Posts Tagged ‘music consultant’

David Rose from Knowthemusicbiz.com was kind enough to let me republish the article below that I wrote for him a while back.  If you haven’t already please check out his site.  I will have more new interviews and articles starting up again next week.

I was once told a story about Bill Murray and Hunter S. Thompson.  I can’t verify the specifics of the story but I suppose for the purposes of this article it doesn’t much matter.  During the production of the 1980 Film “Where the Buffalo Roam”, in which Murray was to play a young Hunter Thompson, he met Hunter poolside so he could get a good idea of what the famously eccentric writer was really like.  In response to the question “What is it like to be you?” Thompson tied Murray up to a deckchair and threw him in the pool.

Such is the position of most artists in the music business – floundering in the water and trying their damndest not to drown in spite of overwhelming circumstances.

I run a music business consultancy which is what this blog helps me promote – not that I don’t enjoy content creation.  This business was something I put together after having been a musician on and off for twenty years and having done A&R at Major labels for almost a decade.  As a result of actively promoting this business I get contacted by several strangers every day who are looking to make it in the music industry.  It never ceases to amaze me that in this day and age with all of the tools now available to artists that people are still looking for that one person, that one opportunity or a chance encounter that is going to propel them to superstardom.  That’s not to say that I mind being contacted – far from it!  It’s just that the type of questions I get can be really disturbing.  “Can you get me a record deal?” or  “Hey – I just need a manager and I’m going to make millions!  You need to introduce me to great managers.”

Really?  Last I checked it was 2010.

Chances are if you are reading this – it doesn’t apply to you but from what I have seen this is still the prevailing mindset of many aspiring artists.  I believe those with this mindset won’t make it – period.

In my opinion if you are going to make a living making music – let alone “making it”- you have to own the following:

·         There is no help coming for you

·         The age of the “big break” is all but over.

·         The one person who will help your career more than anyone is you.

Harsh? Yes.  Hopeless?  Not at all.

Let this empower you.  You no longer need to spend a great deal of time chasing management, booking agents or labels.   I am not suggesting that any of these types of strategic partners aren’t helpful but I do find that many artists seek to engage partners far too early in the trajectory of their careers.  Before you seek out someone to partner with you ask yourself the following questions:

·         Have you played out locally on a regular basis for at least six months?

·         Do you have a corporate entity and an intra-band agreement?

·          Have you trademarked your name?

·         Are you registered with a Performance Royalties Organization? (ASCAP, BMI, SEASAC)

·         Do you have a professional looking website for your project and a presence on social networks?

·         Have you made “no apology” recordings of your songs that you think are representative of your ability?

·         Do you have a bio on your musical career that doesn’t peak when you were eight years old and taking piano lessons?

·         Do you maintain an ongoing online and offline positive relationship with a large group of people you could call fans without feeling funny about it or including your parents and extended family?

If you answered no then your business is not yet off the ground.  You don’t yet have a viable and fully formed product.  In any business it is very difficult to get an investment for a blueprint concept or an idea.  Getting funding for a start up business becomes much easier the more time and effort (and money) the entrepreneur puts into it.  You have to remember that seeking out management, agents or labels is asking someone to invest in you.  It might not be financial investment but the amount of time a partner like this would need to devote to developing an artist’s career is usually a full time job.  What do you bring to the table other than your talent?

It’s true – people who interact with artists a great deal are often jaded (Yes, me too.  Couldn’t you tell?)  The failure rate in music and the arts in general is astounding.  If you really want to get the attention of competent and experienced handlers you have to be the one to get your career moving on your own.  If you make enough noise long enough people will find you.  Overnight successes that are examined closely are very rarely (as in go by lotto tickets instead) a case of someone being struck by the thunderbolt of fame whilst daydreaming and smoking dope in the parent’s basement.

What’s the good news?  There are now plenty of sites that provide information and insight and dozens of tools to help you get your music heard for low or no cost.  This makes it harder to rise above all of the noise (because everyone with a mic can be a singer in this day and age) but it is still a viable way to start.

Go find other artists and build a community.  Relationships with your peers when starting out are usually more valuable than industry relationships.  If you are able to surround yourself with several developing artists who are in your situation and perhaps even endear yourself to people who have put in a bit more legwork than you this will help a great deal.  Being able to market yourself to the fans of similar acts is almost the whole name of the game in the beginning so along those lines – go make friends!

Long story short (too late?) – before you spend time and effort chasing big league help, make sure you have maxed out your ability to do everything within your reach to convert strangers to friends, friends to fans and fans to fans who will actually purchase your products.  If you do that long enough and well enough even in a small town – industry will find you.

