Paul Chodirker is an entertainment lawyer at Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto. He is also featured on the “law boys” radio segment which can beheard every Wednesday night on the Toronto-based radio station, 102.1 The Edge.

Are we there yet? So, you’ve recorded your music, found a producer interested in using your song in a film or television series, and negotiated a price for a synch and/or master-use license…so, now what? Well, everything else.

What else should you be weary of before signing a synch and/or master use license?

Limited Media and Internet Rights

The film or television producer is going to want to use your song in all forms of media. So, the licenses they have you sign will most likely contain a clause which states that the song can be used in any and all media. Basically, this means that the producer can use your song in a film or television program that is released theatrically, over the internet, through video-on-demand, free TV, etc. – all media – get it? This is very standard and a producer will unlikely agree to anything unless they can exploit the song in all forms.

Terms of Rights

A producer, unless they are receiving very bad legal advice, will never license use of the song for a limited period of time (e.g. 10 years). They will almost always ask for a perpetual license. This allows the producer the right to use the music forever, or for the duration of copyright. Otherwise, they will have to renew the music license when the term expires, which they don’t want to do.

Sales and Mechanical Royalties

This probably wont be applicable to indie musician’s who are not in great demand. However, once your music becomes popular, or if a producer absolutely needs your particular song in his or her film, you may want to negotiate additional royalties on top of the license fee. For example, you can ask for royalties based on a certain number of DVD units sold.

So, what about the inclusion of your song on a soundtrack? If a producer wants to include your music on a soundtrack, they’re going to have to do two things:

1. They will need soundtrack album rights to either be included in the master use license, or obtain a separate agreement for such rights. Remember, only the owner of the master recording(s) has the right to license the use of a master in film.
2. Either the producer or the soundtrack record company will need to obtain mechanical licenses from your music publisher or yourself (if you haven’t assigned your compositions to a publisher), in order to make mechanical reproductions of the underlying composition contained on the masters.

That’s it. You’re done! Go ahead and sign that synch and/or master use license and prepare to hear your music in the background while Matthew McConaughey and [Kate Hudson/Jennifer Lopez/Meg Ryan/ Jennifer Garner/or Jennifer Aniston] finally tell each other how much they mean to each other.

Remember, I never said you had to agree to every movie deal.

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.

Hello John,

I have been writing songs for some time now and it's been a dream of mine to record my own record. The local recording studio near my house gave me a handwritten price quote of $2000.00 to record, mix, master my recordings and cover the costs of a couple of session musicians. It seemed like a lot of money but the people there seemed to know what they are doing and I wanted a professional recording of my material. Now that the recording process is over a couple of things happened that have left me confused and upset. The person in charge at the studio helped me with melodies on two of my songs, now he says he wants 25% ownership of those songs! He never told me that his help would give him part ownership of MY songs. If I had known that I would have stuck with my original melodies. Additionally he is now asking that I sign a producer agreement that gives him 3% points on my sales. Shouldn't these "agreements" happen before I started recording, not after? I have already paid for the recording session in full but now he is won't give me the masters until I sign his agreements. Are artists always treated this way by people who offer "help" in the music industry? What would John Doe Do in this situation?

With much respect,

Amanda

 

WWJDD?

Hey Amanda,
   I'd love to kick this guy in the shins for you!
First of all, you have ALL my sympathy. This is totally unprofessional & YES these agreements should be negotiated before the session.  The first thing I thought of was how can you break-in or bring a couple of big, nasty goons & physically take back yr tapes.  Then of course I realized there are no tapes. I suppose you could do that to his computer but . . . doing 1 to 3 @ the State Pen for breaking & entering & robbery probably isn't that attractive. One way to avoid this is to use your own hard drive, possession is "9 tenths of the law".  BUT what's done is done.  You could get a lawyer but that means more money & too much time & effort.  You probably should make a complaint to the "Better Business Bureau" & tell anyone in yr town who cares, what a shitbag this guy is.
  Now, to solve yr dilemma. Even though what he's asking for should have be settled before recording, a producer's fee isn't uncommon.  Standard is 3% but that applies to established producers.  Offer him a 2%, producer's fee.  Regarding the melodies; go line by line & figure out what percentage yours to his melodies are used in the songs that he contributed to. That may be difficult but be generous & make yr best guess.  This way if he questions how you came up w/ the number, you will have a plan. Then offer him half of that percent of the writer’s credit, since I'm guessing he didn't write any of those words.  Also he would not be entitled to any publisher's royalty.  If none of this is acceptable to him, take him to small claims court, maybe you'll get Judge Judy.
  This is a lot of wrangling for, probably, not much reward ($$) but there is always a chance that the song could get licensed to some movie or TV show & that can be big dough.  Let me know if I should dust off my brass knuckles, be tough & best of luck.
I hope this helps and as always, thanks for writing.
yrs,
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 .

