Between Art and Business: A Musician As A Startup

Between Art and Business: A Musician As A Startup

By Tommy Darker of Think Beyond The Band.

It all starts with a problem...

I'm Tommy and I'm a musician. I moved to London 10 months ago, knowing nobody. Early days, I didn't want to feel alone, so I started peering with other musicians, asking them about music in London. The most common - not so surprising - answer was inevitable: "I can't figure out how to make a living from my music!", despite London's vastness of opportunities. "Why?", I tended to ask?
Their response — which I didn't see coming: there were so many tools, they just didn't know what to use, many music industry blogs, but they didn't know which one to spend time on, many so-called 'professionals', but no idea who to spend their precious money on.
"Big headache", I thought. They're not the only ones in the world.


Success

What is everybody's goal in life? Success. Everyone's success is different, though. Do you want money? Fame? Legacy? Freedom? It all depends on how you define success. We'll all agree, though, that success doesn't grow on trees, it requires some work to be achieved.
The question is: how do you, as an independent musician, know what kind of work to do to pursue your success path?
It used to be easier, a company would lay down a plan for you and they would have the network to make it happen. Musicians would have to agree with everything the label proposed, because 'they knew best'. Now musicians need to bootstrap that work for themselves and, one step further, ask questions.
"Should I keep doing what labels used to do? Do these practices make sense now, in today's world? Are there more beneficial, cost effective and fun ways of getting my shit done? Is the kind of success I have in mind meaningful?"

Just like the London musicians were asking themselves, how do you silence the noise and lay down a new plan for your music that works for you personally, something that is equally fulfilling and financially rewarding?
Rewind

London, January 2013. A month after many meet-ups with various musicians, I invited everyone to join me in a group discussion with a music business expert. Andrew Dubber came to London one rainy afternoon and talked in front of 18 musicians, under the hashtag #DarkerMusicTalks. The whole thing was bootstrapped in a week: venue, attendees, speaker, website, branding, camera. We talked about Music in the Digital Age, with Andrew proclaiming: "Don't broadcast. It's all about the conversation". (Thanks, Andrew)
I was encouraged, as the musicians gave me great feedback on how to make future sessions better. I saw happy faces: for me, that is a good indication that things go well. Being a naturally optimistic person, I always find reasons to believe in new ideas. I like getting them out there as soon as possible, and then finding clues that they're worth carrying on. I translated those happy faces that night as an indication that there is a need for more interaction between musicians, knowledge and 'knowledge keepers'.
Those happy faces are the reason I created this series of free monthly discussions in London.

Essentially, Darker Music Talks had just started, and it's still the same today: an informal discussion between experts and musicians.
Knowledge

Why do I keep doing this? Because knowledge is a vital asset. It propels ideas forward and helps people be more creative. It opens up the possibilities of this world. It encompasses what musicians need at the moment and empowers them to become the future disruptors. The shape of the music industry — and creativity as we know it — will change from within, not by companies who want to maximize profits through content.
But in order for this to happen, musicians themselves need to see the bigger picture and take action.
They will solve a big problem. The problem is that I see a great disconnection in today's music industry. There are two types of parties involved in 'supplying art' to the world:
1. the companies, marketers and mediators who care about profit, scaling up and see music as 'content' and 'product'.
2. the music creators, who are emotionally attached to their creations, want to make a decent living making art and are afraid to market their art themselves.
Do you see what I see? There's nothing in the middle!
Musicians need to develop their entrepreneurial spirits and skills through knowledge. Since only they know how valuable their art is, they have to be capable of communicating that value to the world at large. If this communication does not happen, the market value will be driven down by companies seeking maximum profits from minimum investment. Music will become content, the people who make it will become an exploited commodity and innovation (the core meaning of art) will cease to exist.
As a fellow musician, this is not the scenario I'd like to see unfold. It's high time we took some action.
Why should we care about the Musicpreneur?

The music industry is meaningless, without musicians benefitting from it, both financially and creatively. We don't want musicians to create 'content' and conform. We need them to know what they do and innovate artistically. And by 'we' I mean 'society', 'other musicians', 'culture', 'the world'.
An industry is supposed to be a system created to streamline value and benefit all parties — the creators, the audience and the middlemen as well — not only the latter. Today's music industry doesn't follow that premise.

The business stakeholders will also find many underlying, long-term benefits. My auspicious prediction is this: since more and more musicians will start becoming their own business, they will also have new, unforeseen needs. Independent individuals or existing organizations will see opportunities and economic incentives to cater those needs with new services or standalone startups, that will then create more jobs and attract capital (the latter is a big pain for musicians at the moment).
Why do I suspect all this will happen? I tend to use this analogy: if you give people a bit of grass and sun, they will have a picnic. In other words, give them the medium and proper circumstances, and they'll figure out the optimal thing to do with them. Musicians have the chance to be that square of grass (and attract the sun back!) to create an as yet non-existent ecosystem that will make a lot of people (and themselves) happy.
But this culture of knowledgeable musicians is not easy to emerge in a mainstream fashion. Some ingrained habits need to be the subject of change, both for musicians and the audience. This will occur gradually, just like it happened with the startup world.
A musician as a startup (or a Musicpreneur, as I call it)? Why not. The framework is there and we've seen how it works.
Discussions

So, is this really another kind of music academy?
No, it's something more simple. It's a series of discussions. Held between musicians and experts, about music-related subjects that would not be addressed in a music academy, at no cost. We learn and discuss entrepreneurship, design, psychology, branding, new media and other topics, and their relationship with music and the industry, using proven experts that graciously share their knowledge.
Up to this point, around 50-70 people join each discussion, promoted through word-of-mouth. Volume is not the goal though; I prefer having meaningful conversations that bring value. The long-term goal is to build the biggest e-library of knowledge for musicians, as well as to spread free knowledge all around the world with similar events in many countries.
There is a strong vision behind the project: to inspire the culture shift towards musicpreneurship.

The discussions follow some brand protocols, but not in a way that dilute the experience of an informal discussion with a knowledgeable person. If you're wondering how it feels like to be part of one, musicians have used words such as 'actionable knowledge', 'inspiration', 'interactivity' and 'in an intimate and informal environment' to describe it. Or just watch one of the filmed sessions.
I praise the importance of revolving these discussions around the academic and exploratory nature of the topics, and avoid creating another series of how-to's that spoonfeed musicians with easy conclusions and memetic behaviour. For some habits to change, actual brainwork needs to be done.
Free Darker Music Talks around the world

My goal is to deliver free, self-contained discussions to musicians by real experts and spread globally, creating a series of independently organized events.
A business model has been set up for the initial stage, so the discussions can distribute value optimally, but also make a profit to become self-sustaining and not rely on third parties that will get in the way. Not having mediators is crucial.
I'm going to travel around the world early next year in order to personally assist with the talks. If you're interested in getting involved as the talks go global and help organize one in your country, join me on 22/11 for this Google Hangout where I will explain more about the plan. Fill this Google Sheet and I will get back to you soon.
You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and my website, I'm ready to listen to anything you might have to say, talking with people is my passion.
You never actually own a piece of knowledge. You merely look after it for the next generation. It's our duty to pass it on.



