So how DO you make it as an artist in this world?
I'm not sure I can tell you anything beyond what you probably already know. You have to have superb songs, produced just right and you have to present yourself as an attractive (not necessarily "pretty") package. That's step one.
Then, you need to perform live and showcase your music in any way you can think of, premier among these outlets being your local radio - and other radio if you can get to it (tough one, I know!).
Next, you need to be in a community, be it your local musicians, music and media people or an online group. You need to be active, friendly and supportive of everyone you meet.
Furthermore, you need to invest some funds into your own promotion, be it newsletters, press releases, posters or merchandise - and ensure you start actively building your fan club. When you have an active database of a few thousand fans and you can pack a local venue, you need to start inviting the "right" music business people to come and check you out. And by that time you already need to be friends with music lawyers, A&R men and other artists. And, finally, you need a little bit of luck at each step of the way.
But most importantly, you need endless perseverance. That's not as hard as you might think, if you actually LOVE what you're doing. You'll need to secure some financial backup, of course (and that might be a night job somewhere), but if you persevere and never get daunted by setbacks, delays and critiques (all of which makes you better and stronger!), you will increase your chances tremendously.
But among all those do's and dont's the one thing that will ALWAYS stand out is THE SONG.
If you can write a GREAT song, you'll shortcut the above process by a factor of 1000. And THAT is why it's so important to write songs that are REAL and unique to YOU. But also structured cleverly enough for them to find a wide audience who understand what you're talking about and want to hear that message again.
Take the time it takes!
Ultimately, what wins out is well-organized TALENT THAT PERSEVERES... who has GREAT, TIMELESS songs!
Make sure you check out my sub-blog "Write a Song About This" - http://writeasongaboutthis.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label producing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label producing. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Fallacy That Is A Hit Song
One of the things we do here on Fame Games is try to find a "hit song" among all the independent material submitted to us, and then push that along to our contacts in the industry, in the hope that some of our artists will be rewarded with lucrative deals! Wouldn't that be a perfect proof of concept for Fame Games! (We're now beginning now to slowly fulfill that dream...)
And yet, none of us support those cheesy manufactured "hits" written with only one goal in mind: to make money on a musical format for as long as possible.
We come from varied musical backgrounds. Even though some of us have been quite involved with some very successful artists, producers and managements where having "hits" was certainly never spat on, we are quite unanimous in our agreement that the creation of music must be organically driven and "real" and that contriving your arrangements against your instincts only so that they might have a chance of becoming "commercial hits" is a path of self-destruction - and it harms the public ears!
But we're also open to the reality of life. For an artist to be able to sustain themselves from their art, they need at least a degree of recognition. And this, quite often, means that their music must have "credibility." It must be well executed, it must deliver its message in the best possible way for the target audience it is aimed at, and... it must be a "hit" if it is to get the artist noticed. And for us, to have credibility as an A&R platform we must prove that we can indeed find the "best of the best." And only then will our artists truly stand to benefit from those efforts.
The way we think of a "hit" is a song which "hits you over the head" and makes you remember the particular artist. If you produce, listen to and "consume" music for a living, and in the quantities that we do, you soon develop a sense of what "connects" and what doesn't. Erm... except that we don't always agree. (Which is why we've spent years fine-tuning a system which is supposed to help us in making those decisions...)
When we recognized how futile it is to look for a "hit" song, we dropped that word from our vocabulary for quite a while, until... we got picked up by a major radio network whose affiliates didn't want to play unknown music! For them it's not enough that a song is "good." It's got to be a hit already. No, not "a potential" hit. A bona fide hit.
You can't believe the struggle it was for us to convince our reluctant affiliates that radio CAN help DISCOVER future hits (like it used to). We're still fighting this battle. As we reconize that giving our artists maximum exposure can only be helpful to the vast majority of them, we also recognize that we must meet our affiliates (and especially the undecided affiliates) half-way.
So we started using the slogan "Looking for the next big radio hit!"
What do you think? Does this work? What would you do differently, if anything?
Don't forget to check out my other blog "Write A Song About This!"
And yet, none of us support those cheesy manufactured "hits" written with only one goal in mind: to make money on a musical format for as long as possible.
We come from varied musical backgrounds. Even though some of us have been quite involved with some very successful artists, producers and managements where having "hits" was certainly never spat on, we are quite unanimous in our agreement that the creation of music must be organically driven and "real" and that contriving your arrangements against your instincts only so that they might have a chance of becoming "commercial hits" is a path of self-destruction - and it harms the public ears!
But we're also open to the reality of life. For an artist to be able to sustain themselves from their art, they need at least a degree of recognition. And this, quite often, means that their music must have "credibility." It must be well executed, it must deliver its message in the best possible way for the target audience it is aimed at, and... it must be a "hit" if it is to get the artist noticed. And for us, to have credibility as an A&R platform we must prove that we can indeed find the "best of the best." And only then will our artists truly stand to benefit from those efforts.
The way we think of a "hit" is a song which "hits you over the head" and makes you remember the particular artist. If you produce, listen to and "consume" music for a living, and in the quantities that we do, you soon develop a sense of what "connects" and what doesn't. Erm... except that we don't always agree. (Which is why we've spent years fine-tuning a system which is supposed to help us in making those decisions...)
When we recognized how futile it is to look for a "hit" song, we dropped that word from our vocabulary for quite a while, until... we got picked up by a major radio network whose affiliates didn't want to play unknown music! For them it's not enough that a song is "good." It's got to be a hit already. No, not "a potential" hit. A bona fide hit.
You can't believe the struggle it was for us to convince our reluctant affiliates that radio CAN help DISCOVER future hits (like it used to). We're still fighting this battle. As we reconize that giving our artists maximum exposure can only be helpful to the vast majority of them, we also recognize that we must meet our affiliates (and especially the undecided affiliates) half-way.
So we started using the slogan "Looking for the next big radio hit!"
What do you think? Does this work? What would you do differently, if anything?
Don't forget to check out my other blog "Write A Song About This!"
Saturday, September 5, 2009
If The People Lead - The Leaders Will Follow
A batallion of soldiers, all dug into their trenches, finding a measure of comfort in their relative safety. Now, here you are, another soldier just like them, but you notice something nobody else did. You notice that they’ve dug their trenches on the wrong side of the battlefield! So you call out to them. A bit late now, granted, but better late than never, you think. "Dudes! We gotta get outta there and dig them trenches right here where I am, okay? We're dug in the wrong place!"
One or two soldiers get up, look around and sure enough they see you're right. "Yeah, he's right" they say, but as they hear others grumble, they quickly sit down. "Who the hell are you to be ordering us around?" says one. "We were told to dig here and we're gonna stay here until we hear different!" says another. "You don't know what you're talking about man. If you were right, they wouldn't have made us dig here!" he adds. Pretty soon, other voices join in. Most of them hate the thought of digging new trenches or disobeying orders - and what if you're wrong? (although all they'd need to do to confirm you're right is just get up and look around).
Before long, you're hearing something different. This time it's about you... "What kind of a soldier are you, dude!" "He's a coward, that's what he is!" "He don't know nothin' about nothin'!" "He's trying to get us to move cuz he's an enemy plant!" “Nut!” "Traitor!"
