Musik and Film Recording Artist, Jerry Bogan will be featured on Hub Radio’s, Your Show, on December 30th. Jerry’s single, Let It Rain hit No. 1 on the DRT National Airplay Top 80 Independent Chart this past year.
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All I see these days on Linkedin, Facebook and everywhere are people bitchin’ about streaming, the declining music industry and lack of opportunities for Indie artists. Today I see on Linkedin “5 Reasons the Music Business is in the Toilet”. We all know its in the toilet, but what are you gonna do about it. Boo Hoo there are no more record labels willing to plunk down cash to fund artists. There are no more publishing deals offering cash advances. “Boo Hoo there is no place for starving artists to obtain funding.” Indigogo and others were great at first but now its worn thin. You know what they say “Can’t Never Could”.
A brief background. Major labels fought the digital age. When they finally knew they could not fight it anymore, their way of embracing it ruined the Indie artists. The way they embraced it was to buy every digital distributor there was on the planet. Then the international President of Sony stated publicly, “Indie artists are becoming competition we need to level the playing field”. Their way of leveling the playing field was to embrace streaming services, but they went to the extreme on that one too. They took hundreds of millions in advances to allow streaming services to stream their catalogs. They never asked any artists permission to do so. Then to add insult to injury they keep the yearly advances, nothing is shared with the artists. Then they fed the artists with this crap “oh it’s a great opportunity for the indie artist’s exposure”. Bullshit! How is ANYONE going to find you among Billions of artists? Enough Bitchin’.
Let’s face it streaming is here to stay, it ain’t going away. They may raise the rates by 1/1000 of a cent but what difference will that make? Major labels have always been the gatekeepers and the big money. It doesn’t matter if its music or politics the 1% who has all the money rules the world.
Face the music its always been this way. But there are plenty of tools for the indie artist to succeed. Did you know, this week was the first week in history that 8 artists in the UK’s Top 40 were indie artists? Its starting to happen everywhere. You may not be able to make yourself a superstar, but with a limited budget you can chart, you can tour, and you can make a good living.
Artists have to realize music is a business and they have to run it like a business. Business’s need advertising. In this case advertising is not only social media but worldwide radio airplay. Cause you cannot successfully tour without radio airplay. Neil Young recently said “the only way for artist to make money these days is in the live experience” Perform in front of people all over the world. Sell your merchandise and collect your radio airplay royalties and license your music. But nobody’s gonna do it for you anymore. You have to do it for yourself.
Musik and Film has been working on opportunities worldwide for the Indie Artists through world radio airplay and charting, touring opportunities. Email us at promotions@musikandfilm.com and we will consult with you and help you achieve that success.
An artist needs to make sure they properly code their digital content to increase their chances of getting paid appropriately for their airplay and songwriting royalties. Without proper coding, there is practically zero chance of getting paid. Here is a tutorial about how to code your MP3 files with metadata for the airplay to be tracked.
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Musicians these days are always looking for ways to improve themselves, market themselves, and inspire themselves. With the advent of YouTube, that goal has become immensely more achievable right from home, for no charge at all. There are countless ways to exploit this service to your advantage, but Dylan Welsh of the online blog SonicBids.com has clearly spelled out 5 ways to utilize YouTube as a freelance musician. These don’t just apply to freelance artists however, feel free to take advantage of these methods with your band as well. The article is definitely worth reading.
“I’ve seen a lot of active session musicians using video content on YouTube as a way to drive traffic to their websites and attract potential clients. This, of course, also strengthens your web presence and makes your brand even stronger. Here’s some of the smartest content that I’ve found active session musicians using for their YouTube channels.”- Snippet of full Article by Dylan Welsh
For full article go here: http://blog.sonicbids.com/5-smart-ways-to-use-youtube-as-a-freelance-musician
Rida’s hit, “Be With Me” has been topping the charts since the worldwide radio campaign began by Musik Radio Promotions weeks ago.
Rida does it all: R&B, Dance, Rock, College, Urban –his songs are loved by so many fans!
He writes all his own songs – lyrics and melodies, mixes them, and usually does most of his own music, and directs all his own video clips (sometimes collaborating with assistant producers).
There will be much more to come from Rida!