Agree so much that I started a blog called http://MusicCapitalist.com however what is also needed if for local gov, banks and investors to understand the market potential for USMADEMUSIC.
BTW look for @LabelBookCamp in 2014
Posted by: Nelson | 11/18/2013 at 01:04 PM

Location:Sycamore Dr,Lancaster,United States

WOMEX Celebrates 20th Anniversary Of World Music Industry Gathering In Spain

WOMEX Celebrates 20th Anniversary Of World Music Industry Gathering In Spain

WOMEX is a nomadic world music industry gathering that takes place annually in various locations in Europe. This year WOMEX celebrates its 20th anniversary from October 22 to 26 in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.

WOMEX first took place in Berlin in 1994. Now, 20 years later, WOMEX celebrates its anniversary with a well-established 5-day event that includes a conference, trade fair, showcase festival, awards, a dj summit and film screenings.



WOMEX - a short film

An important aspect of WOMEX is the Showcase Festival featuring artists from around the world. You can see all the performers and their nations of origin all the way back to 1994.

WOMEX gathered some thoughts on the anniversary from long-time participants. This tale from Gerd Kespohl, Director, Masala Festival seems a nice mix of art and business:

“I have been at every WOMEX that has taken place, without a break. I remember every year, but the most surprising experience was in Marseille. It was late and many people were dancing in the club-room of the venue. Suddenly I heard the voice of trumpets. I stopped dancing like some other WOMEXicans and we looked to the neighbour venue and enjoyed a Balkan Brass Band. They played in a way I never listened before. It was Fanfare Ciocărlia."

"So I decided to make contact with Helmut from Asphalt Tango and booked the band for our Masala-Festival, which is also 20 years old now. The audience has been so happy, and I booked Fanfare Ciocărlia again and again and they play in our Culture Center "Pavilion" now since more than 14 years. So that's my gratifying story about WOMEX.”

See WOMEX for more on this great gathering.


Location:Sycamore Dr,Lancaster,United States

Twitch Debuts Live Streaming Music Concerts, Twitch Broadcasters Can Play Host

Twitch Debuts Live Streaming Music Concerts, Twitch Broadcasters Can Play Host

Twitch is an odd seeming thing, a platform primarily for live streaming video gameplay, that is incredibly popular. Since at least May various reports have it that Google is buying them. So far it's only been confirmed by "sources" and it's hard to say what that would really mean for Twitch. But there are lots of people watching Twitch and though there is music on the site in various forms, yesterday they supported their first official livestreamed concert featuring dj Steve Aoki.
Twitch is a true phenomenon with:
"more than 50 million monthly active users"
"more than 1.1 million members who broadcast videos each month"
"more than 13 billion minutes of video are watched per month on Twitch"
"in March, Twitch represented 1.35 percent of all Internet traffic"
So Twitch is doing great as it is but they say they "surveyed the Twitch community" and that a full 80% answered yes to the question:
“Would you be interested in watching your favorite artists perform live on Twitch?”
Apparently the music industry is quite aware of the promotional potential of live streamed concerts on Twitch:
"Some friends in the music industry have been interested in sharing free live concerts on Twitch for some time."
And to further integrate such shows, beginning with yesterday's stream of Aoki's Playhouse from Ibiza, Twitch now has Host Mode:
"Imagine you’re done broadcasting for the day, and about to go offline. Rather than just signing off, Engage Host Mode! Your chatroom remains entirely the same, but your video player is replaced with an embedded version of whichever channel’s stream you decide to host. Now you and your chat community can continue to hang out even after you’ve gone offline."
For an artist like Steve Aoki Twitch is offering a great tool for promoting his new album, "Neon Future." In fact, given that this is the first show on his Twitch channel, the stats of 529,980 views and 17,778 followers should be essentially for the show.
Keep in mind that Twitch has a Partner Program that includes monetization so Twitch's potential power for music goes beyond promotion alone.
There are also issues with unlicensed music playing during video gameplay cause people listen to music while they play games. So if Google has bought them, we're looking at many of the same problems and possibilities raised by YouTube but on a livestreaming platform.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) also blogs at DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.




Location:Rohrerstown Rd,Lancaster,United States

Technical Hitches And Things To Avoid As A Singer-Songwriter

Technical Hitches And Things To Avoid As A Singer-Songwriter

Technical hitches and things to avoid as a singer-songwriter
A Guest Post by Rowen Bridler

This week I was all set to give you a video of my interview with a fitness expert who would convince you all to make sure you exercise, because, quite frankly, as a singer or actor you need to be fit. If only to have the strength to deal with the multitude of ‘personalities’ and ‘difficulties’ you may encounter…

But then YouTube decided it didn’t like my quicktime file which is what I end up with from recording Skype calls. I was so chuffed that I’d worked out how to edit it as well, but to no avail. So I’ll see if I can fix the problem for next time.

However, this gives me the perfect opportunity to tell you about some unrelated other news. I don’t often talk about my own music work as part of the resources on this site. That’s mainly because I want this site to be about how I can help YOU. It’s not meant as a self-promotion vehicle. And I also don’t want to be one of those vocal coaches who make themselves the star and pose with Simon Cowell. (God forbid.) I’m happy to help someone audition for X Factor if that’s what they want to do, but the work we would do towards something like that is not about posing and celebrity hob-nobbing. It’s about the simple techniques you need to hone in on to be clear which parts of a song are causing you trouble and how to fix it, quickly and efficiently. Having looked at a few other vocal teachers’ sites, I got really clear about what makes my teaching different. And it’s that ‘no flashiness’ idea. I re-wrote the blurb on the home page to reflect that, which you can read here.

