So You Wanna Be A Rockstar?: insight

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2/7/10

Vol 3, The Grand Finale: A Few Parting Words & Pieces of Advice

Well my friends, it has come to that time of year again when we are forced to say goodbye, but unlike previous years, we will NOT be reacquainted come September. After three years of providing you all with advice and insight based on my experiences in the music biz, along, of course, with the occasional rant, I’ve come to the decision that, like so many great artists of the past, it is “better to burn out than fade away.” With that said however, there’s no need to despair, as I promise you that all of my articles will remain accessible (in full) online (right here under your pretty little nose!), and anytime you wish to field questions my way via email, I’ll be more than happy to respond.

In what seems like a short time together, we’ve covered everything from finding the right bandmates, to booking your first gig, to generating press coverage, to music piracy, to album sales certification, to Canada’s grant associations, and even drug use and sexism in the music biz. I’ve done my best to answer all of the questions that I once had when I first began my musical journey as a wide-eyed naïve 15 year old with rockstar aspirations. It only seems appropriate, as I lay my column down to rest, to revisit some of the initial pieces of advice that I offered in “So You Wanna be in a Rock Band?’s” very first issue. I feel these words hold just as much, if not more, truth today than they did when I initially wrote them. So, if you truly wanna be in a rock band, I suggest that you take them to heart.

In the words of one highly respected industry expert with whom I had the pleasure of speaking earlier this year, “the world doesn’t owe you anything, and being a musician is supposed to be hard. If your stuff isn't good enough, or if the public chooses not to like it, there's nothing you can do about it,” (Alan Cross).

1) There is no such thing as an educational program that can ever prepare you for the harsh reality of how the music industry actually functions.

2) You may be the greatest innovator and songwriter since John Lennon, but if you can't sell 10,000 CDs without label support, good luck and God-speed.

3) If you want to be successful on any level in the music biz, the first thing you need to realize is that NO ONE, and I mean no one, will work harder than you on promoting your music and/or band. So, if you don't have much of a work ethic, I suggest you pursue other interests.

4) One of the biggest misconceptions about the music industry is that once you are signed, your work ends. Wrong....it only gets harder, because now you are competing in the big leagues with bands who are not only signed, but have full time publicists and booking agents working around the clock to get their name out there. Oh wait... I'm sure you thought that a label would provide you with a booking agent and publicist once you signed a contract with them right? Wrong again!

5) If you think that being a musician will lead to immediate gratification and financial remuneration, you couldn't be more off, especially if you are an original act. Believe it or not, in general, cover and tribute acts (without representation) are compensated about 10 times that of an original act for a single show.

6) Further on the subject of making money…in order to attain a position of financial and career stability (of course, it can never be entirely stable), musicians often work for 10 - 15 years and then finally, just when they think they've had enough, they break. In other words, there is NO such thing as an “overnight success”.

7) There is always the risk of becoming a one- hit-wonder. Labels, plain and simply, just want to make money, and musicians are a dime-a -dozen. Don't think for a second that they care about your integrity, dignity, or the longevity of your career. If a label can make the most profit off of one single, than that is the route they will take.

8) The word "fair" does not exist in this industry, nor does "honesty." Promises are broken everyday, and as I said before, I cannot stress enough how important it is to realize that the music industry functions as any big business.

9) If you are not marketable, you will not be successful. Music industry execs don't want to take risks with something that may or may not sell. Hence, the reason why you see trends constantly regurgitated, and why next to every band on the radio sounds the same.

And finally… and MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!!

10) Please, if you wanna be in a rock band, do it for the right reasons: a love of music, because you want to inspire others, or so that you can act as a positive rolemodel for future generations.

I wish you all the best of luck in your musical journeys, and remember, music saves lives.

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry is the former frontwoman of Canadian hard rock bands ANTI-HERO & HER, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services for female rock musicians.

Her bands toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest, and achieved label status.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, ANTI-HERO's critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase. Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.

1/6/10

Vol 3, Issue 21: The Ins & Outs of Music Videography

ANTI-HERO: Unpretty (2005)

Video is undoubtedly a powerful medium, and in the view of many entertainment critics, “the ultimate medium of the future”. From a cultural perspective, it The business point of view also points out, that perhaps one of video’s most beneficial attributes, is that it has the ability to evoke emotion, and illustrate complex meaning through imagery and representation.allows audiences to link an artist’s work with his/her image and name. The popularity of even poor quality “home-mades” on sites, such as Youtube, once again reaffirms video’s social significance.

As society becomes ever more encompassed in the “Digital Age”, the growing importance of video promotion, among musicians, cannot be understated. Back when I was still a rambunctious munchkin, video taping devices were known by their full name, camcorders (hard to believe, I know) and a foreign sounding version of the video tape that went by the title of “Beta”, was all the rage.

Things, suffice it to say, have changed considerably since my childhood, and instead of having to rely on film, and the mucky business of hands-on editing, digital methods have made video taping and production accessible and understandable to virtually anyone in the general populus. Accordingly, with this newfound ease of video manipulation came the novel expectation that all musicians should have promo videos as part of their professional portfolio. Lucky for all of you, turning this prospect into a reality has never been easier, or for that matter, cheaper. But just so we’re clear from the get-go, cellphone clips do NOT count, and should not be used, under any circumstances, for marketing your band. Their image quality sucks, their audio is even worst, and if you are looking to make a professional impression, well you lost me at “cellphone video.”

In terms of a starting point when it comes to making promo vids, the following things should be considered:

1) Video Type
Should you go live or traditional music video? Both versions, obviously, have their advantages, and if possible, I say do both. However, if you are restricted, for budgetary reasons, to invest in only one form, your decision should ultimately be based on your band’s career direction.

Whereas live videos have the ability to showcase your band in action, and demonstrate to potential talent buyers why your act should be booked over comparable others, music videos work to expand a band’s fanbase because of their ability to be aired on a variety of programs (both online and via mainstream media). In addition, the release of a music video often accompanies that of an album/single, making it an easy means to generate publicity for your band.

A final version of the promo video that your act may choose to undertake is that of the “on location” (ie: in the studio or on the road) or “behind the scenes” footage reel. Not only can these vids be shot for an extremely inexpensive cost (ie: usually filmed completely with handhelds), but as well, hardcore fans absolutely revel in this kind of up close and personal encounter with their favourite bands, while such videos also allow industry execs to get a taste for your personality and band dynamic. With that said however, generally this last version of the promo video is typically not released unless your band has already established a fairly substantial following.

2) Budget
Although making a flashy million dollar production would surely be quite the experience, I understand that it is not realistic for the vast majority of indie bands. You’ve got to use the resources that you have at your fingertips, and that’s why again, I recommend taking advantage of Fanshawe’s (or your local college's) multi-talented student body.

One of my very first music videos, for an acoustic track off of one of my demos, was shot and edited by a friend of mine who was studying MultiMedia and Design Technology. Not only did I get great promotional material out of this venture, but she was also able to submit the work as a project for one of our classes; hence, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

If, for whatever reason, you are unable to find a student who is able and/or willing to assist you in making a vid, never fear as there are a variety of freelance music video makers in and around town that are indie-friendly. Checking postings on boards such as craigslist, or kijiji, and/or resources like overhear.com and mygiglist.com is definitely a good place to start.

Remember that your video’s budget should reflect your opportunities for airplay. As we learned last year, the likelihood of submitting a video to MuchMusic and achieving airplay, without a pre-existing contact, is extremely low. Therefore, your vid’s quality should be geared towards online. With this in mind, I do not recommend spending in excess of a couple thousand dollars. It’s not worth it, and because of internet compression, the extra quality that you paid for will most likely NOT even be noticeable.

