I’ve hooked up with this sales and marketing guru here in Indy. One day he said that he does music too, and it’s really great. Sure, I thought; another wanna-be. I’m not even that big a fan of contemporary pop-rock.
I put his CD in my car stereo and was blown away. The moment I heard it, I knew he could be big.
Now he’s honored me by making me his manager. I feel that I’ve got dynamite that I’ve just got to light. Here’s why he’ll be big:
Contemporary sound but with a twist; his music appeals to a wide audience but is completely fresh.
Charismatic, almost messianic personality: He has played in front of felons and college students and completely captivated him. He’s 38 or so but good- and younger-looking.
Brilliant songwriting ability: Catchy melodies, complicated structures, bridges to die for–he’s an intuitive musical genius.
Last but not least, he simply has a great voice.
So, I have a big responsibility. I’ve gotten him two gigs: One at a bookstore and one at a pretty nice coffee house. He has a book and a CD to sell, and he has in the past sold 30 books in one hour at Borders.
My basic plan for the next 6 months is to build a local following in the Indy area on college campuses and coffee places. He is acoustic + voice now (although the CD features smoking session player work and excellent arrangements) but we can put a new band together at pretty much any time. His music has a strong spiritual message: not Christian rock either in feel or explicitly in the lyrics, but his message works with both Christians and New Agers (next gig is at New Age bookstore). He does not really like playing clubs, and most of his material is mid-tempo singer-songerwriter pieces, so he’s much better at playing an actual concert than playing for dancing.
But the long-term goal is superstardom. If I can manage him well, he can do it. I’ve bought the book All You Need to Know about the Music Business by Donald S. Passman, and I’ve read books on the topic in the past.
I’m sure that will be informative, but I need your Doper ideas and advice. What other books to read, what other avenues to pursue. I would like to get him a record deal on a major label within a year with the sky being the limit after that. Thanks for your help!
A friend of mine built and runs the EvO:R site. Can you mail me a CD of his and I’ll send it to him, either via ZIP file or snail mail. He has many people in the Indy business and I suspect he’d love to hear his stuff. If you do mail it to me, something from your friend permitting me to send it on to Charlie would be required I assume.
If so, email me and I’ll send you my address.
Disclaimer- I in no way work for EvO:R or any recording industry business.
Find a smaller label that has similar artists and try to cut a deal. They know about promotion, distribution, etc., and a lot of the smaller ones are run by people who are genuinely enthusiastic about the music. Check out Myspace too.
Make sure his music, both written and recorded, is copyrighted up the wazoo. And then some. Just so, yanno, for when he hits it big. His early stuff will be good for a few compilation albums- just between his first retirement and his 4 years spent playing Vegas.
Possibly of no use because it is in Australia - John Butler a prominent Aussie musician runs the *JB Seed, his grants programmes.
This year it includes:
• THE JB SEED INITIATIVE: MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP – 10 opportunities available
The JB Seed Initiative: Management Workshop addresses the lack of practical strategies and their implementation when managing a band or performer in the establishment phase of their career.
This workshop brings together a group of significant professionals in the music industry, including managers, record distributors, radio promoters, publicists, lawyers, grant writers and successful artists to share their knowledge and offer strategic advice on ways to enhance performers’ opportunities in the music industry.
The JB Seed Initiative: Management Workshop will be delivered in a three - four day intensive workshop format, complemented by customised personal advice.
It is open to managers, band members who are managing themselves, and established arts workers who are considering arts management as a serious career option.
The program will assist successful applicants with transport to and from the workshop, accommodation and food. Each applicant would be expected to include information about their employment/further education history for the last 5 years, a copy of the recording of the artists they manage, copies of any recent publicity produced for the artists, a vision statement as to their career aspirations and a letter from the artists confirming the applicant’s role in their career.
I know a few people, in these enlightened times, who make a decent living as entirely independent artists, selling their own CDs from their own website. THat’s a great way to get your stuff spread around too. THe labels will come in time. One note: until he’s as big as Metallica, encourage, rather than discourage, the unfettered copying and distributing of his tracks. There’s no better way for an artist to achieve widespread familiarity nowadays.
I play in and manage a “real band” on a real record label. Here’s my .02 -
Put together a great “demo” (studio quality, full arrangements) CD that doubles as something self-released that he can sell at his shows. Make it look decent - not slick and faux-professional, but still pleasing and in-tune with the guy’s aesthetic. Instead of going for a full-length, try cherrypicking his absolute best for a five-song EP or so. Get this to record labels that are releasing stuff that both sonically and aesthetically is in line with what this guy is doing. Don’t just send them unsolicited - get in touch, via e-mail and phone, with people at the label and tell them that you want them to hear it, no pressure, and ask them point-blank if they’re willing to give it a quick listen. THEN send it along and follow up without being pushy.
Get together a reasonable backing band and play live; the acoustic gigs aren’t going to cut it. If this guy is writing the great songs that you claim he is, they need to be showed off in top form - guitar/bass/drums/keyboards, whatever. What are currently active artists that you’d compare him to? Get him, and his backing band, gigs opening up for those artists, or similar artists in the venues that they play. The stripped-down thing is great and easy, but the best way for this guy to build buzz is to show off those songs (1) in top form and (2) to the right audiences, period.
