This is a re-post of an interview initially published on the site a couple years ago with Martin Atkins, author of the book on touring responsibly in the modern music business, Tour Smart. With spring in full swing — a time when many bands are putting together summer tours and shows — now is a good time to revisit his insights.

Martin Atkins is a Chicago based drummer, producer, studio owner, songwriter, university professor and the head of his own label- Invisible records.  He started his career as the drummer for group Public Image Limited (PiL) from 1979-1985 and went on to play with Killing Joke (who he also managed for a time), Ministry and started the industrial super group Pigface.  Martin is also the author of a wonderful book called Tour Smart.  Remarkably Martin is also the father of four, runs what he calls an “Occasional School” called R3 that teaches music business courses, runs a music publishing company and is in the process of writing a few books as a follow up to “Tour Smart”.  I am exhausted just describing the many hats that Martin wears.

Musician Coaching:

It is so much to cover, but tell me what was the “aha” moment when you decided you’d had enough experiences all together that there was a need for helping people tour? What was the moment that made you think you had to put it in a book and help people?

MA:

I started a book about my time in PiL. I have so many 35mm slides I took – candid to say the least. I have all my diaries, all the postcards I sent to my parents – they just sent those back to me – and I have all this material. I started to put my PiL book together, which would be quite timely if I had it ready now, because John’s recently put the band back together, or a version of the band back together. I went up to Columbia College in Chicago – which is just a couple miles north of us – to get some interns to help with some of the package tours we were putting together – lots of postcards, lots of promotional CD’s that needed labeling, sorting, sending out.

Musician Coaching:

For your label, Invisible Records, right?

MA:

Yeah. I went up to Columbia and did a presentation for the faculty to show them why I was a good place to send interns and justify. They said, “Fantastic. When can you start?” And I said, “I can start taking interns now.” And then they said, “We need you to teach the business of touring.” And I thought, “Oh my God,” and nearly said “No,” because I was in the middle of planning a tour; that’s why I needed the interns. And I asked, “When does the class start?” And they said, “Two days from now.” And I said, “Well, how long is the class, is it an hour?” because I can fake my way through anything for an hour. I can pretend to juggle for an hour. They said it was a seven-hour class. My instinct was just to say yes, so I said, “Yes” and worked out all the details afterwards. I was busy planning a tour, rehearsing for a tour. And so I made myself a subject for the class. I said, “I’m going to lose ten pounds in the next five weeks, and you’ll watch me get cranky, probably accelerate it.” We had to postpone the last two classes because I was on the road for the next six weeks, but we combined the last two classes to be the last day in Chicago, which was the last day of the package tour I created. And I had my class in on settlement, load in, smelling the road crew’s armpits. It was great! Odorama! It was in that first class that I asked, “Which textbook are you using?” And I started flipping through the book and asked, “Who can tell me when this textbook was written?” And nobody could. It was 1962! If this was a restaurant, you would’ve sent this back. How can you spend your money or your parents’ money — $25,000 per year – and allow yourself to be taught from a book that was written in 1962? I started to create my own classes, and I think very quickly – we used a map, because I know agents that don’t have maps – and started to look at routing strategies. And I started to put these classes together, and it was huge for me. I think people say stuff like, “It was only once I began to teach that I began to learn.” And I always wondered what that was all about; but then I experienced it. I walked into a class, and I thought, “Okay, next week I can have my agent come in and talk for a couple of hours, and that would be good.” But then I thought, “No it wouldn’t, because he’s an idiot.” So I would excuse myself from class and fire my agent. It was talking to the class about experiences where I actually felt the penny drop for me. Still, Katie my assistant will say, “You know, this isn’t a very tour smart approach,” and I will say, “You’re right. I’ve learned this lesson already. Why don’t I start applying the lesson I’ve learned?” Accidentally starting to teach was really a watershed moment. Then, after visiting so many different facilities, from NYU to Drexel, to Loyola in New Orleans, to USC, Cal Poly, to the Cologne Institute of Music, to the Midi School in Beijing, to 25 different places in England, Scotland and Wales and three trips to Norway, you start to say, “Hold on a minute! I’m slightly becoming an authority on the state of music business education, not just in the States but around the world.” And then seeing what places like Columbia are doing or not doing then caused me to start my own school.

Musician Coaching:

I’ve read a little bit about R3, and what always catches me is that you teach people how to hack a Xbox console or something crazy like that?

MA: One of the classes we do is X-Box controller modification. It’s a cool class. I’ve done a couple events in studios recently, and I was out in Union, MO, which is the worldwide capital of amphetamine sulfate, or crystal meth. I asked, “Hey kids, who has a modified X-Box controller for me?” And no one did. I thought, “Never mind bringing books to sell to you, I should’ve brought modified X-Box controllers and cleaned up.” It’s an alternative revenue stream on the one hand, and it’s another way in to say to a bunch of inner-city kids who might not be interested in the music industry, record labels, or recording studios – although many of them are – “Want to modify an X-Box controller?” They might not want to, but they might want to have one to give them an edge on the playground of X-Box Live. And once they come in, we can start to manipulate them and give them more of an educational experience. I like it as a flag to say, “This school is different.” We’re looking at starting a Vehicle Maintenance 101. We do hands-on dub mixing, screen printing, all kinds of stuff.

Musician Coaching:

Why is it called R3?

MA:

The reason my school is called R3 is because it’s Revolution number three. The first revolution was the punk rock revolution, which I was involved in. The second revolution was the industrial music revolution, where computers became part of industrial music and industrial music became a caricature of itself – four guys with an oil drum and a sampler. I’m a punk rocker and open to anything – including writing a book and teaching. Punk rock became the exploited and a mohawk; that was the punk rock band.  The third revolution is that all of the activity and revolution is coming in education. I’ve seen the state of music business education around the world and entrepreneurial education around the world, and there isn’t much. The longer you spend in a traditional facility, the less prepared you are to deal with the real world of entrepreneurial, turn-on-a-dime thinking.

The thing I find interesting is, I had this one lecture I was doing, which was “Tour:Smart” with captions from my book and some other cool stuff; and I started to embroider it, and people started asking me to do keynotes and commencements. So I started to riff on the idea of “What is success?” and “How do we define success?” and “How do we achieve our goal, whether it’s 20,000 in the stadium or building the Great Wall of China?” And now the seven lectures that I do that keep embroidering and keep developing are based on the state of the music business lecture that changes almost every day. I’m in front of fifty kids, and you expect, as a 50-year old father of four for them to be throwing things at you that you’ve never heard before, and that you’ll be completely unplugged from a new generation of tech-savvy nut cases. And the fact is, half the things I’m telling them, like “Press the insight button on your YouTube account” or “Do you know about hot spots?” They say, “What?” And you start to catalogue all these changes, just like Motel 6 are giving away rooms to bands, and all this other stuff that’s going on, and your head starts spinning. You realize this is another version of figuring out what software you’re using in the studio:  Pro Tools; Deck; Sound Design; Logic. You get caught up in this other conversation, which has nothing to do with art and music and ultimately comes back to, “Are you making cool stuff?” It needs to be good music, well packaged with something else going on of interest with the band. You need four or five pistons firing, but once you have those pistons firing, you’re unplugged from the restrictions that we had in the early days of distribution, and barriers to entry. And it comes down to what’s your music like? I think a terrific example of that is a guy called Moldover. I did a free event two nights ago in somebody’s basement studio two nights ago with 35 people there. And this lawyer said, “You can’t give away stuff for free. What about the investment?” And I said, “You have to give stuff away for free.” And he went through and just destroyed the rules of business economy. This guy Moldover, on the back of his album all the song titles are written in circuitry, on a circuit board, etched. I guess he felt like, “What else can I do to this circuit board?” He built a light-sensitive theremin onto the board with a flashing light and a headphone jack. It’s $50. And here I am now telling you about this guy, and presumably you’ll put a link. And I’m not his record label, his publicist, his manager – I’m nothing. I’m just a fan. This album he made doesn’t make any sense, it’s ridiculously cost, time and energy prohibitive to make, but it’s cool as hell, and that’s all that matters. And he’s saving money on a publicist because it’s going viral; I’m just one person telling everybody wherever I go about this thing, passing his CD out to the class.

