DOING THE BUSINESS

Big George's Guide To Commercial Success: Introduction

Published in SOS August 1999
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Music Business

Big George's features on getting ahead in the music business have been some of the most popular we've ever printed - so from now on, he'll be contributing a regular page of advice on the workings of this cutthroat industry.

Welcome to my new regular column packed full of insider information, the odd rant and a liberal sprinkling of stark brutal truths about the music world. For the rest of this millennium (and at least some of the next one) I'll be going into detail about different aspects of the music industry; how it works, why it actively works against you most of the time, how to make inroads, the things to be wary of and why so many talentless individuals achieve undeserved success.

I'm also here to answer your questions, to be disagreed with, and to give out vital clues on how YOU can make money out of music. Yes, you too can earn quick and easy cash from music - whether you'll make a millionaire jet-set living out of it is another matter, although I know of over a dozen regular readers of this very magazine who have!

It constantly amazes me how people spend thousands of pounds on hi-tech equipment and, every minute of their life that they're not at work or sleeping, make music - but do nothing about getting some payback. Okay, so a lot of people may approach producing music as a hobby. A bit like stamp collecting - but if you were a philatelist and you came upon a Penny Black, in A1 condition except for a slight flaw in the print that made it an incredible rarity, wouldn't you sell it for a massive amount of dosh? If you've got something good, why not try and make some money from it?

The music industry is one of the biggest money-making machines on the planet, as well as being the fastest-growing. And I'm not just talking about the likes of Celine Dion (and on and on...) churning out trillion-selling 'product placed' lumps of digital blandness. There's an exciting new wave of independent record labels making good living out of their output. There's the entertainment and advertising industry which need servicing, there's library music, training videos - in fact the list is endless, just like the wait when you're put on hold by a telephone switchboard operator. Come to think of it, that's another place where music is needed...

In fact, in the history of the entire human race there have never been more opportunities available for music-makers to make money out of their work. Mind you, there have never been as many people making music either. So how you approach potential employers (by 'employers' I mean people who will give you money, a percentage, or goods in return for your work) will determine the outcome. Never, and I repeat NEVER apologise for what you're playing to a possible client. If they're listening to your work while you're telling them 'Oh, the strings are a bit low in the mix, and the drum sounds aren't compressed enough,' they'll think you're not up to the job. It's better to say nothing at all, aside from the odd grunt of agreement to whatever they suggest - remember, the customer is always right - no matter how wrong they are!

Buyer's Market     Elsewhere in this issue, you'll find my top 20 tips on how to go about writing music for the media. But maybe you don't want to earn a crust by composing and producing music for TV (or the film industry, if you get lucky). Maybe you want to bring high art back into pop music (that's if it was there in the first place), or would rather expend your creative juices on CD-ROM opening titles, or tedious corporate video nonsense, or endless ambient loops for exercise tapes (all areas that I've taken advantage of in order to put food on my table). But whatever your bag is (man!) the one thing that's certain is that no-one beats a path to your door. If your music is going to be heard by more than the people who come and visit you within the four walls of your studio, you'll have to go out into the big wide world and sell it. If you haven't got a clue about how to go about doing this, stay tuned!

The entire music industry is run by people who aren't sure about what the best thing to do is, and people who come across as if they know all the answers. But there's no dead-cert formula on which people can rely; if there was, there wouldn't be so many Hootie and the Blowfish, Counting Crows or Spin Doctors CDs in the bargain bins at every record shop near you. (the list of these artists is endless - let's hope they, and the many others out there, got what they wanted out of their 15 minutes of fame.)

But they're yesterday's news, and you're the bright, new, well-prepared future of music. My hope is that this column will give you confidence to achieve your goals and a guidance system to target your victims. If you need some advice, or clarification on a business matter, or you just want to have a go at me (take your best shot) you can email me on big.george@soundonsound.com, or write to me direct at SOS.