Looks like a Big Change is coming....
Eagles, Merchant Go Indie
Big name artists split from major labels
Bucking the system
Who needs a big record company? It's a question once asked only by do-it-yourself punks and indie entrepreneurs, but it can now be heard coming from many veteran artists. After years at Geffen and Elektra, the Eagles are releasing their new single, "Hole in the World," under their own Eagles Recording Company II label. Free from an eleven-year contract with Epic, Pearl Jam are considering striking out on their own as well. And Natalie Merchant turned down an offer to renew her major-label contract to start her own Myth America label.
Eagles manager Irving Azoff says that if the band's self-released single works as well as he anticipates, the group will also put out its next studio album, due in 2004, themselves, despite offers from several majors. "We're bucking the system," he says. "Some retailers are afraid to stock the single. They're waiting for a nod from a major label. Some radio is afraid to play it. But if we do this right, it may give hope to others.
"We like it because of the flexibility," he adds. "We can release the record when we want, we can price it how we want, and we don't have a middleman taking eighty percent of the revenues."
This summer, Merchant will release a new solo album on her own, The House Carpenter's Daughter, after nearly two decades with Elektra. And Pearl Jam have built an Internet-based direct-distribution arrangement that allows fans to buy recordings of live performances following each show. "It's exciting to be able to work outside the usual industry trenches," says Eddie Vedder.
Younger acts may still need major-label promotion to get their careers off the ground. The majors are skilled image builders and possess the financial muscle to secure radio play and shelf space for their artists. But with sales slumping and turmoil shaking most of the majors, veteran artists are realizing that they can do just fine outside the label structure.
The economics work in their favor, too. The initial pressing of Merchant's The House Carpenter's Daughter will be about 30,000 discs, and her break-even point will be about 50,000, well below the half million threshold big labels generally require. "I have my own studio, and I know how to produce songs," says Merchant. "This is a chance to get back to the cottage-industry feel of making records."
There are models to follow. In the mid-1990's Prince broke away from Warner Bros. and turned to the Internet to help distribute records under his own NPG label. Jimmy Buffett exited MCA Records four years ago and formed his own Mailboat Records, a move that jump-started his career.
The satisfaction of calling your own shots is exactly what appeals to Boz Scaggs, whose album of jazz standards, But Beautiful, is out now on his own Gray Cat Records. "Big labels don't know what to do with guys like me," says Scaggs, who, after years of recording with majors, decided he had a fan base he could better serve directly on his own. He started the label specifically to release But Beautiful, which is distributed through Buffett's Mailboat Records. "It was frustrating to make a record and watch it go by because no fire got lit at radio," he says. "I have my own studio and I know my audience."
The sudden freedom can be dazzling. "I feel like I'm making music for myself, not for Time Warner shareholders," says Merchant. "But it's amazing how long its taken me to get out of the sharecropper's mentality. It finally really hit me the other day. If I want to put together an all-girl band, I can do it; if I want to put out a hardcore record, I can do it."
DAVID THIGPEN
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Oldies No Longer Quite So Golden
Ron wrote:Grant wrote:Could it be that the companies keep rehashing the same old shit for CD? They're sitting on TONS of vault material and yet we get more remasters of the same damn classic rock. Let's get some soul reissues out there, and I mean shit that hasn't been out there yet.
So you believe that the industry can right itself by reissuing--of all things--*soul* titles? Yikes.
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What? You gotta problem with soul music?
My point is that they keep releasing the same thing over and over. They just put out another Beach Boys comp. Aside from the stereo/mono issue, which the average target listener don't care about, don't you think it's overkill? They could be putting that energy into something that hasn't been released stateside yet. And, how in the hell would companies know what won't sell if they don't try?
