American Songwriter » Industry of the Week

Digital-Only Classical Label Takes On Rock And Roll

Davis Inman — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:19:13 +0000

X5 compilations have topped the iTunes classical music charts. Now they're taking on Sun Records catalog. X5 Music Group is a Stockholm-based music startup that is helping to rethink the way labels package and release albums digitally. X5 licenses classical music catalogs and creates attractively-priced digital albums that appeal to a younger demographic. X5's business model is so promising that it lured Scott Ambrose Reilly, a digital music executive with years of experience licensing music as the head of Amazon's MP3 Store, to lead their U.S. operations in a new New York office. Reilly says it's the "digital potential" that attracted him to join X5's team. "All the way back in 1995-96, when I was first doing digital promotions and downloads with bands, all the ways you thought [digital] might change the industry in the way that content was created - distribution changed - but a lot of the other things haven't really come to fruition." X5 was founded in 2003, and soon the founders started packaging content specifically for the digital marketplace, with a focus on the classical music genre. In May 2008, X5 released a compilation album entitled The 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music for $9.99 and the album has spent time at to the top of the iTunes classical music chart. Reilly says the reason he and other X5 executives believe the model has worked is because it's attracting new fans to classical music. "We don't think we sold a lot of classical music to a lot of classical fans," says Reilly. X5's three founders each had backgrounds as songwriters and producers in Sweden and had dabbled in the ringtone business. They decided early on that the new company's model would be exclusively digital. "As soon as they made that decision," says Reilly, "the future was all growth and innovation, which is exciting." One thing X5 hopes to help reshape is the music industry status quo around album releases. "The business model that we're still living under is the LP vinyl business model that got created at the end of the '60s," says Reilly. "An artist needs to not be married to that as the end-all-be-all of how people engage with their music." That means rethinking album lead times and street dates, and even the length of albums. Reilly says all of these things are still tied to physical world, instead of being packaged with digital-first in mind. But aren't even the most innovative artists still nostalgia buffs for the heyday of the music industry? When a fan bought their favorite group's new record at the local record shop and took it home? What about the days when you pulled the record out of the sleeve and gently dropped the needle on fresh vinyl, then sat down and rolled a joint on the LP sleeve and... just listened. "It's hard to know how it evolves," says Reilly about the business of releasing new music. "Is every Tuesday the structure that still makes sense? What artists should be thinking about is how do people listen to their music? You can't change that. Customers are going to buy their music the way they choose to. Your fans and the customer have to lead that discussion. The artists have to go to where the customers are already listening to music." Now X5 will try to apply their model to music outside the classical genre. They recently struck a deal with Nashville-based Sun Records, home to the early Sam Phillips Memphis rock and roll recordings of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. "Sun has done a good job of creating packages that service the Sun aficionados," says Reilly. "What we want to do is create albums that will appeal to people who know who Johnny Cash is but don't have any in their collection. Who maybe have never heard of Roscoe Gordon or only know Charlie Rich from his two mega hits that their parents used to listen to." As for branching out into new genres, Reilly, who was calling on potential clients in London when we spoke by Skype, says, "There's a lot to learn and there's a lot of opportunity." One side of the business that X5 has a clear grasp of is bringing classical music to new fans. In November, they will release a 24-track compilation called The Greatest Video Game Music, with the themes from "007: Blood Stone" and the popular app game "Angry Birds" performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. "We think we've brought a lot of young people into classical music. We're thinking: how do we take that even further?" asks Reilly. "Video games. There are great songs in video games."

Music And Politics: A Q&A With Mitzi Matlock

Joseph LeMay — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:00:49 +0000

Mitzi Matlock is the marketing mastermind behind the Mark Wills song "Looking For America". Despite being new to Nashville, she has assembled a crack team of publicists and radio promoters who have all worked together to make the song a hit. "Looking For America" has taken on a life of its own and has received attention from numerous companies and politicians who want this patriotic anthem for themselves: Sarah Palin, Diamond Gusset Jeans, and a certain republican presidential candidate with an iconic head of hair and a bank account that "trumps" them all. (Ed Note: this interview took place before Trump dropped out of the race) Tell us about “Looking for America.” It’s a song about looking back to a time that was simpler, when children could run around and feel safe, when a blue-collar man could have a job for life and feed his family. It’s a song about getting America back to basics. Did you have any fear that the song might become just another partisan product that would divide more than unite? Well, the writers and I believe that it has the power to unite because…who doesn’t want the things that this song talks about? Who doesn’t want the economy back on track? One of the writers, Bernie, has a saying. He says, “This song isn’t for red states or blue states. It’s for red, white, and blue states.” It’s for everybody. We don’t want it to be divisive in any way. We just want it to say to everyone, “Let’s get back to basics and make this country work again.” Can you tell us more about the writers of the song? The writers are Bernie Nelson, Jeremy Bussey, and Philip Douglas. They are all very different writers in some aspects, but similar in a lot of ways. They come from very similar blue-collar backgrounds. And they’ve held on to that. So when they got together to write the tune it wasn’t like a bunch of young slick writers sitting there thinking, “How can we write a song that will appeal to Republicans and put it the country vein?” They just got together and wrote about what was on their minds and what they were feeling. How did you start working with them? Bernie introduced me to Jeremy and Philip. I’d met Bernie at a little greasy spoon in Dickson, TN. When I realized he was a songwriter I told him to come by my office, and he came by and dropped off a CD. What attracted me to his writing was the honesty on every song on the CD. It was so honestly and naturally country-not the whole “Look how country I am, I drive big trucks” sort of country. It was just great songs, and the country-ness was just inherent. Beautiful country songs. Then, “Looking For America” floats out, and it’s this simple country song with someone in first person saying “I miss that; I believe in that; why can’t it be like that; let’s do something about it!” And that’s what real country music has always been about ever since the Carter Family and all the people who came out of the Bristol Sessions in 1929. Your background in is classical music. Why switch to country music? I grew up here. I grew up hearing country music and granddad playing the fiddle, but I studied classical stuff in high school and college. Even when I lived in the U.K., I ran a country music show in the late 90’s. It was a great radio show. But yes, I mainly worked in booking and promotion for classical music over there. Four years ago, though, I moved back to Dickson, Tennessee still working with my classical groups. But then, people started wanting me to pitch songs and all that. Living so close to Nashville, country music just made sense. So, eventually I made a publishing company and Bernie started writing for me. My background in international concert promotion really has paid off, especially the fundraising. When you’re working in classical music you’re always raising money-writing grants, corporate sponsorships, arts and business partnerships. So, I was able to take all of that and sort of slide it over into this genre. Do you work with any other writers? Yes, I work with Benita Hill who wrote “Two Pina Coladas” for Garth Brooks. And I work with Lorna Flowers, a British writer. She’s got several good ones about to pop. Then of course Bernie Nelson. Other than that, I’m starting to get my hands in some artist management as well. Do you have a method you use for song exploitation? Well, a lot of times it seems like the most sensible pitches go nowhere, and then out of nowhere you’ll get a call from someone saying, “Guess who’s cutting your song!?” But as far as commercial stuff goes, I like to listen to a song and think of products that would go well with the song. For instance, Bernie wrote a song with a writer named Phil O’Donnel called “Land of Ya’ll” that’s all about the South. It names all sorts of iconic southern places and is full southern references like kudzu, the bayou, and Georgia peaches. So, I immediately thought of pairing it up with a show like Paula Deen’s roadshow. You know? I’d love to be all romantic and say, “It’s just about a beautiful song,” but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about selling a product. If you’re selling a dress to a lady who wears a size eight, you’re not gonna bring her something in a size two! Do you know what I mean? You fit it to the person. That’s my job. That being said, as a publisher you also have to respect the fact that your writers are creative people. So, you have to let them write those songs that are from the heart and not always worry about who will cut it or which artist it would fit. You have to let them write for themselves too. Back to “Looking for America”. Tell us a little about some of the offers you’ve gotten. Well, we keep having people write in saying that this needs to be the new patriotic anthem, and that it needs to be the song for 2012. So, we’ve pitched the idea to some people and made a proper pitch to one particular candidate. Now, we don’t know who the candidate is. It’s a campaign manager that we’ve been talking to, and they said, “Yeah. Absolutely, we think the song’s great. I cannot tell you who the candidate is, but I can tell you that he is a Republican. I would like to take your song to the National Republican Convention and pitch it to my client.” And I said, “That’s great, but what if that client tanks and the song tanks with them?” So, he says, “I get that, but this person’s pockets are deep enough that I can assure you that he will be in the race at the end of August 2012.” So, that makes me think that it might be Donald Trump. And, I mean, this campaign manager only works for the big dogs. So, I feel like it’s either Donald Trump or Mitt Romney. I just hope it’s one of the two! (laughs) Is there any chance of Sarah Palin getting it? Well, that’s how it started off. I sent the demo of the song to HarperCollins who published her book Going Rogue, to see if they would like to use it for her promotional tour. That didn’t pan out. So, I pitched it to Bill Haslem’s people, and they loved it! So, yes, the song had a political beginning, but then I thought, “What if we save this for them, and when the time comes they don’t like what we’ve done with the song and change their mind?” So, I started pitching the song to artists. We set our sights on Mark Wills, and got him to cut it, somehow. I’ve been sort of stumbling through all of this, but so far so good! Aside from political candidates, is the song attracting attention from elsewhere? Yeah. We’ve talked with Bridgestone, Real Tree (a camouflage clothing company), and A&W. There are also a few other projects that are coming to us. John Ratzenberger, the actor who played Cliff on Cheers, is a huge activist for jobs in America. He has this show on the Travel Channel called Made in America that’s all about American products, how they’re made, etc. Anyway, he and Center for America are working on a new series that deals with skilled labor in America, and they love “Looking for America” so much that they want me and my team to create a piece of music to be the theme song for this new series. Basically, they want another “Looking for America” which is just a huge compliment. Another thing that’s come in is a project headed by a lady named Sarah Sharp. She has a project in the works called Festive Evolution that was set to take place in 2001, but after 9/11 it got put on the back burner. Somehow, I met Sarah and showed her the song, and she said that “Looking for America” had inspired her to get Festive Evolution up and running again! What an honor, right? So, what they’re gonna do is bring liberal artists and conservative artists together on the same ground here in Nashville and have them talk about important issues. I’m talking big names like Sean Penn and Tim Robbins getting together with Marc Wills and other conservative artists, and they want Marc to sort of headline with “Looking for America” and let the song act as a catalyst for the debate. So it sounds like this song is setting the pace for the rest of your business. Very much so. This song was what really got the ball rolling for my publishing company, and I’ve made so many contacts with people in the industry because of it: publicists, and radio promoters, and designers, videographers who’ve taught me the process of making a proper music video. In a way it’s been a baptism of fire, but this song has just sped up my knowledge of this business. Do you have any advice for the would-be publishers out there? I’d say to have a thick skin. A real thick skin. Get up everyday, no matter what happens, and work hard at whatever you’re doing. And do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next. Have an open mind. Be honest. Trust your instincts, and be good to people.

