He was a hero to our heroes. By time we came along, he was already a preacher.

Yes, our heroes were born during the war. Roger Waters has made a whole career writing about it, and he broke after the Beatles and the Stones.

You see while we in America were riding the zeitgeist, we were ignoring the heroes of our past, mostly our blues heroes, but they were soaking them up in England, and we ended up with not only John Mayall, but Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Peter Green…the list goes on and on.

But on this side of the pond, English blues-rock came after the British Invasion.

Now some boomers were conscious at the end of doo-wop. Some even experienced Fabian and Bobby Rydell. But the Beatles came along and wiped away all that had come before, except for the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys, and suddenly music was the focus of attention for boomers across the land, the world, it was kinda like the tech frenzy of the first decade of this century (and the last half of the one before!), music was everything, you had to know about the new thing, hell, Michael Lewis even wrote a book entitled THE NEW NEW THING!

But then it died.

We can debate all day long what the first rock and roll record was. Most insiders agree it was “Rocket 88,” the press often says it was “Rock Around the Clock,” but one thing is for sure, what was happening in the fifties was different from what had happened in the forties. It was a new sound. With Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Fats Domino too, but baby boomers really only knew Elvis, who’d sold out and gone Hollywood, the Beatles of his day, the difference being, and it was a big one, he did not write his own songs. Then again, the Beatles didn’t always either, they covered Little Richard.

So by time most boomers reached consciousness, they thought Fats Domino was dead, the fact that he could be living in plain sight in New Orleans was unfathomable. We all knew “Blue Suede Shoes,” but few of us could tell you it was recorded by Carl Perkins. As for Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin Myra? That eluded us completely, until Lewis tried to make a comeback, when “Rolling Stone” made everybody aware of rock and roll news, and sometimes history.

So, there’d been a rock explosion, that had mostly expired. Kinda like the hip-hop explosion of the eighties and early nineties, just when you thought it was over, it fired-up with a vengeance, to the point it rules today. Pop, mostly meaningless, was dominating the airwaves, but then the Little Richard and early rock-influenced Beatles broke out, and through the door came a whole slew of acts brought up on the same influences. These were war babies, who’d grown up with hardship, they lived for the music in a way no one is focused today, with so many options for diversion.

We didn’t learn of Little Richard and the Beatles’ infatuation with him from “Meet the Beatles,” but on “The Beatles’ Second Album,” which was really the third, VeeJay’s “Introducing” came before, the opening cut on the second side was…

“Long Tall Sally.”

I’m gonna tell Aunt Mary, ’bout Uncle John

Paul McCartney emoted with exuberance. Even beyond that which was exhibited on the hits, like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” It was like he was plugged into a socket and had been shocked. Now they call him “Sir Paul,” but he used to be a scruffy kid from Liverpool, who played the catalog of the original rock and roll of the fifties in multiple sets a night in Hamburg. There’s not a boomer alive who is unaware of this version of Little Richard’s hit, no one today is as big as the Beatles were, forget the charts and statistics, these albums were oftentimes all people had, and they played them until they turned gray, and then bought the CDs and watched the documentary and…

So now, there’s a rock press. Rock info is readily available. And all these English rockers can’t stop testifying about Little Richard. They rarely talked Elvis, they’d mention Jerry Lee, even Ike Turner, but through their lens it appeared that Little Richard was their Beatles, that he meant everything to them.

So we started being exposed to these tracks. Most specifically, “Tutti Frutti.” Huh?

Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom

Who knew what the song was about. And this was in the era of one speaker radios and record players, misinterpretation was rampant, and everybody was convinced that there was something dirty in the song, not that they could agree on it.

And then came the covers. Like Mitch Ryder’s “Good Golly Miss Molly.”

Not that the average person knew it was a Little Richard hit, to most people, Little Richard was just a name. But we knew his real name was Richard Penniman, and what he was selling was energy, with no limits, the power of a sound that not only enticed teens, but drew them to gigs where they got caught up in the energy.