Musician Coaching:

I don’t mean to switch gears, but tell me a little bit more about your book and what it is you see people doing wrong often, and what is not tour smart and what is NOT tour smart.

MA:

Not thinking about it, not having a map, trusting your agent, thinking you need an agent, a manager and a lawyer to get to phase one, two, three or four of your business. You don’t. You’re much better doing it yourself, because there are no economies of time or scale in terms of a band from Chicago going to Cleveland for the first time. Spend five days researching the bands you should play with, play the venue that’s too small. That’s a huge one. Every band, when given the choice, will always pick the venue that’s too big instead of the venue that’s too small. You need to pick the venue that’s too small, because the worst thing that can happen is the best thing that can happen – “Oh my God, sold out! Second show added!” Nobody thinks like that. Agents and managers are trained to go for the larger venue because it has the greater gross potential. But it also has the greatest potential to completely sabotage a band’s progress and throw cold water down the pants of any fan that does show up. People want to be crammed into a sweaty, jumping-up-and-down, small place. They don’t want to be with those same 150 people in a 1000 capacity room. It’s a buzz kill. Bands don’t make t-shirts. I don’t know what’s up with that. If I have ten bands in an audience, there are always three, four or five of them that don’t actually have a shirt yet or they’re working on some designs. Two or three of the other bands will have one design. Every band needs at least two designs, and need to learn to screen print. This is a distillation of a ton of stuff. I’ll tell bands, “You have to have more than one design, you need to have more than one album. You need your live album, your acoustic album, a collage of phone machine messages from when you fired your lead guitarist. You need tons of things to sell that people don’t have, especially when you go back to a city.” I think then one of the ways a band can create more goods to sell is by screen printing themselves, screen print a limited edition reprint disc, screen print a wrap-around of their first four EP’s, they can screen print their own shirt and experiment with their own design in very small quantities. The worst thing that can happen is, “Oh, we sold out in that design. Give me your e-mail address and your size, I’ll let you know next time we’re playing in the area, and I’ll have that shirt for you.” It’s huge. Learning to screen print is a huge thing. It removes the filter between you and the expression of what your band is.

Musician Coaching:

The question I get more than anything is – and there’s this X Factor of talent and your building your music – “I am burning out my friends and family by asking them to come down to my shows, I don’t really know people in other markets.” What are the steps to breaking new markets?

MA:

Actually, the person that says that is two clicks ahead of the person that is, “No, everybody says we’re not playing too much.” Of course they do. It’s your friends and family, they’re there to support you and lie to you. I’ll tell a band, “Only play your local market when you have a new t-shirt.” That way you can say, “Hey, it’s $8 to get in, but you get a free shirt, and there’s a great deal on beer.” A great way to play another market is to gig swap. Find that band in Cleveland or Philadelphia, DC or Baltimore. If you’re talking about a band in New York, I tell people to forget about New York or L.A. It’s crazy. Nobody cares, and it’s an expensive city to be in. Look at Louisville, KY and compare your expenses. For the growing phase of a band – the first couple years – New York and L.A. are just horrifying places to be. They’re professionals, and everybody’s dealing with their own stuff and they just saw Elton John naked on stage with the reincarnation of Elvis Presley and free lobster appetizers and fireworks. I see time and time again bands succeeding in place you’ve never heard of, because nobody goes there. Immediately, there are no comparisons. You could take your own little P.A. system – someone from Marilyn Manson did this, and it’s detailed in a book – 300 kids a night going crazy because they have nothing to compare it with. So you don’t have to worry that the P.A. system isn’t as good as the one at BB King’s in Times Square because nobody has anything to compare it to. Just making the effort is worth a ton, because now you have fans for life. If you have a band in New York or wherever, concentrate on building your local fans. Play for nothing, busk, do other stuff. If you can’t afford to buy-on to play with a band that you think their fans would like you when they’re at Irving Plaza, for instance, then go to that show and, winter’s coming up, busk on the street. That doesn’t cost anything. If your band can’t busk, get large supplies of hot chocolate and work the line. Once the people are in the venue, they don’t care about the first band anyway. You’re not going to get a sound check, and the band’s going to sound terrible. If the doors open at seven, you’ll be on stage at 7:05, and there’s nobody there anyway. There are more people outside standing outside, bored and cold. Work that line with cups of hot chocolate, and everyone will be delighted to see you and will remember your name and give you their e-mail address. There’s a million things you can do to build your audience. Target some places that are easy for you to get to. Cleveland is kind of far, maybe Pittsburgh is far too. The problem with cities on the east coast is they are expensive to get to because of tolls, and it’s difficult to park. Philadelphia, those are big cities that I advise staying away from. Let’s go with the example. You find a band in Philadelphia, and once you’ve built your audience by giving away hot chocolate in the winter or Gatorade, spraying people in the face with cold water in the summer – whatever it is. If your bass player is a great baker, bake some brownies and give those away. Do something. Then, hook up with a band you think you might want to play with in Philadelphia and invite them to hook up with you in New York. There are bands in Philadelphia right now saying, “How do we get a show in New York?” You find a band with mutual interests and work with each other. That’s it. And you just keep doing it. There’s not one single button you press. It’s like I said with the great wall of China, “How did they do it?” It’s just a ton of bricks laid end to end, and that’s it. You take a step back from the Great Wall of China, and it becomes this unfathomable seventh wonder of the world. How did U2 fill a giant stadium with a huge inflatable helicopter? I saw U2 play to 17 people. They toured for five years straight pretty much in the early 80’s. We stayed with the same girls they were staying with off and on. That’s it. Once bands can get a hold of that idea, they can grow and start to build their brand. Yeah people should be O.K. musicians, but I think the amount of time you might spend going from “pretty good” to “amazing,” maybe you can fake “amazing” with a strobe light and some pyrotechnics. I would say, it’s a lot of effort to get from good to amazing. It’s probably the same effort getting from crap to good. What about learning how to maintain a vehicle? That’s concrete movement forwards, instead of ethereal, “Who’s the best guitarist?” stuff, which is way subjective. What isn’t subjective is, “I can change the oil, I can change the tire, I can deal with the serpentine belt, I’m all over this brake light.” That’s concrete movement forwards. Dealing with the internet, iMovie, so you can shoot some video, edit it and get it up really quick, and then there are 20 more people at your show. I think there are 25 other skills you could gain before you shoot for exceptionally amazing on any instrument.

Musician Coaching:

I often advise people to collaborate with as many other artists as possible because it can be difficult to get somebody to show up for some band that somebody recommends or to stick around for the following band. But if you’re able to collaborate, even if it’s on a cover or write a song together online or actually get on stage during someone else’s set, I find that effective for some projects. Have you seen that work at all?

MA:

I think it’s a combination of whatever leverage and reasons you have to get people to stay and see you. I think a really big part of it is realizing nobody cares. I have bands that will send me a thing to my Suicide Girls column saying, “We’ve been playing for $75 a night, please can you give us the strategies where we can bump it up to $100 or $125?” And I say, “Yeah, play for nothing.” There’s never been an easier time for you to say, “Screw the $75.” By the time you pay for drum sticks, strings and gasoline it’s gone anyway. Play for nothing and find two or three other bands that will play for nothing and go to a promoter and say, “We’re going to play for nothing. Instead of you paying us this meaningless $75, now you’ve got $200 or $300, can we do a special on pitchers of beer?” And then you strategize the week out of the month you’re going to do that, which would be rent week – end of the month when everybody’s struggling. Set yourself apart from the rest, leverage anything you can and understand the situation you’re in.

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Check out Martin’s Website and Follow him on twitter.

