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Following on from my last post on how price cutting impacted on the perceived value of music…

Been a bit quiet lately – partly due to settling in to new living and work space and partly as this has been my first year – and experience – of the joys of Dissertation, Degree and Higher Diploma assessments. Inflicting them as opposed to doing them. Though the new regulations regarding teaching qualifications have had me working on my own essays too. Nice to share the pain.

One topic that we discussed in a lecture last week was value. Cultural, commercial, economic, added and more. How we define value and apportion it. It was an interesting discussion and informs this post.

There are two areas that I will touch on. Firstly how the industry that decries the decline in the value of music – perceived or actual – is a prime example of the proverbial chicken coming home to roost;  and secondly why the value question could use a bit of perspective anyway.

The homing chicken – the decline in value (because there can be little doubt there has been a decline) has a number of causes – file sharing has had some impact and so has the digital format – but I believe one of the biggest impacts has been retail pricing.

I am not suggesting that music is too cheap or that it should be more expensive. That though a valid one is a different debate. I am suggesting that price marketing started the slide in perceived value.

When I worked in retail and in my early days at EMI (mid 90’s) retail had roughly two sales (or campaigns) a year. Post Summer to set-up for Xmas, and post Xmas to set-up for the following year. They seemed a rare but looked forward to occurrence and – to some extent – an event. It was a rare opportunity to grab a bargain or for a spot of impulse buying.

As we moved into the next decade however the industry was faced with a retail market facing nascent recession, competition from different consumer and entertainment goods and competition from each other.

Suddenly two campaigns a year wouldn’t suffice. It became a race to the lowest price. We saw the ‘2 for 20′ campaigns, the ‘3 for 21′ and soon we saw the continuous sale. The monthly campaigns.

This did not – and could not – happen without the labels being a willing part of the equation. For short term gain the labels fed retail the stock they needed. At first it was lower tier releases – volume fodder – not the crown jewels nor the family silver. The stuff EMI had sitting up in the warehouse in Leamington taking up space. Then to meet the insatiable demand of retail – joined by the other majors & indie distributors – the really good stuff started being pushed out. Only to the high yield campaigns at first but then it was the cheaper price points and then a free for all. Even relatively new releases. Retail were happy – and so were labels because they were shipping huge volumes with minimal marketing or promotion. It was price led.

And at that point we should pause – because did the labels and retail even consider how fans of artists were going to react when having bought the album at full price a few months or weeks before  it had now been price slashed? Most likely not. Or not enough to care. The fans though did care. They felt like mugs. Because that is how they were being treated.

The next time a new album came out they ripped it, stole it or waited for it to drop in price. And of course it did because it wasn’t selling at full price any more because Joe Public had worked out that a wait was better than instant gratification – especially when the album was available for ‘free’ on-line. So stock stayed in retail or warehouses and was discounted to shift it. It became a self fulfilling scenario.

Along with the feeling of being ripped off came the sense that if HMV were selling it for a few quid then it didn’t feel that bad to steal it. It wasn’t really worth much anyway. Was it?

Simply the perceived value of recorded music declined in correllation to the price marketing driven by labels and retail for short term gain. It was music as a commodity. No understanding of it’s value other than the commercial. No understanding of it’s importance other than to upside a balance sheet. From Dylan to the Beach Boys; from the Clash to Miles. It was just units.

And the second part? The perspective? As we are fond of saying at UnConvention the word ‘music’ goes before the word ‘business’. At the beginning and end of the day it’s always been about the music. We seem to be forgetting that. It’s not just business models or strategies. If you treat it as a commodity or a copyright you fail.

To paraphrase Bill Clinton. It’s the music, stupid.

One area of the industry I get asked a lot about is press pr and tv and radio pluggers. For many artists, managers and labels it is a very murky area. How do you know your not being bullshitted? How can you work out what is a fair price (suggestion – negotiate down by 10 to 20% as a matter of habit) and how can you tell if you are getting what you paid for and not getting stiffed?

Hopefully the following will help. Or at least inspire others to add their suggestions.

