, and I'm speedwriting my notes, and I've got my recorder positioned on the corner of my notepad on my lap, steadying it with my left hand as I write so the recorder will pick up what they're saying without their having to stare at it. (Media etiquette 101.)
So I'm scribbling away, and out of the corner of my eye I see the guy break out a bag of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or something that needs to be shelled. And he kicks back in his chair like he's in his livingroom. Then he pulls out a drink, which he cracks open noisily. My recorder is picking all this up, because it's right next to the guy.
Then, still kicked back, he pulls out his cell phone to call God knows who--but it becomes obvious he's trying to impress a girl when, just as Jon's in the middle of answering a really good question, the guy says in a smarmy voice, loud enough for them to hear, "Hey. Guess where I am. Yeah, I'm checking out Jon Bon Jovi..."
You can't make this stuff up. Jon paused for a microsecond to glance over (not a stinkeye) and kept going. If I had to draw a thought bubble above Jon's head it might have said something like, "WTF?" Meanwhile, I'm trying to stay focused, and I'm periodically glaring daggers at Cell Phone Guy to try to get him to shut up. And I cannot look at Jon or Richie, because I'm afraid I'll start laughing at the ridiculousness. So I got more interested in my notes.
The guy hangs up, so I think, cool, he's over it and he'll settle down with his snack now.
Um...no. He picks up my recorder from the notepad on my lap, holds it up, and says to me, in a stage whisper loud enough for Jon and Richie to hear:
"Junk!" and gestures to his own recorder, which is like a ministudio the size of a paperback book and has multiple sliders and all this crazy stuff on it.
Sidebar: There's a reason why a lot of reporters still use very simple mini recorders instead of an IPhone or whatever. Simple recorders are durable and and can take jostling around or being dropped. (Mine survived a fall onto the cement floor of an arena years ago.) More importantly, you need something with simple record buttons you can switch on without looking when you're juggling your notes or walking really fast.
And that's where we pick up with Jon and Richie, who've seen thousands of reporters' recorders.
This may be coincidence, because I'd heard them tell the story before, but there is no way they hadn't seen and heard that guy's antics... and I saw Richie get that look musicians get when they're either suddenly entertained or about to be, and I saw him glance over at Jon to get his attention.
And that is when Richie told the the story about "Who Says You Can't Go Home," their current single at the time, being written with "two guitars and a rickety old tape recorder" and Jon joined in.
:-)
7/25 ET fix a formatting error and a typo.
On Jon and Richie’s Writing process:
Richie said their songwriting process is the same as it always was: “a couple of guitars or a piano and a rickety old cassette tape recorder.” The audience laughed when he and Jon said almost at the same time, “Because we don’t know how to work anything else!”
(“Who Says You Can’t Go Home” was written at the kitchen table, with the above-mentioned rickety tape recorder.)
Richie went on: “I come from the adage that you can’t polish sh*t. If we sang ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ right here a capella, it still sounds like a good song.”
Jon and Richie’s process is to come up with the song title first, then come up with a chord progression that fits the mood of the title, then go back and do lyrics last. Said Jon: “It was never about jamming for hours and saying, ‘I like that chord’.”
Richie said when he writes, he keeps the artist who will sing it in mind, and suggests beginning songwriters do the same: “I write for Jon. Think about what artist you’re writing for, and the demographic. See where you’re gonna put it.”***
As an aside, Jon said he sometimes “regret[s] writing some of those high notes!”
Jon said sometimes they get lucky and a song “falls from the sky.” Other times, it doesn’t come so easily. Moderator Erik Philbrook asked how long they stick with writing a song when it's not happening. Jon said they're very stubborn about it because they “never want to be quitters, so even if the song will never make it to the band you try to finish it.” Then he said he'd always wondered if there's a notebook of unfinished Beatles songs, "because the Beatles were aliens from another planet." ...Jon related that he saw Paul McCartney at an event, and he told Sir Paul this--including calling the Beatles “aliens from another planet.” ("It was after a few glasses of wine," said Jon sheepishly.) Jon said to Sir Paul, "There's gotta be a notebook!" Nope, no notebook. OK, what about a song that you struggled with? Sir Paul thought and thought and finally said, "Oh! Yes, there was one! Finally I said, ‘Let's just say 'Beep beep beep beep yeah' and move on."
On Collaborating with other songwriters:
Jon said when he and Richie write together, the strength of their collaboration means “One plus one equals three.” And that adding another collaborator makes it grow even more.
Richie said one of the keys to successful collaborating is to “find the right people who are going to commit” and that it’s about always “working on relationships.”
On the collaborative process in Nashville, Jon said there’s very little ego involved there: “The process of songwriting there is like Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
Asked what producer-songwriter John Shanks brought to the table when they worked with him, Jon quipped: “A.D.D.! Shanks isn’t here because he’s running around the building.” (Richie added that John Shanks works very quickly, and that his studio set-up is complete and efficient, “like a factory. But a factory in a good way.” Jon said, “Maybe more like a mad scientist’s lab” and Richie agreed.)
Jon and Richie said “Bad Medicine,” which they wrote with Desmond Child, was written with Richie standing “in a nasty pool of water” while the band was shooting a Japanese television commercial.
On today’s music industry: Jon said Bon Jovi were fortunate in that with their first two albums they had the opportunity to grow a regional following and “form the voice of the band. The poor kids now, they come off Idol and if you don’t have a number one single out of the box? That’s it. That’s tough.”
Richie added, “Now you don’t get a second chance. The music business is cold…” (and got a huge laugh from the audience because of the face he made, and his timing when he said it).
Regarding Radio Formats and country crossovers in today’s industry, Jon said: “The big corporate entities that own the radio stations have this pigeonhole kind of mentality. And it affected the video era, and what’s happening on television, and then it ultimately takes away personality. What they’re missing there is that country people like rock and roll, and rock and roll people like country music. It’s just the people’s music, and people are affected by a lyric. Take the tag off of it and do the blindfold test and let people hear the music.” This probably got the biggest applause of the afternoon.
