Music Business Bastards: How to do well in the music business without getting ripped off

book.

Introduction

In the early 90’s I wrote the original paperback version of this book. Many people were so green back then that they blended in with the grass. I kept hearing the phase ‘If only I’d known what to expect in the music business, I could have saved myself some heartache and made more money’. It wasn’t uncommon to find a former hit pop star sweeping the streets or working at McDonalds.

I seemed to always be giving advice and helping people, so it was a natural next step to write a book to help people better understand the music business. My knowledge back then was pretty extensive, having already worked on many sides of the industry. But imagine what my knowledge is like now, 20 years on. This is what makes me the ideal candidate to write this book.

The original book helped a lot of musicians, new managers and indie labels understand the music business better; progressing and avoiding many pitfalls. In fact the first person to read the book was one Tim London. He took in all the advice and tips and within a year of reading the book he had a top 3 hit single in both the U.S. and the U.K. with ‘Hippy Chick’ with his band Soho.

Noted pop royalty like Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), multiple number one hit act Adam Ant and other hit acts like Tenpole Tudor all said this book was much needed and they could have done with it when they were starting out.

Even many of the biggest names in the music industry were ripped off, from the Beatles to Elton John to Blondie, so if you think you know it all think again. Today, enter the 360 deal and streaming just for starters.

There have been other books about the music industry but these are usually written by journalists asking other people questions. I think you have to work and live the music business to tell the real story.

The only non-journalist book I have seen that is worthwhile is ‘The Manual’ (how to have a number one hit) by Bill Drummond of The KLF. It’s a bit tongue in cheek but he sets out to tell you how to have a number one hit and since the KLF had quite a few he knows what he is talking about. Although my book came out first he makes some similar conclusions and said he really rates my book.

In 2001 I was persuaded to update the book and have it re-published. I was reluctant at first but in the end I put out an interesting new interactive CD-ROM version of the book as a challenge. Many bands said many tips saved them lots of money and the information was an eye opener as to what pitfalls to watch out for.

Here we are ten years further on and the music business has changed beyond all recognition. Now with Kindle on the scene, I am persuaded once more to put people in the picture as to what is going on and what pitfalls of the music industry to avoid.

There are many new things to be wary of. There are a number of new tips about making things cost effective when in competition with the major companies who just throw lots of money at things. (This alone is worth the cover price of the book).

Finally, I give my ultimate conclusion of where the music business is heading, which is not for the faint hearted.

I will start with the new stuff, but many of the original tips and advice are as relevant as ever. All old chapters have also been updated for this edition.

Chapter One

The Dreaded 360 Deal

Just when artists thought things were getting better and they could relax, along comes the 360 deal.

It may not be as bad as the 50’s and 60’s where artists were given a car for all their recording and publishing rights and never saw another penny. It may not be as bad as selling tens of millions of records and ending up penniless with a huge tax bill. It may not be as bad as a manager ending up credited on a song you wrote instead of you and earning millions from it. It may not even be as bad as having to buy off your dodgy manager with future royalties of your tracks in perpetuity for doing sweet FA but it sends a shiver down my spine nevertheless.

After some high profile court cases in the 70’s and 80’s won by Elton John and Gilbert O’Sullivan many, although not all, deals did get better and less people got ripped off. By the 90’s, with books like mine and the internet, people were better informed and less ripped off.

However, the main principle still stayed in place; if you signed a record deal with a major company you could be sure that you’d get many deductions before you saw a penny (this is covered more in the record deal chapter).

At that time at least the money only came out of your record sales. You still could earn separately from music publishing if you wrote the song and from touring and merchandise. Today nothing appears to be off limits. It has all changed. Most major record companies won’t sign you unless they get a cut of everything now, not just record sales (or downloads sales today). Yes they want a piece of all your action to get their investment back and to make a profit. These are called 360 deals.

The reason for this new rip off is labels lose a fortune to illegal download, streaming earns next to nothing and download royalties are not very much either. So they say they cannot invest in a new band unless they have a chance of recouping their money and that’s why it’s fair.

One could say that if they were competent at their business they should have got on board with the net quicker and should be capable of selling a lot of records by investing in the right sort of artists. Major record label policy was always ‘throw a lot of shit against the wall and a few bits will stick’ and earn a fortune which will cover the losses of all the failures. There used to be very good A & R guys some years ago but they have long since vacated the premises.

Of course established acts will not be on a 360 deal and, with dwindling record sales, many make their money from touring anyway. They need to keep the life to which they have become accustomed so record labels will not be earning from them so they need your fresh blood to suck dry.

Although I have always been critical of major record labels, I have reviewed my opinion of them of late. So in their defence I will say things are not quite as bad a rip off as they may seem, if you last the distance.

As I pointed out, talented A&R people vanished long ago, so effectively a major record label was like a bank manager giving you an advance of money to live on and paying to have your records made and promoted as well as being a liaison to what was going on, that’s basically it.

So although they did deduct that money and recording costs back off your record sales you did at least become a household name. When the hits dried up and you vanished to skid row that might have been the end of the story. However in recent years many acts from years gone by have reformed and toured and earned ten times more money than they ever did before with no deductions. Many make a living year in year out touring.

The days of hit records have gone, but the great paying gigs beat working at Tescos stacking shelves. The bottom line then becomes that without all that publicity and promotion the record label did for you in the hit years you wouldn’t have got a hit and wouldn’t be able to earn a living now. So although most artists didn’t earn nearly as much as they should have it does seem fair to some degree in the long run.

But that’s the past, what about the current predicament and this 360 deal – what is my advice?