By the late sixties, the turn of the decade, covers became more rampant, and they weren’t always hits. “You’re My Girl” (a retitling of “I Don’t Want to Discuss It”), was the second best song on the Rhinoceros album, and the best was the legendary “Apricot Brandy.” And for those of us who got the memo on Rod Stewart, there was an absolutely killer version of the same song, now titled “You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want to Discuss It,” closing “Gasoline Alley.”

But still, Little Richard was not a household name, he was nowhere to be seen. He was an oldie, maybe dead himself.

I met him in this era. With his producer Bumps Blackwell. And the funny thing about Little Richard…

Well, there were two funny things.

1. He was not little.

2. He was always on.

Now if you’ve met many celebrities, you know that oftentimes the character on stage is not the one you get in real life, especially if their rep is built on energy. But it was like Little Richard was plugged into that socket 24/7, who even knew how he slept. He’d fawn over himself, crack jokes and take mock offense at the tiniest of slights. It was weird, because he was an icon and he wouldn’t brush you off but he was always in character, meeting him was an indelible experience.

And then he made his comeback.

It was “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.” Back when Disney was the business story of Hollywood and flicks were all not high concept blockbusters. You went to the theater on a regular basis, and seemingly everyone saw this pic.

And put a face to the name of Little Richard. And was exposed to his magnetism.

And then suddenly he was everywhere. Even more than Orson Welles. Welles might have made the best movie of all time, but Richard was one of the progenitors of rock, with multiple hits, who could still perform on the same level whenever called upon. His contemporaries acted like old men, Little Richard seemed ageless.

And he became part of the firmament. Someone you always expected to be there. A god from another era here to walk the earth now.

But today he passed.

The news mentioned his son. Which was another point of mystery. Richard was seen as gay, back when “homosexual” was a bad word. I mean who really was this guy, he was a walking enigma!

And yes, he had a thousand watt personality.

But really, it comes down to those records.

Today a track is a means to an end. You build your brand and leverage it. But back in the original days of rock and roll, you didn’t even get rich on your hits. There were no royalties. You made what you got playing live. And if you were African-American, there were places you couldn’t play, and oftentimes white, Top Forty radio, wouldn’t play your songs at all, and if they did, they were covered by some white guy, like Pat Boone.

So, it was about the music.

And the drinking, the drugging and the sex.

This is what a musician used to be. Not someone computer-savvy posting to social media, but someone whose life mostly took place in the shadows. These were people who didn’t fit into regular society, or who didn’t want to fit in, who saw music as their way out.

And they created their own rules. They were renegades, they were outlaws.

And that was the appeal of their music. It was not dumbed-down, there was nothing cut off the edges for consumption, it was all raw humanity, in a way most people couldn’t even express, but resonated with when they heard it.

Now the weird thing is rock history is passing in front of our very eyes.

Sure, there’s the 27 club.

But in the last decade we’ve lost people we shouldn’t have, like David Bowie and Glenn Frey. And before that the inexplicable death of John Lennon.

But now it seems to be a regular feature in the news, celebrities tweet their condolences and everybody moves on. And we no longer live in a rock culture, and a lot of the work of those who’ve passed is not regularly played or remembered.

But Little Richard is different. This is the beginning. This was the moon shot. The fact that this guy was still walking the planet was utterly astounding. And if you missed him… You might have seen the Stones, but without Little Richard, would there be any Stones? Beatles too?

Somehow Richard was not a curio, his hits were stuck in the past, but his performances and his identity were not. Maybe because Richard was singular, anything but me-too. When they created him they truly broke the mold, hell, Richard broke it being birthed. He took on all comers. He could play in any arena. Michael Jackson might have called himself the King of Pop, but Little Richard was the King of Rock & Roll long before, and despite some detours, Richard continued to reign.

The king is dead.

Long live the king.

Brian Howe – spotify

And every time I see your face
It lightens up the whole damn place

“How About That”

We won’t be seeing Brian Howe’s face anymore.

Calling it Bad Company was sacrilegious. But what are you gonna do when your iconic lead singer moves on and your label won’t sign you unless you use the old moniker?

