People like to talk about how the music industry as a whole is in the tank. The truth is that the current situation is not a radical departure from historical precedent; in fact, it is cyclical that our industry has its ups and downs. There are reasons old and new for his sorry state and IMHO he deserves to suffer. The painful decline, decadence, and warped artist/label relationship has been ongoing for decades and is now beyond old-fashioned: borderline criminal. The typical ‘old model’ record deal is that the label basically owns 90% of the worldwide rights and requires the artist to be perfectly happy with a small 10% slice, and that’s with the label doing the bookkeeping, which I have always found be more creative than most music.
In other areas of the arts there is a fair system for valuing creative source and providing incentives on the distribution/promotion side as well. For example, the visual arts, it’s a 50/50 model (more or less), half for the artist and half for the dealer. Call me simple, I understand that division! Art and commerce in harmony… it can happen.
The current downturn in the music industry is often blamed on illegal downloading and free peer-to-peer Internet access to copyrighted materials. I respectfully disagree with that assumption. There is absolutely no data to support this tantrum, in fact more new artists have been discovered through these sources because they can reach listeners and build fan bases for themselves. New careers are taking off by virtue of the simple fact that the music is being heard. Where else can you find new music?
The good people who are against peer-to-peer based systems are the same people who deny promoting new untested artists (usually at the major label level). People always want to listen to new music, so let them go and download songs. The truth is, if they really find things they love, they’ll buy it, they’ll go to shows, they’ll buy merchandise, and they’ll all get what they want. In this world where it’s nearly impossible to listen to the radio and all too often there are only one or two good songs on a given release, why blame consumers for wanting to listen to it first, before buying it? You have to try the cologne on before you go around smelling of it, right? The same thing…
Some may say that sales are down because the music on monopolized pay-per-play terrestrial radio is too safe, too redundant and, yes, boring. They’re right: quality control isn’t what it used to be. There was a time when I had long, in-depth discussions about music with the A&R people at the record labels, not about numbers, results, demographics or cosmetic surgery, about MUSIC. A&R doesn’t really stand for ‘scared and run’ as you might assume, but you’d hardly know that by the way some of these terrified execs act.
In 2007, I see that the basic problems in our industry are a lack of vision, intuition and willingness to follow through with new artists. If a major label firm doesn’t release big numbers to company shareholders on its initial release, there’s little to no chance of a trail record. Too much money is deployed for the first try deal and if you miss the mark, the money is lost for that all-important second try. Speaking of pressure… which artists do their best work under these conditions?
For the exact opposite case scenario, think about Warner or A&M in the ’70s and how many artists in service (and sure, some who weren’t deserving) were given a second, third or fourth chance to prove their point and build their following. Those artists who caught on have never stopped selling because they are timeless. Great music was born and supported; now large sums of money continue to come in from catalog sales because the music lives on and those companies own the valuable copyrights. It’s time to get back to the long-term perspective, not just desperate quarterly sales of classic trends or year-end superstar releases.
A couple of years ago, Bono accepted U2’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a call to arms for the music industry to believe and stick with the artists they sign. He firmly stated that if U2 came out with their first record today, they would be eliminated and have no chance of making a career. The same can be said for most recording artists who have had long and distinguished careers in the industry.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pragmatist and understand the need for bean counters in any business. It seems to me that as long as our business is run by fear-based people who don’t know (or really love) music, little should be expected of music today or in the future. Money management and math are rarely music. So why is the old music business model spiraling down? The monkeys are running the zoo!
Call me crazy, but I miss the visionaries who once sat in the big chairs. Where are the passionate, hip record company leaders who had taste and guts? You know, visionaries like John Hammond and Ahmet Ertegun who found unknown geniuses who changed the world. They knew that quality counted if beans were counted.
A former president of Warner Brothers Records told me recently that his job had nothing to do with music. For example, he was routinely asked by shareholders at his parent company how many records a particular artist would sell on their next release when the band hadn’t even written the songs yet.
So why am I still in the game? Am I helping rearrange the proverbial sun loungers on the Titanic? Sorry, I say she sinks. Someone has to stand up for the quality and integrity of the music (as well as the creators of the music) and I think it’s my job as an independent record producer to do just that. I know firsthand that music providers are treated as if they were end-users. Remember several years ago when Universal bought Interscope, A&M, Geffen and a couple other labels? He had three big projects lined up at the time. At studio time, that equated to over a year’s worth of bookings (even more in the production schedule with pre-production, reunions and whatnot). When the big merger took place and one of the labels dropped an artist I was scheduled to produce, they didn’t even call me. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by that… what, notify the producer that the project has been cancelled? No. I guess they thought he would read it in the shops. hmmm…
After all that, I suddenly redefined my role and changed my paradigm considerably. I realized that music had never, ever let me down, so it was the music that was going to serve me if I wanted to continue. The music business would follow the music, not the other way around. No more tail wagging the dog.
It was at this time that TikiTown studios emerged. Hit or Myth Productions found a beautiful home on the edge of the San Francisco Bay that provided the perfect home away from home for artists from around the world. The interior of the building and the museum offers a feeling that inspires and relaxes people who have spent much of their lives in studios that feel like well-appointed caves. Having built studios from the ground up enough times, I decided that this time I would find an atmosphere where music could be born and just uploaded to the computer, which is exactly how we did it. Experimenting with different rooms and sounds, we finally found the best of both worlds: state-of-the-art acoustics and amenities.
Now, after working with most of my musical heroes, I have developed a company that builds careers with new artists we believe in. These artists are my new heroes. When it comes to music styles, we go with the Duke Ellington school of thought; “There are only two kinds of music: good and bad.” My skills as a music producer allow me to work with a variety of different types of artists and types of music. This year alone, I’ve produced a hard rock project, an opera, and quite a few other genres in between. At our company, we follow and trust our instincts. And it turns out that our instincts don’t suck!
Success for today’s new artists means having the opportunity to make music for a living. From then on, it can grow into something much bigger and more rewarding in other areas. When a new artist proves himself in the studio and delivers an incredible product, he is in a position of strength when it comes time to bring his work to the masses. By having the finished products and not owing a large recoverable sum to a label, you provide the evidence needed to seek fair and equitable treatment for distribution.
We’re always looking for artists who are different, because we believe they have the best chance to create their own unique careers. If someone is doing something different from everyone else, then they are the type of artist that could stand the test of time. If you look at my track record, no one comes up as the flavor of the month type of artist. In general, they are for life, just like me.
Scott Mathews, 2007
Mill Valley, Calif.