If you can picture this, you will probably not fail to notice how similar this is to just about everything in life. You name it. Politics. Science. Archeology. Medicine. Business. Sports. Music. Name it.
That's the problem with being "alternative."
You're always an outsider. And you always have to deal with "entrenched" people. People who for reasons of their own have convinced themselves that their hole in the ground is the right place to be (even while they complain about how uncomfortable it is!). And it doesn't matter in the least whether you're right or wrong. Unless you're their general, chances are you'll never make them budge.
So what do you do?
If your opinion is important enough to you, you continue pushing your point. But all too often you'll be derided, ridiculed - or worse. If you're the lone dissenter, you're just "a nut" and they'll neutralize, punish or otherwise remove you from their sight. Nobody likes a trouble-maker.
So you start rallying people together. Pretty soon, you have a whole group of like-minded folks behind you, but… you soon realize that no matter how many support you, you're all still in the minority, and no change ever really happens. Not fast enough, that’s for sure.
Anyhow, you were persistent and you now have a bunch of other soldiers who think you're right. They too want to make a change. All of you are now beginning to talk to all the others, trying to convince them that change is necessary and it's time to move to the other side of the field. Grudgingly, many get almost-almost convinced, but they're still just sitting there, thinking about it.
Suddenly, another soldier gets up. Unlike you, he's powerful looking, full of charisma, outspoken. "People," he says. "Jim here is right. There IS something wrong with them trenches here! We need to change this situation! It's up to us! It's our lives, people! We need change!" You look around and to your amazement you see that most of the soldiers are beginning to stir. They're listening. "What do you mean dude?" asks one. "How do you see it?" "What do you think we should do?" "What kind of change, man?"
The charismatic leader looks around and starts painting a vision of how this change should be accomplished. "It's simple people. We need real change. Not chasing into the unknown, to the other side of the field...! We just need to dig a little deeper, see?" The soldiers are impressed. "How much deeper?" "A few inches deeper at least," says their new leader.
And you know what? They all agreed, and opted for this brand of change: don't change your position. Just dig deeper. Get more entrenched...!
I'm not sure if my slightly strained analogy works, but I'm guessing you can probably see where I'm going with this.
So how does this pertain to music, you may ask? What does this have to do with me as an artist, or as a listener? And what does it have to do with a program like Fame Games?
I'm so glad you asked that.
Turn on your radio. What do you hear? Is it crap? Mostly, yes. Switch the station. Same thing? Yeah. So you talk to others and soon you discover that almost nobody you know likes the radio all that much any more. How can that be? Radio used to be the bomb. Times have changed. But you like radio. You just don't like what they're playing! So you want to change it. You ask all your friends to call their local station and ask for something new. "How's about we ask our station to play some new music for a change?" But your pleas fall on deaf ears. Nobody cares enough to make that call. And so it's business as usual and the music just keeps on getting worse. Maybe it’s just you getting old….
So you turn to the Internet. It doesn't take very long to discover that you can easily find more of the same stuff you hear on the radio. But you can also hear loads of new music. Hurrah! Only trouble is that the vast majority of what all these music sites offer is not that great, not really well filtered or selected for lasting values and quality. It's mostly crap too, just different kind of crap. Hey, now you're beginning to realize what radio was supposed to be in the first place: they're supposed to filter stuff for you and help you discover new music. Kinda like reporters who tell you what's going on in the news. Ideally, without prejudice. You now wish there was something out there that would do that. You eventually find one or two local stations somewhere a few states away, but you wish the whole nation could be listening to this... So you call out for people to do something about it.
It's not happening.
And it's even worse if you're not just a listener, but also an artist, hoping to get your music out there, maybe even have a career, because you have a god-given talent and you worked real hard to get to where you are.
You very quickly discover that the music business paradigm doesn't like to change, be it radio or records. Sure, the Internet has forced it to change quite a bit. But not nearly as much as you're being lead to believe. It's all just surface stuff. You still need promotion, right? You still need deals - or if you wanna be independent, you'd still need your own money to pay your production and promotional costs, correct? Internet makes a lot of things way cheaper and easier, for sure, but the overall picture didn't change nearly as much as we'd all like. On top of it all the web is so tremendously crowded and the only way to break through is just like in the real world - with money (all the claims of "viral" marketing notwithstanding)...!
We got into radio by accident.
We're musicians just like all of our Fame Games artists and music lovers like all of our listeners. But along the way we got to be quite well “connected” and at some point we thought that this would make things easier for us. It didn't. Years later, in spite of many "great" names we could brag about that we've worked with, our artistic careers didn't move forward nearly enough. Eventually, we dropped the idea of looking for "deals" and we started trying to do it all independently. We started looking for independent distribution and promotion. Internet was the new thing, right? And that's where our eyes started opening.
Talk about entrenched opposition.
Whether you're talking terrestrial radio or Internet-based, the name of the promotional game is... getting a LOT of plays. Getting the so-called "rotational airplay" (i.e. the meaningful kind of airplay as opposed to a one-off somewhere) proved to be impossible. Or, I should say, not "impossible" but "impossibly expensive." If you're like we were back then, you probably think that Billboard hits get there because somebody thinks they're just great songs... Erm... Right.
Check this out: we've cross-referenced this with many consultants and companies. If you want to reach Billboard Top-100, and I mean just touch the bottom of the chart and not even dream of a #1 - you're not looking at anything less than $250k in initial costs. For real...! And the thing is that if you were to do this yourself, you'd still be at least $150k in the hole (but actually more because your time and travel, plugging to all the stations, promotions, representation, sustenance... all that would add up). And all that just to convince program directors ("PD's") to include your song in their playlists. And I'm not even gonna look at the (prevalent) scenario where most large stations won't even talk to you if you're not with a label, no matter how good your music is...
So once you find yourself armed with this all-too-real knowledge, you start yelling: "people, this has got to change. It's a rigged game!"
But hardly anyone listens...
So we founded Fame Games. A radio show with a catchy name that was gonna change all that by banding everybody together. We started out small. How else! We initially aired to a relatively large expatriate community in the South of Spain. This is one of the world's most popular tourist places, where 10 to 15 million mostly English-speaking tourists flock every year and all the Hollywood stars have their summer homes here. And many stay here for good (like us!) because you just can't beat this weather and the relaxed atmosphere and a sense of "freedom." So we had a good start. But… no real interest. To break through we had to aim for a larger market.
So, we decided that strength in numbers was the way to go. As soon as we announced Fame Games on the web the word of mouth started spreading. The show was soon inundated with artists wanting free airtime. Some of them were awesomely good but even so they didn't have record deals nor anywhere else to go...!
And so we decided to really elevate this show. If we wanted to have a chance in hell of succeeding, we had to get good. We started scripting, fine-tuning the show, rebuilding our site, strategizing, thinking out of the box... And slowly but surely the show kept improving (according to some anyway, lol) and after a few years of patiently building this thing, and nearly four million visits later, we managed to come to the attention of ABC Radio Networks.
For a while we thought we had it made. Syndication at last...! That's kinda like a record deal for an artist. Yeah...!
Not so fast.
Before we knew it, the radio world started looking eerily like the record world. We were "IN" - but only superficially... When affiliate stations looked at this program they would come up with ANY excuse not to take it. And the coinciding global crisis didn't help either.