By time the second edition of Bad Company gained notoriety, this sound was on its deathbed. The hair bands had overloaded the public with attention-seeking ballads and grunge was just around the corner, straight ahead rock was fading, as was AOR…at this point if you didn’t cross over to pop, you were left behind. Many thought Bryan Adams’s “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” was a sappy sell-out, but Adams was smart, he got out before the whole thing collapsed, he survived.

If you want to understand the second coming of Bad Company you have to look back to Bud Prager (and Phil Carson!) Prager was an attorney who started in the performing rights area but quickly segued into management. He’d tell you his best friend was Felix Pappalardi, how he got him the gig producing Cream. Prager would speak of Felix’s demise as if it were yesterday. But that was Bud, he was dramatic. He was an orator. He was not street, he was dignified.

Not that he could not go gutter.

At this point, Bud is most famous for being the manager of Foreigner. Bud believed, he stuck by Mick Jones when his CV didn’t appeal to labels, he cut the Scotti Brothers in for a point forever to ensure the success of the band. And it broke instantly, and sustained.

This was Bud’s sound. It’s not quite corporate rock, it’s not that calculated, this is what Bud knew and he continued to mine this sound until his passing. Hell, he worked with Giant back at the turn of the decade from the eighties to the nineties, and the band turned out a couple of great, radio-friendly tunes, but AOR was dying and the band didn’t have a brand name and Dann Huff went back to the studio, ultimately becoming a go-to country music producer.

So, the legend of most bands is they started in the garage, maybe they grew up together, maybe they found each other through an ad, but then they bonded as blood brothers and it was them against the world.

This was not the second iteration of Bad Company. This was a band that was put together on paper. It was not sheer luck, it was sheer effort. Brian Howe had had a turn with Ted Nugent, but nobody can stick for long with the Motor City Madman, he’s the star and you’d best never forget it. And Mick Ralphs was an underrated guitarist in Mott the Hoople who finally got his due in the original Bad Company, and he brought “Ready for Love,” but despite his licks, he was not a songwriter from scratch, not somebody who could fill up a whole album all by himself. Brian Howe could write too, that made a good fit.

But it didn’t work. Keith Olsen produced the initial comeback LP, and it made no splash. That’s another person who died, who did not get the obits he deserved. I’m not sure who he pissed off, he was always cool to me, but I only knew him in e-mail, this was the guy who melded Buckingham and Nicks into the Fleetwood Mac we know, as well as much more.

But then the managers executed a master stroke. I’m sure if Bud were still here today he’d take credit. Phil still is here today, he’ll probably take credit, and since he’s English it makes sense but…

Someone had the bright idea of bringing in Terry Thomas.

Yes, the man behind, the man who essentially was Charlie. With great albums with great pop sensibilities on Janus that most people were unaware of.

And the first Terry Thomas produced Bad Company album, “Dangerous Age,” did not break through.

But the managers stuck with the band. Bud was loyal. Phil too. And what do they say, the third time’s the charm?

It started with “Holy Water,” the eponymous opener of the LP. “Holy Water” was heavy, in a way what came before was not. The guitar crunched. And Brian Howe emoted. It had that special sauce, the je ne sais quoi, you know, the sound that penetrates your gut and hooks you, that you want to turn up as you bounce around the house with that guitar shaking the walls, this is the power of rock and roll.

The rock and roll that those in control of the media despise, the same media that despised Led Zeppelin, even though Page’s outfit was on a whole ‘nother level. You see, to resonate with the critics, you had to be punk, you had to strip it down, you had to be out of the mainstream, if anything the mainstream had to come to you, if you were playing in the mainstream lane to begin with you were denigrated, written off, kicked to the curb by the tastemakers, but…the heartland loved you!

So this is when MTV is making the transition from rock to rap. With a ton of overproduced pop, both on wax and on film, in-between. But somehow, “Holy Water” got some traction, you heard it on the dying AOR, it had presence. And then…

Should have told you by now
But I can’t find the words

Most people making this music can’t find the words, either in song or in regular life, they speak through their instrument, but the girls are drawn to them nevertheless.

