“Industry Smarts”
Contact us with your questions...
By Ron Butler
In the years that I’ve been around the music scene, there’s always seemed to be this elusive record contract floating around. You’ve all heard about it, “The Contract”. Being “signed” is something that every band, good or bad, talks about. Most of the bands that I know want to experience the “rock-n-roll dream”. Whatever that may be. But, the sad part is that, most of these bands don’t know the first thing to do to get a record contract. Oh, wait, I can hear it now. “Let’s make a demo and send it out to every stinkin’ record label in the world. Once they hear it, they have to like it. Why wouldn’t they sign us?” It’s things like this that drain a band of valuable resources. It’s also the type of things that I want to address in this column.
Talented people who are misguided. It’s a constant in this
industry. The amount of wasted talent is tragic, especially if you
really want to succeed and just don’t know where to start. Soooo,
because I have a dream and want you to realize your dreams, I’ve been
on a personal mission to spread the word; “The elusive record contract
is attainable, but only if you make the right moves with your
project/band. I want you to know that your dreams can be reality. You
can be a Rock Star!” Man, how exhausting! It’s hard to spread this
word. So in my exhaustion, while I was resting from my mission, I
thought it might be easier for me, if all of you hear it straight from
the horse’s mouth. In this case, the horse being, the infamous “label”.
I figure if you don’t believe it, hearing it from them, then you’re
just plain stubborn, and I’ve met many a stubborn musician. You may
disagree with this or you may learn from it. Hopefully, you will walk
away having gained something positive. Anyway, I got together with two
people who, I know, have a very focused and realistic view of the music
scene. These people are very respected in the industry and work with
some of the biggest acts in the world. They are Greg Ulin from
Dreamworks Records and Michelle Gallagher from Columbia/Sony Records.
Greg is Dreamworks Local Promotion Manager based out of San
Francisco. His territory is Northern California and Northern Nevada. It’s
his job to make sure his artists get as much airplay as possible on
radio stations in his territory. He also covers all shows that
Dreamworks bands play in his territory and makes sure the stations hype
up the bands and the shows. Greg works with all CA bands. Some that you
might be familiar with are AFI, Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm, Jimmy Eat
World, Powerman 5000 and The All-American Rejects.
Michelle Gallagher works for Sony Music Lifestyle Marketing
based out of San Francisco. She creates, coordinates &
executes local retail promotions for national Sony, Columbia
& Epic acts. She has been in the music industry since her
junior year of high school, as an intern at a Polka radio
station in Pennsylvania and she aspires to make music a much
bigger part of everyone's life. That’s why she’s so cool.
Below are some questions I asked both Greg and Michelle.
Enjoy!
Ron: How does the label get turned on to a promising band?
Greg: Like I said, I'm involved with the promotion of our music
once it's signed, but I'll try to enlighten a bit on the subject.
Other bands on our label have brought some of the bands we’ve
signed, to us. Alien Ant Farm is a perfect example. The minute
Papa Roach was signed they would not stop talking about this band
they'd toured with that turned out to be AAF. In general, our
A&R reps (which stands for Artist and Repertoire) scour the
country (and world) for up-and-coming acts. Very little of it is
unsolicited music that's been sent to them. There has to be a
story--airplay, sales, sold-out shows--all this creates a buzz.
People need to be talking about your band. Either way its luck,
but if no one knows about you, it would take more than luck to get
DreamWorks or any other label to notice you.
Michelle: The most important thing to do is play, play, play. I
can't stress that
enough. Playing anywhere and everywhere you can to build the
band's fan base is crucial. Plus, stage practice is what helps to
perfect a bands
performance. It's also important to tour. C'mon, buy a cheap van
and hit
the road! When you get back home, book another tour and head out
again. Play garages, street festivals, coffee houses, house
parties (especially colleges) and shit holes until people know who
you are. Before a band should worry about getting a label to
"notice" them, they should really focus on getting FANS.
If a label hears enough buzz about a band without being contacted
by the band themselves. That speaks volumes.
Ron: What criteria or formula does Dreamworks and Columbia use
to decide if a band is going to be signed?
Michelle: There's no "formula". Formula's are for
scientists and mathematicians. This is Rock and Roll! Every band
is treated on a case-by-case basis; it's not as corporate
cookie-cutter as one might think. Some bands may need tweaking in
areas that may take a long period of time and other bands may be
"just right" to package up pretty and ship out, but
that's rarely the case. Sometimes the label may only sign the
rights to the bands songs and that's that. It's your lyrics they
want and not your look. Nothing is to a "formula" per
say.
Greg: Basically look at my answer to question 1. Radio airplay,
sales, touring, fan base...oh, and one other important
aspect...the music. There are other considerations like the
marketability of the band, but luckily we don't get too caught up
on the hot new look/sound like some bands that are signed seem to
have. That usually ends in failure when you sign a band trying to
capitalize on the latest craze.
Ron: Can you get signed without touring/selling albums or
merchandise?
