The Manager’s Corner- April 2013
by Chris Daniels
photo courtesy of Google Images
I’ve managed my own band since the 1980s and despite the amazing change in technology, success in the music business is built around four tried and true elements: great music, really hard work, and timing (often mistaken for luck). The other key element is getting the help you need to make that luck happen. These days that help is everywhere. The book I wrote for my UCD class on artist management is called “DIY: You’re Not in it Alone” and that is exactly what you need to understand.
Write. I know it sounds so simple to say and nobody who actually writes songs has ever had a clear and easy path to making money, much less big bucks. There are some tools that can help you, and some amazing outlets to take advantage of when you are ready. But the simple fact is that writing – lyrics, chord changes, melody lines, beats and “tracks” for EDM, all of it, from country to hip-hop anthems are YOUR story. If you are lucky, and if you work at the craft as hard as you can, you might actually put something down that is extremely personal to you – and by getting that honest – that song or composition becomes important to others, sometimes even millions of others.
It takes work, letting go of your own fear of being edited, finding partners to write with who force you to be a better writer, and a lot of very honest soul searching to say what it is that is exactly what you mean. I’ll get to a few of the tools that can be helpful, but first I want to ask you something. What is more important to you – the rhyme or the story? What I hope you answered is the story. Because so many songwriters get caught up in the rhyme, that they produce wonderful rhyming lines that are meaningless.
Your task is to find the honest “thing” you are trying to say, without any thought to make it poetry, and then make it poetry. If I want to say I love you, how do I say it the way I feel it … I mean really feel it … and then find words and melody and rhythm that eventually become something that only I could say, and yet everybody feels. One of my favorite examples is “I’m A Creep” because it is so bloody honest about what is going on at that moment in the writers heart and life.
So enough about the craft, I could go on forever about that. Let’s get to the tools. Things to check out include Creative Commons, The Durango Songwriting Expo, the PROs (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC) various songwriting websites like Taxi, Beatport and Lyric House just for starters. You can Google all these pretty easily, and once you find them, DIG IN. Start to understand that there is a world of dedicated music lovers out there who believe that great songwriting is one of the best things we can do for each other. In no particular order: Creative Commons is a relatively new concept and organization that allows songwriters to make their compositions available to people that want to sample your music for mash-ups or hip-hop tracks etc. YOU set the dials on your songs, so that if somebody is just doing a mash-up and playing it in clubs and not making any money, you can allow them to use it for free. You can also set a limit on the free use so that if somebody samples your songs and turns out a hit, you can get paid. This is a gross oversimplification but it gives you the basic idea. Check it out.
The Durango Songwriting Expo is really one of the signature songwriter outlets in the world, drawing writers from all over to their fall and spring events. Go check it out but what I can tell you is that a number of Colorado songwriters have placed songs with various publishers that are getting used in TV shows and are being cut by major artists.
ASCAP, BMI and SASAC are all ‘performing rights organizations” that collect money for songwriters when their music is played live, on radio and TV etc. I have written extensively about them in this column but I really want to make a point of the fact that all of them encourage songwriters, and do whatever they can to help them out. Again, check out their sites, they have some really helpful tools and information. Plus, if you perform your music live, they make it possible to get paid from the ‘venues’ that are enjoying the performance of your music. It’s very easy to set up once you do a little homework.
Lyric House is a new young publishing company here in Colorado that is starting to make some real connections and placements in the industry. Again, take some time and Google ‘em up. From Taxi to Beatport to so many others out there that this little article does not have room to mention, the music business IS supporting your efforts as a songwriter. Will you make a killing right off the bat? Not likely. But the “use” of music has never ever been greater. From video games to ‘webisodes’ to TV and movies of every shape and form, not to mention concerts, airplay and the like, it’s hard to think of a place where music is not being “used” in one from or another. So hone your craft, work at it, perfect it, study it, and make the most of all the new opportunities there are to get your music “out there” where others can find meaning in YOUR story.
Category: Shop Talk
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Hello Mr. Daniels,
My name is Adam Curtiss and I play lead guitar for the Driftin’ Suns. We are an up and coming indie rock band who have just released our first full album and owe at least a part of our motivation and success to the commentary you write in CMB every month. I can’t tell you how important and rare it is to have a professional perspective in an industry that can often seem cutthroat and misleading. The Driftin’ Suns want to thank you for your contributions to the Colorado music scene. I would also like to ask how I might be able to find a copy of your book “DIY: You’re Not In It Alone.” I have looked at some major bookstore chains to no avail and would love nothing more than to get a copy. Thank you again and please keep up the good work!