Before Elvis there was swing music which got the greatest generation through WWII during which the antiquarian record business died for lack of shellac. Plastics gave us a new music industry. Fueled by rock & roll and the marriage of AM radio and 45s the modern record business was born.
The King drove MUSIC to a very high place and the infrastructure was further exploded by the talents of The Beatles. When 331/3 married FM radio the postmodern record business became big business. The symbiotic relationship between concerts and records blew it up even bigger. All of this was MUSIC driven.
It is culturally impossible for the old infrastructure to survive without an artist geometrically more appealing than Elvis or The Beatles. Even in this era of FREE MUSIC and niche markets, such an avatar could draw an ubiquitous audience. Lacking a superstar to attract their interest the people will go back to the street and start over. The exodus has already begun.
Showing posts with label John Hartmann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Hartmann. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Holodigm @ UCLA - Building Careers in The Music Renaissance - June 17, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
HOLOGRAM: Hartmann Returns to UCLA for Fall 2010
Holodigm Music CEO, and music industry veteran, John Hartmann has been engaged to repeat "The Insiders Guide to Music Management" for UCLA Extension this Fall. Hartmann who is a three time professor of the year at Loyola Marymount University will bring his new digital music industry paradigm to the Westwood campus for the second time. The Holodigm system is attracting musicians and entrepreneurs from all over the world who are dedicated to building careers in the music renaissance.
The Insider's Guide to Music Management
X 447.31 Music 4 units $550
The music manager's role is crucial to a musician's career success. Yet very few people who enter the entertainment industry have any idea what a manager does or how one can help their career. This course is designed to explain the management side of the music business. Find out what music managers do, why they are important, and how to avoid management pitfalls. Lectures, discussion, and industry guests address such topics as when to get a manager, the role of the manager in the indie world, and going up the ladder with a manager. Internet access required to retrieve course materials.
Reg# V9000B
UCLA: 2214 School of Public Affairs Bldg.
Saturdays: 12PM -4PM - 9 Meetings
Sep 25 - Nov 20
HOLOGRAM: Hartmann Returns to UCLA for Fall 2010
Holodigm Music CEO, and music industry veteran, John Hartmann has been engaged to repeat "The Insiders Guide to Music Management" for UCLA Extension this Fall. Hartmann who is a three time professor of the year at Loyola Marymount University will bring his new digital music industry paradigm to the Westwood campus for the second time. The Holodigm system is attracting musicians and entrepreneurs from all over the world who are dedicated to building careers in the music renaissance.
The Insider's Guide to Music Management
X 447.31 Music 4 units $550
The music manager's role is crucial to a musician's career success. Yet very few people who enter the entertainment industry have any idea what a manager does or how one can help their career. This course is designed to explain the management side of the music business. Find out what music managers do, why they are important, and how to avoid management pitfalls. Lectures, discussion, and industry guests address such topics as when to get a manager, the role of the manager in the indie world, and going up the ladder with a manager. Internet access required to retrieve course materials.
Reg# V9000B
UCLA: 2214 School of Public Affairs Bldg.
Saturdays: 12PM -4PM - 9 Meetings
Sep 25 - Nov 20
Friday, June 11, 2010
HOLOGRAM: A Light Goes Out in Music - Barbara Skydel - June, 11, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
MAKE THEM SING BARBARA SKYDEL MAKE THEM PLAY
Barb was the best of the best. She brought dignity, class and style to the profession of booking agent. Her honesty, integrity and humility set a standard that only she could achieve. Either at Premier Talent, or the Morris office, she represented every act I managed for the past four decades.
Yesterday I called a number only she had answered for over forty years. I was just checking on her health which had been distressed. Not waiting for a "hello" I immediately went into my song: "I am HartSky and you are SkyBlue, I'm just callin' to say I love you..."
"I presume you are calling for Barbara," replied a very dignified Nurse Genvieve. "I am sorry to inform you that Barbara died this morning." She didn't sugar coat the word as if there were some flavor that might turn the pill sweet.
Genvieve was a professional and she had done this many times before. She told me the truth with love, I swallowed hard, could think of nothing to say, thanked her and cried.
"I an HartSky and you are SkyBlue, I'm just callin to say I love you."
John Hartmann
MAKE THEM SING BARBARA SKYDEL MAKE THEM PLAY
Barb was the best of the best. She brought dignity, class and style to the profession of booking agent. Her honesty, integrity and humility set a standard that only she could achieve. Either at Premier Talent, or the Morris office, she represented every act I managed for the past four decades.
Yesterday I called a number only she had answered for over forty years. I was just checking on her health which had been distressed. Not waiting for a "hello" I immediately went into my song: "I am HartSky and you are SkyBlue, I'm just callin' to say I love you..."
"I presume you are calling for Barbara," replied a very dignified Nurse Genvieve. "I am sorry to inform you that Barbara died this morning." She didn't sugar coat the word as if there were some flavor that might turn the pill sweet.
Genvieve was a professional and she had done this many times before. She told me the truth with love, I swallowed hard, could think of nothing to say, thanked her and cried.
"I an HartSky and you are SkyBlue, I'm just callin to say I love you."
John Hartmann
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Digital Music Business FAQ - Book Publishing - May 27, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
A Literary Agent asks:
Will book publishing suffer the same fate as the record business?
Hartmann responds:
The handwriting is on the wall and there is no god powerful enough to stop digimodernization. Reading from paper is too expensive to survive as a great American pastime. Furthermore, it is economically and ecologically unsound.
The big publishers will gobble up the little ones in a vain attempt to grab a few more high profit sales. But, just like the fate the ones and zeros imposed on the record business they will die, crushed under their own weight. So what's new? This is what technology does to everything sooner or later. Somebody builds a better mouse trap and everybody wants one.
Well guess what, everybody has one and the more they play with their computers the faster the old paradigm shifts. And as scary as that may sound to you, it's the best thing that ever happened to authors of creative works. When the price dust settles reading on screen will get millions more people into the mix. More words are read online every day than are accessed from all other sources combined.
It is so Socratic that each and every dreamer can write a book. Why not? Eeverybody is the star of his own movie and all this reading is going to produce a different kind of author. For lack of a term, lets call it "reality writing." Unfettered by the editorial process, the new writers will shred the envelope. The will break all the rules, because they don't know them.
What these cyber-writers bring to the table is freedom. Freedom to create, freedom to publish and most importantly freedom to collect if they write something truly great. Yes, millions will publish a few copies for their friends and family, but think about the potential if you produce something everybody loves. After all it is the entertainment business and only the very best stuff makes the best seller lists.
It is impossible to say what the public will embrace in the long term. History shows that everything just keeps changing. The good news is that if a great book is written and published by the author it will find an audience eager to play and willing to pay. What they won't buy is marginal work.
When the good stuff hits the Internet millions will acquire it for free. A fraction will pay out of appreciation and respect. That minority will be infinitely greater in size than the entire extant book market. The author could sell millions of digital copies in a day. There will be no commissions and no publishers share. The price will be less than five dollars and the author will never have to work again. Of course, he will and he will keep the profit.
Some people will always read from paper books, but they probably ride horses and have eight-track players as well. It's time that the corporate money machines were eliminated from the process and their well demonstrated greed insures their demise. No assasination is required, they shot themselves in the foot and now they are frantically watching themselves bleed out.