The oldies they keep releasing has reached a saturation point. You can say al you want about trying to attract a "new" younger audience, but the product is already out there!
mikenycLI wrote:Unfortunately, when people, think of "Soul", they usually mean Motown, period, maybe...maybe...Atlantic/Atco/Stax/Volt, certainly NOT Specialty, VeeJay, Malco, Curtom, or any of the Northern Soul labels.
Well, white people, and those not familiar with much soul music, anyway, will probably only think of soul music in those terms. It's a reason the companies have not really concentrated on soul reissues. These same two groups like to lump disco with soul/funk just because it's danceable and mostly made by black people.
But, I DO blame the companies for this. The 70s and 80s soul has always been there, and if you look at any chart from those two decades, you will see that it was not just some fad.
(Do you know how refreshing it is to be able to write that with total honesty without having to choose my words so carefully to avoid being labeled as a bigot?? Thanks for this forum, Luke!)
Grant wrote:What? You gotta problem with soul music?
What a joke.
My point is that they keep releasing the same thing over and over. The oldies they keep releasing has reached a saturation point. You can say al you want about trying to attract a "new" younger audience, but the product is already out there!
Yes, it's true that they keep releasing the same stuff over and over. And that fact may be a contributing factor to the decline in sales. But to suggest, as you have, that reissuing soul titles will bring economic growth to the industry is IMO wide of the mark. Soul is a niche market. No reflection on the relative merits of the music itself, but this new Beach Boys comp--maybe the 4th or 5th to be released in the last five years, will outsell an O'Jays comp 100 to 1.
If the industry thinks it can rely on continuously reissuing titles [the point of this thread, BTW] to remain profitable, it is sadly mistaken. Reissuing soul titles, while great for soul music fans, will do zero to move the industry to increased profitability.
Grant wrote:mikenycLI wrote:Unfortunately, when people, think of "Soul", they usually mean Motown, period, maybe...maybe...Atlantic/Atco/Stax/Volt, certainly NOT Specialty, VeeJay, Malco, Curtom, or any of the Northern Soul labels.
Well, white people, and those not familiar with much soul music, anyway, will probably only think of soul music in those terms.
Sorry, but you are dead wrong. Just who do you think buys the vast majority of those Atlantic/Rhino, Stax, Chess, Hi, Excello, Charly and Ace reissues? And who do you suppose scours eBay for obscure soul titles? White people, my friend.
Last edited by Ron on Wed Jun 11, 2003 6:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mikenycLI
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To me, it's not so much a "white people" or "black people" issue, as much as it's just what's called "branding"...establishing a indentifiable quality of product in a crowded marketplace.
The Motown-Barry Gordy Machine has accomplished so much remarkable success, over the years, in terms of branding it's music product, into the Collective Consciousness of consumers, consumers can't HELP, but think of "Soul", in terms of it being from the Motown stable of music personalities. From the label color to the Music produced, to the Sound, Gordy has delivered the Goods !!! In the competitive Music Industry, the longevity of his Product, that remains strong to this day, that's all that really matters ! You can call it Universal Motown, but it's still Motown !
Atlantic/Atco/Stax/Volt, for all of it's aesthetic excellence, succeeded, but in another position, in the Collective Consciousness, and that will always be "Second Place" for "Soul".
What the Ertegun Bros. brought the music world was called "R&B". Alot of this has to do with it's foray into the post-Beatle British Invasion, homoginization, if you will, of it's label's music product, whose cross licensing deals brought the USA, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, et al. It's more identified with this former genre, than ANYTHING it produced for the R&B music genre. This was where the Money was then, and they went for it.
Interestingly, when this post-Invasion was in full gear, the audience went directly to the original imports, because Atlantic/Atco decided to bring in, only a trickle of a handful, of the UK groups. Other US music companies, like Decca, MGM, Capitol, UNI, etc., got in on the action, and well, you know the rest of the story, don't you ?
