God
Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
Dear All:
I have a lot of time today, after a horrendous day yesterday. For simplicity I will write A&R as "AR" so I don't have to always reach for the ampersand- "&".
God, you've been talking a lot recently about how an artist or producer can make money in the biz by "selling out" and trying to cater to a specific trend. But, is that the only way?
To answer the latter portion of the statement, in many cases, the only way a producer will find work is through the repression of his/her own artistic wants and apply their talents in a production company's "assembly line" of ghost writers and producers who understand the commercialism involved in getting a hit song out there consistently.
However, there is a way that smart AR men may get ahead of themselves, if they are bold enough to do so, or an exec sees a certain genre of music from one of their divisions slipping.
Perhaps some newer music should be injected into the mainstream, one that has a growing popularity and contains a slight "edge" to it that it could stick around within a larger genre for more than a year. (By that statement, an example would be the 'new' 70's genre pop rock of "The Strokes" and "Jet" boosting sales for the overall "modern rock" genre of music of their respective companies divisions.)
OK, God, so how does it all work?
Let's make it a hypothetical situation:
My name is God, and I am the president of a big label's rock division . Usually, I'm out and about schmoozing and letting my assistants work the phone. But a problem call comes in from my boss.
He's been back to HQ in Germany (where the parent company is located), and the Germans are not liking some of the lagging sales. Their insane German statisticians in accounting are showing that it's in fact MY ROCK DIVISION that is a problem. Apparently, I've been spending more time at bars drinking martinis and not enough time busting the balls of my underlings to get some profit out of my division.
I tell my boss that the internet is to blame, and he doesn't buy it... ok God, go fix this problem.
So, I'm angry, I go back to my office from a god-awful trendy bar that "everyone" is obliged to go to. I ask my assistants for stats on overhead, expenditures, I even do a pseudo-audit (if you do a real one, your job will be gone...) to find out where the money is going and why is our division lagging.
Now there are many things that could be done to "change the situation" without actually trying to find a new trend, but those are in depth and do not partake to the overall topic of this post.
Calling a research company.
Anyway, I call a research company that specifically deals with identifying new "trends" (be it clothing, music, etc.) that are clicking with teens in America. I talk to their President (those companies usually are not that big) and tell them my situation.
I need to find some kind of trend out there, and the AR underlings that work for me to find new talent are too busy trying to get me out of my job to care (refer to my A&R 101 post if you don't understand that). In fact, they want me to lose my job, so they can have a shot at it (yeah right!).
Anyway, the lady on the other line (from the research company,) knows the spiel, she's got a thousand "informants" (teens that get comped or paid by the research company to gather information on consumption trends of teens, like what music is hot, what styles are cool, etc.)
So, I subcontract her to find me a rock/metal trend, I have no idea if she'll find one, but I need to get something fast.
I wallow in my misery for a bit, and some time (the length of time depends on the scope of the research), the lady from the research company has found something that's "gonna be in."
I'm listening, and she tells me (NOW THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL) that there's a growing underculture that has spread to a couple cities of that is dancehall/metal that's called CRAPMETAL (THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL<OK?? lol) A lot middle class kids that also happen to be mooks are really digging the dancehall/metal. In fact it's got a name called "CRAPMETAL" and the kids also have a clothing style that's not reggae and not metal. It's something different, the kids all wear ripped Emporio Armani clothing (hypothetical), Nike soccer/football shoes with cleats, and the girls make mini-skirts out of ripped up FCUK (French Connection UK) shirts.
I'm floored, this IS a new trend... what are the numbers?
She tells me a number I like, and says it's growing at an alarming rate. She asks me if I would like for them to find more demographics and more indices regarding the trend. It'll cost more money, but I can have a better view.
Sure, I say... so some time later, I get an email with graphs and charts showing a representation of the growth of the new "trend."
