Quote:
Originally Posted by quietdrive  Dont be so vague Jules, where did they screw up? I'm especially interested in what you think the artists did wrong. |
How can a signed artist mess up their own record deal?
The list is HUGE!
Never write any better or "as good as" songs than the two they were signed for at the start of the deal.
Keep their idiot best friend / parent manager
Fire their best friend / parent manager
Listen to their idiot A&R person
Not listen to their A&R person
Not realize that their A&R person was due to leave the label soon..
Sign to a major when they should have signed to an indie (ie. major label machinery takes SOOOO long to get things done that some 'hipster' acts can discover that their musical style / album is WAY out of date by the time, 2 and a half years from signing, it is finally released. This is a good case for signing to an indie label - who can get a release out far quicker.
Wait too long for a VIP producer (see above)
Accept a producer that wasn't their choice
Allow an unchecked studio budget overspend to occur
Agreeing with the wrong choice for single - radio promotion
Obviously if an act REALLY doesn't want to do something, it wont do it.. But there is SO MUCH manipulation of artists going on it really is an uphill struggle for even the smartest of acts to resist the all the BS. The single biggest mistake acts make is thinking ' Hey, I am not dumb you know, how hard can all this stuff be?' - cause the answer is - VERY HARD / total nightmare - a LOT of the time...and you will simply NOT have enough time,
nor be offered the opportunity, to micro manage everything about your career. You have to make some key choices early on re managers, Label's,
PR, live concert agents who's job it is to make decisions on your behalf... And roll the dice.. Get any or all of those key personnel choices
slightly wrong - and you can be screwed... IMHO.
Here is the catch 22.. if you haven't already experienced it, how can an artist new to it all make wise choices? - The answer is - there is no way to guarantee you will make the right choices and
thats why its known as a tough business to crack and why people say you need a certain amount of luck as well as talent / good looks etc..
Here's an analogy for being signed and how your intelligence influences your career... Imagine you are put in front of a factory conveyor belt with M&M chocolates bouncing around on it. You are told to pick up off the conveyor belt as many of the blue colored M&M's as you can as these will contribute to your success. You understand the task and are willing to take it on. Before you start, someone tells you at the last minute, that you have to wear boxing gloves to do this task, you agree (albeit a little annoyed you weren't warned about this at the beginning) so you get going.. you miss a few of the blue M&M's but you are making progress..! Then the people in charge, triple the speed of the conveyor belt and switch the lights off, leaving you stranded there alone.
WELCOME TO THE MUSIC BUSINESS!!!