Joe Smith, past president of Warner Bros. Elektra/Asylum, and Capitol Records, says, “with today’s rules, I couldn’t sign the Grateful Dead”.
Musik & Film Records changed the rules to create a new model for indie artists.
Five industry mogels provide a powerful insight into the music industry in the article below, courtesy of Hollywood Reporter. Great to know Musik and Film is on the same page!
It hasn’t been a pretty picture for the record companies the past 15 years. In that time, the U.S. music business has shrunk in half, from revenue of $14.6 billion in 1999 to $7.1 billion in 2012, and that’s been reflected in job losses, consolidation of seven music giants into three and a general feeling of malaise that says the industry’s glory days are an irretrievable thing of the past. Indeed, the landscape is littered with former executives bemoaning the loss of expense accounts and cocaine- and hooker-fueled days, but not these spry veterans, who have survived this brave new digital world to tell their tales.
Jerry Greenberg, Atlantic Records president (1974-80), MJJ Music president/COO (1993-2000)
THEN: Signed ABBA; connected producer Mutt Lange with AC/DC (the result: Highway to Hell); broke Led Zeppelin on U.S. radio with “Whole Lotta Love”; signed Chic, Sister Sledge and The Trammps.
NOW: Founder of Ibiza-based label Pacific Electronic Music; spearheading documentary about his career.
NEXT: Involved with the Polyphony Foundation, a music school in Nazareth where kids from both Israel and Palestine learn together. “I love music and working with artists. I can still tell a hit when I hear it. I want to find the next Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake.”
WHAT HE MISSES: “Labels signing artists, developing them and waiting for the money to come later. Record companies don’t stick with artists as much as they did back then.”
WORDS OF WISDOM: “This is as great a time to be a small, independent label as it was in the ’60s.”
Mike Bone, Island Records president (1990-91), Mercury co-president (1991), Def American Minster of Truth (1992-94)
THEN: While a promotion exec, broke Thin Lizzy in the U.S. with the single, “Wild One.”
NOW: Graduated Loyola Marymount with an MBA in marketing and a 3.93 GPA; owns homes in Santa Monica and Encino, a condo in Atlanta and a 215-acre Georgia tree farm.
NEXT: “In five years, my daughter will be a senior in college and my son will be a freshman, so I will start divesting my real estate, and prepare to move to Hawaii with my wife.”
WHAT HE MISSES: Being part of a team and moving the ball down the field, the snap, crackle and pop of the business, the camaraderie of orchestrating the whole ensemble. “My best years were atBob Krasnow’s Elektra in the ’80s, a magical time.”
WORDS OF WISDOM: “I saved my money. I didn’t put it up my nose or get divorced three times. My vices are now my kids.”
STORY: Afrojack Signs With Island Records and Universal Music Group
Joe Smith, Warner Bros. Records president (1970-75), Elektra/Asylum (1975-82), Capitol (1987-93)
THEN: Built Warner Bros. with Mo Ostin; signed the Grateful Dead and “changed the industry perception of the record company as the home of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin”; helped breakGarth Brooks; wrote Off the Record, a collection of more than 200 artist interviews now archived in the Library of Congress.
NOW: Lakers season ticket-holder, avid wine and art collector.
NEXT: “I hope to continue standing above ground.”
WHAT HE MISSES: That collegial feeling which disappeared when the business got corporate. “You rooted for your competition to have a hit because it meant increased retail traffic for everyone. We were never really competing with each other, we were all trying to make our own way. I also miss going to the NARM [National Association of Recording Merchandisers, since renamed the Music Business Association] convention, where I got to see everybody from around the country, where I emceed several of the award dinners and panels. I really felt at home.”
WORDS OF WISDOM: “There was room for everybody then. With today’s rules, I couldn’t sign the Grateful Dead.”
Phil Quartararo, Virgin Records president/CEO (1992-97), Warner Bros. president (1997-2002), EMI North America executive vp (2005-06)
THEN: Part of the Island Records team that broke U2; One of the founding executives of Virgin U.S.; signed Linkin Park and Josh Groban while at Warner Bros.