 

 

A graduate of the University of Texas and Harvard Law School, Passman is listed in The Best Lawyers of America. He is the author of the nonfiction bestseller All You Need to Know About the Music Business , which has sold more than 150,000 hardcover copies in print. Passman has lectured extensively on the subject of the music industry, including teaching a course at the University of Southern California Law School's Advanced Professional Program, and lecturing for the UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium, Harvard Law School, the American Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the USC Entertainment Law Institute, and the Los Angeles Copyright Society.

 Question:

Assuming an independent musician has no record label, is the sole songwriter and owns their copyright and has digital distribution for a flat annual fee - How would they earn royalties from the sources below? Who collects and pays the royalties for each?

- Non interactive radio (Pandora) 

Answer: There’s some question whether Pandora is “interactive” but for now, a court has held it is not. Assuming that’s correct, there is a compulsory license under the copyright law for the masters, and the monies are collected by a nonprofit company called Soundexchange.

ASCAP / BMI (performing rights societies) collect for the songwriting.

The artist (who is also the record company and publisher in this example) affiliates with each of these companies for payment.

- Streaming services (Spotify) 

Answer: Interactive streaming requires a license for the master from the company; there is no compulsory license, so they can charge whatever they can get. There are “aggregators” (like Tunecore and Orchard) who put together small companies and re-license the digital rights to masters. That would make sense for an owner/user like this example, because it’s hard to get streaming services to make one-off deals.

Songwriting is collected by ASCAP / BMI.

-  Digital downloads (iTunes) 

Answer: Master rights are also licensed directly, or through aggregators, as above.

Publishing rights are done directly, or through Harry Fox.

- Subscription download service (eMusic) 

Answer: I assume you mean a streaming subscription with a number of downloads included? If so, they need all the licenses above.

- Video streaming (YouTube) 

Answer: The record company makes a deal with the site. Songwriting isn’t totally settled. Mostly, the record company gets paid by the site directly, then pays the songwriter / publisher.

Swank currently resides in Chicago, Illinois where he does radio promotion and tour press for Bloodshot Records. Previously he spent 7 years at Yep Roc Records as head of radio promotions. Swank also has a collective 20+ years as on air talent in both commercial and non-commercial radio, 5 years as an entertainment journalist for the Nightlife in Carbondale, Il, a six month stint as a stand-up comedian and has written, produced & directed 3 one-act plays. Joe Swank and the Zen Pirates self-released Hank Williams Died for My Sins on November 10, 2009.

I started playing music rather late in life. I was in my mid-20’s when I joined my first band. Mostly covers at first, but one by one, I started incorporating originals into the mix. Fast forward past several bands and two albums and I was starting to wonder how this music thing seemed to take plenty of money, but never really gave all that much back.

The music I have always played is best described as Honky Tonk. Honky Tonk fans make up a VERY narrow band of the Country Music crowd. They are the ones who seek out artists/groups like Dale Watson, Shaver, Wayne Hancock, Whitey Morgan and Hank 3 ….or to a further extent, Drive-By Truckers, Slobberbone and The Waco Brothers.  

My first record (The MoJoDeans – The MoJoDeans 1998 – Relay Records) was almost all my money invested. The band fund kicked in a few hundred dollars, and I ended up eating around 8K over the course of 2 years. Funding recording, hired radio promotion, keeping us on the road and general expenses. A key band member moved away and the band broke up. It was then I realized if I was going to invest in music, I was gonna need to get my name in the title, or it was virtually a wasted investment on my part as far as branding my music was concerned. The second record (Joe Swank & The Mule Skinner Band – Cowpunk! 2001 – Cowpunk Music/Self Released) was recorded in exchange for my Honda Shadow 750. The band had problems that can all be traced back to medication, and was a short-lived project. By the time mixing and mastering was done, the band no longer existed. I pulled together a band and about 200 copies of the disc for CD release and then put it to bed.

I already had eyes on North Carolina as they seemed to have the most thriving record industry outside of Nashville and L.A. I moved to North Carolina in 2001 and started working at Redeye Distribution in order to figure out where the money goes and how to get some of it back in my pocket. This was supposed to be a temporary warehouse job that would help me do it right the next time. I would learn where to spend the money vs. where not to waste my time. Something funny happened along that path in that I ended up taking a full time job with Yep Roc Records (owned by Redeye Dist.) and actually started liking the Rubik’s Cube that is the music industry. I became intrigued with the different patterns in an attempt to get to the same end.

This, unfortunately, put MY band on the back burner. I tried to keep up on nights and weekends, but time just wasn’t on my side. As I got deeper into the business, there was always something else to research and study. Just when I thought I had it almost figured out, the whole game changed with a little thing called the internet broadband connection. The computer was relatively useless back in the dial up days, but the high speed connections changed the game. I-tunes also changed the game. Pretty much everything that happened on the internet in the last 8 to 10 years has eventually changed the game.

