katieohalloranNov-04-2009 2:00am
AH Vault: Get a Job in Music Publishing!
For many of us pursuing a career on the business side of music, it wasn’t long ago that a position at a record label was the lone objective. This mindset may have been reasonable in the days of yore — back when the idea of a five-figure sales week being enough to regularly land the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart was almost laughable — but as the paradigm of the music industry evolves, so to must our mindsets. This is not to suggest that you should abandon the idea of working at a label; in spite of their current troubles, labels will eventually reinvent themselves, and there are labels out there now that are innovating and that can offer rewarding career opportunities. However, the industry also encompasses more thriving areas than ever before, and the types of careers spanning the business have never been so varied. By limiting your aspirations to a label position alone, you could miss out on a career path that you’re even better suited for.
Out of these thriving areas, publishing has been receiving most of the spotlight. In his interview with Billboard.biz, “Big” Jon Platt (now President of North American Creative at EMI Music Publishing), compares the potential for career longevity at publishing companies vs. record labels. He paints the publishing world as a place where executives are afforded more time to grow within companies, some staying with the same publisher for 15 years — a feat that’s rare to find within a record label. Furthermore, for those who want to play major roles in artist development, publishing is a top spot to be. While labels have understandably been trying to minimize their risk by targeting artists who are already as “developed” as possible, publishers have taken on greater roles as nurturers of talent. Had it not been for publishing companies and this openness to stick with new acts through the sometimes protracted development process, some of today’s biggest artists may still be unknown. Taylor Swift, for example, got her start by honing her songwriting abilities under the guidance of Arthur Buenahora at Sony/ATV Music Publishing before being offered her record deal. And in this Reuters article, Keri Hilson speak about how having first developed as a songwriter with Universal Music Publishing prepared her for the launch of her career as a solo artist this year after signing with Interscope Records.
So, how does one go about entering the publishing industry? The Artists House vault can offer some insight.
In addition to our video interview catalog, ArtistsHouseMusic.org offers a selection of articles and text-based interviews, and the list includes a comprehensive interview that Mike King (@atomzooey) did with Eric Beall on this very topic.
Beall began his tenure in the industry as a songwriter, penning songs for The Jacksons and Diana Ross (among others) and later transitioned to the business end of things, holding senior Creative positions at Zomba Music Publishing, Jive Records, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He is the author of “Making Music Make Money” (a must-read for anyone who wants to learn the ins and outs of publishing) and “The Billboard Guide to Writing and Producing Songs that Sell”. Currently, he is an A&R for Shapiro, Bernstein & Co and an instructor of the Berklee College of Music’s online course, Music Publishing 101, which he also authored.
In the interview, Eric discusses some of the ways people can get into the publishing industry, the positions available, the growth publishing has been experiencing, the amount of jobs available, and the best ways to prepare for a job in publishing. The full interview can be found here: Get a Job in Music Publishing!
New Artists House Blog Series + Upcoming Interview with Shytown
Hello all,
As you may remember, I posted about interviewing RIZ a while back. That interview is definitely still happening, but there’s been a slight delay as RIZ has a lot going on at the moment between shooting his latest music video and planning his first nation-wide tour (and prior to that, we needed to determine the best way to record the interview in light of the fact that RIZ and I are in different cities).
However, because I’m unable to participate in the live chats that Artists House does (they take place in New Orleans; I’m in Toronto), I’ve decided to start a new Artists House blog series (“Spotlight On…”) where I bring you pre-recorded video interviews with artists (and others in the industry) who we can learn from. I hope to post this content on a fairly regular basis.
To that end, I’m excited to be interviewing the up-and-coming, Los Angeles-based, acoustic/pop/hip-hop band, Shytown. And if you’re looking for an example of a new, unsigned act that’s making things happen, this is one of the best you’ll find.
Prior to forming Shytown, Eric Jay (rap) and Danny Jay (vocals/guitar) experienced a notable amount of individual success; among other accomplishments, both received significant commercial and college airplay and Danny had opened for The Roots at Indiana University’s IU Auditorium. However, it was when they began working together as a duo that things really started to heat up. After joining forces, the pair was given the opportunity to perform at Chicago’s B96 Pepsi Summer Bash, an event at which artists like Rihanna, Gym Class Heroes, Akon, Ne-Yo, and T-Pain also performed.