If you needed somebody
Like the way that I need you
If you wanted somebody
Ah, the way that I want you

Yes, “If You Needed Somebody” was a ballad. But it rocked harder than Extreme’s “More Than Words,” sure, it was soft, but then it built, it was tough, it had balls, and a bridge. The bridge is the secret to the Beatles’ success, and even though it’s been hiding in plain sight, it seems that today’s songwriters can’t find it.

So, MTV picked up on “If You Needed Somebody” and it was gigantic. Sure, the name was Bad Company, but it was clear the frontman, Brian Howe, was the star. He and Terry Thomas wrote both of these hits. And if you bought the album it was eminently playable. “Boys Cry Tough,” “Stranger, Stranger” and “Walk Through Fire” all had major impact at rock radio (appealing only to those listening, which was a declining number), and the latter even made it all the way up to #28 on the pop chart.

So, this second edition of the band had built itself into a business, it had momentum, this is what you were fighting for back in the day. You released albums, hoped for radio/video exposure, toured incessantly, waiting for it all to catch fire, so you could sell arenas. No one played an arena on their first time out. Flash in the pan was looked down upon, you had to pay your dues, you had to have a catalogue.

So, the new Bad Company is ready to capitalize on “Holy Water”‘s success. But in the interim, in the fifteen months between “Holy Water” and its follow-up, “Here Comes Trouble,” grunge arrived, Nirvana and Pearl Jam, no one wanted the sound Bad Company was making, it was seen as passe. And not being hip to begin with, the band had no hit and broke up.

But there was a hit on rock radio. Which was not playing grunge. Which meant less every day, to the point where today it’s a niche, albeit a harder rocking niche.

And that hit is quoted at the top of this screed.

It’s “How About That.”

Last night when the moon was new
I couldn’t sleep, I was thinking of you
And how much I need you
How ’bout that?

“How About That” is the apotheosis of the second coming of Bad Company. It’s got an inviting guitar intro, the kind of sound you used to live for, that you used to fantasize to.

And one thing about Brian Howe…HE COULD SING!

A lot of lead singers, even famous ones, cannot. But they were there in the beginning, in the garage, it’s too late to kick them out now. But when you’re building a band, or filling a hole, pipes are a requirement. Howe could hit the high notes, he could emote, he could sell it. He was a totally different animal from Paul Rodgers, really not even in his league, but when it came to what was coming across the airwaves Brian Howe was a solid B, and live this meant everything, you couldn’t fake it on stage, this was before all of the fancy sound-processing equipment of today.

So this was back in the era when being on the company mailing list was everything. That built the rock critic business, the free records. You wanted ’em, and those you didn’t want you sold so you could stay alive. And if you were a fan of a band, you always spun the new record. And this was in the era of CDs, the transition from vinyl and cassettes was complete, and this meant you could dial up the track you wanted to hear and…PLAY IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

That’s what I love to do most, find a track I love and burn it into the ground. Usually the magic works for a day or two, sometimes a week. Doesn’t have to be loud, just has to have some magic. And “How About That” had some.

Now I don’t even remember playing the rest of “Here Comes Trouble.” Earlier, when the stream segued into the second cut, “Stranger Than Fiction,” I was stunned how good it actually sounded. But despite everybody crowing about the album, it started to die with the CD, albums were one long sonic sludge, there was no second side, you focused on the single. People still focus on the single.

The hoi polloi never understand why a band breaks up. You’ve got a good thing, keep at it, make that money. But that only happens late in the band’s career, when the members make up and go on the oldies circuit, usually because they need the cash.

So the band imploded. Brian Howe probably thought he was the band anyway, along with Terry Thomas, they were writing the songs, Thomas sculpted the sound but…

Crickets.

Howe was just the singer. Bad Company was the brand. And without the brand, he was an unwanted character. It’s not like rock was dominating the airwaves.

And it became an issue whether Howe could employ the name Bad Company to sell his shows. And when the dust settled, he could not sell his appearances as the band, and he played to ever smaller audiences and became a faded rock star.

Prior to the internet you wouldn’t even be able to look them up. They faded away, and they did not radiate.

