JakeBrownBass

erm, wrong forum?

Sounds like a James Blunt wannabe to me. I like it though, goodluck to him.

[quote name='bigd1' post='516887' date='Jun 17 2009, 09:02 PM']Any PA amp repair people in the Manchester area who are good ? Ta very glad BIGd[/quote] there's Pro Audio Systems in bradford if your willing to travel. Great place! Not sure how quick the turnover is as the repair department is always quite busy! Jake

[quote name='Linus27' post='491393' date='May 18 2009, 02:26 PM']Been talking to a few friends recently who are in the music industry about the current state of play and what seems to be going on at the moment with signing bands etc. In my day, back in the 90's when we signed, we basically gigged everywhere up and down the country, recorded a CD, promoted it, got some interest from record companies, did another 101 gigs and finally got a deal. It was hard work but the main objective was to gig like hell and build a fan base. It all seems to be very different these days. One friend told me that a few years ago, the majors signed 200 bands, the following year 100 and last year only 8. They seem to be more interested in your business model and if it can work rather than, is this band good, have a following, good song etc. I've been told that labels won't touch bands unless they have proved their product works. So they are looking for artists who are doing it for themselves and they will then act as business development managers rather than labels. I was also told that nobody listens to CD's sent on from bands anymore. The route in is via showing that your business model works or if really lucky you have a label approved artist manager on board who can convince the label to take them on early (very rare at the moment) So, with bands having to do everything for themselves, I have been told that they need to spend at least £15k on their business model. This is the minimum to get on the radar. This breaks down to around to 7K minimum on an album (13 tracks), a Video 4K (and needs to be good for that), Photoshoot £500 (needs full makeup and clothing and location - you can see when things are done cheap and it doesn't work) plus PR £1500 a month for three months. Now to me, this is pretty shocking as where do unsigned bands find that sort of money. As said to me though, you need to invest in this business model and show you are serious or accept you are just doing it for fun. With regards to the album, You need to have a half decent studio and engineer/producer on board to get anyone interested. There are currently only about ten people with genuine inroads into labels at the moment, 7 are producers and 3 are managers. I then questioned about these home studios and the increase in modern technology but I was told that home recording is a complete load of crap. Fine if you are a DJ but no artist is actually signed on the fact they did the album in their bedroom or garage. That material never gets released to the point where it can achieve anything. It's hype pure and simple and it's been used twice so it will no longer get anybody a deal or a inch of press space. Now I am sure that some bands will be able to have a percetage of success by doing stuff themselves, home recording, promoting, gigging etc but to what level I don't know. I'm sure some very clever people will be able to put the time and effort in to really promoting themselves but taking it to the next level might involve bigger investment. However, if they can show that their business model works, then they may be onto a winner. I then asked about is gigging still as important. I was told yes and no. You have a better chance at getting seen at events if you are there but in reality to get to the ones where the people that matter are you need to have been on the circuit for a year slogging away until you have a two to three thousand strong following. Then the right people will turn up. You'll meet lots of 'industry' people along the way at gigs but they are the bottom feeders who actually can't do alot for you and work in the admin dept looking for a band that might get them noticed internally. Labels don't really have A & R guys travelling the country looking for bands these days. So, not really sure what to make of it all. In some ways, it does make lots of sense. The band has a proven business model, then why not invest in it as both artist and label should come out good. However, there must be so much missed opportunities and spending a minimum of £15k must be impossible for most artists/bands. Anyone have any experience of this or found things to be different??[/quote] Another very common alternative is to just record a 5 track ep with one lead single. You record all this yourself, print & press it and get the entire package together. Forget about a video for now. Then you approach an Indie label to sign you on the single/ep deal so the only responsabilty they are taking is the PR of it. If this is a success, its much easier to then take this proven package to a major label, and then they'll be more confident in the product (band) and see that it works. If you can't get through the indie single & ep, there's no way in hell a majors going to look at you, unless your scouting for girls But then again, in these times, you don't want to sign to a major label, majors are falling while indie's are booming and that alone says it all. Almost all established bands have been doing this for years once they have had a bit of success, they record & do everything out of house, then take it all to the majors where they distribute it. Oasis did it on the last album, nickleback have been doing it for years. Then you have McFly, who had all their major success, then when they were established enough they left the label, created their own label and now release everything out of their pockets. -Jake

Coln. Bruce Hampton & The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Can't remember the album but Oteil Burbridge plays some killer bass on it