The old business model for success is "getting your foot in the door", "getting your music heard" by some important bigwig in a recording company like Capital, Decca, Time-Warner, Sony, BMG, etc.
The new business model centers around direct artist-to-listener downloadable sales over the Internet. Devices such as the iPod and Internet-capable cell phones have made this possible. Overly-restrictive Digital Rights Management (DRM) policies of the recording industry have made it necessary for an artist who wants to survive.
It used to be, if you bought a cassette or a CD, you could pop it into any player and listen to it. You could take it to work, to school, on vacation, or over to a friend's. Now, the record companies insist that if you download it to iPod A or Computer B, it can only be
played on that device.
Music wants to be heard. You want to be heard.
The listener does not want to be chained up in shackles when they have bought your music.
What if we could watch our TV set only within the confines of one room? What if we could
read a book only within the walls of our home? That's insane and the public refuses to accept it! The consumer's philosophy is: Look, I bought the damned thing, I'll do whatever I want with it!
Because the Big Music Business refuses to listen, it's seeing music sales collapse and the Old Business Model now faces extinction. That can be expensive - and devastating to the music industry as a whole.
Typically, it takes a $1 million investment in a new artist by a big recording company. Only 10% turn a profit, and only 5% break even. That means 90% of their artists are not profitable for them!
That leaves a lot of "dry wells" to use an oil metaphor. And perhaps it explains why they so jealously guard what big acts and products they do get.
What You'll Discover in This Course
Each of the sections in this tutorial will start out fairly small, but I'll be adding additional articles and advice from seasoned pros as I build this tutorial, so keep coming back.
Picture yourself as a student at a very specialized school - a "music school" that teaches you the music "business," not just "how to make music." You're the student and I'm the assistant instructor. Your "professors" are the makers, breakers and legends of the music industry - as you'll quickly see in the list of interviews below. By the way, "A&R" stands
for "Artist & Repertoire. The term was coined to describe the function of people at record labels who are in charge of finding and developing new talent.
Development typically includes finding the right material for the artist to perform if they don't write their own songs, hooking them up with the right producer, engineer, studio, etc., deciding which of their songs are the most viable, and shepherding the making of the record.
After the record is done, it's not unusual for the A&R person to be responsible for getting the other departments such as retail sales and radio promotion excited about the record so that they do their jobs well. If all the parts of the record company "machine" work well together, the act just might have a hit.
Today, A&R people seem to concentrate less on developing artists, and often look for artists that have "developed" themselves. It's not unusual for the boards of directors to look more at the bottom line and less at talent development. Hence, A&R people are under pressure to find hits, rather than finding potential hits and nurturing them until they bear fruit.
Now I may not be a Ph.D. and I certainly won't be writing every word or producing every audio or video I'll be using to teach you. I will be collecting these from a wide variety of authentic, experienced and respected sources, pulling them together and organizing them into your lesson plan.
What if you could sit, for just a few moments, at the feet of some of the greatest,
most influential executives of the recording industry? What kinds of music do they personally like? How did they get into the business? Just to listen and get a feel for who they are and what they're looking for?After all, these are the A&R people you'll be pitching your songs to - those from MCA, Sony, Capitol, Atlantic Records, BMI, ASCAP, Warner, and on and on? Just what would that be worth to you as a songwriter and an artist?
In the introductory chapter of this class, you'll get to do just that - with nearly 50 top recording company executives.
- Amy Rosen - Independent Music Supervisor
- Andy Factor - Vice President of A&R, Virgin Records
- Antony Bland - Director of A&R, American Recordings
- Barry Squire - A&R Manager of Columbia Records
- Benjamin Groff - Director of Creative Services, BMG Music
- Betsy Anthony-Brodey, Vice President, Talent Aquisitions, Universal Music
- Bruce Burch - Creative Director, EMI Music Publishing
- Bruce Flohr, Sr. - A&R, Artist Development, RCA Records
- Bud Harner - VP of A&R, Verve Music Group
- Cheryl Dickerson - Sr. Director of Writer-Publisher Relations, BMI
- Chris York - Director of A&R, EMI CMG
- Clyde Lieberman - Music Industry Veteran, BMG
- Craig Aaronson - Sr. Vice President, A&R Warner Bros. Records
- Craig Kallman - Co-Chairman and COO, Atlantic Records
- Danny Kee - Director A&R, Warner Bros Nashville
- David Boxenbaum - General Manager, Octone Records
- Diane Warren
- Eddie Singleton - Director of Urban A&R, Warner Bros. Records
- Ian Steaman - A&R Tommy Boy Records
- Jack Wall - Composer-Producer, Sr. Director, Game Audio Network Guide
- Jason Jordan - Vice President, A&R, Hollywood Records
- Jeff Brabec - Vice President of Business Affairs, Chrysalis-Warner Bros
- Jerimaya Grabher - Director, Sanctuary Producer Management
- Jerimaya Grabher , A&R Manager, Windham Hill
- Joe Quaranto - Owner, Producer ETNC Music
- Joel Mark - Vice President, A&R MCA Records
- John David Kalodner - Senior Vice President of A&R, Sanctuary Records
- John Loken- General Manager Ultimatum Music
- John Weakland- Director of A&R, Columbia Records
- Jon Pikus - Columbia Records A&R