Let authors stand on their talents and when they deliver let them keep the money. The world of publishers is doomed, the world of authors is born anew and it is the most exciting time in reading. Some brilliant agents will reinvent the monetization of the business model and all will be well in the land. The winners are the readers and writers. The losers are the powers that used to be and within a decade all that will remain is the ashes of the status quo doused by zeros and ones.
A Literary Agent asks:
Will book publishing suffer the same fate as the record business?
Hartmann responds:
The handwriting is on the wall and there is no god powerful enough to stop digimodernization. Reading from paper is too expensive to survive as a great American pastime. Furthermore, it is economically and ecologically unsound.
The big publishers will gobble up the little ones in a vain attempt to grab a few more high profit sales. But, just like the fate the ones and zeros imposed on the record business they will die, crushed under their own weight. So what's new? This is what technology does to everything sooner or later. Somebody builds a better mouse trap and everybody wants one.
Well guess what, everybody has one and the more they play with their computers the faster the old paradigm shifts. And as scary as that may sound to you, it's the best thing that ever happened to authors of creative works. When the price dust settles reading on screen will get millions more people into the mix. More words are read online every day than are accessed from all other sources combined.
It is so Socratic that each and every dreamer can write a book. Why not? Eeverybody is the star of his own movie and all this reading is going to produce a different kind of author. For lack of a term, lets call it "reality writing." Unfettered by the editorial process, the new writers will shred the envelope. The will break all the rules, because they don't know them.
What these cyber-writers bring to the table is freedom. Freedom to create, freedom to publish and most importantly freedom to collect if they write something truly great. Yes, millions will publish a few copies for their friends and family, but think about the potential if you produce something everybody loves. After all it is the entertainment business and only the very best stuff makes the best seller lists.
It is impossible to say what the public will embrace in the long term. History shows that everything just keeps changing. The good news is that if a great book is written and published by the author it will find an audience eager to play and willing to pay. What they won't buy is marginal work.
When the good stuff hits the Internet millions will acquire it for free. A fraction will pay out of appreciation and respect. That minority will be infinitely greater in size than the entire extant book market. The author could sell millions of digital copies in a day. There will be no commissions and no publishers share. The price will be less than five dollars and the author will never have to work again. Of course, he will and he will keep the profit.
Some people will always read from paper books, but they probably ride horses and have eight-track players as well. It's time that the corporate money machines were eliminated from the process and their well demonstrated greed insures their demise. No assasination is required, they shot themselves in the foot and now they are frantically watching themselves bleed out.
Let authors stand on their talents and when they deliver let them keep the money. The world of publishers is doomed, the world of authors is born anew and it is the most exciting time in reading. Some brilliant agents will reinvent the monetization of the business model and all will be well in the land. The winners are the readers and writers. The losers are the powers that used to be and within a decade all that will remain is the ashes of the status quo doused by zeros and ones.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Reflectacles @ Dakota Lounge - Wednesday, May 26, 2010
HolodigmMusic.comHolodigm artists The Reflectacles will be performing live at Dakota Lounge this Wednesday.
4 GREAT BANDS STARTING at 8:30 PM
The Refelctacles Showtime: 10:30 PM
Location: 1026 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica
Unless something goes terribly wrong with the United States Postal Service, we will have our debut, "The Wiley Post EP," available for sale!
Please help support your local Rock 'n' Roll movement. Music, herself, needs you!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Digital Music Business FAQ
HolodigmMusic.com
Valerie Walsh asks:
What the hell is going on in the music business? Is everybody fiddling as Rome burns? Is there a plan for the future?
Hartmann responds:
Welcome to The Gold Rush - The Digital Music Business
When no bag is ubiquitous all genres are viable. We have entered The Music Renaissance and the future of the Music Industry has never been brighter. The thousands of years old concert business will not evaporate because the postmodern record business has reached the end of its dominant era. The double edged sword of the Internet has cut the big four labels to their knees. It is also the instrument carving the future of recorded music. The paradigm shift is toward the artist. No longer will popular music be dictated from corporate board rooms. The next great star will rise up from the cyber-grass-roots and suddenly explode on the web. Should only the degree of affection we held for The Beatles land on a new artist, a monumental windfall could make such an act instantly famous and vastly rich in one day. Would you have stolen from Elvis or The Beatles?
It would defy the historical trajectory for such a phenomenon not to occur. If everybody with an iPod decided to purchase rather than "share" a particular song a multi million dollar fortune would be made instantly. The pursuit of this potential has a fertile garden and an army of contestants. Millions post their music online every day. This creates a giant hay stack of brass needles. Everybody with a Guitar Hero badge and a Mac can write a song and make a record. But they are not necessarily talented. The challenge is to find the golden needles among the brass. It can't be done by surfing the web. The battle is fought in the live arena.
The digital convergence has vastly expanded the core audience for music. Every song ever recorded is available online for free. Nothing can stop the tide of peer-to-peer file sharing. It is not regarded by the participants as theft. The music is "shared" for the benefit of artist and fan. They regard record companies as the enemy of the artist and they are correct in that presumption. Since the moral quotient has no consideration nothing can stop the practice. The new music industry entrepreneur must accept the fact that paying for music is a choice not a necessity.
The listening experience has come full circle. Music lovers are addressing one song at a time. They no longer have to buy ten songs they don't want to get the one they like. After all, they are not paying for it and nobody steals something he doesn't want. The record business is over, and bands must give their music away to create a following. Downloads are easy to distribute. If enough people "share" your music they will come to your gig out of curiosity.
If you have a great live act they will fall in love and buy the CD from you even though they already have the music or they wouldn't be there. If they go for a t-shirt as well good for you. They saw MTV and are aware that purchasing your merch is a gesture of admiration, affection and support. The artist and the audience are now directly linked and the new infrastructure for the monetization of music will be constructed according to this principal. The artist is the publisher, manager and label and he must own and control all income streams just to survive. Ten percent of the artists will split one hundred percent of the money.
The big four record labels will continue to shrink and ultimately become banking institutions. They will try to buy the acts that succeed. By the time the labels know what is happening the artists won't need them. Their distribution system evaporated with the brick and mortar stores. Radio has been their long time weapon of justification but everybody listens to his iPod.
There is only one template for how to pursue careers in the current environment. If you are going to turn your music into a survival mechanism you must first learn how to play the digital music business game. You must play perfectly well, have talent and get lucky to win. The process begins with education. The systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of how to get started can be found at The Holodigm. The golden needles are invited to join the revolution in the digital music renaissance. Make music your business. Make business your music. Learn how, right now at: http://www.holodigmmusic.com/.
Valerie Walsh asks:
What the hell is going on in the music business? Is everybody fiddling as Rome burns? Is there a plan for the future?
Hartmann responds:
Welcome to The Gold Rush - The Digital Music Business
When no bag is ubiquitous all genres are viable. We have entered The Music Renaissance and the future of the Music Industry has never been brighter. The thousands of years old concert business will not evaporate because the postmodern record business has reached the end of its dominant era. The double edged sword of the Internet has cut the big four labels to their knees. It is also the instrument carving the future of recorded music. The paradigm shift is toward the artist. No longer will popular music be dictated from corporate board rooms. The next great star will rise up from the cyber-grass-roots and suddenly explode on the web. Should only the degree of affection we held for The Beatles land on a new artist, a monumental windfall could make such an act instantly famous and vastly rich in one day. Would you have stolen from Elvis or The Beatles?
