The Musician’s Mindset
When you’re an artist, your mentality is different. You’ve got to stay focused on that trueness inside of you; why you’re the creative person that got involved in the first place. Keeping that passion from day one is difficult, but that’s where you need to stay. Tom Petty still thinks he’s his 14-year-old self playing in his bedroom, saying, “I’m going to be a star.” Once a musician, always a musician. You’re never losing that.
Do Your Part
What’s the buzz? What’s your story? You’ve got to create that and then I can help you. Artists [need] to go on the road and go through the trenches. Everyone has gotten to the point of, “Oh, we don’t have to do that, because I have the Internet. I can just do a video and everyone in the world can see me.” How does everyone even know how to look for you? No one’s interacting with you; they have no connection. You need to be proactive; you need to be a participant in your career. Without your participation, we’ll have a very difficult time.
If You’re Starting a Label, Love It
People with success at the label level are like me—they’re passionate. I produce acts and think, “Man, people have to hear this.” That’s why I started. I wanted those people to have a chance. If you can find the right partner and distributor, you’re on a good path. It’s an interesting flight once you get on it, but once you’re on, you’re on for life.
Labels as Seal of Quality
I used to buy records just because the label was cool. You went off the brand, because you trusted they were going to give you some good music. That’s what I’ve always dreamt about having. I’m doing stuff for everybody. I’m not just keying in on what Tony’s about and that’s it.
The New Model
When Kevin and I were doing a Rickie Lee Jones project, people knew about Kickstarter, but nobody really knew about PledgeMusic. It wasn’t big at the time, but it was catching on. Ron [Stone] was managing Bonnie Raitt and Kevin suggested, “If you reach out to your fans you can make this record.” She did and she was so grateful to her fans that she fired Ron. “What do I need you for if I can do this on my own and keep the money?” When I heard about that, I thought we should do something like that with our artists. The Rickie Lee Jones project took on a life of its own. We were only asking for $40K. And we got $116K! We looked at each other and knew this was the ultimate business model.
We understand it to be a presale. It’s become its own store. Rickie Lee Jones has more CDs she’s going to sell to them in the first week than she’ll probably do at retail. Within a week, we’re charting. People are going to know about it. We have marketing money. You raise money and it’s not a recoup. It’s money you don’t put against a statement. I can hire a publicist for six months instead of three or get a radio person on for the life of a single versus a 12-week run.
Fighting Perception
According to RIAA, the percentage of all sales that’s digital is 14 percent. Vinyl’s up, only three-six percent of all sales, but you can’t beat perception. Streaming is the new love. You’re buying radio and it’s your music, anytime you want to play it. But if you look at the numbers, CDs are still there. Is physical down? Sure. But vinyl’s up, so physical’s holding. I know a label out here that only makes cassettes. But trying to beat that whole digital thing is a pain in the butt.
