Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with musicindustry

How to go from a little girl with a guitar to a professional?

lhude sing cuccu — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:17:31 -0800

No one tells you how to be a musician in high school. What should I be doing? I feel like playing open mics and blindly sending out demos isn't the right way to do it. I can't even play at bars because I'm under 21. Any advice? So, I am only 18 but you don't stay 18 forever. David Bowie was releasing records with Decca when he was 17, and this haunts me every day. (David Bowie is kind of my template...the only part that's working so far is starting out solo and acoustic.)
I moved to Chicago when I was 17 because I wanted to get out of my town (Roanoke, VA) and network and become a musician. I ended up just making a long list of venues I could theoretically play at...when I'm 21 and with a backing band! I ended up doing nothing in Chicago, really. I met someone who started his own record label but nothing materialised, and I started kind of bands with a few people...but that never works out.

I grew up teaching myself about the music industry with outdated books from the library, and when I realised you can't just send a cassette and a picture to major labels to solve all your problems, my world just crashed. I can't keep up wih technology fast enough to know which path is the professional one, and which leads to being some hack in my room posting my songs online to an audience of 5.

So, it's just me, a little girl with a guitar, who aspires to be someone important. I've decided to put aside all my anxieties ("I get sick too often to tour!" "I need stable relationships too much!") and just try it, or hate myself forever. I've moved back from Chicago, and I plan to start getting credits in theatre, education, and/or French, but I don't know what I'd do with that degree. Then I want to move to Portland, OR (I've already started that venue list) and play open mics, any all-ages venues...alone, with my electric guitar and maybe a tape player...and ask around for a manager/agent.
This seems wrong. I've got a lo-tech website, and I could record a real demo if I wanted. But it all seems pointless and not right.

Any advice from musicians or other creative-types on what I should be doing? I know I'd need a "real" job, but the only other thing I want to do long-term would be working in theatre, but everyone knows that's just as bad a business. I have these ridiculous ideas on how to incorporate theatre into my music shows that don't exist yet, but I can't really do much, just me and my guitar, to really set me apart. I also like, and want to write, the kind of music no one else is really into but old men (who I don't really feel so good about working with, frankly). So I'm sort of just assuming the only way I will find anyone wanting to play with me is by just playing places and hanging out afterwards. I'm not really naturally extroverted either, so I'm not a big networker. But I have no idea how to start on that, either. ("Hey, stranger, do you know anyone who can help me with publicity?") I could put up my own 11x17 posters to my own little low-key solo performances and hope for the best, but that just seems sad.

I work best with concrete lists, and the world of music is anything but concrete, so anything resembling a list would be marvellous!

Pop idle

hnnrs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:57:55 -0800

Apologies in advance, this is a question about the X-Factor For the non-Brits amongst you, the X-Factor is the UK equivalent of American Idol (AFAIK). Last Saturday saw the final episode of the show, which was the first one I'd watched of this series (honest!).

In the final, there were three, um, finallists. The winner gets their song released and a proper recording contract and a life of fame (probably). The final is apparently live, and the public get to vote for the winner. And the winner gets their CD single released in the shops on the Monday after the show's been broadcast.

The CD single is said to be a guaranteed UK Christmas number one, selling at least a million copies.

So, there are 35 hours between the winner being revealed on Saturday evening and one million copies of the CD hitting the shops on Monday morning. Is it possible to manufacture and distribute one million CDs in that time period? Or do they manufacture three million CDs and only distribute the winners?

Apologies for the banality of the question, it's just puzzling me quite a bit. And I've tried searching the net for an answer, to no avail.

Getting into the music management industry without experience.

junesix — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:40:11 -0800

My friend is interested in getting into the music management industry without experience. She's talked with a professional artist who's suggested A&R would probably fit her skills/interests. Questions are 1) what's the best route for a 26-year old to get into this field, 2) what should she know before attempting to break into music management, 3) are there resources out there she can read and explore, and 4) are there other great indie labels out there in the vein of Barsuk and Subpop that would hire someone without formal education/experience?

Do you have experience jobseeking in the UK Music Industry?

snailer — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:02:56 -0800

please help me help my girlfriend get a job in the UK music industry my lovely girlfriend has left me and gone to london to try get a job in the music industry. she has a BTEC Merit diploma in music management and also ran a non-profit royalty collection agency for 2 years, as well as other band promotion type stuff.

i wonder are there any fellow mefites who have experience in this area? she isn't going into this for the "star-struck / celebrity" aspect of it, rather a serious job that pays well (£28k+), with career advancement

any info on recruitment agencies specialising in this area is welcome. bonus points (6!) for any closet record label bigshots lurking here, willing to give out jobs!

many thanks snail

Where can I find the most comprehensive attacks on RIAA/DRM/Music Industry

Lockeownzj00 — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:42:41 -0800

What are the most frank, telling criticisms of issues like RIAA/DRM/Music Industry that you've read before? It can be 'heard' before too. All I'm looking for is essays, books, websites...I read about the issue all the time, and can say I know a fair bit about it, but I really need to concretely acquaint myself with it. Most accurate, most fact-checkable, most well-written treatises, really.

