We dont want you to start thinking we worship Stebe Albini, no no. But browsing a few of the clips of him on You Tube we found this one, and we thought it was well worth posting. In it, he advises artists and bands to handle and manage as much to do with their band as possible, as this leaves you in control to make the decisions which will have a large effect on how you develop your music. The “system”, by which he means the industry built up around providing services to bands (booking agents, tour managers, publicity people) is designed largely to support itself. A provocative clip, to be sure, and a somewhat prophetic one. 5 years ago maintaining control over your music through “DIY” management would be a harder feat that it is today. With all the new services popping daily to help artists and bands with not only managing their band (Bandize), but marketing it (social networking sites, music sharing platforms, reverbnation) and distributing their music, the tools and support for artists who which to “go it alone” have never been more available.
For many, it is common knowledge the “music industry” is “evil”, cares as much for artists as a lion does a dying gazelle, and that record labels, especially the majors, are synonymous with the four horsemen – or may even be a direct machination of the unspoken one himself. Exploitative, manipulative, conniving, devious, deceiving – they are not to be trusted. And Record Contracts, well, if Record Labels embody the devil – then Record Contracts are that which chains an artists immortal soul to the netherworld. This is clearly an exaggeration, they can´t be that bad – I mean, they at least make artists rich and famous. Well, famous maybe – but rich? Is this another common sublimation which needs evaluation?
The above one sided polemic finds support in an excellent article written by a rather well respected and renowned veteran of the music industry. Except he, Steve Albini, likens the process of signing a major Record Deal, with “a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit”. On one side of the trench is a “faceless industry lackey holding a fountain pen” and the other, a collection of eager artists wanting to sign the contract. The lackey shouts “go” and the in they plunge, scrambling and fighting to reach the other side.
Now think what you will about the Label structure, but before you make up your mind, read this article!
This article will give new insights into the traditional A&R structure, the Deal Signing process as well as factual evidence proving how many Record Deals just dont pay out. Read it! Espcially if you are one of those who measures success as synonymous with being signed by a major label.
Today we would like to write about a new service which has got the Record Union team quite excited. Introducing Bandize! Managing a band can be notoriously difficult, and what Bandize aims to do is bring clarity and calm to such a complex and often time consuming venture by making the whole endeavour more organised, efficient and focused. When they launch to the public, Bandize will boast a set of well thought out tools which will make most aspects of managing a band much easier and more transparent.
So what do Bandize offer? Well, a lot. You will be able to manage everything surrounding upcoming shows and tours online, including dates, locations, hotels and contact persons. Badize´s digital ledger will make the accounting side of things more transparent by helping you keep track of all your transactions, who is owed what and who needs paying. On top of this you will be able to keep track of your inventory, synchronise your social networks, manage that ever expanding “to do” list and keep a tab on how album releases are fairing. For a more detailed explanation of their set of tools we recommend checking their website. One gets the feeling that Bandize could be one of those services that once you begin to use it, you will wonder how you ever coped without it.
We like Bandize because it is yet another example of how Internet based services can and are empowering artists and bands. Though Bandize will surely appeal to professional tour managers and high profile management agencies, it will most likely be bands and artists without large management teams who will profit the most from this service. Either way, it has the potential to become an essential weapon in the independent musician’s arsenal. This is a service to keep an eye on.
The BBC technology page wrote an interesting article recently entitled “the net helps music sing new songs”. It is a great article outlining the many ways which the internet is changing music, and how musicians are utilizing the internet to empower themselves. Discussing the continuing role of major labels, the article points out that “Some would argue that with an international reach and incredibly low entry costs, that the internet itself is the newest “major” label”. This arguement is in fact quite strong, for the many of the key roles that a major record label performs (recording, distribution and marketing) the internet also performs, and with a greater volume of music. Technological developments within music recording and production, coupled with the international reach of the internet has made it easier for musicians to record and “release” their music globally. The internet can be seen as the new “major label” for it enables far more music than ever before to be shared on a global platform, while simultaneously putting this music in a close proximity to listeners who can discover and enjoy it.
Yes, it can! If your goal as an artist or band is to sign with a Record Label, then having a good online sales record will definitely increase your chances of securing a deal. Many Record Labels, especially the majors, are prone to calculating the risk involved with investing their resources into making an artist or band successful, which makes sense. Most labels aren’t going to throw money at a band which they don´t think has a chance of succeeding (i.e. making money). With this in mind, showing potential labels that you have been able to achieve a good amount of online sales will make you a more attractive prospect. In addition, having a good online following and a large mailing list will earn you brownie points too, as it shows that you have an existing fan base to build on.
The possibilities which have beeen ushered in by the digital music revolution has led many to believe that it is now possible to enjoy a successful career in music without signing to a Record Label, and this may well be true. But the online environment can just as well help artists looking to sign to a Record Label by giving them a platform from which they can develop their music.
The term “unsigned” has historically been used by the music business as an almost derogatory remark to denote artists and bands who haven’t yet signed to a label, be the label independent or major. Almost as if to say that the band isn’t “good enough” to be offered a record deal or that since they haven’t signed a deal, they have not yet reached “success”. There are a number of things wrong with this.
Firstly, there are many great bands and artists without record deals playing superb music on local scenes and circuits around the world. Playing smaller and more intimate gigs, they are the lifeblood of local scenes and perform a important cultural role. Moreover, the internet has served to make a lot more music open to discover by a lot more people, and we realise there is a wealth of talent out there untapped by record labels. Being signed to a label is by no means a necessary measure of an artist’s talent or their capacity to create great music.
