Show success before asking for help
I learned this huge life lesson from a secret document.
Music publishers give a cash advance to a songwriter in return for owning half the future income generated from their songs. The publisher is betting that those songs will earn at least as much as that cash advance.
I was working at Warner/Chappell music publishing, when someone stepped away from her desk. I noticed she had accidentally left out the private financial statement showing every songwriter we had signed, the amount of their cash advance, and how much they had earned. I secretly made a copy for myself, then put hers back.
I noticed a huge difference between two songwriters:
One was a great writer, constantly delivering songs with great hit potential, super professional, and a great collaborator. She got her deal because one of the managers heard her and believed in her. But she hadn’t had any success yet.
Her advance: $15,000.
The other writer was horrible. His songs were really bad metal that would make the worst metal band cringe. They were poorly recorded and terribly performed. But in the 80s he had been in a band with a major rock star, so he had a partial songwriting credit on a song on a record that sold over 12 million copies.
His advance: $500,000.
The moral of this story?
You have to make your own success first, before you ask the industry for help.
Show that you’re going to be successful without their help. Show that you have momentum. If they want to accelerate or amplify your success, they will have to pay to ride your train.
If you approach them before you can show some success, then you’ll have no negotiating leverage, and will get the worst deal possible.
Is that your doggy?
Nope. :-) — Derek
Yes, this is why I've invested most of my money in simply making my new CD the very best possible product AND making sure it has professional promotion. (Wish me luck!) Like they say: they don’t want you until you’ve done it yourself. Once you’ve done it yourself, you don’t need them.
Love this - this applies to IT startups for venture capital as well
so very true. and helpful.
"What can you do for us that we can't do for ourselves?"
--Mick Jagger's immediate response when Adrew Loog Oldham offered to be the Rolling Stones manager
whoa. true.
Very well said Derek.
I think this also translates into those people whose businesses are profitable and those that incur tremendous amounts of debt. One creates the "need" first, then sells their product when they have people banging down their door for it. The other tries to sell their product, BEFORE they create that "need."
And of course, what company wouldn't be interested in someone who already found a way to create the "need" first? That is the most expensive part for any company, because that involves a tremendous amount of risk (something that every business owner wants to avoid).
*Jared
Something we (Metal Music Promotions) tell all young artists when they approach us for help.
No matter how much you pay a mass submission service, a press release writer, even a publicist, if you haven't done anything worth publicizing, it's really a waste of time & money.
This discussion should be attached to every keyboard, guitar, bass drumkit and recording software. Go deeper man. Excellent work!
agreed - you can make better deals when the industry actually *wants* something from you, instead of just you wanting something from them (there's no leverage in that).
The question is what is success. I self produce and release my own stuff with some financial success. However it pales in comparison to selling 20 million copies.
I not only read (3 times) but also printed your post. In the past, I read your blogs silently - I would get excited about them, but I never gave back to you. It wasn't until recently that I realized you generously give and ask nothing in return. (your most powerful lesson by the way). As a fan and follower, I thought a good first step would be to at least comment on the work you do and...not that you need it...remind you that your lessons are valuable and meaningful. You're on my blogroll, because I want others to know there are authentic, transparent people alive in the music biz. Your insights about the music industry sheds light on so many topics. I suppose that you are the garden and your fans are like plants. If possible, I would like to be a petunia. :-)
Deborah
Thank you, Petunia. :-) — Derek
something could make Spinal Tap cringe?
:)
hmmm i get the message, but as for the actual story, i wonder where those songwriters are now? it's obvious that the woman cared more about her job than the guy. if one was to go by the messages in this blog, then the person with a more professional work ethic definitely came out better in the end.
we all have to start somewhere, and usually without any leverage... even though she was at first low on the totem pole, maybe THAT was her foot in the door to more success? part of her creating more demand for herself?
In my experience, artists don't want to do the work. They just want an "easy" life making music or they'd have gotten a real job like lawyer, doctor or something that requires real work and years of schooling. There are some gems out there but few and far between. Love the comparison though - not about talent but the "proof is in the pudding" as they say...
This is a terrific post! I'll bet that first songwriter will find her success too with that kind of consistency. But names do sell music, so it's worth remembering if you're in the music business!
P.S. That's the cutest dog!
