The musician strums her final chord of the evening. After the applause dies down, she packs her equipment. That's when he approaches. Moments after the introduction the praise starts flying. Behind his back he anxiously fingers a contract. The musician nods in appreciation. The man looks a lot like her, dresses like her, and seems about her age. Eventually they sit and the man, an A&R (Artists and Repertoire) representative, buys her a drink.
He mentions record contracts, touring, and a surefire marketing campaign. Then he drops something on the table: the letter of intent. The musician doesn't understand all of the language in the contract, but she lifts the pen from the table. He tells her he knows what musicians hear about the industry and promises he won't allow her to become a victim of the corporate culture that has ruined mainstream music. She signs, unaware that she has just sacrificed her primary freedom: to sign a record deal with any other company. She now must sign with this company or pay thousands of dollars to be released from the contract.
It's an all-too-common scenario, and not surprisingly so. Most musicians don't want to bother with learning the ins and outs of the business side of the industry. After all, how much did Bob Dylan care about contracts, percentage points, and record sales? His lack of knowledge didn't seem to affect the outcome of his career. But remember that in Dylan's heyday contracts maxed out at about three pages. They now push past 100, featuring carefully crafted legalese. Today's musicians must be savvier to survive. Back Stage West has consulted with music industry experts to find out exactly when an artist should sign, what to sign, and how to get to the point of making that lucky decision.
Live or Memorex?
Many musicians struggle, not with what to sign (they should sign nothing without a competent entertainment lawyer present) but with how to gain the attention of the music industry. At a recent Talent Managers Association panel titled "Music Management and Promotion: Building the Career of a Recording Artist," industry attorneys, publicists, agents, managers, and record company executives argued the best strategies.
"The record companies I deal with --and I deal with them all--are looking for an act that's going to be a hit, whatever a definition of a hit is," said Jay Cooper, a renowned entertainment attorney who specializes in intellectual property issues. "Record companies by and large don't lead, they follow. They follow the style of an artist who is a hit. Somebody's taken a chance on somebody, and they become a star, and everybody else wants somebody else just like that." Cooper recounted how Madonna's unexpected success in the early 1980s prompted a number of record company executives to scratch their heads and say, "We need a slut." This kind of thinking has undoubtedly resulted in the barrage of carbon-copy boy bands haunting the airwaves since 1997.
But, like most trends, even the boy bands will eventually fade, prompting the industry to once again wonder what the next big thing will be. To ensure that it's you, first determine your genre. While most music biz experts strongly recommend performing live and building a fan base to draw attention, others recommend avoiding it if it's not one of your strong suits. John Loken, general manager of Ultimatum Music, a relatively small label, argued: "It depends on the type of act you're talking about. If you're talking about pop music, a live act's not going to be as important. How many people do you think have actually seen Britney Spears perform live?" Loken said pop acts gain popularity through carefully choreographed videos, mastered singles, and publicity. Rock bands rely more on their live performances.
Keith Sarkisian, the music vice president and talent agent at William Morris, said he prefers representing acts like Tool and Stone Temple Pilots who can sell concert tickets, not just albums. He recommends consistently playing the Mint, the Gig, 14 Below, the Barfly, or other popular industry hangouts around town. But artists should be careful not to play industry venues without a reasonable-size audience. "I've been to a lot of showcases for talent, and what they've done is try to get the A&R people there, but they forgot to bring in a crowd," said Jim Moore, a prominent entertainment publicist who heads his own public relations firm. "I've been in a lot of rooms where it's a great little band and I'm the only guy standing there." And without a following, a record deal can actually be a curse. After your first album fails, you become damaged goods. The record company will withdraw its financial support, refusing to sink further money into your band. So increase your odds of succeeding: create a fan base.
With labels frequently tracking the popularity of bands through their research departments, many know exactly how many fans a band draws in a local market. When a band sells 10,000 CDs based solely on the quality of its live performance, record companies feel compelled to invest in that band. "If it'll work for 30,000 people in Dallas, it'll work for 3 million people across the country," said Loken. But many artists don't have the patience to build a following. Without that foundation many shoot straight to the top, only to become one-hit wonders. So there's a lot to be said for developing your chops and comfort level onstage before you go for the record deal.
