Paper or Follow Thru?

A friend of mine quoted me a saying today "Good on paper, bad on follow-thru" and we both had a chuckle as to how well that seemed to apply to many in not only the music business but other businesses as well.  Often times people are impressed by resumes, online profiles, pedigrees, schooling, etc., etc.  There are a number of measuring devices we try to utilize based on person's history to give us an idea as to how we think this individual stands in regards to how they go about their business.  I truly believe the most over looked of these devices is good old fashion success.  Not the people that had it once because then we can write it off as luck but someone who has over the years demonstrated the ability to continue to achieve success multiple times based on the ability to grasp the task at at hand, diligence, desire to win and of course, a lucky star.  But as they say, the 'harder I work, the luckier I get'.  I am product of the street, a graduate of the Univ. of Iowa with a B.G.S. (Bachelor of General Studies). I moved to Los Angeles with $50 and no car on a Thursday and by Tuesday the following week I was taking the number 3 bus line to the Atlantic Records office as a temp filling in where needed.  As fate would have it, I am proud to say I was personally involved in the signing, developing and navigating artists and their projects that sold well over 40 million records.  I was responsible for making people and my organization $100's of millions and that is something that can never be taken away.  I went out on my own a little over 5 years ago (I hate to say that's when I started to be an entrepreneur as anyone who knows the risks of being an A&R person knows that it carries as much risk as any entrepreneur), raised angel financing and built a business that offered media publishing tools for artists to record and sell their live shows directly to their fans online.  Recognizing the habits of the online live music fan after capturing and marrying it to portals such as the AT&T Blueroom I jumped at an opportunity to benefit talent and their fans even more based around the event experience , tour histories and the media that comes from it, thus I began Total Live Music.  I've sat in meetings with some captains of industry and geniuses of the arts and overall have lived a very blessed life.  Why do I ramble on about such things? Because our country has been going through one of the most difficult times I have ever been a witness to.  Being from Iowa, I had grandparents who would tell stories of the Great Depression while working on the farm.  I also heard stories of heroism and loss by my family during World War II and when my father was called to duty he didn't hesitate.  These were people I revered, hard working, decent people who would stand up for what was right, answered the call of their country and their success was measured by the closeness of the family and their ability to harvest and provide food for those they loved and cared for.  I guess in today's world they "wouldn't look good on paper but had great follow thru".  There are a lot of people in this world right now that need jobs, they didn't all go to an Ivy league school, work for Yahoo/Google/Apple, didn't have the family pedigree that put them in play, etc.  They just happen to have a lot of character, which to me is the measurement of success and the more you have, the more successful you are. I'll take that every time!

Sights with Sounds

Red Arrow Messenger

Music as a Shared Experience

I had a woman approach me after last night's Maxim Ludwig & The Santa Fe Seven show at the Hotel Cafe and say "You're his manager right?" in which I replied "Yes" She then said "Well then he should have played the last song earlier before that important person left" The only response I could muster at the time was something like ok, thanks for your input and I felt very dumbfounded by that remark. At the time I was upset but now after 24 hours of reflection I feel inspired, not because the "important person" left but rather that the last song inspired someone to the point that she was disappointed that individual didn't hear it. That's what music is suppose to do, particularly the live experience. Make you feel that you are witnessing something special and you get disappointed others aren't there to share the experience. I talked to that "important person" today who loved what Maxim did but to me the most important person in the room is the man or woman that gets so inspired by a song that they wish it could be shared to those they feel should hear it. When you're generating that type of response you know you're getting through to people with your music.

Sights with Sounds

Elvis Costello live at Amoeba Records. Check out Jim Lauderdale playing guitar and singing back-up. I signed and made a couple of records with Jim during my A&R years at Atlantic Records.

Irving Azoff Quote

"Since 1966, when I started in this business, I've worked in almost every aspect of entertainment. I've been a manager, I've run a record label, I've produced TV shows and movies - pretty much everything. And, still, the most powerful thing I know of in entertainment is the live experience. The performer onstage receiving the adulation of fans - there's nothing like it, and that's never going away"

Irving Azoff, The New Yorker, Aug. 10, 2009

Attention Economics and Music

There has been a lot of discussion for a long time now in regards to the value of recorded music. It certainly doesn't carry the same value it did ten years ago and no matter what the causes that have lead to this erosion in value it doesn't appear it will ever go back to what it once was. However, I agree with the point of view that this is only true in regards to the industrial economy but music still continues to have value within the the attention economy. Brad Burnham, a Partner at Union Square Ventures, explains "attention vs industrial" economics and that of "free" wonderfully in his blog here. The problem with attention economics is that it is not so easily monetized and defined. The most obvious way to monetize attention is advertising, followed by items for upsell and then the data, the information you have gathered on the people whose attention you were able to get. But how do you make money on attention if music becomes a niche play? I guess it is all a matter of where you fit on the food chain. If you're just the distributor you must aggregate the niches to make it as large as possible for a return but for an artist and their partners, you extract more from less fans. Eventually this will balance itself out but for now you have two incredibly big market forces, venture backed technology distributors and content rich artists that have for the past ten or so years trying to build the right models. I have been involved on both sides and I still find the most rewarding that of working with the artists and helping them figure out the answers to their puzzles rather than creating more for myself.

Maxim Ludwig & The Santa Fe Seven

Let me preface this post, I'm biased. I manage this artist, but after 20 years, making close to 100 albums and selling more than 40 million I feel I I've earned a right to my opinion regarding talent. Maxim Ludwig is probably one of the most talented artists I have ever had the privilege to be involved with. After a stunning performance at Stagecoach Festival he has been enjoying a month long residency at the Hotel Cafe here in Los Angeles. Following the first night of his residency, Randy Lewis, music critic of the Los Angeles Times, wrote a review of the show that appeared in the paper titled "Maxim Ludwig tears fearlessly into uncharted territory" . As a true reflection as to where we are in this business Maxim has neither a record or publishing deal, but what he/we does have is a strong team that is building up around him. More importantly, he continues to amaze me with his prolific songwriting, penning at least a song a day as well as a youthful perspective and eagerness, as Randy Lewis states, to go into "uncharted territory" that so many artists and people in the business are scared to venture.