JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Brian Austin Whitney Blog Wednesday, May 17th, 2006

Hi Folks,

I thought I would update folks on a few things we haven't discussed in a while.

First, we've been making quiet progress on our documentary project. In the last few months we've done sit down interviews with Bob Malone, Erika Luckett and Nils, all 3 full time musicians with amazing talent and credentials, but who are also living the Indie musician life. We'll be interviewing 2 more long time members Ali Handal and Cindy Alexander when they come through Indianapolis and stay with us for a night in a couple of weeks. These interviews are adding to an impressive collection that we started last summer during the Summer Roadtrip. There we interviewed a few hundred members (though most in short 5 minute segments or in large groups of 10 or more at a time) and we're really starting to put together a fascinating narrative on what life is like for indie artists and songwriters in the 21st century. I've seen some very interesting similarities between those who do it full time who differ from those who have day jobs. I've also learned some things that are contradictory to what many of us would have predicted going into this project. We still have a long way to go before we finish. I'd like to have interviews from across the US and Canada, and with our scaled down Roadtrip schedule, it may be 2 more years before we get to the rest of the US. But we'll have the camera's rolling everywhere we go and I think by the end, we're going to have a great documentary that will be long on substance and education for our members to enjoy. We'll have to decide whether to create a mainstream version for non musicians, or simply allow the project to focus on the community alone. We'll be open to both options if they're realistic and available at the end.

On a related front, as I work on this documentary, I have also been working on some creative projects that aren't directly music related. Before I ever worked on music, I used to do a lot of creative writing and had some shorts stories published in college as well as some theatrical stuff. Lately I have been writing a ton of outlines/treatments for movie ideas and possibly some novel and short story projects. It's difficult for me to really focus on those while keeping JPF going (especially in the height of awards season) but I am making progress and once the awards are done, I think I am going to write at least 1 screenplay and probably will start work on a couple of book projects (one that incorporates the quotes I use in the JPF newsletters and another a creative writing effort). When I started JPF, my long term vision was that we would expand the entire organization to embrace Theater, Movies, Acting, Creative Writing, Painting, Sculpture, Photography and other types of artists and do the same thing for those communities as we have for grassroots musicians. I've never let go of that dream and keep thinking that if we can ever make JPF self sufficient (meaning it could run the same as it does today without my direct 24/7 involvement and workload) we will expand into those other areas.

Over the years, I've seen my insatiable appetite for information on the music industry mature to the point where I am giving info out as often as I am taking info in. That's a natual progression. So I find myself excited by the idea of pursuing things like Film Making, where I am the guy with all the questions rather than the one with many of the answers. The same thing would apply to any other artistic discipline. I've considered adding a new message board forum for "other" interests which would include film and acting, writing, photography, fine arts and so on. I wonder if there are enough experts among us to broaden our scope sooner rather than later? If you have thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them.

We've also been working on creating a JPF Community Advocacy Network. After getting about 100 volunteers who expressed interest from our first call to membership for involvement, I've found that only a couple of those folks have followed up. It's the same problem we have with Chapter Coordinators. Tons of initial interest, little to no follow up or sustained action. Life gets in the way of most motivations, but we haven't given up on the idea in case you were wondering. I learned from the Chapter program that his would likely happen. My hope is to slowly build a collection of interested, motivated and capable people to form the backbone of the program and then slowly and steadily fill in the blanks around the US and elsewhere.

We will also be revamping the Mentor program at JPF. We have some mentors who have kind of fallen off the JPF map and others who have stepped up to help but aren't even recognized officially. When we first started the Mentor program, we reached out to all the major organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Harry Fox and so on in hopes of having Reps from each join our mentor program. Back at that time, we were still the new kid on the block and few really paid much attention. I think that has changed for a lot of people these days. We find ourselves being approached now by the same people who paid little attention to us before, now asking for OUR help (ironic isn't it?). So I think as we revamp and refresh the mentor program, I am going to once again reach out to these companies and organizations and hopefully do what we wanted to in the first place, offer up factual info directly from the horses mouths when various questions and discussions arise. If we had been able to do that years ago, I think that a lot of people would understand each other much better today than they do. So here's to hoping that a few years and 40,000 more members have made a difference.

That's my thoughts for today.. let's hear yours.

Brian

[This message has been edited by Brian Austin Whitney (edited 05-17-2006).]

Expanding into other areas like film and video seems like a natural progression for you Brian. These things go hand in hand. I am positive many of the same principles will apply, if not almost all of them. Knowledge is power and you are continuing to build a powerful organization that I am proud to be active and involved in. I have found great information here that has taken away alot of that "helpless cause I don't know" feeling, as well as many stories that have inspired me to work hard on my songwriting. Thanks for you tireless effort.

Herbie

Brian,
Your documentary project about the life of full-time musicians promises to be a very fascinating one! Perhaps you could have a longer "un-edited" version for the music community and maybe a shorter "edited" version for the general public. Sounds like something that could end up on PBS and also sold as physical DVD sales. I'm sure it will be a real eye-opener for the rest of us that need "day jobs" to survive. All around, it will be enlightening & educational... cool!

