"Uncle Russ" wrote in message
...
The album is for sale not only on my own site and from advertising in my
own
publications, but also online at Amazon, Tower Records, CD Baby, and half
a
dozen Internet download sites (like Apple I-Tunes). I sent a copy to Fred
Kaplan, the author of the article at the beginning of this thread, and he
failed to acknowledge receipt of -- let alone review -- the CD. A couple
of
less well known people did review it (very positively). Even without
paying
a publicist, I even got my fair share of air play on a few all-jazz FM
stations around North America.
Big deal. After 9 months, I doubt I have sold as many as 60 albums.
The strange thing is to have to tell clients about the likelyhood of their
rise to stardom, lest they think you the culprit for a less than stellar
quality album. We all know less than stellar quality albums can rise to
pretty good sales, or as Nebraska from The Boss shows, even to national
proof that good music can make the difference.
But to blame the majors for essentially being investment bankers in music is
shallow-minded. Sure, they may well want to maintain the inroads they have
into the music market (after all, they created those inroads) and certainly
want to guard it's availability from others, but when one looks at most of
the things the majors do, these are essentially the parts that other people
don't want to do or don't know about needing to be done. Your post is
something that probably should go up on most small project studio walls for
clients to read. Everybody has the hit or the sound or the attitude or the
looks, etc., but unless they know how to go about making all those things
congeal into one product they really aren't going to accomplish any
widespread notice.
I just went to work with JoVee and his blues band to do a little club
recording and some video work. Got good tracks and may even be able to put
something together with video, but the real point is that the band that
played this almost empty club (have to admit, it was July 3) the night
before were The Nighthawks who have been a mainstay in the DC area for close
to 30 years. They've had albums locally produced, do a great job in their
music and pleasing the crowd, but at least they know that it's putting on
the show night after night that pays the bills, not albums that are going to
break them into a new market.
Unfortunately, it does mean that you have to know someone that really has
the ability to make you a star. There aren't very many Brian Epsteins
anymore. It takes years of contacts to be able to help anyone to become
known in a national market. Jazz people are the lowest on the totem pole
when it comes to national exposure, with some notable exceptions like Diana
Krall or Norah Jones (still not jazz yet), and even then I'd have to say
that it's more on the looks issue than the musical proficiency, even though
are both extremely talented people. But at least Jazz people can be on the
totem pole at some level. The likelyhood of a self-produced artist of even
exemplary talent is less than being able to win a decent amount of money
from a state lottery, or at least it seems like that.
I constantly look for new talent/new music, to the point of going to almost
all of the included URLs listed in people's sigs on this group and others.
I followed Peter Larsen over to F-Jam Online to see what people's
collaborations could be like, and even use Jazz Times and other "centrals"
to gain information or listen to new talent. Some great stuff out there,
but you really have to look, and then, when all is said and done, often you
won't even remember the name of the group or artist you listened to
yesterday.
Of course it's not my place to try to destroy some client's dream when it
comes to recording, but more often than not I'm not just in the place of
being a recording engineer, and honestly, most clients that are new to me
are also new to recording. The expectations don't match the need to
understand the basic underpinnings of making music a livelyhood. People
that want to start by making an album or demo don't usually understand that
they'll have those costly CDs in the closet for a long time if they don't
apply themselves correctly, which means getting out there and performing,
even if it means some smoke-filled dives that you wouldn't take a date.
Plus, it certainly doesn't hurt their playing abilities to hone them in
front of an audience. So then the question comes down to where have the
audiences gone, and that's a totally different subject.
--
Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
I completely agree with Bob Olhsson ... having learned the hard way what
he
so succinctly wrote.
I'm lucky enough to own a small magazine publishing company that earns me
a
decent living. When I returned to jazz, I expanded my company to include
music CD production. I bought good gear and discovered my photography
studio
doubles as a good music studio. With the help of Ben Maas (whom I met on
this group), I recorded and produced my own album. I used my writing,
photographic, and computer graphics skills to create artwork, liner notes,
and a website with free sample downloads.
It doesn't matter how good you are, how pretty your album looks and
sounds,
who plays on it, or how cool your website may be. Without tens or hundreds
of thousands of dollars in advertising and promotion and without strong
industry connections, you ain't going nowhere! You won't even get much
chance to play live because even small, parochial festivals want
performers
their audience has heard of. Without a lot of live performances, your
greatest hope of sales -- from the bandstand -- will never materialize.
Luckily, I don't care about "stardom"; I'm in it for the music, the
creativity, and the fun. Maybe someday I'll be able to play at a few
festivals and finally sell off my remaining 900 CDs. And I'll certainly
record others, make a few copies of the masters, and probably give most
away
to friends (and my half dozen fans).
Unless somebody else -- somebody with money and connections and knowhow --
makes you a "star" (or at least a somewhat familiar name) you will never
become one. And without name recognition, your music will barely leave the
studio.
Kaplan did admit up front that ArtistShare is probably only for people
with
an established name and following. Also, I might add, for people who don't
know what end of a computer is up. Because, for a lot less money, you can
do
it yourself at least as well, and attain the same results.
But you'll make more money mowing lawns.
Uncle Russ
WESTLAKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
www.finescalerr.com
WESTLAKE RECORDS
www.westlakerecords.com
Bob Olhsson wrote:
It's been an avenue many artists have used all along!
This isn't necessarily such a great deal since all of the production,
promotion, music licensing and sales efforts are left up to the artist!
The main thing record labels do is promoting, publicizing and selling
recordings. Somebody's got to do it and the less known an artist is, the
more difficult and expensive it is to do. Another very tangible benefit
from
being on a recognized label is the amountof live performance fees one can
ask.
Until somebody such as ArtistShare raises an unknown artist to having an
international profile, we are comparing apples to oranges.
--
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com