the not so secret aardvark records diaries

The Herald gives Craig Alan Hughes' solo album the thumbs up

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:18:00 +0000

Smiles all round today. The Herald Scotland gives Craig Alan Hughes' solo album "Silhouettes and Photographs" a big old thumbs up.

It's been a long time since I sat down and tried to write a song. But if I ever came up with a chorus as utterly perfect as Craig Alan Hughes has done on Private Polly, working its gorgeous melody into the internal rhymes and crossover rhythms of the words, I'd put my pen down a happy man. - Alan Morrison, Arts & Culture Editor, The Herald Scotland

For the rest of the review, please visit: http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/music/craig-alan-hughes-silhouettes-photographs-aardvark.1384945467

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas: Craig Alan Hughes: A Craggle Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 10:26:00 +0000

We know - it's still November...but we're already gearing up for some Xmas cheer courtesy of Craig Alan Hughes. His Pop Xmas EP A Craggle Christmas is out on 1 December 2013. The EP has a great Scottish Christmas feel to it.

You can catch them below:

A Very Craggle Christmas by Craig Alan Hughes

Alan Morrison plugs Craig Alan Hughes' début solo album

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:02:00 +0000

What a great way to start the working week! Alan Morrison, Group Arts Editor at The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times newspaper group, has given Hughes'album "Silhouettes and Photographs" a brilliant plug on Twitter. Glad you're loving the album, Alan.

For more information about Craig Alan Hughes - and listen to his album online - please visit: http://www.aardvarkrecords.co.uk/index.php/pop-music-downloads/438-craig-alan-hughes

Alan Morrison online:

PPL - show us the money

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 19:07:00 +0000

789 business days later...

...and we STILL haven't received our royalties from PPL - (Phonographic Performance Ltd).

We're obviously wondering why in the hell we paid to become members.

Collection agencies are supposed to have your back...not put the boot it like so many others in this business.

#ShamefulBusinessPractices

Introducing Craig Alan Hughes: "Silhouettes & Photographs"

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 12:08:00 +0000

We're both proud and pleased to announce the début album from Scottish indie-pop band Callel's front man, Craig Alan Hughes.

The first single from the album Silhouettes and Photographs is "Private Polly". Catch the video below...

The album Silhouettes & Photographs is out on Aardvark Records on 15 November 2013.

To stream the album online, or for more information about Craig, make your way over to http://www.aardvarkrecords.co.uk/index.php/pop-music-downloads/438-craig-alan-hughes http://www.aardvarkrecords.co.uk/index.php/pop-music-downloads/438-craig-alan-hughes

AIM's Indie-Con conference returns!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 10:49:00 +0000

Last year's conference was brilliant. We expect great things for this year's conference.

Indie-Con 2013 - tickets now available for AIM's conference addressing all areas of independent label business. Taking place on 20th November 2013 at Glaziers Hall, London.

Discounted earlybird tickets are now available for Indie-Con 2013 - AIM's conference covering all areas of independent label business (in association with Clear Sound & Vision). Indie-Con is a 1-...more

INDIE-CON 2013 (in association with Clear Sound & Vision)
Supported by Clear Sound & Vision, Indie-Con returns to London’s Glaziers Hall on 20th November. The event will take an in-depth look at all the key areas essential for running a successful independent music business.

http://www.musicindie.com/events/aim/2013/11/20/1160#!

London bound!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:07:00 +0000

I am pleased to say that I will once again be a Londoner as of next week. This move has been a few years in the making. I for one am seriously chomping at the bit to be back amongst my favorite eateries, galleries, music venues and coffee hangouts. And I better join a gym sharpish as the dinner and lunch invitations are coming in thick and fast!

Despite the rumours in circulation, I will still be at the helm of the good ship Aardvark.

I have achieved all that I initially wanted to achieve with Aardvark while in Cornwall. Well, quite a bit more, actually :-) I’m really proud of the team that help me achieve that vision. It was pretty cool to achieve what we have all the way out in remote Cornwall

My move to London is the next stage in the process of taking Aardvark to the next level. Part of this is merely logistics. Trips to and fro from Cornwall to London run 6 to 7 hours each way costing hundreds of pounds each trip. I go back and forth a lot. Add that to international travel, hotels, etc and the logistics become exhausting.

Or to put another way, it's just easier to travel within and out of London than it is traveling to anywhere from Cornwall.

The other reason is business. Let's face this, this is a sociable and network-orientated business. London is the hub of the UK's music industry. All roads lead to it eventually. It makes sense, given my position, to operate from London.

So a London office is a win-win scenario. And here’s to the next chapter in Aardvark’s story.

Will I miss those regular and long, long, long Great Western train journeys? hmmm...

Alex di Savoia

CEO

Zetan Spore free album download (Psytrance)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:24:00 +0000

From the label that loves to share...and the Psytranceact that loves to blow minds...

ZETAN SPORE FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD!

"Psilocybia" the latest (9th) album by Zetan Spore, mastered by Colin OOOD, is available for free at
www.zetanspore.co.uk

Direct Download URL: http://www.sendspace.com/file/zl9dye

If you love it, please show Zetan Spore some love :)

BBC 4's 'The Richest Songs in the World'

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:38:00 +0000

BBC 4 and BBC Radio 4 have been broadcasting some absolutely excellent shows about the music industry lately. Truly gripping and entertaining stuff!

Last night BBC 4 featured "The Richest Songs in the World". Rather than a boring countdown of the top 10 money-spinners, this show gives the behind the scenes stories about the how the tracks came into being. It's a warts and all kind of thing. It's worth watching for Andy Summers's (guitarist, The Police) comments alone.

If you're an undergrad or postgrad music student, this should be mandatory viewing. If you're a songwriter, musician or recording artist, this is essential viewing. Confused about royalties and copyright? Watch this show!

Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01pjrt5/The_Richest_Songs_in_the_World/

Does the current royalty collection system needs modernising?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 13:58:00 +0000

As my regular readers and industry insiders know well, I have long been an advocate of change in the music industry and the wider entertainment industry. My desire has always been to put the industry that I love on the best footing possible to meet the myriad of current – and future – pressures and challenges facing the industry.

I don’t underestimate how controversial the next series of posts are going to be. The next few posts will deal with reforming two sides of the same coin: royalty collections and copyright.

Today I’m going to deal with the royalty collection process head-on.

Back in the old days, when pre-digital music formats were limited to formats which required physical production (78s, 45s, 12 inch vinyl, cassettes, the short lived 8-track and CDs), it was a fairly straightforward process to control the physical distribution of albums and singles. A license from the master rights holder was required in each territory the release was manufactured and sold in. Apart from pirating, it was also straightforward to control who had a license to a release and monitor their activities. The master rights holder could control the who, how, when and where aspects of international releases.

This system of control was rendered obsolete the second digital music formats were introduced. Yet, everyone within the music industry is still required to work with a system that hasn’t really evolved or caught up with the changing music release landscape. At best, the industry has valiantly attempted to provide system patches. It's like trying to patch up a leaking lifeboat. The result being a system of rights administration which is labyrinthine, time consuming and patchy. It is far from efficient.

Digital music formats are borderless. Just because I live in the UK doesn’t mean I’m limited to buying digital music from a UK provider. I can pretty much buy music wherever I chose when it comes to online purchasing. That’s where the current system falls down. In the old days, the days of physical manufacture, I would have been limited to buying music in the UK – unless I bought an album or a single while I was abroad on business/holiday. Now, it's a bit of a quagmire.

So what’s the big deal? Borderless music creates a royalty collection nightmare for master rights holders and licensees. Here’s a scenario we're faced with almost every day: Aardvark Records signs a pop band we’ll call Wrong Turn. Aardvark is the master rights owner as well as the publisher. Aardvark goes on to license the band’s album to ABC Records for North America, ZYX Records for the UK and Europe, Creative Records for the Middle East & Africa, Samba Records for Latin America & The Caribbean, Prestigious Records for India and Oceania Records for Australia, New Zealand, China, SE Asia and Japan. Then let’s throw in one or two sub-publishing deals with music publishing companies in some of those territories. That’s a pretty standard example for us. It all seems fairly straightforward. Each company is responsible for administering the album in its respective territory. This standard approach to international releases always lead to collection issues which, in turn, leads to days when my staff loses the will to live (do I hear an 'amen!' from catalogue & label managers?).

From YouTube to PPL to our primary collection society, we have to trawl through a series of disputes at the collection society level for releases which we are the master copy right holders. It doesn't - and shouldn't - be like this. All because the current system can't handle, nor does it represent, the modern music selling, performing (including public broadcasting) and licensing landscape. And yes, my team spends a great deal of time sorting out incorrect information submitted by partners, broadcasters, etc to the various individual collection agencies. Why? To claim and receive all of the royalties due to us as the master rights holders. Sure, we could just suck it up and bitch about it. Plenty do. I just think there is a more practical, productive and efficient way of going about things. It's a matter of good business and best practice.

