Seeking opinions on work situation (music) (LONG)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am a freelance music producer and composer. I also teach several instruments and theory through a local business that positions itself as a hub of the local music scene.

The owner of this business also owns a recording studio down the street; the facility I teach in also has a studio space (without gear). In the past, I had made efforts to produce through the main studio - they have great engineers but no producers per se - but the owner wasn’t interested in my services at the main studio. Since then, I’ve run multiple sessions through the unequipped studio using my own gear.

In addition, I’ve just recently completed running an 8 week ‘rock workshop’ series - wherein groups of students are placed into bands, led by experienced teachers/producer, that rehearse for 8 weeks and then go into the studio to record three songs and also play a show at a fairly large local venue. This worked out exceptionally well - I received rave reviews from all participants and have been asked by the education director (not the owner) to develop a series of workshops: some one off workshops on music business and arranging, a four part music theory workshop and a six part songwriting workshop. I’ve also been asked to develop a bluegrass workshop and a jazz workshop, as those are my core specialties

So by all accounts, I have some value to the organization…I’m the only teacher with significant real world experience in jazz and bluegrass, and the only one currently working in those genres as a performer/producer.

The Situation:

Last week, as I was waiting to settle some accounting re: students in the office, a client of the recording studio came by to make a deposit on some studio time (all major business is handled at the main facility). We got to chatting - in full view of the number 2 guy at the business - and it turned out the client owned a small hip-hop label. I mentioned that my company did a fair amount of hip-hop production, and when he finished up his business I’d get him a business card from my car. We walked out there, I gave him a card and we chatted a bit about his company.

The #2 guy must have assumed I was trying to poach recording business from the company, and told the owner as much. Never mind that production - especially in hip-hop - has little to do with the actual recording/engineering. It’s primarily beat, loop and sample creation, and working with the artist/label to create the backing tracks to take INTO the studio to record vocals etc over.

Fast forward to yesterday, wherein I get a nasty email accusing me of sniping/poaching clients from the studio. From what I understand, the studio - while a really nice facility - is not in the best shape financially. The overhead is just too high for the volume, even though the facility is fairly well booked.

I sent a simple response stating that I wasn’t trying to poach clients. I was discussing a service which a) the studio doesn’t offer and b) I had tried to offer through the studio previously but the owner didn’t want to pursue. The owner’s perspective was that that was his client and I had no right to talk to him, regardless.

I call bullshit on that, and told him as much. As I’m an independent contractor and a freelance professional from his vantage point, I’m under no obligation to him regarding such matters.

Were I trying to take recording business away, that would be one thing. But this has no bearing on that and in fact, a producer - with a good reputation and already affiliated with the facility simply by association as a teacher/workshop leader - only strengthens his position as a full service operation.
I’d love to hear some thoughts from the Dope on this. Have I acted unethically? Improperly? How best to handle? The owner is extremely touchy and prone to kneejerk reactions. He also comes from a punk rock background and diplomacy is not really his strong suit, he tends to act and speak rashly when he perceives a threat to his business, right or wrong.

2

Keywords: owner; touchy; owner; kneejerk; rashly; owner; threat; owner…
From the rational side, it doesn’t sound like you did anything ‘wrong’. Offering services that are not available at the facility–services you’ve previously offered to make available to the facility.

But that doesn’t matter. Right or wrong, the owner’s perceptions, instincts and feelings are all that matter in the what-should-I-do/have-done department. Maybe he abstractly wants to be able to add those services later. Maybe he doesn’t draw such a strong distinction between services. Maybe he doesn’t want employees soliciting personal business–any personal business, from flower arranging to bagpipe tuning–regardless of whether or not he offers them. Maybe he doesn’t want you screwing up a business deal with the client causing the facility to lose business. Since you’re not technically an employee then, he has no control, yet you do have an affect on the client.

Again, not wrong per se except that if you like your job you follow the owner’s guidelines irrespective of how justified you feel you are. I work with lots of freelancers, and if any of them approached my client for services–no matter how far outside the scope of what I normally offer–I would never use that freelancer again. Too risky, too shakey.