It’s also important to keep in mind, that if your video requires extras, the vast majority of people are willing to volunteer.

3) Content
Last, but not least, what should your video (if a traditional music video) be about? As mentioned in my intro, video has the capacity to tell a story, and to relate your musical expression to who you are/what you’re all about as an individual act. I’ve seen far too many generic videos, from indies, strictly constituted of jam sessions in dimly lit warehouses complimented by sporadic zoom-ins and excessive head-banging. For the sake of my own personal sanity, please, do not use this plot (or lack thereof) as your video’s storyline – it’s overdone, out-dated, and does nothing to set your act apart from others. The best (and most memorable) music videos, in my view, relate directly to their song’s lyrical message; they’re emotional, and reflective, and balanced out by the perfect amount of rocking out.

With my band’s debut video, “Unpretty”, our vision was clear from the start. The song, beyond its references to the fashion industry, is essentially about overcoming obstacles, and challenging conformity. To visually promote this ethos, each of the members in my band played out a role in which they reached a breaking point, and literally were confronted with a wall they had to smash. The “breaking through to the other side” was symbolic of one achieving and expressing their genuine identity, without having social limitations imposed upon them. In the video, the plot comes to a climax when I jump on stage, and the song concludes with the crowd screaming for more.

In telling you this story, whether or not our track or accompanying storyline strikes your fancy, is not the point. Rather, I am merely trying to impress upon you the importance of taking risks, and sticking true to who you are as a band. Beyond receiving extensive worldwide airplay, our video has been nominated for numerous creative awards. I can safely say that had we gone the generic “indie rock band” video route, this certainly wouldn’t have been the case.

11/14/09

Vol 3, Issue 20: Touring Riders & Paying Your Dues: But I Don’t Wanna Play Just for Beer

I’m sure all of you are familiar with the frequently expounded three word expression, “paying your dues”. Though the phrase found its origins in the Industrial Revolution, in reference to the fees one had to pay in order to remain a member of his/her trade union (and therefore receive protections from employer exploitation), in modern times, it is most commonly used to describe the situation in which rookies find themselves, upon entering the job market for the first time. In the industry of music, specifically, it is typically expressed as a piece of advice to aspiring amateurs, from vets and industry professionals alike, who are all too eager to see their names in lights without having done any of the leg-work to get there. As we learned just a few short weeks back, in our discussion with three label reps, although talent and marketability are essential qualities for any band to get noticed, so too is work ethic, and without it, you won’t get very far. It is with this notion, in mind, that I will be writing on this week’s topic; that being, touring riders.

Long before you are in the position to be making any demands from promoters and/or club owners, you have to, as you may have guessed from my intro, “pay your dues”. What exactly this constitutes will vary slightly from band to band dependent upon your territory and/or genre, however, all band start-up stories involve playing countless shows, at dives, to crowds of ten people (if you’re lucky) for which you do not get paid, and are not appreciated. If your home-base is located in a big city such as Toronto, or Los Angeles, because such places are already oversaturated with wannabes and has-beens, this poor treatment is taken to the extreme; something you’ll get a brief taste of, when you tour these metropolises.

For instance, many clubs, in booming cities, actually expect indie bands to rent tour buses, and fill them with their hometown fans in order to bring a crowd to their out-of-town gigs. Further, rather than providing newcomers with opening spots so that they can work on expanding their followings, several major venues expect said bands to rent out their spaces in order to put on their own shows.

It is of my personal opinion, that both of these practises are absolutely ludicrous, as, typically, indies don’t have that kind of money to spare, and neither method will help a band in improving their attendance rates for future shows. However, this just scratches the tip of the iceberg in terms of the kind of b.s. a band must endure in order to establish themselves, and gain respect among industry professionals – all of which must be done, need I remind you, while maintaining a smile on your face! Perhaps a personal story, at this point, will be illuminative.

Aside from having countless promoters rip us off by leaving mid-way through our sets to avoid fronting our bills, not to mention being electrocuted by our microphones each time we attempted to play and sing simultaneously due to improper grounding, when my band ANTI-HERO first emerged on the scene, our rise through the ranks was anything, but easy.

Upon the release of our album Unpretty, we were invited to play out in Northern Ontario (about a 10 hour drive) at what was supposed to be a massive sporting event. As we were promised to play to 10,000 people, we agreed to cover all of our own expenses (which included renting an additional vehicle) because we were under the impression that we’d be able to break even through merch sales. When we arrived however, we were led to the stage which we learned was completely separated from the sporting event, and charged an additional admission price. Not surprisingly, the crowd wasn’t very keen on this; thus our audience ended up consisting of the other bands who were given the same line, and our significant others.

So in telling you all of this, what is the point I’m trying to get at?

Well, as much as it will suck and cause you endless frustration, realistically speaking, it will be AT LEAST a year before you have established yourself and your following, to a point where you can play semi-regular gigs to decent sized crowds. Usually to get to this stage, you will have had to have released an album. For the sake of your own career, DO NOT even think (and I mean it) about creating a touring rider until you’re at this point as it will not be honoured, and may potentially prevent club owners from offering you future shows.

Okay, but once I get there, what should I include in my rider? Because it’s no surprise that most musicians have a penchant for booze, club owners often try to pawn off beer tickets, to bands, in lieu of payment. While this may satisfy the tastes of some, it fails to assist you in profiting from your gigging enterprises. You need to ensure, above and beyond your booze requirements (if any) that your gas expenses, parking costs, and accommodations (if required) first and foremost are covered. Anything extra on top of that is “just gravy”, as they say, and that way, all earnings you obtain from merch sales or cover charges will be straight profit that can assist you in making it to your next destination.

Should I make any other special requests along the lines of Ozzy Osbourne and his bowl of 2000 brown M&Ms? Clearly, this is something that is up to your personal discretion, but keep in mind, your demands will only be met if you’ve got the star power to back ‘em up. Beyond payment concerns, if you are touring to unfamiliar territory, I do strongly suggest that you include in your touring rider that popular local acts are to open your show. Your ability to do promotions in new areas will be limited as you will not be knowledgeable of the scenes, and quite simply, you cannot rely on the clubs, themselves, to make your special appearances known. With this in mind, you may also wish to include in your rider that venues, upon confirmation of booking, are to provide you with lists of their local media for your publicist.

As your career develops more and more and you prove yourself worthy of the rockstar designation, it will result in bigger stages, better sound, more rawkin’ audiences, and, of course, “celebrity treatment”.

With that being said however, I hazard you to remember two things:
1) never forget where you came from and
2) don’t convince yourself, for a second, that it’ll be an easy climb.

You’ll undoubtedly have to deal with a lot (and I mean A LOT) of shit, at first, but don’t let it turn you into a pushover, or cause you to bend your standards, once you’ve attained some bragging rights of your own. Most importantly, you must remember, in the music industry, there are certainly no second chances, and to protect your own career, you most definitely should never concede on territory you’ve already conquered.

Catch Rose Perry appearing as a special guest speaker at this year’s Jack Richardson Music Awards’ Seminar Series this Sat April 4^th! www.jrma.ca for more details. Youtube link available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRwAH8Gx_Qg

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry is the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase. Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.

7/15/09

Vol 3, Issue 18: Entrepreneurial Artists: Three Canadian Rockers Who’ve Successfully Married Commerce with Craft

When it comes to art and the assignment of qualities such as “authentic”, “genuine”, “original”, and the like, Romantic ideologies are still largely responsible for informing the public’s sensibilities. There remains a wide-held belief, extending to all creative endeavours, that mainstream success necessitates corporate exploitation, and formulaic expression, while true art is obscure, and can only be produced by the marginalized and tormented. Put more simply, it is still chiefly the case that if one succeeds in this business, both in terms of achieving economic remuneration and popularity among the “unwashed" masses, they will be labelled a “sellout”, and almost invariably, as a result, their once loyal underground following will dissipate.