Regarding the revamping of the Mentor program at JPF, I think that would be a big boost! Hopefully that will also influence more involvement for the Industry Forum. I think the two Forums could (and should) be working hand-in-hand to give folks some realistic and cutting-edge input on the state of the music & media industry today, not just in the U.S. but globally.

The idea of having reps from the PROs and maybe some of the major labels & publishers come here to open up "forum style" discussions would be terrific! As long as the Forums are well managed and moderated, there'll be lots of room for exchange, discourse and debate, or whatever.

The FOMC (Future Of Music Coalition) is already doing much of this, but it would be cool to bring more of the discussion online so it's available to make progress on a daily basis, not just once or twice a year at remote conferences, though they are also needed to get folks meeting in person and networking together.

My first suggestion is that there should be some "Pinned" topics that could help archive the most important documents, perhaps storing them by title in alphabetical order. That way it would minimize have to retype (or re-search) the older topics and articles again.

Most message boards I've seen around various sites have Pinned topics at the top of each unique Forum. Seems like a great way to keep important themes, subjects & "rules" handy at our finger-tips. One example is the Muse's Muse which uses the latest "Invision Power Board" v2.1.5 © 2006 by IPS, Inc.

I think they only pay $10.00 per month for that version, but maybe you can check. Your board may have this feature, but maybe you haven't used it. The "Pinned" feature might not be needed for all Forums, but maybe just for a few that could make the most use of it!

Michael

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The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Michael Borges
Praiseworthy Productions

[This message has been edited by Michael Borges (edited 05-17-2006).]

This message board is literally the version from 2000 and BARELY 2000 at that. Though it doesn't have many of the new features of other sites, there's something to be said about simplicity and ease of use. I've looked at newer versions but frankly in some cases I think some of the newer boards have proved more is less.

The #1 challenge in getting people to use message boards is ease of use. The more complicated it is, the less will use it. We can't do things like have "Stickies" but that said, we have the busiest board of all similar sites and orgs. I think a big part of that reason is the simplicity of our site. But maybe I am wrong. Let's hear from others?

As for getting active industry folks to chime in regularly, there's just no reality to support that desire. Sure, it would be great, but it isnt' going to happen. Getting a few more active mentors would be nice on the boards, but the reality is that the few who visit have been able to handle what has come up. If we had 20 or 30 mentors regularly checking it, there wouldn't be much for them to do. Having more of them write articles for a searchable archive, however, is far more realistic and useful. It's a much better use of their time. As for getting labels to come here.. no thanks.. they don't even post to their own sites. The reality is that they deal with such a tiny sliver of the masses that beyond having some articles, they don't have much day to day info to offer the community. They will never have room for more than a handful of artists at one time. I'd rather hear from the block of artists not on the major labels who have found a way to make a full time living. That's something that anyone can learn to do. The label system, by it's very design, can never handle more than a static number of people. It's a closed system. Let's work on educating people on things that EVERYONE can actually use, rather than point people towards a dead end.

Brian

[This message has been edited by Brian Austin Whitney (edited 05-17-2006).]

Brian,
When you said...
"When we first started the Mentor program, we reached out to all the major organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Harry Fox and so on in hopes of having Reps from each join our mentor program."

I wasn't sure what other "major organizations" you were refering too. Probably all non-profit ones, which would not include businesses like record labels or publishers, etc.

So anyway, do you think the reps of all these PROs and Harry Fox will still have an interest to come out and interact with JPF folks here?

Are there any other groups, companies or organizations that would benefit from interacting with our JPF community that you'd like to invite to get involved here?

Michael B.

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The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Michael Borges
Praiseworthy Productions

Michael,

There's a lot of people who might be interested in getting involved from orgs. The labels are just such a non productive pathway for 99% of our members. Sure, everyone would love the live the Rockstar life. But that life, even when it existed, was mostly fake marketing hype. (Since I've gotten to know a few "Rock Stars" they've filled me in on reality). For many years the entire industry and every educational resource has been firmly pointed towards the "major label record deal" myth. No matter how honest and fair that system was, there would still only be room at any given time for a few dozen artists in each genre. Since I know first hand there are hundreds and thousands of worthy talents beyond those slots, it seems like a waste to fight over the few opportunities, and gear the entire indie scene towards achieving what is literally impossible for more than a fraction of 1% of us. Add in all the bias and dishonesty and scams and payoffs and cheaters and thieves to the mix and it seems like for many years the music community at large has had all the wrong role models and all the wrong messages for those coming up through the ranks. Instead of teaching young artists and writers how to write a great song, how to perform well, how to entertain an audience, how to connect with a fan, how to play their instruments better, how to invest some of their income so they'd have a retirement if they pursue music their whole life, how to network with others on your level so you can share resources and opportunities and perhaps learn the shortcuts so you don't make all the same mistakes as they did, we've been teaching them how to impress a record label run by either non musical accountants and attorney's, or jaded bloated self important industry moguls who are always 10 minutes away from being out on their ass themselves who make life and death decisions about people's futures based on the way the wind is blowing, not that month or week or even day, but that exact moment in the industry. Since none of these people have job longevity (hell even someone legitimately great like Clive Davis has been unceremoniously removed from prior jobs), they have no interest beyond the next 5 minutes in their career to develop or take even a tiny artistic risk.