Here are just some of the things they'd say after the initial "what a great idea for launching new music, we love this show...!" We heard stuff like: "It's great but not for our market, not for our station. You guys play too much music." Or "great show, but there's too much talk here and too many styles." Or how about these few quotes: "Too much hip-hop," "Too much rock," "Too much country," "Too much pop," "You guys play FOLK??" "The show is too British for American ears," (and the British affiliates would retort "The show is way too American for the Brits" And so on and on....! Until you hit the NUMBER ONE most often cited reason for why your local radio station doesn't want to play Fame Games: "Nobody knows this music!"
Excuse me! Isn't that the whole point? It will never become known if affiliates are afraid to carry it! And how does music become known anyway?
So, we continued tweaking and improving the format, trying to address everyone's concerns, but the affiliate objections didn't change. Pretty soon, we knew that there had to be more to this than met the eye. After a year with a major network we thought we'd be nationwide by now because NOBODY else is doing this on network radio, and just about everybody we ask says they’d LOVE TO listen to radio if something like this was on…! Instead, we only got picked up by a few dozen stations. If that! What is wrong with those people? Is it us? Is the format so unappealing? Is the music not good enough?
We were asking ourselves the exact same questions that all artists ask themselves when facing rejection after rejection. We were dealing with “entrenched mentalities” of program directors whose only job, it seemed, was to come up with reasons why they shouldn't change. They just "dug deeper!" And when we'd tune in to their stations we wouldn’t be able to tell one apart from the other.
They all sound the same! They all carry the SAME (major label) songs (rotated every 60 to 90 minutes), and all have the same uninspiring, tired old format. But THAT is what the PD's want in spite of the fact that the listeners are telling a different story altogether...! And then they wonder why radio is going down the tubes…! They're just like most record companies and their A&R men! They're just like... all entrenched individuals in this world...
Are we crazy? Or is everyone else mad?
Carl Jung once said "the foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of legitimate suffering." So we knew we had to get through this somehow. It would make us stronger. We knew that our challenge is to survive and persevere - and come up with an intelligent plan. Nothing good is ever easy. It doesn't matter that there are MILLIONS of artists, a small part of whom we already represent, who WANT THIS. It doesn't matter that the PEOPLE really WANT something NEW on radio - and higher quality music selection on the Internet music sites for that matter too. What matters is that we haven't found the right strategy to overcome our opposition. And we had to find it or die.
As an artist, way back when, I looked to collaborations to improve my writing and producing skills, as well as networking to enhance my ability to pitch. So we now knew that we'd have to try something similar here as well.
And so we expanded our collaborations and partnerships (even managed to enlist a bona fide celebrity or two to help us push this concept), and we continued improving the show's content, tweaking the site and... burning money at an alarming rate. Just like a serious independent artist who's trying to run his career like a business, we knew that we had to find funding and incomes fast. Either that - or we'd have to pack it in, and the dream would die along with us.
Much easier said than done. You go out looking for support and as soon as you've "sold" them on your idea and just when you think they'll hand over some cash, you hear them talking about how everything that's most fundamental to you should be changed. "Let's commercialize this much more. Just play pop, okay?" or "Let's play major label music at least 50% of the time," or "Let's hire some professional DJs and programmers to make this more compatible with the rest of the US radio..."
Sometimes, even when you REALLY don't want to, you just have to say NO.
We faced many of those devil's alternatives... Sell out or perish. When you're up against the wall, the hungrier you get the more selling out seems like a pretty good way to go... Until you pinch yourself real hard and realize that by compromising your CORE VALUES you lose your EDGE and that all-important differential factor which is why they got interested in you in the first place!
And there's another analogy there. As an artist you're constantly told what to change and what to improve. The ability to distinguish between the technical and content issues is very important at that point. You should always be open to technical improvements. But be careful how far you bend when it comes to the core values of what you do. If you're too flexible, your music will soon sound like everybody else's - and they already have a lot of that! So, never forget who you are and who you WISH to always remain.
This applies to everything. But especially to artists. And forward-thinking radio shows too....
So what's all this rant really about?
I'll write some more about all that in my upcoming posts. We're starting a new phase here on Fame Games now. Season 5 with ABC/Citadel. We've introduced loads of changes and it looks like we've even managed to convince a major label or two to partner with us (without selling out!) and maybe, just maybe, a few major super-stations to affiliate with us.
We want YOU to succeed along with us, and prove our concept!
But we need and will continue needing support from everybody who's come to us here. Whether you're already a successful Fame Games artist, or whether your efforts on this show have (so far) been frustrated. Don't worry about that. Your time will come if you keep persevering. But in the meantime, reach out and help us change this whole business!
Help spread the word.
Get people to listen to the show and sign up as fans and/or artists. Call your local station many times and ask why the hell do they keep playing all that boring music when the real action is right here on this show? ABC says their affiliates resist the show because there's too much unknown music here! Challenge them on that! Because it’s not really “them…” It’s all up to “you” and ALL OF US.
The world is controlled by those who show up!
One or two soldiers get up, look around and sure enough they see you're right. "Yeah, he's right" they say, but as they hear others grumble, they quickly sit down. "Who the hell are you to be ordering us around?" says one. "We were told to dig here and we're gonna stay here until we hear different!" says another. "You don't know what you're talking about man. If you were right, they wouldn't have made us dig here!" he adds. Pretty soon, other voices join in. Most of them hate the thought of digging new trenches or disobeying orders - and what if you're wrong? (although all they'd need to do to confirm you're right is just get up and look around).
Before long, you're hearing something different. This time it's about you... "What kind of a soldier are you, dude!" "He's a coward, that's what he is!" "He don't know nothin' about nothin'!" "He's trying to get us to move cuz he's an enemy plant!" “Nut!” "Traitor!"
If you can picture this, you will probably not fail to notice how similar this is to just about everything in life. You name it. Politics. Science. Archeology. Medicine. Business. Sports. Music. Name it.
That's the problem with being "alternative."
You're always an outsider. And you always have to deal with "entrenched" people. People who for reasons of their own have convinced themselves that their hole in the ground is the right place to be (even while they complain about how uncomfortable it is!). And it doesn't matter in the least whether you're right or wrong. Unless you're their general, chances are you'll never make them budge.
So what do you do?
If your opinion is important enough to you, you continue pushing your point. But all too often you'll be derided, ridiculed - or worse. If you're the lone dissenter, you're just "a nut" and they'll neutralize, punish or otherwise remove you from their sight. Nobody likes a trouble-maker.
So you start rallying people together. Pretty soon, you have a whole group of like-minded folks behind you, but… you soon realize that no matter how many support you, you're all still in the minority, and no change ever really happens. Not fast enough, that’s for sure.
Anyhow, you were persistent and you now have a bunch of other soldiers who think you're right. They too want to make a change. All of you are now beginning to talk to all the others, trying to convince them that change is necessary and it's time to move to the other side of the field. Grudgingly, many get almost-almost convinced, but they're still just sitting there, thinking about it.
Suddenly, another soldier gets up. Unlike you, he's powerful looking, full of charisma, outspoken. "People," he says. "Jim here is right. There IS something wrong with them trenches here! We need to change this situation! It's up to us! It's our lives, people! We need change!" You look around and to your amazement you see that most of the soldiers are beginning to stir. They're listening. "What do you mean dude?" asks one. "How do you see it?" "What do you think we should do?" "What kind of change, man?"
