advice i'll keep for future reference (MC LARS)

MUSIC INDUSTRY 101 BLOG
Category: Music

I’ve been touring and putting out albums commercially for over five years now. Here is a list of twelve helpful things that I’ve learned in the past half decade that have helped keep me from needing a day job:

Trust your instincts A golden rule in the music industry is that if someone is trying to offer you a contract (record deal, publishing, managing agreement etc.) and it seems shady, it probably is. We now have this luxury as independent artists to follow in the footsteps of the punk legends like Jello Biafra and Ian MacKaye who set up their own distribution and touring networks. When you let the people into your team, the goal is to build a community and network that will allow you to create music and tour to promote it. It’s not rocket science, and the more you learn to trust your instincts on people in your career’s orbit, the stronger that crew of business and artist collaborators will be. Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" is a great study on how trust initial gut reactions - I highly recommend it.

A manager is a best friend who wants you both to have success (artistically and financially!) People often ask me what I think about management. A manager should open doors for you, not pressure you to sign a contract, and may even work with you for up to two years before you sign with him or her, to show their commitment and worth in making you money. You will know if having a manager makes sense. They’ll usually take 20% of your income (gross or net, depending on what you negotiate with them), so they should at LEAST be generating enough to warrant them taking their commission. It’s often hard to gauge your career trajectory, with mainstream channels like MTV and major label distribution shrinking, things like SoundScan and radio play is increasingly more rare. But if working with your manager you're making enough money to pay for your basic needs and fund recordings and tours, then he or she is probably doing a good job. If you're still in the game and your manager is making at least one good decision or opening at least one career door for you a year, then you're golden. So what’s better? A big time manager who represents acts who are already successful and huge, or a smaller manager who has the passion and drive and commitment to do anything to get you heard? The common rule of thumb is, when you’re starting off, to work with management that has already proven its success in breaking unknown artists. Then, as you get more certain about your career and your fan base has congealed, it might make more sense to find someone smaller who can dedicate more time and help you work in more specialized areas.



Some things to avoid:

FANAGERS – fans who know nothing about music, who just want to be involved in your project because they are fans. Your manager should be a fan, but should also have legitimate business acumen and contacts.

DADAGERS – my Dad was my tour manager the first time I went to the UK to promote “Radio Pet Fencing”, but my parents have never managed me. Unless you’re in the Jackson 5, allowing your parents to manage you is a really really bad idea. Actually, even if you are in the Jackson 5.

Any always remember: a MANAGER MIGHT HAVE IDEAS FOR SONGS, BUT SHOULD NEVER EVER DICTATE HOW YOUR RECORDS SOUND!!



Develop an active relationship with your booking agent You should always know what support slots your booking agent is pitching you for, and where they are in routing headlining club tours. This is extremely important if you’re working with one of the “big three” (CAA, TAG or William Morris). It’s so easy to get swept under the rug, unless you’re constantly talking to your agent and letting them know when and how you want to develop your touring markets. An agent’s job is to be reactive and help you get work. Your job is to let them know how to proceed.



International support slots help more than domestic supports This is debatable, and I'm speaking from personal experience, but this approach has paid off incredibly for me and my colleagues. I pay my rent by touring in places like England, Australia and Japan. I think this is for a few reasons:




American music sells like hotcakes in international markets. Promoters use this to their advantage.
Since not a lot of bands have the opportunity to play outside of their hometown, there is less competition to headline the Yeovil Ski Lodge in England or play a show at the Apple Store in Tokyo.
To build this notoriety, it’s important to befriend bands that you know are going to be touring internationally. If you can get one or two support slots in another country, this pretty much guarantees that you will always be able to keep going back there to headline smaller clubs, if you keep making good music and stay in touch with the fans.
Opening for a bigger band in the US is important too, but if ever have to pick between doing domestic or international tour support, go internationally, because if everything lines up like it should, you will make a bigger impact. Besides, what’s cooler than having a connection to another country, where your job is to go back there a few times a year to play shows, and see all of your friends? That’s the dream.


Find a producer you trust and build a healthy work relationship with him or her

Even if you have to pay your producer out of pocket, having a producer with a good ear who can help you finish your tracks is worth more than his or her weight in gold. Even if it’s hard to get time with this person, even if they live on the other side of the country, and even if they are more expensive than producers on the lower end of the scale, cherish and nurture these relationships. It’s good to experiment with other people, and keep working and collaborating, but always trust your instincts. If you get a sound from a producer that you like and write songs that translate well to a live audience and on CD, go with the joy that such creative synergy brings. Also, if a producer does good work, always pay him or her within a week of your session. Money talks, and if a producer gets lots of work, the clients that pay them consistently are the ones that will get more studio time. That's a fact.


“If it ain’t broke(n), don’t fix it.”


