John P. Strohm is a transactional entertainment and intellectual property attorney with the firm Johnston Barton Proctor & Rose LLP . John’s practice focuses on the representation of musicians, songwriters and independent record labels. Prior to becoming an attorney, John was a professional musician and producer for over a decade. He performed and recorded as a member of several notable alternative pop/rock acts, including The Lemonheads and Blake Babies. Follow John on Twitter @JohnPStrohm.

             I get a lot of calls from bands I’ve never heard of, and there’s a recurring conversation I’ve been having ever since I started practicing entertainment law.  It generally goes something like this:

Band dude: “I got your number [from a friend, from an industry resource, off the bathroom wall, etc.], and I want to talk to you about hiring you to be my lawyer.”

Me: “Great.  Why do you feel that you need a lawyer?” 

B.D.: “Because we’re getting our team together.” 

Me: “Well, that’s fantastic; but what exactly do you need a lawyer for?  Do you have a contract to negotiate/a dispute to resolve/ product to shop?” 

B.D.: “Right now we’re just getting my team together because big things are about to happen.  We have 30,000 MySpace friends, a tight set, and a great image.  We’re doing you a big favor, because I can feel it – we’re going to be huuuuuge.” 

            One of the most difficult aspects of working with musicians is managing expectations, which is especially true of young bands.  Pretty much every band believes they are going to be huge, which raises all sorts of issues – not the least of which is artists’ tendency to perceive any business opportunity as a potential “big break.”                 

  But what do they mean by the “team,” and when should a band or solo artist worry about assembling a team?  This article provides a quick introduction of the members of the typical business team (which should be distinguished from the creative team, e.g. producers, choreographers, lighting directors, makeup artists, etc.), along with some guidance regarding when these advisors may become necessary or desirable.   

              Attorney:  Please feel free to take this with a grain of salt: an attorney is often the first professional an artist will require to assist him with his career.  In my opinion, an artist should consult with a competent (i.e. knowledgeable about the music business) attorney whenever he is asked to sign a document with respect to his career or even to enter into a verbal agreement (which may be binding).  I’ve often been retained to get an artist out of a lousy agreement that the artist signed without the benefit of an attorney’s review.  You should regard signing any legal document with respect to your career without consulting an attorney as very risky.

              Other than reviewing legal documents and in the absence of a lawsuit or potential lawsuit, when does an artist need an attorney on his team?  First off, attorneys are by no means uniquely qualified to shop product to labels and publishers.  Historically, attorneys have played a big part in shopping deals for artists; however, their role has diminished in recent years.  These days labels are primarily interested in artists who have already done a great deal of work in terms of self-development; as such, even a fantastic demo tape will beg the question, What has the artist done to establish a career? 

  Rarely do labels actually sign artists who don’t have a sales history, a significant touring footprint, and/or a significant online presence.  If an attorney does shop an artist, generally the attorney will require a contingent fee, i.e. the artist must pay the attorney a percentage of their advance money, sometimes in addition to a percentage of gross income and/or hourly billing for certain services.  In short, it is generally far less expensive to find your own deal or have your manager (who gets paid a percentage regardless) shop for you.  If you bring an attorney a deal that’s already on the table, then you should be able to pay the attorney by the hour, rather than a percentage of the deal.  But beware: if you accept an informal offer of business terms (even delivered via email or MySpace), you might lose the opportunity to have your attorney negotiate the terms later. 

  In short, any successful artist must retain an attorney or attorneys to deal with the myriad legal issues that arise with regard to their many contractual relationships.  Less successful or newer artists generally only need an attorney when their business dealings expose them to risk, such as when they are faced with legally binding agreements, or for business planning purposes.  Such artists should generally retain attorneys as needed by the hour, as opposed to retaining attorneys who require payment of a percentage of the artist’s gross income. 

  Most music attorneys charge between $200 and $400 per hour, though some charge upwards of $500.00 per hour.  Keep in mind that many music attorneys are willing to negotiate flat fees or fee caps to work with a limited budget – though don’t be offended if an attorney requires a percentage of the projected fees as a retainer.    

  Personal Manager:  The personal manager is the artist’s principal advisor and agent with regard to both day-to-day and long-term matters relating to the artist’s career.  The personal manager (often referred to simply as the “manager”) generally acts as a conduit and communicator between the artist, the other team members, the record company and publisher, and all other parties involved in the artist’s career (including the creative team and parties providing specific services, such as publicists and licensing agents). 

  The personal manager generally commissions a percentage of the artist’s gross earnings – which can range from 10% on the very low end to 20% or more on the high end.  Established managers usually don’t get interested in artists until the artist has consistently shown the ability to earn income.  Management contracts often have rather long exclusive terms (generally measured in album cycles rather than years), and contracts generally entitle the manager to at least some income even after the term has expired. 

  When it makes sense for an artist to enter into an agreement with a personal manager should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.  It’s almost never a good idea for an artist to enter into a long-term agreement with a less established personal manager without first determining whether the manager will be a good “fit” with the artist.  Many younger managers will work on a handshake basis for a period of time to allow the artist (and manager) to make an educated decision as to whether there is such a fit.  Most protections in management agreements benefit the manager, though there are usually some protections for the artist as well.  If a manager is not consistently generating enough of an increase in income to cover their commission, then they are probably not doing a good job (that is to say they are costing you money).