The Motown-Barry Gordy Machine has accomplished so much remarkable success, over the years, in terms of branding it's music product, into the Collective Consciousness of consumers, consumers can't HELP, but think of "Soul", in terms of it being from the Motown stable of music personalities. From the label color to the Music produced, to the Sound, Gordy has delivered the Goods !!! In the competitive Music Industry, the longevity of his Product, that remains strong to this day, that's all that really matters ! You can call it Universal Motown, but it's still Motown !
Atlantic/Atco/Stax/Volt, for all of it's aesthetic excellence, succeeded, but in another position, in the Collective Consciousness, and that will always be "Second Place" for "Soul".
What the Ertegun Bros. brought the music world was called "R&B". Alot of this has to do with it's foray into the post-Beatle British Invasion, homoginization, if you will, of it's label's music product, whose cross licensing deals brought the USA, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, et al. It's more identified with this former genre, than ANYTHING it produced for the R&B music genre. This was where the Money was then, and they went for it.
Interestingly, when this post-Invasion was in full gear, the audience went directly to the original imports, because Atlantic/Atco decided to bring in, only a trickle of a handful, of the UK groups. Other US music companies, like Decca, MGM, Capitol, UNI, etc., got in on the action, and well, you know the rest of the story, don't you ?
mikenycLI wrote:To me, it's not so much a "white people" or "black people" issue . . .
My point is that vast majority of those who buy soul music from the golden era [1965-1973] today are white. For Grant to say "Well, white people *and those not familiar with soul music* will probably think of soul music in those terms" is silly and condescending. You're right, though. It's not a "black" thing or a "white" thing. I'm not so sure Grant feels the same way however.
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Rspaight
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Here's another angle into this:
Seems to me the reason obscure soul titles, as well as less mainstream work in any genre, aren't found at the local Best Buy is that Best Buy is uninterested in devoting shelf space to them. Mail order companies don't want to deal with the extra SKUs and slow-moving inventory. Record labels don't want to spend money pressing a bunch of discs that may or may not sell.
Whether devotees of classic soul are black or white is irrelevant. What's important is that (a) there aren't a lot of them by traditional record label measures and (b) they will buy vast amounts of music other people don't know or care about. Under the press-and-ship-discs-to-stores model, this isn't an attractive proposition for the labels.
This is where the online revolution is a good thing. If things like iTunes and emusic.com turn out to be the future primary distribution method for music (and I think they will), it will cost relatively little for all this unissued soul (and jazz, country, swing, pop) music to be made available. It will need to be digitally mastered and encoded, but after that any sales are gravy. No inventory, no pressings, no shipping. Small but devoted groups of consumers will suddenly be assets to be cultivated, not a tiny minority of vocal troublemakers.
Right now, the big drawback is the sound quality of the compressed files. But that will change and bandwidth increases and these services get bigger (I see sound quality as a way the various services can claim competitive advantage).
The labels need to bite the bullet and dive in. Apple's success with iTunes (broad selection, reasonable pricing, few restrictions on use) means it can work.
Ryan
Seems to me the reason obscure soul titles, as well as less mainstream work in any genre, aren't found at the local Best Buy is that Best Buy is uninterested in devoting shelf space to them. Mail order companies don't want to deal with the extra SKUs and slow-moving inventory. Record labels don't want to spend money pressing a bunch of discs that may or may not sell.
Whether devotees of classic soul are black or white is irrelevant. What's important is that (a) there aren't a lot of them by traditional record label measures and (b) they will buy vast amounts of music other people don't know or care about. Under the press-and-ship-discs-to-stores model, this isn't an attractive proposition for the labels.
This is where the online revolution is a good thing. If things like iTunes and emusic.com turn out to be the future primary distribution method for music (and I think they will), it will cost relatively little for all this unissued soul (and jazz, country, swing, pop) music to be made available. It will need to be digitally mastered and encoded, but after that any sales are gravy. No inventory, no pressings, no shipping. Small but devoted groups of consumers will suddenly be assets to be cultivated, not a tiny minority of vocal troublemakers.