So let’s muddy the waters by introducing digital music aggregators and digital music retailers. Aardvark has a primary music aggregator it uses. Each licensee will have its own domestic aggregators. While all of our releases are fully meta-tagged, and meta-data information is supplied to our partners, sometimes they use their own. They also use their own catalogue systems. There are time when they use their own ISRC codes (although we strongly encourage them to use ours, there are times when this isn’t possible). When it comes to registering tracks in their region for royalty collection purposes and reporting, there are times when our partners enter their own information and not ours. So the tracks become attributable to them and not Aardvark. It happens...more often than you think.

This always raises the spectre of multiple claims for the same album and tracks. This is one symptom and headache of an antiquated system which isn’t relevant in today’s music industry. It’s inefficient (and if you know me, you know I loathe inefficiency), causes avoidable headaches and requires collection agencies to deal with issues which they really shouldn’t have to deal with.

The other hassle facing rights owners is the need to either register with each and every royalty collection agency on the planet – or become a member of a large collection society which collects royalties world-wide through various agreements. In the latter case, you're reliant that the society you join 'has your back' and has robust agreements with other international societies. Depending on who you join, it can be excellent or it can be quite hit and miss.

So here are my thoughts…

I would love to be part of a collaborative, industry-led international music executive and collection agency team to develop one over-arching international collection agency. All current collection societies and agencies would become members. Music industry companies and organisations (labels, publishers, radios stations, podcasters, music television, music chart companies, digital music aggregators – pretty much any organisation or company handling, distributing, broadcasting and selling music) would be eligible for membership. I’d suggest a rolling membership fee structure ranging from a token minimal fee (for non-profits as well as student radio, hospital radio, community radio, etc) to membership fees based on net turn-over. Let’s face it, the only way such a proposal could succeed is with large buy-in from within the industry.

Master rights holders would bear the responsibility for uploading a release to this new collection organisation and administering their releases. The master rights holder would input all of the required data for a release and assign licensee information as each deal is done. This would include all contractually agreed sales and royalty percentage splits between the rights holder, the song writers, producers, musicians and licensing partnerships.

Each artist and album would have a unique identifier, as would each of the tracks on the album, EP or single. Once the input process has been completed, then and only then would a release be available for broadcasting as well as for sale, including the provision of music to licensing partners and aggregators. Every time a track is uploaded to an aggregator service or digital sales service, the upload cannot be completed with the unique identifier codes, including their own, to ensure they do indeed have the right to sell the release.

Sales and performance data can be linked to the system, to allow aggregators and collection societies to seamlessly provide reports to this new international-level collection society.This, in turn, could also level the playing field in terms of music chart reporting.

Radio stations, in-store entertainment companies, spaces which play music to the public, etc would all be able to submit accurate playlists. All they would need is the unique identifier (which should be supplied to them in the meta-data) to correctly attribute tracks from their playlists. Type in an artist ID number, track identifier and album identifier and the system pulls up the only track information there would be for reporting and payment purposes.

Of course, such a development team would need to meet with large, medium and small players in the music selling and licensing business for their input into the development of such a system. As end users themselves, the system wold need to address their methodology.

You get the basic idea. What I have presented above is a broad-sweeping concept outline. I know I haven’t thought of everything! Nor did I plan to.

Initial Benefits:

1.       Robust master rights holder protection and attribution
2.       Consistency across the board
3.       Flexibility in attributing licensees, sub-licensees, sub-publishing on a territory by territory basis
4.       The elimination of having to sign up to multiple collection societies directly
5.       Substantially increased transparency
6.       Streamlined royalty collection, reporting and payment process
7.       Increased accuracy of release information
8.       Standardised meta data and meta data use
9.       Fairer collection society royalty payment process (this would form a series of posts on its own. Let’s just say there isn’t parity between indies and majors for quite a few reasons and leave it at that).

As with all things – leaving the spectre of vested interest in the status quo aside - such a radical change would require industry will and support.

So…do you think the current royalty collection system needs modernizing? Please answer the anonymous poll below (it won’t bite and it isn’t an official poll).

Jobs at Aardvark Music: Head of Catalogue for China, India & Latin America (3 posts)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:36:00 +0000

Aardvark Records has been working hard to increase its presence and B2B partnerships in China. India and throughout Latin America.

We are currently seeking three Heads of Catalogue to work with the label and our publishing company to deliver our strategic plan in China, India and Latin America. There will be one Head of Catalogue for each of the three territories. This is a Mid to Senior level post, applicants will be expected to have the experience and contacts necessary to deliver within the remits of the post.

In its essence, this post is not about marketing or sales to the general public. We are seeking candidates with excellent B2B experience and client servicing experience. You will also have exceptional networking skills. The Head of Catalogue post is focused on monetizing Aardvark’s catalogue through strategic B2B partnerships: this could include, but not be limited to: licensing, synch, co-development deals, converged media and entertainment partnership deals, bespoke audio-visual production deals, synchronization, and structuring similar deals and creating similar opportunities.

Porter's Five Forces, PESTLE, SWOT and other strategic analytic tools will be part of your skill set.

In essence, successful applicants will be the acting representative for Aardvark Music Ltd, its artists and its catalogue in each respective territory.

Serious candidates for each territory will have a proven track record in securing high profile B2B partnership deals within the entertainment sector. Candidates will also be able to capably demonstrate: innovation, strategic planning as well as account handling, management and development. Candidates will also have excellent press and media contacts within their respective territory.

Each candidate will be domiciled in either China or India. For Latin America, we prefer to receive enquiries/applications from candidates domiciled in Mexico, Brazil or Argentina. Candidates will be native speakers with a demonstrated thorough knowledge of the music and entertainment industries within their respective territory.

Candidates will be exceptional communicators - written and oral. You will have an entrepreneurial drive and be goal-orientated. You will be a natural leader as well as a key team player. Each candidate will be the gatekeeper and steward of the company's reputation within each of the three territories.

Each Head of Catalogue will be a direct report to Aardvark Music’s CEO, which illustrates the senior level nature of these posts as well as their importance to the company.

This is not an A&R post nor will it have A&R duties. This is also not a B2C post.

For more information, or to send us a statement of interest, please send an email to: promotion[at]aardvarkrecords[dot]co[dot]uk

My Song Was Played 3.1 Million Times on Pandora. My Check Was $39...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 09:10:00 +0000

The comments are as interesting as the article itself. Either the public doesn't understand about copyright within the creative industries...or they just don't care. I wonder if those who feel music is free - or should be free - would feel about going into work every day and working for free.

by Paul Resnikoff Digital Music News

The following comment, posted on our [Digital Music News] site Tuesday, comes from Grammy-nominated, hit songwriter Ellen Shipley. One of her top tracks, "Heaven Is a Place On Earth," got played more than 3.1 million times on Pandora, in the last three months alone. Here's the rest...

It is interesting and very disturbing that no one is addressing the SONGWRITER's situation in this Pandora debacle.

Pandora wishes to REDUCE the amount of royalties that songwriters have already seen CUT in 2005. Let me give you an example of what Pandora is paying in royalties to SONGWRITERS--not the performers, but the people who write the songs--the foundation of the music world---

PANDORA ----"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" (co-written)

accounting period for 3 months-----3,112,300 streams

My Pandora royalty .................$39.61

For the rest of this article, please visit: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/121120pandora39

Japan Is About to Become the Largest Music Market In the World...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:47:00 +0000

Until China relaxes its restrictions and the Indian and Latin America become more adventurous with music from non-domestic artists....

Monday, June 17, 2013

by Paul Resnikoff Digital Music News

Last year, Japan startled the industry by almost beating the US in total recording sales. Now, it appears that Japan may grab the crown as the biggest music market in 2013, with relatively healthy physical sales a big part of the reason. Updated, 6/18, 8:15 pm PCT: Yesterday, we misread digital sales in Japan as trending up substantially in the first quarter. The opposite is actually the case: slipping mobile sales are pushing digital downward, though the overall impact on totals (physical+digital) is somewhat modest against far larger, and somewhat stable, physical sales. The updated version follows. Here's what the year-end, 2012 tally looked like, according to industry trade group IFPI (for a more complete breakdown of all countries, check out this unbelievable infographic). Combined, the US and Japan accounted for more than half the entire global recording industry total in 2012, though the US was only 1.3 percent larger than Japan. And while the US was struggling and losing money, Japan was one of the few markets that actually gained ground last year (by 4 percent).

For the rest of this excellent article, please visit: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130616japan

The 7 Attributes of Younger Music Fans...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:40:00 +0000

Thursday, June 6, 2013

by Paul Resnikof

They may never buy your album, yet they'll live-stream you eating breakfast. It's the ever-changing, younger music fan of 2013, and the focus of a just-released report from MTV Research

Here are 7 attributes of this young, still-emerging, and radically different audience group often dubbed Millennials. Depending on who you are, this may be just a part — or 100% — of your fanbase.

(1) They Crave Mundane Intimacy.
"Millennials crave intimate glimpses into the mundane daily activities of their favorite celebrities," Allison Hillhouse of MTV Research states.

53% of Millennials say the more an artist shares online about themselves, the closer they feel to them.

91% say it's OK if an artist has some flaws – it makes them human and likeable.

