Dream Big: How To Succeed In Today’s Volatile Music Biz

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Should I sell it on iTunes, CDBaby or Spotify? What sort of cut will I get?

Mike King: Yes, absolutely. There are folks that only buy music on iTunes, and are not interested in buying from an artist directly … In terms of the cut, every service is different. iTunes takes 30 percent, and if you use CD Baby as a distributor, they are going to take a 9 percent fee, too. So for a $.99 cent sale on iTunes, an artist would see about $.63 if they were using CD Baby. [ I guess he’s comparing and contrasting a track sale on both sites, for artists who are going to use only one] TuneCore takes no fee on sales, but has an annual fee for distribution. I consider Spotify now as more of a way for folks to discover music, not unlike radio, and I think that artists have to be there.

Jonny Corndawg: CDBaby is cool. They got my first record on iTunes when there was no way I could have done it myself. I think it’s necessary to get it out, everywhere.

I used to go to Wal-Mart and stash my CDs in the country section. I really like the idea of people trying to buy my record and it not being in the database. I’m sure Wal-Mart just threw them away but who knows? Maybe someone wanted it and stole it? I hope so.

What if only ten people buy it? Will I still get digital royalties via SoundExchange? How do I protect my recordings?

Marie Farrar Knowles, vice president of communications at SoundExchange: You’d be amazed how many listeners may hear your song in a single day through the digital services from which SoundExchange collects. It could be 10 or 10,000. One of the most important things you can do to protect your recordings is to include all the relevant metadata on your tracks, so we can be sure all those little micro-payments can get matched up to your repertoire. You wouldn’t believe how much money [SoundExchange has] set aside for “Label Unavailable” and “Unknown Artist.” While we often joke that you don’t join a rock band to have great metadata, having good metadata is probably one of the most important things you can do to ensure that you get paid for your work.

Kendel Ratley: Ten people isn’t nothing! Whether they’re fans of yours or simply into music discovery, they made an effort to find you and saw value in what you created. Focus your efforts on seeking out those ten people and developing a relationship with them.

Jonny Corndawg: Who cares? Just make a damn record and don’t worry about the money. Seriously. Get to work.

Next, how do I get people in the industry to hear it, so I can get a record deal or have it placed in a commercial?

Jacob Jones: First, ask yourself if a record deal is the best thing for you at this point … The smartest thing you can do is manage yourself well, keep track of all your numbers, keep records of your tours and merch sales, and know the big picture of how many fans you have and where they live. A label will want to know as much information about you and your career that you can provide, so being business-minded from the beginning gives you a huge leg up. This is actually one of the main focus points of Artist Growth. Typically (I speak from experience) artists hate this part, so we made it simple. While a band using Artist Growth plans their tours and travels, the system does all the back end work at the same time. All you have to do is go on tour, meet your fans, and come home and hit “print” before you enter a meeting.

Mike King: For the most part, a label is not going to care about you unless you have leverage – unless they see that you have a base of fans that you can leverage to sell your music. Things are much harder for labels now, and while I think some labels can be great for artists, I think that artists should really consider building up their own base, hopefully with a smart in-house team … I think Karmin is a good example. [The band and their manager] focused on creating great content on YouTube for years. They slowly built their base through some really great cover songs, and then did a cover of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now,” which exploded with more than 30 million views on YouTube in a couple months. They got on the Ellen show, they were featured on Ryan Seacrest’s show, and built up a huge following on Twitter, Facebook, and via e-mail. This is leverage. The labels saw this, and Karmin had deals with all of the majors on the table in the course of a few weeks. They ended up signing to LA Reid’s Epic sub-label on Sony.

Tim Putnam: To get placed in commercials, check out some of the sites that do sync licensing like JinglePunks. Publishers also help out a ton in this area, so building those professional relationships will help as well.

Jonny Corndawg: I suggest marrying into money. Beats me, just don’t give up maybe? I’ve been touring pretty much nonstop for eight years and only in the last two has anyone paid any attention.

Traci Thomas: Touring is the key to breaking any new artist. If you’re out there and touring and getting attention, the industry will pay attention.

The response has been great but I haven’t been signed or picked up for a commercial – what’s my next move? Tour? Hire PR?

Tim Putnam: If you’re getting a great response and can sell directly to your fan base, do you need to be signed? Keep going through the cycle, building your fan base and offering high quality and creative products … Keep an eye out for opportunities [but] realize that you don’t need a windfall moment to be able to offer fans something amazing. You can do it now and with every release you offer. Everything you create has value.

Jacob Jones: Hiring PR never hurts, but most beginning artists simply cannot afford it. If this is the case, I would recommend learning as much about PR that you can. Learn what a press release is and when to send it. Learn how to talk to radio or press folks, learn the best ways to get your music in the hands of these people and venues you are seeking without getting lost in the massive amount of submissions they get. Do your research … All of this is in Artist Growth and there is a reason for that. We are all artists and we learned this the hard way. When the opportunity comes to have someone else work with you, they will love the fact that you are able and willing to get out there and get it done.

Kendel Ratley: The importance of live performances and establishing a following in a town outside your own – whether it’s three people or 300 – cannot be overstated. If you can’t afford to tour or your day job doesn’t offer vacation, create live experiences online: invite your local fans to a backyard show or your friend’s garage, set up a camera and stream it live.

Jonny Corndawg: Tour, hire PR, tour, tour, tour, tour … Get out there!

Traci Thomas: Keep touring. If touring is going well and no labels have come a-calling find some other means of distribution and hire a publicist and radio promoter.

 

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