This is the sharpest piece I have read on the money side of artist development. The line that matters is cheap money, money that is not expensive on the back end. Own your masters, own your publishing, keep control, spend only when it moves the needle. From the business-manager seat, that is the whole job. Most of that $250k list is spending against a career that does not exist yet, and every dollar of dilutive capital taken too early is a mortgage on income the artist has not earned. The real value shows up once there are consistent revenue streams that define asset value, exactly as you said. Fund the spark, not the vanity. The PR and merch and showcase spend is the aspirational version of buying a suit for a job you have not been offered. Genuinely excellent breakdown.
Thank you so much for this comment, it made my day. Yeah man I’m just trying to report back with quality insight. Most people won’t want to hear it because it acknowledges the basic reality that it’s a select few projects that stand a chance, and even fewer where the artist has the work ethic and patience to pull it off. But I’m an optimist because those projects are out there, actually pretty easy to find in their early stages if you know where to look. That’s really my central mission.
That optimism is well earned, and it is the right lens too. Most of the industry is still selling the exception as if it were the rule. Finding the select few early, before the spend starts, is the whole game on the money side as well. Curious how you personally spot the signal that early. Is it the work ethic, the songwriting, or something in how they treat the business side of it.
All of that and more. The non-negotiables are outstanding product, exceptional work ethic, and humility. A developing artist needs lots of help from a range of people, business and creative. It doesn’t work if the artist believes they have all the answers and doesn’t need help. Humility leads to taking care of the people who create value. And I couldn’t do what I do if I didn’t love music. I have to have a physical reaction to know if it’s great. I have to viscerally understand what’s great and special about it. And my taste is pretty mainstream at the end of the day. If I love it I know others will as well. That’s essential.
This was very interesting for a person who loves music but isn’t in the business. I have a friend whose daughter is in an up and coming band and I’m curious to see what their route has been, with some of your points in mind.
I have never had to destroy my own albums, but one time I helped on a charitable project in the early 2000s where the charity insisted on manufacturing 5,000 CDs of a compilation I produced. I assume they destroyed a couple thousand at least. I found a couple boxes of the CDs in my attic when we moved. Those went to the landfill.
Somewhat ironically, I used to just press limited amounts of CDs and sell them out but for the first time joined with a label that pressed wayyy too many - when we later parted ways they let me buy the stock back from them cheaply, but eventually I couldn’t afford to keep storing them all, thus the big throw out! I also had friends that worked for labels and spent a lot of their time time destroying unsold CDs rather than giving them to charity, so the artist wasn’t devalued.
Great read! Also impressed that you've set a career high for usage of the word "turd" in a single post.
"On And On" from The Midnight Special is a staple on my music video hard drive that I play when I entertain company or just relax at the end of the day. It definitely evokes a breezy era in music.
I am in love with the expression “you can’t polish a turd,” which I first learned from Mike Watt in the fabled ‘90s. I have been a consultant on an artist development platform for some time now and one of our mission points is “no turd polishing,” meaning do not go down the dark path of creative services. Either the music is already great or it probably won’t ever be great. Sad but true.
Fantastic reframing and redirection. "Here’s where I realize that somehow Liz and I are in the same business but somehow on different planets or eras of human history."
I don’t think of them as a development engine. Artist development has long been the domain of labels, but now that the label model is decline, smaller engines are picking up the slack.
You must be hyper-conscious on how you’re going to come off on your Insta or whatever your preferred platform. No matter the gig I’ve always had a “thing” about not putting myself before the music. I’ve still called all the bands I’ve worked with “my band.” No harm no foul there. However, that bit re: setting “my band” with “my lawyer”? That’s either sloppy or seriously fucked up.
I’m well out of the artist development game. If we have no idea what this band brings to the table, it’s impossible to decently budget for. What we’re left with is a “cookie-cutter” marketing campaign guaranteed to lose money.
The terminology isn’t that big of a deal but it’s a good exercise to think about how we talk about creative people. It annoys me when managers refer to clients as “their” artists, as if they’re property. It’s especially raw because of the terrible history. But the conflict of interest thing is a bigger deal. I recently heard about a lawyer who represented an artist, a production company, a producer, and a label in the same deal, no waivers. Should be disbarred for not revealing the nexus of conflicts.
It’s the “artists as someone else’s property” bit that makes me feel queasy too. I should’ve been more clear in that whenever I called an artist I worked with “my artist” it was in service to said artist. I was signaling to radio programmers, etc., they could expect the usual insane commitment & effort that comes with the territory.
The self-inflicted appearance of conflict of interest is a total stunner. And I can’t get over trying to budget for a band without knowing a single quality that makes them contract-worthy. There are quite a few bands out there rn, who we haven’t met yet, that may not fit into any easy box. They’re out there doing their version of the successful indie thing touring, selling music & merch and in some cases throwing their own festivals.
Take Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. I don’t know a lick of their music. Been around since 2009. PPPP do a ton of roadwork. A friend has done tour posters & other artwork for them for ages. I don’t think they’ve been dumping product in landfills. There’s a lot of it:
PPPP is in the “jam” world that has its own cultural niche. They’ve done a good job of breaking through into that and building a cottage industry. Also I think a promo person saying “my artist” shows a level of commitment, not a sense of ownership. We know that your role is limited, and of course you’re simply providing a service. I would see taking that level of pride a matter of commitment to the goal, owning it so to speak, not owning them.
