The Unsigned Guide visits Music Futures
Blog by Michelle Lloyd under Artist Managers, Media, Music Training & Careers, Record Labels, Selling & Distributing Your Music
When we heard Generator were holding “a trail blazing day of music industry innovation and insight for artists, songwriters, producers, managers and music businesses” we felt it only our duty to hop on the train up to Newcastle and deliver to you all the insider knowledge from their Music Futures conference.
The jam packed schedule that saw representatives from some of the country’s leading music organisations including AIM, Universal Music, Mercury Records, PPL, PRS for Music and Pledge Music in conversation, as well as those in the know who work with artists including Coldplay, Imogen Heap and Dizzee Rascal giving insights and taking questions from the floor.
Future Artist/Label Funding
First up was the ‘Future Artist/Label Funding’ panel that was centred on the options available for independent music businesses and artists to raise finance and how this affects label and artist relations. Heading up the panel were Alison Wenham, CEO & Chairman of AIM, Martin Goldschmidt, founder of independent label ‘Cooking Vinyl’, and Paul Barton of Pledge Music with Karim Fanous of Music Ally acting as ringmaster.
First up was the ‘Future Artist/Label Funding’ panel that was centred on the options available for independent music businesses and artists to raise finance and how this affects label and artist relations. Heading up the panel were Alison Wenham, CEO & Chairman of AIM, Martin Goldschmidt, founder of independent label ‘Cooking Vinyl’, and Paul Barton of Pledge Music with Karim Fanous of Music Ally acting as ringmaster.
Alison informed us how, to contrary belief, the EMI/Universal merger, leaving only 3 major labels now, has led to a much stronger independent sector but there are still blatant funding issues causing labels to concentrate on satisfying shareholders, rather than artists and fans. Money shouldn’t be the driver, shouldn’t be the number one priority; making good music should still be at the centre of the industry.
Distribution, Alison told us, is “the key to helping labels grow”, and if you can sell 250 units you can work with a distributor. Estimating that you need around £1-3K to start up a label with growth potential, Martin who’s has enjoyed 9 Top 40 albums this year through his label Cooking Vinyl, informed us that the label was initially set up with a loan from friends, followed by an overdraft and distribution advances.
Funding may be a persistent problem but there are ways and means to achieve goals and Martin was keen to remind us of all the avenues you can go down in order to source investment. As well as asking friends and family for assistance, you can also look to your fans. Selling releases via Amazon Marketplace, eBay, your own website and Bandcamp can all help while you’re trying to secure a more substantial investment. The bank may also be able to help you out, as well as local business entrepreneurs and Business Angels. The key to securing financial help from these sources are watertight business plans and the like; no-one is going to want to invest if you haven’t done your research and don’t have decent proposals (useful information and help in writing business plans can be found on the AIM website).
Furthering the point made by Martin, Paul from Pledge Music talked us through how their service works and why you shouldn’t be afraid to look to your fans for financial help. The premise behind Pledge Music, he told us, is an expansion of a pre-order; it’s not about fans investing their money, it’s about them purchasing a product or experience and receiving exclusive content. Initially it started with a view to helping artists make enough money to make an album but has since expanded to help artists with promotions and tour funding etc; every campaign is different.
Pledge Music works on 15% commission to cover man hours and credit card transactions, and 60% of the target amount for a project is paid in advance to the artist. The key to making this type of venture work is knowing your fans and also knowing your budget. Declaring that Pledge’s users rarely don’t meet the targets, the entry barrier very much depends on what you want and what you can get but if you have around 1,000 fans combined from Facebook, Twitter, mailing lists and so on, there is definite potential to start a campaign which has to be something worth baring in mind.
Talk soon shifted towards the minefield question: ‘do you need a record label?’ The general consensus was that, at the end of the day you are going to need a certain level of expertise to maximise revenues. Record companies have received a lot of bad press over the years, with acts walking out on record deals and people declaring a shift towards DIY. The ironic thing being - it’s the record companies who often propel the artists to the position where they are then able to shun them as they have accumulated a decent following. Which begs the question; why bite the hand that feeds you? A recent example to draw upon would be Trent Reznor who famously stuck 2 fingers up at record labels and encouraged artists to follow in his footsteps, only to re-sign with a major label recently.