  Unlike lawyers, agents and (generally) business managers, personal managers are not required to be licensed.  As such, be aware that you should do plenty of research with respect to a prospective manager.  Researching a lawyer is far easier – you can simply call the state bar to confirm that the lawyer is in good standing.  With a manager, you should take the time to follow up with references.  If the manager won’t give you references, that should be regarded as a bad sign.

  Business Manager:  The business manager’s role is generally limited to managing an artist’s finances: including receiving income, paying bills, preparing tax returns, and general investment/financial planning.  If a business manager is not a CPA, you should probably regard that as a red flag. 

Business managers generally charge a fee in the amount of 5% of an artist’s gross income for their services.  An artist generally doesn’t need a business manager until he earns substantial income (i.e. six figures annually), and similarly good entertainment business managers generally aren’t interested in clients who are not earning substantial income.  Most services provided by business managers, such as tax preparation, can be obtained by accountants who will bill at an hourly rate.

Often personal management agreements require even newer artists to retain a business manager.  Such a requirement clearly benefits the personal manager, who wants to ensure payment of his commissions; however, it’s not always in the artist’s interest to give up an additional 5% of gross income to the business manager primarily for the manager’s benefit.  Assuming the artist has good money management skills and habits and delegates some important financial duties to an accountant, a music business manager sometimes constitutes an unnecessary expense, even for moderately successful artists.

Agent:  The role of the agent varies from one entertainment industry (e.g. film, literary publishing, television) to another (e.g. music).  Nevertheless, in every entertainment industry agents are subject to strict licensure requirements by statute in certain states such as New York and California.  The role of agents in the music industry is generally limited to booking live engagements, for which agents are generally paid 10% of the gross income generated by such engagements. 

           Unless your state does not have licensure laws and bookings will be limited to your state, it is important to confirm that a booking agent or agency is licensed in the relevant states.  Another important matter to keep in mind is that personal managers are prohibited from booking engagements in states with licensure requirements.  If managers violate state licensure laws and is sued by the artist, a possible remedy is that the management contract (regardless of the term) is void.

              It’s a buyer’s market for booking agents, because there are relatively few agents that have sufficient contacts and experience (and interest) to book less established acts.  As with other potential team members, agents rarely become interested in artists until the artist is able to generate significant income from live performances.  Most artists must book their own engagements until they establish a significant touring base, at which time agents are likely to pursue the artist.

              If your band becomes financially successful, it will probably become clear which of these advisors you need and when.  Keep an eye out for conflicts of interest among your advisors – especially lawyers and managers.  It’s probably a good idea to seek a lawyer referral from someone other than your manager, since the first order of business with your manager may be negotiating the terms of a management agreement.  Attorneys are bound by ethical rules that prohibit representing clients when such conflicts exist, but that doesn’t mean that all attorneys abide by the rules. 

              In sum, take your time and ask a lot of questions when forging professional relationships.  Although there is a documented history of dishonest or incompetent music industry professionals, I have met many solid, honest and respectable lawyers, managers, business managers and agents.  Make sure that you end up with good people that make sense for your unique needs and circumstances.

Since co-founding Bloodshot Records in Chicago in 1994, co-owner Rob Miller has dirtied his hands in all aspects of keeping an independent label afloat in a world beset by American Idol, illegal downloading and a collapsing economy.  Before that he lived in and around Detroit where he was a middling music writer, college DJ and Production Manager catering to the demands of everyone from GWAR to the Pet Shop Boys.

Since you've asked me, the owner of the lowly but scrappy Bloodshot Records what we look for in a new artist, and not David Geffen or the CEO-of-the-month at DynaMusicTechNet Global LTD, I will assume that we all understand my advice and taste and goals all come from the staunchly independent perspective. We don't have to worry about shareholders or making sure the CFO's housekeepers at the Caribbean island getaway are paid, nor do we deal with pie charts, Venn diagrams, oily A&R men and focus groups.  We don't care how many MySpace friends you have (I actually heard some VP flack at SXSW say somewhat haughtily into his cell that he doesn't even LISTEN to a band unless they have x number of friends on their MySpace page). I am a lifelong music fan who got lucky and gets to put out records I like for a living.

To start, there are a few questions you need to ask yourselves before even approaching a label.  What are your goals? Expectations?  Be brutally honest with yourselves.   Why do you even want to make a record?  Seriously.  It seems like a basic question but one that needs to be asked.  Is it for fun?  Vanity?  Cuz it'd be "neat" to have one?  Because you sell out the local watering hole and everyone gets drunk and has a grand time?  That's great, I love bands like that, but put the record out on your own and be happy to sell a few hundred.  If you have a full time job, familial responsibilities and no intention or ability to do the road work, leave us out of it; be content to play for local friends and fans, there's no shame in that.   If you look to the label deal as a magic bullet for your band, think again.  Countless bands over the years have told us in effect "once we have the deal and are selling records we'll be willing to go on the road and support," or "we are ready to finish our songs once we have an agreement." Thinking that the label deal puts you on your way is like thinking that putting some greasepaint under your nose makes you Groucho Marx.  Making a living in this racket is hard, dirty work; nothing can replace that.  You need to have the confidence, arrogance and awareness to overcome the unceasing obstacles that'll come your way.  Oh, and it's not a meritocracy, either; many a great band gets shunted aside in favor of some couch potato-friendly pablum.   The septic tank metaphor (usually only the really big chunks rise to the top) is all too apropos.  What we are looking for is a band or an artist that HAS to create, HAS to perform, that is committed to their art regardless.  We want to see an unstoppable drive.  We cannot care about your career more than you do, nor should anything like a lack of a label prevent you from your craft.