I released our record HANK WILLIAMS DIED FOR MY SINS on November 10^th, 2009. I formed the Zen Pirates in Raleigh in late 2001. We played around and worked up a mess of my originals and tried recording them in 2002. Two days in, the sound just wasn’t right and we scrapped to re-group. Second attempt at recording in 2004 was with a cat that got a last minute gig offer to go on the road. He stored the hard drive with nearly a completed record. I have not seen him (or the $800 I paid him) since that day. Third attempt was in 2006. 3 songs in and the engineer got called away to a 3 month job in Ohio. Finally, (with an entirely different band than when I started), I got all the ducks in a row and booked studio time with Rick Miller in 2008. Between the time I booked the studio and the recording date, I was offered a job I couldn’t refuse. Despite my 7 years in the industry at this time, I was still a one trick pony as far as my views of how a label works, so I decided to make the leap, accepted the offer and literally recorded the album in the two days before I got in a U-haul and moved my life up to Chicago and went to work for Bloodshot Records.

The last year has been a difficult time of booking for overdubs and trying to mix from 850 miles away. I flew down a couple of times to do what I could in person, but ultimately, half the disc was mixed without me present. In the end, I had to remove two cuts because they just weren’t where I wanted them to be. Had my mastering done here in Chicago where I could be present, and finally called it done.

2 constant truths about the music business:

#1) If you don’t tour, don’t bother

#2) If your #1 concern is making money, join a cover/tribute band.

Now, without my presence in North Carolina and everyone in the band having a full time job, it’s pretty clear that we’re not going to be able to tour behind this record, outside of weekend bursts when all of us can get away. On top of that, we play Honky Tonk. Not a large demand for such a splinter genre. The Americana/Roots section at the store is already small enough, and there are some road warriors out there that deserve the coveted slot a lot more than we do. So what does one do with a record that doesn’t have much of a chance? Why even MAKE the record in the first place?

Ars gratia artis is latin for “art for the sake of art”. I have had many of these songs in my head for several years and needed to document them to let my brain move on to the next creative endeavor. The amount it might reap at the end was never even a concern. It would’ve been SO much easier on me to just call the 7 years in N.C. a wash and get a band together in Chicago to do the songs, but these guys in the Zen Pirates are the best band I have ever had and we’d been playing the songs so long that I knew they would nail it, and nail it they did. Now we have a finished disc and with the knowledge I have in my head about how the industry works, I knew it was a relatively dead project coming out of the shoot. Any artist will tell you, sometimes you just have to do things, regardless of how well thought out they may or may not seem at the time. 

BUT…There is hope. This new-fangled internet thing can at least give me exposure to a large number of people that, until the last few years, would’ve been unreachable. Tunecore is a godsend. With a nominal fee and a few weeks waiting time, they can post your record to most every major digital site in the game. You can hyperlink a button on your site to take people directly to your album. This is an amazing leap forward in getting music out there. Granted, it is also easier than ever to get free copies of stuff off the net, but one hopes that people who actually like the music, would want to compensate the artist. Myspace and Facebook are both huge tools to get the word out on your music and each day, new opportunities show themselves. Café Press is another site that is truly helpful in getting you some merch. Your take is about 10% for the use of your logo, but it at least makes your chosen image available to the general public world-wide. The newest event that I am excited about is the ability to “gift” song streams on Facebook for a dime. This business is BUILT on nickels and dimes, so even if that gifted song only shows up as a penny in earned income, a thousand pennies can make a different.

From a professional “what-you’re-supposed-to-do” perspective, I mailed around 100 cd’s to radio and about 60 to press. That is dramatically shy of what I would recommend on an artist we’re trying to work with professionally, but I am honing down to the precious few that have shown themselves to be Honky Tonk fans. I am paying for every mailer and every disc that goes out, so the shotgun approach is not an option. Also hitting a handful of Digital sites, but the main bulk of those can be serviced digitally. I have the record up on Airplay Direct as well as a private link I have to send someone the full download with art. Digital Distribution is also a boon to the new Music Industry. Stations that wouldn’t even consider downloading a song 5 years ago, now request digital delivery in an attempt to fight back the wall of hard copy discs that fill rooms in the radio stations. You can save a TON of money servicing people digitally. There are still people that require a hard copy, and you need to factor that in for radio service. I am also currently talking with film & T.V. licensing agents regarding video game, movie and television placement. There are thousands of outlets out there now, many for free or nominal cost. You never know where an album may earn its keep. 

The Zen Pirates will continue on as a band that rarely plays out, but I’ve learned that it’s a very small world and that you never know where the next wind will take you. As for me, I am going to take a break from MY music, at least through the holidays and see how this whole digital campaign works out for us. We have plans to do some touring next year. We’re pondering a couple of long weekends up the east coast and down to Texas, as we have connections in both directions. In the mean time, I love my day job and I’m gonna continue to punch in and try to get the word out about good music that other people have made. If I’m lucky, some of those same folks will find our stuff out there in the digital landscape.

Swank*

Hank Williams Died For My Sins can be purchased at http://zenpirates.com/ as well as digitally at I-tunes, Amazon.com, Shockhound and other fine digital outlets. You can listen to cuts from the record at http://www.myspace.com/joeswankandthezenpirates.  Joe Swank recommends you read this piece if you are looking for a label, as it has many answers: http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/faqs#b

 

 

 

Laura Williams manages SoundExchange’s communications strategies, including overseeing the launch of a new, better-than-ever www.SoundExchange.com in coming weeks. She holds degrees in Political Communications and Writing from Susquehanna University.

