Editor's note: This is the first in an ongoing series of articles on Guerilla Art - How to fight Corporate art and win - legally! It's really much easier than you think. This months article on...
Fighting the Big 6, the Corporate Art Music Companies
Now bear with me cause this is some exciting and revolutionary stuff. But first I need to tell you some background (The facts in the following story are from a W&J report by Debra Jo Immergut)
Woa! Woa! Woa! before you run to your computer (if you're rich enough to own one and most of my readers are NOT) there ARE strings and catches.
The biggest being:
1."...the major labels, which control nearly all of the rock, country, and classical catalogs, haven't yet warmed to the idea of the mix-your-own-disk sites, fearing they will cut into whole-album sales. - It all comes down to licensing.. much depends on nabbing those big money catalogs, the inclusion of what I call the `big six' labels is the difference between being a $l00 million business and a $500 million business," Bruce Block, chief technology officer of Music Connection Corp, the company behind Musicmaker.
2. The titles you're left with have catches too. There are 124 Credence Clearwater Revival songs BUT they can only be used to create an all Credence CD (sounds like an inflated ego factor working here) or:
3. If you want any jazz titles from Fantasy Records you have to make an all Fantasy Song CD.
4. Even if current records are later added on to the lists they will be held back for 3 or 4 months like videos at Blockbuster - to allow for the album to sell, "We don't want to cut into the three to four month heyday of the new release." Supersonic BOOM's Melissa MacKinnon. (excuse me
but isn't the point of selling records SELLING RECORDS!
5. CDs cost $20 to make for you but only about 25 cents for them, (that's manufacturing cost only)
6. Shipping cost $2.95
7. Delivery time of 6 days. Amazon books delivers in 2-3 days though their shipping costs are higher.
8.You have to own a computer and be on the net and have a credit card.
Now what if you're a Guerilla Record Co. - an indie - and you, (like Muesa) RATED the Big 6 and how they push artists around, cheat them, treat them like low dirt, and in almost every case take 2 years to get a record released (usually with no promotion money whatsoever).
HERE'S WHAT YOU'D DO...
You would break all the rules and fight innovatively .
Let's re-look at that list of strings and catches and this time see what a creative, indie, record label - lets call them GUERILLA RECORDS - could do to promote, sell, and distribute their records, even GET A HIT (see top quote) WITHOUT THE "BIG 6"!
1.You approach Musicmaker, or Supersonic BOOM (or start your own website distribution co.) and give them 1 CD each of all your company's recordings. NOTE: (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT) you only have to give them 1 of each CD NOT 1,000 or 100,000 or 1,000,000 - just ONE!
2. You say (because you're NOT a CORP DORK) that the net distributor can use any song of your company on any custom CD - with no strings attached (unless of course there were strings on the song)
3. You tell the net distributor "YES YOU CAN USE THESE SONGS FROM DAY ONE" and that you WANT the public to buy the record NOW not 3 months later when everyone is tired of it. Why? because you're not stupid and bureaucratic like a certain 6 so and so's.
4. You lower cost of CD packaging by ending the most ridiculous, wasteful, and environmentally incorrect CD JEWEL BOXES and with it the sterilized plastic wrapping - These are CDs not surgical tools!
Then you mail these CDs in an envelope like old 45's came in but with a little protective backing and a place for name, address, and postage thus...
5. Reducing shipping costs to about 2 stamps.
6. You mail the same day as the order was placed (a thing called customer service). and they, the customer, get it in 2 or 3 days.
7. You do cassettes too if the customer wants it.
8. And what if the Big 6 don't play along? Well hallelujah!!!! Who needs Garth Brooks or Celine Dion? They could pay ME and I still wouldn't listen to Corporate Art acts.
9. But you still need that computer, net connection, right? Well stay with us and we'll take care of that too.
SO WHAT DO YOU END UP WITH, i.e. WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THIS?
1.ANY RECORD CO. could make, distribute and sell a major hit record. And all they would have to do is a) record the hit, b) make ONE CD of the hit (or even a DAT tape for you pros) and c) deliver it to the net distributor of your choice.
Now that's Guerilla Music!
And why stop there? Because we ARE revolutionary, let's go one step further. In every major town set up or franchise one of these custom making CD machines. You'd need a store about the size of a large closet! Then people, WITHOUT OWNING COMPUTERS OR HAVING ACCESS TO THE NET' could visit or phone in their custom made CD requests and pick it up there or have it shipped to their home. Wowie Zowie, your fave recording artist records late into the night, makes the one CD the next morning, and gets it to your town by the afternoon where you get it that evening and play yourself to sleep. Now that's DOUBLE GUERILLA MUSIC!
HOW FORMAT MUSIC KILLED THE HIT
For the ELEVENTH MONTH IN A ROW MUSEA DECREES; Want $20? Find us a single hit from `80-98 that 1) is a mega hit, 2) covered by 5 other artists (good song) and 3) covers at least 3 formats.
BUT STILL NO TAKERS. And I don't think it's because people don't like 20 dollars, There just hasn't been any big hits since 1980. Why?
Radio loves formats that target their audience for their advertisers. If advertisers want this age group, with this salary. etc. the radio station has got to reduce their playlist to a very tight list of sound alike, clone, tunes, otherwise there format advertisers will stray.
Sounds like a winner - but in practice no tune can vault over its format. No tune can appeal to anyone outside its format and you have to have a wide audience to get a big hit.
Format radio killed the big hit.
ON THE OTHER HAND
Musea' resident revolutionary musician, Hunkasaurus & His Pet Dog Guitar, HATE formats. So much so that the duo will do any type of good song JUST to break the format rules. This month they've added a DISCO song, "NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE", and a SPIRITUAL, AMAZING GRACE to their repertoire; 2 more formats to their already about 10 or 20: rock, blues. country. soul, folk, protest, classics, rockabilly, classical, a capella. instrumentals, originals, lounge music, bossa nova, etc, etc. etc.