Okay, you've answered all the above questions truthfully and determined that you, yes YOU have the goods and the guts to pursue this, how do you then get the attention of a label?  The one and true and all encompassing answer to that is quite easy: be good.  We have to LIKE the music. We have to totally believe in what you are doing and get behind it 100%.  We have to be able to care enough about it to evangelize when no one is listening, to work on its behalf in the face of commercial indifference, and fight trench warfare.  Life is too short, and staying in business in the venal snake pit that is the music industry is too grinding, maddening and frustrating to go to the mat for something that you just don't like very much. 

It's as simple as that.

If that sounds too glib or too vague, let me explain lest ye get too discouraged by your inner- voice yelling "How the hell should I know what they like?"  Indie labels are, by their very nature, products of their owners' idiosyncrasies.   Since we don't have to answer to anyone but our own whims, it is in your best interest to do your research BEFORE sending music---you would hate to end up on a label that doesn't "get" you or doesn't care deeply or wouldn't know how to effectively promote you just for the sake of having a deal.   To whit, think of several bands that track well with what you do, or artists you've admired or been influenced by.  Are there any labels or outlooks on the biz or attitudes that tie them together?  If so, follow the leads.  Learn about your prospective mate.  I mean, really, you don't Internet date without seeing the picture first, right?  Without finding out some pertinent details?  If they describe themselves as a Masterpiece Theater watching animal lover and you are a snuff film watching dog-fighting impresario you wouldn't go and get married would you? All I ask is that you put at least as much care into a potential artistic partnership with a label as you do finding a date.

From this basic research, you should be able to find a manageable list of labels to intelligently approach.  I'll stack my love of Motörhead against anyone's but that's just not what we do.  If that is what you do, DON'T send us a CD anyway with the attitude of "yeah, but WE can be the exception;" it's just a waste of your resources and time.  I have filled a dumpster with such "exceptions."

Once you have whittled down your A-list of labels, what should you send?  Back to the first point, send the BEST you've got to offer.   Don't be clever with sequencing or packaging.   Thick packages with quotations of lofty praise from the Traverse City Nurses College Gazette and the door guy from Cooter's Bar who thinks you rule, or lists of bands you've "shared the stage with" (we ALL know that means "opened for") are annoying fluff and promptly get recycled.  Fancy vellum cover sheets sent by a lawyer REALLY get shuffled to the bottom of the pile.  Don't tell me who has influenced you.   Hell, Rush influenced me as much as the Cramps.  One influenced me to shave my head and start digging around for Charlie Feathers records, and the other influenced me to never like drum solos or go to arena shows---they almost turned me off Canadians altogether (but John Candy brought me back to my senses).   Truthfully, it's a crapshoot that we'll even listen to it at all.  It may sit in a box for two years, or it might only get noticed because of an obscure reference to Raising Arizona in the bio.   Just the other day I opened a package that had nothing but a CD and a hand written note on a torn scrap of paper that said "Rocks" and a myspace address.  Turns out it was just some Iowa Doom Metal, but still, I listened.  Again, the maddening and endearing vagaries of the indie world.  Don't let it get you down.

What to do in the face of this?  Continue on.  Don't wait for us.  Keep playing.  Learn something from every show.  Develop your material and hone your live show.  Come to Chicago and let us know.  Nothing gets things rolling faster than a killer live show.  Get on the bill with our other bands when they come to your town and impress the hell out of them.  Have them pass along another CD to us.  Walk that thin line between persistence and annoyance.   Nothing is more attractive to a label than a band whose music we love who comes to us with a built in fan base and a massive email list, a track record with clubs, accumulated goodwill from folks in their town or region and an organically created sense of momentum.    

With all this said, and with all the caveats and limitations endemic in a tough environment,  it always goes back to point one:  if we love it, we will ignore all the common sense in the world and all our own rules and figure out a way to make it work.   We have always regretted it when we didn't.  Heart over brains.  It's what makes independent music so great.

Good luck.

It seems the way money flows at a record label is largely a mystery to most artists who haven’t worked in the music industry for an extended period of time. It’s always interesting to lift the veil a bit on an unknown. Let’s take a look at one side of the economics of an indie record label, getting a new release to market. Below is a summary of the actual expenses an indie record label incurred for a new release:

Recording advance: $15,000
Tour support: $2,100
Mastering costs: $934.96
Marketing: $13,433.23
Advertising: $2,067.50
Publicity: $5,153.34
Manufacturing: $16,581.04
Artwork / photos: $200
Misc: $587.71

Total: $56,057.78

Here is an overview of each of the line item in a little more detail:

Recording Advance – The money for the recording advance is used to cover the cost of recording. Including studio rental, mixing, session musicians, sound engineer and producer.

