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MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT #46Power Reading for Busy Music ProfessionalsHope you're hungry! MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT is published for musicians, songwriters, managers, label reps, booking agents, entertainment attorneys, studio owners, music publishers, and all others involved in the music business. Its purpose is to help boost your business, find new markets, make the right connections, develop professionally, work smarter and improve your bottom line. As a general rule, the most successful people in life are those who have the best information. —Benjamin Disraeli Written and published bimonthly by Peter Spellman, Director of MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS: Turning Music Business Data into Useful Knowledge. Career-building books, articles, training, consulting and more. P.O. Box 230266, Astor Station, Boston, MA 02123-0266, USA Phone: 888-655-8335 Email: success@mbsolutions.com Web site: http://www.mbsolutions.com © 1997 - 2007, Peter Spellman, MBS Business Media, www.mbsolutions.com Please feel free to redistribute with above credit and copyright notice. IN THIS ISSUE — MBI#46:
NEWS & VIEWS U CAN USETREND REPORT 2007 Get a good dose of current trends in society at http://www.trendwatching.com/briefing/. Assembled by Trendwatching.com, “an independent and opinionated consumer trends firm, relying on a global network of 8,000 spotters, working hard to deliver inspiration and pangs of anxiety to business professionals in 120+ countries worldwide.” THE MAMMALS “They don’t want to play their parents’ music, but they do long for a tradition older than themselves, one with memorable melodies, deep stories and a boisterous beat,” writes Geoffrey Himes in The New York Times (11/5/06), referring to a hot little combo known as the Mammals. Basically, the Mammals are an old-time string band—fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar and upright bass—and they sound “like an inspired garage band,” like a bunch of punk-rock hillbillies. Mammals guitarist Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (yes, grandson of Pete) explains: “Old-time and rock ’n’ roll are not that different…They’re separated by time, not by character. When you play these old instruments with a hell-bent-for-leather attitude, it’s like a driving punk band.” And it sounds like this. “Over the past five years this new wave of old-time string bands has moved from tiny record companies to major folk labels.” In addition to the Mammals, meet the Bills, the Wailin Jennys, Uncle Earl, the Duhks, Crooked Still, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Be Good Tanyas and the Foghorn Stringband. “A lot of venues that would never book a string band five years ago, are open to us now,” says Ruth Unger, fiddler for the Mammals. “There are old-time bands that play rock tunes, and there are rock bands that use a banjo or fiddle…Now you can play a banjo in front of teenagers and not have them make fun of you…Now they’re more likely to ask you for banjo lessons.” Ruth continues: “There have always been the preservationists and the experimentalists in old-time music…The only difference is that the experimentalists are more dominant,” adding, “When you feel less compulsion to duplicate an old recording, you can be freer and have more fun.” If nothing else, the Mammals are having fun, attacking songs all at once, “hooting and hollering, pushing the beat and improvising simultaneously.” Ketch Secor of the Old Crow Medicine Show says it’s actually a throwback to the way string-bands used to play before commercialism came into play. “Listen to Earl Johnson and the Clod Hoppers back in the 1920s. They’re crazy, wily and fierce…everyone’s playing at once as hard as they can. That’s how we try to play.” FROM THE "COMING SOON" DEPARTMENT Sound-Recording Paper? This piece of cardboard-like paper works like a tape recorder, complete with RECORD and PLAY buttons. An ultra-thin recording device and battery are embedded in the page. Wired Magazine, Dec. 2006, p. 101. FROM THE “STRAWS BLOWING IN THE WIND” DEPARTMENT For a long time (since ’98) I’ve been saying that “every business is becoming a music business.” The “digital common” is allowing companies way outside the orbit of the traditional music business to begin trafficking with music. Here are a few headlines I’ve collected from “Digital Music News” over the past year:
