Make Your Music Make Money - Attack Magazine

BUILDING A MUSIC CAREER
IN THE DIGITAL AGE

PAUL PHILLIPS
Prepared exclusively for ag.from.kiev@gmail.com # Attack Mag 16980. © All rights reserved.
THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC 2
CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION
STARTER FOR TEN
Chapter 1
THE MUSIC BUSINESS
Chapter 2
HOW MUSIC MAKES MONEY FOR YOU
Chapter 3
YOUR BRAND
Chapter 4
SPREADING THE WORD
Chapter 5
RELEASING A RECORD
Chapter 6
TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Chapter 7
YOUR TEAM
Chapter 8
THE RECORD DEAL
Chapter 9
THE PUBLISHING DEAL
OVER TO YOU
CREDITS
Written by Paul Phillips
Edited by: David Felton
Additional material by Ronan Macdonald
Design by Chapman Design Limited
Published by
Jake Island Ltd under license to Attack Magazine Ltd
www.attackmagazine.com
Published in the UK, May 2019
ISBN 978-1-9998940-4-7
All content © 2019. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without
the written permission of the publisher.
Thanks to...
Of the many people we spoke to, practically no-one wanted to be quoted or credited (for
various reasons. Lawyers, managers, accountants, label people – their private view of the
world in which they operate can be very different from the public face they adopt). The
notable exceptions were:
Guy Moot, now CEO at Warner Chappell Music, and his former colleagues at Sony ATV Music,
who gave generously of their time to help us understand the modern music publisher, and
particularly the mess that has been streaming in America.
Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze was happy to talk about adapting from filling stadiums
worldwide, to the new digital reality.
Alex Burford and Nathan Taylor, who gave their insights into how both indies and majors
shape their release schedules.
Eric Brünjes, and the team at Attack, who took the project to the finish line.
INTRODUCTION
A NOTE ABOUT THE FACTS AND

FIGURES IN THIS BOOK
Statistics and figures in this book come from a wide variety of sources, including:
The International Federation of the SoundExchange.com

Phonographic Industry (IFPI)
Euromonitor
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
Statista
American Society of Songwriters,
Music Think Tank
Composers and Publishers (ASCAP)
Deloitte
Broadcast Music Inc (BMI)
Record Industry Association of America
Performing Rights Society (PRS)
(RIAA)
Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL)
Credit Suisse
iTunes (published accounts)
Online magazines, newspapers and
Confėdėration Internationale des Sociėtės blogs were raided and cross-referenced.
d’Auteurs et Compositeurs CISAC) Too numerous to list, they included
Billboard.com USA Today, The New Statesman, The
Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, New Music
Spotify Box, Billboardbiz, Music & Copyright and
Association of Independent Music (AIM) Quartz.
Forbes.com All facts were cross-referenced and
compared. Where the original source was
Pollstar found to be credible, we used it. Otherwise,
Digital Music News we used our own judgement and numerous
interviews to combine often contradictory
The Richest.com
information. If there is anything we have
Statistic Brain.com misunderstood, it is entirely our fault.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Musician, journalist, A&R scout, producer, singer, songwriter, and now
mentor to emerging artists, Paul Phillips has seen the music industry from
all sides over many decades.
Rebelling against his training as a classical pianist, Paul’s career in the
record business began, aged 18, when he was hired by industry bible Music
Week, where he reviewed albums and gigs before quitting to become an
A&R scout and producer for CBS – with a company Cortina to sweeten the
deal.
Inspired by the acts he worked with, Paul went freelance as a songwriter,
producer and recording artist – a career that peaked with a Top 10 hit.
Along with label-mates The Tourists (later The Eurythmics) and Street Band
(featuring Paul Young), he helped provide indie label Logo Records with a
stellar launch period.
Paul’s most recent incarnation is in career development for a string of
young artists, including Polydor-signed Grace Carter, whom he mentored
from age 13 until she signed with Tap Management two years ago.
He has been backstage with Hendrix, Queen and The Clash. He’s produced
tracks with Grammy award-winning Geoff Emerick running the desk.
Through Music Week he introduced UK retailers to The Bee Gees, James
Taylor and Aretha Franklin. He’s performed on Top Of The Pops. George
Martin still owes him a favour... He even survived drinking sessions with
Keith Moon.
And, having recorded in some of the world’s legendary studios – including
Trident, Apple, AIR and Olympia – since 2010 he has made the full transition
to DIY artist; recording, mixing and releasing his own records.
Now, in The Business of Music, Paul passes his insight – honed from many
decades of experience, highs, lows, successes and failures; alongside
conversations with movers and shakers from the worlds of music PR,
marketing, sync, law, publishing, management, and labels – onto the next
generation of songwriters, producers, artists and music entrepreneurs.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
In 2018, artists who release their own material carved out for themselves a
3% slice of global music sales.
It is the first time in the history of the music industry that this has
happened. And that number is set to grow.
This book is about how this historic moment came about, and more
importantly, how you can become one of the artists leading that small
revolution – currently worth $600m... and counting.
It is a book about the music industry.
But specifically it is a book about how to build a career in today’s industry,
exploiting the freedoms the internet and wider tech has made available to
millions of musicians worldwide.
It is not an academic tome or a research paper – although if you want to
know how the industry works and how you can work within it, we can safely
say: save yourself a year’s worth of Googling; it’s all here.
Instead this book is a practical guide, informed by interviews with hundreds
of music professionals, that can be followed by creative people making
music in any genre, from rock and indie to dance and hip hop.
The central message we have for you is this: there has never been a better
time to make a living from music.
It’s a brave starting point.
Some might say it’s a crazy starting point.
“The music industry is... ruined. Computers and the internet and
downloading songs completely ruined the music industry and everything
artists used to work for.” That’s Blondie’s Debbie Harry. “The music industry
is in such poor shape; a lot of people in the industry are very depressed.”
That’s cheery Kate Bush.
It’s entirely possible that Ms Harry and Ms Bush have revised their opinions
since they offered their views, but these are the kinds of voices of doom
that have dominated the popular view of the music industry in recent years.
INTRODUCTION
The internet is the devil... Digital music is the end of civilisation... etc, etc.
That’s not the way we see it. The way we see it is: things change.
And when things change the human tendency is to worry – to think that the
end of a golden era has come.
So here’s some perspective.
Music has been an increasingly commercialised art form for only around
100 years. That’s not long in the grand scheme of things.
And in that time, the composition, consumption and delivery of music has
changed in pretty much every decade.
From the earliest days of sound recording right the way through to the
end of the 20th century, an industry grew, and grew, and grew – all on the
back of cheaper and cheaper technology that brought popular music to
audiences of unimagined sizes.
And then a bunch of things happened – all at the same time, all of them
technology-driven – that kicked the record industry’s butt. Hard. All the way
from $30bn a year right down to $15bn a year.
First FM Radio in the US overtook AM Radio, the market-driven Top 40
format. FM split the market into a zillion niche genres. Then Radio One, the
UK’s driver of pop taste, did the same.
Which left the world’s two biggest pop markets without a dominant
cross-generational mainstream outlet. Record sales began to plummet.
Then came the internet, cheap computers, torrents and digital recording
software followed by iTunes, YouTube and streaming.
See what we mean? Things change.
But so much remains the same – including the central formula for success.
The best you can do as an artist is the same thing any artist has done for
the past seven decades: make great music; build your brand; get noticed;
grow your fan base; then sell to them.
And, as observers, the best we can say is: ignore the doom-mongers. Music
still moves people. It still communicates. It still entertains. In other words,
the intrinsic power of music hasn’t changed. Nor is it ever likely to.
There’s a lot of comfort in that single fact.
INTRODUCTION
So – how to read this book?

Set out with our Starter for ten.
The internet is littered with gobbets of information – links to tomes on
copyright and academic reports you need a degree to understand. In
Starter for ten we digest the digests. We tell the music industry like it is
right here, right now – and in plain language.
You can read The Business of Music from beginning to end if you like.
There’s history and context here – how we went from sheet music to
streaming in less than 100 years.
Or you can focus on one of our step-by-step guides: to creating your brand,
marketing yourself, releasing your own music or building your team.
You might want to go straight to Chapter 8 – The record deal or Chapter 9 -
The publishing deal using our no-nonsense explanations of what’s on offer
and what happens during the heat of a deal.
We’ll say this, though. If you’re serious about making a career in music, you
will end up reading every word.
Before signing off, two caveats.
Firstly, we can’t promise to make you a megastar – or even a star.
There’s no recipe for that. Nor for becoming a billionaire. Maybe you’ll
become a star. It happens. That’s the thing with the music industry – no-one
has ever known where the next big thing was coming from.
But we will show you how to build a successful career in the finest industry
on the planet using a laptop as your main tool.
Secondly, if you find the occasional superseded statistic, forgive us. At the
time of publication every figure in this book (there are a lot of them) was
checked. But in a fast-moving world, some of those stats will go out of date.
Change, again.
Don’t worry about that change. It’s the backdrop to our era, as it has been
the backdrop to every musician’s era.
Ignore it. Focus on the task in hand. Work hard on your talent.
And use the advice and know-how in this book to make the most of that
talent.
STARTER FOR TEN

The one constant in this business, and in life, is change.
I am open for change. I’m psyched for change. And more
importantly, I love music.
Lyor Cohen, formerly of Def Jam, now YouTube’s Global Head
of Music
Life can always change, you have to adjust.
Drake
Every musician knows there’s always someone ready to tell you what’s
selling, what will be selling in the future, and – above all – where the
industry will be in three years time. At such moments, we recommend you
call to mind the thoughts of David Geffen.
Who is David Geffen, and why is he worth paying attention to?
Geffen embodies the zero-to-hero story of the American dream. He started
off in the mailroom of Hollywood’s biggest talent agency, eventually moving
upstairs to become an agent in his own right.
Later he formed Asylum Records, signing Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell,
Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles, whose Greatest Hits album was the biggest
selling album of the last century. (It has since been marginally overtaken by
Thriller and Dark Side Of The Moon).
Five years after selling Asylum, he launched Geffen Records, signing John
Lennon, Donna Summer, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Nirvana.
He later moved into film, joining Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg
to launch Dreamworks Studios, the movie megahouse that bought us
‘American Beauty’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Gladiator’ among many others.
PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN
That’s why David Geffen – now a multi-billionaire – is worth listening to.

This is what he said, almost 30 years ago: “Anyone who tells you what is
going to be happening in three years time is either lying, or trying to sell
you something.”
Back then, very few people had a computer. The internet – as we know it –
didn’t exist. Stanford PhD scholars Larry Page and Sergey Brin were years
away from conceiving a new search engine called ‘Google’. Mark Zuckerberg
was still in nappies.
In the last 20 years, computing power has doubled almost every 18 months,
with computers so widespread that now pretty much everyone in the
Western world owns not just one, but multiple devices.
Whole industries, from subscription TV to accounting, room letting to fast
food delivery, have shifted online. Music was one of the first to find its
foundation shaken by the digital revolution. And those foundations are still
being shaken today.
The story of the past two decades, as we shall find in Chapter 1 – The
music business, has been one of continuous upheaval. Physical sales have
declined. Digital sales have risen – and then declined. Streaming is the new
revenue stream that is reviving the industry’s health.
As recently as five years ago, Silicon Valley flagbearers – along with more
than a few over-enthusiastic music execs – were telling us that the future
of music was entirely online. The ‘old’ music industry was dead.
But that’s not how it it’s worked out. In fact, counter-intuitively, a greater
percentage of cash is now being made through real life events (gigs, TV
shows) and real stuff (witness the ongoing vinyl revival) than at any time in
the past two decades.
In other words, as Geffen noted so presciently all those years ago, no-one
knows where we’re going.
Industry insiders have their hunches. And below – before we get into the
main body of this book – we’ve compiled our Starter for ten, ten things you
need to know about today’s music industry.
But beyond that neither we or anyone else can tell where the industry will be
in ten, five – even three – years from now.
Second-guessing either the direction or location of change is a fool’s game.
#1: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS NOT DEAD

It is true that recorded music sales dropped dramatically in the ten year
period from 2003. In the UK alone, sales almost halved. Across the globe
the picture was similar.
But even at its lowest, worldwide turnover was $15bn a year. Today,
streaming has moved the direction of travel upwards – over $19bn and
growing.
There was a time when the trend pointed to a future where no-one would
want to pay for recorded music. “Everyone has learned how to monetise
music except the music industry,” noted Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. He was
voicing the sense of despair that pervaded the industry.
But this pessimism wasn’t, ultimately, justified. Revenues from digital sales
swept ever upwards at an impressive rate until 2009, when streaming
began to slow it down. By 2013, income from digital – download and
streaming – was close to $6bn worldwide; 40% of global revenues. The
upward trend halted slightly as download handed the baton over to
streaming in 2014–15, one digital service replacing another.
If the growth of streaming subscriptions continues at its current rate it
is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the industry will eventually
recover all lost ground.
Nor is old-school physical finished. With CD sales still accounting for
billions of dollars per annum and vinyl sales on the rise, physical provides
a welcome cushion while the music industry establishes new ways to
generate income.
So, no, the music industry is not dead or, indeed, likely to pass away any
time soon.
# 2: THE DOOR IS WIDER OPEN THAN EVER

It is easier today than it has ever been to make a living and career from
music.
The reason for this is simple: the laptop sitting in front of you.
Once upon a time you had to learn your instrument. Then you had to go out
and play to people, either alone or in a band.
If you were good and lucky – usually both – you might get spotted by a
record company scout. Then you’d be thrown in a studio with a producer
you’d never met, a bunch of musicians you probably didn’t know, and if your
music came out sounding anything like you intended it to you could breathe
a sigh of relief.
That was just the start of your journey. With the record making its
way through the pressing plant, a whole raft of PR people, pluggers,
videographers and photographers would work on ‘project you’ in the hope
that their collective efforts would push your album to somewhere near the
top of the charts so that the label’s investment might be recouped.
Computers and the internet have changed all of that, democratising the
business in a way no-one could have dreamed.
The new tools at our disposal allow us to make, market and sell music to a
global audience from behind a computer screen. With a cheap camera – or
phone – we can take our own photos and shoot our own promo videos.
Anyone with talent can now have a crack at a music career, and – in certain
genres, from dance to hip hop – they can establish that career without
needing the help or services of anyone else.
In short, the big, solid door that once loomed so large in front of musical
talent has not so much been opened as blown clean off its hinges – along
with the surrounding walls.
And while that may be bad news for the moneyed execs at the top of the
tree, it represents a golden era of opportunity for those looking to work
their way into the industry from the ground up.
#3: TODAY’S CHALLENGE IS TO BREAK THROUGH THE NOISE

The flip side of the fact that anyone can become an artist is that... nearly
everyone is an artist. And because there are so many people these days
with a band and a brand and a few hundred Instagram followers, the
competition to get your music heard is tougher than ever.
Gone are the days when the number of artists courting a label’s A&R man
could be counted on a few hands.
The number one challenge in the post-digital free-for-all is breaking
through the noise made by a billion-and-one other creative sorts with a
laptop, a copy of GarageBand and a couple of song ideas.

The age old conundrum asks: if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around
to hear it, does it make a sound? The same question can be levelled at the
vast majority of songs on SoundCloud and videos on YouTube. If the track
you’ve slaved over receives just ten plays in six months, are you an artist
with a future?
No.
Get real.
At its heart music is about communication with others. To build a
successful career you need to be communicating firstly with fans, then with
professionals who will nurture your career – at the very least a publisher,
and possibly also a manager, a label A&R – then with tastemakers who will
take your music to ever bigger audiences.
If you fail to open those lines of communication then you’ve had as much
impact as that unseen falling tree in the metaphorical forest.
#4: YOU CAN KICK-START YOUR CAREER FOR NEXT TO NOTHING

If that all sounds a bit depressing, take heart from the fact that the
biggest investment you now need to build a music career, other than your
instrument/s, is a computer.
That computer, along with some form of digital audio workstation (DAW)
like GarageBand, Ableton Live, Cubase or Logic, is all you need to get your
music to a good production standard before you even set foot in a live
venue or pro studio.
The same computer can be used to upload your music to SoundCloud,
Bandcamp, YouTube or any other platform where your music can be heard
by the masses.
While you work away on your music and online profile, you can be expanding
your local reach for free by going to gigs and getting yourself a performance
slot. Invariably this will start small-scale: for the singer-songwriter or band,
that means open mic nights and jam sessions; while dance and electronic
producers should learn to DJ (using either real decks or software like
Ableton Live or Native Instruments’ Traktor) and badger their local club
booker for a set. Catch the eyes and ears of the right people and you’ll soon
be filling bigger venues.

Put gig dates online and invite all your social media friends. Facebook,
Tweet and Instagram the hell out of them. Many bars and clubs will be
happy if you can get 50 new people through their doors.
When it comes to photography and videos, either invest in a cheapish
digital camera, use the camera built into your phone or reach out to local
talent at your nearest arts college. Swap services. Grow your ecosystem of
contacts.
Before long you’ll have a thriving online fanbase, a rich brand and visual
identity, a collection of high-quality recorded songs and a strong local
following – all for the price of a laptop and some software.
#5: MUSIC SALES ARE ONLY PART OF THE STORY

Not long ago you could release an album and watch the income roll in over
decades as punters queued at their local record store to buy the vinyl, then
the tape, then the CD, then the box set, then the remastered box-set…
Those were the days when a singer-songwriter could choose not to perform
live, like Kate Bush who famously did one tour and said never again (before
relenting in 2014).
She could do that because the UK high street was littered with record
stores, indies and chains. HMV, Virgin, Our Price and more than 10,000
other record shops contributed to an annual turnover of vinyl and CD sales
that exceeded £1bn in the UK alone.
Her albums continued to sell by the bucketload, boosted by sporadic hit
singles for 25 years.
Today that wouldn’t even qualify as a risky strategy. It would be career
suicide, because the moment the mp3 – and the torrents, the downloads
and the streams – came along, the way we consume music changed
forever.
In one fell swoop, the business model of the industry was redefined.
Artists used to tour to promote their new album. Today, the album is part of
the marketing strategy to promote a tour.
That’s how much things have changed, and it’s illustrative of a much wider
trend that has transformed the industry over the past two decades; the
shift from an income stream dominated by record sales and performance
royalties to one derived from myriad different sources, from touring and
merchandising to third-party sync deals.
If you’re not able or willing to embrace this new ‘360’ world – we talk about
this in Chapter 8 - The record deal – then you’ll almost certainly be left in
the starting blocks.
Remember those innocent days when artists could afford not to ‘sell out’?
Commercial sponsorship was anathema to The Beatles, The Stones, The
Who, Bob Dylan, Moby. And everyone was horrified when Michael Jackson
bought the rights to the Lennon-McCartney songbook and proceeded to
allow sacred Beatles songs to be used for TV advertising.
But – bad faith act that it was – it at least proved the point that you
couldn’t spoil a brand like The Beatles by ‘selling out’. And it gave the green
light for the adoption of today’s paradigm, which is to cash in on whatever
opportunities arise: TV tie-ins, video games, merchandising Dre-style, even
unlikely collaborations (think Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue) are fair game.
All of these – and more – are covered later in this book. For now it’s enough
to recognise that income from your recordings are only a part of the story,
no longer an end in themselves.
#6: BRAND IS KEY

Over half-a-century ago, a little-known band from Liverpool stuck a hastily
sketched home-made logo to the front of their drummer’s Ludwig kick
drum. It consisted of just two words, the second with a distinctive capital
B and ‘drop T’. It would have won no design awards then or now. It read
simply: THE BEATLES.
The sheer scale of The Beatles’ influence, both at the time and on the music
industry since, made that single moment iconic. Here was a band not only
with a logo, but an image that fans wanted to buy into. For the next couple
of years, their smart suits, boy-next-door looks and almost perpetual
cheeriness were all part of a consistent and recognisable brand, the first of
its kind on such a scale in popular music history.
More recently, Deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, has taken artist branding
to new heights, with his trademark – and it really is trademarked, in 30
countries – mouse head qualifying as one of this century’s most iconic

musical images. Similarly, while we don’t doubt Daft Punk would be global
megastars no matter what they chose to wear, the media and public
attention commanded by their ever-present robot outfits has played a big
part in their success. “Looking at robots is not like looking at an idol,” Punk
Guy-Man told Pitchfork in 2013. “It’s not a human being, so it’s more like a
mirror – the energy people send to the stage bounces back and everybody
has a good time together rather than focussing on us.”
As a musician, artist, DJ or band, you are your brand. And if that brand is
strong, simple and consistent, and – crucially – perfectly aligns with your
music, then your odds of breaking through are significantly increased.
Brand permeates everything. It’s in the logo and the photos that capture
your image. It’s in the videos that blend image with music. It’s in the font
you use on your website and the tone of voice of your email bulletins. It’s in
every post on every social network. It defines what you wear and informs
your stage presence.
Your job is to craft a brand that is not just true to you and your music but
also speaks to your audience and offers something that is different to other
artist brands out there.
From the start, stake out your territory by paying attention to the small
stuff. Turning up to gigs in a pair of battered jeans and a T-shirt dragged
out of the laundry basket is not going to set you apart from 100 others.
Using bog-standard Courier as your typeface will make your website and
print material look like everyone else’s. You don’t have to be a qualified or
experienced designer to make your marketing stand apart.
Brand can, if you play your cards right, even outshine your profile as an
artist. Think Dr Dre, who put his name to a brand of headphones and
streaming service. Apple paid a reported $3bn for his businesses. That’s
right – three, count ’em, b-i-l-l-i-o-n dollars.
Which is all to say that a strong brand is not only your passport to the top of
the charts. If it’s strong enough – and you have the ideas and the energy to
see them through – it may take you to any number of other places too.
#7: TOTAL DEDICATION REQUIRED

Don’t kid yourself you are so talented that success is a foregone conclusion.
Talent is not as rare as we all like to think. Record companies know that for
every stroppy ‘artist’ who gives them a hard time about ‘integrity’ there are
a thousand equally gifted people waiting in line for the chance to step up.
If you want to put a figure on it, talent is probably 10% of the package.
Another 10% – at least – is luck. The rest is persistence and hard work.
Take Ed Sheeran. Sure, he’s talented – he can write, sing and play guitar to a
high standard. But that’s not what made him a superstar.
To understand why he’s a star, start with this statistic: in 2009 he played
312 gigs. His dedication was such that he sofa-surfed for a lot of the year
to keep costs down.
Then in 2010 he took himself off to Los Angeles and worked open mic
nights across the city. While there he was spotted by Jamie Foxx who
invited him to stay at his house and use his studio. The rest is history.
If you look at that story the wrong way round you might say Ed Sheeran had
been lucky. But if you look at it the right way round, you can see he made his
own luck.
It’s worth also noting what he was doing with his downtime during that
312-gig marathon. He wasn’t playing Xbox, seeing the sights or downing
tequila shots. He was on social media – day and night – updating his
followers, building his fanbase, connecting with them, keeping them in
touch and, new-follower by new-follower, gradually building a career.
No-one’s saying you have to follow his model. To do it the Sheeran way you
have to be an accomplished guitarist, a high-octane singer and you need to
be comfortable on stage. That’s not for everyone.
But however you choose to do it, his is the kind of dedication you’re going to
need to demonstrate.
Reflecting on the original material girl’s success, Jason Corsaro, who
engineered ‘Like a Virgin’ noted that Madonna didn’t just drop in to the
studio to record her vocals: she was there from sunrise to long after sunset
ensuring every detail of her record was perfect.
“She was determined for the record to be successful and was there all the
time,” he recalls. “When anyone asks me why I think she’s so successful I
say it’s because of all the effort she put into it. There was no other way: it
was success or nothing. She didn’t just come along and expect success to
come to her. She went straight for it.”
Which means that being a DJ who plays the occasional mate’s party or a
hobbyist songwriter who holds down a full-time job and demands eight
hours sleep a night is unlikely to cut it.
Instead you need to be prepared to sacrifice relationships, holidays, comfort
and sleep for the dream anyone who ever loved you warned you against.
But you’ll do it all anyway because as an artist with your sights on a career
you simply have to.
#8: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ISN’T PERFECT. BUT PASSION PERVADES

The music industry may have changed immeasurably over the past two
decades. But in the ways that matter its heart beats the same as ever.
Label executives are still looking for that once-in-a-generation talent; the
spine-tingling voice; the killer hook that will have festival audiences singing
along; the DJ who can fill a dancefloor and change its mood at a flick of the
crossfader; the songwriter who can break your heart.
You hear all sorts of things about label people: they’re crass, they don’t give
a toss about music, all they care about is hits, they’re stupid, they’re cut-
throat, they’re all over you when you’re successful, running a mile when you
fail... and on, and on, and on...
A lot of the criticisms are true, and they’re true because the music industry
is a microcosm of society as a whole, a society with its fair share of crass,
idiotic people who’ll love you in the good times and walk away in the bad.
It’s also true, on the whole, that the legal department is not full of lawyers
who spent five years doing their law degree because they’re passionate
about music. Ditto the finance department.
But the A&R guys, the pluggers, the marketing people, the digital
department, the secretaries – are you kidding? – these are people who 99
times in 100 adore music.
They feed off the ambience of being around artists, they thrive on helping
shape careers, they celebrate when their artist reaches the top of the
charts.
They’ve chosen a career that doesn’t pay megabucks in an industry that
demands long hours and returns little thanks. And they’ve done it for one
reason: they really, really love music.
#9: SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS – A LOT

We’re not going to say that social media is the be-all-and-end-all of an
artist’s career.
It isn’t.
Speak to any major or indie A&R scout for long enough and you’ll find that
the number of Facebook fans a potential signee has is less important
than their music and brand. Besides, a huge social media following is easy
enough to conjure if you believe in an artist.
Which is to say that if your music is blow-’em-away amazing but you’re a
social (media) recluse, then all is not entirely lost.
But the signing of a social media recluse is the exception to the rule.
For better or worse, if everything else is equal the band with 50,000
followers on their buzzing social pages stands a far greater chance of being
signed than the equally brilliant band with 50 friends who can’t be bothered
to update their status on a daily basis.
Why? Simple economics. As an act you are an investment for the label. If
that investment opportunity comes with 50,000 likes rather than 50 you’ve
narrowed the odds of backing a winning horse by a considerable margin.
The majority of labels today want to know, before they sign you, that you are
not only talented (of course) but also that you are social-media savvy, hard
working, already surrounded by a buzz – on YouTube, on SoundCloud, at live
gigs – and that you’ve got more than one hit song in you.
In today’s environment, with talent coming out of the woodwork, you need
to do all that – and more – for yourself.
#10: THE SONG (AND SONGWRITER) RULES SUPREME

It’s easy to lose sight, when looking at income bar-charts, social media
portfolios and merchandising opportunities of the one thing – the pivotal
thing – that matters; the thing that the whole industry is built upon: the
music, and specifically, The Song.
“Everything I do, whether it’s producing or signing an artist, always starts
with the songs,” notes uber-producer Rick Rubin.
The holy grail of the music industry remains that Song – the intangible mix
of human emotion crafted into something sublime and sexy or sultry and
sad that lasts, on average, three-and-a-bit minutes.
For reasons even the world’s finest psychologists, psycho-acousticians and
philosophers can’t nail down, songs move us. And it turns out that in our
ever more digitally-dominated lives, we need music more than ever.
This gives a special power to the songwriter, in terms of both their ability to
shift units and reap the financial rewards.
Apart from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, it’s hard to think of a modern
‘great’ who isn’t also a songwriter. From Buddy Holly to The Beatles, Bob
Dylan to The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding to Jimi Hendrix, Aretha Franklin to
Michael Jackson, Chuck Berry to Bruce Springsteen, all the way through to
Adele, Amy Winehouse and Avicii...
Whether it’s pop, soul, hip hop, folk or rock, it’s The Song that dominates –
however good the beat, bassline or guitar riff.
When all else fades from memory, it’s The Song that sticks in people’s
minds, The Song that future generations will pick up and refashion for their
own audience.
If you have the ability to write songs then you have more chance than
anyone of making a financial success of your talent.
A generation of legally and commercially savvy Americans – led by Victor
Herbert and the great ‘Tin Pan Alley’ songwriters, including Otto ‘Smoke
Gets In Your Eyes’ Harback, Jerome ‘Ol’ Man River’ Kern and Irving ‘White
Christmas’ Berlin – fought hard to ensure that writers would benefit from
songs popularised by Hollywood crooners.
The legislation they helped enshrine in US law, alongside similar laws

in other territories, still operate today, delivering royalties via collection
organisations from the PRS and MCPS (UK) to ASCAP (US), SACEM (France)
to GEMA (Germany).
Arrangements, production values and performances may change to keep
up with new fashions across the decades, but The Song? No… it retains its
value and – for now at least – has a protected revenue stream that even the
most disruptive of new media companies is unable to touch.
So if you’re a songwriter labouring under a complex that perhaps you’re out
of your time, take a look at Laura Marling, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Adele or
Aloe Blacc and understand that The Song is a constant.
Then write Songs ’til you drop.
Because that’s where you’ll really get the attention, the respect and – yes –
the money.
CHAPTER 1
THE MUSIC
BUSINESS
‘You couldn’t have come at a better time.’
IN THIS CHAPTER...
Luka Bloom, singer-songwriter
Overview
‘I love new technology. New challenges mean
you have to keep up, you know?’ The labels
Majors
Dr Dre
Independents
Retail
As streaming begins to dominate, putting the recorded
music industry back into growth mode, you literally – as Streaming
Luka Bloom sang – couldn’t have come at a better time if YouTube
you want to make a career in music. Torrents
In 2014, the record industry appeared to be in freefall. Sharing sites
Annual turnover was half what it had been in 1999, and
there seemed no stopping the decline.
Today, as we write, it is back on an upwards curve, altered
yet again by technology – this time, streaming – and a
resurgence in sales of old-school vinyl.
On top of that, live music is reborn, and is now a huge global
business, dwarfing the record industry itself. But taken
together – recordings and gigs – we are witnessing very
likely the healthiest time there has ever been to consider
music as a career.
The old record industry is still there. We’ll call it the core
business. It consists of the record companies that invest in,
make and market music.
CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS
It includes record retailers – the music shops that used to be on every high
street, which are now increasingly specialist. Since the rebirth of vinyl as a
viable medium, it would be a fool’s game to predict the future of physical
stores and their product.
Around the core we have the increasingly lucrative live sector with its venue
owners, booking agents and promoters; the music publishers who nurture
songwriters and look after their copyrights; and radio and TV outlets whose
main commercial focus is music (American FM Radio, MTV, Radio One and
so on).
This is the ‘music industry’ as we’ve known it for the past 60 years.
But now, like layers wrapping around an onion, we can add iTunes (and
other download sites) as well as streaming operations like Spotify, Last.fm,
Apple Music and Pandora – more than 40 in all, not necessarily all available
in all territories at any one time.
Alongside these are the multitude of online sharing sites – YouTube,
Facebook, SoundCloud, Bandcamp – where you can upload and showcase
music, communicate with fans and network with anyone from session
players and mastering engineers to potential managers. Some of these also
offer a means to generate income, either through advertising (YouTube) or
direct sales (Bandcamp).
Sharing sites are relative newcomers to the business. They have no real
physical or analogue precursor, which is partly why the music industry –
like other creative industries – has reeled from crisis to crisis in the past
decade-and-a-bit. These channels have proved to be hugely important, so
it is essential to always keep an eye out for the new kid on the block.
THE LABELS
The music industry started out relatively simply – writers writing, publishers
printing sheet music and singers singing. Since then, it has grown
increasingly complex. But every part of it is owned by somebody. Someone
is making the decisions. So what is the ‘it’ that is owned? And who are the
people who run it?
The answers throw open a world of mafia connections, alcohol distillation,
hostile takeovers – even a few characters who liked music – and help show
why the landscape is as it is today.
THE CORE BUSINESS – THE MAJORS

At the top of the core music business – the more
MARKET SHARES 2018*
traditional central part of the sector – are the three
‘majors’ (major record companies): Universal Music UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP 31%
Group (UMG), Sony Music (Sony) and Warner Music
CAPITOL INTERSCOPE GEFFEN A&M
Group (WMG). VIRGIN ISLAND RECORDS
HARVEST REPUBLIC RECORDS
Generally speaking, these three majors have between DEF JAM
ASTRALWERKS
VERVE
BLUE NOTE
two-thirds and three-quarters of market share. The
rest – between a quarter and a third in any given year
– is carved up by the independent sector (indies). INDEPENDENTS 27%
XL RECORDINGS SUB POP
Universal is top dog with overall market share of ROUGH TRADE STONES THROW
around a third. Sony has recently been in the low 20s, 4AD
MATADOR
NEON GOLD
WARP
with Warner in the mid–high teens.
Which means that if your career takes off to SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT 21%
unexpected heights, a major label will become COLUMBIA
RCA
involved at some point. EPIC
ARISTA NASHVILLE
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP WARNER MUSIC GROUP 15.8%

ATLANTIC PARLOPHONE SIRE
ELEKTRA WARNER BROS ASYLUM
UMG emerged in 1998 from a complex history
that began with Decca Records, a British label
ARTISTS DIRECT 3%
with origins stretching back to 1929. By 1995,
ARTISTS SELF-RELEASING ON THEIR OWN LABELS
after a series of purchases and takeovers that
included ownership of the Universal film studio, the * Diagram shows only a selection of umbrella labels.
entertainment giant had been renamed MCA. It owned MCA Records and
Universal Pictures.
After a brief – and controversial – period in the hands of the world’s largest
alcohol distiller, Seagram, UMG was bought by Vivendi in 2000. A French
corporation with a pedigree even longer than Seagram’s, Vivendi started out
as Compagnie Generale des Eaux, providing water to the people of Lyon.
It was 1983 before the business diversified from water, waste management
and energy, helping to found France’s first pay-TV channel, Canal+. From
there it expanded into mass media and telecommunications.
In 1998, it changed its name to Vivendi and sold off all its non-media
businesses to concentrate on media and entertainment. Its ownership of
Universal Music Group has come about through an almost impenetrable
series of takeovers, share swaps, divestments, investments and
reorganisations – which is pretty typical for today’s music giants.
WARNER MUSIC GROUP

Warner Music Group – commonly known as Warners – was born out of
Warner Brothers Pictures’ desire to keep its film stars from having hit
records with labels owned by other movie production houses. From its
inception in 1958 any actor contracted to its movie division would have to
record for Warner Bros Records.
Then, in a succession of moves that some would claim were connected,
Warners first purchased Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Records in 1963 and
was then itself bought in 1969 by Kinney National Company, a business
rumoured to have mob connections – which indeed it did.
Abner Zwillman, one of the three owners of Kinney, was a bonafide mobster
associated with, among other things, Murder Incorporated, the colourful
name the American media gave to Mafia ‘enforcers’.
But in fairness, Zwillman died in 1959, ten years before Kinney purchased
Warner Records. The stories circulating at the time of the purchase were
mostly born of malice and snobbery – the financial elite couldn’t believe
that a company best known for owning car parks had snapped up an
American cultural icon.
From 1967, through its ownership of Atlantic Records, Warners had access
to the recordings of Ray Charles, The Coasters, early Drifters, Ben E. King,
Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin.
By the end of the ’60s, Warner Music was home to some of the world’s
biggest acts including Cream, Crosby Stills & Nash, Neil Young and Led
Zeppelin. Then in 1970 it bought the-then coolest label on the planet,
Elektra, which boasted a roster including The Doors, MC5, Love, Tim Buckley,
Judy Collins, Phil Ochs and The Stooges.
The new entity was called Warner-Elektra-Atlantic (WEA), a name that
persevered until 1991. At that point, having merged with Time Inc (the
American weekly news magazine company) to form Time Warner, the music
operation was renamed Warner Music.
A further merger with AOL in 2000 led to financial trouble which resulted in
the music division being sold off to reduce debt.
Despite being the smallest of the three majors, Warners’ turnover was still
more than $3bn in 2014.
SONY MUSIC GROUP

On face value the newcomer among the majors, Sony is actually a mix of
the oldest and newest.
Sony started out as a tiny electronics shop in Tokyo in 1946. One of its
founders, Masaru Ibuka, saw the commercial potential of transistors and
negotiated with America’s Bell Labs to license the technology.
Sony’s transistor radio – small enough to be portable – was a massive
success in America, hitting the newly-emerging teenage market in the 1950s
at exactly the right time. Now young people could listen to their own music in
their own space without parents telling them to ‘turn that racket off’.
Proving themselves to be surprisingly tuned-in to Western popular culture,
in 1968 Sony’s founders – by this time exporting five million transistor
radios a year to the US – formed a joint venture with CBS (the international
name of Columbia Records) called CBS/Sony Records in Japan.
A long time before Apple twinned iPods with iTunes downloads, Sony had
realised that content was king. Content was the driver, no matter how clever
their technology – first those transistor radios, later the CD player (if only
the label, and others, had been as prescient abut the transition to digital).
Columbia/CBS, by contrast, has its roots in the earliest days of recorded

sound. It was the local distributor of Edison phonographs and phonograph
cylinders, covering Maryland, Delaware and Washington DC (District of
Columbia, from which it took its name).
That was in the late 1800s. In the late 1920s, the company was bought by
its English subsidiary Columbia.
After a brief foray into radio – which lasted barely more than a year, but
bequeathed the name Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) – the British
and US operations merged to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (EMI).
Because of America’s anti-trust laws, EMI had to sell its US operations.
Which is how, in 1938, the legendary William S. Paley – chief executive of
CBS – was able to square the circle by buying the American Columbia label
for a mere three-quarters-of-a-million dollars.
Over the next four decades, mightily helped by the talents of John
Hammond – the A&R legend who launched the recording careers of musical
icons from Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan to Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen
and Bruce Springsteen – Columbia/CBS became a stellar entity worldwide.
In 1988, 20 years after it had formed its CBS joint venture in Japan, Sony
bought the record division, forming what became known as Sony Music
Entertainment.
In a final twist to the tale, Sony picked up EMI Music Publishing when EMI’s
music division was broken up and sold in 2011/12. The record division
went to UMG. This was the end of a process that began when Terra Firma,
a private equity fund with no experience in the music industry, made the
ultimately disastrous decision to buy EMI for $6.4bn.
THE MAJORS AND THEIR LABELS

Over decades, the majors have expanded their businesses and market
share by buying up other record companies and independent labels which
were either struggling or whose owners decided it was time to cash in.
This explains how, for instance, Universal now owns Island, one of the
biggest independent labels in the history of recorded music. It’s also why
Parlophone – once EMI’s flagship, dominated by The Beatles – now belongs
to Warner Music Group.
So the ‘big three’ record companies are not, in themselves, the be-all-and-
end-all of the industry. Instead, they sit at the top of pyramids that include
‘stables’ of dozens and sometimes hundreds of labels, as well as the
associated pressing plants (yes, they still exist), distribution centres and
fleets of vans still required to get product into shops (yes, they still exist,
too...).
THE UMG STABLE

When you start investigating the labels owned or distributed by UMG, you
open a Pandora’s box of names – the more you look, the more there are.
The wholly retained subsidiary Interscope-Geffen-A&M is home to 22 labels
alone. Republic Records is umbrella to a further 20. Then there are Capitol
Records, Virgin, Motown, Blue Note and Caroline Distribution, which account
for a further 50.
Dig deeper, though, and you realise there’s a lot of smoke, but not always
fire. Bad Boy Records, for instance, has released albums by P. Diddy and The
Notorious B.I.G., but typically releases only one or two albums a year.
SRC, meanwhile, has released 24 albums since 2003, which starts to feel
more exciting. But only one album was released in 2010 and the most
recent was Melanie Fiona’s The Mf Life in 2012.
There has to be some reason UMG is the biggest label in the world, though,
and that’s because among the more than 500 artists signed across its
labyrinthine organisation are bankable A-listers such as Kanye West, Taylor
Swift, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Lorde, Jack Johnson and Eminem. It was also
home to Amy Winehouse.
Island, meanwhile, has Snow Patrol, who for a short time were the most
successful band in the world, selling 12 million albums and having their
songs covered as hits by a range of artists. Jake Bugg is another recent
major league signing.
THE SONY STABLE

By comparison, Sony is restrained. It is host to a handful of major label
names, each with its own family of boutique labels.
Three of those major labels are steeped in history. One is RCA, where Elvis
Presley went from local promise at Sam Phillips’ Sun to global domination.
The other is Columbia, where John Hammond took a flier on the young Bob
Dylan. Finally, there’s Epic, no slouch with Abba and Michael Jackson to
help define its history, which is carried forward by the likes of Lana del Rey,
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.
THE WARNERS STABLE

Warners falls somewhere between UMG and Sony. It has six main divisions
that appear mostly under the legendary Atlantic and Warner Brothers
operating names.
Within these divisions are historic names such as Atlantic Records, Elektra,
Asylum, Nonesuch, Atco and Sire.
More recently, Warners benefited from the breakup of EMI, purchasing
Parlophone, most famous for being The Beatles’ label but now home to
Coldplay, Gorillaz, Kylie Minogue and Blur.
THE MAJORS: CORPORATE LEECHES OR FORCE FOR GOOD?

It can be tempting to view ‘the majors’ as CDs from plant to shop.
greedy corporate monoliths, sitting atop the Majors aren’t perfect. You would be justified in
music business and squashing the life out berating them for their slowness in responding
of it while handing only a fraction of their to the internet, digital downloads and
multi-million dollar earnings onto artists. And streaming. Sometimes they get things wrong
there’s no doubt that as models of business, in ways that make them look exploitative and
ethical and artistic best practice they dishonest. The poor return for artists from
frequently fall short of the mark. streaming is the latest example.
But the caricature is a lazy one. The truth But the fact is that over decades these
is that the majors are endlessly complex companies first invented, then built and now
creatures with big families of labels staffed sustain the music industry.
largely by people who adore music and the
Critics may jeer from the sidelines and
artists who create it.
wonder how the ‘record industry’ can survive
The majors have also spent vast quantities of the digital onslaught. But if you were an
time and money on building the infrastructure employee of, chairman of, or shareholder in,
that means artists can shift records – and get for example, Warner Music, you wouldn’t be
paid for doing so. fixated on ‘the glory days’.
Over the history of recorded music, the big No. As an employee, you’d be more interested
players have invested in and built pressing in your job. Or as CEO, in the thousands of
and duplication plants alongside the physical employees you have worldwide. Or as an
distribution chain that got records, tapes and investor, in their multi-billion dollar turnover.
Parlophone is parent to other big name labels including Chrysalis and

Harvest. It also has the Regal imprint, one of the earliest label names
around (reaching as far back as 1932).
In its 2013 Annual Report Warners gave credit for a 6% increase in profits
to success with Parlophone.
CORE BUSINESS: THE INDIES

Imagine you’re an entrepreneur who’s obsessed with music but has little to
no musical talent. You know a couple of bands you think are great but who
don’t seem able to break through the barrier.
You could become their manager (Chapter 7 - Your team). Or you could try
gig promotion – booking them into clubs and seeing how many people you
can drive through the doors.
Or you could launch your own independent label.
It’s not for everyone, and it’s not easy. The rate of failure is high.
But while conservative and business-minded types such as Sir Edward
Lewis (Decca) and Sir Joseph Lockwood (EMI) sought to consolidate and
dominate the record industry, it was the mavericks and chancers who
consistently turned the industry on its head.
Sometimes it was for a dazzlingly few short years – Joe Meek, Stiff Records
and Creation Records come to mind.
But often enough, as in the cases of Island, Virgin Records, Rough Trade
and A&M, brands were created that now look so much part of the landscape
it’s hard to recall they were once young upstarts sneered at by the big boys.
The first independent label is often considered to be Decca. Its owner,
Edward Lewis, was a stockbroker who saw a business opportunity in the
emerging world of recorded sound.
In 1929 he bought The Decca Gramophone Company, a manufacturer
of portable gramophone players. Then in 1932 he purchased Brunswick
Records, which put him firmly in the content business.
Like King Gillette before him, he recognised that selling record players, but
not records, was like selling razors and not the blades to go with them.
This kind of hard-headed business thinking is not typical of most indie

labels.
They are not generally known for business acumen but by their often
ramshackle and passionate approach to marketing music they believe we
can’t live without.
Think Factory Records, the UK label that helped establish the Manchester
scene of the early ’80s. The perfect Factory moment was the packaging
of ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order. Designed as a floppy disk, nowhere on the
artwork did the name of the band or song appear.
The artwork was so specialised that it cost five pence more per copy to
produce than the single sold for. Which wouldn’t have been a problem if
the bloody-minded lack of any direct branding had worked and no-one had
bought it.
Instead, it sold by the bucket-load – over one million copies in the UK alone.
Fortunately, before it could bankrupt the company, someone spotted the
flaw in the plan.
But this is what we want from our indies: a bonkers, balls-to-the-wall
attachment to a short-sighted ethos that sometimes results in genius.
Many mavericks see gaps in the market. Sam Phillips founded Sun Records
in Memphis in 1952 because he wanted to bring black rhythm ‘n’ blues to a
white audience.
He hadn’t banked on the fact that in the segregated world of ’50s America –
where records by black artists were called ‘race music’ – the music he loved
wouldn’t be played by stations with a white audience.
Not to be defeated Phillips began his search for a white singer who could
convincingly sing black music. He found his dream – and a near-endless
supply of hits and dollars – in Elvis Presley.
This is the sort of passion that drove early indies.
Sometimes it was production values that proved the driver. Pioneering
producer Joe Meek, for example, had a sound in his head – a vision of what
pop could be – and he founded Triumph Records to allow him to explore
that vision. He made the iconic ‘Telstar’, the first single by a British pop
group to top the American charts.
Meek set a high bar for obsessive indies – the ‘sound’ in his head eventually
drove him mad. He shot his landlady dead then turned the gun
on himself. MOTOWN MAGIC
You get the picture. These are record men, not businessmen.
You can’t talk about indie
Those who succeeded became businessmen by default, but labels without mentioning the
they were not the stockbrokers or industrialists who started trailblazing Berry Gordy Jr.
EMI and Decca. They did it for the love of music. And to get Unlike many indie founders,
artists out there that couldn’t be heard elsewhere. Gordy was already a
Just occasionally indie labels are started by people who know successful musician and
songwriter before launching
little about music. No-one was ever likely to mistake Richard his Motown label. He had, for
Branson for a musical tastemaker. Still – with Nik Powell, instance, clocked up a US
Simon Draper and Tom Newman – he launched Virgin Records top ten with Jackie Wilson’s
to resounding success in 1972 with its first release, the era- ‘Lonely Teardrops’.
defining Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. But in common with other
label owners, Gordy had a
THE INDIES TODAY clear vision of a gap in the
market. He wanted to present
black artists to white America
Still the indies come. Ninja Tune has survived since 1990, – but he knew he needed top-
releasing music largely ignored by the mainstream: artists like class songs to do so.
Bonobo, Amon Tobin, Fink, The Cinematic Orchestra. Gordy’s first signing was The
To their audience, Ninja is the Island of their generation – a Miracles, whose lead singer,
Smokey Robinson, proved
label that fans keep in contact with just to see what’s new.
to be a songwriter of rare
To artists, the label is trusted enough that some with their own distinction: commercial,
labels use Ninja Tune to get their records distributed. Big Dada poetic, consistent. Later,
Gordy lucked into the
Recordings is one, home to Roots Manuva and Speech Debelle.
songwriting dream team of
The latest Cinderella in a long history of happy-ending indie Holland-Dozier-Holland.
stories is XL Recordings. Between Robinson and H-D-H,
Motown enjoyed a long and
Originally launched with a roster leaning heavily on dance successful run of hits with
music, XL is proof that lightning can strike more than once. Its The Supremes, The Miracles,
story is the kind of fantasy that drives all mavericks. The Temptations, The Four
Tops and Marvin Gaye. Oh, and
Can anyone say, with hand on heart, that they knew The Stevie Wonder.
Prodigy would burst out of the starting blocks and go platinum
Gordy ran the business for
with their first album, Experience? nearly 30 years before selling
Five years later, their third album, The Fat of the Land – with it in 1988 to a consortium that
included MCA Records.
the iconic ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ and ‘Firestarter’ - was awaited
with media eagerness bordering on the frenzied.
Along the way XL released albums by The White Stripes, Dizzee

Rascal and Vampire Weekend. THE TERRITORIAL
ADVANTAGE
Then came Adele.
As Mike Oldfield transformed Virgin Records with Tubular Bells, According to producer and
21 transformed XL. The profit posted by the company in the Mute Records founder Daniel
year after 21 eclipsed all previous years. Miller, one of the main benefits
of being an indie label is the
Indie’s can transform an artist’s career in a way a major can’t. flexibility they have in terms
Robert Wyatt has spoken of being “in the wilderness” until he of breaking and maintaining
was introduced to indie Rough Trade. “Those people changed artists in territories around
my life, quite frankly,” he reflected. “Without them I couldn’t the world, the key to which is
distribution.
have made a living in this business.”
“We aren’t tied to a
Which is all to say, if you’re not an artist, but you want to be in distribution system, so we can
the music industry, and you passionately want the music you choose who we want in any
love to be heard, we hope that’s enough inspiration for you to particular country, whereas
go it alone... Be your own indie. if you go with a major, you’re
tied into them for the world,”
he says. “To have an artist
with a grounding in a few
territories – not just the
UK – has always been very
important to me.
“Some of our artists have
become less popular over the
years in the UK, but because
we put a platform down for
them in other territories, they
could start to build in those
territories.
“A major label would say: ‘if
you’re a UK-signed artist,
you’ve got to break in the UK
before you even think about
doing anything overseas.’”
INDIES V MAJORS: A CLASSIC CASE OF GOOD VS EVIL?