The charismatic leader looks around and starts painting a vision of how this change should be accomplished. "It's simple people. We need real change. Not chasing into the unknown, to the other side of the field...! We just need to dig a little deeper, see?" The soldiers are impressed. "How much deeper?" "A few inches deeper at least," says their new leader.
And you know what? They all agreed, and opted for this brand of change: don't change your position. Just dig deeper. Get more entrenched...!
I'm not sure if my slightly strained analogy works, but I'm guessing you can probably see where I'm going with this.
So how does this pertain to music, you may ask? What does this have to do with me as an artist, or as a listener? And what does it have to do with a program like Fame Games?
I'm so glad you asked that.
Turn on your radio. What do you hear? Is it crap? Mostly, yes. Switch the station. Same thing? Yeah. So you talk to others and soon you discover that almost nobody you know likes the radio all that much any more. How can that be? Radio used to be the bomb. Times have changed. But you like radio. You just don't like what they're playing! So you want to change it. You ask all your friends to call their local station and ask for something new. "How's about we ask our station to play some new music for a change?" But your pleas fall on deaf ears. Nobody cares enough to make that call. And so it's business as usual and the music just keeps on getting worse. Maybe it’s just you getting old….
So you turn to the Internet. It doesn't take very long to discover that you can easily find more of the same stuff you hear on the radio. But you can also hear loads of new music. Hurrah! Only trouble is that the vast majority of what all these music sites offer is not that great, not really well filtered or selected for lasting values and quality. It's mostly crap too, just different kind of crap. Hey, now you're beginning to realize what radio was supposed to be in the first place: they're supposed to filter stuff for you and help you discover new music. Kinda like reporters who tell you what's going on in the news. Ideally, without prejudice. You now wish there was something out there that would do that. You eventually find one or two local stations somewhere a few states away, but you wish the whole nation could be listening to this... So you call out for people to do something about it.
It's not happening.
And it's even worse if you're not just a listener, but also an artist, hoping to get your music out there, maybe even have a career, because you have a god-given talent and you worked real hard to get to where you are.
You very quickly discover that the music business paradigm doesn't like to change, be it radio or records. Sure, the Internet has forced it to change quite a bit. But not nearly as much as you're being lead to believe. It's all just surface stuff. You still need promotion, right? You still need deals - or if you wanna be independent, you'd still need your own money to pay your production and promotional costs, correct? Internet makes a lot of things way cheaper and easier, for sure, but the overall picture didn't change nearly as much as we'd all like. On top of it all the web is so tremendously crowded and the only way to break through is just like in the real world - with money (all the claims of "viral" marketing notwithstanding)...!
We got into radio by accident.
We're musicians just like all of our Fame Games artists and music lovers like all of our listeners. But along the way we got to be quite well “connected” and at some point we thought that this would make things easier for us. It didn't. Years later, in spite of many "great" names we could brag about that we've worked with, our artistic careers didn't move forward nearly enough. Eventually, we dropped the idea of looking for "deals" and we started trying to do it all independently. We started looking for independent distribution and promotion. Internet was the new thing, right? And that's where our eyes started opening.
Talk about entrenched opposition.
Whether you're talking terrestrial radio or Internet-based, the name of the promotional game is... getting a LOT of plays. Getting the so-called "rotational airplay" (i.e. the meaningful kind of airplay as opposed to a one-off somewhere) proved to be impossible. Or, I should say, not "impossible" but "impossibly expensive." If you're like we were back then, you probably think that Billboard hits get there because somebody thinks they're just great songs... Erm... Right.
Check this out: we've cross-referenced this with many consultants and companies. If you want to reach Billboard Top-100, and I mean just touch the bottom of the chart and not even dream of a #1 - you're not looking at anything less than $250k in initial costs. For real...! And the thing is that if you were to do this yourself, you'd still be at least $150k in the hole (but actually more because your time and travel, plugging to all the stations, promotions, representation, sustenance... all that would add up). And all that just to convince program directors ("PD's") to include your song in their playlists. And I'm not even gonna look at the (prevalent) scenario where most large stations won't even talk to you if you're not with a label, no matter how good your music is...
So once you find yourself armed with this all-too-real knowledge, you start yelling: "people, this has got to change. It's a rigged game!"
But hardly anyone listens...
So we founded Fame Games. A radio show with a catchy name that was gonna change all that by banding everybody together. We started out small. How else! We initially aired to a relatively large expatriate community in the South of Spain. This is one of the world's most popular tourist places, where 10 to 15 million mostly English-speaking tourists flock every year and all the Hollywood stars have their summer homes here. And many stay here for good (like us!) because you just can't beat this weather and the relaxed atmosphere and a sense of "freedom." So we had a good start. But… no real interest. To break through we had to aim for a larger market.
So, we decided that strength in numbers was the way to go. As soon as we announced Fame Games on the web the word of mouth started spreading. The show was soon inundated with artists wanting free airtime. Some of them were awesomely good but even so they didn't have record deals nor anywhere else to go...!
And so we decided to really elevate this show. If we wanted to have a chance in hell of succeeding, we had to get good. We started scripting, fine-tuning the show, rebuilding our site, strategizing, thinking out of the box... And slowly but surely the show kept improving (according to some anyway, lol) and after a few years of patiently building this thing, and nearly four million visits later, we managed to come to the attention of ABC Radio Networks.
For a while we thought we had it made. Syndication at last...! That's kinda like a record deal for an artist. Yeah...!
Not so fast.
Before we knew it, the radio world started looking eerily like the record world. We were "IN" - but only superficially... When affiliate stations looked at this program they would come up with ANY excuse not to take it. And the coinciding global crisis didn't help either.
Here are just some of the things they'd say after the initial "what a great idea for launching new music, we love this show...!" We heard stuff like: "It's great but not for our market, not for our station. You guys play too much music." Or "great show, but there's too much talk here and too many styles." Or how about these few quotes: "Too much hip-hop," "Too much rock," "Too much country," "Too much pop," "You guys play FOLK??" "The show is too British for American ears," (and the British affiliates would retort "The show is way too American for the Brits" And so on and on....! Until you hit the NUMBER ONE most often cited reason for why your local radio station doesn't want to play Fame Games: "Nobody knows this music!"
Excuse me! Isn't that the whole point? It will never become known if affiliates are afraid to carry it! And how does music become known anyway?
So, we continued tweaking and improving the format, trying to address everyone's concerns, but the affiliate objections didn't change. Pretty soon, we knew that there had to be more to this than met the eye. After a year with a major network we thought we'd be nationwide by now because NOBODY else is doing this on network radio, and just about everybody we ask says they’d LOVE TO listen to radio if something like this was on…! Instead, we only got picked up by a few dozen stations. If that! What is wrong with those people? Is it us? Is the format so unappealing? Is the music not good enough?
We were asking ourselves the exact same questions that all artists ask themselves when facing rejection after rejection. We were dealing with “entrenched mentalities” of program directors whose only job, it seemed, was to come up with reasons why they shouldn't change. They just "dug deeper!" And when we'd tune in to their stations we wouldn’t be able to tell one apart from the other.