Similarly, sharing from personal experience, having a career as a singer in today’s music industry isn’t about posing in cool music videos and having the latest keyboard/recording software/sunglasses. The music industry has gone through a lot of changes and it’s become necessary for musicians and singers to utilise the internet like a business owner. You need to clarify what your brand is, who precisely your audience is and what they use your music for. Are you an artist like Lady Gaga who writes for people wanting some great pop tunes to get dressed to before going out and who is the oddity in their peer group and therefore needs that reassurance that it’s ok to be different? Or are your songs about soothing people who are just lying on their bed at home on their own and thinking? Or are your songs about just dancing and having fun? The need to be clear about your brand and not stray from that either musically or in the promotional posts you make on social media has become paramount because these days you cannot be the mysterious artist no-one can get to know, anymore. You have to talk directly to your fans. And in order to do that, you need to know who you’re talking to.

If you post on Facebook about your trip to the hairdresser’s when your fans are 25 year old men who love death metal and Marilyn Manson fashion sense, then you’re mismatching your promo with your music’s audience. And you are better off being really specific about that audience instead of saying, ‘I want to reach out to everyone’ because it’s great if people hate you. Write-off a particular area of potential audience and you re-affirm that the type of fan you really want has come to the right place. I might like Nine Inch Nails’ music too, but I’m definitely not Trent Reznor’s target audience. And that’s ok, because those who are, LOVE him. I just kind of like his songs.

So if you are a 28 year old woman who’s seen a few hard times, is struggling to overcome a severe lack of support and wants to do something outrageously different to what your family, peers and co-workers are doing and who is looking for a Dr. House-like dry humour with which to shake the hardship off and overcome all that stuff, then you might like my songs. And if so, you would do well to sign-up here, because not only will you get a free song for your trouble, but it’s where all the ground-breaking, independent strong woman stuff is going on and you’ll find a home there.

And that’s the end of my one post that mentions my other work quite so blatantly.

Have you had difficulty promoting your own work as a singer-songwriter? Do you often struggle to be clear on who your target audience is and how to best reach out to them? Leave a comment in the box below to tell us how you feel about the music industry and how to successfully sell your music in today’s market.

Rowen Bridler is a singer-songwriter, actress and voice coach. She lives in Prague in the Czech Republic but works with clients all over the globe via Skype. She specialises in coaching actors and singers with an issue with a song or speech that needs fixing, or a performance to prepare for, using simple and systematic techniques to target problem areas quickly. She is currently working on a Danish film,'1864', where she plays Johanna von Bismarck, speaking in German. She has a 'minisongs' series of short 15 second videos of her own songs on Tout, which she releases every Friday. In her spare time, she can be found wearing Cookie Monster t-shirts and pearls and reading old copies of Vogue.

http://www.rowenbridler.com
www.howtosingforyourlife.com

@MusicDealers: 49 Female Music Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Advice

It’s been a minute since the first batch of fierce, fabulous, female music business entrepreneurs showed up on my blog, and as you can see it was worth the wait. I’m thrilled to be showcasing now over 100 women. Please share this, retweet this and feel free to repost on your own blogs. With Love, Ariel

Artists/Producers/Composers

The Three Ps

Christine Ben Ameh “The 3 PS- 1. Patience. 2. Perseverance. 3.Practice (Makes perfect).” Recording Artist/Songwriter @CHRISTINE_AMEH

Be Bold

Carsie Blanton “Be excellent, be committed, be bold.” Indie Singer/ Songwriter @carsieblanton

Don’t Fear Failure

Roswitha Bartussek “Envision your destiny and take small daily steps towards it. Don’t be afraid to fail, the more often you fail the more likely you will succeed. Be your authentic self, don’t try to fit in, carve out your niche.”

Artist, CEO of Queen Rose, Inc. @queenrose

Be Present

Ann Klein “Make the very best of where you are; it’ll take you where you want to go.” Artist (singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist) @redcharvel1

The Truth Will Set You Free
Erin Dickins “ Tell the truth - in music and life - never sing a lyric that you wouldn’t have as an epithet. Never do anything artistically to please anyone else. It’s all you - be authentically you - in your passion, your joy and your dreams. Shine your light big and bright no matter how big the challenges. Love every minute of the journey.” (not just a) Jazz VOCALIST - Recording artist on Dot Time Records @erindickins

Dream Bigger
Aoede “Dream BIG and often! Never let a little thing called life get in the way of your grandest dreams! If you dream it, put it out into the Universe, truly believe and work crazy hard to make it happen, your dreams can come true. Listen to your muse, believe in yourself, and don’t be afraid to be a pioneer; if it hasn’t been done before, pave your own path!” Award-Winning Pop and Children’s Musical Stories, Singer-Songwriter, Recording Artist @aoedemuse

Find Your Tribe
Barb Morrison “Work with people (whether it be a manager, a producer, an agent, a publicist or a record label) who GET you. Having someone fully understand what you’re trying to say with your music is crucial. It’s much more important than how connected they are in the industry.” Record producer & film score composer @barbmorrison

It’s Not All About You

Cheryl Engelhardt “Your results are not about you- they show up when you create an opportunity of value for someone else. I use this nugget when pitching music-to-music supervisors, getting a film-scoring gig, when talking with a potential coaching client, or even when inviting a friend to a movie. “What’s in it for them?” is the phrase I have running through my head before making a request of anyone.” Songwriter / Composer / Creative Career Coach @CBE

Don’t Let Your Ego Control You
Trudee Lunden “ Don’t let your own ego supersede your humanity while building relationships or promoting your business. Although music is global, people in this industry travel in a small circular world. Music and creativity in general holds a valuable place in society, however, we’re not saving lives, feeding the poor or sheltering the homeless (unless donating our time, resources or earnings for these purposes).” Singer/Songwriter/Music Publisher @GreenMusicLady

DO Your Dream

Bettie Ross “Do your dream: Know what your dream is, and work hard at achieving it. DO it, don’t just dream it. Get really good at your craft, whether it’s playing an instrument or songwriting or singing, being a manager or an attorney, whatever it is. And I mean, get REALLY good at it. Learn from each opportunity, even if it is not exactly what your dream is.” Composer, Keyboardist, Songwriter, and Music Engraver Bettie [AT] BettieRoss [DOT] com

Anything Could Happen
Sarah Petrella “If it can happen to someone, it can happen to you. We are all talented beings, and the winners win because they don’t give up.” Singer/Songwriter @smpetrella

Do What You Love
Jeanna Isham “The thing that filters out the good from the great is stamina, persistence, and an undying faith in yourself that this will happen for you. If this is what you’ve been put on this earth to do then do it and never stop. After all, if you truly love it then it shouldn’t be about money or fame. If you love it then you’re successful just by being one of the few that is living their love every single day.” Dreamr Productions