Eric then headed to L.A. to work with several California-based producers and met Sean Kingston while there. The two collaborated together and wrote what would become Kingston’s song, “Shorty Got Back” (Eric is featured on the rap sections and Danny produced the track). The song went on to receive commercial airplay in several major markets. Soon after, Eric was contacted by HOT 105.5 FM and was asked to open for Soulja Boy; he did so in front of 5,000 + people at the US Cellular Coliseum.
Danny, who was still in Chicago, decided to join Eric in Los Angeles so they could work more closely together. Their music began to take a more acoustic-based direction and they formed a new band they dubbed Shytown. They later recruited good friend, Tarah New, a classically trained singer whose skills had been honed by performing for thousands as a previous member of a pop/R&B girl group managed by a reputable name with Sony, to join Shytown as they felt that adding a female vocalist to the mix would provide for the perfect balance. The trio has only been together for 11 months. In that short period of time, they have gone from building their following through street performances in Santa Monica to opening for Demi Lovato at Hollywood’s “Winterfest” event, landing a management deal with Bonnie Gallanter’s Muse Artist Management (former manager of Jesse McCartney), being offered two record deals, garnering online coverage, and grabbing the interest of world-renowned drummer, Gene Coye (from the band, Chicago), and writer/producer, Blac Elvis (Beyonce, Fergie, T.I., Keri Hilson, Ciara, Jamie Foxx, and Usher), for potential collaborations.
There’s certainly much to discuss with Shytown, and we’ll be breaking down their success with this interview. As always, I want to incorporate your questions into the discussion. Because I’m unable to do this interview as a live broadcast on the site due to the distance issue between myself and Shytown (we’ll be using Skype to do the interview), you’ll have to get them to me beforehand. If you have a question for Shytown, please post it as a comment to this entry.
We’ll be able to record and post this interview shortly. In the meantime, here is how you can learn more about Shytown, listen to their music, and connect with them online:
Starshine Magazine’s feature on the band, “Listen to the Rythem of Shytown”: http://starshinemag.com/2009/07/listen-to-the-rhythm-of-shytown
MySpace: www.myspace.com/shytownmusic
Twitter: www.twitter.com/shytownmusic
Facebook: www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Shytown/34127199247?ref=ts
Sean Kingston’s “Shorty Got Back” (co-written by Eric Jay, featuring Eric Jay on rap sections, and produced by Danny Jay):
Get Paid for Giving Your Music Away with trueAnthem
When most artists opt to give their music away for free these days, they do it with the acceptance that the music will primarily become an impetus toward a “greater good”: heightened notoriety, increased ticket and merch sales, etc.
But what if you could have the best of both worlds? What if you could make your music available for free and still generate income from the resulting downloads?
One company’s innovative new model enables artists to do just that.
Based out of San Francisco and launched last year, trueAnthem (www.trueanthem.com) is an online promotion and distribution company. Through trueAnthem viral players (i.e., widgets), artists can make their music available for free download and/or for purchase (in each case, the tracks are DRM-free and are also “streamable” through the player). This article focuses on the free download option.
An artist who wants to take advantage of trueAnthem’s free download service is required to sign a short contract with the company and fill out a questionnaire. Once these steps have been taken, trueAnthem will proceed to search for an appropriate advertiser match for the artist (artists have final approval over advertiser matching). When a match is found, the artist must then record a “trueAd” to be inserted at the beginning of each track that’s being made available for free (it is these ads that allow artists to get paid for free downloads). In a trueAd, an artist typically announces their name (and/or the name of their band), the title of the song which the ad is introducing, and the name of the advertiser. Each ad is about 5 to 8 seconds long. Depending on their particular agreement with trueAnthem, an artist is paid between $.10 and $.40 per track that is downloaded for free through their personalized viral player; this can be quite lucrative for artists with substantial fanbases.