It's gonna be big... like nineties resurgence of punk, the stats prove it... the slope on the graph just took a massive turn up... i need to send some AR men I actually trust to go to the front lines, I'll even check out a couple shows and do some questioning.
The scene is biggest in London, it's spreading to New York.
God, that's some evil sh**, you're telling me people do that? What's next, how do you make money off this new trend?
So after intense scouting of the shows, buying all existing independent CDs of the genre, talking to people in the "scene" (they don't know why I'm there) I think the music, if repackaged and reworked by some producers to make the cuts friendlier for radio, I know, this new form of rock called CRAPMETAL could make a huge income spike for our division and will have revenue impact.
First, I have to find the most popular indie labels that release music from this trend.
I call a couple up, posing as an "investor" because I "really like the music" and want to help out. One fish bites the bait, and after several meetings, the fish is told that the money is actually from a major label, we cut a deal with the fish (the "head" of the indie label.) He likes the idea of money (some of the other labels didn't, it was "selling out." He will work with us in confidence so that our money can be put into making this trend more popular. Also, my company buys half of the indie company, and the deal is obviously, not revealed to the public (it would kill the trend if the followers of the new music found out about major labels buying half of their most beloved CRAPMETAL label.
We start injecting money into that label called CRAPMETAL RECORDS. They have the most popular CRAPMETAL ARTISTS, and we start paying for CRAPMETAL bands to be on the front of the slip sheet that indie distributors get. More distributors buy CRAPMETAL artist. CRAPMETAL RECORDS artists also get booked through a better booking agency, and tour like hell to promote their record.
OK, GOD, go on... this is interesting
Little do they know that through my contacts, I start getting crapmetal on TV in the news and in entertainment briefs. small clips, but effective.
I need to capitalise, however, you can't spend TOO MUCH money on this, or it won't be profitable (did I mention that our share of CRAPMETAL RECORDS had increased eightfold due to increased sales, distribution, etc.)
Anyway, I decide to get CRAPMETAL RECORDS out of the contrived indie distribution deal which was cover for the major label from looking like the "indie sold out", it did a year or two before, when we bought 50% of it, but nobody knew.
That looked good for my division, the label kept me on as president of the division, still. Whew!
CRAPMETAL RECORDS will have distribution through our label's major distributor, UNI. That's worldwide. The CRAPMETAL band that sold 300,000 records without the aid of MTV and other mainstream media outlet attention is called "The Shites." By this point, other labels are looking at signing CRAPMETAL bands, but are in a discovery process, like the one I was in TWO YEARS earlier, with the help of a friendly trend research company. So, I'm ahead of the pack, but I always have to watch my back.
My company essentially controls and is half-owner of the world's largest "independent" CRAPMETAL company that signed with us for a distribution deal. I play some hardball and the original owner sells out some more stake of his company. The major has control now, rumours are around about such a deal, but I don't care, the "owner" is still the puppet head of the label.
What's next, God?
I have "The Shites" make a video. But behind the scenes, I was working with Nike, Emporio Armani, and FCUK about the trend in CRAPMETAL. Cross promotion of their products in the video, in exchange for advertising money from the companies are a start in the right direction. (THIS IS ALL HYPOTHETICAL.)
Emporio Armani says that it could sacrifice making genuine ripped up CRAPMETAL clothing, and that won't hurt the company's overall branding posture. They're in.
Nike loves the idea of selling more shoes. They're experienced in cross-promotions (Air Force Ones anybody?) and having tons of kids wearing "cleats" to look cool is great. They'll make money out of it!
FCUK is in too. It won't hurt their brand to make a line for CRAPMETAL.
The deal is that I have to have my label push CRAPMETAL out to the mass public.
No problem, "The Shites" finished their album with a producer I coerced them into choosing, and they have 3 songs that were really polished for radio. If I could have promotions get that out, along with the video, and an MTV documentary "how CRAPMETAL is in" and "everybody's doing it," (MTV is sophisticated, they can make CRAPMETAL stories and marketing seem more "real" not as cheesy as I put it )
Anyway, the machine is set. CRAPMETAL is already coming to the surface, having hit most of the major cities through an underground scene, and I'm on the brink of releasing the first such CRAPMETAL album to the masses.