As times have changed so many labels have read the landscape and diversified accordingly. Working together is key and tapping into appropriate knowledge banks. Not all artists are suited to a business environment and as musicians they need to be able to concentrate on the writing and performing side of things, not VAT returns and bean counting.
Hammering home that the music industry is still primarily a people business, the panel closed with some practical advice for bands and artists. Martin pointed out that it’s important to hustle and not sit at home waiting for the phone to ring; no-one owes you a living. Target who you think might be responsive. It sounds obvious but don’t approach a record label who specialise in Rock music if you’re a Folk artist. Tell people why you would be good for them and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback if someone has rejected a proposal. As well as learning what’s working you also need to know what’s not working. And when it comes to pushing yourself, don’t think of it as selling a product, more as turning people onto great music.
Paul summarised that it’s important not to try and run before you can walk. Playing gigs around the country can be crippling and expensive so dedicating your time and money into making it big in your own backyard before branching out is often a better way to spend your time and finances, and if you’re good enough news will spread.
Future Of Artist/Fan Relationships
Onto the afternoon panel which was ‘Future of Artist/Fan Relationships’, covering how artists can keep their fanbase engaged and involved in the release process and what platforms and services should be used. With Music Ally’s Karim Fanous at the helm again, he was joined by Imogen Heap’s manager Mark Wood, Stephen O’Reilly from Mobile Roadie, Alex Branson from InGrooves Fontana and Debs Wild from Coldplay’s official website.
Onto the afternoon panel which was ‘Future of Artist/Fan Relationships’, covering how artists can keep their fanbase engaged and involved in the release process and what platforms and services should be used. With Music Ally’s Karim Fanous at the helm again, he was joined by Imogen Heap’s manager Mark Wood, Stephen O’Reilly from Mobile Roadie, Alex Branson from InGrooves Fontana and Debs Wild from Coldplay’s official website.
Talk quickly turned to official websites and whether you still need one in these days of social networks. Of course, there is a strong argument that you don’t need to bother with a main website, given that Facebook, Wikipedia and Twitter are often a fan’s first port of call online. However, Debs pointed out that having your own website allows a band to have their own identity and to do things exactly how they want, without the confinements that certain sites propose. And there is no end of power in the email addresses you can acquire through mailing lists on official sites. Fan ownership is most valuable.
Band and artists should always keep an eye on where fans are engaging online with them the most and make sure they make this their primary thrust. With so many new ways of interacting cropping up, it can be hard to know which ones to concentrate on. The panel advised that Twitter and Facebook are probably the most important platforms to utilise as they allow that invaluable, two-way interaction which is what will eventually drives sales. Don’t feel you have to join every platform, just concentrate on a couple that work best for you and your fans, rather than diluting the content.
Imogen Heap was amongst the pioneers of Twitter and her manager Mark told of the social networking platform leading to a previously unplanned 4,000 capacity gig in Indonesia. Imogen discovered she had a lot of Indonesian fans tweeting her and asking when she was due to play there, and with no current plans to Mark investigated and unbeknown to them she had a very strong fanbase there so a date in Jakarta was arranged.
The topic of Facebook inevitably arose, with crowd members asking the panel about the new ‘promote posts’ options and the problem of people not being able to see your posts. Despite having 23 million Facebook fans, Coldplay’s posts are only seen by 2.3 million and Debs was very much against the idea of having to pay Facebook to reach beyond this. Her solution to this issue was to essentially drag people from Facebook to your own website. Create engaging content that prompts interaction and look into Edgerank which is the algorithm developed by Facebook to govern what is displayed and how high on the news feed.
Stephen from Mobile Roadie also added some final and practical advice regarding websites – make sure it is easy to use. Fancy and impressive websites can look good, but it’s important that it is simple to navigate. Ultimately, if your website is confusing, people simply won’t use it. In the age of the Smartphone it’s also important to make sure websites are mobile friendly, something which even the likes of Robbie Williams has failed on in the past.
So that was Music Futures 2012; a day of interesting insights and practical advice from the experts. Here’s to next year!
Tags
music futures, generator, music industry, music business, music conference, music industry convention