You may have heard about SoundExchange lately. We’ve paid out more than $111 million in royalties so far this year, are out in front fighting for fair compensation for artists, and making sure the 43,000+ recording artists and 5,000+ copyright holders we represent are getting paid when they get played.

With all those artists and all that money, it’s surprising how many people don’t know about SoundExchange yet. If you've got questions about what SoundExchange is or does, check out our ‘What Is SoundExchange’ video:

Here's the upshot: when sound recordings are played on certain digital services, satellite radio like SIRIUS-XM, Internet radio like Pandora, those high-numbered cable channels like MusicChoice, or streamed as background music in some restaurants or stores, the artist who performed on that recording earns a royalty. So does the copyright owner, which may be a label, or an independent artist who owns his own masters.

The digital services who owe those royalties either have to make a deal with each and every artist and rights owner directly (a direct licenses) and cut them a check, or they can use the blanket permission set up by the government (a statutory license). If they’re eligible for the statutory license, that service can use any commercially-released track ever made, without asking for permission from the artist. The service writes a check to SoundExchange, and provides a report of use - basically, a playlist of every track they've used, and who the artist and copyright holder are for that track.

SoundExchange is the only service the government allows to collect those royalties. Our job is to sort through the reports, find out what percentage of the money each artist or rights holder is owed, and then send them a check for what all the services together owed them. That's harder than it sounds. We don't always get good data from the services that use your tracks - how are we going to distribute to "various artists" or "label unknown"?

More importantly, SoundExchange collects royalties for EVERYONE whose tracks are played, even if they haven't registered with us, even if they've never heard of us! SoundExchange has only been around since 2001, so we're still getting the word out to artists and rights holders that this royalty stream exists. Unlike our friends at ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (more on them later) we don't just collect for our members. But we need artists to register with us, or we have no way of knowing where to send the money. We have many ways of contacting artists, from social networking to database matches to one-on-one meet-ups at conferences and festivals, but it’s a big job. Our 43,000+ artists and 5,000+ rights holders spread the word to their friends and colleagues, and success stories are our best method of outreach. So get registered, get paid, and tell a friend.

If you're not registered, get registered. Don't worry, though- SoundExchange hasn't given away your royalties. Artists and rights owners who sign up today can collect royalties they earned all the way back to the beginning of collections in 1998. We get a few hundred new registrations every month, and our online registration site has them coming in faster than ever. Remember, it’s always 100 percent FREE. We’re just giving you money that’s already yours. 

Another big difference between SoundExchange and other performance rights societies is that we advocate and expect per-play reporting from services. That means that instead of relying on sampling reports – four weeks a year or a few days a month – to determine what to pay, we ask services to report every track they play, every time they play it. In fact, 95 percent of the money we distribute is accompanied by ‘census data’ – that is, every track played, every time it’s played. We strongly believe this is the fairest way to distribute, and to make sure royalties get to the people who’ve earned them. We still accept sampling data from a few webcasters as a special accommodation, but we believe that census data is the way of the future, and SoundExchange is on the cutting edge of that movement. 

SoundExchange is a nonprofit. None of our staff of forty-five music lovers is in this for the money. We come to work every day excited about helping the people who create music get paid for their work. A lot of us are musicians ourselves, and some are recording artists. Our Board of Directors, who set our organization’s course and priorities, is evenly split between the representatives of recording artists and of rights holders. We're run by the people we pay, and staffed by people who believe in what we do.

When we’re out on the road spreading the word about SoundExchange and digital performance rights, we hear and answer the same questions over and over. So in case you’re wondering, too, here are a few of our top FAQs.

Q: You have money for me? And it’s free? What’s the catch?

A: There isn’t one. Zero, zip, nada. We were set up by the Library of Congress and the Copyright Royalty Board to collect money you’ve already earned. It’s your money, waiting here for you. You just have to tell us where to send it. That’s all there is to it. No registration fee. No Nigerian email addresses. Promise.

Q: I’m already a member of ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. Can I be a member of SoundExchange, too?

A: YES! We collect for a different royalty, for a different copyright than our friends at these organizations. They pay songwriters and publishers, the creators of music and lyrics written down on paper, and we pay recording artists and copyright holders, the creators of the master sound recordings. We encourage you to be a member of one of these organizations, AND of SoundExchange. They’re in no way in conflict.

Q: How does SoundExchange make money?

A: As an organization, we don’t. We’re a non-profit. We do retain a small percentage of the royalties we collect to pay our staff and keep the lights on. Although all performance rights organizations are funded this way, we have the lowest rate in the industry.

Q: Who does SoundExchange pay?

Of the royalties earned on a track, we pay 50% to the copyright holder and 45% directly to the featured recording artist. 5% goes into a fund which compensates backup musicians and session players. Independent artists who own their own masters keep 95%! 