Keep Growing
Chaise Candie “Never Stop Growing - Developing your skills and talents should be an ongoing process. Immerse yourself in the industry and gain as much knowledge as possible. Be confident and proud of what you’ve accomplished yet avoid becoming complacent.” Singer, Songwriter & Performer @chaisecandie

Hard Work Pays Off

Anna Laverty “Work hard and ALWAYS be the last one standing.” Producer/Sound Engineer @annalaverty

Never Give Up
Tania Stavreva “Never give up. In the music industry I find that there is always a path toward success that is not always easy. Facing difficulties and barriers is often disappointing but they make you stronger. Being able to remain motivated, inspired, passionate, creative and stubborn about your art and about your goal, that is what I consider the right path to victory and success.” Concert Pianist @taniastavreva

Give & Take

Holly Brewer “There is a difference between giving and being taken advantage of. Find and define the line between both and keep it balanced.” Composer, singer, multi-instrumentalist and I co-own the record label Nervous Relatives Records (since 2002) @TheFolksBelow

Be Patient

Leanne Regalle “There’s no such thing as overnight success. Slow, steady progress over time adds up. Craft your vision and keep working towards it every single day. You will make mistakes. Leave your ego at the door, be flexible, and keep moving forward. Your contribution matters.” Songwriter and Owner at Livin’ Out Loud Music, Blogger at Make Creativity Pay @leregalla

Be Your Own Friend

Marcomé “Your best investment is in a solid self-esteem and a goal that evolves you and others.
You’re the first person you get up with and the last you go to bed with for the rest of your life so better learn to become your own best friend. Without inner peace, money does not bring true lasting happiness.” Canadian new age music vocalist, songwriter, music producer @Marcome

Hit a Wall? Wait.

Dee Handyside “It’s damn tough. But when I hit a wall, I no longer continue to bash it. I take a step back and wait. A person, opportunity or event will come along and open a door so that I go through the wall unscathed. I call them my ‘wall-angels’.” Owner, Performer @DeeHandyside

Create A New Way
Zoe Boekbinder “Sure, sure, heed good advice… but also find a way of doing it that is different than the way its been done before.” Artist @zoeboekbinder

Cultivate the Powerful Women in your Life

Normandie Wilson “Make sure to surround yourself with other women! Seek out women’s groups and the advice of women who are kicking ass and taking names. Remember that you are a reflection of the 5 people that you spend the most time around. Make sure those people are the top of the top.” Entertainer @normandiewilson

Listen

Madalyn Sklar “Passion and persistence will get you far. Don’t be afraid to go big. Surround yourself with smart, motivated, like-minded people (join or start a mastermind group). Listen. Listening will get you further than anything else.” Founder, GoGirlsMusic @madalynsklar

Artist Management/Agents/Publicists

Trust Your Instincts
Carla Sacks “Don’t look sideways. Summon your gut and trust your instincts. Try to always do right, it will make you happy and happiness is contagious.” Founder, Sacks & Co. media relations @sacksco

Fame Isn’t Everything
Hilde Spille “In the rock-music business, every artist wants to become famous, it seems. I
can assure you that success is not dependent on fame. Every step counts. Too
many people in the business still believe the myth that fame will solve all
your problems. Don’t believe that, it adds more problems than you can
imagine.” European booking agent, entrepreneur, personal e-coach for artists, and
 blogger @HildeSpille

Stay Focused

Susan Fontaine Godwin “Nurture your vision. Know that it will take longer to realize your vision than you expect, and it will look different than you thought. Know that you will encounter criticism, naysayers, roadblocks and delays, but it’s part of the process that will help form and fashion your vision into reality.” Founder/President of CCS @copyright_queen and @doingmusicright

Respect Everyone

Lauren McKinley “Realize that this industry is ever changing and relatively small. Not only should you respect everyone you meet and/or work with, but also you should always offer help where you can. The people you help today will be the ones helping you tomorrow.” Owner, Clover Marketing & Management @CloverMktg or @LFMcKinley

It’s Ok to Say No

Leanne de Souza “Never feel the need to apologize for life balance choices. If you can’t take that Skype call at particular time because you are doing the school run, that’s okay! Just reschedule, don’t feel the need to justify and explain every reason and decision. Be vigilant.” Artist Manager @rebelbuzz

Be True To Yourself

Lori Bumgarner “Never try to do things exactly the way others tell you to do it or exactly the same way they did it. Promotion of your brand has to be done in a way that is true to you. Not every species of flower blooms at the same rate or under the same conditions!” Image Consultant/owner of paNASH Style LLC @panashstyle

Kindness is Strength

Natasha Bent “Stay positive, work hard, don’t expect it to be easy, and always treat everyone with respect, fairness and kindness, even those that may not show it in return; that shows true strength.” Booking Agent at The Agency Group London office ( VP) @Agent_Tasha

Take Care of Yourself
Jessica De Wal “Work hard to build your business but always make time to work on your personal growth and well-being. When I just started my own company I felt I had to put in many hours and had to be available at all times because my dream of running my own PR company was finally coming true. I never made time to take good care of myself and eventually became ill. Over recent times I have cut back my working hours drastically and am planning ‘me time’ again. When you’re feeling well, you’re company will do a lot better too.” Music publicist and owner at It’s All Happening @ItsAllHappening

Pay Attention

Blair Clark “Pay attention ALL the time. The next big thing in social media, distribution, touring, etc could be right in front of you. Take time to keep up with what’s going on.” Artist Manager & Owner, Dance Panda Entertainment @dancepanda

Break The Stereotype

Cameo Carlson “Don’t allow yourself to fall into stereotypes. The music business tends to sideline women that are too aggressive in the “bitch” category and women that are too passive in the “doormat” category. Break the glass ceiling by being the most prepared in the room. Speak up and defend your positions passionately.” Head of Digital Business Development, Borman Entertainment (artist management company) @DigiMusicBitch

Find Another Door

Laurence Muller “When a door closes, never stand there like a dummy, find another door!” Label Manager / Manager

Educators

Set Goals

Kristin Yost “Someone once told me that goals without deadlines are only dreams…dreams are important, but goals are what propel us to dream even bigger.” Author of “How I Made a $100,000 My First Year as a Piano Teacher” @musicalminds

Be Grateful

Ajda Snyder “ Be true to your vision. Have gratitude for all your blessings and let your defeats humble you and help you grow.” Voice Teacher @ajdatq

Embrace Uncertainty

Dr. Jill Timmons “Enjoy the process and remember, sometimes you build the road as you go!” PRINCIPAL: ARTSMENTOR, LLC (www.artsmentor.com) @artsmentor