Good luck out there…

I recently spoke with Josh Lamstein, a Managing Director of GF Capital. GF Capital a private equity fund focused on investments in media and branded consumer products. I know this seems like an odd interview for a music industry blog but I am often making the comparison of a band or an artist as a start up company and a record label or a publisher as a private equity fund or a venture capitalist. I am hopeful that gaining an understanding from Josh about how he and his fund select start up companies will help us understand how important self starting and building one’s own business is for an artist. For all intents and purposes Josh functions like an A&R person who is looking to invest in companies rather than artists.

Musician Coaching:
Josh thanks as always for your time. If you would, tell me in your own words what your job is about.

Josh:
My job is to evaluate businesses and industries and to figure out which industries that we want to invest in and within those industries which companies are the most exciting. In practical terms that means doing research on growth rates within an industry, finding out who the entrenched players are within an industry and determining where there might be gaps in their own strategies that could be exploited by smaller companies as GF tends to invest in smaller companies.

Musician Coaching:
Define what a smaller company is in your eyes?

Josh:
We tend to invest in companies that are 15-50 million dollars of annual revenue and 3-15 million dollars of EBITDA. For media / content oriented companies we focus on Intellectual property (music, video software etc).

Musician Coaching:
Now forgive me because as you know I’m not the guy who brings the macaroni to the Mensa meetings; would you say it’s an apt comparison that your function at GF is similar to that of an A&R executive at a record label or publisher except that you are looking for corporations rather than talent to invest in?

Josh:
Yes, that’s accurate.

Musician Coaching:
So in layman’s terms, in deference to myself not in deference to the reader, what is it about a corporation or a corporation’s financial health that gets your attention as a possible investment?

Josh:
Taking a step back- the most important thing, and this is really what our job is, is to assess the management team. So in the parlance of what you are comparing this to our job is assessing the people in the band themselves.

Musician Coaching:
I would guess this would also apply to a band’s employees or band manager or booking agent if we were to continue this analogy further…

Josh:
Absolutely. Companies are organisms and you need to ensure that the people who are directing this organism are the kind of people who are willing to accept defeat yet keep on going until they find the path to a successful outcome. So we look for…

Musician Coaching:
People with that kind of track record?

Josh:
People who are willing to eat glass if that’s what it would take to become successful. People who are really driven towards success and excellence in what they do…
So… What we look for in companies in the media industry is a margin profile that is very attractive. Meaning a company of interest to us has gross margins (profit per unit before expenses, overhead etc) that tend to be very high. If the gross margins aren’t high – we want to dig in and understand a bit about why that may be. Then we look underneath that to see if the management of the corporation paying themselves a great deal of money. Are these people driving the success of the business; does that success tie in to their equity value as opposed to their compensation? It is a question of if they are managing in a lean way.

Musician Coaching:
So how much a company would re-invest in its growth would be important to you.

Josh:
Yes, we tend to look for people who are focused on the long term as opposed to clipping the coupons so to speak.

Musician Coaching:
Tell me about your thoughts about the music business in general right now. You are clearly looking at music and media companies to invest in. Do you see anything (without divulging sensitive information) that you like or models that you think are working right now?

Josh:
We are interested in a variety of areas. The publishing arena is an area we are interested in and is a good private equity business. Number one, you own the Intellectual property. Two- we don’t have to make tremendous bets on the outcome given that the types of publishing libraries we are looking at, libraries that have a historical track record.

Musician Coaching:
I am going to switch gears for a moment. I know doing what you do people come to you as really new start up companies because you know your way around finance. As I’ve mentioned to you in the past I think most artists and bands are in that situation of being a brand new start up company. Given that, is there any general entrepreneurial advice you could give to bands / artists who in most cases is borrowing or investing their own money to make a product in a high risk business like music? Are there things you have seen that you would have people steer clear of?

Josh:
In the pure corporate world – the longer you are able to go without taking on a venture capitalist the better it is for your company. A venture capitalist tends to have a very different type of incentive. The VC is really looking for a home run and will run the business as hard as they can to get that home run.

Musician Coaching:
I would guess everyone is looking for a home run – is this a matter of timing does a venture capitalist need this home run by a certain deadline or…

Josh:
So it tends to be the case that there are many businesses without Venture capital they would perform in a solid if unspectacular way and that’s not appealing to a venture capitalist.

Musician Coaching:
Continuing the baseball analogy is it the difference between reliably making base hits or going for a home run and very possibly striking out? Meaning a venture capitalist will bet more and more risky in many cases than a company would if self funded?