NOW: Managing Arturo Sandoval and Yoshiki at The Collective (the latter with veteran publishing and A&R exec Kaz Utsunomiya); consulting for artist estates and businesses that look to “use music for currency, and are willing to pay for it,” including Australian brand-sponsored e-commerce platform Guvera and sync recognition app Shazam. “I have been very fortunate to be able to take my 30-year record company experience and convert it.”
NEXT: “I’m not one to sit around moping and being resentful, waiting for the phone to ring. I’m looking at the first part of my career as the launching pad for the best part, which is right now, because I get to work with artists, brands and music. That experience we had in the major label system is valuable for companies today. There are not a lot of guys around who have run multimillion-dollar companies and are still young enough to have the energy to do something else.”
WHAT HE MISSES: Being able to activate a team of people working every day toward a common goal: to break an artist or a song, to build a career. “That was art; that was beautiful. Today’s market is not conducive to record companies as we knew them. They’re overwhelmed and under-resourced, which is a bad combination. The major labels of the past had the revenue to support the effort. [Now] there’s no money to do anything. And the thing that suffers the most is artist development. If you’re a new band, and can’t get any traction on your own, the record company won’t be able to do it for you.”
WORDS OF WISDOM: “The time for new opportunity in the music industry has never been better.”
Jeff Gold, A&M vp marketing/creative services (1981-90), Warner Bros. Records executive vp/GM (1990-98)
THEN: Helped break Bryan Adams; won a Grammy for art direction for Suzanne Vega’s third album.
NOW: Founder of Recordmecca, collecting and selling rare memorabilia; author of 101 Essential Rock Records: The Golden Age of Vinyl; consulting for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Experience Music Project.
NEXT: “I am going to do this for as long as I enjoy doing it. I wake up every morning and can’t wait to see who’s emailed me and from where, what I’ve sold. I engage in this fantastic treasure hunt where I get to meet super-interesting people, buy stuff from them they’ve had for a long time, research and contextualize it.”
WHAT HE MISSES: The expense account.
WORDS OF WISDOM: “The record business missed the boat on the Internet. It’s a real lack of vision. People aren’t doing the Steve Jobs leading thing in the record business.”.
For a consultation regarding how Musik and Film Records can help you, free of obligation, contact us today.
Stephen Wrench, President, Musik and Film Records, announces the opening of a management division. Wrench, who has been involved in the music industry in most every capacity and once an executive with RCA records, understands the needs of the indie artist in the industry climate of today.
The Musik and Film Management Division is a platform for serious independent artists to make their mark throughout the world. With 40+ years in the industry, the Musik and Film team has the track record and the contacts to help you record and produce your music, get you worldwide airplay and promotion and tour the world.
A few of the artists the Musik and Film team has worked with include:
Ozzy Osbourne, Missing Persons, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynryd, (Marilyn Manson)John 5 , Travis Tritt , Ian Ashbury and the Cult , Tommy Tutone , Axl Rose , Slash, Nikki Sixx (motley crue)
Musik and Film acts as a multi-faceted partner to its artists, identifying their creative and conceptual goals and cultivating the artist’s vision and raw talent to make them a viable musical entity.
FULL SERVICE ARTIST MANAGEMENT AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT WILL INCLUDE:
TO APPLY: Send the links to current music along with a description of goals.
Contact email: promotions@musikandfilm.com
If accepted, the artist will receive an evaluation and a personalized plan of the steps involved to achieve your goals.
The decaying business model?
The one that takes your talent, promises you everything and gives you back damned little in return…if anything. Just ask Lyle Lovett. He’s sold 4.6 million albums in the United States since 1991…and says he didn’t make a dime.
Decaying business model? Small wonder.
The music label models are dying or dead and don’t know it…decaying zombies who walk the earth thinking they are still alive. They rule the American airwaves with big money. They need fresh blood to survive. But they want the big game. They’re not going to give you a second glance. Or even a first glance. Not now, when it costs $1 million to get a single side played on the radio.
The good news?
Artists and musicians like you are seeing the light. The labels are telling them to go away. And they are. Far away. You don’t have to take it any more. Now there’s a way to have your music heard- and played- worldwide. No it’s not streaming. That’s not a profitable option. Or downloads. Instead, there’s a proven way to have your music heard by millions. Worldwide.
Music heard plus Music played equals money made.