When lining up to attack the big-business faster because the few people working for it
majors critics generally take three lines of can see their own workload and chances of
attack; that they are bad for musicians, that success being impacted.
they’re dishonest and that they make poor So big companies can sometimes appear
decisions (‘bad, dishonest, stupid’). to make stupid choices. And since big
If people showed the same bigotry regarding companies tend to dominate their business
race or religion that they show towards big sector, they also dominate their sector
companies they’d be accused of committing organisations. Consequently, it can
hate crimes. sometimes appear that an entire industry is
going to hell in a handcart.
So let’s make a neat little pile of prejudices
and look at what the major record companies But ask yourself whether a label like XL, which
are good for – or have been good for. releases Adele in the UK, could have provided
her with the global support she needed to
Firstly, big doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It become the phenomenon she is.
means successful. And, debates about the
merits of capitalism aside, it’s hard to get The answer is no. And you need look no
too down on success. For one thing, it means further than XL’s co-founder Richard Russell
for confirmation.
more money to invest in new acts.
Having signed Adele to a worldwide deal,
Nor does big necessarily mean more
he then licensed her music to Columbia for
dishonest; don’t imagine for a moment that
release in America, Central and South America.
indies haven’t stiffed artists for royalties or
stitched them into unfair deals. That’s been He did this, he says, because Columbia was
going on since the day dot. “better equipped to handle radio promotion
and marketing on a large scale”.
Stupid? Ok, let’s take a closer look at that
one. People who work in big businesses are So it’s possible to have your cake and eat it.
generally no brighter than anyone else. The Sign to an indie if you wish, but ensure the
problem big businesses have is that they have deal is set up in such a way that your music
more room for dumb people to hide. In a small is promoted (and sold) even where your label
business, incompetence is rooted out much has no strength, or even presence.
RETAIL
Labels are in the business of selling music. Back in the day this meant
pressing up vinyl, cassettes and CDs, and distributing stock to retailers.
At the height of the old analogue record industry there were more than
13,000 retailers in the UK alone. Worldwide the total figure probably hit
close to half a million, with a record shop on practically every high street,
main street, haupstraße and boulevard.
In the 1970s came the chain stores. They had already existed, of course –
HMV in the UK, Woolworth in America (where music was a sideline). But now
they spread like wildfire. These were golden days for the industry, with cash
registers ringing at thousands of branches of HMV, Our Price, Virgin and
Tower Records, which stocked catalogue into the tens of millions.
...Then came the digital revolution...
RETAIL IN A DIGITAL WORLD MUSIC SALES BY FORMAT 1999–2018

More words have been written £30bn l GLOBAL TURNOVER
l CDS
about the impact of the internet l DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
on music sales than anyone has £25bn l STREAMING
l VINYL
time to read. And even as you
read it, it’s going out of date. £20bn
FORECAST
A combination of torrenting, £15bn
sharing, streaming and changing
consumer habits united in a £10bn
perfect storm that took the
industry several years to begin £5bn
weathering.
£0
The graph on the right, produced
99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
in 2015, outlines all you need to
know about the impact of the
digital revolution post-1999 and
up until 2015, the period during which global revenues halved.
It also shows you all you need to know about the folly of prediction – the
final three years (2016–18) are forecasts, showing an industry apparently

flatlining around the $15bn mark. In fact:
1. Global sales are now $19.1bn annually. And they will be up again when
official figures are released for 2020. Music analysts have been proved
wrong in almost every respect. Three years ago, no-one would have
predicted an end to digital downloading, which they are now forecasting.
Our advice? Take no notice of the forecasts. Just watch what happens, and
act accordingly.
2. Will streaming be the industry’s saviour? As you can see from the graph,
projections into 2018 were showing streaming revenues crossing the $5bn
mark. In reality, as of December 2018, they were approaching $9bn.
Streaming is discussed in detail later in this chapter.
3. Will downloading-to-own survive? In 2012, digital music sales were
$4.4bn. In 2017, they had dropped to $2.8bn. Latest estimates, as we went
to press, put iTunes activity at $600m and heading south. But we’ve yet
to hear from the hi-res download specialists, such as Tidal, HDtracks and
iTrax. Not that we’re in the prediction game, but it’s possible that AIFF, FLAC
and DSD formats will show the same resilience as vinyl for audiophiles.
4. Physical formats remain important. In some countries, where
downloading-to-own never really took hold CD sales continue to dominate.
Again, you can see from the graph that CDs were forecast to dip to around a
half billion dollars ($500m), while vinyl limps along the bottom line. Actually,
physical sales still accounted (in 2017) for 34% of worldwide revenue.
5. In 2019, vinyl sales are predicted to pass the $1bn mark. That’s a
1,000% increase from five years ago, and 700% better than forecast.
6. CDs are still worth billions. Yes, sales continue to fall, but at $4.7bn,
physical sales (CD, vinyl) still represented almost a quarter of total global
recorded music revenue in 2018. Consequently...
7. ‘Real-world’ retailers are back from the dead. At the height of the music
industry’s success, there were more than 13,000 record retailers in the UK
alone. About five years ago that number had nosedived to between 1,000
and 2,200, depending on whom you believed. Today there are estimated to
be nearly 15,000 UK outlets selling vinyl, CDs, DVDs & Blu-ray. Nothing is
ever over until the fat lady sings.
8. The relative balance between physical and digital shifts between
genres. The jazz and classical industries, for example, which

have an older audience, sell far more physical units than the SIGNS OF RECOVERY?
dance music sector. Still, with its large audience of DJs, dance THE VINYL STORY
continues to press fairly high volumes of vinyl (see Signs of
recovery? The vinyl story, left). It is an ongoing irony that
the granddaddy of all music
9. ...So, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of physical formats, vinyl, just won’t go
music’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. away.
The ‘hard’ market is still worth almost one quarter of the Indeed it is the one physical
global $19.1bn that recorded music makes. format whose sales are
growing, with pressings on
By any standards that’s a lot of money. And it’s money the the up for each of the past
music industry is not going to give up easily. So in answer nine years.
to the question, ‘At what point will the last van leave the last in 2014 9.2m records
pressing plant to deliver to the last music shop?’ The answer were pressed worldwide,
is ‘No time soon’. accounting for 6% of all album
sales (2% in the UK), a surge
of over 50% on the previous
MUSIC RETAIL IN THE DIGITAL ERA year. In the UK, 2014 saw vinyl
sales reach 1m for the first
The landscape of music retail is still evolving. time since 1996.
Five years ago, iTunes had 65% of the global download market. This growth was forged not
only by the usual suspects –
Thirty-nine other companies were fighting over the remaining dance and indie labels issuing
35% – an average market share of less than 1% each. DJ-friendly and collectible
Today, with the download-to-own market massively reduced in limited editions – but by major
acts, from Arctic Monkeys and
size, that territory is barely worth fighting over. Jack White to Pink Floyd and
But to an artist starting out, none of this really matters. David Bowie.
Exposure is as important – often more so – than income. Why are we still in love
There is no reason not to get your tracks into any outlet with plastic (even if the
available (see Chapter 5 - Releasing a record). environment isn’t)?
Record Store Day has helped.
The first port of call for any unsigned act looking to put their There’s a resurgence of desire
music in front of an audience is SoundCloud. The basic model for physical ownership. And
is free to use, although there are now also two payment there’s definitely a die-hard
options which give ad-free access and some useful extras contingent of music lovers
once you get properly serious. who will always value the
sound and feel of vinyl.
As with all these sites, though, keep an eye on tech trends: But in the final analysis even
SoundCloud has experienced financial difficulties (hence the retailers are scratching their
introduction of the subscription models) and new platforms heads at the happy mystery.
emerge on a near-daily basis. Who, reading this, remembers MySpace or –

even further back – Friends Reunited (send us a self-addressed envelope
to claim your free OAP bus pass)?
Bandcamp takes things a little further, letting you create your own
microsite through which to sell music. Again, the basic service is free, but
there is a Pro account if you want to take advantage of the extras on offer.
There’s also, of course, YouTube. Creating a video to go with your music
is another way of grabbing attention, and, at time of writing, creating
your own YouTube channel and uploading your own video was still free of
charge.
Bear in mind, though, that none of these options are the be-all and end-
all of getting your music heard. In Chapter 4 – Spreading the word we
talk about what you need to do to direct fans to your music online. And
in Chapter 5 – Releasing a record we’ll introduce you to Aggregators, the
services that make your music as available as the biggest artists in the
world.
TORRENTING MATTERS... BUT LESS THAN IT ONCE DID

There is no doubt that music piracy has had a Report (2018) says that only one in 10 now
hugely detrimental effect on music industry illegally downloads, down from 18% in 2013.
revenues. Other countries, including Sweden, Norway,
Although meaningful figures are almost and even America – supposedly the number
impossible to come by, research in various one country for illegal downloading – are
territories suggests that anywhere between also seeing downturns. Fifty seven million
a fifth and a third of music is consumed Americans – fewer than 20% of those with
illegally. Some even claim that piracy was internet access – are now involved in piracy.
responsible for a 50% drop in the record Back in 2009, 95% of downloads were
industry’s global revenues. The major reckoned to be illegal.
offenders have been in the 18–29 age group.
Spotify claims to have been “successful
But streaming seems to have resulted in in convincing the younger generation to
a steady decline in piracy. Latest research abandon piracy, and pay for a legal service’,
suggests that music-lovers are finding a claim borne out by YouGov’s UK research,
pirating “no longer worth the effort”. where respondents talked about the
Although some research suggests that one- “inconvience” of piracy, and claimed mostly
third of music download and streaming is to now only download illegally those tracks
illegal, in the UK, for instance, YouGov’s Music they can’t find online.
STREAMING YOUTUBE AS
STREAMING SERVICE
Just as the music industry was recovering from the
earthquake that was digital retail, a second shockwave hit Is YouTube a video hub, a
sharing site or a streaming
that has had an even bigger impact on the way music is
service? The answer is a
consumed: streaming. bit of each and advertising
With the dust slowly clearing on the latest change in a long revenues from it are playing
an increasingly important part
history of change, the landscape is now very different to how
in labels’ revenue streams.
it was even five years ago. And in hindsight the apparent
In 2013 founder and MD
revolution of digital downloads can be seen as a relatively
of Cooking Vinyl, Martin
small step: the mp3 was, ultimately, just another format. Goldschmidt, told The
Not so streaming, though, which is about plays rather than Guardian his label makes an
average of $5,000 per million
buys.
views from YouTube plays.
Richard Leach, digital
distribution manager at the
THE GROWTH OF SPOTIFY 2009-19 label added that instead of
focussing on apparently paltry
09 SEPTEMBER lllll ‘per-stream’ payments, you
10 SEPTEMBER lllllll
had to take a macro view
11 DECEMBER lllllllllllll
of streaming income: “It’s
12 DECEMBER llllllllllllllllllllllll
13 AUGUST lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
unhelpful to get hung up on
lll per-stream rates... It’s better
14 DECEMBER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll to focus on the aggregate
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l FREE SERVICE
lllll figure, which is really healthy.”
– 1 MILLION USERS
15 DECEMBER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll l PAID SUBSCRIBERS The exact proportion of
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll – 1 MILLION USERS revenue passed from
lllllllllllll
16 DECEMBER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Google/YouTube to rights
Each block represents
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
1 million people holders is unclear – something
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll listening to streams the tech giant seems reluctant
llllllllllllllllllll of music via Spotify in to clear up.
17 DECEMBER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll any given year.
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll The current consensus is
The encouraging that around 30-35% is kept
news for musicians
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll by YouTube/Google, 40-
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll is represented by the
18 DECEMBER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll orange blocks which 45% is handed to the rights
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll show the numbers owner/label and 10% to the
paying for Spotify’s songwriter/publisher. A final
premium subscription
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll service – from 1m in 20% can be earned if a video
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll April 2011 to 96m in is shown to be official – that
llllllllllllllllllllll
2018. is, not a fan-generated video.
Streaming has enjoyed widespread take-up thanks to accessible technology

and ever-faster internet connections (see The growth of Spotify diagram,
above.)
As a pointer to the future, bear in mind that Spotify has a 36% share of the
streaming market. In September 2018, the number of subscribers paying to
stream music was heading up to one quarter of a billion users.
But while even low-cost mp3s delivered tangible returns to labels and
artists, the returns from streaming services started off being lower and less
quantifiable, provoking widespread anger, particularly among artists.
Pandora, for instance, had to withdraw from all markets outside America
because it couldn’t make its free service compliant with local copyright
laws. Meanwhile Spotify, the biggest music-dedicated streaming service by
a margin, got off to an even rockier start. Because it started out free and
failed to attract much in the way of paid advertising, returns to artists were
often low to the point of insulting.
As a consequence, a number of A-list acts, including The Beatles, Led
Zeppelin and Pink Floyd refused to allow their music on the service. Later
Spotify quitters included Thom Yorke (who memorably likened the service
to “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse”) and Taylor Swift (who was
APPLE MUSIC: TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE STREAMING MARKET

When Apple entered the streaming market in This is despite Apple’s presence in 114
2015, it had learned from the Spotify model countries, versus Spotify’s 60.
a) That millions of people worldwide wereNot that this matters. Apple would
willing to pay a monthly subscription; and undoubtedly like to be dominating the
market – as it previously did with iTunes. But
b) That a free (ad-supported) model might
its nearly 20% global share is a significant
inhibit subscriber take-up.
contributor to its bottom line.
Hence, no free service from Apple Music.
No predictions from us about what might
Having let Spotify pioneer its way through happen next. But with Spotify now offering
the wilderness for almost seven years it was some music and merchandise for sale, what
thought that Apple, with its 800m users are the chances Apple could merge iTunes
worldwide, would quickly assert dominance. into Apple Music and also offer a single user
In fact, according to Apple’s own numbers, interface?
it has – at 40+m subscribers – less than half With iTunes’ revenues plummeting from
of Spotify’s total. And the gap appears to be $3.9bn in 2012 to a projected $600m in 2019
widening. we wouldn’t bet against it.
more diplomatic, telling the Wall Street Journal: “Valuable

things should be paid for.”) Other artists, from Ed Sheeran to THE VALUE OF MUSIC
Coldplay, employed a different strategy, releasing their music
for streaming only after maximising CD and download sales Among the myriad changes
first. that have defined the digital
age, the one fact almost all
For these, and thousands of smaller artists, Spotify and other music commentators agree on
streaming sites seemed just another pointer to a future is that the perceived value of
where consumers expected music for free. It didn’t help that music has fallen.
many artists believe their labels struck poor deals with the At its worst, this equated to
streaming companies or that some of the major labels are a generation of young people
actually shareholders in them (Sony BMG, Universal Music, believing music to be free.
Warner Music and Merlin all own stakes in Spotify.) Musicians haven’t helped this
value erosion. By uploading
Nevertheless,Beggars Group chairman, Marin Mills, was one songs to sites like SoundCloud
of many high profile indie figures who came out in support of and YouTube, artists have
Spotify et al, noting that, even as early as 2012, a respectable been complicit in the
22% of his group’s digital revenues came from streaming. devaluing of music.
U2’s ‘gift’ album Songs of
Since then streaming has become the driver of growth, Innocence, added to Apple
exceeding even the most optimistic of predictions, and devices for free in 2014,
returning higher and higher amounts of money to record proved that even successful
labels and publishers. acts were not immune to the
lure of so-called ‘freemium’
Which is good news, right? promotional activities.
Well... it is if you are the rights holder. But not necessarily if If there is a thread of silver
you are an artist signed to a record label (which is the rights in the rather large cloud it is
that the thirst for authentic
holder). musical experiences, either
The vast majority of record contracts relate to 50 years pre- live or by way of unique
digital and at least a decade when the impact of digital was physical purchases, are
bringing in more money than
barely comprehended. So they don’t reflect the reality of how ever.
music is being consumed in the 21st century. Even more-
And paid-for streaming, which
recently updated contracts can skate around the problem. removes the ‘inconvenience’
Two things will happen to put this right. of piracy, has turned the
record industry back from
1. Managers and lawyers are already demanding specific decline into growth.
streaming clauses in new contracts that demand a far higher At the end of the day what
percentage – 50% or more – for streamed plays. If you’re matters most is that people
looking at signing a record deal, make sure this is on your still can’t get enough of
shopping list of essential subjects for discussion (see Chapter music.
8 – The record deal).
2. If enough artists get angry, there will be a revolt. When films were first
released on video, writers and actors were cut out of this new revenue
stream. Video had never been foreseen as a medium so it was not part of
a writer’s or actor’s contract. Understandably peeved, the writers went on
strike; some actors supported them. Within the space of a few months,
Hollywood found it difficult to get a film made. It didn’t take long for the
studios to see the argument for fairer contracts. Something similar is likely
to happen with streaming.
In fact, Taylor Swift has already achieved something like that. By
withdrawing her music from Spotify she highlighted poor returns to artists.
And then she did it again – standing up to Apple who backed down from
their plan not to pay artists during the three month free trial of their ‘Music’
streaming service. Sure, she may have been an unwitting figurehead for
wider industry pressure but nevertheless, Viva Taylor!
Our advice is don’t be a streaming holdout.
There are plenty of artists you’ve never heard of earning more than $50,000
a year from Pandora, YouTube and Spotify, and others only slightly better
known (do the names Iron & Wine or Zac Brown mean much to you?)
generating revenues well over $100,000 a year from streaming.
SHARING SITES
So far, this chapter has dealt with the musical equivalent of Donald
Rumsfeld’s infamous ‘known knowns’. Digital retail and streaming aside,
this overview of the industry would have been recognisable to industry
watchers in any of the past few decades.
In Rumsfeld’s terms, sharing sites like SoundCloud, YouTube, Facebook,
Vimeo and Bandcamp are ‘known unknowns’.
They have radically changed how music is both discovered and consumed.
They play a key role in day-to-day decision making throughout the industry.
And more importantly for emerging artists, they have opened up entirely
new – and potentially very powerful – channels for self-promotion and
marketing.
WHY THE PURPLE COW RULES ONLINE

Billions of people are connected to the internet day and night – more every
day – but they are not schedule-bound. They have hundreds of billions of
listening and viewing choices. What is the filter that drives them to your
song, your video?
The unpalatable truth is there are very few filters.
One of the biggest benefits of the web has been its democratising effect.
Now anyone can get their art/opinion/review/bigotry in front of a worldwide
audience. The flip side of this democratisation is a glut of content so vast
that one statistic suggests it would take around 400 years to watch all the
material currently on YouTube. And there’s more each day – 100 hours of
new content is uploaded every minute.
Here’s an analogy: throw a bucket of water into the sea. Now go and find
that drop of water. Can’t do it, can you?
Which is where the ‘Purple Cow’ approach comes in.
Q: in a field of black and white cows, which one stands out?
A: The purple one. (Google ‘Purple Cow’ for more.)
Whether we like it or not, artists have become businesses in miniature.
As such they need to cultivate the kind of focussed business thinking
that Virgin Records co-founder and serial entrepreneur Richard Branson

embodies: “You can create a business, choose a name, but unless people
know about it you’re not going to sell any products.”
The creative challenge of the digital age is to break through the white
noise to become heard and known, to swim up through the ocean of online
content and be seen above the waves – to become one of the rare purple
cows that make people turn and take notice.
Exactly how you ‘go purple’ is down to you. It will almost certainly start with
great music and live performance backed by support from relevant taste-
makers and attention across your social media. All of this is covered in
detail in Chapter 4 – Spreading the word.
HOW SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVES RADIO PLAY

You may think your music is something the Journalist Nadia Khomami – allowed into a
world is waiting to hear. meeting after sending more than 100 begging
But if you are not taking every opportunity to emails – told The Guardian what she saw:
be heard – live and online – then you are living “After deciding whether to keep current
in fantasy land. playlisted tracks, the discussion moves on to
new additions. A snatch of each song blares
Five years ago (for the first and, as far as
through speakers before [the head of music]
we’re aware, only time) a journalist managed
to get a seat at the table to witness how lists the artist’s YouTube views, SoundCloud
music was shortlisted at the UK’s most hits, Shazam ratings, Twitter followers and
popular music station, BBC Radio One. Facebook likes.”
The Radio One playlist committee is a group Got that? They played new music – a snatch
of music lovers who meet once a week in of it anyway. But the committee was just as
Portland Place, London, to decide which new interested, probably more so, in stats from
songs will be played the following week. The social media platforms.
committee’s decisions are the single most Radio used to be a taste-making machine.
important component in driving early chart
success in the UK. Now taste-making begins online – which
means playlist compilers are largely following
C list records are played (‘rotating’ through
rather than leading.
different time slots) say, eight to ten times in
the week; B list records say, 15; A list say, 25. That’s not to say they never take a chance
with gut feeling from time to time. They
The kind of rotation model used by the BBC
absolutely do – from time to time.
may change time to time and from station
to station, country to country, but it is not But why would you take a chance with your
atypical, so provides a notable example career when gut feeling is no longer the prime
whichever territory you make music in. driver of playlist compilation?
Pushing boundaries won’t hurt either. “I like things that are unique and
extreme,” notes super-producer Rick Rubin: “Edgy things tend to get my
attention.”
And here’s some advice from an agent and manager who’s broken more
than a few No. 1 acts: “If you’re going to use sex, really use it. If you’re going
to be controversial, be really controversial. If you set out to offend, be really
offensive.”
Because purple cows don’t do things by halves.
CHAPTER 2
HOW MUSIC MAKES

MONEY FOR YOU
‘We’re no longer in the music business –
it doesn’t exist any more. We’re in the IN THIS CHAPTER...
multimedia business.’ Gigs
Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s manager Merchandise
Royalties
Chapter 1 offers an overview of the music industry – as it History
has been and as it now is; an industry currently worth more Copyright
than $19bn and rising.
Performance
But where does that $19bn come from? What are the Mechanicals
various strands that contribute to this figure and, critically, Collection agencies
how do artists make their money?
Record sales
It’s different now than it was ten years ago and very Self releasing
different to 20 years ago. Advances
Back then an artist could expect the bulk of their earnings Streaming
from record royalties (through sales of vinyl, tape or CD)
supplemented by performing royalties (from radio and Sync deals
other broadcast plays), publishing income (as the writer on Brand endorsements
the recordings) and, sometimes, income from gigs. Those
gigs were usually promoting an album – and most acts
wouldn’t expect the tour to make them much, if any, money.
That model is now turned on its head.
Today the single promotes the album and the album
promotes the tour – from which you can expect to earn
a large slice of your income. Once your album’s out, and
you’re the headline star, if you’re not earning from the tour
you might be in trouble.
CHAPTER 2 HOW MUSIC MAKES MONEY FOR YOU
Gigging is just one part of today’s so-called ‘360’ model, which includes all
of the royalties above, but now includes downloads (increasingly less) and
streaming (increasingly more). In addition, today’s acts are increasingly
filling the hole left by falling record sales through merchandising, exploiting
sync rights (the use of music in films or TV programmes) and sponsorship
deals.
HOW MUSIC MAKES MONEY - THE FOUR MAIN ROYALTY/REVENUE STREAMS
SUPPORT BAND MANUFACTURING
ROAD CREW RETAIL
BOOKING AGENT VAT
VENUE HIRE RECORD LABEL
SOUND & LIGHTS DISTRIBUTION
PROMOTER PUBLISHER
ARTIST ARTIST
TOURING MUSIC SALES
MERCHANDISE PUBLISHING
ARTIST ARTIST
LICENSOR PUBLISHER
MANUFACTURER
OTHER POSSIBLE REVENUE SOURCES
SYNC LICENSING • RINGTONES • YOUTUBE PARTNER • SPONSORSHIP • PRODUCT ENDORSEMENTS
This infographic shows the four key areas of income for artists who write and perform their own music.
The smaller blocks show who or what else will share an income stream with the artist. Note that if you
are a managed artist, all money will go to your manager who will deduct commission before paying you.
GIGS
When you start out as a musician, fees from gigs will typically be your main
source of income. These fees are likely to be fairly small, paid direct to
you in cash at the venues you play. Sums are usually even smaller for DJ
sets. Many artists earn nothing for their live endeavours until they gain a
reputation locally.
As your profile rises, live income – from bigger, better-attended gigs – will
hopefully increase until you attract the attention of a booking agent.
With a booking agent on your team, the income you receive from gigs will
no longer all be yours.
The money that used to go directly from the venue owner’s hand into your
own is now filtered through the booking agent (see Chapter 7 - Your team).
They will take between 5–15% of the total gig fee.
Early in your career the agent will take around 15%. But as your audience
size increases, the money increases too and the agent’s cut will
subsequently fall. But they won’t be complaining: 15% of $100 is $15; 5% of
$1,000 is $50.
Once a manager joins your team they too will require a cut from your live
income. A manager will take between 15–20% of everything you earn.
The transition from taking home 100% of a gig fee to having up to a third of
it carved out in commission can be tough. Indeed for a short period during
that transition there may be less cash in your pocket.
But you’ll soon be playing bigger venues – meaning bigger fees. And by
delegating the business of tour arrangement to a third party you should be
getting bigger and better paid gigs by default.
You’ll also have freed up a large chunk of your time to concentrate on more
important matters.
MERCHANDISE
In our brave new digital world, stuff – real physical stuff – still sells. In fact,
it’s selling more than ever. And while a new generation of music ‘lovers’ is
happy to pay next to nothing for mp3s and streams, many are happy to dig
into their pockets, often at gigs, but also on artists’ online stores, to buy
merchandise.
The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA)
estimated the worldwide merchandise (or ‘merch’) market was worth
£2.14bn in 2018 – a growth of 9.4% year on year. Meanwhile, in the UK, a
Musicians’ Union report at the close of 2018 suggested as much as 20–
30% of a band’s live takings came from selling merch.
There are branding and PR benefits to be had from a well conceived and
realised merchandising approach, too. The best merchandising not only
makes money but also builds brand recognition and generates buzz.
As with every other aspect of your brand (much more of which in Chapter
3 – Your brand), it’s essential to start with your fan base when thinking up
merchandising ideas. If your audience largely comprises cash-strapped
students, for example, they’re unlikely to be in the market for a lavishly
produced 12” vinyl with accompanying hardback book. And if you’re
marketing a £20 T-shirt to fashion-savvy clubbers make sure it’s of
sufficient quality – both aesthetically and physically – to warrant the price
tag or you risk not only losing money but also garnering a reputation as a
rip-off merchant.
Starting with your fanbase means ensuring your merch fits your brand
identity – the ‘Story’ in Chapter 3. If it doesn’t you not only risk muddying
the brand waters, if the divorce between brand and merch goes too far you
also risk being labeled a sellout (a folk band singing about authentic living
is likely to get short shrift selling cheap, mass-produced figurines).
The good news is that high-end merchandise isn’t something you need to
concern yourself with at the start of a music career. The initial financial
investment required can be significant and you need to be gigging sizeable
venues regularly enough to be able to shift serious units. To begin with,
then, your merch offering may be as simple as a few branded T-shirts and a
GIGS AND ONLINE: YOUR TWO KEY SHOPFRONTS

The most obvious place to sell merchandise is The main challenge, particularly when selling
at, and usually after, gigs. overseas, is getting the postage costs right.
In America, country music stars have long Do your research and keep track of changing
known the value of setting up a table after the charges – if you’re not careful you can end up
gig where fans can queue for an autograph losing money.
and buy the latest album. Interacting with Running a small despatch operation like this
fans not only keeps your feet on the ground, takes time – which is time spent not making
it’s also a highly effective means of fostering music. But it’s money in your pocket and if it
and maintaining a loyal fanbase. takes up an hour or so a week in the early days
Why is the after-gig shop such a financial then as far as your fledgling business goes, it
no-brainer? Gigs offer you a captive audience should be time well spent. When merch starts
of fans who’re buzzing from the performance demanding more time, rope in a supportive
they’ve just seen and who can take stuff home relative or friend, incentivising them if you
without the faff of postage costs and a seven need to with a share of revenue.
day-wait. If that all sounds like too much of a headache,
But it’s not the only merch sales channel. and the idea of filling your bedroom with
Although your fanbase is likely to start local, T-shirts fills you with dread, you might
before long you’ll have fans in other regions choose to follow the lead of acts like Mumford
and countries who’ll never make it to a gig. & Sons, Metallica and Mogwai and use a
These are all potential merchandise buyers service like Music Glue to do the job for you.
and given you have the stock, it’s churlish not musicglue.com is a “direct-to-fan platform
to make it available to worldwide buyers 24-7. which allows musical artists to sell digital
Cue the online store. content, merchandise, and event tickets in
Setting up an online store is easy enough; multiple currencies and languages”. With
there are plenty of third party templates that a print on demand T-shirt service, stock
make it relatively straightforward (start at and despatch management as well as web-
wix.com or godaddy.com), and anyone with based shop templates looked after for you,
an email address can accept online payments Music Glue removes much of the burden of
via PayPal. You can also sell merch directly merchandising from your shoulders. Their
through Bandcamp or even on Spotify if your charges are fair and transparent – around
streaming numbers are high enough. 10% commission at time of press.
boxful of CDs after a gig (T-shirts remain the main bread-and-butter seller
for most artists).
‘Meet and greet’ is now an expectation for gig attendees. You need to adjust
mentally to the new post-gig norm of fans queuing to say ‘hi’; shaking
hands; posing for selfies; and gently guiding them to the merch counter
(see The importance of merch: edible skulls and post-gig CDs, below). The
standard rules of retail apply to merchandising: keep profit margins as wide
as possible and balance economies of scale with realistic production runs

(i.e. make as much merch as you can to get the unit cost as low as possible
– but no more than you can actually sell).
The revenue breakdown from selling merchandise in the early days is
simple: you pay to print the T-shirts, CDs or limited edition vinyl, you set the
sale price, then all profit goes into your pocket. If someone other than you is
manning the stand they may also ask to be paid or receive a share of profit.
Every now and then you’ll come across a venue owner who wants a cut of
your merch sales. After the shock of the first time, you’ll realise this is pretty
normal. You wouldn’t offer them a share (why would you?), but if they ask,
don’t fight it – everyone needs to make a living and without the gig you’ve
got nowhere to sell your T-shirts.
You might, of course, want to counter the owner’s request with one of your
own. Maybe you negotiate their suggested 10% cut down to 5%. Or you ask
for a share of the bar takings pro rata to the number of extra people you’ve
brought through the door. Don’t ask, don’t get…
You don’t need to stick with the ubiquitous T-shirts, CDs and limited
edition vinyl runs. Figurines, place mats, jigsaws, signed photos, posters,
USB sticks, edible skulls… all have been explored and all have contributed
towards the bottom line of artists making music in every conceivable genre.
Just make sure that nothing costs more to make than your fans are willing
or able to pay you for it.
MERCHANDISING LICENSES
If you’ve got a record deal and you’re touring larger venues, a box of CDs
and 20 T-shirts is no longer going to cut it. Cue the merchandising license.
At this point a third party – a merchandising specialist - will take all the
hard work of making and selling off your hands.
They will take away the risk of investing in stock, expand the range of stock
on offer, and because they now carry the risk, ensure maximum effort is
made to sell as much as possible, both at gigs and online.
But – you knew there’d be a ‘but’ didn’t you? – your share of merchandising
revenue will go down, and it will go down dramatically.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MERCH: EDIBLE SKULLS AND POST-GIG CDS

If the idea of taking your merchandise to the the days when he paid little attention to
next level and then some appeals, look no merchandising. “I was the archetypal artist
further for inspiration than Oklahoma psych- – money was great, but it wasn’t what drove
rockers The Flaming Lips. me. I was naive – I just wanted to make
A quick perusal of their online store reveals a music.” That naivete cost the band dear.
few truly bizarre items alongside T-shirts and Two weeks after receiving a £200k advance
hoodies, most notably the ‘Silver Trembling against merch sales the then Squeeze line-
Fetus’ hanging Christmas tree ornament, up split. As a consequence, “we ended up
which, according to the band’s Wayne Coyle, saddled with debt for about 15 years”.
is “rumoured – not scientifically proven – Today, the former stadium favourites have a
to give off vibrations that help all humans sustainable self-run business, a significant
progress towards an intelligence explosion”. part of which is control of their own
We’re not sure about that, but at $40 it’s merchandise.
probably helped their bank account progress Their runaway merchandising winner
by a few thousand bucks. has been selling recordings of the gig an
No longer in the Lips’ catalogue but sure to audience has just attended within minutes of
go down as a watershed moment in both the concert ending.
music merch and culinary history, 2011’s Band members leave stage and go to the
‘Gummy Skull’ was a life-size human brain band’s pop-up shop in the venue foyer. There
made of whatever it is gummy bears are they chat to fans, pose for photos and sign
made of, encasing a flash drive with their autographs. Meanwhile, four CD towers,
four latest tracks installed on it. Yup, that’s linked to the mixing desk, are already burning
right – you had to eat your way to the music, the night’s performance to disc. Eleven discs
having paid $150 for the opportunity. per tower are ready for sale in ten minutes.
Both the ‘Silver Trembling Fetus’ and Tilbrook understands the importance of
‘Gummy Skull’ pale into mundanity, contact with fans in the digital age. Yes, your
though, next to the Lips’ Halloween 2011 shop window is the internet, he says. But
venture into out-there merchandising. To it’s also where you are. “The concept of the
push the release of their 24-hour song ‘7 post-gig pop-up shop works. People respond
Skies H3’, they put the track on 13 flash to you being open and fair with them.
drives installed in 13 real human skulls sold
for $5,000 a piece. “If they buy nothing you’re still giving them
something – even if it’s just your time. They
Not only did the band make 65 grand out don’t have to buy anything in order to say
of the endeavour, but every rock website ‘Hello’ or whatever it is. But most people do
and blog on the internet reported the story, buy something.”
giving them a healthy PR injection.
In fact, a staggering 10 per cent of the
Of course you don’t have to push the boat audience buy a CD or key fob drive containing
out that far to make money – and build a fan the evening’s performance, and, according to
base – from your merch. Tilbrook, the fans are as interested in that as
Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze remembers they are in a studio recording.
It’s not unusual for the merch company to demand as much as 70% of
total sales (that’s sales, not even profit), and your negotiating power is
only as strong as the audiences you know you can attract. (As with booking
agents, the larger the audience, the lower the percentage the merchandise
company will ask for.)
Seventy per cent is a BIG deduction, make no mistake, but selling stuff is
an essential part of a successful 360 income model (see Chapter 8 – The
record deal) and at this point in your career you want to concentrate on
writing career-defining songs and putting on great shows, not becoming
the world’s most successful T-shirt vendor.
Even though your percentage share of merchandise dips dramatically in
this model, if everything goes according to plan your actual income from
merchandise should increase.
Licensed merchandise is unavoidable as your career moves up a gear. But it
presents challenges, and you should be aware what you are getting into.
Firstly, if you drop below a minimum audience number at your gigs – which
can be stated in the license contract – your merchandiser may want you
to make up the difference between their expected income and what they
actually achieve.
Let’s say, for example, that they expect $1 per audience member to be
spent on merchandise and base their sales forecasts on a minimum
audience of 1,000. But your ticket sales don’t go so well, and only 700
people turn up. Right there, assuming they’re asking for a 70% cut of sales,
your share of the income has been wiped out.
Secondly, if you’ve received an advance against merchandise income, not
only will the merchandising company likely have the right to cancel your
deal, they may also want some or all of your advance returned.
The good news is that long before a merchandise deal lands on your desk,
you should have both a manager and a lawyer whose job it is to mitigate
the risk of you facing either situation.
ROYALTIES
Gig fees and merchandise are easy enough to understand.
They deal with the tangible.
You play a gig – you get paid.
You sell a CD – you take the fiver.
Royalties, on the other hand, are more conceptual and not so easy to grasp.
But since they make up a significant share of a successful artist’s income
it’s important to understand what they are.
The best place to start is by looking at how they came into being.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OWNERSHIP

The term ‘royalty’ dates back to the 15th century. Back then rights were
granted by the British monarch (Royalty, geddit?).
These ‘Royalty rights’ allowed individuals or corporations to exploit certain
enterprises that were under the monarch’s control.
For several centuries, authors and composers were not thought to ‘own’
their work. Once written, it was on the wind. The people who were granted
Royalty Rights, and made money from the works, were those who had
the means of duplication and distribution – which meant printers and
publishers.
The first example of what we would now think of as ‘copyright law’ is
generally thought to be The Statute of Anne. (The reigning monarch at the
time was Queen Anne. It required Royal Assent to be placed on the Statute
Book, which it was on April 5, 1710).
The statute was designed to pass ownership of written work from printers
to authors and was a big win for artists of all kinds. Because of Britain’s
involvement in and influence over America at the time, the principle also
took hold in America.
COPYRIGHT
SHEET MUSIC
The Statute of Anne didn’t specifically cover musical SALES TODAY
composition. But the potential was quickly spotted and the
law grew in scope over the coming decades. The sale of manuscripts
remains a significant revenue
What the statute did was to enshrine in law the rights of the stream for musicians and
creator of a work (author, composer or playwright) to licence music publishers to this
that work to be copied (a right to copy... copyright) for general day, and every publishing
distribution in return for a share of the income. agreement includes
provisions for the printing and
Then in 1842, The Copyright Act was enacted in the UK. selling of sheet music.
This repealed all former laws and clarified that all authors – Demand for these
whether of books, music or plays – for the first time owned manuscripts remains high;
their work, and could therefore subsequently license and many classically trained
exploit it financially. musicians and players in cover
bands – not to say legions
In the late 19th century and well into the 20th, this of musical learners – rely on
exploitation was dominated by sheet music. Songwriters scores to perform hit tunes,
would assign their rights to a song publisher who had the film scores and songs from
musicals.
means of printing and distribution to hand. The publisher
would take original manuscripts, duplicate them, distribute Publishing agreements
include a clause stating who
them and sell them before paying the original songwriter/s a
has the right to print (or
share (royalty) of earnings. upload for sale online) these
It was a phenomenally successful model. Even in far-flung scores, which is normally
the publisher themselves or
rural areas people would gather round their pianos to learn
their business partners. It will
and sing the latest songs. Sheet music sold by the millions – also stipulate the royalty rate
and composers reaped the rewards. associated with the revenue
collected.
THE NEXT ROYALTY: PERFORMANCE This rate is typically
different to the rate agreed
Then things began to change. As populations left the villages for mechanical and
and their cosy communal singalongs to live in towns and performance royalties and
often leaves less for the writer
cities, people started congregating instead in music halls, – a 60% publisher’s share
burlesques and theatres to hear the popular music of the day. wouldn’t be unusual.
No longer was music being enjoyed by a select few; it was
being consumed by hundreds – sometimes thousands – at a
time.
Those running the concerts were making small fortunes. But the composers
were only seeing income from the few manuscripts sold to the musicians
on stage.
Composers and their powerful publishers saw they were missing a trick.
Other people were getting rich from the intellectual property they owned.
They wanted to be paid each time one of their works was performed
live. So they set about lobbying governments to ensure musical rights
holders benefited financially not only from sales of printed music but also
performances of that music.
EXPOSURE AND ROYALTIES: THE RADIO EFFECT

Radio has traditionally been the biggest playing to local tastes, which is how country
medium for promoting popular music. And music and r’n’b found their way into the
while it might now be feeling the heat from mainstream. But the dominant AM format
streaming services, radio remains a linchpin was Top 40 radio which, over three decades
of income for songwriters. after World War 2, built a massive market for
sales of singles.
So it’s strange to contemplate its humble
beginnings – as wireless telegraphy, often Then, in the 1970s, along came FM radio,
conducted along railway lines. high definition and stereo. DJs began to
play album tracks – even whole albums –
In 1873 James Maxwell predicted the
which helped shift record sales from singles
possibility of wireless electromagnetic waves.
to albums. In little more than a decade FM
Fifteen years later Heinrich Hertz gave the
had 70% of the audience and the AM Top 40
first practical demonstration of what had
format was on the way out.
become known as ‘radio’ waves.
Today, FM radio remains as popular as ever,
Then a young Italian named Marconi began
supplemented with thousands of online
experimenting with ‘broadcasting’ – sending
stations catering to all manner of tastes, the
these signals more than a few feet. It wasn’t
best known being Apple’s Beats 1.
long before he was able to transmit across a
distance of up to two miles – and over hills. Seeing the potential for pushing sales of
singles and albums on iTunes via their own
By the mid-1920s, these small beginnings
online station, Apple launched Beats 1 in June
had grown into the start of the American
2015, running 24 hours a day, and anchored
commercial radio system. Restrictions on the
and ‘curated’ by DJs Zane Lowe, Ebro
distance wireless signals could travel meant
Darden and Julie Adenuga. Beats 1 is part
that AM stations eventually numbered in their
of Apple Music, which has over 56m paying
thousands, serving local communities rather
subscribers, making it potentially the biggest
than a national audience.
radio station in the world – though Apple have
As they began to find big audiences for music, never revealed listener figures.
so the rights of songwriters and recorded One thing’s unarguable, though: the
versions of their songs – already enshrined in importance of radio exposure and royalties
law – began to add to musicians’ earnings. for artists at all stages of their career, from
Also, being local, they found more success emerging talent to global stars.
The seed for this ‘right’ had been sown in France as early as 1777. A group
of authors had formed a society to collect and administer money due to the
‘playwright’ from performances around the country. Fifteen years later, on
January 19, 1791, that kernel of an idea was ratified as law by Louis XV1,
establishing France’s SACD collection societié.
This became the model for today’s collection agencies – ASCAP and BMI
in America, PRS, MCPS and PPL in the UK, and various other agencies in
Europe and around the world. (See The PRS, and how to join, below.)
MECHANICALS ENTER THE FRAY

As we entered the first quarter of the 20th century, it had become
established that:
– songwriters own their own work
– they are entitled to share in sales of printed versions of that work
– and they are entitled to be paid wherever and whenever that music is
performed.
But a new, even more significant revenue stream was about to open up
thanks to a mechanical development that would shape music listening for
the next half century: the invention of the phonograph.
For the first time in history, the experience of listening to music was
no longer dependent on human performers. Instead you could buy a
mechanical (wind-up) machine (hence the term mechanical rights) that did
the job for you.
There was no way the publishers were going to be cut out of that particular
piece of pie, so in the UK The Copyright Act 1911 consolidated all prior
legislation and conferred copyright on sound recordings as well. Because
the British Empire was at its height, the act reverberated internationally.
21ST CENTURY RIGHTS

The history of intellectual property has been characterised by societal,
technical and consumer developments repeatedly changing how people use
and pay for their entertainment.
Usually the existing rights are simply rolled over or expanded upon to take
account of the new circumstances. But occasionally a tussle ensues. It
happened with video when film studios decided there was no precedent for
paying actors and writers for viewings at home. Actors and writers went on
strike, so no new film or television shows could be made. That solved that
problem.
Now it’s happening with streaming – discussed later in this chapter.
But even though the way we consume music today may seem a million
miles away from our forebears with their dusty phonographs, the principles
and rights established a century ago are pretty much unchanged.
They are that:
- As a songwriter, you own your work. It is for you to agree terms with a
publisher who can exploit that work financially. (Or not, in the case of
artists who self-release and self-publish.)
- As a songwriter, you are entitled to share in revenues from the sale of
sheet music, in the broadcast and performance of your work in public,
and from sales of that music in mechanically reproduced (recorded)
versions.
HOW AN ARTIST RECIEVES ROYALTIES
RADIO PERFORMER ARTIST

RIGHTS AGENCY
DOWNLOADS
PERFORMANCE
RIGHTS HOLDER SONGWRITER
STREAMS
SONG RIGHTS
SYNCS AGENCY
PUBLISHER
More specifically, as a songwriter you are entitled to a share of revenue from:

- all sales of recordings of your songs, whether by you, or cover versions
- all broadcasts of your music (on radio and TV)
- all paid-for streams of your music
- all public transmission of your music (in bars, workplaces, shops,
telephone ‘hold’ music etc)
- all live performance of your music, not only by others, but also from your
own gigs
- and from ‘sync’ deals (one-off uses of your song in a commercial, or as
soundtrack in a film or TV show).
All of which is to say – as our Commandment #10 does (see Starter for
ten) – take control of your songwriting. The Song (and Songwriter) rules
supreme. It is, and has always been, where the serious money is.
That’s not say there’s no money elsewhere. Performers – those who are
contracted to play and sing on the recording, whether a solo artist or a band
– also have rights, and are paid royalties in certain territories. (America is a
major exception.)
But they are not afforded the same financially elevated status as creators
of the work they perform.
PAYING OUT ROYALTIES

Here’s a breakdown of the payments you will receive and from what source
they will come when you make a recording of a song you’ve written that
gets played on the radio and/or sells copies via retail.
- From your label you receive a royalty, based on record sales and streams
(both physical and digital), as the artist or band contracted to perform
on the record. Labels typically pay out royalties twice a year – but this will
depend on the record deal you’ve signed.
- From your publisher you receive a royalty as the writer of the song on the
record. Publishers generally pay out twice a year.
- From your local/own country’s songwriting society (PRS in the UK), you
receive a royalty as the writer of the song each time it is played on radio
or TV. Half is paid to you direct and half goes to your publisher, which
HOW COLLECTION AGENCIES WORK – AND WHERE THEY’RE GOING

The way agencies around the world collect and would be a book in itself – and a lot bigger (and more
distribute the money they collect differs from boring) than this one.
continent to continent and country to country. We could point you at an existing book – like Ron Sobel
In the digital age the process also differs from how it and Dick Weissman’s Music Publishing: The Roadmap
used to be – and not necessarily for the better. To Royalties. But first off, it’s $45. Secondly, it’s seven
In the UK, for instance, there used to be periodic years old. And thirdly... Haven’t you got a song to
write?
negotiations to agree how much a radio station would
pay for each record played. Then each station would Understanding the intricacies of collection agency
report every play of a record making it easy to tot algorithms is unlikely to make you a penny richer.
up the number of plays multiplied by the per-play fee. Leave the royalty academia to Mssrs. Sobel and
Weissman and concentrate on your career. It will be
Today, there are so many more radio stations around
time far better spent.
the world and so many other sources of income from
public transmissions (bars, cafés, vape bars etc) that The most recent development in recording music
radio stations and other outlets generally pay a one- usage comes courtesy of the underground club scene.
off licence fee. Electronic music played by DJs in clubs has always
How much they pay for a licence depends on a range been a near-royalty-free area.
of factors. A radio station, for example, will pay a fee Not that anything too wicked was going on; just that
based on the size of its audience and the number of there was no reliable reporting method to make sure
records played in each broadcast hour. performance royalties made their way into producers’
Some stations are still able to report per play, per pockets.
record (known as ‘by census’). Others are not. And But technology is changing that – although there is
here’s where it gets a little unfair. If your record is still no concencus over a universal method.
not played by any ‘census’ station, you are unlikely to
Pioneer has its Recordbox which is helping producer-
receive much, if any, payment for radio play because
DJs track their music in clubs. And then there’s
the play/s will not show up in any data.
Imogen Heap’s visionary Mycelia Project, which
This is because any rightful royalty payments from aims to link all creators to their earned income more
those that don’t account ‘by census’ will be masked by directly and more quickly.
an algorithm which works on the pattern of play you
Meanwhile in the sync and library world services like
have received from those that do. Tunesat are constantly scouring TV channels and
Your local (own country) collection agency, once you websites to track music usage and ensure writers and
have joined, will let you see which stations account ‘by their publishers are paid accordingly.
census’. Make sure you and your pluggers concentrate We bet it won’t be long before something like Mycelia’s
on those stations. blockchain is applied across the board, including
And that’s where we’re going to stop trying to explain worldwide radio play and streaming. The revolution
how collection agencies calculate how much to pay. It may not be televised, but it will be recorded.
then accounts to you for your share. Songwriting societies typically pay
out quarterly. In the UK, for example, the PRS distributes royalties in April,
July, October and December.
- From your local/own country’s performance agency (PPL in the UK –
see PPL: How it works and how to become a member, below), you might
receive an additional royalty as the performer on the record each time
it is played on radio or TV. (As noted above, some countries, including
America, do not pay a broadcast royalty to performers.) In the UK there is
a main annual payment from PPL for UK income, while money generated
internationally and from additional rights is paid at intervals throughout
the year.
ROYALTIES FROM RECORD SALES

If you’ve made it this far, put the kettle on and give yourself a pat on the
back. You now know more than many musicians do about the how, when
and why of royalties.
In many ways royalties from the sales of your music under a record
contract (the money you make every time a CD, record or download is paid
for) should be the easiest of all to understand – after all, don’t you just get a
straight percentage of the income?
If only it was that simple... A ROYALTY EXAMPLE
As irrelevant as iTunes may become, it’s an
Here’s what actually happens. easy way to show you how money gets eaten
The label signs you as an artist. The record up before you get your share. You are never
going to get your royalty rate (say 20%) as 20
contract gives them the right to make copies pence in every £1.
of your work, either physically or digitally
(usually both), and then pass on a percentage iTUNES PRICE $9.99
of the royalty made from sales to you the
artist. This rate of royalty is enshrined in your
contract with the record label. Let’s say the ITUNES TAKES ITUNES PAYS
royalty is 20%. (If anyone offers you less than
20% royalty on a record deal, run a mile.)
30% $6.99
So far, so good.
MECHANICAL LABEL SHARE ARTIST
But: 20% of what? This is the million dollar ROYALTY @80% @ 20%
question – or, more likely, not-a-million- $0.91 $5.60 $1.39
dollars. And it is the cause of ongoing
grumpiness among artists.