They all sound the same! They all carry the SAME (major label) songs (rotated every 60 to 90 minutes), and all have the same uninspiring, tired old format. But THAT is what the PD's want in spite of the fact that the listeners are telling a different story altogether...! And then they wonder why radio is going down the tubes…! They're just like most record companies and their A&R men! They're just like... all entrenched individuals in this world...
Are we crazy? Or is everyone else mad?
Carl Jung once said "the foundation of all mental illness is the avoidance of legitimate suffering." So we knew we had to get through this somehow. It would make us stronger. We knew that our challenge is to survive and persevere - and come up with an intelligent plan. Nothing good is ever easy. It doesn't matter that there are MILLIONS of artists, a small part of whom we already represent, who WANT THIS. It doesn't matter that the PEOPLE really WANT something NEW on radio - and higher quality music selection on the Internet music sites for that matter too. What matters is that we haven't found the right strategy to overcome our opposition. And we had to find it or die.
As an artist, way back when, I looked to collaborations to improve my writing and producing skills, as well as networking to enhance my ability to pitch. So we now knew that we'd have to try something similar here as well.
And so we expanded our collaborations and partnerships (even managed to enlist a bona fide celebrity or two to help us push this concept), and we continued improving the show's content, tweaking the site and... burning money at an alarming rate. Just like a serious independent artist who's trying to run his career like a business, we knew that we had to find funding and incomes fast. Either that - or we'd have to pack it in, and the dream would die along with us.
Much easier said than done. You go out looking for support and as soon as you've "sold" them on your idea and just when you think they'll hand over some cash, you hear them talking about how everything that's most fundamental to you should be changed. "Let's commercialize this much more. Just play pop, okay?" or "Let's play major label music at least 50% of the time," or "Let's hire some professional DJs and programmers to make this more compatible with the rest of the US radio..."
Sometimes, even when you REALLY don't want to, you just have to say NO.
We faced many of those devil's alternatives... Sell out or perish. When you're up against the wall, the hungrier you get the more selling out seems like a pretty good way to go... Until you pinch yourself real hard and realize that by compromising your CORE VALUES you lose your EDGE and that all-important differential factor which is why they got interested in you in the first place!
And there's another analogy there. As an artist you're constantly told what to change and what to improve. The ability to distinguish between the technical and content issues is very important at that point. You should always be open to technical improvements. But be careful how far you bend when it comes to the core values of what you do. If you're too flexible, your music will soon sound like everybody else's - and they already have a lot of that! So, never forget who you are and who you WISH to always remain.
This applies to everything. But especially to artists. And forward-thinking radio shows too....
So what's all this rant really about?
I'll write some more about all that in my upcoming posts. We're starting a new phase here on Fame Games now. Season 5 with ABC/Citadel. We've introduced loads of changes and it looks like we've even managed to convince a major label or two to partner with us (without selling out!) and maybe, just maybe, a few major super-stations to affiliate with us.
We want YOU to succeed along with us, and prove our concept!
But we need and will continue needing support from everybody who's come to us here. Whether you're already a successful Fame Games artist, or whether your efforts on this show have (so far) been frustrated. Don't worry about that. Your time will come if you keep persevering. But in the meantime, reach out and help us change this whole business!
Help spread the word.
Get people to listen to the show and sign up as fans and/or artists. Call your local station many times and ask why the hell do they keep playing all that boring music when the real action is right here on this show? ABC says their affiliates resist the show because there's too much unknown music here! Challenge them on that! Because it’s not really “them…” It’s all up to “you” and ALL OF US.
The world is controlled by those who show up!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Oldest Excuse In The Book
Rant time. ;)
Let's face it. We've all been guilty of this at one point or another: coming up with excuses why our music isn't as good as it should be. "I did it all in one take," "I had no time to spend on making it better," "I was very ill at the time," and the most prevalent of them all "I don't have the money to make it sound good!"
Now, all that is "fine" until it spills over to a secondary attitude which, if it goes unchecked WILL spell the end of your hopes and aspirations. It's when you start blaming everyone else even when it clearly doesn't make sense. "Their music is fake, but mine is real and that's why nobody will play it!", "Everybody I know loves my music, but radio won't play it because they're corrupt and don't know good music!" - and so on and on.
This doesn't mean that some of the sentiments expressed aren't in and of themselves true, but it does mean that you're now using that as a crutch, and a permanent excuse for simply not getting any better!
Now, it's one thing if you're a professional and are well and truly producing great music which is "blocked" by radio and records because it doesn't "fit" the current model. Any bitterness there is much more easily understood, if not entirely excused (though it must be noted that very few professionals ever actually talk like that!). But it's a whole different thing when a novice makes the same kind of comments! And even worse where they try to bolster their case by accusing anyone who's better of being "cheap," "commercial," "sellout," or just plain "crap!"
You know people like that? I bet you do. And I know that chances are that you too have been there yourself. As have I. But the lesson I have now been able to piece together from this is that it's a waste of energy and it functions as a very real show-stopper. People who are successful don't focus on the negatives, and they certainly don't go around blaming the world for being what it is.
I just got an email from a Fame Games member who just happened to receive a slightly negative review. In fact, it wasn't negative as much as it wasn't entirely positive. And off he went on a rant of his life... "Only cheap commercial crap artists have a chance of making it on this show," "my parents love my music and they stop and listen to what it could be! If only I had the money to produce it right.." and so on and on.
So I went and listened to his tracks. Well... indeed they had some promise, but the flaws in them weren't related to not having money. They were just sloppily recorded; unrevised lyrics, dull melodies, imprecise playing. Potential? Yea, I'm sure. But there's almost always potential. It's what you do with that potential that matters!
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Wednesday Jul 08, 2009
Let's face it. We've all been guilty of this at one point or another: coming up with excuses why our music isn't as good as it should be. "I did it all in one take," "I had no time to spend on making it better," "I was very ill at the time," and the most prevalent of them all "I don't have the money to make it sound good!"
Now, all that is "fine" until it spills over to a secondary attitude which, if it goes unchecked WILL spell the end of your hopes and aspirations. It's when you start blaming everyone else even when it clearly doesn't make sense. "Their music is fake, but mine is real and that's why nobody will play it!", "Everybody I know loves my music, but radio won't play it because they're corrupt and don't know good music!" - and so on and on.
This doesn't mean that some of the sentiments expressed aren't in and of themselves true, but it does mean that you're now using that as a crutch, and a permanent excuse for simply not getting any better!
Now, it's one thing if you're a professional and are well and truly producing great music which is "blocked" by radio and records because it doesn't "fit" the current model. Any bitterness there is much more easily understood, if not entirely excused (though it must be noted that very few professionals ever actually talk like that!). But it's a whole different thing when a novice makes the same kind of comments! And even worse where they try to bolster their case by accusing anyone who's better of being "cheap," "commercial," "sellout," or just plain "crap!"
You know people like that? I bet you do. And I know that chances are that you too have been there yourself. As have I. But the lesson I have now been able to piece together from this is that it's a waste of energy and it functions as a very real show-stopper. People who are successful don't focus on the negatives, and they certainly don't go around blaming the world for being what it is.
I just got an email from a Fame Games member who just happened to receive a slightly negative review. In fact, it wasn't negative as much as it wasn't entirely positive. And off he went on a rant of his life... "Only cheap commercial crap artists have a chance of making it on this show," "my parents love my music and they stop and listen to what it could be! If only I had the money to produce it right.." and so on and on.