Don’t Take It Personal
Celia Slattery “Don’t take rejection personally. Keep working on improving your craft and persevere. Sooner or later the doors that are closed to you now will begin to open — or you’ll find other doors, or maybe crawl in through a window. Persist because you love music and you have a mission; not for any imagined pot of gold you think you’ll find at the end of the rainbow.” Voice and Performance Studio @celiaslattery

Music Biz Professionals

Fans First
Louise Dodgson “Always put your fans first. Too many bands & artists are concerned with attracting the interest of the music industry. But the best way to do so is usually to forget all about it! Concentrate on your fans. Communicating with them and working hard to expand your fan base. Making the music and sharing it with people who really appreciate what you do is the enjoyable part. Your fans will help create the buzz for you and if you’re doing your own thing with a keen and constantly growing following, the music industry will no doubt catch up to you in due course.” Editor, The Unsigned Guide @editorunsigned

Slow Down
Isabella Acker “We live in an era where everyone’s constantly bombarded with the invasive nature of technology and its demand for us to always stay up to speed. This constant connectivity can affect your ability to nurture your creativity. We must allocate time, even if it’s 15 minutes a day to stop, slow down, and get inspired.” The Black Key Group @BlackKeyGroup

Make It a Win-Win

Kerry Fiero “Strive to create win-win situations. That means every relationship is about finding a happy medium so everyone involved had something to gain. It is not about today…. but about tomorrow and the years to come when building a career. The win-win builds lasting relationships. Interns become bosses. Colleagues become friends. Strangers become allies. Every door that opens to your next great opportunity will be from someone you know.” Event Planner, Music Business Professional @KalwaysSTRIVING

Be Positive

Lynn Spin “Never get sucked into negativity. Even though the music industry is predominately men, never believe yourself unworthy to be on the same level.” Vice President of JaHMa Music @jahmarecords

Female Power

Kim Cameron “Never underestimate the power of female colleagues. They can be your most valuable allies.” Label Owner @Sidefxband

Know Your Data

Velda Garcia Fayz “Come armed with a strategy based on data. Know how to collect it, how to analyze it and how to use it so you can make informed decisions about what fans want and how they discover/buy new music.” President & Artist Manager Battlecross @GoVelda

Have Faith

Jennifer Allison “With faith passion & action, all things are possible. Love changes things.” Founder & CEO of EXE Media Group Co-Founder of Love The Little Ones PR for Transcendental Music @exemediagroup

Believe

Melani Ismail “Remember, it’s not about how you feel, it’s about how you believe. Keep going.” President of MAI Productions @melaniismail

Creative Entrepreneurs

Listen to that Gut Feeling

Farideh “Your business decisions need to feed your passion. Everyone has ideas about what you “HAVE” to do to make it. If you do everything they tell you to do, you’ll end up hating what you used to love. Take their advice but listen to your own gut feelings.” Founder & CEO, Sceneplay Business Strategist for Creative Entrepreneurs @faridehceaser

Persevere

Glory Reinstein “While you’re building relationships with industry folks, remember they are normal people with families and lives just like you and I. Get educated, treat them with kindness and respect, don’t take “no thank you” personally, and above all, persevere!” Creative Liaison Bluebird (Music) Promotions @BluebirdGlory

Keep It Real

Jennifer Sellers “Be sincere. Man or woman, your integrity in this business makes you stand out. Your enthusiasm mixed with a determined sensibility helps you tread through all kinds of obstacles and allows room for great success.
” Talent Buyer, Booker, Marketing Director, Social Media Director, Street Team Organizer, Personal Shopper, Office Manager, Event Staff Coordinator @rocnopal

Be Fair

Laurie Jakobsen ““Fight fair” – today’s seeming adversary could be your colleague tomorrow; you never know who you will encounter again in your life’s journey.” President, Jaybird Communications @jaybirdcom

Interview: Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas on SXSW, the Music Industry Today and Going Solo

Interview: Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas on SXSW, the Music Industry Today and Going Solo
 Liz Moy
We’ve got a feeling that you may recognize hip-hop artist Taboo as one of the 4 members of pop supergroup, The Black Eyed Peas. What you might not know, is that the LA-native is stepping out on his own, with a solo EP titled ZUMBAO set to release mid-April, and will be headlining the High School Nation Tour presented by Aquafina FlavorSplash at their first non-official SXSW event. Taboo joins Drake Bell, Trevor Jackson and a ReverbNation artist onstage, all to support keeping music and arts programs in local public schools in Austin.

We sat down with Taboo to learn more about what lead him to start a solo career, how he reinvented himself and how promoting music has changed since the last time he performed at SXSW.


Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas

Hey Taboo, it’s great to talk to you today.

Thanks so much for this opportunity!

So have you ever performed during SXSW music week before?

Yes, I did in 1999 with the Black Eyed Peas when we first came out. We played Stubbs Barbeque, and that was our first official introduction to SXSW. We performed with The Roots back then, and it was exciting because it was the first time that we had been at any type of music conference. It was kind of like going to college and seeing all these different musical artists and bands that you were inspired by coming up.

When we were there, we were playing in-store performances at Sam Goody and Virgin Megastore, record stores that don’t even exist anymore. We would meet fans and they would buy our physical tapes, and we would sign autographs and posters. Back then, there was no Twitter, no YouTube, none of that. We would hand out cassettes and VHS videos of our first single, Joints and Jams, and it was more about spreading things by word of mouth. Now people go on Twitter and Instagram to find out about what bands are performing, how they’re doing, where they’re going to be.


“Back then, there was no Twitter, no YouTube, none of that. We would hand out cassettes and VHS videos of our first single, Joints and Jams, and it was more about spreading things by word of mouth. Now people go on Twitter and Instagram to find out about what bands are performing, how they’re doing, where they’re going to be.”

Things have definitely changed since then, but it seems like one thing that’s remained the same is the variety of performers who come to SXSW. On the High School Nation tour, it seems like your style of music is much different than co-performers Drake Bell and Trevor Jackson. Would you say that’s true?

Trevor Jackson is R&B and he’s a soul singer and I think our music, when it first came out had influences like soul, hip-hop and R&B. So we’re not too far away from one another. The last two Black Eyed Peas albums were very Dance and Electro-styled, but in our early days we were an underground hip-hop group.

I believe my individual project caters a little bit more to the essence of hip-hop, but I appreciate everyone’s take on music and how they want to express themselves. I’m here to support all of the artists, you could say I’m the ambassador of the tour. I’m here to help inspire the youth and to activate the youth to understand how important it is to give back and how important music and the arts are.