While this conviction maintains a certain degree of truth value, at least in regards to the increasingly limited realm of major labels, the same cannot be said of the independent sphere. As I hope to demonstrate through the following discussion, moreover dissection of today’s music industry, with three highly successful musician-cum-label owners, art and commerce do not have to be at odds. In fact, in the case of G7 Welcoming Committee Records, the independent label owned and operated by Manitoba-based politically charged punk rockers, Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesk, of Propagandi fame, promoting a subversive anti-capitalist agenda would actually work in one’s favour in terms of getting signed.

As the subject matter of the following discourse primarily revolves around the indie music scene, providing an overview of how each of my interview subjects got started, along with their definitions of what constitutes an indie label seems, to me, an appropriate point at which to begin.

Robert Calder, trumpet player for Vancouver pop band The Salteens, and co-founder of Boompa Records, which includes, Matt Sharp (Weezer), among other notable acts, on its roster, established his label in 2003. Driven by what he characterizes as both ambition and naivety, despite the fact that The Salteens had already successfully acquired label representation for their studio releases, Calder was interested in creating his own company that kept, at its forefront, practises that are sustainable from both a business and artistic point of view. In his own experiences as a professional touring musician, he remembers, all too often, moments, in the heat of business, in which it was forgotten what artists require to be generative.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise, that Calder defines a true indie label as one that is not founded solely on the premise of achieving profits. In fact, he goes so far as to state that if a project is proposed to one of his artists that is highly lucrative, but has the potential to be draining for them, it is this latter factor that will be afforded more weight when it ultimately comes to making the decision. In his own words, “the plight of the struggling artist should be about growth and development, not unmet expectations.”

Though, Tim Potocic, drummer of 90s-inspired Hamilton rock band Tristan Psionic, like Calder, had established a recognizable degree of acclaim within the indie scene, the impetus fuelling the development of his independent label and distributor, Sonic Unyon, was rooted more in necessity than aspiration. Contesting that both he and his bandmates perceived the music biz as a larger entity than it is in actual fact, Potocic, put rather simply, “didn’t really think that [any labels] would be interested in helping [him take his band to the next level].” As a musical group whose mentality very much centred around the D.I.Y. mantra, coupled with the fact that all of Tristan Psionic’s members were schooled in either business, economics, or admin, even though he openly admits that initially they didn’t really know what they were doing, Potocic always had faith that they’d be able to handle whatever came their way; Sonic Unyon’s near-20 year (and counting) stint is certainly a testament that this was true.

Like our next guest, Chris Hannah, Potocic is hesitant to designate a single business model as being definitively “indie”. In his view, what makes Sonic Unyon artist-friendly fundamentally comes down to having a good team, working with like-minded people, and splitting everything (both expenses and profits) 50/50 between his artists and the label. While Potocic strongly believes in giving his performers free reign when it comes to the creative process, he also appreciates the perseverance and drudgery that goes into making a band successful. For that very reason, when it comes to scouting new talent, it’s the acts that demonstrate the strongest work ethics that really grab his attention.

Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesk’s go at the business side of things, frankly, can be chalked up to artistic impulse. While the urge to create, among artists, goes without saying, so too does the appetite for experimentation, and in some cases, the desire for world domination. Identifying with the mid-80s underground zine, metal tape-trading, and punk rock scenes, Chris and Jord were, “encouraged [by and looked up to] the bands who got their hands dirty.” Not only seeing the act of creating their own label as a means through which they could stay productive and engaged in the industry while wearing different hats, but as well as an alternative platform where they could register and promote their complaints about the system, shortly after its launch, G7 became home to a smorgasbord of politically radical bands and speakers. American linguist and political activist, Noam Chomsky, is but one of the controversial figures who releases his material via Hannah and Samolesk’s collective.

While, as mentioned, Hannah does not subscribe to using the term “indie” to denote any organizational scheme within the music industry because, in actuality, “everyone releasing music – in the form of a physical/digital product to the public – is [in some way] dependent upon the infrastructure of the music-industrial-complex,”, he does feel that, “within that framework, organizations can act more or less ‘independently’ if they are not beholden to shareholders and/or if profit is not their prime directive.”

As illustrated by the above responses from all three of my interview subjects, whereas the form the business itself may take remains considerably up for grabs, there seems to be consensus, among indie label founders, that the creation of one’s own label should be conceived of as a labour of love, not a money-making machine. Credence to this fact comes in the form of Potocic’s own struggle for success.

Although Sonic Unyon, today, is cited regularly as one of Canada’s most influential music makers, it wasn’t until Tim was in his seventh fiscal year that he was able to take home his very first paycheck. Calder, similarly, isn’t shy about Boompa’s humble beginnings. Long before he knew they got it right, he recalls numerous failures, poor decisions, hiatuses, and regroupings. But, rather than reflecting on these experiences unfavourably, Calder, like Potocic is able to recognize the wisdom he gained, as a result.

Naturally then, both founders concur that one of the biggest blunders any band can make is to set unrealistic expectations. Contrary to what the media would have you believe, nothing, in this business, happens overnight, and you certainly cannot expect to attain any sense of glory, without first being willing to display your guts. Accordingly, all three of my guests highly recommended that bands maintain other ventures, while pursuing their musical careers. For one thing, cash flow will likely become an issue if you are solely relying on your gigs to front your bills, and secondly, having other goals in life makes you well-rounded. Speaking from his own experiences, Potocic resolves that, “if you have many skills [in life], then you will always land on your feet.”

When it comes to illegal downloading, Calder, Potocic, and Hannah’s views are somewhat more lax than what one might assume of label owners. In Calder’s eyes, “a fan is a fan no matter how they get their music,” and Hannah is quick to point out that for every one person who illegally obtains your tunes, undoubtedly there are five others who get to hear something they would not have otherwise. Moreover, while Potocic accepts the fact that illegal downloading has affected everyone’s business on some level, he strongly contests that, it alone, cannot be blamed for the awful state of the music biz. Rather, he suggests, “people still love music and people still support artists. The traditional model [just] doesn't apply anymore. We are in the middle of more than just a format change – but a change in thinking of the consumer and a shift in consumer spending.” Taking it a step further, Hannah, like myself, cites the industry’s downfall in its foisting of terrible records, upon the public, for far too long: “if labels would stop trying to make money by pawning off garbage, maybe people wouldn’t be so quick to think that [music] didn’t hold any value.”

Despite his attribution of blame however, Hannah remains hopeful. While he agrees illegal downloading, “is not good for [big] businesses that have invested all of their money [into] shiny plastic discs,” he does believe, in all sincerity, that, “it could be good for music.” To this Calder adds that, “true fans support artists in many ways,” and he truly hopes that, “the whole concept of signing bands and throwing crap loads of money at them, to see if they [can] sell a ton of assets in the first week of release, goes the way of the dodo bird.” As made evident through the above discussion, whether or not the corporate structure fails is irrelevant – most indie artists, let alone indie labels, do not align themselves with the traditional music biz’s point of view.

As our three week long examination of what it takes to start your own label comes to a close, I’d like to share with you one final offering of advice. As I’ve attempted to impress on you in this piece, as in others, carving out a career for oneself in the music biz, whether as an artist or label owner, is not for the faint of heart, and it is for this reason that a love of art must supersede all other potential motivating rationales. To leave you with a quote that I feel aptly summarizes the indie label owner’s point of view, in the words of Hannah: “if you believe in the transformative potential of music, [I encourage you to] go for it, [but] if you're looking for anything else, just take the job at your dad's business that he's been offering you. Please.”