For the rest of the article, please visit: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130605younger

The Last 10 Years [of music sales] In Sweden (In 10 Seconds or Less...)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:30:00 +0000

Monday, July 29, 2013

by Paul Resnikoff Digital Music News

Original Instagram: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130728sweden?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=linkedin

Data compiled by the Grammofonleverantörernas förening (GLF), or the Swedish Recording Industry Association. To view again, just wait!

The above is only loosely scaled, so here's the breakdown of total revenues (same data source).

Introducing Ken Newby: New single 'San Fransisko" (Electro House)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:02:00 +0000

The weekend starts here!

To get into the party/clubbing vibe, have a little listen to Ken Newby's new single 'San Fransisko'.

We hope you love it as much as we do.

For more info about Ken, feel free to drop by http://www.aardvarkrecords.co.uk/index.php/dance-chillout-nujazz/house-music-downloads/electro-music-downloads/434-ken-newby-meken

Downturn in download sales and other music sales tales

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:58:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of being in London last week for a series of meetings. In one meeting, the topic of download sales came up.

During the course of that conversation, I mentioned that download sales had been falling for a wee while. Well, one of the people in the meeting jumped all over that statement, saying that he'd read where download sales were on the rise.

I - politely, I hasten to add - pointed out that streaming sales (which is basically renting music for 30 days) had overtaken download (full ownership) sales. Download sales have begun to tank. Streaming just doesn't offer the scale of revenue that download sales do. So there's a huge difference between subscription/streaming rental income and download revenues. It's like comparing the size of England with the size of Australia: two quite different scales.

However, I was polite and let the matter drop.

Nice to see that I was right...not that I had any doubt about it. And as an entertainment industry CEO, I should ruddy well hope so too :)

Below are some interesting articles on the topic. They also include some dire predictions for CD sales.

Don't be mislead by the USA-focus. This is happening everywhere:

IFPI Digital Music report 2013. http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/dmr2013.pdf

BillboardBiz: PWC Report forecasts 1% growth for us music market. http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/1565752/pwc-report-forecasts-1-growth-for-us-music-market

MusicWeek: US digital track sales decline 2.3% in 2013 - Nielsen SoundScan mid-year report. http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/us-digital-track-sales-decline-2-3-nielsen-soundscan-mid-year-report/055283

Music Industry Blog: http://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/free-reports/

RAIN: Analyzing Apple's streaming play in light of falling download sales. http://www.kurthanson.com/category/issue-title/72213-analyzing-apple-s-streaming-play-light-falling-download-sales

Music Ally: Swedish recorded music sales rose 13.8% in 2012. http://musically.com/2013/01/18/swedish-recorded-music-sales-rose-13-8-in-2012/

Benny Tetteh-Lartey: catch the forthcoming single courtesy of G-Technology’s Driven Creativity Music Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 14:44:00 +0000

Our best wishes and congratulations to Benny Tetteh-Lartey for his G-Technology’s Driven Creativity Music Competition entry.

Will he nab this ward two years running? We hope so! You deserve it.

You can catch a sneaky peek at his forthcoming single "Gone to Far" on the competition website:
http://bit.ly/12GBly2

Music sales: don't forget the baby boomers!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:16:00 +0000

A recent shopping foray on the high street recently got me thinking once again about the current state of the music industry. Specifically, it got me thinking about the craft of selling music…and who we’re selling music to.

It should have been a simple enough shopping excursion. I was looking for new duds that were smart-casual, versatile, would fit in easily with my existing wardrobe, easy to care for and of a good quality. Simple. By the time I hit River Island, I had a bit of meltdown. This will need a wee bit of explaining.

I’m an avid sportsman. As a result, I have an athlete’s physique. That is to politely say that I have the thighs, calves and bum of someone who is constantly active, whether it’s playing sports or gym training sessions. As a physically fit person who doesn't look his age, I’m not particularly keen on the style of dress 40-something year old men are supposedly wanting to wear. Many of my mates, who are of a similar age, don’t want to wear ‘middle aged’ men clothes either. We’re active, we lead active lives, we look after ourselves and we want contemporary styles. More importantly, we have the money to buy such things.

So there I was wandering from FCUK to Next to the Gap to Billabong and many other retail shops before landing in River Island. For a person not overly keen on the whole shopping experience, an endless carousel of shops is torture. So what was proving to be my own personal Waterloo? Trousers. Specifically, trousers made for athletic physiques. Twisted cut, carrot cut, slim cut and skinny jeans are everywhere. You can’t escape them for love nor money. These cuts are great if you don’t have an arse, thighs or a bum. In short, perfect for young teens, late developers and the under-fed. They’re not so great if you have any kind of an adult body shape, much less an athletic one.

So that was my takeaway from shopping. Clearly, modern clothing trends are pitched at a market segment who can least afford to buy them. It’s always been that way. However, times have changed and clothing retailers haven’t kept up. 40 somethings and older are fitter, younger in attitude and style conscious in a way our forefathers weren't. I’d actually argue that my generation is fitter and more active than those half our age. So the high street is missing out on a basic and simple trick here. High street fashion retailers put up unnecessary barriers for ‘oldies’ to buy new clobber based on the latest body dismorphic trends and styles.

This got me thinking about the music industry.

I've made this mistake myself. Back when we were launching The Truths’ new album, I spent an incalculable number of hours researching the then current alternative rock marketplace. I wanted to build a picture of the demographic buying this genre of music. Marketing surveys, questionnaires, research reports…everything said that males aged between 16 and 25 were our market for this project. All of our marketing and promotional efforts which were considerable, were based on these findings: imagery, videos, the language used to chat about the band and the album, information provided to our business partners, etc. Data analytics said something quite different. Analytics gathered from social networking sites and website statistics painted a very different picture. In reality, is was 35 – 44 year old women, followed by 35 to 44 year old men, who were the ones largely talking about the band, watching its videos, engaging with its music and talking about the band online. That’s a huge jump from 16 – 25 year old males. Needless to say all of our marketing efforts were revamped immediately.

So how did I get it wrong?

That’s an easy one. Marketing surveys are great tools, however, respondents aren't always honest. Many times, the respondents will tell you what they think you want to hear. What they say and what they really think can oftentimes be two completely different things. We also believed the old adage that alt rock music is pretty much the domain of teenage lads and 20-somethings. There was a time this was probably true. It isn't any longer.

In turn, this got me to thinking about wider trends (others would call them ‘issues’, I see them as trends). The answer had been staring me in the face all along. Demographics have changed wildly in the western world. Simply put, there are far more people over the age of 60 then there are under the age of 20. Yet, labels and publishers are still fighting for attention from a diminishing demographic. Sure, there’s been a bit of a wee baby boom over the past 5 or so years. However, these new baby boomers won’t be of an age to make regular music purchases for another 10 years or so. Meanwhile, we've been virtually ignoring that crucial demographic who: 1) still has a love affair with good music; 2) is still buying music in significant numbers (and not streaming it); 3) enjoys concerts/gigs and 4) tends to be more loyal.

This group is enjoys discovering the new, particularly when it comes to music. they make recommendations to their friends. This demographic is technology savvy and don't hesitate to use it when sharing something cool they've discovered.

The bonus is the fact that this older demographic still enjoys a bit of mystique when it comes to music and performers – they don’t want to know every little thing about them.

Few in the music industry are talking to this demographic, much less actively reaching out tho them.

While no one demographic will ever be the answer to music sales prayers, why limit ourselves to the faulty wisdom of ‘only the young like modern music’?

My advice…don’t under sell by focusing exclusively on the youth market. 40+ people buy music too. I should know…my vast and eclectic personal music collection still continues to grow and grow and grow.

Band management revelry: Russia 2001

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:22:00 +0000

A funny story from the entertainment industry

I thought I’d lighten the tone after a short series of serious posts. After all, humour is an essential survival tool in the entertainment industry (music, TV, film, book publishing, etc). After all, professionals in the field of entertainment have to deal with general insanity, ego, perversity and caprice pretty much on a daily basis. We take our laughs where we can find them.

To those of you who aren't in the entertainment industry, I’ll understand if you don’t get the laugh. For those of you who are in this industry, grab a beverage of choice and a Danish. This is the kind of tale which should bring wry smiles to the likes of Simon Napier-Bell, Tom Watkins, etc.

What follows is one of my all-time favourite stories to tell. It still makes me laugh out loud as I’m telling it.

Picture this: Russia in 2001. I’m an active artist manager in the artist management company I owned up to that point, Blue Moon Entertainment. I have a young Midlands-based Nu Metal band that I've taken on tour in Poland, Russia, the Baltic states and Germany. The band is a group of 18 year old lads who were born and raised outside of Milton Keynes. From Day 1, all I’d ever heard from them was how serious they were to make it in the music business. They wanted a great recording deal with a major label and would do what it took to land the deal. So that’s the basic context where they’re concerned.

