Hey Bob-

Just wanted to say thanks for taking notice of what we are doing.  I’ve been a reader of yours for years and just thought i would give you more details into what has happened for us as a band.  So much of what you have written about has resonated for me as an artist and relates to this band.

Let me start by saying that this band is truly an amalgamation of Old and New school music business paradigms and its been incredible to be a part of and witness.  I’ve been making music forever in this town with many musical projects that never went anywhere and certainly never got an ounce of recognition from the industry in the slightest.   With my heart finally broken one to many times by an industry that would never take notice I started working for a producer as his engineer and trying to pay the bills by writing music for film and television.  

Out of a sheer need to be creative I started writing the first FATT songs in 2008 with no thought of doing anything with the songs.  The response I got from friends and fellow musicians was pretty intense and encouraged me to continue.  With the Help of my sax player James King we quickly were inspired to put a band together.  Everyone in this band has put in their 10,000 hours of Gladwellian practice and our live show has truly become our calling card. We got Lisa Nupoff and Brian Klein to manage us.  Two people that respected the DIY approach and had experience with the direct to fan model.  They really believed in us from the very beginning when no one else did. We self released an EP and we started playing shows around LA.  We eventually released the same EP 3 separate times in the first year and a half because so few people knew about us and every time we did we garnered more fans.  So much of our success has been word of mouth, fan to fan, music lover to music lover spreading the word.  It is absolutely the main reason for any early success.  We are not that radical of a band in our sound but in terms of an industry that wants to put you in a nice little labeled box we certainly didn’t fall into one of their categories.   All the A & R types came out to shows and promptly didn’t "get it".  But the fans did and people kept spreading the word.  We got no major press in the early days just a ton of baby blog write ups with readerships of 10 people.  We did all the social media platforms, Facebook, twitter, last fm, the sixty-one, used TopSpin and gave away a free track in exchange for an email addresses.  All the social media sites have collectively helped build a foundation but facebook has hands down been the most important of them all for us as a band.  I hate to give Facebook any more power or cred but its true.  It has given our fans access to us without them having to leave their own personal facebook page.  It has helped us build a deep relationship with them over time.  They are invested in seeing us work hard and grow and now that we are experiencing some success they are cheering for us all the way because they are connected… we have become friends. Noelle and I as the singers do all the correspondence on facebook and twitter.  We take time to write them back or respond to their comments. People let us know when our site is down or we mislabeled a venue for a tour and they keep us on our toes.  When someone doesn’t get their vinyl Lp they ordered from our website they write to us and we make sure to take care of the problem personally.  

From the very first show Noelle and I have sold our own merch at the end of every show and shook every hand and taken every picture till there is no one left in the venue.  The guys in the band come out and hang with the crowd after the show and talk to people.  There is no pedestal or better than you rock star vibe.  Everyone in the band is down to earth, gracious and truly appreciative of everything that is happening to us.  

Here is the hard part.  MONEY!!!  That word of mouth got us some amazing opportunities to tour and open up for Flogging Molly, Maroon 5 and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings but all DIY means is YOU PAY FOR EVERYTHING YOURSELF!!  These were too amazing of opportunities to pass up so I invested my own money I had made from composing for tv and film into these tours.

The other part to our story is radio in 2 parts.  Part 1- KCRW and KEXP took us under their wing early early on in the bands career and KCRW invited us to do morning becomes eclectic.  This gave us a real foundation in LA,  all of a sudden people were at the shows in LA singing every word to an album that hadn’t even been released yet.

We went into SXSW as one of the "buzz" bands last year whatever that means. we did our big show with KCRW and every president from every major was there and they all left.  We never got more than an initial inquiry from them.  Which was fine for me because i was petrified to even entertain the idea of doing a major deal and becoming yet another victim of that corporate culture.  But everyone was congratulating us and yet no one stepped up.  We had run out of money and everyone in the band was broke, exhausted and stressed.  Our last show was playing the Dangerbird Benefit concert for the Pablove Foundation fighting children’s cancer.  We played to a big crowd of "regular" people. The show was not a badge only event so lots of regular folk came down and we had a blast.

We flew back to LA and the Next morning Jeff Castelaz the owner of dangerbird asked me out to coffee and told me he was really impressed with how we had built this thing all on our own and he was gonna offer us a deal.  I live in silverlake and I love being a part of a community and Jeff and everyone at Dangerbird have been really great and forward thinking and yet not ignorant to the old guard institutions.