Song goes to TV, radio. Entertainment news covers it. I have more CRAPMETAL bands on the CRAPMETAL RECORDS roster all ready to go. They will open up for "The Shites." "The Shites" will do more tours, get more popular, because the trend has grown so hot, and more of CRAPMETAL RECORDS artists will have major releases. Other labels are scrambling to get more CRAPMETAL artists, which means that it will make the genre more popular.
The genre gets hot, kids are wearing the Nike Cleats, FCUK and Armani.
The trend lasts for a couple of years, but I capitalised the most out of it, because I knew of it from the beginning.
CRAPMETAL RECORDS is worth 10-15million USD/Euro, not bad for buying half of the label in the early days for 100,000. Money is borrowed against the shares of the company's worth and hedged for a possible collapse of the trend and scene.
Even if the scene collapses, we (the major label )made our money, even if "The Shites" spent their money on booze and women!
CONCLUSION
Obviously, if everything goes the way I said it did, then I would be moved up in the company ranks, or could bargain for a better position at another company. I would have saved my arse, and made a lot of money.
Does this sound all too conspired? A lot of indie punk labels went through the same thing, as well as the "independent" thinking, but major label owned rap labels. Even Master P claimed he was independent, but he really wasn't.
It's about feigning independence to not alienate your audience/consumers, but really pulling the ropes to have a lower probability of failure.
But, unfortunately, there aren't that many trends that would be such hits as "CRAPMETAL," so that's why a lot of companies try to get the most of promoting and marketing what is already "in" at the time to boost division profits. It's easier that way and less risky.
Didn't I mention CRAPMETAL went perfectly with the "mook" profile. You can't ask for nothing more, grunge rock was that way, too.
Good luck, and ask a lot of questions.
Sincerely,
God
I have a lot of time today, after a horrendous day yesterday. For simplicity I will write A&R as "AR" so I don't have to always reach for the ampersand- "&".
God, you've been talking a lot recently about how an artist or producer can make money in the biz by "selling out" and trying to cater to a specific trend. But, is that the only way?
To answer the latter portion of the statement, in many cases, the only way a producer will find work is through the repression of his/her own artistic wants and apply their talents in a production company's "assembly line" of ghost writers and producers who understand the commercialism involved in getting a hit song out there consistently.
However, there is a way that smart AR men may get ahead of themselves, if they are bold enough to do so, or an exec sees a certain genre of music from one of their divisions slipping.
Perhaps some newer music should be injected into the mainstream, one that has a growing popularity and contains a slight "edge" to it that it could stick around within a larger genre for more than a year. (By that statement, an example would be the 'new' 70's genre pop rock of "The Strokes" and "Jet" boosting sales for the overall "modern rock" genre of music of their respective companies divisions.)
OK, God, so how does it all work?
Let's make it a hypothetical situation:
My name is God, and I am the president of a big label's rock division . Usually, I'm out and about schmoozing and letting my assistants work the phone. But a problem call comes in from my boss.
He's been back to HQ in Germany (where the parent company is located), and the Germans are not liking some of the lagging sales. Their insane German statisticians in accounting are showing that it's in fact MY ROCK DIVISION that is a problem. Apparently, I've been spending more time at bars drinking martinis and not enough time busting the balls of my underlings to get some profit out of my division.
I tell my boss that the internet is to blame, and he doesn't buy it... ok God, go fix this problem.
So, I'm angry, I go back to my office from a god-awful trendy bar that "everyone" is obliged to go to. I ask my assistants for stats on overhead, expenditures, I even do a pseudo-audit (if you do a real one, your job will be gone...) to find out where the money is going and why is our division lagging.
Now there are many things that could be done to "change the situation" without actually trying to find a new trend, but those are in depth and do not partake to the overall topic of this post.