This tour kicked off in Poland. The lead singer promptly forgets everything he learned in his very expensive vocal lessons. On the first night he decides to scream down the microphone. He equates screaming with emotion and ‘seriousness’. Now he’s been taught how to do this correctly. I know, it cost me the best part of £1,500 in extensive vocal lessons. But forget that, he wants to scream so he screams. Naturally, his voice is shot afterwards. This is Day 1…we still have 24 performances to go…

I pull him to one side afterwards and read him the riot act. There’s no way his voice can survive that sort of punishment; not with almost back to back performances. I thought I’d made myself quite clear. It obviously went in one ear and out the other. Days 2 and 3 were proof enough of this. So by Day 4, he can barely speak much less sing. At this point, I've nearly throttled him, the other band members have had a go and the Polish tour manager and promoter aren't happy. Which naturally reflected on me. In my previous blog post, I ended with the comment that control is an illusion. Meet Exhibit A. And I've been here before with another young, British grunge band.

Now the singer is terrified because he’s naffed everyone off but, more importantly, he can barely speak, swallow any food or drink or sing because his throat is that messed up. So the Polish tour promoter nips out and buys some cough mixture. This is Poland. Their over-the-counter cough mixtures, while effective, are also exceptionally strong…much stronger than anything available in the UK. Sam the promoter gives the singer explicit instructions. A five year old would have understood it: do not neck this like it’s Coca Cola. One teaspoon at lunch, with a meal, and another two hours before a performance. Did he listen? Hmmm, yeah, right! He was also told not to speak. He had to write everything down or use his intriguing form of sign language to communicate.

By the time we leave Poland for the Russian border, he’s acquired a serious bout of diarrhoea. We have a gig that first night. So I pulled out my bag of trips to calm his colon down, none of which worked. So now he’s in a right panic. I’m saying nothing at this point, because if I went to that dark place (and any serious manager will know what I mean by this) things are going to end badly for him.

We make it to St Petersburg, where we’re met by the Russian tour manager and promoter. Now how best to describe Boris, our main host while in Russia? He’s Russian and ex special forces. We needed this to safely travel through Russia (another funny story for another day). Russians are not exactly renowned for being a soft, complacent, fluffy kind of people. He was also a flippin man mountain: 6’5” at the very least with a neck so large that I couldn't get both my hands around it if the mood ever struck me to do so. His biceps were the size of a new-born infant’s head. He didn't have a chest as much as he had a vast expanse of pure, hard rock. And I was pretty certain he could crush large rocks with his bare hands. Basically, not a man to be trifled with.

We’re at the venue, with Boris, and the singer pulls me to one side to say he couldn't possible go on that night because of his diarrhoea. I’m smiling at this point. It’s the moment I've been patiently waiting for. Boris is a few feet away, pretending nonchalantly not to listen to every work being said. The rest of the band is standing there wondering how this was all going to pan out.

I explained the basics to him:

He chose to completely disregard every bit of advice and preparation work that went into this tour
No one forced him to scream down a microphone in Poland. Indeed, he’d been given endless grief about it
No one put a gun to his head and forced him to neck potent cough medicine. He chose to do that all on his own
The people in the audience had spent the best part of a month’s wages to see the band perform. They’d probably been saving for months to be able to buy the tickets
If he wanted the gig cancelled, he’d have to go over to Boris and explain the whys and hows of the reasons behind cancelling the concert

Points 1 through 3 received a spoiled pout.

Point 4 wasn't even acknowledged.

Point 5 resulted in a look of horror so profound that it nearly made me burst out loud with laughter. I was summarily told that that wasn't his job to do. He wasn't going to say anything to Boris – that that was my job as his manager. I clock a smirk slowly appearing on Boris’s face. I know he’s clocked mine.

I calmly replied that that simply wasn't possible. I was afraid that, in this instance, the singer would have to do his own dirty work. After all, he was the cause of the problem. He refused. Then came the wailing of ‘what am I going to do?!”

So I tell him in no uncertain terms. I sent him off to find a bucket. He comes back with a big ole tin bucket. He’s looking confused. I tell him to put it in the stage’s wing, to the left, behind a curtain. I then send him off to look for a screen or something to provide some modesty. That was me being sympathetic. There were stage technicians back there after all! And now the penny drops. The horror on his face was priceless. “You’re not serious! You can’t possibly be serious!”

Again, the prince of calm, I simply said that I was, indeed, quite serious. So much so that I had him scout up some loo rolls to put beside the bucket. I suggested he work out a signal for the rest of the band so that if the urge took him, he could leave the stage with some decorum to do his business. I told him to think of it as a camping toilet, just inside. And I made the band practice the signal and improvise some interludes for each song…just in case.

And Boris? We went off for a drink during the sound checks. His only comment about the scenario was this: “I like your style.”

The band did indeed get through it. And yes, the singer did have to make some quick trips to the bucket in the wings – giving me the evils on stage every time he returned.

There was still one more laugh to be had. At the end of the gig, after everyone in the packed-out auditorium had left, Boris and I were chatting about the next evening’s gig as the band started to make their way to the bar. I call out to the singer to come back. I’m greeted with a very surly and sulky “What?”

I point to the bucket behind the curtain. “I think you've forgot something.”

Horror once again. “Alex, mate, you can’t be serious! You’re having me on, right?”

My smile is broad and shinning. “It’s your shit mate. I suggest you deal with it.”

Now he’s dumbfounded. “But what am I going to do with it?”

I start walking to the bar with Boris at this point and shoot over my shoulder “I’m sure you’ll figure it out”.

And he did.

And miraculously, everything he learned about correctly singing forcefully down a microphone returned. Go figure.

Being an effective executive manager

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:59:00 +0000

Sir Alan Sugar, Marjorie Scardino, Lynne Franks, Guy Holmes, Maurice Saatchi, Richard Alford and Chris Shepherd-Barron. These aren't names you normally see grouped together. So what’s the link? While they come from different backgrounds and industries, each person in the list above is an exceptional executive manager. I have had the pleasure of working with all of them. To say they were inspirational executive role models for me would be a massive understatement. While each has inadvertently spawned countless ‘mini me’ copycats and z-rated versions of themselves, they can rest assured that they will never be equaled. And that’s a good thing. Why’s that? Their ‘management style’ was (and remains) an extension of who they are as people. That is why they will always remain individual stars in the world of commerce.

The key thing they taught me, whether they realized it or not, was that an effective – and I’m purposefully avoiding the term ‘good’ – executive is a steward. And not just any steward. They taught me that an executive manager steers a clear course through calm waters as well as stormy waters. It’s all about getting a company from point A to point B in a safe and responsible manner. Results weren't the right results unless they benefitted the majority and not the few sitting at the top table in their respective organisations. They served as well as ruled. Sadly, in these times, executives seem to believe the top jobs are solely about ruling and not serving the needs of the many within an organisation.

Being a senior executive or manager is a privilege and not a right. It is a recognition of talent, skills and abilities, a kind of reward – it is not a right in and of itself. It is not the attainment of a kind of absolute monarchy. The world of business should take a leaf out of the British Parliament’s book. Parliament did away with absolute monarchs. The world of commerce seems loathe to do so. In my humble opinion, that has been to the detriment of business and those who work for them. Today it seems more emphasis is placed on the trappings of ‘power’ rather than the benefits of stewardship and service.

I am a crucible of contradictions. I adore technology and the new tools which allow me to be a more effective steward of my company. I love the new. I have been a long-standing advocate of innovation. And yet, I have long-held classic (you might call them old fashioned!) beliefs when it comes to human interactions, particularly in the areas of work and business. I was weaned on them. These ideas were like some secret spice sprinkled liberally in everything I ate or drank during my formative years. I've had my time fighting them, embracing them, experimenting with them and adapting them. Like a favourite book or CD, these ideals have never strayed very far. They make me who I am.

In this respect, I kind of like being old fashioned. I firmly believe that knowing how to treat people, particularly those who either work with or for me, has made me the executive that I am today.

In the rough and tumble, hurly burly world of machismo-fuelled executivedom, where accountability seems to have taken something of a hiatus, the traditional relationship between executives and their business, as well as their colleagues and staff, has broken down. In concentrating on the glory of ‘me’ or ‘I’, there isn't room enough for thinking about a business, organisation or staff. Everyone is the loser in that scenario.

So what are the ingredients I think go into making an effective executive manager?

Noblisse oblige

Well, I did say part of me is old fashioned, and it doesn't get more traditional than this! I come from a family that instilled the belief that those with influence, those who hold the reigns of power, have a duty to be mindful of those who rely upon them. Executives who view people as expendable or as assets or as commodities to be moved around (and off) a chessboard diminish the role and purpose of the executive. Our staff, especially dedicated and loyal staff, are the lifeblood of our business and should be celebrated and recognised as such. They are a reflection of us, our business. They are the anchors of our achievement. It is our duty to ensure an environment where they are valued and respected.

This is one aspect of noblisse oblige – and probably the one that’s most recognisable.

The other and less acknowledged aspect of noblisse oblige focuses on failure. An honourable and responsible executive should metaphorically fall on his or her sword, without prompt, when they get things badly wrong. Taking Bob Diamond as an example, executives shouldn't be pushed to do this. I've make mistakes, thankfully not major ones. When they happened, I raised my hand, acknowledged it, apologised for it and relayed how the mistake would be rectified. In other words, I owned them. And I learned from them.

