How Touring Can Elevate Your Career

This week I want to talk about touring, and just how powerful it can for your musical career.

Last week I received my copy of Rolling Stone, and was pleasantly surprised to see that one of my favorite groups, The Dave Matthews Band, had reached number one with their eighth studio album Away From the World.

Dave Matthews hit the mainstream back in 1994 with Under The Table and Dreaming, and close to ten years later, the 45 year old Matthews still leads a group that can sell records and sell out concert venues. This is a rare feat in today's musical landscape. One hit wonders and passive fans have made it almost impossible for a young band to gain national stardom and then maintain that position for close to a decade. So how did Dave Matthews and his group of rocking minstrels do it?

It all boils down to touring. Even before the group had a major label record deal they toured. Their manager Coran Capshaw put them on the road in the early nineties and they crisscrossed the United States a number of times picking up fans at each show. A fan of The Grateful Dead, Capshaw understood the importance of coordinating a fan base for the group and then motivating them to buy into the brand. This proved quite successful because by the time the band was ready to sign a major label deal they really didn't need to. When asked about the group's powerful fan base A&R man Bruce Flohr explained why RCA decided to sign the group in an online article. "I only realized how lucky we were the more shows I went to go see. I was working at a label where 90 percent of the acts we had signed couldn't draw what this dude was drawing. All of a sudden I realized that if RCA did everything wrong, we had a gold album under our belt.

The newer generation of musical dreamers should take notice of the importance of touring. First it helps you support your career. In today's day in age you probably will not sell a huge amount of $16 albums, instead you will sell a larger amount of 99¢ tracks, and you will probably give more away than you actually sell. To earn income you need to get fans to buy into your brand. Many younger musicians think this is done through FaceBook and Twitter, but trust me this rarely works. In order to connect you need to play live in-front of your fans or potential consumers.

When you play a concert, no matter how big or how small, you have a captive audience. If you can give them a performance to remember they will buy your music, your merchandise, and tickets for future shows.  All of this income adds up pretty quick, and like Coran Capshaw knew, can actually help keep a band on the road earning more fans and making more money. 

If a major label deal is your ultimate goal you MUST, and I repeat MUST, tour. As we all know there are fewer and fewer major labels out there today, but hundreds of thousands of musicians fighting for their attention. It is time for musicians to accept the cold hard fact that the music business is a business, and no matter how great your songs are these labels want to see how well you can connect with an audience and get them to buy into your brand.

I want you to step outside your rock attire and into a suit for a minute and look at it like a music industry professional. You are looking at two bands. They both have decent music that can be made marketable. They both have the look, and they are both pretty talented. But band one is touring. They play to an average of 400 people per night. They have merchandise at their shows and are selling t-shirts, thongs, stickers, and music. The other band plays occasionally, usually to about thirty people because they haven't been collecting and mobilizing a fan base, and they do not sell merchandise because they feel their music should speak for itself.

As a music executive it becomes simple math. The first band has proved they can captivate an audience and get them to buy into their brand. If on their own they are playing in front of 400 people per night and most of those people are walking away with music or merchandise, than imagine how much money the label can make when that group is introduced to 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 fans.

For the executive band two isn't even an option. Even if they had better music, they have not proved they can connect with an audience and make them break out their wallets. Musicians must remember that if you want to make a living at your craft you need an audience that is willing to buy into your product.

This mentality is what put Dave Matthews on the national and global stage, and is why close to a decade later they can hit number one in the Billboard Charts whenever they release an album. Through touring they have built up a fan base that is always hungry to buy into the group's brand. This is what record executives want. They are investing in your small company and want to know that ten years later you will still be making them money. If you can accept that premise than you have a huge chance to get your music heard by the world. 

In an upcoming article I will offer insight as to how to keep records of your sales, motivate a fan base, and sell merchandise so you have the evidence those major executives need when the time is right. 

The Evolution of the Single

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"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."

                                                               ~Edmund Burke

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In the late 19th century the gramophone disc took over phonograph cylinders as the standard in recording technology.  By 1910 the 78, 10-inch shellac record became industry standard.  Technical limitations of the disc forced recording artists to tailor their work to the medium thus creating shorter songs and only releasing one or two "singles" at a time. It wasn't until the 1960's that this format changed.