That makes sense. What excites you about being a part of the High School Nation tour this year?

I’m most excited about being able to give back. With the Peas I was able to accomplish so much but now as an individual I get to be a part of something that is very important to the youth, and I can be active in different communities around the United States. I’m active in LA with programs like Little Kids Rock East Los Angeles where we donate musical instruments to inner city schools. I’ve always identified and been involved with these types of philanthropies within my own community.

It means so much to me to be able to take that on the road and make a difference in the lives of children through a great organization like High School Nation.


“I’m most excited about being able to give back. With the Peas I was able to accomplish so much but now as an individual I get to be a part of something that is very important to the youth, and I can be active in different communities around the United States.”

That’s great that you’re so involved in your local community, and it seems like they’ve shown you some love back – your featured piece in LA weekly was really moving. Did your own life experiences have an impact on your decision to become involved with High School Nation and support arts programs in schools?

Thank you, that was a very personal look into my life outside of the Black Eyed Peas. It’s one thing to be a part of such a big group, but then to really understand me outside of the group, it was kind of like my rebirth as an individual. For that piece, I was promoting my movie that came out, Jamesy Boy, but it was also letting people know about my personality and my approach to creating music. It showed people who I was as Jimmy Gomez, not just Taboo.

Not just “The long haired guy from the Black Eyed Peas,” right?

Right, not just that guy. If you’re in the music business and you’re able to reinvent yourself — your image, your packaging, your music — it goes a long way and it has a lot of longevity. I was inspired by people like Prince and Madonna, and people who were always able to reinvent themselves and come up with something new that made people say “Wow, what will they come up with next?”

When I heard about the tour and ReverbNation and what the whole thing meant, I thought “This is a great opportunity for me to activate the youth and go back and make a difference.”

Even if just one person is inspired by this that’s worth it. My job is to be that ambassador of inspiration.

It’s good timing too, since your new EP ZUMBAO is about to release! Congrats on that. When is the release date?

YES! FINALLY! WOOHOO!

I’ve been working my butt off for this one. It’s been years of trying to fine-tune the sound and make sure everything is properly aligned. Finally my dream is coming true. I’ve got the right team to help me out with that and I’m on cloud nine right now. Everything is going according to plan. I’m in a great place in my personal life and in my business life and I’m very excited. As of now the EP is set to release mid-April.

I appreciate life and everything that’s come my way. I have a beautiful wife and family of three boys, and I couldn’t be happier. That’s something people didn’t know about the guy with the long hair. He never smiled. But this guy will always smile and let out a big “WOOHOO!”

What has the whole process of creating and producing the EP been like?

It was a lot of fine-tuning and trying to find my voice. With the Peas you have four different voices and everybody kind of feeds off of each other. But now it’s just me and my writing partner Joshua, and I’m so used to writing with Fergie, Will.I.Am and Ap that it was new to take a different approach and I used a lot of my personal feelings about things I was going through, like being a father, being a husband, traveling the world by myself as an individual and just all these inspirational elements. I’ve been working on it for about three years.

It’s given me a lot of peace of mind to be able to create this album, this form of self-expression, and telling a lot of my own personal stories within the music.

I’m a new artist with a lot of experience, coming from playing with a group like the Black Eyed Peas. With my solo career, I’m starting from ground zero like most new artists do. It’s really interesting because I have both worlds colliding into one. Even as my team and I promote the album, we want people to know that you can be that big, but also still find your identity as an individual and create your own voice. That’s part of what I want the kids to know. Kids can get so lost in finding themselves and their own identity, I want to inspire them to keep striving to be true to themselves. This has been such a humbling experience for me as an individual. Coming from a world of private jets and selling out arenas and stadiums, playing Super Bowl games and attending awards shows, I look at that as a previous chapter of my life.

Now I have to reboot, go through a rebirth and start all over from the ground up. I have to reintroduce myself with this whole new project.

There are going to be some people who don’t know the Black Eyed Peas in this day and age. The Peas came out with our last release in 2011, and there are kids in High School that didn’t understand the music at that time. Reinventing myself has allowed me to utilize my humor, my enthusiasm and my passion.


“With my solo career, I’m starting from ground zero like most new artists do. It’s really interesting because I have both worlds colliding into one.”

Past and present, name one artist who has inspired and influenced you and why?

Past, it would be Michael Jackson for his showmanship and the hard work that he put in over the years to create the ultimate entertainer — singing, dancing, the wardrobe, the music. He was all-around one of the greatest, if not the greatest.

Present, I would have to say Pharrell. I like what Pharrell’s doing right now. I like that he was gone for a while and then he came back with “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” and now with “Happy.” I really appreciate that about Pharrell. I remember touring with N.E.R.D. and they really blew up. Then Pharrell came out with “Frontin’” and then he kind of branched out and had his own niche going. Then he came out with “Happy” and the whole Despicable Me movement, it put him in a different stratosphere. Now he’s like performing at the Oscars, has a #1 Hit in 60 countries.

If you could give any advice to aspiring musicians, what would it be?

Don’t allow anyone to stand in your way of your dream. The person who inspired me to create music and pursue it was my grandmother. She was the person that set the tone for going after my dreams and aspirations and not letting anybody interfere with that. She was very supportive and was very understanding of the trials and tribulations that would come. When you have someone in your corner like that — it could be a family member, a best friend, a teacher — it goes a long way.

Fine-tune your chops. There are so many artists who go out there and think, “I’m going to make it” but their skills aren’t strong. If you’re am emcee, make sure you’re able to rap and stay on beat. Practice creating songs, not just creating raps. If you’re a singer, get a vocal coach or find a way to work on your voice. If you’re a producer, get the equipment and programs that you need and get the proper training.

Believe in yourself. I often get discouraged and beat myself up, because I’m a perfectionist when I’m onstage or in the studio. If you don’t believe in yourself nobody else is going to believe in you or your music either. You need confidence. Not ego, not arrogance, but confidence within yourself.


“Don’t allow anyone to stand in your way of your dream.”

Follow Taboo on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Catch the unofficial SXSW High School Nation Tour event on Friday, March 14, 12pm – 4pm at 7th St & Medina Parking Lot, 1121 E 7th St. See website for more details.

Location:Sycamore Dr,Lancaster,United States

Seek help

Ask a friend or stranger for help. Talk with someone who has worked in the same area as your focus or who will be able to provide insights into your creative process.