Josh:
Yes, the venture capitalist portfolio will typically have something on the order of 15-20 companies. Of those 1-2 will be home runs in a good portfolio. The rest will be either complete wipe outs or marginal successes.

Musician Coaching:
So basically a small number of large successes will cover for a lot of misses. That sounds just like a major label.

Another question – is it so that the earlier in a company’s growth cycle that they partner with an investor, the more of a stake that investor is able to take?

Josh:
That’s correct. In a company you are giving up ownership for an artist I’m not sure how exactly it would translate.

Musician Coaching:
For an artist it could be relinquishing some publishing rights or just a split or percentage with a strategic partner that would be considerably less than if they were able to build their business more on their own. You have nothing to bargain with if you haven’t demonstrated your viability. Josh thanks again for your time.

Or is it great managers make great bands?  Chicken and the egg I suppose.

As some of you recall I interviewed Emily White of Whitesmith Entertainment about music and management not too long ago. She had just started working with a group called Family of the Year. Granted Emily is a gifted manager and got the band in front of the right people but I thought it would be interesting for everyone to see the progress they have made in the last few weeks. They are doing some interesting things to tie in show attendance with their new release and some cool promotion ideas.  I won’t tell if you decide to steal these ideas.

I suppose it might seem odd to interview a band that hasn’t made it but when I speak to people who have followings they tend to speak more about maintenance than building…

From Emily @ Whitesmith:

The band is releasing their debut EP, Where’s The Sun on their brand new imprint, Washashore, which will be available exclusively by donation on 9/22 at FamilyOfTheYear.Net and up on itunes/amazon via Tunecore, shortly after:

People who show up at the 9/16 Knitting Factory (LA) show will get an advance DL code for free (7:30 set time, fyi). The band also plays The Knitting Factory on 9/27.

After interest from various agents after playing only TWO shows, the band signed with Steve Ferguson at Paradigm on Wednesday. Steve immediately locked a support slot at The Troubadour (10/12) and The Great American Music Hall in San Fran (supporting World/Inferno Friendship Society) and is working on an East coast tour around CMJ.

The band will be playing the Whitesmith Entertainment/Indaba Music showcase at The Living Room at CMJ on 10.21 and Whitesmith/CASH Music party at Crash Mansion on 10.20.

To help fund the trip for CMJ, the band is doing an “Old-School Twitter” promotion. Next week, we are launching the EP promo page that will also allow fans to buy a postcard for $5.

The real postcard is a much better quality image

FOTY will send you a postcard from the road as a thank you to help fund their trip. However, before it gets popped in the mail, we will scan it and upload the various postcards online, so fans can look online where their piece of the tour story falls in the collection.

Also, we are collecting email addresses with Google Voice at shows. The band made this sign to show it off during their set.

I would like to say that this band is moving forward so quickly for three reasons:

1. They made incredible music. I say all the time “make great art.” We tend to get caught up in all of these business models, platforms, and strategies and sometimes I think both the artist and industry forget why were actually here.

2. They’ve been blessed with a team of volunteers and early supporters (not all Whitesmith) to help out with the band for the love of it. We couldn’t do it without them. But don’t over think this, it’s about 5 people total ranging from an 18 year old Boston University intern who is currently in classes and helps in his spare time.

3. The band all know their roles and are each bringing something to the table. Joe Keefe (lead vocal/guitar/piano) has his head in songwriting, that’s where it belongs. His brother Sebastian (drums/acoustic guitar/vocal) is the liaison from me to the other 5 members of the band. He makes sure everyone stays on the time line we set in place. Christina (keyboards) has a day job at a PR firm and helped to write the bio, skin the Twitter page, and runs the MS and FB page (so great when it’s genuinely the artist and not one of my peeps!). Vanessa (female lead) has been designing the EP and merch artwork as well as hooked up a film crew for their first show, who owed her dad a favor. Jamesy (electric guitar) is a sound guru and has been handling all of the mixing and mastering that we’d otherwise have to pay for, even though we self-recorded everything in their rehearsal space). And newest member Brent (bass) is a web designer. They are like trivial pursuit pieces of pie that all fit together perfectly. I am honored to work with Family Of The Year.

—————

The band also quickly wrote a song based on a Twitter trending topic (yesterday) RT @FamilyOfTheYear exclusive song for today’s trending topic: “When We Were Little”
#wheniwaslittle

I am sitting at the edge of the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon trying to fill it in. That’s what marketing and self-promotion can feel like in the digital age or at least, that’s the way it feels to me.