Let’s forget for a moment that iTunes is on its way out, because it’s a really
simple example of how your end of the money diminishes in any payment
system before it gets to you. So, you might think, for instance, that at 10%,
you could expect 99 cents for every $9.99 album downloaded via iTunes.
But you’d be wrong. Here’s why.
The album sells for $9.99 on iTunes – see diagram, above.
iTunes takes 30% of that as their share, leaving $6.99.
91 cents of that is mechanical royalty – an automatic payment that goes
directly to the publisher of the song.
This leaves $6.08 for the record label. And it’s on this $6.08 that your 20%
artist royalty is paid – just over $1 an album.
Which is why so many artists wonder why they’re still on the breadline even
after selling 5,000 albums.
A NOTE ABOUT SELF-RELEASING

The whole of Chapter 5 – Releasing a record is dedicated to self-releasing a
record.
For the sake of clarity, all of the rights (and subsequent royalties) outlined
so far in this chapter are the same whether you release your own material
or release through a label. The difference is
that if you have a label and/or a publisher, you SELF-RELEASING ROYALTY MODEL
assign some of these rights (and therefore
income) to other people. iTUNES PRICE $9.99
When self-releasing a song digitally the model
outlined above changes as follows:
ITUNES YOUR YOUR
– iTunes (or other retailer) will take their cut – SPLIT 30% AGGREGATOR CUT
typically around 30% of RRP (see right). SPLIT 15%
– You will then pay somewhere between zero $3.00 $1.05 $5.94
and 15% to an aggregator (we talk more
about them in Chapter 5 - Releasing a
record) of what’s left.
– After iTunes and the aggregator take their cut, the remainder is yours
(assuming you are also the songwriter and are self-

publishing). Your aggregator will have their own payment PPL – HOW IT
schedules, but they tend to be more regular than record WORKS, HOW TO
companies and collection agencies. BECOME A MEMBER
– Which means that with an album RRP of, say $9.99,
PPL collects royalties from
you can expect to see around $6 per album – a big
the same sources as PRS, but
improvement on the 60 cents typical under a record deal. it collects on behalf of record
But everything is relative. One million copies at 60 cents is companies and performers.
worth ten times 10,000 copies at $6. And a million album So if you are the performer on
sales will up your live audience from scores to thousands. a successful record but did
not write the song you can still
Note that not all aggregators charge commission. Some
expect a royalty cheque for
charge a straightforward fee for putting your tracks online. radio and TV play, and public
Extra services, like promotion packages, can cost extra. All broadcasts of your record in
of this is covered in Chapter 5 - Releasing a record. bars, shops and factories.
As with PRS, joining PPL is
PERFORMER ROYALTY easy. Go to their website and
click on the Register Today
Performer royalty relates to a performance on a record. This link. Just fill out the form and
follow the instructions.
is paid out to those who perform on the record – the singer,
the guitarist, the drummer. It is different to the ‘performance The main qualification is
that you are demonstrably
royalty’ collected by PRS, BMI etc, which is specifically about the contracted performer
the broadcast or other transmission (‘performance’) of your on a record that has been
record in public. commercially released
(as opposed to a session
Some countries, notably America, do not pay performer musician who was bought in
royalties. But where they are paid, you are considered ‘the for the day).
performer(s)’ if you are the singer or band contracted to the If you are self-releasing,
record deal. the same process applies.
The organisation that collects this money in the UK is But if you have cut in other
musicians (in lieu of a
Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) – see box, right. session fee, say) then you
Check online for your regional equivalent. The money also have to register their
collected by PPL is distributed among record company ‘interest’ in each track.
members and performer members once a year.
STREAMING: THE LATEST – AND MOST CONTROVERSIAL – ROYALTY

Streaming is the newest area of royalty earnings – and both its growth and
importance to the industry have been phenomenal.
In 2008, in an industry turning over $15bn, Spotify contributed $500,000 –
equivalent to 3.3%.
In 2018, in an industry grown to $19.1bn, Spotify contributed $8.9bn –
equivalent to 47%.
And the move from digital to streaming is accelerating as Google Music
battles with Apple Music. But niche services are growing too, including
Deezer – which features live sessions in addition to recorded music – Tidal
and Qobuz, both offering music files at CD-quality and better.
Subscription streaming is the future; Apple have staked their claim, and it’s
no accident that the majors have a financial stake in Spotify.
But how does that translate to royalties for artists themselves?
Here things are more confused, with the unpalatable truth for some being
that it doesn’t.
THE PRS, AND HOW TO JOIN

The Performing Rights Society (PRS) is from PRS. The remaining 50% goes to your
the UK collection agency that gathers publisher, who will pay out the balance owing
payments from radio, TV, film and other to you. If you self-publish you receive 100% of
public broadcasting sources on behalf of the payments.
songwriters and music publishers. Every
In the UK, PRS has joined forces with what
country has its own equivalent.
used to be a separate collection agency,
You qualify for songwriter PRS membership the Mechanical Copyright Protection
if you write and/or compose songs or music Society (MCPS). MCPS collects money from
that is being commercially released and/or mechanical public performance (the playing
performed. of recorded music in bars, offices etc) on
To register, go to their website and follow the behalf of record companies and publishers,
links. It currently costs £100. and pays out to its members monthly.
As a member you are accounted to four When you become a member of PRS you are
times a year and paid out according to their automatically eligible for royalties collected
distribution formula. If you are signed to by MCPS, as long as your record company and
a publisher, you will receive 50% of any publishing company are members. We advise
income from broadcast of your music direct you check that they are before signing a deal.
Streaming revenue relies on more complex models than those that govern
traditional music sales (which, as we’ve seen above, can be complicated
enough anyway).
The world’s biggest streaming service, by a country mile, is YouTube, for
example. But, historically, YouTube hasn’t paid rights holders based on
views of their copyrighted material. It has paid instead based on views and/
or clicks of the advertising that is run alongside their uploads (the ads that
appear at the start of a video or the banners that float over them).
As a consequence, YouTube has constantly been at war with rights holders
who have rightly claimed the company only places monetary value on the
number of ad views/clicks generated by an upload – rather than the number
of views the music video itself gets, the very thing viewers are there to
actually see.
But Spotify has – yet again – pointed to the future for a competitor.
YouTube has now introduced an ad-free subscription service. If Spotify,
from a standing start, can garner 96m paying subscribers, we can only
imagine what YouTube might achieve over the next five years with a 1.5bn
user base to work with.
And the numbers are enormous. Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ has been streamed
on Spotify alone more than one billion times. On YouTube, the official video
has been viewed more than 1.5bn times.
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ video has had almost four billion views on
YouTube and all but two billion streams on Spotify. Sheeran’s Divide album
broke the pop charts when his streaming numbers meant he had nine
placings in the Top 10 in March 2017.
But musicians haven’t been jumping for joy. Performers and songwriters
have been seeing so little of the money generated from streaming their
recordings that some (as we discuss in Chapter 1 – The Music Business)
have taken their music down.
One of these is Taylor Swift, who shows no sign of caving into the
corporations. When she signed a new record deal towards the end of 2018
one clause written into her contract was that Universal would distribute – to
artists – a share of any money it might make for selling its shares in Spotify.
The best way to view the controversies surrounding streaming is in a
historic context – as the next big music-consumption shift that will require
a new royalty payment solution, just like the invention of sheet music and
radio and gramophone before.
Rights holders, musicians, tech companies, consumers, lawyers and even
governments are currently jostling their way towards a solution. Throughout
this process, musicians have been on the back foot. But signs are – sooner
than expected - that power and financial balance is beginning to even out.
Since the principle of being paid for public performance of an artist’s work
is well established, the big issue with streaming isn’t whether artists will
be paid, but how fairly they will be paid and how it will be accounted for to
artists and writers.
Is a stream like a sale (download) or a radio play? On that question, a lot
of money depends. And – as we lay out in Chapter 1 – if you are looking to
be signed to a label, make sure your manager has the wit and influence to
insist that your streaming royalties are paid at the rate of your headline
royalty, not buried somewhere as either radio play or mechanicals.
But with giants like YouTube and Amazon and customers worldwide in their
billions joining the subscription model, the future is looking a damned sight
brighter than it did even four years ago.
By the way, if you are self-releasing (and self-publishing) 100% of the
streaming revenue you generate will come to you via your aggregator.
As a signed artist, it will be included in your statements from your record
company.
SYNC DEALS
Getting your song placed in a TV show, advert or film – covered by a
synchronisation or ‘sync’ license – is another source of income.
At the high end of the earnings scale, licensing a track into a big-budget ad
with global reach can earn an artist millions.
It can also transform a little known song into a chart topper and a little
known artist into a superstar. The Room 5 track ‘Make Luv’, for example,
would likely have been just another noughties disco house tune. Instead,
the huge popularity boost bestowed on it by its placement in an ad for Lynx
Pulse rocketed it to the top of the UK charts, where it sat for four weeks –
truly, the Lynx effect. It also made the (sampled) vocalist Oliver Cheatham
into a household name, 20 years after his last appearance in the charts.
In the UK, the use of music in ads has reached a zenith with the so-called
‘John Lewis’ effect, where artists see significant uplifts in sales – as well as
a not insignificant license fee – for using their music for the store’s annual
Christmas ad.
In the past few years, Paloma Faith (‘Never Tear Us Apart’), Fyfe Dangerfield
(‘She’s Always A Woman’), Ellie Goulding (‘Your Song’) and The Smith’s
(‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’ by Slow Moving Millie) have
all seen huge singles sales after sound-tracking the annual campaign.
It is not just established acts that are able to take a slice of the sync pie.
Agencies like Hookline specialise in placing music from new talent, much of
it unsigned, on TV, ads and radio, and when the placement is right it’s not
just an artist’s income that benefits. Big music publishers have their own
in-house sync departments.
In 2012 singer/songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison – aka Charlie XCX’s
– was a relative unknown outside of the east London rave scene. A one-
off sync changed that when the TV show ‘Girls’ featured her collaboration
with Swedish DJ duo Icona Pop ‘I Love It’. Before the sync, ‘I Love It’ was
sitting at a respectable enough No. 2 in the Swedish charts. Following its
January 2013 ‘Girls’ appearance the song went global, peaking at No. 7 in
the Billboard Hot 100 and No.1 in the UK. Within the space of six months,
that single TV tie-in had shifted Charlie XCX’s career up several gears –and
generated several hundred thousand new fans in the process.

While these kinds of syncs offer a mean of generating additional income,
fans, record sales and profile from your existing catalogue, there is
money to be made too by writing ‘direct for sync’ in the form of ‘library’ or
‘production’ music.
Anything from corporate videos to radio jingles and ‘stings’ all require
original music, which is typically licensed from specialist libraries like KPM,
APM, Dynamic, Boosey & Hawkes and Audio Networks. Many of the biggest
THE WORLD OF LIBRARY: EXTRA BUCK FOR THE BANG

Not so long ago, the term ’library music’ your research,” says Menzies. “If you’re a
brought to mind insipid, lightweight aural tat folk writer and you approach a library that
produced by wilfully out-of-touch musicians specialises in trailer music you’re going to
and used to help artless corporations peddle fall at the first hurdle. Find out which libraries
washing powder, spam (as in, canned meat, align with your style then get in touch with an
not unsolicited marketing emails) and all the album concept that you think will add value to
rest of it on TV and radio. Today, with their far their catalogue.
more culturally savvy audience and endlessly “Most libraries work non-exclusively with
diverse base of content-creating clients, writers so it’s not about ‘signing up’ as such.
library music agencies put quality at the top Some of our writers deliver whole albums,
of the agenda, and for the skilled producer others single tracks. Present a library
there’s significant money to be made without with something that will add value to their
compromising aesthetic integrity. catalogue and fill gaps in their repertoire.”
“A lot of composers claim that writing for For really big clients, library music is always
library can be far more freeing and creative going to be a second choice after major artist
than writing for the commercial world, sync deals, but this is still a growing industry
because you’re not restricted to a certain that no career musician should overlook.
genre, fanbase or demographic,” says “There will always be a place for library music
industry consultant Rachel Menzies of Native as there are more and more media platforms
and Dynamic Music. “On the other hand, in a being introduced to the world that need
lot of instances you will be writing to specific background music,” Menzies concludes.
briefs written by agencies or production “Due to budget restraints forcing agencies
teams, so your creative potential may be and production companies to be more
hindered in some respects. Understanding the creative with their music choices, we have
world of production music is important, as is seen a trend in authentic and emerging artist
having an understanding of writing to brief.” syncs, but equally, the amount of library
With that understood, how do you go about music being broadcast around the world on
getting signed up to a library music agency? TV, online, in apps and via other media is still
“Be really good at what you do, and do vast and lucrative.”
libraries are owned or part-owned by record labels.

HOW MUSIC
These libraries commission original music from composers LIBRARIES WORK
in all genres and then aggressively market it to music buyers
and production houses around the world.
Music libraries generally
New services on the block, including the likes of iStockMusic, commission a few tracks or a
allow anyone to upload their music, paying back a percentage full album within a given genre
every time it is licensed. or with a specific theme. They
might ask for ‘Upbeat House’
The good news is that you don’t need to be a superstar to or ‘Driving Rock’ or songs
earn good money from TV and film; any musician who is able that fit with the concept of
to record and produce high quality music is able to earn from ‘Breakfast Boogie’. Spend
a few minutes listening to
syncs and the wider library and production music industry.
catalogues on any of the
If your recordings stand up alongside commercially released major library companies’
tracks of the same genre (run your own comparisons websites to get a feel for
expectations.
and be brutally honest with yourself) there are plenty of
opportunities around, with new companies springing up by If you’re selected to work on
a library you will typically
the month – all hungry for music and talent. And you’d be
be given a brief by a project
in good company: plenty of well known songwriters take a manager who will guide you
creative break from their main artist-led projects to pen a through the writing and
few library tracks to keep their publishing income stable on production process, asking for
forthcoming rainy days. edits before final submission.
Once your album is released
The trick, of course, is knowing who to present your music to.
it is up to the library to secure
Here persistence is key. usage.
Depending on your deal you
Start by searching online for ‘library music’ (the PRS has
will then either see usage fees
a useful page of libaries), look at contact pages to find out paid directly by the library
where to submit demos and start approaching companies or performance royalties
you like the look and feel of. Most welcome demos. each time a track is used
(and potentially mechanical
The library sector may feel like the unsexy end of the music royalties too). Some libraries
industry but there are plenty of talented musicians who offer all of the above.
make a good and reliable income from music that they might A typical deal will give the
otherwise never have been heard. library exclusive rights to
exploit your music, with the
Sure, it’s not for everyone, but as part of a balanced portfolio
library taking 50% of the
of earnings sync is worth investigating. publishing.
And you’d be in the company of The Smiths, Phil Collins,
Charlie XCX... and Oliver Cheatham.
BRAND ENDORSEMENTS
At some point in your career you might be asked to wear a particular item of
clothing or play a specific guitar. Not only will you get free clothes and a free
guitar, but there will likely also be an additional fee to ensure you only wear/
play that product.
Rather higher up the ladder, a top-tier artist may be invited to become
a ‘brand ambassador’ – often for brands with deep pockets. Think Avicii
and Volvo, Rhianna and Puma, Will.I.Am and Intel, even Ellie Goulding and
Pantene.
If you are ever lucky enough to find a third-party commercial interest
knocking at your door, the main question will be whether the brand is in
keeping with your own (see Chapter 3 - Your brand).
If your own brand, for instance, is lo-fi indie, being a brand ambassador
for Laura Ashley would not be a natural or clever fit. And if you’re an EDM
producer and DJ, signing up to be the face of Wiltshire Farm Foods is
unlikely to be a good idea – no matter how much cash, and organic muesli,
is on the table.
Having said that, while Justin Bieber might not have seemed like an obvious
choice of star endorser for Calvin Klein at the start of 2016, that particular
partnership has not only made both parties stacks of cash but also enabled
Bieber to update and mature his public image via advertising billboards all
over the world. Engaging in a brand endorsement to help rebrand yourself is
a risky strategy, but it can be highly effective when it works.
Clothing, instruments, cars, coffee makers, headphones – these are all
possible pegs to hang on you. They’ll not only make you money, they’ll also
save you cash.
Be fully aware, though, that aligning Brand You with another brand is a big
deal that can have serious consequences for your career if things go wrong.
You wouldn’t want to end up in Rita Ora’s – ahem – shoes, for example,
dragged into court (and ultimately settling out of it) for being photographed
in a pair of Converse while under contract with Superga. And consider
the case of Mary J. Blige’s disastrous partnership with Burger King in
2012, resulting in a commercial that was widely lambasted for reinforcing
African-American stereotypes and hastily canned. The deal was cancelled

and Blige made a profound public apology
Notes Luke Mitzman, ex VP of JHO Management: “The key for us is to find
a brand that doesn’t compromise an artist’s integrity. It’s not a badging
exercise - kids will see through that in a second, they won’t even register it.
You have to create an all-round experience for a brand.”
Which is to say that if you steer clear of non-aligments, and forge an
organic fit between brand and artist, brand endorsements can be extremely
lucrative for the artist.
But like almost everything in your career, saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ should be
about one thing and one thing only: looking after number one – and future
No. 1s.
THE MIXED PORTFOLIO: MAKING ENDS MEET AS A DANCE PRODUCER

It’s no surprise that the money-making None of it should feel like a chore, either –
potential of the average live band is generally there’s plenty of creative satisfaction to be
greater than that of the average electronic had in producing a sample library, designing
artist/DJ, but there are other ways for the sounds for a local Arts Council media
the solo producer to turn a profit beyond project or hearing your library music used in a
releasing tracks and gigging – all from the TV ad. And if you don’t see it that way, you’re
comfort of their own home studio. Versatility going to have to either grin and bear it or get
is key, as the career of Brit breakbeat really lucky with those singles releases.
producer Hedflux demonstrates.
“Ideally, you want something that’s going to
“I did Skype tutorials, workshops at music pay you,” says Hedflux, “and help you learn
schools, sample packs and various sound and grow as an artist.
design jobs, among other things, to bring in
money between shows,” he remembers of his “Get outside your musical comfort zone
early career. “The first four years were tough and expand your repertoire. Serve up the
financially – feast or famine – but six years in content that you are uniquely gifted with
I’m getting the hang of it. and passionate about so you can maintain
your independence from jobs, big labels or
Workshops? Sample packs? Library music?
whatever.
You didn’t get into music production to be
doing that kind of thing, did you? Well, yes, “It’s not going to be for everyone – some
you did, actually. If you want a realistic shot at people just want a simple life and a paycheck,
making a career as a musician this is the stuff so a big label deal might be best – but I’ve
that will keep you afloat while you wage the learned that owning all my music and staying
longer-term campaign to crack the charts. independent is important for me.”
CHAPTER 3
YOUR BRAND
‘Unless you have absolute clarity over what your
IN THIS CHAPTER...
brand stands for, everything else is irrelevant.’
Mark Baynes, ex-Global CMO, Kellogg’s What is a brand?
Why brand?
“Kellogg’s?” you say. “What’s the frak’s music got to do with Building a brand –
cornflakes?” The answer – for better or worse – is that artists A nine step
and bands are brands, from Kanye to Post Malone, Sia to MIA. programme
And when they go off brand - Justin Bieber’s brushes with
1. Brainstorm
controversy and the law; Whitney Houston discovered doing
crack cocaine - it’s rarely good news for their career. 2. The name game
3. Creating a story
In the marketing and advertising industries billions of dollars
4. Logo
and millions of words have been spent theorising, researching
and even reverse engineering (finding out what people think 5. Photos
they want then inventing the product they think they want) 6. Sleeve artwork
in pursuit of a scientific, rather than creative, approach to 7. Video
branding. 8. Social media
When you’re starting out, you don’t need any of this. You 9. Your website
just need to be recognised. And you want your name to be It starts and ends
recognised, not just when people hear it but also when they
with the music
see it.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO BRAND?

There are lots of dirty words associated with art: commercial,
profit, sell-out, compromise… Branding is another.
Like all of these words branding denotes a deliberate, some
might say vulgar, attempt to attract an audience and, God
forbid, make some money.
CHAPTER 3 YOUR BRAND
If that’s how you feel about the business of creativity – that it

should be pure and unsullied by commerce – then by all means THE INDUSTRY’S
skip this chapter. And good luck with your hobby. NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
But if you’re serious about establishing yourself as an artist or
In music, reverse
act, and if you want your music to be heard by as many people
engineering is unnecessary.
as possible, then – for better or worse – you’re going to have to
Year after year, decade after
take ‘brand you’ seriously.
decade, the public puts its
It may not come as naturally to you as crafting a lyric or money down and the music
delivering a floor-rocking set. But a solid brand, as much as a industry continuously tries
to give the public more of
strong set of tracks, is the springboard from which your career
what it clearly likes.
will launch. It’s not an optional extra.
But the industry is wrong
More importantly, if you’re putting all this effort into being the many more times than it
best you can be – as a writer, singer, performer or DJ – then is right.
you owe it to yourself to be just as serious about your brand. When Robbie Williams’
record label said that
The world’s most successful companies know that brand ‘Angels’ wouldn’t be a hit,
infuses everything. The same is true for musicians. Everything he took the song out to
is brand – the lyrics you write, the music you release, the tone focus groups. They loved it,
of your voice, your website, your Facebook page, the clothes and it went on to sell twice
you wear – even the way you stand on stage. platinum.
There is a perpetual tension
There is nothing wrong, and everything right, with going the between artists and record
extra mile and creating a public image for yourself that is companies who, because
instantly recognisable after two, three or half-a-dozen views. they know more, think they
know best.
WHAT IS BRANDING? As an artist, you will
inevitably find yourself
at odds with your label
The word brand derives from the old German word for fire,
at times.
brandaz. In the 1400s branding was used to mark thieves by
Remind yourself that if
burning a mark into their skin so everyone knew they weren’t
the record industry had its
to be trusted with the family heirlooms. Nowadays, the word is way at all times there would
more readily associated with cattle branding in the American have been no Beatles, no
West, where ranch owners brand their animals to avoid Dylan, no Hendrix, no Sex
confusion with rivals’ animals, and for identification in the Pistols… and no ‘Angels’ by
event of cattle rustling. Robbie Williams.
In both cases branding is about one thing: identification.

Humans are at the same time immeasurably complex and
pretty simple beings. With so much information bombarding us
every second (more each day), we latch onto – and find comfort in – simple
recurring imagery.
The best brands are simple and instantly identifiable.
A good under-the-radar example is singer-songwriter FiFi Rong (look her up).
She has a presence on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube similar to
that which launched Paloma Faith from her MySpace page in 2007.
Is her look accidental? No. It’s a carefully cultivated and deeply considered
image that blends her Chinese heritage with a vintage Hollywood/Marilyn
Monroe style.
In her own way she is following in the footsteps of others who carefully
crafted their brand image – think Boy George, Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga.
FiFi Rong’s logo follows the same image, again taking inspiration from her
heritage, mixing the aesthetic of Chinese typography with a font easily
read by western eyes. And that logo is everywhere – on her recordings,
merchandise, website and Facebook page. Anywhere FiFi is, her logo is.
Sure, she may not be a major name in pop; but FiFi Rong has quietly built
her brand, and a career as a writer and producer – she was all over Skepta’s
Konnichiwa album and has also recorded with Tricky and Yello.
By forging image and logo, FiFi is following in a long music tradition. Way back
in 1963, The Beatles’ ‘dropped T’ logo first appeared on Ringo’s kick drum; it
is still being used today. More recently, The Sex Pistols’ cut-out newspaper
type, Public Enemy’s ‘crosshairs’ and Daft Punk’s scrawly lettering are all
instantly recognisable, iconic logos.
Even Oasis, for all their hard-man posing, understood the value of branding. If
you look at the back sleeve of The Beatles’ seventh album, Revolver, you’ll see
a remarkable resemblance to the hairstyles and sunglasses sported by Oasis
30 years later. And they had a logo!
So don’t for a second believe you’re too interesting/cool/different for this. If
creating a brand is good enough for a bunch of hard-living, counter-culture
Mancunians – who went on to make their multi-millions – then it should be
good enough for you.
BUILDING A BRAND WHAT GETS

BRANDED?
A NINE STEP PROGRAMME
Unlike those early German
For the purposes of this chapter, we are assuming your music thieves and the mid-west
is as good as it can be. It has to be. Good music is the starting cattle we’re spared the
physical burning of flesh
point. If you think you can do better, spend time refining your to get our message across
songs and mixes before beginning the branding journey. (although if you love your
If your music is already blow-’em-away-fantastic then you’re music enough, there’s
always the option of a
ready to establish ‘brand you’ following our fail-safe nine step tattoo).
programme outlined over the coming pages.
Skin aside, your branding
should appear everywhere
STEP 1: BRAINSTORM you are, including:
– Facebook
For the first critical step you need to access the most – Instagram
powerful piece of open-source freeware currently available to
– Twitter
humankind: your brain.
– SoundCloud
Using a pencil and paper – we’ll start retro, you’ll spend enough – Bandcamp
time in front of a laptop as you move through the branding
– YouTube
process – let your thoughts flow free. Who are you? How do you
want to be viewed? Are you cool or are you hot? Are you pop, – any other social media
pages you use
rock, metal, indie, techno…?
– your website
Write down the words that apply to you as an act or artist. – at your gigs
Don’t restrict yourself. Maybe you’re fusing hip hop with rock,
– on fliers
or you’re a shoe-gazing folkie. Put it all down on your piece of
paper. At this stage no thought should be too wild, no idea too – on music artwork
absurd. Don’t censor the creative outpourings or ramblings. Jot – and on all your
and note. Write, scribble, doodle and draw. Fill that blank page. merchandise.
Your goal is a fully formed and rounded ‘story’ about who you,
as an act or artist, are. It should include notes about your
personality and on-stage presence. It should visualise a rough
image and the aesthetics of that image.
BUT – and never forget this – your story must be rooted in
the music. (That’s why you need the music first). If the brand
diverges too far from the music it won’t make sense; a cerebral
live electronica three-piece sporting hobnail boots and

biker leathers is going to come across as confused and… SIMPLICITY: THE NO. 1
well... just plain wrong really. BRAND ASPIRATION
That doesn’t mean you can’t toy with conventions. Cute Lily
Albert Einstein said: “If you
Allen is a witty, bad-mouthed lyricist. Lucius is a five-piece
can’t explain it simply, you
fronted by two usually identically dressed girls presented like don’t understand it well
’60s bubblegum pop singers. Their music, though, is often enough.” And if you don’t
dark and wild. understand it, no-one else
will either.
By all means challenge audience and social expectations,
Simplicity is the golden
but understand that even the most open-minded music
commandment of the
consumers tend to like things that make sense. So make sure branding and design
the music, and your artist/band name, and the branding fit industries.
together. Consistency of story is key. The best brands appear
If you have a good visual sense and an innate understanding simple.
of what makes you special then this initial brainstorm won’t Their values can be summed
take long. If you’re struggling, don’t fret. Ask friends for help. up in three words or fewer:
If they fancy themselves as designers or are studying art, Challenging, engaging,
fashion or media studies, even better. Invite them round for exciting.
an evening, ply them with cheap lager and ruthlessly exploit Cool, current.
them. Vintage, classic.
This initial brainstorming process couldn’t be more important. Underground.

When you start the real hard work – of creating your logo and The most identifiable logos
visual identity – you don’t want to be wasting time trying to are simple too. An apple with a
bite from it. A stylised ‘M’.
remember who you are.
A bluebird.
By then you want a fully formed understanding of your brand If you need any more
so that if you’re writing a press release, talking to a PR agency persuading of the virtue
or brainstorming the visuals for a video, you know everything of simplicity, take note of
there is to know about your image, identity and values. the advice of producer-to-
the-stars Rick Rubin
(Eminem, Kanye West,
STEP 2. THE NAME GAME Johnny Cash, Lady Gaga,
Shakira): “There’s a
Probably the most important part of the branding process tremendous power in
is deciding whether you have the right name or not. If your using the least amount of
information to get a point
real name is Billy Bloggs, is that what you want to see on the
across.” Whether in
billboard advert for your first gig at the 02? branding, songwriting or
If it is, then you’re already on your way to establishing the production, less is often
much, much more.
persona you want to create because it’s unlikely that Billy
Bloggs will be taken seriously as a sex icon. But the public

would absolutely buy him as the guy-next-door. Which in turn SIMPLICITY AGAIN:
starts to dictate that BB’s brand will not be elegant and high CHOOSING A NAME
fashion; it will be lo-tech, friendly and accessible.
If you’re in any doubt about
Do you see how each element feeds into the next part of the
the wisdom of keeping your
process? artist/band name simple,
If you decide BB can’t be the sex symbol you aspire to be and here are some of the highest
earning acts of all time:
you decide to call yourself something other than your birth
name (or if you’re a band brainstorming a group name), the The Beatles
ABBA
number one piece of advice is keep it simple.
Elvis Presley
It’s all too easy, after drinking a brandy or three to unleash the Led Zeppelin
inspiration and come up with an outlandish name. But the truth Madonna
Elton John
is the vast majority of successful acts have simple, memorable
Eagles
names consisting of just one or two words – see Simplicity AC/DC
again: Choosing a name, right. Pink Floyd
The Rolling Stones
You may, of course, be tempted to call your band ‘We’ve Got A
Fuzz Box And We’re Gonna Use It’. It’s wacky, right?... People The golden rule applies
to the latest generation
will smile! Forget it. It’s semi-unpronounceable and is a name
of stars too. The US’s ten
that’ll never trip off a DJ’s tongue – nor is it one that’ll fit on the biggest money-makers of
average gig flyer. (‘We’ve Got A Fuzz Box And We’re Gonna Use 2018 according to Billboard
It’ is an actual band name, by the way. And good luck to them.) magazine were:
‘!!!’ (that is also an actual band name) takes things a step U2

Garth Brooks
further: their name’s not just unpronounceable, it’s unsayable.
Metallica
And it’s unsearchable. Try Googling it – see what comes back. Bruno Mars
Can your name be remembered, searched for online, spoken? Ed Sheeran
Lady Gaga
These are Serious Practical Considerations and they trump
Billy Joel
heat-of-the-moment silliness, pretension and idealism. Gun N’Roses
Once you’ve decided on a name – for example’s sake let’s go Roger Waters
Coldplay
with ‘Delinquent Hustle’ for now – give it the ‘speak out loud’
test. Imagine a DJ saying it on air. Then imagine it big on a Which proves if you want
to swing with the winners,
billboard. Imagine it small, as an iTunes icon. Imagine your big
you’re best off with either a
intro when you play Hyde Park. one or two word name.
If it’s still working for you then it’s time for a few final checks... (We’ve Got A Fuzz Box And
We’re Gonna Use It did not
make the top ten.)
SAFETY CHECKS ON YOUR CHOSEN NAME

After performing our various tests – saying domain and see if there’s something nearly as
it out loud, imagining it on a billboard etc – is good – www.delinquent-hustle.com, say, or
your chosen name still working for you? www.delinquenthustle.co.uk.
If it is, switch on a laptop, type the name into If they’re gone too, then you can find yourself
a search engine and see what comes back. Do seeking ever-more–desperate iterations –
Delinquent Hustle already exist? www.delinquenthustle.biz or
If so you should probably return to the www.delinquent-hustle-theband.co.nz
drawing board unless: a) they’re tiny and To be honest, if you get to this stage it’s best
you’re certain they have no chance of getting to return to the drawing board.
bigger; or b) they’re active in a musical
Remember the point of all this – to make it as
genre so different from yours as to make any
confusion impossible. easy as possible for your fans to find you.
Even then, tread carefully. Dinosaur Jr weren’t Compromising on your all-important web
always Dinosaur Jr. They started life as address means you’re moving further away
Dinosaur before a potentially ruinous legal from that target, and by then you’re doing
bust-up with the psych rock supergroup the yourselves no long-term favours at all.
Dinosaurs (which comprised former members If you get the URL you want – or something
of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and close to it – it will usually be fairly easy to get
Country Joe) forced the J. Mascis-led rockers the relevant Facebook page, Twitter handle
to add the ‘Jr’ suffix. and SoundCloud, YouTube and Bandcamp
If Delinquent Hustle isn’t already an artist or pages.
band name, check the domain names. Ensuring your brand is unique at this early
Start with www.delinquenthustle.com. If stage will save a lot of time, money and sanity
that’s taken, try tweaking the wording and/or down the line.
STEP 3. CREATING A STORY: A LEGEND IN YOUR OWN MIND

You’ve got a brand name that is unique. After the music itself that’s one of the
hardest thing to get right. So you’re off to a good start. Now it’s time to work
on building your biography – the establishment of ‘brand you’; the creation of
your Story.
Crucially, this Story does not have to be true. “Artists take on an alias that’s
suitable for their style of music,” notes Tinie Tempah – an alias with its
grounding in reality but which is frequently an altered version of it.
Bob Dylan arrived in New York in 1961 as a fully formed, working class hobo
orphan who’d been on the road since he was 15 with Little Richard and Bobby
Vee.
Except in reality he was a middle class Jewish kid from Hibbing, Minnesota,
whose family owned a string of cinemas. He’s never responded to questions
or officially put the record straight about the mismatch between his Story
and the reality. He just carried on making stuff up because he recognised
earlier than most that the press prints what it wants – inventing it if the truth
doesn’t pass muster. So Dylan played them at their own game, and continues
to do so half a century later.
But you need some pretty big cojones to carry that off. And today’s press is
less forgiving than the press of 50 years ago. So it’s probably best to stick
with the truth – or something close to the truth – unless you have a quick
mind and can cope with being branded (see what we did there?) a liar and an
impostor when your story crumbles around you.
It’s also easier to do what Dylan did if you come from a remote part of such a
vast country. It’s considerably harder if you’re from Cheltenham in the English
county of Gloucestershire, Rolling Stone Brian Jones’s home town.
Jones’s attempts at being a bad boy rock star were soon revealed to be no
more than the spoiled behaviour of a bored teen from a stifling English town
where the only recreation was the impregnation of local girls. His parents
were terribly disappointed…
KEEPING IT REAL – WHY AUTHENTICITY MATTERS

People inherently like authenticity. Just as we something fans respond to well. So clean-
like to know where we stand with friends, so living Jonsi took to YouTube to show fans how
it is with brands. to make vegan food; Kanye West pontificates
In his analysis of how Starbucks built its in public, or even in concert, on the first thing
coffee empire, author Howard Schultz writes: that comes into his head; while Miley Cyrus
“In this ever-changing society, the most – Hannah Montana to a generation of Disney
powerful and enduring brands are built from Channel devotees – looks for ways to shock
the heart. They are real and sustainable... The with hyper-sexuality.
companies that are lasting are those that are For that reason probably the most successful
authentic.” ‘Story-making’ takes the ‘real’ you, or the
Authentic need not mean perfect. “Too many real collective ‘you’ of the band, and then
companies want their brands to reflect goes to town on the more interesting/
some idealised image of themselves,” notes different/flamboyant aspects.
Virgin Records co-founder Richard Branson. Consequently, the Story-you and the real-
“As a consequence, their brands acquire no you aren’t that different. The Story is simply
texture, no character and no public trust.” a more extreme version – but still rooted in
Being true to yourself – warts and all – is the real.
WHERE TO START?
How do you begin to create your Story? By returning to that hopefully now
fully-covered sheet of A4 and looking through it for inspiration.
Think about your heritage. Are you Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Caribbean, Chinese –
even partly? Is that relevant to your music and the brand you’re building?
Think about the kind of music that was played in your house as you grew up;
did it influence what you’re doing now?
Think about how you were at school – were you the cleverest kid in class or
were you expelled (as Lily Allen was, several times, for drinking and smoking –
from primary school).
Most of all, think about how you want to be seen – bad-girl rocker,
underground techno don – and think how this branding end-point can relate
to your back story.
If you are going to invent your story, ensure you do it in ways that can’t be
checked. If you regularly post “Love you mum” on Facebook there’s no point
pretending you’re an orphan or that you had the world’s worst childhood.
If you’re tempted by the over-fabrication dark side, consider the cautionary
tale of Heather Mills, second wife of Paul McCartney, whose self-formed
legend involved a series of inventions that could be – and were – easily
disproved (including that her father was dead; this became a proper
inconvenience when he contacted the press and offered to show happy family
holiday videos to the hungry media).
THE VIRTUAL BRAND/BAND

You don’t have to start with ‘you’ when his ‘mau5’ persona and what – to a lesser
creating your brand. If you’re shy, don’t extent – Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett did
consider yourself to be interesting, feel you with their ‘virtual’ band Gorillaz.
are supremely ugly, have an aversion to This kind of branding is very hard to pull off
showing your face in public (maybe you’re (you need an absolute belter of an idea). But
a politician with an unlikely sideline as an if you get it right it can be liberating, allowing
EDM superstar) then consider the option of a you to legitimately make up all kinds of stuff
‘virtual brand’ – one which is not focused on as your back-story. If your career gets that far
a human being but on some kind of artificial it also has the benefit of allowing you to go to
construct. your local supermarket/morning-after-pill-
It’s what Daft Punk have done with their clinic/nudist beach without being mobbed/
iconic robots, what deadmau5 has done with judged/papped.
The moral of the story? If your life isn’t that interesting – or

if you just want to spruce it up a bit – only introduce lies that BAD BEHAVIOUR
can’t be checked. Because in the age of social media you have
already given away far more than you can possibly remember Once you are in the public
about your family, your social life, school and friends. eye, the way you behave is as
much part of your brand as
And the media will find it all. anything else – indeed when
the tabloids have you in their
VISUALS sites it can define your brand.
Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious
You’ve got the music, a name and you’ve crafted your brand of the Sex Pistols behaved the
way they behaved because it
concept / Story. Now it’s time to tackle the visuals, of which
was how they felt.
there are four, in this order of importance:
If they had been trying to
1. logo establish a cabaret act, they
would have killed their careers
2. sleeve artwork (at least one) dead. But their musical ethos
3. press photo/s was totally in line with their
punk attitude.
4. a video or two (not essential but useful). Bono has built his brand as a
The most important of these is the logo. global campaigner for good
causes on the back of the U2
brand. Imagine how difficult
STEP 4: MAKE A LOGO that would have been if his U2
bandmates had broken ranks
Your logo can be a simple rendition of your name in a specific to reveal he was a hypocritical
typeface, a symbol like Ed Sheeran’s X or an illustration, like exploitative wanker*. (*For
any lawyers reading, we’re
Apple’s, erm, apple. Starbucks’ logo incorporates all three.
definitely not saying he is.)
Nike’s tick is as recognisable as its name, and it uses either, or
Contrarily, it fed into the
both together.
Oasis brand – loud, brash,
Top brands spend billions on their logo, sitting in eye- who-you-looking-at? – that
wateringly expensive meetings with top designers having long the Gallagher brothers kept
fighting, on stage, in the
discussions about whether a sans serif font really speaks to
media gaze, even in the studio.
the target market or whether orange, blue or yellow best sums
For artists, behaviour is one of
up the company’s values.
the biggest brand identifiers
A fair amount of this is complete baloney – and is certainly there is.
nothing you need to be worrying about. And if your brand is boy-next-
door goody-two-shoes, don’t
In any event, you have a headstart because as a musician be falling down drunk and
you’re creative by default. No-one expects you to be an expert crashing cars, Justin Bieber.
typographer or a visual ID whizz. Instead, having a good visual sense – as well

as the innate understanding of your brand – is really all you need to develop a
logo you’re happy with.
Generating a logo can be as simple as playing about with a few different
fonts, layouts and colours.
You might also consider adding some kind of visual icon, like The Who’s ‘male’
symbol, but it’s not essential.
If you want to outsource your logo design, sites like fiverr.com and logojoy.
com are useful for getting low-priced logos – and other artwork – for a few
dollars. When commissioning make the designer’s work easier by giving them
a few visual pointers relating to your Story, a shortlist of logos you like and, if
you’re able to, a few creative ideas for your own logo.
STEP 5: PRESS PHOTOS

Why do you need press photos? The clue’s in the name. The moment you
start to garner any press interest – among blogs, magazines, even label A&Rs
– you’ll be asked for photos.
The reason lies in our incessant interest in other human beings. We hear a
song we love, we want to know the story of the person who wrote it. And we
want to know what they look like too. People are nosy like that. Which means
there’s both a public and press imperative for pictures of the artist/band.
This imagery will be used for everything from decking out your various social
channels – Facebook page, SoundCloud, Tumblr, Instagram – to sending out
with press releases, designing cover artwork and plastering over fliers.
As with the rest of your imagery, don’t think about taking photos until you’ve
got a comprehensive understanding of your brand/Story.
Everything about the photo shoot – clothing, expressions, mood, make-up,
location – should be true to brand. So dress appropriately and pick a place
to shoot which emphasises it. That means not wearing a Laura Ashley dress
and standing in a meadow of wildflowers if you think of yourself as a brooding
drum & bass producer.
If you can’t afford to pay for a professional to take your photos, ask a talented
friend. Everyone’s a photographer these days. And you really don’t need much
in the way of high-end kit. At least one well-known film director has boasted
of shooting a multi-million-dollar ad using an iPhone. So don’t think you need

a high-grade DSLR to produce pictures of the right calibre.
Indeed with the resurgence of lo-fi and vintage aesthetics, beautifully
realised hi-fi imagery is largely off-trend at the moment anyway. In the age
of the out-of-focus selfie and gonzo post-Polaroid snapshot, even a second-
hand iPhone’s camera will be enough to create characterful shots. Far more
important are the concepts behind the shots.
Study your musical genre online for inspiration. What is the general visual feel
being used – is it urban, industrial, rural, fast, slow, pretty, challenging?
More specifically check: a) the locations being used (beach/station/decaying
urbanscape/cornfield); b) the clothing worn; c) the expressions of those
appearing; and d) any additional props being used. Make a note of what you
think might work with your brand and then pull them all together during the
shoot.
When the big day arrives take plenty of pictures (with digital you might as
well). Experiment with different locations. Try to have some fun. At the end of
the day pick the three or four shots that best encapsulate brand you.
When you’re done, upload your chosen images anywhere/everywhere so that
people can start either feeding back that you look amazing and they’ll buy
your next record or that you look like a muppet in a cornfield.
Either’s fine at this stage; at least people are starting to take notice.
STEP 6: SLEEVE ARTWORK

Unless you’re a glutton for typographical punishment or some kind of graphic
design sadist, the logo creation process can leave you feeling that you never
want to visit another font library again in your life.
Fortunately creating artwork for your launch single or album is usually both
easier and more fun.
For your early SoundCloud uploads it’s fine to use images you like from
around the web – though check they’re royalty-free, obviously.
But when it comes to launching your brand, it’s far better to use your own
single and album covers.
Partly this is about keeping yourself on the right side of copyright law – the
COVER INSPIRATION: THE CASE FOR SIMPLICITY AGAIN

You have more than 60 years of record Nobody browses online covers artwork. They
covers to inspire you when it comes to either go to iTunes to buy your track or, in a
designing cover artwork for your own tracks very small number of cases, they find you by
– and the internet gives you instant access to following a banner.
all of them. So your priority is to design something that
While some sleeves are pieces of art in their is easily identifiable even when very small. It
own right, if you look at the history of the needs to work on all your social media, and on
record sleeve, you’ll see that you can get SoundCloud, Bandcamp and iTunes.
away with far less effort – indeed some of Look at U2’s War artwork, or Massive Attack’s
the most iconic covers have been practically Mezzanine. For interest, look at The Clash’s
blank. London Calling cover, which wholesale copied
The big difference between now and then the Elvis Presley album cover from 1956.
is that then your cover was trying to be Look also at 808 State’s 90 cover, with its
noticed in a record shop among hundreds, no-frills blue and pink outline numbering.
even thousands of others. All that’s really Something that simple is always going to
important today is that whatever you choose work. In short, don’t feel like you have to go
to put on the cover is clear and visible in the complex unless you’re a confident designer,
Spotify (or other digital) store. photographer or image manipulator.
last thing you want is an angry photographer demanding removal of an image

you nabbed that is central to your new single campaign.
But mainly it’s about the wider branding picture – you want every piece of
branding collateral to be absolutely you; not someone else’s imagery or
vision, but yours, that supports and is centred around the Story.
In that sense, single and album artwork is a pivotal part of brand you.
Unlike your logo, which should be memorable enough to accompany you
through your career, sleeve artwork (we’ll call it that, even if you have no plans
for it to appear on a physical sleeve) can change with you as your Story and
music evolves.
So while your first EP sleeve, a moody townscape with you leering at the
camera, might reflect the angst of your debut musical offering, the next,
when you’re happily settled on a farm in Nebraska, might legitimately star
apple orchards and pastel sunsets.
With sleeves, anything goes. Photos, illustrations, montages, screenprints,
simple text… the world of art is yours to embrace and explore, as long as
you remember the golden maxim: be true to brand you. While sleeve artwork
gives you a lot more freedom than your logo, it still needs to be
anchored in the music and the Story. SANDI THOM:
VIRTUAL REALITY
As with your logo, sites like fiverr.com give access to talented
illustrators and designers willing to work to low budgets. To get
In 2006, little-known Scottish
the best from them, look at designers’ portfolios and reviews,
singer-songwriter Sandi Thom
give a clear brief, and be willing to receive a couple of misses had a deal with Viking Legacy
for every hit. Records but wasn’t selling
enough copies of ‘I Wish I Was
STEP 7: VIDEO a Punk Rocker (With Flowers
In My Hair)’ to justify releasing
her debut album.
YouTube is essential. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again:
Inspired by a successful live
SoundCloud and Facebook aside, it’s the most important
webcast of a gig in Edinburgh,
channel for getting your music – and pivotally, your brand – Thom came up with the idea of
out there. And YT’s ability to showcase imagery makes it an doing a virtual ‘tour’ from the
even more powerful branding vehicle than SoundCloud. basement of her Tooting flat,
consisting of 21 gigs, which
It’s easy to feel like you’re not ready for YouTube – that were recorded and webcast
YouTube is only for artists who can pay the not insignificant around the world.
sums for a ‘pro’ video. ‘21 Nights From Tooting’
Get out of that mindset. You are ready. Even videos with a still was a massive success, with
viewing figures reaching
picture or rolling lyrics get huge audiences.
70,000 at their peak. Shortly
What kind of video then? after, RCA offered Thom a
deal and ‘I Wish I Was a Punk
The obvious low budget starters-for-zero are those that Rocker’ was re-released. It
feature a still picture – usually your already-commissioned went to No. 1 in the UK, Ireland
sleeve art or press photo/s. and Australia and cued up the
release of the album Smile… It
A slightly more advanced version of this is a video that uses Confuses People, which sold
basic free or cheap software like Screenflow to add a bit of over 1m copies worldwide.
movement and momentum, creating slideshows or moving Accusations of high-powered
images around and adding lyrics so there’s more to engage PR involvement aside, there’s
the eye. no denying that the initial idea
which kick-started Thom’s
The next step up is a video of your live performance. There controversial but successful
are many reasons why live videos are worthwhile. Apart from career was a winner.
anything else, potential managers and A&R execs will almost It’s also one that anybody
always want to see evidence of your live persona – either by could rip off using an online
visiting a gig in person or, better for their hectic schedules, by service provider like Ustream
watching a couple of your performances online. With prices or Livestream. Think on…
of high quality, high definition camcorders in the low hundreds rather than
thousands, asking a friend to film a gig or two should be high on your list.
Most phones will make a good stab at the job too.
If gigging for you means DJing, split the screen time between you and the
audience to capture the energy of the night. And when the camera is on you
make sure you’re doing something interesting – cueing up or scratching
a record, pummelling out beats on MIDI pads or firing up the crowd with
enthusiastic arm-waving – rather than staring at a laptop.
(Incidentally, live videos also give the artist a chance to study themself
on stage and see what improvements can be made to their performance.
Near the start of your live career you start to develop a sixth sense for the
moments when you lose your audience. By studying video, you will see what
was happening when you lost them – and what you did that got them back.)
The next-level video is a cheap and simple shoot. This can be as stripped-
back – but effective – as miming your track on location or shooting the band
in the studio. Add a second camera and a nice edit for higher quality results.
ROTTEN TOMATOES: 7 TIPS FOR BETTER LIVE VIDEOS
Ninety per cent of ‘amateur’ footage from audience hears – will be immeasurably
live concerts looks and sounds appalling, better than any camera’s built-in mic.
because of: Make friends with the on-site tech in advance
1. badly framed shots and see if it’s something they’re happy to
do – most will be. A good HD recorder can be
2. concert-goers standing in front of the
bought very cheaply.
camera
5. Ensure you have enough battery power
3. poor lighting/exposure
to get you through the gig. There’s nothing
4. overloaded/distorted sound worse than red-lining half way through a
5. and/or shaky camera work. killer set.
When it comes to shooting live, a few steps 6. If you have access to two cameras, ask a
can make all the difference: second friend to grab some ‘cutaway’ video
of people in the audience and close-ups that
1. USE A TRIPOD!
you can edit into the final video. Having a few
2. Ensure there is, and will always be, a clear of these ‘cut’ scenes that break away from
line of sight between the camera and you. the main camera feed will make the end video
3. Ensure the on-stage lighting is as good as more interesting and will show viewers that
it can be, and – critically – that the artist is you’re a cut above the competition.
inside the light pool. 7. Have a trial run at home to see what you
4. If you can, run an audio feed from the desk look like on camera and to refine your on-
into an HD recorder. This feed – the one the screen/stage persona.
Equally, if you are a talented video artist in your own right, or have the time,
patience and inclination to teach yourself, there’s nothing stopping you from
getting your hands dirty with all kinds of videos, from stop-frame-animation
to conceptual short films.
In each case the equipment is the easy part. It’s the idea that matters. And if
you’ve got a good one, there’s a chance that with a little promotion and a lot
of luck your efforts will be virally rewarded. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit – in
terms of both investment and ambition.
STEP 8: SOCIAL MEDIA

Now you have all the requisite visual imagery, a name and a biography, it’s
time to personalise your various social media pages.
With so many different sites out there, where do you start?
First, you prioritise. At the time of writing Facebook and Instagram are must-
haves. But:
a) always keep a keen eye out for the next big thing in social media; and
b) be constantly aware of controversies that might affect the health of

your chosen platform/s.
You don’t want to spend your time defending some moral or political faux pas.
Soap brand Lush, for example, ditched much of its social media rather than
face the daily onslaught of propagandists taking over the brand’s agenda.
Social media, for you, is a place to communicate with your fans, and to share
content (music, videos, photos - in that order of importance).
Choose those that allow you to upload your logo and a photo. If push comes
to shove, choose logo over image. The logo carries your name, and name
recognition is more important than visual recognition.
Your music should be uploaded to SoundCloud. Paying for the pro version
allows more customisation and storage.
Instagram is a useful additional tool if your brand is particularly visual or you
enjoy photography. It also becomes more important the bigger you are.
Finally set up your own YouTube channel and upload your live footage, and any
promo footage you’ve shot to accompany specific songs..

WHEN VIDEO
Where it’s possible to use text (in About Us sections for MAKES A CAREER
example), don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the strap-line and
biography you’ve already created. If you can, use different
Jamal Edwards, founder of
parts on different sites to avoid repetition.
SB.TV. is now a feted and
After these (and that’s already a fair amount to keep up to admired individual, frequently
date) sites like Bandcamp give you the opportunity to sell your invited to events designed to
inspire others.
music direct to fans.
If you are not a musician,
Finally, it’s worth noting that part of your job as brand but want to be involved with
manager is noticing what’s happening in the world of social music, his is a model you can
media. For better or worse, it changes with frustrating learn from.
regularity, and more sites fail than succeed. Remember Ping? It no longer costs an arm and
Or Vine? leg to buy a good hand-held
high definition video camera.
Jumping onto every new outlet may be tempting, but beware Some come equipped with
the law of diminishing returns. Maintaining a lively presence professional quality stereo
on three or four of the biggest networks is more productive microphones or with inputs to
than having lacklustre pages on three dozen. And the more plug in external mics.
pages you have to update, the less time you have to spend If you live in the vicinity of
making music. a vibrant live music scene
as Jamal Edwards did
Which is all to say: stay on top of what’s going on; ensure (Acton in West London) then
you’re on the pivotal networks, but don’t lose yourself by this is an opportunity looking
embracing every platform. to be exploited.
The great thing about music
GET YOUR MUSIC – AND BRAND – OUT THERE is that there is a constant
supply of new artists, new
songs. With your own YouTube
In addition to the sites where you create the content and channel and a Facebook
upload the music, there are showcase platforms where you page for promotion you too
will pay or be invited to be professionally filmed performing could be on your way to a 200
live (often in a studio). Among the best are Ont’ Sofa, SB.TV, million-viewed channel, an
estimated £8 million fortune
Reload Sessions, Secret Sessions and Mahogany Sessions.
and friendships with the stars.
Research these platforms carefully because they will not all be You might even end up with
suitable for your style of music. Pick the right ones. an MBE, which Jamal was
awarded in the 2015 New
SB.TV (see When video makes a career, right), for instance, Year’s Honours list.
started out as an outlet for Jamal Edwards’ camcorder-shot
videos of freestyle rapping and local grime music from the
likes of Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder.