To some extent you will have to grin and bear it and let the record label get a cut of your merchandising and tour money as well as your CD or download sales. The only area you could probably get out of is the song publishing. If you have already signed a publishing deal elsewhere before you get a record deal there is no way the publisher will let the record label take a cut and if the publishing is already gone, its gone. I mean if you did a Beatles cover they couldn’t turn around and say as part of the 360 they were going to nick some of John and Paul’s royalties as well. It ain’t going to happen, so for this reason it’s reasonable to be able to get out of giving them a cut of your publishing.

However there is another side to the coin. Most new acts probably won’t have a publishing deal so the record companies’ publishing arm may become your publishers and since you need a publisher anyway you won’t lose out that much. Just make sure your cut is fair (see the publishing chapter).

In conclusion you could refuse to tour and put out any merchandise but that would also mean you wouldn’t earn so it’s cutting your nose off to spite your face. But the way things are going it may not even matter but at least you know the score now.

Chapter Two

The Ex Factor (yes it is spelled correctly)

One assumes that it is all cred indie bands that are buying this book as they are generally the mostly likely to fear being ripped off. But this book is for everybody.

Since I wrote the previous edition, Pop Idol, The X-factor and all the other similar type of shows have hit our screens. Some say it’s little more than an end of pier show, a mixture of half talents and terrible wannabees to laugh at.

Personally I don’t like these shows but I’m here to help and if you are someone who has grown up thinking the X-factor is the way to get a record deal and the way to be a hit artist and become rich and famous, unfortunately reality is about to bite you on your arse.

Firstly always remember it’s a TV show and if you have watched it you know what to expect. The people who frequent these shows are just the brother or sister or the other parts of the music business that manufacture acts. Of course, manufactured acts and even acts that appear on these shows can be a success and some have even lasted the course like Girls Aloud. But for every one of those there are the dozens of winners or favourites on a particular show that have died a death and are now working back at McDonald’s. The problem with such shows is although, like I said, some genuine talent has snuck through like Will Young, Leona Lewis etc. The winners usually don’t last because they only get initial success off the back of the show. Let’s face it, if my grandma got millions of viewers for months on end and then released a record of course it would go to number one, but when the show and millions of people seeing you every week are no longer there many of these winners have quickly faded out.

I feel sorry for these people as their expectations and hopes are raised to the heavens and many of them get ripped off into the bargain.

Simon Cowell and the record labels who sign these people won’t see it that way as they are just doing what has been done many times before. I.e. take someone who has a big TV exposure, make them do a cover version or two or get a songwriter from one of their publishing companies to write something if they last any longer.

Cowell was responsible for the big hits by not only the Teletubbies but Robson and Jerome (from Soldier Soldier) who did covers that were hits for a short period of time, which proves my point. How many times has he got the song ‘Unchained Melody’ covered (does he have shares in that song?).

Of course with cover versions the acts earn no song royalties and you can be sure that the record label are getting recording costs etc back before many of these people see a penny, if they even see that much. OK they are famous for five minutes and they lived the dream for a short while (I can’t knock it) but what kind of fame follows? Probably a black eye in a pub with no security team around them any longer to deter people.

Also many of these people are young and they will have to spend the rest of their lives reliving that short burst of fame and in some cases trying to recapture it, not realising without the big exposure of the show they would not have got anywhere.

Having said that everybody deserves a chance in life and if someone else likes what they do then its worthwhile, but my words of caution are aimed at the many contestants who put being famous before actual talent.

If you’ve got talent then fine, if you are any good then fame will follow, but if the first thought in your mind is to be famous give up now. If you are serious about pursuing a career in music then at least this book will give you the edge over the competition and if the only way to get a deal is to go on one of those shows, at least you are prepared.

Chapter Three

Video Killed The Radio Star. The Internet

Killed The Popstar

Once upon a time you were at the mercy of a few TV shows and MTV to get your pop promo video played. Unless you were lucky enough to know somebody or were a super hustler you were held to ransom by a top plugger to shell out many thousands on their services to acquire some plays through their contacts but nothing was ever guaranteed.

The good news was, if you did get played, it did make an impact on your sales and your recognition and into the bargain you got payments from the VPL and if you wrote the song the PRS (ASCAP) (these organisations are explained more in the rest of the book). However there were not so many slots available and success through this method was still a long shot without the backing of a major record company.

All that changed as the Internet grew. At first video streaming was cumbersome on people’s own websites as broadband hadn’t really kicked in. So although you had a new outlet for your promo video it was hit and miss. Then along came Myspace, which helped give those videos wider exposure as broadband started to take off.

Next up was the biggest exposure for pop videos ever ‘YouTube’. Finally you could reach thousands of people without paying some over-priced plugger or having the TV Caesars decide your fate.

We will cover social media in another chapter, but here is a quick reality check on YouTube. Yes you can get exposure worldwide and yes it has helped break a number of acts and songs over the years, but the vast majority of bands are just there to make money for YouTube and their reward exposure aside is next to nothing.

Let me give you an idea of what they pay. I had a YouTube channel which is currently seen by over 100,000 people but at around 50,000 hits I thought I must be due a payment. It turned out that I earned £5 for song writing and zero so far for the actual videos. (Although I’m told I may earn £5 from these at some point). Yes they pay next to nothing. Anyone already on YouTube will already know this.

YouTube did start to bring in a revenue share where you still got low money, but it could end up being a few hundred if you got a massive amount of hits by dumping advertising on top of your video. But this deal is very inflexible. I had a mixture of covers and original material. The original material could have earned some money but I obviously couldn’t earn from covers because I didn’t own the publishing rights but YouTube revenue share was for the whole channel not selected videos so if you have a few covers its disqualifies the whole channel. They should be more flexible then