Artists think the whole world is out to get them!

Growing up as a musician(and yes I am aware I still have a lot of growing up to do), going to college and now working in the music industry, I learned at a very early age that artists literally thing everyone they meet is out to get them.

I, for a long time, was one of these artists. Everything an artists spends money on they think of what's going to happen in the long run and how and if they will see an immediate return from the investment spent. This is a smart move, but many times an artists will not go through with an opportunity if there is no promised result.

For example, an artist may not run an advertisement because there is no "promise" for the people that will go to the show as a result of the ad.

I work for a digital record label, and this is not by any means an endorsement for the label, in fact I won't even mention the name. The point of this blog is the recent frustration I've received as a direct result of talking to bands and acts about working with us. What we do is offer bands an opportunity to create and develop a fanbase through net marketing, A&R support and digital distro. We advertise the artist on sites like Rollingstone.com, Filter, Blender, and a little over 100 other notable sites. The act also gets A&R consultation with a music industry professional A&R scout that is included in the price. This all goes along with getting digital distribution, which is free anyways.

The point of the matter is, and I won't disclose the price but I promise it's cheap, 90% of the artists I talk to refuse to put any investment into their career. I actually got, "Are you serious? We would NEVER put money towards advertising, thats not our job", from a band a few days ago. I cannot believe the amount of bands out there, that draw less than 50 people per show (on a good night), have home recorded music that can't even begin to match, sound quality wise, what's on the radio, that have the balls and arrogance to think that Clive Davis himself is going to walk into their shithole garage one Sunday afternoon while they're smokin' butts, drinking Bud, playing out of tune guitars, and SIGN them.

In the bands I've played in, we've put up serious cash for promotion and marketing, as well as recording, and we've worked hard to earn the money before we dished it out. A band is a business. If you're serious, and I'm sure you are, get off your ass, become a working band and earn what you "think" you have. News flash: You're NOT that good, and NO band is as important as you think YOU are.

A radio campaign at a small level costs around $10,000. Radio ad's start at around $400 for a week and only go up. No label is going to take a band that can't sell out rooms, let alone 50 tickets and invest $$$ into it. Get a grip on reality.

If I've offended you, then I've done my job. GET TO WORK!


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