Industry Spotlight: Harry Fox Agency

Davis Inman — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:20:24 +0000

A funny thing happened back in the Brill Building days of music publishing. Before the National Music Publishers Association, better known as the NMPA, was formed in 1917, there was a music publisher’s trade association in New York and a guy named Harry Fox worked there. For whatever reason, Fox was the guy who doled out mechanical licenses for the songwriters and publishers when someone wanted to reproduce a copyrighted work. In those days, the copyright was issued most usually for sheet music, rather than ringtones or downloads. The mechanical license, which gives someone the right to reproduce the recording, sheet music or lyrics to a copyright that someone else owns, thus became affectionately known as a “Harry Fox license.” Gary Churgin, President and CEO of the Harry Fox Agency, says that, over 90 years later, a lot has changed since the days of the "Harry Fox license." The Harry Fox Agency, or HFA, was created by and is wholly owned by the NMPA, the publisher's trade organization, and issues many of the licenses publishers grant each year. (Record labels and individuals who want to reproduce a song can also go directly to the publisher or another provider, such as Rightsflow, for a mechanical license.) To make the process of obtaining a copyright license even easier, HFA has created a tool that anyone can use called Songfile®. In the interview below, we talk to Mr. Churgin about the changes publishers face, Songfile, and all those lyrics sites online. What, in your opinion, have been the biggest changes for music publishers over the last ten years? Five years? Last year? Gary Churgin: Throughout history, technology has been extremely disruptive to the music industry. Many of these technological advancements were thought to be the demise of the industry, but turned out to be the prelude to the next evolution and drove increased success for the industry. In the last ten years, the most impactful changes for music publishers have undoubtedly been the advance of the Internet, iTunes and the widespread use of mobile devices. And while technology has completely revolutionized the distribution and consumption of music creating endless opportunities for both consumers and a new breed of entrepreneurs, it has negatively impacted the revenue streams of publishers, who are dealing in a micro-penny business. Who would have thought we need to manage the processing of royalties that are less than a penny per use? Additionally, the Internet has enabled new piracy opportunities that were non-existent in the physical world. Publishers have had to adjust to a new business paradigm where CD sales are sliding and revenues from digital have not materialized as expected. In more recent years, technology remains a factor in the evolution of the music business and continues to have an impact on the publisher community. The continuing shift or migration from one music consumption format to another, cloud-locker services, where consumers have access to music collections from anywhere, and Net Neutrality, which advocates that no restrictions be placed on Internet use by service providers, are just few of the items that will shape music publishing. What have been the keys to your success in ushering in technological advancements as President and CEO of HFA? It’s our people - their breadth of rights management expertise and their collaborative approach to technology that sets us apart from other companies in this space, and what has really advanced HFA. HFA’s executive team and I believe in an agile leadership model, which allows us to respond to changes in the marketplace quickly and effectively. Additionally, we strongly support the collaboration and teamwork of our incredibly talented employees - fostering ownership, conviction, and passion toward our business. The success of the company is a direct result of our ability to embrace change and welcome technology, which enables us to keep pace with the ever-changing music marketplace. What things should music publishers be doing in the digital era to more aggressively pursue revenue? Like HFA and the rest of the music industry, music publishers need to embrace change and welcome new opportunities. In a time where technology is changing at the speed of light and new revenue streams abound, their music catalogs need to be accessible for them to take advantage of these opportunities. Publishers should take advantage of the many opportunities that HFA provides through various agreements we procure with DSPs, content aggregators, independent record labels, and other music-related organizations. In this ever-changing digital age, publishers need to give new innovations a fair chance to see what works and what doesn’t. One of the great benefits of music publishers affiliating with HFA is that we can efficiently handle the administration of their catalogs, while allowing them to focus their energy on the core business of pursuing revenue, which is identifying and developing new talent. They can also leverage HFA’s expertise in all areas of rights administration and management to ensure that they are properly compensated for their work. Publishers should also affiliate with the PROs as being properly registered is key to faster payments. What led HFA to create Songfile®? HFA is committed to our publisher clients and created Songfile to assist them with smaller quantity licensing – making the process completely automated and seamless. Since the launch of the service, cover songs have remained a popular part of our culture, exponentially bringing Songfile into the mainstream. Today this trailblazing service has more than 75,000 registered users, who obtain licenses quickly, easily, and without any paperwork or hassle. Additionally, royalties for these catalogs are paid to publishers commission free. With Songfile, the entire process takes minutes. Users can pay by credit card and licenses are automatically emailed to users. If you’re undecided on what song to cover - Songfile allows users to search through millions of songs in our catalog. We are glad to offer such a popular service that is very user friendly for musicians. We invite readers to check it out at www.songfile.com. What is your opinion on the abundance of lyric sites online? Lyrics have become part of the fabric of our culture. More than ever, users are searching the Internet to find lyrics - pointing to the increase in consumer demand for a complete and integrated music experience. As such, there are a growing number of lyrics sites out there, many of which are not compensating songwriters fairly for the use of their works. HFA has partnered with a number of lyric sites to ensure proper licensing of publisher works resulting in additional revenue for songwriters. HFA is the nation’s leading music rights organization so we are very concerned about the unlawful distribution of lyrics and we work to promote and facilitate a means by which these sites can secure licenses ensuring the proper use of songwriter’s intellectual property. With your background in banking, what similarities and differences do you see between the financial services sector and the music industry? What could they possibly learn from each other? Although there are not a lot of similarities, both industries have had to face the growing pains of adapting to the digital age. Technology has also increased competition for both industries, to which the response has been to become more customer-focused. I think they can learn from each other to never take clients for granted and be thankful for the business they have.

