What does this new financial landscape mean for producers and the industry as a whole? All the supporting machinery around the industry has taken a hit
as the industry modernizes and consolidates. Many top-end studios that were once home to great acts and seminal, pivotal albums, have closed, while many struggle to stay afloat.
Why this has happened may be simply natural evolution, but not in the way that each generation seems to be a little bit taller than the last. Not in the way that one generation can prepare adequately for what is to come. This came rapidly. The Internet and its websites and services such as Napster and other sites changed the whole concept of “free” music and the record-buying pub- lic bought into the idea, dispensing with the notion of the CD, and in turn perhaps even the duty of owning music. iTunes having been well-adopted, did fight to gain back legal market share, and continues to be a major player. However, so-called cloud services like Spotify now provide free listening. The problem is that, for each CD an artist sells, they receive their royalty as contracted. Not a lot of money really, and the artist does have to shift a fair amount of units for it to count in this day and age. Then the producer has to get paid on royalties, if that’s their deal. For each digital download version of their album they sell (of course, many listeners just buy the track they want and not the full album), there’s a little less to earn per sale. Then of course the Spotify model is based on the amount of plays, and you need a colossal amount of plays to make it pay on an equal footing. For example, “Spotify users enjoyed more than 1m plays of Lady GaGa’s song Poker Face—which earned Her GaGaness the sum of $167.”3
the way forward
Given the changes in the industry, now the labels are wanting to see a fin- ished complete product or at least a more rounded and developed one, thus offering them some kind of security that a risk (investment) might be worth taking.
This is why a new age of the production company is coming to the fore. If an art- ist has been developed, the material fine-tuned, and the rough edges knocked off, then there is far less for the label to have to work on (and therefore less invest- ment of time and money). The production company may also have promoted the artist/band and developed a fan base, or following, creating the buzz that a label would want to see before taking a new artist or band on.
This new approach between labels and production companies is also starting to bypass the traditional role of A&R. The production company will now go straight to the label with their new artists and projects as they themselves are acting as A&R, essentially finding and developing the talent themselves.
As an aspiring or new producer, you might wonder where this leaves you. What is the best way forward for your work and career? Setting up your own or becom- ing involved in a production company may be one route that can really help 3www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/18/sam-leith-downloading-money-spotify accessed 14/07/2010
bring in experience and work. You may not earn a great deal of money at this stage, but if you are able to work alongside an artist as part of a production com- pany and produce good results it may pay dividends for future work. A produc- tion company may have developed a reputation with labels for producing strong artists for further investment, in which case being a part of that team will bring positive exposure and experience. Of course, the natural progression from this involvement is to go it alone and begin to work independently.
The alternative to this is for you as a producer to attach yourself to a band in the early stages, almost acting as their additional member. This may be the long route to take and require much investment or your time (and/or money). However, if you are involved from the very beginning and become integral to the team, a label may be more likely to see you as part of the package and therefore involve you in any deals that may be struck.
A production company may bring in a “big name” cowriter or co-producer to work with the artist in order to develop their material, in the hope that the big name will add the necessary magic in order to produce some hit material. However, even a big name might not truly understand or get an artist and their material, which means that the collaboration will not necessarily bear the fruit that all concerned were hoping for. This is another argument for a producer being involved right from the beginning with the artist, where they help create the overall vision and fully click with the project. If as a producer you are able to do this, then you are potentially in a strong position when deals with labels are being discussed.