I've never blamed one of my line reportees or colleagues for one of my mistakes. That seems to be lost practice in the executive world. An executive is responsible for his or her actions and decisions – as well as those who report to them.

Work for the business’s benefit…and not your own

In today’s business world, it doesn't seem enough to be an effective, respected and admired executive. Too many executives want to be like rock stars. Fame is as important as fortune. Neither focal point serves one’s business particularly well. There’s nothing wrong with gaining public acclaim for a job well done. However, when the focus is more on the individual rather than his or her business, there’s a problem.

An executive is always in the service of his or her business and its employees. It’s not the other way around.

Give as much as you expect

I’m going to take Aardvark as an example. When our staff works until the wee hours of the morning putting together album promo packs for press, TV and radio, I’m there, shoulder to shoulder, with them. Yep, that’s right, the CEO is there stuffing envelopes and slapping on mailing labels. Sure, I could swan off and leave them to it. I could…but I wouldn't have the kind of working relationship I have with the team. And Aardvark would be a lesser company. If a scout calls in ill and can’t go to a gig to check out a band, Aardvark’s Chairman fills in. Is this the best use of our time, experience and skills? Yes and no. We do it to illustrate that we’re all in it together. And believe me, it is appreciated and we're all the more respected because of it.

In my previous post, I mentioned that executives should roll up their sleeves and get stuck in to the day to day operational side of the business when the need arises. It keeps us in touch with the daily realities of the business as well as the day to day demands on our staff. We may be the leaders, however, we’re as much a part of the business our staff members…and vice versa. Our salaries and ‘status’ rests on the level of stewardship and responsibility for the business that we (happily!) shoulder.

Benefiting the many rather than the few

If a decision doesn't benefit the majority of the people who work within the organisation or business, we don’t do it. For example, over the past few years, a major label has made offers to buy Aardvark. The money offered was excellent. And yes, I had visions of a sweet villa in a hot and tropical climate as a reward for services rendered via these deals. Neither I nor my Chairman progressed these deals. Why? Aardvark’s artists and staff would have come out of it badly. Neither he nor I could do that to them. After all, the label’s success is due to them as well as our own efforts.

Sadly, this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Over the past decade and a half, I've witnessed an increasing number of senior executives and mangers make short term policy decisions which benefit them but not their employees or the business. The result? Increasing levels of low staff morale, loss of reputation, high levels of absenteeism and stress and high levels of staff turnover. All of these should be warning bells for any business or organisation. What bigger signpost does one need to highlight that something has gone fundamentally wrong within an organisation?

Take decisions that benefit the many within an organisation.

Listen…and learn

The art of human communication is suffering today. Read the names that introduced this post. These are heavy-hitting executives. One of the many things I admired about them was the simple fact that they listened to what people said to them, they clearly thought about what was being said, and responded in kind. They don’t talk over people. Nor do they interrupt…unless someone is speaking nonsense…or wasting their time. I love the cut and thrust of business. I don’t, however, approve of rudeness. Rudeness doesn't equal passion. I equate rudeness to laziness, ego and insecurity. Like the Shania Twain song says, it doesn't impress me much.

For instance, if you’re European, cast your mind back to the mid 90s. There were plans afoot to launch a new football Super League. I was the project manager for the presentation to the FA. Alan Sugar Chaired that meeting. The FA clearly weren't happy about the proposal. Yet, they were exceptionally courteous. As a body, the senior FA executives sat and listened to the pitch. Alan Sugar’s summative statement at the end of the pitch, following a recess, may have been gut-wrenchingly harsh but it was also fair. At no point was he rude. He proved, beyond any shadow of doubt, that he and his colleagues had listened carefully and thought through the ramifications and implications stemming from an additional European Football League. I admired him for that.

I'm smiling as I write this next bit. I will always remember the morning, before a City of London Financial Results Presentation, when Marjorie Scardino kept making me cups of coffee...herself. I may have been the person producing and running that presentation, however, in the grand scheme of things I was a non-entity in the business world. I was a young, mid-20s junior executive and that simply blew my mind at the time.

These examples seems to be the exception rather than the rule. In the rush to ‘prove one’s mettle’, prove one’s importance or point scoring, today’s executives seem to equate rudeness with strength, acumen or ability. Rudeness, acumen and ability are not interchangeable. Rudeness should never be lauded, rewarded or celebrated. It’s something I’d like to see stamped out of the modern business culture. It’s counter-productive.

Observe

Back in the day, great executives and managers had keenly developed observational skills. Executives didn't place themselves in ivory towers away from the fray of the workplace. They understood and measured the barometer of staff welfare. They knew when to apply more gas to get things moving at a faster pace. They also knew when to apply the brakes to prevent over-work and long periods of increased stress levels within the department(s) for which they were responsible. This almost seems like a by-gone age. In the modern workplace, it’s all about ‘sweating the assets’: staff are expendable and easily replaceable. The modern executive and manager piles on the work to the point of staff collapsing under the pressure, who, in turn, are blamed for not being ‘tough enough’ or simply ‘weak’.

Nor is it uncommon to hear executives boasting, on the QT of course, about how many people in their department are signed off with stress and stress-related illnesses. It’s a bizarre kind of executive one-upmanship. Putting ethics and morals to one side, this is just plain bad business. Who wins in this scenario? No one…and yet, it’s a relatively new practice that stubbornly persists.

Bad business practices are in no one’s best interest. It certainly doesn't serve a business’s interests.

Last but by no means least…

There are aspects of an executive’s career which used to come as standard and now seem like something of a luxury. I, for one, would welcome their return:

Inspire: Be a positive role model. Let’s bring back some respect for the role of the executive and the manager. Let’s do away with the Us (executives/managers) vs Them (staff) mentality. It’s divisive, counter-intuitive and ultimately destructive. This management approach weakens a business. It never strengthens it.
Support growth & innovation: It’s how everyone in the business, and the business itself, grows and prospers.
Micro manage when and where you absolutely have to. Micro management should be used sparingly and well. My view on this one is if I have to micro-manage my teams, I might as well do their roles myself.
Consistency, continuity and transparency in all of our processes, policies and procedures

And remember, control is an illusion. We may think we’re in control of people, the internal and external business environments and how things get done…however, in truth, we’re not. Not really. The effective executive manager understand this and plans accordingly.

Why the music industry needs to operate as…a business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:49:00 +0000

The music industry is one of the few remaining major industries that is unregulated and unlicensed. That’s not bad going considering, as an industry, it collectively handles vast sums of money on other peoples’ behalf: recording artists, songwriters, clients, business partners, etc. Nor is there a requirement for a music company’s owners and/or senior management to hold any relevant industry licenses or necessary formal qualifications. There is also precious little accountability when things go wrong. The only real parts of our business that requires adherence to regulatory controls are our human resources and finance departments.

Overall, we have an unparalleled and enviable degree of autonomy in how we shape, operate and manage our record labels and music publishing companies. It could be argued that this is great for senior level music executives with decades of experience and knowledge. We’d argue that this laissez faire government attitude to our industry gives us free reign to innovate and encourages marketplace development. However, what does this mean to the vast majority of start-up and intermediary-level music industry companies out there? I’d argue that a lack of standardized policies, procedures and structures more often than not leads to inexperienced labels failing. And we all know people who have literally lost everything, including the shirts of their backs, after a foray into the music industry.

The music industry resembles the old Wild West in more ways than one.

Success in another industry doesn’t ensure success in the music industry

In my 20+ years in the music industry, I've seen countless labels and music publishers come and go. I really don’t want to think in terms of hard numbers because that figure would just be too damn depressing. I've met high flyers from other industries – financial, legal, broadcasting and more – set up labels and publishing companies only for them to disappear without a trace a year or two later. Often-times saddled with appalling debts and a string of lawsuits. Why? These were highly accomplished professionals in equally demanding and cutthroat industries with sizable funds to invest in the music industry. They learned the hard lesson that entering the music industry is like learning how to walk and talk all over again. The music industry has its own set of rules…but more on this later.

It’s a secret that’s not really a secret. The music industry has its own set of rules. You either know them or you don’t. If you don’t, a new business in this industry will sooner or later experience the common pitfalls which can lead to failure in terms of financial viability and sustainability. Why’s that? It’s because the rules are guarded. This isn't an industry renowned for collaborative working or knowledge sharing. Certain secrets are jealously guarded. You either know them or you don’t. Those who work their way up through the ranks in this industry pretty much cut their teeth on this knowledge through day-to-day working experiences. And if you ask? Chances are very, very few individuals within the industry will tell you these secrets. It’s an industry that revels in motorway pile ups. What could be more fun than watching another label crash and burn? The glee is palpable. I kid you not. This isn't to say that everyone in the industry is like this. However, this behaviour isn't exactly uncommon. It’s like that, that’s the way it is and if you don’t have the stomach for dealing with these types then this industry probably isn't the right one for you.