So I went and listened to his tracks. Well... indeed they had some promise, but the flaws in them weren't related to not having money. They were just sloppily recorded; unrevised lyrics, dull melodies, imprecise playing. Potential? Yea, I'm sure. But there's almost always potential. It's what you do with that potential that matters!
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Wednesday Jul 08, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Making The Most of MIDI Programming
There are loads of excellent MIDI manuals out there, so I won't restate and repeat the obvious. Instead, I'd like to briefly focus on some general techniques which will make your sequencer recordings feel more "alive."
As with everything in music, it's all about basic principles and approach, as much as learning how your particular programming tool works. I'm assuming you already know your sequencer very well.
The thing about sequencers is that they make so many things so much easier, that it's very easy to forget that music is a human endeavor! Functions like Quantize, time-stretch and autotune have made life a lot easier for musicians, but they're also responsible for allowing artists to take the easy way out exactly when the opposite is required.
So, here's a few general rules when working with a MIDI sequencer.
Treat is like a tape recorder. Resort to special tricks (e.g. quantize, etc) only when you absolutely must. Reserve it for certain parts only. It might be ok to have your hats and perhaps the kick to run quantized for much of your track, but don't overdo it.
PLAY everything live with your track. That kick pattern is supposed to be the same throughout? Ok. But PLAY it. Don't copy and paste. The little dynamic and timing variations that you'll encounter because you're playing it "live" can be hugely important to making your track interesting and "alive."
AVOID copying and pasting. Yes, it's a great tool when you want to make a quick model of a track. But when you get down to the final version, scrap all that and replay everything. And then quantize only the blatant mistakes, if any. Leave everything else as is.
If possible, introduce live instruments (i.e. not hooked up via MIDI) to your recording. Analog instruments respond differently to digital ones. An unquantized piano part played on your sampler will have a distinctly different feel to one played on that trusty old REAL piano.
DON'T change note velocities with global commands. In fact, assuming that you're at least a passable player, there should be no reason for you to change note velocities at all. Perhaps one or two manual adjustments, but never using automation.
Finally, try not to settle for presets. Yeah, I know. Some of those synths have such luscious, great sounds and they're so hard to resist. Okay. Go ahead and use the presets, but EQ them to suit the track. Unless you're making generic music, there's no way a generic preset will stand "as is", no matter how great it sounds in isolation.
I guess the bottom line is, no matter what type of music you're making, human feel is essential. Even club/dance music benefits from REAL playing. In fact, the best dance producers do exactly as described above. No Grammy was ever awarded to a machine. Was it...? Erm... I better not go there. ;)
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Tuesday Jul 07, 2009
As with everything in music, it's all about basic principles and approach, as much as learning how your particular programming tool works. I'm assuming you already know your sequencer very well.
The thing about sequencers is that they make so many things so much easier, that it's very easy to forget that music is a human endeavor! Functions like Quantize, time-stretch and autotune have made life a lot easier for musicians, but they're also responsible for allowing artists to take the easy way out exactly when the opposite is required.
So, here's a few general rules when working with a MIDI sequencer.
Treat is like a tape recorder. Resort to special tricks (e.g. quantize, etc) only when you absolutely must. Reserve it for certain parts only. It might be ok to have your hats and perhaps the kick to run quantized for much of your track, but don't overdo it.
PLAY everything live with your track. That kick pattern is supposed to be the same throughout? Ok. But PLAY it. Don't copy and paste. The little dynamic and timing variations that you'll encounter because you're playing it "live" can be hugely important to making your track interesting and "alive."
AVOID copying and pasting. Yes, it's a great tool when you want to make a quick model of a track. But when you get down to the final version, scrap all that and replay everything. And then quantize only the blatant mistakes, if any. Leave everything else as is.
If possible, introduce live instruments (i.e. not hooked up via MIDI) to your recording. Analog instruments respond differently to digital ones. An unquantized piano part played on your sampler will have a distinctly different feel to one played on that trusty old REAL piano.
DON'T change note velocities with global commands. In fact, assuming that you're at least a passable player, there should be no reason for you to change note velocities at all. Perhaps one or two manual adjustments, but never using automation.
Finally, try not to settle for presets. Yeah, I know. Some of those synths have such luscious, great sounds and they're so hard to resist. Okay. Go ahead and use the presets, but EQ them to suit the track. Unless you're making generic music, there's no way a generic preset will stand "as is", no matter how great it sounds in isolation.
I guess the bottom line is, no matter what type of music you're making, human feel is essential. Even club/dance music benefits from REAL playing. In fact, the best dance producers do exactly as described above. No Grammy was ever awarded to a machine. Was it...? Erm... I better not go there. ;)
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Tuesday Jul 07, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Make Your Lyrics Count
If your first reaction is "what business does a producer have poking his nose into my lyrics?", then you're not alone. Many artists don't realize that whether they themselves are the producer or whether they get someone else to do it, the name of the game is getting the product right. And that includes the lyrics if we're talking about a song.
But aren't lyrics supposed to be spontaneous poetry, art..?! Sure. Just like your song and everything else you do! But when you're done with the initial creative process, just make sure that you proceed to craft your lyrics as well as you can.
So, are there any general guidelines? Yep. First and foremost, no matter if your lyric is about something profound or mundane, fun or sad, dreamy or humorous, it's got to be "real." What this basically means is that it's got to be something that you would say, and others would understand and relate to. Additionally, it should be said succinctly and in such a way that your listener might say "that's exactly how I'd say it!"
So how do you go about something like this? One size doesn't fit all, unfortunately, and you'll find that many songwriters use different techniques. But all the good ones have one thing in common: they revise and polish until they're happy with it!
Let's look at a hypothetical example. Say you want to write a song about your experience of losing your girlfriend/boyfriend. First, ask yourself how it made you feel, and write that down. So you might write "She left me when I least expected it, and it completely surprised me and I still can't get over it." Very good. But... is this a lyric?
Some might argue that it is. And, indeed, it "might" be. But what if you could come up with a way to say the same thing with fewer words? Wouldn't you rather? Perhaps you would, and if so, read on. For example, you can see that in the above line, "surprise" is redundant, since you already wrote "I least expected it". So, why repeat yourself? Thus you could re-write it using only one of the two expressions without losing the meaning, right? Perhaps "She left me when I least expected it and I still can't get over it." Better. So... is this a lyric now?
Again, some might say that it is, but you should ask yourself "is it a GOOD lyric?" Is it something original, and am I the only one who might say it in this particular way? I know, I know. It's a tough one. If your heart tells you that this is it, then by all means, accept it as it stands. But... perhaps you could think of a "smoother" way to express this? How about "I didn't know she was leaving, my heart is bleeding"? Hmm, that's certainly a different way of saying the same thing. But is it better? Perhaps it's too dramatic for your personality? Or not dramatic enough? Or it sounds too clichéd? And so, you keep on tweaking it, until it's "you."
Once you manage to get your lyric down to a "punchy" or "strong" short sentence, which is both "natural" and yet still "poetic", start thinking in terms of the intended rhythm. Count the syllables. Get it to feel POWERFUL. With enough revision and an attitude that doesn't settle for anything less than "excellent", you will arrive at a lyric which will convey power and emotion in just the right way.