Right now, the big drawback is the sound quality of the compressed files. But that will change and bandwidth increases and these services get bigger (I see sound quality as a way the various services can claim competitive advantage).
The labels need to bite the bullet and dive in. Apple's success with iTunes (broad selection, reasonable pricing, few restrictions on use) means it can work.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
Ron wrote:Grant wrote:mikenycLI wrote:Unfortunately, when people, think of "Soul", they usually mean Motown, period, maybe...maybe...Atlantic/Atco/Stax/Volt, certainly NOT Specialty, VeeJay, Malco, Curtom, or any of the Northern Soul labels.
Well, white people, and those not familiar with much soul music, anyway, will probably only think of soul music in those terms.
Sorry, but you are dead wrong. Just who do you think buys the vast majority of those Atlantic/Rhino, Stax, Chess, Hi, Excello, Charly and Ace reissues? And who do you suppose scours eBay for obscure soul titles? White people, my friend.
I know that. But I thought I made it clear i was referring to 70s and 80s, not 60s. Soul music didn't end in 1972.
What i'm saying here is that for many white folk, and this is NOT exactly a race thing, they quit listening to soul/R&B music around 1973, which could explain why the concentration on anything up to that point in time.
But, many listened and bought the stuff after 1973, and I think the record companies would get a clue if they would put a little more out there to actually test the waters. This goes for the retailers as well.
Ron, you said in another place that you stopped listening to radio around the time of the end of the Nixon administration. Well, that tells me that it's the reason you haven't heard much of the music i'm talking about.
But, many listened and bought the stuff after 1973, and I think the record companies would get a clue if they would put a little more out there to actually test the waters. This goes for the retailers as well.
Ron, you said in another place that you stopped listening to radio around the time of the end of the Nixon administration. Well, that tells me that it's the reason you haven't heard much of the music i'm talking about.
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Rspaight
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Interesting. People I know who experienced the era as young adults almost invariably finger 1973 (give or take a year) as "the end of the sixties," which for them started after Kennedy's assassination and the British Invasion. (Still a decade, just shifted a little.) I agree with Grant that white -- or "mainstream" to use the obnoxious and actually more offensive PC terminology -- interest in soul seemed to go away about then, replaced by more beat-oriented funk and disco.
I wonder what it was about '73 that apparently caused so many shifts. I guess the Vietnam cease-fire was the obvious thing, along with the first oil crisis, Watergate and Steinbrenner buying the Yankees. Definitely the beginning of a new era, for better or worse.
Ryan
I wonder what it was about '73 that apparently caused so many shifts. I guess the Vietnam cease-fire was the obvious thing, along with the first oil crisis, Watergate and Steinbrenner buying the Yankees. Definitely the beginning of a new era, for better or worse.
Ryan
RQOTW: "I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA." -- Mitt Romney
Rspaight wrote:
I wonder what it was about '73 that apparently caused so many shifts. I guess the Vietnam cease-fire was the obvious thing, along with the first oil crisis, Watergate and Steinbrenner buying the Yankees. Definitely the beginning of a new era, for better or worse.
Ryan
Disco has often been thrown around as a blanket excuse, but disco really didn't start doimating things until the end of 1977.
To be fair, it isn't just soul music that gets cut off, it's rock. Some claim that rock music also changed around then. But many people point to 1970, when softer rock, and bubblegum started taking over the charts.
Ron wrote:Aaargh. The confusion for me stemmed from the use of the word "soul." It wasn't clear to me that Grant was talking about 70s and 80s "black music"--music not usually referred to as soul.
Actually, it was in the 70s, all the way up to 1982, when Billboard changed it to "Black" music.
Blue-eyed soul singers like Teena Marie, The Average White Band, and Bobby Caldwell enjoyed their greatest successes during this time. Johnny Taylor had the first platinum single ever with 1976 "Disco Lady", which, BTW, was NOT a disco song.