Well folks, So much has happened in the last two weeks that I haven't had time to blog about it. It;s been a whirlwind. As I related earlier, I needed to start subbing in the area and I began doing that. I've added another couple of private students and I've got a lead on a steady gig.
The biggest news however, I can't post in an open forum. But if you are a professional in the music industry and a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, you might just be able to guess what that news is. If you aren't but know someone who is, please have them contact me at my email address. I have some information I need to share. Or if you are just curious, please contact me. I can and will share the information in private, but am not allowed to do so on blogs, forums etc.
Which brings me to something I can announce. I am looking to put a management team together. I have several pieces in place, but I need to start connecting the dots. I am also looking for financing. It s unlikely that I will find a label, because they'll be looking at the current dollars and cents and probably won't really be willing to invest any of their resources for a future return. If you have the resources and would like to buy into my current album and invest in my next album, please contact me. What I have learned about internet promotion over the last year combined with what I learned about building a live audience during my Dr. Wu days should make my project a very good gamble. I won't post the dollar amount that I am thinking, but if you think about this as a small business, a little research into the average operating costs of a small business for two years should give you an idea of what I'll be needing.
But please don't think the only thing I need is money. I need the management team now. If we do things right, eventually the money will come. (I am assuming that I can continue without a major health setback, of course.)
Why is music a good investment? Because it has an indeterminate shelf life (In America and most of the world copyrights last practically forever - right or wrong, for better or worse. This is the big part of why Walt Disney now owns such a big part of the entire entertainment industry, even though Walt himself has been dead almost 45 years). If you are a musician and you play a gig, you earn your money and that's all you'll see. If you record your performance, that recording exists as long as there is a master copy of it lying around and each master copy is protected by law. The main use is of course to sell copies of the master recording, but it is also possible to license the use of the recording in other ways (TV, Commercials, Movies). In addition, each song (meaning Words & Music, not the recording) can be licensed in the same way. So when you form a company to exploit those resources, even if nothing happens in the first or second year, as long as the song exists, it still has the potential of being marketable sometime in the future.
But the key ingredient in this mix, besides the recording and the song is the marketing team. Someone to go out and exposure for the "product." That can include radio play (which is a source of income as well as a source of exposure), and direct person to person contact. So the secret of the music industry isn't really any more of a secret than sales in any other industry: a strong salesman selling a strong product will make money. There are plenty of salesmen in the industry of course. But there are way more producers of music. There is a music glut more than at any time in he past. So people marketing music can afford to be picky. It took me a year to find a publicist willing to put any work into promoting my music (even for a fee). So the only other people likely to be interested in my music are my friends, family and most importantly my fans.
That is my, current thinking on the subject. But of course the devil is in the details, metaphorically speaking.
The biggest news however, I can't post in an open forum. But if you are a professional in the music industry and a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, you might just be able to guess what that news is. If you aren't but know someone who is, please have them contact me at my email address. I have some information I need to share. Or if you are just curious, please contact me. I can and will share the information in private, but am not allowed to do so on blogs, forums etc.
Which brings me to something I can announce. I am looking to put a management team together. I have several pieces in place, but I need to start connecting the dots. I am also looking for financing. It s unlikely that I will find a label, because they'll be looking at the current dollars and cents and probably won't really be willing to invest any of their resources for a future return. If you have the resources and would like to buy into my current album and invest in my next album, please contact me. What I have learned about internet promotion over the last year combined with what I learned about building a live audience during my Dr. Wu days should make my project a very good gamble. I won't post the dollar amount that I am thinking, but if you think about this as a small business, a little research into the average operating costs of a small business for two years should give you an idea of what I'll be needing.
But please don't think the only thing I need is money. I need the management team now. If we do things right, eventually the money will come. (I am assuming that I can continue without a major health setback, of course.)
Why is music a good investment? Because it has an indeterminate shelf life (In America and most of the world copyrights last practically forever - right or wrong, for better or worse. This is the big part of why Walt Disney now owns such a big part of the entire entertainment industry, even though Walt himself has been dead almost 45 years). If you are a musician and you play a gig, you earn your money and that's all you'll see. If you record your performance, that recording exists as long as there is a master copy of it lying around and each master copy is protected by law. The main use is of course to sell copies of the master recording, but it is also possible to license the use of the recording in other ways (TV, Commercials, Movies). In addition, each song (meaning Words & Music, not the recording) can be licensed in the same way. So when you form a company to exploit those resources, even if nothing happens in the first or second year, as long as the song exists, it still has the potential of being marketable sometime in the future.
But the key ingredient in this mix, besides the recording and the song is the marketing team. Someone to go out and exposure for the "product." That can include radio play (which is a source of income as well as a source of exposure), and direct person to person contact. So the secret of the music industry isn't really any more of a secret than sales in any other industry: a strong salesman selling a strong product will make money. There are plenty of salesmen in the industry of course. But there are way more producers of music. There is a music glut more than at any time in he past. So people marketing music can afford to be picky. It took me a year to find a publicist willing to put any work into promoting my music (even for a fee). So the only other people likely to be interested in my music are my friends, family and most importantly my fans.
That is my, current thinking on the subject. But of course the devil is in the details, metaphorically speaking.
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