"If you help enough musicians and create value for them, you'll succeed not just financially, but in the heart"
12/27/04
This article is a repost many of my readers want to see again and learn from on how to make money not just as a gigging musician, but serving other bands and benefiting from indie bands and labels. Basically, how to make money selling other band's CD's, promoting them and possibly managing or booking them.
Making money with your own band will limit most bands. Most bands don't make the kind of cash they deserve, and working in profitable Joint Ventures with bands, labels and agencies can be a great way to diversify and focus on one thing in music and making a good living from what you love, being a musician.
As well, making money as a musician in off the beaten path ways can challenge you and your band not just to be creative, but be sought after by bands, labels and agencies. Sounds good doesn't it?
Major labels decide whether your demo material will make it past the listening stage. In most cases it won't. Not because of any lack of ability or vision, but something that will sell big.This is why most bands should go the indie route.
For those musicians who simply hate major labels, and what A &R reps at majors think constitutes good music. Their chances of success at a major are slim to none. They know they're better off at a solid indie who's A & R staff understand their music, or starting a label of their own.
Majors, because of the growing trend toward Independent labels and artists, majors will attempt more and more to corner the indie market and "partner up" with indies basically to either take them over at the expense of the bands the label brought into the deal. Meaning, if a band doesn't sell what a major wants they are usually over looked for bands that do sell.
Artist development at the major label is usually frowned upon for obvious reasons, and a band that sells 50,000 copies one year and 40,000 the next is considered a flop. In order for Indie/Major deals to flourish, band by band deals would be more suited to an indie's structure and distribution deals which Majors are good and will have to be the norm.
The days of offering promotional and tour support, and paying for studio time in order to recoup later off a band's sales and tour income--will be curtailed--if Major labels hope to have a future or good business relationships with indie labels or artists.
The future of Major label acts:
There are more and more alternative and metal acts ending up on major's and producing gold or platinum sales figures. But with the way they run their operation's strictly from a sales aspect the talent gets watered down because they want acts that produce numbers.
There are good talent pools within major label's, they just don't know how to use them to benefit the artist and develop them as they come along.The same can be said for the people who work at a Major and get shuffled out with the people that were there when a band first came into the major fold. There are good and bad A& R consultants at this level. Bands will have to have some knowledge of the business end of major/indie deals to succeed.
Read the article on hiring a Manager to learn the ins and outs of doing deals with people who think they're your friends. Indies in the future will do deals with majors will not be content with royalties in the 10 to 20 percent range. They will want to procure the lion's share which is rightfully theirs anyway. A&R will have to understand where an artist is coming from artistically and where they want their vision to take them.
If an A&R rep at a major represents metal acts which seems to be the trend currently and does not understand the music, and just sees numbers and not the progression of the artists music, then that rep has failed in the development of that artist. That's not to say that that an A&R specialist would not do well in a different genre of music where they click with the music, and the artist which is what we ultimately would like to see.
How about you?
A& R opportunities for indie artists like you:
There will be more opportunities with small and mid level size indie labels as A&R reps, and in artist relations for people who understand the music and not just the numbers. But for those who are go getters and choose to start their own labels and keep their grassroots following, finding their own niche and working with the bands to develop their music, not just a following.
Craig Aaronson Sr.Vice President of A& R at Warner Bros. said in an interview with Taxi the A& R specialist said A& R at Majors in the future would be used more in actually signing bands and overseeing the marketing of records. Once again my take on this subject differs from these major label people. These guys don't get it, do they!
Even at the Major level A& R reps should realize they should stick to figuring out if a certain band has material that is strong, original and whether it's right for the label and work to develop their material based on a bands vision not the label's. If A& R reps start doing other duties such as marketing and tour support they will lose their focus on a band and any artist progression will go right out the window.
Overall, I think that Independent labels and artists should work as a team to develop their own A& R divisions which help develop the artist and not hinder it. Majors that do start smaller labels dedicated to certain types of music can help an artist. But they still see it as one more way to dip into the Indie Pool at the expense of naive artists who are conned into giving up hefty portions of their album and merchandise sales. As well as tour support which are recouped afterwards.
Learning to spot opportunities outside the fray:
Learning how to start your own label can be one of the smartest moves you make to protect your songs and being able to write off any expenses to do with the business of music. If you're determined enough you will start recruiting artists and bands to submit material to you to be critiqued, and to see if their material is strong enough and suitable for your label.
This way you start your own A&R division within your own label. But remember to start letting musicians submit material that is within one genre first before spreading into different types of music. If you start letting any one submit material whether it's Metal or country, you won't be able to focus on one and have no direction.
One band at a time is what to focus on, and your biggest outlay will be for recording and making CDs to sell. So I usually say you should do short runs of 300 to start. A lot of people in the industry would not agree with me, but you need to be on the conservative side when coming out with an initial release.
As well protect your artists material at all costs by having them become members of publishing societies which collect royalties on behalf of musicians.
Selling your album takes ingenuity and innovation. So selling off stage and on line is your best bet. Having a band website is essential not to promote just the CD but the band as well. Promotion is important as well and once again don't go for mainstream radio or magazines. Don't waste your time sending CD's to every radio station or magazine and wasting your precious money. You are in this to make money not give out free stuff! Opt for College radio and online magazines which cater to your music.
Start at the local level and build from there as you begin booking out of town gigs. Other opportunities musicians should consider is writing articles on aspects of music they understand. Interview other bands as well on your website which draws more musicians and fans to it. Write reviews on equipment you use and ask if the manufacturer is looking for distributors. You could sell their equipment off your site in turn for writing articles on their products. You have to give before you get guys.
There are many ways to make money on the internet for musicians and I tell them to never give up. Look for other markets internationally to sell your Cd's. Possibly in Europe or the far east. Distribution deals and licensing out your album can work well if you have the drive to improve your musicianship and help others in the business with your own label or band.
A & R at the indie level will emerge big in the future and you might consider starting not just your own label but an A & R consultancy to help musicians figure out where they should be taking their music.
For me music is pretty much all I want to do and I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by doing just that. If you don't love music enough you won't do what's necessary, not just to succeed at it but do what you really want in life, and that's the spiritual benefit and accolades that come with being in the music industry and being a musician.
Mark Grove-CGP
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