It would defy the historical trajectory for such a phenomenon not to occur. If everybody with an iPod decided to purchase rather than "share" a particular song a multi million dollar fortune would be made instantly. The pursuit of this potential has a fertile garden and an army of contestants. Millions post their music online every day. This creates a giant hay stack of brass needles. Everybody with a Guitar Hero badge and a Mac can write a song and make a record. But they are not necessarily talented. The challenge is to find the golden needles among the brass. It can't be done by surfing the web. The battle is fought in the live arena.
The digital convergence has vastly expanded the core audience for music. Every song ever recorded is available online for free. Nothing can stop the tide of peer-to-peer file sharing. It is not regarded by the participants as theft. The music is "shared" for the benefit of artist and fan. They regard record companies as the enemy of the artist and they are correct in that presumption. Since the moral quotient has no consideration nothing can stop the practice. The new music industry entrepreneur must accept the fact that paying for music is a choice not a necessity.
The listening experience has come full circle. Music lovers are addressing one song at a time. They no longer have to buy ten songs they don't want to get the one they like. After all, they are not paying for it and nobody steals something he doesn't want. The record business is over, and bands must give their music away to create a following. Downloads are easy to distribute. If enough people "share" your music they will come to your gig out of curiosity.
If you have a great live act they will fall in love and buy the CD from you even though they already have the music or they wouldn't be there. If they go for a t-shirt as well good for you. They saw MTV and are aware that purchasing your merch is a gesture of admiration, affection and support. The artist and the audience are now directly linked and the new infrastructure for the monetization of music will be constructed according to this principal. The artist is the publisher, manager and label and he must own and control all income streams just to survive. Ten percent of the artists will split one hundred percent of the money.
The big four record labels will continue to shrink and ultimately become banking institutions. They will try to buy the acts that succeed. By the time the labels know what is happening the artists won't need them. Their distribution system evaporated with the brick and mortar stores. Radio has been their long time weapon of justification but everybody listens to his iPod.
There is only one template for how to pursue careers in the current environment. If you are going to turn your music into a survival mechanism you must first learn how to play the digital music business game. You must play perfectly well, have talent and get lucky to win. The process begins with education. The systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of how to get started can be found at The Holodigm. The golden needles are invited to join the revolution in the digital music renaissance. Make music your business. Make business your music. Learn how, right now at: http://www.holodigmmusic.com/.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Reflectacles - The Stonghold - Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Reflectacles - Live @ The Stronghold - Saturday, April 17 - 10:00 PM
1625 Abbott Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
A concert to benefit The House of Ruth
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Insiders Guide to Music Management - UCLA - April 1, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
HoloGram:
The Holodigm Seminars @ UCLA - Saturdays from Noon to 4:00 PM
Three time Loyola Marymount University Professor of the Year, John Hartmann, will be presenting a nine week course at UCLA Extension starting Saturday, April 3 at 12:00 Noon. This four unit course is called "The Insiders Guide to Music Management."
It is the first time The Holodigm Seminars have been available to the general public.
Please forward this message to any friends who may be interested in learning how to build bands in the digital age.
All artists and entrepreneurs engaged in creating careers in the music renaissance can benefit from this comprehensive lecture series on the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of personal management in the music industry.
The course includes "A" list guest speakers from the eight core professions of entertainment.
You are all invited to participate in the first class at no charge. Just show up.
We meet in room 1234 of the School of Public Affairs Building on the Westwood campus this Saturday at 12: 00 PM. Use easy access at parking lot 3 and walk South to the SPA building.
You may register at www.uclaextension.edu. The course registration number is: V5990.
HoloGram:
The Holodigm Seminars @ UCLA - Saturdays from Noon to 4:00 PM
Three time Loyola Marymount University Professor of the Year, John Hartmann, will be presenting a nine week course at UCLA Extension starting Saturday, April 3 at 12:00 Noon. This four unit course is called "The Insiders Guide to Music Management."
It is the first time The Holodigm Seminars have been available to the general public.
Please forward this message to any friends who may be interested in learning how to build bands in the digital age.
All artists and entrepreneurs engaged in creating careers in the music renaissance can benefit from this comprehensive lecture series on the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of personal management in the music industry.
The course includes "A" list guest speakers from the eight core professions of entertainment.
You are all invited to participate in the first class at no charge. Just show up.
We meet in room 1234 of the School of Public Affairs Building on the Westwood campus this Saturday at 12: 00 PM. Use easy access at parking lot 3 and walk South to the SPA building.
You may register at www.uclaextension.edu. The course registration number is: V5990.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Digital Music Business FAQ - What is The Holodigm? - Match 27, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
WHAT IS THE HOLODIGM ?
The Holodigm Corporation is based in a one room cabin high in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is run entirely on volunteer and collegiate intern labor. It is also the fastest moving force in the creation of a new music industry paradigm. The central product is the first on line, audio-visual, interactive text book.
The Holodigm System provides a comprehensive training in the eight core professions of entertainment. Our online education program presents an industry overview and analysis of the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of the contemporary music Industry. It is part higher education and part coaching and mentoring. Holodigm Society members gain access to a myriad of products and support services.
The Holodigm Seminars course provides the initial income stream, it is generating a loyal customer platform from which a myriad of production and manufacturing systems previously, provided by record companies, will be launched. The digital convergence has imposed a severe decline in the century old record business. This does not mean that the ancient concert business will suffer a similar fate. Those same digital forces, that have decimated the postmodern record business, are presently engaged in carving a new business model to address the future direction of millions of music professionals and fans.
Established in 2008, by veteran agent, manager and record executive John Hartmann, The Holodigm is an on line sanctuary for artists and entrepreneurs seeking to build careers in the music renaissance. The core demographic of our customer base is the millions of bands posting music on the Internet every day.
The infrastructure of the music industry is built around publishing, concert and record commerce. Every generation chooses a musical hero. The contest to be the one at the top of the charts generates the global music industry mechanism. As a new paradigm evolves the creative community has no template for how to launch a career. The Holodigm provides a map, strategy and method for bringing the band from the garage to the professional realm. We are the missing link in the evolution of digital and music.
With just one full time employee, and a free-lance, part-time staff of interns and professional advisers, The Holodigm has established a marketing position with its central product, The Holodigm Seminars. We have proven the profitability and scalability of our business model. An array of ancillary tools, text books, DVDs and interactive programs are in development. The on line “Songworks” and “Coaches” services will connect aspiring songwriters and bands with world class record production and song craft.
Over the next 36 months, the Company intends to replicate its success by:
• Expanding its promotional and Internet marketing strategy
• Increasing the on line content for The Holodigm Music “Academy” division
• Developing enrollment in The Holodigm Music “Society”division
• Continuing to develop the Holodigm Music “Media” division
• Creating reciprocal trade agreements with the primary music manufacturers.
• Building the infrastructure to provide full time Web rejuvenation and repair.