Since then it has branched out from its gritty urban beginnings into a ‘youth
lifestyle broadcaster’ (its own description) incorporating a wider range of
music.
If you get to the point where SB.TV wants you on their channel, you are
definitely on the road to somewhere.
STEP 9: LAUNCH YOUR WEBSITE

If you’ve done all of the above, you’ll already have a pretty expansive web
presence, so why bother with a website?
It’s a good question.
The answer is stability and searchability. Your website is the one piece of
media that belongs solely to you. If you have a good URL and keep your page
up to date it is the site most likely to come at the top of the rankings when
people search your name.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF

There are some musicians who are college and seek out someone who is willing
absurdly talented across the artistic to work with you.
landscape. Yes, they may make great music, If you’re not good at face to face meetings,
but they’re also fantastic photographers and visit online forums or marketplaces like
imaginative film-makers. fiverr.com where creative people offer their
Understand that most people aren’t amazing services. You will be able to view their work
at everything. And you don’t have to be. and filter out those you don’t think will give
Your job is to be a fantastic artist, DJ, band you what you want.
member or producer. The fact that you don’t Often you’ll be able to swap skills; you write
know the difference between type leading a track for an up-and-coming film maker’s
and horizontal spacing is not going to bar you new movie and they shoot your first video.
from having a No 1 hit. Sometimes students will be happy to work for
Instead, what most musicians starting out free to help build their portfolio.
do is rope in friends or other contacts who No musician should be an island. One of the
have complementary talents to do the stuff immense pleasures of the music industry
they can’t. is that artists are able to work with other
Maybe you have a friend who not only knows equally talented people in other creative
how to design logos but already has the sectors – design, film, photography, dance.
software. If not, take a visit to your local art Enjoy the meeting of minds.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that outside of your own site, you can’t know
exactly what will happen online: a decade ago musicians were spending
hours cultivating their Myspace page, then Facebook came along and all of
that work – and all those friends – were pretty much abandoned.
It will happen again. Better to mitigate against obsolescence by having one
space that is uniquely yours – one central digital home that is entirely under
your control, which links through to all your other profiles and social pages,
but which, at the end of the day, is the hub; your true home page.
Your website should also offer something unique: artwork that doesn’t
appear anywhere else; Q&As with you as an artist; photos of your studio;
collectible demos; a blog.
There should be links from all social media to your homepage.
Most importantly of all, your homepage should have a newsletter sign-up
field where you can collect fans’ email addresses. Study after study has
shown that direct communication – email from brand to brand-lover – is
more effective than any other form of communication. It’s better than any
number of Tweets or Facebook posts.
Start collecting emails from day one. By the time you get to day 1,000, with
EMAILS: AFTER THE WILD WEST

May 25, 2018 was a big day in Europe for can collect and store email addresses, and
those storing third party data, with the how you can market to them.
introduction of the General Data Protection Even when someone has directly contacted
Regulation (GDPR). Remember that day when you by email you must still have their explicit
every website you’ve ever interacted with consent to store it and subsequently email
suddenly bombarded you with their ‘new them. One of the easiest ways to do this is
data agreements’? Yup, that was the GDPR by making it clear, when you invite email
coming into effect. contact, that you will use their email to
Post-GDPR it’s no longer the wild west days contact them with news and offers in the
of the internet, where you could collect email future.
addresses and simply send out unsolicited But it’s also important that you give fans the
marketing emails as much as you liked. opportunity to unsubscribe every time you
Do that now and you risk a hefty fine. contact them. This gives your contacts total
Although legislation governing storage control over their interaction with you, which
and use of personal data – including email is what the GDPR is fundamentally about.
addresses – is territory-dependent, most Two rules of thumb: if in doubt, don’t (email);
countries now have strict rules on how you and check your own country’s rules.
an email list to boot, you’ll have direct access to tell your fans about your new
gig/EP/T-shirts.
There are plenty of options when it comes to creating your website, from
simple template-based sites like wix.com to more tailored options that allow
you to sell your music – and even merchandise – like bandcamp.com and
musicglue.com.
AND FINALLY... IT STARTS AND ENDS WITH THE MUSIC

Some way into your branding journey it’s not unlikely that you’ll sit down,
exhausted and depressed, and cry into your Tennents Super: “I thought this
was meant to be about music!”.
When it happens, don’t lose heart.
KEEPING IT REAL (CHEAP): THE SKRILLEX STORY

Dubstep/EDM music legend and eight- Skrillex is no slouch when it comes to
time Grammy award winner Skrillex marketing, either. Prior to the launch of
(aka Sonny John Moore) claims to spend his debut long-player, Recess, in 2014,
very little money on branding and he released a mobile game that rewarded
marketing, but there’s no doubt his a certain amount of play with the ability to
phenomenal success isn’t just down to his stream tracks from the album for a limited
genre-defining music – you don’t pick up time. Not only did this showcase Recess
almost 20m Facebook fans without putting in within a fun and brand-appropriate context,
some serious, ahem, face time. it also gave the album release an ‘event’
The Skrillex brand begins with a combination quality – and garnered plenty of PR in
of innovative, edgy sounds and characterful the process.
haircut, but also centres on a general air of Perhaps most importantly, though, Skrillex
accessibility that is unusual in electronic frequently gives away music and videos via
music. SoundCloud and YouTube – you can pretty
His web presence – on his website and much qualify as a bonafide fan without
social media – is friendly and open, and spending a penny. More than that, he openly
the amount of engagement he has with suggests that those who can’t afford to buy
his fans is impressive, constantly keeping his music pirate it.
them up to date with his daily touring
What sounds like commercial suicide is in
adventures and personal life. Also
fact a clever way of positioning himself as an
instrumental in the success of brand Skrillex
anti-establishment maverick who cares more
is that, unlike many DJ/producers, he really
about his audience than his bank balance.
does handle his own writing and production,
giving him cachet as a ‘musician’s musician’ And we don’t doubt that it’s a genuine
and keeping him on side with the chin- position, either – or maybe we’re just falling
stroking set as well as the ravers. for the hype…
It’s easy to become overwhelmed by branding when the thing

that really matters is your music. BRANDING
So bear in mind, at every stage of these various processes, YOUR GUITAR
that you’re not trying to make the cleverest website, or break
Facebook records or collect more Instagram followers than Even your instrument can be
Ariana Grande (136m last time we looked). part of your branding. When
everyone else was playing a
At the heart of everything you do is the music. That’s the big Gibson, or a Telecaster, Ed
reason you’re doing this. Music comes before brand. NEVER Sheeran went for the small
the other way round. and distinctive mahogany
Martin LX1E, almost the
Which means you must take control of your branding /online bottom of the Martin range,
life. Let it work for you – not the other way round. but a great little guitar. Now
there’s an LX1E Ed Sheeran
Once everything is up and running try to limit yourself to no signature model.
more than an hour a day updating and chatting, engaging and
posting. Then get back to the music.
Because at the end of the day you’re supposed to be making
music, not reinventing the digital wheel.
CHAPTER 4
SPREADING
THE WORD
‘Anyone who knows anything about the music IN THIS CHAPTER...
industry knows it’s not only about the music.’
Isaac Hanson Before you start
Gigs & touring
‘Success in the music industry isn’t something
New music matters
that you wait for, or hope for. It is something you
The live network
create, day after day.’
Simon Tam, Music Business Hacks Online promotion
/ social media
interaction
When you see Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran or Pharrell Building your profile
Williams doing radio shows or TV interviews do you think
they just wandered in off the street and thought: “This Buying likes
might be fun”? The viral effect
Did you really think when you saw Ariana Grande looking Electronic Press Kit
bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 8.15 on the breakfast TV
sofa that this was where she wanted to be? Blogs / local media /
radio
Maybe very occasionally it is, and some artists undoubtedly
Courting the
enjoy the media spotlight more than others. But for those
who’d rather be gigging or in a rehearsal room – or pretty tastemakers
much anywhere except a TV studio getting blusher applied Pick your battles
and repeating the same anecdotes they’ve told a thousand Marketing emails
times before – the stark reality is that promotion is part of
Other ways to get
the package you take on when you become an artist.
noticed
Newcomers, and the perennially naïve, sometimes think it’s
all about the music, but they’re wrong; selling yourself is Mass media
part of the deal. A big part of the deal.
CHAPTER 4 SPREADING THE WORD
Think of all those film stars who turn up on chat shows promoting their new
film. It’s not done because they enjoy chewing the fat with Kimmel, Leno or
Ellen (USA), Graham Norton or Jonathan Ross (UK), Andreu Beunafuente
(Spain) or with Laurent Ruquier on France’s On N’est Pas Couché.
They’re doing it as part of a tightly planned schedule, rigidly staggered to
tie in with the release of their film around the world. They are repeating the
exercise ad nauseum, not only on scores of different shows but in dozens of
countries too.
They’re doing it because they’ve spent six months making the film. Now
they’re contractually tasked with spending the next few months travelling
the world and appearing on each show as if it’s the first time they’ve talked
about the film. No wonder some interviews read like celebrity car crashes.
It’s no different for music artists. Write, record, tour, promote; write, record,
tour, promote. It’s a treadmill – wherever you are in your career. And if you
see a future as an artist then you have to learn to pace that treadmill.
If you manage your time from the start to take into account not just writing
and recording, but touring and promotion as well, then your journey to the
top will become easier not only now, but also when you break big.
You can’t afford to sit around day after day being ‘creative’. Instead you’ll
need to make time to be creative because the rest of your time will be spent
taking care of your profile and brand (Chapter 3 - Your brand). Realistically,
this part of the process will take at least as much of your time as writing
and playing – and often increases the more successful you become.
Other than releasing music – which we cover in detail in Chapter 5 -
Releasing a record – building a profile as an artist typically involves working
on three distinct strands:
1. Gigs/touring
2. Online promotion/social media interaction
3. and Blogs/local media (papers and fanzines)/specialised radio.
Each of these strands feeds into the other as your profile builds. There’s no
point, for example, ploughing hours into online promotion unless you’ve got
something to promote – like a gig or new song.
When an artist’s profile increases significantly a fourth strand emerges:
4. Mass media – TV, magazines, newspapers, national radio.
BEFORE YOU START…

If you’ve read and taken action from Chapter 3 - Your brand then you’re off
to a good start. You’ve got all your assets and tools in place. Now it’s time to
start using them. Go live with your website, ramp up your Facebook profile,
start Tweeting in earnest, add songs to your SoundCloud page and upload a
track or two to YouTube.
We talk in Chapter 1 about the purple cow. Make no mistake, you are
entering an overcrowded field that gets more crowded by the day. In the
early days of a music career the size of that crowd can feel overwhelming.
So you don’t get mired down in self-doubt and demoralised by the size of
the job ahead, you can make your job immeasurably easier by doing two
things: filtering out the noise and continually moving forwards.
1. FILTER OUT THE NOISE

We’re musicians. Our job is to make noise.
But sometimes the noise made by others building their own profiles –
talking up success, posting endless selfies, adding yet another beautifully
shot video to YouTube – can drown out what really matters, which is your
own voice. And when your voice gets lost in the maelstrom it’s easy to
become disheartened, frustrated, jealous and straight-out depressed.
For your own sanity and productiveness, you have to learn early on to filter
out as much of this background noise as possible, mostly by deciding who
you are not.
There are millions of deluded ‘artists’ out there. YouTube is awash with
cover versions of pop classics by X Factor wannabees.
That is not your aim. If you wanted to be on X Factor or The Voice you
wouldn’t be reading this book. But those people are still part of the noise.
They are, in fact, the majority of the crowd you are trying to rise above.
Filter them out. Don’t waste hours on YouTube or watching X Factor.
Obsessively watching this kind of media feeds insecurity. Besides, it’s a
waste of your time. You’re an artist. You’re supposed to be creating, not
passively watching.
Sahpreem King tells a story you should take comfort from. King has a
background as a big-league producer and songwriter (a lot of his success
has been in Latin America). He also blogs.
He speaks about up-and-coming artists he meets who are so out of touch
with reality that they talk about their ‘sound’ and ‘not compromising’ before
they’ve recorded anything – let alone put out a release.
Arrogant people talking nonsense (loudly) often sounds convincing. It can
make you feel like you’re doing something wrong.
Again, filter them out. Dwelling on what others are saying and doing is a
tried and tested shortcut to crazyville. You are what matters here.
By all means look to others for PR ideas, innovative merchandising
initiatives – even songwriting inspiration. That kind of creative cross-
pollination has been the lifeblood of musicians since the first song was
sung around the stone-age camp-fire.
But don’t get bogged down in it.
The truth is that 99.9% of those you’re up against will never see the light of
day. Every day hundreds of musicians give up on their dream, falling at any
number of hurdles as you continue, head down and focussed, on your way
to the finish line.
Most of those you look on as competition are doing it wrong, have the
wrong attitude, don’t have your talent or think there’s an easy way to get
there (cue the TV talent show).
They are not on your road. Your road has a lot less traffic on it.
Concentrate on the road ahead of you, and not the ones others are on.
2. KEEP MOVING FORWARD – NO MATTER WHAT

Making a career as a professional musician is hard. But you know that.
And you’re up for the challenge. The single best piece of advice (other than
making great music, of course) for building a long-term career is to keep
moving forwards – no matter what.
The music industry demands stamina of its recruits. For many it’s a long-
hours and woefully low-paid profession, whether you’re a PR exec at a
major label or an artist delivering their second critically-acclaimed album.
For more on this, see ‘Work hard, stay focussed’ in Over to you.
But stamina is rewarded. Take the knock-backs. Get back up. Weather the
inevitable gig humiliation. Experience the creative black hole of writer’s
block. Feel the heartbreak and frustration as dreams dissolve and ambition
stumbles.
But never, ever stop moving forwards. Keep writing. Keep gigging. Keep
recording. Keep Instagramming and Facebooking. Keep talking with fans
online and off. Keep building your profile, day-in, day-out, watching as your
number of followers slowly but steadily increases.
STRAND 1: GIGS & TOURING

The best marketing tool an artist has by a long way is live performance. It
doesn’t matter who you are – band, singer-songwriter, DJ – the number
one means of establishing a profile and growing a fanbase is by appearing
in front of people and playing them your music. Jonathan Dickins, manager
of – among others – Adele and Rex Orange County pulls no punches on this
point: “The grassroots of an artist’s fanbase has been in the live side.”
It doesn’t matter where you are in your career.
Live performance is essential when you’re starting out.
Because even for the world’s biggest stars, ticket sales, rather than album
sales, is where the money lies now (see Rule #5 in our Starter for ten). U2,
for example, grossed over $700m during their mammoth two year, 110-
show ‘360’ tour – still the highest grossing concert tour in history (as of
December 2018). Demonstrating that touring isn’t lucrative only for the
middle-aged, One Direction raked in just shy of $300m with their ‘Where
Are We’ Tour. And they are not even in the top ten of biggest grossing tours.
Nor is Taylor Swift, whose ‘Reputation Stadium Tour’ grossed nearly $350m.
Finally, on his way to a new Number-One-All-Time-Grossing-Tour-Record,
is Ed Sheeran, whose ‘÷’ Tour began in 2017 and is scheduled to continue
until Summer 2019. With takings at the close of 2018 hitting $550m, who’d
bet against him?
In the DJ arena, the figures are considerably less jaw-dropping, but it’s
reckoned that in 2015 Calvin Harris earned $400,000 per almost-weekly
Las Vegas gig under contract to Hakkasan Group, proving that the (electro)
house does, indeed, always win. According to the Netflix documentary What
We Started in 2017 Martin Garrix earned $17m; Skrillex and Steve Aoki,
$24m each; Tiesto and David Guetta $37m each; while Calvin Harris ruled
the waves with $66m.
Which is to say that regardless of genre, profile and audience, the best
thing you can do to make a success of your musical career is to perform.
Everything starts here – reaching new audiences, building your fan base,
earning dollar and auditioning new songs to see what works.
There are other benefits too. Firstly, gigs are the most
successful driver of potential fans to your social media. STAGE FRIGHT
Secondly, they present the perfect opportunity to capture
Not every musician is a
material for uploading to YouTube (see Chapter 3 - Your natural on stage. A surprising
brand). number of the greats have
Thirdly, they are often the best way of getting in front of music admitted to paralysing stage
fright including John Lennon,
execs. Adele, Brian Wilson and Annie
A&R scouts may go to fewer gigs than they used to – mainly Lennox.
because they’re busy scouring YouTube, Colors, GRM Daily, Some simply don’t have the
SB.TV and Ont’Sofa. But if they’ve seen you online and are personality to get up in front
interested in you, their next step is often to see you live. of 100 (let alone 10,000)
people to play their songs.
Besides, A&R scouts get free time too. And if your passion Tragic Nick Drake, whose
is music, there’s a good chance you’ll be taking in at least recordings are now legendary,
one gig a month ‘outside of work’. Indeed there are notable couldn’t cut it live and
examples of label CEOs who visit gigs every night of every stopped gigging. It effectively
week. The Brighton band Royal Blood’s signing to Warner/ ended his career. And while
Bob Dylan still tours singing
Chappell in 2013 was the direct result of an A&R exec at the ten-minute songs he wrote
back of the room being so impressed by their performance 50 years ago and remembers
that he pretty much signed them on the spot. every word, Bryan Ferry uses a
TV monitor to check lyrics.
Let it not be understated: gigs are the holy grail of marketing.
And they don’t need to cost you a penny beyond travel So if the thought of getting
up there in front of a mic and
expenses. More than that, when you’ve established even a dozens of expectant eyes (and
small local following, gigs are able to provide a regular and cameraphones) terrifies you,
reliable source of revenue. It’s a rare win, win, win situation – you’re in good company.
clocking up cash, new fans and social media interest at the If you discover that
same time. performing live is not for
you, then all is not lost.
As such you should be gigging regularly. In the early days two Concentrate instead on
or three gigs a month is probably the minimum. writing and finding people
As you move up the ladder, you will occasionally get ripped off to collaborate with. Or
learn the skills of an engineer
– like being told at the end of the night that there’s no money or producer so that you can
for you because ticket sales went badly or no-one was buying use your talents to help other
drinks. acts shine.
You’ll learn to deal with that, and avoid those venues in future. The music industry is a
broad church with room for
all kinds of talent.
GIGGING FOR DANCE MUSICIANS

Some genres lend themselves to live performance better than others.
Singer-songwriters and bands have no shortage of opportunities to get in
front of an audience. For most of them playing with and in front of others is
second nature.
Dance music producers are in a different boat. Much of their creative work
is done alone, in a studio, in front of a computer. And while some embrace
the live scene – taking a small rig on the road – opportunities to do so are
much rarer. The logistics and costs involved make it a considerably more
complex proposition than turning up at the local open mic night with a
guitar and a couple of songs.
Nevertheless, the golden rule – that gigs offer the number one opportunity
to grow your profile – applies to dance music as much as any other genre.
After all, this is a sector of the music industry that is reckoned to be worth
just shy of $6bn a year, and a large whack of that comes from the live
sector.
Artists from Daft Punk to Deadmau5, Skrillex to Basement Jaxx show
what a well-conceived tour can do for an artist’s profile – and the financial
bottom line. And when launching an album you’d be hard pressed to find an
A-list dance artist who chooses not to tour – particularly if they’re backed
by a major label.
Lower down the pay scale, it was live vocal showcases at east London raves
that were the springboard for Charlie XCX’s career.
If the thought of packing a host of expensive hardware into a van alongside
200 MIDI cables is bringing you out in a rash, take heart from the fact that
before Daft Punk et al were doing their multinational, megabucks tours,
they were DJing.
Although taking dance music live is possible, the closest comparison to the
pub gig is DJing at a local nightclub. This platform gives the DJ/producer
the space and means to develop both their skills/set and a following. If that
following becomes large enough then doors start opening to ever-larger
clubs and festival venues as their profile increases.
That journey becomes even easier if you make your own music. A DJ
residency give you regular opportunities to play your own music in front of
TAKING ELECTRONIC MUSIC ON THE ROAD

As a producer of dance music looking to get and occasionally tweak things, or I can go
your tracks in front of an audience DJing is deeper into live and experimental territory
one thing, but recreating those tracks live and start mixing my stems with other tracks
using some form of mobile studio before the in the same key, using loopers and FX. Most
crowd’s eyes makes for a far more compelling importantly, I can play whatever feels right at
experience – for them and you. the time for that show.”
“Fundamentally, it’s the ability to tailor Technology means the lines between DJing
the experience based on real time events, and ‘true’ live performance are no longer
in a way DJing can’t,” says producer and clear cut, so it’s important to be honest in
remixer Sharooz. “If the room is losing your promotional materials about which
energy, it’s easier to inject elements into you’re offering. “It’s better to put on a great
the performance that revitalise interest. It’s DJ set than a mediocre ‘live’ set, which in
easier to customise the experience depending many cases is just a DJ set made up of the
on the crowd, room and vibe.” artist’s own tracks played through Ableton
What’s the secret, then, to creating a with no mixing,” says Sharooz. “That should
successful live show out of a studio-based never be billed as a ‘live’ show but often is. If
electronic project? “Time, experience and the studio album is widely received, it’s poor
persistence,” says tech-funk producer form to tour the album playing the tracks
Hedflux. “Gigs are testing grounds and you from a laptop. Live musicians and proper
have to learn and improve after every show. machines should be involved.
“Someone once said to me the difference “The audience pays a lot more attention if
between a producer and a DJ is that a you’re doing something more than a DJ set.
producer is there to play whatever he’s made, There are many DJs that make their sets
but a DJ’s job is to choose the right track infinitely more interesting, but to me, live
for the right moment,” he continues. “I was shows and DJ shows are fundamentally
a DJ long before I was a producer and I like different beasts. The DJ set is fundamentally
to maintain that performance style, whilst about the selection, and the live set is more
taking advantage of the extra creative and about the artistic representation of the self.
live possibilities that Ableton provides.” You can create an amazing buzz being known
as much for an amazing electronic live act as
A Hedflux set is built on a seamless blend of
for your productions.”
on-the-fly mixing/arrangement and DJing,
and while that might sound like a more To be clear, though, there’s nothing wrong
complex proposition than just doing one or with solely DJing. If that’s your only option
the other, software like Ableton Live makes don’t feel like it makes you some sort of
it easy to bring the two together. “I created a second class musical citizen. As long as
live set that has all my own mastered tracks, your music is being heard by as many people
tracks from my label and friends, and stems as possible in a live setting, it’s mission
from my own tracks so I can have the best accomplished. Hedflux concurs: “Different
of both worlds,” he explains. “I can just DJ producers are at different stages in the
and dance (dancing is an important and journey, so if the music is good, play it
often overlooked part of a DJ performance), however you want to.”
crowds. This not only provides an invaluable chance to get

real-world feedback on both mixes and arrangements, it ORIGINALS VS COVERS
also gives you access to music that other DJs simply can’t
play. The perfect scenario is that
you build your audience with
Of course not every dance producer DJs or wants to DJ, original material.
which is fine, as long as you’re interacting with DJs, getting No record label cares that
your music to them so that it is being heard in the clubs and you do a smoking note–for-
on their radio shows. note cover of ‘House Of The
Rising Sun’ or ‘Halo’, and
Approach sending your tracks out to DJs with the same care while they might be easy
and attention you do every other aspect of your musical crowd pleasers, you need to
career. When asked how he likes tracks to be submitted for do the harder work of winning
potential playing out, DJ and producer Hedflux couldn’t be audience approval for your
clearer in his response: “Send the music with a thoughtful, own material.
well written email that provides some context about you This is not to say that covers
and the music, and why you’re sending it to me. That’s much are forbidden – either at gigs
more likely to get listened to than a link and short message. or on YouTube - just that no
label is going to sign a covers
If it’s not right for me I’ll usually know within a few seconds band.
and turn it off, and I won’t reply. First impressions count.”
If you have a unique take on
Services like FatDrop allow producers, labels and PR a song that makes it
agencies to send pre-release tracks to DJs, journalists and undeniably yours, then by all
other tastemakers. But you should also be building your means go for it. Think Hall &
Oates ‘I Can’t Go For That’ as
own personal relationships and mailing lists of DJs who re-imagined by The Bird & The
appreciate your music. Bee or ‘Mad World’ which Gary
Ultimately, if your music is not being heard in the clubs by Jules practically turned into a
new song.
your potential audience you’re going nowhere fast.
But unless you’re going to
invest a cover version with a
WINNING THE AUDIENCE blindingly original new vision
then stick to your own songs.
It’s not enough to simply get gigs. It’s how you relate to the Covering a song ‘as written’ is
audience at gigs that matters. karaoke by any other name.
And here you need to be self-critical. Do you – in fact –

relate to the audience at all?
There’s one notable current touring act (no, we’re not
naming him!) who starts off with the audience absolutely on
side. They’ve heard the records; they’ve paid money to see
him. But he says very little on stage, looks like he’d rather be
somewhere else and doesn’t even acknowledge his band.

By the end of a gig, he has more or less lost the audience – and they were
his to start with. His music is critically well favoured and by now he should
be massive. But he’s not. He has no stagecraft and leaves the audience
feeling like they don’t matter.
Even among those who are widely adored by their audience, the unforgiving
proximity of performer and fans in a live context can have devastating
impacts when things go wrong. Consider the experience of techno legend
Richie Hawtin, whose apparent frustration during a New York gig in 2014
resulted in him pushing a speaker onto a fan. The social media fallout was,
predictably, a PR disaster.
It’s not enough to simply get the gig. You need to shine at that gig. Your job
as you stand before the expectant crowd is to sell your brand and music, to
convert audience expectation into pleasure; to make the audience love you –
whether they’re new to your sound or have been fans for decades.
If you manage that, then the rewards, in terms of fan-base, music sales and
your bank account, can be considerable.
GIGS DEMAND NEW MUSIC

Release new music, all the time. Write those six words down. Put them on
a post-it note above your desk as a constant reminder that your audience
won’t wait two (or ten) years while you craft your masterpiece album.
At their height, The Beatles never released fewer than two albums a year,
apart from the one year gap between Revolver and Sgt Pepper.
The singles came thick and fast too, and at least half of them were not from
albums. In other words, they kept the world’s attention with frequent and
regular new music.
Thirteen albums in seven years would be unthinkable today, but it was what
was expected back then. Even the chaotic Rolling Stones – drugs, death
and all – kept up an output of at least one album a year, 12 in the first ten
years, 22 singles in the same period.
The current paradigm of an album every two, three or even four years is
unsustainable. This is a hangover from the analogue era when the biggest
recording artists determined when they would deliver new product rather
than at the whim or demand of their record label.

In an era of digital overload and short attention spans for all but the most
super of superstars – Adele, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Beyonce, Madonna – no-
one is waiting for your new album. Indeed most music buyers don’t even
want a whole album. But they absolutely want new music.
Which means forget about the all-consuming, big-event album. Focus your
efforts instead on constant engagement, growing your fan base on a daily
basis through social media, word of mouth and live performance. Keep your
audience happy with new material. Aim for a new song every six to eight
weeks, with a video to match.
If more than two months passes between new songs, give yourself a hefty
welly up the rear: the music industry is not one that hangs around. Nor will
your fans.
BUILD A (LIVE) NETWORK

Right now, right where you live – unless you’re in some God-forsaken rural
outpost – there is a vibrant music scene going on under your nose. Get
involved; make friends; create contacts; build a network.
Seek out open mic nights, jam nights and networking events. Go and
support other musicians. Simply being out and being seen are among the
most important things an artist can do to increase their profile at this
early stage. Not only will you be forging relationships with other musicians
(which may become long-term collaborative relationships), you’ll soon get
a handle on the best places for your own live appearances when the time
comes.
If you’re at music college there are usually dozens of ready-made
collaborative opportunities. Some of your tutors will have been in
successful bands. Don’t look at them like you looked at teachers at school.
They’ve been where you want to be. Talk to them, learn from them, show
them respect. Work with other students. Even if you think you’re different or
better, it’s important to learn how to manage musical relationships.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking other artists are competition. But
that’s to miss the long and proud history of collaboration.
For example, the history of The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and
Fleetwood Mac is a history of British blues music spanning 60 years, taking

in Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, The Who, Cream and Led Zeppelin. And that barely
scratches the surface.
Then there are the various ‘local’ UK music scenes over the years that
became national and even global phenomena, thanks to the concerted and
frequently collaborative efforts of the bands involved. Obviously, there’s
Liverpool in the 60s, but beyond that, think Manchester and Bristol from
the late 80s to mid 90s: the first spawned the likes of The Stone Roses,
The Happy Mondays and The Charlatans; the second saw Massive Attack,
Portishead, Tricky, Way Out West et al blueprinting the eclectic trip-hop
genre. These bands toured together, guested on each other’s tracks and
albums and were ultimately perceived by the listening public as cohesive
creative and cultural movements, to their immense collective benefit.
No-one will deny that the music industry is competitive.
But by making the right connections and being open to opportunity it is
possible to change musical history – and secure your own place in it.
STRAND 2: ONLINE THE SECRET TO

GETTING MORE LIKES
PROMOTION/SOCIAL
MEDIA INTERACTION
When you see Adele with
her 65m Facebook likes or
Skrillex with his 20m, it can be
tempting to wonder what the
secret to upping one’s social
You’re now gigging and developing relationships in the real reach as an artist is.
world, but building them online is also critical. And though
Rumours abound about
generating likes and building your social media profile and ‘bought’ likes (for which
reach may feel like easier work than lugging kit around venues, there is some truth,
upping your number of fans and followers is often easier said discussed below) and label
than done. staff being made to interact
ad nauseum with emerging
Start by going after the lowest-hanging fruit– people who artists’ social media to make
you already know. All of your family and close friends, for them look more hyped than
example, should be following you on all relevant social media they actually are.
/ fan platforms – Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, Twitter, Forget it all. The sobering
Instagam, Bandcamp and so on – and by extension all of their truth is that the majority
friends. of likes, friends and fans
are legitimately earned by
Don’t be soft about this. Beg and borrow (but don’t buy – see becoming an artist with whom
below). Make it happen. people want to engage.
They are voluntarily given by
Think of the exponential chess board: one grain of rice on the
real fans.
first square, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the
Which means the real secret
fourth. By the 24th square there are 8,388,608 grains of rice
behind building a vast social
on the board. media following is very simple:
On the simple basis that one becomes two, and two becomes being an exceptional artist
who gigs and releases great
four, you are 18 steps away from having well over 100,000
music regularly.
followers. Of course it’s not that simple in real life. But without
Get those bits right and the
taking the first steps, you’ll get nowhere.
fans will follow.
The next lowest-hanging fruit are fellow musicians. As you
build relationships on the local scene and in your musical
niche, follow these bands and artists on their own social
media. They’ll typically follow you back (if not, a gentle
reminder never goes amiss).
Remember that musicians are all in the same boat; they know
how important online interaction is and many will like your NUMBERS TALK
tracks and comment on them. But it’s a two-way street. You
should return the favour. Put yourself in the mind of a
record label executive.
At this stage in your career don’t worry about whether a
You’re thinking about signing
Facebook friend is a genuine fan or a guitarist you sometimes one of two artists.
hang out with. A like is a like is a like (with one major caveat:
The first has 10,000 Facebook
see Buying likes, below). The more (real likes) you have, the friends, 5,000 YouTube fans
better (see Numbers talk, right). and a vibrant, regularly
Finally, if you are at college or are attending conferences, updated SoundCloud account.
there are likely to be lecturers and inspirational guest The other artist’s music is
speakers. In the time scale you’re working to, you’re unlikely better – it is more arresting,
the musicianship is
to get a better opportunity to interact with an established exceptional, the production is
industry player. Don’t hang back. Ask for their email address great and it’s going to sound
then send them a link to your Facebook profile / best YouTube amazing on radio.
video, alongside a personalised message. But they’re a recluse.
When you’ve picked as many of the lowest hanging fruit as They spend their life in the
studio polishing songs and
you can, you need to start the trickier business of adding fans perfecting mixes.
who’re not in your social, musical or family circle.
They’ve never had the time to
This is where the other strands of your profile building come set up a Facebook page, let
into their own – gig punters who like you will friend you, radio alone maintain it.
listeners who enjoy a profiled track will visit your YouTube And they’ve been way too
channel and subscribe. busy getting the music and
recording right to think about
Which is why your social media details need to be on any YouTube and SoundCloud.
and all marketing material that is sent out – from fliers and As a time-poor label exec who
business cards to Electronic Music Kits (see later in this needs a bankable artist, who
chapter). A fan who tries and fails to engage with you is are you going to sign?
unlikely to try a second time. Make the transition from gentle
interest to fan-for-life as easy as it can be. In time you will
see the benefit as real-life interaction and profile raising
transforms into social numbers.
BUYING LIKES – AND WHY IT’S NOT MONEY WELL SPENT

A few years ago stories about artists or celebrities who had
‘bought’ Facebook friends or Twitter followers popped up in
the media on a regular basis.
In September 2012, the metrics company Pagedata revealed that Facebook

had been purging ‘fake’ accounts with Rihanna losing 28,275 likes, Lady
Gaga 34,326, Shakira 26,406 and Justin Bieber 27,859.
Buying likes is easy. Just do an online search. For $40 or less you can add
10,000 fans to any of your social media platforms. Tempting, eh? More likes
gives us more apparent clout, and given the importance record execs place
on social media, it’s no wonder bands – and brands – have so regularly
succumbed to the dark side. (In 2013, even the US State Department
admitted it had been buying bogus Facebook likes, with their ‘fan’ base
rising from a respectable 10,000 to over 2.5m).
SUPER-SIZING YOUR SOCIAL CHANNELS: THE VIRAL EFFECT
So far we’ve argued for an organic approach In music terms this is typically a video
to building your social media, adding a few that is unique/challenging/fun/addictively
new fans each day as they discover your entertaining/massively offensive.
music and/or see you live.
The business magazine Forbes identified key
We’ve argued this approach because it is factors in videos that had gone viral, including
both realistic and achievable. short play times, an upbeat mood and an
But that’s to ignore the most coveted elephant inspirational mindset/message.
in the digital room. To super-size your YouTube But there’s no secret formula. The best
or Facebook fanbase you need a song, post or marketing minds might struggle to create
most usually a video to go viral. viral content, and are then left reeling when
Social virality is the digital age marketeer’s Childish Gambino racks up half a billion views
wet dream. If a video spreads like wildfire you (yes, we’ve come a long way since OK Go) with
can add millions to your fan-base in the space ‘This Is America’, or an unknown from Korea
of a few days. And it can cost next to nothing. breaks the web with more than three billion
Pop act OK Go couldn’t believe their luck when views (Psy, ‘Gangnam Style’).
the home-made, ultra low-budget video for The odds of your video going viral are heavily
their 2005 song ‘A Million Ways’ – emailed out stacked against you. Even Upworthy, the
to fans – became one of the most downloaded sharing site, has a viral rate of less than 0.5%.
videos of the time. It has clocked up around
4.5m views to date. They topped themselves If you’ve got a great idea by all means aim
in 2006 with ‘Here It Goes Again’ (over 44m for the top. Keep your video channels fresh
views) and again in 2009 with ‘This Too Shall and lively. Plough on with the daily work of
Pass’ (over 60m). increasing your fanbase, and keep refreshing
your video channel.
A piece of content goes viral when it is shared,
over and over again, all around the world. So The odds are against you hitting the viral
to have any chance of viral success you need jackpot, but it’s a racing certainty you won’t
something worth sharing. if you’re not even in the running.
But to what end? Bought fans are not real fans. They are invariably people
sitting in so-called ‘click farms’ who do nothing all day but tap thumbs-up
buttons and re-tweet comments; many aren’t real people at all. They will
know nothing about you or your music. They will rarely if ever make posts or
interact with your real fans or make YouTube comments. And they will never,
ever, buy any of your music.
In the social media industry there’s a big difference between raw numbers
and engagement. And engagement (the liking, the comments, the shares)
is what matters. It is what the big players in the industry look for when
choosing which content to feed into timelines and onto real fans’ pages.
Indeed the algorithms used by Facebook, Google, Twitter et al are being
constantly tweaked to lower the impact of pages that have artificially
ramped numbers of fans – while raising the relevance of pages that show
real interaction.
Which means that if you buy fans and Facebook or Twitter realise you’ve
done it you could find your page falling dramatically down their ‘Edgerank’
value rankings – which translates as a lower profile and fewer real fans.
In addition, when discovered, fake likes are simply deleted from a profile
– meaning in the worst case scenario you lose your investment and your
Edgerank advantage.
So save your money and your brand by keeping fans and comments real. In
the long-term you’ll be better off for it.
With social media, as with everything else in the industry, there are no
shortcuts.
Faking it is not making it.
Talent and hard graft are the drivers – and that costs more than $40.
STRAND 3: BLOGS/LOCAL MEDIA

(PAPERS AND FANZINES) AND
SPECIALISED RADIO
It’s easy to feel demoralised when faced with the vast and apparently
faceless might of the world’s biggest media organisations: the MTVs and
BBCs of this world; the New York Times and The Guardian; Q and Mojo. How
the hell do you get support from them?
And be under no illusion: get the support of these big players and your
career will shift up a gear.
But these mass media targets are for another day and another year.
At this stage in your career there is media support out there that will do far
more for your profile and that is infinitely easier to engage with.
Remember you are at the cutting edge; you are not yet the kind of long-
established artist that Apple, Spotify, MTV or your national radio network will
playlist.
The people who will give you a lift right now are bloggers, specialised radio
DJs and journalists on local and small-scale online fanzines, magazines
and newspapers.
For now – and well into the future – these are the tastemakers that matter.
IT STARTS WITH THE TASTEMAKERS

To become known in your corner of the universe, you need to become known
by these tastemakers. Each genre and sub genre has them. DJs aside,
these are typically music lovers who aren’t themselves musicians. They
have an audience and if they decide to get behind you, they will use their
influence and reach to get your music to their audience. They are hugely
important in the early part of an artist’s career.
You should know the tastemakers who are writing about, playing and
promoting the sort of music you make.
ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT

An essential part of your media For gigs:
communications is the Electronic Press Kit
– a short bio
(EPK).
– a photograph and/or logo (they can use it
The EPK is an emailable and constantly
on any in-house promo)
updated document (Word format or, better,
PDF) that distils a range of information (your – backline requirements (some venues may
assets – see Chapter 5: Releasing a record) have their own drum kit, or piano, or an
into a single place to make life easier for your integrated sound system. It’s important
growing list of media contacts. for them to know your line-up, and what
equipment you bring with you).
We hear you protesting: “But I’ve got a
website. Why do I need an EPK?” For press, off- and online:
The answer is that at this stage in your career – a short bio
you don’t want to put up any barriers between – a choice of photos (link to hi-res jpeg or
your rise to fame and the people who’ll help TIFF format, the higher quality the better)
you on your way.
– link to your latest recording/s
Journalists, radio producers, DJs and venue
managers are busy professionals. They don’t – links to online video/s
have the time or inclination to root around – link to your website
looking for information on your website or – a list of upcoming gigs.
social media.
A couple of things to note:
Anticipating their needs and fulfilling them as
efficiently as possible makes their life easier. Firstly, when compiling your EPK into a single
That’s why you need an EPK. It will make you zip file, ensure that any large files – tracks,
someone others enjoy working with. And it videos, hi res photos – are provided as links.
will pay off. Many organisations have limits on download
file sizes and no-one’s interested in stuffing
Slightly different versions of the EPK should
up their network with 50MB of your material.
be tailored to specific recipients’ needs.
Secondly, note the difference between an EPK
So, for instance:
and a standard press release (see Anatomy of
For radio stations, your EPK needs: a press release, Chapter 5). A press release is
– a short bio narrow in focus, concentrating on a specific
story (a new tour, a new release). The EPK, on
– details of forthcoming gigs (make sure they
the other hand, is a broader information pack
are gigs happening after the broadcast)
about ‘brand you’.
– a photo (even though it’s radio, presenters
Every press release should contain a link to
like to know what you look like)
your EPK. That means you’re not leaving it to
– a link to mp3/s of your track chance that the recipient will need to come
– link to your website (they can direct back you to ask for anything. It’s all there for
listeners to it). them – every time.
You should already be reading their blogs and tuning into their radio
shows or podcasts. If you’re not then it’s simple enough to do a few online
searches. Search for Top 10 (your genre) tastemakers, Top 10 (your genre)
blogs, Top 10 (your genre) radio stations, Top 10 (genre) podcasts.
Start by following your chosen tastemakers on Twitter and Facebook. Get
your name known by liking content, re-tweeting, adding comments to blog
posts. Join conversations with constructive input.
In short, leave a footprint that can be followed. Think of the web as a vast
landscape. To make your mark on it you need to become visible, developing
areas of it for yourself, and leaving footsteps in as many places as you can.
If the tastemakers find you interesting enough, they will follow you back
– which is a result in and of itself and is the first stage in establishing a
relationship.
THE NEW TASTEMAKERS

With more people making and uploading is so big that it puts on its own festivals in
music then ever before, separating the wheat Chicago and Paris and prints a real magazine
from the chaff can be maddeningly difficult, every quarter, The Pitchfork Review,
so the need for the guidance of tastemakers “dedicated to the best in long-form music
has never been greater. Although print media writing, photography, design and comics”.
still has its place, the big readerships these
It might be the biggest but PItchfork isn’t
days are to be found online among a group
the only site on the web prioritising indie and
of influential blogs and websites that every
alternative music. It’s easy to Google ‘most
aspiring musician and band should be aware
influential music blogs’ and find detailed
of.
descriptions so you can find those that suit
Chief among the new tastemakers is your style/situation best.
Pitchfork, launched in 1995 and now owned
by publishing giant Condé Nast. Generally The more disparate electronic music scene
considered to be the primary reference doesn’t have an equivalent to Pitchfork,
point for indie and music on the fringes of but Resident Advisor, which has been
mainstream, Pitchfork is renowned for the around since 2001, is probably its best-
quality of its journalism and the sometimes known online resource. RA serves up news,
make-or-break influence of its reviews on reviews, interviews and features, as well
album sales – most famously, Arcade Fire’s as documentary and performance videos,
Funeral, which “went out of print for about podcasts, and listings and ticket sales for
a week because we got so many orders for clubs around the world, including their own
the record,” according to a Merge Records ‘RA In Residence’ nights. Then there’s Attack
employee interviewed in the Chicago Tribune, Magazine, Earmilk and many others – look at
and Travis Morrison’s Travistan, which as many as you can bear and figure out which
bombed after its critical savaging. Pitchfork best suits your music and your focus.
At this early stage, whatever you do, don’t annoy them with ‘look at me!!!’-
type Tweets, or directly ask/beg them to listen to your music. They are
bombarded with these requests every minute of every day. Instead, think of
tastemakers as your equals and build a discourse based on mutual respect.
You are playing a long game here.
WORKING THE BLOGS AND MAGAZINES

You have to work out for yourself the tastemakers that are worth
engaging with. This is especially true with bloggers and publishers of
small-readership magazines. Some blogs, for example, may have a tiny
but disproportionally influential readership while others read by tens of
thousands may not make a scrap of difference to your career.
Online media, like music, has experienced its own democratisation and for
every Stereogum or Earmilk there are hundreds of barely read works-in-
progress put together by well meaning wannabee hacks with more ambition
than readers.
How do you know which is which? Look at the publication’s Facebook
following. How many likes does it have? What is the level of engagement?
How many comments accompany posts? In short, is this a tastemaker with
clout or one that’s not worth your time?
Ultimately, your gut instinct will serve you. Every major tastemaker starts
with no followers. If you like the vibe of one, go with it.
Make no mistake: bloggers have the power to make a career. Chillwave
forerunner Washed Out had been making hazy beats and uploading them to
MySpace for years before Carles from the Hipster Runoff blog championed
his music – which went on to generate interest among much bigger media
outlets, from Gorilla vs Bear to Pitchfork.
When you’re starting out, it’s more important to cultivate the blogger than
make an outright bid for coverage. Keep engaging and sooner or later the
blogger will come to recognise you as a digital friend. Once that relationship
feels comfortable, Twitter is often the best place to make a direct pitch.
Send a private message asking if they’ll listen to your track. Note that no
self-respecting blogger is going to respond to a song link left in a public
comment – that would signal to other readers that that’s the thing to do.
Learn, also, the people to avoid. One of the music industry’s most prolific
bloggers is Bob Lefsetz. Unless you’re already a long way along the path to
stardom stay out of his way. To Lefsetz, and people like him, even the most
talented newcomers are just wannabes. By the time you show up on his
radar, you’ve already made it. Full stop. Bob is not going to help you right
now, and he’s not the only one. Don’t waste your time on these guys. Yet.
The people you need to get close to are those who take pride in pointing the
way rather than those waiting until you’ve arrived.
RADIO
There are now countless on and offline radio stations and podcasts that
welcome new music from new talent, which is both good and bad news.
The bad news about this proliferation is that the majority of the more
targeted stations are unlikely to make you a star. They’re run by music and
radio passionistas but their listenerships are often in the hundreds rather
than the millions enjoyed by the BBC-scale nationals.
The good news is that it has never been easier to get onto their playlists.
MARKETING EMAILS
Your email database (Chapter 3 - Your brand) lines of text, along with links, or can be more
is gold dust. It is a direct contact list to the obviously designed newsletters made using
most committed of your fans. online platforms like Mailchimp.
Numerous studies have found that marketing At whatever stage you are in your career,
emails generate higher responses than avoid bombarding fans with mails. One every
almost any amount of social media – these two or three months is more than enough.
are people, after all, who have spent their Most importantly, give your mailers a
time filling in a sign-up form on your website, character that reflects your brand with a
not just clicking a thumbs-up button. narrative voice that speaks directly to fans.
The mailer is a piece of branding like your
You might also add addresses from your
website and Facebook page. Keep it on brand.
Bandcamp page and from fans who email you.
Be personal. And be engaging.
Create a separate ‘press’ list for tastemakers,
And remember, as we warned in Chapter
radio DJs and journalists who openly publish
3 – Your brand, to make sure any emails are
their email address.
compliant with the new rules as laid out in
Marketing emails – telling fans about a new the General Data Protection Regulations that
video, track or gig – can be as simple as a few came into effect in May 2018.
Speaking with PRS’ M Magazine, BBC Radio 6 DJ Tom Ravenscroft

said: “Getting on radio is a lot easier than it was – there are a lot more
opportunities. Back in the day there were only a handful of shows to send
your stuff in to. But now… there are so many shows.”
Not only is getting your music onto radio essential for widening your
fanbase, there are other benefits too: becoming part of radio culture is
good training for the day when you are invited to be interviewed by major
broadcasters, and you might even find a few pennies feeding into your PRS
account (see Chapter 2 - How music makes money for you) – although
note that not all internet radio stations play ball.
As with other tastemakers, you should know the stations active and popular
in your niche. When you’ve got a new track, get in touch with them. Their
raison d’etre is the championing of great (often new) music. If yours hits
the grade then they’ll want to feature it. Tom Ravenscroft again: “You need
to find DJs you think are most likely to listen to your music and like it. Send
it to them and don’t forget to badger them! If people stop sending me stuff
I’m fucked!” Indeed local and online radio are the rare exceptions of media
it is acceptable to (sensitively) bombard with your EPK and latest track/s.
When you get radio play, tell the world about it. Tweet when you are added
to a station’s playlist and link directly to the radio’s Facebook page. If they
reciprocate then you’ve added to your social media numbers and grown
another link in your ever-building ecosystem.
Finally, if you get support, don’t forget to thank the station and specific
presenter. Simple, polite steps like this make repeat play/s far more likely.
PICK YOUR BATTLES

Whatever you’re doing when spreading the word, and wherever you are in
your career, concentrate your efforts where they will be most effective.
At the lower rungs of impact, internet radio and news-style blogs are
desperate for content. Even a mediocre artist could fill their days doing
interviews – and watch their recording career come to a grinding halt.
So think carefully about where you want to direct your marketing efforts
and limited time resources: a single interview with a well-chosen, high
profile blog can have 50 times as much impact as doing a dozen or more
interviews with ‘the great unreads’.
Reserve your best content for outlets that you know will pay profile-raising
dividends. This might be an interview titbit you’ve not shared before, a new
remix, free downloads or exclusive windows (two weeks to one month)
to feature your latest material. Don’t ignore slightly leftfield options too;
publications like Music Radar and Attack Magazine feature studio tours
and interviews that concentrate on the techier side of music making. They
attract different audiences and can result in dozens of new fans.
At the same time, pay attention to the music and musicians the most
influential tastemakers are listening to. Where possible attend gigs by
those artists, introduce yourself and tell them you stopped by because Mr
or Ms Tastemaker recommended them. They’ll be impressed you took the
trouble, and it won’t be difficult to follow up your real-life meeting
by exchanging Instagram or Twitter details. Now you are online contacts
with someone being touted by people you respect and one step closer to
the tastemaker themselves.
Although such steps might feel superfluous to your goal, getting to the
epicentre of a scene – the space where the most influential bands, DJs,
managers, bloggers and tastemakers reside – gives you a far greater
chance of capturing the attention of the people critical for the next stage
in your career as almost any amount of compositional tinkering and studio
chin-stroking.
OTHER WAYS TO GET NOTICED

Music competitions are easy to sneer at, and some deserve the sneering.
But if you do your homework and pick the right ones, entering a few as you
start out can give you useful exposure – as well as the occasional prize.
Live performance competitions – The competitions to avoid are those
that only survive through the entrants’ ability to put bums on seats. They
have regional heats, to which you are expected to bring friends and family,
and you only have to attend a couple to figure out the game plan. Talent is
CROWD-SOURCING: YAY OR NAY?

