Once upon a time you couldn’t get rich in the music business, not really rich, not Lloyd Blankfein rich, not corporate America rich, not fuck you rich.<\/p>\n
Music was a developing business.\u00c2\u00a0 Akin to snowboarding and computers and so many other enterprises that started out as hobbies but eventually generated boatloads of cash.<\/p>\n
Sure, there were always tunes.\u00c2\u00a0 But what broke music big was the Beatles, the album and baby boomers.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, you had a ready market willing to go in for an advanced price and money was generated.<\/p>\n
But it still wasn’t that much.\u00c2\u00a0 Because in the sixties and early seventies tax rates were high, corporate titans weren’t overpaid and we were all in it together.\u00c2\u00a0 We envied the rock stars’ lifestyles more than their bank accounts.\u00c2\u00a0 The women, the travel, the fun…\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, most of the acts were broke or close to it, how much money could you make on three dollars a show and a draconian record deal?<\/p>\n
Still, when revenues shot up, the originators sold out.\u00c2\u00a0 Most famously Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic and Jac Holzman at Elektra. Sure, Ahmet came from money.\u00c2\u00a0 And Atlantic wasn’t known for paying prodigious royalties.\u00c2\u00a0 But with Ahmet it was about the music.<\/p>\n
It’s not about the music anymore.<\/p>\n
Think about this.\u00c2\u00a0 The labels and the concert behemoths are not in the same business as you.\u00c2\u00a0 They only care about the money, art is secondary.<\/p>\n
When they decry P2P theft they don’t do it on behalf of the artists, but themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 After agitating on behalf of the artists, saying theft is going to kill creativity, they keep all awards to themselves and ask for more rights for artists and pay less money to them.<\/p>\n
But now it’s even worse.\u00c2\u00a0 Because music executives want to make as much money as the corporate titans.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the game they’re in.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re no longer midwives to art, but adherents of Ayn Rand, looking to increase their personal bank accounts, becoming worldbeaters unto themselves.<\/p>\n
It’s kind of like finding out the manager makes more than the players and doesn’t care if you win or lose, as long as he gets paid.<\/p>\n
I don’t think the public knows all this.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the public has never been party to the vast sums being traded in the music world.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, many people would rather steal than buy, because they don’t think the artist sees any of the cash, and in most instances, they’re right.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, as long as the company stays in business it pays some advances and royalties, but the vast majority of the revenue is never distributed to those who make the music.\u00c2\u00a0 As for those shepherding the tunes through the system, is there anyone who believes we’re in a golden age of hit music?\u00c2\u00a0 That the labels are doing a good job?<\/p>\n
2.<\/span> Be suspicious of anyone in music making that kind of bank.<\/p>\n b.<\/span> The acts.\u00c2\u00a0 If you trumpet the fact that you’ve got the biggest grossing tour then you’re probably overcharging.\u00c2\u00a0 An act should not be proud of the gross.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like trying to convince a woman she should marry a man who’s had sex with thousands of women, or vice versa.\u00c2\u00a0 You want someone you can connect with, not someone who uses you as a plaything, who doesn’t believe in mutuality and will kick you to the curb willy-nilly when times get tough or he perceives something better in the offing.\u00c2\u00a0 U2 are tax exiles who like money.\u00c2\u00a0 Notice they didn’t rescue "Spider-Man" with their own cash. Edge needs to build in Malibu because..?\u00c2\u00a0 And Jon Bon Jovi is a narcissist who needs the adoration of fortysomething moms again and again, overcharging so he can appear to be king of the world, even though he’s closer to a blowhard on Fox News.\u00c2\u00a0 What about the little people Jon?\u00c2\u00a0 What about smaller shows with lower ticket prices and taking time off to make some memorable music?\u00c2\u00a0 And then there are the acts that scalp their own tickets or make deals with brokers.<\/div>\n 3.<\/span> Which side are you on?<\/p>\n This is complicated.\u00c2\u00a0 Because people have a hard time journeying into the wilderness, not taking the easy money, denying conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n The news media is as troubled as the music business.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t believe a thing print or TV has to say about stardom.\u00c2\u00a0 They like it the way it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 They hate the Internet.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t want to give up power.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re fighting to protect their jobs. Ignore them.<\/p>\n Ignore critics.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they just want to drag you down to the miserable place they are.\u00c2\u00a0 Poor and unhappy.<\/p>\n Make it about the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Know there are no guarantees.\u00c2\u00a0 Know that you may never get rich.\u00c2\u00a0 Know that the person who must be most happy is you.\u00c2\u00a0 Then your fans.<\/p>\n 4.<\/span> Music’s power trumps money.<\/p>\n This is what those with money don’t want to admit.\u00c2\u00a0 They want you to believe that only with their money can you make it. That money changes everything.\u00c2\u00a0 It does not, music changes everything.<\/p>\n b.<\/span> Radio is about advertising.\u00c2\u00a0 FM was an anomaly.\u00c2\u00a0 Stations could no longer simulcast their AM programming on the FM band and gave free reign to the lunatics and the innovators.\u00c2\u00a0 Once they started making money, the death warrant was signed.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re counting on radio to break you, you’re not good enough to break yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re looking for the imprimatur of the man in order to succeed.\u00c2\u00a0 You only need the imprimatur of the fan.\u00c2\u00a0 You can get a direct connection online. What’s stopping you?<\/p>\n c.<\/span> Labels.\u00c2\u00a0 They call it the music BUSINESS!\u00c2\u00a0 If you can’t generate cash quick, they’re not interested.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you can generate cash this quick, you probably don’t need them.\u00c2\u00a0 But chances are, you’re gonna need time to grow.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t want to hear this.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless time is twelve months instead of twelve years.<\/p>\n d.<\/span> Concert promoters.\u00c2\u00a0 Thieves.\u00c2\u00a0 The agents and managers have turned them into such.\u00c2\u00a0 Used to be the promoter was an impresario, bringing great art to the public.\u00c2\u00a0 Now he’s a bank, guaranteeing a ton of money for the chance to make a little profit or take a huge loss.\u00c2\u00a0 If you won’t let the promoter make money, you won’t have a good show.<\/div>\n 5.<\/span> We’re rebuilding from the ground up.<\/div>\n <\/p>\n You’ve got to retain creative control and your rights.\u00c2\u00a0 Make a deal with the man and you’re just a cog in his plan to get richer and hobnob with the rest of the elite in their private jet lifestyles.\u00c2\u00a0 If you can’t say no, you don’t deserve to say yes.<\/p>\n Play wherever and whenever your fans will have you.\u00c2\u00a0 Charge little.\u00c2\u00a0 Record plenty of new music.\u00c2\u00a0 Money will come if you’re good and you’ve got fans, don’t focus on your business plan up front, focus on your MUSIC!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once upon a time you couldn’t get rich in the music business, not really rich, not Lloyd Blankfein rich, not corporate America rich, not fuck you rich. 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