And yesterday Brian Howe died. It’s everywhere. Google news coughs up 148,000 results.

But tomorrow it will be nowhere.

That’s how it is. You die, and life goes on. In the internet era the news is spread far and wide, but there’s new news the next day, if not that afternoon. And if you’re lucky, people will remember you died at all. Especially if you were not a superstar.

Brian Howe came from England. He was a rock and roll lifer. It was different over there, here you could always fall back on your middle class lifestyle, the one you grew up with, but that’s not the way most of the rockers grew up over there.

So, you have success and it’s hard to give up. For everybody. You were somebody, to some people you’re still somebody, you’re gonna switch to being a nobody? I don’t think so.

So, you sell your soul to rock and roll.

Howe died of cardiac arrest. He’d had a heart attack previously. Was it genetics? Did he not take care of himself?

He knew it was over. He was speaking, then he passed. What flashed before his eyes when the curtain fell?

I’m sure his family.

I’m sure his desire to live.

But mostly his success, he’d made it, he’d thrilled thousands, he’d played in the bigs and…

Some people will never forget him.

That’s right, Bosch! But you also know Titus from “Deadwood,” “Lost,” “NYPD Blue” and so many other TV shows and films. Welliver is educated and articulate, a trained actor, he takes his craft seriously. Listen to hear his story, which has enough twists and turns to be a movie itself! Furthermore, you’ll get so much insight into being an artist. I truly connected with Titus!

iheart

spotify

apple

stitcher

LABELS

Are doing quite well. The majority of their income comes from subscription services, and subscriptions keep going up. Sure, there has been some churn as a result of Covid-19 financial issues, but it is relatively small. So, if you’re being paid by the streaming service, expect this to maintain.

As for the distribution of monies…

Deezer plans to split subscription income based on what the subscriber listens to. I am sure if this raises the income for less popular artists it will become de rigueur in the industry. However, a few years back economist Will Page ran the numbers and said it would make no difference. So, it hangs in the balance, we will find out. However, if you are less popular on streaming services, do not expect a huge bump in royalties employing the Deezer method. You don’t have as many fans as you think you do, streaming only your music to boot.

ARTISTS

Recordings are not the main driver of your income unless you are a superstar. If you’re Drake, or the Weeknd, you’re making tons of dough. If you’re not, forget about it.

As for the stories of tiny streaming payments… These have died down, but they are riddled with inaccuracies.

One, was it streaming radio or on demand? Streaming radio pays less. And to complicate things even further, Spotify has a streaming radio service.

Second, how much of the song does the complainer own? Do they own a concomitant percentage of the publishing? And what period does the statement cover, does it represent the peak of the song’s use?

Sure, there is stuff that falls through the cracks. Sure, there are occasional mistakes. But that is not the dominant reality. The dominant reality is if you record a hit, there’s tons of money generated. If you own the track, you’re doing exceptionally well. You’re going to receive in the neighborhood of 60-70% of income. If you’ve got a deal with a label…is it 50/50 or points or… The label is a business, it has to get paid, it recoups costs, don’t complain about a bad deal with a label, you made it. If you’re a streaming star, you can beat up the label, get a big advance, a huge percentage and maybe own your work to boot, at least after a period of time. If you don’t… It’s a game of leverage, and leverage is based on income/streams.

Labels want a percentage of touring. If you’re only touring, if your records make almost nothing, don’t make a deal where you’re sacrificing a percentage of your touring money with the hope/belief the label will make you a star. Unless you’re a hip-hop or pop act, the label cannot make you a star, and the hip-hop/pop acts don’t start on the road. If you’re a road act you’re in a different business, the long term fan business, hook the fan and then milk them for all they’ve got…and they’ll be glad to give it to you! Meet and greets, front row seats, merch, vinyl, they’ll buy it all. But don’t complain when your audience doesn’t grow. If it doesn’t, you’re probably not that good or your time has passed. Acts tend to be hot for a relatively brief period of time. Sure, there are exceptions, but there are exceptions to ALL rules.