Radio Part 2:  The label has an amazing radio person.  She was able to get us on AAA radio and Non Com. Some Alt rock and a ton of college radio and XM/Sirius.  Until this band I thought that radio was truly dead.  Who listens to radio?  Well apparently a shit ton of people.  We have been building with radio every day and we tied in every single tour date to a radio station in every city.   We decided to go out on tour right at the new year, dead of winter when the market wasn’t too saturated or competitive and hit every town from Philly, to Madison, to Kansas City and Portland Maine. Never a day above freezing on the entire tour!  We would show up in the morning do an in studio performance at a radio station, go to the next radio station and do the same and what happened was we were able to make that personal connection with every radio station and their listeners and we ended up selling out 95% of the tour.  it was such an education for me.  Old School hitting the pavement, meet and greets, signings at the end of every show.  Doing the work. Plain and simple.

On tour one of the most amazing realizations was to see the impact doing Live From Daryl’s house had on our career.  We gained more devoted fans doing that one webisode than Kimmel and Carson Daly combined!  It was nuts meeting person after person every night on tour in every city at the merch table.  Over and over it was "we found out about you from Live from Daryl’s house"  love the idea you can create an internet show and it can grow to be a huge success and truly we owe so much debt of gratitude to Daryl and his people becuase they made an enormous impact on our story. There was a whole family, Mom and Dad introducing their 16 yr old daughter and 19 yr old son to our music because of LFDH and the whole family coming down to the show.

We never tried to make music that would have a broad appeal, we just wanted to make music we were happy with but we have quickly seen that our demographic of fans ranges from the 14yr old who is discovering soul music for the first time to the 60 yr old dude that drove in from barstow to see us because he grew up listening to Motown and every age in between.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WFI8113X3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbtILeHc0iM

We have tried to create a great live show because yes anyone can make a decent recording.  Everyone can steal your music but they can’t steal your live show.  Our shows try to feature these truly talented musicians that I am so proud to play with.  No two shows are the same. Ripping farfisa solos and Bari sax break downs and a rhythm section that can hold it down.  And yes NO GUITARS!!!   We aren’t trying to be the coolest band out there.  There is nothing pretentious or ironic about what we are doing.   We are having a great time playing together and we want people to have a good time when they come see us.  We want the audience to be a part of the show not just be a bystander.   Who knows how long the ride lasts but we are in it, still broke! but loving the experience so thank you for taking notice and we hope to see you at a show very soon!!

Fitz

I thought this could only happen in England.

From the ska movement to Duffy and Adele retro-soul has always had a home in the U.K.  But in America we’ve been too busy chasing beats, living in a hip-hop nation.

What to make of the new sensation Fitz and The Tantrums?  The band doesn’t even have a guitar player!

Used to be we waited for a tastemaker, radio or MTV, to give its imprimatur before we paid attention to a new act.  But with MTV having ceded its network to nitwit reality stars and radio having gone corporate music is now in the hands of the proletariat.

It’s hard to keep up, the sheer volume is overwhelming.  Then the pieces come together and suddenly you’re on the bandwagon.

The first time Fitz and The Tantrums registered on my radar was on Sirius XM, a few weeks back they were doing a live show on the Spectrum.  I didn’t get it.

But then Marc Reiter mentioned the band’s name in a late night conversation at the Fairmont after the Super Bowl.

Then I started getting e-mail:

I just saw the best show ever – Fitz and the Tantrums in Detroit. I’m 50 and felt like I was 25.  It was free concert on a prime Friday night. The band members were selling their own merch.  People were loving the authentic quality of the music and the hard work the band was clearly demonstrating.  The crowd was college age up to retirees.  Do you know the marketing strategy behind FT?

regards
Lindsay Root
Howell Michigan

Dear Bob,

I haven’t been witness to many bands blowing up the way this one is, I hope you will take a look and find out what they have done to pick up momentum like they have. I first heard of them last fall when I logged into my Emusic account (yes, I’m still buying mp3’s on the subscription model) and Fitz and the Tantrums was the featured album that appeared on my login page. And I liked it, so I bought it. Missed their September show in Baltimore at the Ottobar, an alt-rock dive.

But I heard "Moneygrabber" on Philly radio a couple months later (and that’s a single for the ages); by the time they played World Cafe Live in Philly in January, something must have happened, because the place was packed, reportedly a sellout. And it was a great show! No tapes, synths, drum machines, or autotune (or even guitar!). They did a meet’n’greet afterwards. Now they are consistently reporting sellout shows on their Facebook page. They’ve been on Darryl’s House. Their mojo is working. What I am curious about it, HOW ARE THEY DOING IT???

Cheers,
Bill Barnett

And tonight I checked them out.

They’re like a cross between those bands playing in the basement in "Quadrophenia", ABC, the Average White Band and sixties soul music.

They’ve been hiding in plain sight.  Waiting to break through.  They’ve been on television, NPR, but still most people are clueless. But I don’t think that’s gonna last for long.

The track that closed me was "News 4 U".