Asked what he thinks of downloading, Jon says, “That’s a very good question. But I couldn’t answer it without asking probably ten others that no one seems to have the answers to: How many records were actually downloaded? Did the records turn into hits because of it? If I write a song and it gets to the point where it’s on the record and I’m that proud of it, I want to share it with the world. I want you to hear it any which way you can. But do I know if ASCAP has collected royalties for every digital download? I don’t go crazy worrying about that. But I like to see people get the opportunity to get paid for the craft that they’ve worked so hard at, because it’s our job.”
Advice for songwriters: Jon: “Try to hold onto [your publishing]. Try not to take the short-term, first kind of deals that are given to struggling writers. And that’s not always easy to do. But it is called the music business for a reason.”
On whether a songwriter should move to Nashville (or another music industry center): Jon said it can be “helpful, but not a necessity. Bob Dylan was going to be Bob Dylan in Minnesota or New York.”
On the longevity of their careers: Jon said, “We’ve stayed true to who we were. We didn’t jump on fads or fashions. We’ve been around long enough to have seen the boy band cycle come and go twice…We’ve seen hip hop and grunge come and go. We never pretended to be something we weren’t. You can like it, you can dislike it. But it’s true.”
Jon also added, “The theme of our body of work has had a universal optimism. There’s faith in faith, and hope in hope.”
Asked for insight about how they stay current, Jon said, “It’s not about staying current. It’s about staying true.”
Insight into Jon’s aspirations, and what he wants to accomplish as a songwriter and artist: “I remember back in the 80’s having a conversation with a guy from a young band and saying ‘you don’t understand. Basically your aspirations are to be on the cover of Circus [a popular rock magazine at the time]. Mine are to be on the cover of Time.”
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
------------
***7/24/14: Due to Richie Sambora's no-show /departure from the 2013 Bon Jovi tour and subsequent interviews in which he appeared to express anger for the resulting consequences, some Richie Sambora supporters have tried to turn a sentence from one paragraph of this ASCAP Report into Richie talking about being a hired gun songwriter for Jon.
I'll be blunt:
That's asinine. ASCAP's "I Create Music Expo" is a songwriter's event. Jon and Richie were there to discuss their writing process, in depth, and members of the media were there in the front row.
I was in the room, sitting in that front row, directly across from Richie when he said it. The people who are trying to create dirt out of my ASCAP report were not there. I know who was in the media row with me. The people who are making this stuff up never seem to remember the "I Create Music Expo" Jon and Richie were at was in Los Angeles (specifically, Hollywood), and that being local, I know who was there.I can assure you, that is not what Richie was saying. And they're doing Jon, Richie, and Desmond Child--who happened to be sitting behind me when Richie said it--a major disservice with that misinterpretation.
When Richie referred to writing for Jon's vocal range when he said "I write for Jon" they'd been talking about how, as writers, it's important for them to go away from each other and then come back to the writing table with fresh ideas and new material, and how sometimes they arrive with songs they'd started individually.
I'd need to get the recording out of a safety deposit box to quote the moderator's exact question, but I'm one of those people with an annoyingly photographic memory for details, so here's what I can tell you:
The moderator wanted to know how, as writers, Jon and Richie determine which will be solo material and which material will be brought together for further collaboration as a band. Richie replied that it's really easy for him, because as soon as he sits down to write, he thinks of who will be singing it. Richie was speaking specifically about writing for Jon's vocal range when he said, "i write for Jon" and then he turned toward the audience of songwriters and gave them the advice about thinking about the artist who will sing it and the demographic.
Jon nodded as if to say, "Yeah, me too" to what Richie said, and that's when Jon added the part about regretting "writing so many high notes" as a young songwriter. Jon got a laugh from the audience when he said it, and one of the times he and Richie said the same thing at the same time was when they both said, "'because you have to actually sing them!" Then they riffed on "Don't write what you can't sing" jokes.
That's it. I remember the "I write for Jon" quote clearly because I was sitting directly across from Richie, and when he turned toward the audience to say the second part, he had to turn toward me. It also happened right after a hilarious incident that was part of why my audio of the event was never posted. I didn't write about it then, but now that time has passed, I'll tell you about it in a minute.)
The meaning of that 'I write for Jon" quote was very clear and non-controversial in person, at the event. Jon was sitting right beside Richie and nodded in agreement, and Desmond Child was there and heard it, too. Desmond was sitting either directly behind me or one person over. He has a great laugh and I could hear him behind me, and I saw him as I was leaving afterward.
Desmond Child is a very outspoken guy who had his own songwriter's panel there, which I also attended. If Desmond thought Richie meant anything other than starting a song with Jon's vocal range in mind, Desmond would have said so at his own songwriting panel. He's not a guy who minces words.
Seriously, guys, you're looking for a smoking gun that isn't there. When I originally posted this piece, there was no discussion of the "I write for Jon" quote at all.
Now that time has passed and the person in question won't see this, I can tell you a funny thing that happened right before the guys said the thing about the "rickety old cassette tape recorder". It was one of the reasons why I never posted my audio for this event:
There was a guy sitting next to me in the media row, who clearly wasn't media or anyone who worked at the event, and he didn't seem to be a fan or a songwriter either. Remember, the media row is the front row, directly in Jon and Richie's sight-lines. Jon and Richie are on stage facing us, and I'm across from Richie, maybe ten to twelve feet away?
So Jon and Richie and the moderator are in the middle of the discussion, and I'm speedwriting my notes, and I've got my recorder positioned on the corner of my notepad on my lap, steadying it with my left hand as I write so the recorder will pick up what they're saying without their having to stare at it. (Media etiquette 101.)
So I'm scribbling away, and out of the corner of my eye I see the guy break out a bag of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or something that needs to be shelled. And he kicks back in his chair like he's in his livingroom. Then he pulls out a drink, which he cracks open noisily. My recorder is picking all this up, because it's right next to the guy.
Then, still kicked back, he pulls out his cell phone to call God knows who--but it becomes obvious he's trying to impress a girl when, just as Jon's in the middle of answering a really good question, the guy says in a smarmy voice, loud enough for them to hear, "Hey. Guess where I am. Yeah, I'm checking out Jon Bon Jovi..."