You can also check out his newest book Welcome to the Music Business You’re Fu**ed.

The site is back up after having been hacked – we will be returning to regular updates in a few days.

The following article is a guest post by Cameron Mizell, a professional musician and co-founder of the website MusicianWages. New York guitarist Cameron Mizell is involved in a wide variety of musical projects. He has released many of his own albums independently, including his latest, Tributary. Cameron’s experiences as a musician and former record label employee give him a unique perspective on the musician industry, which he enjoys sharing on MusicianWages.

Several years ago I became a Christmas musician. There, I said it. When I set out to be a musician, that’s not exactly what I had in mind. As I grew up and had to start thinking about rent and bills and holiday travel expenses, well, the entrepreneur in me took over.

Christmas music practically sells itself. It’s also the time of the year that sees a huge spike in music sales in general. I figured that, if done properly, releasing a holiday album would give me something to sell year after year without much effort. I thought of it like a Christmas bonus to myself.

So, I got together with a couple musician friends and we started arranging Christmas songs. We weren’t a band, exactly, and we didn’t want to release the album under our names, so we made up a pseudonym. The next year we did it again, under a different pseudonym–I like to think of it as different branding. At this point I’ve released four Christmas albums under three brands.

A couple years ago I wrote about this on my site, MusicianWages.com in a post called Make Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Album. Looking back, there are a few things to add. So for MusicianCoaching.com, here are some additional considerations when you set out to make a Christmas album.

Start Early

While most of us don’t start listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, record labels tend to release their holiday albums in late October or early November. If you want to follow suit, you’ll need to create a production schedule by working backwards. Here are some things to think about:

1. If you’re making CDs, talk to your manufacturer to find out how long it takes to get your shipment from the time you send them the artwork and master. Depending on your packaging and how much back and forth is involved getting everything right, this could take about 10 weeks.
2. If you’re doing a digital only release, find out how long it takes your digital distributor to get it to iTunes. Digital distributors like Tunecore and CD Baby are very quick these days, allowing a week should be plenty of time.
3. Allow a couple weeks to design the artwork. If you hire a designer, it’s a good idea to have them start while you’re still recording.
4. Post-production tasks like mixing and mastering can take several weeks of back and forth between you and the engineer.
5. Recording the actual music can also take weeks, depending on your arrangements, whether everything is recorded live or overdubbed, and the availability of musicians, engineers, and other people involved.
6. Arranging the music–sure, we all know Christmas songs, but take some time to make them yours.

Chances are you’ll start recording in the summer while nobody else is dreaming of a white Christmas. Buy some Santa hats and break out the holly to get yourself in the spirit. Have some fun. The earlier you start the better the result.

Don’t Blow It Off

Christmas music sells well because people are always looking for something new, but with the familiar seasonal vibe. It’s also a time of the year people are willing to spend money. But don’t get greedy and think you can throw together some holiday recordings and call it an album!

Just because you’re making a holiday album and might not be releasing it under your own name doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put the same effort into it as you would your own music. The hard part is already done–lyrics and melody. Everything else is basically a clean slate. Use this as a chance to experiment and try things you might never do with your own music.

Keep Your Overhead Low

Releasing a holiday album is a great way to make some extra revenue from music, but you won’t make much money if you spend a lot up front.

Every time I made a Christmas album I viewed it as a challenge to work within my resources. I didn’t have access to a good drum room, so we just didn’t use drums.  I arranged the music to be played on the instruments available.  I spent a little extra time on mic placement and performing with good tone instead of laboring over fancy mics, plugins, and editing.

A Christmas album is essentially a covers album, and if you’re releasing songs written by other people, you’ll owe royalties. But consider the amount of Christmas music in the public domain. Visit pdinfo.com to find a list of public domain Christmas music.

Write Your Own Holiday Song

Another way to avoid paying royalties is to write your own Christmas song. A well written holiday song could always generate extra publishing revenue in ways cover songs cannot.

When Lauren Zettler and I were recording a Christmas album as Be Still, I remember adding a harmonium part to a backwards guitar track and thinking, “Yeah, that sounds like snow.” Lauren turned around and started writing this nostalgic song about Christmas time of the same name. The thing about it, much like Joni Mitchell’s “River” (which we also recorded), is that it’s really a love song that takes place during the season, not another Jingle Bells. “Sounds Like Snow” has been one of the best-sellers on Be Still’s Christmas album.

Expand The Brand

Finally, if you choose to take the same route as me and release holiday music under different brands, consider making an original album to match. My friends and I did this with Dunham Van Durham, first releasing an album of original music, and later releasing the Christmas album. The original album has actually sold as well as the Christmas album, but it has also been licensed for other uses.

If people enjoy the sound and feel of your Christmas music, there’s a very good possibility they’ll also enjoy original music in the same style.

Finally, here’s another tip:  This approach works for non-holiday music as well. Be creative!

Check out my other article, Make Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Album at MusicianWages.com, and enjoy some Christmas music while you’re at it:

Dunham Van Durham – Christmas From The Heartland
http://dunhamvandurham.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-from-the-heartland

Be Still – Sounds Like Snow
http://www.cameronmizell.com/discography/sounds-like-snow/

Montgomery Bruce – Bossa Noel
http://www.cameronmizell.com/discography/montgomery-bruce-bossa-noel-a-chilled-out-christmas/

Montgomery Bruce – Closer to Christmas
http://www.cameronmizell.com/discography/closer-to-christmas/

Connect with Cameron on Facebook and Twitter. Also, take a look at his interview about the DIY Musician’s Methods.

Jill Kaplan is a music video commissioner and the Founder of Skyway Productions. She got her start in the music business while attending Monmouth University in New Jersey, where she dj’ed at the college radio station and also worked at several clubs around Asbury Park. After interning at WNEW in the music department, she decided to combine her passion for music with her love of film and photography and accepted a job in the video department of Atlantic Records, where she worked for 13 years, steadily rising to the title of commissioner. Jill departed Atlantic Records in 2005 to pursue her love of indie and alternative music and opened Skyway Productions – named after the Replacements song. Throughout her nearly two decades in the music video industry, she has commissioned DVDs and music videos with hundreds of artists across genres, including Death Cab for Cutie, Bloc Party, Christina Perri, Chromeo, Brandy and The Donnas.

I recently got to talk to Jill about her experiences playing video matchmaker to directors and artists and the many roles of a video commissioner. She also shared some valuable advice for bands looking to find the right director for their video projects, especially when working with a limited budget.

Musician Coaching:

Thanks for taking the time to talk, Jill. How did you get into the music industry?

JK:

My very earliest introduction to the music industry was when I was going to school at Monmouth, dj’ing at the radio station and working at several clubs in Asbury Park. I was very lucky to be in a town with great national touring acts coming through town on a regular basis. I eventually started interning at WNEW in the music department. I thought I was going to go into radio – not on air, but working as a music director. I was very inspired early on by Lorraine Caruso, who was the musical director at WNEW at the time and had amazing taste in music.

I met a lot of people at labels through that experience, but then realized very quickly that radio is an interesting place, but ultimately was not a long-term career for me. People moved around a lot, and it was a very small community. There didn’t seem like a lot of room for growth. I started thinking about going into management or working at a record company. And then I got a call that there was a position open in the video department at Atlantic Records. It actually ended up being a perfect fit, because I also had a very strong interest in photography and film. And putting that together with my complete and utter obsession with music was perfect. It was a really great place to learn from the ground, up for many years. The budgets were decent, the departments were a nice size, and we had really great resources. I started as an assistant to a commissioner, and with some really great mentors, worked my way up to commissioner. I stayed there for 13 years and made it through many regime and culture changes. I did everything from rap, to country, to pop, rock and alternative.

I had a lot of friends who ran indie labels and were in indie bands, so when I left Atlantic it was a perfect segue into my own business. I was working with Death Cab For Cutie on their DVD entitled Directions for Atlantic, and as a result of that their former indie label Barsuk, was one of my first clients with Skyway. I was able to pick up a lot of indie clients, but I also still work with major labels as well and have been fortunate to develop a pretty deep resume.