Calling a research company.
Anyway, I call a research company that specifically deals with identifying new "trends" (be it clothing, music, etc.) that are clicking with teens in America. I talk to their President (those companies usually are not that big) and tell them my situation.
I need to find some kind of trend out there, and the AR underlings that work for me to find new talent are too busy trying to get me out of my job to care (refer to my A&R 101 post if you don't understand that). In fact, they want me to lose my job, so they can have a shot at it (yeah right!).
Anyway, the lady on the other line (from the research company,) knows the spiel, she's got a thousand "informants" (teens that get comped or paid by the research company to gather information on consumption trends of teens, like what music is hot, what styles are cool, etc.)
So, I subcontract her to find me a rock/metal trend, I have no idea if she'll find one, but I need to get something fast.
I wallow in my misery for a bit, and some time (the length of time depends on the scope of the research), the lady from the research company has found something that's "gonna be in."
I'm listening, and she tells me (NOW THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL) that there's a growing underculture that has spread to a couple cities of that is dancehall/metal that's called CRAPMETAL (THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL<OK?? lol) A lot middle class kids that also happen to be mooks are really digging the dancehall/metal. In fact it's got a name called "CRAPMETAL" and the kids also have a clothing style that's not reggae and not metal. It's something different, the kids all wear ripped Emporio Armani clothing (hypothetical), Nike soccer/football shoes with cleats, and the girls make mini-skirts out of ripped up FCUK (French Connection UK) shirts.
I'm floored, this IS a new trend... what are the numbers?
She tells me a number I like, and says it's growing at an alarming rate. She asks me if I would like for them to find more demographics and more indices regarding the trend. It'll cost more money, but I can have a better view.
Sure, I say... so some time later, I get an email with graphs and charts showing a representation of the growth of the new "trend."
It's gonna be big... like nineties resurgence of punk, the stats prove it... the slope on the graph just took a massive turn up... i need to send some AR men I actually trust to go to the front lines, I'll even check out a couple shows and do some questioning.
The scene is biggest in London, it's spreading to New York.
God, that's some evil sh**, you're telling me people do that? What's next, how do you make money off this new trend?
So after intense scouting of the shows, buying all existing independent CDs of the genre, talking to people in the "scene" (they don't know why I'm there) I think the music, if repackaged and reworked by some producers to make the cuts friendlier for radio, I know, this new form of rock called CRAPMETAL could make a huge income spike for our division and will have revenue impact.
First, I have to find the most popular indie labels that release music from this trend.
I call a couple up, posing as an "investor" because I "really like the music" and want to help out. One fish bites the bait, and after several meetings, the fish is told that the money is actually from a major label, we cut a deal with the fish (the "head" of the indie label.) He likes the idea of money (some of the other labels didn't, it was "selling out." He will work with us in confidence so that our money can be put into making this trend more popular. Also, my company buys half of the indie company, and the deal is obviously, not revealed to the public (it would kill the trend if the followers of the new music found out about major labels buying half of their most beloved CRAPMETAL label.
We start injecting money into that label called CRAPMETAL RECORDS. They have the most popular CRAPMETAL ARTISTS, and we start paying for CRAPMETAL bands to be on the front of the slip sheet that indie distributors get. More distributors buy CRAPMETAL artist. CRAPMETAL RECORDS artists also get booked through a better booking agency, and tour like hell to promote their record.
OK, GOD, go on... this is interesting
Little do they know that through my contacts, I start getting crapmetal on TV in the news and in entertainment briefs. small clips, but effective.
I need to capitalise, however, you can't spend TOO MUCH money on this, or it won't be profitable (did I mention that our share of CRAPMETAL RECORDS had increased eightfold due to increased sales, distribution, etc.)
Anyway, I decide to get CRAPMETAL RECORDS out of the contrived indie distribution deal which was cover for the major label from looking like the "indie sold out", it did a year or two before, when we bought 50% of it, but nobody knew.
