Wednesday, I had the pleasure of hearing Rich Bengloff speak.  For those who dont know Rich, he is the President of A2IM,  The American Association of Independent Music.  Rich spoke on a number of fronts and issues important to the organization, including but not limited to increasing international trade, the power of the “Indys” in the music industry (30% of sales), capital hill advocacy and outreach, etc.  But none of the things said rang as true to me as the statement that “…just because you are independent does not mean your intellectual property is worth less.”

Think about it.

For those of us working with independents, it seems that we have been beaten down with the concept that indy music is worth less than major label music.  Why is this?  I think we have been conditioned to believe this.  Pavlov’s response to years of being told how great the “Majors” were.

For me this is personal.  I represent a group of independent labels in the licensing world and encounter this all the time.  Regardless of the project, the sentiment is always, well we are giving majors this much with “most favored nations” and because you are not a major we are giving you this much (a fraction of the other) with a “most favored nations with independents.”  How infuriating.  This not only applies to record labels, but also to the dichotomy between Masters and Publishing in the licensing world.  Some publishers have a very balanced approach to splitting licensing deals (you know who you are and I appreciate the heck out of you).  Others live under the belief that they are the ONLY place to get the publishing while there are other places to get the masters… leaving them less willing to work with the licensees.  In many cases they ARE and they are correct.  This power they wield makes total sense – competition after all brings prices down (simple economics).  But in other cases, where there may be only 1 commercial recording of the work in question they carry no more power than the master rights holder.  Finding and understanding the difference between these two scenarios proves difficult for them.

Fu¢k You, Pay Me

So how do we overcome this stigma?  What do we do about it?  Well- I think the best thing independents can do to overcome these issues and raise the value of our products is educate the consumer (licensee, concert goer, etc).  Let them know that independent music matters.  That we are more than 30% of the music market combined.  That we are the LARGEST single segment of the music market (The majors each fall under this mark).  And most of all don’t take the value of your music for granted.  You are an artist, label, publisher.  You make and sell art.  Art that carries little or no value ceases to be art in the eyes of the consumer.  Protect your art at all costs.  As Liu Yiqian, a renowned stock market and art investor said so aptly… “…art has no value until it becomes the target of capital.”

To learn more about A2IM, go to this link.  It’s worth the click…

The Red Hot Chili Pepers‘ new album, “I’m With You”  is now available for listening at iTunes .  It will be streaming free until the album’s release date.   In addition to streaming via iTunes, the Chili Peppers are also hosting a slew of streaming listening parties World-wide for interested fans.  For more information, check out their website.

It certainly would appear that RHCP has taken an agressive 360 degree marketing campaign on their upcoming release.  Between their listening parties, twitter meme, iTunes, and Livestream partnership and revamped website featuring global imaging by Google they are certainly pulling out all the stops.  As I type this I am two tracks in and so far Anthony, Flea, Chad and Josh continue to deliver that pure RHCP sound two decades after their music caught my ear initially.  Go have a listen!

I am still a new guy in the music industry. Everything I say here is my own personal opinion and has been from my experience and conversations with other industry friends. I am going to try to make this short and sweet.

Let’s break down a label.

CEO – COO – CFO – Accounting – HR
These people and departments are the inner workings of the label. Without there support and jobs the rest of the label doesn’t work and the artist does not get known.

Radio Promotion – North, East, South, West
Each artist shares a team of Radio Promotion staff that calls the radio stations DAILY. Yes, you read that right, they call the stations daily. Without going into to much detail there are 3 different types of radio airplay that promotions team have to deal with per station.

Marketing – Traditional, TV, Print, New Media
This department is what drives an artist on the fan level it makes all the contests, they get the artist sponsorships and they work on selling that record. They get the record to you, THE FAN!

Creative – Designers, Art Directors
This department is the one who gives you what you see.  Remember and artist is just that, an artist. They are Brand Managers and they aren’t directors. The creative department puts all this together for them, Photo shoots, CD Designs, Music Videos, Brand Development.

Publicity – Physical, Digital
Imagine if you put out a CD or did a show and no one heard about it. This is the team that makes sure you know that whatever the artist has done you have heard of it. From releasing a CD to doing charity work, this team is always working on new spins and pitches. Also, how do you think the artists get on TV like Leno, and Conan?

