JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum Making a breakthrough in music today

Historically [i.e. in pre-Internet days] a new music act would start out by touring relentlessly, in the hope that they would attract the interest of a label or manager. This action may lead to signing a recording contract. Once an album/ CD was recorded, the new music act would tour relentlessly in an effort to promote the new album/ CD. All things equal, the promotion of the CD/ album may lead to the new music act gaining some radio airplay, which would lead to some chart action/ album/ CD sales.

The new music act would follow exactly the same path in order to gain an audience in other overseas territories.

If successful on both of these fronts, the new music act's label could use their muscle to place one of the new music act's songs onto the soundtrack of a Hollywood film. This action would garner an even larger audience for the new music act.

This is called "paying one's dues", and I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of the artists who have followed this path in order to achieve the level of success that they desire.

Question: How does a new music act make a breakthrough today?

Using my homeland of Australia as a basis for my response, the live music venue scene has been steadily declining since the mid-1980's. This can be explained by local anti-smoking laws/ the introduction of poker machines to venues previously preserved for the performance of live music [especially new music acts]. Sure, there will always be a live music scene, however at present the focus is on "nostalgia" acts [i.e. guaranteed profit spinners for the promoter of music artists].

Radio stations in Australia [and worldwide] have been corporatised to the extent that it is very difficult for new music to find its way onto widestream audio waves. There will always be avenues for new music acts to "make it onto radio", however this will be limited to community radio stations with a very narrow listening audience.

Massive revenue was historically generated from album/ CD sales, however the present trend of single mp3 file sales has seen recorded music gross revenue savaged.

When analysed in that sense, why would a new music act attempt to "pay their dues" today?

There will always be exceptions to every rule. The most successful pop star in the world at present is Lady Gaga. How has she achieved massive commercial appeal, against these odds? Does she have a specific "X Factor", or has she been incredibly lucky?

What makes bands such as The Fray or Snow Patrol considerably more popular than the thousands of other bands around the world producing a similar type of music? Is their success purely based upon song placement in popular TV shows?

One thing is for sure, music will never die, nor will the following generation's desire to make their music reach a largest audience possible.

Who knows, maybe the entire process of success in music will come full circle?

Scott Williams
SW Songs and Publishing

http://www.teakbreath.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/liewwilliams
http://cdbaby.com/cd/liewwilliams
http://cdbaby.com/cd/liewwilliams2

Scott,

I can't speak to all acts of today, only the one's that I have personal working knowledge of. In the case of both of them I have some direct and inderect knowledge of. They are both involved in the industry and my job is helping guide people like them and others toward their goals. I am an overall "career coach for artists and writers. I am not a manager but do many things a manager does. The difference is that a manager is paid by percentage. I am paid up front and by the hour.

The first is Frankie Ballard. 26 year old good looking guy out of Kalamazoo Michigan. Frankie for years had been playing the the blues clubs in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, etc. So that he was somewhat known as an entity. He was brought to my attention by the coordinator of NSAI (Nashville Songwriter's Association International) In Kalamazoo.

Over a six month period, Frankie made consistant once a month trips to Nashville to write and connect with the inside writer's community in Nashville. We would write songs, I would take him around and introduce him to other writers and artists. The entire rest of the time, five to six nights a week, he played clubs, and did high profile shows in his home areas.

Being very good looking, he became a local sensation,partnering up with a radio station who promoted him as the "fair haired wonderkid." People flocked to see him. Advertising created a snowball effect, and coupled with what we were doing in Nashville, gave him songs of hefty weight that worked well in his situations. It did.

The radio station brought him to the attention of the owner of the Budwiser distributor ship, and a member of the "Phizer company" (Viagra) who were standing by with financial backing. We didn't need it. It also brought him to the attention of artist Kenny Chesny, who used several local acts in areas across the US to open for him.

Frankie did this and multiple other national touring artists. All the while coming to Nashville to work with me and write. I included several friends of mine inside Nashville who had had multiple hit songs and numerous track record. Every trip we introduced him to others.

