This article is dedicated to aspiring, unsigned solo artists and musical groups.
We get many calls and inquiries from musicians and bands who want to submit their tapes for what they consider the prize of all prizes...the record deal. One of the most important themes running through my approach to representing new artists is that the record deal is only part of the whole picture, it is the tip not the whole iceberg. Like any other payoff or goal, it is the process and the preparation in reaching the goal which makes an artist, and it is the preparation which has the greatest direct effect on what happens once that first deal is made. In other words, is the record deal the last step of the process in itself, or is the record deal the landmark which opens the door for what is to follow? It all depends on you. Pay attention, because this information is hard to get elsewhere if you do not find it here at soloperformer.com or already work with professionals.
Every music act which wants to submit their tapes is convinced they are ready. "The music sounded so great on those big studio monitors." Unfortunately, there is a line about bands listening to playback on those playback speakers that goes..."every song is a hit in the studio". Oh but were it so, we would all be in limousines! I take it as my obligation to offer the best advice to help a client reach their goal. In each case, the best advice I can pass on is to convince a client that their material or their career may not be ready, and to offer constructive criticism and direction as to what they can do to make themselves ready.
With regard to "deal shopping", different lawyers have different policies as to what they will do for music clients. There is no "standard". Many lawyers will not "shop" or "solicit" a record deal. They leave that to managers, producers or musicians' ingenuity. Instead these lawyers are primarily "transactional", that is they handle "the deal" only, where there are already (at least) two parties involved in a contractual or otherwise "arms length" transaction. Two or more interests are now negotiating with each other, however that may have come about. This may be a producer with a band or artist; an artist with a manager; an artist or production company (producer) with a record company, or a multitude of other transactions the commerce of music involves. So that leaves the lawyers who are willing to take on these searches. You can imagine how much traffic that can entail. Just think how many bands are involved...almost every band you know! So as you can imagine, among experienced entertainment lawyers who handle music, there has to be some screening process. I will tell you how this lawyer screens. First of all, what is the quality of the act? Is it "commercially marketable"? There are numerous criteria, starting with how talented is the artist/band to begin with? Is the performance professional? How is the presentation? What is the internal musicianship (the "musical interaction"). Is it interesting? Repetitious? Self indulgent? Boring? And probably the most critical element - assuming the act performs well - what is the quality of writing?
Management is not easy to come by because managers have to make a living too. If a manager is going to choose an act to work with, there has to be some business, a career, some transactions to manage. Finding the right professional to manage or develop your career is an important step, because every true artist really needs outside objectivity to guide through to next steps. A knowledgeable music lawyer can fill that need when you do not have a manager to help develop your career. So when a group tells me that they want their deal, I talk to them about the bigger picture to find out what they really need in the short term and intermediate term. Being successful in a music career should not be viewed upon as an instant gratification game. You wouldn't go to the doctor or dentist and tell them how to treat you. They want to know the symptoms and what you are feeling to be sure, but they will do their own tests and information gathering. Then they tell you what you need, not the other way around. It's not really different when it comes to building careers in the entertainment business.
People in film, literary, television and the new media become craftsmen in those disciplines. They become "artists" only after applying themselves and searching out important influences in their art. The guitarist Neal Schon once said in an interview about learning to play the guitar that he recommends listening to the older things, that is where you find "the tasty stuff". Then you have so much more to draw on. A painter has a palette, and does not paint in one color. How limiting to not have a range of artistic and stylistic choices. You need those influences from which to choose. Otherwise the musical evolution becomes stagnant. True artistic and commercial success is not the result of immaculate conception. All good music has to come from somewhere, and that "somewhere" invariably had further profound influence on a line of interpreters and musical disciples you yourself may have learned from.
We get tapes or CD submissions from groups and solo artists. Always the optimist, I anxiously listen to be taken away by an incredibly different act with its own direction, its own point of view (to quote New York musician David Randall). What do I hear, or not hear? No groove, no song structure, no lyric content, nothing interesting, no song. . .essentially we have a group that may get "A for effort" but without looking too closely, you can tell that this act stopped doing its homework before they got it right.
Here is where the controversy comes in. What would you have the lawyer do in such a case? Take your money and "shop" your tape. Or should he or she provide you with the real advice you need to hear, need to know. I certainly choose the latter. Then we have some place to work from to help the musicians get closer to what they want. Quite often, I pass on the best advice I know thanks to the words of the late, great Arthur Alexander (write that name down) ..."you need a shot of rhythm and blues!" Rock groups who use the current musical labels as an excuse to create vanilla music devoid musical roots would greatly benefit from good advice, self study and lots of practice. It is even more amazing to hear self-promoting singer/songwriters who have a hard time identifying any song written before 1985, and thinking they have a chance of breaking through the impenetrable walls of enduring success in the music. When I write about success in the music business, I am referring to a career, not six weeks on the road. Otherwise, finish school while you still have a chance for a normal life.
You would be hard pressed to find a truly enduring successful act whose influences are not champions of a musical genre comprised of a blend of diverse forms, styles, ethnic mixes. There is a lot of watered down guitar music lately, and some friendly constructive criticism is needed here. All the explanations of contractual clauses which I might explain to you will mean nothing if you do not know how get to first base. I always make it a point to give aspiring musical artists my professional opinion and offer them a plan to assist them in an "artist development" process. This used to be done by record companies and "old school" managers, and it is unfortunate so many younger musicians do not get the musical guidance they need. There used to be a commercial featuring Orson Welles, the great cinema artist, who said in his consummate style,..."we will sell no wine before its time." I cannot help feeling badly for an act that does not get the guidance to develop their talent by preparing with the same passion and exuberance that inspired innovators,... the singers, the writers, and the producers who were the real inventors. It is not too trite to say, "how easily they forget." But if you really want to break through, there are things you just have to know. That musical curiosity can never be satisfied.
Yes, it is easy to put that earlier stuff down, (how early do you want to start?). But think again. Are you willing to let your music suffer from a chronic lack of substance, or is it time to do something about it and start your own musical Renaissance. So by the time you get to the lawyer, who is the one who has to do the representing, you deserve nothing but the truth. So let's get to work and learn our craft first, no short cuts. Then go for the "deal" when you know its your time. In fact, you may give yourself your own deal, by releasing your own product sooner than you think. But make that product something special. (More on album concepts in a later article). No this does not mean you go into hibernation. To the contrary, you need more homework, more gigs, more audiences, more songs, more recording, more musical risks. Then you are serious and on your way to your "deal".
And to end on Dr. Arthur Alexander's advice, "You need a shot of Rhythm and blues...with a little rock n' roll on the side for just a good measure."
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Robert Rosenblatt
301 West 53rd Street
New York 10019
Telephone (212) 262-2112
or email to legal@soloperformer.com.
© Copyright 1997 Robert Rosenblatt