Secondly, there are a number significant benefits to the independence associated with being unsigned, and it is possible to enjoy a successful career in music without signing to a Record Label.
The above video is an except from a documentary called “Before the music dies”, we posted an article about it a little while back. Provocative, or what? What this clip tries to get across is that there is something “soulless” about pop music made under these conditions, and they may well be right. But surely not all pop music fits this category? Many pop artists possess some kind of talent, they can dance and sing, and have struggled to hone their craft just like any other performer, right? People like them for a reason. What this clip does illustrate is a darker side of the music industry, a dishonest side, where music is created not for the joy of self expression on the part of the artists, but with a naked profit motive in mind in which the artist is just a vehicle. All in all, this clip raises some interesting questions.
One of the great dynamics of the digital music age is word of mouth. The sheer inter-connectivity of the internet and the ease of which information flows from people to people makes the spread of opinion from one person to another far easier than even before. Be in viral emails, the domino effect of bloggers picking up on what others are writing, a tweet or a trivial conversation on a messaging service – information, and opinions, spread almost without effort.
Today we want to talk about one way in which word of mouth is being used, albeit quite surreptitiously, to organise and filter music. We want to talk about the AudioScrobbler, and what it means to scrobble. Before proceeding, lets dispense with the “word of mouth” label and call it “recommendation”, since the communicating is not actually done through speech (how old fashioned!). “Scrobbling” in itself is quite straightforward. When you scrobble music on services like Last FM, the information about what artists you are listening to is transferred to the Last FM database. Now what does this have to do with Recommending? Well, the clever chaps at Last FM can use this data in quite cunning ways. By using all the collected scrobble data, they can get a pretty detailed understanding of peoples listening tastes. They can create personalized radio stations, recommend playlists by other users, and chose the tracks which, by looking at what other people listen to, there is every chance that you will like.
The dynamics of this way of profiling music tastes lends well to music discovery. It helps artists because their music will be played to people who have similar listening tastes to people who listen to it already, their fans. Also, by enabling people to view and exchange playlists with other users who share their tastes, it can invoke curiosity about bands on their play list which they haven’t heard. Overall, the Audio Scrobbler is an archetypal example of how the digital music environment is using collective wisdom of individual taste to better how people can engage and consume new music.
A little while back we wrote an article about the so called “music like water” debate. The idea behind “music like water” is that instead of paying a per unit price to purchase music, listeners instead pay a fixed price to stream music from an existing library. For some, this set up signals the future of the music consumption. For some, the reinstatement or a centralised distribution/consumption oligopoly. However, these fears should be allayed, for there are some great streaming services now on the market, such as Spotify, Last FM, Deezer, Lala, Napster which are determined to keep their library open and diverse.
From a listener perspective, streaming services have some distinct up-sides. Subscription based services generally allow streaming of unlimited amounts of music until the subscription expires – this makes the music they listen to “feel free” even though the artists are earning money from their music. Advertising based services work in the same way, though you might have to put up with advertising in between songs or some banners here and there. This “feeling free” aspect is quite in tune with how many listeners would prefer to engage with music, and may well dissuade them from not paying for their music – which is great for artists. Though pay out structures vary between services, artists usually receive money based on the percentage of times their music has been played relative to total plays.
Streaming services provide a viable option to those who would like to listen to music for a fixed cost or don’t mind advertising. Streaming services which are similar to radio in that they decide what track comes next (e.g. Last FM) lend themselves well to music discovery, whereas click-to-play services (e.g. Spotify), allow people to chose exactly which track they want to play. All in all, providing the mechanism is in place to make sure artists receive their share from the revenues, and that streaming libraries remain open and accessible, streaming services provide a good balance to the per-unit structure many of us are accustomed to.
There has been much made of the new possibilities that the internet provides for artists and bands. Some have even gone so far as to say now musicians can pretty much “do it themselves”, that is, set up their own online business to market and sell their music successfully. It is an interesting idea, and it will be interesting to see how far an artist could develop going it alone.
It is undeniable that the internet provides a good marketplace for music. The yearly amount of digital downloads is growing exponentially, with more and more people purchasing their music online now than ever. It is quite inexpensive for an artist to sell music straight from their website (digital or otherwise), and services like Record Union are working hard to make sure that it is possible for any aspiring artist to distribute and sell their music on online music stores around the world.
So the market is there, the capacity to distribute and sell is there, what of marketing music and getting new fans? The internet also ranks quite highly on this front as well. When it comes to developing new fans, social networks are a great way to get people talking about your music and joining your mailing list. There are many great services which are designed to introduce people to new music (such as Last FM and iLike). When it comes to getting people to gigs on the weekend, the internet has made this a lot more transparent. But can artists really “do it themselves”?
The question which arises is, do what themselves. Sure, it seems entirely possible for artists to make a nice little sum of money from selling their music online, play packed venues and achieve a level of respect and notoriety. If one believes “1000 true fans strategy” is realistic, then artists can make a nice salary. But mega stardom? Platinum hits? Champagne baths? It is as yet unclear whether the internet can single handedly produce such “successes”, they require some very well tuned marketing machinery which its diversified and comparatively fragmented environment does not support.
However, you must agree, that If the internet can help more artists make a living doing what they love, this itself is a great achievement. It seems likely that the internet will have its own mega stars, but how they will materialise, or whether this will be achieved separately from the old record structure is hard to say. But at the end of the day, its always good music which will prevail, and the internet does give us access to a lot of this!