The business model leverages an extremely large industry with enormous systems that will not expire from the loss of one of its components. All economies considered equal, digimodernization will turn out to be a great thing for the entertainment industry.
The advent of free music and low cost infrastructure has brought the extant universal library of music to the widest audience in history. Collegiate level education in music and business is creating a higher standard and it will produce a music renaissance.
WHAT IS THE HOLODIGM ?
The Holodigm Corporation is based in a one room cabin high in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is run entirely on volunteer and collegiate intern labor. It is also the fastest moving force in the creation of a new music industry paradigm. The central product is the first on line, audio-visual, interactive text book.
The Holodigm System provides a comprehensive training in the eight core professions of entertainment. Our online education program presents an industry overview and analysis of the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of the contemporary music Industry. It is part higher education and part coaching and mentoring. Holodigm Society members gain access to a myriad of products and support services.
The Holodigm Seminars course provides the initial income stream, it is generating a loyal customer platform from which a myriad of production and manufacturing systems previously, provided by record companies, will be launched. The digital convergence has imposed a severe decline in the century old record business. This does not mean that the ancient concert business will suffer a similar fate. Those same digital forces, that have decimated the postmodern record business, are presently engaged in carving a new business model to address the future direction of millions of music professionals and fans.
Established in 2008, by veteran agent, manager and record executive John Hartmann, The Holodigm is an on line sanctuary for artists and entrepreneurs seeking to build careers in the music renaissance. The core demographic of our customer base is the millions of bands posting music on the Internet every day.
The infrastructure of the music industry is built around publishing, concert and record commerce. Every generation chooses a musical hero. The contest to be the one at the top of the charts generates the global music industry mechanism. As a new paradigm evolves the creative community has no template for how to launch a career. The Holodigm provides a map, strategy and method for bringing the band from the garage to the professional realm. We are the missing link in the evolution of digital and music.
With just one full time employee, and a free-lance, part-time staff of interns and professional advisers, The Holodigm has established a marketing position with its central product, The Holodigm Seminars. We have proven the profitability and scalability of our business model. An array of ancillary tools, text books, DVDs and interactive programs are in development. The on line “Songworks” and “Coaches” services will connect aspiring songwriters and bands with world class record production and song craft.
Over the next 36 months, the Company intends to replicate its success by:
• Expanding its promotional and Internet marketing strategy
• Increasing the on line content for The Holodigm Music “Academy” division
• Developing enrollment in The Holodigm Music “Society”division
• Continuing to develop the Holodigm Music “Media” division
• Creating reciprocal trade agreements with the primary music manufacturers.
• Building the infrastructure to provide full time Web rejuvenation and repair.
The business model leverages an extremely large industry with enormous systems that will not expire from the loss of one of its components. All economies considered equal, digimodernization will turn out to be a great thing for the entertainment industry.
The advent of free music and low cost infrastructure has brought the extant universal library of music to the widest audience in history. Collegiate level education in music and business is creating a higher standard and it will produce a music renaissance.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The Reflectacles @ The Mint - TONIGHT - February 27, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
THE REFLECTACLES - Tribal Stomp - Put on your dancing shoes and come on down.
The Reflectacles in concert. Get out of the rain and into The Mint at 10:30 PM:
THE REFLECTACLES - Tribal Stomp - Put on your dancing shoes and come on down.
The Reflectacles in concert. Get out of the rain and into The Mint at 10:30 PM:
The Reflectacles will be performing at THE MINT in Hollywood tonight. 6010 W. Pico Blvd. L.A. CA 90055. Hope to see you there. Hartmann
Friday, February 26, 2010
The Digital Music Business FAQ - SONG LYRICS - February 26, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
Where Have All The Dylans Gone?
Dmitry Popov asks:
Lately, I've been listening to the radio almost everyday and am I'm quite surprised by the quality of lyrics. Some new songs have poor lyrics and some of them are plain awful. With the rise of electronic music it seems that today a lot of people enjoy beat more than the actual message of a song. What do you think about that? Is it reasonable to believe that we are going to hear a new superstar song writer such as Bob Dylan?
Hartmann responds:
Rhythm was the first musical discovery. Our paleolithic ancestors danced, chanted and eventually sang. They started with meter, mixed in melody and fused their message into song. Long before producers crafted tempo, tune and tale into records the beat was deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Songwriting evolved along with man's cognitive skills as the concept of story led to the creation of spoken language. Music is the universal mathematics of the masses.
The computerized genre popular today is not dependant on lyrical content, it embraces that primordial ingredient in music that compels us to dance. It could just as easily be all instrumental. It is the lack of a lyrical ingredient that has kept electronica from producing a superstar, unless Lady Ga Ga is it. If so, at least she has reasonably appropriate lyrics for her image in most songs. Whatever her mass appeal, or success, certainly she will never be classified as a great songwriter.
The Hip Hop culture dominated popular music in the eighties and nineties The lyrical content of rap music is a primal ingredient but mostly demonstrate a rebellious attitude and social observation than a story with a beginning, middle and end. The folk, country and singer songwriter traditions are all lyric intensive embracing musical choices indigenous to each style.
The crafting of an effective lyric that communicates some identifiable truth is the highest art form in music. Although it can happen, rarely does a song spring full blown from the head of Zeus. Most often a universally appealing song is created over weeks and often months of careful experimentation. The end product is ultimately dependant on the writer's artistic choices.
Knowledge and experience in crafting musical compositions does not make one a songwriter For lyrics to resonate on an emotional level with the public, they must first emanate from someone with a point of view. When the public embraces any given tune they are identifying with the truth they perceive in the song's story. The goal is to tell the most story in the least least number of words. Every note, metaphor and simile must be shaped to support the song's central theme.
Songwriting is the core art form at the center the music industry. It is the source of the one true thing, music publishing. The most enduring material is produced by the greatest poets with the most prodigious musical skills. The writer describes the life and times of a specific segment of society and he exploits his work through an established music tradition. The message is infused with the romance, angst and rage embraced by the performers personal community. Regardless of genre or style it is the music fan who dictates the degree to which the words matter. Each generation discovers its personal poet laureate and ultimately identifies him as their Bob Dylan.
Where Have All The Dylans Gone?
Dmitry Popov asks:
Lately, I've been listening to the radio almost everyday and am I'm quite surprised by the quality of lyrics. Some new songs have poor lyrics and some of them are plain awful. With the rise of electronic music it seems that today a lot of people enjoy beat more than the actual message of a song. What do you think about that? Is it reasonable to believe that we are going to hear a new superstar song writer such as Bob Dylan?
Hartmann responds:
Rhythm was the first musical discovery. Our paleolithic ancestors danced, chanted and eventually sang. They started with meter, mixed in melody and fused their message into song. Long before producers crafted tempo, tune and tale into records the beat was deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Songwriting evolved along with man's cognitive skills as the concept of story led to the creation of spoken language. Music is the universal mathematics of the masses.
The computerized genre popular today is not dependant on lyrical content, it embraces that primordial ingredient in music that compels us to dance. It could just as easily be all instrumental. It is the lack of a lyrical ingredient that has kept electronica from producing a superstar, unless Lady Ga Ga is it. If so, at least she has reasonably appropriate lyrics for her image in most songs. Whatever her mass appeal, or success, certainly she will never be classified as a great songwriter.