After six months, we did a CD on him, which provided him product to sell at his shows. His first weekend he sold around 3000, thereby paying back his entire investment. Opening a major concert for artist Dierk's Bently gave him the kick off point for his CD party. Meeting Dierk's and becoming friends didn't hurt either.

The entire process was:
Engage the writer's community, earn their respect on their playing field and remain "below the radar screen' so that everyone was able to feel "THEY" were the one to discover him.
They told two friends and THEY told two friends, and so on and so on. Each successive month, more and more people lined up to write or work with him.
The same time, he played consistantly building his fan club/Myspace, to well over 40,000 members.

In April of last year, Hit writer Walt Aldrich, took him for an informal meeting at Sony Music, where he played with an acoustic guitar and vocals which impressed the entire staff of Sony music, who subsequently signed him to a full publishing deal two weeks later. A month after that, two showcases were done in Nashville, with full band and all the bells and whistles.

The second recieved four recording offers. he signed with Warner Brothers in August. That was nine months after beginning work with me.

At that point he moved to Nashville, and began the process of writing with hit writers, making the rounds, doing corporate events and publicity.

This week he begins his first radio tour and his first single is out. I have started recieving reports from the road that it is going well.

This summer he will be touring with several major artists and doing radio promotions. Now we see what stage it gets to. Off to a very good start.

The other is Steel Magnolia, a duo comprised of Megan Linsey, and Josh Jones. Megan is a very cute young lady out of New Orleans with a big voice and huge Doe eyes. I met her about five years ago, when one of my clients, Julie Moriva of Green Bay Wisconsin, started making continuous trips to Nashville to write and work with me.

Megan paired up with Josh from Karaoke and writer's nights. They wrote with several people around town, myself included and I continued to work with Julie directing her movements in the industry. She does not perform at all, so I helped her find other co-writers, and build her catalogue and connections. Julie helped with Steel Magnolia.

In Septemeber of last year, Megan was told of a television show,"You Can Duet" and they auditioned. They made the show and for two months did the show from week to week. The judge and sponsor of the show, Scott Borchetta, manager and producer of Taylor Swift, became personally involved with them, as well as Kenny Alphen (Big and Rich) and country superstar Naiomi Judd. They helped behind the scenes.

They won the show and won a contract with Scott's big machine records. they have been recording and writing over the past year and working behind the scenes.

Their first single, "Keep On Loving You" was released to radio, and within a month was in the top ten. They are the fastest rising duo in country music history. They are at number five this past week and are going on tour with Brad Paisley in two weeks for the entire summer.


In both cases, extensive fan base and continued touring, Internet and web site, consistant publicity, while simultaneously, writing songs, building "inside the industry contacts" have provided the foundation for them moving through the ranks of the industry. Earning respect onstage and off with the public, and inside and off with the industry, have led them both to be poised to take advantage of publicity.

The songs are written with the best in Nashville, they are produced by the top money people, and are now in the launch phase of.

At the end of the day it is hard work, constant travel and performing. And writing songs. All the time.

I don't know of other acts, but pretty much that is how it has always been done here and how it still is done.

That is what I know.

Marc-Alan Barnette

Feels good to help people, don't it!

Sausage,

It really is what it is all about. But more important is that you are giving advice that works. i am lucky in that I have seen so many ins and outs of this industry without being killed, in prison or broke. So many people I know, people who have been to the top of the mountain and back again, have not ended up so well.
Drug and substance problems, broken lives, bankruptcies and suicides are rampant in a buisness like entertainment, and it can take a hefty toll.

My role in most things, including conversations like these are to give perspective and comment on things I have direct personal knowledge on. Even when it is not as pleasent as I would like, it is the truth.

In every one of the people I mentioned as well as the Lady Ga Ga, Taylor Swift, or whatever senario you want to name, it comes down to creating a product that attracts and keeps the attention of the public. Then getting it in front of as many people as you can. That has never changed.