Crowd-sourcing can be a good way to finance (Nirvana, Page and Plant) was the highest-
anything, from a single, to an album, to a voltage: “It should be obvious that having
tour, to merchandise. But be clear; you are gotten over a million dollars from such an
contracting with those who pay you money. In effort that it is just plain rude to ask for
return you must give them what you offer (a further indulgences from your audience, like
CD in the mail; a free download; a ticket to a playing in your backing band for free. I saw
gig), or return the cash. a breakdown about where the money went
Here’s a cautionary tale of how Crowd- and [al]most everything in it was absurdly
sourcing can be both spectacularly inefficient, including paying people to take
successful, but also backfire. It is the epic care of spending the money itself, which
saga of Amanda Palmer, which begins with seems like a crazy moebius strip of waste.”
the initiation of a Kickstarter campaign Other highlights from the breakdown included
in 2012, targeting $100,000 to cover the $250,000 for recording fees and personal
costs of her forthcoming album and tour.
debt, $15-20,000 for a design team, and
25,000 fans pitched in, passing the target
a bewildering $20 each for 1,500 vinyl
amount in six hours and ultimately handing
pressings. In an interview for Forbes in 2015
the Dresden Dolls singer, solo artist and wife
Palmer gave her side of events. “The dirty
of contemporary literature demigod Neil
secret of my Kickstarter is that it was actually
Gaiman, a cool $1.2m. The album, Theatre
a loss leader leading to Patreon... I did it
is Evil, was released later that year, the tour
almost deliberately because I wanted my fans
went ahead, and everyone who’d donated got
to trust the shit out of me and they do.”
everything they were due – but that was by no
means the end of the story. Palmer has since gone on to become one of
Prior to the tour kicking off, Palmer enraged the most successful musical ventures on
press and punters alike when, via her blog, Patreon, where, according to Forbes in 2015,
she began a recruitment drive for brass and “4,000 fans have pledged to pay her a total of
string players to join her on stage at every £30,000 ‘per thing’ – be it a new song, video
gig… unpaid. “We will feed you beer, hug/ or piece of long-form writing.”
high-five you up and down (pick your poison), The lessons to be learned from all this?
give you merch, and thank you mightily for One, if you do hit the crowd-sourcing
adding to the big noise we are planning to jackpot, make sure you’ve got enough paid
make,” she wrote. band members to put on a gig. Two, keep
Among the storm of vitriol that came her way, the specifics of expenditure to yourself. And
the lightning bolt from legendary producer three, try and keep those vinyl pressing costs
and outspoken industry grump Steve Albini under control, y’hear?
clearly not the issue. The issue is how many tickets you are
selling, with the most ‘popular’ entrants rocketing through WHEN NO PR IS A
the heats supported by their bus-load of ‘fans’ while infinitely STORY IN ITSELF
more talented artists who’ve turned up with a straggle of
semi-supportive friends fall at the first hurdle. A stark illustration of how
breaking all the traditional
So check the pedigree of the contest – if past winners haven’t PR rules can sometimes work
been heard from since they won it’s probably best to give it a wonders was the release of
miss. Beyonce’s eponymous 2013
album.
Songwriting competitions – There are many competitions
It was released without
for songwriters. Google ‘songwriting competition’ and you get
buildup, without publicity,
nearly a million results. with no announcement from
Of those million only a handful are worth entering. Here the the artist or her record label.
checks are easy enough. First, look at who’s running it. Is it a One day it wasn’t there; next
label you’ve heard of? A major drinks brand? An established day it was.
broadcaster? Second, look at other names associated with it Beyonce, by her own account,
– judges, sponsors. Organisations and companies like The Brit was terrified. We all think
of her as super-sassy and
Trust, Roland UK, Yoko Ono and BBC are no-brainers.
confident. But in her mind, the
Entering a songwriting competition in the digital age could possibility existed that no-one
scarcely be easier. Usually it’s a case of uploading your track would care.
and a few details. The only thing worth noting is that while Which is both surprising and
some are free, others demand a registration fee. Don’t let that rather sweet.
put you off – but make sure it’s money well spent. Not nearly as surprising,
though, as the fact that in
Production competitions - If your talents lie in mixing, there the era of celebrity gossip
are dozens of remix competitions happening at any one time. and news-for-sale, one of
In 2014, Rudimental put the stems of their track ‘Baby’ on the world’s biggest pop stars
SoundCloud and invited all-comers to have a go. managed to record 14 new
songs and make 17 videos
Again, check the pedigree. You don’t want to be ploughing a without anyone in
week’s worth of production work into a track that at worse the long production chain
gets a cursory listen and at best gets a barely-marketed breathing a word.
digital release which does nothing for your profile. Of course, you shouldn’t
try this at home. You’re not
Also note the small print. Some competitions are deliberately Beyonce. You need all the
unclear about the ownership of the track and it’s not unusual fanfare you can muster for
to forfeit some or all of the publishing. This may not be a each new release. But one day,
major concern – if winning is an exercise in profile-raising and maybe you will be able to test
your fan muscle.
you get tied to a label or artist with clout then a few day’s work
for no immediate financial gain may be time well spent. But
later on in your career the strings attached to winning may be too onerous
to accept.
Business cards - Just because we’re in the digital age, don’t write off
the power of the printed word. A business card with social media links is
something that looks good, shows you’re serious and has the added benefit
of being an infinitely more reliable means of passing on your contact details
than a barely legible email address drunkenly scrawled onto a napkin after
a gig. As for what to put on the card, keep it simple: your artist name, social
media URLs and an email address will usually suffice. Many companies,
like moo.com and solopress.com offer high quality, personalised cards at
competitive rates.
Flyers/posters – Live local music scenes are often surprisingly, reassuringly
old-school. Flyers and posters remain some of the best marketing tools
for filling venues. See where other artists are advertising and watch how
local venues market themselves. Likely candidates for accepting flyers and
posters include music-friendly pubs and bars, music shops and student
halls and unions’ notice boards.
Industry events – The proliferation of industry events worldwide – think
Amsterdam Dance Event, which will be 25 years old in 2020; think IMS
Ibiza; think South By Southwest (SXSW), Austin, Texas – has been one of
the trends of our age. Not only do such events offer networking with fellow
artists, they also offer access to industry professionals. A business card
taped to a USB Flash Drive of your music placed in the right hands could
transform a career.
Thinking outside the box – Here comes that purple cow again...
Nothing makes a bigger splash than a unique marketing idea executed
well. It’s not for everybody but if you have the right mentality and plenty
of stamina you might try to do something so totally off the wall that it’s
almost guaranteed to bring you attention.
Imogen Heap, for example, delivered a media and kudos double-whammy in
2011 by crowd sourcing sounds and even lyrics for her forthcoming album
Sparks. The idea was simple enough: engaging with her audience while
simultaneously fuelling her creativity. Because the idea was new, the media
picked up on it, backed it, and sent interest in her to a new high. Her fans
loved it.
When brainstorming these kinds of ideas, don’t let the nagging doubt of
cynicism set in. Anything should be fair game. Indeed, by definition, you
need to be thinking outside the box to find an original idea in the first place.
Here’s one idea: set yourself a target to visit every pub in the country called
The Rose & Crown and play a 20-minute set. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s
a nice enough idea that’s likely to generate a lot of media and social media
interest across whole swathes of the country.
The exercise requires careful research and planning. Before you start you
will need to check, for example, that a good percentage of landlords will
welcome you to play, and that the pub name you’ve chosen doesn’t mean
you have to play 200,000 gigs to achieve your goal. You need at least a
sporting chance.
When you’ve got an original but achievable plan in place start announcing
your intention to local media – newspapers, pivotal bloggers, radio stations.
Back that with additional PR from music publications.
Although it might be difficult at first, after your first month on the road,
interest will grow, with people becoming ever more impressed with your
commitment.
A realistic goal by the end of your journey would be to have generated
enough publicity that you’re being invited onto local radio and TV stations.
(It goes without saying that you can’t leave the PR to third parties alone.
You should be blogging yourself from every pub you go to, adding pictures
of supporters to Instagram and uploading video diaries and gig clips onto
YouTube as you travel round the country.)
Yes, there’s a lot of work involved even with this relatively easy idea.
But if the concept itself is solid, different and engaging, and you give the PR
the time and dedication it needs, a short period of very hard graft may be all
you need to put yourself on the map.
The key – always – is that original killer idea.
Get that right and the rest will follow.
STRAND 4: MASS MEDIA

Unless you’re one of those brave souls who migrate to the nearest capital
city because that’s where the action is (we’re talkin’ ‘bout you Ed Sheeran),
you will follow in a long tradition of building a following locally before
spreading your wings.
Try to never forget your roots. Early (and local) fans are worth their weight
in gold. They’ll back you forever, touring the world as you move to the big
time. Lose them and you’ll be immensely poorer for it.
Treating them mean is also downright stupid. The last thing you want when
you’re a global star is for the national press to start snooping around your
home town and being told what an ungrateful bastard you are and how you
dropped your home following the moment the charts beckoned.
At the same time, the ambitious artist’s roadmap is one of transitions:
from local to national to international. And while the support of a few local
venues and bloggers is enough to shore up early fans, to step up a level
you’ll need to engage with mass circulation magazines, national and local
radio and TV – each of which requires a far more sophisticated approach
than the one you’ve adopted to make yourself a local big-shot.
If you want to know how hard it is to get yourself heard at the national
level, try getting any kind of traction at all from a music journalist on a
daily newspaper. These are busy people with not enough hours in the
day to identify the next big thing. Instead they rely on a close network of
people they trust – record companies, long-time PR mates, even festival
organisers – to feed them the names of new acts.
National radio stations present an even tougher target. To get their
music heard record companies employ pluggers, specialist promotions
people with balls, egos and livers of titanium whose job it is to nurture
relationships with programme producers and presenters and then to push
the records that are scheduled for release months down the line.
In other words, there is a massive filtering system for mass media which
you are unlikely to get near without dedicated PR.
Fortunately by the time you’re ready for transition to the next level you
should have that in place already. By which point all we can say is welcome
to the big time.
CHAPTER 5
RELEASING
A RECORD
‘Initially, the record industry struggled a lot with
digital media because there are a lot of aspects IN THIS CHAPTER...
to it that can potentially destroy our industry.’ How the majors do it:
a case study
Paloma Faith
The self-release
When to self-release
The record industry generally gets a bad rap – a lot of which
has been well-earned.
Why self-release
One of the biggest complaints in recent years is that it was How to release your
failing to keep up with the digital age. music
There was some truth in that, of course, as we witnessed
Digital
the industry dive from its high of $30bn to a low of $15bn Aggregators
a year. Now it’s climbing again, and one of the reasons Streaming
for the recovery is that the industry has learned to use Let’s get physical
digital media to build campaigns around the release of new
material, whether it’s a single or an album. Countdown to
In the first half of this chapter we take a break from do- release –
it-yourself and tell you how the pros do it – starting with a A step-by-step guide
real-life case study.
Then we show you how you can adapt some of this
know-how to make the best of your own music when you
release it into the wild.
CHAPTER 5 RELEASING A RECORD
HOW THE MAJORS DO IT: A CASE STUDY

There’s an enduring stereotype of record companies being staffed by
psychologically flawed, egocentric, drugs-fuelled narcissists. If that’s
true (and occasionally, it is) they are also high-functioning. Because the
logistical precision and multi-departmental co-operation that is required to
break even a lowly emerging artist’s new single is remarkable.
Record releases are finely-tuned operations, rigorously timetabled across
many months, with numerous teams contributing their skills to that
nail-biting day when the record goes live.
The bigger the artist, the more impressive the behind-the-scenes build is.
Star players from the marketing, PR, promotions, plugging, video, design
and social media departments add their own individual brush strokes of
genius to the final artist-led masterpiece.
The release of Daft Punk’s 2013 album Random Access Memories offers a
textbook example.
It had been close to a decade since the duo’s previous studio album,
Human After All. Fans were wondering if the duo had hung up their helmets
for good. Cue one of the music industry’s most celebrated PR builds of the
past decade.
In January 2013, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – one half of the duo –
announced that a new album was on its way.
Then a carefully measured promotional campaign, to cover territories
worldwide, began.
Media old and new were used to appeal to as wide a fanbase as possible.
Billboards and TV spots (including a 16-second commercial during an
episode of Saturday Night Live) revealed first the album title and then the
release date. Online speculation went into overdrive.
On 3 April, the official Random Access Memories website launched
‘The Collaborators’, a series of documentaries about the album and its
contributing musicians. It reflected the duo’s values (aka Story) perfectly:
a passion for cinematography coupled with old-school musicality and the
classic recording techniques that would infuse the album. Clips spread
across the internet like wildfire.
Later the same month the PR machine stepped up a gear. A video preview
for lead single ‘Get Lucky’ was screened, unannounced, at the Coachella
Valley Music and Arts Festival in California. It was a master stroke: iPhone
videos from the event were uploaded to YouTube and hype stepped up a
level. To take advantage of the stoked hunger, the single ‘Get Lucky’ was
released a week later.
The result? ‘Get Lucky’ became the band’s first UK No. 1 and the most-
streamed new song in Spotify’s history to that point.
Not only were the single and subsequent album critical and sales
successes, but the ‘less is more’ marketing build has become a case study
in not only how to launch an album, but also how to revitalise an artist’s
image and fortunes.
Nor were Daft Punk the only beneficiaries: Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder
and Pharrell Williams also received boosts and/or revivals to their careers.
COMMON THREADS FROM MAJOR AND INDIE RELEASES

While a release like ‘Get Lucky’ might feel a million miles away from the kind
of campaign you can pull together, two things about it matter.
Firstly, the mega-success of the release shows that talk about the music
industry’s demise had been wildly overstated.
Secondly, looking at the campaign can help you understand the mechanics
of even the smallest-scale release – what should happen and when.
Because although there’s no such thing as a typical single release, there
are threads common to almost all releases – on both indie and major
labels, and across almost all genres – that can be drawn upon when putting
together your own release schedule.
Here are the most important threads:
1. Particularly with new artists, the single is primarily a promotional tool.
As sales of music declined, the biggest victim was the single. Over time,
record companies learned to view it as a promotional tool rather than as a
revenue stream.
The single plays a crucial role in building an artist’s brand and

fanbase, raising awareness of the artist and their upcoming WHEN ALBUMS
gigs and tours. It also supplies momentum in the run up to an AREN’T THE END POINT
album release.
In the mainstream singles are
Done right the results can be spectacular, witness Dua Lipa’s
part of the build towards an
‘New Rules’ – over 1bn streams on Spotify alone; and 1.5bn album release.
views on YouTube. Once again, the record industry shows its
That mindset doesn’t
resilience and adaptability, meanwhile helping to show you the dominate among indies.
way to turn a negative into a positive.
In dance music, for example, a
2. For labels, a single is often a loss leader. label may drop an artist single
or EP three or four times a
Because the single is mainly a promo tool, the amount of time quarter – with no album on the
and energy that has to be put into servicing it – coupled with horizon at all.
the small amount of income it is likely to claw back – means Here the purpose of the
most singles lose money for their label. But this isn’t viewed singles is different. They
as a problem if that loss is recouped elsewhere – through aren’t building towards an
album sales, for instance. Or if the artist is signed to a 360 album. They are, instead,
servicing DJ needs,
deal (see Chapter 8 - The record deal), from touring and
continually building an artist’s
merchandise revenue. (Note that it is still lucrative to be the following and generating
writer of a hit single.) regular incremental radio play.
3. The single is only a part of the release. When crafting release
schedules, context is
When discussing releases, today’s label bosses like to talk everything and the ‘all geared
about ‘assets’. The video is an asset. The press photos to for the album’ model is only
accompany the single are assets. The mixes are assets. Even one of many.
the single itself is an asset. Sure, the song is the prime asset If the end point is an album
– without it the rest is meaningless. But whereas 70 years ago release, as it is with many
the single was all that mattered, and 20 years ago it was the majors, then all activity and
momentum needs to build to
video and the single, today the single shares the limelight with
that moment.
its video, social media campaign/s, viral marketing memes
But in genres where an album
and on and on and on...
is unlikely to recoup costs,
4. A single is part of the artist’s Story. a rolling release schedule
designed to steadily build an
In Chapter 3 - Your brand we talk about creating your Story. artist and their brand is likely
When professional marketeers and PR people get their hands to be more more effective.
on an artist’s Story, they weave it into everything. And they
add to it with each new release. Think of each new release
as a chapter in a book – part of that wide Story. Is this latest
chapter about a comeback? Or is there a special guest

performer on the track? The Story weaves through the HYPING THE
assets and marketing collateral. Every piece of publicity DISTRIBUTOR
around the single must say the same thing, repeat the same
message – tell the same Story. For indie labels in particular,
there is an important middle
5. For the industry, ‘release day’ isn’t what it used to be. man in the process of selling
It used to be simple. Labels would ramp up their activities music – the distributor.
towards ‘release day’ – the Monday that the single would These operations are crucial
go onto the shelves of HMV, Our Price, Woolworths, Tower to physically delivering
CDs and vinyl to high street
Records and so on. Yes, there would be radio support and
retailers.
some video trails beforehand to build interest – maybe even
Distributors are as keen as
a Top of the Pops exclusive – but all was building towards
anyone else to back winning
release day. horses. Getting them to
That model is now history. Today ‘release week’ typically support product with shelf
space, banners or profiled
occurs mid-way through the schedule, with the release
release placement involves
of different formats (download, stream, video) staggered the label persuading the
across different platforms and stores over several weeks. distributor that a release is
Instead of all efforts focussed on one day, bursts of activity worth getting behind.
peak throughout the 12- or 16-week campaign as the song The distributor has had the
is drip-fed to new platforms. heads-up 12-16 weeks ahead
of release. After that they’ll be
With the song widely available, the final ‘impact week’ (which updated with regular progress
used to be release week) is little more than a notional end- reports from the label: “We’ve
date to the campaign – of more importance to press activity got an interview with NME”,
than to the availability of the single. The only hangover from “We’re adding 10,000 YouTube
the past is the fact that impact week often remains the week views a day,” and so on.
that physical product hits the shelves (and labels start to see The label needs to excite
the income impact of their work). them – show them tangible
evidence of the record’s
Not that any of this matters to the consumer – all they are gathering momentum.
meant to be aware of is the ever-building excitement around Eventually, the distributor
the single, with radio, TV, blogs, press and maybe a tour all will start making calls to
contributing to a maelstrom of love for the single and artist. the retailers. If the label has
stoked enough interest in
That’s the plan anyway... their new release, those calls
will lead to retail support.
6. The single remains the most important device to build
hype around an artist.
Singles sales may have plummeted. And the charts ain’t what
they used to be. But the age-old single remains the most
effective instrument the industry has for getting new music in front of
the public for the simple reason that it has always been an easy focus for
radio stations, and remains an easy focus in the worlds of audio and video
streaming.
It’s the supreme peg on which to hang a marketing campaign. It’s a
shortcut to a flurry of radio airplay. If it streams huge, like ‘New Rules’, it
can sell a whole tour. It can signal the rebirth of a band/brand. It can build
hype towards a high-grossing album.
It can do each and every one of these things at the same time, rewarding
loyal fans and garnering new ones in the process. And even as the tectonic
NO SUCH THING AS A FIXED SCHEDULE

Release schedules are rarely fixed. impact and making decisions off the back of
Dance music schedules are particularly it too – from whether to go to hard copy (a CD,
flexible, with new singles – and the timelines or even vinyl), to increasing the promotion
that govern release – constantly being and marketing spend.
tweaked to respond to market feedback. Constant feedback reduces the risk of
The first activity around a dance single is to potentially costly mistakes.
get DJ feedback. If feedback is awful then it’s It also allows marketing and promotional
not unusual for a label to shelve a release. activity to be shaped on the fly. If the single’s
But if DJs back it then the single can be proving a triumph on the underground but is
further tested in the clubs. If it doesn’t failing to impact on radio, for example, the
connect here, again, a label may decide not label may throw more money at their plugger.
to pursue it.
There are lessons here for the self-releasing
If it is blowing up, a label has enough evidence artist.
to suggest they may be onto a winner. They’ll
Firstly, be flexible. No release schedule should
find extra cash to start promoting the single
be set in stone. Instead it should be shaped
among tastemakers. If they love it too the
on the fly to respond to the single’s journey
green light is likely to be given to spend bigger
bucks on video assets, social media and through the schedule.
pluggers ahead of a proper release a month or Secondly, keep thinking about the bottom
so down the line. line. If an artist suddenly gets an invite onto
On its journey, the record’s impact is being Jools Holland, the label should be thinking
measured every step of the way, with execs how that can be exploited. Could a new ‘Jools’
constantly asking: “Is it doing well enough to mix be made available?
justify more time and cash investment?“ It may be a cliché, but it’s a jungle out there.
This ongoing measurement of impact is not Think of yourself as a guerilla warrior. Keep
the sole domain of indie dance labels. Major moving. Think on your feet. And make sure
labels are continually measuring a single’s you – or your release – don’t get stuck.
plates beneath the industry are torn apart, the humble single continues to
deliver the goods, week after week after week...
7. Singles generally work around a 12-week cycle.
A cycle is the length of time between the start of a single campaign and the
end.
Among majors that cycle is typically 12 weeks.
Sometimes it is extended to 16 weeks. Rarely will it be less.
Different genres require different cycles: a dance single might only need
10 weeks while chart-aimed pop/rock typically requires the whole 12–16
weeks. At the end of the 12–16 week cycle, the next cycle begins to service
the next single (typically leading to an album).
8. Be patient. The world isn’t waiting for your album.
Watching the development of artists like Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, Mabel and
Sigrid you’ll see it can be two years and several singles before an album
release. In fact, in Sigrid’s case, she had been working towards her first
album for nearly six years. Dermot Kennedy and Grace Carter both had sell-
out tours in 2018 with no album in the bag. The world is not desperate for
your album. And in the age of streaming, no-one’s dropping the needle and
listening from track one to the end. In the 21st century an album is simply
a collection of single tracks, some of which might stream big, while others
barely get a listen.
THE SELF-RELEASE
If you’re one of the tiny percentage of acts that catches the eye of an eager
A&R scout early in their career then releasing your own record will never
cross your radar. Every step of the way will be taken care of for you in the
ways described so far in this chapter. The team supporting you will work
alongside you to make the best of your music within their budget.
If you’re not in that camp self-release offers a means of getting music onto
the world stage – not just into boutique online stores but also to the big
players like iTunes and Spotify.
As such, self-release offers not only an event around which to build
marketing but also a means for you to generate income.
The good news is it’s never been easier to release a record. Anyone and
everyone can do it.
What’s hard is pushing through the noise, getting people to stream or buy
in sufficient numbers to make an impact.
Those two challenges are tackled, and comprehensive plans to combat them
laid out, in Chapter 3 - Your brand and Chapter 4 - Spreading the word.
Here we look at the how and why of self-releasing, starting crucially, with
when.
WHEN TO SELF-RELEASE
A good time to self-release is when you’ve recorded something worth
listening to that is recorded and mixed to a high enough standard.
The ‘worth listening to’ bit is inevitably subjective. We all think we’re brilliant
or we wouldn’t be writing songs and trying to get ourselves heard.
But you need to be realistic. Releasing a track requires work, time and at
least some financial outlay. All of that is wasted if the track is bad – or even
just a bit meh.
More than that, by releasing substandard music you are doing your brand –
and subsequently your career as an artist – no favours at all. Once a track is
released it is a part of your Story and a part of your hiStory.
The number one reason demos are binned by A&Rs is because the music
and playing on them is not up to scratch.
So save yourself time and effort. Speak to trusted friends – preferably
friends who also make music. Seek honest feedback. If and only if you get a
thumbs up from the majority should you commit to releasing a track.
‘A high enough standard’, on the other hand, can be measured more
objectively.
The difference between a good and bad recording and mix is worlds apart. A
good mix will reveal colour, life and movement in a song’s arrangement.
The relationship between the artistry of the song and the craftsmanship
of the recording and mix can be usefully summed up by this formula:
Great song + Great recording/performance + Great mix = Great prospects.
There are exceptions, but the number of great songs mixed badly (or kick-
ass mixes of songs that should never have made it past the rehearsal
room) is very small indeed.
ABANDONING YOUR ART FOR THE SAKE OF A CAREER

The flip side of releasing a track too early six in one go – so take it one track at a time,
is not releasing it at all – because you’re a finishing them ready for release.
compulsive tinkerer or a perfectionist. Remember that sites like SoundCloud give
If you’re either you’re in good company. There you the ability to overwrite old versions of
are plenty of musicians in both groups, and songs, so you’re not committing forever when
having a perfectionist streak means you’ll you hit the upload button.
always be pushing to better your artistic
Of course formally releasing a track (on
output.
iTunes, for instance) doesn’t give you that
But there’s no point being a legend in your option. But if you end up unhappy with it
own head. Endlessly refining your sound, at least you have the bar set for your next
editing your lyrics and tweaking mixes is fine release. And even the world’s best artists
– up to a point. bemoan the quality of early work.
But somewhere down the line you need to free The polar opposite to the perfectionist is
your music from the confines of your studio the impetuous, who cannot wait for the world
and let it stand on its own two feet. to hear their latest work of heartbreaking
Remember, no artist has ever built a career genius.
from a hard drive full of song ideas that no- They, and all of us, can take comfort from
one ever hears. the maxim that has guided artists for
Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of work generations, credited to anyone from E M
that, say, five or six tracks presents. You are Forster to Leonardo Da Vinci: “A work of art is
better off releasing one track a month than never finished. It is merely abandoned.”
(If you’re interested, one noteworthy example of a great

song mixed badly is Metallica’s 1998 single ‘One’, with its DANCE & HIP HOP:
surprisingly timid drums and all-but-non-existent bass. THE EXCEPTIONS
In his review of the ...And Justice for All album AllMusic’s THAT PROVE THE RULE
Steve Huey commented on the record’s “weird, bone dry
production” and “cold, flat sound”. Engineer Fleming Advice about picking a studio
Rasmussen, who oversaw the studio recordings, laid the and producer assumes that
blame for the sound of the final mix squarely with producers you are a band or an artist
with a backing band.
Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero. “Don’t ask me what
happened because I wasn’t there (during the mix),” he If you’re a singer-songwriter
with a nice microphone and a
observed in Richard Buskin’s Classic Tracks, “but it certainly
well-treated space there’s no
sounded a lot fatter when we recorded it”.) reason why you can’t get good
When starting out most musicians lay down demo tracks results recording at home.
and perform basic mixes on a laptop. This is fine when you’re Equally, few dance producers
refining your craft. And uploading a few self-mixed demos – who either mix ‘in the box’
or with a small selection of
(clearly labelled ‘demo’) to SoundCloud is a formative part of
outboard – ever require the
establishing your identity in the early days. services of a pro studio.
Plenty of artists use that same home setup to record Hip hop lies somewhere in
tracks ready for self-release. If you have an engineer’s the middle. While most of
mindset and a reasonably equipped project studio then by the production work usually
happens in a home studio, a
all means go for it. The Producer’s Manual (you can buy it
professional space may be
at attackmagazine.com) outlines all you need to get great hired for vocals.
results at home.
In the end, as long as the
But if you’re a band, with drums to record and high energy quality of the final mix is high,
guitarists with powerful amps, you will probably be better off it doesn’t matter where it
takes place or who does it.
finding a local studio with an engineer who understands your
needs. The demands of signal fidelity and audio separation, But in all cases the need
for independent mastering
along with the skills and equipment required to, for example,
is recommended. A good
mic up a drum kit, mean that getting even passable results mastering engineer may
using a home setup is tough. comment on your mix and
advise how to make it better.
Once you’ve recorded the raw tracks you’ve got three options
when it comes to mixing. You can: But above all, the mastered
track will be finalised at the
– mix the song at the same studio using their in-house mix correct level for all media
engineer, – broadcast, download,
streaming – and with added
– take the bounced ‘stems’ (separated audio files) home with gloss and cohesion that takes
you and mix the song yourself, or it to a new level.
– send the stems to a third-party producer for them to mix.

THE LIVE RECORDING
The mixdown makes a huge difference to the final sound of
the record – as Metallica found out with ‘One’ – and a poor
The best kind of release is
choice of producer or mix engineer can ruin even a brilliantly almost always a new track,
recorded song. professionally mixed and
It’s not difficult finding an experienced mix engineer or mastered (the so-called
‘studio release’).
producer. Ask around in local music circles. Do an online
search for ‘freelance producer’ or ‘mix engineer’; search But there’s another option:
the live recording.
the mix engineer listings at fiverr.com. Not only are there
hundreds of producers who’ll take your stems and mix them, In Chapter 3 we describe how
it’s possible, by plugging an
there are also dozens of ‘virtual studios’ offering a range HD recorder into the sound
of services from recording and mixing to overdubs using desk at a gig, to get decent-
in-house session musicians. Look on Discogs to see who sounding live recordings.
produced records you like the sound of, so you can reference That means if you don’t have
them when discussing the sound you’re after with your the time or inclination to
prospective engineer – or even hire them yourself if you can learn how to record yourself
afford it. at home, nor the money to
go into a professional studio,
The challenge when looking for a producer is to find someone your live performance offers
who gets your music. It’s not enough that they’re a Pro Tools an alternative source of
wiz with a vintage Neve console in their to-die-for studio. material for fans.
The same stringent quality
It’s far more important that they’ve worked on records in a rules apply to live recordings
similar genre to yours and share your vision for what you as studio ones – which will
want the mix of your music to achieve; production is, after all, mean good equipment, an
an integral aspect of your brand. Do you want your sound to experienced mix engineer and
be aggressive and powerful or haunting and ethereal? Do you top-notch performances from
admire the slick production style of Mark Ronson or are you the act/band.
after a more lo-fi Washed Out kind of sound? But if you get it right and
market it accordingly (fans at
If the producer doesn’t understand your vision then you risk gigs are often a good market
the frustrating outcome of a well-mixed track that just isn’t for live CDs), live recordings
you. Picking the right producer from the start and clearly can fill the blanks in a scanty
communicating what you’re trying to achieve will minimise release schedule – and add to
the financial bottom line at
the risk of (expensive) heartache. the same time.
When you’ve got a mixdown you’re happy with, it’s time to get
the track mastered.
Ever listened to one of your demos alongside a commercial
mix and wondered why yours sounds so goddamn quiet?
That’ll partly be because your track isn’t mastered.

Mastering is the last-in-line process that brings a track up to a similar
loudness level to other commercial mixes while also correcting tonal
problems and adding a final subtle sheen of polish to the mix. It is best
performed by a specialist mastering engineer, and while producers and
mix engineers may offer a mastering service, the skillset and experience
required is different.
Every track’s mastering needs are unique and will depend on both the
medium you plan to release on (mastering for a vinyl releases involves
different processes to mastering an mp3) and, to a lesser extent, the genre
of music you make. This, taken alongside the high level of skill required to
get a good job, means that we argue the case, in Chapter 7 - Your team,
for using a professional. Since you can get a track mastered at Abbey Road
for under £100, or a whole album for under £400 by the guy who mastered
Led Zeppelin’s digital reissues – and do it all online – why would you risk
anything less than the best?
All of the above is a long-winded way of answering the opening question
over when it’s right to self-release.
The answer can be summed up succinctly as follows: the time is right
to self-release when a track is good enough to sit alongside other
professionally recorded and mastered tracks.
A second – equally important – answer to the same question is regularly;
every other month at least. For more on this, see Chapter 4 - Your brand.
WHY SELF RELEASE?

The obvious answer to the obvious question – other than to get your great
music out there, of course – is To Make Some Money.
And if you’ve got a loyal fan-base that’s as good a reason as any.
But it’s not the only answer by a long way.
As touched on in the introduction, releasing a new track is one of the best
marketing hooks in the book.
It’s a self-made story that justifies – indeed demands – a press release and
as much social media noise as you can make. If you’ve got an established
relationship with tastemakers then your new release is an excuse to get

radio play and onto the blogs that matter.
Releasing a track is also a good way of signalling your intentions.
Particularly in the early days of a career, making your music available to buy
is a key step in creating a complete picture of a savvy, engaged and creative
artist.
When record label A&Rs and/or managers start taking an interest, the fact
that you have tracks on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and elsewhere, and a
video or three on YouTube, demonstrates that you take yourself seriously.
More importantly, it demonstrates that you recognise this is a business,
and that you – like they – have a realistic and commercial turn of mind.
Collectively, then, self-releasing a single does four important things, not
necessarily in this order:
1) builds your profile
2) builds your fanbase
3) demonstrates to labels that you’re a horse worth backing
and
4) makes money.
HOW TO RELEASE YOUR MUSIC

Don’t get confused between uploading a demo to SoundCloud or putting
your music for sale on Bandcamp and a commercial release.
A commercial release is the real deal, and requires availability through
all recognised outlets, including Spotify and Apple Music, and download
sites such as iTunes and Amazon. Streams and sales numbers also count
towards chart positions.
There are all sorts of companies out there beckoning to you, telling you how
easy it is to commercially self-release. Here’s the reality...
YOU NEED AN... AGGREGATOR

If only, you say, there was a service that could get my music into the big
digital stores...
You are in luck. Such services do exist. They are called aggregators.
An aggregator is a distributor with enough product to warrant its own deal
with the big stores.
Their job is to ‘aggregate’ (collect) digital product from tens of thousands
of individual artists and small labels then place that music for sale on
download and streaming platforms. Think of them as middlemen that take
your music and, using their industry clout, get it onto the digital shelves of
all important outlets.
Not all aggregators are created equal. Each one has different deals with
different download stores and streaming sites (see You only need one
aggregator, below). They also offer the artist a variety of additional deals
and services at different price points.
Emubands, for example, offers a simple distribution service for a one-off
fee and no annual re-registration. It’s a no-frills service that will get you
everywhere you need to be.
Other sites offer add-ons for a price.
Ditto, for instance, offers a series of packages at different prices - simple
promotion, a press campaign, or a full three-month press and publicity
package to support your release strategy.
We’re not here to recommend one aggregator over another. It’s up to you
to weigh up each offering’s strengths and weaknesses and choose the one
that works best for you and, crucially, your music. Chat to other musicians,
read reviews – do your homework before signing any paperwork.
Think carefully about what you need for the specific release as well. If
you already have good marketing and promotion going on then your only
requirement is likely to be having your music accessible - you’ll be the one
driving your audience to it.
Financial circumstances will also inform the decision. If you’ve spent all
your money on recording and mastering then you’ll probably opt for a
service that charges nothing to get your tracks up for sale but which keeps
15% of the income your music generates.
Most aggregators explain their deals in fairly straightforward
legalese-free language, but you still need to understand the deal and
check the small print. It costs to get music into the major digital stores
and aggregators need to cover those costs; they either do this by charging
one-off fees or by taking a cut of royalties – or a mix of both.
Some aggregators add an annual fee for keeping your product online.
Watch out for this. It’s annoying to log in to your distribution account only to
find your album listed as ‘Taken down’ because you forgot to pay the fee.
YOU ONLY NEED ONE AGGREGATOR. CHOOSE CAREFULLY.

In the world of aggregation, things have extra payment – marketing and promotional
changed radically in the past few years. You tools. Ditto and TuneCore are other names
used to make your choice, pay your money, you’ll comes across.
upload your tracks, and there they were, for EmuBands is a choice for high-level
everyone to see. professionals, so is definitely worth
But some aggregators have now introduced investigating.
an A&R policy. They want to hear your music But do your homework. Some aggregators
and check your profile. If you don’t measure charge a one-off fee; others take a fixed
up, they turn you down. AWAL (Artists commission on all your sales. Google ‘music
Without A Label), a long time favourite for the aggregators’ and take your time to read
unsigned, has gone down this path. reviews of the different services. Some have
But others haven’t. CD Baby, for example, poor reputations. Choose wisely.
started in 1998, originally to distribute And if you think an aggregator with an A&R
independent musicians’ CDs. It still offers that policy would be great for you, at least give
service, but now as part of a total package of it a shot. Rejection is part of the game; and
release into the digital ether, including – for acceptance is always a joyful affirmation.
DANCE MUSIC: SPECIALIST RETAILERS (‘THE BEATPORT FACTOR’)

In terms of dance music kudos, Beatport pretty much rules. Sites like Juno,
Traxsource and TrackItDown offer useful additional sales and profile.
But speak to any sector industry insider, and even three years ago they’d
have pointed you to the bigger fish that was iTunes. Committing exclusively
to Beatport would have stopped you progressing to iTunes. The same
principle applies today as streaming takes pole position.
Even today, with iTunes apparently sliding into oblivion, its hundreds of
millions of download sales still dwarf the specialist sites.
So don’t tie yourself to the specialists. A two-week exclusive with Beatport
might see you into their charts, gathering a chunk of sales income and
also, crucially, generating a useful PR boost. But if you really want to reach
a mass audience, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and even iTunes (for the time
being) are must-haves on your release schedule..
THE LEGALS OF AGGREGATION

The legal side of aggregation shouldn’t be Other aggregators require a simple 30-day
onerous. The agreement you are asked to notice. So, worst case, if you’re not happy
sign typically contains no more than a few with your aggregator choice, you won’t have
paragraphs of easily understood language. to put up with it beyond the first year.
As far as exclusivity goes, you only need You, as a self-releaser, own all the
one aggregator, so choose the best for your copyrights* so there is no complication
needs. Hedging your bets with multiple with who owns what. In any aggregation deal,
aggregators has no advantages – your music you retain ownership. If you are asked to
can only appear on iTunes once. Same goes assign rights elsewhere, you’re talking to the
for any other store or streaming service. wrong aggregator.
Ending the deal is simple too. If you’ve paid an *Except if you self-release cover versions of
annual fee, just contact them six weeks or so other people’s songs. A kosher aggregator
before the next fee is due and tell them you will require proof that you have registered the
won’t be renewing. This might change from writer’s interest in the recording with PPL.
service to service, so make sure you read the This ensures that the writer and publisher are
terms before you sign them, and make sure, paid their due for any sales your cover version
also, that you comply with the terms. generates.
LET’S GET PHYSICAL

In the age of digital why would anyone go to the expense of producing and
distributing CDs? Or for that matter vinyl or – dare we even mention it
(shhh!) – cassettes?
The gut reaction? There’s no point, forget it. So let’s look at the facts.
1. The revival of vinyl since 2010
VINYL SALES 1997–2019 ($M)
has been a reminder to any
1000
forecaster to hedge their bets.
Predicted (by Deloitte) to be worth 800
$1bn in 2019, that would value 600
the format at more than 4% of 400

the global recording industry. 200
Yesterday’s defunct format is this 0
year’s must-have limited edition.
97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Bruce Springsteen’s Vol 2 Box Set
(remastered reissues of albums
from 1987–1996) is pressed on vinyl only; no CD version has been released.
2. Does that mean the CD is doomed? If you want to place a bet on that,
don’t let us stop you. But before you lay your money down, bear in mind that
the humble musicassette is now making its own comeback – to the point
where manufacturers are announcing new hardware (yes! new cassette
players!).
One reason is that some countries have yet to fully embrace digital. In
Germany, for instance, 80% of revenue is still from hard copies; CDs
dominate. Which is why Germany is now a great test market for new
artists, because it’s easier for a record company to see a quick return on
investment if an artist takes off. Rag’n’Bone Man was a perfect test case,
hitting big in Germany before going global. Between them, CDs and vinyl
still account for 25% of global turnover, but while CDs are declining, vinyl is
growing.
Part of this is down to labels simply catering to the demands of an audience
that seems to have fallen back in love with the physicality, romance and
sound quality of the format. “The kind of artists we work with, their fan
bases like to feel like they own something, so we sell a lot of vinyl,” says
Mute Records founder Daniel Miller. “I don’t know how much people listen
to it, because you get a digital download or CD with it as well, but our artists
put a lot of commitment into making that music, and it’s nice to know that
some of the audience are making that commitment as well, by putting
the record on, rather than listening to a low-quality stream on their phone
speaker.”
And part of it is genre-specific: the dance market, with its legion of DJs
– some of whom still use decks – makes regular pressings, while some
sectors of the indie market are seemingly being steered by teens who like
the idea of having a few records in their bedrooms.
The surprising resilience of the CD is partly explained by sales of classical
and jazz recordings, and entirely driven by album sales.
This means – on paper at least – that unless you’re making dance music,
collectible indie, jazz or classical, a large run of physical product is unlikely
to be a lucrative business move for you.
But there are good reasons beyond the purely financial for going physical.
Firstly, press reviewers and broadcasters are far more likely to take notice
of you if they’re presented with an attractively packaged CD/vinyl/cassette
than a SoundCloud link; folk tastemaker Mike Harding is explicit about only
SPOTIFY FOR SURE, AND PANDORA

Streaming has become the engine of of 10,000 sales.
recovery for the record industry. If you’re in This equation has altered at least twice
any doubt about its significance, go back and since then, and today more weight is given
re-read Chapter 1 - The Music Business. to subscription (paid) streams than to ad-
iTunes – once responsible for 65% of the supported (free) streams, by a factor of
download market, and generating billions roughly 6:1 (so 600 free streams have as
of dollars in revenue – has slumped to levels much weight as 100 paid streams).
leading to industry gossip that Apple will America’s Billboard Hot 100 is calculated on
stop download sales during 2019. Part of a more flexible, and much more complex,
the equation for Apple will be the growing basis, which has changed so much it’s hard
revenues (not published) from its own to keep up.
streaming service, Apple Music.
But the conclusion is inescapable: streaming
So integral is streaming now, that since has changed everything – including the
2014 numbers of streams have contributed charts. And where, even four years ago,
to chart positions. At first, in the UK, 100 you might have been forgiven for hoping
streams equalled one ‘sale’, which meant streaming would go away, today you
that one million streams was the equivalent embrace it, or you’re nowhere.
listening to CDs: “With all due respect, we don’t have time to

download mp3s... A CD will always get listened to.” THE COSTS
OF PHYSICAL
Secondly, physical product still shifts at gigs – and can
amount to a major revenue stream (as Glenn Tilbrook
Pressing physical units
recounts in Chapter 2 - How music makes money for you) as
needn’t cost the earth.
you grow your fan-base.
With CDs, the major choice
Thirdly, a cleverly packaged limited edition can become a is between duplication and
marketing story in its own right. Witness the recent growth in replication.
interest around World Record Day – and the large vinyl runs Duplication is a similar
both major and indie labels are pressing ahead of it. process to the CD burning
people did at home in the past.
Nostalgia abounds when it comes to physical formats, which It is good for small runs – 200
gives you a ready-rolled PR story to make your own. The CDs in a vinyl wallet might
limited nature of a pressing also gives the music an extra cost £1.20 per CD; 200 in a
perceived value among fans. jewel case with a four-page
booklet will be nearer £1.60.
So don’t automatically overlook physical. It might be just Replication is the professional
what you need to stand out from the noise. standard, where your label is
screen-printed onto disc and
the CDs are ‘pressed’ from a
specially made glass master.
If you want 500 or more
copies, replication is the
way to go – each will cost less
than £1. If you think you can
shift 2,000 copies, the cost
will come down to nearer 45p
a unit.
Don’t forget that you can
also sell CDs through your
Bandcamp page.
It’s important to set the
price to take into account
how much it cost you to
manufacture – and, crucially,
how much postage and
packaging will cost to deliver
it to a customer (typically a
higher cost than the raw CD).
COUNTDOWN TO RELEASE
You’ve mixed your track to a high standard, you’ve had it mastered,
you’ve found an aggregator and chosen the level of service you want.
Now you have the infrastructure in place to unleash your record on the
world.
But before release day there’s a lot to do if your track is to receive the
attention it deserves.
A startling number of today’s records fail to generate a single sale (80–
85% of music online sells between zero and single digit units).
Releasing a track isn’t the achievement it used to be. Anyone with a
laptop and a song can do it. The thousands of releases added to iTunes
every day are testament to that.
The trick is getting others to hear about it, and like it, and – above all –
invest their own money in supporting it.
You are releasing music as part of a long-term plan to develop
your career. Which means the record needs to be accompanied by
marketing. Fans need to know about it. They need to be excited by it.
A record release is a unique moment that deserves and demands PR
support; an event around which you can generate the online assets
that leads to sales – assets (right) being the marketing buzzword
that covers everything from videos to blog posts, interviews to photo-
shoots.
To do these things properly requires time.
It also requires a schedule that governs when the practical elements
happen – when your artwork should be finished, when to book the job
into a CD duplicator (if you are planning hard copies), when to send out
your press release and so on.
THE SELF RELEASE TIMELINE

ASSETS:
Note that the schedule detailed over the following pages is WHAT YOU NEED
not designed to be rigidly followed. As noted earlier in the
chapter, there are no standard templates that govern all Assets is music industry
single releases, and flexibility is key. Events that happen shorthand for all the elements
that go into releasing music.
around you and during your campaign – a single getting
picked up by radio; an interview that creates unexpected Your track is an asset. Other
assets include any video/s
buzz – may mean tweaking your schedule to make the
you’ve made, your press
most of a new situation. “You can have... visions and goals,” release, mixes, any photos
says Avicii manager Ash Pournouri, “but the moment you taken to support the new
think you can stick firmly to a plan, it’s over... You will most single and so on.
probably fail if you can’t be flexible and manoeuvre obstacles Sleeve artwork is also an
on your path to your goals.” asset.
Also - and this is really important - your release date comes All the assets for any
new release should be
at the end of the schedule. Unlike the industry – with its
incorporated into your
different release and impact weeks (see Common threads Electronic Press Kit
from major and indie releases, above) – you are building (EPK, see Chapter 3).
to one date when you will hopefully experience a surge of If you’re releasing digitally (no
awareness, putting you in line for front page promotion. hard copies) gathering the
necessary artwork assets is
See our schedule as a useful starting point, to be shaped
relatively easy – you’ll need
according to the needs of your own single. But even if you a square packshot and a few
follow it to the letter you shouldn’t go far wrong. different sized banners for
different stores (there are
16-12 WEEKS TO IMPACT – ESSENTIAL PREP plenty of online sources to
help with format and size
requirements).
This period is about deciding what you want to achieve with
the release and gathering your assets (see Assets: What you If you’re also pressing CD /
vinyl there will be additional
need, right). It’s also about completing early admin. requirements and you’ll need
Don’t forget your brand and Story when pulling all of this to get competitive quotes
together. It will help you to focus – you won’t be reinventing from a range of pressing
plants.
your own wheel.
Bear in mind lead times. For
- If remixes are to be a part of the release commission them. vinyl pressings you might wait
If you’re not familiar with the term ‘stems’ Google it. Get up to six weeks, so decide
these stems to the remixer/s. early; order early.
- Artwork should be complete or close to completion.
– If you’re using any third parties – a PR agency, plugger etc

(unlikely if this is your first single) – then they will need to THE SELF RELEASE
be on board with the single and have your schedule in their TIMELINE
diaries so that when the momentum picks up they’ve got WEEKS TO IMPACT…
capacity to service your track.
– If you are planning an event to launch the single, book the 16-12
venue. If you’re also touring to support it, dates either need Essential prep
to be booked or you need to get them in the diary pronto.
– If you haven’t already, it’s time to join your territory’s 12-10
performance rights collection society (PRS and PPL in Buzz starts here!
the UK; ASCAP or BMI in USA; in Europe, each country has
its own). Without being registered when your new release 10-8
generates radio or other performance play there’ll be no
way for you to receive royalty payments. If you’ve already Pick up the pace
joined, go to your account and register the song/s you are
releasing. 8-3
Build the hype,
12-10 WEEKS TO IMPACT – BUZZ STARTS HERE! digital release
This period is all about building the initial burst of buzz 2

around your single. Interviews, exclusives,
– Your first press targets are magazines like Mojo, Q, Uncut last push
and specialist titles in your genre. These so-called ‘long-
lead’ publications require material at least a couple of RELEASE DAY
months ahead of publication. Reviewers on traditional Launch event,
media have to make time to listen to new music and physical goes live
their deadlines and schedules are... long-lead. Monthly
magazines need your press release, review CD and new WEEK AFTER RELEASE
publicity photos in time to make decisions three issues
Don’t let up
ahead. So don’t delay contacting them. Send them a copy
of your single, along with your press release, see below,
EPK link and any other PR assets you’ve prepared.
– Don’t restrict yourself to the obvious music mags and
fanzines. Try the national press. A review in the Sunday
Times Culture or the arts pages of The Guardian or The
Telegraph will bring you to a wider audience than any
specialist magazine. Don’t let your personal prejudices
get in the way; just because you don’t like a particular publication, your
potential fans might.
– At the same time, you should be pitching to short-lead press – blogs
and specialist online magazines that don’t have such rigid deadlines –
to secure promo and press slots over the coming weeks.
- When pitching to journalists avoid blanket emails. At this stage
you’re looking to secure future coverage from a chosen few – specific
tastemakers who cater for the kind of music you make. Try to come up
with different angles for different publications – maybe offer one an
exclusive to your video for a couple of weeks.
- If you’re having a release party/gig now is the time to announce it to
your fan-base. If you’re playing gigs, your fans should now have your tour
dates. You might also want to post a few video clips of rehearsals.
– If you’re servicing a dance single send the single and at least one mix
to DJs.
ANATOMY OF A PRESS RELEASE

These are the absolute musts for a press still appreciate the personal touch. If you’re
release: on personal terms with a few, take them
– your artist name out for a chat and a drink. Show them the
press release you’ve written and ask for their
– title of the song/EP/album and short bio comments. Journalists love to show off their
– cover artwork (and picture of yourself/ skills. Before you know it, s/he’ll have re-
the band if applicable) written it for you.
– release date If not, and you have to do it yourself, it’s
– your contact details – name, phone, email, simple enough:
Instagram, Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube – Do grab attention.
link etc. – Do not waffle.
In an ideal world, the release will reflect In other words, keep it simple.
your branding. If you’re going for a lo-fi, DIY
aesthetic you might consider handwriting the Nobody’s got time any more, and that applies
press release, for example. to journalists and radio producers more than
anyone. If you haven’t hooked them in the
At the top of the release should be a headline. first five seconds, you’ve lost them. If you use
It should be short, snappy and catchy. flowery language and big words you’ve lost
Editorial – the text about your new release – them. If you don’t get to the point fast you’ve
should be kept to a minimum, and written for lost them.
maximum effect. So: grab their attention; get to the point;
Even in the brave new world of digital keep it simple. And always include a link, in
interaction, writers, reviewers and bloggers every press release, to your EPK.
10-8 WEEKS TO IMPACT – PICK UP THE PACE

With all essential prep done and with 101 seeds planted (not all of which
will take root over the coming weeks) it’s time for the world to start hearing
your music.
– Consider running an online premiere of the single – a one-off real-time
showcase/performance of the song announced in advance to fans via
your newsletter database and social media. You might also give a friendly
blog details of it in advance – all hacks love an exclusive...
– As release week nears, ramp up the social media. Begin #DailyUpdates
on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Get your fans involved. Let them
hear your best new material. Release new photos from your single shoot
HOW GIGS SUPPORT A SINGLE / ALBUM

In major-land a tour almost always supports to learn more than you ever thought possible.
an album, with sales of the album generating
If you’re not at the stage for a college tour,
interest in the tour and vice versa.
you should be booking in as many local gigs
If you’re self-releasing, a tour can serve as you can. Fill that diary, and travel as far
a similar purpose, prompting interest in afield as you can.
the single/album, with the marketing and
PR around the single boosting audience Remember when you’re in the middle of
numbers at gigs. It’s a neat two-way mutual an event that there are more fans not there
interest generator with the upshot being than are there. Have a friend film the gig, or
more single sales, more ticket sales – and even better, go live on Instagram or Facebook.
hopefully more fans. A launch event is different to a tour – it exists
The scale of the gigs you book will depend solely to promote the new release. In an
where you are in your career. Major labels artist’s early days it might be as simple as a
often work a release schedule around a gig with a few friends. If you’re further into
couple of big gigs – Glastonbury say, or a your career it could be a fuller press launch
performance at the MOBOs.
/ media showcase – although even major
If you’re self releasing then the Glastonbury acts are now choosing to go down the lower-
main stage is unlikely to be on your agenda. key route, putting on small gigs for a select
But if you’re in the UK and are ready for proper number of fans in intimate ‘secret’ venues.
touring, try targeting the college circuit for
gigs. You can contact student unions directly, Whatever you do, make it different. Get
but there are also booking agents that people talking about it. Choose somewhere
specialise who will make your life a lot easier. interesting. Involve your biggest fans. Do
Don’t expect much more than to cover your something that is not only part of the wider
costs, but do expect to raise your profile and release Story, but which adds to it.
or from the studio on Instagram. Your early asset prep should mean
you have plenty of fresh content to drip-feed at regular intervals. Video,
photos, stories, both on your own site and carefully syndicated to others,
should be building, supported now as your single hits the airwaves.
– If you’re gigging, the tour should be well underway. Start dropping your
new single into the set now. If fans don’t upload it to YouTube, do the job
yourself.
– Aim for the holy grail (free) marketing spots of SoundCloud’s front page,
being added to a Spotify playlist, or getting an iTunes featured slide. These
hotspots are not easy to bag. But it is possible. Google ‘Tips for getting
featured on Spotify’ and ‘Ways to promote your music with SoundCloud’
for ideas. Many of the ideas require a good few weeks lead time.
- If you have achieved pre-publicity (press articles; radio plays; favourable
mentions) be sure to draw attention to them in any communication from
now on. The media have sheep-like tendencies: if they think there’s a buzz
they’re missing out on they will follow the flock.
8–3 WEEKS TO IMPACT – BUILD THE HYPE

This period is about continuing to build the hype, but now the hype is
directing fans to a specific release date. You may think that Facebook, your
gigs and your website are doing the job of keeping your fans up to date. But
don’t forget to email them. Since you should be continually adding to your
email database, not everyone will be up to date with the latest news.
- Time to target radio (and TV if you have a vibrant local station that
features local artists). You should by now have some broadcasters among
your supporters (see Chapter 4 - Spreading the word). Every single time
you email media people – digital and mainstream – always include a link
to your EPK and press release. Make it easy for them to find what they
need, even if you’ve sent it before.
– Because you don’t have a major deal, there is little point trying to get
on the playlists of major radio stations (BBC is an exception with its
‘Introducing’ strand – bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/uploader). Go for
specialist programmes where the playlist doesn’t rule. Target the best
internet stations for your style of music – America’s college radio network
is a good outlet for properly independent artists (as opposed to genre
indie music).
- The challenge in this period is to keep things fresh. Which means

unearthing new, fresh content – maybe an extra mix, a cheeky B-side, a
mashup, a behind the scenes video – as often as you can.
- Keep up the pressure on social media and don’t forget to maintain your
media mailing list and email database so that it has all new contacts in it.
– Tie down the final details of your single launch party if you’re having one.
- Are you planning a physical (hard copy) release? If so, all assets should
now be with your duplicating company. If you hadn’t planned physical but
your single campaign is proving successful there’s still time. Remember
to keep reviewing your milestones and achievements. There’s always time
to try something new.
- You may also want to start offering pre-orders on vinyl and CD.
- Upload the single and any mixes to your chosen aggregator a minimum
three weeks before release date. If you don’t you might miss release date
altogether. Check with your aggregator how much notice they need to hit
your selected date.
2 WEEKS TO IMPACT – INTERVIEWS, EXCLUSIVES, LAST PUSH

Your campaign should be going well now, with movement online, offline,
on radio, and even local TV if you’ve made your presence felt. Instead of
running out of steam you still have a few aces in your hand to keep the
momentum going.
– If you have, by some miracle, secured mainstream press coverage –
Mojo, Mixmag etc – this is when you find out. If you haven’t, don’t be
downhearted. With national press, many are calling but few are chosen.
It’s not personal. If you have got the golden ticket, shout about it –
Instagram it; Facebook it; include links so people can see it’s real – and
use it to leverage coverage elsewhere.
– Time to put your video on YouTube and Vimeo, remembering to announce
it (with a link) on your website, on social media and by email to your fans.
– ‘Leak’ details about your ‘secret’ launch gig to a select few.
IMPACT WEEK/RELEASE DAY

Finally you’re at the finish line. Your single is about to go live. On the day of
your choice – as determined with your aggregator – it will be made available
for sale on iTunes, Amazon etc, and for streaming on all the relevant sites.
But there are still things going on...
- This is the week of your launch party – an event which may garner
additional media coverage.
- Selling CDs at the launch party is a no-brainer: this is the ultimate captive
audience.
– Enjoy the party. You’ve earned a glass or two of bubbly. But resist
the temptation to enjoy yourself too much. This is not about you, the
individual. It’s about you the artist. It’s all marketing, it’s all business.
– If you’ve targeted the right people, you might begin to see reviews
appearing. Plaster the good ones across all social media. If you are asked
for interviews, accept only those you know will help your cause. But
don’t ignore anyone – it’s easy enough to say ‘No’ on the basis that your
schedule is full. Polite refusal is contact, and contact is positive. Ignoring
people is negative.
- In this final phase, everything you do and say should be directed at getting
as many people as possible to buy your music. Turn that buzz into cash.
Remember the three key goals of any single campaign: profile building,
new fans and money in the bank.
WEEK AFTER RELEASE – DON’T LET UP

With the hard work behind you, you may be tempted to have a holiday, a
breakdown, or a blow-out to celebrate your new-found superstardom.
Avoid them all.
If your release has been a success then there’s still plenty of money to be
made / recouped, so you need to find a second wind to turn as much of the
ongoing buzz into sales as you can.
- Email your fan base, remind them your new track is out. Add reviews and
hype to the email.
- Keep Tweeting and Facebooking. Tell your fans where you are. If you have
radio play, tell your fans to listen in.
- Ask them to email or tweet presenters requesting a particular track (tell
them which track you are promoting as the single, or lead track).
- Now your record is out, hit any bloggers you missed first time round. Hard.
Even if they weren’t interested in you when you were setting out, with a
successful campaign behind you their position may have changed.
When all of this is done; when the dust starts to settle on your quarter-long
campaign; even then you should take only the shortest of breaks.
Because if you’re serious about building your brand then you can’t stay out
of the public eye for long.
Which means it’s time to start thinking about the next release.... and doing
it all over again.
CHAPTER 6
TAKING CARE OF
YOUR BUSINESS
‘I wish there had been a music business 101
course I could have taken.’ IN THIS CHAPTER...
Kurt Cobain Overview
‘I try to treat all money I’m making like the last From day one
time I’m going to make it.’ When to declare
Eminem an income
As you progress
Tax return
Do you remember the summer holidays (we just about
can), when you started off with some homework to do and Choosing an
thought: “I’ll do that next week,” and then as the end of the accountant
break approached it became more and more stressful, and
VAT
finally – sweating with tension – you attacked it two days
before you were due back at school and it had become this VAT on EU downloads
massive thing in your head...? Legal business
Remember that feeling? frameworks
Well that’s what looking after your business gets like if you Solo or group
don’t look after your business. Partnerships
But it doesn’t have to be like that. Limited Companies
Until you hit the big time, a couple of minutes a day will Making the right
keep you on the straight and narrow (any more and you’re decisions
doing something wrong).
Example accounts
As you earn more money, things become more complex. At spreadsheet
which point you’ll be paying someone else to do the work.
CHAPTER 6 TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Before outlining easy quick-wins to keep your financial house

in order, let’s talk about why it’s necessary. TAX AROUND
THE WORLD
Everyone is compelled, by law, to pay tax above a certain
level of income. At the time of writing this level – called your
Every country has its own tax
‘personal allowance’ – is £12,500 in the UK.
rates and rules as they apply
People who are employed have all of this taken care of to self-employed musicians.
for them. The UK’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system means In the US, for example, you
deductions happen at source so that employees are only paid can elect to estimate and pay
salary after income tax and National Insurance contributions your tax quarterly.
have been taken off. Easy. Systems like this operate around It is beyond the scope of
the world. this book to give detailed
information for every country
But as a musician it’s more complicated. You are almost and much of what has been
certainly going to be self-employed, making it your written about the UK will have
responsibility to ensure you report your income accurately its own variations in your own
country.
to your own tax office, the government department which
looks after tax. That responsibility cannot be ducked. And – The bottom line is, don’t hide
from your responsibilities.
crucially – the responsibility is yours alone.
Get informed about what you
It’s worth repeating that: your tax affairs are your responsibility. need to pay, what you need
Not your accountant’s, or your book-keeper’s – or your mum’s to declare to the relevant
authorities and when to do it.
because she forgot to post that important letter. In all tax
matters the buck stops with the individual taxpayer. There are plenty of sources
online with thousands of
Lesson one of tax: You really don’t want to be messing with a pages of help, and forums that
local or national tax office. welcome questions from even
the least informed.
You may read stories about major corporations not paying tax
and think: “If it’s OK for them, it’s OK for me.”
But it’s not OK for you.
You may believe you have an ethical argument. But good
luck explaining your position in court. Corporations that
get preferential tax treatment pay millions to top-flight
accountants to ensure they are not breaking the law
(avoidance is legal, evasion isn’t).
Their affairs have no bearing on your own situation.
Being lax – or dishonest – with your tax affairs can give rise to
court action and fines. Being particularly imaginative can land
you in jail.
Laziness, carelessness and a deep-seated fear of spreadsheets are not

reasonable excuses to tax officers. Lower down the naughty steps, even a
small-scale investigation can waste time, money and energy, each of which
is far better invested in your music.
So here’s our no-nonsense guide for keeping you on the financial straight
and narrow:
FROM DAY ONE

Whenever you spend anything on your business, get a receipt. At first it’s
a bore, but it soon becomes second nature. Some costs – a new guitar,
the latest version of Ableton, flights to gigs – are referred to as ‘allowable’
expenses, which is to say, you can offset these legitimately against your
income. Other costs – your Netflix subscription, Christmas presents for your
dog – are not.
Generally speaking, all costs directly associated with a business are
allowable, but a surprising number of what you might consider to be
personal costs (including bills for electricity and gas if you work from home
for example) may be allowable too. In due course you’ll get to know what
WHEN DO I BEGIN DECLARING AN INCOME FROM MUSIC?