The Hip Hop culture dominated popular music in the eighties and nineties The lyrical content of rap music is a primal ingredient but mostly demonstrate a rebellious attitude and social observation than a story with a beginning, middle and end. The folk, country and singer songwriter traditions are all lyric intensive embracing musical choices indigenous to each style.
The crafting of an effective lyric that communicates some identifiable truth is the highest art form in music. Although it can happen, rarely does a song spring full blown from the head of Zeus. Most often a universally appealing song is created over weeks and often months of careful experimentation. The end product is ultimately dependant on the writer's artistic choices.
Knowledge and experience in crafting musical compositions does not make one a songwriter For lyrics to resonate on an emotional level with the public, they must first emanate from someone with a point of view. When the public embraces any given tune they are identifying with the truth they perceive in the song's story. The goal is to tell the most story in the least least number of words. Every note, metaphor and simile must be shaped to support the song's central theme.
Songwriting is the core art form at the center the music industry. It is the source of the one true thing, music publishing. The most enduring material is produced by the greatest poets with the most prodigious musical skills. The writer describes the life and times of a specific segment of society and he exploits his work through an established music tradition. The message is infused with the romance, angst and rage embraced by the performers personal community. Regardless of genre or style it is the music fan who dictates the degree to which the words matter. Each generation discovers its personal poet laureate and ultimately identifies him as their Bob Dylan.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
HOLOGRAM - Trust - February 20, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
HOLOGRAM: Trust is not assigned, or awarded, it is purchased by action, earned through achievement and reinforced over time. jh
HOLOGRAM: Trust is not assigned, or awarded, it is purchased by action, earned through achievement and reinforced over time. jh
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Digital Music Business FAQ - The Mainstream - February 18, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
The Mainstream
George Gavin asks:
Do you believe that as the recording industry continues to lose money, and may eventually fold, that a popular mainstream will be able to survive in the face of millions of bands and no superstar to represent them? I know you say that the music world is waiting for a superstar, but there is no guarantee it will come (I think).
Hartmann responds:
The postmodern record business is in a state of explosion. All the pieces of shrapnel are flying toward the perimeter at the speed of light. As the old reliable systems and mechanics break down confusion remains for the survivors. Massive staff cuts at the big four labels are justified by the revenues lost to peer-to-peer file sharing, a cultural phenomenon that is not going to go away.
The label A&R, publicity, promotion, video and marketing divisions barely exist. Most remaining employees are at the executive level. They are charged with "saving" the record business. But they don't know what to do and it cannot be salvaged by trying to revive the compact disk. The CD will be sold by artists to their fans and it will be more of a souvenir than a music source. Most hard copy record sales will occur as a gesture of support generated by fans at the band's live events.
When no genre is ubiquitous all genres become viable. There is no mainstream music market. Every artist must project his music and live act toward the core audience that follows his particular style and musical niche. If a band cannot dominate its genre, it will never generate crossover appeal to fans of other styles. This is actually a good thing. It means that if you are truly talented, you can market to the group most likely to embrace your music and build a following.
The record companies had their day and they abused their power. Now, neither the fans nor the bands care much about what happens to them. They will continue to shrink and eventually become licensing and downloading systems with very little infrastructure. The labels will continue to push the few artists they do sign into the radio system but as the buyers disappear selling CDs will not be a profitable enough venture to survive. Bands will sell directly to the fans.
Perhaps the digital sword will cut even deeper into the record business and all the catalogs of masters will be sold or licensed to the phone companies, ISPs or new ventures formed specifically to exploit mid level artists and old product. The superstars will probably avoid the big four labels altogether and deal directly with the distribution systems. The high cost of developing baby bands will make the labels second stage players who will try to buy acts that can succeed on their own.
Every major historical advance in the music business has revolved around a superstar emerging in synch with changes in technology. Nobody is debating that the influence of dgimodernization has had a profound effect on the music industry. The loss of a primary income stream has forced artists back to the drawing board. They must now survive the old fashioned way, by excelling at the symbiotic art and science of performing and recording. A universal star could still emerge.
It is reasonable to assume that many of the Guitar Hero fans will graduate to real instruments. With sophisticated music programs available at most universities it is logical that college kids will learn many more chords than the three Elvis Presley used to generate his career. These young musicians are not going to graduate from college and give up. Music business curricula will teach them how to market and brand their product. The realistic progression for the next era in music is that quality would rise to previously unimagined heights. From this collegiate rock movement a new universal star could rise, or not. Perhaps music itself is THE superstar of the digital age.
The Mainstream
George Gavin asks:
Do you believe that as the recording industry continues to lose money, and may eventually fold, that a popular mainstream will be able to survive in the face of millions of bands and no superstar to represent them? I know you say that the music world is waiting for a superstar, but there is no guarantee it will come (I think).
Hartmann responds:
The postmodern record business is in a state of explosion. All the pieces of shrapnel are flying toward the perimeter at the speed of light. As the old reliable systems and mechanics break down confusion remains for the survivors. Massive staff cuts at the big four labels are justified by the revenues lost to peer-to-peer file sharing, a cultural phenomenon that is not going to go away.
The label A&R, publicity, promotion, video and marketing divisions barely exist. Most remaining employees are at the executive level. They are charged with "saving" the record business. But they don't know what to do and it cannot be salvaged by trying to revive the compact disk. The CD will be sold by artists to their fans and it will be more of a souvenir than a music source. Most hard copy record sales will occur as a gesture of support generated by fans at the band's live events.
When no genre is ubiquitous all genres become viable. There is no mainstream music market. Every artist must project his music and live act toward the core audience that follows his particular style and musical niche. If a band cannot dominate its genre, it will never generate crossover appeal to fans of other styles. This is actually a good thing. It means that if you are truly talented, you can market to the group most likely to embrace your music and build a following.
The record companies had their day and they abused their power. Now, neither the fans nor the bands care much about what happens to them. They will continue to shrink and eventually become licensing and downloading systems with very little infrastructure. The labels will continue to push the few artists they do sign into the radio system but as the buyers disappear selling CDs will not be a profitable enough venture to survive. Bands will sell directly to the fans.
Perhaps the digital sword will cut even deeper into the record business and all the catalogs of masters will be sold or licensed to the phone companies, ISPs or new ventures formed specifically to exploit mid level artists and old product. The superstars will probably avoid the big four labels altogether and deal directly with the distribution systems. The high cost of developing baby bands will make the labels second stage players who will try to buy acts that can succeed on their own.
Every major historical advance in the music business has revolved around a superstar emerging in synch with changes in technology. Nobody is debating that the influence of dgimodernization has had a profound effect on the music industry. The loss of a primary income stream has forced artists back to the drawing board. They must now survive the old fashioned way, by excelling at the symbiotic art and science of performing and recording. A universal star could still emerge.
It is reasonable to assume that many of the Guitar Hero fans will graduate to real instruments. With sophisticated music programs available at most universities it is logical that college kids will learn many more chords than the three Elvis Presley used to generate his career. These young musicians are not going to graduate from college and give up. Music business curricula will teach them how to market and brand their product. The realistic progression for the next era in music is that quality would rise to previously unimagined heights. From this collegiate rock movement a new universal star could rise, or not. Perhaps music itself is THE superstar of the digital age.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Music Business FAQ - TALENT TODAY - February, 13, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
Talent Today
R. Monahan asks:
Do you feel that there is any one act or artist already around today that could potentially rise up to being the face of our generation or are we still waiting on that star to appear? And also, if there is not anything established yet, what genre do you believe this act will rise out of?
