Shilling for my brother

[Mark]

Yeah, my brother is still foolish enough to want a career in pop music. I look at all the rejection he has to deal with and wonder why would anyone possible want this?

Give me my regular paycheck thank you!

Anyway, my brother has written a new songs and isn't having too much luck with the youth radio stations such as Triple J.

Here is his song on You Tube, have a look, see what you think?

http://fburls.com/0-4rP4Nzvf/t/cid/618231/sid/97668102

http://fburls.com/97-16c65pNS/t/cid/618231/sid/97668102

http://fburls.com/98-xaGepwu0/t/cid/618231/sid/97668102

[Structo]

Is he the guitarist?

I have no idea how popular techno rock is but it sounds like they do a good job of it.

[selloutrr]

Get them hooked up with a euro label it might hit in Berlin but techno rock got burned out when aqua's Barbie girl was force fed in the late 90's.
Try a small indie label and build a fan base and touring knowledge. Don't jump right to majors or the contract will eat them alive and prob get shelved before it sees the light of day. Major labels buy bands just to not have conflicting sounds they like a very focussed consumer. A fan base is a must for success!

[Mark]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't think it is techno as such. My brother is the drummer and he writes on a keyboard.

He knows nothing about computers (the ins and outs of the machine) but he enjoys what the machine does. He doesn't use any quantizing on his tracks and almost exclusively records in an old school fashion that is to say recording the entire track in one pass. If he asks me to put down a track, I prefer the ease of cut and paste, but there are lots of recordings out there that have been totally recorded using the cut and paste method. There are easy to pick and sound very one dimensional (to me at any rate.)

As you say a fan base is crucial as anyone wanting to invest will want some proof of a return on their investment. After all music is a high risk investment.

As far as labels go, I think anyone can make the product, the record label guys know who's palms to grease to get airplay. These guys are able to get meetings and their phone calls returned by radio station people. If the rumours are true a good AR guy should have access to a hell of a lot of cocaine.

I don't know what the trends are in the US, but the trend in Australia is the people don't tend to go out and see small bands, they tend to see larger bands and music festivals. Thus airplay is the way to a fanbase, and a lot of bands find themselves in a bad cycle.

Personally, I think anyone would be mad to want this as a career, give me the regular paycheck any day.

[skyboltone]

I was sitting in the doctors office one day last week and read an article about some guy promoting and producing band kinda the old fashon way. I wish I could tell you the magazine or even the name so y'all could google it.

In essence this guy relies on a sense of taste in music he has developed over many years in the business. He travels all over the country listening to bands at concert. If he finds somebody he thinks has promise, has it's own songwriting skills and appears to have at least some resonable control of the addictions he signs them to a weird contract.

Goes like this. He buys the PA, all the cableing, and various equipment to make them sound good in various size venues. Then, he books the dates, he arranges the transportation (not first class), gets the equipment and a sound guy there, pays for the hotel ans a skimpy but adequate food allowance. He makes them sign a two year tour contract and puts them out on the road 365 for two years. He gets ALL the gate, they own all their own music, after a fan base has begun to develop he pays for studio sessions and takes the cost + modest profit out of sales of the album but retains no RIGHTS to the album.

After two years he cuts them loose and they so far have turned right around and hired him back as a conventional agent. The article named three or four groups that somebody younger than me probably would recognize but I don't, that he has brought from nothing to profitable touring schedules and profitable album sales. And they own themselves instead of loosing everything to the studio.

The main difference according to the article is that most big labels won't take the time to get a starter group (no matter what the talent) past that initial phase of a fan base and name recognition. The big studios expect a profit in 3 months. This guy gives these young people two years to develop their skills and the discipline they need to make it. It's really not until towards the end of their contract that he makes the money to make it worth his while. Sounds a little like a guy named Bill Graham eh?

Interesting

[Mark]

That is interesting.

My brother is booking gigs at the moment and is finding it hard to break even. The distances in Australia are huge, thus travel costs are significant. Hiring equipment is a better option than taking it with you.

Mark

[skyboltone]

That is interesting.

My brother is booking gigs at the moment and is finding it hard to break even. The distances in Australia are huge, thus travel costs are significant. Hiring equipment is a better option than taking it with you.

Mark

You make a good point. Now that I think about it it didn't say he buys them a personal PA. It just says he gets the equipment set up (no traveling roadies I guess eh?) and everything is waiting when they arrive. This takes all that tour management stuff off their minds so that they can concentrate on the music. He knows where the gigs are, who needs a warm up band etc. He's their contact man and he's doing it for a dozen groups at a time with a small staff in LA.

[eri77]

triple j lost its way many years ago, they claim to be in it for independents etc through unearthed, but they play next to none on air, all I can say to your brother is dont place all your eggs in one basket, really to make it these days in Australia is to think outside the square

[Mark]

Dear Eri77

Unfortunately, I completely agreed. Possibly through the guise of youth radio, it allows them to ignore the local product. I wonder what is the percentage of Aust to overseas acts they play?

Less and less do I see them uncovering local bands that make it big on commercial station. John Butler is the last one that comes to mind, though I don't think he'd agree with that.

I hear British India is album of the week, I have yet to hear a strong track yet, I'm sure there are other releases that are better.

Oh well, I can only hope Triple J and British India prove me wrong?

[selloutrr]

Cool Article only one smal problem in the thinking.. the studio's are not the one's that profit from the artist past the hourly = time rate. it's the labels and even capital studios was removed from the label. studio's are used by labels but the label own's the band. the only time the studio owns anything from a band is if the broke ass fuckers don't pay the bill. at that point, i personally give them 3 weeks to make payment in full before i send them to collections, write down all members names and social security numbers and black list all of them from all local venues and studios in a 100 mile radius and erase the masters. no one wants to deal with disrespectful musicians, there are enough nice ones.

Another great way to get to the next level is hire a marketing company to get your music in tv shows and commercials.

but the days of starting a band and just playing hoping to get signed and spend a year in the studio with a seperate budget for creative booger sugar... those days are done! if you are amazing you might get better then a 13 option (albums) contract retaining 2 original images (logos) and a cut of international sales. but probably not!!! either way the label owns you for 35 years! and you will probably owe them $$$ your whole life cause you don't see a dime until they are paid back in full.
your odds of making big $$ is better in vegas!

[skyboltone]

Cool Article only one smal problem in the thinking.. the studio's are not the one's that profit from the artist past the hourly = time rate. it's the labels and even capital studios was removed from the label. studio's are used by labels but the label own's the band. the only time the studio owns anything from a band is if the broke ass fuckers don't pay the bill. at that point, i personally give them 3 weeks to make payment in full before i send them to collections, write down all members names and social security numbers and black list all of them from all local venues and studios in a 100 mile radius and erase the masters. no one wants to deal with disrespectful musicians, there are enough nice ones.

Another great way to get to the next level is hire a marketing company to get your music in tv shows and commercials.

but the days of starting a band and just playing hoping to get signed and spend a year in the studio with a seperate budget for creative booger sugar... those days are done! if you are amazing you might get better then a 13 option (albums) contract retaining 2 original images (logos) and a cut of international sales. but probably not!!! either way the label owns you for 35 years! and you will probably owe them $$$ your whole life cause you don't see a dime until they are paid back in full.
your odds of making big $$ is better in vegas!

I'm certain I used the wrong nonmenclature Sellouterr. That's what I meant. Independent studios are everywhere. Gone are the days of RCA and one mic in front of Elvis and the Jordinaires.

The line from Waylon is the one I'm referreing to. "Are you sure Hank done it this a way?" I think the first true outlaw was Buck Owens.