A Good Year For The Indies

Davis Inman — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:54:46 +0000

With 273 Grammy nods this year, independent labels picked up just over half of the award nominations. Jim Mahoney, Vice President of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), a trade organization that represents independent record labels, says that when he worked at indie labels in the '80s and '90s - like Profile Records and Roadrunner - winning a Grammy award wasn't as important to independent labels as he thinks it may be now. "I never really thought the Grammies were for me," Mahoney says. While he doesn't want to credit the trade association with the indie labels' recent Grammy success, he hopes that as a byproduct of A2IM's community building efforts that more independents are engaging in the Grammy process. But what does it even mean to be an indie in the day and age when Taylor Swift, one of the biggest artists in the world, is on an independent label? Jim Mahoney says the psychological and emotional meaning of "indie" is purely with the listener. He pulls out a copy of Billboard and picks out Ray LaMontagne's name - number 30 on that week's chart. LaMontagne's record God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise is listed under RCA. "It's been a long time since RCA could claim to be independent," Mahoney jokes. But, for LaMontagne, Mahoney says, "Someone is assigning psychological feelings like 'that sounds indie'." On the other hand, people feel that Swift couldn't possibly be indie because she's so mainstream. "While we are of different sizes, different genres, different business models, different distributor types, we're all independent when it comes down to the might. There's the majors, and then there's everybody else," says Mahoney. Those psychological responses also contribute to the fact that many artists feel they have to sign to a major label to achieve success in the music industry. But, while majors can make big waves, they also work records less time, acts change more frequently, and executives bounce around. There are plenty of indie labels that carry the same weight as majors. Glassnote, Beggars, XL, Matador, and Domino have artists like Phoenix, Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective. Mahoney says Stones Throw, an L.A.-based label, has found recent success with Mayer Hawthorne and Allo Black, two artists who the label believed in and worked for a long time – and who are starting to see dividends. "I see how they're taking on the challenges of the marketplace. They're working different angles and finding ways to do business that works for them," says Mahoney. Mahoney says the most successful indie labels today have mastered the art of staying alive. He learned the mantra of successful labels during his stint working at indies in the '90s: "Work the projects hard, but let each amount of money that you put out on that artist show and prove something before you put more money in." Mahoney brings up the example of Ghostly International, a Michigan-based indie label who has built up success with significant electronic artists like Matthew Dear and Gold Panda. "Ten years ago, Ghostly invested time learning and mastering the licensing business, publishing, the value of controlling master copyright and songwriting copyright so that they could make more attractive offerings to people who want to use their music for TV and film." "But today," Mahoney says, "success and or failure happen faster than they did 10 years ago." He says that just because licensing may have been an indie's best weapon in 1999, today it's something else. "All of [the successful labels] whisper to me, 'It's my direct to fan business. I got into it a couple years ago and now my fans know to come here to get special products'." Plenty of companies like TopSpin, Nimbit, and AudioLife have popped up to service the direct-to-fan business, while some labels have built their own proprietary systems. "People think 'DIY' and they think about DIY artists who are unsigned, but labels are doing DIY. It gives you tools, it doesn't dictate how you do business." But Mahoney says doing-it-yourself – and competing against the better-heeled majors – isn't easy. "DIY is brutal, and artists are finding that out, but at least the tools are there," he says. Mahoney says the same rules apply to unsigned artists and independent labels. "The more things you can do for yourself, the better off you're going to be down the path," he says. "That doesn't mean keep on doing it forever. Just make sure you know how that job works." For more information and updates on independent labels, visit A2IM's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/independentlabels.

Profile: Songsinc

americansongwriter — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:41 +0000

We sat down with Songsinc owner and creator Andrea Standley and Songsinc partner Gia DeSantis to talk about their company and their TrackShop and MelodyShop platforms. Andrea and Gia have a wealth of music industry experience between them: Andrea is a prolific songwriter as well as major label veteran, working for Warner Bros. Records for 27 years in marketing, promotion, video, an dproduction. She eventually became the lead analyst, helping to design many of the data systems still in use today by the label. Gia is a 25-year music and entertainment industry veteran, beginning her career as a KROQ DJ and host of the highly acclaimed Los Angeles market music video program, “Request Video.” She spent 15 years with major labels in video and marketing (Reprise and Capitol), and went on to develop her own independent marketing and promotion company called Pretty Mouthy Marketing, contracted by Warner Bros. Records, Disney, Sony, Universal Music Group as well as other artist management firms and independent labels. When did you come up with the idea for Songsinc? Andrea: I’m going to say the late nineties. I used to come here and pitch songs and go through the whole thing and I would cut tracks. The guys there talked me into keeping the backing tracks. Then as I would pitch songs, I would hear people say: 'I don’t like the storyline of this.' So I would consciously just go in, take the backing track, rewrite a new melody and lyric and re-pitch it and find that I got fairly decent success with re-pitching a completely different song using the same exact track. About 2002, the light bulb went on and I realized I needed to do something with this. There is something important here about being able to do this and to collaborate with people that have great tracks that might not have 1,000 bucks to go and produce them. Near the end of 2006, we actively started to build the site and we have been testing ever since then. We want to offer the tracks as samples, because the sample legal operation is already going, everybody understands what a sample is. The legal mechanism is in place. Everyone is familiar with sampling, but not everyone is versed in the legal aspects of it. What is your role in getting this across to clients? Andrea: Basically, the download fee is the licensing fee that you’re paying for the specific rights to use that track to create a song. That download fee is split between the master owner and the publisher of the original track, or if you are one and the same, you share that download fee with Songsinc. That’s basically the royalty fee. Track owners who give us tracks, or master owners who give us tracks, they are earning. The fee that they are getting for these tracks is 50 percent of the download fee and 50 percent of what we call “buy-in” fee, which allows the songwriter more rights to use that track or the song created with that track. So, they are constantly making money instead of a one-time fee that a label or an artist would pay at a label and a publisher to use a sample. They realize that one track will be downloaded over and over again, so they are always going to be earning 50 percent of the download fee and 50 percent of any buy-in fees. Could you talk a little more about the concept of track-writing? Andrea: Probably writing to tracks, writing to beats – that’s a standard thing in industry, especially in the urban market. Track-writing, is a far more intimate relationship and collaboration with the composer, and it literally is taking a lot of the track to inspire new melodies and lyrics that you place within that track, giving you an opportunity to create a really good-sounding sound-demo master that you can pitch and share with the world without having to pay for the production of the track. What is the breakdown among genres for your clients, if you had to guess? Andrea: You are going to look at pop, rock, alt and dance as being your primary market. But country, because so many songwriters love to do that and it can crossover into pop, it’s right there with them as well. We are also going for Indian music, Japanese music, Spanish music, Latin and ethnic, and we are opening it up to the world. Now Melody Shop, this was a new venture. Gia: It’s perfect for someone like me who doesn’t play an instrument or can’t write a song per se, but I can write a poem, I can write a lyric and I can go and I can find something and be like, you know, that genre fits really nicely with this kooky little ditty that I just cooked up. When I start talking to [people], and if it’s someone who isn’t in the music, they aren’t songwriters, they don’t have the technicality of writing a song down, and I start to tell them about MelodyShop their eyes immediately – really? I can do that? Andrea: The starting point with MelodyShop was lyricists, because they don’t have the melodies in their head, but they have the words. It’s tough. They are probably dying to find composers. A lot of aspiring musicians and writers live in the middle of nowhere. They have a hard time finding a producer and collaborators. Andrea: And think of MelodyShop. By the time we are finished, we are going to have thousands of melodies and more. Imagine this: you tell lyricists and poets anywhere in the world that they can go to one place and they have thousands of melodies that they can choose from and there are world-wide collaborations with composers. Now, you tell songwriters that if they want to earn some royalties and they want to participate in this exceptional concept of earning income fairly from Songsinc, they can download a track from TrackShop, they can create a melody, add that in the line above the track, return it to us, and we will put it into MelodyShop, and every time that is downloaded, they’ll share the download fee with the track owner and they will be the melody writer. Now, they have a way to earn income by sharing their melody. Has that aspect been used a lot? Andrea: We just came up with MelodyShop. I have three major writers right now, two that have done it, and we are doing a major launch on Broadjam, plus a couple of other places in August which will coincide with this. A lot of musicians that have been on labels in the past are now adopting a do-it-yourself approach, in terms of producing and recording and even marketing. How does Songsinc jibe with this trend? Andrea: The artists that I’ve spoken with are all very enthusiastic about the idea. It’s kind of like hey, I haven’t thought of that. Let me kind of chew on that. So to say that yeah, right now they are embracing it-- it’s starting. It’s something that’s been tested for a long time, but only recently come on board. The reception has been really good. Most artists have a mindset of, “it comes from me and I do it and I release it.” We are looking for what is normal. Most stuff is sitting in your shelves and sitting in your vaults and sitting in labels where an artist had two hits and the fourth cut on that album two is never going to make him a dime. We are telling the world that those are assets, that everyone thought were dead. It’s going to be so amazing getting them and allowing the world to use them and bring them back to some amazing kind of life.