You can't make this stuff up. Jon paused for a microsecond to glance over (not a stinkeye) and kept going. If I had to draw a thought bubble above Jon's head it might have said something like, "WTF?" Meanwhile, I'm trying to stay focused, and I'm periodically glaring daggers at Cell Phone Guy to try to get him to shut up. And I cannot look at Jon or Richie, because I'm afraid I'll start laughing at the ridiculousness. So I got more interested in my notes.
The guy hangs up, so I think, cool, he's over it and he'll settle down with his snack now.
Um...no. He picks up my recorder from the notepad on my lap, holds it up, and says to me, in a stage whisper loud enough for Jon and Richie to hear:
"Junk!" and gestures to his own recorder, which is like a ministudio the size of a paperback book and has multiple sliders and all this crazy stuff on it.
Sidebar: There's a reason why a lot of reporters still use very simple mini recorders instead of an IPhone or whatever. Simple recorders are durable and and can take jostling around or being dropped. (Mine survived a fall onto the cement floor of an arena years ago.) More importantly, you need something with simple record buttons you can switch on without looking when you're juggling your notes or walking really fast.
And that's where we pick up with Jon and Richie, who've seen thousands of reporters' recorders.
This may be coincidence, because I'd heard them tell the story before, but there is no way they hadn't seen and heard that guy's antics... and I saw Richie get that look musicians get when they're either suddenly entertained or about to be, and I saw him glance over at Jon to get his attention.
And that is when Richie told the the story about "Who Says You Can't Go Home," their current single at the time, being written with "two guitars and a rickety old tape recorder" and Jon joined in.
:-)
7/25 ET fix a formatting error and a typo.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Poor Man's Copyright Myth
I've written about this before, but we're getting a new batch of questions/arguments about it, so it bears writing again:
If I could set just one music industry myth straight in my lifetime, it's the myth of Poor Man's Copyright (mailing or emailing yourself a copy of your work). Unfortunately, it's something that many musicians, even famous ones, believe. (But famous musicians don't administer their own copyrights; they hire someone to do it for them. So they get a partial pass. :) )
As we have said many times on the MusicBizAdvice.com website (see the Q&A's, and the opening page of MusicBizAdvice.com, center column)...
Despite what you may have heard, been told by musician friends, or even read elsewhere on the Internet, a Poor Man's Copyright is not valid in a court of law. Not even if it's timestamped, wrapped in plastic, hermetically sealed, and buried in a safe for a decade.
The Court's position is, if your copyright was important to you, you'd go through the formal registration process to protect it. Thus, if you have not registered your copyright through the U.S. Library of Congress Copyright Office and someone steals your song, you cannot sue for infringement, because the Court will not hear the case. Not ever, no exceptions, nada, nyet.
Please trust me on this. I'm not an attorney, don't work for the Copyright office, and have nothing to gain by lying to you.
But I have had a lot of clients whose past copyright ownership messes cost a lot of $$$ in legal fees to be straightened out because they believed the myth of Poor Man's Copyright. So don't let it happen to you!
Feel free to pass this along, spread the word, shout it out, yell it from the rooftops if you like. (They'll probably argue with you. But it's the truth.)
Thanks for reading!
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
If I could set just one music industry myth straight in my lifetime, it's the myth of Poor Man's Copyright (mailing or emailing yourself a copy of your work). Unfortunately, it's something that many musicians, even famous ones, believe. (But famous musicians don't administer their own copyrights; they hire someone to do it for them. So they get a partial pass. :) )
As we have said many times on the MusicBizAdvice.com website (see the Q&A's, and the opening page of MusicBizAdvice.com, center column)...
Despite what you may have heard, been told by musician friends, or even read elsewhere on the Internet, a Poor Man's Copyright is not valid in a court of law. Not even if it's timestamped, wrapped in plastic, hermetically sealed, and buried in a safe for a decade.
The Court's position is, if your copyright was important to you, you'd go through the formal registration process to protect it. Thus, if you have not registered your copyright through the U.S. Library of Congress Copyright Office and someone steals your song, you cannot sue for infringement, because the Court will not hear the case. Not ever, no exceptions, nada, nyet.
Please trust me on this. I'm not an attorney, don't work for the Copyright office, and have nothing to gain by lying to you.
But I have had a lot of clients whose past copyright ownership messes cost a lot of $$$ in legal fees to be straightened out because they believed the myth of Poor Man's Copyright. So don't let it happen to you!
Feel free to pass this along, spread the word, shout it out, yell it from the rooftops if you like. (They'll probably argue with you. But it's the truth.)
Thanks for reading!
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Sanjaya Effect, & What the Media Isn’t Telling You: What Happens if Sanjaya Malakar Wins American Idol? (And Do Howard Stern & the Saboteurs Win?
Warning: For those who don’t know, I have two interchangeable uniforms: the jeans and tennis shoes of a former musician-songwriter, and the suit of an agent-manager-business person who’s worked with enough non-artistic business guys to know how they think when they’re wearing their suits. This entry gets into the head of someone in a very tight suit and does not reflect my musical sensibility… nor my artist development philosophy.
Over the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of media buzz about what happens if Sanjaya Malakar wins American Idol Season 6. For those of you who’ve been in temporarily stranded on a deserted island, Sanjaya Malakar is a 2007 American Idol contestant with teen idol looks and charisma, but with a voice that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. DJ Howard Stern and several American Idol-hating websites are encouraging people to vote for the least talented contestant. (More backstory on Stern angle.)
Currently, though American Idol producers insist otherwise, it’s contributing to Sanjaya’s continued stay in the competition…as singers with better voices get booted off.
“So if he wins, what happens?” the media asks in a panic. “Will it take down American Idol?” “They have to give the winner a recording contract, right?”First off, Sanjaya is unlikely to win, because the producers probably have backup plans to prevent such things. To borrow an oft-used phrase from Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, this isn’t their first barbeque.Secondly, although I haven’t seen the American Idol contract, the recording contract is probably a “first look” deal rather than a binding recording agreement. (A first look deal means the label has “first dibbs” on the artist and can then sign or pass the artist at their discretion.)
But, just for fun, let’s say Sanjaya actually does win the competition, and that the recording contract is a binding recording agreement. Here’s what will likely happen:
Nothing.