It is important to note, though, that the contract which trueAnthem requires an artist to sign is exclusive and typically lasts for 12 months; during this period of time, the artist cannot enter into other contracts with the content that’s being promoted on the trueAnthem platform. One of the few other concerns that artists may have related to using trueAnthem to distribute free music verses using other methods (methods that do not see artists generate any income from the resulting downloads) involves the fact that, under the trueAnthem model, there is an ad at the beginning of each song. However, the “invasiveness” of trueAds is minimal in comparison to the invasiveness of ads that are used in the majority of ad-supported models; remember, trueAds typically only run 5 to 8 seconds in length. Furthermore, trueAnthem’s model differs from other ad-supported models in the sense that a trueAd is recorded by the artist whose song the ad is introducing. Artists, therefore, can show their personalities in the ads and can use the ads to help establish their brands in the minds of their listeners. I suspect that many fans would actually enjoy this.
For artists who want to offer free content without completely sacrificing the monetary value of music downloads, the trueAnthem model is certainly an avenue worth exploring. For more on how the trueAnthem model works, visit www.trueanthem.com to read the FAQs and/or to request more information. And here’s an example of a trueAnthem viral player (this is the player of the band, Grove Hill, and it is the best example that I found of a player in which the artist does a good job of showing their personality through the trueAds):
Alternative Venue Performance Opportunity: Six Flags' "Live & Local" Music Series
Playing at alternative venues is a tactic overlooked by many new artists, but when the right venues are selected (based on the psychographic profile of an artist’s target audience), its power cannot be overstated.
Sure, you may not make any money from ticket sales (depending on the type of performance and on the type of venue), but playing at alternative venues can put you smack dab in front of your target customers while they are out living their lives. This is important for all artists, regardless of their stature; there are many major artists who occasionally perform at alternative venues. However, it is an especially important means of promotion for new, unsigned artists since they don’t have the benefit of heavy airplay and other media exposure to get their messages out to people.
With this in mind, I want to share with you a great alternative venue performance opportunity that was brought to my attention when I saw a favourite up-and-coming band of mine, Shytown (www.myspace.com/shytownmusic , www.twitter.com/shytownmusic), take advantage of the opportunity itself: Six Flags’ “Live & Local” music series. (Check out the video of Shytown’s “Live & Local” performance on the band’s MySpace page to see the series in action.)
Most of the Six Flags parks in the U.S. participate in the series. In addition to providing artists with a platform to get their music heard by hundreds of people, Six Flags allows artists taking part in the series to sell merchandise at their performances and to retain 100% of the merch sales. For a more in-depth overview of “Live & Local”, here is an announcement from Six Flags Great America (the Chicago park) concerning the series:
This past season, Six Flags nationally launched the Live & Local music series. Live & Local gives musicians a chance to be heard by thousands of potential fans. Six Flags Great America is among the many parks to participate in this exciting series. Some of the bands that graced the stage included: Leo, Dramatic Visions, Comic Book Heroes, and many more.
Whether you are a single artist with a guitar, a new band just trying to get heard, or a cover band that likes to sing the great songs of our generation, Six Flags may have a spot for you.
Music of all genres is accepted. Six Flags will choose those artists which reflect diverse and family friendly material. The performance stage is located inside the park at the Mission Stage in the Southwest Territory, or the Beach Stage located in Hurricane Harbor.
Please note: Adult language is not permitted and will not be tolerated. Performance days are available in April, May, and all throughout the summer. Artists will play 5 half hour sets throughout the afternoon starting at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 4:00, and 5:00. This is an unpaid performance, but 10 free tickets shall be issued upon completion of 5 sets. Merchandise sales are allowed, and artists shall retain 100% of their profits. Items must be family friendly, and in good taste. Six Flags retains the right to review and approve/disapprove of any merchandise.
Six Flags Great America will provide an adequate stage and power. Bands will provide all sound and needed backline equipment, and will also do all the setup and load-in themselves. Stage hands will not be provided. It’s suggested that you bring a push cart, as you cannot pull your car into the park or to the stage due to safety concerns. The band and one technician will be escorted into the park free of charge for their performance only. There is a discounted ticket available if the band or guests wish to enjoy the park before or after the show.
Many of the parks are still looking for artists to take part in the series over the summer. If you’re interested, look into your local park for more information.