3

Sounds to me like you just made a contact based on a shared professional interest. No big deal. It would have been better not to do it in front of him, but not because it’s an ethical violation; more because the owner sounds batshit fuckin’ crazy.

Of course, if he’s the one who hires for your services, then you should accommodate the crazy as best as you can if you want to keep your job.

4

I’m not quite understanding your arrangement. Were you paying the studio, or were they paying you?

5

The owner has explicitly stated that he has no interest in producing and wants to exclusively focus on recording.
Also, the fact that he has tried to position the operation as a hub of the music scene implies, to my mind, that business can and will be discussed by people. Hell, there’s a bulletin board to post cards/ads/whatever.

This guy is an ex-punk rocker with a good business sense in the abstract - he’s built quite an operation - but he’s not really in the MUSIC business - wherein networking is the foundation of the industry - but more the education/services business. He provides facilities and programs.

My instinct is that he jumped to conclusions and acted badly. The issue for me is that I am NOT an employee…as a teacher, I pay him weekly as small amount per lesson, which covers the time and the referrals. As a workshop instructor, we have a mutual arrangement - he covers the advertising and space, I provide the material, curriculum and teach the workshops.

He has always been very clear that we - as teachers, facilitators, producers - are NOT employees.

I have several other locations where I can run these workshops, and they’d love to have me. But there are some significant advantages to running them here- the space is great, they have a strong installed user base and a regular ad budget. This is for the main operation - teaching/hourly rehearsal studios and the like - not the main recording studio, which is in a different location down the street. So it’s easier to do them here, and will require significantly less legwork on my part. Money will probably be about the same regardless where I do them.

6

and RhythmDevil? I don’t think you CAN tune bagpipes… :slight_smile:

7

As for the teaching…it’s not a major source of income, and I have standing offers from several other places in town…I just like the current situation (for the most part)

If I leave, it won’t hurt him badly, but he’ll feel it. The same goes for me.

Part of the reason I’m inquiring here is to gauge objectively whether I should stick to my guns in the hopes of forestalling future issues, tell him to take a hike and move my operations elsewhere, or let it lie. I’m mostly concerned that he’ll take my refusal to stand up for myself as license to limit my activities in the future. Plus, it’s the principle of the thing…I’m not usually inclined to lay down and take shit without a good reason…

8

It’s got a funky beat and I can dance to it.

9

If only we knew someone who could help primarily with beat, loop and sample creation, and then work with us to create the backing tracks to take INTO a studio to record vocals etc over!

…
ISTM that it’s a simple matter of deciding whether or not you want to follow a general rule of don’t talk to his clients about side business period. Whether or not it impacts his business (or could even be good for it in the long run) is a different, non-relevant question. Whether you are right or wrong isn’t relevant, really. If you don’t want that sort of limitation, take the opportunity to move your services elsewhere. If you can get enough other business from doing so, it could be a wash or profitable. If not, and you don’t mind staying in general, then you know the ground rules and can go from there.

10

Fair enough…thanks! Seems like some sage advice.

11

That’s my take, too. His business, his rules.

12

Why can’t you flip this into an opportunity?

If, as you say, you offer services that he does not, what’s the problem? How about if you present that particular situation as a business proposition? “Take that hip hop guy - he needs some services I provide and some services which you provide; how can we structure something where we both benefit?” And if you have a specific idea in that regard, share it. Bottom line: if he thinks he could make $x off the hip hop guy, and in the scenario you paint where you are involved, he still can make $x - you have more of a chance to get him to work with you, not against you…

Best of luck.

13

sure you can! it takes a lot of surgical tape, however.

14

Pretty much this. “Right” or “Wrong” and the ethical high ground is utterly irrelevant in this scenario. He’s very sensitive (as many business people would be) if he thinks someone is encroaching on his turf. If his antenna are out on this topic it behooves you to avoid getting into these conversations while on premises.

15

Could you say something like, ‘Look, I give you my word, I will never offer any service that you also provide to any contact I make through your studio’? Maybe putting it like that would help to make him clearer on what actually happened, and reassure him for the future?