What the media isn’t telling you is, a recording contract is simply that: a recording contract. A recording contract in no way, shape or form implies that a record label ever has to release a CD it deems unacceptable. At the label’s discretion, a whole project can be scrapped and written off as tax deduction.
In other words, if Sanjaya wins and has a binding recording agreement, they’ll weigh the costs of releasing his solo CD vs. taking a tax deduction…a situation nearly every major label artist finds himself in at some point.
Should the American Idol artist development team decide to go for the CD, a decent vocal is easier to get than ever, thanks to Pro-Tools technology. And, like it or not, Sanjaya does have a cult following of tweens, because he’s “cute.” So speaking from a financial standpoint, the AI team could do OK by making a low budget CD, selling them mainly via download instead of hard CDs, and focusing on Tween-oriented merchandising, personal appearances, and acting...Which is essentially what occurred in the 1970’s with the recording careers of Tiger Beat teen idols like Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Tony DeFranco, Scott Baio, and Kristy and Jimmy McNichol. (Thanks to regular appearances in Tiger Beat magazine and his starring role in a popular TV show, Shaun Cassidy was actually a major concert draw with a string of sold-out arena shows.)
My hunch is, if Sanjaya wins, financially, the American Idol artist development arm actually comes out better than if he doesn’t win, because in their eyes, they’ll have the best of both worlds: a musically credible artist with a non-fickle demographic (in the form of one of the stronger-voiced contestants, a la 2006’s Chris Daughtry), plus, in the form of Sanjaya, a manufactured teen idol with the preferred tween demographic and all its inherent merchandising possibilities. (Young girls buy their idols’ stuff).
Musical sensibilities aside, these two musical entities have co-existed in the industry since the late 1950’s. As a microcosm of the music industry (or as a mini music industry unto itself, for that matter), why would American Idol be any different?
Regardless, the American Idol show will be fine. From a publicity standpoint, the Sanjaya Effect is probably a good thing for Idol: after several years of success, every fan base tapers off and needs new blood, and the media attention is bringing a new crop of viewers to the show (via curious former non-Idol watchers tuning in to see if “that Sanjaya kid” is really that bad after all).
And, I’m guessing that new rules and voting procedures for next year are probably being drawn up as we speak.
In effect, from American Idol’s point of view, financially the Howard Stern / Internet Sanjaya Sabotage Plot may actually turn out to be the best thing that could have happened in several seasons. Now wouldn’t that tick Howard off?
Copyright 2007 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Over the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of media buzz about what happens if Sanjaya Malakar wins American Idol Season 6. For those of you who’ve been in temporarily stranded on a deserted island, Sanjaya Malakar is a 2007 American Idol contestant with teen idol looks and charisma, but with a voice that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. DJ Howard Stern and several American Idol-hating websites are encouraging people to vote for the least talented contestant. (More backstory on Stern angle.)
Currently, though American Idol producers insist otherwise, it’s contributing to Sanjaya’s continued stay in the competition…as singers with better voices get booted off.
“So if he wins, what happens?” the media asks in a panic. “Will it take down American Idol?” “They have to give the winner a recording contract, right?”First off, Sanjaya is unlikely to win, because the producers probably have backup plans to prevent such things. To borrow an oft-used phrase from Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, this isn’t their first barbeque.Secondly, although I haven’t seen the American Idol contract, the recording contract is probably a “first look” deal rather than a binding recording agreement. (A first look deal means the label has “first dibbs” on the artist and can then sign or pass the artist at their discretion.)
But, just for fun, let’s say Sanjaya actually does win the competition, and that the recording contract is a binding recording agreement. Here’s what will likely happen:
Nothing.
What the media isn’t telling you is, a recording contract is simply that: a recording contract. A recording contract in no way, shape or form implies that a record label ever has to release a CD it deems unacceptable. At the label’s discretion, a whole project can be scrapped and written off as tax deduction.
In other words, if Sanjaya wins and has a binding recording agreement, they’ll weigh the costs of releasing his solo CD vs. taking a tax deduction…a situation nearly every major label artist finds himself in at some point.
Should the American Idol artist development team decide to go for the CD, a decent vocal is easier to get than ever, thanks to Pro-Tools technology. And, like it or not, Sanjaya does have a cult following of tweens, because he’s “cute.” So speaking from a financial standpoint, the AI team could do OK by making a low budget CD, selling them mainly via download instead of hard CDs, and focusing on Tween-oriented merchandising, personal appearances, and acting...Which is essentially what occurred in the 1970’s with the recording careers of Tiger Beat teen idols like Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Tony DeFranco, Scott Baio, and Kristy and Jimmy McNichol. (Thanks to regular appearances in Tiger Beat magazine and his starring role in a popular TV show, Shaun Cassidy was actually a major concert draw with a string of sold-out arena shows.)
My hunch is, if Sanjaya wins, financially, the American Idol artist development arm actually comes out better than if he doesn’t win, because in their eyes, they’ll have the best of both worlds: a musically credible artist with a non-fickle demographic (in the form of one of the stronger-voiced contestants, a la 2006’s Chris Daughtry), plus, in the form of Sanjaya, a manufactured teen idol with the preferred tween demographic and all its inherent merchandising possibilities. (Young girls buy their idols’ stuff).
Musical sensibilities aside, these two musical entities have co-existed in the industry since the late 1950’s. As a microcosm of the music industry (or as a mini music industry unto itself, for that matter), why would American Idol be any different?
Regardless, the American Idol show will be fine. From a publicity standpoint, the Sanjaya Effect is probably a good thing for Idol: after several years of success, every fan base tapers off and needs new blood, and the media attention is bringing a new crop of viewers to the show (via curious former non-Idol watchers tuning in to see if “that Sanjaya kid” is really that bad after all).
And, I’m guessing that new rules and voting procedures for next year are probably being drawn up as we speak.
In effect, from American Idol’s point of view, financially the Howard Stern / Internet Sanjaya Sabotage Plot may actually turn out to be the best thing that could have happened in several seasons. Now wouldn’t that tick Howard off?
Copyright 2007 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Did Hollywood Kill Anna Nicole Smith?
While the definitive cause of Anna Nicole Smith’s death probably won’t be in for weeks, regardless of the autopsy result, anyone who saw her recent interviews on Entertainment Tonight could see she was obviously impaired by substance abuse. (When someone’s eyes are going in two different directions…) So, I’d like to talk about the addicted celebrity client.