A great lyric will help you write and arrange your song that much better. Because if you think of your lyrics as "okay" or "throwaway", where will such thinking stop? Will your melody be perfect even when your lyric sucks? Will your progressions, arrangement, mix, production follow suit?
Take your time! Lyrics can make up a full 50% of the song experience. Or more! Think of some of the best songs you know - ever. Chances are they have words that you can still repeat by heart and you cherish and understand them.
That's how you should aim to structure your songs too!
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Monday Jul 06, 2009
But aren't lyrics supposed to be spontaneous poetry, art..?! Sure. Just like your song and everything else you do! But when you're done with the initial creative process, just make sure that you proceed to craft your lyrics as well as you can.
So, are there any general guidelines? Yep. First and foremost, no matter if your lyric is about something profound or mundane, fun or sad, dreamy or humorous, it's got to be "real." What this basically means is that it's got to be something that you would say, and others would understand and relate to. Additionally, it should be said succinctly and in such a way that your listener might say "that's exactly how I'd say it!"
So how do you go about something like this? One size doesn't fit all, unfortunately, and you'll find that many songwriters use different techniques. But all the good ones have one thing in common: they revise and polish until they're happy with it!
Let's look at a hypothetical example. Say you want to write a song about your experience of losing your girlfriend/boyfriend. First, ask yourself how it made you feel, and write that down. So you might write "She left me when I least expected it, and it completely surprised me and I still can't get over it." Very good. But... is this a lyric?
Some might argue that it is. And, indeed, it "might" be. But what if you could come up with a way to say the same thing with fewer words? Wouldn't you rather? Perhaps you would, and if so, read on. For example, you can see that in the above line, "surprise" is redundant, since you already wrote "I least expected it". So, why repeat yourself? Thus you could re-write it using only one of the two expressions without losing the meaning, right? Perhaps "She left me when I least expected it and I still can't get over it." Better. So... is this a lyric now?
Again, some might say that it is, but you should ask yourself "is it a GOOD lyric?" Is it something original, and am I the only one who might say it in this particular way? I know, I know. It's a tough one. If your heart tells you that this is it, then by all means, accept it as it stands. But... perhaps you could think of a "smoother" way to express this? How about "I didn't know she was leaving, my heart is bleeding"? Hmm, that's certainly a different way of saying the same thing. But is it better? Perhaps it's too dramatic for your personality? Or not dramatic enough? Or it sounds too clichéd? And so, you keep on tweaking it, until it's "you."
Once you manage to get your lyric down to a "punchy" or "strong" short sentence, which is both "natural" and yet still "poetic", start thinking in terms of the intended rhythm. Count the syllables. Get it to feel POWERFUL. With enough revision and an attitude that doesn't settle for anything less than "excellent", you will arrive at a lyric which will convey power and emotion in just the right way.
A great lyric will help you write and arrange your song that much better. Because if you think of your lyrics as "okay" or "throwaway", where will such thinking stop? Will your melody be perfect even when your lyric sucks? Will your progressions, arrangement, mix, production follow suit?
Take your time! Lyrics can make up a full 50% of the song experience. Or more! Think of some of the best songs you know - ever. Chances are they have words that you can still repeat by heart and you cherish and understand them.
That's how you should aim to structure your songs too!
LISTEN TO: 230-Q/Monday Jul 06, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Extreme EQ
Whether you produce your music electronically, on your computer, or in a more traditional setting, one of the most important considerations is the way your music sounds. This is, to a large extent down to the gear you use, but you will have noticed that the thousands of, say, guitar-bass-drums bands still manage to come up with their "own sound." Even though they seemingly use the exact same instruments! The same applies to music which relies more on synths and special effects. How is it that this pro band which uses the same synths you have has so much cooler sounds?
Well, it comes down to knowing your instrument, any plugins or effect units and... more often than not: a few very simple mixing tricks.
You can do an enormous lot of sound tweaking using just about any semi-decent mixer. You can shape each individual sound with just EQ to a far greater extent than most musicians realize. And if you're working on a computer, the possibilities are endless even without any of those expensive sound plugins installed. You just need a simple sound editor. We'll get into this some other time.
Here, I just wanted to draw you attention to a very simple technique which is so often overlooked: Extreme EQ.
With a mixer, you might only be using the treble and bass knobs/sliders - most musicians unfamiliar with mixing stop there. If they touch the mids, it's only tentatively. But try some extreme settings for that guitar or piano. If you're rapidly changing the mid-EQ settings while an instrument is playing you'll immediately notice the familiar "filtering" effect, so popular these days in dance music. (You can get plugins which actually do this "knob-twisting" automatically). And you'll notice that these extreme settings can completely change the character of the individual sound you're processing. Don't shy away from such experimentation. You might be shocked at just how much a sound can change with "creative EQ." The same goes for gates or compressors. Try some extreme settings and watch your sounds change character.
LISTEN TO: 229-Q/Wednesday Jun 29, 2009
Well, it comes down to knowing your instrument, any plugins or effect units and... more often than not: a few very simple mixing tricks.
You can do an enormous lot of sound tweaking using just about any semi-decent mixer. You can shape each individual sound with just EQ to a far greater extent than most musicians realize. And if you're working on a computer, the possibilities are endless even without any of those expensive sound plugins installed. You just need a simple sound editor. We'll get into this some other time.
Here, I just wanted to draw you attention to a very simple technique which is so often overlooked: Extreme EQ.
With a mixer, you might only be using the treble and bass knobs/sliders - most musicians unfamiliar with mixing stop there. If they touch the mids, it's only tentatively. But try some extreme settings for that guitar or piano. If you're rapidly changing the mid-EQ settings while an instrument is playing you'll immediately notice the familiar "filtering" effect, so popular these days in dance music. (You can get plugins which actually do this "knob-twisting" automatically). And you'll notice that these extreme settings can completely change the character of the individual sound you're processing. Don't shy away from such experimentation. You might be shocked at just how much a sound can change with "creative EQ." The same goes for gates or compressors. Try some extreme settings and watch your sounds change character.
LISTEN TO: 229-Q/Wednesday Jun 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
You ARE The Producer
So what is a producer anyway? Do I need one? Can anyone become one?
Let's deal with this one by one, from the back. Yes, almost anyone can become a producer, but the focus this requires means that only a few people ultimately do. And yes, you do need one - even if it's going to be you. And this brings me to the main question: what does a producer do?
You'll find many different answers to this question if you read music business books, or depending on whom you talk to in the music circles. But there's one common thread: the producer is the person who creates the "product." Hence the name. And the "product" is, in a nutshell, your music.
An artist or a songwriter can be, and often is, also a producer. However, it's sometimes a good idea to work with an objective outsider who can help you craft your music (art) into a commercially viable recording (product). And this is what "production" is all about.
So, when you think about it, in order for the "product" to be good, it has to undergo a "quality control" process, which is the essence of production. That's also why I said that "anyone" can become a producer, but only those with sufficient focus actually manage the job. Because the kind of focus required to be a "good" producer can be quite intense.
There are at least two basic types of producers out there. There's the "hands-on" kind and the "ears-only" kind. These days, the first kind is by far the most predominant. That's the guy who is, typically, an experienced engineer or perhaps a songwriter/musician who's been around the block a few times and knows what it takes for a recording to find an audience. The "ears-only" producer is, these days, more of a dying breed - and that's someone who basically just listens to the music and gives (sometimes very vague) instructions to his team members regarding what changes need to be made for a song to "happen."