Musician Coaching:

So, what does a video commissioner do? From what I understand, you help artists find the right director for their videos.

JK:

Correct. I tend to look at myself as a video matchmaker. I know probably thousands of video directors, producers and reps, and I’m always searching for new directors as well. I go to film festivals and speak at film schools, scour the Internet for videos on YouTube that have been created by the friends of bands. You find new directors constantly in all different ways, not just through traditional routes like production companies.

Sometimes bands and managers will hire me directly, but most of the time it’s the record label who hires me. They tell me their budget, give me a general idea of what they’re looking for, and I think about who I think might be appropriate for the project. I reach out to a handful of directors and see who wants to submit a treatment. And after I get treatments, I help the band and the label move through the process and figure out their direction. My role is actually similar to that of an executive producer in the movie industry. I am the liaison between the production world and the music world, and I make sure everything written in the treatment is represented and done in the final process. I oversee everything to make sure artists get what they want. I also help oversee travel arrangements, band equipment rental, rehearsals, wardrobe, hair, make-up – anything that is needed for the shoot. The production companies have what is called a line producer, who hires the whole crew, but I help oversee that on behalf of the label to make sure everyone is happy.

When it comes time to make the video, I try to be at every shoot I can attend to hold the band’s hand and be supportive, make sure the treatment is being accurately represented. Then after the shoot, once the video goes into post production, we get edits, and we filter those through  to the label and the band. I compile comments and help get the video finished through to delivery, then hand it off to someone else to do the promotion.

I only do video production – the creative side. I get calls from people that think a video commissioner automatically does both the creative and promotional tasks (and there are very few who do) – and that I’ll submit it to MTV or at least get it on its way. But what I do is get bands a finished video, delivered. And then the labels can do their thing with it. Every video is my baby, and after it’s out there in the world, I cross my fingers and hope the next person does the right thing, and that people get to see it.

Musician Coaching:

You’ve made a lot of matches out there. What makes for a great artist-director pairing?

JK:

Some bands will pick a director just based on a treatment, but you really have to look at each director’s reel as well. It’s extremely important to see the full body of work. There are some people who are great writers, but not good executors.

I think the willingness to collaborate on both sides is also probably one of the most important things. Once you’ve made the match, as an artist, you have to have a lot of trust and be able to let go and let the director realize his/her vision. And the director also has to realize that this is a representation of the band’s song, and they have to be willing and able to collaborate with that band. It’s hard sometimes for bands to allow directors to set visual to their music. Because, when artists are writing a song, a lot of times they have a very visual idea of what a video might look like, but it’s very often a two-way collaborative process.

Musician Coaching:

And what should artists do to prepare to work with a director?

JK:

I think it’s great for a band to look on some of the music blogs and look at the new videos that are being made. Because, it can be really hard when we’re trying to make a video with someone, and they can only reference videos by Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, that they saw when they were 15. I like when I work with artists that have looked on sites like Pitchfork and Video Static – the places that show new music videos – and see things being done in budget ranges that are very realistic. I think if you’re an artist getting into video, that’s a good way to educate yourself and see what’s out there. Bands I work with that have done that can give me a really clear idea of what they are and are not looking for.

What is also really important is to be open. A lot of times bands will come with a written treatment that outlines, shot by shot, exactly what they want. The problem with doing that is they don’t understand what things cost or how things are executed. Bands need to let go a little bit and be open to where the video can go visually instead of putting themselves inside a very rigid box.

Musician Coaching:

I know your clientele has changed since your Atlantic days, moving from major labels to a lot of labels within the indie world. Would you say videos have gotten more or less expensive over the years?

JK:

When I was at Atlantic during the ‘90s and early 2000s,the budgets were massive. Most of the major labels routinely spent anywhere between $500,000 – $1 million per video and would do several videos with an artist without blinking an eye. Budgets did start to drop a bit in the late ‘90s, and by around 2000, many of these big-budget videos had dropped down to around $300,000 or less. By the time I started freelancing after Atlantic, people were spending $50,000 on a video that used to cost $250,000. There are still certain bands for whom it makes sense to spend a lot of money. But I would say budget these days for indie bands are usually between $5,000 and $25,000 but does go higher in certain instances. The bigger rock acts and also pop stars spend a good amount more because there is more involved. There are a lot of extra costs like hair, make-up, styling and choreography. But I think overall, the budgets are a tiny fraction of what they used to be.

I wouldn’t say anybody gets into making music videos anymore just to make money. I think you have to really love music to do it. If you’re really just into film, then you should probably go into commercials and film as music videos are not overall the lucrative profession they were years ago. People like me who are on the production side commissioning, producing and working in different departments of music video crews do it for the love of music and not to get rich. That all went away a long time ago. As the budgets have dropped, all of our fees have dropped as well. If you have a lot of energy and don’t mind not sleeping and can handle working on many videos at once, you will be able to make a living at it and get to work with a lot of great people. But you really have to have a great passion for it. There are only a handful of directors who make it huge, as is also the case with actors/actresses and musicians.

Of course, this same phenomenon has been happening across the industry. Marketing, publicity and all other budgets are a fraction of what they used to be, in part because technology has evolved so much. And what you can do with post production now is incredible compared to what you used to be able to do. As an example, I can’t remember the last time I shot on film. Aside from the problem of illegal downloading and piracy in the industry, I think the other curse, which of course has also been a blessing, is that technology has made everything a lot cheaper to execute. It’s very hard to watch such amazing, creative work being done and seeing people not always being well compensated for it. Directors work long hours, put their hearts and souls into the process and often make just a few thousand dollars (or less) on some of the videos. I feel very sympathetic towards this and try to give them as much creative freedom as I can while still remembering that at the end of the day, the music video is a marketing tool for the band.

Musician Coaching:

I’m sure you can come up with a handful of things that artists should keep in mind as they are preparing for the process of making a video that would make the process more time and cost efficient, especially geared towards bands shooting their first videos.

JK:

I would say, try to shoot where you live, so you’re not wasting any money on travel. Or if you want to shoot a video in another city, try to shoot it while you’re on tour, whether you’re in L.A., New York or a city that is a production hub.

Also, before you have huge ideas involving 7,000 locations, think about keeping it simple. What can you do to utilize the resources you have? If you’re shooting in your town, you’ll have your band equipment, or you might have a friend that owns a club or you might have a cool zoo.

The idea of working with what you have instead of with what you don’t have is actually really important. A lot of artists have platinum taste, but a silver budget. Some of my favorite videos that I’ve made over the past five years or so have been some of the cheapest. I really feel like the lower the budgets are, the more creative you have to be. Everybody really pitches in. I find that incredibly satisfying.

So, if you’re a band or an artist making your first video, your first step is to look at what you have where you live. Is there a local film school with students looking for a project? First of all, they are often able to just sign out film, video and post-production equipment for free. They have all these normally expensive resources at their fingertips. Then, they get huge student discounts with vendors as well.
Then, if you’re working with young directors who are just out of school, you just need to try to go in with an open mind. Don’t plan an extravaganza that you can’t afford. And if you don’t have a lot of money, you need to also give them time. You can’t say,  “I have no money, but my idea that should cost $100,000 needs to be done in two weeks.” If you give them extra time and do things at a slightly different pace, they can usually pull favors and present you with really high-quality work.

You should also surround yourself with people who are going to be honest with you. Don’t just hire “yes” people who will just agree with all your ideas because you are paying them. You need to also surround yourself with people who aren’t afraid to tell you when you’re making a mistake. A lot of young bands get caught in that trap, where they don’t have objectivity and then are not open to hearing constructive feedback. And this becomes a major deterrent to getting the project done well.

To learn more about Jill Kaplan and the diverse work she does for artists, visit the Skyway Productions website.

