Sunday, September 30, 2007
HOW DO I GET A MAJOR RECORD DEAL
I have been in the music/entertainment business for over forty years, and seen many, many changes throughout that time period. One of the biggest problems that occur in the related industries is people keep trying to recreate the "wheel" instead of rolling with what is happening now and not going back to yesterday and trying something that worked in 1960 with a repackage in 2007! Usually does not work.
The above being said, I wish I had a dollar ($1.00) for every time I get an inquiry from a band member or band manager on “how do I get a major label to sign me/my band?” If the dollar had come my way by now I would be writing this column from a beach in Hawaii!!
Anyway, the answer is not in getting signed, it is “selling product.” To sell product you need several things. Among them is distribution, hard to sell if it is not available where you are playing. Second you need promotion to create a “buzz” so people want to find your single or album and buy it. It used to be radio airplay did that. Get your music played on a major radio station and “bingo” the stores start getting calls for your “newest song” and everything starts to roll from there.
This is 2007 and it is not the “Woodstock Generation” we are talking about any longer that was influenced by A.O.R. (Album Oriented Rock) radio stations, top forty radio stations, even college eclectic formatted radio stations. This is the new generation of music fans that are getting their music information from a variety of sources outside of the conventional “listen to the radio and buy it.” Where did Death Cab for Cutie come from? Not radio, but the television shows “The O.C.” sound track. Jet from an iPod commercial. Yes, they eventually wind up on the FM radio band somewhere. The starting point is different and more unconventional, as Taco Bell says “Think Outside The Box!”
In 2007 and from now on, what will make a band is promotion and distribution. If you do not know about it, you can not seek to buy it. If you do not have a store that stocks it, you can not sell it. The promotion today is left up to the band and band manager. Even it they are “finally” signed to a major label deal, if you talk to the band you will find they started out as an independent recording group with their own label and through playing and promoting creating that “buzz” which attracted major label interest. Tired of selling their product out of a van or filling orders from their web site, even though the profit per unit is much greater, they took the offer of a major label with hopes that their product would finally reach the masses in retail distribution and if the label has a deal with iTunes, Napster, and the other on-line music sellers become available to their fans that way.
Well guess what? The national retail chains are going the way of the vinyl albums. In 1990 most retail record stores sold vinyl records, with some cassettes. By 1994 there were NO new vinyl albums being pressed or released by record companies, except for “special projects.” The retail brick and mortar stores are going the same way. Look around in Baltimore where I live, only Record and Tape Traders has survived with ten local stores. Most of the other chains are either gone, in chapter 13 or going away shortly. It is moving quickly to digital downloads. This is great for all the bands that have signed with a major labels because their music will be available via the above mentioned on line outlets. However, those artists will be paying their fees through their contracts to the record companies and out of a ninety-nine cent download, how much do they make after everyone at the label has taken their fee? What about the unsigned artist that is sitting out there with a full CD of music or maybe just “one great song?”
One answer may be the on-line stores that bands can now use to distribute their product. so those who have asked the question “how do I get signed to a major label?” The answer - - you don’t! What you do instead is go to a Burn Lounge site and download a non-exclusive distribution agreement for your product. Follow the instructions and within three weeks (if everything goes well) you will have licensed your music for free, posted your music on all Burn Lounge sites. You will collect a royalty for every song and album sold without having to pay distributors, labels and anyone else. Your distribution deal that you sign will have the terms of how much you will receive on every piece of product sold. All you now have to do is PROMOTE!!!PROMOTE the fact that you have product, promote the fact that your fans can go to a Burn Lounge site and buy your product.
No more carrying CDs to gigs, just a simple card that has the address on line where your fans can purchase your music. The key here is YOUR MUSIC; no one else owns it, just you. The only hand in the pot is yours, you earn it through creative energy and hard work touring, and you keep it all. Play in Baltimore, or "Nowhere", Montana as long as your audience has access to a computer and can download music, your have a sale.
If at some point the band would like to own a Burn Lounge and take this further on their own, you can do it. There are also several other sites where you can get your materials on line and sign a non-exclusive distribution deal. I only mention this one because I am familiar with Burn Lounge and have a personal site (this is not a commercial so I am not going to mention my Burn Lounge address - if interested write me). The only point here is to take your band career into your own hands. My predictions is within the next ten years there with be possibly THREE major record companies in existence - - the rest will be merged and gone.
