evanstoudtDec-19-2008 4:57pm
Artists House Vault: Adam Levy on Self Managing
In this video from the Artists House Vault, Adam Levy discussies managing yourself as an artist. Adam Levy is best known for his work as guitarist and songwriter with Norah Jones’ band The Handsome Family. In addition to his work with Jones, Levy is also a solo artist. His most recent album, Washing Day, was released in 2007. He resides in New York City.
Warner Pushes for Blanket Music License
In the past few weeks, Warner Music Group has begun to heavily push the idea of creating an ‘opt-in’ blanket license for schools and universities, allowing students at those universities to download and share music without the fear of being sued. According to the plan, Warner would then have a non-profit group administer the money paid by the universities on behalf of those downloads to the non-profit and re-distribute it “proportionally to content-holders.”
Sounds fishy.
There are a couple of stipulations to this plan that raise a number of red flags.
In one of the eight slides, Warner lists these two points as “Possible Complications”
- Simplest if accepted by all Higher Education and ISPs
- If not must avoid massive leakage from those that are covered to others that are not
First, it seems incredibly unlikely that this blanket licensing scheme would be accepted by all Higher Education and ISPs so therefore the universities must avoid the massive leakages. That fundamentally opposes the nature of file-sharing and illegal downloading. In the age of mixtapes, yes, you primarily shared music with friends and family; in the information age, people download entire discographies from closed communities based in Sweden, grab songs from LimeWire and other P2P networks and then what? You leave those programs open and share your recent acquisitions with complete strangers who may or may not be your fellow classmates.
Now, I could see the university finding a way around that, namely by restricting upload speeds or going in and manually disabling uploads with bittorrent and P2P programs, but what about the 50% of students that live in off-campus housing? To spring a leak, they have to do is download at school, head home and boot up their computer.
To me, that’s just one of many flaws with the plan. Mike Masnick of Techdirt offers a great analysis of some of the other flaws — pegging it a Music Tax and giving detailed points on why we should resist it. I strongly suggest the post here.
What do yall think?
A Modular Label
Here’s a clipping from an article about Modular Recordings, one of the more innovative record labels out there, home to indie acts such as Cut Copy, MSTRKRFT, the Presets, and many more. Although the label has recently posted some big losses (in the 5 million dollar range) this year, I think the thinking behind a lot of their strategic moves makes for a great example of how to innovate.
One example of a record company that has adapted an agency-style model is independent Australian label Modular Recordings. Aside from its recording business, the label runs its own merchandising and touring divisions, and a brand consultancy called Modular Ideas, which operates as a youth marketing agency for brands such as Puma, Nike, Becks, BMW, Lee Jeans, Wrangler Jeans, Virgin Mobile, Sony Ericsson and Heineken.
Earlier this year, BMW approached the label to license The Presets’ electro banger hit, “Are You the One?” for TV and online ads launching its 1 Series in Australia. Rather than take the money and run, the label convinced BMW to commission an original remix of the track by French producer Lifelike in line with the band’s current sound, that would launch via the campaign.
“One of our concerns with BMW was it was all happening just before The Presets released their sophomore album,” says Axel Moline, creative director at Modular Ideas. “Even though ‘Are You the One?’ is the most obvious, no-brainer synch deal to do for BMW 1 Series, we wanted to do it in a way that wouldn’t negatively affect the album.”
BMW liked the idea and positioned itself as the launch pad for the original song, while Modular got a free marketing tool and new song for its catalogue, from which it can collect royalties. The Presets and their fans got a track that sonically bridged a gap between their first and second albums, and music bloggers got a free track to distribute.
If you’re going to be starting a label, this is something you should consider — how do you leverage your assets (artists). Do you put on your own tours, or do you job them out to a bigger company? Do you seek to get one song by an artist placed on commercials and tv, or do you mix it up and create a new product for the medium. Do you attempt to take care of all the merchandising, so you and your artists are able to better reap the profits?
These are all questions you’re going to face, and I think Modular is a prime example of how to do things differently. They promote crossovers between artists, have a label-centric view of success, and so far, it seems to be benefiting the artists.
Found via The Daily Swarm, original article at Boards Mag
Artists House Vault: Publicity Tips
Publicity is a big slice of the marketing pie. When trying to gain an audience, you’ve got to get the word out somehow and while you can’t necessarily guarantee it, you can vastly improve your chances by doing one thing:
Tell a story.
