- "In God, We Trust...In Thee,
- I Must???"
by
Kenny
LoveIt is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when some prospective independent musicians realize that I will now charge them upfront for my promotional services in regard to their recordings.
You see, until recently, I believed I had created a perfect niche, for both artists and myself alike, through my revolutionary "back-end" deal. Heck, this was to be such a winner, I was, avidly, considering seeking patents and trademarks on its processes. :-)
This "deal" consisted of my agreement to represent artists’ recordings that I felt strongly about, through radio airplay, video airplay, and press publicity. In exchange, the artist would sign a written agreement with me, agreeing to
compensate me for my efforts when sales were forthcoming, as opposed to paying upfront service fees.Dummy! Numbskull! Idiot! are loving labels attributed to me by well-meaning associates in regard to my enlightening idea. But, my thoughts were that, since artists believed that promotion was expensive, I would show them that it didn’t have to be so. Yeah, I showed them alright!
After implementing several of these "deals," and getting results for the artists, I awoke from a nightmare yelling at the top of my lungs, "Dummy! Numbskull! Idiot!" while scratching my head in an attempt to stimulate my memory as to where I had heard such colorful metaphors of recent.
To cut to the chase, all deals went south, then belly-up, with me losing both time and money. Now, had all parties been honorable souls, these "deals" would have been matches made in Heaven, or close to it.
The artist would not have been required to fork over money for promotion before seeing results, while I would be able to realize a bit more revenue than the standard industry fees for promotion.
However, now realizing that, for the most part, many artists will not honor the life of such an agreement, I found it necessary to join the industry standard of requesting all fees upfront, as it seems this is the only way to keep all parties honest.
Yet, it still baffles my mind how and why artists seem to believe that, though they have no problem paying through the nose, so to speak, for production and manufacturing, they are not required accordingly to pay for their own promotion.
I believe Tim Sweeney, in fact I’m certain of it, stated that, in 1999, approximately 40,000 recordings were produced, while any given radio format has only 40 slots, at best, for songs, i.e., Top 40.
In fact, many have reduced their roster to Top 30, or in some cases, even less. Comparing these statistics, makes me wonder why many so-called artists even try to break into the commercial music industry.
For most, it’s just not realistic, as they will never even realize national success to any degree. Oh, there’s nothing ill will about their recordings’ production quality...it’s just that their mindset needs a Roto-Rooter session in regard to
"industry education." And, in regard to national success to the media, anything less means nothing at all.Thankfully, in my crusade, I wasn’t burned beyond recognition...only scarred just enough to adopt the "where’s the money" principle ahead of time, and from this point forward. Most times, when now learning my upfront rates, I never hear from some of the artists again...the same ones
who were, otherwise, so eager to get started before...when there was absolutely no risk on their behalf. Was it something I said? Hmmmm...And, my rates are, among the lowest in the industry. This tells me that these particular artists don’t possess enough faith in their own product to take a chance on it while, otherwise, desiring that others do so.
This article is not to say that ALL independent artists are out to trample on anyone they can in an effort to attain success, and reach the top. We both know that isn’t true.
But, how does anyone determine who is honest, and who isn’t...in ANY aspect of life, and especially, in the music industry, with its shake-and-bake history? The old axioms, "An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure," or "A bird in the hand, is worth 2 in the bush," fit quite appropriately here.
Actually, I have an aversion to allowing any bird to sit for any length of time in my hand...been there, done that...literally. And, it ain’t a pretty picture.
I did, though, manage to get quite a bit of satisfaction, as the last act that chose to sabotage me, realized, after the fact, that I was in receipt of approximately 130 requests for its CD from music directors and programmers, with even more forthcoming over the next several weeks.
I even thought I heard them reaching for the Pepto Bismol after I informed them that this number of requests, combined with a previous number of approximately 70 requests, would just about be enough for them to immediately chart
Billboard.However, with having now acquired a new client within the same genre, it would be ludicrous for me to forfeit these requests to them, and create competition for myself and my new client, and the fact that I am no longer in association with the previous artist, who never paid me anything.
"X-Files" Special Agent, Fox Mulder, said it best. Must it bear repeating? However, I can’t help looking over at my new wall placque that is right on target, and now serves as a daily reminder of which financial road to take fromthis day forward, based on these experiences. It reads...
"In Thee, to Trust? Thou Thinkest, I’m Nuts???"
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