With all the changes in delivery systems, all the challenges everyone faces, increased competition, declining money, all of the things we talk about here, it is still about someone writing a song or songs, singers delivering them, connecting with the inside of the industry, propelling them to higher and higher levels and the bottom line, connecting with the general listening public. That will never change.

In the instances I speak of, the people invovled had a "GO TO attitude" that supersesded anything else. When their contemporays would not do what is nessasary, when those people complained that the "System was against them, that nothing could be achieved,that you had to do everything the way everyone else did and conform" they continued on,working within the system to make it work for them.

Not anyone can do this. Very few. Sometimes all the hard work,desire, even talent, just don't make it. The fates just work against them. That is something you can't do anything about.

These people did everything for the things they could do something about.

That is what I like to focus on. I ask not what can't be done. I ask why can't it be done. And try to find ways to get it done.

Borrowed a quote from ol' Bobby Kennedy there, but that is really what it is. You just keep going and working at it.

Scott, how do modern artists make a breakthrough? They find a way. Same as any one who has ever achieved anything. First is by showing up.

MAB

Yep...I remember back in the 70s the guy who co-wrote "Standing Room Only" (one of Barbara Mandrell's early top tens) committed suicide. It seems he did it a few years after Mandrell did the song.

Mel Street, a pretty good singer of traditional honkytonk went out that way on his birthday. Faron Young, a legend in the Hall of Fame, and Steve Sanders who took William Lee Golden's place in the Oak Ridge Boys, they decided to make their own exit.

Just today I heard an old guitarist who travelled with Amy Grant and worked with Shania Twain and Mutt Lange committed suicide. He had a wife and at least one kid.

Sometimes the pain don't stop.

On the quote, I think you actually were paraphrasing Ted Kennedy speaking at Bobby's funeral. Still a good quote though.

Yeah, Those Kennedy speeches all seem to run into each other.

MAB

Well, you and I lived it but we was young. We didn't have the internet to look it up.

Yeah,

I actually do remember a lot of that. Watching Oswald get shot that Sunday, Bobby Kennedy, King, I do remember more than I wish I did. Was in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. Went to Dealy Plaza. Quite a sight. Enough of getting off subject.

The only thing I would like to say on all of this, is to make sure no one thinks that I feel responsible for people breaking through. I am not. Only one part of a larger puzzle. But people do have success these days. Seems like all we hear is the impossibility. I don't know how much encouragement it will provide but there are always a few bright spots out there.

Scott, I hope this has provided some answers to your questions.

MAB

One thing, not often mentioned (probably because it's about believing in things), is that a spiritual dimension can come in real handy as a personal grounding.

Im not advocating for anything in particular, but things like meditation (which does not have to be based on religion), great books on living and life ect. can be very good to put things in perspective.

It's my observation that the word 'love' so much used in many hit songs, is often left very open, so it can mean divine love too. Playing with that spiritual dimension can be a great asset in developing universal lyrics IMO

I think having some sort of grounding could prove important, maybe not to break through, but to stay in contact with the muse and endure life (which also happens for artists )..

Magne,

I'll tell you how I feel about that. You can call it God, Higher power, faith or "Positive Mental Attitude" But it all is VERY Relavant. If you read anything I say here, and that extends to every aspect of my teaching, every part of my existance, that is GET RID OF THE NEGATIVITY!

I hear people constantly complaining about every aspect of the music industry, from without and within. I see people on these and related web sites complaining about everything from Taylor Swift to downloading, to rip offs in songwriter services, and THEN have to endure people on the "inside of the business' complain about "inside cuts" the "Big Machine' and how nothing can get done. And these are the people the one's on the outside accuse of "BEING THE MACHINE!" It is mind numbing.