1. One Size Does Not Fit All.

A press person or plugger should have strengths. And they should play to them. Obvious statement really but any pr or plugger who turns around and cheerfully says they can do Indie, Rock, Urban, Folk, Jazz etc and has a staff of 3 or less is either some kind of ‘idiot savant’ or treating you like an idiot. Plugging is, or should be, a specialism. It is impossible or incredibly rare for a small PR company to have that level of relationship with producers or Heads of Music on every station in every genre or the journalistic or blogging equivalent. Despite what they may tell you. Always check their roster. What other acts are they representing? And are any of them getting oxygen at media? Also check out when they last worked with the major league artists they trumpet on the first page of their bio. They may have been the ‘go to’ people in 2004 but what are they doing now?

Like financial investing the past is no guide to contemporary performance.

2. How Can You Tell If They Are Any Good?

Simple. Ask for case studies. Or references. You don’t need a ten page document however any plugger who is enticing with you with descriptions of their fantastic relationships with key media figures should be able to give examples of the last play lists, features or reviews they got with those people. Look for A&B play list positions. A ‘C’ list is nice but on most stations you will be hard pressed to hear your release between the hours of 7am & 7pm. What sessions have they got their clients? All the stuff you want for yourself so did another act. Did the pluggers deliver?

Promises are worth shit. Ask for proof.

3. Don’t Believe The Hype.

I once received a weekly report from a plugger that was chock full of activity including a much trumpeted ‘A’ list play list position. A very excited artist soon calmed down when I explained it was a local community station somewhere in the Outer Hebrides with 12 men and a goat as listeners. Nice rotation though. They obviously didn’t get many records up there. It may have been front page news too. I think ours was the only track sent that decade. Major airplay. The goat is still probably humming it now.

Read the report. Research the report. Ring the plugger or pr and ask what the numbers mean.

4. Do You Even Need A Press Person Or A Plugger?

The first question I ask anyone who tells me they are going to release a single is this. Why? Who is going to buy it?And the first question you should ask yourself before spending large amounts of cash on a pr or plugger is why are you taking the track to radio or press? Is it to build awareness or are your expectations much higher? Why should radio even play it? What’s the bigger story? Because radio and press – as pr & pluggers are fully aware – rarely jump on unsigned or indie tracks without a buzz around them. Ditto the press. If it’s a huge success are you set-up to capitalise on it. If you are not even in a position to actually benefit from any elusive recognition you have just wasted your money.

Any plugger who doesn’t ask these questions of you is not right for you. Because these are the questions the plugger – if you are lucky – will be asked by the media folk.

Pluggers & pr will be one of your largest investments. So get your ducks in a row before spending the family savings on a poorly thought through strategy.

5. So After That Lot The Big Question – How Do You Find A Good Plugger?

Well first bear in mind the above. Most of it has served me well over the years. And secondly I suggest you look at the baby bands and artists that seem to be getting traction and you ask them who’s working their record – most will happily tell you – plus there are some superb press, radio & TV people losing their label gigs at the moment. And they are hungry and keen to work. So hit them up and then figure out if you have everything else in place and if you can afford them. And for how long.

Or of course you could always do it yourself. As I said above media rarely jumps on unsigned bands without a ‘real’ plugger or pr on board – it’s a relationship and word of mouth business – but the emphasis is on the word ‘rarely’. There are exceptions and you could be it.

Talent, enthusiasm and a good pitch can be all that it takes. Maybe only a one in a million chance but if you don’t try you will never know – will you?

I was talking to some friends the other day about how difficult it is to deliver regular content if your an artist or in a band. They basically said that as the band is not a full time job (and I get this from artists who are full time)  it can be a struggle to blog about anything that is relevant, interesting or likely to entertain fans.

The first point is that it is not the bands job to necessarily entertain when blogging. It’s to give fans an insight into how they or the band are. It’s a snapshot of their lives or activities. It’s the access fans don’t normally have or – especially in the early days – the foundations of friendship and support that underpin every artists career.