A common question among musicians is: gigs - even $50 cash gigs - over a year.
“When should I start declaring my income A different question is: “When should I start
from music?” to treat my music income as a business?” (As
Better you should ask the simpler question: opposed to personal income.)
“When should I start declaring my income?” In Europe and the UK there is an income
Your income from music is no different to threshold at which it is compulsory to start
your income from anything else. If it all adds charging value added tax (VAT). At that point,
up to an amount that your tax officials deem you have no choice but to see yourself as a
taxable, then you need to declare it. business entity.
If you have a day job on which you pay tax, for Up to that point, it is really up to you. Being
example, even if you consider music to be a treated as a business for the purpose of tax
hobby, you should still declare any significant involves admin and paperwork. But there are
earnings from your music. benefits too – claiming certain expenses as
‘Significant earnings’ is unlikely to include $5 tax-deductible, for instance.
for a CD, but would include 10 CDs at $5 each. Before making a decision, get informed. Talk
It might not include $50 cash in hand for the to friends in a similar position. Ask online. And
occasional gig, but would include multiple most of all, talk to an accountant.
the most regular allowable expenses are (you can look online or ask your
accountant).
Your job is not necessarily to know all this to the letter, but to have receipts
for everything you want the tax man to take into account. When it comes
to filing your end-of-year tax return (see below) your accountant or book-
keeper will be able to sort them into the relevant piles.
Set up a simple spreadsheet. Excel, Numbers or any free spreadsheet like
Google’s ‘Sheets’ will be up to the job. moneysavingexpert.com also has a
useful selection of accounting tools.
From left to right, set up the columns as follows:
– Column 1 should be the date when you spent/received money. This will
mean you don’t even have to enter your invoices/receipts in date order.
You can enter them in the order they come to hand. When you’ve finished,
your spreadsheet will have a sort function that will put everything in date
order.
- Columns 2 and 3 should note either:
– the invoice number (column 2) related to a job, followed (column 3) by
a brief description of the work you did (gig, session guitar, mixing, etc); or
– what you have spent money on – travel; food; equipment (column
2) followed by the purpose of the expenditure – getting to gig;
entertainment; new guitar strings (column 3).
- Column 4 should record the amount of money coming in (income).
- Column 5 should record the amount of money spent (outgoings).
This spreadsheet should accurately mirror what is happening in your
business bank account.
You can see an example spreadsheet set up as detailed here at the end of
this chapter.
Expenses must be backed up either with a receipt or invoice. It is also
useful to keep file copies of your own invoices to show money coming in.
Note that it is not enough for accounting purposes to show a simple cash
till chitty or a PayPal receipt – you must have the receipt or invoice from
the original store or service provider itself with its name on, the date and
details of the goods purchased (“Joe Bloggs’ Guitar Shop – Guitar Strings”).
Once a week spend five minutes entering the most recent

spending in the spreadsheet. THE TAX RETURN
After entering on the spreadsheet, carefully file the receipts
The major responsibility of
(and make sure you request the itemised VAT or till receipt self-employment in the UK is
– not just the card receipt) keeping them in the order you the submission, once a year,
entered them on the spreadsheet. When it’s time to file the of a tax return. This document
end-of-year accounts (or you hand them to an accountant) – which will be supplied to you
the neater and more organised you’ve been, the less time by your tax authority – has
you’ll have to spend sorting out filing. fields for detailing revenue
from all kinds of sources, as
Always invoice for work done – even if you’re not paid for it. well as for costs associated
Yes, even the taxman has access to your Facebook profile and with your business.
if you think they don’t care about the free gig you played in the A complex final calculation
Dog & Duck last Tuesday, you’d be wrong. Musicians who think tots up the various figures in
they’re flying under the radar have been shocked by HMRC the many boxes to give you a
final fee to pay (occasionally,
presenting them with lists of gigs they’ve done but haven’t if you’re very lucky – or your
recorded as invoiced or paid. business is going down the
Most spreadsheet software has a simple invoice template. pan – you may end up getting
a tax rebate).
Unless you feel some pressing desire to design your own, use
the template. It is a record of the transaction and doesn’t Don’t wait until the last
minute to file your tax return.
need to be a work of art.
Go online here:
To keep track of your invoicing, use a simple numbering http://search2.hmrc.gov.
system. A foolproof one would include your initials, the year, uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.
the month, the date – like so: PP20191020. This will also help page?record=
with digital filing, because they will file in strict date order. ZrJXAG2mt_0&formid=2999
and go through the process so
If you issue more than one invoice in a day, it’s simple enough you know what’s involved.
to keep them readily identifiable by adding a /01, /02 affix to Make a list of the information
give PP20191020/01. The zero before the digit is important. required so that when it’s time
In any digital filing system, the initial digit is given preference. to file the return you’ve got all
So 1-9 will file in order, but 10 will go before the 2, and then the information required to
hand.
you’ve got a mess on your hands. 01, 02 etc take precedence
over 10, 11 and 12. Very few things compare to
the pain of having to rustle
An alternative is to use any number of cloud-based invoicing together 200 receipts on
/ book keeping utilities like xero.com, freshbooks.com or the day before submission
waveapps.com. All of these require a few hours learning the deadline – and even
submitting a single day late
basics, after which they can take care of almost everything can generate a fine.
related to your accounts, from invoicing to VAT returns.
As a self-employed person the onus is on you to let the relevant tax

authorities know about your situation. In the UK this means registering
with HMRC for ‘self-assessment’. This is where you sign up: https://online.
hmrc.gov.uk/registration/newbusiness/introduction Find out as much as
you can here: www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/self-emp.htm
There are plenty of clickthroughs and it will make your brain hurt, but bear
in mind as you go through the pain: it is as nothing compared to the pain of
getting on the wrong side of your tax authority.
When the sums coming into your bank account from music start to
get serious, it will simplify matters considerably if you open a separate
business bank account. Keeping your business income separate from your
beer float and gym membership standing order saves a lot of headaches.
AS YOU PROGRESS
There will come a time in your career – hopefully – when keeping track of
income and expenses is no longer a five-minute-a-day job.
When you get there, put aside £50-100 a month for a bookkeeper (see
Chapter 7 - Your team). You will still need to ask for, and keep, receipts. But
now it is the bookkeeper’s job to do the data entry and keep on top of any
other regular financial tasks (VAT returns, for example – see below) that
CHOOSING AN ACCOUNTANT
Although the vast majority of accountants - Choose a firm that has multiple partners
and bookkeepers are trustworthy, there are rather than a solo accountant. In a big firm,
instances of individual accountants, entrusted your accountant’s partners are your best
with their clients’ affairs, embezzling funds insurance that the job gets done properly. In
(Sting, among others, lost nearly £6m in this addition, if your personal accountant leaves
way). or retires then you can expect your affairs
The best advice is to: will be passed on – and properly briefed to –
another partner.
- Choose an accountant that has other
music-making clients on their books. – Use an accountant that is different to your
Although a good accountant can turn their manager’s. Keeping some distance between
hand to most businesses, one who has some your personal financial situation and your
speciality in music is likely to have a better shared professional finances is no bad
understanding of the specific deductions thing. Having a trusted and independent
allowed and will have experience of other third party looking after your finances alone
clients’ situations that may apply to you. is no more than common sense.
your growing business may be required to submit.

VAT ON DIGITAL
This doesn’t alter your ultimate responsibility to be accurate, EU SALES
truthful and timely with the tax authorities. It’s not your
bookkeeper who’ll face the music if there are irregularities
From 1 Jan 2015 the VAT rules
in your accounts – it will be you. And if the information in a
in EU countries changed so
return is inaccurate then the buck still stops with you. that companies or individuals
Your financial affairs may also benefit from an accountant selling digital products and
services (including music
(again, see Chapter 7, Your team). While a bookkeeper simply
downloads) in other EU
keeps your books in good order, an accountant will be more territories have to pay VAT on
proactive in understanding your tax position and will help sales at a rate determined by
structure your finances to save you as much money as is the country of download (the
legally possible. so-called ‘place of supply’).
There is no minimum turnover
They will be able to advise on allowable expenses – some of
threshold for this rule
which can be complex – and take a long-term view of your tax, meaning that even if you make
allowing you, for example, to offset savings across tax years very little from digital sales,
and advising on investments (yawn), pensions (double yawn) you still have to perform this
and all kinds of other sensible things that most musicians find additional accounting task,
immeasurably dull. which is both complex and
time consuming.
As a consequence thousands
VAT of musicians have stopped
selling downloads direct.
God save us from VAT (value added tax) – except he won’t.
If you are affected you have
VAT is a tax that European governments places on goods and three choices: stop selling;
services that we purchase. The rate varies from country to carry on selling but filling
in the relevant quarterly
country. It is similar to sales tax in the U.S. except that sales
paperwork (in the UK the
tax is mostly state-imposed (five states have no sales tax). VAT MOSS makes this a little
In the UK, VAT for most goods and services currently stands at easier); or – best of all –
divert direct sales towards
20%. So if you buy a keyboard for £1,200, £200 of that is VAT,
third party distributors that
which is paid by the retailer directly to the treasury. look after the accounting
The idea of VAT/sales tax is to tax you where you spend, rather headache for you.
than where you earn. Thankfully you won’t need to worry about CD Baby, for example,
it until you are turning over around £85,000 in the UK (other takes care of the additional
accounting, paying out royalty
countries have different rules) – at which point charging it
after all the required VAT
becomes compulsory. deductions have been made.
In a business, turnover is the amount of money invoiced in a
single tax year.
For argument’s sake, let’s say that from download sales, merchandise and
gigs £30,000 has made its way into your bank during the course of the tax
year. That is your turnover. The tax owed on that turnover is calculated as
£30k minus legitimate costs.
VAT is different. Once your turnover reaches the so-called ‘VAT threshold’–
around £85k in the UK, but as low as €1500 elsewhere in Europe – not only
will you be paying tax on your annual profit, you will also have to to start
charging VAT on all products and services that your tax authority deems
‘VAT-able’. For musicians there are almost no exceptions to the rule.
This rule has various implications for musicians – most of them bad. Once
you are VAT registered, where you were charging £300 for a gig, you now
have to add 20% for VAT – an extra £60. Which means overnight you have
to raise your prices.
The only way round this is to include VAT in the £300 gig fee, but that leaves
you £50 worse off, because the VAT element of £300 is £50 – which you
have to pay to HMRC.
The other bad news is that in addition to your annual tax return you now
have to submit quarterly VAT returns. That’s another four forms a year which
have to be correct and delivered on time.
Fortunately there are a few hairlines of silver in the dark VAT cloud.
Firstly, some time before you hit the VAT threshold, you will almost certainly
have hired both a bookkeeper and an accountant. They will know which
aspects of the services you provide are exempt from VAT and which you
have to add it to. Your bookkeeper will also usually file VAT returns on your
behalf.
Secondly, and more importantly, once you are VAT-registered, you can start
claiming back VAT where it is charged on legitimate costs. So where your
new keyboard cost £1,200 including VAT, you can now claim back the VAT
element of £200.
When costs to a business start adding up significantly, it can sometimes be
advantageous to register for VAT (and some businesses voluntarily register
for VAT before hitting the threshold).
Either way, the complexities of VAT lie a long way off for most musicians,
and by the time you get there you should be in the capable hands of a good
accountant.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK: SOLO OR GROUP

All of the information above assumes you’re a solo artist.
If you’re part of a group, all of the same rules apply – but with two
exceptions.
Firstly, you’re not all going to be looking after business. There’ll be one
unfortunate sod who’s good at this stuff, and that’s the sucker who’s going
to take care of it.
If that’s not you then you still need to take an interest in the financial
affairs as: a) they directly impact on your earnings; and b) if the chosen
unfortunate sod is useless and/or dishonest, your business could fold
before it’s even taken off.
Secondly, there are various options for structuring a business in the UK
when more than one person is involved.
While a solo artist will almost always operate as a so-called sole trader for
tax purposes, the group equivalent is a business partnership. A third – rarer
– option is to form a limited company.
Whichever you choose – and it will almost always be one of these three –
don’t do it on your own. Take advice. Proper advice from a professional, not
some mate down the pub who knows a guy who knows a guy.
Finally, remember, as a band, your responsibility to HMRC has to be taken
as seriously as the sole trader, only now your responsibility comes under
the heading ‘jointly and severally’. That means you are all responsible for
ensuring accurate, truthful and timely information is given to your tax
office.
Don’t try pointing the finger of blame at Johnny Unfortunate who you
nominated to take care of business. You all need to make sure you know
what’s going on, when the return needs to be filed, and that everything
stated in it can be supported by the relevant paperwork.
ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORKS: PARTNERSHIPS AND LIMITED COMPANIES

A business partnership is a business in which two or more people share
the responsibilities of running a company – and the profits. Usually, but not
always, the split of profits is an equal one (hence partnership). The business
partnership (a business framework) is usually supported by a partnership

agreement (a legal document).
If you’re a band, a producer co-op or a DJ partnership you will need written
agreement between the members setting out what share of profits each
of you receives from common enterprise – common enterprise being
the things you do together, like recording or gigging, or selling band
merchandise.
If you write all of your material collectively and agree to share equally in the
writing income U2-style then that also becomes part of the partnership
agreement. Pay particular attention, also, to our advice on Collaboration in
Chapter 9 – The publishing deal.
If one of you is the main writer then that income will be specifically excluded
from the partnership agreement. Instead, that writer will be separately
responsible to HMRC for declaring the additional income from songwriting
and will pay the tax on the extra income accordingly.
A limited company is another legal entity, but with different – more
stringent – requirements.
Instead of the share of profits being governed by a partnership agreement,
a limited company issues shares to the total value of 100%. So a band of
four musicians might divide the company up equally and receive 25% of the
shares each.
A limited company requires specific personnel to fulfil certain roles,
specifically one or more directors and a company secretary. In the case of
the four-piece band it is likely each band member would be a director with
one taking on additional responsibilities for being the secretary.
Finally, limited companies have to file additional paperwork, not only with
HMRC but also Companies House (in the UK), including annual returns and
minutes.
As with a partnership, responsibility is single and collective (thus the term,
jointly and severally). So if one of you runs off with all the cash, the others
can be held liable by the courts if people outside the company are owed
money.
Although forming a company is more expensive and time consuming
than forming a simpler partnership (although there are plenty of online
companies who’ll look after it for you fairly cheaply - just search ‘company
setup’), it has two pivotal advantages:
Firstly, if it goes bust, you’ll usually be protected financially.
A limited company has a notional worth based on how much the shares
have been bought for. So if you issue 100 shares at £1 each, the company’s
notional worth is £100.
And that’s where the word ‘limited’ comes in. In the event of the company
failing, directors’ liability for money owed to creditors is limited to that
£100 – most of the time.
But before you get carried away, if creditors can show that the business
failed through negligence or criminal activity on the part of the directors,
then they can come after you for every penny owed – including your home
and all your possessions.
Secondly, a limited company, properly run, can also be more tax efficient for
a group of people.
As a sign-off, it’s worth noting that individuals can also operate companies,
and in the creative sector many choose to do so as the most efficient way
of structuring their finances. If you’re considering doing so, seek advice on
what is the best option for your situation.
MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS

The music industry abounds with stories of artists who’ve been ripped off,
badly advised or just plain stolen from by various financial advisers.
Members of Take That discovered that a scheme they had invested in
(purportedly to encourage British musical talent) was looked
on by the UK’s tax authorities as a tax avoidance scheme. The courts
agreed, so now Messrs Barlow, Owen and Donald have a multi-million
pound bill to pay.
Some artists are more obviously defrauded. Leonard Cohen famously went
to a Zen monastery to meditate for five years. When he came back his
trusted friend and manager Kelley Lynch had stolen almost all his money.
These two cautionary tales are very different.
The three members of Take That were given what appeared to be sound
advice about an ‘investment’ scheme which had been around for some
years before HMRC decided it was not doing what it said on the tin. It was,
instead, a scheme for avoiding tax. Thousands of investors were caught out.
The moral of that story is even the best advice from the best advisors can
sometimes come apart at the seams. As a consequence it’s probably best
to play it straight and not get involved in complex tax planning that can
come back to bite you.
Leonard Cohen’s situation is completely different. He entrusted his affairs
to Kelley Lynch, but during the five years he spent in the monastery she
misappropriated all but $150,000 of the $5m he had before he went away.
She served jail time, and a long probation period.
Bad financial planning is also commonplace in the music industry.
By 1968, The Rolling Stones had been around for four years and were
massively successful. But they were broke. Prince Rupert Lowenstein – who
took on their affairs and made them super-wealthy – recalls that when he
first went to meet Mick Jagger, “there was no furniture in the house”.
Another common problem faced by musicians is long-term financial
planning. Like professional sportspeople, many top musicians have a
relatively short career where earnings are high. Unless that sudden,
huge whack of earnings is carefully invested it is easy to end up aged 45 on
the breadline.
Drugs, fraud, bad advice, designer furniture and just being plain careless
– there are endless ways of frittering away hard-earned cash in the music
industry.
Don’t be another in the long line of sob stories where once-famous and
successful artists end up living in poverty and misery.
Be smart. Be involved. See your career as a long-term business with,
hopefully, some money to retire on and enjoy yourself at the end.
Always ask questions.
Above all, take responsibility.
Ultimately, your financial affairs are just another strand of your career
that require the same level of diligence as your brand, your songs and your
musicianship.
EXAMPLE ACCOUNTS
SPREADSHEET
The sample spreadsheet below shows the kinds of costs you might incur
during a single month as a solo musician, alongside a few typical sources
of income. The costs are ones that a tax authority would usually accept as
‘cost of business’, and would therefore be tax deductible.
Note the word ‘usually’ though. This is an example case study. In this
illustration we talk about £ sterling and the UK tax authority (HMRC). Rules
differ from country to country, and you should check your own situation
with a qualified professional. All costs and income are explained below.
COSTS
- Sometimes you travel to gigs by bus (like your residency at The Red Lion)
because most of the equipment you need is there.
- At other times you take a cab with your guitarist because she needs to
bring her amp and guitar.
- On 1 January you were recording tracks in a studio that you will press to
CD to sell at gigs. The studio cost £200 for half a day.
- On 21 January you took delivery of 1,000 flyers (£28) to be distributed to
promote your gigs over the next four weeks.
- On occasions, you are further from home, and your schedule has meant
you couldn’t eat. The tax man allows a small amount for food when
travelling for work.
- You can legitimately charge a share of the domestic costs for your use of
space in your home to run your music business. This is based on:
- the amount of space allocated to your business (you may have a whole
room set up as a recording studio)
- the amount of time you spend on business in the house, and
- the total size of your home.
So, for instance, if you are using one room in a five room house (exclude
kitchen and bathroom), you are using roughly one fifth of the living space.
If your total rent and utilities come to £1,050 per month your calculation is
based on one fifth of that – £210.
Let’s say you legitimately work/record from home for three days a week.
Your final calculation for the tax man will be £210 per month, divided by
seven days (£30 a day) multiplied by the three days you work (£90). Which
means you will be asking the tax man to offset £90 a month against your
income for a home office/studio facility.
Note that you will be asking the tax man. HMRC may not agree with your
calculation – so be ready to negotiate.
INCOME
– You have a weekly residency at The Red Lion that pays £50.
– You have played two gigs at a club that pays badly (£100 and £75).
– You have played one gig at a club that pays well (£200).
– You have also played a gig at The Plough – a pub a little way out of town.
TAX
In this case study, your income / turnover for the month is £625.
With costs for the month at £435, you have a profit of £190.
In this very simplified example – assuming you are above the relevant tax
threshold – you would expect to pay tax on that £190.
It’s important to understand that the tax man wants his cut from all of your
earnings. If, for example, you have a job on which you pay tax as you earn
(PAYE), HMRC will add those earnings to your earnings from music in order
to calculate any further tax you owe.
Your personal allowance – £12,500 for 2019/20– can only be used once. So
if you have a full- or part-time job that pays more than £12,500 a year, you
will be taxed on ALL additional earnings from your music.
CHAPTER 7
YOUR TEAM
‘Get yourself a really good manager because
IN THIS CHAPTER...
that allows you to focus on being a musician.
They can focus on the darker art of the record Building your team
label and the music industry.’ Lawyer
James Blunt Manager
Record producer
Who you gather around you on your way to the top will
help determine: a) how successful you are; b) how much Engineer
you enjoy the journey; and c) how much money you Mastering engineer
personally bank.
Promoter
Pretty much every musician starts out alone, and that’s
absolutely right. No professional will be interested in you as Booking agent
you write your early songs, develop your style or slave away
Designer
over a DAW mixing your debut EP. Paying for a team at this
stage is a waste of their time and your money. Publicist/ PR
It’s also important to understand from the start that the A&R
team you have when you reach the top of the ladder is
unlikely to be the same group of people who are there when Plugger
you put your foot on the first rung. Nor must it necessarily Bookkeeper
be those who helped push you from the middle to the top.
Accountant
So don’t develop unnecessary attachments. Business
is business and you need to grow a thick skin when it
comes to business relationships. Which is not to say
be unpleasant. Categorically don’t be unpleasant. Bad
manners and rudeness have no place in good business
relationships.
Behaving badly on the way up will mean someone will have
bad things to say about you when you’re famous (and on
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
the way back down). It’s better for your brand, your career and ultimately
your health if those things aren’t true.
This chapter profiles the people you’ll need around you to get to the top of
the tree. At the very top you’ll need all of them. On the way up you’ll need
some of them some of the time. Some of them you may not need at all.
We’ve also profiled a few industry people who’re unlikely ever to be in your
team but who you’ll inevitably come across at some point on your journey.
LAWYER
Comic Spike Milligan once said: “A contract is another way of saying: ‘I don’t
trust you’.” Contract law is an industry that has grown large and hungry
from that simple truth.
Most contracts only work as long as the working relationship between the
two signatories – you and a record company, you and your publisher – is
still cordial.
You have no idea how fragile these overpriced documents are until one side
wants out. Then lawyers will begin arguing over the semantic meaning of
words you never even noticed when you were signing. You followed advice,
you even read the fine print, you thought you understood it. But 99 times
out of 100 there will be something crucial you missed.
Your lawyer does what’s required of them, which is to draft or look over a
contract complying with the law and your wishes. But ask any lawyer to sign
a side letter guaranteeing that the contract is fireproof, and watch their
chin drop and their face flush.
Still, you need a lawyer. Before you sign a deal with anyone – including
a manager – it should be looked at by a lawyer, and a music business
specialist lawyer at that.
Contracts are necessary and compulsory. No-one will – or should – do
anything without one. You should be part of the process of ensuring that
all of your wishes are expressed in whichever contract/s you sign and that
you understand the other side’s position too. Ask awkward questions. Read
every clause. Have your lawyer explain wording that is unclear.
But at the end of the day, remember Milligan’s succinct observation.
Contracts are just another way of saying, ‘I don’t trust you’ and when trust
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
breaks down they can prove not to be worth the paper they’re
written on. WHAT A
MANAGER DOES
All of which means that it’s more important you work on your
relationships rather than rely on any contract. Relationships,
Unlike a decade or so ago,
not lawyers, is what it’s all about and you’re better off not
management is no longer
needing recourse to the courts than knowing sub-clause 4.3.5 about simply negotiating
inside out. record and publishing deals
then counting the money as it
Note that there’s no point approaching any lawyer. Calling in at
rolls in.
Bitter & Split’s family law practice on your local high street is
Today’s manager is expected
not going to set you on your way to music superstardom. You
to mentor you, help you
are looking for a legal practice with a specific entertainment develop if you’re not ready for
division and a lawyer or two on its team who specialise solely the big time – even advise on
in music. There are a few of them around – just search for branding and presentation.
‘music lawyer’ online. These lawyers have direct ties with all of You may be an excellent
the best managers. musician and songwriter but
there are not enough hours in
We go into this in more detail in Chapter 6 - Taking care of the day to become an expert
business in the section entitled Making the right decisions. on the intricacies of the music
business and the finer points
THE MANAGER of publishing contracts.
Which makes your manager
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon is a 2014 a silent partner in your rise to
fame; the one who is spinning
documentary about the long-time manager of a host of music
one-hundred-and-one plates
A-listers including Alice Cooper, Blondie, Anne Murray and while you weave your magic
Luther Vandross. on stage and in the studio.
In the film, Shep Gordon says that a good manager does three As James Blunt notes in this
things: chapter’s opening quote:
“A really good manager...
“One, get the money. allows you to focus on being
a musician. They can focus on
“Two, always remember to get the money. the darker art of the record
“Three, never forget to always remember to get the money.” label and the music industry.”
Money is the measure of a manager’s success. Whatever else

they do for you, your bank balance is the barometer. If they
aren’t bringing in the dollars then they’re failing on all counts.
But to get that money requires a host of skills.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MANAGER

You will hear people say – in hindsight, of liked Brian Epstein. The Beatles loved him.
course – that Brian Epstein was not a good And he set a template that has been improved
manager for The Beatles. But The Beatles upon by successive generations of managers.
never second-guessed him, nor disrespected Is this the guy you want, or do you want “the
him. He was working without a rule book,
biggest bastard” in the industry?
and, in his way, he was the best manager The
Beatles could have asked for. Understand that the biggest bastard will have
his – or her – slice of flesh, and you have to
Things had moved on by the time Epstein
live with that, because your slice is probably
died and Allen Klein came along. Klein was a
bigger than it would have been if you’d chosen
money man whose vigilance discovered $15m
Mr Nice Guy.
in unpaid royalties. He made more money for
The Beatles than Epstein ever could. On the other hand, if you choose Mr Nice Guy,
don’t complain later that he should have
Yet Epstein had held the band together.
been more ruthless. The big bastards tend
Klein split them apart. George Harrison, in
to be loud, opinionated and may say things
particular, was outraged at the commission
you find unpalatable. They are first and
Klein took on that $15m – a bigger cut than
foremost Looking After Number One. But in
any individual Beatle.
doing so, they work on the basis that charity
Klein was, by his own admission, “the biggest begins at home – and if they don’t look after
bastard” in the business. And he was not themselves, how can they look after you?
entirely honest.
In the end, it’s a personal choice, and one
But let’s say it again: Klein brought in $15m. that only you can make. But at a minimum
The Beatles didn’t know was owed them. And make sure your manager has a weighty mix of
still they resented the several million that he experience, contacts and, critically, success.
took in commission. The best litmus test to the success of a
It’s important that you take this in. Everyone manager is their success with other artists.
Your manager should be well connected at all levels of the music business.
A consummate people-person and music industry all-rounder, they need
to be able to tackle a raft of everyday business, from advising on contracts
through advising on/initiating recording and sync deals to working with your
booking agent to get more gigs. They’ll also be exploiting other revenue
streams for you, from third party licenses to sponsorship deals.
A good manager will have access to a team of trusted third party
professionals to turn to when you need them, from lawyers to producers,
marketeers to pluggers. A manager with a non-existent contacts book is
unlikely to stay in the business for long.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
A manager will typically take around 20% of an artist’s gross income. If

you’re a star you may be able to negotiate that down to 15%. If you’re a big
star then the manager is likely to be in a full-time salaried role.
You want to be in a position to peg the manager’s cut at 20%. Because
that’s 20% of your gross income. In other words, for every £100 you earn,
the manager gets £20.
The £80 that you receive is subject, apart from anything else, to tax. And
it’s the same £80 whether you’re a solo artist or a five-piece band. So a
five-piece band earning £100 will get just £16 a head (£100 minus the
manager’s 20% shared by 5). That works out as £4 less than the manager.
Understand this from the outset or you could end up being resentful.
The manager’s 20% is typically taken from all of an artist’s income: record
sales, streaming, live fees, merchandise, brand endorsements and anything
else you make money from.
SCOOTER BRAUN: JUSTIN TIME

Nominated by Jeffrey Katzenberg for Time understanding of media, marketing and PR
magazine’s annual ‘Time 100’ list of the 100 (witness the celeb-fuelled 30-day social
most influential people in the world, Scot media campaign leading up to the release of
‘Scooter’ Braun has, in an incredibly short Beiber’s ‘What Do You Mean’, for example); a
space of time, joined the ranks of the greatest well-deserved reputation as a nice guy; and
music managers in history. “I’m convinced a great deal of philanthropy (pretty much
that Scooter’s warmth and heart are why everything he does involves a hefty charitable
so many young clients gravitate to him – element). There’s much more to his career
he treats Justin like a member of his own than ‘just’ artist management, too – he’s also
family,” gushed the Dreamworks CEO. “I’m a shrewd businessman with subsidiaries of
pretty confident he will be influencing people his main company, SB Projects, making waves
for generations to come.” in music, TV, film and technology.
Justin, of course, is Justin Bieber, discovered In short, Braun is the very model of the
21st century music mogul, and while
at the age of 12 by Braun, who, having
you’re probably not going to find yourself
clocked him performing a Ne-Yo song on
under the guidance of anyone in quite the
YouTube, turned him into one of the biggest
same league, you should certainly be looking
(and richest) names in pop. As well as Bieber,
for the same key qualities in any prospective
Braun also manages Ariana Grande, Martin
manager: the entrepreneurship, the
Garrix, and Kanye West.
marketing vision, the media savvy, the energy
Braun’s juggernaut success is down to a and the drive to do everything they possibly
supremely sharp instinct for spotting talent can to get you, the artist, as far up the ladder
(“My gut is my No. 1 asset,” he says); a deep as they possibly can.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
But a good manager should earn that share – many times

over. CAN I GO IT ALONE?
Today’s managers know what they know because of the
If you’re going to have a
ground-breaking work that went before – Col. Tom Parker, successful career you almost
manager of Elvis Presley; Brian Epstein; Andrew Loog Oldham, certainly need a manager.
first manager of The Rolling Stones; Allen Klein, the Stones’ That fact is truer now than it
second manager (before he took on The Beatles); and – the ever has been.
archetypal big, badass ‘don’t mess with my artists’ manager – Because success in today’s
Peter Grant of Led Zeppelin. industry involves exploiting
And don’t forget Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who took on The dozens of revenue streams,
the breadth of skillset,
Rolling Stones’ affairs after Klein. He went about his work in understanding and contacts
a quiet, courtly and civilised manner, ensuring that – despite required to significantly up
Oldham’s naiveté and Klein’s worst efforts – the Stones an artist’s earning potential
became very rich indeed. is simply out of the grasp of
most musicians.
Today’s successful artists generally see their money a lot
Take brand endorsements,
quicker than the pioneers. It was reported that each of the for example. A major revenue
Spice Girls was worth around £15m when they split. Not, stream for artists is now
note, that they had earned £15m, but were worth £15m. They coming from lucrative tie-ins
achieved that in a less than five year career under the wings of with tech and lifestyle brands.
manager Simon Fuller. Would you, as an artist, have
any idea how to arrange one?
Justin Bieber, meanwhile, has only been making money Do you know the agencies
from his music since being dragged off YouTube by manager (personally) that deal with
extraordinaire Scooter Braun in 2009, yet is currently reported setting up such deals? No
to be worth somewhere north of – deep breath – $250m. offense, but would you even
According to Forbes magazine, he earned over $80m in 2017 know where to start? Unlikely.
alone. But a good manager will.
One tip from Adam Tudhope, manager of Mumford & Sons, When you’ve done the musical
groundwork and want to
is to ask questions when you don’t understand, even as a shift your career up a gear, a
manager. Crucially, asking for clarification when you don’t manager is usually the one to
understand “will always serve you much better than trying to make this happen.
front it out”.
Fronting it out, of course, was a valued tactic in the bad-old-
good-ol’ days. But today’s managers don’t feel they have to
know it all.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
Nor do they necessarily feel that every opportunity has to be grabbed.

William Robillard Cole, manager of Kaytranada, says: “I like to not show
artists (everything) that’s available, but ask them what they want to
do”. Artists, he says, have a vision, “and it’s usually not monetary”. The
manager’s job “is to figure out a way to make it profitable”.
Patience – rarely seen as an asset in the past – is cited uppermost by
Danny Reiner, part of Allessia Cara’s team. “Patience is key. With yourself,
your artists, and others. Being able to manage expectations and objectives
MANAGER SHOPPING LIST

We say it earlier in this chapter and feels important to you, put it in there.
elsewhere: Lawyer First, Manager Second. No There’s an age-old maxim: Don’t ask, don’t
contract – management included – should be
get. You may not get all you ask for, but
signed without legal advice.
knowing what you want up front is a massive
It will make your life considerably easier if you step. It’s also a signal to any manager or label
have a shopping list of requirements of your that you’re not a mug.
manager before you even meet one. These will
It will speed things up if you are able to tell
include the sort of relationship you want and
your lawyer – in writing – what you want from
the sorts of things you expect your manager
to negotiate on your behalf. the manager so they can check it’s all covered
in the management contract.
For instance, are you willing to trade off a
smaller advance on a record deal against a Your lawyer will point out anything that could
higher royalty rate and the opportunity to be seriously damaging to future earnings or
have ownership of your recordings after, say, your ownership of your own work.
five years? Some managers will see the big They should also flag anything that is, in their
advance as the first – and possibly only – experience, counter-productive to a good
earning opportunity. It will be a sign of faith in manager/artist relationship.
your future if you and your manager can agree
Once you have your lawyer and manager in
that you are not in this for the quick buck.
place, stay involved in the process.
You should also be looking for a manager who
understands that the work you create – the Contracts are often easier to understand than
songs and recordings – are your copyright. A they look. Yes, they’re couched in language
manager should be looking to help you exploit that feels intimidating and occasionally
these copyrights and earning commission on masks meaning. But that’s just the legal
income generated. They should not be looking profession protecting their interests.
to take part ownership of your copyrights. If you ask sensible questions, like: “Where
And you should not feel constricted to sign does it say how much the label is paying me
with anyone who does. for streaming?” or “Which clause covers the
Read or re-read Chapters 2, 8 and 9 and make amount I’ll be charged for packaging?” the
your own shopping list. Anything that looks or answer should be clear.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
through a solid communications structure. It is crucial not to rush

business”.
There are as many management styles as their are artists. And even a
single manager will use different approaches with different artists. What
they all must do, though, is ensure that at some point – hopefully sooner
rather than later – the money starts flowing.
HOW AND WHEN TO GET A MANAGER

You will need to be both fairly established and artistically top-class to get
a manager: established because most managers will want to see proof of
both live ability and some kind of following, and top class because there are
millions of artists out there and very few managers.
Trying to get a manager interested when you have nothing to show is a
non-starter. “Anybody who waits for a manager or waits for a record label
to put their stuff out must know that it doesn’t work like that; you have to
be proactive,” Jonathan Dickins, manager of Adele and Jamie T, told Hit
Quarters. “Whether that means you’re funding a little record that you’re
putting out by yourself very cheaply or going out and playing live, building
your fanbase, being creative online with a cool blog... Facebook, or just
distributing your music.”
A potential manager will want to see evidence of activity – but they won’t
necessarily want the finished product. They understand that a band or artist
will need help to become the finished product and many will mentor acts to
refine their brand, music and live abilities. Some will even invest their own
money in studio sessions, photo shoots and so on to improve the chances
of their talent.
Here’s what one manager with an enviable roster said: “I don’t want an act
that needs lots of development, but I am more than prepared to do some.
That’s the part of the job I love. My favourite kind of artist is a diamond in
the rough. I understand that it’ll take time and effort to make it shiny.”
It is almost always the quality of the act and their music that is the deciding
factor when a manager takes on new talent. “I’ll only be interested in an act
that has longevity,” notes the same manager. “I want career artists; ones that
will craft their skill and stick around. Ones that I can earn from year after year.
That matters way more to me than a massive Facebook following.”
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
If you’re that potential career artist, one route to the best management
might be through the lawyer who has, for instance, negotiated your
publishing deal. Lawyers and managers share a two-way, financially
beneficial relationship. Managers send their favoured lawyer contracts
associated with their artists while the lawyer sends the manager acts that
they think may be of interest. It’s a cosy two-way with money flowing in
one direction and artists the other. It’s in the lawyer’s interest to keep the
manager well stocked with promising artists. They know that those artists,
when they get bigger, will need regular legal work. Kerrr-ching.
Managers still seek out artists, but you’ll get to the top flight of
management if there’s already a publishing deal in the offing, or if they
know that several record companies are chasing you around town.
Managers want to hit pay-dirt as much as artists, and their ongoing search
for new talent will see them scouring the internet, social media – and, most
of all, catching local gigs. So follow the steps in Chapter 4 - Spreading the
word. Build up a local following. Become what one manager calls a ‘hero in
your back yard’. If you’re making big enough local waves and luck’s on your
side, you may snare a manager the old-fashioned way.
RECORD PRODUCER
After the manager, a producer is likely to be the most important figure in
your rise to the top. While your manager keeps an eye on business, the
producer’s interest is your music. They will work to ensure it is the best it
can be – both sonically and creatively.
It has always been a matter of some confusion that a record producer has a
role equivalent to that of a film director while the film producer’s equivalent
is the record company.
The reason for this is that long before there were record producers, there
were musical directors, and musical directors had a specific role, which was
to arrange orchestration, book musicians for sessions and, if required, even
tour with the performer.
Nowadays producers take this role and often much more. Their contribution
to a project can range from having a final say on the mix to micromanaging
every step of the writing, recording and mixdown process.
Producers are the craftsmen (and it is almost always men – see Let’s talk
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
about sex, below) who turn ideas and performances into the final polished
mixes that hit the stores and charts.
When you enter the studio, the producer’s job is not only to get the best
possible sound for you, but also the best performance from you. They will
either work with the studio’s engineer/s to make that happen, or will weave
the magic themselves behind the desk – or computer screen, more likely.
Producers have the unenviable task of negotiating technical challenges,
compositional trials and artistic differences as new music takes shape in
the studio. To say it can be a fraught business is an understatement.
Pity producer Ken Caillat, for example, at the helm of Fleetwood Mac’s 1976
Rumours sessions. The previous Mac album had been the first featuring
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. It topped the Billboard charts, and
big things were expected of Rumours.
But Buckingham and Nicks were having a public relationship breakdown.
Founder/bassist John McVie was also breaking up with his wife, singer
Christine – who was sleeping with drummer Mick Fleetwood. Unsurprisingly,
Fleetwood’s own marriage was also cracking up.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

It’s not controversial to state that most Grammy or Brit. Even being nominated
producers are male – although it is puzzling. has usually been reserved for artists who
It’s also doubly ironic that in the male- produced their own records.
dominated and most misogynistic musical So if you’re looking for a gap in the market
style – hip hop - one of the early producer and you’re female, there’s one big, glaring
stars was Sylvia Robinson. hole for you to fill.
She not only produced one of rap’s first hits It’s not just as producers that women are
– ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugar Hill Gang – woefully under-represented. They’re also
but also co-wrote and produced Melle Mel’s distinctly absent from behind the mixing
‘White Lines’. desk. Trina Shoemaker was the first female
There are others female producers, to win a Grammy for sound engineering back
including Linda Perry, one-time singer with in 1998.
Four Non Blondes, who produced Pink’s You’ll be hard pressed to find another since
‘Let’s Get This Party Started’ and Trina then, with the fantastic exception of Imogen
Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow). Heap, who engineered her own album,
But female producers are a rare breed. There’s Ellipse, and won the 2010 Grammy for Best
never been a female winner of Best Producer Engineered Album, Non Classical.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
So imagine the patience Ken Caillat and co-producer Richard Dashut had
to exercise to get through 15-hour days that were fuelled by mountains of
coke and ego-driven disputes.
Such can be the lot of a producer – requiring the patience of Job and the
diplomatic skills of an international ambassador.
Feel also for Bill Bottrell, who spent close to two years of his life working on
Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, where constraints on neither the budget nor
timescale meant the project kept demanding more and more of his life. So
demoralised was the producer by the end of the project that he quit the pop
machine and returned to his roots, making and mixing country music. He
never returned to making chart hits.
Or producer-engineer Martin Rushent, tasked to oversee the The Human
League’s 1988 Hysteria, an album so steeped in personal antagonism that,
following a row between him and Susanne Sulley, he quit the studio – and
the music industry – for a decade.
Production has never been an easy job, juggling artistic wishes and
sensitivities on the one hand with the demands of the public/label/manager
and recording medium on the other. The best producers come out of the
maelstrom with a fantastic sounding record. Even then, many of history’s
finest are unknown to the public.
Only hip hop has bucked that trend. A generation of urban/pop superstar
producers like Dr Dre, Timbaland and The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and
Chad Hugo) are nearly as well known as the artists they’re producing (Kelis,
Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Eminem, 50 Cent).
Partly because of the rise of these big names, many of today’s producers
are seen as collaborators who subsequently share in the financial success
of hit records (see Chapter 8 - The record deal). Depending on the level of
involvement, they may earn royalties as co-writers and co-performers.
Make no mistake, the right producer can make the difference between the
success or failure of your career. There’s no point in having the best songs
if they sound anything other than amazing. The best producers weave sonic
magic, and you should be looking to work with the best.
Like artists, in-demand producers will usually be managed, with a producer
manager taking around 15% of the producer’s gross income.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
DIY MASTERING: AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