Q: If I register, will I get paid right away?

A: Although we’re improving efficiency every day, SoundExchange can take up to 180 days to fully process a registration, including tax information, and compare it to our database of 7 BILLION performances. If those searches show you’ve accrued more than $10 in royalties, you’re eligible to be paid right away by Direct Deposit. Our average annual payout per registrant is about $3,000.

Q: What don’t you collect royalties for?

A: SoundExchange DOES NOT collect for digital downloads (like iTunes or “podcasting”) or “on-demand” plays like YouTube or MySpace, where a user can select and immediately play the song she wants to hear. SoundExchange also does not collect for the streaming of any audiovisual work, including music videos.

We also don’t collect royalties for AM and FM radio plays. Why? Because artists and copyright holders don’t get paid for radio plays. When you hear “Respect” on the radio, Otis Redding, who wrote the song, gets paid. Aretha Franklin, who sang the song and made it famous, doesn’t see a penny. Surprised? Most people are. Sound unfair? We agree. That’s why when our members authorize us to use a little bit of their money to protect and promote their rights, SoundExchange uses some of that to help out a group called musicFIRST (Fairness in Radio Starting Today). Our allies at musicFIRST are trying to close the loophole in copyright law which lets over-the-air radio stations to use your music without compensating you. Check out their website at www.musicfirstcoalition.org, and get in touch with your representatives in Congress, and let them know you support a full performance right for artists.

So if you hadn’t heard about SoundExchange, or you thought digital performance rights were just too good to be true, now you know. Get registered, get a friend registered, and let us help you get paid when you get played.

Laura Williams

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 Ronquaise in Atlanta

Hi John,

I would like to say thank you so much for all of your help. You have really answered allot of my questions just reading and studying your site.  I do have a question, I am a solo artist pop/ R&B I want to know if I should try and put together a backing band or just get backing vocals and dancers? I know it would be easy to travel and allot cheaper, but would I be taken seriously in the music business using backing tracks even with dancers and backing vocals. I am new, and I hope to release my Self released album next spring. I don't want to start out wrong starting out. What happens when it’s not a band but just a solo artist? Please tell me what you think

Thanks,

Ron

What Would John Doe Do?

Hey Ron,

   Regardless of how you present yr songs or what style the performance takes; getting music to the people is most important thing. If you can't afford something, don't go into debt at the start of a project.  Though my field isn't R&B, I'm sure that now-a-days many artists w/ complex backing tracks use pre-record. Are you sure that you need dancers? If the audience in the clubs where yr performing expect that, then bring them. 

  Have faith in the material & make every effort to get to the audience that will understand yr style of music. Stripped down versions of good songs can be very compelling but you don't want to waste time at singer songwriter clubs if yr record is very slick & produced. Try to find yr gut feelings & trust them.

I hope this helps, best of luck & as always, thanks for writing.

yrs, 

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 .

 

 

The goal of the Indie Artist X Project is to develop a basic, actionable music marketing plan designed around simple strategy, prioritization of tactics, easy to use tools, and a reasonable budget that can be implemented by any artist who has the inclination to follow it. About.com Music Careers, Artists House Music, Hypebot, KnowTheMusicBiz.com, MusicianWages.com and Revolution Number 3 have banded together to create this community based music marketing plan.  We will be working with one anonymous artist to design and implement this music marketing plan then track and report the actual results over a four month period.

 

Today marks the wrap up date for the 4 month long Indie Artist X Project. I posted a blog at Hypebot today with an overall IAXP wrap up and summary.

The majority of the inquiries and questions I received during the Indie Artist X Project where about the identity of the anonymous artist who was participating in the project and how that artist was selected. Now that the project has officially wrapped up I can finally announce that the artist who participated in the project is Austin Collins from the band Austin Collins and The Rainbirds.

Background

I first stumbled upon Austin and his band by accident at the 2008 South by Southwest Festival. While I was at SXSW I attended a show case event to see a friend of mine’s band play and Austin’s band just happened to come on stage next. I was immediately impressed with the set Austin and the Rainbirds performed. After the show I briefly met the band and picked up a copy of their latest CD, Roses are Black.

Once I got home from SXSW I began listening to all the CD’s I’d brought home with me and after a few listens I decided Roses are Black was a damn fine record. After many, many more listens I decided Roses are Black was my favorite record of 2008.

At the end of the year I was one of the people who blogged about my “Five Favorite Things”  in About.com’s 2008 Music Wrap Up feature. Soon afterwards Austin contacted me to say thank you for mentioning Roses are Black was my favorite release of 2008. ‘I kept Austin’s contact information but we didn’t communicate past his initial email.

SXSW 2009

Two weeks before I was to depart for South by Southwest this past spring I found out my housing plans had fallen through. Anyone who has been to SXSW can tell you there are no hotel rooms available anywhere near Austin, TX two weeks prior to the event.