Industry Profile: Heavy Rotation Records

Rachel C. Hart — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:00:03 +0000

Heavy Rotation Records (HRR), a student-run record label at Berklee College of Music, celebrated its 10th annual Epic Event and Dorm Sessions 7 CD release concert on February 10. Advised by renowned faculty member Jeff Dorenfeld, HRR provides music business/management majors at Berklee with hands-on training for careers in the industry. Because HRR allows students to hone their skills in marketing, sales, web development, media and accounting while working towards their degrees, many alumni of the program have gone on to work for big name companies like Universal, Live Nation, AEG Live, Capitol, DreamWorks, Interscope, BMG and Rightsflow. Since 1995 HRR has released 12 albums, including Dorm Sessions 1-7 and Shekinah: 13 Artists. Featured artists from these albums – such as St. Vincent, members of Passion Pit, the Click Five, Big D & the Kids Table and Madi Diaz – are boasting mentionable careers as musicians. So how does this student-run organization work? Both Dorenfeld and student co-director Cierra Walker enlightened us. Since 1998 Dorenfeld has inspired Berklee students inside and outside the classroom. He states, “I feel the most important asset I bring to a class is my experience,” and he prides himself in working with former students – he and John Czajkowski won the University Continuing Education Association’s award for best online college course for “Concert/Touring” in 2008. When he took over the role of adviser to HRR, he wanted to “offer something new and fresh for a major label to work with,” as well as to “enable the students to work with executives from the label.” So he and former Epic Records colleague Dan Beck, after Beck’s departure from Richard Branson’s label V2, took the idea of a collaboration between a major label and HRR to Epic/Sony, where they landed a one-record deal contract. After the success of the first release, Epic/Sony granted HRR $100,000 as an endowment. The HRR program is two semesters long and is open to Music Business/Management majors with proper GPA and prerequisites. It can either be taken for the required internship credit within the curriculum, or it can be taken as an elective. At the end of the semester, each student is required to submit a journal to Dorenfeld. Each semester Dorenfeld chooses two students to be directors of the label, and he meets with them once a week for a minimum of an hour to go over goals and material for class; however, his contact with them doesn’t end here. “This doesn’t count the many times I call them, e-mail them or text them. This is the most they will ever work for one credit,” says Dorenfeld. As evidenced by his constant communication between co-directors, he is very involved in the activities and the decisions made by the label but “believes in empowering [his] students” and “trusts them to carry out the many tasks involved.” After attending the annual Dorm Sessions album showcase her second semester, Walker knew she “needed to be part of HRR at some point in [her] Berklee career.” She merits her experience with the label as being valuable and an “incredible, fulfilling experience.” In her third semester with the program, Walker works with and oversees 20 to 30 students within HRR in four different departments: Marketing and Digital Media, Touring, Radio and Artists & Repertoire (A&R). Within these departments, one student is chosen as the leader and communicates regularly with Dorenfeld, Walker and her co-director; each week, that leader is also required to report their accomplishments to the class. When making the Dorms Sessions CDs, including the latest Dorm Sessions 7, the students at HRR have three and a half months to gather submissions, listen to hundreds of applicants, find the dynamic artists that characterize the album they’re trying to make, compile the information to be included in the album, master the songs (which takes about a week once songs are chosen), edit the album and send it off to be manufactured. Then they take three weeks to get ready for the release concert at the Berklee Performance Center. To promote the works of HRR, social networking through Facebook and MySpace plays a crucial role in marketing and promoting campaigns. Touring is also important for creating fanbases and promoted general interest in the record. The touring department in HRR focuses on landing gigs for artists in the New England area, depending on the artists’ availability and willingness to travel. From there, the touring department books local venues and makes a list that turns into a tour schedule. “By doing this, we are able to introduce our artists to a new market and are helping them garner a regional fan base,” according to Walker. Whoever decides to tour for HRR volunteers to do so and has an HRR member available for any information the artist may need while away. Another way in which HRR promotes its artists is through the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Dorenfeld first went down to the festival in 2006 to promote Apollo Sunshine, a band that HRR co-released with spinArt Records. It was the first year that HRR – in conjunction with Berklee Alumni Affairs, External Affairs, and the online school Berkleemusic – promoted a showcase at SXSW. Dorenfeld says, “The annual showcase has turned out to be a very productive event for all of us and has grown in stature every year.” According to Walker, HRR tries to get at least two artists to travel down to SXSW every year. This past year Ann Driscoll and Jordan Tarrant, as well as former Berklee artists Nini&Ben and Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers, performed at Berklee’s annual SXSW party. Besides SXSW, HRR sends artists to other festivals like the CMJ festival in New York and the prestigious Austin City Limits Festival. Walker strongly believes that HRR prepares students at Berklee for careers in the music industry. “We learn from our mistakes and we learn from our successes. We learn from the challenges and we learn from the opportunities. Students in HRR are the future ‘movers and shakers’ of the industry,” Walker explains. She also has learned that “anything is possible when you have a team of dedicated individuals, a plan and heavy promotion (which is key).” She values the hands-on experience that Dorenfeld emphasizes is key for learning the ropes of music business. At the conclusion of his interview, Dorenfeld answered the question of the “secret to success” for his students: “Success will depend on how passionate [the students] are about the music business. They need to keep learning, keep networking, work hard and keep asking questions. I often hear that there are two trains of thought, old school and new school. I don’t agree. Artists and students entering the business need to understand what it takes to be successful in this business. It isn’t about old school or new school. One must understand all aspects of the business and learn how to use all the tools and companies available to promote one’s career.”

