How to move underdog acts forward in a corporate world?

Jules · 1st September 2002

Do band members have to take on the roles of accountants to make a profit?

How can you rock n roll AND keep track of t shirt & CD sales?

Is there enough income flow to support bands AND business minded managers to do that shit for them?

Predictions for the future?

Statement: Here in the UK 'junior' band managers are suddenly as rare as rocking horse shit. At the 3 day Reading Rock Festival last weekend in the UK, they were about 70% down in the backstage 'biz hang out zone'. I can only imagine that many have 'retired' as there is little hope for them to get acts signed. They were a great use for bringing new bands forward, I guess their dedication could only last for so long without money or hope of getting some in the future. I am happy to pioneer new acts with my studio, but there is now a shortage of folks to hand em on to... Most pro managers in my experience have 1 or 2 signed acts and as many as 3 unsigned acts in various stages of development... Now, without the signed acts, they are VERY cautious... It's a bummer, grudge

stevepow · 1st September 2002

Where ever there is a need not being met, there is probably a business opportunity. If I was a savvy businessman, I'd probably sort it out.

At any rate, it seems like there is a good bit of unrest in the music industry growing. Hopefully that will bring some change that will allow a more free flowing music scene that the mega "entertainment" companies have no clue how to deliver.

What needs to happen is music needs to break away from all the MTV style self-agrandizing BS. I watched bits of their (MTV) latest hoopla and it seemed like a huge "legend in our own minds" fest or something. Pretty horrible. It is a manufacted music scene - I bet they all cannot wait until the animation rendering is good enough to not even need real people, much less real musicians. It is all so very Hollywood: "No, I'm not really a musician, but I play one on MTV."

dfegad grggt :eek:

alphajerk · 1st September 2002

i think its incredibly difficult for band members to also be the business men of the band. sure collecting the door at shows is one thing. selling shirts afterwards [although better to have a street team for that, and show promotion... something a lot of bands overlook]

i think bands need to find another struggling guy to be their manager who has business sense about him, knows how to handle situations that might arise... but it basically onthe same plane as the band. obviously they would deal only with the immediate business of the band.

i find it difficult for bands to do it without such a person. its a necessity. i have seen band after band try to do it. i have even offered much advice on the DIY methods. a lot dont follow up on a lot of options they have open to start getting themselves known. either by sheer lazyness or lack of time to do it right.

i tried to do a label along with my studio. i bagged the label because i couldnt devote enough energy to both. i chose the studio. however, i am working on releasing ONLY vinyl with certain bands i work with. is a niche market that i hope to dig in to. especially now that my studio is starting to settle in a bit.

1st September 2002	#1
Jules Gearslutz.com admin Joined: Apr 2002 Location: A Yank in London, UK Posts: 17,805 Thread Starter 1 Review written	How to move underdog acts forward in a corporate world? Do band members have to take on the roles of accountants to make a profit? How can you rock n roll AND keep track of t shirt & CD sales? Is there enough income flow to support bands AND business minded managers to do that shit for them? Predictions for the future? Statement: Here in the UK 'junior' band managers are suddenly as rare as rocking horse shit. At the 3 day Reading Rock Festival last weekend in the UK, they were about 70% down in the backstage 'biz hang out zone'. I can only imagine that many have 'retired' as there is little hope for them to get acts signed. They were a great use for bringing new bands forward, I guess their dedication could only last for so long without money or hope of getting some in the future. I am happy to pioneer new acts with my studio, but there is now a shortage of folks to hand em on to... Most pro managers in my experience have 1 or 2 signed acts and as many as 3 unsigned acts in various stages of development... Now, without the signed acts, they are VERY cautious... It's a bummer, grudge __________________ Jules Add your reviews to the new reviews area! Gearslutz on Facebook Follow my GS picks on Twitter

1st September 2002	#2
stevepow Gear interested Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 6	Where ever there is a need not being met, there is probably a business opportunity. If I was a savvy businessman, I'd probably sort it out. At any rate, it seems like there is a good bit of unrest in the music industry growing. Hopefully that will bring some change that will allow a more free flowing music scene that the mega "entertainment" companies have no clue how to deliver. What needs to happen is music needs to break away from all the MTV style self-agrandizing BS. I watched bits of their (MTV) latest hoopla and it seemed like a huge "legend in our own minds" fest or something. Pretty horrible. It is a manufacted music scene - I bet they all cannot wait until the animation rendering is good enough to not even need real people, much less real musicians. It is all so very Hollywood: "No, I'm not really a musician, but I play one on MTV." dfegad grggt :eek: __________________ BullMoonDigital <a href="http://www.bullmoondigital.com" target="_blank">www.bullmoondigital.com</a>

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1st September 2002	#3
alphajerk There is only one Joined: Jun 2002 Location: asheville NC Posts: 5,260	i think its incredibly difficult for band members to also be the business men of the band. sure collecting the door at shows is one thing. selling shirts afterwards [although better to have a street team for that, and show promotion... something a lot of bands overlook] i think bands need to find another struggling guy to be their manager who has business sense about him, knows how to handle situations that might arise... but it basically onthe same plane as the band. obviously they would deal only with the immediate business of the band. i find it difficult for bands to do it without such a person. its a necessity. i have seen band after band try to do it. i have even offered much advice on the DIY methods. a lot dont follow up on a lot of options they have open to start getting themselves known. either by sheer lazyness or lack of time to do it right. i tried to do a label along with my studio. i bagged the label because i couldnt devote enough energy to both. i chose the studio. however, i am working on releasing ONLY vinyl with certain bands i work with. is a niche market that i hope to dig in to. especially now that my studio is starting to settle in a bit.