Tour Support – Artists have traditionally sold more overall units when they tour so record labels will often times financially support a tour. Tour support money can help pay some of the expenses of touring such as gas, insurance, hotels, food and supplies.

Mastering – Mastering is a post production process that takes the final mix of the recording, edits minor flaws, adjusts volume and stereo widths, equalizes tracks, etc. It’s usually expected that the person who masters the recording will be different from the person who mixes it so there is typically a separate line item in the budget.

Marketing – The marketing line item is entirely for retail co-op marketing expenses. Co-op marketing dollars are expenses distributors incur from retailers for special product placement, in-store promotions, listening stations or advertising. The amount of co-op marketing dollars the distributor (and ultimately the label) are willing to spend on a new release has a direct correlation to the amount of product the retailer orders.

Advertising – Advertising expenses can include any print, radio and online advertising the record label incurs to promote a new release (outside of retail co-op dollars).

Publicity – It’s fairly common for a record label to hire an independent publicist for a 90 day period to help promote a new release to press, print and online media, bloggers and anyone else who can help influence music fans.

Manufacturing – The manufacturing costs for a CD with jewel case can vary but is still around $1.00 per unit for a distributor or label with measurable volume.

Artwork – The cost of custom creative and / or photos for the release.

Miscellaneous – Just like the name implies this is the catch “everything else” expense category related to a new release. For example, legal fees or video production expenses charged to a new release could end up here.

For this particular release to break even it must generate $70,072.23 in gross sales ($56,057.78 + the 25% fee of sales paid to the distributor ). The typical deductions a distributor takes on sales including return reserves and breakage (to name a few) further impact cash flow on sales back to the record label.

It’s important for artists to fully understand how the basic economics of an indie label work since they will not get paid any royalties from sales until the record label recoups all the expenses incurred in getting the record to market. This is true of both traditional record label agreements and even “50/50” licensing agreements. It is very common for artists to never receive royalties on sales from their record label since many new releases never fully recoup their expenses.

Being signed to a record label is no guarantee of sales success. Artists need to carefully weigh what a record label is going to spend on a new release to determine the level of sales that will be needed to achieve profitability before signing a recording contract. Even though the artist might sell a lower number of units on their own there is a very real chance they can actually earn more money without a record label being involved. 

Most indie record label owners are simply trying to get music they love heard by fans. They aren’t in it for the money. In addition to the above mentioned costs of getting a new release to market they have to cover multiple other expenses such as insurance, rent, payroll, travel and mechanical royalties . Making money as an indie label is no easy task. Needless to say, label owners give it a great deal of consideration before signing a new artist and committing to releasing their music.

It does take a lot of money and resources to get a new release to market. However, real transparency in accounting for these expenses is still largely lacking. Inevitably this leads to conflict between the record label and artist around recoupment of expenses and payment of royalties. Hopefully, as artists better understand the economics of record labels they will be able to make more informed decisions about when it makes sense to sign with a record label and when go it alone.

Dave Huffman is a musician and author of The Indie Launch Pad blog where he uses the insight he gained as a full time indie to share thoughts and advice for those wanting to enjoy an indie career in music as well. Follow him on twitter:@davemhuffman

So, you’re doing a lot of things right – you’re show is tight, you’re giving out some free tunes and encouraging people to share, you’re building up your mailing list and nurturing it with content, you understand social media.

You’re building fans.

Now what?

Keep repeating what you are doing?  Yep.

But what else? 

Ever thought about taking your existing fans and then connecting them with each other?

Think of it like a spider web or an offline version of twitter.  You connect person A and his friends with person B and their friends – those two groups come together, and networks expand – but more importantly, the infrastructure of your fanbase strengthens.

How?

Because everyone starts to become more of a family.  Or pretty good friends at the very least.

Then you’re shows have one more hook to grab people.  Great music, great atmosphere, GREAT PEOPLE.  Person A may now come to the show just to see Person B and so on.

Think about the promotional benefits too.  By doing this you are actually forming a REAL street team, not just some online “Hey, do this for us and we’ll do this for you” type street team.  I’m talking about real friends of the band that are friends with each other – that will join up and spread the good word about ya.

Anyways, enough of the anecdotal stuff.  Here are some ways you can work on this:

1.    Connect the Connectors with the Connectors (insert link)

Read Gladwell’s The Tipping Point?  Connectors are people in the community who know large numbers of people and have made a habit of making introductions.  You already know a few and they’re easy to spot.  Find the “connectors” in your group and introduce them to each other. 

2.    Encourage Social Media following a’ la Follow Friday on Twitter, etc.

This is why I LOVE twitter.  It’s seriously like a 24/7 networking event.  And in real-time too – not like email where you shoot someone a message and CC the other person, etc.  Hand pick people in your fanbase that have started to become friends and introduce them to each other through Social Media.  Twitter’s Follow Friday (#FF) is a great way to do this.  Be sure to give a good reason to follow as opposed to listing a bunch of names. Quality over quantity. 