The above being said, I wish I had a dollar ($1.00) for every time I get an inquiry from a band member or band manager on “how do I get a major label to sign me/my band?” If the dollar had come my way by now I would be writing this column from a beach in Hawaii!!
Anyway, the answer is not in getting signed, it is “selling product.” To sell product you need several things. Among them is distribution, hard to sell if it is not available where you are playing. Second you need promotion to create a “buzz” so people want to find your single or album and buy it. It used to be radio airplay did that. Get your music played on a major radio station and “bingo” the stores start getting calls for your “newest song” and everything starts to roll from there.
This is 2007 and it is not the “Woodstock Generation” we are talking about any longer that was influenced by A.O.R. (Album Oriented Rock) radio stations, top forty radio stations, even college eclectic formatted radio stations. This is the new generation of music fans that are getting their music information from a variety of sources outside of the conventional “listen to the radio and buy it.” Where did Death Cab for Cutie come from? Not radio, but the television shows “The O.C.” sound track. Jet from an iPod commercial. Yes, they eventually wind up on the FM radio band somewhere. The starting point is different and more unconventional, as Taco Bell says “Think Outside The Box!”
In 2007 and from now on, what will make a band is promotion and distribution. If you do not know about it, you can not seek to buy it. If you do not have a store that stocks it, you can not sell it. The promotion today is left up to the band and band manager. Even it they are “finally” signed to a major label deal, if you talk to the band you will find they started out as an independent recording group with their own label and through playing and promoting creating that “buzz” which attracted major label interest. Tired of selling their product out of a van or filling orders from their web site, even though the profit per unit is much greater, they took the offer of a major label with hopes that their product would finally reach the masses in retail distribution and if the label has a deal with iTunes, Napster, and the other on-line music sellers become available to their fans that way.
Well guess what? The national retail chains are going the way of the vinyl albums. In 1990 most retail record stores sold vinyl records, with some cassettes. By 1994 there were NO new vinyl albums being pressed or released by record companies, except for “special projects.” The retail brick and mortar stores are going the same way. Look around in Baltimore where I live, only Record and Tape Traders has survived with ten local stores. Most of the other chains are either gone, in chapter 13 or going away shortly. It is moving quickly to digital downloads. This is great for all the bands that have signed with a major labels because their music will be available via the above mentioned on line outlets. However, those artists will be paying their fees through their contracts to the record companies and out of a ninety-nine cent download, how much do they make after everyone at the label has taken their fee? What about the unsigned artist that is sitting out there with a full CD of music or maybe just “one great song?”
One answer may be the on-line stores that bands can now use to distribute their product. so those who have asked the question “how do I get signed to a major label?” The answer - - you don’t! What you do instead is go to a Burn Lounge site and download a non-exclusive distribution agreement for your product. Follow the instructions and within three weeks (if everything goes well) you will have licensed your music for free, posted your music on all Burn Lounge sites. You will collect a royalty for every song and album sold without having to pay distributors, labels and anyone else. Your distribution deal that you sign will have the terms of how much you will receive on every piece of product sold. All you now have to do is PROMOTE!!!PROMOTE the fact that you have product, promote the fact that your fans can go to a Burn Lounge site and buy your product.
No more carrying CDs to gigs, just a simple card that has the address on line where your fans can purchase your music. The key here is YOUR MUSIC; no one else owns it, just you. The only hand in the pot is yours, you earn it through creative energy and hard work touring, and you keep it all. Play in Baltimore, or "Nowhere", Montana as long as your audience has access to a computer and can download music, your have a sale.
If at some point the band would like to own a Burn Lounge and take this further on their own, you can do it. There are also several other sites where you can get your materials on line and sign a non-exclusive distribution deal. I only mention this one because I am familiar with Burn Lounge and have a personal site (this is not a commercial so I am not going to mention my Burn Lounge address - if interested write me). The only point here is to take your band career into your own hands. My predictions is within the next ten years there with be possibly THREE major record companies in existence - - the rest will be merged and gone.
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