Yesterday I stopped by at Glassnote Records.<\/p>\n
Visit the major label and you’ll encounter a receptionist and after lounging in the waiting room you’ll be escorted past dozens of cubicles to the huge office of the head honcho who will luxuriate in his well-heeled surroundings while you kiss the ring.<\/p>\n
Glassnote Records has no receptionist, no cubicles, no offices whatsoever except for a cramped room in the corner where Daniel Glass masterminds this renegade operation that has broken the hippest, most successful new band in the nation, Mumford & Sons.<\/p>\n
But it’s not only Mumford.\u00c2\u00a0 Before them came Phoenix.\u00c2\u00a0 And Secondhand Serenade.\u00c2\u00a0 And now there’s Two Door Cinema Club and…<\/p>\n
It’s hard to get signed to Glassnote.\u00c2\u00a0 They listen to all the music, they were doing that while I was there, but find almost nothing.\u00c2\u00a0 But they don’t want to miss anything.\u00c2\u00a0 And now that they’re so successful, bands are clamoring for a deal, especially the has-beens who made it once and want to make it again.<\/p>\n
But it all comes down to the music.<\/p>\n
And unlike at too many music companies, there’s music playing in the background, and oftentimes the office is busiest after 8 PM, when everyone comes round just to hang out, to feel the vibe.<\/p>\n
Really, you’d be stunned how small the office is.\u00c2\u00a0 Thirty by thirty feet?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a tiny bit bigger?\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s packed with all these people, men and women, not a single one of them with a name you’ve ever seen in "Hits".<\/p>\n
It looks as if Daniel went down to the schoolyard and recruited kids.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s how young everyone is.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’re oh-so-passionate.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ll give anything to be a member of the tribe.<\/p>\n
And that’s one thing Daniel’s always done so well, mentoring.\u00c2\u00a0 He teaches people how to do their jobs.\u00c2\u00a0 Monte got his big break working for Daniel at SBK.\u00c2\u00a0 Where Daniel ran promotion after he did so at Chrysalis, before he stopped so many places on the music business merry-go-round.<\/p>\n
It’s a tough business to stay in.\u00c2\u00a0 And Daniel Glass has seen tough times.\u00c2\u00a0 But he’s hung in there, and now is his moment.<\/p>\n
Part of it’s old school.\u00c2\u00a0 He called up Sony’s soundtrack person to say that Justin Nozuka and another act were available now, they’d write, they’d record, they’re between albums.<\/p>\n
And it is all about relationships.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s how he got his foreign deal.\u00c2\u00a0 A fan tracked him down from the U.K.\u00c2\u00a0 Only it turned out this fan was a bigwig at Universal and much later, after they became friends, a deal was proffered.<\/p>\n
You see we invest in people.\u00c2\u00a0 If Daniel’s involved, everybody’s paying attention.<\/p>\n
Now.<\/p>\n
Unlike that attorney who came in, looked at this wet behind the ears bunch before there was a hit, and put the operation down.\u00c2\u00a0 Daniel threw the guy out of his office.\u00c2\u00a0 The lawyer’s apologized since.<\/p>\n
Daniel’s got major label partners.\u00c2\u00a0 Right now, he needs them for physical distribution, they help in other ways.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe he’s old school.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m thinking he’s not gonna need the big boys soon.\u00c2\u00a0 His competitors won’t.<\/p>\n
And his competitors are all in their twenties and thirties.\u00c2\u00a0 People who don’t believe in the rule book.<\/p>\n
Daniel’s a hustler.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s working all the time.<\/p>\n
He’s put in his 10,000 hours.<\/p>\n
But he’s also learned from his failures.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows how to do it now.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you?<\/p>\n
____________________________________<\/p>\n
Speaking of successful renegades, earlier in the day I had lunch with Cliff Burnstein, his lieutenant Marc Reiter and Paul Donahue of Morgan Stanley.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course we discussed the Warner auction, but what I found most interesting was the discussion of Foals.<\/p>\n
They’d sold a lot more tickets than albums.\u00c2\u00a0 And when you’re selling tickets, you’re real.<\/p>\n
Cliff put together a package.\u00c2\u00a0 Put the tour in venues that were right, as opposed to those that paid the most.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s building excitement, he’s building a career.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what a manager does.<\/p>\n
Only two Foals dates have not sold out yet.<\/p>\n
Next time it’s bigger venues.\u00c2\u00a0 The people who came will bring their friends.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the way it once was, this is the way it is again.\u00c2\u00a0 One can say this is the way it always will be, that MTV was an anomaly.<\/p>\n
____________________________________<\/p>\n
Another renegade I encountered, sandwiched between Cliff and Daniel, was Peter Shapiro.<\/p>\n
He’s been bugging me forever to come see his venue, the Brooklyn Bowl.<\/p>\n
I didn’t really care.<\/p>\n
But when I was up close and personal in his office, his excitement, his story, closed me.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about a special environment with good acts at a cheap price.\u00c2\u00a0 The Brooklyn Bowl lets the artists keep all the money.\u00c2\u00a0 And it never sells all the tickets in advance.\u00c2\u00a0 It keeps some at the door.\u00c2\u00a0 So you can walk up.<\/p>\n
And Peter’s building an empire up there on the 11th floor.\u00c2\u00a0 He bought "Relix" and the place is full of entrepreneurs and the reason I was there was for a Headcount meeting (http:\/\/www.headcount.org\/).<\/p>\n
Founded by Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits and his buddy Andy Bernstein, Headcount is all about voter registration.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got a network of music devotees at gigs, registering their brethren.<\/p>\n
But could it be so much more?<\/p>\n
Marc told the story of a Disco Biscuits benefit for solar power.\u00c2\u00a0 They raised 30k and the band purchased solar panels for a school in Philadelphia.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s taking direct action.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d like to see a day when bands hold benefits all over this great nation of ours and install needed solar panels as a result.<\/p>\n
And Brownstein is a fascinating combination of intensity and humor.\u00c2\u00a0 He said how he’d been doing it for sixteen years and only now was the band breaking through.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that he was complaining.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what it took.<\/p>\n
And he’s on his Facebook page, energizing his fans every day, not only giving information, but engendering discussion.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s involved.<\/p>\n
You see music isn’t about fame.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a lifestyle.\u00c2\u00a0 Like going into the army.\u00c2\u00a0 Only most times, the pay is worse.<\/p>\n
You’re battling to get ahead.\u00c2\u00a0 The peak moments keep you going.\u00c2\u00a0 You get better and better.\u00c2\u00a0 As long as you’re dedicated, as long as you believe.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
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