Throw a festival around your band’s name and vibe

Typical concerts and shows only last a few hours.  Give your fans more of an opportunity to create memories and meet each other by throwing a multi-day festival.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a jam band to throw a festival.  Just make sure the fest atmosphere matches the vibe of your band and you’re good.  Throwing a festival also builds an entire cultural experience around your band, which can be a completely different topic – but my main point here is it gives your fans more opportunities to meet, connect, and build memories that involve your music.

Play house parties

I wish I would have set up more house shows as we were touring.  The small number I did play really generated more for us than any opening opportunity or high paying show ever did as they give you a opportunity to really get close and meet people and then introduce person A to person B.

5.    Show up at non-music events

I can’t tell you how crucial this is.  This makes you a REAL person, not just some schlub trying to hock his music on everyone.  If you’re going to be a REAL indie, you have to be a real person.  It’s just like owning a small business.  The more friends you have, the kinder you are, the more helpful you are, the better off you’ll be.  Just show up, provide support, genuinely network.  Which means, using YOUR network to help more than you rely on others’ networks to help you.

John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

A Question from Bev

Hi John,

I just arranged a song which I thought was a pretty good cover of a popular song.  When I applied for a mechanical license, the publisher said it was a derivative.  I've had several people, including a musicologist, listen to the song, they all felt it was a cover.  My cover is similar to the Billie Jean cover done by Chris Cornell--no lyric changes, just slower tempo.  I'd like to know if Chris received a mechanical license  or was his version also treated as a derivative.

Thanks,

Bev

What Would John Doe Do?

Hey Bev,
   This is a tough one to figure out. It's similar to guessing whether or not I might like the arrangement that you've done, OR even like the song.  Chris Cornell is still really handsome but Billie Jean is sort of predictable & not the greatest song. At the same time, MJ did have a GREAT arrangement; wonder if that arranger got a writer's credit & share?  I've never proclaimed that I was a publishing maven, simply someone who knows the basics & has been to a few county fairs.
  If yr publisher & several others have deemed this a cover, it probably is, sorry. And to be honest I don't know where that dividing line is.  I would say that arranging a song while it's first being recorded is the easiest way to get a writing credit. Or to arrange a song that is public domain, that's a given.
   This is a similar situation as a drummer who creates a great part to a song & then wants credit for writing.  That is entirely up to the songwriter or courts.  I have heard that just recently musicians have been given been given writers' shares for a "musical hook" that didn't involve the chord changes or lyrics. That's an entirely different subject and seems very subjective.
hope this helps and as always, thanks for writing.
good luck, Jd  

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com .

Michael Zapruder is an award-winning musician who serves as Music Curator for Pandora , the Oakland-based internet radio service based on the Music Genome Project. As curator, he directs all aspects of music collection, curation, and cataloging for Pandora's stations. Zapruder has been with Pandora nearly since the inception of the Music Genome Project and was appointed as Pandora's music curator in 2004.

There are any number of ways to get your music on Pandora. We're always looking for new music to play for our listeners, so we watch all kinds of blogs, radio stations, show listings, charts and things like that. And while we don't automatically add everything we see in those places, when an artist reaches a certain level of visibility we like to try our best to make that music available on Pandora.

So that’s the first thing you need to know. If you are connecting with an audience or community in a strong way; if you're playing good rooms and getting attention, you will have a fine chance of getting into our collection.

We know we can't find everything, though, so for the many deserving bands that we miss for one reason or another (and for bands that are just starting out), we offer a web-based music submission process that is free and open to everyone.

Here's how it works:

1.    Register for Pandora (the submission process is connected to listener accounts, so you can use your existing account if you have one).

2.    Go to http://submitmusic.pandora.com and follow the directions for submitting.

3.    If your CD meets the requirements for submission (you have to have a valid UPC code and the record has to be for sale in the Amazon CD store), you'll be prompted to upload two songs along with any biographical or press information and any links you'd like us to know about.

4.    When we get to your submission, we listen and make a decision about whether your submission is right for us.  (This takes time, so be patient.)

5.    If you're accepted, we send you an email with a customized mailing label that you'll use to send us your record. If we pass on your record we let you know on your submission page and we encourage you to keep us posted on your future work.

Lots of people ask us about the Amazon requirements, so here's the skinny:

We use UPC codes as identifiers to display the right artist information and album art when something plays on Pandora. We want to be able to show as much information about the artists we play as we can, and UPC codes make that possible.

Requiring albums to be available in the Amazon CD store guarantees that we will have usable metadata for every album we accept, which in turn frees us up to spend our time listening to your submissions instead of entering song titles and such. It also means that interested listeners will be able to find and buy your music by clicking the Amazon link in the Pandora tuner.

You can get your music into the Amazon CD store for free using a service called CreateSpace. They press on-demand CDs for Amazon purchases. For people who have CDs for sale already, there is a vendor program that Amazon offers that charges an annual fee as well (and in case you're wondering, we don't have any financial stake in the above services).

So, what are we listening for when we get to your submission?

Well, for unknown bands the fundamental question we have to answer is: will fans of this kind of music be excited to discover this on Pandora stations?

We also consider how the submission might add to our existing collection. We may have more of a need for Black Metal, a less visible genre, than for something more common like Indie Rock (that's not to say that we close the door on any genres, but the state of our collection sometimes comes into play).