Q & A: Marc Weinstein of Amoeba Music

Rachel C. Hart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:00:27 +0000

Amoeba Music, an indie record store chain in sunny California, is enjoying great success and phenomenal sales despite the hardships that the music industry is facing. Arguably the largest and most prosperous indie record business, Amoeba began in Berkeley in 1990 and expanded to two more stores in Hollywood and San Francisco. The laid-back atmosphere and the live in-store shows reflect the company’s dedication to music and to the customer’s record-shopping experience. Also virtually savvy, Amoeba shows support for both local and mainstream artists in features highlighted on the website, amoeba.com. In this week’s interview, co-founder Marc Weinstein talks business with American Songwriter - successes and passions, as well as plans for the future. Were there certain characteristics of various record stores that influenced your decision to open an indie record shop? I'd say it is the people and the music that have always differentiated indie stores from corporate chain stores. Those are the defining characteristics - the people, the passion for music that was exhibited, the music being played and the actual records on display. A lot of times the bigger chain stores feel like they are trying to oversell something, rather than share an experience. Do you believe that you’ve found a way around the hard times that the music industry is facing? How do these issues affect you on a daily basis? As always, we have been able to change with the times and cater to the specific markets and interest groups as they ebb and flow. Actually, caring a lot about the music and the artists has always taken us where we want to go, as opposed to the corporate model that was focused on the “bottom line” for the last twenty-five years. The quarterly profit motive effectively killed the “industry” as we knew it. For indie record shops, your stores are HUGE. How have you kept the small-town, personal record store feeling without turning it into a corporate atmosphere? The store was designed from day one to feel like an independent store (without corporate advertising and promotion), and focusing on the more independent and eclectic artists. Like all indie stores, we are actually anxious to share our knowledge with our customers and see to it they leave the store inspired and excited about what’s in their bag. You support local bands and artists in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood through your Home Grown program. How does this process work? How successful have you been with introducing the public to new artists in this way? As an indie shop that cares about our respective local communities, we have been especially proud of this program. Amoeba staff nominates local artists for this program. We choose nominees based on numerous criteria and if we feel we can help an artist effectively, we offer them various promotional opportunities in the store and on our site. Occasionally, we do live shows to correspond with the promotion. Some of the artists we have featured include: Warpaint, Binges, AM, Healamonster & Trasier, Jill Tracy, Rupa & The April Fishes, Spindrift, Mickey Avalon, Helen Stellar Part of your revenue also comes in from your very own record label. How may artists have you signed through Amoeba Records? How much of your revenue is generated through the record label? The record label is a small, but significant part of our business—aimed at familiarizing us with all the issues artists and labels have in these times as we prepare to launch our own digital store later this year. We hope to have more “label-like” relationships with artists in the future by offering them a whole new way of merchandising their music and their audience. What do you think will be your biggest challenge over the next five to ten years? Do you anticipate a loss in interest in your stores as online repertoires of music become more popular? How do you plan to approach the problems you foresee? We feel there will be a strong market for “hard copies” for some time to come. Buying an actual “print” of work by an artist you love is such a superior experience in every way, to clicking your mouse on a little picture of a “virtual” item. Additionally, we offer such a fabulous experience—an idealistic world where everybody in the room really cares about music and see it as a way to move humanity forward. Our biggest challenge is to bring a similar experience to our online venue—and we have some great people working on that right now.