A fundamental move away from a ‘hobby’ approach to running a business to adopting a business approach

One of the first mistakes new and new-ish music industry businesses succumb to is the myth that running a music-related company is ‘glamorous’. It isn't. It’s anything but. Sure, there are the occasional glamorous moments involving red carpets, a great knees-up with superb food and all the drink you can neck. The rest of it? It’s bloody hard work.

Some of that work is tedious. Some of it is monotonous (I can hear all the digital content people charged with embedding meta data into audio and video files and updating a multitude of databases yelling ‘hell yes!”). Some of it is absolutely mind-imploding.

Quite a bit of it is frustrating (chasing royalty and sales revenues, trying to have business discussions with chemically-enhanced people, dealing with egos the size of China’s population, bullshitters, rip-off merchants, those who are still surviving on their glory days in the business, downright unsavory characters etc). With that said, all of the day-to-day operations are important and crucial.

There needs to be a fundamental shift away from viewing a new music business company as a hobby. This sounds simple enough. However, when I speak with people who have recently set up a music business within a two year time frame, when I get them talking about their business and how they see it, without realising it, many of them talk about their business as though it were a hobby – and not a business.

I almost admire the people who say they are in it for the money. At least they are couching their statement within a business sounding framework. It quickly falls down, in most cases, when I ask them how they’re going to make that money, especially as sales revenues are challenging in an era of declining sales. That blank and panicked look I receive says everything.

So how do you adopt a business approach?

Appointing the right team – get the skills mix right!

If you’re contemplating setting up a new business in the music industry, there are a few fundamental things to consider:

Don’t set up your business as a ‘one man band’ operation. You won’t have all of the necessary skills required to stack the success deck in your favour.
Set the business up with a small but dedicated team of partners who bring real world skills to your proposed business:

someone with core business experience (accounting, financial and legal)
someone with communications experience (marketing, advertising, PR, digital, promotions) who also has the right contacts
someone with strong industry contacts
a music industry geek – that one person within the business who will know every facet of mechanical royalties, performance royalties, collection agency protocols and processes, licensing, synchronization, etc.

And one of the above will need to be a strong business strategist and visionary

Without this quite basic mix of skills, your business faces formidable, and probably insurmountable, barriers to entry. If you think you’ll rely on luck, well, that’s how the music industry operates. There will be plenty of people queuing up to take your money with varying results ranging from poor to moderate. Lucky breaks rarely happen in this industry.

Luck should never factor into your business equation.

Putting the ‘business’ back into the music business

A ‘rolling up the sleeves and getting down to work’ attitude for senior and middle level executives should be standard in the working environment. It’s really the only way to know the business, its practices and getting a feel for life ‘on the ground’ by your troops – especially for a growing business. This approach keeps a business’s executives in touch with the day to day realities of the business. But more on this in my next post which will concentrate on the skills and approaches to being an effective music industry executive.

I learned well in the world of advertising, specifically from the likes of M&C Saatchi. One of the golden rules was your stand-in for anything was your boss. It’s a structure based on the upward delegation of responsibility. That’s how we work at Aardvark. If my Head of Marketing for EMEA can’t attend a meeting or perform a time-sensitive function, he doesn't delegate responsibility for this to his assistant. He delegates it upwards to me. After all, it’s what I get paid for. One of the other golden rules at M&C Saatchi was the mantra ‘make your mother proud’. Think about that. Really think about it. It’s a very effective barometer for decision making.

Creating an effective business model and structure

When I joined Aardvark in 2003 I was placed in an enviable position. I had free reign to do as I wished in the re-structure of the company. Indeed, it’s the primary reason why I was brought on board in the first place. Even then, I thought the standard music industry structure was archaic; especially the near god-like status of A&R. Aardvark had no problem in finding and developing new talent, the principle role of A&R. Indeed, we were drowning in demos from prospective artists. This isn't to denigrate the role or the achievements of A&R. Seriously, some of my biggest industry heroes come from the realm of A&R. Music production and music buying practices have changed. The role of A&R has largely remained the same and no longer reflects these changes. We have A&R scouts, typically university students, who receive a form of ‘finder’s fees’ for act they find, put our way and which we ultimately sign.

One of the first things I did at Aardvark was to go from the standard record label model to a model based on the creative industries’ studio setup (advertising agency, PR, gaming, visual design, etc). With years’ of experience in advertising, fashion PR and international event management, this was a logical approach. It also proved to be incredibly effective. This approach:

streamlined the business
provided efficiencies of scale
ensured consistency in all facets of the business
improved budgeting allocation, management and control
improved relations with artists, managers and clients; and
improved our B2B and B2C relationships and communication processes

So how does this work in practice?

A&R posts became Account Handler posts.

These are the talented multi-taskers who manage what happens at the coalface. An account handler acts as the main contact for a client (e.g. recording artist, songwriter, artists’ managers, etc), on a day-to-day basis, helping to ensure that the client’s overall needs are met:

that the specific needs and requirements of the client are understood and adhered to
that the work is done on time
that the work is done to a high standard
helping to build up the long-term relationship with their client(s)

Head of A & R and genres became Creative Directors / Account Directors

I’m not a big believer in inflated middle management levels. So in my label’s structure, there aren't any account managers. Why have more management levels than you need? Duties typically found at this level in a creative studio environment have been split between account handlers and creative directors/account directors.

The responsibilities of a creative director include:

leading the communication design, interactive design, and concept forward in any work assigned, both for artist-related work/projects and for the label/publisher
the creative director guides a team or teams of employees with skills and experience related to graphic design, fine arts, motion graphics, and other creative industry fields

S/he is a lead person. They are in charge of:

what ideas and concepts go forward
fully understanding the ideas and opinions of their team(s) in a respectful/critical manner (providing constructive criticism, turning small ideas into larger concepts, etc.)
making decisions in a deadline driven environment in the most efficient way as possible
coordinating their team(s) in an accurate conceptual direction of where a project needs to go and involving their team(s) in constant creative/brainstorming sessions (this is crucial!)
being able to learn new skills and strategies from fellow workers and how to apply these to future projects

At Aardvark, we have a creative director for pop and rock music and a second for EDM. Principally, they are responsible for managing the activities of their account handling teams.

Essential business skills

There are a handful of essential business skills which any music industry company should possess. I’d go as far as to say they are requirements in stacking the success deck in your favour:

Management accounting. This includes understanding and creating cost centres, the budget setting and monitoring processes, budget reconciliations, etc
Operational and systems processes, including supply side and distribution chain knowledge
Client handling – especially experience in handling ‘difficult’ and/or ‘demanding’ clients
Staff development – in other words, ensuring your staff have the skills necessary to compete in an every-changing, demanding and challenging music selling environment. Staff development is an investment in your team. It’s something that sends a direct message to your employees that they are important, they are worth investing in, they’re important to the future of the business…and gives them a stake in the outcomes of the business. Be an investor in people.
Strategic thinking. By no means the least on this short list of essential skills. Strategic thinking is closely linked to innovation and the underlying forces that drive a business. Every business needs at least one strategic thinker at a senior level. Strategy is a business’s lifeblood. Short, medium and long term goals need to be established, shared within your business, monitored and tweaked. Everyone within your business should know if the business is on-track to achieving the over-arching goals, be they part of a 2 year, 3 year or 5 year business plan. Your team also need to know how strategies have been achieved – or not – and how the business can build upon (or address failure) on a regular basis.

Expansion

Success doesn’t only mean more revenues. It also means more work. More work, with healthy profit margins, typically leads to the appointment of new staff. So what kind of staff did we opt for to begin with? Revenue-generating posts. One of your first duties when launching a new business is to make that business as financially secure as possible as quickly as possible.

For instance - and not to dismiss the vital work of graphic designers - when the time came to appoint new staff it was far more vital to me for Aardvark to have a marketing assistant than an in-house graphic designer. A marketing assistant would bring in a minimum revenue of their salary plus 30% to 40% in net profit. A graphic designer wouldn't, not based on our business model. With this type of model, a graphic designer was a luxury we couldn't afford at that point. A marketing assistant was essential. A marketing assistant could, in theory, pay for a graphic designer through the revenues he or she raised. It couldn't work the other way around. A graphic designer simply couldn't bring in the same level of revenue to pay for a marketing assistant.

This is a structure and methodology that serves Aardvark well. Is it a blue print for all labels? No. It’s an approach that fits us and our ethos. It also fits my creative industries background.

To sum up, I won’t say that the above will ensure success. All the planning in the world will never guarantee a successful outcome. There are factors and variables outside of our control. For instance, if you’re developing a hot new Two-Step act in a marketplace that’s not buying Two-Step music, you’re going to face some pretty fundamental obstacles. However, planning for and strategizing for success should be at the heart of what any music-related company does.

So how does your proposed business score against the skills highlighted in this post?

How to approach a record label & music publisher with your demo - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:12:00 +0000

This post is an update on our very popular “How not to approach a record label about your demo” post http://aardvarkrecords.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/how-not-to-approach-record-label-about.html This post concentrates more on aspiring artists and songwriters and how to approach record labels and music publishers via social networking sites.