In every song I write,every person I work with, the first thing is to completely get rid of every negative connotation song. If it doesn't have a "Rope of hope" or positive feel to it, we get rid of it. The reason is that people for the most part, don't want to hear that. At least not in country music. Those "cry in your beer" whiney stuff" are long gone aside from the occassional song. Even a current Toby Keith song, "I'm Crying for Me" is about one of Toby's friends, a very famous bass player who recently died of Cancer. There are references to "You're playing that left handed upside down bass in Heaven" now a bit over the top, I'll admit,but still finding a positive spin on a tough issue.

That extends to the people I work with to all aspects of their attitudes. You can't get anywhere putting anyone down and life ain't fair. So if people that don't seem "worthy" to you, songs that don't seem that great are on the radio, you just have to deal with it. Worry about what you are doing, not what anyone else is doing.

That, in my opinion, is part of the reason they are succeeding. And also having a better understanding of the bigger picture. A few weeks ago, Big Machine, Julie Moriva's publisher, offered to buy her a new dress and send her to the ACM awards in Los Vegas.
Julie told them "No." Because it would just be excess expense and she actually would not get much done out there. That showed them a lot when it came to caring about their bottom line. So if you don't think that pays off long term for her, you are not paying attention.

The whole point is that the people who succeed are working on many fronts.

First of all, they continually work within the rules as they are played on the major playing field. Writing lots of songs, continual work. That engenders respect and a response from the industry.

Second, they continually work to build fan base. That is the constant touring that Scott refers to in the "old days." That actually is even more important today. In addition to constant touring and even more personal appearances, there is the added dimension ot Twitter, My Space, Face book, and keeping directly in touch with your fan base to make each one feel catered to.

Third, maintaining a constant forward movement. Always thinking outside the box and about more than just themselves. Observing the companies who support you and their overall bottom line, is just part of that. Basically showing that you know how everything works.

Fourth, constantly attracting people to your "songwriting or performing Universe." This means more and more fans, profesional people and a constant understanding of what is happening three, four and five steps ahead.

So that is what I suggest everyone who wants to do this emulates.

MAB

Yeah, we HATE that negativity, don't we

I think this move towards the positive, whether it's in personal energy, stories, communication, attitude really took off somewhere in the 2000's. That can really explain the sudden death of old school lyrics, as it looks like..

Working in business life, many has experienced "appreciative conversations" ect, and it hasn't really been encouraged, it's been a demand. I think many reacts counter to that, especially nonprofessional songwriters. There's a certain logic to react against meaning we don't discover ourselves.

The positive turn has been characteristic in most any business, and certainly also music. That is, if anything, a lasting trend in our times - and music certainly reflects that, both in business practices and in what kinds of songs that's accepted from outside songwriters!

I think it's gone too far in some ways, as understanding the sweetness in sorrow and recognizing the positive engagement in a better world in criticisms, is hard values to push these days, nonetheless true IMHO

But the negative of the positive mostly comes from negative people, who just doesn't understand the fact that living organisms bends towards the sun.. no matter how dark our world looks at the moment, that IS the truth of human nature, as far as I see it.

Understanding that as an artist & songwriter would be essential for longevity, I believe..

Magne,

There has been an interesting crossover between rock or pop music and country music. In the early days of country, the 20's and 30's, country started as folk songs passed down through immigrants from Europe, Ireland, etc. They were common songs of the people that made observations of what was going on at the time. The depression, Dust bowl, tough times were the order of the day.
When Rock and Roll was invented in the mid fifties, all was about the party, rock around the clock, at the hop, even Evis was "All Shook Up" with that Hound Dog. This carried on through the 60's until the drug culture hit around 67' and then they took the tour through the surreal with metaphors and much more earth shattering images. The Beatles led the way into the singer/songwriters of the late 60's into the 70's.

Country, turned inward toward our demons, cheating, drinking, dying, etc. still seemed to rule the day. Through the 70's both experienced a dance renisance with Disco for rock or pop and Urban Cowboy days for country.