Frank Liwall is the Founder and President of the Royalty Network, a company started in 1994 that offers non-traditional and progressive administration deals to songwriters, artists, producers and publishers and gets behind its clients to handle services including pitching songs for covers and for placement in TV, films, commercials and video games. Frank got his start in the music industry as an accountant and auditor working with companies such as Prager and Fenton and The Harry Fox Agency. Throughout his career, he has served as expert testimony on copyright infringement cases in the U.S. and has prepared damage reports on behalf of attorneys at trials. He has also acted as a panel speaker at conferences worldwide, including Winter Music Conference, CME, Midem, SXSW, Musexpo and many others. Through the Royalty Network, Frank educates songwriters at all stages of their careers about the intricacies of the ever-changing music industry and protects them from entering into dangerous deals and contracts while helping them collect the income they are due from their art. He has worked with artists such as Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Outkast and Kid Cudi.

Jason Reeves is an ASCAP award-winning singer/songwriter who, aside from successfully building a career as a DIY artist has also proven that collaboration can be incredibly powerful for artists that want to find new ways to reach fans and get their music heard. Reeves has co-written many songs, including the Billboard chart-topping “Bubbly” and “I Never Told You,” with the Grammy-award-winning  Colbie Caillat. He also wrote “The Show” with Australian pop artist Lenka and most recently worked with A Rocket To The Moon and Hot Chelle Rae. Like many other artists, Reeves threw himself into music early, picking up piano at five, then drums and guitar in his teens. He cites his major influences as Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and James Taylor. In late 2004/early 2005, Jason was contacted by producer Mikal Blue who had heard his self-created work on CD Baby and invited Reeves to record in his L.A. studio. It was there that Blue connected him to Caillat, and a career-altering partnership was born. Reeves self-released four albums and an EP before signing to Warner Bros. Records in 2008 and returned to the DIY world in 2011 with his album The Lovesick. His next album, Songs are Silent Films will be released next month.

I recently got to talk to Jason about co-writing, the process of building up a national touring base and the importance of staying focused on your vision as an artist if you want to have a successful, long-lasting career in music.

Musician Coaching:

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk, Jason. Tell me how you got started as a musician/singer/songwriter.

JR:

When I was living in Iowa, I had just graduated from high school. I had started writing songs and putting out records on my own at the end of high school. And when I went to college right away, as most people do, I had no idea why I was going or what I was doing. All I was doing was writing music and not going to class. So, I dropped out in order to not waste my time or my parents’ money.

I decided I was just going to go for it, which led me to California, which turned a lot of things on for me and opened a lot of doors. For example, I met Mikal Blue and Colbie Caillat. They were my first two friends when I first came out here. And everything has come from that. But the whole time, I’ve just been trying to write as much music as I can and see where it takes me.

Musician Coaching:

Correct me if I’m wrong: At the time, you were 19 or 20 and moving out to California on your own. How did you go about networking to even find artists of that caliber? How did that come about?

JR:

Honestly, Mikal Blue, the producer, is the reason I came out there. He invited me to come record with him. At the time, I’d only ever recorded in little basement studios in the country in Iowa – nothing that resembled a real studio. And I’d never really been to the West Coast. So, I was really excited. And Colbie had just had her first guitar lesson and had just written her first song when I met her. Neither of us had ever co-written a song before. All of a sudden, we met, started writing songs, and it turned into what it did. We didn’t expect that, and it wasn’t our goal. That’s really how crazy it’s been.

Ever since that happened, I’ve just been able to write with other people. And it’s been amazing. I know I’ve been very lucky.

Musician Coaching:

You said you were putting out your own records. How did Blue come across you? Iowa is not exactly a music business hot spot, unless it’s changed since the last time I’ve been there.

JR:

Not at all. He found it on CD Baby. I still actually use them. But this was before I knew what MySpace, Facebook and all those things were. CD Baby was really the only place I knew to put my music, and that was where he found it. It’s crazy how the Internet has been changing everything.

Musician Coaching:

For sure. Tell me about what the process of co-writing has been like for you. I know most artists I work with are initially a bit hesitant. They find it a bit awkward and feel like songwriting is a fairly personal thing to share with someone they don’t know that well. I’m assuming you and Colbie weren’t that tight when you initially started writing songs together. Was it an easy process for you, or was it something you had to work to get comfortable with?

JR:

It’s something you have to learn, for sure. But the more you do it and figure out how it works, the better you get at it. I think being comfortable is one of the most important things, because what you said about people not liking to do it because it feels strange initially or too intimate is true. If you’re not comfortable enough to share exactly how you feel or what you think with someone, you’re not going to get the best song. That’s why I, for the most part, write with people I’m already really good friends with and work well with. That makes the process fun and easy.

Musician Coaching:

It sounds like your career was something that you built initially based on your success as a co-writer.

JR:

That’s definitely what has brought a lot of attention to my own music. I’ve been touring a lot for the past three or four years. I did do a lot of promotion with my songs, so it’s a balance between the two. It’s about half co-writing and half putting out my own music.

Musician Coaching:

You were signed to a major label and have also put out records on your own. Tell me a little bit about that process.

JR:

I was on Warner Bros. Records until last year. Before I was on the label, I put out about an album a year. But the important part for me was that, when I was doing it myself, I could put out music whenever I wanted to. Warner was good to me, and I liked being on the label. But in all honesty, I didn’t get very much done. In fact, it kind of slowed me down. So, the fact that I’m not on the label anymore just means I can actually put out the music I have that’s just sitting around. Because, I write so many songs, it’s hard to even keep up with myself. That’s why I’ve been really excited to be able to have people who are willing to help me do this. It’s amazing. I have a feeling a lot of work is going to get done just in these next couple months by a few people than it did the whole time I was on that label.

Musician Coaching:

I first came up in the Atlantic Records system. And I would watch what I called “The Shiny Shirt” phenomenon happen over and over again. What would happen was, after Hootie & the Blowfish, Atlantic seemed to be mining the Southeast region for the next Hootie. They signed all these bands from the Carolinas and Tennessee and Florida.  These bands would be doing all this local promotional, getting on local radio, then putting together regional touring.

Then, the label would come in and say, “This is all great. Quit your jobs. We’re just getting this release together.” And these musicians tended to all stop, say, “Cool, we’re rock stars now” and wait. They would be waiting on the photographer for the photo shoot, for the mastering engineer who was going to spend $20,000 of the band’s money to make the record sound marginally better, or for the publicist to show up and say, “Singer? We’re going to get you into the gym, have you lose a little weight. Bass player? Cut your hair, because you’ll really be cute when we have this whole makeover/reveal thing together.” The guitarist would wear leather pants instead of jeans, and everyone would get shiny shirts as opposed to flannel. That was almost all I saw really change. Then, they would throw it at radio, and it would mostly miss.

JR:

That’s an amazing description.

Musician Coaching:

That was just my experience. But, you’re in the vast majority of people I know that have had a major label experience where they saw their name with a major label imprint next to it, and it just didn’t quite deliver the way they expected it to.

JR:

Yes. It was frustrating.

Musician Coaching:

Let’s get down to some nuts and bolts. I think a lot of people have the tendency to say, “Okay, I’m going to leave my hometown, and then what?” How did you go about building a national touring base?

JR:

It started around the time I put out my album The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache, which was in 2007. It was in about 2008 that I decided I needed to tour. I got two guys I met in L.A. – a bass player and a drummer – and we just rehearsed and did a residency at Hotel Café for a month. After that, we just started touring as much as we could. Eventually, they got really long. One of the tours we had was 37 shows in a row. It was more than circling the U.S. once. It was totally amazing, but crazy. It goes up and down, depending on the day and is really hard to predict how things will go. But the more you play cities, the more people come back to see you. And you just hope you can keep their attention.

Musician Coaching:

Obviously you regularly get feedback on which songs work and which don’t. Other than just playing well, is there anything else you’ve learned about how to keep people’s attention?