Josh Dziabiak and Lynsie Camuso of ShowClix

Ashley S. Wright — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:14 +0000

Innovative firms within the music industry are redefining how artists conduct business. More and more companies focus on fair business practices and excellent customer service as a way to better serve the artist or client. ShowClix is one of many companies with an eye on doing just that. American Songwriter took a moment with CEO Josh Dziabiak and President Lynsie Camuso to explore the service and features of this full-service ticketing firm. What is ShowClix? LC: We’re a full service ticketing company. We’ve built an entirely web-based ticketing solution that allows our clients to [sell] tickets online, over the phone and through a point-of-sale box office application that we have also developed. Our clients are venues, event promoters, non-profit organizations, universities, schools. Anybody who can host or promote an event could potentially be a client. What are your roles at ShowClix? JD: I’m Josh Dziabiak, the CEO. Being a CEO, I wear many different hats. I tend to lean a little bit more to the product development and marketing end of things. I like to focus a lot on what it is that we’re developing, where we’re headed with the technology and how we can best market it. Outside of that, I deal with a little bit of everything from HR to sales. LC: I’m Lynsie Camuso, President of the company. Same as Josh, I wear a lot of hats here. My biggest focus is on marketing and sales, business development, HR, recruiting, and client retention, What is the story behind starting ShowClix? JD: The story is interesting. I had a company prior to starting ShowClix. After selling that company, I started investing in some different ideas I had. ShowClix wasn’t started originally to be a full service ticketing company. It came about because my roommate and I were sitting at home on the couch one evening talking about things to do in Pittsburgh. At that time, when you thought of search you thought of Google, when you thought of social networking you thought of MySpace, but when you thought of events, there wasn’t one destination Website. So, originally, the concept came as, “Let’s develop a Website that’s a destination place for people to find and promote upcoming events. We wanted to connect event goers with event promoters. As the project progressed, the business model became ticketing. A very light version of the ticketing system as built and we started getting our feet wet with it. The more we worked on it, the more passion we found for it. We saw a lot of need for it in the marketplace. While the ticketing industry as a whole is very noisy, we felt the competitors left a lot of room for improvement. We had a lot of great ideas, so, we switched our business model from an event destination site to a full-service ticketing company. Today, that is what we would call ourselves: a full-service ticketing company. What separates you from the noise of your competing ticketing vendors? JD: For one, our system is entirely web-based, from the ticket seller’s administrative area, to the way that we deliver tickets - which is always electronic via print at home or mobile, to the actual box office system that our clients use. Since it’s all web based, and completely automated, it has allowed us to really lower our overhead. We don’t have to pay people to stuff tickets in envelopes and mail them out. We aren’t paying retailers to sell on our behalf. Because we minimize our cost, it allows us to pass the savings on to the ticket buyers. It’s less expensive for them. In addition, we give our clients a lot of tools. Our theory is, any way we can help them sell more tickets, the better for them, the better for us. And we generally don’t charge our clients anything to use the platform. That’s why we call ourselves “Simply Fair Ticketing.” Also, customer service is very big for us. We believe in quick response times, in being easily accessible and in always being fair toward the ticket buyer. We don’t want the ticket buying experience to override what the event could have been. LC: You can contact our customer service department and our account managers by phone or live chat and you’re guaranteed to get in touch with somebody. If you reach out to us via email, as Josh mentioned, we really care about fast response times. You will hear back from us within one business day. That is really important to us. Josh and I actually met while working for another Internet company. His background is in Internet and the music industry. My background is in the entertainment industry and Internet as well. We had both experienced the ticketing industry from either side of the equation. We had worked as ticket sellers and had seen the difficulty in selling tickets online. We knew that there could be a better, easier way to do it. On the flip side, we were both ticket buyers as well. We’d experienced being over charged for tickets. So, in addition to making selling tickets easier, we knew we could make it more affordable for ticket buyers too. What is your point of sale system? LC: We took what is typically available in an actual [piece of] software, something that comes on a CD that you install it on your computer, and we made it entirely web-based. The system really allows a very simple way for people to open up a laptop or computer of any kind with internet connection, launch the point of sale system and start processing orders, whether they’re cash orders, credit cards or checks. Our clients can accept all three types of payment right there and issue them a ticket. One of the things that is important to us is that, even though the system is web-based, that it still work with some hardware. We have USB credit card readers that plug right in and let our clients to swipe a credit card. It hooks up with Boca thermal printers to print physical tickets directly from the point of sale application. We also have ticket scanners that interact with every part of our administrative area. As you scan people in, it authenticates the ticket and barcode against our database of the ticket buyers in real-time. The point of sale system is something that we will be focusing on a lot on in 2010. We’ll be revamping our existing platform and adding as many bells and whistles as we can while keeping it web-based. Another big initiative is to make it ready for a kiosk. It will be a touch screen device, as well as, being able to work on an actual computer of any kind. How does your service work? JD: We have two different ways to get started. We break it down by the size of the event and the level of support the client needs. If they’re looking for something for a small, general admission event with quick setup, we have what we call our “Lite” option, which is basically hands-off for us. It’s a fully-automated wizard the event promoter. They go online and in just five steps they put their event on sale and get an account created. They can start selling tickets right away. The other option is for somebody who needs a little bit more support. It might be a more serious client that relies heavily on their ticket sales, They might need hardware or more advanced functionality. We have a “Premier” solution for those clients. Keep in mind, both of the solutions have the same fee structure. We don’t change anything, it’s just about the level of support. The biggest thing for us is trying to identify what the unique needs are for each venue or ticket seller. There is always something unique with our clients. We try to highlight the features that will help accommodate those unique elements of their business. We do have a standard ticketing service agreement for the “Premier” clients. Once we get that taken care of, we setup the first event and customize it for them. We make an investment in the client. We don’t ask for any money up front. How much does it cost? JD: Our service fees are based on the face value of the ticket. The lower the price of the ticket, the lower the fee, but it is a higher percentage on the low end. On the higher price tickets, it’s a little bit of lower percentage, but it comes out to be a higher fee per ticket. The percentage is between seven and 15 percent approximately. When we originally launched, we had a more complex fee structure. We had setup fees and transaction fees. We decided to strip all of that out and just go with a simple per ticket service fee. This is the only fee that is involved with using our platform. No matter what features you want to use, how many tickets you sell or what level of access you need, it’s always just a per-ticket-fee and it’s always on the same sliding scale. The fee is based off the face value of the ticket. It includes credit card processing and everything. Most of our clients choose to pass that fee onto the ticket buyer. When they do that, they make 100 percent of their ticket sales and it will never cost them a dime to use our platform. Do you offer any additional promotional tools or materials for musicians? JD: Up until now, we’ve really been focused on giving our clients as many features as possible that help them understand who their ticket buyers are and where they come from geographically. We are giving them the ability to use that data for marketing purposes and whatever promotional tools that you are already using to promote and sell more tickets. We’re currently working on implementing new ways to help our clients promote their events. One of the big things we are trying to tackle is all of the social networking opportunities out there, whether they are Twitter, Facebook apps, these different web elements. We are starting to install a lot of those features and put them into place to help out with the viral aspect of people promoting the event all the way down to people actually buying the ticket. That’s one of the things we are looking forward to in the first quarter of 2010. LC: I think it’s really important that we continue to watch the trends on the internet and be ahead of the curve when the opportunity exists to help our clients promote using new technology. It’s about understanding the power of Twitter, the momentum of Facebook and then capturing that power and providing the functionality to our clients. How has ShowClix connected with the music industry to bring artists exclusive offers and options? JD: Right now, we are in early stage discussions with a few different companies. Some of our clients, for example a company called Rainmaker Artists, an artist management company, have found great success using our platform selling tickets [in advance] directly to their artists’ fan base. They have Bob Schneider and Blue October on their roster. For every leg of a tour, they’ll take a small portion of the tickets from the venue and sell them [in advance] directly to the fan clubs. They have had great success and they’re a great client for us. Not only does it help the artists and the management companies, it also helps the fans by giving them a way to get tickets before the general public at a discounted price. Generally, the public ticket sales go through one of our competitors that has higher service fees. So, when the fans buy through our platform, it’s a little bit more affordable, they get the better seats and they get them before everybody else. We see a lot of opportunity with artists of any size. We feel like our system works great for concerts and shows whether they are general admission or seated, large or small. We feel it’s a good solution for them. Again, it’s something we are really looking forward to working on. We’re actually talking with Topspin, Grooveshark. We’re also in early discussions with Our Stage. What are you hoping to cultivate with these companies? JD: A partnership which puts us in front of artists and allows their audience to sell tickets to their Websites seamlessly within the partners Website. We would have some benefits, promotional wise, to do that for the artists whether its promotion through the partners’ Websites or ours or both. LC: We’ve recently developed and launched an API (application programming interface) that will allow the companies that we build partnerships with to seamlessly integrate ShowClix into their Website. If the company has an audience that may have a need for a ticketing solution, they can now use our API to provide that service to them. Have you conquered the world – is the word out about ShowClix? JD: We certainly have not conquered the world. I do think that we’re starting to make a name for ourselves. As we grow, we’re seeing more and more people jumping on board through word of mouth. I see the quality and number of our clients growing and a big portion of them is from word of mouth. It leads me to believe that we are definitely starting to get our brand out there. It’s spreading pretty quickly. We have a lot of things up our sleeve and we are very excite to push them out there. I think it’ll really help our name get out there even more. Do you find viral marketing to be more valuable than traditional marketing and advertising to your business? LC: Absolutely. The word of mouth and referrals that we get from other clients are priceless. Event promotion, especially within music, is a small industry. A lot of promoters and venue managers know each other. They recommend services to each other. I think it says a lot when I get a call and a client has referred another venue to us because of the level of service they received from ShowClix. Not only do you not have to pay for that, but [also] you are getting somebody that comes to you qualified. You know they are serious about their business. They trust somebody to give them a recommendation. We’ve done very well when it comes to word of mouth and referrals. What role do you see ShowClix playing in the industry over the next decade? JD: We like to think of ourselves as “Ticketing 2.0.” because we are really trying to reinvent the ticketing industry both technically speaking and in the way these relationships work between venue and event promoter and ticketing company. We really want to be positioned and seen as the alternative and fair ticketing company that came along and did things a little bit different and improved on the ticketing industry as a whole. That is really our big picture in the sky, if you will. That is what we are trying to do. What’s the most important part of what you do? JD: I am a big believer in customer service, having the best possible customer service that we can. I really like the idea of having a ticket buyer anywhere in the world calling our company with a support question and hanging up the phone to have that wow reaction of actually being able to speak to someone that was friendly, helpful and was able to resolve their matter quickly. That’s really big for me and it’s something I will always be pushing for as we grow. LC: What I really enjoy most is taking a step back and looking at our ticketing system from our clients’ point of view. I like knowing that we’re constantly being innovative in what we do, making it user-friendly for ticket sellers, giving them a great system. A lot of our clients make the majority of their revenue from ticketing. Being able to provide them with a great system that’s supported by excellent customer service is what really drives me everyday. A lot of independent artists are making money from touring now. They aren’t selling albums like they used to. Providing them with a technology that helps them sustain their existence as an independent artist means a lot to us.