We have a few basic internal guidelines for listening to every submission.

For one thing, our reviewers never have to give a reason for accepting music, but they always have to explain their decision if they are rejecting something. This only seems fair to us.

Also, we try to keep our personal musical preferences out of the decision-making process. The fact that a reviewer may not enjoy Darkwave or East Coast Hip hop or anything else really has no place in the decision about whether our listeners would embrace that music.

We are looking for excellence. Tim, Pandora's founder, often says: "You have to earn your way into Pandora." We try to make good decisions about whether the music lives up to that high standard.

When it's all said and done, though, we know that with music and art we can't ever be 100% sure we're making the right call. We can never completely transcend our own subjectivity. Our way around that is to keep it simple: we try as hard as we can to give your music a fair hearing. We do our best to be conscientious with your work.

If we do get it wrong (and we do sometimes), we'll find out about it; and when we see your music being reviewed or appearing on a chart somewhere, or when you're playing the Fox Theater here in Oakland, we'll make sure to get it into the collection right away!

Best of luck to everyone who is considering submitting their music or has already done so, and thanks from all the reviewers here for your interest in being a part of Pandora.

Rick Goetz is a Musician Coach and Music Consultant by way of a fifteen year career as a Major label A&R executive at Atlantic and Elektra Records a musician and a music supervisor. Throughout his career he has played bass for members of the Cult and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and on the industry side has worked with artists like Kid Rock, Matchbox 20, Sugar Ray and Damage Plan. His current client list ranges from Grammy award winners to people just looking to get their foot in the door. You can check out Rick at www.MusicianCoaching.com or twitter.com/musiccoaching

I am sitting at the edge of the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon trying to fill it in. That’s what marketing and self-promotion can feel like in the digital age or at least, that’s the way it feels to me.

I walked into a cavernous Barnes and Noble last night. They just opened another location by me on East 86th street in New York. I can’t begin to describe how big it is. I’ve lived in Manhattan my entire adult life so I do a double take when I see wasted space- but this? This place is ridiculous. It completely freaked me out. I felt a primal fear that I haven’t felt since Sylvia Rhone (former CEO of Elektra) used to scream at me but that’s a whole other blog post. I’ve spent considerably more time than I originally thought I would writing and creating content for this website and to realize that this one store contained a million or more books and these were just the books that were deemed the best by major publishers meaning the total volume of writing out there is… staggering.

What could I possibly have to offer that wasn’t already written somewhere?

It made me think about the quality of what I write and the quality of my coaching.  You really have to be exceptional to make it these days.  It reminded me of a conversation I had with my friend Mark Hermann recently about “just because you can – should you?”

We were talking about music and how there were no more barriers to entry and how on the one hand – what a wonderful freedom! On the other hand – how can we hear any one thing if we are in a stadium full of people screaming and demanding to be heard? Would we know if one of these voices was the next Beatles? Probably not. I love that image and wish I could claim it as my own but it belongs to Mark and I think he’s right on. One of the larger music management companies in New York has a sign on the door that reads “It’s about the music, stupid.” I think we are very quick to forget that these days.

I have been consulting and coaching artists informally for years but have only really begun Musician Coaching as a business in the last month which is when this site went live. I help people make sure they are in all of the right places online and to make sure that their website accomplishes what it needs to accomplish. I help people by providing a critique of their audio and video materials and their marketing efforts, their live show and the way they approach the people who sit behind one of the many desks where dreams go to die that stand between them and opportunity.

Sometimes I need to spend more time telling people to continue to develop their product and how best to do that because it can be worth the wait. The Beatles wrote a hundred songs before you ever heard note one of their first record and had played covers for several years. R.E.M played pizza joints in Athens Georgia in complete obscurity for a long time. Peter Frampton toured non-stop for three years before recording Frampton comes alive.

I can wake up tomorrow, write and record a song and have it up on MySpace tomorrow but should I? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with doing so but I do think if you are just starting out you should have realistic expectations of your abilities and the level at which you expect people to respond.

Why doesn’t anyone care anymore? It is simply because there is too much mediocrity out there. I say this often “There is no one in the audience because everyone is on the stage.” Cheap recording gear and low or no cost international distribution are now tools that are in everyone’s hands. The music business is no longer an exclusive club – if you’ve got an Internet connection and a mic in jack you can now be considered a member.

“It’s about the music, stupid.” It’s a great reminder. All I am suggesting is write 100 songs and put the best one of those 100 out for people to hear. I am suggesting that if you have to cut your teeth playing live and are struggling making it solo- try to do it as a sideman or a hired gun. 99% of the “overnight success” stories you hear involve someone working their ass off behind the scenes for a long long time before they broke. If you want a good read- check out the Hendrix book “Room Full of mirrors” – Jimmy played 2nd fiddle to a ton of people before going out on his own.

In America there seems to be this feeling that everyone gets their 15 minutes or worse yet- everyone deserves their 15 minutes. We have been sold this vision that at any moment fame and wealth may strike without working for it. There is something tattooed on the back of our brains that somewhere out there Ed McMahon is looking for each and every one of us with an over-sized check and that the rest of our lives will be taken care of from that moment on… I’m all for the Lotto slogan “Hey, you never know” but I’m sure as hell not depending on it.

