NEW BREED: WEATHERVANE MUSIC
Brian McTear reports: Today, it’s plainly obvious that the music industry is in a terrible predicament; but the only solutions we hear have to do with saving “business”. Those of us who care about artists can only hope that once business is saved, this will trickle down to them somehow… eventually.
It’s now clear that Spotify itself, the great hope of the industry, has exactly this approach: They’ve promised large percentages of their stock to the labels (18% to majors, 1% to indies), and yet this is revenue that is not intended to reach the artists. Not ever. It’s just for the labels. And on top of that, if you are an artist who is NOT on a label, well, you are shut out. No Spotify for you!
For anyone who tells me that it’s a great time to be starting a music career, I have to quietly, humbly disagree, and this is just one more example why.
I recently launched a non-profit organization called Weathervane Music. Weathervane’s purpose is to support and advance independent music while providing career changing opportunities to the musicians we work with as DIRECTLY as possible.
Here’s how we are doing it:
There are a few things that the for-profit sector of the music industry once did relatively well, but today cannot.
1. Artist Selection – The conflict of “quality” vs. “sell-ability”: There’s almost no way to justify an investment in anything but your surest bets these days. These are most often musicians that do very little to break the mold and advance our culture.
2. Artist Development – Artists who’ve “had their shot” rarely get another chance if they are not a big success. This is terrible, because the list of legendary artists that weren’t instantly successful would arguably include, well, almost everyone!
3. Quality PR and Marketing – The science of promotion is illusive at best. Artists themselves often have a better idea of promotion than their financial backers do.
4. Funding Recordings – Today, nearly every artist is expected to fund and produce their records themselves. While a rare few are blessed with money, resources, and a knack for production going into their first record, I can assure you…MOST ARE NOT!
With a community of subscribers or members, something akin to the model that public radio or television uses, a non-profit like Weathervane can accomplish all the above quite effectively, and that’s what we are aiming for. Our focus is a series of music and music related videos featuring select independent musicians called the Weathervane Music Project Series (http://weathervanemusic.org/projects). This, already in its first year, answers many of the weak points listed above:
1. Artist selection is based on quality, not sales, as we have little stake in that anyway. It is overseen by well known, well respected curators, the type of people whose taste matters, is trusted and is of great interest to our audience. If we do it right, Weathervane Supporters will come back again and again because the quality, sophistication and diversity of music is high. They will also enjoy many opportunities to be part of the process, as well, and can claim responsibility for artists’ careers.
2. What the For-Profit sector calls “Risk” is actually part of our “MISSION”. Most artists don’t have to sell well at all like they would in a for-profit venture. The Project Series is nothing if not an engine for exposure for great independent artists. The onus is on us to develop truly effective marketing.
3. Artists receive amazing recording opportunities that result in quality recordings. They can easily use or license any of it. Best of all, the musicians who make the music retain the vast majority of the financial stake in these audio recordings, forever and ever! Even if we license to a for-profit label, Weathervane would take a vastly smaller portion of the monies received than the artist. And since we are in partnership for these songs with the artist, our legal forces will always be looking out for them to the best of our ability.
We MUST come up with a model that works, not just for music, but for musicians themselves. This will require an almost heroic grass-roots ACTIVIST movement. Weathervane hopes to assemble that audience that will consciously spend their money as DIRECTLY with the artists as possible. Most of the money we spend on music goes to buying devices (MP3 players, phones that play music, computers to stream music). If you thought that artists sat at the end of an impossibly long line of profit-takers in the past, well, I venture to say that it is still very bad, if not in many ways worse. I know this is not what people want to hear, but I think it’s true.
At DIY Days in Philadelphia this August, I saw the enthusiasm and motivation that brought more than 300 people together to discuss the best way forward for their creative communities. I realized that while independent music has great creative energy at the moment, it lacks the professionally motivated community that film, and the other performance arts survive on. Musicians have still not fully awakened from the dream. As they cling to old aspirations, the habit of “selling out” their futures for unclear opportunity continues on. They work in greater isolation, and have little collaboration. Musicians need stronger community amongst themselves, and an audience whose CAUSE is to support them as directly as possible.
We need to spark this movement!
Brian McTear launched Weathervane Music in 2009, a non-profit dedicated to improving the state of music in our society and the career potential of independent musicians. He is a musician, producer, recording engineer and owner of Miner Street Recordings. In the 12 years that McTear has worked in Philadelphia, he’s produced over 100 records and helped revitalize the local indie music community. McTear writes and sings in the band Bitter bitter weeks, and plays guitar with The Novenas.
For More Information on Weathervane Music:
Site: http://weathervanemusic.org
Blog: http://wvmusic.tumblr.com/
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[...] September 7, 2009 · Leave a Comment “Brian McTear reports: Today, it’s plainly obvious that the music industry is in a terrible predicament; but the only solutions we hear have to do with saving “business”. Those of us who care about artists can only hope that once business is saved, this will trickle down to them somehow… eventually.” Check report here. [...]
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