All the books on the market have long been focused on this bogus pursuit. All the conferences are STILL based on this bogus pursuit, with only a few exceptions. Even people who claim to be teaching "the indie way" are often STILL teaching the major label viewpoint, only dumbed down for indies. Ack.

Resources I think would be helpful are the ones we NEED to do business with, not those who we have little to no reason to ever consider doing business with in the first place. Right now they include:

The 3 PRO's (for our US members, or the local ones for our international members).

Soundexchange, who may become the most important PRO to US Artists who have never been paid for "Performance" royalties since our country is the only significant one in the world that doesn't pay a performance royalty on Radio Airplay. Soundexchange will be paying that royalty for all music played and used on line.

Harry Fox. Though there are questions as to whether Harry Fox, the PRO's or someone new will take charge of the big picture, for now, Harry Fox is still the Mechanical Royalty czar. Our members need to understand them, and have an open communication with them as they learn that doing Covers in the new day and age of Soundexchange is no longer a losing proposition. Now you can have a "hit" with a cover and still make some money. And as terrestrial radio diminishes, that will increase. If for no other reason, we should all support internet radio and airplay because they actually PAY us fairly. Radio has had a free ride that hopefully is coming to an end, or at least a diminished impact on us.

AFTRA/SAG and other creative Unions can teach us things about collective bargaining and setting fair rates for fair work. Not everyone is into the unions, but they have their place and I think we should learn what is good about their work and understand when and why they might help us and our peers.

NARAS, NSAI, CMA, GMA and other large organizations should also be in communication with us and vice versa. Though NARAS does make their bread and butter from the Grammy's and many feel those awards shut out most of the people making music (and they clearly measure popularity and sales success over pure artistic quality) there's really no reason why we can't either co-exist in a positive way, or perhaps even have an impact to broaden what they do. Perhaps one day NARAS and JPF could actually work together and share in the benefits and value of both our awards programs. When we have JPF insiders like Ande Rasmussen joining their board of Governors as well as other JPF members who have served in the past and present with them, who is to say we couldn't find a common ground to help each other out? Same could be said about NSAI who we've had a hot and cold relationship with over the years (currently it's fairly neutral since we haven't communicated much in the last year with them).

What if we really opened our minds to finding some common ground with the big radio networks? What if instead of pointing out all the evils, we instead aggressively tried to work with them to improve their actions and perhaps find new ways for more artists to access their station airwaves? We've made a lot of headway (and locked a lot of horns) over the years with the radio community thanks to our friends at the Future of Music Coalition. Perhaps we need to talk directly to these companies going forward and we'll find that most of the people running them are fine and open minded, it's simply the big corporate machine that is the problem, just as it is at labels and any other giant company in the world.

I also think it would be nice to have a better presence from our current community partners and some possible new ones. They all have a lot going on everyday with little time to come here, but perhaps with a little effort, we could get at least a representative from each to be available to answer questions and perhaps 1 time a month post a topic relating to what they're up to. I think that would be a great way for all of you to get to know more about all of them.

Those are some of the thoughts I had on the topic. But labels per se are likely the least productive of all to talk to. We (meaning beyond just JPF) as a community have wasted far too many years of creative life on that false pursuit. Sure, a few of our lucky and talented members WILL rise to the top of that heap. We'll be the first ones to cheer them on, just as I would cheer on a member who won the lottery. But lets focus energy on finding real life ways for artists to make more music and do more creative things on a real world human scale.

Brian

Brian,
The Harry Fox & especially SoundExchange resource sounds very promising!

To repeat, I quote:
"Our members need to understand them, and have an open communication with them as they learn that doing Covers in the new day and age of Soundexchange is no longer a losing proposition. Now you can have a "hit" with a cover and still make some money. And as terrestrial radio diminishes, that will increase."

Also:
"...lets focus energy on finding real life ways for artists to make more music and do more creative things on a real world human scale."

Yes, I'm all for that! And I might add, not only make more music, but if possible, learn how to earn more throughout their music career venture!

Thanks Brian for your hard work and applying your great "visionary thinking" skills! When the whole industry is "up in arms" and changing as fast as it is, it's a critical time for honest & down-to-earth leadership (like JPF) to step in and provide a rational compass for the indie community to navigate by!

By the way, you can quote me if you like!

Cheers!
Michael


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The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Michael Borges
Praiseworthy Productions

[This message has been edited by Michael Borges (edited 05-18-2006).]