So here are three suggestions on how to get past  ’bloggers block’. There are plenty more around. These are the ones that I have found work effectively.

1. Set yourself a target day to blog. Each week choose one day as an event day. I always suggest a Thursday evening. Partly because there is one work or school day left to have it shared by fans and then because it’s the weekend and people socialise and word of mouth spreads proportionally. Tell your fans to expect content on that day. And make sure you deliver. Use Twitter to announce it when you post. Email shots are great. Make sure you have RSS feeds set up so fans automatically get the update. It takes away the stress of thinking you need to blog every other day. If you have something to say use Twitter or status updates. Micro blogging as we know is just as effective as macro. Or even just text.

2. Content is as varied as you want it to be. It could be a photostream on flickr of travelling to the last gig. It could be pictures of fans. It could even be just a picture gallery of a week in the life of the band. It might be scans of lyrics in progress, set lists, video of rehearsals or podcasts and video blogs etc. Anything. It doesn’t have to be art or super smart. Or even original. Don’t start with the idea it should be viral either. Viral is. Simple as that. If it is viral it will go viral. Don’t sweat it. Just as long as it is personal and furthers your relationship with the fans and theirs with you.

3. If you have nothing to say about yourself say something about someone else. The association helps position you by your referencing. If there is an artist who inspires you talk about them. If there is a book, a film, a photograph, a painting – anything – that you feel passionately about discuss it. Share it. Give your fans an insight into the things that move you to do what you do. The things that inspire you.

These are just a few examples. Hunt around for others. The old writers adage “write about what you know” applies to artists. Just broaden it out a bit. Write about the things that you know – and that move you. It’s communication and that’s the most important thing.

Always nice to be interviewed. Always a tad not so nice to read your own words. We won’t even discuss the photo. Thanks to the guys at LTD Magazine http://www.tourdates.co.uk/

PS: And before any of the students chip in – you were edited out. Sorry. The actual bit went like this

Lecturing was – a bit like most of my career – not planned. A mate at ACM in Guildford asked me to do some guest lectures. These led to a chance to lecture on the Music Business degree and HiDip courses. Same thing happened at Bucks New University. I have a new respect for people in education. The prep one does for a term of lectures is daunting but it’s worth it. The students keep it fresh and I learn as much as I teach. It means all parts fit together. The lecturing informs ideas at UnConvention and vice versa, UnConvention helps me understand the challenges and issues of being an indie artist or a label and the consultancy means I can afford to do things like UnConvention and keeps me plugged into the business side.

If you haven’t seen Glee you should. It is a huge phenonemon in the US and it aired in the UK a couple of weeks ago. Set in a US high school it is, to all intents and purposes, High School Musical for nerds. We get these shows during recessions. And why not? Relentlessly optimistic the narrative is a universal one.

It’s a Pixar movie in the sense that it works for audiences on different levels. Kids will enjoy the traditional underdog story line and adults the arch way it satirises the same.

It’s camp, rather homoerotic (a focus on half naked guys in changing rooms was apparent), witty and while it’s piss taking of Disney’s saccharine blockbuster series is more bitch slap than kick in the nuts it picks it’s targets neatly ranging from chastity rings to the usual authority versus the kids shtick. Diversity is celebrated – with tongue firmly in cheek – and any show which features the jock male lead being forced into the Glee club by having drugs planted on him by a teacher works for me.

The main story from Glee however is the impact of the featured music. In the UK the pilot episode pushed five cast recordings into the Top 75. The highest entry being a very enthusiastic version of Journeys ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ (the original version was just behind it in the same chart).  In the US last year tracks featured in the show have dominated the Billboard 100 singles chart. The album compilations have been best sellers as well (one hopes the label is busy licensing the originals for a Glee Originals compilation).

In the UK the songs are released immediately after the show airs. A weekend repeat drives further awareness. It is a beautiful example of label and broadcaster working together. They feed off each other and maintain momentum. This is quiet rare. When I was working media spin off or related singles most production houses or broadcasters just couldn’t make it work. These guys do.