JR:

I think for somebody that’s touring the way I do, it really comes down to the songs and if they connect to people. At my level, it’s not necessarily mainstream media that’s promoting my music, so people aren’t finding out about me that way. They’re hearing about me through word of mouth and Internet. I’m sure that’s how most music is. But at the end of the day, it’s about a song connecting to the person that’s listening to it enough that they want to tell their friends and come to the shows. Other than that, I think it’s a mystery. My main goal is to write the best songs I can.

Musician Coaching:

It’s something that a lot of musicians lose, for sure. I notice you’re active with Instagram and Facebook. What online marketing strategies have worked the best for you?

JR:

It’s so crazy how much is happening with all that and how it just keeps changing and getting more intricate. I can’t even keep up with it, honestly. There are too many for me. So, I try to just utilize a few the best I can. I just got Instagram, because until recently, I didn’t have an iPhone. I just kept holding out and telling myself I didn’t need one. I didn’t realize how amazing they actually are, even though it scares me terribly to own one. But with Twitter, Facebook and everything else, there are so many different tools now.

The fact that you can connect immediately to people anywhere in the world is very wild and futuristic. And it’s happening right now. Obviously, the whole music industry and everything about music today has been changed by it. So, I’m still learning just like everyone else is what all these things mean.

Musician Coaching:

If you had to give yourself advice as you were releasing records in high school, based on what you have now experienced, what would you tell yourself about what to expect, what to avoid, or what to prioritize?

JR:

I would say, you have to be more patient than you can even imagine. Also, it needs to be about the music the whole time. That’s still one of my main goals, and I think it’s what being a songwriter should be about. I think it’s about trying to keep everything you do as real and as honest as you can make it.

Musician Coaching:

Do you feel like you ever lost sight of that along the way?

JR:

I don’t think I did. It’s just something that I have to keep working on. There are so many things pulling people away from the music and being honest, at all times. And if you are somebody that wants to stay true to the vision of what you want to represent, you have to stand strong on certain things and not give in.

To learn more about Jason Reeves and his music, you can visit him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter. His album Songs Are Silent Films will release in June 2012.

Jerome Bunke is the founder of Digital Force, a full service boutique CD and DVD production company that provides individual artists and groups with high-quality recording services surrounding their product releases. Jerome earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree at The Juilliard School as a clarinetist and his Doctorate at New York University. As a clarinetist, he has managed, produced and performed in world concert tours with stops at major venues such as Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. As a studio musician and producer, he has collaborated with greats like Elmer Bernstein, Don Sebesky,Sid Ramin and Michael Cohen. As President of the UK-based international music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, he witnessed the first steps of the digital revolution and helped the company respond to changes that were pushing distribution channels from the record companies to the artist. He was also General Manager of Vox Records and helped transform their analog catalog to compact discs. He has also chaired the Chamber Music panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and participates in the music recording program at New York University. Digital Force has worked with major organizations including NBC’s Olympic Broadcast, RCA, Sony, Universal and Motown Records.

I recently got to talk to Jerry about how his passion for music and recording developed, how Digital Force helps artists and other creatives coordinate and execute their releases and some important details people need to consider when putting together the many different aspects of their recordings.

Musician Coaching:

Thanks so much for taking some time to talk. How did you get into the music business, and what led you to start Digital Force?

JB:

Getting into the music business is something that has been a life-long passion, because I started out being 100% a performer. I went to Juilliard and got my Bachelor’s and Master’s from there as a clarinetist. And as a clarinetist, I was fortunate enough to play around the world at places like Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center with the Japan Philharmonic and in England. I made close to 25 album recordings. I’ve always been involved with production and being able to put music in conjunction with other disciplines. So, being involved with production and recording was my plan from the get-go.

I’ve also produced over 50 records that included many of the members major orchestras:  the New York Philharmonic; Boston Symphony; Chicago Symphony; Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. I also had works commissioned for me and a Ford Foundation grant to do an album of contemporary concertos.

The idea of getting into production and then having a successful product is being able to understand the perspective of the performer, the perspective of the studio, as well as what it means to market and be able to put together the graphics for an album and realize from a practical standpoint how important all the different components are. From my experience as a studio musician, I figured out that if a piece of music was three seconds too long, one edits it to fit the film. I learned what it meant to see music and my art through the lens of business.

Everything was crystallized when I was with Boosey & Hawkes, a publishing company based in London. The composers on that company’s roster included Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. That’s when I started to move towards digital, because people started to see the cost of inventory and printing vs. print on demand. That’s how I officially got involved in digital production.

When CDs came out, I helped with the process of taking the Vox catalog and changing it from LPs into CDs. Jewel cases derived their name to help justify their relatively high cost.  In the early days of CDs – before there were even CDs, which were jointly founded overseas by Sony and Philips, made in the United States –everything had to be imported. And if you were buying them at that point, they could easily be $35. a piece. That’s why this plastic case that held them was called a “jewel box.” It helped substantiate the cost of what that sound recording was at the time.

I moved from production into audio CDs. And that grew into enhanced CDs, being able to use sound recordings in conjunction with computers, videos, links to websites as well as DVDs. As modern technology emerged, the performer and composer could become directly in touch with their audience and the public. The trend moved towards becoming independent, and people being able to artistically and financially control their own product. People started to think about who would have the expertise to be able to service the independent market and know what was involved with producing an album and what the timeline has to be, how everything has to work:  Who would be able to make the project better?

And that is the rationale behind Digital Force. We provide a multitude of services that let the performer, the creative people and the marketing people do what they do best – make music, promote it, sell it. Digital Force makes sure there is a top-rated product that comes out and that gets into the distribution cycle.  Our rationale is that the same quality work and attention to detail that we’ve provided to a wide array of artists – Dionne Warwick, Patti LuPone, Usher, Andre Crouch, The Dave Matthews Band, Thomas Hampson, BJ Thomas among others – and to Broadway productions ranging from Sunset Blvd., Movin’ Out, Hair, Spelling Bee and The Book of Mormon is available to independent labels, artists and bands.

Musician Coaching:

Most people think, “All I have to do is get my CDs replicated. I’ll call a CD replication company, and that will be that.” And that’s fine if all you’re going to do is hand them out or use them as giveaways in a grab bag. What does Digital Force help people organize when they’re trying to put together a high-quality release?

JB:

We take a boutique approach. We’re passionate about what we do. We want to put genuine care into every project. We understand how important each note and each project is.

Very few people leave enough time for the production process. A lot of times artists and labels have focused most of their energy on getting the recording made. They try to figure out who is doing the A&R, which pieces they are using and how many recording, overdub, editing and mixing sessions there need to be. That can go on for months or even a year. Then suddenly, they think, “Gee. We have a release party next Saturday. What’s going on?” And then you wonder with all the time spent, who looked at the graphics? What is the name of the album? Do they have an artist photo? People can’t autograph digital downloads. So, the idea of having a physical, tangible product for a lot of performers is still very important. It helps create their identity, gets their story out and becomes something they can make income from when they sell it to their fans.

What we attempt to do is add extra value to that disc by being able to incorporate videos and other connections. To give an example, we’ve been talking with a show that’s going to be hitting Broadway this year. We’re in negotiations to do an enhanced CD. It’s going to be a cast album, plus videos, behind-the-scenes features and links to the show’s website.

Musician Coaching:

What important details related to elements like album artwork, UPC coding, etc. do artists often forget when putting together albums for release?

JB:

As part of packaging, there are elements that the distribution system requires in order to make your product viable. There’s something called the UPC, which is the bar code that gets scanned at every checkout counter. This code is important because, what I like to do is make sure there’s nothing that prevents a store from taking someone’s album. And a UPC code will not guarantee that a store will take the album. But you don’t want to put a potential barrier in the way by not having it. Without the UPC code, the store can’t scan the album or figure out what the price is.

Musician Coaching:

Is not having a UPC code a commonly-made mistake, even for independent or DIY artists who are looking for consignment?