In an attempt to try and salvage my trip I pulled a list of everyone in my contacts that lived in Austin, TX and sent out an email asking if anyone knew a place where I might be able to crash during SXSW. Almost immediately Austin replied back to my email saying I could stay at his house. Problem solved!

When I arrived in town Austin and I agreed to meet up at the Guitar Town party after the day’s panels had concluded.  I learned several interesting things hanging out with Austin that first night. He has great taste in music, a wide circle of friends, strong interpersonal skills and a degree in Finance from the University of Texas. When I introduced Austin to Rob Miller from Bloodshot Records I was impressed with how easily Austin fell into my conversation with Rob (and didn’t immediately fall all over himself pitching his band).

The Deal

Austin was very interested in getting my take on music marketing and the music business in general and had a lot of good questions. We found it difficult to talk at the evening parties and showcases so we arranged to talk over breakfast on my last day in town. At breakfast we covered a wide range of music business related topics, online marketing, distribution, licensing, etc. while Austin made furious notes of everything we discussed.

I really liked Austin’s music and found him to be very motivated and driven so I made him a deal that morning. I told Austin I would help him pull together a music marketing / music business plan without compensation but I would only put as much effort into building his music career as he was. I have tried to help a few musicians with their business / marketing efforts in the past but always grew frustrated at their lack of follow through and execution.

We setup a Google Docs page to help us get Austin’s marketing efforts organized and to assign key tasks and due dates. I quickly found out that Austin always follows though. I can’t think of a single time that I even casually suggested an idea to Austin he didn’t have it done before our next weekly phone call.

The IAXP is Born

I initially thought I could pull together a fairly comprehensive outline for a music marketing plan easily enough but found it to be a pretty huge task. I started reaching out to other folks I know and respect to get their input on ideas for Austin’s marketing plan.

While talking to Cameron Mizell from MusicianWages.com one day we stumbled upon the idea of blogging about the creation of Austin’s marketing plan and the results it generated.  We discussed the need for Austin’s name to be withheld so it wouldn't provide him with free publicity during the project and in turn skew any results he might see.

After phone calls to some smart, forward thinking, indie focused music business blogging peers the Indie Artist X Project was born. Hopefully a few musicians will find the music marketing plan we created useful in developing their own plan and furthering their own music career.

What’s Next for Mr. Indie Artist X?

As the IAXP was preparing to kick off Austin won the 2009 AirPlay Direct “All Things Americana” artist contest. Austin is using the $35,000 contest prize package to self release his third studio record, due out in February 2010.

Moving forward you can follow Austin’s progress on his website, Facebook and / or Twitter.

Chuck Prophet made his bones with influential LA Paisley Underground’ers Green on Red and now enjoys a successful solo career as a songwriter, guitarist and sought-after producer. Chuck will release his new album ¡Let Freedom Ring! on October 27, 2009 via Yep Roc Records.

 

I wished I'd have guzzled lots less alcohol and fucked lots more. I sort of wish I hadn’t bitch-slapped a promoter who cheated me. But what good would the crystal ball have done? The journey is the destination as they say.

Try not to take yourself too seriously. Try not to be terribly precious -- but it doesn't hurt to be obsessive and dogged. To have some inner drive to get it right.

"Take the time to get things right." Ike Turner taught me that.

I was always a big Ike Turner fan. Especially his obscure solo records from the 70's. In 1990, I saw an Ike Turner Soul Revue gig in San Francisco at the Last Day Saloon. There couldn't have been more than 20 people there. It was gloriously unorganized.  Ike and his band played Proud Mary like five times and then left the stage. Ike came out for the encore by himself and sang Alice Cooper's Only Women Bleed at the Fender Rhodes. It was perverse, but oddly moving.

Odd. Moving. Cool.

We chatted him up, told him we were fans, musicians ourselves. Ike autographed a record for my friend Stephen Yerkey; he wrote: "Dear Steve, Always take the time to get the right people. Comeback next time, it will be much better. Sincerely, Ike."

Seriously, it's hard to say what I wished I’d known then... One thing that occurs to me is that I feel sorry for kids today with crappy MP3's. When I was a kid I really had to seek things out. I had to seek out the music and find a culture weird enough for me to identify with. And most of that came from listening to records. It really opened up my world. And the literature and films and all that came with it…

It was the records that pointed me in those directions. From the Clash through The Sugarhill Gang, to Joe Ely to Townes. From Ry Cooder to Wim Winders through the German Expressionist filmmakers... and Dylan to Woody Guthrie, to the Stones and Robert Johnson… Petty to JJ Cale, and on and on through world history.

I come from a fairly conservative, non-musical family. I begged for guitar lessons, got golf lessons instead. I just don't think there's much of anything dangerous about dropping out and joining a band these days. But if it's fun, then I suppose it's as relevant as ever.

What to look for / watch out for in managers, attorneys, band members

You mean like, ask for five references and call the last one first? Heck, I don't know anything. You can hire lawyers and managers and all manner of sleazy ten per-centers/experts to help you navigate these decisions, but ultimately nobody else knows anything either. And even the ones that do are full of BS one third of the time.