In the 80's it was making country sound more pop while pop and rock got heavier and with corporate rock of the Boston's, Styxx, REO speedwagon, The Police, on into Springsteen, etc. the big stadium in the rock world while taking on the weighter issues of life.

Today it is almost completely switched. Through the angst and anger of grunge to rap and today's pop, country is the one here for the party, and talking to the average person. While rock has now pretty much encapsulating about what you happen to be pissed off about.

I can't keep track of the trends. I only know what I will do. Keep it positive.

All I know how to do.

MAB

Man, whachoo smokin?

All this positive stuff came in the 2000s....and look where we are now.

Negative gloom and doom prophets of finality are where it's at. No matter how happy you get ya still gonna die.

Organisms turn toward the sun because without it they'd die. In other words, they're struggling to survive.

Get unhappy! Quick!





This morning on my way to work I heard Buck Owens' "Together Again" and thought about this change. "Together Again" is really, to me, a sad sounding but happy song. It's after the tears have stopped and the big line in the chorus is a subdued "Nothing else matters, we're together again." What really got me though is how simple the song is.

In the old days, a good bit of rock had sad lyrics but happy tunes: among those type songs were Don't Be Cruel written by Otis Blackwell and sung by Elvis, She Loves You by The Beatles, and Memphis, Tennessee by Chuck Berry. Then we have this Buck Owens thing mentioned above.

I kind of like the "sad lyrics, happy music" thing. Wish I could do it to my hearts content.

Seeing as most hit country music is written in Nashville, I can't help but wonder what will influence the writers more in the coming year: the despair of the floods or the joy at surviving them?

They'll be plenty of both. I can give you one guess as to which I will be writing.

MAB

"Negative gloom and doom prophets of finality are where it's at. No matter how happy you get ya still gonna die."

But then dying is good, right?

Of course positive songs is not anything new, but I think the wall you'll meet if you don't write'm is. I tried to make the point that the current "tyranny of the positive" is a corporate trend invading music business, not an artistic one. So this is not about personal tastes. What is judged 'positive' and 'negative' is after all, in the eyes of the beholder, when it comes to discussing philosophical truths.

But, as an outside songwriter, I wouldn't dare showing up with a pointless introverted ballad these days. Artists get away with that, because it can work as a personal statement and identity builder, but songwriters just can't get away with that.

Yet corporate or not, my common sense bet is that feelings of joy & hope, will beat despair by a million miles! Today, tomorrow and foreeever

I think the one hard thing most folks can't do, is to separate their own emotions from others emotions. If you're feeling despair, that's fine, but you have to write a song about overcoming it to get it across.. unless you have the priviledge of being an artist.

One example --- Justin Bieber. Sixteen. Self taught young boy from a poor single parent family in Canada. Put up a couple youtube videos of songs he wrote and played. Caught the attention of Usher. Put up a couple more videos. Caught the attention of tween girls across America. He is now the hottest tween star - and he did it in a remarkably short time. Selling millions of cd's - all within a year of emerging. Now he has crossed over and is on mainstream pop stations.

Tom

hey all,

Kind of new here, but this is quite an interesting thread. I like it.

I hear, all the time, musicians and singers talking about how bleak the situation is. And it *is* true, it is a tough business.

But there are people who get through - if they have great songs, great voices, great delivery, great stage presence ... and the right working practices to go with it.

It still starts and ends with performing, I think. That's what music really is about. And good live shows create a bond with an audience. I bet almost everyone here can think of someone who they discovered that way, have a few CD's, and would travel to see another gig, and probably drag a few friends with if they could.

As for the whole sad/happy, positive/negative thing in music - I don't think there are any rules really. Some artists make a kind of signature of misery, and their audience tends to be people that identify with that.

Honestly, I think that if it is good enough, it will find its audience.

Today I heard Cowboy Cassanova by Carrie Underwood. I don't think she's had a hit that was actually a positive classic love song. Maybe All American Girl but most have been more about sad than happy love.