I walked into a cavernous Barnes and Noble last night. They just opened another location by me on East 86th street in New York. I can’t begin to describe how big it is. I’ve lived in Manhattan my entire adult life so I do a double take when I see wasted space- but this? This place is ridiculous. It completely freaked me out. I felt a primal fear that I haven’t felt since Sylvia Rhone (former CEO of Elektra) used to scream at me but that’s a whole other blog post. I’ve spent considerably more time than I originally thought I would writing and creating content for this website and to realize that this one store contained a million or more books and these were just the books that were deemed the best by major publishers meaning the total volume of writing out there is… staggering.

What could I possibly have to offer that wasn’t already written somewhere?

It made me think about the quality of what I write and the quality of my coaching.  You really have to be exceptional to make it these days.  It reminded me of a conversation I had with my friend Mark Hermann recently about “just because you can – should you?”

We were talking about music and how there were no more barriers to entry and how on the one hand – what a wonderful freedom! On the other hand – how can we hear any one thing if we are in a stadium full of people screaming and demanding to be heard? Would we know if one of these voices was the next Beatles? Probably not. I love that image and wish I could claim it as my own but it belongs to Mark and I think he’s right on. One of the larger music management companies in New York has a sign on the door that reads “It’s about the music, stupid.” I think we are very quick to forget that these days.

I have been consulting and coaching artists informally for years but have only really begun Musician Coaching as a business in the last month which is when this site went live. I help people make sure they are in all of the right places online and to make sure that their website accomplishes what it needs to accomplish. I help people by providing a critique of their audio and video materials and their marketing efforts, their live show and the way they approach the people who sit behind one of the many desks where dreams go to die that stand between them and opportunity.

Sometimes I need to spend more time telling people to continue to develop their product and how best to do that because it can be worth the wait. The Beatles wrote a hundred songs before you ever heard note one of their first record and had played covers for several years. R.E.M played pizza joints in Athens Georgia in complete obscurity for a long time. Peter Frampton toured non-stop for three years before recording Frampton comes alive.

I can wake up tomorrow, write and record a song and have it up on MySpace tomorrow but should I? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with doing so but I do think if you are just starting out you should have realistic expectations of your abilities and the level at which you expect people to respond.

Why doesn’t anyone care anymore? It is simply because there is too much mediocrity out there. I say this often “There is no one in the audience because everyone is on the stage.” Cheap recording gear and low or no cost international distribution are now tools that are in everyone’s hands. The music business is no longer an exclusive club – if you’ve got an Internet connection and a mic in jack you can now be considered a member.

“It’s about the music, stupid.” It’s a great reminder. All I am suggesting is write 100 songs and put the best one of those 100 out for people to hear. I am suggesting that if you have to cut your teeth playing live and are struggling making it solo- try to do it as a sideman or a hired gun. 99% of the “overnight success” stories you hear involve someone working their ass off behind the scenes for a long long time before they broke. If you want a good read- check out the Hendrix book “Room Full of mirrors” – Jimmy played 2nd fiddle to a ton of people before going out on his own.

In America there seems to be this feeling that everyone gets their 15 minutes or worse yet- everyone deserves their 15 minutes. We have been sold this vision that at any moment fame and wealth may strike without working for it. There is something tattooed on the back of our brains that somewhere out there Ed McMahon is looking for each and every one of us with an over-sized check and that the rest of our lives will be taken care of from that moment on… I’m all for the Lotto slogan “Hey, you never know” but I’m sure as hell not depending on it.

What is my point? My point is, and I don’t exclude myself, we have to spend less time on marketing and more time making sure we have products that are worth marketing. There is more music out there than ever before- everyone you know is a “musician” or at least a hobbyist and consumers are very jaded. Before shotgunning your product out there and whipping your fans into a frenzy about your new release you had better make damn sure that you have a product that is not only competitive but stronger than most of the stuff you see and hear or it’s over before it starts.

Below are some examples that were sent to major label A&R people recently. How much time and effort would have been saved if these people got feedback from anyone, even their friends and family before putting this out into the world? These are extreme examples but if you wonder why music business people are jaded…take a listen.

Work More on your craft#1

Work More on your craft#2

For those that don’t know Andrew W.K. is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, performer, inspirational speaker, TV host and more recently a club owner. He is probably best known for his single “Party Hard” off of the Album “I get Wet” which was released in 2001 on Island Def Jam. What many people don’t know is in spite of the single “party hard” which became a drinking anthem, there is an enormous amount of depth to Andrew as a performer and a person.