Though I doubt it will get answered as often in the replies (my follow-ups never seem to), I ask the same question about the War in Iraq and the Bush Administration--same idea; been reading critiques and such since it all started, but I want a really good...symposium I suppose.

PS: Though I know a few, websites for news and updates would be useful as well.

sorry, we have detected you live in another licensing area

funambulist — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 14:47:05 -0800

I'd like to understand more about how music licensing works (especially for online music downloads, which seems particularly maddening), how it relates to traditional pre-internet music licensing, and if there's any chance the system may change in the near future. The question popped up after reading this other question, but I'd wanted to ask this for a while.

I have read some articles related to the issues for licensing music worldwide through downloads systems, but there is a lot I still don't know and don't get, so I'd appreciate any explanations or pointers to resources, articles, and such. Please bear with me as I am largely ignorant on the matter, I only know each country has its own copyright/licensing authority, beside its own taxes on music sales and such.

What I don't understand is exactly why you can order a CD (or vynil or any other format) from any country regardless of where you reside (whether or not you'll have to pay import duties and taxes), but you can't for instance access Rhapsody from outside the US, or download certain albums or tracks from a subscription service like Emusic, or buy music from the US iTunes Music store if you're not in the US, or from the UK store if you're in the US, and so on - and you can't even buy from, say, the French store if you're not in France, even if you're still in the EU. It doesn't seem to make much sense from a customer point of view.

I do know it has to do with that fact the licensing is on a national basis, but then why is that not a problem for music on physical media? Or is it, in some way I'm not aware of?

Also, is there any indication of plans to merge different national licensing systems at global level? Commercial interests? Legal obstacles? Practical feasibility?

Basically anything you can tell me on the topic, I'd be very interested. Thanks in advance.

Why are CD/DVD releases always on Tuesday?

clgregor — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 08:57:58 -0800

They're talking today about "Super CD Tuesday" on MSNBC...Why are CD/DVD releases always on Tuesday?

How much does it cost to release an album that's already been recorded?

nebulawindphone — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 20:43:10 -0800

How much does it cost to release an album that's already been recorded? The question occurred to me thanks to the recent kerfuffle over Fiona Apple's album. If people are willing to buy it, why aren't they selling it? Is there a minimum number of copies they'd need to sell to break even? (Or will low sales figures end up making them look bad? Or what?)

Demo Tape Policies

soundofsuburbia — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 04:03:12 -0800

Have you come across any funny demo policies lately? [more inside] I'm thinking of policies along the lines of those used by Rhino:

Does Rhino Accept Demos?
Rhino is a reissue label. If you want us to release your CD, follow these
easy steps: 1. Make a demo.
2. Get that demo heard by a new-artist-focused record company.
3. Record a really good, chart-topping album for a company that has, or will
have, a good relationship with Rhino.
4. Sell lots of copies and grow your fan base.
5. Release more albums (optional).
6. Have your record go out of print (generally an automatic function of
time).
7. Sit back and watch your songs appear on award-winning Rhino compilations
and maybe even have your albums reissued by us!

And VHF:

Q: Do you accept demo tapes?
A: Sure, but before you send it, you should understand our demo audition process (this is all totally serious). First, your package is examined at the post office while I'm standing over the trash can - this is to weed out punk rock stuff (probably not you, since you're reading this and will know we're not a harDCore label). Demos which make it out of the post office are transferred to our DEMO STAGING AREA (the back sear of my car). Demos in the staging area typically age for 3-4 weeks until either a) a hideous traffic jam on the way to work inspires me to root around to see what's back there or b) they roll off the back seat and under the passenger seat, where our trusty Honda's lousy alignment will cause them to creep forward over a period of weeks. In the case of b), these demos are usually lost until stepped on by a passenger, who may throw it in the deck. Sometimes this person is VVGG, and he doesn't like anything. After I listen to your demo, I put it on the front seat, intending to take it into the office and dash off an email to you. Sometimes packages in the note-to-be-emailed stash slip thru this weird gap in between the seat base and seat back and end up on the floor, where they are usually banished to the fate described in b) above. Finally your demo enters the hallowed sancutary of my crappy office in Clarendon, where in approximately 10% of cases I will actually get around to drafting a polite email to you. You should know that in spite of your efforts, we have not done any (0, none, zero) releases as the result of unsolicited demos. Some of your demos are really good, but it's just not that kind of label. It's nothing personal.