5/19/09

Vol 3, Issue 17: Starting up Your Own Label Pt #4: Designing Your Label’s Look & Branding Its Identity

To appropriate a successful marketing campaign, of Sprite’s, which could have as easily been applied to the record biz as it was to soft drinks, “image is everything”, and if you want your label taken seriously, you need to create an identity for it that speaks to your mission, audience, and potential roster list. Last time, we went over the importance of establishing one’s label infrastructure and maintaining business savvy communications from hereon out. Following along the same lines, this week, we’ll be discussing how to create the “right” image for your business.

You’ll notice that I put right in quotations because it is a qualifying word of a subjective nature meaning that there are a multitude of ways that you can approach your business, and its presentation, but, it will be up to you to uncover what you feel works best for your mandate.

For example, while both labels were born of the 1980s’ D.I.Y. grassroots mentality in order to support independent alternative, rock, and punk bands, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Epitaph Records present vastly different images to the public and to their potential clientele – a quick look at both of their websites is demonstrative. While Sympathy’s online presence appears amateur, is difficult to navigate, and their official site’s frontpage sarcastically insults the label itself, its founder, as well as any supporters of its artists, Epitaph, maintains a sleek, and flashy appearance comparable to that of any major label. In fact, without knowledge of Epitaph’s founding history (it is the brainchild of Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz), one could easily mistake it for just that. Though Epitaph, undoubtedly, has the upper hand in terms of creating a professional look that would be well-respected in the business side of the music world, Sympathy’s homegrown anti-corporate ethos, evident in its self-presentation, is arguably responsible for attracting and subsequently launching the careers of many notable artists including Hole, The White Stripes, and The New York Dolls.

So which label has it “right”? Well, there really is no single answer. Both Epitaph and Sympathy have been extremely successful, as indies, carving out reputations for discovering hit acts, while maintaining artistic integrity, for all of the bands they sign, at the forefront of their operations.

As stated in my introduction, the choices you make in regards to the marketing of your label are ultimately a personal choice, but regardless of whether you decide to paint yourself as pro or foe, an arsenal of the following tools will assist you on your road to success:

Number One: A Slogan
Why did you form your label? What’s its purpose? What makes your label different from the thousands of others already in existence? - are all questions that you’ll need answers to. The easiest way to synopsize exactly what your company is about is by creating a memorable one-liner in the same fashion as those of the following labels: Sonic Unyon Records claims to “transcend mainstream mediocrity”, while G7 Welcoming Committee Records states proudly that they’ve been, “uncooperative since ‘97”. In order to expand on your label’s history, and mandate, devoting a page on your website detailing a mission statement and/or an about us section is also something worth considering as many bands, when debating to whom they will solicit their material, make their decisions purely on the nature of said things.

Number Two: A Logo
Sometimes as simple as just finding the right combination of font, and colour, your logo doesn’t have to induce psychedelic mind-trips, or have satanic affiliations, but it should be an artistic representation of your company that again, speaks to what you’re about and has memorable qualities. If you’re not skilled in the graphical arts, I highly recommend finding someone who is – even if only a student – to come up with an aesthetically pleasing design for you, as there is nothing worse than a makeshift cut and paste job if you’re trying to market yourself as a professional. Once designed, all promotional materials issued, including press releases, business cards, cds, websites, posters etc. should bear an invariable version of your logo (ie: don’t constantly change its colours) like a badge of honour to demonstrate to your affiliates and fans that your company is consistent in its image, as well as what it offers.

Number Three: Business Cards
Just as I noted last time, in regards to websites, there is nothing that I, as a music journalist, hate more than coming across something in which I’m interested for which there is no appropriate contact information. Similarly, considering that networking is such a crucial component of establishing business relations, and reputation building in the music biz, it is equally aggravating, for industry professionals, to come across bands and/or aspiring label owners who are not adequately stocked with handfuls of business cards at shows, and industry conferences. You need to be prepared for anything in this industry because you never know who you just might meet, and having business cards on you, at all times, is certainly a step in the right direction.

In terms of design, maintaining the same colours and fonts that you use for your website, and logo, on your cards will work to solidify your label’s image. Make sure that you include all necessary contact information (ie: postal address including country, phone, fax, email, website), your slogan, and where applicable, the roster list of the bands you represent and/or a list of your top five acts. Including all of this info is essential as at any given gig, an industry rep could meet upwards of a hundred people trying to get his/her attention, you need to ensure that they’ll remember exactly who you are, and what you’re about, come time for the follow up.

As a side note: A newer trend that I’ve witnessed on the band promotional front is the creation of “postcard” style business cards in which the band is presented in full colour photographic form on the front, while label contact information, and selected quotes about the act are depicted on the reverse side. If done properly, these can be quite eye catching, but it’s important to realize that they are much harder to carry around as they don’t easily fit into pockets, and the last thing that you want to do, with your promotional materials, is to inconvenience the very person to whom you are trying to sell up your business.

One last note on business cards: Please, I beg you, actually spend money on getting these things printed professionally. I know that they can be expensive, both to design, and to print, but trust me it’ll be worth while, and there are lots of services out there willing to give you good deals, if you make the effort to look. You will not fool anyone with cards produced from your at home laser printer or worse, those printed on Kodak photo paper. They look like shit, and make you, in turn, look like shit, and I’m sure that’s not the image you’re going for.

Number Four: Press Kit(s)
Press kits are your means of getting “the good word” out about the bands you represent to venues, bookers, media reps, and other industry professionals. While their look will vary from label to label, standard components, all of which should be tucked neatly into a crisp folder, include: the band’s biography, a “stat” sheet (which lists, in point form, notable accomplishments, and/or awards) an 8 by 10 photo (often black and white, with 1 – 1 ½ inch white framing) that depicts the entire band with their logo overlaid, upcoming tour dates, press quotes (about the band in general, their live performances, or their latest release), a copy of their latest disc, and of course, your label’s business card. Just as your website, business card, and slogan work to “brand” your label, your bands’ press kits should follow suit.

Each one of your bands will, of course, have their own distinctive look, but the packaging (ie: the style of photography, the kind of folders used, the general layout of materials etc.) in which they are presented should work to draw an association back to your label, and ensure continued business dealings, even if one of your bands decides to jump ship. A simple means by which to accomplish this is by including your label’s logo as the header, and contact information as the footer on every page included in the kit. Not only will this establish part of the standard format in which you represent your bands, but it also makes your contact information easily accessible should someone accidentally misplace your business card.

In conclusion to my series on starting your own label, I would like to leave you with a final bit of advice derived from my own experiences. People often get caught up in the excitement of their own ideas, and convince themselves that they have superhuman capabilities. They take on more and more and more, but eventually they reach their breaking point, and had they just set out a sensible plan of attack from the beginning, they never would have found themselves in that situation. Take it from someone who once attempted (successfully, if you don’t count my consequent mental breakdown and physical fatigue) to book all of her own shows, do all of her own publicity, negotiate all of her own business deals, while performing several times a week, working part time, and attending school- you cannot do it all of your own, and even if you can, it will eventually catch up to you. Creating a successful business not only takes time, and perseverance, as well as band of reliable associates willing and able to help you with everything that it entails. Do not underestimate how hard it will be (hundreds of indie labels go defunct every year), and do not overestimate your own abilities. Do your homework, start out slow, and do not rush success. After all, everything that is worth fighting for is always a challenge.

