Your most successful published song, how much did you make?

[zero00]

I would love to say "record deals are in the past", the reality is other, big companies are still ruling the music industry, do you honestly know any unsigned band or artist equally successful as a signed one? talking big of course, let's say is there an unsigned as popular as Miley Cyrus, Britney, Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Justin Timberlake, Paramore, etc etc etc? At the most you'll find 1? The thing is that even if the costs for music marketing are the lowest in this days, they are also the lowest for the companies, so, they can use the extra for TV, Radio, photo sessions, video clips for youtube, etc etc. That only is talking at minimum 20-30.000, how many unsigned band can compete with that? There's a limit for creativity on what a band can do without the resources. Ok, maybe an unsigned band can afford to make 1 Video Clip, the signed band will make 2 or 3, the unsigned band will make an EP, the signed one will make a LP. Then comes the production... and when you're done making the album the signed band is touring around the world sharing stage with other big bands.

IMHO the best you can do is play everywhere you can, get a big fan list, record some demos for your best songs and try to get a deal. But please get a good deal, not one because you're desperate.

Cheers

 

[dintymoore]

it's my way of saying i have two publishing companies but have no idea how to set up a publishing company.


and how about the 10 years before that? and be honest.

None.

I think the best advice I have is to keep doing your music and realize that the past is gone but that doesn't mean that the good times are gone.

It always goes in cycles, and it will come back, probably bigger than before.

So the best position to be in when it does is by being on top of it and working your ass off.

 

[ez_willis]

"get a record deal"

Those days are gone. We are approaching what you might call a paradigm shift and what worked before will no longer work. The days of dreaming that some "record company" will discover you... snap out of it!

There's tons of opportunities nowadays but they aren't the ones from the 80's like "get a record deal".

I only know one guy who "got a record deal" in the last 5 years.

and how about the 10 years before that?

None.

 

[dintymoore]

I know, that world is gone.

I used to write music for a show in Waikiki and one of the guys did well this last year - Bruno Mars. He had the #1 song position in three categories on Billboard. I was told he was signed with Motown about 8 years ago. He was gigging 5-6 nights a week at 4, and was on CNN around that age, so once again, a hard act to follow.

 

[kidkage]

None.

I think the best advice I have is to keep doing your music and realize that the past is gone but that doesn't mean that the good times are gone.

It always goes in cycles, and it will come back, probably bigger than before.

So the best position to be in when it does is by being on top of it and working your ass off.

Im hoping thats true.
I see a lot of people say the industry is dead, and music as a business wont last another 5 years.
Then I see the same amount of people say that it'll be back and that label execs, lawyers, those kind of people will find a way to make things good again, because people want music and musicians need to be PAID. Some people say theyre just waiting to make a big comeback.

i know its bad grammar but hey... im lazy

 

[dintymoore]

Im hoping thats true.
I see a lot of people say the industry is dead, and music as a business wont last another 5 years.
Then I see the same amount of people say that it'll be back and that label execs, lawyers, those kind of people will find a way to make things good again, because people want music and musicians need to be PAID. Some people say theyre just waiting to make a big comeback.

i know its bad grammar but hey... im lazy

The whole thing happened in the auto industry a little over 100 years ago. Karl Benz, of Mercedes-Benz fame made the first "normal" car in 1887. Most of the car companies of the world got started by buying one of his cars, taking apart and making copies.

When Karl was testing the car, he had to do it at night because people stoned him in the day, saying since the car wasn't powered by a horse it must be powered by Satan. And the people who were most against it were the horse and buggy companies. They thought that it meant the end of their industry.

On GM vehicles, they used to (still do?) have a badge with a stagecoach that said "Body by Fisher". Fisher was one of those stagecoach companies. Those guys thought their business was over? It hadn't started!

It's the same with the music industry. Anyone that thinks it's over is nuts. Lady Gaga will sell more 10 years from now than she did this year, and so will Roy Orbison.

But the old is never coming back. It will be different. The best, most accurate knowledge of what's going on that I can find is from Ray Kurzweil, the guy who made the keyboards.

opportunity + preparation = luck

That's a powerful formula. So now is the time to work your ass off and prepare for what's coming. Then an opportunity will come along and everyone will say "wow, wasn't he lucky?". Ya, lucky for sure, but not like finding a dollar. Luck you create by preparing. Just "waiting" ain't gonna cut the mustard.

 

[famous beagle]

Lady Gaga will sell more 10 years from now than she did this year

Huh?

 

[dintymoore]

Huh?

Of course time will tell and I love being wrong because that's when you learn.

My point was this: One of the dumbest times I've seen in music was the 1980-ish period when the Stones, all turning 40, thought that their period in music was over (!). Mick and Keith got into fights, they broke up, Mick put out a stupid disco record. Before that they put out garbage like "Emotional Rescue" with Charlie doing an embarrassing disco hihat groove. It was a cringer.

Fast forward to 1998 and Bill Gates pays the Stones $6M just to use "Start Me Up" as a promo for the new version of Windows. Zounds!

The lesson there is: it ain't over until the fat lady sings and I ain't heard any yet.

If the music you like is old and fuddy-duddy, let's say you're crazy about Michael McDonald... do that music. Don't do Kanye. There will be people just like you who will like it and anything worth anything doesn't go "out of style".

 

[VomitHatSteve]

The lesson there is: it ain't over until the fat lady sings and I ain't heard any yet.

So you're calling Lady Gaga fat?






There's always going to be somebody buying and somebody selling music in some form or another. And some jerk's always going to be making way more money than he deserves off of this process. MP3s and file sharing a forced a significant shift in exactly HOW that works, but it's still happening.

It's just a matter of figuring out how to sell your music now as opposed to what worked a decade ago.