I had done this a lot of times myself, while I was goin to school at Full Sail University. I had fellow classmates, and friends that I had made while attending school at Full Sail. And most of the time what we would do is depend on ourselves in whatever we were doin the time in our classes that we were in at the current time, or what would also happen too as well is that some of us that would have moved on to other classes, or even behind in classes. We would always try to help each other out when we could. But that kind of help was always appreciated by me.

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The Future of Music Marketing: Direct-to-Device BY: COREY CROSSFIELD

The Future of Music Marketing: Direct-to-Device BY: COREY CROSSFIELD

Posted on October 19, 2013by Morris Hayes Jr/ Dj Duece

facebook (Photo credit: sitmonkeysupreme)

Digital marketing has only been in its current form for the last decade. Despite the application of digital marketing within various industries, the majority of initiatives and campaigns have focused on the idea of direct-to-consumer (or within music as direct-to-fan). The focus lies solely on cutting out the middleman and reaching consumers directly.

The current conventions of digital marketing within the music industry focus on basic direct-to-consumer tenets but these ideas are now beginning to become obsolete. With the rise of hardware-focused technology such as the smartphone, the relationship between an artist and fan is facilitated through their devices.

The new way to reach fans will be direct-to-device.

A Real Meet and Greet

Reaching fans in decades past was simple because there wasn’t a technological barrier. Fans were able to go to a local record store, buy an album and connect with the artist through their music and their cover art. The anticipation of finding out what an artist was like was emoted through interviews, television appearances and fan magazines, which told you what your artist’s favorite color was.

Fans were able to connect with their favorite artists and support them through items such as zines.

The Riot Girl music movement of the Pacific Northwest found its strongest support in zines from around the country between its two epicenters, Olympia, WA and Washington, DC. The scene quickly spread across the country by and large due to the network of fans. Marissa Meltzer offers her take on how the word of the Riot Grrl scene spread in her book, Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music (22). “In those pre-Internet times,” she wrote, “word spread through the punk community via zines, letters between pen pals in far-flung music scenes and bands going on tour.”

As Internet use became more prominent amongst fans, the way artists used technology to communicate with their fans changed the scope of how music is sold.

Introducing Topspin

In 2007, Topspin launched their direct-to-consumer software, which was available to artists by invitation only.

Topspin introduced the concept of direct-to-consumer to the music industry using their easy-to-use software comprised of a central dashboard. The suite of software offered tools such as an email for media widget, allowing fans to enter their email address for access to an exclusive piece of content, such as an MP3.

Topspin took a simple idea and suite of tools and was the first company to make them for the artist instead of the record label. By utilizing the technology the company provided, artists were able to market their music directly to fans. They could offer music and fan packages directly to their super fans. With the email tools, they were also offered a chance to educate themselves on email marketing.

As the old model of distributing music was disrupted, artists such as Eminem, Brian Enoand the Beastie Boys used Topspin to release their music. When Eminem released his last record, Relapse, he had a few special packages that were offered to fans on his website. They were able to choose from special packages, which included limited run t-shirts, special memorabilia from the album and prints autographed by the rapper.

One of the most successful features offered by Topspin was the ability to use their technology to bundle certain packages and sell them directly to fans, as was the case with Eminem’s album release campaign.

As artists increasingly used Topspin, they were able to cut out the label directly and sell their music on their own. With this sort of power, the artists are able to communicate directly with fans through their music. However with the rise of artist applications, the way an artist communicates with their fans is changing yet again.

Artist Applications

As the focus of digital marketing switched to direct-to-consumer initiatives, there was a shift in how artists communicated with their fans online. Suddenly the need to be on social networks such as Myspace, Facebook and Twitter were a main focus of digital marketing teams. Artist focus was directed to two areas: their websites and their social networking profiles. The focus shifted to fan aggregation and retention within both areas.

Content management systems such as NING or WordPress offered artists ways to upgrade from static websites and offer fans ways to not only communicate with each other but with the artists directly. By allowing fans a central portal to communicate, their audiences were all pooled into a location where they could effectively promote upcoming initiatives such as tours or album releases.

As more and more artists shifted focus to their social networking profiles, the need to be able to creatively promote their initiatives became more relevant. Fans were looking for new and innovative ways to hear and share their favorite artist’s music. Innovation came in the form of one off applications, which supported a certain marketing driver for an artist’s campaign.

While there are many artist application examples to choose from, the execution and originality of the use of these technologies is key. When Slash from Guns ‘N Roses was about to release his last album, Apocalyptic Love, there were standard tools used to market the music such as Topspin. The originality behind the use of his marketing campaign came in the form of an application called, Slash360.

The application was developed by Mativision and showcases both the music from the album and provided the fan a compelling interactive element: a 360 degree view of Slash in the studio with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators performing tracks off of the new album. This sort of application use case as both a native application for iOS and a creative way of engaging fans with the use of a mobile application was a great way to showcase the future of mobile marketing.

Most of the application use cases audiences are familiar with are the standard artist application which is basically an extension of their website. These native applications really have no use other than the power to send push notifications to their audiences. If artists or their digital marketing teams, were more willing to extend themselves beyond the basic applications they would be able to participate in the new form of engagement and leave the stale ideas behind.

As artist-to-fan communication evolves beyond social networks, it is crucial for digital marketing to shift its focus to the future of music marketing: direct-to-device.

Snapchat, WhatsApp, and More?

Data is the most valuable asset to an artist. It can help show them who their fans are, where they are located and the amount of them who actually engage with their content and purchase items from them. Since data is so valuable, marketing initiatives, which focus on how to collect these data insights, are increasingly valuable. As social networks such as Facebook close off access to valuable data, the value in driving traffic to the artist’s central point of information their website is becoming more prominent.

Distribution points such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, are seen as places where you post content to either engage with artist specific content (Youtube videos for example) or links to blog posts on the artist’s website. A way of collecting valuable data besides on an artist site is through either partnerships with applications or partnerships with platform service providers through specific marketing initiatives (a campaign with Creative Alliesfor a poster promotion for example).

Snapchat is the perfect application for the multi-tasking and short-lived memory of the millennial generation. Their audience takes snaps of themselves and sends them to each other with the promise of the content deleting itself automatically after a certain number of seconds. With the release of their new Stories features, the application is allowing artists to focus on the content of the messaging with their audience. For example, an artist could debut 15 seconds of a new single through the application without worrying about a fan sharing it online because of the unique deletion feature.

WhatsApp is another example of an application with significant data collection and massive distribution. The application, according to their Crunchbase profile, is a “cross-platform mobile messaging app, which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS.” By partnering with a messaging application, an artist would have the ability to directly communicate with fans through their smartphones, which is the future of marketing for both music and every other industry. An artist could directly communicate with fans through the application without ever having to go through Facebook or Twitter again.