2/3/09

Vol 3, Issue 11: The Changing Face of Record Deals: An Inside Look at the Industry’s Emerging Strategy for Maintaining Monopoly

As alluded to by various comments made on behalf of both myself, and several of this year’s interview subjects including Alan Cross, and Carla DeSantis, the face of the industry, moreover, the face of the record deal is changing. The monopoly that major labels once held because of their exclusive ability to offer artists worldwide distribution, and unmatchable promotional opportunities simply cannot compete in the age of the internet in which artists, because of their newfound accessibility to unlimited online resources and opportunities for networking, are able to become self-sufficient. Put blatantly, what’s the point of signing with a label (which may necessitate giving up a substantial share of your profits, and quite possibly having to sacrifice your artistic integrity) when with the simple click of a mouse, one is able to access both exposure to a worldwide audience and dissemination of one’s products across the globe free of charge, or at the most, for a nominal fee, while maintaining complete songwriting ownership and control over one’s image?

Though some will argue that traditional record labels still provide superior retail distribution attesting that indies are unable to get shelf space without having a) a huge following in the area which will guarantee sales and b) a large promotional budget which will allow them to do store tie-in events, this argument fails to acknowledge that many majors, such as Koch for example, because they can’t afford the risk of taking up shelf space unless the product is guaranteed to move, have actually gone strictly to catalogs for their up and comers. Thus, they are once again unable to provide you with anything you cannot get on your own. And so, as can be expected, the music biz’s business model which has ruled the day since the 1890s, has had to change with the times.

In order to maintain relevance during this state of transition that is rattled with illegal downloading (and hence, fewer profits to be made off of disc sales), label scouts and business professionals alike, needed a new plan not only in order to stay in business, but also to ensure that “the suits” would not lose their position of privilege and power. The plan: to zero in all efforts towards the one domain in the biz within which artists can only go so far on their own; that being, booking, and the secret weapon: a little thing called, “no unsolicited materials” (ie: you cannot submit any promotional materials without prior request or without an inside connection to the firm in question). For those of you who’ve attempted to get on the bill as the opener for a major act such as The Foo Fighters, you’ll be all too familiar with those three heartbreaking words, and all of the bureaucratic b.s. that goes along with them. The leader of the pack in this venture is a little known company (note the sarcasm) that goes by the name of, LiveNation (originally a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, a highly influential U.S. media conglomerate), a brand that any regular concert goer will recognize as gaining increasing omnipresence on just about every advert for any major event. But, before we get into the nitty gritty of what exactly it means to be signed to one of these company’s rosters, such as that of LiveNation’s, a brief overview of how the traditional major label record deal works, is in order.

Generally speaking, traditional deals with major labels allow musicians to strictly focus on being performers (ie: publicity, management, and booking is all taken care of for you), however, these gratuities do not come without a hefty price. Though details vary from contract to contract, artists are conventionally signed for at least a few years in which they are required to release a specified amount of works, and the vast majority of profits (in some instances, upwards of 90%) earned off of all sales relating to their musical compositions are awarded solely to the label. The artist is expected to tour and attend promotional opportunities in order to market their works, and any profits earned from touring (which are, at best, only about 5 - 10% considering the high costs associated with funding transport, stage crew, special effects etc.) as well as any monies earned from the sales of merchandise belong wholly to the artist. Additionally, if licensing opportunities should be presented to the artist, the label’s commission on said negotiations is usually about 15 - 20%.

So up to this point, it may seem as though these deals are somewhat mutually beneficial - there is give and take on both ends of the bargain- however, there’s an all too often undisclosed catch that cannot be understated in terms of its importance: in these deals, if the artists’ musical compositions fail to achieve commercial success, any upfront resources that were granted to the artist in order for him/her to partake in recording, and/or marketing his/her products will be owed back to the label in full!

So how have deals changed due to the infiltration of companies like LiveNation? Well, as previously explained, traditional major labels primarily focused their energies on pushing units (ie: records, cassettes, compact discs) in order to generate profits. Because fewer and fewer music consumers are actually purchasing legitimate copies of musical works, profits in this area have, understandably, greatly subsided. Consequently, deals with companies like LiveNation not only demand a substantial chunk off of sales of musical works (however, in most cases, without the catch of loss of songwriter ownership), but as well, now infringe on territory that used to solely belong to the artist: that being, touring and merchandising because as noted by Fortune Magazine, the majority of earnings achieved (over 75%) by current major artists come strictly from these two domains. However, it’s important to realize that LiveNation’s cash flow margins on tours average a slight “4.3%”, and thus its not surprising that the company is continually seeking to expand its horizons in order to bolster its profit making potential.

In an effort to eliminate the need for record labels and/or just about any other external company that has traditionally been required to properly launch and manage a major artist, in its contracts, LiveNation has sought to gain control not only over its artists’ touring arrangements, and catalogs, but as well its artists’ web presence, publicity, merchandising, and videography. Further, there have been recent talks discussing LiveNation’s involvement in negotiating licensing and publishing deals on behalf of its artists in order to get a cut off of their royalties.

In order to seem as though the deals they are presenting are “fair”, those artists specially selected to be recruited for LiveNation’s roster are often offered obscene amounts of upfront money, like that of Madonna’s 10 year contract estimated at a cool 120 million. Despite all of the signs which indicate LiveNation’s totalitarian aspirations, the company’s President and CEO Michael Rapino, maintains that they merely fulfill the duties of a music promotional company and nothing more.

So what does this mean for the indie musician? Moreover for the music consumer? These are topics that I will tackle in the next few weeks.

1/8/09

Vol 3, Issue 8: Sexism in the Music Biz Pt I: Call it a Case of Penis Envy?

It was 1984, hair metal was all the rage, and The Scorpions had just launched their latest album Love at First Sting, and were leading a successful tour across the greater parts of the Western world. Joan Jett, recently parted from her all girl group The Runaways, and generating buzz for her hit single, a cover of The Arrows’ classic, “I Love Rock’n’Roll” was given the support slot for over 20 dates on the European leg. But instead of being met with praise, recognition, and applause for being one of the “founding mothers” of women in rock’n’roll, audiences not only responded to Jett with aversion, moreover, they made sincere attempts to injure her throughout her performances.

Throughout her sets, Joan was subjected to aerial assaults of garbage, and debris including pieces of metal, batteries and virtually anything else that the displeased audiences could find. During one show, the attack reached such heights that shortly after her performance, Joan collapsed and had to seek medical care as she sustained injuries which included two broken ribs that came close to puncturing her lungs. Despite all of this, she never revealed even the slightest moment of weakness, she just kept on rocking through it all, and that is why she is known as the one, and only Queen of Punk Rock.

Though both greater society and the niche of the music biz has made giant leaps in terms of embracing female artists and bestowing upon them the same respect that all musicians deserve since the aforementioned horror story of Jett’s mainstream debut, I wish I could tell you that sexism in the music biz has been eradicated, but the sad truth is that it still exists, but now tends to rear its ugly head in more clever and veiled ways. To demonstrate, I’d like to call upon some of my own personal experiences from just a few years back in 2005 when my band ANTI-HERO made its debut.

Before we had established a reputation for being a legitimate hard hitting female fronted rocking ensemble, almost every time we played a new city, the other acts on the bill and the audience members alike, assumed that myself, and my female counterpart Nic, our bassist, were the tag-along band girlfriends and/or groupies just along for the ride. Moreover, when we got booked on metal or hardcore bills, before we were allowed to even strum a single chord on our guitars, the spectators, particularly the males, would make snide remarks toting us as being a group comparable to the Spice Girls. However, the worst of the offenses committed against us in our early career, undoubtedly goes to a Toronto concert promoter who blatantly told us, prior to our performance, that he only put us on the bill because he thought of female fronted acts as “novelty items”; essentially, to him, women who played guitars were subhuman, just sex objects with no real talent whose sole purpose was to act as objects of male fantasy.