Greg: If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound? There
are very few bands that have been signed from just sending out
their music to labels. Without a story, without fans, there is
virtually no way possible to get signed by a label; unless you
know someone "on the inside" who is willing to fight for
your record to get into the right person's hands.
Ron: What are some things that a local band absolutely needs to
do to be signed or even noticed?
Michelle: As I mentioned earlier, the most important thing is
to play and to build a
fan base. Labels are no longer in the business of signing
pie-in-the-sky
bands that have a few good songs with NO fan base. And no one is
chasing fad's anymore either. Labels are under a ton of financial
pressure in these times. Why? To be honest there are not alot of
people walking into record stores and purchasing music anymore.
Serious bands should build their own fan base, one city, one show
at a time. This is the only positive way to get word of mouth
going and the bands buzz circulating.
Ron: At what level do you get involved with the bands?
Greg: Once the band is signed, there's a whole process to make
their record. Once that's all done and the album is put on the
label's release schedule, we in the promotion department pick a
single (along with the band and A&R rep) to take to radio.
This is when my job starts rolling. If it's a brand new
artist/band sometimes we'll schedule a special promo tour where
we'll bring the artist around to stations to introduce them. This
is important to show the programmers and jocks at the station what
your band is all about. It puts a face on the record as opposed to
just being one of 100 CD's stacked on the Program Director's desk.
Ron: Once Dreamworks has signed a band, what does that band and
you have to do for that band to continue to receive support from
the label?
Greg: In my mind it's all about the band hitting the road and
meeting radio stations. Sometimes it makes sense for the newly
signed band to get the opening slot for a major band's tour and
try to create a larger fan base from getting the exposure from the
tour. It just really depends on everything: the radio story with
their single, video airplay, retail's interest in the
band...Retail's interest is important because if they don't think
much of a band they will most likely not order many units to sell
in their stores so just as it's important to get radio excited
about the band, it's important for retail people to be aware of
the group too.
Ron: What are some reasons that bands get dropped from the
label?
Michelle: Here's a hint, be nice to the people who signed you
& supported you. You can sell crap for records, but the label
will still keep you around if the
right people like you, you have a good attitude about things and
your
willing to work hard. Besides, no one at the label is going to put
any work behind a record if the person’s they're working for are
jerks!
Ron: What are some of the biggest red flags that warn you about
a band?
Greg: I
have been really lucky at DreamWorks because I honestly have not had
a bad experience yet with any members of any of my bands, BUT I
would have a problem if a band (especially at the beginning of their
career) ever
showed any negative attitude to me or any of my stations about
working to promote themselves. When people start a band and get
signed they better realize they're gonna have to work their asses
off--especially after they're signed--if they want to have even a
slight chance of breaking through. There's too much other music out
there that will easily take their spot if they don't stand out in a
good way.
Ron: What are some of the biggest myths that local bands believe?
Michelle: This is such a great question, because if I had a mega
phone I would just
stand on the street corners shouting; YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE SIGNED
TO BE SUCCESSFUL. A successful band is a determined, do-it-yourself
band that takes out a small business loan and puts out there own
records, funds their own tours in the crap van that they bought with
their coffee house jobs and takes the time to find the right
independent distributor to get their music in stores. If a local
band can have a solid fan base and sell a decent amount of records
on their own, the labels will come sniffing around in no time!
Ron: What are some of the biggest mistakes local bands make, as
far as not
getting signed?
Michelle: For one, repeatedly inundating label reps with e-mails,
phone calls and press kits only leads one to believe that the bands
who are focusing on this gorilla marketing are really not quality
and that they have way too much free time on their hands to sit
around and be buggers all day! Get out. Play gigs and make a name
for yourself. If you do the labels will come to you! Also, believing
that signing to a major label will solve all the bands problems is
the worst attitude a band could possibly have. I once worked with a
local band with major internal problems and severe personality
conflicts. They actually believe that if they get signed and get
money it will solve all of their problems. I stopped working because
it was a constant struggle. The truth is, no one wants to inherit
someone's
(especially when it's more than one person's) baggage. Bands need to
battle it out on their own and figure out what needs to get done or
who needs to leave if the internal mojo isn't happening. A
seriously,
hungry-for-success band needs to be focused together. They have to
make goals & collectively & harmoniously find a means to
attain those goals for the better of the group. It's disappointing
to hear that only one band member puts all his money forth, or one
does all the promoting. A label needs to see that everyone is
willing to work hard for the success of
everyone involved.
So, there you go! For those of you who are willing to go
the extra mile, I hope this has taken a few miles off of your
journey. Good Luck!
I want to say thanks to Greg and Michelle, for you both are Oh!
So! Wise. I also want to ask the reader what questions you would
like me to ask. The next column will be based on your questions.
What is it you would like me to ask? What type of industry people
would you like to hear from? Let me know!
E-Mail me at Ron@cabands.com
let
me know what you think.