In the 1940's the FCC understood that radio broadcasters would eventually run out of spots in the then used AM bandwidth.  To counteract that they forced large scale AM stations to maintain an FM channel as well.  For years these broadcasters did nothing more than duplicate the programming on both channels then In July of 1965 the FCC made another ruling that broadcasters could not duplicate programming on both FM and AM dials in major US markets.  This sent programmers searching for a cheap way to fill dead air on their FM stations. 

Luckily for these programmers a new standard record size was emerging. A 12" disc allowed artists and labels to press more than one track into the vinyl. DJ's and radio programmers realized they could fill up hours of time on their FM stations by playing these "albums" in their entirety and the idea of Album Oriented Rock was born.

Album Oriented Rock and the new FM channel changed the way in which the business of music was done. All of the sudden new recording artists had to create and entire collection of like minded songs to include on one record.  The record deal changed too to cater to this new distribution method with new artists finding themselves signing contracts tying them to three or more albums with the label. 

Now the single didn't die completely.  It was only changed from the main source of revenue into a marketing tool to get people to purchase the entire album for a heftier price tag.  Throughout the 80's this method made the record labels millions upon millions of dollars.

Then the Internet was born and consumers quickly found a way to share their music over phone lines through companies such as Napster. The problem with the new Internet delivery method was that bandwidth was low during the early days of the medium which meant that music files needed to be compressed and sent as singles to other users. 

For years the industry fought this new delivery method as fans became pirates giving away and taking music without retribution to the artists, but that's another story. To combat this problem the industry began endorsing online music storefronts such as Apple's iTunes to distribute their medium, but by the time they finally found a way to make money in the new online world the market had changed.

Underneath all of the piracy fans had developed a new taste in the acquisition of their music. They didn't want the entire album because it took up so much of their personal time to find and then download. Instead they started downloading single tracks that appealed to them from various artists. By the time Apple took over with the iPod and iTunes the market had changed. A new generation of music consumers emerged that didn't want to pay $20 for an entire album for just one track as they had done in the past. They wanted their music instantly which meant that single files were the way to go, and through their test phases with piracy and peer-to-peer sharing they wanted to create their own musical experience through customizable playlists. The market had spoken. They wanted singles again.

Once again the music industry has changed, and once again we witness the cold hard fact that history is doomed to repeat itself.  Luckily for us this time the repetition is producing larger sales numbers then we could have imagined. Unluckily those numbers are for much smaller unit prices.

Keep this in mind.  If history is due to repeat itself then that means the album should come back around. Over recent years ISP's have increased the average level of bandwidth for the end user and they have opened up new channels of distribution through smart phones, and wireless Internet delivery systems such as 3G and 4G. When it comes to price points the labels have decided to challenge Apple's huge capitalization of the market by offering cheaper prices to other retailers such as Amazon who are offering entire albums for as low as $1.99. These small facts make it possible for the fans to afford full albums once again and download them quickly thus fulfilling their needs. 

The biggest issue the labels and artists face in eventually recapitalizing on the sale of entire albums is the quality of the material they offer to the public. For the past decade the industry has shifted back to the pre-1965 single distribution method and with that they have focused on creating only one or two strong hits at a time. To truly recapitalize on the return of the full length album market the industry will have to once again fully develop and nurture artists to their fullest rounded potential so they can once again create entire albums that appeal to their fans.

For now the single once again reigns supreme. This time it isn't on a ten inch shellac disc. It's in a five by three inch phone.

Studio Drumming Basics

Jeremy during the first Masceo Recording.

I just finished a recording session with a great friend and bass player at his amazing Pro Tools based home studio.  Now it has been a while since I was “under the mic”, but within minutes and a test playback I was reminded of a few fundamentals of studio drumming. 

Studio drumming isn’t like live drumming.  You aren’t there to show off to a crowd and you don’t have that crowd to feed off of for energy.  In the live situation you can make a tiny mistake and move on, in the studio all your neurons need to be firing, any small mistake can turn into a big mistake later.  In the studio you have the click, the pressures of time, but most importantly you have to think about how the end result will sound.

Have you ever recorded yourself playing, especially with a live band, and listened back to the tapes?  I bet you were surprised the first time you did.  I know when I first put my work on tape I wasn’t happy with the end result.  I quickly noticed that my overplaying made the song sound cluttered and messy. 