It could however only work like this in a digital age. No label could have turned around this volume of releases with physical product. Nor could consumers afford to purchase them. Digital has allowed an immediacy of marketing, promotion and distribution  barely imaginable even five years ago.

In the grand scheme though how healthy to the music industry are series like Glee. Like the ubiquitous  X-Factor and American Idol consumers are being fed a non stop diet of covers (though Glee producers are talking about an episode featuring all original material they don’t seem that excited about the idea). It’s great for publishers. It’s great for the original artists and writers and I have no problem with classic songs being introduced to a new audience. There has to be a concern that the seemingly endless production line of covers and TV led hits is stifling new music, new talent and development of new careers. If UK or US radio playlists a cast cover song fom Glee that is one less slot for a new artist to be heard.

Is this a bad thing. Possibly. There is however a flipside. People are engaging with music. From the TV shows to Guitar Hero via Rock Band, from the dance off series to the skating on ice ‘celebrity’ shows – all are using music as the foundation of their product – and, no pun intended, it is striking a chord with consumers.

Its not new music. Sometimes it’s not even good music. But it is music. The challenge that we face is simply this. We know people are engaging with music. That music though is in the main being fed through mass media at a level never experienced before.

Do we even want to compete with this market? Is the phrase alternative really coming into it’s own? I believe so. I see an opportunity rather than a wall. Why? Because the more people get fed the same the more people will want and seek out something different. Something that is an alternative.

The challenge for artists who are making new music is simply this. How to be heard. Nothing new there. It’s just that bit harder than it was two weeks ago.

Today I received an email from an old friend who I had lost touch with. Ciara and I used to work at EMI together. We were catching up on what we have been up to in the last 4 or so years and once again I realised that all – or at least many of the people I know – no longer are doing just one job.

Ciara runs a vintage clothing store in Somerset called POOT, is a director of an art gallery, is writing, has been helping develop a Ralph Steadman archive and works with a Brazilian children’s charity.

Ruth & Jeff the founders of UnConvention work across a number of areas including their Fat Northerner label,  managing UnConvention, start ups etc and – thanks to UnConvention -  I got to meet inspiring people in India who do the same.

Friends like Dubber, Jez, & Steve Lawson have initiatives on the go – or interests that nicely dovetail with their careers – that range from setting up regional music archives to chasing down single malt whiskies.

Many friends are increasingly running side businesses as well as their day jobs. Partly for money but mainly to scratch that itch and see if there is a sustainable business in there somewhere.

Perhaps I’m drawn to those sort of people. Perhaps we tend to find each other because we have the opportunities and relative freedom to do so. I still have lots of friends in full time careers. I can’t say many are that happy about it but bills need to be paid.

I personally find that the combination of lecturing, consulting, UnConvention and a few other things is – if not the perfect one yet – a good balance. Each informs the other to some degree. Each allows me to do things I’m seriously and passionately interested in and would never have been able to do in a full time job. There are pitfalls. Not least those months when business has been quiet and no fees have come through the door.  But I was discussing this the other day with another major label friend who said at least I had fall back jobs. And I was flexible. And I had got past the idea of ‘needing’ that lump sum monthly salary (sometimes I’d love a guaranteed monthly salary but I’ve learned to live without one).

For them it was the one job and job security is a thing of the past.

So whats the point of the post. I think its simply this. The people I mention above are all ages. From 20’s onwards. We all like and enjoy creative stuff. More to the point and to paraphrase Ken Robinson ( who describes creativity as applied imagination) we are DOING it. Whether music, photography, design etc.

Overall though I think we all share one key thing in common. A sense that one job can never really satisfy us when there has never been such a wealth of opportunities to embrace, ideas to come up with (and the chance to implement them) and people to collaborate with.

Its no career path I ever imagined. It’s not even one I have a map for now. But in the last year I have got the chance to lecture, to meet and work with smart students, made new friends, been repeatedly inspired, got the chance  to meet musicians and entrepreneurs in India (and next year again in India, Columbia & Brazil), to moderate panels at UnConvention for the Great Escape (doing some next year too) and at Truck, to work with some brilliant start up clients, to hear great music and see great bands and – most importantly – to have a lot of fun along the way. Its not always been pretty. And it hasn’t always been easy but it has never been boring.