Jack DeYoung and Evan Rocha of Grooveshark

Ashley S. Wright — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:09 +0000

Grooveshark is revolutionizing the way we all find and enjoy music. In addition to a free streaming media player, Grooveshark has cultivated countless widgets and social aspects of their digital music service. They didn’t stop there, either. Grooveshark Artist is an incredible tool providing endless analytics to artists about the demographics of their listening audience. American Songwriter caught up with Jack DeYoung and Evan Rocha of Grooveshark to find out more about Grooveshark, what services they offer, and where this growing Gainesville, Florida company is headed in the future. What is Grooveshark? JD: Grooveshark, fundamentally, is the YouTube for music. In that anyone in the world can come onto our site, listen to any song they want on demand, and upload whatever song they have on their hard drive to create this giant streaming library for everybody. It’s basically the world’s jukebox. Where was Grooveshark founded? JD: That’s actually an interesting story. We are based in Gainesville, Florida, which is where a lot of us had gone to the University of Florida, and subsequently dropped out. Our CEO, Sam, was the consummate poor college kid walking to donate, of all things, plasma to get money. You know, 20 dollars to get bread or something. He ended up walking past the record store where I was working. It had a marquee that said, “Buy, sell, trade music.” I guess it just triggered a light bulb or something and he said, “Why can’t we do that online?” Then, I think, [he] went home and borrowed some money for his parents and we met the right people in infancy and the rest is history. My first desk was on a cardboard box and now we have, I think, the biggest office space in Gainesville. So, it’s been kind of a surreal journey. When did you guys get started? JD: We started technically in 2006, but I wouldn’t say the current iteration of the product. The on-demand-streaming model was April of 2008, which is when we started getting serious. It took a long time to build what you see on Grooveshark now. How has Grooveshark evolved as a business? JD: We drastically changed our business model around the end of 2008. We were originally a kind of a weird hybrid of the download model, which is that people would put their mp3s on Grooveshark for sale at 99 cents. If someone bought that, the content holders would get a portion of the money and then the person that uploaded it would also get a portion of the money. But we saw everyone making this hullabaloo about downloads stealing from the CD. Well, the stream is inevitably going to steal money from the downloads, as well, because of the ubiquity of wireless Internet and that all you need is an Internet connection to listen to music now. We saw that kind of happening on the horizon and did a drastic shift in what we were doing as a business model. Then, we became the on-demand-streaming model you see today. You mentioned the idea was to “buy, sell, and trade music online.” Can users actually trade music on Grooveshark? JD: No you can’t trade it, but you can share it with all of your friends on a variety of different platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, for streaming. ER: If it would be put into one word, a big thing that it revolves around is discovery. It’s a great hub for music discovery. JD: We wanted people to have not only the ability to listen to songs within the Grooveshark ecosystem, but share those songs with friends outside of Grooveshark – on Facebook, on Twitter. We built a lot of little properties, like widgets, Tinysong.com, to insure that the stream becomes not only a paid play for the artist, but it also becomes a promotional thing on several different platforms as well. I can upload a song from my hard drive and anyone in the Grooveshark network can play it? JD: Not just the Grooveshark network but anywhere in the world. Yes, anywhere in the world. We are literally in every single country, territory in the world. It’s any song that anyone has ever uploaded to Grooveshark before. How does that work with the artists’ compensation? JD: That’s a very good question. I can tell you one of the first checks that we did write was to the Performance Rights Organization. We were all in, admittedly, really really crappy bands for a long time. We know that lifestyle of sleeping on people’s couches, slogging away in a broken down van. So, everything we have built has been created with the artist in mind, first and foremost. The way they get paid is kind of a three-pronged thing. We have several different revenue streams and based on how many times you are played within Grooveshark is how much of that revenue you actually get. So, it’s basically, if you’re not getting played, [you] don’t get as much money, but if you are getting an inordinate amount of traction and plays on Grooveshark then you’re going to get more than someone that isn’t getting as many plays. We’ve been constantly tweaking and creating new revenue streams to insure that we aren’t paying artists out in pennies for streams. We want to be paying them out in dollars and that’s something that is incredibly important to us. What is your role at Grooveshark? JD: I am the Vice President of Label Relations, which means, I am kind of the conduit, I guess, between artists and Grooveshark for the most part. Basically, [I] take the feedback, concerns, opinions that they might have and make sure it’s reflected in Grooveshark in a way that’s actually going to benefit them. ER: I am the Vice President of Artist Relations. Basically, what I do is almost parallel to Jack, but his is on, I guess, a larger scale. I directly deal with artists as well, help them, guide them through, let them know how to promote their music within Grooveshark, and basically any questions they have, I am there to help them. JD: Evan does more of the independent artists side. I don’t want to say the smaller ones, but the people that aren’t attached to a sizable label or management company. I handle the more established artists, major labels and independent aggregators, stuff like that. ER: I would say, across the board, it’s the same treatment. The way Jack deals with established artists – they get the same treatment as well. If I’m dealing with a guy that has a really great song that he believes in, I now believe in it too. I listen to it. We talk about it, and they get the same treatment. No one gets the brush off just because they’re not on a huge label. JD: I’m sorry to go off on a tangent, but one of the edicts I am most proud of at Grooveshark is that we have something called Grooveshark Artists which is where anyone in the world that has music they want to put on Grooveshark can come in, log-in to this backend interface and view so much data about how their songs are being received. We can tell you how old your fans are, where they are, which songs are doing better. From a marketing perspective, that’s obviously really really useful. My thing I am most proud of at Grooveshark is that every single artist that signs up, be it from Bono from U2, to a guy in a basement in Colorado, gets a personalized email from, at least, someone on our staff. Just having listened to their songs on MySpace, anywhere, and telling them what they think, offering up advice, and it’s actually a real email. There is a lack of that in the digital music world. It seems like sometimes within the music industry that artists are disposable in a way that their music is treated as a commodity rather than an art form. That’s something we take very seriously and want to make sure they know we appreciate them. It’s a lot of work, about 300 personalized emails a day. It’s why we have interns. [Chuckling] But, it’s something that I am most proud of. ER: It’s never going to change, I don’t think. JD: As we scale up, it’s always going to happen. If you took the time to upload music to a digital music service, we think that’s an incredible honor that you chose us to do that and we should treat you as such. How much does it cost? JD: Well, the Web side of Grooveshark is free for users. We have a ton of free stuff for artists to help promote their tracks within Grooveshark. We have built up all of these viral components to make sure that their music does have traction outside of Grooveshark. That they can promote it, and we’ve aligned with a ton of different companies on there, like ShowClix, a ton of really innovative companies that bands might not know about, and we try and educate them on that to check it out. These are good companies to work with, we have a partnership with them and they can solicit that as much as they want. We do have this really cool promotional feature called Radio Campaigns. While the front end of Grooveshark is all on demand, you can search for whatever you want and play it, if you don’t know what you want to listen to you can turn on what’s called Grooveshark Radio which you pick one artist or pick ten artists and then turn on radio and Grooveshark Radio creates, basically, a never-ending stream of songs that sound similar that you might not know. It facilitates music discovery. What we’ve been offering for bands is the ability to place yourself behind established artists in radio for a certain period of time to generate plays because getting your music heard is half the battle anyway. Getting analytics you can use and taking, basically, what terrestrial radio used to do for bands, when getting your songs played on the radio was a huge deal, and we wanted to bring that to the digital space. We really want to break artists digitally. With this way of actually getting people to hear the music, we’ve seen inordinate amounts of success. What do you offer to users to find new music and what premium services are available to users? JD: On the user side, you can follow people. There is a social aspect to it. So, if you see someone that you know, you check in their library and if see they're adding really good songs. You can follow them, similar to the way Twitter works, and kind of see what they’ve been listening to and find music that way. You have the ability to share a song with a friend on Facebook, through email, stuff like that. There are widgets you can post anywhere on the Internet which you can create and customize in whatever colors you want. Those are some of the basic ways in which you can discover new music. As far as the premium service, it’s called Grooveshark VIP. For three dollars a month, you have the opportunity to see Grooveshark without any ads. The ads are already not very intrusive on the free site anyway. For three dollars, you see no ads, you have access to more site themes (which basically you have the ability to customize what the skin of Grooveshark looks like), great customer support. You have access to new features before they come out. So, if we’re demoing something that we think is going to be really cool but don’t want to push it to the free side yet, we will give it to the VIPs or see what they think, take their advice and extrapolate from that. Also, when we release our mobile platform, there will be a lot of goodies in there for VIP users as well. Are artists, songwriters and the general public taking notice – do you feel the word is out about Grooveshark? JD: Yes and No. Like we mentioned, we don’t tend to do that many interviews. We have never spent a dime on marketing, ever. All of the growth from Grooveshark has been entirely viral, just from people sharing it with their friends. It has definitely gotten a lot bigger. Since we launched the redesign of the Web site about a month ago, we’ve just seen phenomenal growth. It has been surreal since I had my first desk was a cardboard box. We are getting a ton of artist sign ups through Grooveshark Artist on a daily basis. Since we’ve changed the business model, I think we have probably grown about 60 bajillion percent or so. That’s a technical term. Especially in the last month, it’s getting huge. It is gratifying to see for all of us who work 16-hour days. What role do you see Grooveshark playing in the music industry over the next decade? JD: Excellent question. I think, first off, we want to be in every single device in every place in the world. We’re an ambitious bunch. Obviously, mobile is becoming more and more of an important thing for everyone. We are steadfastly pushing into that realm. Also, television, PS3s, gaming systems and every single device that has a streaming music capability, we want to be on it. We want to be the de-facto definition for everyone to stream music. We do that by pulling back the restrictions. Ninety-six percent of people, who obtain their music online, obtain it illegally. If we can somehow pull back those restrictions, give it to them all in one ecosystem that’s streaming and actually pay content holders, then we have completely won the battle. If you’re going to download music illegally and the other option is driving to across town to BestBuy, it’s probably not going to happen. If you streamline, put it all in one location, don’t let them download it, let it stream, then it helps to try and eliminate that problem. In three or four years, wireless Internet is going to be completely ubiquitous. It’s already in airplanes. It’s already in subways in Madrid. It’s 3G and 4G. It’s just getting bigger and bigger. There is all this talk about the CD becoming obsolete. We need to start worrying about downloads because portability stops being an issue when you actually have streaming capabilities in every device. We want to be in toasters. What’s the one thing you’d like to leave everyone with? JD: Wow. We’re really good looking. Just kidding. I think, “We’re in it for the right reasons,” is the one thing I’d want to convey. This is not a faceless corporate entity attempting to make a quick buck off an art form that so many people love and then go and live in palatial mansions in the hills. There is an entirely philosophical element to what we are doing here. We are businessmen, I guess, but we are first and foremost music fans. I think that is something that is incredibly lacking in the industry for a while. It’s the music business, sure, but the accent is on business. We want to put the music back in the music business.

