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Strapping on a Guitar Doesn´t Make You a Star |
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Saturday, 12 June 2004 |
Is the indie music business alive & well? Wake up people, it's dying a slow painful self inflicted death. Yes there are a few venues where an Indie act can get in some good playing time, but they suffer large expenses & low return.
Is the indie music business alive & well? Wake up people, it's dying a slow painful self inflicted death. Yes there are a few venues where an Indie act can get in some good playing time, but they suffer large expenses & low return. Yes there are plenty of Labels, Majors & Minors, but few if any who will drop a wad on the unproven product. The music industry is cut-throat and competitive, filled to the brim with those who would be very happy to take full advantage of the indie guy with pie in the sky dreams. You create your own successes & failures, the key is to educate yourself as to what will & will not work in this business. Lack of the necessary knowledge needed to compete in this market is the major reason for many of the horror stories you hear today.
This is business, there are rules of thumb, most would be wise to adhere to.
1) Conduct yourselves as you would if you were running a company.
2) Don't burn any bridges or shit in the hand that feeds you. You may need a hand up one day.
3) Don't kick the little guy sitting on the stairs on the way up cause he may be the same guy you need on your way
back down.
4) See # 3, what goes up must come down.
5) Don't accept, less for more, an honest gig is worth honest dollar. By undercutting the next guy you are setting a
standard, if you don't believe me, add up what you have earned in the last year, compare it to those bands/artists
who play the game with integrity.
6) Never slander fellow entertainers, it makes you look like the asshole.
7) Never think you are better, because if talent alone was the mark of true success, then some of the stuff I hear on
the radio would not be there.
8) When you sign a contract READ IT FIRST WITH A LAWYER YOU TRUST, if you are not willing to follow
through or accept the terms of the contract once you sign it, you open yourself up to a whole lot of unnecessary
heartache not to mention the legal ramifications. AND for the fool element, when you try to walk away, EXPECT
that contract to come back and bite you in the ass at the most in-opportune time.
9) In order to prosper, it takes $ to make $. No one is going to finance a pipe dream, no one is going to front money
you are not willing to front. In other words, why should anyone provide financial backing to someone who is not
willing to invest in themselves.
10) Lose the notion that there is a pot of gold at the end of some music industry persons arm. You are the money
making opportunity, you will earn the company money or you will be gone.
11) Prove yourself, through airplay, touring, self promotion, and integrity. If you were hiring someone to build up
your company's financial portfolio who would you hire, the guy who proves his worth or the guy who proves he can
talk about his worth.
12) Educate yourself. Get on line, you will find loads of info & answers to the what will & will not work scenarios.
Caution: you will also find lots of garbage so do your research. The more you know about the business, the less
likely you are to be taken advantage of.
13) LEAVE YOUR EGO AT HOME, there is nothing that will kill your career as quickly. AND YES, the people
you want to impress, know an ass from an artist, they have turned down some really great acts because of
over-inflated ego's.
14) If your mates, agents or friends actions are damaging your credibility as an artist then lose them, it's guilt by
association. If you roll with the skunks you soon start to smell like them, I always say.
15) Make sure you put together a promo kit that doesn't look like a 2 year old did it. Be creative, original and
make it so that the receiver HAS to open it. Same with your web site make it kick ass, & fast. All materials
should have an identifying mark, color, etc on it that is your signature. The more people see it the more they will
identify it with you. A well recorded 3 song demo is great, anything more at this point is wasteful.
16) Create a buzz, make a lot of noise, in & out of your area, (reviews, radio, gigs, ect.) don't expect anything to fall
on your lap, except maybe bird shit.
17) Do covers, the covers get you into the bars to gain the following that will get you more gigs and cash which
allows you to work on your originals and that will help you get to the labels. Any new-to-the-scene act who
say's, "We don't do covers" is a damn fool. If it's exposure you want you better learn them. Once your a big star,
then the lose the covers.
18) Don't back door your agent/manager, when you do, you jeopardize your reputation as well as theirs. Let them do their job and you do yours. That kind of news travels real fast in this industry and you don't want to be labeled a pain in the ass. Let your representation do their job. I was told by one major label exec, lose the act or loose us. The trash went out that day.
19) This one is the most important, over night success, can take years. Work hard, do your ground work, promote the hell out of yourself, support the artists within your community and never expect a fairy godmother to wave a magic wand.
The reality is no matter how good you THINK you are, no matter who you know or whose butt you lay a wet one on, you still are only as successful as the amount of dedication & work you put into your own career. Learn it early so you avoid allot of headaches. Also remember if you haven't got a hope in hell of being in the spotlight so to speak, there are plenty of jobs within the industry where you can flex your artistic muscles.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 June 2004 )
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