The single is "MoneyGrabber".

But I’m gonna point you to this video to make the point:

Fitz & The Tantrums: LIVE [First Fridays (at Natural History Museum)] – "Dear Mr. President"

A great band is not a studio creation.  Now more than ever you’ve got to deliver live.  Because you can fake it on record, but not in the auditorium.  And live there’s an energy…

If this doesn’t make you want to see Fitz and The Tantrums you’ve got no soul.

As for the rest of their work…  You’ve heard of Google, right?

Needless to say, they’re on Dangerbird.  A major is not interested, because there’s no obvious commercial avenue.  But now you don’t need one.  You’ve got to be willing to work.  To persevere.  And if you’re good, people will find you.

People are finding Fitz and The Tantrums.

IAN’S PRESENTATION

Getting Practical: A Step-By-Step Guide to Building an Online Marketing Plan That Works (Ian’s Presentation From New Music Seminar Los Angeles, February 2011)

There’s a lot of good stuff here.  And I’m going to excerpt a few quotes for those who may not click through:

"I have what I hope is good news: you are NOT in the $0.99 download business. In fact, I’d go so far as to say you should never sell a $0.99 download from your web site. A fan connection is worth far more than $0.99, and I’d much rather convert a large number of people into lasting and meaningful relationships than make a few dollars on a digital download. The reason is, the average revenue per transaction across everything Topspin has sold to-date is $26."

In other words, don’t go for the short term money.  If you’re looking to get paid today, there’s a good chance you’re hurting your future.

"As Tim O’Reilly famously said, ‘An artist’s enemy is obscurity, not piracy.’"

If you’re more interested in getting paid than being heard, you’re not really an artist.

"If you’re just starting out, you need fans, not dollars. Our advice to artists is to not attempt to sell ANYTHING until you have at least a couple thousand people on your email list."

PORTLANDIA

Sorry About the Music Industry’s Downfall, Aimee Mann and Sarah Mclachlan

You’ll be forwarding this to everybody you know.

I ignored the hype on this show, because that’s what it was, hype.  But when a trusted filter e-mailed me this link, I checked it out.  And the reason I’m sending it to you is it’s so damn good…  It’s the small moments, like praying that Aimee won’t play new stuff, and asking her to clean up after being stunned she’s a maid.

TODAY’S FASCINATING HEAT MAP

2010 Music Website Heat Map

RE: CHART OF THE DAY

The REAL Death Of The Music Industry

The History of Recording Industry Sales, 1973-2010…

What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where people care more about money than music?

Well, it appears they’re caring about music again.  Isn’t that the Mumford & Sons story?

I believe these charts are gaining traction in the virtual world because everybody hates the labels.  And reading bad numbers and passing them around is a way to have smug satisfaction.

Think about it, how are the rights holders supposed to turn their fortunes around when the general public hates their guts?  If recording industry executives were politicians, not only would they be run from office, they’d be put in jail.  Believe me, if you can’t find an exec who’s done something legally questionable, you don’t know any.

But what do we know?

That music is plentiful and reaches more people than ever before.  How do we decide what gets traction, how do we compensate the creators?  Those are different questions.

Now we’ve got a fight between the old and the new.  Not only the labels, but the songwriters and old performers too.  No one is guaranteed that their life will stay the same forever.  If you can’t secure yourself against catastrophic illness, what makes you think nothing will change in the world of recordings?  To put it another way, the highly reviewed

"The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer"

states that there’s such a prevalence of the disease now because we live so long, people used to die before they got the Big C.  Do you want to go back to those old days, or figure out the new?

So we’ve got oldsters complaining their old revenue streams have been impaired and youngsters complaining that the door shut on the old system before they became rich and famous.  Better to follow Ian’s prescriptions than complain.

As for what’s popular…  The starmaking machinery fed by the labels and the media is fading, we just haven’t established the new paradigm.  But you’ll bitch when we get there too.  Because it too will leave you out.  Because you want to be rich and famous and you’re just not that good a musician.  You bought all the gear, you planned your route, you just didn’t pay your dues.

CD SALES

From:
Subject: CHART OF THE DAY- The Death Of The Music Industry
Date: February 17, 2011 7:56:01 AM PST
To: Bob Lefsetz

No name please.