Now back to my recent studio session. 

We recorded me playing for a bit while we got drum sounds so I jammed away playing a lot of grace notes on the snare and silly fills around the kit.  On the playback I was reminded how these constant grace notes and complex fills could “stop-up the drain” and clog the song.  So when the red light hit I made the conscious effort to stick to solid snare hits and the occasional grace note to “spice” the track.  The playback sounded better and the engineer had room to add more of his own garnishing to the song.  

When it came to fills I was reminded how important tuned toms can be.  Fills on a recording need to blend with the rest of the groups "band hits", you can't be hitting an 8" tom when the band is playing a real low note. You have to move with those notes and articulate your hits with confidence and precision.  It is not about standing out, but rather properly accenting the song.  Josh Freese is a master at this. Check out his playing through his website at http://www.joshfreese.com.

If you ever want to hear how important recording your playing can be listen to any Steve Gadd recording, live or studio based.  Check out his website at http://www.drstevegadd.com/ to learn more if you don't already know the name. Gadd is considered the master of the groove and perfect timing.  He has basically lived his entire career in the studio and in those experiences he has definitely heard his playing under the unrelenting ears of the microphone.  In the end he has developed a way to make the song happen while getting out of the way so the collaboration of the group could create some of the world’s greatest hits.  “Fifty ways to leave your lover” anyone?

Sometimes it’s hard to keep it simple. Trust me I know.  Creating space while you are playing separates the pros from the amateurs.  Beethoven once said: “It isn’t the notes I play that make me great, but rather the spaces in between.”  On the other end of the spectrum take modern country music.  Engineers, artists and producers in Nashville create amazing recordings because they create spaces that are filled in by other elements, much like a perfect moving gear…just enough guitar, just enough steel, and underneath just enough drums and bass to build upon.  As a drummer in the studio you must create a solid feel and open up that space so others in the recording can fit in.  It is all about unity and harmony if you want a top-notch recording. 

On the day of the recording do everything you can to stay relaxed.  Studio drumming is all about staying in the pocket and being glued to the click. You will need to be relaxed and focused to achieve that goal. Try to get a good nights sleep the evening before, get up a bit early, eat a good breakfast and warm up those hands before you hit the studio.  Get to the recording session early so you can properly set-up and tune your drums.  I like to show up before the rest of the band so I have time to myself to focus on getting my kit perfectly positioned and properly tuned. 

When it comes to gear I always bring my kit even if the studio supplies one because you never know what you may or may not need.  I always bring a selection of snares and cymbals too.  It is amazing how different your cymbals and especially your snare sounds under the microphone.  Bring extra new heads just in case and duct tape or Moon Gel to get rid of unwanted ring.  You will need it in the studio as an engineer can always add resonance to your drums, but taking it away is a real bitch.

Well there you go a quick heads-up on studio drumming.  I am sure I will write about this again so stay tuned and keep on drumming!

How much does a Gold Album get you?

Here is the breakdown.  Prepare to be amazed (or disturbed)...

Our artist has made a gold record and sold 500,000 copies.  He has a royalty rate of 14%, pays the producer 3%.  Has recording costs of $250,000 and tour support of $50,000.

Wholesale Price (what they base your royalty rate on)                $12.05

Royalty Rate (14% all-in, minus 3% for producer)                       $1.32

Royalty X 500,000 Units                                                             $640,000

Less 10% Free Goods (Promo copies)                                      -$64,000

                                                                                                     ____________

                                                                                                     $576,000

Less: Recording Costs                                                                -$250,000

Less: 50% of Independent Promotion                                        -$75,000

Less: 50% of Video Costs                                                          -$50,000

Less: Tour Support                                                                     -$50,000

                                                                                                    ____________

Total:                                                                                          $151,000

To add salt in the wound the record company holds a reserve on your gross royalties ($576,000) meaning they keep 35-50% of your royalties in case your sales boomerang.  At 35% that is $201,600.  So in this first statement you get NOTHING. You may get that back if yo continue to sell, but they still have you.

And it gets worse…

Suppose you took the record companies advance of $300,000 towards this album.  That means after this album you are in the hole $149,000.  Which they will gladly take from the royalties of your next album, if you have a two-album deal.

Still want to become a rock star?

I got these figures from a great book “All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Entertainment Attorney Donald S. Passman.