Hartmann responds:
Every displaced record executive in the world is dreaming and scheming about how to reinvent the music industry. But, it is not the music "industry" that is suffering. It is the record "business" that is in a stew of its own making. The concert "business" is the second, and most enduring, component of the "industry" of music. The live music business will not sustain the same long-term, deleterious damage as has befallen the record business. Regardless of cost, profit, packaging, or how it is marketed, the music industry is here to stay and will be bigger than ever.
Digimodernization has fired the shot heard round the world. The transition is in motion, the industry will adapt. The evolution of it cannot be stopped. The artist and the audience are forever connected without imposition of middle-men who may have less than artistic motives. Cross cultural communication is exploding across the Internet and music is at its forefront.
Vast digital systems are hyper-linking social networks and enabling the exchange of millions of songs and videos every day. This "sharing" of music is expanding the global audience at an accelerating rate. The net result will be an increased interest in musicians and their work. The perceived values will accrue to the artistic side and the business of music will be redefined. This progression is moving at an explosive pace and the sound it makes is music.
There are hundreds of artist and repertoire services on the Internet that all offer "expert" guidance from seasoned professionals. The problem is that the expertize they purvey almost always relates to the old paradigm. There is a distinct lack of vision about exactly how to pursue the development of new talent in the music renaissance. One thing is for certain, reliance on record companies is no longer a viable option.
Newly minted Internet entrepreneurs must function within the parameters of their personal experience. This usually means finding someone to invest in the act. With very few record companies still in the artist development business, no artists get signed until they have a strong online following. By then, the potential contribution of a label is questionable. They can't guarantee much money, because the return on investment is not secure. The 360 degree formula is yet unproven; not one single act has come to prominence under this type of arrangement.
The music industry has been forced to take a digital leap backwards in order to surge forward into the new paradigm. The record business is collapsing under the weight of it's own infrastructure. This demise of the labels does not portend the end of recording as an art form. The two primary activities of the music industry will always prevail. Recording and performing are the symbiotic partners that created the postmodern record business; and they will continue to flourish as new music is discovered and shared across the Internet. The promotion will be freely generated by the global fan base.
The development of a new system for the monetization of music will endure a myriad of possibilities and some will prevail. There is a plethora of business models, some actualized and others in development. These include subscription, advertising based and bundling concepts that despite enormous investment, can at best be considered experimental. Nobody knows how the music fans will ultimately react to the sudden freedom the world wide web has provided. Their ability to choose any amount of music, from any genre, on demand at no charge must not be taken lightly.
The concept of "free" music is very powerful and deeply entrenched in the youth culture. It will not be easy to get them to pay when they are accustomed to sharing music without fees. This makes for a low threshold for entry; but immediately raises the bar for artists reaching for square two. It is easy to get into the game, but very difficult to progress. Only the most talented will build a large enough following to sustain a career. That is the way it has always been. Only ten percent of the competitors will survive as ninety-nine percent of the money is earned by this elite group.
The first level of success is survival. Artists who reach this plateau will be competing with the best of the best. One percent of them will earn ninety percent of the money. The bands that cannot generate a following through their live performances will be doomed to keep their day jobs. Their music will become a hobby, not their business. Artists who have the talent to inspire an audience and bring them back for more will have a chance to continue in the game. This will require the appication of artistic and business skill in equal proportion. Virtuoso talent combined with good theater, trmendous desire, and enormous personal effort could still produce a monumental star.
Each new enterprise will be built around a body of music that appeals to a niche market. When no genre is ubiquitous, every genre is viable. It does not matter which style of music you perform, there is an audience for every established style and there is even room for a new genre if it should emerge. Although they all follow a similar trajectory, each career has its own signature components. They all face the same obstacles and every one has to be built up from rock bottom.
The shock wave of digimodernization has not only rocked the record business, it has fragmented the fan base. As music lovers adjust to the new found freedoms and have access to every song ever recorded, they will discover the wonders and delights of the global music pool. Within the millions of possibilities there lurks some inspired artist struggling to find his voice and direction.
Although no such artist is evident and none is on the horizon, it would defy history for a superstar not to evolve. When that phenomenon arrives everyone will learn about it on the same day. There will be a roar of acclamation and affection that will streak around the planet by instant messages, tweets and friends Facebooking friends. YouTube and MySpace will light up like Christmas trees. The new superstar's web site will crash for lack of server power; and everybody with an iPod will embrace the song and choose to pay instead of "sharing" the file. This will result in the single biggest financial windfall in the history of popular music.
A hard core fan base, who discovered this artist years previously in their home town will rise up and inspire universal support. Needless to say the unknown, subject artist will make millions of dollars that day. The impact of the event will bring world-wide attention and the acclaim will be unprecedented. At this juncture the monolithic, multi-national corporations will move in and try to capture the beast.
There will be an enormous effort to try to duplicate the process in order to seize and control the golden egg. However, the new addition to the pantheon of mega stars will already be rich and famous and have no need for unnecessary partners. The success will inspire thousands of lesser stars to compete within the infrastructure created to contain the new universally appealing musical hero. Many will emulate the style and characteristics of the messiah and a new paradigm will be born.
It will only require the same measure of identity, appreciation and personal attachment that previous generations have awarded Caruso, Valli, Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles and Michael Jackson to turn the economic tide. The fans of these artists would not have "shared" their music for free. And, although no such star is present, or even on the horizon, history shows that such a musical force always arrives at a time just like this, a time when nobody can imagine how it could possibly happen.
Talent Today
R. Monahan asks:
Do you feel that there is any one act or artist already around today that could potentially rise up to being the face of our generation or are we still waiting on that star to appear? And also, if there is not anything established yet, what genre do you believe this act will rise out of?
Hartmann responds:
Every displaced record executive in the world is dreaming and scheming about how to reinvent the music industry. But, it is not the music "industry" that is suffering. It is the record "business" that is in a stew of its own making. The concert "business" is the second, and most enduring, component of the "industry" of music. The live music business will not sustain the same long-term, deleterious damage as has befallen the record business. Regardless of cost, profit, packaging, or how it is marketed, the music industry is here to stay and will be bigger than ever.
Digimodernization has fired the shot heard round the world. The transition is in motion, the industry will adapt. The evolution of it cannot be stopped. The artist and the audience are forever connected without imposition of middle-men who may have less than artistic motives. Cross cultural communication is exploding across the Internet and music is at its forefront.
Vast digital systems are hyper-linking social networks and enabling the exchange of millions of songs and videos every day. This "sharing" of music is expanding the global audience at an accelerating rate. The net result will be an increased interest in musicians and their work. The perceived values will accrue to the artistic side and the business of music will be redefined. This progression is moving at an explosive pace and the sound it makes is music.
There are hundreds of artist and repertoire services on the Internet that all offer "expert" guidance from seasoned professionals. The problem is that the expertize they purvey almost always relates to the old paradigm. There is a distinct lack of vision about exactly how to pursue the development of new talent in the music renaissance. One thing is for certain, reliance on record companies is no longer a viable option.