Did Hollywood kill Anna Nicole Smith? Speaking as someone who grew up around chemical addiction in a small-town, non-showbiz family, I really don’t think so. I think the addiction gene or addictive personality (whatever your belief happens to be about the root cause) is either there, or it isn’t.
But, also speaking as someone who’s been in the role of agent, artist manager, and prior to that, as personal assistant, do I think Hollywood contributed to the death of Anna Nicole Smith? Absolutely.
When you have people making money from whatever the celebrity’s status quo is at a given moment, someone in the mix will have an interest in keeping the celebrity in that money-making status quo…Even at the risk of a self-destructive celebrity. (The same status-quo dynamic happens in non-showbiz families too, by the way, but because the motivation is usually more about fear of change than about big money, it’s less overt and is more subconscious.)
It comes down to the kind of people the celebrity surrounds him or herself with. If a celebrity with an addictive personality (or the addiction gene) is surrounded by “yes” people who tell them what they want to hear, that celebrity is going to be in trouble.
I’ve heard some managers and agents say, “It’s none of my business.”
I disagree. It is their business, and getting help for a troubled client is part of being a good manager or agent.
If you work in the industry long enough, you see first-hand that creativity is often borne of pain, and that many clients had troubled childhoods or estranged family relationships and seek fame as a way to fill a void. So to make money off that client and then ignore their need for professional help when that pain gets out of hand is not only irresponsible, it’s inexcusable.
If you have signing privileges (i.e., power of attorney) and can sign your clients’ name on contracts, it’s your business. If you travel in the immediate vicinity with your client (reports say at least 6 people were staying at the hotel with Anna Nicole Smith) or are privy to the details of your clients’ day to day life, it’s your business. If you have keys to your clients’ home, it’s not only your business, you have no excuse not to get them off to rehab ASAP. More than once if necessary.
(And I’m talking hard-core, real-deal rehab like-Betty Ford or Hazelton…not Rehab Lite.)
I’ve heard a lot of people comparing Anna Nicole’s death to that of Marilyn Monroe. I disagree with that as well. Marilyn died in 1962, pre-Betty Ford Center, when very little was known about addiction or even about the addictive nature of some of the prescription medications she was taking.
This is 2007, and we all know better.
Meanwhile, the headlines surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith are getting stranger by the minute…The latest, courtesy of MSNBC, is that Zsa Zsa Gabor’s 9th and current husband, Prince Frédéric von Anhalt, says he could be the baby’s father. And it gets even more bizarre: In his press conference today, Prince Frederic (who allegedly essentially bought his title) said Anna Nicole told him she’d always wanted to be a princess, so he’d tried to make that happen for her by attempting to adopt Anna Nicole. But, Prince Frederic said, Zsa Zsa wouldn’t sign the adoption papers. (I kid you not, folks. I saw him say this in the press conference with my own eyes.)
That all these people are coming out of the woodwork with press conferences after her death just proves my point: Anna Nicole needed someone to protect her. If not a good family, then at the least, by very good management…
Very good management does exist, by the way. But unfortunately it doesn’t usually make for very interesting headlines.
Copyright 2007 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Did Hollywood kill Anna Nicole Smith? Speaking as someone who grew up around chemical addiction in a small-town, non-showbiz family, I really don’t think so. I think the addiction gene or addictive personality (whatever your belief happens to be about the root cause) is either there, or it isn’t.
But, also speaking as someone who’s been in the role of agent, artist manager, and prior to that, as personal assistant, do I think Hollywood contributed to the death of Anna Nicole Smith? Absolutely.
When you have people making money from whatever the celebrity’s status quo is at a given moment, someone in the mix will have an interest in keeping the celebrity in that money-making status quo…Even at the risk of a self-destructive celebrity. (The same status-quo dynamic happens in non-showbiz families too, by the way, but because the motivation is usually more about fear of change than about big money, it’s less overt and is more subconscious.)
It comes down to the kind of people the celebrity surrounds him or herself with. If a celebrity with an addictive personality (or the addiction gene) is surrounded by “yes” people who tell them what they want to hear, that celebrity is going to be in trouble.
I’ve heard some managers and agents say, “It’s none of my business.”
I disagree. It is their business, and getting help for a troubled client is part of being a good manager or agent.
If you work in the industry long enough, you see first-hand that creativity is often borne of pain, and that many clients had troubled childhoods or estranged family relationships and seek fame as a way to fill a void. So to make money off that client and then ignore their need for professional help when that pain gets out of hand is not only irresponsible, it’s inexcusable.
If you have signing privileges (i.e., power of attorney) and can sign your clients’ name on contracts, it’s your business. If you travel in the immediate vicinity with your client (reports say at least 6 people were staying at the hotel with Anna Nicole Smith) or are privy to the details of your clients’ day to day life, it’s your business. If you have keys to your clients’ home, it’s not only your business, you have no excuse not to get them off to rehab ASAP. More than once if necessary.
(And I’m talking hard-core, real-deal rehab like-Betty Ford or Hazelton…not Rehab Lite.)
I’ve heard a lot of people comparing Anna Nicole’s death to that of Marilyn Monroe. I disagree with that as well. Marilyn died in 1962, pre-Betty Ford Center, when very little was known about addiction or even about the addictive nature of some of the prescription medications she was taking.
This is 2007, and we all know better.
Meanwhile, the headlines surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith are getting stranger by the minute…The latest, courtesy of MSNBC, is that Zsa Zsa Gabor’s 9th and current husband, Prince Frédéric von Anhalt, says he could be the baby’s father. And it gets even more bizarre: In his press conference today, Prince Frederic (who allegedly essentially bought his title) said Anna Nicole told him she’d always wanted to be a princess, so he’d tried to make that happen for her by attempting to adopt Anna Nicole. But, Prince Frederic said, Zsa Zsa wouldn’t sign the adoption papers. (I kid you not, folks. I saw him say this in the press conference with my own eyes.)
That all these people are coming out of the woodwork with press conferences after her death just proves my point: Anna Nicole needed someone to protect her. If not a good family, then at the least, by very good management…
Very good management does exist, by the way. But unfortunately it doesn’t usually make for very interesting headlines.
