Frank H
Los Angeles, CA
Male, 34
I was an A&R guy for a major record label between 2001-2004. We broke several new artists and produced a handful of platinum-selling records during my tenure, but we also experienced the beginning of the industry’s downfall. Many jobs lost, many artists dropped — what was once an extremely fun and creative profession became far less glamorous, virtually overnight.
Sadly, the artist’s look and marketability is just as — and in some cases, more — important than the music itself. Some independent labels are more forgiving, but for major labels, this is largely the case. There are certain instances where the raw talent is so undeniable that it supersedes any aesthetic shortfalls (e.g. Susan Boyle), but this has become increasingly rare. The look/vibe of the artist has to be something that is easily conveyed, has a very tangible edge, and exudes youth. The fact is, signing a band is an investment. An older artist (age 30 is roughly the cut-off) presumably has a shorter shelf-life and is therefore a weaker investment. Seems cold and unfair, but putting emotions aside, I’m somewhat sympathetic to the pragmatism of it. If I’m gambling on a new act, I want to mitigate the risk as much as possible.
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I worked at record stores in high school, DJ’d in college, and did stints with college radio and concert booking before graduating. So I had some experience. But I found myself in New York City in a completely non-music-related job after college, and had virtually no “real-world” music industry contacts. As I was exiting the other job, I pounded the virtual pavement, researching every possible music industry alumni from my alma mater. I reached out to about 30 people. Three responded. One had an unpaid internship available. I took the internship – in the A&R department of a major label – and made myself indispensable. After three months, I was given a job as an assistant to the head of A&R when his then-assistant left.
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It’s been years since I’ve utilized a P2P site. But my reasons for not doing so are more selfish than they are ethical. Simply put, if an artist is making music I enjoy, I want him to make more. I buy his music with the hope that it will further incentivize him to stick with his craft.
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Sure. Right after I finish dinner with Santa Claus and The Easter Bunny.
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There are numerous reasons, but in short, they generally get dropped at the point where the label feels that the investment has gone bad. Sometimes this happens quickly — the artist may record an album that the label doesn’t see as marketable. Or perhaps they complete and release the album, but radio airplay and sales go nowhere. In other instances, a band may complete their contract (perhaps producing two or three albums), at which point the label may ascertain that they’re on a downward trajectory and opt not to renew. It’s like any investment — at some point the label decides it’s time to allocate their funds toward more promising projects.
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Books have been written about this, and the debate rages on after nearly 13 years of P2P services. And what sucks is that even world-class statisticians, researchers, and data miners haven’t been able to truly demonstrate whether P2P actually helps or hurts the industry. So take this for what it’s worth. The recorded music biz captured virtually all of the consumer surplus for nearly half a century by forcing consumers to purchase an album’s worth of music when they were really only interested in 1-2 songs. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that consumers have so little sympathy for the industry as they take back that surplus in the form of piracy and single-track purchases. And for the younger folks who never really dealt with CDs in the first place, file-sharing and single track downloads are completely organic practices. Stealing is wrong no matter how you cut it, but at the same time, when there’s no incremental cost to an artist or label for the reproduction of a digital file, it becomes harder to sympathize. And to your point, having artists’ lavish lifestyles thrown in our faces doesn’t help. But it used to be the case that when you purchased music — AKA a CD — you received something real and tangible. A jewel case, liner notes, lyrics — all neatly packaged and presented as a wall decoration. Stealing a CD would feel like real “stealing.” Stealing a digital file — something far less tangible and buried somewhere within a hard drive — just doesn’t carry the same moral weight to the consumer.
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That gal singing in the subway — does she have a manager? Does she maintain an online presence? Does she have connections to get her music played in front of the right label audience? And if she has none of the above, does she have marketing plan in mind beyond just singing for whoever will listen? Probably not. Unfortunately, performers, while adept in their musical abilities, don’t always have the knowledge-base, motivation, or financial wherewithal to charge headfirst into the music biz and get their music in front of the right audience. The ones who get signed not only have talent, but also understand (or have management that understands) the hustle/politics required to get through label doors.
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