Why is this so important? Well, from a music career-perspective, it means that all those with a love of music aren’t necessarily limited to traditional “music companies” for employment, sponsorship or support any longer. With the right pitch and fit you can potentially partner with any company seeking to add music to its mix. And from an economic perspective, it means that music consumption throughout the world is only going north, boding well for both musicians and music business careerists alike. We’re obviously passing through a period of creative destruction and all transitions of this scale suck. Many companies are suffering while new companies are being born. But the important point to keep in mind is that we’re moving toward a new, better place for music. How can you dance with these changes? THE FEMALE MARKET Women… BUSINESSWEEK, CITED IN MEDIA 3.05 ))) FEATURE (((INSIGHTS FROM THE END I recently had the opportunity to be one of three consultants called upon for a Fortune Magazine story on a record label called The End Records. Every month a Fortune writer descends on a small business that is in the throes of managing rapid growth in hopes of lending it a hand via these consultants’ recommendations. If you’re aware of this Brooklyn-by-way-of-Salt Lake City indie upstart, then you know the quality of artists and recordings The End Records puts out. If you’re not, then visit its web site (theendrecords.com) and enjoy some of its offerings. It releases mainly progressive metal, but you’ll also discover a rich, eclectic crop of amazing music by artists you probably never heard of (I particularly love the genre-defying Estradasphere!). The label is run by Andreas Katsambas and it’s a testament to his leadership that all but one of his eleven employees moved with him from Utah to New York last summer. BTW, you can read more about Andreas and his company by getting your hands on the 12/16/06 edition (p. 14) of Billboard Magazine. I asked Andreas what 3-5 things he would tell music entrepreneurs about building a successful music business today. Here is what he generously offered: ADVICE FROM A SUCCESSFUL INDIE LABEL HEAD (c. early 2007)
Thanks Andreas. BTW, the Fortune SB article is scheduled to appear in the February ’07 issue. Andreas requested I come aboard as one of the three consultants after he acquired and read my new book, "Indie Marketing Power". ))) ILLUMINATING TRIVIA (((Did you know… Simon Bernstein adopted the stage name Perry Farrell because it sounded like "peripheral?" ))) BIZ SMARTZ (((DOMAIN NAMES: DON’T RISK LOSING YOUR CORNER OF THE WEB BY LETTING IT EXPIRE What happens when you accidentally let your domain name expire? A drop-catcher swoops in, buying the name to resell it or use it for a website loaded with advertisements. “This trend has been growing over the past few years as the number of registries has been increasing,” says Jay Westerdal, CEO of Name Intelligence Inc., a Bellevue, Washington, company that tracks the industry. So how can you ensure you don’t become a victim? I asked Warren Adelman, president and COO of Scottsdale, Arizona-based domain registrar The Go Daddy Group Inc., for his best tips:
TO SUBSCRIBE to MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT: send email with the message in the body, "subscribe" to success@mbsolutions.com It's not an autoresponder so feel free to include any other comments, ideas, suggestions, etc. you may have. About the Publisher PETER SPELLMAN is Director of MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, a business and marketing consultancy to the music industry, and Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music, Boston. He is the author of several books for music entrepreneurs and teaches music industry courses at Northeastern University (Boston) and the University of Massachusetts (Lowell). A musician since he was ten, Peter continues to spin riddims in the improvisational collective, Friend Planet and sing Cat Stevens' songs to his kids every night before bed. BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED! Quote of the Month—. Management is what happens when you’re there; Leadership is what happens when you’re not there. — Anon. Written and published bimonthly by Peter Spellman, Director of MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS: Turning Music Business Data into Useful Knowledge. Career-building books, articles, training, consulting and more. P.O. Box 230266, Astor Station, Boston, MA 02123-0266, USA Phone: 888-655-8335 Email: success@mbsolutions.com Web site: http://www.mbsolutions.com © 1997 - 2006, Peter Spellman, MBS Business Media, www.mbsolutions.com Please feel free to redistribute with above credit and copyright notice.
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