Copyright 2007 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Letter from MusicBizAdvice.com Editor in Chief
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Hi Everyone,
You may have noticed that recently when it comes to site updates, our main site, MusicBizAdvice.com, has not been as active as we usually are.
Because I value you as readers and as people, I want to tell you why. Some of my advisors would prefer I tell you a story about having to go out of town on behalf of a client or something. But MusicBizAdvice.com is a private company (mine) with no outside stockholders to keep happy, and you deserve the truth.
First off, rest assured, we’re not going anywhere. As many of you know, for over ten years I’ve battled the illness CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, sometimes called CFS). I won’t go into a rundown of symptoms, (you can read more in my CFIDS Q&A), but Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers have it, too, and Cher and Stevie Nicks have battled similar illnesses. (CFIDS is in a category of illnesses known as autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Grave’s Disease, Epstein-Barr, and chronic Lyme Disease are other diseases in this category.)
As often happens with immune system diseases, recently the CFIDS Monster had enough of my working around it and decided to raise its ugly head and get noticed by intensifying the symptoms I’ve become accustomed to (and throwing in a few I hadn’t had for many years).
One symptom, something I call “CFIDS dyslexia” for lack of a better term, makes it difficult to write. It’s been years since I last experienced this, and I hope you’ll bear with us during the longer period it takes to post new material while we regroup over the next several weeks, rally the staff, and give my new vitamin regimen a chance to do its thing. Meanwhile, there will be new material trickling in, so check back.
But, I reiterate: we’re not going anywhere. And the CFIDS Monster, colossal pain in the a** it may be, will not win. After all, there’s always an upside: on a bad day my number comprehension is off too, so having me order lunch is good comedy. Maybe we can get Vegas involved and have people take bets on where each day’s delivery ends up? Just kidding.
As you can see, my sense of humor is in perfect health. …Comes in handy in the music business, as well as for putting the CFIDS Monster in its place. Thanks, as always, for reading MusicBizAdvice.com. (Thanks too, to JH and DW for their assistance in writing this.) And never, never, stop working toward making your dreams come true.
Randi Reed Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
http://www.musicbizadvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Hi Everyone,
You may have noticed that recently when it comes to site updates, our main site, MusicBizAdvice.com, has not been as active as we usually are.
Because I value you as readers and as people, I want to tell you why. Some of my advisors would prefer I tell you a story about having to go out of town on behalf of a client or something. But MusicBizAdvice.com is a private company (mine) with no outside stockholders to keep happy, and you deserve the truth.
First off, rest assured, we’re not going anywhere. As many of you know, for over ten years I’ve battled the illness CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, sometimes called CFS). I won’t go into a rundown of symptoms, (you can read more in my CFIDS Q&A), but Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers have it, too, and Cher and Stevie Nicks have battled similar illnesses. (CFIDS is in a category of illnesses known as autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Grave’s Disease, Epstein-Barr, and chronic Lyme Disease are other diseases in this category.)
As often happens with immune system diseases, recently the CFIDS Monster had enough of my working around it and decided to raise its ugly head and get noticed by intensifying the symptoms I’ve become accustomed to (and throwing in a few I hadn’t had for many years).
One symptom, something I call “CFIDS dyslexia” for lack of a better term, makes it difficult to write. It’s been years since I last experienced this, and I hope you’ll bear with us during the longer period it takes to post new material while we regroup over the next several weeks, rally the staff, and give my new vitamin regimen a chance to do its thing. Meanwhile, there will be new material trickling in, so check back.
But, I reiterate: we’re not going anywhere. And the CFIDS Monster, colossal pain in the a** it may be, will not win. After all, there’s always an upside: on a bad day my number comprehension is off too, so having me order lunch is good comedy. Maybe we can get Vegas involved and have people take bets on where each day’s delivery ends up? Just kidding.
As you can see, my sense of humor is in perfect health. …Comes in handy in the music business, as well as for putting the CFIDS Monster in its place. Thanks, as always, for reading MusicBizAdvice.com. (Thanks too, to JH and DW for their assistance in writing this.) And never, never, stop working toward making your dreams come true.
Randi Reed Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
http://www.musicbizadvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
New Orleans, the French Quarter, Good Writing Voodoo, and a Hell of a Baked Potato
Greetings,
In honor of what happened a year ago this week, I want tell you about New Orleans.
More specifically, I want to tell you about the effect New Orleans had on my writing.
I came to love New Orleans on a cross country trek from California to Florida in 1992. As they say in all the clichés, it got into my blood and never left, and as a writer, I’ve never been more inspired than during a 2 day period I spent in the French Quarter in August 1992. When we arrived at our destination in FL, what I really longed to do was lock myself away somewhere and write, because ideas kept coming in like never before. We were pressed for time, so I journalled every chance I got…which can be obnoxious to ones’ non-writing travel companions, but I got some pretty good stuff out of it. The feeling lasted for months.
As happens to many people who’ve been inspired there, the stuff I wrote in those ensuing months had a dark, steamy vibe that managed to weave itself through the material without my intending it to be there. I wrote a lot by candlelight (which I’d never done before) and had a newfound understanding of where Anne Rice was coming from (literally). The guy I was going out with wondered what was up. (“Good voodoo” said I.)
The French Quarter, if you’ve never been, heightens your senses like a drug. Take a walk in the daytime, and your eyes are taken by the architecture and antiques, punctuated here and there by Dixieland jazz bands dressed in traditional costumes. Go out before the sun starts to set, and delicious smells fill the air as the restaurants prepare for the dinner hour: a whiff of gumbo in one block. A few doors down, something else. Turn the corner, and it’s the scent of freshly baked bread. Next block, something sweet and buttery coupled with the scent of brewing coffee; must be dessert. Meanwhile, you pass musicians heading out for their gigs, and occasionally hear a faint sound of someone rehearsing or tuning up.
By the time you’ve had a long dinner with friends and maybe a romantic walk along the river, the party’s starting on Bourbon Street, and the music’s in full swing. And the block you were on when you took your walk in the daytime is a whole other place, as if you’ve suddenly stepped into the middle of a circus (barkers and all).