In the video below, Bob Merlis talks about the his role as a publicist in helping to tell John Mellencamp’s story.
Now you might be thinking “yeah but Mellencamp is a huge act, what about me?” The same logic applies.
Back in high school, I played in an indie rock group in New Orleans that actually got great press for the amount of time we were playing together. We got record reviews in a few local and online publications, a three page interview, live show reviews, and more.
What was our story? We were young — not even allowed to play in some of the clubs — full of energy, new to the scene, and trying to make great music. The press bit, and it helped build our fanbase.
What’s your story?
Reader Profile: Adriana Kaegi
Hey everyone, this week’s Reader Profile is with Adriana Kaegi — solo vocalist, career musician, and educator. She’s got a new album coming out this December on iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon and submitted her song to us using the SoundCloud dropbox on the right. Check out her track:
MP3: It feels like I am dreaming
Could you tell us a little about yourself? Both as a person and a musician?
I was born in switzerland and speak four languages. At the tender age of 18 I moved to New York City for an education in the performing arts and only two years later, I co-founded a band that would change my life. I have just completed my video memoirs, a 50 min.documentary film Kid Creole And My Coconuts.
Other then that, I am video blogging live bands and other events, and I am about to digitaly distribute my first solo CD (downtempo, chill out, ambient lounge music).
Giving back is so rewarding and I am most proud of my work as performance coach at lagondmusic.org and feel good about teaching the art of performance to new bands and watch them evolve.
You were involved with Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Could you tell us a little bit about your musical history?
I co-founded the legendary band Kid Creole and the Coconuts. My contribution to the group ( choreography, costume design) landed us a british music award for best international live act and such a-list appearances with the band as “The Tonight Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” the movie “Against All Odds,” and a benefit hosted by Princess Diana, the 40th anniversary of the UN, and many TV shows and world tours. After I left my band, I created a Girl Group called Boomerang and signed with Atlantic records. I also had the pleasure to sing on the U2 WAR LP, and on Towa Tai’s CD. Eventually I created a solo show performing in New York, Los Angeles and Paris.
How does that translate with what you’re doing now?
My love for downtempo, ambient lounge music inspired me to write and record my own songs and I constantly compose new tracks for my video blog.
What are you doing to “Get Social”?
…..I am everywhere!
Editor’s note: She really is everywhere… besides her dot-com, her email signature had seven other social communities, including twitter, myspace, youtube, and reverb nation, where you can sign up for her mailing list, listen to her music, read personal updates, and watch her video blog.
Do you have the help of a manager, lawyer, and label?
I do not have representation and I am promoting on-line.
You submitted the song ‘It Feels Like I am Dreaming’. Can you tell us about the song?
The lyrics were inspired by a time in my life when I had given up on relationships but then I fell in love again. There is a unique and strange sound you will hear on this track that is created by a saw (yes the kind you use to saw trees), played by David Moor. The moody Sax is played by Mica Gough.
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What do yall think? Any questions for Adriana? I’m sure she has a wealth of experiences in having such an involved past in the music industry. Check her out on her website http://dearaddy.com/.
Also, don’t forget to submit your songs for the next section of our Reader Profiles.
Artists House Vault: Dennis DeYoung of Styx
For today’s Artists House Vault I decided to do something a little different. Instead of trying to give advice, I just wanted to see if there was any Thanksgiving related content. So I searched Artists House for Thanksgiving.
What came up? Not too much, but I did find a great interview with Dennis DeYoung of Styx, in which he talks about what it is like to be in a rock band. My favorite part (and the reason for this post) is the analogy he uses:
Being in a band is like being in the kitchen with your mother your aunt your mother in law and they’re all gonna try to make thanksgiving dinner… need I say more.
Dennis DeYoung: Being in a Band
That video got me on a little bit of a Styx kick, so I decided to check into what Mr. Roboto was all about, which also led to an explanation of how Styx innovated.
Dennis DeYoung: Mr. Roboto
And lastly, I found an interesting interview with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. He talks a little big about going to music school, scoring music for Wes Anderson, the original ideas for Devo, and the parallels between his sonic and visual art. If you have any interest in Devo, this video comes highly recommended.
Mark Mothersbaugh: Devo and More
That’s it for today, but on behalf of Artists House, have a happy Thanksgiving.
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