The only comparison I can make is what happened to the Beastie Boys after releasing “fight for your right to party” and the world wrote them off as a one trick pony before they were rediscovered by the public at large as artists of real depth. The difference between the two career paths was that the Beastie Boys released “check your head” with the help of huge corporations in an era when there was still a clear mechanism to break artists. Andrew is out there converting people fan by fan in a new world.  He has been great and finding alternative ways of promoting himself on TV, through speaking engagements and through collaborations with other talented musicians. I learned that Andrew has a very different strategy than most artists…

Musician Coaching:
Andrew thanks for taking the time to speak with me. First of all, you have a record coming out very soon?

AWK:
Yes, that’s correct on Tuesday, September 8th.

Musician Coaching:
Tell me about how you built your following and were first noticed by Island / Def Jam in the mid to late 90s. Obviously people found you to be talented but there must have been a great deal of self promotion involved. Tell me about that…

AWK:
I was fortunate enough to meet several people in New York who were willing to help pass my music out and one of these guys was a man named Spencer Sweeney who I now work on the nightclub with. He helped me get my first few shows in New York and was extremely friendly and outgoing and through him I met his cousin Matt Sweeney who became my first manager that had real connections and vision and experience. It was exciting because just starting out there was nowhere to go but up. Matt got the music to Gary Hellsinger at Universal publishing who I am still working with and Gary signed me and Matt also passed the music to Lewis Largent who had just left MTV for Island / Def Jam and Lewis signed me there. Through Matt Sweeney in the course of about two months it all got going.

I don’t know if this would work for everybody but for my personal experience – I never shopped around and I haven’t really done that in general. I have had more of a faith… When an opportunity came to me I just said yes. A lot of people told me to get second opinions or that I should try to start a bidding war, back when that was more common, or I should try to not make friends with these people and not just go with the first person who wants to work with you.

All of that makes sense in theory. I do agree with that idea of getting a diverse range of opportunities to choose from but with my career for some reason I was just so excited about doing things and moving forward that taking time to decide what to do or which one to choose didn’t appeal to me and still doesn’t. I would rather be actively working and making something than deciding what to make or with whom to make it. Somehow the inertia of doing that makes opportunities come to you in a very natural way. This way you don’t have to be wary of opportunities- you can decide that these opportunities wouldn’t have presented themselves if they weren’t meant to be. That’s not to say I do every single thing but I’d say I do 90% of the opportunities that I am presented with…

When I first started playing with my band, I hadn’t even met them. I trusted a drummer who I had written a letter to, having never met him, and asked him to be in my band. He agreed and formed the rest of my band. Part of me realized it was kind of crazy to put together a band with people I didn’t know but there was something driving that whole era when I was first starting that just took away that kind of worry if this was the right choice. You can always wonder if it was right choice but I’m extremely grateful that these people came into my life and that I took these opportunities when they came up and I didn’t second guess them and I didn’t listen to other people who told me not to do them. A lot of the time I just did the opposite of what people told me to do.

Musician Coaching:
If you were starting over today, given that the world communicates completely differently than when you were first starting out, what do you think you would be doing differently with all of the online tools available or what are you doing differently now? How are you keeping in touch with fans? Can you tell us some things that have worked and maybe some things that didn’t work?

AWK:
I was fortunate enough like a lot of people my age to be able to come up when there weren’t computers like there are now but young enough to appreciate them when they did come around and that’s a unique position to be in. Some of my friends who are maybe ten or so years older the computer is still newer to them and the people ten years younger than me didn’t really experience a time when there weren’t computers or at least they had a lot more time with them. I’ve always really believed in the computer as a tool and a creative instrument as much as a paintbrush is a creative instrument or a guitar is a creative instrument but on a much more powerful level. I enjoy the ways a computer can help an artist to make material, to distribute material and to interact with people about their material.

At first it was kind of strange because it (the online experience) didn’t seem to exist in a real way but the feelings that can be had do exist and the experiences DO exist. So even if it is not a physical copy of a CD or a physical location outside of a computer screen the sensations that I was experiencing and am experiencing and other people are experiencing- those are real. You can listen to a song on Vinyl or over the Internet and sure there are variations in sound quality and texture and color but if the melody of a song moves you it is going to move you either way. I guess I am a big believer in the computer as a way to expand humanity.

Musician Coaching:
What specifically are you doing to engage your fans. I noticed that you are really good at getting back to everybody. Is that what you feel your responsibility is to your fans or…tell me more about what you are doing online.