Other Areas – Distribution, Printers, Merchandise

Ok, I think this is enough for my first post. I hope this gives you a little more of an idea of how much goes into an artist. When people say the label takes so much from the artist to the truth is we don’t. We take what we need to do, to make that artist bigger.  Our goal is the same as the artist we want them to get their music out there and album sold so we can still do what we love to do. Work in the music industry.

Well, this isn’t my personal opinion… but according to Amazon.com today Lady Gaga’s newest album (featuring the fastest selling Single in history)  is available for 99¢.  I’m not sure if I view this as the deal of a century or an absolutely offensive indicator of where the music business is going…  Of course what Amazon and Gaga are banking on is the fact that people who would have NEVER bought her full length album (like me) will now buy it, consume it, become fans, buy concert tickets/t-shirts/keychains, and join the legions of other Monster faithful in the cult of Gaga.  Incidentally, you can get all of the above from Amazon (except for the tickets- but I am sure they will find a way into that racket soon enough.)

The thing about this move that keeps me wondering is will the tonnage of sales of this one day $! album mean vast revenues for Lady Gaga and Interscope, or will it only cheapen her product when it has a retail face value more in line with what we are used to?    Certainly this is a calculated move, but really?  The whole album is only worth $1?  REALLY?  Of course this is not the first time an established act has done something outside of the box with a new release…  Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and the entire label X5 have had releases built around the discount album but I find it hard to believe that arguably the most marketable name in pop music needs to result to this type of fumblrooskie on her album launch to gain (even more) chart dominance.  I would love to know if there is any back-end remuneration happening from Amazon on this “promotion.”

File this one under “things that make me scratch my head” and “too cheap not to give it a try”.  Here goes nothing…

My last post on albums got me thinking (along with Kanye’s rant about his album art) that perhaps it would be good to feature album art in a post.  Album art is a bit of a lost art form these days I believe.  I’m not sure if it is the diminished size- going from more than a square foot to a measly 6″X6″ or if it is simply a representation of our speedy move towards everything digital, quick, and cheap that moved the emphasis away from the artwork in the almighty album.  No matter what the cause- I think it is a shame that future generations may not grow up to know and love album art as we have, did and do (for the other vinyl hoarding Luddites* in the crowd). With that I present a list of my TOP 9 Cover Art of all time. **

* I dont really consider myself a Luddite… just a huge fan of Vinyl

** Ok.. maybe not of all time- but at least some of my favorites… and why 9 you say?  Because 10 would not have fit neatly in my post… the 3X3 rows are cathartic

So anyone not living under a rock has most likely seen information on Apple’s newest venture, “Ping” in the past few weeks.  Ping is Apple’s answer to social media phenoms like Facebook and Twitter utilizing a new network from which we can share our musical tastes, see what our favorite artists are listening to, and see eachother’s new <ahem> profiles.  I dont believe they are wrong in wanting to jump onto the social bandwagon, just flawed in their approach.  Other music services have integrated into these other platforms successfully… just look at iLike and Spotify among others.  they have utilized the tools (read: API) that are out there and integrated into the places we already reside rather than requiring us to create yet another new profile to participate.  Why must Steve Jobs always recreate the wheel?  Granted, his quest to “build the better mousetrap” usually yields righteous results- but I fear that this one may fall flat.

So how does this affect artists?  Well, if you are a Major Label talent with a huge following already it has been an easy transaction.  At launch, most of my favorite mainstream artists had pages…  Apple did a good job of making sure the the stud horses of the stable were included at launch but what about the others?  Will they get lost in the herd?  Initially, Tunecore was the only 3rd party mentioned loading content and now it has opened up to a few more aggregators such as the Orchard and CD Baby.  According to Digital Music News, Apple plans to open up to other labels and aggregators but at this point it is slow going.  As far as I can tell at this point, independent groups have no option for inclusion other than the use of a 3rd party.

In the end, will Ping be a game-changer?  Probably not.  Truth is, Apple should have accessed some of the already prevalent technologies in the marketplace to strengthen their launch.  I don’t know if John Q Public is going to be willing to join yet ANOTHER social network.