It is tempting to save a few pounds by Mastering engineers have equipment mere
mastering your own tracks. Almost all DAWs mortals can only dream of. Some of it is
have mastering channel presets that make a vintage, most of it is very expensive. They
track sound instantly louder and fatter. have an innate understanding of the technical
requirements of the final master (and how
Online mastering services like LANDR and
that will transfer to the various mediums you
eMastering are cloud-based utilities allowing
might choose to press to).
artists to upload their mix and receive a ‘fully
mastered’ track back for next to nothing. Most of all they have ‘golden ears’ – the ability
to hear nuances and flaws in music that allow
Both home mastering and services like LANDR them to perform a final quality control before
can deliver reasonable results. your music hits the public’s ears.
But beware services based on algorithms. In short, your mate in a bedroom with Pro
They do the job within limited technical Tools and Heritage Mastering settings is not
parameters and there’s far more to mastering going to hack it. For the sake of £20 or so a
than an instant volume increase quick-win. track, this is not the place to be cutting costs.
ENGINEER
This is the guy (again, almost always a guy) in the studio who knows
how everything works and who will assist the producer in recording your
masterpiece.
Given the huge – and growing – disparity between the numbers of
engineering graduates (too many) and jobs in the industry (too few),
the sound engineer will usually be highly experienced, talented, motivated
and patient.
The studio engineer is responsible for ensuring that everything is recorded
at optimum quality, that the most appropriate microphones are used and
set up correctly and that, when the session is over the captured audio is
neatly and tidily filed, whether in a properly marked up tape box or in a
digital filing system where every track from your recording session is easily
accessed.
While the producer is tasked with the macro ‘big picture’ delivery of a
project, the engineer looks after essential studio tasks and technical
minutiae. Think of them as the highly skilled right-hand man (almost
always a man) of the producer, with an all-encompassing knowledge of the
studio and its equipment. They are typically resident in a specific studio.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
MIXER
THINKING BIG
Since the dawn of the ‘remix’ era, dating back more than three
decades now, a new breed of super-mixers has emerged. If you have a big enough
following and can think
Particularly in pop music, they are a go-to necessity once the outside the box, phone up the
producer and artist have done their thing. A particular ‘mixed- Albert Hall and ask how much
by’ credit can guarantee you radio play. it would cost to hire it for an
evening.
So the mixing stage now often – but not always; and rarely in
You’ve likely never heard of
genres like dance and folk – sits between the production and Show Of Hands, but in 1995
mastering processes. they put their money where
their mouths were and booked
MASTERING ENGINEER themselves into the Albert Hall
for 24 March, 1996.
When the studio sessions are over and your songs are mixed, Then they set about promoting
it via continuous gigging up
there is still one more studio process to go through: the dark
and down the country.
art of mastering, performed by the mastering engineer.
The first Albert Hall gig was a
Mastering engineers usually work alone. Their job is to give sellout. They’ve done it four
a ‘finish’ to your tracks so they are optimised for the final times since, including their
listening medium, be it CD, mp3, broadcast or vinyl. They also 10th band anniversary in
2001, and most recently in
check the fidelity of audio and, on album projects, ensure each
2017.
track has a similar sound/volume.
Before they did this, no-one
Mastering engineers are highly skilled and the best of them had really thought about such
are viewed with something close to superstar status in the an adventurous approach to
industry. self-promotion.
Getting your tracks mastered by the best mastering engineer

you can lay your hands on is a vital link in the chain to ensure
that your music sounds the best it can. Your producer or
manager will likely have a favourite go-to contact. It may be
best to go with that choice.
But you can look elsewhere too. Go online and do a search for
mastering engineers. You’ll find dozens of sites, both from
named engineers and also from famed mastering houses like
Air and Abbey Road.
Many mastering engineers offer online mastering, where you
send a pre-master to their studio online and get the ‘masters’
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
sent back. Even big-name mastering houses are now absurdly cheap, often
offering entire albums for less than £200–300.
PROMOTER
Gig promotion runs the gamut, like all parts of the music industry, from
small to vast.
The key word is ‘promote’ – as in publicise, market.
You might be a local band, keen to start gigging. You have a friend whose
dad owns a pub and who’s a dab hand at design. She asks her dad to borrow
the pub backroom for a night. She then designs a flyer, sticks it up around
town and leaves copies around the pub for customers to see. She also
posts about your gig on the pub’s website and Facebook page. Now you’re a
gigging band and your friend’s a promoter.
That’s the small scale. At the other end of the scale is Live Nation
Entertainment (LNE), the behemoth that not only promotes music events
but also owns many of the venues where the events take place.
LNE emerged from a merger between Live Nation – described as ‘a live
events company’ – and Ticketmaster. That’s what you call synergy – own the
venues, promote the events, sell the tickets – and initially it created a lot of
opposition. America’s Justice Department asserted a string of conditions
before approving the merger. In the UK, the Competition Commission
initially ruled against, but ultimately passed it.
Live Nation is also noteworthy for offering the first major 360 deal with
Madonna (see Chapter 8 – The record deal). By changing the ways things
are done, and on a massive scale, Live Nation has become seen in some
quarters as the music industry’s Starbucks – a disruptive influence
generating the associated vitriol and paranoia.
As with most other areas of music, promotion is something you can do
yourself, and most musicians start out taking on the role – designing and
printing flyers, generating buzz and telling the world about the band and its
gigs. Equally, if you’ve got a friend keen on taking the role (and a cut of your
live income) then rope them in.
Earning a living as a promoter is – let’s not beat about the bush – hard.
You are expected to cover a variety of often hefty costs: venue rental,
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
advertising, equipment rental, band entertainment/

accommodation and payment for the band. ANTON CORBIJN:
GRAND DESIGNER
In return they get a share of the door takings. There’s no hard
and fast rule about commission as a promoter. It’s between
Very occasionally, a
you, the band and the venue. You are taking the risk. The band
designer can turn out to
just has to turn up and play. You both have to agree what’s fair. be instrumental in the
One notable benefit of promotion is that, unlike many other establishment of a band’s
identity to an extent that
areas of the music industry, becoming successful has nothing
transcends mere imagery.
to do with age. If you have the money, the know how and the
Although he’s worked with an
experience you can, like Harvey Goldsmith (the promoter who
incredible range of artists,
put Live Aid together), still be doing it 50 years later. from Art of Noise and David
And you could, like Bill Graham – who promoted most of the Sylvian to Red Hot Chili
Peppers and Arcade Fire,
biggest bands of the 60s and 70s, and had his own venues,
Anton Corbijn is probably best
Fillmore East and Fillmore West - become a legend. known for his ongoing tenure,
You could also, with a fearless approach and a lot of since the mid ’80s, as creative
director for Depeche Mode and
imagination, become a successful promoter very young.
U2, responsible for all their
photography, videography and
BOOKING AGENT sleeve design.
Corbijn’s grainy, evocative
A booking agent has one task: to get gigs for the artist or visual style fits the sounds of
band. both bands like a pair of black
leather gloves, playing a huge
Easy, eh? part in defining their public
personas.
Well, no as it turns out.
Head honcho of Depeche
Here’s a test. Try picking up the phone and getting through Mode’s label, Mute Records,
to the booking department of a major venue, or a chain of Daniel Miller says of the
venues. multitalented Dutchman: “To
have all that in one person
You’ll be lucky to get through because, well, Who are you? is very powerful. And very
Do we know you? Why are we talking to you? Our days are hard to find. Anton grew from
full enough already of people we do know, and the diary is a photographer to a video
chocker. maker to a sleeve designer,
and we kind of grew with him.
Let’s say you do get through and someone at the venue is It worked very, very well – and
willing to spare you five minutes. What are you going to say? still does today.”
You want to book your band in for a gig.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
Sure thing. What sort of ticket price are you thinking of? Erm…
Does the band have an album it’s promoting? Er…. Do you TREATING YOUR
really believe the band can fill this hall? It’s an 800-seater you TEAM RIGHT
know? Erm….er…
Maybe your public image is
And so on. Agents know the answers to these questions before
badass. That’s for your public.
they pick up the phone. They know whether your band is going But don’t act badass around
to fill a pub, the O2 or Carnegie Hall. They know the right ticket your professional team.
price range for each venue. Most of all, they know the people That’s not to say be a
to talk to – and, critically, the people they’re talking to know walkover. You are, after all, the
them. breadwinner. Your advisors
should treat you with respect,
A booking agent takes between 5-15% commission on and you should reciprocate.
bookings. The smaller the artist/gig, the bigger that
But do ask questions. The
commission. music business is complex
and you should take as much
DESIGNER interest in your career and
the decisions shaping it as
possible. Just don’t ask those
Of all the people who may survive your journey from the
questions from a paranoid
bottom to the top, the most likely candidate is your designer. point of view. Ask politely –
A good designer is a good designer. They don’t need to have and be persistent.
a widespread network of contacts. In fact, many aren’t overly In the final analysis, if you’re
ambitious; they don’t want the superstar life, they’re just not happy with the response,
happy making interesting artwork. or the information provided,
talk it through with your
Which is not to say that good graphic design is an unskilled manager.
occupation, nor remotely to suggest that anyone can do it. On
They may tell you not to worry.
the contrary, a great designer, who truly ‘gets’ the brand, can
But if you’ve got a point, let
add to that brand immeasurably. The best designers even help
your manager handle the
define the brand – see Anton Corbijn: grand designer, above. conflict.
However little you personally know about design, don’t be That’s what they’re there for,
afraid to have an opinion about it. It’s your music – you are the and that’s one of the reasons
Story – and you need to be comfortable with every aspect of they get 20% of your cash.
the design that speaks for you.
Abstract discussions about ‘ambience’ and ‘feel’ sound
pretentious to some people. But you’re a musician, and
expressing yourself should be second nature. What’s a little
pretension between friends if you end up with a cracking good
image that is as instantly recognisable as a Coke bottle?
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
PUBLICIST / PR
Malcolm McClaren was a genius publicist. Without contacts and with no
prior experience he managed to get enough coverage for The Sex Pistols to
give the professionals wet dreams.
He was a prankster who knew what would get up people’s noses. And he got
up the noses of enough important people that the media could only follow
behind, mopping up the mess and smearing it all over their front pages and
‘news’ programmes.
But you won’t have Malcolm McLaren. You’ll be using a more orthodox
publicist or personal relations / PR representative.
These people will get your name into the media – onto blogs, into papers,
onto MTV. Their role is to persuade the media to tell the world about you and
your music. They have the email addresses and mobile phone numbers of
tastemakers, journalists and editors and will do anything and everything to
get your name out there.
Max Clifford – before being banged up and subsequently dying in prison
– probably fitted the job description more conventionally than McLaren
in most people’s eyes. Which is a shame because out there are quiet,
professional people who push stories into the media all day, every day
without ever ending up in jail.
At the other end of the spectrum are small companies and individuals who
know specific genres inside out and who are able to service press releases
and break new acts by working with media outlets, bloggers and opinion
formers. If they like your music a good PR can give an emerging artist a
hefty leg up.
There are various stages at which you may require the services of a
publicist:
1. If you become a major live act without a record contract (unlikely,
but not impossible) you will need to hire your own publicist to get press
coverage, raise your media profile and bring you to the attention of the
people who have yet to notice (or sign) you. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, and
it’s a service you will regret not buying into.
2. If you are signed, a publicist will almost always come with the deal (if
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
a label isn’t looking after PR, the deal’s probably not worth the paper it’s
written on). The record company will invariably have their own PR team,
either in or out of house, who will work hard to obtain coverage for and on
you – getting reviewers down to your gigs and securing reviews of your
music alongside interviews in the music press and wider media.
3. If you become a megastar, you might hire your own dedicated publicist.
This person will do what the others have done, but will also manage your
public image and be expert in crisis management (should you, for instance,
fall asleep at the wheel of your car in the middle of a motorway or are
discovered indulging in some indiscreet extra-marital S&M).
4. If you have the money there’s no reason why you can’t hire PR earlier
in your career. If your music, brand and story is good enough a talented
publicist can give even the least known artist a steroid boost, spreading the
word and generating hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new fans. Even hiring
PR for a short period - to service the release of a single, for example, or
talk-up an up-coming tour – can pay significant dividends.
Publicists will frequently irritate you. They will dream up stunts or gimmicks
to get you in the press if the coverage doesn’t come naturally. Try not to be
irritated. They’re working for you, not against you. Work with them and do
anything/everything that feels right for your Story.
A&R
They say in A&R (Artist and repertoire) that ‘no’ is the hardest word. In fact
‘yes’ is considerably harder because in agreeing to sign an act you are, in
the act’s eyes, giving them the key to all their hopes and dreams.
As the signed artist, the reality is that, although you’re now the one in
perhaps 10,000 who has a record deal, the odds are still somewhere close
to 100/1 against you being successful.
Look for an A&R who loves what you do but isn’t all over you. You need
someone not just to love what you do, but who is objective enough to be able
to see – and tell you – what’s missing, and what might be done about it.
As an artist, your first record company contact will most likely be with an
A&R scout. Don’t get too excited. These are young people on the lowest
rung, scouring the internet for likely talent during the day and out most
nights checking the acts they like most.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
An enthusiastic scout might get your hopes up but they don’t make signing
decisions. They have a boss, who is an executive in the A&R department,
and the scout has to sell you to the executive.
Keep your feet on the ground at all times, but particularly now. Because the
scout who is telling you how fantastic you are is saying the same thing to
ten others, and their boss isn’t going to sign all ten. Indeed, they might sign
none of the ten. At scout level you’re still being filtered.
Once you’re through this filter, the bigwigs back at the office start listening
to your songs. Part of their job is to pick out the best for your debut album
and to identify potential singles.
This is the point in your career where things can take an unexpected turn.
Record companies don’t always sign you for who you are, but for what they
think you can be. Their vision of you might not fit at all with your vision of
yourself.
Excited as you are at the prospect of a recording contract, if you are the
kind of artist who refuses to compromise, sell out or follow guidance, this is
the moment to say so. Because once you’re signed the A&R team is likely to
follow its own instincts rather than yours. They have a track record at this;
you don’t. Speak now or forever hold your peace.
If you are determined to stay true to your authentic self and Story, this is
where your management is truly tested. They have to agree with you, and
have enough clout to keep the record company off your back. Which is
another reason to wait until the best managers in the world are beating
down your door.
PLUGGER
Record companies have teams of pluggers, also known as promotion
people (not to be confused with gig promoters). Their job is to get your
track played wherever music is played.
These are people with unusually thick skin and a tenacious temperament.
They will have relationships with key programme producers – in radio,
TV and elsewhere - who will, by and large, trust the pluggers not to push
anything unsuitable.
The plugger needs more tools in the box than simply your brilliant record.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
They need to believe in your brand. And you’ll make their job immeasurably
easier if your social media stats are healthy.
You may think that’s unfair. Your record should stand or fall on its own
merits. Well, that’s how it used to be. But that’s not how it is now. If you
weren’t convinced when we told you why all these things – Instagram,
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter – were important to grab the attention of the
record companies, then bear in mind that the Radio One playlist committee
sits once a week, and they are furnished with all of these numbers – your
views, your follows – before they even listen to your song (see Chapter 1 -
The music business).
Make no mistake – the plugger will become an essential part of your team.
Be nice, take them to dinner, make believers of them. Insist on meeting
them as soon as they’ve been assigned to your record. Miss no opportunity
to make them feel loved.
BOOKKEEPER
The moment you are earning enough money to pay tax, you will need to
keep a record of your income and your outgoings.
When you start out, you’ll be keeping your own books (Chapter 6 - Taking
care of business). But eventually, when your diary fills up and the gigs
become better paid, this task will become a chore that gets in the way of
more important jobs.
Now’s the time to hire a bookkeeper – a number-savvy spreadsheet-lover
who will look after the ins and outs of your cash flow, the expenses and
invoices on a day-to-day basis.
A proficient bookkeeper can cost as little as £50 a month, and there
are many online accounting services that couple cloud-based software
with phone-based advisers, but don’t go low-budget for the sake of it.
Your bookkeeper should have specialist software and be tapped into an
accountancy firm or two. Ask for a reference or check online testimonials.
Browse their LinkedIn profile.
Once your bookkeeper is in place, all that’s asked of you is that you continue
to receive and keep receipts, which you will regularly hand to them. Data
entry is now their responsibility, and you can concentrate your efforts on
music, promotion and marketing.
CHAPTER 7 YOUR TEAM
ACCOUNTANT
Until your financial affairs become complex, you can authorise your
bookkeeper to not only look after your day-to-day accounts, but also,
potentially, to file official documents like your tax return. They’ll charge a
small amount for this extra service but it will be money well spent if you’re
out on the road running to keep up.
As your earnings grow and your affairs more complex the time will come to
hire an accountant.
Whatever you read about accountants, and whatever view you have about
their possible venality (tax avoidance, Starbucks, Jimmy Carr) they are
skilled professionals who are absolutely necessary for structuring your
financial affairs in the most efficient way possible.
Not only are they highly trained, the law and their own profession demands
that they continue training throughout their careers – if an accountant is
not up-to-date with the latest tax laws and other changeable aspects of
finance, and lacks the required certification, they are struck off.
A good accountant will save you money and ensure that the mega-
wealth coming your way is not frittered in a five year blaze of high-living
inglory, but is invested for your twilight years so that you don’t have to
play humiliating ‘final’ tours over and over or suffer the indignity of joining
your own tribute band.
Your manager will usually be able to suggest both a bookkeeper
and accountant, although it is often best to keep your accountant
separate so that you have at least one independent eye looking over your
financial affairs.
CHAPTER 8
THE RECORD DEAL

‘The devil is in the details, which are so
convoluted scarcely anyone understands them.’ IN THIS CHAPTER...
Development deal
Lisa Verrico, journalist and author,
on record contracts Direct signing
The 360 deal
The record deal: it’s what most of us dream of, isn’t it? Signing with an indie
If you make music in a genre like dance or hip hop – where Copyright recap
you stand at least some chance of going it alone – the
allure of the deal might not hold the same sway. Speaking Landing a deal
with The Guardian, UK grime kingpin Stormzy – the first Sending demos
unsigned British artist to have a top 10 single – said: “Every What to look for
single thing I was told that I couldn’t do without a label – in a deal
get in the charts, get on to the Radio 1 playlist – I’ve done.”
Negotiation:
But for most artists, validation is being fawned over by A&R a quick guide
types and being offered contracts with lots of zeros.
The record deal is the end of what is often a long and tough
grind to place yourself on the musical map. But it is also the
start of something more exciting: the first steps from the
pond into the ocean but this time with the clout of a label
behind you.
The moment the record deal lands on the table is a defining
one – and often a life-changing one.
But before you read any more of this chapter, a warning:
Sign only when you’re ready.
Got that? Sign only when you’re ready.
CHAPTER 8 THE RECORD DEAL
WHAT WILL BE ON OFFER?

Let’s start by looking at what a record deal is not.
It is not a guarantee of hits; or success; or happiness; or untold riches.
A record deal says only that you agree to make records for the label whose
contract you are signing, and the label agrees to makes its best efforts to
exploit that music.
There are four typical deals. You may come across examples of others, but
they are almost all variations on a theme. For instance, a ‘270’ deal is a
variation on the 360 deal – but excludes publishing.
These four deals, from simplest to most complex, are:
– a development deal
– direct signing to a specific label – either a major or an indie
– licensing to a specific label, and
– the ‘360’ deal.
Over the next few pages we discuss each in detail.
DEVELOPMENT DEAL
A development deal does what it says on the tin. It takes a usually unheard-
of artist and develops them into a marketable and releasable product.
You may have heard stories about how Prince was signed before he had
even made a record and how Warners agreed in advance to allow him one
album that would surely fail.
Or how Kate Bush was signed at 16 and put on retainer for two years while
she finished school and developed her performance skills. Her first album
appeared when she was 19 – and was an immediate smash.
Today you can view these stories as fairy tales. Which is not to say they’re
untrue. They’re absolutely true. But they’re from such a different age they
almost qualify as folk memories.
Rare as those sorts of experiences were 30 years ago, they became
practically unheard of as record industry revenues plummeted and a sort
of panic set in. Today, as the industry finally gets a grip on the new digital
reality, with revenues on the rise again, confidence is returning.
Nevertheless, if you are offered such a deal it won’t look anything like the
one that 16-year-old Ms Bush signed. Instead, the financial investment in
you is likely to be minimal. You will probably end up making only four or five
tracks and, at best, you will be second-guessed every step of the way. At
worst you will be pushed in directions you don’t want to go.
The development route isn’t one we’d recommend. If you’re a promising
songwriter, then a publishing deal (we call it the Creative deal in Chapter 9)
is likely to be a better long-term bet.
In any event, you should already have the resources needed to record
yourself - a DAW and some plugins. If you do, exercise some patience.
Forget about a label developing you – and potentially taking you somewhere
you don’t want to go. Instead, develop yourself.
Between recording your own songs and playing live you will develop to the
point that a development deal won’t be necessary.
If you don’t have the patience to wait and put the work in then you’re not
taking yourself seriously. In which case, why should anyone else?
DIRECT SIGNING
The most common kind of record deal is a contract between you and a label
for a fixed term.
This fixed ‘term’ (legal speak for time period) is typically anything from one
year to five, with the label able to ‘pick up’ (renew) the contract year by year
for longer if they deem it in their interests.
Any contract with a term beyond five years would be deemed so much in
the label’s favour (who knows where you’ll be in your career by then?) that it
shouldn’t be signed.
During the term of the contract you will be expected to work exclusively for
the label (see Exclusivity and delivery: What’s expected of you, below) –
meaning you can record songs for no other label without directly breaking
the terms of the agreement.
With a direct signing deal, the label owns all recordings you make during the
term of your contract for the life of the recording’s copyright (see Copyright
explained, later in this chapter).
Artist royalties are fairer today than they’ve ever been. Old timers would
have given a limb for 15%, but 20% today would be more typical. The best
managers can get you more because they have the power to get you the
best tours – indeed the best of everything.
The exact rate will depend on a host of factors: the strength of you or your
manager’s negotiating skills; your/their ability to convince the label of your
potential; how strong your live following is; and how large and engaged your
social media following is.
Now, admit it: you’re already calculating how many download tracks you
need to sell at 20% of 99 cents to make your first million.
But, as we explain in Chapter 2 - How music makes money for you, nothing
in the music industry is as simple as it seems.
Record companies have spent decades perfecting the dubious arts of
‘deductions’ and ‘exceptions’ – almost all of which are taken from an artist’s
income before their royalty is calculated.
Now, with the caveat that downloading is on the way out,

downloads are a good example of how things work. Firstly, the CHOOSING THE
royalty you get will not be based on retail price (the $9.99 that RIGHT DEAL: DON’T
your album download retails at), or even on the retailer price SWEAT IT ALONE
(the $6.99 that iTunes pays out), but on a price you can’t easily
calculate because all sorts of ‘deductibles’ will have been Too many musicians worry
applied to it, including, typically: about the intricacies of a
record deal when their focus
- all recording and production costs should be on the things that
got them noticed by A&R
- half of video production costs
execs in the first place: their
- half of the promotion and marketing budget music and brand.
Yes – it’s good to know this
- 10-15% of packaging costs (remember that even though
stuff, but don’t get too bogged
we’re in the digital age, almost half of sales were still in down in it. As and when a deal
physical formats in 2014). comes along your manager
and lawyer should be the ones
All of these deductions (legitimate or allowable expenses) will
negotiating its points. A good
be outlined in the contract you sign. manager will talk it through
On top of all that, in the hard copy market, there will be with you, allowing you to make
a fully informed decision over
‘returns’ (a level of copies dealers are allowed to return
the best route for you.
unsold) and free copies (for review, radio stations and other
That’s not to say you shouldn’t
promotional copies).
read everything put in front of
Finally, don’t forget about your advance. Even after the above you to sign. You should take
deductions have been taken from your income, you won’t be particular interest in the rate
of royalty, the term of the
entitled to any royalty payout until your advance has been fully
contract, and the ways your
recouped (earned back by the label). As we said in Chapter 2: label will be able to recoup
don’t expect to see money from record sales any time soon. money from music sales – the
key clauses in most contracts.
The main disadvantage of direct signing is that when the
contract ends and you move to another label, all of your At the same time, don’t sweat
over every clause and sub
recordings made in the terms of your previous contract stay
clause. As we note in Chapter
under ownership of the original label. 7 - Your team, in the final
Which is why there is a third option – the licensing deal. analysis, your deal is about
relationships.
If they are good, you – and
the label – will be happy.
If they break down, no
contract is likely to heal
the rift.
THE LICENSING DEAL

The major difference between a licensing and direct signing deal is that,
after a term specified in the contract, you get the rights back to your
recordings. This could be five years, it could be 12 or it could be 13 (the
normal end of any contract).
In reality, it will be somewhere in between – most likely seven years.
The term is something for you and the record company to negotiate. They
want to see their investment back; you want to get the rights back while
they still have some value.
For the privilege of this freedom you might expect less of an advance
and/or a reduced royalty. You can negotiate one against the other –
reduced advance against a bigger royalty, for instance.
EXCLUSIVITY AND DELIVERY: WHAT’S EXPECTED OF YOU

When you sign a record, publishing or These rights are called ‘options’, so named
merchandising deal, the first thing usually because the label isn’t guaranteeing to
demanded of you is exclusivity – ie, you can’t finance three albums within, say, the five
go signing deals with anyone else. years of your contract period – but they have
A standard clause in most contracts states the option to do so if they wish. The contract
that you warrant (guarantee) that you are in a will be broken into ‘periods’. Your first
position to sign the contract. recordings will be delivered during period one.
If they are happy, the label can then ‘pick up’
Which means if you’ve already signed an (exercise their right to) period two in which
exclusive contract with company A, then your they expect further recordings from you.
warranty to company B – if you decided to try
and pull a fast one – would be not only invalid, Note that this is not a two-way street. The
but also fraudulent. label has the right to exercise options until
the end of the whole contract period. The
A contract will also contain a ‘delivery’ period, artist, on the other hand, has no option to
a period of time – typically six to 12 months – exercise – i.e. you can’t demand that they
in which you are expected to deliver your first release another of your albums. This might
single, EP or album. (A label doesn’t want to seem unfair until you remember that the label
be sitting around indefinitely while you polish is spending their money. By the time you’ve
your supposed No. 1 record.) made your first album and accompanying
The contract will also often give the label the videos, the label might be £500k in the red
right to ask you for further recordings within for you – with no sales to show. Their right to
the time period covered by the contract. future options negates some of that risk.
In all other respects the deal will be similar to a direct signing – all the same
deductions, free copies, recording costs et al.
The exception to this would be where you have financed your recordings
externally and are bringing a finished product to the label. If the label
loves you and really wants to release your recordings, you are in a strong
negotiating position.
The down side is that, not having much invested, the record company might
not prioritise such a deal. As the artist, you have to be confident your music
has a long life – possibly with potential for film or TV soundtrack licensing.
WHY THE *%&$ ISN’T MY ROYALTY SHARE BIGGER?

As you digest the intricacies of your - license your track/s onto compilations (for
record deal and realise how hard it is to 360 deals that include publishing).
earn from record sales, you’d be entitled Basically, they’re forking out a lot of cash on a
to ask what’s the label doing to earn its lot of things.
share of my cash?
And even if – after a major hit and a top 10
So here’s some of what the record company album – you start paying back these costs
will (or should) do for you: from your advance, the fact is that even
- pay you an advance (if negotiated), to help investing in a minor-league artist can result in
with your living costs while they work on tens of thousands of dollars being risked.
breaking your record, What’s more, at any one time, a record label
- pay for recording sessions, is taking this same risk with multiple hopefuls
- pay any advance (or fee) required to your – adding up to hundreds, often millions, of
dollars.
chosen producer,
- stump up for PR, promotion and marketing, We’re not apologists for the far-from-
perfect record industry. But when cursing
- fund the shooting and editing of
the apparent one-sidedness of the average
promotional videos, including director
record deal, bear in mind the risk the label has
costs,
of losing its investment.
- design and print sleeves, covers, inserts etc
It is so high – and the success rate so low –
for your CDs (and vinyl, if applicable),
that they need to make significant sums from
- manufacture, press and distribute hard their rare successes in order to keep moving
copies (CDs etc) of your music to high forwards.
street record stores,
The acts that make it big are the bankers,
- in part, at least, support you on tour, not only covering the costs of other acts who
- extend the risk and spend into international don’t make it, but also paying the salaries of
markets in the hope of having success in everyone you need at the label to generate a
other countries (territories), similar success for you.
THE 360 DEAL
MUSIC SALES
The so-called ‘360’ deal was the shiny new future
G
of the record industry a decade back. The shine
TIN
AN LSE
RI
has come off it a little, and it hasn’t taken hold as
W
E
YT
NG
HI
SO
N
predicted. But it’s still worth being aware of.
G
So what is the 360 deal? GIGS & TOURING
PERSONAL
A circle is 360 degrees. Take a piece of paper and APPEARANCES
draw a circle with you at the centre, then write
ME
around the circle all the various types of income
R
CH
SPONSORSHIP
)
AN
C D ING
LS
you expect to derive from making music – see
DI
EA
YN C
SE
(S ICEN
diagram, right. That is the 360 deal. (We’ve kept our
L
diagram simple. It’s improbably unlikely that the pie
would divide equally.)
In a nutshell, you sign a contract with an organisation – it could be a record
company, it could be a marketing company, it could even be a corporation
with interests in concert venues and broadcasting. They then own you lock,
stock and barrel: recording, publishing, merchandise, licensing, touring, and
much else besides, for a period of time dictated by the term. In return you
can expect to see between 60% and 90% of net income – the bigger your
name as an artist, the bigger percentage you will be able to negotiate.
This type of deal emerged from fresh thinking in light of the dive in revenue
from music sales. Record companies were asking: “Why should we invest
our money in building an artist and then not share in the revenue from
touring, merchandise and sync deals?” How justifiable you think this is
depends on your view of how record companies invest their money.
The legal specifics of a 360 deal are similar to any other record deal.
It’s just that here your recording royalties, income from merchandising,
income from touring, and income from licensing are all channelled through
the company with whom you have signed. (Under a 360 deal electronic
musicians and/or DJs would expect DJ booking income to contribute to the
pie.)
In return for taking a slice of your 360, an organisation contracts to support
you financially and with all expertise at their disposal to maximise all
aspects of your career.
A true 360 deal will take a share of your songwriting/publishing income.

Note that you should approach this particular part of the deal with care;
you can lose out big-time if you sign publishing to a company that doesn’t
have a fully-fledged music publishing operation. If they don’t – and you can
exclude your publishing from the deal – then you get a so-called ‘270’ deal.
ADVANCES: MONEY BEFORE YOU’VE EARNED IT

An advance is what it says on the tin – a So if your merch licensor advances you
payment in advance on earnings you are £10,000 against merchandise sold during a
expected to make in the future. 20 gig tour, you won’t see any cash from them
The advance is paid down - recouped in legal until they’ve made at least £10,000 that
speak – when those future earnings begin would otherwise be due to you.
to materialise, and before you see another The golden rule of the advance is: don’t
penny. blow it on wine, women (or men) and song.
There are three main entities that might pay The advance is what you have to live on
you an advance: until the money earned from sales starts to
- your record label materialise.
- your publisher Also, understand this from the beginning: as
- your merchandise licensor. well as the advance you might get on signing,
a record label is likely to consider the cost
Advances are usually paid out when you
of recording your album and at least half
sign a contract. They are made both as a
the cost of filming your promotional videos
sign of commitment from the label/
(and any other expenses identified in your
publisher/merchandiser and to help you
contract) to be further ‘loans’.
make ends meet while you wait for the cash
to roll in from your hit album/song/lifesize They will take back these costs from your
figurine line. share of royalties before paying you a cent.
SIGNING WITH AN INDIE LABEL

A deal with an independent label doesn’t look that different on paper to a
deal with a major – bar two significant practical differences.
Firstly, indie labels have a lot less money to spend. So where a major label
might spend up to $1m on a new artist’s recording, marketing, promotion
and tour support, with an indie you’d be lucky to find the budget is one fifth
of that.
Secondly, you can almost certainly wave goodbye to the idea of an advance
that will keep you in smoothies for the next two years. An indie label
advance will be mostly for recording costs – and it’s unlikely to be a large
budget for glamorous studios. More likely it will provide just enough juice to
cover recording at the label’s in-house facilities.
One indie-released album (we can’t name the artists, sorry) spent nearly
three months in the UK top 20 in 2014, peaking at number three, and was
made on a budget of £22,000. It was certified Gold the following year.
Another big name artist, whose hit days are long behind her, released an
album in 2013 made entirely in the producer’s shed for a cost of around
£15,000.
The xx, meanwhile, recorded their debut, platinum-certified self-titled
album at XL’s in-house XL Studios – a small but vibrant space created by
engineer Roadaigh McDonald in a disused garage alongside the label’s West
London offices.
All of this might make it seem like we’re pitching you not to sign with an
indie. Far from it; the right indie for the right artist can work wonders.
Robert Wyatt credits his career revival with the right pairing of his talent
with the indie Rough Trade.
Bonobo is hardly a household name, but 20 years into his career he has
been with only two labels, one of them being Ninja Tune. The fact that
Bonobo hasn’t chosen to move to a major suggests his label’s doing
something right.
Bonobo and Amon Tobin – a Ninja Tune stable mate – would almost
certainly have struggled with a major label. And the major label would have
COPYRIGHT RECAP
Before going further in this chapter it’s worth by the record company at the royalty rates
thinking back to Chapter 2 to recap briefly agreed in your contract.
how copyright and royalties work. Also, as the performer, in some countries (a
Copyright is a legal framework that protects, notable exception is the US) radio plays and
in law, the works of creative artists. The public broadcasts of the recording entitle
concept is easy enough, but there are various you to performance copyright fees, which
kinds of copyright, each of which impacts on are paid in the UK by PPL (Chapter 2). Public
different people. broadcasts include radio, TV, restaurants,
offices and other public places.
First the basic stuff. If you write a song and
record it (and you have no publishing deal As the songwriter, your share of sales of the
or record deal) you are the copyright owner recording income will be paid by your music
in both the song and recording. You own publisher.
everything 100% and receive 100% of income Also as songwriter, half of your share of
derived from sales of that song. (Although income from public broadcasting will be paid
no cash will find its way to you if you haven’t by PRS (in the UK). The other half is paid to
registered your work with your local collection your music publisher, which pays you the
agency – see Chapter 2). remaining amount as laid out in your contract.
By signing a publishing deal, you assign Different countries approach this differently.
a portion of the copyright to your music Note that copyright doesn’t last forever and is
publisher (in Chapter 9, we explain why you territory dependent.
would do that).
In the UK and the European Union, copyright
By signing a record deal, you relinquish in the recording is in effect for 70 years after
copyright in the recordings of songs you’ve its first release or public broadcast. After
recorded during the term of the agreement. that, it goes into what is called Public Domain
In this situation copyright in the recording – which means it can be used by anyone with
is owned by your record label. Which means no fear of prosecution.
they can exploit the recording for as long as
In America, all recordings – however old – if
their copyright remains – see below.
still in copyright today, appear to be protected
Copyright in your performance on the until 2067. If you still have an interest in
recording belongs to you (see Chapter 2). sampling a song signed to a US label your best
Copyright in the song belongs to bet is to talk first to a lawyer, or, if you have a
publishing deal, let the publishing company
1. the writer(s) of the song, and
deal with obtaining permission.
2. the music publisher to whom you have
In the UK and the European Union copyright
assigned the song (which can be you, if you in the song is in effect for 70 years after the
are self-publishing). death of the writer. After that, the song also
What does this mean in terms of payments? goes into Public Domain.
As the performer on the record (whether In America the situation is similar, but not as
you’re a solo artist or a band) income from the clear cut. In reality, the term may be extended
recording (sales of CDs, downloads, income in America if someone still living can show
from streaming) entitles you to to payment that they own the copyright.
struggled with them, no question. Yet here they still are, making music they
want to make, making music their fans adore – and with none of the major-
label pressure to keep selling and touring more, more, more....
Which is not to say indies can’t hit big.
Adele was signed to XL in 2006. XL’s Nick Huggett had recommended her to
Jonathan Dickins of September Management, who became her manager.
Adele then signed to XL for recording. XL was savvy enough to understand
that it didn’t have the resources to break an artist worldwide, so it made
a deal with juggernaut American Columbia to represent her in other
territories.
Consequently, Adele’s career launched with much bigger resources than XL
could have mustered on its own, and the UK indie label which put its faith in
her reaped the benefit with a ten-fold increase in profits.
So it doesn’t have to be about Universal, Sony and Warners. Daniel
Miller, founder of Mute Records, sums up what it means to be an indie:
“To be independent just means being able to make your own decisions
about music based on your feeling about music rather than for purely
commercial reasons. It’s about the artist being much closer to the label,
more collaborative, rather than ‘them and us’, which is common with bigger
labels.”
At the end of the day, picking the right label for you as an artist is about the
best fit. If your goal is the No. 1 spot, a worldwide fanbase and mega-riches,
then the majors hold the cards.
But if you want the kind of career typified by the likes of Bonobo, with more
artistic freedom and less pressure to conform and deliver, then the indie
route is likely to be the best.
The good news is that there’s room for both.
LANDING A DEAL
SENDING LINKS AND DEMOS
Landing a record deal at the early stage in a musician’s career, either with
a major or an indie, will involve impressing an industry exec – a manager, a
publisher, an A&R person. And for that you need to have music available for
them to listen to.
The best ways to achieve this are to have your tracks up on SoundCloud and
at least a rudimentary accompanying video on your own YouTube channel. A
well shot video, by a friend who is looking to get into film and has the right
equipment, is even better.
If your music falls into the pop mainstream – think Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars,
Dua Lipa – you are more likely to be looking for a major label deal. In which
case (as we say repeatedly!) first, find a manager.
If your music falls outside the pop mainstream – if you make dance, hip-
hop, rock, indie and so on – you will inevitably be much more directly
involved in developing your own career, certainly at the beginning – and
you’ll more likely be approaching labels yourself.
Landing a record deal at this early stage, either with a major or an indie,
will involve impressing an A&R exec with your music (and brand and social
media). There are three main ways you’ll be able to do this:
1: by being spotted at a gig / open mic night
2: by having your music played on (specialist) radio
3: or by getting a demo listened to.
It’s tempting to think that in the digital age, the days of the humble demo
are over. But nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, with the
deluge of mediocre music out there, the right package sent to the right
person can be more effective than any amount of online hustling.
When sending out demos there’s a list of critical do’s and don’ts you need
to be aware of. Ignore them at your peril!
DO ensure your music is the best it can be. The number one reason demos
get rejected is that the music is not good enough. Anthony Mansour,
CEO of Blue Label Records told dottedmusic: “We are noticing a massive
lack of quality. Most tracks are built on bought templates, sample CDs,
construction kits and Sylenth presets. Additionally the tracks are mixed
badly.”
Poor instrumental playing, a bad song, shoddy lyrics, a weak mix, a poor
master... all of these will land you in the reject pile. Jeannette Lee, partner
at indie label Rough Trade says there is one quality that trumps all when
signing new bands: “The music doesn’t have to fit into a category, the only
category is: it’s great.”
DON’T send more than three tracks. Asked for his tips on submitting music,
serial hit-maker Max Martin is unequivocal: keep the package size down.
Which means no more than three tracks, each of which should be no longer
than three minutes in length. “This to make it as easy as possible for the
listener,” he notes. “If they like the song they will contact you anyway.”
DO make sure the labels you approach are a precise fit for what you
do. Jamie Russell of Hypercolour notes: “I’m aware some people’s
understanding of music is not really chin stroker-y, but some of the stuff I
get sent is outrageous. It’s as if they haven’t even checked what we do... I
can tell when someone really likes the label and listens to all we do versus
someone who’s just checked one or two tracks.”
DO get the right person. There’s no point in sending your brilliant demo to
the label’s head of finance. You want A&R (in a big label) or the label boss
(in a smaller one).
In a really big label you want the A&R of the sub-label, or whoever looks
after the genre that you’re making music in.
Getting the right person does two things: it raises your chance of getting
your music heard by about 90%; and it shows the label that you’ve got both
initiative and enough interest in them to go the extra mile – in short, that
you might be a good fit. Usually a couple of polite phone calls (phone is
always more effective than email) will be enough to get a name and email
address.
In addition, many labels offer detailed online instructions for submitting
demos, including email addresses of A&R execs and/or widgets to get your
demo to the right person. One Little Indian Records’ Demo submission page
at www.indian.co.uk/pages/submit-your-demo is typical.
DO make sure your contact details are obvious. Whether you’re sending
out CDs or online-linked mp3s, make sure your artist name and name /
email address / phone number are anywhere and everywhere, including in
meta data fields. Why would you risk a busy A&R liking your track but not
being able to contact you?
DON’T make it obvious to those you contact that you are approaching
all their competitors (by CCing 200 label A&Rs on a mailout for example).
Firstly, it’s bad manners; secondly, it’s likely to fall foul of local data
protection laws; and thirdly it sends a signal that you don’t really care who
signs you. Hypercolour’s Jamie Russell again: “Labels like to feel special. If
we see something we like it’s easy to go off it if you see it’s been sent to ten
other labels as well, because no one really wants to get into a bidding war
at this independent level.”
Instead start by making exclusive contact with your top choice, then do the
same with the next three or four on your list. After that, by all means send
a blanket email – but do it in a way that they don’t all know (which is to say
BCC).
WHICH LABEL IS RIGHT FOR ME?

The best record deal is one where the artist albums, one of your heroes switches labels,
and label ‘fit’. go online and find interviews or news stories
So how do you ensure that fit is right? It really that explain the move.
shouldn’t be that tough a question to answer. Maybe their first label was fantastic and
As someone with a passionate interest in your did everything they were capable of for the
scene you should have a working knowledge critical first three albums. But then your
of the key labels, the artists they’ve signed heroes wanted to go to the next level, and
and the kind of ethos that drives them. that needed a more powerful label. So your
(If you haven’t got a clue then it really is time heroes and their first label parted company
to start taking more of an interest – having amicably, both wishing each other the best.
even rudimentay knowledge at this stage Or maybe you find out that the first label
could make or break your career. A good made your heroes unhappy – unduly pushing
starting point is Discogs, which notes the them in artistic directions that they weren’t
label a particular band was signed to for each signed for in the first place. In which case,
recording). scrub that. They’ve done it once; they’ll do it
The first step is to look at which labels your again.
heroes are on – the people whose music Never before in human history has so much
and success have inspired you. Those labels information been made available to us, for
instantly go to the top of your list. free, than in today’s online world. Make use of
But it pays to look deeper. If, after three it. It could build – or save – your career.
DON’T attach mp3s to your email. Put yourself in the position of a small
label receiving up to 50 submissions a day. That would be almost a
gigabyte’s worth of files queuing up. How thrilled would you be if some
asshole crashed your email with uninvited files?
“The biggest no-no for me is mp3s attached to emails,” confirms Andy
Daniell, A&R Manager at Defected. “They clog up your inbox and crash your
email.”
Instead of an mp3, send URL links to your tracks. If they’re on SoundCloud,
with only a few dozen listens, create a private link. But if you’ve got
thousands of listens and hundreds of likes, give them open access. They
like big numbers as much as the next person.
Quality control! Ensure the track you want to be listened to is of a high
enough quality to ensure a good listening experience. mp3s should be
encoded at no lower than 192 kb/s.
You will hear back if they like your track. If you don’t hear back, they’re not
interested. In which case they are certainly not inviting you to pester them
for feedback. It’s no-one’s job to wet-nurse your songs or mixes.
Forget all the above if you don’t have a fully formed online presence
– everything we’ve talked about: website, EPK, gig listings, Facebook,
SoundCloud and at least one video on YouTube. If the label likes your track
their next step will be to seek you out on Facebook and Twitter, maybe find
a YouTube video or two. If they find no trace of you online, unless your music
is astounding they’ll move onto the next in their pile. Take note of insights
from industry kingpin Lyor Cohen – the ex-Island Def Jam president who
became the first record exec to license content to YouTube, where he is
now Global Head of Music. Under his guidance, his previous company, 300
Entertainment, developed a secret algorithm, co-ordinating a range of
online stats to discover – and then sign – the next big thing.
Stats that influence a decision include Facebook likes, Instagram followers,
Twitter presence, Google ranking and YouTube views.
Questioned about how Polydor Records decided on acts to sign, president
Ben Mortimer told the BBC: “Before when we used to sign people, it
would be on a demo and a gut feeling, but now you’ve got so much more
information. Often bands have a bit of a fanbase already, or you can see
how well their tracks are doing online... The balance is going a bit on that
gut feeling, but using a touch of the stats.”
If you take the more direct approach of sending your demo by post make
sure it’s professionally presented and sent to the right person. If your
market specialises in vinyl, can you afford to have some vinyl pressed?
Properly done, it’s likely to get you more attention than thousands of
effortlessly sent links. It’s not cheap, but if you believe in your track you’ll
also have 2–300 nicely pressed and packaged copies to sell at gigs.
Make it different. “Being creative about how you present yourself is key,”
notes Thomas Von Party, A&R at Canadian imprint Turbo Recordings. This
is far easier if you’re sending a CD as you can include bespoke artwork and
maybe a freebie or two. Notes Defected’s Andy Daniell: “Every now and then
something will get posted to the office and someone will have made quite
a bit of effort... If someone’s made that level of effort to send it in, I’ll make
the effort to reply to them.”
Take the knock-backs... When you don’t hear back from anyone, it’s easy to
feel like: a) you’re being ignored; and b) that people don’t like your music.
Both may be true. So do it better, and don’t lose heart. Labels are generally
happy to receive new submissions from artists they’ve previously ignored –
just don’t send the same track twice hoping for a different outcome second
time round. And – reiterating some of the points above – don’t pester.
Sending a new track every day is going to annoy the recipient, while one
every other month is fine. In short, use some common sense. Put yourself in
the overworked A&R’s shoes and think how you’d like to receive demos.
...But keep at it. Many artists send out dozens, sometimes hundreds, of
demos before they get a deal. Take heart from that fact and keep raising
your game. Write and record better tracks. Build your brand and following.
Keep doing this until positive responses start dripping into your inbox. And
when they do it’s often sod’s law that after months or even years of being
ignored you suddenly find two or more interested parties. At which point
you’ve got options – and the deal is in sight.
Finally, never forget that getting signed is a two-way street. To the artist
it can feel as if they are one of millions of desperate wannabes shouting:
“Look at me, look at me!” at a single overworked A&R exec. The truth is that
the desire to discover is every bit as strong the other side of the fence. As
Lyor Cohen said of his days at Def Jam and Entertainment 300: “I would
wake up every morning, and the singular thought in my head was that
maybe today would be the day that I find an artist who is so amazing, an
artist who would change pop culture. I was in hot pursuit,

always.” A CONTRACT SIGNED
UNDER DURESS IS
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A RECORD DEAL STILL A CONTRACT
How to describe a good record deal? It takes seconds to sign

your name; years to undo
The truth is that there’s really no way to know going in – it’s the damage.
hindsight that decides it. So take your time. Do not
A deal where, five years down the line, you’ve been successful give in to pressure. Always
and have a healthy bank balance will be a good deal. – always – have your record
contract looked over by a
Exactly the same deal, where you’ve had no success and are lawyer.
broke, will be a bad deal. If you are being put under
pressure, that means whoever
Some artists – no matter how successful – are never is applying the pressure is
satisfied. Mick Hucknall was surprised to discover when the keen to sign you. Which puts
original Simply Red contract came to an end that he didn’t you in the driving seat.
own ‘his’ masters. His hindsight opinion of the contract he Never feel you have to read
signed was that it was ‘immoral’. and sign a contract right here,
right now. Take it away. Read
In the early ’90s, Prince - one of the most pampered artists in it into the small hours of the
history, allowed an unprecedented amount of artistic control morning. Make notes – things
– changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. He then you want explaining, things
drew the word SLAVE on his cheek in protest at Warner’s you think are wrong or unfair.
unwillingness to release the tsunami of material he was The eventual signing should
producing. Warners preferred to release only the material it feel like a ceremony –
had time and resources to market and promote. something to be celebrated.
It should not feel like the
Both Hucknall and Prince – like other superstar musicians nervous shufflings of an
peppered through history – felt aggrieved by the actions of unfortunate first sexual
their labels. The labels, arguably, were doing exactly what encounter – something you
they should have been doing, and undoubtedly played a major later regret.
part in each artist’s success. Incidentally, if you’re in the
UK, it’s worth considering
Which makes it almost impossible to say what is a good becoming a member of the
deal. On your side, it will be specific to you, your ambitions Musician’s Union. The MU has
and your music – all of which are likely to change over time. a service, free to members,
On their side it will depend on myriad factors outside of your that looks over contracts for
those members who don’t
control: personnel, budgets, where you lie in their roster have the financial resources
pecking order and on and on… to pay for a lawyer.
It’s easier to say what a bad deal is.

Signing up at an absurdly low royalty level for an unreasonably long period
of time would definitely qualify as bad. If you’re asked to sign a ten-year
deal on 5% royalty, politely decline.
Also, you should never sign anything that demands you pay back all monies
owed (including the advance) before being allowed to record elsewhere.
That qualifies as restraint of trade, and would never stand up in court.
But you don’t want to put yourself in a position, ever, where going to court is
inevitable. Certain artists have had their careers put on hold for as long as
ten years while unscrupulous label owners or managers tried to bully them
back into the recording studio.
In short, a contract is bad when it disadvantages you in ways that are
unusual and onerous. But bad as it is, what’s worse is that you signed it.
NEGOTIATION: A QUICK GUIDE

So, the big day comes. You, your team, the label representative and their
lawyer are sat round a table leafing through the sheets of A4 on which your
future depends...
It goes without saying that if you’re signing an agreement that involves
large amounts of time or money, your manager and lawyer must be by your
side.
Even then, it’s useful to understand the rules of negotiation, as laid down
over many years by many successful people.
First and foremost, don’t be desperate. The guiding principal of negotiation,
understood by anyone making corporate deals, is: never walk into a room
you are not prepared to walk out of without what you came for.
Next, even before you walk into that room, give serious thought to what
you want, and make notes.
Take your notes with you into the room, and refer to them, ticking each item
off as it is discussed.
It’s easy to lose your train of thought or forget a critical question when
sitting across from the charming artist-facing team of a label. Your notes
will help keep you on the negotiation track.
Watch out for the occasional shark whose tactic will be to try to take the
notes out of your hand – “Let me see what’s on your mind; that’ll speed
things up.” At that point, you’ve lost control.
By being prepared and keeping control, you will be a lot less nervous.
Which brings us to: silence is golden.
When people get nervous, they talk too much. That’s not a recipe for getting
what you want.
Instead, say what it is you want, then shut up.
Look directly at the person with whom you are negotiating, with an
expression that says; “I’ve finished. You can talk now.”
You would be amazed how many people put in this situation start
negotiating with themselves.
They will start out telling you you can’t have what you want, In the silence
that you maintain, they will tell you why you can’t have it. Then, as they start
to justify themselves, they will hear themselves saying things that just don’t
stand up, and before long they’re offering you the thing you came for.
However you feel, it’s important not to appear overawed. It may feel like
the most important moment in your music career to date, and for sure, a lot
depends on the outcome.
But it is also, at the same time, no more than a business transaction –
for both you and the label: a transaction that doesn’t need to be rushed;
that is open to negotiation; and that doesn’t need to be signed right there,
right then.
If there’s one thing that a few decades in the industry reveals it’s that the
vast, vast majority of label people – at all levels – are decent, open and
honest.
Sure, they may be experienced business people, but it’s highly unlikely
they’ll try to fleece you or bully you (if they do, see A contract signed under
duress is still a contract, above). They’ll be aiming for the best deal they
can for their label (quite rightly), and you will be doing the same for you as
an artist (ditto). And as with all business negotiations, somewhere in the
middle you will meet.
That final contract should reflect a relationship of equals, not of master and
servant, and that is the spirit in which negotiations should be conducted.
SIMPLE TIPS FOR MAKING MORE MONEY FROM A DEAL

The record industry has 100 years head start Next, concentrate your manager’s mind
on you in setting terms. Here are a number of on setting terms that make it possible to
ways you might play them at their own game. predict at what point royalties will start
- Don’t be swayed purely by what seems coming to you.
like a big advance. By the time you’ve paid The vagueness of recording contracts on
your lawyer and manager, and the tax man certain points is such that the recoupment of
has come for his cut, even a £300,000 money owed by you can feel as long as a piece
advance will pare down to barely two of string – and the cash amount represented
comfortable years living in London. And by the royalty can be as short as a piece of
you – not your manager or your lawyer – string. So pin them down. Ask:
still owe the record company £300,000 - How is your advance debt to be paid down?
from future earnings. Talk it through with
- What would be required for all costs to be
your manager. Figure out what will make it
covered and for money to start finding its
worthwhile for you to sign, particularly in
way to you?
the age of streaming..
- Most Importantly: how is streaming
- When recording, you – not your producer,
accounted for? You want your streaming
and not your musicians – are paying for
revenues paid to you at your headline
the studios. So don’t get carried away by
recording royalty rate. If it’s not, ask for
the ‘iconic Abbey Road’ or the ‘legendary
an explanation before you sign. Go back
Trident Studios’.
and read carefully what we’ve said about
- Don’t, also, plump for some cheap streaming in Chapters 1 and 2.
but wonderful facility in the middle
Having this kind of knowledge allows
of nowhere, because then you’ll be paying
you to plan financially. Get your manager
for everyone’s accommodation, food and
(or lawyer) to explain to you, in simple
drink. Over a prolonged period, you might
language, what sort of numbers you need
just as well have booked into Studio One at
to achieve before you earn any more money
Abbey Road.
from your recording deal. Having a firm
- Studios cost a lot of money. If you’re grasp on projected income is something
going to spend time with musicians any businessman would demand. Putting
and co-writers, writing and rehearsing, together a brief business plan showing
do it in a cheap space. Studios require income (and expenses) over, say, a five period
the attendance of engineers and other is never a bad idea.
people (like your producer) who don’t needYour manager or lawyer might even tell you:
to sit in on every rehearsal. “Don’t get hung up about it. Publishing (your
The message here is do everything you can songwriting) and touring are where you’ll
to keep costs down, and thus your debt to the make real money.” For the foreseeable future,
label at its lowest possible level. that might well be the best way to look at it.
CHAPTER 9
THE
PUBLISHING DEAL
‘Eventually you get to this point where you
IN THIS CHAPTER...
understand what you want to do, and get
across, and sound like.’ Why you need a
publisher
Kendrick Lamar
Publishers vs labels
Do I need a publisher for my music?

Can I self-publish?
On internet forums, in lecture halls, at industry conferences, What a
it’s one of the most frequently asked questions by artists publisher does
making music in all genres – mainly because they don’t The adminstration
fully understand what a publisher does.
deal
So let’s be clear up-front that in most cases the simple
answer is: Yes, you will need a publisher. The creative deal
From that platform we’ll outline why you need a publisher, Publishing under a
and – last of all – what it is they actually do. Which is, 360 deal
counter-intuitively, the easiest way of explaining things.
Collaboration
WHY YOU NEED A PUBLISHER Today’s publishing
battleground
Let’s say you run a blog. Each week you write a few hundred
words, upload a few photos.
What then?
Without the internet and tools like WordPress, Blogger,
Tumblr, Wix or Moonfruit how will anyone see your work of
literary genius?
The internet is the world’s publisher, and these sites help
CHAPTER 9 THE PUBLISHING DEAL
you get your thoughts in front of millions of potential readers. Before the
internet, radio did a not dissimilar job for music – getting it out there,
getting it heard by millions.
Which is a great place to explain to you why you need a publisher.
Throughout the world, broadcasters are licensed to play music. This licence
costs money, which is then paid to the collection agency that represents
songwriters and composers. (For more on this see Chapter 2 - How music
makes money for you.)
When your song is played a slice of that money becomes yours, as the
writer.
But how does the money make its way into your bank account?
Each country has its own collection agency/ies. In America, there are ASCAP
and BMI (and others); in the UK there is PRS; every country in Europe has at
least one, as do many in Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East.
These agencies all have agreements with each other. If you live in Norway,
money from around the world will make its way back to Gramo and then
from Gramo to your publisher.
Without your publisher, you don’t have a chance of locking into this
international network. Money due to you will simply not find its way to your
bank or your pocket.
Some mistakenly think that collecting this cash is the record company’s
job. It isn’t. Your record company’s job is to exploit the copyright in your
recordings.
Your publisher’s job, on the other hand, is to exploit the copyright in your
songs. That includes your recordings of your songs.
Which means that with a publisher, your recordings get two cracks of the
whip – from your record company and your publisher.
That’s not all a publisher does.
Because their job is to make as much money as they can from your
songs, they will try to find other artists to record them (cover versions)
and will work hard to place them in TV shows, films, or commercials (sync
licensing).
Even so, the majority of your money as a writer is likely to come from radio
play and other public broadcasts (the music you hear in cafes, shops,
offices and so on).
It will also come from live performance of your songs – whether by you or by
artists who are covering your songs. When you are touring, for instance, you
are entitled to payment for in-concert live performance of your own music.
And bars and clubs pay out millions each year for music their in-house DJs
play.
Collection of this money is dependent on more than 100 years of publishing
experience, international network building and the passing of complex
international copyright laws.
This is one system you cannot buck.
If you try to, it is likely to cost you dear.
PUBLISHERS VS LABELS: WHO DOES WHAT

Here’s the major difference between the Because, while programme and commercials
functions of your label and your publisher: producers might not want to pay the high
your record label’s job is to exploit you as a price of placing your enormous hit record in
recording artist; your music publisher’s job is their show, they might choose to go for the
to exploit you as a songwriter. same song by someone else at a lower price.
Your recording label is interested only in Bear this in mind: you may have a recording
the recordings you make for them. For your career. It may last two or three years, it may
publisher, the song’s the thing – both your
last 20. Or you may have none at all.
original version and any covers of it.
But a good songwriter is a good
Of course, a publisher wants to help get your
songwriter. If the world wants your songs,
original records heard, because those are
but not your singing, you can have a long
their songs (25%) as well as yours (75%). But
they will also try to find other artists to record and lucrative career in the music industry. All
them because that means extra revenue for the fun, all the rewards, and none of the fame
you and them. or paparazzi. Doesn’t sound bad, does it?
And here’s where that can really work to So don’t underestimate the importance of
your advantage. When, say, ten people have your publisher. Your relationship with them
recorded your song, there are ten more could still be going strong years after your
opportunities for sync licensing. recording label drops you.
CAN I SELF PUBLISH?

