From The General ...
Scott,
OK, so since it seems that the thread about starting a producing company has turned into as warzone, I will try to continue it here to avoid the flame war and bring some descent relevant (audio production wise) discussion to the table.
You’re right about the other threads needlessly turning into a war zone. But that’s all the Idiot Element has to offer.
Now let me break down your questions and answer them in the order you wrote them.
General, on your website you are constantly repeating not to deal with a licenser that is not part of the big 8. How does it work out for rising stars, or bands that are starting out with their first professional recording? Say, a band that has a good local basis, wants professional distribution, wants to expand to a regional or national market and has the demand to produce sales of aprx. 5,000 to 10,000+ albums within a years time.
Actually it’s not to deal with any LABEL that isn’t affiliated with one of the NOW Super Seven. One of these days, I've just got to UPDATE that site!
The problem is, there’s no way to predict/determine IF a record will sell at all, let alone how many copies, and ‘projections’ only look good on paper. The determining factor is
UN-hyped broadcast airplay, i.e., the groove alone. I’ve always used the statement, “You can chart an elephant fart, but let’s see you SELL the record”. (FYI, one of our artists did a satire “Elephant Fart”, we uploaded it in September and the damned thing charted! At 2095 in October, and 1959 in November
http://www.atlantic-satellite.com
Industry stats show that SEVEN out of EIGHT releases don’t sell any commercial copies at all, and NINETEEN out of TWENTY don’t sell enough to cover the costs of the record alone.
So a hopeful Artist, ExP, Producer, Studio, Producer, Label, Publisher, whoever, needs to be more cognizant of HOW this Industry actually works
without any Beer Joint Baritone delusions attached. THEN, they can present an acceptable proposition on the table once they can get through the doors with a PROVEN product.
We get people all the time wanting distribution, but only ‘where’ the act is popular. We can do that,
but at total loss of the investment and no way to UNjackass the project once that stupid move has been made. The numbers just aren’t there to justify investing in such limited potential sales due to the overall costs incurred by a General Licenser. A local label may think they’ve found gold, but a distributed label would have a far different opinion due to the $$$ required.
Also, if you would know, how much of an investment would be on the shoulder's for Executive Producer (aka artist) in this scenario?
As I explained above, only a local label would even touch such a limited potential. You’d probably be as well off to use your own label, as you can throw your records as far as any of the local studio or hip-pocket labels can.
Depending on the
Field of Music, the material’s
Crossover potential,
and the act’s popularity the budget can vary all over the place. For instance, a “gospel” album doesn’t need the number of promotional copies or investment a main stream Rock, County, Adult Contemporary, etcetera, would. There aren’t as many broadcasters programming the Field, nor as many high-volume outlets willing to stock the product. How many places there are to place a product, both promotional and sales, are TWO of the determining factors of the initial promotion budget.
Because the General Licensers are GLOBAL, we have a bit more of a problem servicing both promotion, licensing and distribution. Therefore, PROVEN product projects can cost anywhere from $160,000.00 to $10,000,000.00 total budget. Factor in that popularity element, say a Madonna vs The Tadpole Trio, and that $10-Mil figure begins to make a bit more sense for a Madonna (Global advertising is damned expensive!). But nobody in their right mind would invest that kind of money in a newbie or even in UN-PROVEN product.
and, how much if any of the costs would be taken up by the licenser or label?
Depending on the General Licenser, the Label, and the factors above, anywhere from ONE THIRD (1/3) to ONE QUARTER (1/4) of that initial promotion budget would come out of the ExP’s pocket. I won’t speak for any of the other Super Six, but an example at Vandor is:
Executive Producer = (1/4th) @ $40,000.00
Record Label = (1/4th) @ $40,000.00
Music Publishers = (1/4th) @ $40,000.00
Vandor Music Group = (1/4th) @ $40,000.00
Grand Total = $160,000.00
From there, when would contact with Vandor be an option for record publishing?
First, you wouldn’t have to do business with Vandor at all! Once you KNOW what the hell you’re doing, and HOW to do it right the first time, all the doors in this Best Of All Industries are wide open. Even in these hard economic times. Vandor is just a whole lot easier to get along with than some of the others
As explained above, the Music Publisher would be brought on board WHEN the deal is down to cases. It’s takes ANY of the Super Seven about FIVE MINUTES FLAT to secure a label and a publisher for any deal they want to venture. VMG at least has both Label’s and Music Publisher’s investments in the bank and ready for spending upon acceptance of an ExP’s contract.
Due to the way ‘getting signed’ has been portrayed, to keep the Idiot Element out of competition due to their own ignorance, most people assume the label runs the show. And those Mini-Majors who are worth a damn actually do! But pretty much on this scale of things.
Also, along the lines of professional distibution, is it possible to have your album available in (inter)national music stores, but only within the region that your band has an active following in?
That was covered somewhat above, but let me clarify it a bit more. Yes, you can stock product any place you want it
as long as you’re under BOND and CONTRACT to buy all UNSALEABLE copies back at your sole and exclusive cost! You’ll have to bribe for shelf space and shelf position, along with a lot of other modern day marketing nonsense, but if you want to invest the bucks the shelves are available. Some of that “cost” factor mentioned above.
One more, if you're still reading, how does a studio gain affliliation with the big 8 general licensers?
Can’t speak for the others, but at Vandor it’s a simple matter of DELIVERY! But that delivery can’t be jackassed or shoddy at any point under any conditions. All our affiliated Producers are independent contractors and run their own operations. We won’t put up with any bull or nonsense, and we’re there to advise them constantly. About half my day is invested in keeping our people out of innocent mistakes.
Are all the costs of the studio covered by the Executive Producer for each project and do the labels or licensers throw down $ with the ExP to split costs?
Let’s get some info on the table:
The legal term for Executive Producer (ExP) is “Chief Financier” or “Chief Financial Officer”, the later being when a company/network HIRES somebody to oversee a project or investment. In Music & Entertainment the ExP pays for all initial and follow-up production (studio, musicians, singers, technicians, special equipment, etcetera) and the mixing and editing of the Finished Production Masters as required by the Record Company -
AND - and equal share of at least the initial promotion budget (explained above).
Who ever PAYS for a session legally OWNS it, even if they sign that ownership and residuals away in the process of contracting. They don’t have to, but most don’t know that, and get themselves royally cleaned by the Record Company.
You’ve heard the Idiot Element spew the idiocy, “When the record company asks for money, watch out!” The TRUTH is, when the record company WANTS to invest in the initial production, THAT is the time to WATCH OUT! The odds are it’s either a shelving contract, or worse. The Idiot Element confuses PUBLISHING with RECORDING! Never pay a publisher a damned penny! At any time, for any reason. But being an Executive Producer IS NOT ‘paying for publishing’! Only the scam artists and Idiot Elements propose differently.
Yes! That includes ASCAP, BMI and SESAC!
Or, is the studio charged by the general licensers for the namesake affliation, therefore bringing in bigger talent to the studio?
Some do, and some have. I didn’t have to in the early days when I started what is now VMG World Wide, but there were some in the area who had to pay through the nose and eventually found it wasn’t worth it.
There’s no cost to be a VMG Representative or Producer - other than doing business like we require - and DELIVERY of projects.
I am kind of asking the questions to the General, but I know there are some other pro's here as well, so feel free to educate my ignorant ass!
Yes there are. There are some very knowledgeable people here, and I’d like to see their input too. I can always use more solid information. I just hope the crack pot element doesn’t start another around of Eternal Jackass!
Thanks ya'll
Scott
Thanks to you, Scott.
TDA