And I don’t do boring. So that is just as well.

I’ll be posting more on my trip to Bombay (or Mumbai – no one could seem to agree on whether the change in name was good or not) for UnConvention India but Dubber & Jez are doing a brilliant blog on the whole shebang at http://dubberandjez.posterous.com

A few things though leapt out at me. One of which was how local cultural habits limit the effectiveness of initiatives we take for granted – for example the idea of pre-ordering or purchasing upfront is a pretty alien concept in India; people either turn up or they don’t but they aren’t buying tickets in advance. Ditto the importance of big brand sponsorship to drive events and media to an extent we wouldn’t recognise over here.

One topic which was uniformly agreed upon was the importance of fans and how to build relationships.

On a panel I moderated (loosely – more on that later) we discussed how fans can help spread the word. I used the example of State Radio, a US band who put tour posters up on their site in different designs for fans to download and distribute in advance of gigs. I have always loved the idea – not least because fans can get the A4 posters to places that a band couldn’t themselves such as record shops, dorms, coffee shops etc.

Anyway the response wasn’t overwhelmingly positive. Partly because of logistics and because of access and cost. All fair points. So I asked if there were any ways the bands in the audience worked with fans that hadn’t been mentioned.

And out of that came a brilliant and – as brilliant ideas usually are – simple idea.

Get your fans to sell CD’s on your behalf and cut them in on the profits. Simple. Genius.

The bands give fans CD’s, the fans spread word of mouth and champion the band to their friends and contacts; fans are motivated to sell more albums and the band reach a new audience through unconventional means and make far more money than through traditional retail and everyone is happy.

And the best thing is the idea that rather than just burning the CD’s the fans have enough loyalty to the artist that they would rather help them build careers and – at the same time – benefit personally from the growing popularity of the band.

I’m sure there are pitfalls and I’m sure it works for some better than others but in a city where there is only one serious music blog and less than a handful of media covering music in any depth it’s a inspiring concept.

Then again everything about UnConvention India was inspiring.

To be continued…

Very shabby on the posting front lately but only excuse is that I’ve been a tad busy.

One thing I’ve been meaning to do for ages is to blog about some of the blogs I visit everyday. There are a few hundred in total (thank God for RSS) but there are a few that never fail to entertain and inform. Looking at the ones I’ve chosen my interest in all things retro whether design, fashion or music still seems to the fore. I’ll address that in future posts. Maybe.

First off the eclectic The Selvedge Yard

Recent posts – all heavy on the photos – have been on The Stones in South of France exile (and a nice feature on Anita Pallenberg), Dennis Hoppers Last Movie, California bikers, vintage rock T shirts, Steve McQueen’s dune buggy, British tattooists from back in the day and Jackson Pollack.

This site is like knowing an archivist with access to a whole library of vintage magazines. Which is essentially what we have. Also a blogger with a great eye for visuals and content. Brilliant site. The one I look most forward to reading as well. It’s also been responsible for a misguided attempt to re-launch my quiff, a few wardrobe malfunctions and a decision to take my bike test.

Next a music blog – though like The Selvedge Yard championing the past – Tomorrow’s Velvet Dreamz

As their strap line says ‘Stone Cold 60’s & 70’s O.G. Soul’. I thought I was pretty up on old school soul but I’ve found more great cuts and neglected songs through these guys than anywhere else. The tracks may sometimes be scratchy, and some of the vinyl obviously warped but the comps this site delivers are amazing. If your into obscure or just old school Doo Wop & Soul check it out. A blog – like all my faves – that is run by people who are passionate about what they do.

And finally GOOD

As it says on the front page GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Its also rather wonderful at translating data into what it calls ‘infographics’. My long suffering students must be royally fed up with me banging on about Tim Berners-Lee vision of a Semantic Web but this site proves data can be used in a creative way and in a way that provides a comprehensive snapshot (or is that an oxymoron) of the featured topic. They weren’t the first site to use these data / graphic led features (WIRED magazine also do it brilliantly & I’m sure there were plenty before them too)  but these guys post frequently on a broad range of topics and are never less than relevant.