Talking Shop
Whether you're a performer or a great live act, at some point you'll probably need to establish some connections to get published. "I acknowledge that it's an extremely difficult problem," admitted Cooper, who used to be a successful studio musician. He recommends networking with other musicians around town and eventually meeting their managers and producers. You also should attend songwriting showcases staged by BMI and other distributors. Cooper said showcases are designed to help musicians make industry contacts.
Guy Blake, vice president of legal and business affairs for Warner/Chappell Music, said it's easier to tell musicians what not to do: Don't send unsolicited cassettes and CDs to major labels. "Don't bother," he said. "They're going to be returned to you." Blake instead recommends building a team around yourself, including a good manager, a reputable attorney, and a talented agent if you're a performer. If you surround yourself with smart businesspeople who have contacts at publishing companies, you're already a step above everyone else. "You need good representation to get in the door. You're not going to do it on your own. I'm cynical in that sense," Blake said.
Some executives, like Blake, recommend sending cassettes and CDs to attorneys--if you must send them at all. Although Cooper strongly disagrees with this tactic ("We're not supposed to be musically inclined; that's not what we're supposed to be about," he claimed), on rare occasions the lawyers do find tracks they enjoy and share them with their record-industry contacts. But generally lawyers who "shop" clients to their industry contacts burn bridges. Seasoned attorneys like Cooper refuse to shop, because they don't want to lose the contacts they've developed over the years by flooding them with tapes. "Nobody likes to say no, so instead of picking up the phone and saying, 'We don't like this tape,' they just don't take your call," said Cooper. An attorney who shops generally doesn't have anything to lose. After attorneys establish themselves, they usually stop shopping artists.
Up to the Majors...or Not
Let's say you've finally enticed record companies with your flagrant and obvious talent. In one corner you have the major label, in the other you have the independent. Although you've listened to that Ani DiFranco track about not selling out a thousand times, the label is promising fame and fortune and in all likelihood will have an easier time delivering than its independent counterpart. But the independent label promotes only six artists, while the major has anywhere from 40 to 200. Suddenly you're facing the most difficult decision of your life: majors or indies?
"Majors suck," said Loken. "The simple fact is, if you're not performing quarter to quarter, guess what? The entire staff's going to change. The caretakers you had at the company, the people who were your supporters, won't be there and you will be orphaned. You'll have a very hard time getting through the voicemail."
Loken argued that, while you must proceed with caution because some independent labels don't have the consistency or the financial backing of a major, a smaller label will probably spend more time focusing on publicity, touring, and the street marketing of artists. Independent labels, unlike majors, usually won't abandon ship if you don't explode onto the charts in two weeks. But if you decide to go the indie route, check the financial history of the company. Take note of who has signed with the label and succeeded and who has left the label dissatisfied. Also be wary of whether the indie will be swallowed by a major in the next few months.
Courtney Love and her band Hole decided to sign with a successful independent label, Geffen Records, in the early 1990s. Shortly thereafter Geffen was sold to MCA, which was sold to another company, until eventually Hole was working under Vivendi Universal Music Group's Interscope label, which, Love said, her band previously turned down for a deal. Cooper said that means Love is now technically signed under a waste management company in France. Love vowed to take on the record industry under the 1945 De Havilland Law, a state statute named after actress Olivia de Havilland, who challenged long-term movie studio contracts and won. Though the law specifically excluded musicians, Love planned to free musicians of long-term contracts and free herself of the current breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against her and band mate Eric Erlandson. In early June a Los Angeles judge threw out 11 of the rocker's 15 claims but left her to challenge record companies' abilities to sell artists' contracts without their consent.
With all of these legalities in mind, having a lot of anxiety about this decision only makes sense. Cooper advises picking your record company and your entire creative team the same way you select your doctor: Follow your instincts. "You make a judgment call, and you hope you're right," he said. "There is no magic wand to this thing. You don't know." Cooper added that, aside from enthusiasm and passion as mandatory prerequisites, the record company also should be willing "to kill" for an artist.
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