What is my point? My point is, and I don’t exclude myself, we have to spend less time on marketing and more time making sure we have products that are worth marketing. There is more music out there than ever before- everyone you know is a “musician” or at least a hobbyist and consumers are very jaded. Before shotgunning your product out there and whipping your fans into a frenzy about your new release you had better make damn sure that you have a product that is not only competitive but stronger than most of the stuff you see and hear or it’s over before it starts.

Nick Fitzsimons founded Penny Distribution in 2007 and launched sister company Penny Black in 2010. Originally a physical and digital distributor, Penny Distribution and marketing services for its artists and labels.  Penny Black is a boutique music licensing and consultancy service representing independent Irish & UK labels catalogue to the media industries for sync and brand partnerships.  Nick also helped organize UnConvention Belfast and the NI Music Industry Meetup series, as well as the informal Open Music Media Belfast meetups

It’s something that anyone involved in music in 2010 will tell you is big business, and maybe the answer to dwindling (if not non-existent) recorded music sales.

The sync, or “synchronization” of your music with a moving image.

Indeed, the pursuit of that perfect sync (or even an imperfect sync) has been a focus of recording artists for years – closely coinciding in the past decades meteoric slide music sales.

Prior to 2002, it’s safe to say that most label’s sync strategy was “passive” – there’d be little to no active outreach, with content creators such as ad agencies and TV producers instead, upon hearing a record on the radio or through other promotion, would call the label directly and negotiate a deal. 

The tables have well and truly turned.

The sheer amount of pro-active music producers (labels, artists and music clearance houses) now pitching to music supervisors, creative directors at ad agencies and games companies is so huge that it’s having the natural market economy effect when supply greatly  outstrips demand i.e. less and less money is being made available to pay for music licenses. 

Whereas 10 years ago, a Hollywood picture would have about 10% for a music budget, that margin has slimmed to 6%, even as low as 3% in some cases.

That said, independent music has a significant advantages over music from other more “established” artists.  Stressing the “indie advantage” – that you can be more flexible, clear the license more quickly and allow for wider uses of the music – can be an attractive proposition for folks seeking that killer track that connects with their audience.

First things first:  before you can even think of a sync strategy, you need to get your tracks sync-ready.

1)     Register your songs with performing rights organization in your country.  Sounds obvious but I’ve heard some horror stories.  Some TV companies actually ask for a detailed songwriter split BEFORE a deal is signed, for no other reason but to make sure there’re no hiccups in clearance later.  Be sure to be explicit about song-writing splits during registration and keep a clear record of all communications.

2)     Instrumentals:  When you’re in recording the new release, think seriously about paying up for vocal-less versions of your mixes.  It’s the #1 most asked for variant of any commercial recording and could well be the difference in getting a sync or not.  Getting instrumentals after you’ve finished recording and mastering can be considerably more expensive – it’s worth keeping in mind.

3)     Metadata:  Ensure ALL of your digital music files are correctly tagged.  You can use iTunes (“Get Info”) to edit meta-tags, but I find an audio editing software (like Audacity, which is free) is more suitable for editing tags. Including genre, bpm and songwriter information as well as contact information in the file will help people track back to you if they hear something they like.

Once your tracks are as sync-friendly as possible, the next step is to look at where to aim and who to contact:

1)     Film:  IMDBPro is a great resource here – most music supervisors will list their previous work and upcoming projects - a great way to start a conversation with them.

2)     Advertising:  Resources like FileFX (in the UK) list many key advertising agencies and their respective key players. The biggest problem can be getting your music to the right person at the right time – there are literally tens of people involved in the creative process of making an ad.  Developing a few relationships, rather than trying to contact everyone who might be involved, is usually a safer bet, but a good place to start might be the company’s Head of TV.

3)     Games:  A more difficult bet for commercial music – many games use a custom composed scores.  Certain game genres do use commercial music, and the major publishers (Sony, EA, Konami, Xbox etc) usually have a music supervisor who you can target.  The key, as always, is being relevant to their current projects.

4)     TV:  IMDB is a great resource here also.  Most TV studios have folks in charge of a series.  As these folks often move from show to show, establishing a good relationship can be advantageous here also.

There are many other routes to market for your music – coupling with a consumer brand or corporate communications being two that spring to mind – that are also worth considering as your sync strategy develops.

When you’re ready to reach out, keep a few things in mind:  as with any communication with folks you’re trying to get interested in your music, remaining personal in your communications, as well as persistent is important. 

1)     Be a real person: Rule of thumb – forgo any language in an email that you think sounds “professional”.  That doesn’t mean write emails in LOLspeak, but passion about your music and more importantly, passion about the project you’re hoping to get involved in, will take you much further.  Anyone today can be slick.  Be authentic.

2)     Be relevant:  NEVER pitch a song or album just because it’s something you’re working on at the moment – only pitch music that’s relevant to the individual you’re targeting and they project they’re working on.  The temptation can be to “carpet-bomb” supervisors with your new release – bad idea.  Quality, not quantity, of conversation will take you much further.