As made apparent from the provided examples, there is still a heavy stigma alive and well towards women in rock, and unfortunately, because of the sort of sexism that female artists often encounter, it discourages many women from pursuing this route therefore making hard rocking chicks a rarity and so, subject to continued discrimination. As Naomi Less, a proud Jewish chick rocker notes, “I have been searching for some time now for seriously talented lead guitarists and bassists who are women - and in NYC [an entertainment capital, no less]. And they are so just hard to find.” But, afterall, the electric guitar is a natural extension of the penis right? Women don’t belong in rock bands, they should limit themselves to what they do best: shaking their asses and tits like Shakira. Well, sorry mates, but if this is the perspective that you’ve got, you need to timewarp back to the ‘50s, because even though fem rockers and riot grrls, like myself, may encounter this b.s., it just makes us even more motivated to prove all of those who’ve prejudged us wrong, and whether you like it or not, female fronted rock is gaining ground all over the globe.

11/27/08

Vol 3, Issue 7: Drugs = Bad for Business, but Good for the Soul?

Despite the fatal health risks associated with substance abuse (including, but not limited to death!), not to mention the high probability of finding out that you fathered a child years after a forbidden drug-induced affair and that said child has been told that someone else was her daddy since birth because, let’s face it, addicts don’t make good parents (happened to Steven Tyler, could happen to you), as we learned last week, the “marriage” between drugs and rock’n’roll, although obviously a rocky one, has been longstanding. And as for the sex part of the equation? Well, just as alcohol has the wondrous effect of lowering one’s inhibitions (translation: makes you act like a slut), drugs do even more to get your mojo a-kicking. Hence, all of the stories of weird (and often disturbing) hookups that you hear about, like that of David Bowie and Mick Jagger!

Partly because of the fragile nature of most musicians, but mostly on account of how the industry itself is structured, this unfortunate image of the “true rockstar” continues to be perpetuated from generation to generation creating serious consequences (and pressures) for the up and coming musician. It’s quite a rep to live up to, and of course, the media’s glamourization of this lifestyle as being the epitome of “rock’n’roll” doesn’t help either. However, I would be a hypocrite to assert that all of the excesses of our past rock’n’rollers have left us with nothing of value. In fact, some of my favourite artists including Jimi Hendrix, I know with absolute certainty, have been inspired from drug-induced states and/or written in response to having one too many close calls with The Reaper, himself.

As pointed out by fellow musician, and my close personal friend, Jesse Tomes, there is a difference between drug use and drug abuse, and in Tomes’ opinion, the artists who’ve been successful in mastering intake moderation are those who have been able to utilize the effects of narcotics in a positive way through their art. No one can argue that Pink Floyd or the later records of The Beatles (which some purport as their greatest work) would have ever come into fruition without the assistance of certain illegal substances. The Beatles, for that matter, even came right out to say that they “got by with a little help from their friends,” - the same friends with whom, as the song states a stanza later, they got high.

But on the other side of things, despite Tomes’ arguments, I would still suggest that there are far more examples of drugs gone wrong as illustrated by the ever-growing population cited on what’s been called, Music’s Most Infamous Death Club, a list of entertainers who’ve lost their lives at the tender age of only 27 years. Further, even for the recovering addicts who managed to miss the bullet earlier on, it’s not as though they are shining examples of health today. Let’s be honest, Keith Richards looks like a walking zombie ready to keel over at any minute, and as for Ozzy, no one on earth can understand what the hell he is saying except for his devoted wife, Sharon (bless her for putting up with him). Despite the fact that both of these icons of rock used to flaunt their bad boy images (and everything that these personas entailed), during interviews, I’ve heard both of them denounce their past behaviour(s) because of the crippled states that it has left them in today. Unfortunately, irrespective of both Richards’ and Osbourne’s acts of penance, the image of the drugged up rocker still remains “the image of cool, and this has devastating consequences for up and coming artists; just look at what recently happened to The Pink Spiders, a Nashville-based band who many labels saw as “promising” just a few years back; in fact, there was a bidding war to sign them.

Like so many previous surefire bands, they fell victim to excessive drug use, and royally fucked themselves out of ever having a shot at fame. The all too familiar story went as follows: record exec saw young talented act, and decided to make them an offer of upfront cash that they could not refuse. Being young, idealistic, and unaware of the fact that upfront monies are required by contract to be paid back if their record sales failed to impress their label (information they could’ve read in their contract if they weren’t messed up on drugs), the band then went and blew all of their cash on yet more drugs and other equally noxious vices. The record label pressured the act to put out hit after hit (in shorter and shorter timeframes) and the touring schedule was continually added to until it seemed endless. Shows started to get sloppy, and consequently, ticket sales diminished. Soon, the upfront monies started to run out, and incoming profits reached an all-time low. Inter-band turmoil mounted, members need to be replaced, and finally it all came to a screeching halt when the label decided that they no longer wanted to invest in the act, and that all of the previously conferred monies were to be re-imburst immediately or litigation would be pursued. The remaining members tried to regroup and make amends with their previous business contacts, but the label had already moved on. The band members, are now struggling to find any job to pay the bills (usually, most musicians who fall victim to this circumstance have also unfortunately failed to achieve higher than a highschool education), and will likely remain indebt to their label well into their elder years. All songwriting credits are now owned by the label, and any residuals that could’ve been made from licensing are lost.

If that’s not convincing that drugs are bad for business, I don’t know what else would be! Suffice it to say, drug use makes you vulnerable to manipulation, and clearly record labels aren’t too low to take advantage of this weakness (whatever makes for more money right?)

Irrespective of cases such as the one just described, the problem, in Tomes’ view, is not drug use in itself, rather, it is the fact that we rarely hear about the cases of constructive narcotic use; something he blames on the media’s love for sensationalization and scandal. According to Tomes, because the slant is biased in favour of depicting “rockers of rehab”, drug abuse is normalized, and addiction as a lifestyle comes to be seen as a required component to making music for a living.

Tomes believes that the vast majority of the population (clearly, myself excluded) actually participates in drug culture, in one way or another, including our lawyers, our teachers, and the members of society whom we deem as “functional”, but this remains a little known fact because most people, as a result of moderate drug consumption, don’t do anything wrong while “high” on life. Further, Tomes argues that proper drug use, regardless of whether you are a musician or not, can aid in meditation, spiritual growth and enlightenment - practises that I too agree are positive and important in regards to maintaining a balanced psyche.

Regardless, the choice is clearly YOURS. As demonstrated, there are benefits (if done properly), and consequences (if not) to the practise of narcotic consumption in the music industry. Though, as I stated at the beginning, many of my own favourite artists have been serious doers of drugs, I do wonder whether drug-induced art may limit one’s audience. As someone who prides herself on trying to maintain high esteem for all of the artists of the past who’ve revolutionized what we know today as the music industry, I still myself struggling to really “get” psychedelic artists like Pink Floyd, or their musical offspring, Tool. Maybe I should take a trip down to Kansas with Dorothy while grooving to the soothing tunes of the “Dark Side of the Moon” and consuming a little LSD. On second thought, maybe not. After all, I firmly believe, musical genres exist to appeal to everyone, and clearly, not all genres are meant to be “gotten” by everyone equally.

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry is the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase.

Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.For more information on Rose Cora Perry and her band's accomplishments, please visit http://www.anti-hero.ca/ or http://www.rosecoraperry.com/

11/17/08

Vol 3, Issue 6: The Origins of Sex, Drugs, & Rock’n’Roll

When we conceptualize the lifestyle of the prototypical rockstar, it is one that is associated with excesses in their many forms: namely exorbitant promiscuity, and copious narcotic consumption. While the pop culture expression, “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll” didn’t begin to permeate the public consciousness until the 1960s and was further popularized by a ‘77’s single by Ian Dury, this image of the celebrity musician is nothing new.

According to music history buffs, this portrait of the rockstar actually originated in ancient times and is a modern figure of speech derived from the Greek hendiatris (a literary technique in which three words are used to express one idea), “women, wine, and song.” As apparent from its original expression, (which connotes a gender bias in favour of males as the adored performers, and women as the fanatical groupies) sexism within the music industry is nothing new either, but this is a topic we will look more into at a later date.

For the time being, I thought it would be interesting if we attacked the issue of drug culture and musicianship from both sides of the debate. Joined by my good friend, talented lead guitarist, industrial music lover, and extreme sports junkie, Jesse Tomes, in this issue and the next, we will examine the use and abuse of drugs in the music industry and both the benefits and the consequences of this from the artist’s perspective. As an avid anti-drug activist, I will naturally be taking the oppositional stance. But, before we get into the effects of this kind of lifestyle, let’s take a look at why artists and substance abuse have, for so long, gone hand in hand.

As I’ve stated in previous articles, many musicians (not all, but a great majority) first get involved in music as a means to soothe their pain. Whether the sons or daughters of abusive parents, those who’ve struggled with poverty, discrimination, and/or never felt as though they fit in, musicians often come to the table with a great deal of emotional distress, baggage, deep-seated resentment, and bitterness towards the world and anyone who stands in their way, to say the least. While their tortured souls prove beneficial for writing truly inspiring songs, their fragile states leave them in a position in which they are all too easy to take advantage of. In addition to partaking in songwriting as an outlet for their turmoil, before they even get their earliest tastes of fame, musicians are often already participating in semi-regular drug use as an additional form of emotional support and escapism. While smoking the occasional joint will likely not hurt themselves or any of their friends in a major way, their vulnerability as well as the structure of the music industry itself, makes the transition towards harder drugs frighteningly simple to slip into.

For starters, clubowners, irrespective of one’s career juncture, frequently propose alcohol and/or drugs to musicians as the form of payment for a performance, and if they (the clubowners) don’t blatantly try to screw over musicians with this tactic, they will at the least encourage a good snort after a job well done in the pleasure of their company. Not to sound too much like your VIP teacher from grade six, but this is a form of peer pressure that is difficult (but not impossible) to challenge, especially when you are outnumbered by fellow musicians and promoters alike, who embrace this lifestyle. Seeing as networking constitutes an essential part of any successful artist’s life, avoiding these after-show meet and greets could prove detrimental to one’s embarking career. So what’s an artist to do? An old trick that Gene Simmons likes to pull is to drink gingerale at such meetings as its resemblance to beer is rather uncanny, but how he would fake hitting a line of coke, well I don’t think anyone’s figured out a solution to that, as of yet.

Next, because of the incessant touring that is required for any band to establish a decent following, sleep deprivation and poor nutrition become additional battles with which musicians must contend. An easy solution embraced by so many artists of the past comes in the form of amphetamines (aka speed or uppers). Of course, the musicians who begin popping these pills almost always state that it’ll be a temporary thing, just until they are off the road, forgetting that in fact, drugs of this nature do have the potential to become highly addictive, and are known for producing serious withdrawal symptoms. To cope with the same issue in a slightly different manner, other popular drugs of choice are hallucinogens, which allow artists to temporarily escape reality. By no means would I ever support this kind of thing, but in this situation, when you are driving endlessly across the countryside to play a few 45 minute sets which may or may not be worth your while, one’s stress and frustration levels are ridiculously high, and I can appreciate why so many artists feel they have no other choice, but to numb the experience by going on a temporarily vacation (at least, psychologically).

What few people realize is just how unglamourous touring actually is. It is not until you are in the big leagues (and I mean in a seriously major act that’s been around for at least a decade) that you will be provided with the luxury of a tour bus equipped with bunkbeds, a fridge, shower, and a personal driver. For the rest of us lowly indies, it is you and your fellow bandmates splitting up the driving and taking turns spooning each other in the back of your van which will invariably breakdown, and get broken into, at least once on each of your roadtrips.

Finally, and in my opinion the biggest contributor to perpetuating, “sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll” as the norm and the expected behaviour of rockstars, is the media and its convention of glamourizing musicians who participate in this type of lifestyle, and by doing so, making it seem cool to aspire to be just like them some day. While most music rags don’t outwardly promote this kind of conduct as something desirable, the fact that they are more willing to devote page space to stories about drugged up rockers speaks for itself. As the audience of said magazines is largely composed of young, highly impressionable, and idealistic youth, what kind of message does this send?

It makes drugs seem cool, and makes people such as Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), who was officially pronounced dead for two minutes on Dec 23th, 1987, and then revived by two adrenaline shots to the heart by a Crue-loving paramedic only to return to his house that very same night to ingest more heroin, seem even cooler. In my opinion, considering all of the trials and tribulations that our youth have to deal with today, this is hardly the kind of message that we should be sending them. It shows that the repercussions for substance abuse are trivial, at best, and that playing music and getting high is what will gain them fame, fortune, and of course, in the words of the boys of Crue themselves, “girls, girls, girls.”

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase.

Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.For more information on Rose Cora Perry and her band's accomplishments, please visit http://www.anti-hero.ca/ or http://www.rosecoraperry.com/

11/5/08

Vol 3, Issue 5: Talking Shop with Alan Cross: An Exploration of Music, Making it, & Canadian Mass Consumption

When inquiring among music consumers as to why they enjoy particular “popular” tracks, I all too often hear the heart-sinking reply that it’s because they find said tracks “catchy and easy to dance to.” We’ve gotten to a point in music listening in which lyrical content has sunk to such minimal importance that artists such as Katy Perry (aka Katy Hudson) who began as bible-totting “holier than thou” gospel singers, can take on new last names, and start singing about lesbian affairs. Worst yet, despite these blatant hypocrisies, and obvious marketing ploys, no one seems the wiser.

Back in the hippie days however, musicians, such as Bob Dylan, were not merely considered the producers of a consumable art form, but rather the people looked up to them to be their voice, and to address issues, in their lyrics (among other places), that needed addressing.

This apparent debasement of the musical craft has left me contemplating how it is possible that we have come so far technologically, and globally, yet lost so much of the dignity that the music industry once had, in the process? The only person I felt capable of taking on the challenge of responding to this query of mine was music history guru and host of the infamously popular radio show, The Ongoing History of New Music: the one, the only Mr. Alan Cross.

Though our discussion with each other regarding the music industry’s current state of affairs did enjoy a fair amount of bantering and debate (including a dissection of the character, that is, Madonna) as he took the position of the industry and business expert, and I, the one of the lowly indie rocker, out of our, at times, heated discourse, we came to the conclusion that we have at least three convictions in common:

1) there is no easy or quick solution to the current illegal downloading situation

2) the ease of access with which people can obtain music as well as the over-saturation of the music marketplace has led to a devaluing of the art form coupled with superficial music listening, and finally,

3) the Canadian music industry really needs to bone up and acknowledge all of the talent that it has given birth to, otherwise we are going to continue to lose our best acts to the US of A.