And in the summer, it’s all wrapped up together like a present tied with a big, steamy bow.
The French Quarter isn’t a place you go; it’s a place you feel. And although it’s a little different now, it will come back. It just needs a little help from those who remember.
Go to NOLA, and write!
Meanwhile, as a remembrance of my favorite oyster bar, in our Starving Musician column I’ve posted my version of an incredible smothered baked potato I ate there in 1992.
Go for your dreams!
RR
Randi Reed, Editor in Chief / Founder, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
In honor of what happened a year ago this week, I want tell you about New Orleans.
More specifically, I want to tell you about the effect New Orleans had on my writing.
I came to love New Orleans on a cross country trek from California to Florida in 1992. As they say in all the clichés, it got into my blood and never left, and as a writer, I’ve never been more inspired than during a 2 day period I spent in the French Quarter in August 1992. When we arrived at our destination in FL, what I really longed to do was lock myself away somewhere and write, because ideas kept coming in like never before. We were pressed for time, so I journalled every chance I got…which can be obnoxious to ones’ non-writing travel companions, but I got some pretty good stuff out of it. The feeling lasted for months.
As happens to many people who’ve been inspired there, the stuff I wrote in those ensuing months had a dark, steamy vibe that managed to weave itself through the material without my intending it to be there. I wrote a lot by candlelight (which I’d never done before) and had a newfound understanding of where Anne Rice was coming from (literally). The guy I was going out with wondered what was up. (“Good voodoo” said I.)
The French Quarter, if you’ve never been, heightens your senses like a drug. Take a walk in the daytime, and your eyes are taken by the architecture and antiques, punctuated here and there by Dixieland jazz bands dressed in traditional costumes. Go out before the sun starts to set, and delicious smells fill the air as the restaurants prepare for the dinner hour: a whiff of gumbo in one block. A few doors down, something else. Turn the corner, and it’s the scent of freshly baked bread. Next block, something sweet and buttery coupled with the scent of brewing coffee; must be dessert. Meanwhile, you pass musicians heading out for their gigs, and occasionally hear a faint sound of someone rehearsing or tuning up.
By the time you’ve had a long dinner with friends and maybe a romantic walk along the river, the party’s starting on Bourbon Street, and the music’s in full swing. And the block you were on when you took your walk in the daytime is a whole other place, as if you’ve suddenly stepped into the middle of a circus (barkers and all).
And in the summer, it’s all wrapped up together like a present tied with a big, steamy bow.
The French Quarter isn’t a place you go; it’s a place you feel. And although it’s a little different now, it will come back. It just needs a little help from those who remember.
Go to NOLA, and write!
Meanwhile, as a remembrance of my favorite oyster bar, in our Starving Musician column I’ve posted my version of an incredible smothered baked potato I ate there in 1992.
Go for your dreams!
RR
Randi Reed, Editor in Chief / Founder, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Problem 10,001 with the Music Industry, and Business in General
Hi Readers (and Writers, and Performers, and Assorted Friends and Relatives),
I’m writing an article for MusicBizAdvice.com and needed a break, because frankly it’s making my head hurt. That tells me it’s time for a new approach to the article, which means I’ll be scrapping the whole thing and starting all over after 3 hours’ work on it. (Which really blows, because it’s not like effective online writing bears any resemblance to what I consider great writing. It’s not meant to.)
But, if it makes my head hurt to explain something I can usually rattle off information about without a second thought, I can imagine how it would be for someone who may not have ever seen the information before. So I’d damn well better try again…
Which brings me to Problem 10,001 about the Music Industry (and Business in general): we rarely take the time to understand why we do certain things the way we do…from marketing methods, to overall business strategy.
For years, the M.O. of the music industry (and corporate America in general) has been, “Because we’ve been doing it this way for years.” Or, worse yet, “Because we said so.” Which doesn’t work, because you can’t effectively apply or reject a business method without a basic understanding of why. It’s also impossible to create a new business model without understanding why a certain methodology has been in place.
(I could probably take it even further and say something about how not understanding the “why”‘s doesn’t work in politics, either, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.)
The most successful people in business—particularly entrepreneurs--usually do ask “why” (or “why not?”) and try to understand the answers. Russell Simmons, Madonna, Jon Bon Jovi, P. Diddy, Donald Trump, David Letterman, and Hugh Hefner are examples of people who asked the questions, applied what works, and then created new methodologies for what doesn’t.
Back to my article (the goal of which is to help clarify some of the “why”’s)…Well, OK, maybe after dinner--takeout from California Chicken Café, which just arrived--and a little dark chocolate, which always brings clarity.
Have a great weekend,
RR
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
P.S. My last blog has now been fixed and reposted. It appeared correctly when I first posted it, then at some point afterward was either hacked by someone or edited by Blogger. There was absolutely nothing in it that was a violation, so let's hope it was an idiot and not the fine people of Blogger. Either way, it sucks. This is America, people.
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
I’m writing an article for MusicBizAdvice.com and needed a break, because frankly it’s making my head hurt. That tells me it’s time for a new approach to the article, which means I’ll be scrapping the whole thing and starting all over after 3 hours’ work on it. (Which really blows, because it’s not like effective online writing bears any resemblance to what I consider great writing. It’s not meant to.)
But, if it makes my head hurt to explain something I can usually rattle off information about without a second thought, I can imagine how it would be for someone who may not have ever seen the information before. So I’d damn well better try again…
Which brings me to Problem 10,001 about the Music Industry (and Business in general): we rarely take the time to understand why we do certain things the way we do…from marketing methods, to overall business strategy.
For years, the M.O. of the music industry (and corporate America in general) has been, “Because we’ve been doing it this way for years.” Or, worse yet, “Because we said so.” Which doesn’t work, because you can’t effectively apply or reject a business method without a basic understanding of why. It’s also impossible to create a new business model without understanding why a certain methodology has been in place.
(I could probably take it even further and say something about how not understanding the “why”‘s doesn’t work in politics, either, but I’ll leave that for you to decide.)