AWK:
Part of what Andrew W.K. is about is being available and accessible and present and around. It’s a friendly experience. There are all kinds of performers for whom it makes sense to not be as available and I respect that as well. My interactions are more about celebration and friendship and that really lends itself well to the Internet. The Internet is a social phenomenon in so many ways and things like MySpace and Twitter are just perfect. Before those things were really up and running as they are now I was using my website to answer questions from fans and doing everything I could to make it seem like we were in it together. If that works for a band I think it’s great but it doesn’t make sense for every artist. If it does work though, boy, it’s really powerful.

Musician Coaching:
Could you tell me, having been on both sides of the label fence, the pros and cons of being on a label vs. being on your own? What are some of the struggles on either side?

AWK:
Well I really like working with people. Working with anyone is great whether it a band member, a friend or a large record label or a large group of people working together. I was warned that I shouldn’t be friends with the people I worked with, I should keep it on a business level but from my experience when you are working with someone everyday on something you are going to become friends no matter what unless you really don’t get along and in that case you probably shouldn’t be working together anyway. It makes it a lot more fun when it feels like you are part of a team. Ultimately you are all going after the same result and that is a very thrilling and satisfying life experience to have- I hope everybody gets to have that feeling even if it is a sports team. I really like working worth labels but I really like working on my own too.

Musician Coaching:
Speaking of teamwork, let’s talk a bit about your manager Pete who I like and admire a great deal. I notice that you guys have a very different dynamic than most artists and managers – he seems to be more of a peer and collaborator on your music, your marketing and your image than a traditional manager. Would you say that this is unique to both of you or that this is something that this type of relationship is becoming more prevalent in the music business?

AWK:
From my experience not having seen more working relationships there are all types of managers just like there are all different types of record producers. There are record producers who come in and don’t play any music know nothing about music but comes in and says “this sounds good” or “that doesn’t sound good” to me and then there are the kind of producers who can play every instrument on the album and co-write the songs with the musicians. Much like that there are managers who check in on their artists and say “having fun? Okay good, I’ll see you later” it’s almost like they are just there and then there are managers who can really craft the entire idea of what the performer is going to do. They can be so creative that they are almost the artists themselves.

What motivated me to work with Pete was that he looked at Andrew W.K. as entertainment not music and that was the feeling I was having at that time. I didn’t want to just play music- I wanted to be in show business. Pete has helped me learn that there is a difference between someone who is a musician and someone who is an entertainer. Learning that I wanted to be an entertainer was extremely liberating. On the one hand I got this sense of freedom and possibility because I realized I could do anything because so much falls in the realm of entertainment. On the other hand there was a great focus because allowed everything to be very broad but gave me a sense of purpose that I had not previously had.

Musician Coaching:
I recently read that you have just started a label.

AWK:
Yes, I wanted to have the ability to work with other people on music and have a place to release it. I had been working with others and producing other artists and that’s what started the idea of having a label. I am very fortunate to be partnered with Cargo records for manufacturing and distribution. My new record will be coming out on this label as well.

Musician Coaching:
W would you say it is that you do differently that has made you successful? How are you able to open so many doors in TV and press? Is it just that you are easily bored and always seeking out new and interesting (press worthy)? Also how do you manage all of your varied projects – do you find that they help or hinder your music?

AWK:
It does seem that I am busier than ever but the varied projects I do seem to tie in to one another and feed each other. It takes away the feelings of anxiety that I am doing too much. Because of the fact that I enjoy all of the things I am doing and because they all do relate in terms of entertainment. It comes back to the inertia I spoke of earlier that makes it not so overwhelming. I am always trying to broaden myself even if it can feel like contradicting myself and sometimes it can be painful. It can feel like going against some kind of personal integrity. At times we can mistake something for integrity that is actually a fear or a self imposed limitation. So I try to do things that can be very scary and every time I’ve done it- it has opened up new opportunities.

It also helps to be nice. If you are easy to work with… That is probably the number one reason I am still working today.

Musician Coaching:

Well, I always liked you.

——————
Follow Andrew on Twitter

Check out his new record

I recently sat down with my friend Ron Bienstock of Bienstock & Michael, P.C. to talk about getting a music business off of the ground from a legal point of view.  Ron is a very experienced entertainment lawyer who has worked with Billy Joel, Simple Plan, Dream Theater, the Goo Goo dolls and numerous instrument and music equipment manufacturers.  Ron is also one of the more talented bass players I have ever met and still plays out regularly.

Musician Coaching:

So Ron, I wanted to ask you what the most important things for a band to do to set up their business from a legal perspective.  Is it registering their songs?  Is it registering with a Performance Royalties organization like ASCAP or BMI?  What is it that artists should be doing to make sure their businesses are in order from a legal standpoint?