Record labels and music publishers have created a solid presence on social networking sites. We’re active on approximately 200 of them all around the globe. We've been active on them since the very early days of social networking. And in that time, we've noticed a few things:

Recording artists and songwriters in Southeast Asia and the Far East approach labels and music publishers in a very professional manner. Aspiring artists and acts understand that how they approach a label or publisher online speaks volumes about the level of their seriousness and professionalism.
Recording artists and songwriters in Latin America, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe also approach labels and publishers online in a professional manner.
Recording artists and songwriters in Western Europe (excluding Germany) and North America, on the whole, create a negative professional impression when contacting labels and publishers.
We don’t receive ‘listen to my demo’ requests in any significant numbers from Northern Europe, Australia or New Zealand to make an overall comment. However, on the whole, those that we have received usually created a positive professional impression.

So where do North Americans and Western Europeans go wrong?

If you were applying for a job, would you do a slapdash job of it? If you were applying for a job would you not include a CV (resume) or covering letter? Would you be surprised if you didn't receive a reply from a potential employer, or a rejection, if you didn't include these basic job application items?

Why should the music industry be any different?

Asking a label to listen to your demo is exactly the same process as applying for a job. The only real difference being that job advertisements are for existing real-time jobs an employer is looking to fill with the best candidates. Asking to be signed by a label or a music publisher is like asking for a job that doesn't exist…and making the best damn argument for why the job should be created for you and how you’re the best person or act to fill it. You have to make a case…and then prove it! All of your “i”s need to be dotted and all of your “t”s crossed. Anything less and you won’t be taken seriously. And if you don’t do this? Well, if you’re lucky, your demo listening request falls to the back of the queue, behind all those who took the time and effort to supply the important information labels and publishers need to make an initial assessment. At worst, you won’t hear anything at all.

We’re also not your mate or your friend. At best, we’re going to be convivial and mutually-respectful working colleagues. Unless a label exec has given you the green light to do so, never start a post, Tweet or email to a label/publisher with “mate”, “love”, “dude”, “friend” or anything similar. It shows a marked lack of respect. The music industry may be informal – but it’s not that informal. It’s still a business and the basic rules of etiquette should always be observed and respected. It creates a good and positive first impression.

OK, so how do I approach a label or publisher on its social networking site?

Take the time to surf around a label or music publisher’s social networking site(s) BEFORE you add them, follow them or request to be a ‘friend’. Yes, labels and publishers use social networking sites to promote their artists. However, they also use social networking to inform fans and people interested in them on what they are about, their ethos, their unique selling points and the kinds of music they are into. Our social networking sites speak volumes about our business. And it’s surprising how few people spend the time surfing through our Tweets or Facebook status updates to get a better understanding of the kind of music we’re into, the kinds of artists/acts we’re into or how we work. If you aspire to be a rap star, why would you friend or follow a death metal label? Seriously, this happens!
Many labels and music publishers post demo submission criteria on their social networking sites. Read this information! Once a month we post ‘please, do not send us demo links via our social networking sites’ on our social networking sites. You’d be amazed (or not) at how routinely this simple request gets ignored.
Once you've decided to follow a label or publisher, or have ‘friended’ them, don’t make your first comment or post to them be a ‘please listen to my demo’ request. It’s rude. Chances are you wouldn't like it if a stranger introduced themselves to you out of the blue and then proceeded to ask you for something. Chances are, you’d tell them to naff off.

We've mentioned above that we’re active on 200+ social networking sites. We love them because we can actually chat with the people who buy our tracks, are interested in what we do, are interested in what we have to say about the industry and we use them to spot trends. And yes, we also do a bit of artist promotion as well. There’s no way we can monitor all of these social networking sites for ‘listen to my demo’ requests. It’s difficult to forward them on to the appropriate team which handles that genre. Nor do they provide sufficient space for an artist or act to:

Articulate what their project is about – including genre
Their experience and successes to-date
Highlight their unique selling point(s)
Provide information about the team they have around them (PR, promotion, management, etc)
Explain why Aardvark is the best fit for them or an understanding of Aardvark’s ethos
Explain what they want to achieve – and how working with us will achieve this
Explain their short-term, medium-term and long-term aspirations and goals
How committed are you or your group’s members…and how reliable are you?

Bonus point: Never ever say or write that you or your act is going to make a label or publisher millions. Or do…we need a laugh during the course of a working day. You may think this and fervently believe this….never say it or write it.

The eight items listed above are critical to any pitch you make to a record label or music publisher. When you ask a label or a publisher to contemplate signing you, you’re asking them to make a huge investment in you or your act. This is an investment of time, resources, staff and money. Producing and releasing a record is only a fraction of what we do.

Putting things into an overall context

All of this may seem a bit harsh and even draconian. There is a reason. On average, we receive literally hundreds of unsolicited demos (i.e. we didn't ask to receive them) every month. On average, we receive around 50 or so such requests where we have actively requested demos – or receive demos that come from sources we trust (i.e. people we've worked with previously). That’s a hell of a lot of demos to cycle through in the course of a month…keeping in mind a label and a publisher is a business with all the day-to-day demands that any business has in order to function and/or survive: accounting, invoicing, personnel, people management, royalty collections, marketing, manufacturing, logistics, radio plugging, video plugging, tour management and a great deal more.

We know there is still a common perception that running a label or a publishing company is glamorous and fun. There are times when they are these things. However, overall, it’s work; and a long, hard slog at that. Which is made all the better by great music, which is what we love.

Back in the day, when pitching to the likes of Tommy Mottola, Guy Holmes, Colin Bell and a host of other senior executives, we’d have never dreamed of just shooting them an email with a link to streaming audio and a single line which reads “please check out my demo”. Every pitch was done in a professional manner with respect due to the person whose time we intruded upon. They had all of the relevant facts and figures they needed to make an informed decision. Which is probably why we had (and still do) a 100% response rate.

There is no secret in this. We took the time to do our research, gather the pertinent information that was required and composed a professional email with professional looking supplemental materials and, of course, the demo tracks themselves.

Each approach was done individually – no mass mail emails. No 20 email addresses in an email’s cc field (never, ever do this!) or hidden in the bcc field. Each and every approach was 100% bespoke to the individual we were approaching. Yes, it takes time and effort to do this…but it is the hallmark of seriousness and professionalism. This manner of approaching a label or publisher says “I’m serious” as well as “I’m serious about doing business with you”.

If there is any one major thing for you to take away from this post, it is this: how you approach a record label or music publisher says everything about you and/or your act.

You only get one chance to make a favorable and positive first impression – so make it count!

Modernizing the music industry: royalty collection societies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:45:00 +0000

I've said it before and I’ll say it again. The music industry sorely needs modernization You’d be forgiven for thinking it already has. Music is available everywhere in every conceivable format. Surely that’s an indication of a thoroughly modern industry. Music formats may be modern, however, the industry governing those releases is anything but. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the collection of performance and mechanical royalties.

There are music royalty collection societies spread around the globe. Each was established to collect royalties in their respective country or region. BMI, ASCAP, GEMA, MCPS, PPL, SESAC, VPL and Sound Exchange are a handful of such societies you might be familiar with. Or at the very least these are a handful of agencies that any professional in the industry should be familiar with.

The collection of royalties really hasn't changed since the 1920s. And it shows. But more about that in a minute. Let’s start with the basics first.

What’s the difference between performance royalties and mechanical royalties?

There are specialist courses which cover this topic - so this is only a very basic overview.

Performance royalties

Performance royalties cover the public broadcasting of a song. This includes, but isn't limited to: music played on the radio, in pubs and bars, night clubs, health clubs, shopping malls, reception areas, beauty salons, elevators – any public space in which music is played. In order to play music in a public space, a license is required. Income is generated by the public performance subscription fees, which are submitted along with submitted playlists, and sent to the territorial collection agency for distribution to the song’s rights holders. Performance royalties are only collectible for the public performance of songs, not the actual song’s written material.

Mechanical royalties

Within the music industry, a mechanical license gives the holder permission to create copies of a recorded song which they did not write and/or do not have copyright over. It is an agreement with the composition copyright holder, the publisher, or the songwriter that allows the holder to reproduce the composition – recording, printed sheet music, lyrics, for example. This license specifically refers to the musical composition as an entity, not any particular physical sound recording(s) of the composition.

In order to release a single, an EP or an album (an LP for those of us who still remember what those are), the rights holders (if this isn't you or your company) is required to obtain a license to manufacture physical copies of a release (which includes digital only formats!!).

And as this is a license to reproduce copyright protected material, fees are involved. In the case of mechanical licenses, you pay a certain amount based on the number of copies you plan to manufacture and distribute.

The Harry Fox Agency has some excellent information and advice on mechanical licences which I highly recommend you read if you’re not familiar with mechanicals: http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/the+basics+of+mechanical+licensing+from+harry+fox

OK, this seems to make sense, so what’s up with collecting royalties?

The international royalty collection process is like being on board a creaking and leaking old ship…an old ship that’s listing quite heavily to one side – but just managing to stay out of reach of entirely going under. Again, this harks back to the 1920s era set-up for collecting international music royalties.

