(Read part 1 here.)
In the previous post, singer/songwriter Angie Stevens gave an independent artist’s take on the music business. Today, we continue with the same Q&A from a manager’s perspective, with Angie’s manager and Boss Koala Records co-owner, Mike Lavelle.
Q: What’s happening in the music industry these days?
MIKE: That’s pretty much the million dollar question. The industry is clearly changing, but where it is headed is anyone’s guess. There is an abundance of music, with most available free in some form. Pandora, Spotify and the like are making almost all music available to everyone, for free. And with the ability for practically anyone to record music, there’s virtually more than any one person can take in.
Photo: Shelby McQuilkin
For this post and the next, we have the opportunity to get an insider’s look at the state of the music business, from two distinct viewpoints: artist and management.
(Read the previous post to catch up.)
In the last post, we talked about the untimely death of Amy Winehouse, and let it steer us toward a discussion about how artists and musicians seem to be prone to addictive or self-destructive behavior. We talked about the compulsive nature of creativity, and I theorized (“rambled” is more like it) about how we as artists might avoid becoming the next casualty of addiction by aiming our compulsions in positive directions rather than negative ones.
News of the tragic death of singer Amy Winehouse has been all over the news this past week. Her drug and alcohol addiction were well-known, and although the autopsy results have been inconclusive thus far, most people assume substance abuse played a role in her death; and while many have expressed sorrow, few have expressed surprise. Even Winehouse’s parents were apparently already preparing themselves for the inevitable.
Here’s something for you to think about:
Musicians who keep their options open, have more options.
One thing I’ve noticed in musicians and artists who are just getting started is that they tend to be a bit narrow-minded about what it is they think they want to do. I recognize this trait, because as a young musician I was the worst. I had a mindset about who I thought I was, and what I wanted to be, and anything that didn’t easily fit into that narrow stream of thought was immediately filtered out. As a result, I robbed myself of a lot of musical opportunities and experiences that might have been very beneficial to me.
Recently I’ve been privileged to become part of a larger discussion on MicControl, an up-and-coming website that is becoming somewhat of a clearinghouse for helpful discussions and information for indie musicians. The site has a growing number of contributors, including other bloggers like me who blog on artist development topics, plus some contributions from some better-known sites like CDBaby.
I like this site for a couple of important reasons:
I found this article by music business consultant Christopher Knab over at MusicBizAcademy.com, called “10 Tips to Keep You on the Music Career-Building Path.” Each of the points he makes makes a lot of sense and carries a lot of wisdom. Here’s a brief quote from the article:
“If you think your music is ‘good’….then just keep it as a hobby. The music marketplace doesn’t need more ‘good’ music, it needs truly GREAT music, which is a lot easier to get people excited about, and to market.”
And another one:
From ArtistHouseMusic…the widget below contains a series of video clips of Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records (think U2) as he talks about various aspects of the music industry today–including a lot of insight for independent artists. These clips were filmed at a seminar at Loyola University in New Orleans. There are a lot of clips here, but it’s worth taking the time to watch them. See what you think.
Photo: Phorget the Philm Photography (CC license)
A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to do an interview for Examiner.com with guitarist-vocalist Todd Park Mohr of the band Big Head Todd and the Monsters, a band with over 20 years’ experience in the music “bidness”. I bring it up here because in the course of the conversation he weighed in a little bit on the current situation with A&R with the major labels–something we’ve talked about here before.
You can read the entire published interview here to get the full context, but here’s what Todd Park Mohr had to say on this issue:
This video is about five years old, but the insights in it are still fresh. Wise words from industry insider Owen Husney, former manager for Prince, about the situation today with labels and artist development. He confirms some of the things I said in the opening post.
(HT: Artistshouse Music.)