Newly minted Internet entrepreneurs must function within the parameters of their personal experience. This usually means finding someone to invest in the act. With very few record companies still in the artist development business, no artists get signed until they have a strong online following. By then, the potential contribution of a label is questionable. They can't guarantee much money, because the return on investment is not secure. The 360 degree formula is yet unproven; not one single act has come to prominence under this type of arrangement.
The music industry has been forced to take a digital leap backwards in order to surge forward into the new paradigm. The record business is collapsing under the weight of it's own infrastructure. This demise of the labels does not portend the end of recording as an art form. The two primary activities of the music industry will always prevail. Recording and performing are the symbiotic partners that created the postmodern record business; and they will continue to flourish as new music is discovered and shared across the Internet. The promotion will be freely generated by the global fan base.
The development of a new system for the monetization of music will endure a myriad of possibilities and some will prevail. There is a plethora of business models, some actualized and others in development. These include subscription, advertising based and bundling concepts that despite enormous investment, can at best be considered experimental. Nobody knows how the music fans will ultimately react to the sudden freedom the world wide web has provided. Their ability to choose any amount of music, from any genre, on demand at no charge must not be taken lightly.
The concept of "free" music is very powerful and deeply entrenched in the youth culture. It will not be easy to get them to pay when they are accustomed to sharing music without fees. This makes for a low threshold for entry; but immediately raises the bar for artists reaching for square two. It is easy to get into the game, but very difficult to progress. Only the most talented will build a large enough following to sustain a career. That is the way it has always been. Only ten percent of the competitors will survive as ninety-nine percent of the money is earned by this elite group.
The first level of success is survival. Artists who reach this plateau will be competing with the best of the best. One percent of them will earn ninety percent of the money. The bands that cannot generate a following through their live performances will be doomed to keep their day jobs. Their music will become a hobby, not their business. Artists who have the talent to inspire an audience and bring them back for more will have a chance to continue in the game. This will require the appication of artistic and business skill in equal proportion. Virtuoso talent combined with good theater, trmendous desire, and enormous personal effort could still produce a monumental star.
Each new enterprise will be built around a body of music that appeals to a niche market. When no genre is ubiquitous, every genre is viable. It does not matter which style of music you perform, there is an audience for every established style and there is even room for a new genre if it should emerge. Although they all follow a similar trajectory, each career has its own signature components. They all face the same obstacles and every one has to be built up from rock bottom.
The shock wave of digimodernization has not only rocked the record business, it has fragmented the fan base. As music lovers adjust to the new found freedoms and have access to every song ever recorded, they will discover the wonders and delights of the global music pool. Within the millions of possibilities there lurks some inspired artist struggling to find his voice and direction.
Although no such artist is evident and none is on the horizon, it would defy history for a superstar not to evolve. When that phenomenon arrives everyone will learn about it on the same day. There will be a roar of acclamation and affection that will streak around the planet by instant messages, tweets and friends Facebooking friends. YouTube and MySpace will light up like Christmas trees. The new superstar's web site will crash for lack of server power; and everybody with an iPod will embrace the song and choose to pay instead of "sharing" the file. This will result in the single biggest financial windfall in the history of popular music.
A hard core fan base, who discovered this artist years previously in their home town will rise up and inspire universal support. Needless to say the unknown, subject artist will make millions of dollars that day. The impact of the event will bring world-wide attention and the acclaim will be unprecedented. At this juncture the monolithic, multi-national corporations will move in and try to capture the beast.
There will be an enormous effort to try to duplicate the process in order to seize and control the golden egg. However, the new addition to the pantheon of mega stars will already be rich and famous and have no need for unnecessary partners. The success will inspire thousands of lesser stars to compete within the infrastructure created to contain the new universally appealing musical hero. Many will emulate the style and characteristics of the messiah and a new paradigm will be born.
It will only require the same measure of identity, appreciation and personal attachment that previous generations have awarded Caruso, Valli, Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles and Michael Jackson to turn the economic tide. The fans of these artists would not have "shared" their music for free. And, although no such star is present, or even on the horizon, history shows that such a musical force always arrives at a time just like this, a time when nobody can imagine how it could possibly happen.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
An Open Letter to Tommy Silverman - February 11, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
An Open Letter to Tommy Silverman:
Hi Tom: Thank you for your gracious letter. As I had originally suspected we are almost on the same page. I was in High School when "Rock Around The Clock" started the avalanche that propelled Elvis to the big top and established rock & roll as a permanent part of popular culture.
I made my first money selling music in 1957 and have been doing it ever since. I cannot remember a time when I did not manage at least one band. Over my fifty plus years in the postmodern record business I have been fortunate to serve many artists great and small.
Today I manage a baby band called The Reflectacles, so my interest in the new music industry paradigm is not casual or merely academic. I have a real job to do building a business around this six piece Americana folk rock band that formed out of my classroom at Loyola Marymount University.
Seven years ago when I was teaching personal management at Musicians Institute a student asked me, "How would you build an act today when the music is free?" I must admit that for the first time in my life I did not have an immediate answer to a question. The Holodigm is the continuing answer to that question. After due consideration, my students and I embarked on an extensive analysis of the problem. When I joined the faculty at LMU we continued the research and development of a new music industry paradigm.
Now, six years and more than 2000 students later, we believe we have perfected a working model that the industry will follow, knowingly, or not. It is organic and based primarily on the historical trajectory and a clear vision of the future. More importantly, it deals with the broadest range of participants. The millions of bands registered on myspace.com. They all deserve a chance to compete.
The concept is presented as the first interactive, audio-visual, online text book and addresses the fact that a kid would rather watch a movie than read a book. It is a training, mentoring and coaching system for musicians and entrepreneurs that addresses every aspect of the ancient alchemy of turning music into gold. It functions on a simple mathematical formula: One Artist + One Manager = One enterprise.
The manager is the CEO of the artists company and he owns an equal share of the enterprise. Fifty/fifty partnerships a la Elvis and The Colonel for solo artists and an equal share with bands. He cannot be fired because his contracts ran out or somebody will do it for less. He is an equity owner of the business he helps build and can only be bought out at the fair market value of his shares.
All are exclusive employees of the corporation or LLC. Record producers can also be invited to join as partners since their skills will always be needed. We invited recording legend Eric E.T. Thorngren to be a full partner in The Reflectacles Music Co. ensuring that we will make world class records from day one. Everybody works for free until there are dividends to declare.
This form of partnership will ensure that everyone on the board of directors has an incentive to make the business successful. Each member has a role beyond the stage. In the case of The Reflectacles, each man is either an officer of the company or a vice president of a division. They apply the business skills they acquired in the classroom to their real life career pursuits.
How many CEOs get to indoctrinate their employees for sixteen weeks, three hours a week? Not many. But Holodigm Artists get that training before they start the arduous climb to artistic and financial success. Thy do not run blindly, lost in the fog of showbiz. Their goals are clearly defined and supported by a game plan that can be conducted at a livable pace, under their direct control.
The Holodigm is their sanctuary and provides continuous career direction as each enterprise grows. We hold no equity interest in the activities or entities produced by "Academy" and "Society" members. When appropriate, we may invite partnerships with promising talent through our professional division Holodigm Media. The business that is built will belong to those who build it.
