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Music Business Lessons (Courtesy
Berklee Press)
Three Things That Focus Will Do for Songwriters & Publishers (And
Artists, too)
By Eric Beall
It will give your publishing catalog an identity.
Any business, in any industry, needs to establish some sort of identity in
the minds of its customers. Call it branding or image building or whatever
you like -- the fundamental objective is to give your company a specific
presence in a crowded marketplace. There is probably no more crowded
marketplace than that of the contemporary music industry, with hundreds of
established songwriters and publishers, not to mention thousands of mostly
unknown companies, all vying for the same opportunities. Why does an A&R
person need to speak to you?
When our friend the Music Business Weasel makes the standard inquiry, "What
sort of music do you handle?" this is what he or she is really asking, in
his or her own moderately polite way: "Who are you?" "Why should I speak
with you?" "Do you have anything I need?" If the weasel's opening gambit
confounds you, or if you chirpily reply that you handle "everything" (which
isn't really much different than not responding at all), you have lost the
opportunity to answer these questions. You will probably not get another
chance.
Because the music publishing business is not oriented toward the general
consumer, but rather to other industry professionals, it is not a business
in which massive marketing campaigns are a primary means of establishing a
brand identity. Rather, music companies are defined first and foremost by
the sort of music that they sell -- and the more specific the musical
direction, the stronger the image that they can establish in the industry.
Versatility is not a highly valued skill in the commercial music business,
which is a specialized business that rewards specialists, not generalists.
When you are dealing with an A&R person or a music supervisor, they want to
believe that you have a particular expertise that you are selling them, just
as they consider themselves experts in their particular field of music. If
they inquire about your catalog, and you reply that you specialize primarily
in Southern hip-hop, or progressive house, or Christian metal, you have
immediately given your company an identity in their mind. Likewise, you have
established yourself as having some particular expertise.
But what if the A&R person is looking for Southern hip-hop and you tell them
that you handle Christian metal? Isn't that going to turn them off? Sure it
will. Having an identity means turning some people off. This is the same
thing that gives you credibility with the people in your genre. A Christian
metal band that tried to sideline as a Dirty South rap act would not reach a
wider audience, they would alienate their core audience.
One more thing. You will find that very few music business professionals are
put off by learning that you don't handle the sort of music they are looking
for. Instead, they recognize that they are talking to another professional
who has the discipline and good judgment to stick with what he or she does
best. If what you do doesn't fit what they need, most people in the industry
will try to lead you in the direction of the person who would be your
customer--whether it's putting you in touch with the appropriate A&R person
in their company, or a project that they've heard about, or a friend of a
friend who might be helpful. If your company has a clear direction, there is
at least a chance that they can help you down the path. If you're going
everywhere at once, no one can show you the way. And no one will try.
Which leads to the next thing that focus will do. It will give you a
community. No man is an island. If it takes a village to raise a child,
it takes a whole town to make a business. Ask any neighborhood bodega
owner--if you wanna be in business, you gotta be part of the community.
Probably because we spent too many of our formative years locked away in
solitude -- listening to records, practicing our instrument, penning
heart-wrenching poems of love and longing -- most musicians and songwriters
tend to be loners. Now that you're a publisher, it's time to become a team
player. If you're wondering who your team is, a little focus will bring them
into view...
By establishing a clear stylistic direction for your company, you become a
part of that particular musical community, with other musicians, writers,
artists, publishers, press, fans, promoters, radio programmers, and anyone
else who shares a similar direction. This has been a constant theme in the
history of American pop music -- a musical community gives birth to a
specific style, which, as it catches fire, brings to prominence a whole
group of related artists, writers, producers, and companies. Think of the
Memphis rockabilly community that spawned Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny
Cash; the Detroit scene that led to Motown; or the Seattle rock scene that
spawned Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Think of the Brill Building, the Sound of
Philadelphia, or West Coast rap. Most recently, consider the Swedish pop
community that fueled the rise of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and
NYSNC. Artists, writers, and companies do not develop in isolation -- they
grow in clusters, supporting, competing, and learning from each other. But
until you focus your business on one particular musical territory, you will
find yourself in no man's land -- never really at home anywhere.
But it goes even further. Once you've established an identity for your
company, and have become part of a musical community that can help to
support and nurture your work, you still need to come up with a realistic
plan of attack. Focus is also the key element to developing a strategy
for your business. We're in Business Management 101 here, and if you've been
at this for any length of time, you've probably already noticed a basic
principle in action: Until you can clarify exactly what you are trying to
accomplish, it is very difficult to figure out how you're going to do it.
You will never know every A&R person at every label, or every music
supervisor, or every artist manager. The great news is, you don't need to.
As soon as you focus your efforts on one particular segment of the music
industry, you only need to know those people who are relevant to what you
do.
Excerpt from Making Money Making Music: An Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Music Publisher ©2004
Berklee Press Used by Permission
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