It's true. Better yet, maybe just find someone you trust. If you have someone who's a true believer in your corner, that's worth more than an army of so-called experts. You have to have blind belief in what you're doing. Making a decent record is a lot like coaching high school football. You've got to be smart enough to do it and dumb enough to think it matters. It does matter. And it's the music that fuels the business, if there's any business at all to be had.

As daft as that sounds, I really believe it's true. Try not to be an asshole. But it doesn’t hurt to have an asshole friend or two who’s willing to shake things up for you. When people around me begin a statement or request or whatever with "In the future," my guts churn. I guess the best advice I can give is to listen to from within. Shit, that’s what the Quakers do and they won the Nobel Peace Prize. If it doesn't feel right, it's probably not.

No man is an eyelid, and as much as everyone would like to cut out the middle man, there's nothing like the power of a gang; in guys that have your back. So surround yourself with cool people. There's the writing, and the recording  and the live show to think about. Fact is, you'll end up getting in bed with some good people and you'll ending up getting in bed with some people you’ll come to find you don’t want to wake up next to.  And really, it's hard to tell until you're in the heat of battle who's got your back and who doesn't. So, in order to get your music out there, just fucking do it.

I've done both, woken up in both of those beds. But ultimately it's about the music. Every great musician has some bad decisions in his past. Don't get too tangled up in the business side of things. Who wants to be in a band to listen to a cash register? Wait: don’t answer that one.

You need much more than a good lawyer. You'll need luck. You'll need lightning. Then you can pay a lawyer to give you his opinion if it makes you feel better. If you can stay awake. 

Just pay attention to the lightning.

And listen for the thunder.

The advantages or negative impact of technology on the business

MP3's are crappy sounding. That's a fact. Vinyl has always sounded better. But I try not to get too hung up on how the music is delivered into my psyche. It's easy to forget that it's all about the song, the mystery, the magic in the grooves. That X factor that makes you return to a record and not just put it up on the shelf after one listen.

That's the dope that you want. It's the dope that's important. It's not the needle.  If you got to have it, you just got to have it. On cassette, vinyl, CD or whatever. If you need to hear Dusty Springfield singing The Look of Love ,you'll seek it out.

And it’ll echo forever.

Advice you would give your favorite independent artist or band

“Don’t eat the brown acid” was the lesson from Woodstock, right?

It helps to be a fan.  Learn other songs. Learn them, then unlearn them. Substitute your own life, your own absurd observations, your own point of view or lunacy into the frame.

Everyone needs to work to get by. Try to get a job where you have some isolation to think. The best job I ever had was parking cars. I once had a job parking cars at KMEL radio station in San Francisco, "America's Most Hip Hop" radio station. After I'd climb in behind the wheel, out of boredom more than anything else, I'd routinely root around the cars’ contents. Don't know what I was looking for. I swear I never took anything more than an Altoid mint (or two). But I loved that job, it afforded me: I had a lot of time to think about songs and scheming and plotting new records. It was actually a very happy time for me. And the structure was healthy. Or so I think.

Step away from the computer. If you're to inspire people, you'll need inspiration.  Inspiration is in everything, in everyone. Take the time out to visit the odd Hunting Lodge.  The more taxidermied animals on the walls, the better.  Also, find a guitar that stays in tune. If you can't, find a guitar you love and play it every day. You'll get to know it. And you'll get it to behave and do things for you after a while. Get intimate with its personality.

I still play the same 1984 Fender Squire Telecaster that Green On Red bought me when I joined them. Yeah, yeah, yeah: I know there's some kind of irrational attachment going on. I own others, but I've never played any other guitar than the Squire on a gig. Not sure why, maybe because it knows all the songs and I don't. Like Excalibur's Sword, it gives me power; or like that lucky pen -- when I play it everything just flows through me. If just everybody had one of these things, I'd probably still be folding underwear at Nordstrom's.

But really, I can't stress this enough: Seek out your own culture and your own music.

Seek things out.

Once, in a studio in Scottsdale, I ran into Lee Hazlewood. He was working in an adjacent room producing demos for a local New Country singer and he'd assembled a group of housewife vocalists out of the union book to sing a background part imitating a train whistle ("Whoo whoo"). One woman turned to me and asked, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Is this guy for real?"

Yeah, he was. Lee seemed to enjoy holding court for us, he gushed enthusiastically over Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy (a big hit at the time) and told us, "Gram Parsons would have shot watermelon seeds if he thought it'd get him high."

Years later, Nancy and Lee did a reunion tour and Lee refused to give any interviews. But man, he spilled it that day around the water cooler. I still have the business card he gave me in the top drawer of my desk.

I'm a fan first. For me, every time I make a new record, it's the same process. I assemble of group of talented, intense, difficult people. Many of whom I've work with before and a few I'll probably never work with again. And pray we can capture lightening bugs in the rain.

Hope the gods smile down on us. Cause you need all the help you can get.

Never quit being a fan. I don't really have any advice for my favorite artists. They’re more like teachers to me. And never quit learning even if you have to unlearn everything first.