Same thing with a publicist Publicists aren’t cheap, but if you find one who cares about developing your career, they will have strong and lasting relationships with journalists who can give your album the attention it deserves. You often have to hire a different publicist in different parts of the world, and this can be expensive (anywhere to $1,500 to $2,500 per month per region), but it’s important once you’re at the level where people know about you and care about what you’re working on. Talk to your publicists often.
Learn how to make great sounding demos I mentioned that finding a producer who can help you perfect your sound is important, but it’s also important to know how to rock demos. This will save you lots and lots of money if you do it right. Some artists, like Trent Reznor, are so tight with their production that they do everything in house. When I’m writing a record, I like to have 20 or so rough sketches, then take them to a person or people I’ve worked with before who can help me find the right final sound. I do a lot of parody and genre references, so I like to work with producers who can help me capture the sounds in my head but can't necessarily play. Also, demos are good, because if you just sit down with a producer for a month, trying to write an album, this will be ridiculously expensive. If you’re on a label, this will increase the likelihood of you never recouping. If you’re independent, it’s not even an option…. so stay up on the ProTools chops.
Keep track of your money If you get a big advance from a publishing company or label, put a down payment on a house and put the rest in an account that only YOU can touch. A good tule of thumb is to never give your accountant or manager access and permission to authorize transfers of more than $500. Rationing a big advance is one of the smartest things you can do, ask MC Hammer and he’ll tell you the same.
Trust your lawyer above all else, but be careful of conflicts of interest and people he brings to the table Your lawyer is your shield against anything bad that can possible go down legally, obviously. That makes sense, but it’s not until you’re deep in the industry that you realize how often lawsuits happen. It happens all of the time, and it's usually just a way producers or artists try to get eachother's attention and let them know that they are serious, but you need a good lawyer who is constantly available who can help you figure out the bare bones of your situation, this saves hours of stress. Avoid lawyers who want to come on board right before a big business deal, because most lawyers are sharks who smell money like it’s blood. Your lawyer and manager should be selected independently, because otherwise, if one of them is shady, you’re screwed and they might even be in cahoots against you. Screw that.
Find a label you can work with, and work together If you’re lucky enough to find a label that wants to invest money in your project, go for it, but be sure you trust each other. A label will want you to be on tour when your album is out. Listen to them on this. A label will ask you to mention the new video and single when you’re doing interviews. Listen to them on this too. Never sign to a label if you feel weird about the contract, but if you find one you can work with and work together well, it can be more beneficial then selling your CD out of your car (sometimes). A good label is like a good girlfriend, if the music/business sex is hot and you feel like the relationship is helping you grow, then stick with them. If you don't feel like the relationship is progressing, then it's time for both to reconsider what you're doing. Labels are less important than they were in 1992, but they can be helpful in helping you reinforce your "artist brand" in ways you can't on your own.
Never sign for more than two albums, do everything you can to keep your ownership of your masters You hear horror stories about young bands who sign 15 album deals with labels, and are stuck with them forever, stagnating in their garages until they receive social security. Never sign for more than two records. That way, if the first one bombs, you can make one more album with them and be out… but the label will have an incentive to make your first one a hit so they then can sell a bunch of copies of the second one, so such a contract would make sense for both of you. Always fight for your masters. When the rights revert back to you, you can legally put the CD on iTunes through your own channels (TuneCore etc.) and make the money that is legally yours at this juncture. If Michael Jackson had owned the master of “Thriller”, he would have never gone into debt. Radiohead are trailblazers with this one.
Never forget that you're living your dreams Some nights you might be playing to no one in a small club with bad sound in the middle of nowhere, your rhythm guitarist may be complaining nonstop about his psycho ex-girlfriend who sued him, the opening band may sound worse than an out-of-tune Cute is What We Aim for meets Brokencyde cover band, and your van might skid out of control and flip in the middle of Minnesota, but always remember one thing: you’re doing this for a reason. But there’s something inside of you, something artistic and human and special that connects you with people, that inspires them to listen to and support your message and mission, and if you can find this, you’ll be unstoppable. Great art and commerce have always been at odds – some great bands get extremely lucky by tapping into the machine, some terrible bands get extremely lucky by tapping into the machine, and the same goes for bands that never get heard by anyone. But if you make music you believe in, push the boundaries, and work to further an art form, you’re doing a lot better than people who give up on their dreams for a 9-to-5, a suburban home, and long term financial security. Not to downplay those things, but ostensibly speaking, eventually this a choice you're going to have to make if you want a music career. Those who give the most get the most. Always think back to your first show, the moment when you thought, “Wow, I could do this for a living, and it’s awesome.” What do you want to be when you grow up? A rockstar? Time to find out how far that dream can go. And now, more than ever, such a goal is more attainable than ever, if only on a 200-500 fans a night touring level. Make it happen!!

MC Lars Newark airport, 9-16-09