As more and more fans use their mobile devices for every facet of their lives, a marketing campaign should take into account the new way of communicating. An artist with the ability to send push notifications to an audience they have specific information about will be a more effective way to promote an album. If you had the ability to geo-target push notifications based on a fan’s location, the messaging and data would be more complete.

An artist with deals within applications such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, and other popular mobile applications will have the ability to distribute their content more effectively to a fan’s device. A device they have with them for the majority of the day and something they use in their daily lives. The ability to have such deals in place is something few artists are really taking advantage of and using to message their music.

There has been a lull in the past few years within the digital marketing field. Everyone uses the same tactics to sell music to their audiences with a comparable number of sales each time. As the technology of applications and devices advances, marketing tactics should shift to the consumer’s behavior with their device.

The future of music marketing is direct-to-device.

The Future of Music Marketing: Direct to Device

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Emily White: Why Commission Based Teams Are Awesome For Musicians & Why You Should Want One

Guest post by Emily White of Whitesmith Entertainment and Readymade Records.

Managers in the Entertainment industry take a lot of flack and have various stereotypes associated with their image and motives. In fact, music industry professionals in general are often pegged as sleazy, heartless businesspeople leeching off of creative minds to (gasp!) make money.
With the decline of the modern music industry over the past decade, job pools have shrunk and competition is fierce to work in a field that many in the general public view as on its last legs. However, the people in the industry who have stuck around through the music industry's metamorphosis throughout the 21st century have narrowed the field to people who truly love working in music (for the most part). They are skilled in working with artists and have a deep knowledge of music driven for the most part by a love of music.
I've spent most of my career working as a manager. Managers work on commission. No matter what level an artist is at in their career, managers generally only derive income if the artist has revenue coming in. Thus, it is in the manager's best interest to do whatever is best for the artist all-around, keeping short and long term creative and career goals in mind at all times. In addition, this model incentivizes this manager's work and ensures that actual work gets done.
So much of my job is to make certain that people working with our artists do the things they said they would do, prioritize working on their music if their plate is too full, and complete projects all the way through. Publicists, promo, and marketing folks have almost always worked for a fee up front. I value their work and skills. Even in a world-of-mouth social media society, I treasure a well-trained PR person who can work with myself and our artists on discussing how we can best communicate their genuine selves through media channels from a TV chat show to Reddit. Radio is still, arguably, the number one driver of music sales in the industry and is a vital tool to any release campaign. There are folks who have relationships to get music on the front of digital retail, etc. You get the idea. Just because we can put music out into the world all by ourselves doesn't mean it still doesn't need or benefit from promotion.
But how do we get the fast world of modern marketing and promotion to slow down for a second? Take a breath, listen to the music they're working on and select projects that they really feel they can have an impact on to get the word out as far and wide as possible.
Don't get me wrong; there are brilliant promo folks throughout the world who are selective with their client base and time while creating and executing diligently thought-out campaigns. However, most of the time, my artists often feel that press reports exist to impress us or the publicist's boss or that radio folks just take on whomever will pay them.

Brendan Benson & Emily White
Brendan Benson

All too often, I hear about promo firms that just pitch/throw everything at the wall hoping that something sticks instead of selecting the most effective promo opportunities and creating a strategy. For Brendan Benson's new album, I wanted to figure out a team that first and foremost loved and believed in Brendan's music, but also who would put thought into what kind of results we would get from their work in a music campaign.
Brendan is an extremely gifted artist who has been on majors, indies, and hybrids of both. He spent 2011 producing five albums, including his own. For a writer, musician, and producer like Brendan, creating his own label was a no-brainer. We launched Readymade Records & Publishing a few months ago so his creative output has a platform in which music can be released whenever and however he wants without barriers.
However, once music is created, most agree that a promotion campaign is still necessary for all of the reasons outlined above. There are a few options here that have been tried over the past few years. Often a private investor will come in to fund the team that a label might have had in-house in eras past. Other times publishers are getting involved to hire promo teams since they might have artists who are unsigned in their catalogs. Or, if they can afford it, the artist can fund the team themselves.
In Brendan's case, he had already laid out his own investment to fund the recording of the album. It was hard for me to justify Brendan spending even more on hiring a team to promote music he had already spent his own funds on. Why go into even more debt before we've even released anything? In addition, this is a man that has been staring at long press reports for 15 or so years. Like any artist, he's looking for tangible results from his team, not just lists of outlets that have been pitched his music.
Brendan is the producer, writer, and artist on his album and hasn't been paid yet. As his commission-based manager, I haven't been paid on any of the work I've done putting this album together. But neither of us is worried. We really believe in the new album, What Kind Of World, and we're both used to being paid "later." For Brendan that is often in the form of royalty statements and for me as commission-based manager, again I only receive income once the artist has. But, if Brendan is the creative and financial reason his new album exists, why should everyone else be paid first?
Creating A Commission Based Team

Our promo team for Readymade Records is entirely commission-based. Team members will be paid for a year on sales and synch revenue, the latter historically being Brendan's number one revenue stream. I'm mentioning the length of the term, as I wanted to figure out a way to encourage promo folks to work music longer than just a few months. As Readymade Records evolves, the more projects a team member takes on, the more revenue streams they have coming in every quarter, creating sustainable income for both the team and the artist over a longer period of time than just for a flat fee in front of doing the work.
We are so honored to be working with experienced yet forward-thinking companies such as Nashville's Thirty Tigers, Big Hassle, Terrorbird Media, Hard Boiled, Inc., Dick Huey & Corey Denis at Toolshed.Biz, Scott Cresto's Music Alternatives, Lojinx, Chapple Davies, & Freeman PR in the UK, as well as Downtown Music Publishing & BMG Chrysalis.
Assembling a team who is willing to be paid based on the results of their work in promoting music is a risk. However, this model benefits the relationships between the artist, their team and the team's work on the artist's music. The team can also work together without ego for the greater good of the artist and always focus on moving the project forward. In addition, we think we'll get the best out of our already great industry folks by aligning their revenue streams with the artists.
I'm biased, but if you have a team member who is willing to work on commission via management or promotion, be psyched! That person is working with you because they believe in you and your music. Sometimes commission-based team members are taken for granted. If you have one, realize that they are your partner in moving your music and career forward and don't have to be there. The goal here is to work together and maybe by reverse engineering how we've structured team payments and paying people on actual results instead of projected revenue, we'll move forward in a way that benefits both artists and industry folks for the long-term.
© Whitesmith Entertainment 2012

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