HOW DO I GET MY
In the same way that you can self-release, you can self- SONGS HEARD?
publish.
In Chapter 8 we discuss how
And in some genres – most notably hip hop and dance – to send demos to record
artists are able to start their careers without thinking too companies.
much about publishing. Most of the same advice
We explained in Chapter 2 - How music makes money for applies to music publishers.
Almost all publishers are
you why you, as a songwriter, should join your local collection
on the lookout for talent,
agency. We explained how to do it, and how songwriting and bigger operations have
royalties will start flowing from live gigs and radio play. dedicated A&R departments.
By signing up with your local collection agency you are able to They are as keen to find and
receive publishing income. develop new talent as any
label is. And because it’s
But at some point every artist is likely to need a publisher. cheaper for them to do so,
they can often afford to take
When your career starts building, the amount of time and more chances.
energy required to manage the publishing side of your
The main difference between
business is likely to become at worst onerous, at best publishers and labels is that
impossible. publishers don’t require you
to be a live performer to be
Yes, you could be writing music in the morning, marketing it in
interested in your songs.
the afternoon, touring it in the evening and keeping on top of
Also, a decent piano/
radio playlists and third party licenses during the night.
voice or guitar/voice demo
But you’d never sleep. will give a good publisher
enough to chew on. They can
And even if you somehow managed to squeeze 48 hours instinctively hear which artist
of administrative work into 24, you’d very soon start falling the songs might be good
behind on the numerous tasks required to keep on top of for (if you are not recording
your publishing: registering tracks in scores of countries; them yourself) without
the hindrance of a major
monitoring usage (there are 15,000 radio stations in America
production sheen.
alone); checking royalty statements...
For demo submisison
For each play you fail to register, monitor or collect, you’d be etiquette, read back over
losing cash. Chapter 8. As for social media,
you’d still want to put up
See what we’re saying? Administering your publishing in just simple YouTube videos, and
your home territory might be do-able. But when your career upload to SoundCloud. But
shifts up a gear and you start getting radio plays overseas, the hard slog of Facebook and
then the work is multiplied thousands of times over. Instagram can probably be
avoided.
And once you’ve been through the process of joining your

own local collection agency, you will understand that this is PUBLISHING: THE
not a process you want to repeat 30, 40 , 50 times over, in LONG-TERM EARNER
Norwegian, or Japanese, or German, or Spanish, or French….
If you’ve had a good run of
If it’s not yet obvious, let’s be clear: keeping on top of
radio plays and maybe a sync
royalties across multiple territories with multiple media or two overseas, don’t expect
outlets is a big, tiresome, specialist job. to see the cash instantly.
The artist is not the person to take on this role. The people Most collection companies
who take on this role are collection agencies and music pay out quarterly.
publishers. It’s what they do. And they pay out only when
they’ve received fees from
And it is through their global network, that has taken over a their licensees.
century to develop, that the artist is best served. Then you have to factor in the
delay between one agency
WHAT A PUBLISHER DOES receiving money and passing
it on to another.
Let’s recap and summarise what a publisher does. Given all this, and the complex
data models that govern
A music publisher develops, protects and financially exploits usage calculations, you can
songs. Specifically it: expect to wait several months
to see cash for radio play.
1: Collects songwriting royalties from sales and streams of
If your usage is overseas the
music
delay is compounded with
2: Administers royalties from radio play and public use of overseas territories either
music feeding their data to your local
agency or to your publisher.
3: Registers songs all around the globe so that the In some circumstances you
songwriter earns money wherever their songs are sold/ could wait as long as three
played/streamed years to receive full payment
for a long-running ad slot.
4: Finds opportunities for music to be used in films, TV
As such publishing is a long-
shows and commercials
term earner.
5: ...And will also develop an artist’s songwriting talents and Years after your recording
help manage co-writing opportunities. career has hit the skids,
your old hits will continue to
A typical publishing deal will fall into one of two categories; earn money from radio and
the administration deal or the more usual ‘creative’ deal. other public performance –
providing a handy nest egg
for Life After Music.
THE ADMINISTRATION DEAL

This is the purely technical end of publishing. Don’t expect an advance, and
don’t expect investment or nurturing.
Under an administration deal you will sign away between 10–15% of your
songwriting royalties.
In return, all the laborious technical tasks outlined above will be taken care
of – registration of your songs around the world, double-checking that
registration has been processed, collection of royalties due from every
source, tracking of usage, scrutiny of cue sheets, legal compliance...
But there won’t be any creative input. The administration deal is about
registering and collecting, registering and collecting, ad nauseum...
It would be highly unusual – foolhardy in fact – for a new writer to enter into
this kind of an deal.
The most likely candidate for this deal would be an established writer whose
future earnings can be relatively accurately predicted (a Bruce Springsteen
or Paul Simon, for instance).
High-profile artists like these, whose glory days are behind them, would be
able to negotiate an administration deal nearer a 90/10 split. The publisher
knows there are millions of dollars a year to be collected, and 10% of
millions is a decent return for taking care of the purely technical side of
the business.
THE CREATIVE DEAL

The second, and more regular, publishing deal isn’t generally referred to
as a ‘creative’ deal, but it’s the best way for us to set it apart from the
administration deal. In reality it’s just a classic publishing deal.
Under this agreement, you will give away 25% of ownership in your songs.
In return you get everything described in the admin deal plus a good deal
more.
You might, for instance, receive an advance to tide you over for a couple of
years while you establish your writing credentials.
You will also be ‘nurtured’, which is to say if you need it you’ll be given help
to develop your songwriting. You will also be encouraged to collaborate.

Other writers will feed into your creativity and focus you on becoming the
most professional and productive writer you can be.
Why does the publisher make all this effort? Because it has a vested
financial interest in your songwriting skills, it makes sense for them to
help make those songs the best they can be. So they will help nurture your
talents, with anything from tuition to collaboration.
Occasionally a publisher might even provide an artist with the budget to set
up their own entry-level home studio.
Whatever they offer you, the publisher will want payback for their support of
your songwriting. So they will do everything at their disposal to exploit your
catalogue beyond record sales.
When your songs are commercially released, the licensing department will
kick into action, trying to place songs on TV, in ads or in movie soundtracks.
It’s important to note that a good publisher offering a ‘creative deal’ isn’t
just a glorified administrator and chaser. They will be working hard to make
deals with TV and film companies to place your music in anything from
adverts and TV series to games and full-budget Hollywood films – these are
the sync deals we talk about at the end of Chapter 2.
For those lucky enough to get these kinds of placements, the financial
rewards can be significant. For some writers who never make a big
breakthrough as an artist, this can be a significant source of income.
Have a quick browse of tunefind.com or heardontv.com.
These sites list the music used in TV programmes – particularly big
American series.
You might be surprised to see how few of the songs you know. Or that
they are written by artists you’ve likely never heard of. That’s because the
programme producers want something that is atmospherically appropriate
to a particular scene in their show, but also – crucially – something that is
affordable.
A publisher might demand in excess of $250,000 for the use of a known
song by a major artist.
Your song will cost them a fraction of that.
But a fraction of $250k is still a lot of money, and if you get the right songs
in the right programmes, you are able – as many thousands of songwriters
do – to make a very good living out of synced music indeed.
If you’re still not convinced over the potential value of this income, spend
ten minutes on www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/01/artists-made-
it-huge-streaming-spotify-apple-music, where musicians most people
have never heard of discuss how they earn their living. Each is asked to list
their top five sources of income.
THE DEALS THEY ARE A CHANGING

The two biggest changes in the publishing industry in recent times are:
- the move from a standard 50/50 split with the writer to a 75/25 split in
the writer’s favour, and
- a radical change in the length of time it takes for the writer to regain
ownership.
The shift from 50/50 began around 30 years ago.
Managers and writers started to better understand the value of the song as
a long-term asset as opposed to a short-term promotional tool.
If you look at interview footage of Lennon and McCartney from 50 years ago,
it’s clear they didn’t envisage being around for long – let alone that even
their earliest songs would still be earning in the 21st century.
Back then it was not unusual for songs to be signed over to the music
publisher for the life of copyright – which, as we explained in Chapter 8 -
The record deal, is now 70 years after the death of the writer (in the UK).
In the intervening period, it became more usual for copyright to revert to
the writer after 25 years.
But even that has now halved in the UK to a more acceptable 12–13 years.
Which means that if you’ve written a few stone-classic songs that are
going to be played at weddings and funerals for decades to come, you will
regain full ownership of their copyright just as your recording career is
petering out.
At which point you can think about renegotiating for an administration
deal and, perhaps, sign up with a specialist licensing company on a pay-
per-play basis.
WHAT COMES FIRST, RECORD DEAL OR PUBLISHING DEAL?

It’s the dream of many artists to land a record deal at some point in their
careers. But very few artists dream about a publishing deal – even though it
is likely to make them more money in the long run.
The majority of artists are fixated on signing a record contract. Finding a
music publisher barely crosses their minds. Even if publishing is on their
radar, the reasoning is that a record deal gives you the muscle to negotiate
a better publishing deal.
And if you’re a musician but not a songwriter the record deal is certainly the
one that matters.
Whereas, if you are purely a songwriter, with no intention of playing live or
forming a band, then a publishing deal will be your sole aim.
But even if you’re a writer-performer whose eyes are set on a record deal,
there are good reasons for signing with a publisher before a label.
Indeed it’s not unusual for publishers to want to beat labels to new talent.
For Guy Moot, former head of Sony/ATV Music, now CEO of Warner Chappell,
this is “the pure conception at the beginning of the process, and that’s why
we want to be there first. It’s a very influential time. Record productions can
be tweaked. Songs have to be constructed.”
A development deal with a publisher is a different animal to a development
deal with a label. At this early stage, the song publisher will give you space
and opportunity to collaborate, develop and record. Your publisher will also
give you extra kudos when it comes to opening record company doors –
which is exactly what happened in the case of Amy Winehouse, Calvin Harris
and Emili Sandé.
Ultimately there’s no right answer. If you’re a good enough writer to
attract offers from publishers before you get a record deal, give it serious
consideration. But if a record label come knocking first, rest assured that a
good publishing deal won’t come far behind.
PUBLISHING UNDER A 360 DEAL

Some artists don’t get to choose between a record and publishing contract.
A true 360 deal is not just a record deal but a publishing deal too (see
Chapter 8 - The record deal).

If you have the option, keeping the record deal and publishing deal separate
is usually recommended. But when the time comes to make a call your
lawyer and manager should guide you to the deal that will work best for you.
‘COLLABORATION’ AS A QUASI-LEGAL TERM

It used to be so simple.
A songwriter wrote the song and earned money through radio play and
publishing royalties on sales.
A performer recorded the song and earned performance money from radio
play and record sales.
A producer produced the record and was paid either a fee, or a royalty per
record sale, or a combination of both.
Today, a producer may create a track onto which a songwriter/singer will
graft a top line of words and melody. Both the producer and songwriter
are now ‘creators’ of the song and will share songwriting credits. Then the
songwriter/singer will add a vocal. Both the producer and the singer are
now ‘performers’ on the record and will share in sales royalties. Got all of
that..?
The top ten is perennially well stocked with songs written, or co-written,
by someone other than the artist. Beyoncé’s ‘Hold Up’, for example, was
co-written by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig while Joel Pott, formerly of
Athlete, co-wrote George Ezra’s ‘Budapest’. BBC Fame Academy winner
David Sneddon, meanwhile, abandoned his bid for stardom to score pay-
dirt as one half of songwriting hit factory The Nexus, penning or co-penning
hits for, among many others, Lana Del Ray, Will Young, Pixie Lott and Hurts.
This is called collaboration and you must walk into any collaboration with
your eyes wide open, as a truly collaborative recording will mean all those
involved share in the proceeds – each of the songwriters, the publishers to
whom they are signed and often the producer/s too, who chalk up their own
royalty ‘points’ (see Scoring the points, below). Check out the credits on
Drake’s Scorpion album, below right: 47 – on the ‘A’ side alone (Scorpion is
a double album.).
It’s important to understand this.
WHY COLLABORATION ISN’T A DIRTY WORD

A frequent criticism of today’s music industry ‘Rumour Has It’, ‘Set Fire To The Rain’ and
by those who don’t know what they’re talking ‘Rolling In The Deep’ that had been crafted by
about is that albums are made by committee, her producer/writing collaborators.
and that the music subsequently suffers. What’s more, the album’s standout song –
But you have to look no further than Adele, ‘Someone Like You’ – was co-written with Dan
one of the biggest artists of our age, to see Wilson and then recorded on the spot with
this doesn’t have to be the case. just voice and piano. XL Recordings reportedly
Look at the writing credits on Adele’s first asked Adele to go back to Rick Rubin and
album, 19. You’ll see she is solely responsible re-record it with his musicians and a fuller
for half of the songs. Watch her performance arrangement. The singer put her foot down,
of one of them, ‘Daydreamer’, on Later With and the piano/voice version is what made it
Jools Holland in 2007. It’s clear she can write onto 21.
a song and frame it with interesting guitar The first moral of all this is that you can
playing. But she’s not yet outstanding. She collaborate and maintain control.
doesn’t have the impact that KT Tunstall did Despite 19’s success, it hardly sold enough
on her own Later debut. copies to suggest that Adele could do what
Indeed the most notable songs on 19 were a the hell she wanted from then on.
collaboration with producer/writer Eg White But she cooperated with her record company
on ‘Chasing Pavements’ and Adele’s cover of and earned the right to say ‘No’ when it really
Bob Dylan’s ‘Make Me Feel Your Love’. mattered to her.
Fast forward two years and the album 21 is a The second moral is – look what
collaborative effort from start to end. Not one collaboration achieved. And Adele repeated
of the songs is written solely by Adele. In fact, the trick with 2014’s 25.
‘Lovesong’ is written by six people – and none
of them is Adele. Neither 21 nor 25 were artistic sellouts.
She wasn’t pushed into emulating the
But this does not represent a compromise mainstream pop of Jesse J or Rita Ora.
over the songwriting by Adele.
She did it her way, worked with people who
Nor did she compromise on the artistic complemented her, and ended up with albums
direction of the project. of far greater maturity.
The album was originally to be produced by Albums which, to date, have reported sales
the legendary Rick Rubin, and he did, indeed, of more than 50m copies between them, and
produce a whole album. are up there in the lists of best-selling albums
But Adele was unhappy with it and only four of all time, alongside Michael Jackson, The
of Rubin’s tracks made it onto the finished Beatles, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and
album. She preferred other versions of Whitney Houston.
Because if you are a songwriter/ DRAKE SCORPION – OFFICIAL WRITING CREDITS

performer who writes songs on your
1. ‘Survival’ – Aubrey Graham; Dion Wilson; Noah Shebib;
own and you intend to perform as a Klaus Netzie; Manuel Landy
solo artist then you need to be clear
2. ‘Nonstop’ – Graham; Brytavious Chambers; Wilson
with any producer you work with that
3. ‘Elevate’ – Graham; Graham Fountaine; Jahron Brathwaite
you do not view the production as a
‘writing collaboration’. 4. ‘Emotionless’ – Graham; Mariah Carey; Rober Clivillés;
David Cole; Wilson
If you are not clear you may find 5. ‘God’s Plan’ – Graham; Daveon Jackson; Matthew Samuels;
yourself in a legal tangle with someone Shebib
who feels they have contributed to 6. ‘I’m Upset’ – Graham; Jordan Ortiz
the writing and/or performing and/or 7. ‘8 Out Of 10’ – Graham; Samuels; Jahaan Sweet; Matthew
production of the song and now wants O’Brien; Abrim Tilmon; Leon Ware; Arthur Ross
a share of your royalties. 8. ‘Mob Ties’ – Graham; Samuels; Allen Ritter; Tavoris Hollins,
Jr; Dave Atkinson; Samuel Barnes; Anthony Cruz; Nasir Jones;
Inga Marchand; Cory McKay; Jean-Claude Olivier
IT’S NOT ALL PLAIN SAILING: TODAY’S 9. ‘Can’t Take A Joke’ – Graham; Max Eberhardt;
PUBLISHING BATTLEGROUND 10. ‘Sandra’s Rose’ – Graham; Maneesh Bidaye; Christopher
Martin
Most artists would accept that today’s 11. ‘Talk Up’ – Graham; Shawn Carter; Paul Beauregard; Leroy
publishing industry is a fairer place for Bonner; O’Shea Jackson; Marshall Jones; Ralph Middlebrooks;
Walter Morisson; Andrew Noland; Gregory Webster; Andre
songwriters than it was 40 years ago, Young
particularly for writers who are also
12. ‘Is There More’ – Graham; Palmon Jahanbin; Nima
recording artists. Jahanbin; Raynford Humphrey; Jeffrey Rashad; Stephen
Garrett; Timothy Mosley
But going digital has created problems
that are brain-scratchingly complex. ... That’s 47 writers – on the ‘A’ side alone... A further
Streaming in particular, and in America 60 writers are credited on the B Side, although many
of the credits are for samples and snippets.
specifically, is a total mess.
Still, 107 writers across 25 tracks, and 37 producer
It’s not our job in this book, nor is it credits... the very definition of ‘collaboration’...
particularly helpful to you, to go into
the minute detail.
But it is important to give context
to the general media coverage and the constant refrain from one side –
“Beware of streaming!” – and from the other – “Don’t be ridiculous; be
everywhere!”
In America, various streaming sites, most notably Pandora, are in dispute
with the record and publishing industries.
At stake are two principles:

SCORING THE POINTS
Are music performers and writers entitled to be paid wherever,
whenever and however their work is heard?; and
Points are royalties; royalties
Since Spotify established a benchmark for ‘per stream’ are ‘points’.
payout, other streaming services have emerged – notably So if you have a 17% royalty
Apple Music and Tidal – which pay more to writers and deal with your record
performers. (As we publish, Spotify is fighting attempts to company, that’s 17 points.
bring its payouts up to the level of competitors. So this battle Royalties are generally
is far from over.) referred to as ‘points’ when it
becomes necessary to share
them with someone else.
IT’S JUST BACKGROUND NOISE
So, for instance, you might
give three of your 17 ‘points’
None of this will immediately impact on you, the songwriter, to your producer.
with your publishing deal freshly filed. But in the future the
Songwriting is different.
fallout from the battles should make for a more lucrative, and In publishing there are no
more transparent, industry. ‘points’ as such, just a share
of the publishing royalties due
For the moment look at it as background noise, because,
to the songwriters, usually
despite it all, this is undoubtedly a golden age to be a carved into equal proportions.
songwriter.
Just being ‘in the room’ when
The publishing deals are fairer, the publishing companies work a hit song is written can
harder for their money, and all sorts of opportunities have complicate matters.
opened up for you to make a living, doing what you love best – There’s a cynical little rhyme
even if it doesn’t result in you becoming a massive star. sometimes proferred in
songwriting circles: ‘Write
You’re living in what Guy Moot, CEO of Warner Chappell, terms a word, take a third’. Which
“a pivotal moment”. There’s a revolution going on out there. means that if two people are
working on a new song, and
And you don’t even have to lay down your life for it. you suggest a word – and they
use it – that’s you in for one-
third of the writing royalties.
Google ‘Change a word, take
a third’ if you think we’re
exaggerating.
Just ‘being in the room’
may mean someone you
thought made no
contribution feels entitled to
their own equal share.
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‘My father could have been a great comedian. But he made
a safe choice and became an accountant. When I was 12, he
was let go from that ‘safe’ job. From that I learned: you can
fail at what you don’t want to do. So you might as well take a
chance on doing what you love.’
Jim Carrey
The days of ‘safe’ jobs are over. And jobs for life are a thing of the past.
At the same time, as you enter the workplace today you’re likely to live
longer than your parents and grandparents. Chances are you’ll also have
children later than they did.
What’s the rush for job security that isn’t even secure?
Instead, why not do the irresponsible thing: build a career doing something
you love.
If it all goes wrong, there’s plenty of time to start a second – even a third –
career.
And even if you don’t make it in music, you will have picked up a host of
invaluable skills, in finance, social media, branding, marketing, law – not to
mention diplomacy, negotiation and project management.
So when a well-meaning older, supposedly wiser adult says a safe-bet
career is in accountancy, ask them to spend five minutes reading our
Starter for Ten at the front of the book.
Under No. 2 on that list we say: It is easier today than it ever has been to
make a living and career from music.
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It is the point at which so much potential talent flounders – feeling the need
to do something sensible or being pushed into something ‘more secure’ by
older, ‘wiser’ heads.
Their intentions may be good, but their knowledge is based on an outdated
view of an industry and technology they don’t understand. The internet in
general, twinned with myriad advances in other digital technologies, means
that a comfortable living is no longer the preserve of a few musicians.
Under the old industry model a handful of artists had a spectacular career.
Below them a second tier made a decent living. They certainly made more
money and had more fun than if they’d followed their parents’ advice to
become electricians, secretaries or insurance salesmen.
The new model offers a long tail of smaller opportunities to build your
brand and make money. Online magazines and blogs, social media, internet
radio, your own website and old-school gigs can all be used to promote
sales of your music. Meanwhile home-made CDs and low-run T-shirts (and
other merchandise) can be sold at your merchandise stall – both online and
at gigs.
Under the new model you may not make it huge. You may not even make it
big. But you will be doing something you love. And you will be able to support
yourself doing it.
So, after reading everything we’ve said in this book about the good and the
bad, the passionate and the confusing, the exciting and the frustrating
aspects of the business that is music – if your heart still beats a little faster
at the prospect of a life spent making music then read on...
What follows are ten last nuggets of wisdom grounded in the experiences
of thousands who’ve travelled the well-worn path from dreamer to working
musician.
They condense the most pertinent wisdom found in this book into quick-
read rules for survival; for moments of doubt or euphoria; for periods when
things look bleak; for times when you need to get your feet back on the
ground fast.
Commit them to memory. Take them to heart.
Remembering them – particularly at defining moments on the road – might
just make the difference between disaster and success.
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1. EMBRACE EVERY OPPORTUNITY

If there’s a single piece of advice that’s recurred throughout the 100+
interviews carried out for this book, it’s this: embrace all opportunities that
come your way because of the music you make.
With the decline in record sales, a large slice of the musician’s income
pie has disappeared. That slice has to be filled. Which means you need to
take gigging, merchandising and songwriting seriously. But also syncing,
sponsorship and anything else you can think of to squeeze a few more
pennies from your fan base.
This is the age of the music entrepreneur.
The most successful hip hop stars aren’t just musicians. They are global
brands with business empires to match and interests in anything from
perfumes to streaming services.
Of course that kind of career and lifestyle is anathema to some. Their
interest isn’t the boardroom, it’s the studio. And that’s fine. Pushing
yourself to be someone you aren’t (Thing 9, below) is a recipe for, at best,
unhappiness.
Learn from those at the very top. They’re there for a reason. Yes, they have
musical talent, energy and dedication. But the main driver behind their
success was seeing where society was heading – where the money was
flowing – and surfing that wave.
They are flag bearers for a new kind of music industry; one, crucially for us,
where more artists have more power than ever before.
The tectonic plates upon which the royalties and rights musicians have
historically been accustomed to are shifting every day, and the creative
suits of the entertainment industry (often of the old school) are having to
learn to live with Silicon Valley tech disruptors (often not).
Don’t put your money on the techs dominating. They might be driving the
agenda for now, but the music industry has spent 100 years learning how to
deal with changes in performance and technology. And music execs are dab
hands at turning positions of weakness around.
The way to arm yourself in this war – and to come out on top – is to exploit
every conceivable income stream. So yes, try to land a record deal, register
OVER TO YOU
with your local collection agency, play as many gigs as you can and get
noticed by tastemakers – do the old-school stuff; it matters hugely.
But at the same time, embrace the dozens of new opportunities. Set up a
stand after your gig and sell recordings of that gig. Live-stream bedroom
jams. Press up short-run vinyl limited editions – all signed. Develop an
App. Get your music on an ad. Use the latest technology to do something
different.
In short, do anything and everything to exploit your brand and your music.
2. MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

(WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS ANYWAY?)
From the word Go, ask yourself the question: ‘Why am I doing this?’
If the answer is: ‘Because I love music. I love writing it, I love playing it, I love
recording it and I want to spend my life immersed in it,’ then we’re with you.
It is more possible to do that today than it has ever been.
But if your answer is: ‘Because I want to be fabulously successful, rich and
famous,’ then the odds are weighed heavily against you.
Millions around the world are trying to become music’s next big thing at
any one time. Millions. In the UK alone, thousands of singles are released
each week. But there is only one Top 100 – and numbers 21-100 really
don’t count.
Imagine you go for a job at your local supermarket. It goes well. You’re
shortlisted. How many other people have been shortlisted?, you ask the
interviewer. “Five million,” she says.
You’d be forgiven for leaving the room utterly demoralised about your
prospects.
Yet for reasons that say more about the blend of naivety, stupidity, faith
and hope that governs every creative spirit, we all think we’ve got a genuine
chance to make it in music. Forget the odds – don’t tell me the odds!
Understand from the start that there’s a difference between making it (fast
cars, bling, Grammies) and making a career from it (earning enough to do
the thing you love).
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Which is it you want?

If you’re in it to be a star then the moment you realise it probably isn’t going
to happen – that your dream is just that – then you’ll join the hundreds of
thousands of others who fall by the wayside. And failure to achieve your
dreams is just as hard to survive as making it beyond your wildest.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you’re in the music industry to make music then you will make music for
as long as it pays for a roof over your head and puts food on the table.
Plumbers and electricians stick to their jobs earning £30–35k a year or
less. Train drivers keep driving their trains for £40k.
Let’s say you’re clearing £25–30k a year from gigging, sales to your fans of
after-gig CDs, and some low-level downloading and streaming – an entirely
reasonable figure.
Would you walk away from it because you never got signed? Because you
never had a hit? Because you never pulled off a stadium tour?
If No. 1 hits and stardom are the be all and end all for you, you may well
end up being one of the hundreds of thousands who drift away from music
because it didn’t meet their own unrealistic expectations.
But you’ll find plenty of examples, if you look, of well respected artists who
never ‘broke through’, but are still going strong. What’s more, if you stick
around long enough, there’s always the chance you’ll get discovered (and if
you’ve been around even longer, rediscovered).
John Howard released one album in his prime, which languished, more or
less unheard for 30 years. In the past 14 years – thanks to home studio
technology and the internet – he has released 12 new albums and was
recently rediscovered by a new generation of music lovers. He’s now signed
a new record deal for an album made with younger musicians. In 2018,
Fisher King Publishing published his autobiography, Incidents Crowded
With Life.
Moral of the story? It’s never too late.
Flaming Lips had been around for 17 years before breaking through.
Gregory Porter apparently appeared out of nowhere in 2012, yet he’d been
recording and performing since age 21 and had a Grammy Award-winning
OVER TO YOU
album (Water) in 2010. Hard work, persistence, and the admiration of his
peers finally combined with his clear talent for and love of singing to bring
recognition in his early 40s.
Setting out to make the best music you can, and to earn a living by it – is an
entirely achievable goal.
And on the way you might just harness worldwide fame – and make your
millions – anyway.
The last words go to multi-Grammy winning songwriter and producer Mark
Ronson: “I didn’t start making music in order to be famous.”
3. YOU NEED A LAWYER. YOU PROBABLY NEED A MANAGER.

In electronic music, dance and hip hop, self-management is the norm, with
managers only entering the fray when an artist is well established.
But the majority of recording artists need a manager. That makes the
choice of manager one of the two most important decisions you will make
early on.
Before that comes the other most important decision: choosing a lawyer.
You shouldn’t sign any contract, including a management contract, without
taking legal advice.
The music industry is littered with stories of artists who have signed a
binding management agreement with their electrician mate who offered to
fund them for a few months. Or worse, their mate’s entirely inexperienced
dad. This can only lead to pain.
To stop yourself falling into this trap, your mantra should be: lawyer first.
If you ignore this, and enter into an unsuitable arrangement you will make
yourself unattractive to a proper manager – who’s unlikely to touch a signed
artist with a barge pole – and you’ll be spending money you don’t have in
order to buy your way out.
Either way, you’ve put yourself in a weak position when negotiating a real
management contract when it comes along.
You will also have put a major obstacle in the way of a record deal, which
will have to be put off until you’ve resolved your representation problem.
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It’s a useful rule of thumb that if anyone wants to tie you down in the very
early stages of your career, they are most likely looking for a potential
payday down the line – probably when you attract the attention of top
line management, who then have to go legal to get you out of whatever
agreement you shouldn’t have signed in the first place.
So don’t rush. Don’t allow yourself to be rushed.
And remember that mantra: lawyer first.
4. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF

What is it that links music with drugs, mental health problems, relationship
breakdowns, suicide et al?
Is it the stress of the industry itself? Is it the tightrope stars have to walk,
with success inches thin and the chasm of failure yawning below. Or is it the
fact that so many creative spirits seem instinctively drawn to the dark side?
The stats are brutal. In 2016, the organisation Help Musicians UK revealed
in the report Can Music Make You Sick? that 71% of musicians polled
had suffered from anxiety or panic attacks, and 68.5% said they had
experienced depression.
Stuart Glen, co-founder of The Cause, a London nightclub that splits its
profits with mental health charities, noted the tough lives many musicians
lead. “The industry is hard work,” he says, “with plenty of late nights and
social pressures. This can put a lot of strain on people.”
The brutal fact that is that the path to success in the music industry is not
an easy one.
There are three common problems that make life for musicians harder than
it needs to be: drugs, stress and the media.
Ours is not to judge. Alcohol and other drugs have played – and continue to
play – an important role in many artists’ lives.
Some find inspiration in them. Others lose the plot.
But – like much else – drugs ain’t what they used to be.
Just because your heroes took them back in the day and did amazing work
is not, in itself, a good reason for following in their footsteps.
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Apart from the obvious damage (dying – Whitney Houston, Hendrix,

Morrison, Brian Jones; life-long problems – Peter Green, Syd Barrett, Brian
Wilson) at least the old-timers could mostly trust their drugs.
In the 21st century, you have no idea what you’re putting in your body.
Amphetamine- and scouring powder-laced coke, lead-infused resin, horse
tranquillisers… The list is almost endless.
There is nothing truer than this: You will deal with everyday life a lot better
if your head’s on straight. Who do you suppose said this: “You have to
prioritise your health more than anything. You can’t help anyone if you end
up in the hospital”? Tragically, it was serial entrepreneur Ash Pournouri,
before his client, the DJ and dance music megastar Avicii, died aged just 28.
Which leads to common industry problem No. 2: stress.
In our ever-changing industry, stress is a given.
And no-one can prepare you for it. Who do you suppose said this: “When I
look back on my life, I think: ‘Whoa, did I do that? It was the best time of my
life in a sense. It came with a price – a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety for
me”? Tragically – again – it was Avicii himself, announcing his retirement at
the tender age of 26. Two years later he was dead.
Take it from someone who paid the price: the journey to the top is hard,
traumatic, sometimes insane.
Stress is a given.
But coping with stress is not.
Here’s Stuart Glen again: “Avicii is a prime example (of) a man at the very
top of his game, who on the outside looked like he had everything, yet
clearly needed help.”
Different people have different coping strategies when it comes to stress –
yoga, meditation, boxing, cooking, the gym. Eminem swears by running.
Find yours. Because your career will become simpler by halves if you’re able
to focus – especially when the pressure builds.
Even then, as if the slings and arrows of drugs, drink and stress weren’t
enough to make the emerging artist turn to, um, drugs and drink, there’s
the media to contend with.
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If you become a huge star, you will be looked at as a role model. It’s not fair.
It’s not even ethically defensible. It certainly wasn’t on your to-do list when
you decided to become a musician.
But the media will watch your every move.
Every part of you and your life will be under scrutiny. Your hair, body,
relationships, extra-marital affairs, bedroom antics, accidental late-night
tweets, boozy nights out... maybe even your music.
It’s the flip side of fame.
Let’s be clear: fame is an utter bastard. One day, you can go into your local
pub and have a quiet pint. Then, literally overnight, you can’t walk down the
street, everybody knows your face, the media are in your face and members
of the public are sticking phones in your face.
The media will stalk you, camp outside your home, track down the kid
you bullied at school, be outside every club or restaurant you spend
time in, then flash cameras in your face, all the time looking for a hint of
grumpiness (‘ungrateful pop star’), posing (‘pop star revels in attention’) or
shyness (‘pop star too big for own boots’).
The only thing you need to know about the media is this: there are
absolutely no circumstances under which you can win.
If you’re nice to the ‘journalists’, they take it as an invitation to invade every
part of your life because your acceptance forms for them a sort of non-
verbal contract that you’ve opened up your entire life to them.
Equally, if you try to ignore them or keep them at arm’s length they’ll
still invade your privacy. Their justification will be that you were happy for
the publicity for your last album/tour/TV show. And – yes, you’ve guessed
it – this forms for them a sort of non-verbal contract that your entire life is
fair game.
How, then, do you deal with them? Our advice is to look at Adele.
Somehow, three massive albums in, Adele has managed to avoid the many
perils of press intrusion. She even survived an onslaught late in 2014 when
– gasp – she didn’t take part in the Band Aid single. (Of course, everyone
who did take part got it in the neck too. Adele got it in the neck for not
taking part.)
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But Adele ignored it all. She didn’t try to justify herself. She didn’t take to
Twitter after one too many G&Ts to slag off the haters. Consequently the
controversy just… disappeared.
How she does it is a mystery. It’s not like she stands aloof from the game.
She goes on chat shows, swears like a trooper, talks about going on ‘a
five day bender’, even, for US TV, showed the host her wigs – which all
have nicknames (one is named June Carter, another is Jackie, if you’re
interested).
Maybe that’s the answer – play the game with openness and honesty, but
only play it when you want to.
Because what you don’t see is Adele falling out of nightclubs drunk or
stoned, punching photographers or twerking on YouTube.
5. KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND

Probably the best coping strategy for looking after yourself – for keeping
stress down and output up – is one that too many musicians fail to do. And
it is, ironically, the easiest.
It’s cheaper than a stint in The Priory and closer to home than a retreat in
Tibet.
It’s remembering your roots: your friends and your family.
However big you get, they were there before fame hit and they form the
bedrock of your life.
If you leave them behind because you think you’re better than that now, who
are you going to turn to if it all turns sour? And who are you going to call
when you need a few weeks out?
Two-times platinum X-Factor star Rebecca Ferguson says: “This industry
can be tough on everyone. You have to surround yourself with supportive
people and know when to put your foot down and do what’s best for you and
your family.”
Electronic Music multi-entrepreneur and long-time industry insider Ben
Turner agrees: “Keep friends around you who have no interest in [the music
business] apart from your involvement in it. They will keep you sane and be
there for you when things get tough.”
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Even megastars understand the value of keeping your feet on the ground.
“I’ve gotten my personal life all the way intact and make sure that it’s
straight,” says Dr Dre. “Without that you have no foundation. Your building
is going to crumble.”
Sure, enjoy your new life. Savour every success. Celebrate with a bottle of
Cristal (if you must – though we’d recommend Pol Roger).
But you don’t wake up one morning with an album at the top of the charts
and discover that, overnight, your heart and soul have been replaced with
something shiny and glittery.
You are still you, warts and all. The person who struggled for years writing
ever-improving lyrics and building your fanbase one by one is the same
person now standing in front of a 10,000-strong crowd.
Don’t let yourself get to the point where going round to Auntie Vi’s for a cup
of tea is somehow beneath you, or something ‘your people’ have to arrange.
A big part of transitioning from bedroom artist to global success is coping
with fame – learning to live with a new reality. Those who don’t manage that
transition almost always leave the industry, often bitter, sometimes broken.
Don’t be one of them.
Keep your life as normal as possible.
Hang on to the friends who will keep your feet nailed to the floor.
Because at the end of the day no-one – least of all those friends – wants to
hear how lonely you are in your penthouse suite, waiting for the limo to take
you to the club where everyone knows your name but nobody knows who
you really are.
6. WORK HARD. STAY FOCUSED

What unites Madonna, Jay-Z, superstar writer/producer Max Martin, Quincy
Jones, Ed Sheeran and thousands of other successful musicians?
They all worked bloody hard to get to where they are.
We’ve said it before in this book and we’ll say it again here as a sign off: you
will not reach the upper reaches of the music industry unless you plough
everything – EVERYTHING – into it.
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The number of stars that get to the top by accident, luck or laziness can be
counted on one hand.
You’d be hard pushed to find a better example of the hard work, dedication
and focus required to get to the top (and stay there) than Madonna Louise
Ciccone.
Madonna moved to New York from Michigan intent on a career in modern
dance. Everyone who knew her at the time tells the same story. She worked,
worked, worked – day and night – perfecting dance routines and figuring
out what would be required for success.
“I’m far from being God, but I work goddamn hard,” raps Jay-Z in ‘Breathe
Easy’. It’s a line of self-reflection; in the early days he and friend Jaz would
lock themselves away and work on technique for days on end. Dr Dre,
meanwhile, has revealed he has gone for 79 hours without sleep in the past.
“When that flow is going,” he says, “you don’t want to stop. You don’t want
to sleep for fear of missing something.”
Max Martin – now one of the richest songwriters in the world, with credits
for, among others, Pink, Taylor Swift and Britney Spears – started life as a
songwriter before realising he needed to add production to his CV. “I didn’t
even know what a producer did,” he says, “So I spent two years, day and
night, in the studio trying to learn what the hell was going on.”
EDM biz kingpin Ben Turner again: “Be prepared to give it everything you
have. This is a tough business which requires incredible discipline and
sacrifice.”
Tinie Tempah breaks out the practicalities: “You have to do a show, an
interview, you’ve got to go straight back on the road to another location,
make a track and edit the footage... It’s non stop.”
Quincy Jones says it best: “I see this generation loving to be rich and
famous with no work. You’ve got to work.”
But putting in the hours means nothing if it’s not time well spent.
Creative people are notoriously undisciplined. We have butterfly minds that
the internet has done nothing to discourage.
There are exceptions. Nick Cave is reputed to don a suit every morning,
taking himself off to his office (studio) to work an eight-hour day writing.
These days writing also includes film scripts.
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Cave has an insight that all aspiring artists could learn from. “I have times
when I feel hugely energised and other times I feel depleted and very
unconfident about what I’m doing.
“But in those difficult times, when it’s difficult to write, I still turn up and
ride them out.
“I’ve discovered that the down periods, grim as they are, are very much part
of the process.”
Bringing discipline into your daily life is a big step on the road to avoiding
the car-wreck clichés littering the musicians’ highway.
Exactly how to slice up your day will depend on how and when you work
best, but you should make space for:
- building and maintaining your website and social channels;
- building and maintaining your fan base;
- keeping your books (accounts) up to date;
- ensuring you have gigs booked as far ahead as possible; and
- the creative stuff: writing, practising and recording new material.
Some musicians put aside the first half of their day for the administrative
tasks while others prefer to attend to ‘the business’ when they’re done in
the studio. Either way, letting important day-to-day tasks build up is likely
to hamper both your business and your music: it’s far harder to be creative
if you have a head full of mounting to-do lists.
Finally, as any productivity self-help manual will tell you, everyone has a
time of day during which they function best. For some it’s first thing in the
morning. Others have to ease themselves into the day. And then there are
the night owls who come into their own when everyone else is asleep.
Whichever category you fit into, identify your highest-functioning period of
the day and use that time for making music.
Do the grunt work – accounting, updating the website etc, building your
mailing list – in another time slot.
And never forget, in the frank assessment of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, that
a lot of the time the music industry “is just fucking hard work.”
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7. TREAT PEOPLE RIGHT

How smooth and fast your journey to the top is will depend on two groups of
people: your team (Chapter 7 - Your team) and your fans.
Both are critically important to your survival. Lose either and you’ll be in
trouble. Lose both and your career’s finished.
Which means you need to treat both right.
Treating fans right shouldn’t demand an explanation. These are the people
you have to thank for being where you are. For the money in your pocket.
For the life you lead.
They may sometimes be demanding, unreasonable, overwhelming, irritating
as hell.
But you owe them everything. Loyal to a fault, your core fans will stick with
you even when your career goes into reverse and you start indulging in
musical whims and collaborations the most supportive manager would
advise against.
It’s easy to treat fans right in the early days. There’s time to share a drink
with a passionate supporter after the gig; you can afford to comment on
the Facebook picture of an obsessive who’s tattooed your name on their
chest.
But when things escalate – when time is at a premium and when it’s no
longer just a dozen people wanting your autograph after a gig, it’s 1,000 –
it’s increasingly difficult to keep engaging.
But you need to. They may be late to the party, but new fans are essential to
your growing popularity.
So think about the pop-up shop after the gig. Think about intimate gigs for
a chosen few. Give newsletter signees exclusive content. Run competitions
for your biggest fans.
Not only is it good manners. It’s also good business.
Trying to create new fans is hard. It takes time, money and a lot of energy.
It means PR, TV slots, radio interviews, endless gigs. But your old fans? No.
They love you. They’ve been waiting for that EP. They are a passionate and
ready-made audience the likes of which most retailers would kill for.
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Treat them right.

Don’t screw up that relationship like techno royalty Richie Hawtin did in
November 2014 when he was filmed apparently pushing a monitor speaker
onto a fan who was filming him behind the DJ booth. The social media
fallout was damaging, and Hawtin apologised. He was, he said, “extremely
sorry and embarrassed”. But then he said this: “Sometimes, being in the
middle of the spotlight, continual cameras and glaring iPhone lights, things
can get stressful and frustrating.” Well... yeah! For better or worse, it’s what
you sign up for. If an adoring audience stresses you out, you’re almost
certainly in the wrong place.
Careers can be ruined by single instances of bad behaviour and though
Hawtin’s star has seen another day, his moment of madness was a PR
disaster.
Which means don’t ever take your fans for granted. They’ll dissipate faster
than you can say ‘ungrateful a$$hole’.
The same maxim applies to your personal team – your manager, plugger,
designer, publicist, producer. As your career builds, the network of
professionals around you becomes ever-more important.
How you deal with these people largely depends on your character and
personality. If you’re short-tempered and intolerant you’ll have trouble with
all relationships, not just professional ones. And this book is not a self-help
manual for the intolerant. Book yourself some counselling. Thank us later.
Managing business relationships can, and should, be approached as a
professional matter. And while in music it’s easy to think of the drummer
as a mate and your plugger as a drinking buddy, they, like you, are music
professionals who should be treated as such. (If they’re not professionals,
why not?)
When rows brew, take stock. Remember that you chose your lawyer; you
chose your manager; and between the three of you, you chose your label.
Which means if frustration makes you want to blame everyone in the world
bar yourself remember the situation is partly of your making. Scapegoating
often hides a problem much closer to home.
Whatever you’ve picked up from Alan Sugar on The Apprentice – forget it.
Nothing you have seen him do on that programme has anything to do with
good management. And absolutely, certainly none of the behaviour you’ve
seen from the ‘apprentices’ is a model for how grownups behave at work.
OVER TO YOU
From high to low, treat everyone the same.

Be sensible, be sensitive, be respectful.
It will help you as you move up the ladder, and it will enhance your
reputation if you hit the top. You will also have made friends so that when
your moment in the sun is over, you’re more likely to be supported in your
later career.
In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
Now, who said that?
8. BE YOURSELF – GO YOUR OWN WAY

“Before I made this record, I was doing everything to try to get my
music heard... I tried to lose weight and I was making awful music,” said
Sam Smith, speaking at the 2015 BAFTAs where he won, among other
categories, record and song of the year for megahit ‘Stay With Me’. “It was
when I started to be myself that the music flowed.”
Nicki Minaj makes the same point: “By just being myself, I end up touching
a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female
rapper.”
Too many artists make music that sounds like other music because either
they think there’s a market for that music or because they’ve got no ideas
of their own.
They do the same with their brands and stories.
Neither is a recipe for success.
At this very moment, thousands of A&R execs around the world are seeking
out the next big thing. The clue there is the word next.
They are not looking for the same big thing – for copycat acts. They’re not
looking for soundalikes. They’re looking for the next chapter in the industry;
the paradigm shift that will take the world’s listeners in a new direction
(and, naturally, make them millions in the process).
The world’s biggest stars became stars because they shook things up.
They did things differently. And the best way to do things differently is to do
things your way – because by definition only you can do things your way.
OVER TO YOU
The case studies are the world’s most iconic acts. ‘My Way’ is not only the
most popular song at funerals worldwide, it is also a declaration of intent
for creative people.
Write from the heart, perform from the heart, live from the heart.
Following that maxim you won’t go far wrong.
9. KEEP MAKING MUSIC

It’s a truism across a host of professions that the better you become at
something, the less time you have to do it.
You go into marketing, for example, because you’re a hot-shot wordsmith
who knows how to sell the public anything and everything. In the first
few years of your career you’re penning mind-blowing sales lines and
commissioning beautiful artwork to accompany them. Your golden touch
is spotted by the bosses and you’re promoted to team head. Before long
you’re managing a team of 20, you’re in meetings for half your life and the
other half you’re negotiating payrises and dealing with personnel issues. A
year or two later again and you’re top-flight management and you’re not
doing any of the work for which you were once famed.
A similar story applies to musicians.
The early years of an artist’s career are often the most productive. You
get to write songs all day and play out in the evenings, honing your skills
and working up arrangements in practice rooms unhindered by the many
trappings of fame.
Success changes that.
Priorities begin to change – as they must.
More and more time is ploughed into social media and brand management;
into conversations with lawyers, managers and designers; into making
videos and touring radio studios for the latest publicity drive.
As your star rises, the time you have left to make music shrinks. Add in a
national tour, a fallout with bandmates and an emerging drink problem and
all of a sudden the time, energy and passion that once allowed you to write
and record great songs erodes.
OVER TO YOU
Ever wonder why so many bands make the best albums of their career in
the first few years?
Now you know.
But getting past the legendary third album hurdle needn’t be impossible. It
just demands discipline.
As a creative person you should train yourself to think of everything as a
creative opportunity.
You hear about artists who approach their next album with upwards of 100
songs. How do you suppose that happens?
All day, every day they’re watching the world go by and writing down even
the smallest ideas that ping into their brain.
You can do the same.
And in a world where the power of a recording studio is on your laptop or
iPhone you can start making songs out of these thoughts and building
tracks even as you’re travelling, or when you’re stuck in a motel room in the
middle of nowhere.
For creative people there’s no such thing as down-time. Your brain will
constantly be in action. Don’t ignore the endless stream of ideas. Every
thought can be a song.
And in the digital age, you don’t even have to wait to try out the ideas. A
laptop with a DAW should travel everywhere with you. There’s no longer any
excuse for not having ‘writing time’. Writing time is all day, every day. It’s
even possible to make a decent demo on an iPhone.
Particularly on the road, the tendency to boredom and routine – sleep,
eat, travel, eat, sit around, kill time, play, eat, drink, take a few drugs, wait
for adrenaline to subside, play Xbox, sleep, repeat, repeat, repeat – can be
mind-numbing.
Keep busy. Be creative. Don’t let the drudge of everyday life, nor the dozens
of administrative tasks demanded of the increasingly successful music
professional, get in your way.
That’s how you end up with 100+ songs at the start of an album.
OVER TO YOU
10. LAST BUT NOT LEAST… HAVE FUN. ENJOY THE RIDE
Music is a gift, and for those of us lucky enough to have been given the gift,
making music for its own sake is reward in its own right.
Making a living from it is the icing on the cake.
And stardom, to flog the metaphor to death, is the cherry on the icing on
the cake – the smallest bite; a momentary tang of sweetness that doesn’t
last as long as it should.
No-one said the journey was going to be easy, and very few musicians
expect it to be so.
But there’s satisfaction to be had every step of the way – working with other
talent, interacting with fans, watching recognition of your brand and music
grow.
And there are moments of unbridled joy too – the spine-tingling moments
in the studio when you realise you’re recording something sublime; the first
time you walk on stage in front of 100, then 1,000 then 10,000 people; your
first five-star review.
It’s too easy to let these moments pass by, lost in the stress of a tour or
the anxiety to write new material or the angst of reading online vitriol about
your new single.
To do so would be to forget that a career in music is meant to be a hundred
things – but most of all it is meant to be creatively satisfying and... fun.
Working in the music industry is a privilege.
Never lose sight of that.
Enjoy the ride.
.

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BUILDING A MUSIC CAREER

IN THE DIGITAL AGE

CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Published in the UK, May 2019

All content © 2019. All rights reserved.

A NOTE ABOUT THE FACTS AND

The International Federation of the SoundExchange.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

So – how to read this book?

STARTER FOR TEN

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

That’s why David Geffen – now a multi-billionaire – is worth listening to.

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#1: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS NOT DEAD

# 2: THE DOOR IS WIDER OPEN THAN EVER

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#3: TODAY’S CHALLENGE IS TO BREAK THROUGH THE NOISE

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

laptop, a copy of GarageBand and a couple of song ideas.

#4: YOU CAN KICK-START YOUR CAREER FOR NEXT TO NOTHING

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

be filling bigger venues.

#5: MUSIC SALES ARE ONLY PART OF THE STORY

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#6: BRAND IS KEY

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

countries – mouse head qualifying as one of this century’s most iconic

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#7: TOTAL DEDICATION REQUIRED

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#8: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ISN’T PERFECT. BUT PASSION PERVADES

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#9: SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS – A LOT

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

#10: THE SONG (AND SONGWRITER) RULES SUPREME

PREFACE: STARTER FOR TEN

The legislation they helped enshrine in US law, alongside similar laws

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

THE CORE BUSINESS – THE MAJORS

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP WARNER MUSIC GROUP 15.8%

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

WARNER MUSIC GROUP

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

SONY MUSIC GROUP

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

Columbia/CBS, by contrast, has its roots in the earliest days of recorded

THE MAJORS AND THEIR LABELS

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

THE UMG STABLE

THE SONY STABLE

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

THE WARNERS STABLE

THE MAJORS: CORPORATE LEECHES OR FORCE FOR GOOD?

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

Parlophone is parent to other big name labels including Chrysalis and

CORE BUSINESS: THE INDIES

CHAPTER 1 THE MUSIC BUSINESS

This kind of hard-headed business thinking is not typical of most indie