PROMOTION

Nothing generates revenue like radio airplay. But radio airplay comes after streaming airplay. You’ve got to prove it’s a hit before radio will play it. So, if you’re banking on radio airplay and you don’t record a hit, good luck.

Yes, there are genres like Adult Alternative and Alternative that have charts, that can gain you some notice, but don’t expect to cross over to the big time, you’re fighting it out in the trenches. Do the Tiny Desk Concert, try, but don’t expect big rewards.

Don’t expect big rewards from any of the old school publicity methods. Late night TV appearances are almost meaningless, unless it’s SNL. Print? The only people who read it are old, so if you’re appealing to them…

It’s about social media.

And being able to reach your audience.

You want their e-mail addresses. I know, I know, that’s old school. Even better is their phone number, especially in an era where people no longer change them. You might change your physical address, but not your phone number! You want to be able to reach your fans, directly, to cut through the clutter and get right to them. You cannot do this without the foregoing information. This is what you want. It’s positively grass roots unless you’re the biggest of superstars, and those usually fade at some point too. You’re building your army and you want to know who the soldiers are. Your army will conquer landscape, will generate new fans better than anything.

PLAYLISTS

Overrated.

Most people listening to playlists are doing so passively. But if someone does save a track, if the streaming service does see a spike, they’ll graduate you, to more playlists. However, if you don’t, you’ll get dropped. Choose your opportunities, if you say everything is good when it is not, you’ll lose credibility.

The labels own the playlists. As in they have the relationships to work them. If the track doesn’t get a response, it will get dropped, but the label can get you on the playlist to begin with. But, the labels are only interested in what streams prodigiously, i.e. hip-hop and pop. So, if you don’t make this…

SOCIAL MEDIA

Choose your platform, be active. Right now it’s Instagram. It won’t always be Instagram, because social media platforms are fads. Kinda like TikTok. Never forget, TikTok is about the audience, not the musician. If TikTok embraces your track, great! But the paradigm is so burned, only the superstars like Drake can push a track down TikTok’s throat. The music business is always looking for the easy way, and then it burns it out.

As for other platforms…

Snapchat is for young.

Facebook is for old.

Twitter is for thinkers.

But most important is your content. It’s gotta be generated by you. It’s got to be personal and informative. Hype is ignored. And never forget, it’s hard to get someone to look, but it’s even harder to get them to come back after they’ve signed off.

TRUE ARTISTS

Pay attention to none of the above, they do what they want, they fly on inspiration. But there are very few of them around anymore. That innovation is in TV at best. Where Netflix gives you the money and stays out of the way, throws it up against the wall and sees if it sticks.

If you are a true artist, DO NOT COMPLAIN YOU’RE DOING POORLY ECONOMICALLY. If you want to do well economically, reach down deep and create excellence, maybe you’ll be recognized, but maybe not. But pure artists generate believers, i.e. a team that helps them. For every mercenary in the business there’s always someone motivated primarily by the music, they’ll work for free because they believe. Actually, the mercenaries far outnumber the believers, they do call it the music BUSINESS, but there are believers out there.

CONCERT PROMOTION

Everybody but Live Nation and AEG will go bankrupt.

Of course that’s an overstatement. But not by much. We live in a country where no one is saving for a rainy day, everyone is taking money out of the operation, and in live music the margins are thin anyway.

As for Live Nation…the investment by the Saudis has a bad look, but stunningly there hasn’t been a big backlash. Rapino is employing the BeeGees paradigm, he’s stayin’ alive. He’s walking a tightrope, but if anybody survives he and Live Nation will.

As for AEG, it’s a private company. Phil Anschutz has the money to survive, so the company will, it’s just that simple.

As for reopening…it’s all about LIABILITY!

Yup, attendees can say whatever they want, they can go to the show willy-nilly, but if they get sick there, god forbid they die, even if they get sick somewhere else and blame it on the concert promotion company…there’s gonna be a lawsuit and potentially a big payout. And there will be no affordable insurance for this, and it will get trumpeted in the press and will hurt the industry at large.