Hope you enjoy the above. More to follow in the next few months. Other suggestions in a similar vein gratefully received. BTW – use the hyperlinks not picture click thru’s. It’s more fun to start at the the beginning with these sites than just the posts highlighted.

I moderated a panel this weekend as part of the Truck Records OX4 event in, unsurprisingly Oxford. The organisers had invited Un-Convention to run two of the panels on the day.

Mine was about local music. We had a great set of panelists – Tim Turan, Scott Cridland-Smith, Nightshift editor Ronan Munro – who were passionate about why they were working in Oxford – and in Pat Fulgoni’s case why that same passion thrived in Yorkshire and Huddersfield.

A few key points came up. The importance of an infrastructure that allowed artists to record and play, obviously the decline in local music retail is a big concern, the lack of support from a council that is happy to take credit for Radiohead coming from Oxford but is unwilling to actively support grassroots artists, clubs and labels (or at the least understand why capping venue numbers hardly helps matters) and finally the importance of a local music paper – in this case Nightshift.

A few things were not emphasised which as moderator was purely my fault. One was the importance of a spirit of collectivism – though the fact that this was organised by a local label and was living proof of that spirit sort of negated that worry – but the other is a subject that I believe has implications for local scenes – the need for good artist managers.

What has this to do with local? Hopefully I’ll make that clear as you read on but the role of managers never seems to be at the forefront when we discuss grassroots. Possibly because the role is associated with money and lots of grassroots artists lack money – or the potential, in the short term at least, to make any.

Good managers are hard to find. They need to be empathetic, business focused, entrepreneurial, a fan and have the patience of a saint – and also factor in good contacts, a sense of humour (though not essential as I’ve found to my cost), and an understanding of the myriad ways to structure deals and avoid being ripped off and a need for minimal sleep.

So why are they relevant to local scenes? A lot of managers – then and now – act as the first link (after studio engineers)  in the chain of discovering acts. Or at least moving them up from the local pub gig to where they could be seen on a labels radar. It will be the manager who works the phones and persuades the London A&R guys to schlep it up to Oxford or any other place outside of NW1, and hits up the indie labels in the UK (and internationally) that their artists are the next hot topic.

It is the managers who are hustling, selling, driving awareness and trying to squeeze some cash out of the money pit that is the music business.

There are, of course, bad ones. Not just because they are venal, incompetent or mercenary (though they do exist – in remarkable numbers) but because they are out of their depth. They don’t keep abreast of change or see opportunity. They read about Peter Grant and fail to understand that it’s the artist who is the headline not the manager. They still think that the goal is to get that demo in front of the guys in Kensington.

I was lucky to work with really smart and creative managers over the years – both at EMI & at Nettwerk. The great managers were all of the above. They never went native – by this I mean they never forgot that it was all about the band not their new best friend, the label head. They knew when to apply pressure and when to step back. They kept on top of things and protected their artists and their vision. Not always easy for a label guy but better that then the opposite for both us and the artists.

And the majority started at the bottom along with their bands – going out and seeing bands on the strength of a tip, knowing a local scene inside out and being there when something special starts to happen or even facilitating the meetings of local artists that spark something special.

That is why local scenes need managers. Managers can – and should – make things happen. Good, great managers understand that a great local scene will give their bands oxygen and profile. They should be part of local scenes – actually along with labels they should drive local scenes.

As for artists – it’s pretty simple. Part of the challenge with artists who go DIY is often that the majority aren’t comfortable with the business side. They didn’t become artists to do this stuff and – frankly – aren’t up for it – and although there is no excuse these days for not understanding their managers job – they prefer to have someone else do the business side. If your manager or prospective manager doesn’t seem like the people I describe above start thinking about changing them.

Because a manager is for life. Or longer depending on the contract you signed.