JB:

Yes. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to find stores that have hired knowledgeable help. If you have stores that are mall stores or set up like mall stores, you need to make sure someone can come into the store, pick up the album and then check it out at the counter. The UPC code also helps with inventory. So, even if the album isn’t being sold, at least you know what your count is.

Musician Coaching:

So, that would also apply in the case of someone who would be giving it away free with purchase.

JB:

Exactly. The UPC code has really become a standard.

Likewise, there’s something related to the UPC code called the top spine. You usually break your fingernails off trying to get it apart, but it holds the CD together on the top. It has a bar code and the title, so when it’s on the rack you can see the name. Quite often, not only does it help a person flipping through a stack of CDs, but also stores can scan it to find out what is on the shelves.

The idea with both these things is that you want to make it as easy as possible for the seller to accept your product and keep track of it for you.

As another example, recently we did a promo for an artist in advance of their release where we were looking at their artwork and realized there was no contact information:  email address; website; etc. So, if you’re using your CD to try to get other gigs and promote yourself or find out if the radio stations are getting them, you need to be able to make things easy for people. And you can only have an album without a title – like The Beatles’ White album – if you’re The Beatles.

The other thing you need these days in terms of tracking, airplay and digital distribution – iTunes, etc. – is what’s called the ISRC code. That stands for the International Standard Recording Code.

Musician Coaching:

Who monitors that, and why is that important?

JB:

At Digital Force, we are authorized to be able to assign those codes. It’s actually set up in the United States through the RIAA. And each code has 12 characters – a combination of letters and numbers. These indicate the country of origin, the year released and the authorized facility that issued the codes. It also is attached to a five-digit number that identifies every single track. We usually embed these when there’s a finished master to that finished master track.

Musician Coaching:

So, these are codes that are put into the audio files themselves?

JB:

Yes. They are embedded into each track and are also unique to each track.

Musician Coaching:

So even if these end up ripped onto a CD, that code will stay intact.

JB:

Yes. And you raise an important point, because the code is always part of the track. So, if you use the track separately as part of another recording somewhere down the road, that code goes with it.

As a matter of fact, if we were going to take a single that had the main track and an instrumental version or an a cappella version of that track, each version would get its own ISRC code. Then, the individual versions as it’s digitally downloaded or played can be tracked.

Musician Coaching:

Is this part of the process taken care of by aggregators like TuneCore, ReverbNation or CD Baby?

JB:

No. It’s usually done during the mastering process.

Musician Coaching:

Who actually picks up this tracking, and how is that tracking beneficial?

JB: 

This is how whichever digital service you’re using tracks sales, etc. of the recording. This does the same thing the UPC code does for your physical album for each track of your digital album.

Musician Coaching:

So, this is picked up by SoundScan, radio stations, etc.

JB:

Exactly. It’s how you’re able to figure out the quantity of sales and get paid.

Given the work we do with so many majors and distributors, we’re aware of the trends and we always feel it’s our obligation to answer questions, even though ultimately our clients have to make their own decisions. We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to create works and participate in broadcasts that have been heard by hundreds of millions of people, ranging from the Olympics and Broadway Shows, to the initial release of The Phantom Menace.

Musician Coaching:

Earlier, you were talking about having enough production process. How much lead time should people give you? What are some of the things you need from artists in order to start a project?

JB:

One of the axioms I have is, “There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s enough time to do it over.”

Quite often I find that the package and the graphic design are usually not given the same amount of time and consideration that the actual recording receives. In many ways, there are parallels between different parts of the process. I was talking earlier about how there are rehearsals, overdubs, editing, mastering. The recording process goes through many transformations over a period of time. And in many ways that same type of process has to happen on the graphics side. As an artist, you need to ask basic questions, like “What do I want on the cover?” “Am I going to include lyrics?” That might make the booklet bigger. You need to include basic information about the group and put it together, and it’s helpful to know what these are ahead of time. You also need to ask, “Are there composer credits? “Do I need to take care of sync or mechanical licenses, be it through BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, etc.?”

Usually I find that the initial release takes longer because companies or artists haven’t figured out what their identity is. Is there a logo? Is there going to be a second or third album? What format are you going to use? There is one company that we’ve now done about 130 releases for, and way back in the beginning, they wanted something that was going to set them apart. And so Digital Force came up with the idea of using a red-colored tray for all the CDs. That became one of the ways of identifying their products in the marketplace.

We have been good at building long-term relationships with our clients. We distribute for them and warehouse. And here’s another thing related to UPC codes:  When you’re sending out promos, we like to punch holes in them, because they shouldn’t be counted as a sale. Someone shouldn’t be able to take them to a store, return them and get something else. When that happens, you’ll find you get more returns than when you sell. So, that’s something we also do for our clients.

Musician Coaching:

I never thought about that as the reason all the promos have holes punched in them.

Do you have any other parting words of advice?

JB:

The biggest thing I would say is that you need to contact whomever your vendor is going to be before you establish a release date. Leaving enough time to take care of all parts of the process is important.

And I also can’t emphasize enough:  The graphics are the one detail that most people haven’t focused enough on, and that’s usually what ends up holding up the release. As an example, we’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with providing CDs for the Super Bowl. And with the Super Bowl, if you’re three hours late showing up, the game is over. So, we take deadlines very seriously here.

And I apologize for not putting this positively, but there’s no worse feeling than trying to scramble to get a CD ready for someone whose CD release party is a couple of days away. Not that we haven’t done it, but it does make it harder – let’s say more of a challenge – to get the product out the way you want to. Most of the time, anyone who tells you they can get it out in a day or two probably isn’t being very realistic. We like to leave enough room in the production cycle for our clients to see proofs. Being able to see proofs of the artwork in finished form allows the customer to have the opportunity to make changes, and other corrections, if necessary, before going into final production. And we like our clients to go through the process, because it is a process.

Generally, I fell that musicians – and I can readily understand why – spend most of their time and focus on the actual music, recording, mixing and mastering their CD and therefore, the artwork may not get the same amount of attention.

Generally, I feel that musicians — and I can readily understand why — spend most of their time and focus on the actual music, recording, mixing and mastering their CD and therefore, the artwork may not get the same amount of attention. People see the artwork before the CD is opened — before they get a chance to hear the amazing sounds that will be heard when your music is played.  It is like spending time to create a wonderful meal:  getting the proper ingredients; preparing the ingredients; cooking the meal to perfection and then determining how the meal is to be presented.  Your choice of a production company is a vital aspect of realizing a finished product that matches your dream.  Do you want to serve your meal on a nice platter or on a garbage can cover? Even without tasting the meal, which one do you think will be more appealing?

To learn more about Jerome Bunke and the work he does, you can visit the Digital Force website.

Lou Giordano is an award-winning music producer who has over 30-years’ experience working with a variety of bands, including Mission of Burma, The Lemonheads, King Missile and Sugar. He got his start in the music industry playing in bands in high school and while attending MIT in the 1980s, where he first had the opportunity to learn about the elements of the recording studio by working with a variety of local bands in a studio originally built by Amar Bose, founder of the Bose Corporation. In the ‘80s, Lou spent three years accompanying Husker Du on two world tours and worked throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s at Radiobeat Studios and Fort Apache Studios in Boston. In the mid-‘90s, Lou produced the Goo Goo Dolls’ multi-platinum album A Boy Named Goo. Most recently, he produced gold records for Taking Back Sunday and The Ataris.

Lou talked to me about how he found his way to music and shared some advice for artists about choosing the best producer for them and the elements that go into putting together a high-quality record.

Musician Coaching:

Thanks for taking some time to chat, Lou. How did you get started in the music business? I know you played in bands while you were at MIT.

LG:

Yeah. I went to MIT, and I had been in bands in high school, so I just kept playing. And in college, I bumped into a couple people who got me into new things. One fellow in particular, Seth Gussow was renovating an old recording studio on campus that was used by Amar Bose when he was doing his doctoral thesis there, studying acoustics. He was working out the different techniques for what would later be his speaker company. He built a studio – a small recording room – and then there was a bunch of tube equipment that was in there. But it was all in a state of disrepair. Seth was restoring all the equipment. I didn’t really help him too much with that part of it, but I helped him with a few recording projects and really liked it. I got my feet wet with that.