This is the sharpest piece I have read on the money side of artist development. The line that matters is cheap money, money that is not expensive on the back end. Own your masters, own your publishing, keep control, spend only when it moves the needle. From the business-manager seat, that is the whole job. Most of that $250k list is spending against a career that does not exist yet, and every dollar of dilutive capital taken too early is a mortgage on income the artist has not earned. The real value shows up once there are consistent revenue streams that define asset value, exactly as you said. Fund the spark, not the vanity. The PR and merch and showcase spend is the aspirational version of buying a suit for a job you have not been offered. Genuinely excellent breakdown.
Thank you so much for this comment, it made my day. Yeah man I’m just trying to report back with quality insight. Most people won’t want to hear it because it acknowledges the basic reality that it’s a select few projects that stand a chance, and even fewer where the artist has the work ethic and patience to pull it off. But I’m an optimist because those projects are out there, actually pretty easy to find in their early stages if you know where to look. That’s really my central mission.
That optimism is well earned, and it is the right lens too. Most of the industry is still selling the exception as if it were the rule. Finding the select few early, before the spend starts, is the whole game on the money side as well. Curious how you personally spot the signal that early. Is it the work ethic, the songwriting, or something in how they treat the business side of it.
All of that and more. The non-negotiables are outstanding product, exceptional work ethic, and humility. A developing artist needs lots of help from a range of people, business and creative. It doesn’t work if the artist believes they have all the answers and doesn’t need help. Humility leads to taking care of the people who create value. And I couldn’t do what I do if I didn’t love music. I have to have a physical reaction to know if it’s great. I have to viscerally understand what’s great and special about it. And my taste is pretty mainstream at the end of the day. If I love it I know others will as well. That’s essential.
This was very interesting for a person who loves music but isn’t in the business. I have a friend whose daughter is in an up and coming band and I’m curious to see what their route has been, with some of your points in mind.
Let us know!
Yep I have dumped boxes of my beloved CDs in a skip and can guarantee that one hurts! 😂
I have never had to destroy my own albums, but one time I helped on a charitable project in the early 2000s where the charity insisted on manufacturing 5,000 CDs of a compilation I produced. I assume they destroyed a couple thousand at least. I found a couple boxes of the CDs in my attic when we moved. Those went to the landfill.
Somewhat ironically, I used to just press limited amounts of CDs and sell them out but for the first time joined with a label that pressed wayyy too many - when we later parted ways they let me buy the stock back from them cheaply, but eventually I couldn’t afford to keep storing them all, thus the big throw out! I also had friends that worked for labels and spent a lot of their time time destroying unsold CDs rather than giving them to charity, so the artist wasn’t devalued.
Great read! Also impressed that you've set a career high for usage of the word "turd" in a single post.
"On And On" from The Midnight Special is a staple on my music video hard drive that I play when I entertain company or just relax at the end of the day. It definitely evokes a breezy era in music.
I am in love with the expression “you can’t polish a turd,” which I first learned from Mike Watt in the fabled ‘90s. I have been a consultant on an artist development platform for some time now and one of our mission points is “no turd polishing,” meaning do not go down the dark path of creative services. Either the music is already great or it probably won’t ever be great. Sad but true.
Love this.
Great analysis , John. A far cry from mailing out your demo tape!
Yeah definitely save your postage.
Fantastic reframing and redirection. "Here’s where I realize that somehow Liz and I are in the same business but somehow on different planets or eras of human history."
Does Windsong have a strong record of developing new artists? I thought they mostly had artists like Phil Collins and Jackson Browne.
I don’t think of them as a development engine. Artist development has long been the domain of labels, but now that the label model is decline, smaller engines are picking up the slack.
You must be hyper-conscious on how you’re going to come off on your Insta or whatever your preferred platform. No matter the gig I’ve always had a “thing” about not putting myself before the music. I’ve still called all the bands I’ve worked with “my band.” No harm no foul there. However, that bit re: setting “my band” with “my lawyer”? That’s either sloppy or seriously fucked up.
I’m well out of the artist development game. If we have no idea what this band brings to the table, it’s impossible to decently budget for. What we’re left with is a “cookie-cutter” marketing campaign guaranteed to lose money.
PS Turd is the word
The terminology isn’t that big of a deal but it’s a good exercise to think about how we talk about creative people. It annoys me when managers refer to clients as “their” artists, as if they’re property. It’s especially raw because of the terrible history. But the conflict of interest thing is a bigger deal. I recently heard about a lawyer who represented an artist, a production company, a producer, and a label in the same deal, no waivers. Should be disbarred for not revealing the nexus of conflicts.
It’s the “artists as someone else’s property” bit that makes me feel queasy too. I should’ve been more clear in that whenever I called an artist I worked with “my artist” it was in service to said artist. I was signaling to radio programmers, etc., they could expect the usual insane commitment & effort that comes with the territory.
The self-inflicted appearance of conflict of interest is a total stunner. And I can’t get over trying to budget for a band without knowing a single quality that makes them contract-worthy. There are quite a few bands out there rn, who we haven’t met yet, that may not fit into any easy box. They’re out there doing their version of the successful indie thing touring, selling music & merch and in some cases throwing their own festivals.
Take Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. I don’t know a lick of their music. Been around since 2009. PPPP do a ton of roadwork. A friend has done tour posters & other artwork for them for ages. I don’t think they’ve been dumping product in landfills. There’s a lot of it:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/6118068-Pigeons-Playing-Ping-Pong
PPPP is in the “jam” world that has its own cultural niche. They’ve done a good job of breaking through into that and building a cottage industry. Also I think a promo person saying “my artist” shows a level of commitment, not a sense of ownership. We know that your role is limited, and of course you’re simply providing a service. I would see taking that level of pride a matter of commitment to the goal, owning it so to speak, not owning them.