In the old days, up to the 60s, music releases were easily managed. It was easy to handle the same release in different countries simply because the lower middle classes and working classes didn’t travel abroad in any great numbers. People bought their music domestically; that is to say they largely bought music in the same country they lived in. So the system created to handle the licensing, manufacturing and distribution of releases was pretty straightforward for the times – it wasn’t a perfect system but it worked with relatively few headaches. To cut a long story short, it was simply easier to manage a release in different international territories because it was easier to ‘contain’ that release in a respective territory.

And then the 70s hit. Cheap international travel meant international travel was possible to greater numbers of people for the first time. Depending on when a release became available to the public, people didn't necessarily hear or purchase a release at home but while they were on holiday abroad. I have fond memories of buying albums from Siouxsie and The Banshees, The English Beat, Bauhaus and Kraftwerk albums while on holidays abroad. However, this wasn't really a big deal in terms of royalty collections as these were collectible at the point of sale, in others words, the country where the purchase was made.

Digital has changed all that.

Why is it that an iTunes gift card bought in America doesn't work in the UK? Why can an official video on YouTube be available to view in one country but not another? Why is it that I argue endlessly with MCPS in the UK about our releases? It all has to do with the archaic handling of copyright and the creaking music licensing process.

I hate picking on the MCPS, I really do. They are an important organisation and they do important work. And the problem I’m about to outline isn't of their making…it’s the result of an outdated system.

Any record label and publishing company is a busy place to work. There are any number of tasks to be done, most of them urgent. Most of them are invariably time-consuming. So if you can think of ways to make the work more manageable or streamlined, the better. In 2006, we licensed a major release from the international heavyweight, Yahel, where we acquired certain rights during the length of the contract. Because this was a licensing deal, Aardvark was not the primary rightsholder, we had to negotiate certain rights with the original rightsholders for specific territories.

The first problem anyone in this situation will encounter is a release where there has been different rightsholders over different periods. We weren’t the only label or publisher handling this release, so records had to be updated with all of the collection societies we deal with directly to reflect our claim for royalty collection for the duration of the contract. This is a tiring and frustrating process…but absolutely necessary. We’d be negligent if we didn't collect the royalties due to our artists.

We already had a distributor lined up – the excellent Arabesque – and went through the process of arranging the manufacturing and distribution for this album. Now, to be efficient and save time, we arranged a ceiling figure for CD manufacturing with the distributor. As an example, let’s say we arranged to have 100,000 copies of the CD pressed. Not all at once, however! Arabesque would accomplish this through a series of shorter CD runs. However, as we’d arranged a ceiling number of CDs to be pressed, Arabesque wouldn't have to keep coming back to ask for permission to produce further CDs – which would require submitting additional, license requests. I thought this was a pretty nifty approach. An unusual approach, to be sure, but very effective. It should have been simple and straightforward. It has been anything but.

Mechanical licensing doesn't allow for this. There have been times when explaining this to a collection society where I've felt as though I was discussing astrophysics.

As far as the original copyright holders’ collection agency, in this case GEMA, is concerned they can only see the 100,000 ceiling figure and that is the figure they have based their fee demands upon – and not the actual number of CDs which have been manufactured and distributed which is less than 100,000 copies. In terms of fees, we’re being asked to pay £20,000+ in fees for CDs that haven’t been produced yet.

We agreed CD run numbers in terms of batches, review dates and arranged for these runs to be produced without the need for Arabesque to continually return to request permission or additional licenses to manufacture and distribute more CDs. Apart from the collection societies, the arrangement worked flawlessly.

This is one way in which mechanical collection societies must change. The system needs to be more flexible in order to allow labels and publishers to finely tune their releases in a more streamlined and efficient manner. A ceiling manufacturing figure with agreed short run copy figures deals with this particular problem. It would be an ideal solution if mechanical collection societies were geared up for this. To me, it seems like a no-brainer.

International collection agencies need to work more closely together. One central rightsholders database would be a start. In this day and age, it seems ridiculous for a label or publisher to register with numerous different collection societies. It should be a one-stop shop. You select your primary agency which would be your primary point of contact for mechanical royalties. Once you've submitted your track information to them, the information should go into a central data bank which is accessible by all the other collection agencies around the globe. An added bonus to this approach would be the discovery and resolution of conflicting claims or the discovery of inaccurate claims. One database makes managing this process so much easier and far more efficient.

Music knows no boundaries. It’s abut time that music licensing reflected this.

In an industry beset by all manner of challenges, barriers and troubles, the systems governing royalties are long overdue for a complete overhaul. A solution needs to be found, quickly, that reflects the global nature of music manufacturing, broadcasting, purchasing and exploitation.

How indie labels can maximise their revenues in a Zombie Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

As soon as we heard the British economy described as a Zombie Economy by Channel 4, Aardvark’s execs looked at one another and nodded in agreement. It is a perfect description.

In 2006 we lost roughly 30% of our bottom line profits. It wasn't due to bad sales - we were actually selling more tracks and albums than we’d ever done in the label’s history. It wasn't due to bad management. It also wasn't due to fiscal irresponsibility. It had everything to do with the economy tanking and the British Pound being bitch-slapped into near oblivion by just about every currency on the planet.

The reason why Aardvark took such a kicking with UK currency conversion rates was down to the fact that 85% of our sales revenue comes from overseas. The UK counts for a small percentage of our business activities and sales. Simply put, it’s always been easier for us to get business done outside of the UK. So our exposure to foreign currency conversion rates is immense.

It’s the job of any CEO to navigate his or her company through these kinds of trials and tribulations. I knew that something needed to be done…and done immediately. So I donned my thinking cap and hit this problem with a concentration level worthy of a Frank Herbert Mentat or Bene Gesserit.

The answer came in the form of companies which specialize in providing currency conversion services to businesses. We had the revenue volume they needed and they had the muscle/clout to get us better exchange rates than our high street bank. The crisis was averted. It’s certainly a service worth investigating if your label or publishing company has a large volume of international sales and if your music business is largely paid in foreign currencies.

The financial doldrums we currently find ourselves in is worse than it was in 2006. A Zombie Economy is a very apt description. The problem is, no one in government is willing to help – much less be open or honest – or provide any guidance about the current financial and economic state of play with anyone in the music industry. If we were in the automotive sector or financial sector or manufacturing, it would be a different story. The UK government has always been like a handmaiden to these sectors.

As always, the music industry is on its own.

Unless you haven’t noticed, the British Pound, once again, is being bitch-slapped. This time, there doesn't appear to be a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. There’s no signal that the crisis with the Pound is over. If anything, things look set to get worse, not better, in the immediate term.

With an expanding roster of international artists, the solution I came up with in 2006 is still working, however, I needed to find a more robust alternative. The problem is simple. We’re getting better currency conversion rates through the company we use for in-coming revenue. However, a new problem raises its head every time we go to pay an international artist in his or her domestic currency. We’re back in the position of being spanked by exchange rates every time we pay out royalties to our international artists.

A solution came fairly quickly this time around…bank accounts in different regions. For instance, revenues paid in US Dollars get paid into a US bank account which, in turn, is used to pay our US artists. Euros are paid into, and out of, a Eurozone account for the benefit of our Euro Zone artists. And our British account handles all of our incoming and outgoing Pound Sterling payments.

This arrangement also comes in handy for artists on international tours. Paying local service providers (tour bus companies, technicians, hotels, etc) in their domestic currency from domestic revenues provides enormous savings due to avoiding exchange rate losses. And if your artist(s) are touring in a country where you don't have a bank account? Simple. You can compare exchange rates to see which currency provides the best exchange rate (for your business) for the country your artist is in. For instance, if we have an artist in China, will the Euro or the US Dollar give us a better exchange rate with the Yen? Once we've worked it out, that's the account we use to pay for things in China.

A word of caution here - do your research. Specifically, get minute details about your chosen bank(s) deposit insurance policies. Read up on that country's banking deposit insurance regulations. And always read the fine, fine, fine print. The last thing you want is the Iceland experience that happened a few years ago. Make it a point to find information covering banking in your chosen country(ies): taxes, liabilities, fees, etc.

So why not set up currency accounts with our British bank? Two words: extortionate charges. Even with the transaction fees paid to foreign banks and taxes paid in the countries where we have separate accounts…we gain far more than we lose. As a result, our losses due to exchange rates have been slashed. For the time being it’s a better model than using separate currency accounts in the UK. The moment is ceases to be the best option in terms of our business’ needs, I’ll come up with something else.

Every penny counts, especially in a hostile economy. And as the equally old saying goes: necessity is the mother of invention. If you’re a label or a music publisher with significant overseas revenue streams, don’t wait for Osbourne or the UK government to wave a magic wand and rescue the British Pound any time soon. Don't wait for government to stop tinkering with the economy like it's a Meccano Erector Set. And don’t loose your precious revenue due to Sterling’s poor performance in the exchange rate market.

For an industry renowned for negotiating everything, including artists' riders, the UK music industry seems to be reticent when it comes to negotiating banking fees. Don't be. I'll let you in on a wee secret. International banks are far more willing to negotiate business banking fees than their UK counterparts.

Do some research and find ways that you too can minimize losses from foreign sales.