The most successful people in business—particularly entrepreneurs--usually do ask “why” (or “why not?”) and try to understand the answers. Russell Simmons, Madonna, Jon Bon Jovi, P. Diddy, Donald Trump, David Letterman, and Hugh Hefner are examples of people who asked the questions, applied what works, and then created new methodologies for what doesn’t.
Back to my article (the goal of which is to help clarify some of the “why”’s)…Well, OK, maybe after dinner--takeout from California Chicken Café, which just arrived--and a little dark chocolate, which always brings clarity.
Have a great weekend,
RR
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
P.S. My last blog has now been fixed and reposted. It appeared correctly when I first posted it, then at some point afterward was either hacked by someone or edited by Blogger. There was absolutely nothing in it that was a violation, so let's hope it was an idiot and not the fine people of Blogger. Either way, it sucks. This is America, people.
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Music Biz Savvy: If you're an indie artist, local band, or new National act who plays live shows…
Greetings from Los Angeles,
I wrote this on My Space a while back, but as my brain cells fail to come up with anything witty to say on this busy afternoon, thought I'd post this here to give even more people the heads up...
Lately I've been noticing a scary trend that affects indie and agentless artists who play a lot of live shows:
Young promoters who've managed to get hold of large sums of money to produce shows, but who don't know the basics of live performance contracts.
I see this trend growing, because lately MusicBizAdvice.com has been flooded with very basic questions from young concert promoters who have funding.
I find this troubling, because if someone doesn't know the basics of a live performance contract, it's highly likely they also don't know about local ordinances, OSHA regulations, event insurance, union rules, music licensing for live venues, or any of the ten million other details that go into putting on a safe, successful show.
There's a strong probability artists who work with them will get screwed over (from inexperience more than malice in this case). Or worse yet, the artist will be named in a lawsuit in the event of an accident--simply from the buyer not knowing what they're doing, and the artist getting tangled in the fallout.
So...If you're an artist who plays out a lot, know who the A-level and B-level talent buyers are in the cities where you play regularly, as well as for the cities where you want to branch out.
If an opportunity comes from a promoter you don't know, check them out. Find out what shows they've done in the past, and talk with some of the artists who were on the bill (better yet, their managers or tour managers)...Especially those at your level of your experience in the industry, and one level above.
A few things to ask...
Did they get paid? Were there any disputes/misunderstandings with the performance agreement? Were there any problems with the show? Were they resolved quickly? How did the promoter resolve them? Did Settlement go smoothly?
Meanwhile, take the time to learn your business so you'll know how to spot a bad promoter...and will know how to handle some of the problems that inevitably come from a promoter not knowing theirs.
Live your dreams,
RR
Randi Reed, Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
I wrote this on My Space a while back, but as my brain cells fail to come up with anything witty to say on this busy afternoon, thought I'd post this here to give even more people the heads up...
Lately I've been noticing a scary trend that affects indie and agentless artists who play a lot of live shows:
Young promoters who've managed to get hold of large sums of money to produce shows, but who don't know the basics of live performance contracts.
I see this trend growing, because lately MusicBizAdvice.com has been flooded with very basic questions from young concert promoters who have funding.
I find this troubling, because if someone doesn't know the basics of a live performance contract, it's highly likely they also don't know about local ordinances, OSHA regulations, event insurance, union rules, music licensing for live venues, or any of the ten million other details that go into putting on a safe, successful show.
There's a strong probability artists who work with them will get screwed over (from inexperience more than malice in this case). Or worse yet, the artist will be named in a lawsuit in the event of an accident--simply from the buyer not knowing what they're doing, and the artist getting tangled in the fallout.
So...If you're an artist who plays out a lot, know who the A-level and B-level talent buyers are in the cities where you play regularly, as well as for the cities where you want to branch out.
If an opportunity comes from a promoter you don't know, check them out. Find out what shows they've done in the past, and talk with some of the artists who were on the bill (better yet, their managers or tour managers)...Especially those at your level of your experience in the industry, and one level above.
A few things to ask...
Did they get paid? Were there any disputes/misunderstandings with the performance agreement? Were there any problems with the show? Were they resolved quickly? How did the promoter resolve them? Did Settlement go smoothly?
Meanwhile, take the time to learn your business so you'll know how to spot a bad promoter...and will know how to handle some of the problems that inevitably come from a promoter not knowing theirs.
Live your dreams,
RR
Randi Reed, Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed and MusicBizAdvice.com. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Zen and the Art of Music Licensing Reader Mail...
While going though MusicBizAdvice.com reader mail this week I made an interesting observation: most of the questions /complaints we receive about having to pay copyright holders for the use of their music comes from Christian businesses.
You’d think it would be rabid audiophiles, or college students on a budget, right? Nope. The people who seem the most intent on finding a loophole out of it--intent enough to write to us, anyway-- are Christian businesses and organizations.
I find this amusing, because not even the sleaziest promoters and club owners I’ve met over the years have complained about paying music licensing fees. I’ve heard complaints and debates about catering, roast turkey instead of pressed turkey, brands of bottled water, the necessity of shore power, airfare, hotel, ground transportation, pizza, bars of soap, Kleenex, and even ice. But never music licensing fees.
We get a lot of mail of this type, so we must have accidentally ended up on a Christian music website or Christian music directory. (Whatever works for ya, welcome. Just don’t try to recruit me, please. I’m a spiritual person but don’t happen to believe mere mortals have the right to try to interpret spirituality for other mere mortals.)
Rock on, kids...
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed
You’d think it would be rabid audiophiles, or college students on a budget, right? Nope. The people who seem the most intent on finding a loophole out of it--intent enough to write to us, anyway-- are Christian businesses and organizations.
I find this amusing, because not even the sleaziest promoters and club owners I’ve met over the years have complained about paying music licensing fees. I’ve heard complaints and debates about catering, roast turkey instead of pressed turkey, brands of bottled water, the necessity of shore power, airfare, hotel, ground transportation, pizza, bars of soap, Kleenex, and even ice. But never music licensing fees.
We get a lot of mail of this type, so we must have accidentally ended up on a Christian music website or Christian music directory. (Whatever works for ya, welcome. Just don’t try to recruit me, please. I’m a spiritual person but don’t happen to believe mere mortals have the right to try to interpret spirituality for other mere mortals.)
Rock on, kids...
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed
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