Ron:

I think I may have a different perspective on this than others but I think that the most important thing is the name.  Obviously, if it is a band’s name that we are discussing it is a different issue than a surname.  If you are “Matt Schneckman” there may not be a whole lot of Matt Schneckman’s competing with you.  If however you are “the righteous dudes” you may not be able to use that name and the value and goodwill you create in the name is everything that you are in the marketplace.  Try to pick a name that you can own, exploit and remember.  There have been some very interesting names that are seven and eight words long that might not be the easiest to remember.

Musician Coaching:

How do you go about ensuring that you can get rights to a name?

Ron:

Trademark searches by a professional, most likely a law firm.  I hope people wouldn’t use any of the online services.  They tend not to have lawyers working there.  There is usually a gal named Sue who you call who says “that’s cool” but that’s not always going to be a real search.  You need to make sure the name is clear in a particular classification- it is kind of sophisticated now.  Most of the artists I deal with aren’t really clear about what the international classes mean.  Most bands I would say would want to clear a name in International class 41 which is live entertainment services.

Musician Coaching:

What should that trademark search and clearance cost?

Ron:

It shouldn’t be more than $500-$600 and it should come with a written report to back that up, hopefully written by an attorney.  An attorney will give you advice as to whether the name is open and the second that it is clear you should apply for the trademark.  If you are doing it on your own it will cost you no less than $325 because that is the fee that the government charges.  Try to use the law firm that did the search (if you like them) because they will be familiar with your application process.  So making sure the name is usable and secure would be my first piece of advice…

Another important tip – No you can’t send an undershirt to yourself in the mail with your band name printed on it in Sharpie and say that it is poor man’s trademark, that does not exist…  This is a common discussion I have.

Musician Coaching:

(I say nothing but distinctly remember trying this trick with my band demos at age 19.  I then find myself wondering how Ron went from an earlier conversation about the throw on one of his bass cabinets, to how his swimming was the weakest part of his Triathlon to the current conversation about music law so seamlessly.  It all added up to me thinking that if there are lots of people out there as smart and multi-talented as Ron that perhaps I should be somewhere with a name tag and a paper hat helping people from behind a shiny glass counter, struggling to fetch them their desired items and failing to give them correct change)

Ron:

There is no such thing as poor man’s trademark.  There is no such thing as poor man’s anything.  There’s just uninformed person’s something…

Musician Coaching:

(Maybe they will eventually let me play with the French fry machine at my new gig)

Ron:

Another big issue is not, surprisingly, the registration of your copyrights.  I think most Americans are fascinated by the concept of copyright infringement for all the wrong reasons.  I always say if someone very well known had access to your material (which is the key part of copyright infringement) and they produced a substantially similar composition and made money with it- it would be the greatest thing that ever happened to you but these are uncommon events.

Most people don’t know that their work is already copy written when it is in fixed form under our copyright act.  So again, the sending of the disc to yourself in the mail is…

Musician Coaching:

A waste of postage.

Ron:

Yes.  So, my second issue is what entity will you be if you are group?

I don’t care what genre you are in which is another common mistake actually.  People often say something like “Oh, we are a country band so it’s not the same as being a rock band.”  My response is always that sarcastic “Really?”

Musician Coaching:

It is the same in terms of a trademark I take it…

Ron:

It is in terms of your trademark and in terms of your corporate structure…  I don’t care what the genre is.  It doesn’t matter if you are death metal klezmer.  You are performing, you are earning and you will have taxes.  You don’t want to be a sole proprietorship and you don’t want to be individuals because then you are a partnership by default.   But you do really want to establish an entity because the entity will own the trademark.

Musician Coaching:

So what entity do you recommend for a band?

Ron:

Well, because of the state of tax issues in many states we are leaning towards LLC almost all the time.  However with an LLC you need an operating agreement.  So an LLC costs you a bit more.  Some states will require you to pay for the publication of the LLC.

Musician Coaching:

Oh, and those are pricey in New York, I did mine about a year ago.

Ron:

Yea, that can be pricey.  So contrary to the books that you may read- there is no shortcut.  So after your entity you will need your intra band agreement, the agreement amongst the band members.  Whether it’s two members or nine members (the later is when you desperately need it) it has to be established so you can understand the relationships between one another, who comes and goes and what happens…  This way I don’t get letters from the real estate attorney in Poughkeepsie who thinks it’s kind of cool that he’s in the rock world for the moment.  You can avoid all of these issues.  Keeping your band together should be a priority.

