Back in the nineties I used to tell the artists I worked with a label is a bank. You use your music as collateral for a loan. Stop fantasizing about labels. It’s a fiduciary relationship. Nothing more. Most didn’t want to hear it.
From the label’s perspective it makes great sense to encourage artists to embrace the fantasy because artists are their clients. The greater the mystique the more artists will be drawn to the label. The more artists drawn to the label the more selective the label becomes. The most selective labels not only get the pick of the litter but also can consider elements beyond “talent” to include marketability and how open an artist is to market and label influences as well as the extent to which that mystique can be used to extract the most favorable terms for the label. In some cases the bargaining position of the label is so great that the contract is one of adhesion wherein the terms are truly nonnegotiable.
No longer the case. Now artists always have leverage because DIY is a real option. If an artist signs a bad deal it’s on them, they were too eager. Good deals feel more like a partnership - the label has to invest and create value and the artist gets the ultimate benefit of the asset value. It’s a lot more fun to make deals now.
Ah, Magic Platter! Don was always good to me and the crew turned me on to a lot of good stuff. Those were the days! Last time I saw Don, he was doing a lot of RSD organization. What are your thoughts on RSD?
Sorry to hear about Freda. Yes, Juliana is amazing- we saw the JH3 twice on their tour with Soul Asylum and their show in Columbus was one of the best concerts we have ever seen - ( and that’s saying something because I’ve been going to concerts for 45 years now)
“I spent time with a lots of smart people at the intersection of music and tech in the early 2000s. That’s what shaped my values, and that’s when I became fascinated by the future of music. The tech people I knew came from punk rock, like me. They understood that the punk underground was a better business model than the mainstream. Among other insights I gained from this formative period, I became convinced that on-demand streaming was our inevitable future, the only sensible way forward. It’s what the coming wave facilitated, and what the coming wave would demand. Tech developers could literally see the future. They knew just about how long it would take for mobile music to become accessible to all. They understood we had a short window to build a business model or else it would all be free on the Internet - the true death of the record business.” - yup, having my feet in both worlds was very interesting, watching the industry do the wrong thing over and over… With so much opportunity to do the right thing.
Back in the nineties I used to tell the artists I worked with a label is a bank. You use your music as collateral for a loan. Stop fantasizing about labels. It’s a fiduciary relationship. Nothing more. Most didn’t want to hear it.
Not wrong
From the label’s perspective it makes great sense to encourage artists to embrace the fantasy because artists are their clients. The greater the mystique the more artists will be drawn to the label. The more artists drawn to the label the more selective the label becomes. The most selective labels not only get the pick of the litter but also can consider elements beyond “talent” to include marketability and how open an artist is to market and label influences as well as the extent to which that mystique can be used to extract the most favorable terms for the label. In some cases the bargaining position of the label is so great that the contract is one of adhesion wherein the terms are truly nonnegotiable.
No longer the case. Now artists always have leverage because DIY is a real option. If an artist signs a bad deal it’s on them, they were too eager. Good deals feel more like a partnership - the label has to invest and create value and the artist gets the ultimate benefit of the asset value. It’s a lot more fun to make deals now.
“I have clients, independent acts, who have tracks on streaming services that stream over a hundred thousand times every day”
Can I get an example of this? Just curious. Thanks.
Red Clay Strays’ Wondering Why. They are signed now but the track is indie.
(They have several others from their RCA album)
Ah, Magic Platter! Don was always good to me and the crew turned me on to a lot of good stuff. Those were the days! Last time I saw Don, he was doing a lot of RSD organization. What are your thoughts on RSD?
Love it. Though it has become a little too popular in a way that has edged out opportunities for true indies.
Could you please do a reunion tour with the Blake Babies? You guys had integrity.
Thank you! Probably not because Freda is medically retired from drumming. But Juliana is still doing incredible work.
Sorry to hear about Freda. Yes, Juliana is amazing- we saw the JH3 twice on their tour with Soul Asylum and their show in Columbus was one of the best concerts we have ever seen - ( and that’s saying something because I’ve been going to concerts for 45 years now)
“I spent time with a lots of smart people at the intersection of music and tech in the early 2000s. That’s what shaped my values, and that’s when I became fascinated by the future of music. The tech people I knew came from punk rock, like me. They understood that the punk underground was a better business model than the mainstream. Among other insights I gained from this formative period, I became convinced that on-demand streaming was our inevitable future, the only sensible way forward. It’s what the coming wave facilitated, and what the coming wave would demand. Tech developers could literally see the future. They knew just about how long it would take for mobile music to become accessible to all. They understood we had a short window to build a business model or else it would all be free on the Internet - the true death of the record business.” - yup, having my feet in both worlds was very interesting, watching the industry do the wrong thing over and over… With so much opportunity to do the right thing.