Both kinds of producers draw on a multitude of skills, whether they themselves are so multi-talented, or whether they have a team of collaborators. They essentially DIRECT the project, down to the minutest detail.
It is not uncommon for a producer to be "everything" on a record, except for the performer him- or herself. Sometimes this leads to rather outrageous situations and accusations of "manufacturing" talent start flying.
In this post, however, we're talking about a "mindset" which is a must for and serious producer.
One of the characteristics of a good producer is the ability to cut through the clutter and bring forth the best values of any song as well as any musician and artist involved in its creation. Like a movie director or a book editor. It's not uncommon for the producer to request lyrical changes, or melodic tweaks or rearrangements. Nothing is off limits, nor should it be. Not infrequently, a producer will actually cowrite large parts of any album he is a part of. And as long as you believe in his or her "grand vision" that's perfectly okay. Troubles only begin when the artist starts feeling that the producer steps on "his" or her "exclusive" territory.
This is just an outline of what the producer does, but the real idea in this post is to bring your attention to the simple FACT that, as an independent artist, you really have almost no choice but to become your own producer. Easier said than done. But... once you realize that it's just a "mindset" that you need to adjust, things become easier.
It's all in the "programming" you've subjected yourself to. If you think that you're "just a songwriter," and "someone else" will have to produce your music, you're most likely heading nowhere fast. You NEED to change this attitude to "I will produce my music to the best of my ability" - and that will include going through EVERYTHING with a fine-tooth comb, until everything in your song is exactly right.
That's why I said that this is a "mindset" thing as much as anything else. That's why an "ears-only" producer can actually do a great job, as long as he's a real taskmaster and has a clear, strong vision. Once you adopt this kind of a mindset, you'll, naturally, also need the technical and artistic skills to execute your own commands and recommendations.
What a producer does, when faced with an inability on part of his artists (or himself) to deliver what he wants to hear, is either modify his requests to suit, or... employ session musicians, singers, engineers - whoever is needed to get the job done.
A good producer, like any good artist, NEVER COMPROMISES his vision of quality.
Take "you" as your own producer. You "hear" your new song in your head and then you record it. And you quickly discover that it doesn't sound quite the way you envisioned it. Do you (a) do "whatever it takes" to make the recording match your imagination, or (b) you settle for the best you could do under the circumstances...?
Well, if you answered "a", you're already a producer. If you answered "b" you need to give your mindset a little shake-up and reconsider your entire position. Chosing the "a" path will lead you to a measure of success, if you persevere. Chosing the "b" path will lead you exactly nowhere.
One final point. You'll wonder if the "a" path is realistically attainable to you. Do you really have the ears and the judgment needed to be a great producer? Well, the truth is that you'll never know until you really try. And another truth is: perhaps you can't be a great producer, but you CAN decide to work with one! And if you're serious about your music, getting better or working with better people is not a choice. It's an imperative.
LISTEN TO: 229-Q/Tuesday Jun 29, 2009
Let's deal with this one by one, from the back. Yes, almost anyone can become a producer, but the focus this requires means that only a few people ultimately do. And yes, you do need one - even if it's going to be you. And this brings me to the main question: what does a producer do?
You'll find many different answers to this question if you read music business books, or depending on whom you talk to in the music circles. But there's one common thread: the producer is the person who creates the "product." Hence the name. And the "product" is, in a nutshell, your music.
An artist or a songwriter can be, and often is, also a producer. However, it's sometimes a good idea to work with an objective outsider who can help you craft your music (art) into a commercially viable recording (product). And this is what "production" is all about.
So, when you think about it, in order for the "product" to be good, it has to undergo a "quality control" process, which is the essence of production. That's also why I said that "anyone" can become a producer, but only those with sufficient focus actually manage the job. Because the kind of focus required to be a "good" producer can be quite intense.
There are at least two basic types of producers out there. There's the "hands-on" kind and the "ears-only" kind. These days, the first kind is by far the most predominant. That's the guy who is, typically, an experienced engineer or perhaps a songwriter/musician who's been around the block a few times and knows what it takes for a recording to find an audience. The "ears-only" producer is, these days, more of a dying breed - and that's someone who basically just listens to the music and gives (sometimes very vague) instructions to his team members regarding what changes need to be made for a song to "happen."
Both kinds of producers draw on a multitude of skills, whether they themselves are so multi-talented, or whether they have a team of collaborators. They essentially DIRECT the project, down to the minutest detail.
It is not uncommon for a producer to be "everything" on a record, except for the performer him- or herself. Sometimes this leads to rather outrageous situations and accusations of "manufacturing" talent start flying.
In this post, however, we're talking about a "mindset" which is a must for and serious producer.
One of the characteristics of a good producer is the ability to cut through the clutter and bring forth the best values of any song as well as any musician and artist involved in its creation. Like a movie director or a book editor. It's not uncommon for the producer to request lyrical changes, or melodic tweaks or rearrangements. Nothing is off limits, nor should it be. Not infrequently, a producer will actually cowrite large parts of any album he is a part of. And as long as you believe in his or her "grand vision" that's perfectly okay. Troubles only begin when the artist starts feeling that the producer steps on "his" or her "exclusive" territory.
This is just an outline of what the producer does, but the real idea in this post is to bring your attention to the simple FACT that, as an independent artist, you really have almost no choice but to become your own producer. Easier said than done. But... once you realize that it's just a "mindset" that you need to adjust, things become easier.
It's all in the "programming" you've subjected yourself to. If you think that you're "just a songwriter," and "someone else" will have to produce your music, you're most likely heading nowhere fast. You NEED to change this attitude to "I will produce my music to the best of my ability" - and that will include going through EVERYTHING with a fine-tooth comb, until everything in your song is exactly right.
That's why I said that this is a "mindset" thing as much as anything else. That's why an "ears-only" producer can actually do a great job, as long as he's a real taskmaster and has a clear, strong vision. Once you adopt this kind of a mindset, you'll, naturally, also need the technical and artistic skills to execute your own commands and recommendations.
What a producer does, when faced with an inability on part of his artists (or himself) to deliver what he wants to hear, is either modify his requests to suit, or... employ session musicians, singers, engineers - whoever is needed to get the job done.
A good producer, like any good artist, NEVER COMPROMISES his vision of quality.
Take "you" as your own producer. You "hear" your new song in your head and then you record it. And you quickly discover that it doesn't sound quite the way you envisioned it. Do you (a) do "whatever it takes" to make the recording match your imagination, or (b) you settle for the best you could do under the circumstances...?
Well, if you answered "a", you're already a producer. If you answered "b" you need to give your mindset a little shake-up and reconsider your entire position. Chosing the "a" path will lead you to a measure of success, if you persevere. Chosing the "b" path will lead you exactly nowhere.
One final point. You'll wonder if the "a" path is realistically attainable to you. Do you really have the ears and the judgment needed to be a great producer? Well, the truth is that you'll never know until you really try. And another truth is: perhaps you can't be a great producer, but you CAN decide to work with one! And if you're serious about your music, getting better or working with better people is not a choice. It's an imperative.
LISTEN TO: 229-Q/Tuesday Jun 29, 2009
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