And remember, when playing at an alternative venue, just like when playing at a traditional venue, you must maximize the opportunity! Putting yourself in front of people who end up liking what they hear is not going to do you much good if there’s no way for them to know who you are, to stay connected with you, and to buy your music/merch. Make sure your band name, site, and mailing list are all promoted during the performance. If the venue allows for it, make sure your music/merch is available for purchase on-site. If the venue doesn’t allow for on-site sales, make sure your audience knows where your music/merch is available. You may also want to have free download cards or sampler CDs to hand out to people. These, of course, are just a few of the many things you can do to maximize an alternative venue performance.
The Power of Retweets and @Replies
Without question, Twitter is one of the most powerful marketing tools at the disposal of artists. If you’re familiar with Twitter, you likely already know that your own tweets can be used to promote your music-related activities to your followers. You should also know that tweeting about your non music-related activities, as well as providing your followers with frequent photo and video content via Twitpic and Twiddeo, strengthens the artist/fan relationship by letting your fans get to know you on a personal level. But there are two Twitter features whose marketing muscle is often overlooked by the site’s users and whose importance became undeniably clear to me over the last few weeks: retweets and @replies
I recently started following Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) and Christine Kirk (@luxuryprgal) on Twitter. On Oscar Night, the power of the retweet was perfectly exemplified when Christine used Twitter to pose a simple question. This question ended up being retweeted by Ryan Seacrest. The unravelling of events went a little something like this:
luxuryprgal (9:52 PM): Anyone going to any good Oscar parties? #oscars
RyanSeacrest (10:03 PM): RT @luxuryprgal Anyone going to any good Oscar parties? #oscars
luxuryprgal (10:05 PM): Have added 20-plus followers since I began Tweeting about the Oscars - thank you to all!! #oscars
luxuryprgal (10:15 PM): Just added 27 additional followers in the last 12 minutes - was it something I said?? Thank you!!
luxuryprgal (10:22 PM): @RyanSeacrest Thanks for the RT!
luxuryprgal (10:27 PM): The power of Twitter is UNREAL!! @RyanSeacrest RT’d me and I’ve added over 100 followers in a matter of minutes.
Christine works in PR with the Los Angeles-based Murphy O’Brien, a top public relations agency that has worked extensively with Ryan’s radio show. Because she and Ryan follow each other on Twitter, she speculates that the retweet simply came as a result of Ryan seeing her initial tweet in his timeline and then deciding to retweet it.
Obviously, not everyone can expect to get retweeted by Ryan Seacrest. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start incorporating retweets into your marketing efforts; even if the people who retweet you don’t have the massive follower count that Ryan Seacrest has, getting enough of them to take action can still make an impact.
To get started, I highly recommend you read these great tips from the always insightful Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) on how to get retweeted: http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/31338
Many of the tips in the article suggest you tweet about subjects that don’t have anything to do with yourself (other than the fact that you may find such subjects interesting). You should definitely pay attention to these tips as they’re all very effective ways to get retweeted. However, your Twitter username would be the only piece of information contained in the resulting retweets that would be directly related to you. This would not be a bad thing; it’s great for your username to get promoted. It can lead to people visiting your Twitter profile page where they can find a link to your site and learn more about you. But it’s worth mentioning that artists should also attempt to get tweets about their music-related activities retweeted. This would pack a double marketing punch; your Twitter username and your musical activity would get promoted in the retweet. How can you make this happen? By asking for you fans’ help. Remember, your fans want to see you succeed. Most would be more than happy to help you spread the word via Twitter. Just make sure you don’t go overboard and let the number of retweet requests you issue become an annoyance. Only ask your fans to retweet important news. Album releases, the fact that you uploaded a new video on Youtube, and tour date announcements are all subjects that would deserve retweet requests.
Keeping with the celebrity theme of this entry, it was the recent Twitter feud between Lily Allen (@lilyroseallen) and Perez Hilton (@perezhilton) that got me thinking about another Twitter feature whose marketing muscle is often overlooked: the @reply
Allen and Hilton essentially got into a “fight” (it was really more like teasing than fighting) over Twitter and used the site’s @reply feature as their method of communication. More details on the feud can be found here: www.tinyurl.com/c3rrv8
As you can see from following the link, the exposure that resulted from two celebrities getting into a Twitter feud actually went beyond Twitter and came in the form of media coverage. However, the @replies that Allen and Hilton were sending back and forth to each other also created awareness for the songstress and the celebrity blogger on Twitter itself; it helped to expose each to the other’s followers.