This is a welcome reality check and certainly food for much thought; very relevant advice for me right now as I am considering an opportunity to manage an unknown artist. Thank you.
I think this is absolutely a fabulous truth! WHY? Because every mentor who advised me, every career opportunity I received was because I worked at the thing I wanted FIRST or FOR FREE, and then someone offered to help with the rest of the journey. The axiom that the harder you work the luckier you get is so true. I am ever grateful for everything I was able to experience or accomplish and as I matured in my journey as a musician, I realized it was not my lone effort, but an invisible web of helping hands that came forward AFTER I put in the work to aspire to the success I dreamed of having. Whether you believe in the law of attraction or not when you gather momentum from your efforts, and continue moving forward, you will get those who look at the road you have traveled, the things you have done, and decide to help or add to the story. I had one music industry record company person tell me that "you should create enough smoke until you can actually light a fire and people will come just to see what all the commotion is about!" One of my mentors called me, after receiving word of one of my endeavours and offered an important door-opening introduction and said they did so "because it looks like you're just not gonna give up, so I realized I might as well help you!"
The writer in your example who had a fraction of input on the mega-million dollar making song and received the bigger advance is a staggering example of perceived bankability creating the POSSIBLE/PROBABLE scenario on which to build a negotiation. Obviously smart lawyers, and it's true by your example that perception is reality.
But, I digress. My inclination for responding to this great blog thought of yours Derek, is in my present work teaching college music students, so many want a successful career, and want the magic pill or prescription for success. I tell them to "get busy making your story, create your own success, and then the rest of the journey will reveal itself." 90% of the them think I'm crazy. The 10% who get it (or got it) are all enjoying sustained careers in the music business.
This sounds like one of those Catch-22 situations. You don't have leverage unless you have success, but in the case of this gal, what were her choices, really, except to take the $15K, hopefully write a hit song, and THEN have leverage with another publisher down the road.
If we all wait around for some stroke of grand luck to give us that $500K deal, we may never get anywhere at all.
Years ago, I made a big mistake in not going with a smaller publisher because everyone told me my songs were so good that I would undoubtedly get a bigger, better offer. Needless to say, that offer never came, despite a Critics' Choice pick in Billboard, which also included me in a later cover feature about NYC's best unsigned acts.
My advice is to seize a good opportunity instead of waiting for a great one. In the case of this bad songwriter, his stroke of luck in co-writing a hit is akin to hitting the lottery.
The music industry is brutal, as we know. If you get offered the $15K, take it, and start building your career. Please learn from my mistake. I certainly have.
The major labels today will only sign an artist when said artist has managemnt, a good booking agent, packed clubs, and respectable album sales. And the irony being at this point, the artist does not need the label.
I value ur input greatly. Im South African. Somehow US artists enjoy the bulk of air play on our radio and tv stations. How do they do it? Yet, Im sitting with mind blowing upcoming artist demo's and the top dawgs are just not interested. What am I doing wrong or what am I not doing or what am I doing that puts them off?
Great advice. I am trying to build success as best as I can as an Independent artist and not be concerned about any big advance. Thanks for all the tips for success.
So how sucessful were the "Beatles"
before they got signed?They weren't
wre they?
Very inspirational article for the people who loose heart and hopes in difficult times.
This is a test of your character and strength.
How mentally you are strong and how much stress you can take.
Great post. Enforces the idea that money makes the world goes round.
"You have to show that you're going to be successful with-or-without their help"
That's everybody's dream but it's easier said than done.
I guess the question here is what defines success? And do you really need to be successful or just give people the impression that you were/are successful?! I get the feeling that the impression is far more important :-)
Absolutely. If you are going to make anything successful, you gotta build your foundation of learning how to do things successfully.
I believe that it doesn't matter what industry or what the thing is that you're trying to be successful at... the first success has to be on your own accord, and you gotta earn it.
Most of the time, people are just interested in riding on your success when investing. It'd be nice if they cared about the space your business competed in!
!!! This is the ultimate chicken-or-egg situation. To get the best internship, it's best to have had an internship already. So the question is: "How do I do it for the first time?" It feels that most people are haunted by this problem for their entire lives. The select few figure out a way to create SUCCESS out of thin air to enter the game and start playing it seriously.