The value of music and musicians

Oscar Wilde wrote “All art is useless.” And Oscar Wilde was a fine artist. It’s okay to believe both. Music’s art. After all, Andy Warhol said this, “You’re getting people to spend money on something they don’t need.” Think about that. You’ll need a little hustler in you.

I mean, if you can entertain yourself then there's value. And if you're having fun doing it, that's

something too. I'm not totally behind the everything-should-be-free theory. I mean, if I really wanted to put that to the test I'd move into Chris Anderson's house. There's really no value. There’s a point between every other point, isn’t that what they teach you in school? Infinite. But does that mean you can’t walk home from school?

I know that in recent years there's been an increase in well-adjusted musicians out there. Fuck, even I might have become one of them. But I'm not sure that returning every e-mail or MySpace message makes anyone more interesting. And as much as I love the freedom the internet provides, I do miss mono-analog-vinyl culture. I like it when records bring people together. And I do agree with Robert Christgau when he says that people generally do a better job if they’re

getting paid. These days, I see journalism really taking a rabbit punch and that's sad. 

I never really thought of music as a vocation. In fact, I don't have a job. I'm not sure I'm actually making a living. So what do I know?

Just listen to what your guitar is telling you. Unlearn your songs. Then learn them again.

And watch for the lightning. It’ll come.

Come back next time, it’ll be much better. Sincerely, Chuck.

Chuck Prophet

Autumn 2009, on the road somewhere in England

Martin Atkins has a 30 year career in the music business that includes touring with the bands Public Image Limited, Killing Joke, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Pigface, owning an independent record label celebrating its 20th anniversary with over 350 releases, and is an instructor at Columbia College Chicago teaching The Business of Touring, Applied Marketing, and Indie Label Management. He is also the author of the book Tour:Smart.

Yesterday I was at The Baltimore Music Conference and met Keith Center from a DC based folk-core band called The Dreamscape Project ....Sometimes bands that aren't obviously, rabidly perusing POP success really fail at the merchandising side of things. These guys don’t so I wanted to blog about them and remember their great ideas......

1. Three weeks before a show they send out a handful of postcards to their fans as a reminder and as a call to arms to hand out a few (more about this in a minute.)
2. Instead of a merch booth each member of the band is equipped with a shoulder bag packed with a few of each item they have for sale and is charged with the responsibility of mingling and selling (more about this in a minute too).
3. There is no 3.

A couple of tweaks from me....

I'd try one time to send out VIP passes or a free live cd to the fans three weeks before a show. I was concerned that a handful of postcards sent to a fan is like sending them a work order, “please distribute these to people at the mall.” But, shit, it’s still GOOD!

My only other tweak (and now I have tweaked both of these great ideas) would be IN ADDITION to having the roaming band-member-merchandise-assault-squad – set up a merch booth. People like me need to know where the table with the merch is because that’s where the merch is. I might not get to wandering around to find the merchandis-ettes. I might grab someone and go, “hold on Betty! There’s no fucking merch at all - we're leaving!” Plus, not everyone wants to deal face to face with a sweaty band member.......people are shy, people are timid.

I hope that I haven't now turned this around into a 'here’s my twenty problems with The Dreamscape Project" because I really liked their out of the box, different thinking. I’m just a hole poker ain't I? Send me your ideas so that I can blog about them. Then, everyone can use them and you'll have to come up with more good ones - that’s the fuel that burns the fire and keeps us all warm.

PLR

MarteeeeeeeeeN

On the road, loading video and typing in the passenger seat

Come to a T:S event. Full schedule here

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 Chris in Chicago

Mr. Doe,

My bandmates and I are struggling to decide if we should replace our bass player and would like to get your opinion on our situation. I was recently approached by a well known and very talented bass player in our area who expressed interest in playing with us "if we ever had an opening". Our existing bass player is a capable player and good guy but clearly doesn't have the chops, experience or contacts of the other interested player.

It seems like it would be a good business move to bring the more experienced player in but it seems pretty cold hearted to throw the existing guy out. So...what's your take on improving the band's overall chances of quitting our day jobs vs. destroying a personal relationship with an existing band member and friend? This is tough. We would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Chris

What Would John Doe Do?

Hey Chris,
  Yr right, this is the toughest of decisions but it doesn't have to be "cold-hearted".  First you must be as sure as possible that yr current bass player, even though he's not the greatest player, isn't key to yr sound.  The most common mistake producers make is to replace the drummer during recording.  Then they wonder why the "spark" or uniqueness  has gone out of the band's sound.  Next, be sure that you like to hang w/ yr perspective replacement, since "hangability" is probably much more important than contacts (likely won't mean very much) & "chops".  Then, ask yrself how enthusiastic are either of the bassists?  Especially in the beginning, drive & a positive outlook can make a huge difference in the life or soul of a band. Finally, if you do decide to replace the old w/ the new, do it in a kind, diplomatic way. no reason to be a jerk & create hard feelings.
hope this helps & as always, thanks for writing.
yrs,
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.