That looked good for my division, the label kept me on as president of the division, still. Whew!CRAPMETAL RECORDS will have distribution through our label's major distributor, UNI. That's worldwide. The CRAPMETAL band that sold 300,000 records without the aid of MTV and other mainstream media outlet attention is called "The Shites." By this point, other labels are looking at signing CRAPMETAL bands, but are in a discovery process, like the one I was in TWO YEARS earlier, with the help of a friendly trend research company. So, I'm ahead of the pack, but I always have to watch my back.
My company essentially controls and is half-owner of the world's largest "independent" CRAPMETAL company that signed with us for a distribution deal. I play some hardball and the original owner sells out some more stake of his company. The major has control now, rumours are around about such a deal, but I don't care, the "owner" is still the puppet head of the label.
What's next, God?
I have "The Shites" make a video. But behind the scenes, I was working with Nike, Emporio Armani, and FCUK about the trend in CRAPMETAL. Cross promotion of their products in the video, in exchange for advertising money from the companies are a start in the right direction. (THIS IS ALL HYPOTHETICAL.)
Emporio Armani says that it could sacrifice making genuine ripped up CRAPMETAL clothing, and that won't hurt the company's overall branding posture. They're in.
Nike loves the idea of selling more shoes. They're experienced in cross-promotions (Air Force Ones anybody?) and having tons of kids wearing "cleats" to look cool is great. They'll make money out of it!
FCUK is in too. It won't hurt their brand to make a line for CRAPMETAL.
The deal is that I have to have my label push CRAPMETAL out to the mass public.
No problem, "The Shites" finished their album with a producer I coerced them into choosing, and they have 3 songs that were really polished for radio. If I could have promotions get that out, along with the video, and an MTV documentary "how CRAPMETAL is in" and "everybody's doing it," (MTV is sophisticated, they can make CRAPMETAL stories and marketing seem more "real" not as cheesy as I put it
)Anyway, the machine is set. CRAPMETAL is already coming to the surface, having hit most of the major cities through an underground scene, and I'm on the brink of releasing the first such CRAPMETAL album to the masses.
Song goes to TV, radio. Entertainment news covers it. I have more CRAPMETAL bands on the CRAPMETAL RECORDS roster all ready to go. They will open up for "The Shites." "The Shites" will do more tours, get more popular, because the trend has grown so hot, and more of CRAPMETAL RECORDS artists will have major releases. Other labels are scrambling to get more CRAPMETAL artists, which means that it will make the genre more popular.
The genre gets hot, kids are wearing the Nike Cleats, FCUK and Armani.
The trend lasts for a couple of years, but I capitalised the most out of it, because I knew of it from the beginning.
CRAPMETAL RECORDS is worth 10-15million USD/Euro, not bad for buying half of the label in the early days for 100,000. Money is borrowed against the shares of the company's worth and hedged for a possible collapse of the trend and scene.
Even if the scene collapses, we (the major label )made our money, even if "The Shites" spent their money on booze and women!
CONCLUSION
Obviously, if everything goes the way I said it did, then I would be moved up in the company ranks, or could bargain for a better position at another company. I would have saved my arse, and made a lot of money.
Does this sound all too conspired? A lot of indie punk labels went through the same thing, as well as the "independent" thinking, but major label owned rap labels. Even Master P claimed he was independent, but he really wasn't.
It's about feigning independence to not alienate your audience/consumers, but really pulling the ropes to have a lower probability of failure.
But, unfortunately, there aren't that many trends that would be such hits as "CRAPMETAL," so that's why a lot of companies try to get the most of promoting and marketing what is already "in" at the time to boost division profits. It's easier that way and less risky.
Didn't I mention CRAPMETAL went perfectly with the "mook" profile. You can't ask for nothing more, grunge rock was that way, too.
Good luck, and ask a lot of questions.
Sincerely,
God