3)     Do it together: Consider forming a collective of artists or labels and pooling sync resources.  A wider range of genres will make it easier to match briefs .

John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

A Question from Ed

Hi John,

  I've been a big fan of your music since the "X" days and recently enjoyed your performance in the tribute to Gram Parsons live DVD. You’re one of the greats in versatility.

 I saw you perform many years ago at The Skeleton club in San Diego. I was out there to attend "The Bozo School of Lutherie". Flip Scipio was my roommate. Are you familiar with him? "Talking Guitars" was a really good film about his work with acoustic instruments.

 My question is where was that in the "X" timeline around April 1980? Also at that point were you also pursuing interests in acoustic/country music?

    Thanks,

      Ed Markiewicz

What Would John Doe Do?

hey Ed,
  Most musicians that I know have much greater knowledge of music than the music that they create would display. The trick to making a convincing band is to narrow those influences into something that is focused & makes a clear musical statement. All of the X members were fans of all types of music from psychedelic rock to R & B to old timey folk. You might recall Exene & I singing a version of Hank Wms. Rambling Man in "X The Unheard Music" (filmed circa 1982?) and The Knitters first record was released in 1985. Also, you may or may not know that in the '60s folk music (Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Burl Ives) was considered "kid's music", records sold to adults for their kids.  So, I guess you could say we knew & loved that kind of music from when we were young'uns.
thanks for writing,
Jd

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com .

Jessica Sobhraj is co-founder and Sr. VP of Production for Sir Groovy, an online B2B music search company, which focuses on helping film studios and TV networks expedite the process of finding and purchasing music synch rights. Sobhraj oversees pre-clearance procedures and relations management for new and existing content providers.

There are thousands of synch licensing opportunities created by hundreds of buyers that are seeking independent music in the United States. Yearly, this is a billion dollar market that is rivaled by an additional billion dollars generated by international buyers. So who’s buying? Television and film remain the largest purchasers in the industry, but new niches such as interactive usages are also appearing as new forms of media/content emerge.

Although the number of placements available to independent labels has increased, the budgets have not. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Stricter budgets translate into a world of potential for independent labels to dominate a niche that once belonged exclusively to major labels. Also, A demand for better quality music and branded artists has created an opportunity for independent labels to capture business from the (cheap) production libraries.

Many labels seek the perfect concoction of strategies to address the question of “How do I get more placements??”. There are a variety of tactics that you as a label owner or licensing representative can employ to capture a chunk of this two billion dollar market. The most common method is to use a third party to seek licenses on your behalf. There are many third party licensing firms, each with its own way of navigating the (sometimes) muddy waters of synch licensing. In order to find the partner that best accommodates your situation, take the time to assess what is crucial to your synch licensing strategy, assess which partner offers the greatest penetration in your target market segment, and which partner offers a suite of services that complement rather than impede your own efforts. Here are a few research tips to guide you during the decision-making process:

-       Call: Try to get a human on the phone. Employees can reveal much more information than automated voice dialogs and email robots. During the contractual process, ask a representative to go over the agreement with you. Should you feel that the terms are not clear, be cautious of signing anything.

-       Protect Your Rights: Ask if the potential partner will re-title your copyrights and retain a portion of your royalties (this is important!!). Some partners will require that you grant them the right to re-register your music with a new title, under their publishing entity in exchange for placement opportunities. In most cases, revenue from royalties amounts to more than the original licensing fee – this is definitely an issue that you will want to address with every potential partner you research.

-       The Importance of Brand: If you’re concerned about branding and making sure that your music is in good company, ask for a list of the partner’s top artists. Partner’s with larger names often attract more buyers. Having branded artists also indicates that the partner has generated enough sales, buzz, and happy artists to retain those larger names.

-       Prove It: Ask for potential partners for a list of clients and placements from the last 3 months. This will indicate whether or not the partner is selling music in volumes that are meaningful to you! Since numbers (and placement reels) don’t lie, you should be especially suspicious of partners that cannot provide this information.

-       Strategize: Ask potential partners how they plan to get your music to interested buyers and not stuck in a massive dormant catalog. A good rule of thumb is the larger the catalog, the less you'll be heard. Because of this, labels often find that partners with smaller selective catalogs are more appealing than larger production libraries.

-       Where’s The Money?: Ask potential partners how you will be paid, and how often. Will they notify you of each placement and when you can expect to be paid?

-       Personalize Your Experience: If having someone that will update you personally and work with you on a one on one basis is important to you, factor this into your decision process. Larger pre-cleared libraries may not be able to provide such a personalized service because of the sheer volume of licenses they execute. Although they do not generate as many sales as libraries, smaller partners (like song-pluggers) work very closely with labels.

Whether you go with a song-plugger or a library, working with any third party service requires a great deal of trust and understanding between both parties. For example, your partner needs to know that the information you provide is 100% truthful (especially concerning rights clearances) and you need to be able to trust that your partner will not license your music for pennies. Moreover, understand that despite the size of the industry and opportunities available, you may not achieve your desired outcome immediately. Synch licensing can be a tedious, drawn-out process, so work with your partner to craft and re-tool your strategy frequently. Most important of all, be patient and keep the lines of communication open!