Then, I started off at an 8-track studio in Kenmore Square. At the time I was more interested in the music side of it, not so much the recording. So, I was going out and discovering all these hardcore bands. The whole idea of punk rock to me was really fascinating, because I had been a big classic rock fan during the ‘70s and then got a little disinterested and felt like it wasn’t really speaking to me anymore. When this whole punk rock thing came up in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s it was just really eye opening. The music was exciting, the fashion was fun.

And I made friends with a lot of the bands in Boston. Boston was a unique development environment for bands at the time, because you didn’t need to make a record. You could just go into the studio and make a tape. And then you’d make a few copies of the tape and carry it around to the three big radio stations at the time. You’d take it to those three, and then all of a sudden you were broadcasting to the entire Boston metropolitan area. And then, when you’d have a show, people would go. It was just incredible. It was this whole micro-economic development pot there.

Musician Coaching:

It sounds like the process of getting your music heard was a lot simpler then. There were a lot less players, etc.

LG:

Well, you didn’t need a recording contract or any corporate approval to get your message out. As a result of that, there was a big business opportunity in recording radio tapes for bands. I went to the studio – Radiobeat – and that was what they did. It was funny, because the owner was more of an old school punk guy. So when all this new hardcore stuff like SS Decontrol and all the Taang bands were coming into the studio to record, the owner didn’t really like them very much. He didn’t want to be a part of recording some of those bands, so he taught me how to set the levels, and that’s what I ended up doing for a couple years.

A few people like Mike Dreese over at Newbury Comics decided to get into the game. He did the “Boston, Not L.A.” compilations and financed that and the whole Modern Method record label. That was kind of the beginning of that type of recording. At the beginning it was just recording. There was no production involved. It just became clear that there was a whole separate job to do. It was one thing to record the music. And it was another to sit back and say, “Not only can you record the music and make it sound good, but you can also make the music better by suggesting changes, rearranging the songs, suggesting lead guitar parts, harmony vocals, etc.” It was just really eye opening.

Some of the bands didn’t want any suggestions at all and were very protective of their content creation. But others were able to take suggestions and sing the vocal differently – play with all the little things that go into it. It was really a process of teaching yourself how to do it for everyone. And one thing led to another …

Musician Coaching: 

You’ve produced a string of super successful acts. And you were in a place where you had exposure to a large volume of recording. What would you advise someone to do that is interested in getting into the production side today? Is it about getting into a bigger studio and being part of as many records as you can?

LG:

At the time, I think there was an element – and there still is an element – of being in the right place at the right time. But then again, there’s also the idea that the more you do something, the better you get at it. You really learn from every single project you do, no matter how big or small it is. If you have your eyes open, you can learn something from it. I happened to be in this little college town where there was a lot of work being done. And opportunities would come up where you’d get out of the college town and go national. Then you really see what’s going on.

The one “golden ticket” – as you referred to it when we were talking the other day – with that time period was going out on the road with Husker Du. That was just an incredible experience in many ways, even just in terms of learning about how to make a financially-profitable tour. But then, just making all the connections with all the different local scenes around the country was huge. It was right after they got hooked up with SST Records. It was really interesting to see how they were running their label and getting everything going.

Getting back to your question, it’s challenging to know how to advise somebody to be a producer these days. One of the things I’ve seen over the years as the labels have downsized and we’ve felt the effects of illegal file sharing is that what was once a very lucrative career has become less lucrative in some ways. In some instances, people are paying one-tenth of what they used to pay for the same kind of content creation. I think a different model is developing now. And I think there will eventually be a way of monetizing music in a better way.

Musician Coaching:

I wanted to ask you a little bit about what you think bands should be doing before starting to work with a producer. Are there specific elements they should have planned out in advance? And then, also, what should they be looking for when they are trying to find a producer that’s a good fit?

LG:

The first part of your question about what they should do is very important. And I know it sounds obvious, but I think a band needs to make a demo of a song that includes the lyrics and the music. That sounds so obvious. But I had a situation with a major label band where they wanted me to book studio time, and they didn’t have any lyrics or melodies written for their music. And I refused to do it, even though it was a big gig.

In my opinion, about 90% of people don’t write well in the studio. So, #1, have a demo of your song that includes the lyrics and melodies. You can always change things later. And now you have tools like GarageBand. The sonic palate you get with that is unbelievable. There’s no excuse for not having a good demo. Some bands have come to me with very elaborate GarageBand demos. And sometimes, it’s difficult to recapture some of the things they’ve done on there, and I end up using them straight out of GarageBand. I bought Logic Audio and trained myself how to use it – not that I would ever really use it in production, but just to extract some of the really cool stuff people were doing on their demos.

The second part of our question about choosing a producer – obviously, you want to go with their track record. If you like the way their records sound, that’s one thing. But the other thing is, I think there are different styles. There are some people who really like to get into the nuts and bolts of the song, take it apart and really be a very active presence in the content creation process. Then there are other people who just sit back and put the right people in the room, make it a party, have fun and have things get done that way.

A band doesn’t always necessarily know what’s best for them. But they usually know whether they’re going to let somebody into that inner circle and be a part of that creative process or whether they really don’t want that. I think that’s one of the big questions you have to ask as a band. And then you have to ask around. It’s pretty easy, because bands talk amongst each other. I think it’s pretty easy to find someone who’s worked with a specific producer you’re thinking of. And it’s easy to ask them what it was like, whether they enjoyed it, etc.

Sometimes there’s a little bit of tough love involved. Artists don’t necessarily want to be told that what they’re doing just isn’t cutting it. So, as a producer you have to deliver that message. And it may not resonate too well with certain egos, but it happens. It’s a difficult thing to manage as a producer.

There are a lot of factors that go into choosing a producer. Not everyone can afford the A-list. And some people might be surprised at their involvement in the project. Sometimes the band ends up working more with their team.

Musician Coaching:

Well, and I’ve been told that if you make a record with Rick Rubin, you meet him once or twice and spend days and days with the engineer. That’s probably not that uncommon with some of the bigger names.

LG:

I agree. And I guess they’re doing it more as an executive producer than a hands-on guy. I never really could do that, and I think the people I’ve worked with have enjoyed the contribution I’ve made to their material and their music.

Musician Coaching:

You’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of bands and artists. Of the ones who made it vs. the ones who didn’t, was there a specific type of personality or a work ethic they all shared? Is success a random spattering of luck, or are there some common traits?

LG:

I think there’s a very large element of randomness to it. Some of the people who were least prepared for the studio in advance ended up having some of the most successful records. The Goo Goo Dolls is one example of that. On the record I did, they had demoed a few songs, but very few of them were finished melodically and lyrically. And that’s one of the most successful records I’ve done.

I don’t really think you can see any personality traits or work ethic that’s a recipe for success. A lot of it has more to do with somehow identifying with this elusive idea of just being able to write a musical phrase or melodic phrase that really sticks in people’s heads. It’s funny, because I’ve had this conversation hundreds of times with bands: “You wrote this great verse of a song here, and it’s building up to a chorus. And now you have a chorus that is lyrically so complicated that no one could ever possibly remember it or walk around singing it. How do you expect this song to be successful?” I think there’s an element of simplicity that has to be there.

Unfortunately, it gets carried too far, and people dumb things down a lot. I’ve always tried to work with people who want to make the music in a clever way, understanding the constraints of the medium and understanding that you have to play the game a little bit; you have to have a repeatable chorus if you want people to remember the song. But you don’t always have to structure it “verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eight, double chorus.” There are ways to structure a song that can make it very unconventional, but still memorable.

To learn more about Lou Giordano and the work he’s done throughout his 30-year career, you can visit him on LinkedIn.