On that final point, Cross went so far as to say that Canada has an inferiority complex when it comes to its artistic offerings; hence the reason why so many Canuck acts have to break in foreign markets, before they get recognized in the True North Strong and Free. He feels our national preference for “egalitarian mediocrity” (as opposed to elite excellence) is also the driving force behind industry standardization regimes such as Cancon which force radio djs to spin a certain percentage of Canadian content on a weekly basis in order to honour quota mandates. Such programs, in Alan’s view, prevent Canadian artists from ever being taken seriously on the world stage.

For those of you unfamiliar with the colossal CV that Mr. Cross has managed to amass for himself, before we get too deep into our interview, I feel it’s necessary to provide a brief (and hopefully entertaining) overview of some of the highlights of his life, thus far:

Alan grew up in a small rural Prairie community in which FM radio ceased to exist and one of the few venues that actually sold music, in a consumable form, was a clothing store named Robinson’s, of all places. It was 1974 and The Ramones hadn’t yet formed. The Beatles had fallen out of favour, and Led Zep and The Rolling Stones were far too exotic for someone who was secluded from urban life, and reared in the sticks. Contrary to the alterna-head image with which Cross is now notoriously linked, the first album that Alan ever set his sights on was the work of, perhaps, the industry’s most ultimate diva.

It wasn’t Madonna (she didn’t launch until ‘83), Cher was still doing her thing with Sonny, Celine Dion was, likewise, still ”in the making”, and though Tina Turner would have been a viable option for the prelude to Alan’s remarkable career, the credit goes to a Sir Elton John and a certain dance variety involving crocodiles who like to rock.

From that point onwards (well perhaps, after puberty set in), Cross bounced from radio joe-job to radio joe-job acquiring as much technical, and media know-how as possible, as well as endeavouring to expand his musical horizons to include everything from highly experimental jazz to bands he describes as psychedelic versions of Jesus & The Mary Chain to straight up unapologetic fuzzy alt- grunge rock like that of, whose origins have been credited to, Nirvana. In fact, Nirvana’s very existence marks a rather important juncture in Cross’ career.

As one of the radio djs burdened with the task of delivering the news of Cobain’s tragic end back in 1994, it is clear that this is a band to which Cross will forever remain emotionally attached. Though he is the first to acknowledge that Nirvana were, in actuality, a fluke, and that their success can largely be attributed to the fact that the world was ready for a bunch of “hard rocking cynical anti-stars”, he is also the first to defend the brilliance of Nevermind, and the important lasting effects of Nirvana’s influence.

According to The Edge 102.1's official website, Alan’s flagship show, The Ongoing History of New Music, debuted in February 1993, and since then, has aired more than 600 episodes, all researched, written and produced solely by Alan, himself. The Ongoing History is currently syndicated through almost a dozen stations across Canada, has spun off four books and more than a dozen CD compilations, and currently holds the title as the longest-running music documentary in Canada. Alan has additionally appeared as a guest on various TV and radio shows, written official biographies for a variety of rock bands including The Making of NIN’s Pretty Hate Machine & Downward Spiral, narrated TV shows, documentaries and info-mercials, and written articles for both newspapers and magazines, alike.

In other words, if radio djs were allotted the same degree of celebrity as rockstars, Alan Cross would undeniably be the media world’s James Brown sharing the joint title of the “hardest working man in showbiz”. It’s this astonishing work ethic, and sea of accomplishment, together with his personal ascend from humble roots, that formulates the basis for his perspectives regarding today’s indie musician.

When asked what advice he had to offer to the current independent artist, Alan, unfalteringly, began with “the world doesn’t owe you anything”. Admiring bands such as Oasis, who triumphed despite arising from hidden backdrops of familial abuse, poverty, and alcoholism, Alan believes that being a musician, “is supposed to be hard, and if your stuff isn't good enough, or if the public chooses not to like it, there's nothing you can do about it.” However, in saying that, Cross still maintains an optimistic, if somewhat idealistic, view.

Although for any musician (and media personality like Cross), one’s relationship with the internet is ambivalent at best, Cross acknowledges that the net has provided today’s musicians with a power that none of their predecessors could’ve ever dreamed of experiencing. Without leaving the comfort of one’s home, musicians are now able to record, disseminate, and exploit their art to global proportions. But, there is another side to this coin: because production technology, that is capable of making even the most tone-deaf drowning cat-esque vocalists sound melodic, is so widely available, and because the vast majority of the social networking sites that bands use to campaign themselves are free, the competition is beyond steep. And so, in Alan’s eyes, if you truly want to get the attention of a larger label (which he feels is necessary for success), you need to provide them with a turnkey solution: that being, a product that is pre-packaged and ready to export to the grand stage. The only way to do this (and I can contend) is to work your ass off playing lots of gigs, developing your fan base, and making sure that all of the people who come out to support you are always taken care of so that their loyalty sustains.

Though I think Cross makes a valid point regarding how so many musicians underestimate the work involved in “making it”, I personally believe that he’s missed a central feature to his provided equation for success: as talented and as marketable as your act may be, whether you like it or not, there is still an element of luck involved, and often (more often than they should), connections trump everything.

With his expansive musical knowledge, I’m sure that Cross could list tons of bands that haven’t made it that should have, and equally on the other side of things, tons of bands who did make it who shouldn’t have. But, in his defence, Cross would argue my rebuttal by stating that we require the bubble-gum mainstream artists to appeal to the masses in order to generate new capital that can be invested in underground acts that are really doing something interesting. The problem with this formula however, is exactly the fact that it has become too formulaic, and almost invariably, once a unique indie gets picked up by a label, they are transformed into the hit making machine that began the whole process, therefore never allowing mass consumption of, in my opinion, “good” music. But obviously, this is clearly a matter of tastes, and neither one of us can be more right than the other.

Putting our differences aside for the time being however, I think its important for me to express my high degree of respect for Mr. Cross and to acknowledge, that myself, as well as all of you, my fellow musicians, could learn a great deal from what this man has to offer, and so we ought to respond to his benefactions in the only way that is appropriate in the realm of wireless telegraphy: that being, all ears.

Mimicking the aims of the great musicians of the past who made this industry what it is today, Cross himself is an artist in his own right as it is clear that his mission is both to educate and inspire.

Taking this into consideration, his loyalty to the radio waves makes perfect sense because when people need to know if things are safe, and/or want to keep in touch with the rest of the planet without having to be tied to the computer, it is the FM dial to which they naturally turn.

Though he’s been almost 30 years “in the making”, I think its fair to assert that Alan Cross has most certainly made it. Long gone are his days of broadcasting out of what he terms an “elevator-music” radio station situated between a wheat field and a mental hospital. Cross has worked diligently throughout his career to open up our minds to music that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, he has resurrected lost artists from the past, and embraced new artists of the future, he has sparked debate regarding the music industry, and Canada’s place within it, all while managing to stay true to his homeland roots giving hope to the rest of us that are proud to call this great nation our home.

And with that said, I, on behalf of Alan, have but, one final note that deserves to be said: Alan Cross believes that, “headphones, in public, are a blight on the development of society” further contributing to the modern-day phenomenon of “ego-casting”. According to Cross, “technology now allows us to shut out any material, concept, sound, or sight that we find disagreeable so much to the point that we can cocoon ourselves in a warm bath of just the things that we like, unencumbered by the stuff we don’t.” With this kind of control and impenetrable mindset, he begs the question, how will people ever grow as music fans? This is a question, I will leave all of you to contemplate.

*For more information on Alan Cross, check out the Edge’s official website located at and be sure to catch the debut of his latest buzz-generating endeavour about which he remains tightlipped: ExploreMusic (launching Oct 6th). *

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase.

Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.For more information on Rose Cora Perry and her band's accomplishments, please visit http://www.anti-hero.ca/ or http://www.rosecoraperry.com/