As for social distancing, the economics don’t work. You can’t go on the road selling one sixth of the tickets, not even one half! Just like on the internet, you can find acts to play, they just won’t draw any fans.

As for testing…

The dirty little secret is there is no definitive testing today, not testing you can trust over the long haul. The attendee might have been tested and cleared two weeks ago, but what happened since? As for temperature checks…you can be a carrier and be asymptomatic.

I doubt concerts will start up and people will get sick and some will die and the business will continue to ramp up. Actually, we’re getting a dry run in the public at large, with states opening up for business with an expectation of the doubling of deaths by June 1st, never mind the now stronger version of the virus and the fall flu season. We’ll have to figure out how to balance life and death in the public at large. But good luck suing the government if it opens the state for business too early, but you’ll have a lot of luck suing the concert promoter. As for long disclaimers agreed to by ticket buyers, saying they can’t sue, those are never a hundred percent effective. They have these in skiing, but skiers still sue. However, ski resorts are the beneficiaries of state legislation limiting their liability, but I would not expect concert promoters to get this, at least not in the near term, when they need it. Ski areas only got it after years of lawsuits, after staggering increases in insurance rates, after tons of lobbying.

TALENT AGENCIES

They stopped being in the business of representing talent. As soon as CAA took corporate money, it changed the business model. The talent agencies are trying to become the new movie studios, but even bigger. They’re focusing on being buyers, owning and staging events. The ten percent gotten from representing talent is de minimis, and it does not scale, at best you can get a bigger payday for the act, but then the act wants a lower commission. And if you’re making an overall deal with the concert promoter, do you really need the agent? This is the time for a new talent agency. Just like CAA started years ago. Renegades focusing just on representing talent, acts will flock to them. But, so many agents are staying with the big outfits for the fat salary and the payout. But most of them are older and the business is ultimately run by the younger. So now, agents are getting laid off and fired. But talent will work again. Who will represent musicians?

DATA

This is the new music business. You get it from streaming services like Spotify and elsewhere. It can be very helpful. If you’re not deep in the data, using it and understanding it, you’d better have someone on your team who does, or get out of the way, you’re history.

THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Doesn’t remember Napster. Did not grow up in an era of credibility. Did not discover acts solely by radio. Is familiar with the digital tools and has the time and the desire to utilize them.

And is willing to post the music for free, they’re not burdened by legacy perspectives.

Are interested in building multifaceted brands. Some just want to sell out to the highest bidder, some want to utilize their fame to build an empire of assets, digital and physical, they want to change the world.

Speaking of which, the young are focused on the climate crisis and giving back, at least the audience. You must have a charity component to your work, but don’t make it a percentage of proceeds, no one believes that anymore. You’ve got to ask for donations, better yet, donate your own money. Superior to all is to dedicate your TIME! That’s the most valuable commodity. If fans see you getting your hands dirty, they’ll be drawn to you.

And take a stand. The more edges you’ve got, the more people you’ll snag. Bland works for a while, but then it fades. The legends all have edges.

GOING FORWARD

It’s about the music. Now is the time to make and release it. Now it’s about recordings. Sure, do the livestream thingy, maybe even charge for shows, I think that’s a good idea, play every night from home and charge through the roof for a few people. It’s not the same, but it’s something.

Yes, live business is impacted by Covid-19, probably more than any other business in America. But never forget, the live business was burgeoning before the virus and will burgeon after it, because you can’t get that hit anywhere else, the music is the special sauce that creates joy and brings people together. We’re at peak festival, actually on the downward slope, but festivals are here to stay. As for virtual concerts… Travis Scott on Fortnite is about Travis Scott, not Fortnite, he just went where the audience is. The audience is in all kinds of new places, and yes, many of them are virtual. And sure, we’ll have virtual acts, but humanity drives the music business. All that hogwash about machines creating the music…there’ll be some of that, but a machine can’t sit on stage playing an acoustic song, and machines can only create based on what you give them. Music built its rep on pushing the envelope. The business still is, but not the music. Pushing the envelope is hard. The road less taken always is. But that’s where the rewards are. For both the act and the audience.