The key to music success has been around since the first guy beat on a log with a stick and discovered that if people liked the sound they would actually give him something to hear him do it again. Somewhere down the road he added some strings, found a vocalist and hit the road. There was no radio…no tape, no records, no CDs…no streaming. Bands had to jump onto a bus and take their music to listeners and the listeners would pay. The more listeners who heard and liked their music, the more money made by the band. Along came radio. The recording industry followed. And millions of dollars changed hands. Mostly from one hand in the music label to another hand at their bank.
Pretty clear things have changed. Hardly anyone is buying CDs, the big labels have nothing to sell, and the retailers who used to sell CDs have called it quits or closed their doors. The future is digital, right? Not so fast.
What we have today is the ‘Big Bang’ of Digital Music.
There’s been an expansion of digital delivery from zero to infinity at the speed of light. Problem is, like our early universe, there’s still a massive void where ideas and concepts are bouncing around, speeding and colliding with each other. Some surviving. Some not.
Some being reshaped by the minute.
There is confusion among everyone in the music business. The big labels are pulling back and not signing new artists. The established artists are experimenting with digital downloads and streaming and not liking it very much at all. Lady Gaga will tell you that. In one year, on one streaming service, her’ Poker Face’ track was played more than a million times…Lady Gaga made only $167. One million streams. $167. Not so much a bang as it is the proverbial whimper.
Confusion offers a real opportunity for musicians.
The big labels will tell you to take your music and go away. And we couldn’t agree more. Things will settle down. The old business models will evolve in time as the big money in the music business figures out how to squeeze everyone involved once again.
In the meantime, now is your chance to get your foot in the front door…by slipping in the back door. The old way to new success.
It’s called radio. On-the-air, terrestrial radio. But it’s not your grandfather’s radio. It’s not even your grandfather’s country.
In the United States, radio listeners have been leaving in massive numbers. At the same time, listeners in other countries have been exploding by those same massive numbers. Foreign radio is not so controlled as our domestic stations. Overseas DJs and PDs actually listen to new music as it arrives…and if they like it they play it. And if the audience, likes it they pass it along. And an unknown group becomes known very quickly…opening the doors to personal appearances, concerts, and merchandise sales. And even catching the attention of the big labels…if you still want that attention.
Having your music heard and played on radio stations worldwide takes only two things: Musik Radio Promotions and a well-produced track. We offer you 6.5 billion new on-the-air RADIO listeners worldwide. Specifically, 165,000+ radio stations and networks including 95% FM, plus AM…and Internet Radio… in 104 countries.
So, what can Musik and Film Records offer to the Indie Artists?
(1) First Class production including development, recording, mixing, mastering, or even personally playing on the recording, co-writing and arranging your work if needed
(2) A REAL way of getting your music heard AND played with Musik Radio Promotions.
(3) Custom touring packages with established airplay.
And that’s the short list.
Decaying business model? It all depends on how you look at it.
Renee Therese, an adult contemporary pop artist from Palmerston North, New Zealand, recently finished recording a new EP. The release, “Please Go Home” was with the help of the Musik and Film production team team. Musik Radio Promotions has since released to a worldwide radio campaign to 150,000+ stations in 104 countries with the single immediately being picked up by the BBC and many others.
Therese is also making headway on the local front, with Stu Frith of SeaBreezeFM exclaiming, ” Fantastic Local artist looking good that’s for sure… “
Therese is an experienced performer who has been singing in front of an audience for the past 20 years, getting her start at a local Country Music Club at the age of twelve. Since then, Renee has had many great singing opportunities including four television performances on popular New Zealand shows. Her career highlight was singing her original music LIVE on The Good Morning Show (NZ) in 2012. That was until recently, when she began working with Musik and Film Records.
Musik and Film Records believe, ‘Please Go Home’ is the first of many more great songs by Renee Therese.
Musik Radio Promotions has just released the single ‘Lion’s Heart’ , by Musik and Film Records artist, Skye, in a worldwide campaign. It was immediately picked up for airplay by BBC2 and hundreds of stations around the world.
‘Lions Heart’ is the first song to begin a series of collaborations between Skye and Stephen Wrench. Earlier this year, Skye signed a development and promotions deal with Stephen Wrench and Musik and Film Records.