@Replies are arguably not quite as effective as retweets are when it comes to creating awareness on Twitter. This is because @replies don’t appear in users’ timelines unless the @replies are directed at the users (or unless there is a conversation happening between two people a user is following). Even so, @replies are still public and can therefore lead to a considerable number of people discovering you and your Twitter page. To that end, I felt it necessary to include them in this discussion.
While I may be wrong, it does not appear that anyone else has made a list of tips on how to generate @replies on Twitter. Therefore, I decided to make a list of my own to share with you:
How to Generate @Replies
1) Play games with your followers.
John Mayer (@johncmayer) has been making great use of this clever @reply-generating strategy. While I encourage you to be creative and come up with your own games to play, here is a tweet he posted that shows the tactic at work:
johncmayer: Arrite, new game! I give a category, and then the first letter of each word, you fill it in. For example: SONG “GTYMA” by RW feat. H the SD
2) Use Twitter to hold contests that encourage @replies.
There are a number of ways that this idea could be implemented. To offer one example, you could post a tweet that states something along the lines of “First 10 followers who @reply to this win X”.
3) Ask questions.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. A lot of people include links to new songs in their tweets and ask their followers whether they think the songs are “hot” or “not”. Some artists ask their followers what they think a good title for a future song would be. The question possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
4) Answer questions.
When your followers/fans ask you questions in the form of @replies, try your best to answer as many as possible. If you become known as someone who takes the time to answer questions, more people will start asking them. This will result in more @replies being directed at you. Furthermore, the people whose questions you answer may send you additional @replies to thank you for answering and/or to comment on your answers.
5) Engage in conversations with your followers that stem from THEIR tweets.
You don’t have to wait for your followers to ask you questions in order to converse with them; you can be the one who takes the first step. Keep an eye on their updates. When someone tweets about something that would make sense for you to comment on or ask a question about, send them an @reply. They will likely send you an @reply back (especially if you asked them a question). As with retweet requests, just make sure you don’t go overboard and become an annoyance. Only comment on tweets and ask questions if you have something that’s really worth saying or asking. Artists who follow their fans back will be able to make particularly good use of this tactic.
6) Include hashtags in your tweets.
Do this when tweeting about topics that a significant number of people are likely to be searching for. Hashtags are essentially the Twitter equivalent of regular tags on sites like Youtube. They make your tweets searchable on www.search.twitter.com and on sites like www.hashtags.org and www.twemes.com (for your hashtags to be tracked by www.hashtags.org, you must first opt-in by following @hashtags on Twitter). This can result in a lot of people (beyond your followers) seeing your tweets and, thus, can lead to more @replies. It can also lead to more retweets and can help you attract more followers. To include a hashtag in your tweet, simply prefix a word that is related to the topic you’re tweeting about with a hash symbol. For example, if you’re tweeting about American Idol, your tweet might look like this: “What did you think of Kris Allen? #idol”
With all this talk about getting retweeted and generating @replies, it’s important that you always remember two of the main reasons that fans want to follow their favourite artists on Twitter: to keep up-to-date with the artists’ activities and to get to know each artist on a more personal level. While you should attempt to get retweeted and generate @replies, it should also be noted that allowing the time you spend doing so to overtake the time you spend providing fans with the content they really want would cause more harm than good. This applies more to trying to get retweeted than it does to trying to generate @replies (most of the @reply-generating tactics I mentioned would be fun and engaging for fans and/or would let them get to know you on a personal level).
After absorbing everything you’ve read leading up to this point, you have probably had two realizations:
a) Retweets and @replies are often overlooked, but are potentially very powerful marketing tools.
b) I follow a lot of celebrities on Twitter. :)
Take what you’ve learned regarding the former and start applying it to your own marketing efforts today.
And remember, for the latest music industry news and advice, you can follow ArtistsHouse on Twitter here: @artistshouse
… and I’m @KatieOHalloran on Twitter (you didn’t expect me to write an entire entry on Twitter and not include a shameless plug for my Twitter page, did you?)
On a final note, if anyone has any other tips on getting retweeted or on generating @replies, please post a comment and share them!
*** UPDATE: If you liked this post, it would be greatly appreciated if you could tweet a link to it. Let’s see how much traffic we can direct to the ArtistsHouse blog!
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