“Futurehit.DNA” Author Jay Frank

Samantha Spector — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:34 +0000

Jay Frank is currently the SVP of Music Strategy for Country Music Television, a division of MTV Networks. At CMT, he oversees the implementation of music across all platforms, including TV, web, mobile and VOD. The new synergy he is developing is changing the face of country music as he identifies future country hits through active monitoring of all platforms. This has lead to increased TV ratings, online video views, and record setting metrics for the 2008 CMT Music Awards. "Futurehit.DNA" is his first book.

Where did the seed for the idea for "Futurehit.DNA" come from?

The ideas behind "Futurehit.DNA" came about several years ago. I was watching certain songs and artists exploding faster than others. I was also seeing other songs having difficulty gaining traction. As I was pondering this, I started noticing some patterns between the successful songs. Most notable was the shorter introductions. When I started applying it, I found that it was more often than not a more accurate predictor of hit potential than previous ideas. From there, as I explored the "why" behind it, I stumbled upon other patterns.

From there, I discussed these rough ideas with several label executives, producers and songwriters. Everyone I discussed it with was blown away by the ideas and surprised they hadn't thought of it. I then started the rough draft and the more I exposed it to industry players, the more they encouraged me on the importance of getting this book out to every musician, songwriter, producer and artist.

How long did it take to get the book published?

The book took 3 1/2 years to get from first outline to finished copy. It was completed a lot sooner than that, but my daily responsibilities at CMT and family time often meant I had to put tasks on hold briefly. Now that it's out, I'm already thinking of what the second edition looks like. Right after I released the book, Google released their audio service. That by itself doesn't really change the ideas in "Futurehit.DNA," but it is a major new discovery tool that the book doesn't take into account. So, I'll explore these new technologies on my blog until I get enough changes to warrant a second edition.

Is your background strictly in music?

My background is largely in music, but also in broadcast media. I've been working with music videos for over 20 years now, and I've dabbled in management and label work. But overall, my experience has been synergizing the needs of the music world with that of broadcasting and digital environments. It's difficult balancing the needs of all three areas, but I've found that they can be very complementary and help each other if looked at correctly.

I know of many musicians who use a mathematical approach to songwriting. Does that have anything to do with "FutureHit.DNA's" method?

I do agree with some of the mathematical approaches to songwriting. However, I think this book deals more with the psychology of listening to music than the mathematics of it. Discovering music on the radio versus discovering music on a website are two different frames of mind. If the listener is not prepared to hear the music because of their surroundings and how they listen, then they may form negative opinions of the song.

For example, with radio, the difficulty of getting music heard was convincing a gatekeeper to play the song. Once you did that, it got added to a playlist and then multiple listens from the consumer were easy. It was just the first listen that was the hardest. Now that many discovery experiences are on demand, the easy part is getting someone to listen once. However, the world of discovery is so vast, how do you get them to listen a second time? People now feel they can hear a song, make an opinion, and unless they think it's the best song ever, never listen again but still hold their opinion. It's not a question of whether that's right or wrong, it's just what's happening. So how can you get into the listener's psyche to get to that second listen? That's the key to making a song more likely a hit in the future.

Do you have any examples of artists that have found success using your method?

I do, but unfortunately I can't mention them as they were adopting this confidentially during the time I wrote the book.

How long did it take to develop "Future Hit.DNA?"

The book took three-and-a-half years to develop and get out. The most surprising thing was how little things changed from when I began researching the book. I presumed technology would move too fast and that three years later the ideas would be outdated. The opposite happened. While the platforms and players have changed rapidly, the methodologies by which people are adopting hits has stayed the same. If anything, it's been reinforced and the ideas in the book continually get more important by the day.

How has your work in music television affected "Future Hit.DNA?"

What's most affected my work in the book has been working multiple platforms simultaneously. Seeing how music integrates with television, dot com, mobile, VOD and even terrestrial radio across CMT has been an immensely enriching experience. Most importantly, recognizing that today's music video viewer is an on-demand one has changed the nature of how they watch pre-programmed videos on TV. By nature, this changes the videos people need to make to be successful. If this book helps develop music and videos that improve my audience at CMT, it's a win-win for everyone.

You've used the internet in a very interesting way when promoting this book. How has the response been?

It's been fun watching how different people react to the book. I've had a tremendous response to the free chapter available on www.futurehitdna.com. Allowing people to sample the book, much like they sample music, has certainly been a great way to get people into the ideas. Also, the book has been enormously successful on Amazon Kindle, recently becoming a #1 book in the Songwriting category. It doesn't surprise me that the early adopters in music are also early adopters in other areas of technology. My big hope is that this book sparks enough ideas to bring the right economics back to the music business. We all need to help each other out, and I hope "Futurehit.DNA" gives people the tools to bring financial success back to this industry.