Get him a myspace page with his best songs embedded in a player. Get him a website that’s not gaudy, but has pertinent information and pictures, live show information, a decent bio/one-sheet, a few downloadable songs, and some merch, even if it’s just CafePress or something, maybe even his blog. Pony up and get a real domain - www.hisname.com or whatever - no Geocities bullcrap. In addition, consider getting him a page at www.purevolume.com. Put his e-mail and your e-mail on the webpage, and use real e-mails - yourname@hisname.com or whatever. You may even want to get gutsy and give the appearance of you guys being a bigger operation than you really are - put separate contacts for “Booking,” “Management,” “Press,” etc., with their own e-mail addy’s, even if it’s just you. You want to look like a respectable operation, not two guys with hotmail accounts (even if that’s all you are!).
Seriously, play live as much as possible - I can’t stress this enough. Legitimate, full-band shows in real venues opening for other like-minded real bands that are coming through town. Forget the coffeeshops and bookstores and focus on playing shows to people that come out to hear live music. Make friends with the bands that you open for, as going out on tour with one of them can make a career for the artist.
Hope this helps. I’d really like to hear the guy’s stuff to advise what path to take, and how to generally market the guy.
Thank you, VC03. I am very heartened to see that I am already following most of your advice and/or he was already doing that before I came along. I will do the myspace page. He has a pro-quality CD that is basically ready for ready (except for a slight demo accent that is really more about not sounding totally “produced”). We’ve got the “real” domains ready to roll.
I will also follow your advice about contacting record people and following up with them. TY!
Avoid major labels. Read this article by Steve Albini.
Also, remember that Rock superstardom has a lot more to do with appealing to teenagers and college kids than it has to do with talent. I know a few people who’ve got talent coming out their hind end. At best they’re playing small or medium venues to generally appreciative audiences, but most still have day jobs.
Just a quick note to add that VC03 has it down. In this day and age, the goal is to get your artist heard - and the internet is the way to get a grass roots situation started. The drummer in my band is a record producer by day and he is working with a band that generated a ton of buzz using Myspace and currently weighing offers from 6 record labels, including a private screeing by Clive Davis of J Records. Bottom line - get your stuff heard by any means necessary…
If you’re trying to promote the guy, keeping his name to yourself so that you can say “ha, I told ya” a year from now (if you’re very, very lucky) is not a good idea. If you want to promote him then do it. Get his name out there and make his music available for anyone with an internet connection to hear (a record label’s gonna make him re-record it all anyway so there’s no reason to be stingy with it).
The internet provides musicians with a way to get music to millions of potential fans…use it.
VCO3 gives some very sound advice. The most important of which (to me) is to get him playing live. Real live, with a band, not at coffee houses or book stores where 5 people are going to see him. Get him into the local clubs (not dance clubs) where a lot of people can hear him. Try to get gigs opening for popular local acts and play as often as possible.
Boy, no kidding. Ask any Happy Rhodes fan (like me, for instance) why one of the most talented and fascinating artists in America can release 10 brilliant albums and still be unknown and obscure 20 years after the first one. She’s worked day jobs since I first discovered her 17 years ago. She’s had offers, but labels have wanted her to change her name and change her style and change her look and not let her own her own masters and all kinds of horrible things. Her only stint at trying a record label ended up a disaster for her. They signed up to release an album she already had recorded and finished when they found her, then dropped her because they didn’t know what to do with her since she doesn’t fit into any easy genre. In between they screwed with her head by wanting her to stop writing her own songs. She just doesn’t have the blind, driving ambition to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to “make it.” She just wants to make music because it’s in her bones. If she changed she wouldn’t be herself. Her fans love her the way she is, and her music for what it is. It would be nice if she got some recognition though, at least from her musical peers. She really does deserve to be known, if only for her incredible voice. (/end ravings of a Happy Rhodes fan)
Anyway, sorry for the hijack. Good luck to you and your guy! I also recommend the Steve Albini article Larry Borgia linked to, putting up a MySpace page (here’s Happy’s, which is a fan page), and telling people his name. I don’t think you’re in a position to spring him on an unsuspecting world, then brag.
Do I have it right that your friend is a “sales and marketing guru” and an “intuitive musical genius” all at once? And he’s an amazingly charismatic guy to boot, who can captivate widely diverse personalities? And he knows all about marketing? And his chance for superstardom rests not on his talent but on your management? And he’s a marketing expert? And he wants you to manage and promote his career? And he’s got the sales and marketing experience? And your qualifications for this role are ownership of a book titled All You Need to Know About the Music Business and whatever you can pick up from a pseudonymous message board? I wish you all the best, but my only advice is: do not invest financially in this enterprise, and do not lend this man money.
You could do worse than reading the marketing story behind the UK’s Arctic Monkeys. They were initially promoted via gigs, word-of-mouth, and the internet on a very low budget, before signing with a small independent label.
Don’t particularly like their music myself, but this week they broke the UK record for album sales for a new release.