Pretty sure the graph is correct – I generated one from the RIAA data last year and it looked pretty much the same.  You can download the historical RIAA stats for $25 and generate it yourself (you need to factor in an inflation adjustment).  http://bit.ly/dHsmGa

The stat that CDs are 74% of sales is wrong (I think Tom Silverman said it in reference to CDs as a % of album sales, not overall sales and it got misquoted)… In 2009, physical revenues were only 55% of the US market (according to the IFPI).  Was likely even less in 2010.  2010 soundscan stats below – converting tracks to albums at a ratio of 10:1 (TEAs):

237 million physical albums (73% of total albums; 53% of albums w/TEAs)

86 million digital albums (27% of total albums; 19% of albums w/TEAs)

326 million total albums

1.2 billion tracks = 120 million TEAs (27% of albums w/TEAs)

So albums are 53% of the sales volume when you factor in tracks.  Add in licensing, D2C revenue, and other revenue streams and it’s clearly already below 50%… (in the US).  Int’l market’s are still higher…  but it’s all coming down.

Do you tell your lover everything?

I was hiking in the mountains last Sunday night listening to my Wendy Waldman MP3s.  I’m recovering from a pinched nerve in my back and I’ve been overwhelmed and I was testing my body and I just couldn’t handle anything new, I needed to hear the music of an old friend.

What stunned me was I suddenly understood the lyrics.

Oh, I’d always gotten the words.  But decades later, as an adult, I understood the situations.  Of lovers leaving, wondering if they’re ever going to come back.  Of telling others to stay away.  About coming to California and wondering what will be.

The singer-songwriters of yore were wise beyond their years.  How did they know so much about life?

And driving west on Olympic earlier this afternoon I heard Carly Simon’s "We Have No Secrets" on Sirius XM’s The Bridge.

Time has not been kind to Ms. Simon.  An iconic star in the early seventies, she’s been forgotten since.  One could question her output, but the fact that she refused to go on the road contributed to her obscurity.

But there was that one moment, at the end of ’72, when not only could you not escape "You’re So Vain" on the radio, but you didn’t want to.  It’s the "…Baby One More Time" of the seventies.  Yes, Britney Spears might have questionable talent, but I immediately went out and bought the album and I’m proud of it, because that’s a killer cut.  Enhanced, of course, by Britney shaking her tits in that dance move in the video, but "…Baby One More Time" stands tall without the clip.

"You’re So Vain" is a masterpiece.  Credit Richard Perry.  From the intro to Carly’s growl to Mick Jagger’s backup vocal everything is in the right place, enhancing each and every other part.  And "You’re So Vain" being so good, I bought the album, even though I owned none of Ms. Simon’s previous work.

And back then you played the complete album.  Because "No Secrets" was only thirty six and a half minutes long and we believed artists had something to say.  I played the rest of Britney’s debut, just to be sure, but only once.  I played "No Secrets" numerous times.  And the second best cut is the title track, "We Have No Secrets".

I get it, you’ve got no secrets, next!

But back in the early seventies I truly had no secrets.  I had plenty of stories, but nothing I wouldn’t share.  I was just dying to have a woman to tell them to, the question of editing didn’t enter the picture.  But today…

We have no secrets
We tell each other everything
About the lovers in the past
And why they didn’t last

I went through a transformation after my divorce.  I held nothing back.  But when I reconnected with my ex she didn’t agree with my newfound philosophy, she didn’t believe in hurting people, and even though we’d been separated for years I was wounded hearing the people she’d slept with since.  You see she’d once been mine.  Exclusively.  Now…

We share a cast of characters from A to Z
We know each other’s fantasies
And though we know each other better when we explore
Sometimes I wish
Often I wish
That I never knew some of those secrets of yours

So I’m sitting at Felice’s dining room table revealing my romantic history and as I’m talking she’s becoming more and more quiet.  Doesn’t the fact that I’m revealing my previous history illustrate my trustworthiness, our connection?

But every once in a while when we’re driving down the street and she points out where she lived with this person or that I wince.  I want to know, but I don’t.

And later when you told me
You said she was a bore
But sometimes I wish
Ofttimes I wish
That I never never knew some of those secrets of yours

If the relationship was that good, we’d still be with them.  But we’re not.  And we say why.  But on a certain level the other person just does not believe us, they think we’re sugarcoating the truth.

Not only do I tell the truth, I believe it’s best if the secrets come out.  It’s only history.  It can’t be denied.

But however much you share you can’t share it all.  As much as we want to be close, on certain levels we remain distant.

But then there are those moments when we tell our stories and feel understood and accepted and we feel warm all over.  That’s what we’re looking for.

In the name of honesty, in the name of what is fair
You always answer my questions
But they don’t always answer my prayers
And though I know you say that it’s me that you adore
Sometimes I wish
Often I wish
That I never, never, never knew
Some of those secrets of yours

Now I’ve got so many romantic bruises I wonder if I’m even lovable.  When I first heard "No Secrets" I was optimistic, relatively unscathed.  I didn’t know that the older we get the more we grow apart.  But only by telling our secrets can we grow back together.

We have no secrets
Telling each other most everything now…

We Have No Secrets (LP Version)