Then we can talk about copyright registration, which is fine, we can get to it and it’s not that difficult.  Anyone can do it.  It’s all online at LOC.gov You probably don’t need to have a legal expense there.

After those things are in order then you should select a performance royalty organization (ASCAP, BMI, SEASAC).  You have to register as a writer AND as a publisher.  And once all of these things (the name, the entity, the intra band agreement and affiliating with a Performance Royalties Organization) are in place you just have to organize yourself into a functioning music business entity.  From there we can talk about management and agency contracts and synchronization licenses etc but we are now ready to go.  You will have properly named and functioning publishing company, you are set up as a writer with the performance royalties organizations that will collect on your behalf…

Musician Coaching:

In your experience is there any difference between the Performance Royalties organizations?  To me it has always seemed like ASCAP and BMI were like Coke and Pepsi while SEASAC was more liking the refreshing taste of RC Cola and by that I mean that by pure volume BMI and ASCAP dominate the marketplace.  In your experience is there any tangible difference between them?  Is there a certain type of artist that should be on one PRO vs. another or does it come down to personal relationships…

Ron:

The differences are who you feel comfortable with.  Have you met someone there you like?  I hope they will be there for a bit… (***For those really new to music – music companies go through employees like J-Lo goes through husbands)

There are wonderful people working at all three organizations who really care.  Meet all three and decide who you like.  Yes, on sheer volume ASCAP and BMI probably have some dominant structure but there are devoted people at all three places…  Find someone you like and go with them.  If you are lucky enough that you performance royalty income is substantial you will have your choice to opt out if it doesn’t work with one and you can go to another.  In my experience, I have friends at all three and I think they all care and want to do right by people.

Musician Coaching:

When is the time to sign up for performer royalties which seems to have some up more in the digital age when is it time to go to SoundExchange and make sure you are in the phone book there so to speak.

Ron:

When my firm gets people signs people up with the PROs we do sound exchange right then and there.  We also do AARC (Aliance of Artists and Recording Companies) and anybody else, anywhere or anytime who can get a dollar for you.

Musician Coaching:

What does AARC do?

Ron:

AARC collects the blank tape and blank disc and other initiatives passed in congress over the last fifteen years.  It is a vast diminishing income stream but there are royalties out there.  There are DART (Digital Audio Recording Technology) royalties and AARC also has rental, people rent CDs and they pay various places for that rental value and that passes it’s way down to an artist as well.  I will take any income I can to support the artist.

Lastly, and I do not mean this in a self serving way but go speak to an experienced entertainment lawyer or an experienced entertainment executive who understands how the business works and make that you first stop.  Understand the income streams and how they flow.  It will be the wisest investment you will ever make.

Musician Coaching:

Are there books you would recommend?

Ron:

Books are great but my problem with books is it is almost impossible to keep current in this business, it is so difficult to be up to the minute and you have to be.  The deal I am working on today is different from the deal I was working on two weeks ago.  I will say this – just because it’s written online doesn’t mean it’s true and be wary of information from uncle Fred who had a deal with a small indie label in 1984 – his information is out of date.  And, by the way, Uncle Fred may have been wrong all along.

Careers don’t always stay up.   There are obstacles, there are down times and you have to prepare for them.  You have to know how to prepare the band for a down.  Bands want to see a high velocity upwards trajectory but that’s not going to happen all the time.

Musician Coaching:

So switching gears just quickly – you’ve been a bass player for thirty-seven years. Knowing what you know now is there anything you would do differently?

Ron:

I was very lucky in that I played with recording acts and well known acts and got to play on some great records and to some great touring back in the days when we flew mostly…(Laughs) rather than seventy-eight days straight in a van (I can’t help but notice the look on his face is more empathetic than “I’m so lucky”) While that was great what was missing for me was the opportunity to produce.  I think I would have enjoyed that.  It did not exist then.  There was no such thing as a home studio unless your home was the size of the Ponderosa.  So take advantage in every way of the home recording possibilities as a musician.  Music for Film, music for Television, music for plays, co-writes…you have an idea and your buddy is in the studio with you- write and record the song.  You could record it and master it at the end of the day and have it up on a website the next morning.  These are things that didn’t exist and they are what makes the music business exciting and wonderful now.  With all of this comes the hefty responsibility of admitting the things you can’t do.  Can you really produce yourself well?  Most musicians will not admit they can’t.

Musician Coaching:

Thanks for your time Ron…

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If you are in need of an entertainment lawyer I highly recommend you take a look at Ron Bienstock or the lawyers at his firm Bienstock & Michael.