- Judy Stakee - Vice President of Creative Services, Warner-Chapell Music
- Laura Becker - Creative Director, Famous Music Publishing
- Lindsay Fellows - Director of Promotions, Squint Entertainment
- Loren Israel - Director of A&R Capitol Records
- Luke Wood - DreamWorks Records, A&R
- Marla McNally - Co-CEO, Emerald Forest Entertainment
- Marshall Altman - A&R, Columbia Records
- Nanci Walker - Director of A&R, Island Def Jam Recordings
- Randy Gerston - President, Gold Circle Soundtracks and See Hear
- Scott Austin - A&R Maverick Records
- Shane Barrett - Senior Manager of A&R, MCA Records Nashville
- Spider One - Powerman 5000 and Megatronic Records
- Staci Slater - The Talent House
- Steve Bloch - Owner and Publisher, Southern Cow Music
- Suzan Bader - President, DSM - All American Music Library
- Ted Lowe - President, Choice Tracks Inc
- Tim Devine, Sr. - Vice Pres. of A&R, Columbia Records
- Tom Carlin - Vice President of A&R, Lava Records
- Tom Sarig - VP of A&R, MCA Records
You'll also get an inside, behind-the-scenes introduction to the music business with
chapters such as:
- Don't Quit Your Day Job
- Fisher- Signed, Sealed and Delivered
- Pursuing a Career in the Music Business
- So You Want to Be A Rock & Roll Star
- The World of Music Publishing
- Tips on Forming a Band
- Why It's Easier to Land a Film or TV Deal
PLUS, you'll get a look inside the minds of even more music executives courtesy of TAXI
Road Rallies.
...and all of this is just in the first series of lessons!
I do want to say a word here about TAXI because:
(a) it was founded by someone who knows the business - Mike Laskow, who worked with some of the great bands of music history, like Eric Clapton, Cheap Trick & Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
(b) it has connections - lots of them with more than 600 of the top recording companies and those companies have a lot of respect for TAXI; in fact, several recording company executives are on TAXI's song-screening panel;
(c) TAXI works with musicians to screen and evaluate their songs and then submit them to those connections (members have more than 1,200 opportunities a year to get their material submitted);
(c) a lot of the things you'll be learning here come from the wisdom and experience of TAXI's staffers, as well as from other sources.
Mike Laskow is a quiet guy who doesn't even promote himself on TAXI's staff page. You have to do a little digging to learn more about him. Here's some excerpts from an interview he did with KVS (1700Hz.com):
"When I was nine years old, I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. That was the moment that I knew that I wanted to be in the music business. I also knew that I didn’t want to be a rock star. For some reason, I knew right then and there that I wanted to be the guy on the other side of the glass. I wanted to be George Martin. I guess I’m a bit of a control freak.
"When I was nineteen years old I talked a delivery guy from Ace Music in Miami to let me go with him on a run to Criteria Studios – it was one of the top studios in the world at the time. As luck would have it, the owner walked through the lobby and said to one of his employees, “We need a new kid to sweep the floors and clean the toilets.” I jumped out of my chair and yelled, “I’ll do it!” They threw me out – literally.
"I called Criteria five times a day for five days straight. Mack Emmerman, the owner, came on the line and said, “If I interview you for the job (which was an “internship” that paid NOTHING), and you don’t get it, do you promise that you’ll never call here again? You’re driving my receptionist crazy!
"I got the job, and worked my butt off. I eventually became an assistant engineer, then a first engineer, and a couple of years later I began to produce
records. ..."I was extremely fortunate to get to work with artists like Eric Clapton, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Firefall, Cheap Trick, and many more. On several of those gigs, I was the assistant engineer, then as we would get deeper in to the record, the engineers would let me sit in the hot seat and do overdubs or set up rough mixes.
"I would also bring in bands and artists on my own time and engineer and produce their demos as a learning experience. I left Criteria a couple of years later and struck out on my own. I ended up discovering a band called Wild Oats, got them a record deal, and co-produced their record. I think I was about twenty-one when that happened. A year later, I became the senior engineer at Triiad Recording, and it was there that I engineered an extensive amount of songs for Neil Young. That lead to me becoming even more in demand, and it was the classic story of feast and famine.
"I would work on a major project for months on end, then have nothing for two months. I began to do bread and butter gigs between the big projects, and noticed a trend. Local bands, artists, and songwriters would spend their life savings on their demos (home studios didn’t exist yet), then have no way to get their music to A&R people at major labels.
"That’s when I made a mental note to solve that problem some day. There was a lot a great talent that never got to see the light of day."
Many of you may have never heard of it, but it claims to the "the world's leading independent A&R company" and I have no reason to doubt that. It has an excellent reputation from its members and from the record companies. It's not cheap to become a member ($299 for the first year, $199 thereafter plus $5 per song submission) but it seems to greatly help those who do, and who are serious about their careers (you'd have to be serious to shell out that kind of money!).
I personally am not a member because (a) I don't spend that much time at a music career, and (b) I can't afford it. I don't tell you these things because I was paid to (I don't get a cent!) but because if you are serious about your music, TAXI is something you need to know about.