Our staff of coaches and consultants is being implemented at this time and will provide a constant source of seasoned professional advice to our members online. Additional services and products provided below market price will facilitate production and marketing activities ensuring a faster rise to profitability. Individual successes and failures will be shared among the membership through The Holodigm Forums, Blogs, Social Network and Chat Rooms. The members, pursuing the same goals, each get to benefit from the other's learning experience. There is no template to follow; it is a real-time live experiment.
With a clear focus on the two primary activities of recording and performing, combined with effective Internet marketing, the team can build and operate its own business. The mystical fuel of "talent" drives the engine and combined with other "star" factors, like, great songs, charisma, sex appeal, hero worship, authenticity, passion and desire, they can build a fan base.
Nepotism, personal wealth, sponsorship, talent TV and personal relationships can enhance and accelerate the process. However, these are stairway to heaven possibilities that will not exist in most cases. Generally speaking, The bands and managers will have to do the work themselves.
Traditionally, investors want something for the risk they take. And that is only fair. However, during my fifty plus years in the music industry I have never seen a record company make a fair deal with an artist. And, I have never seen private investment pay off for the artist or the investor.
The money will want a permanent piece of the company. Unless they contribute something else to the artist's enterprise this will become inequitable eventually. In an industry where only ten percent of the artists will survive there won't be much venture capital available.
The Holodigm concept concentrates the artists and managers on the job of building a viable live act, in local and regional markets, around which products can be developed and sold. It focuses on do-it-yourself systems, mechanics and protocols. And, it forces the players to run their enterprise as a business without giving away equity to third party service providers.
Artists who wait for investors will be doomed to fail. Those who take action on their dreams will create their own destiny and they will reap the reward. They will own their masters and publishing and the most talented will build a permanent annuity to support them in their old age.
I totally understand the pressure you were under the day we met. I am a long time observer of your significant accomplishments and hold you in the highest regard. The work you do in support of the continued growth and development of our business is significant and necessary. In time the labels will let go of the old paradigm and embrace digital download distribution for their catalogs. And, they may even be able to buy up a few new acts as they emerge. But, it will never be the same.
The music industry is thousands of years old and will not expire under the weight of digimodernization. The record business is just over a hundred years old and will surrender to the digital sword. In the transition the business of recording will fall to the hands in which it belongs, the men and women who create music.
New artists will no longer be imposed by record company moguls or A&R producers of the month. They will be discovered, nurtured and revered from the fan base up. The information super highway is the arena and the Internet is the rocket.
I hope you will visit www.HolodigmMusic.com and consider that perhaps the new paradigm exists and only has to be implemented. This concept evolved from an historical observation of the effect of new technologies on the record business pre Napster; and, on my personal experience directing careers as an agent and personal manager in the postmodern era.
The invitation to speak to my class still stands.
Pax et Amo. Hartmann
An Open Letter to Tommy Silverman:
Hi Tom: Thank you for your gracious letter. As I had originally suspected we are almost on the same page. I was in High School when "Rock Around The Clock" started the avalanche that propelled Elvis to the big top and established rock & roll as a permanent part of popular culture.
I made my first money selling music in 1957 and have been doing it ever since. I cannot remember a time when I did not manage at least one band. Over my fifty plus years in the postmodern record business I have been fortunate to serve many artists great and small.
Today I manage a baby band called The Reflectacles, so my interest in the new music industry paradigm is not casual or merely academic. I have a real job to do building a business around this six piece Americana folk rock band that formed out of my classroom at Loyola Marymount University.
Seven years ago when I was teaching personal management at Musicians Institute a student asked me, "How would you build an act today when the music is free?" I must admit that for the first time in my life I did not have an immediate answer to a question. The Holodigm is the continuing answer to that question. After due consideration, my students and I embarked on an extensive analysis of the problem. When I joined the faculty at LMU we continued the research and development of a new music industry paradigm.
Now, six years and more than 2000 students later, we believe we have perfected a working model that the industry will follow, knowingly, or not. It is organic and based primarily on the historical trajectory and a clear vision of the future. More importantly, it deals with the broadest range of participants. The millions of bands registered on myspace.com. They all deserve a chance to compete.
The concept is presented as the first interactive, audio-visual, online text book and addresses the fact that a kid would rather watch a movie than read a book. It is a training, mentoring and coaching system for musicians and entrepreneurs that addresses every aspect of the ancient alchemy of turning music into gold. It functions on a simple mathematical formula: One Artist + One Manager = One enterprise.
The manager is the CEO of the artists company and he owns an equal share of the enterprise. Fifty/fifty partnerships a la Elvis and The Colonel for solo artists and an equal share with bands. He cannot be fired because his contracts ran out or somebody will do it for less. He is an equity owner of the business he helps build and can only be bought out at the fair market value of his shares.
All are exclusive employees of the corporation or LLC. Record producers can also be invited to join as partners since their skills will always be needed. We invited recording legend Eric E.T. Thorngren to be a full partner in The Reflectacles Music Co. ensuring that we will make world class records from day one. Everybody works for free until there are dividends to declare.
This form of partnership will ensure that everyone on the board of directors has an incentive to make the business successful. Each member has a role beyond the stage. In the case of The Reflectacles, each man is either an officer of the company or a vice president of a division. They apply the business skills they acquired in the classroom to their real life career pursuits.
How many CEOs get to indoctrinate their employees for sixteen weeks, three hours a week? Not many. But Holodigm Artists get that training before they start the arduous climb to artistic and financial success. Thy do not run blindly, lost in the fog of showbiz. Their goals are clearly defined and supported by a game plan that can be conducted at a livable pace, under their direct control.
The Holodigm is their sanctuary and provides continuous career direction as each enterprise grows. We hold no equity interest in the activities or entities produced by "Academy" and "Society" members. When appropriate, we may invite partnerships with promising talent through our professional division Holodigm Media. The business that is built will belong to those who build it.
Our staff of coaches and consultants is being implemented at this time and will provide a constant source of seasoned professional advice to our members online. Additional services and products provided below market price will facilitate production and marketing activities ensuring a faster rise to profitability. Individual successes and failures will be shared among the membership through The Holodigm Forums, Blogs, Social Network and Chat Rooms. The members, pursuing the same goals, each get to benefit from the other's learning experience. There is no template to follow; it is a real-time live experiment.
With a clear focus on the two primary activities of recording and performing, combined with effective Internet marketing, the team can build and operate its own business. The mystical fuel of "talent" drives the engine and combined with other "star" factors, like, great songs, charisma, sex appeal, hero worship, authenticity, passion and desire, they can build a fan base.
Nepotism, personal wealth, sponsorship, talent TV and personal relationships can enhance and accelerate the process. However, these are stairway to heaven possibilities that will not exist in most cases. Generally speaking, The bands and managers will have to do the work themselves.
Traditionally, investors want something for the risk they take. And that is only fair. However, during my fifty plus years in the music industry I have never seen a record company make a fair deal with an artist. And, I have never seen private investment pay off for the artist or the investor.
The money will want a permanent piece of the company. Unless they contribute something else to the artist's enterprise this will become inequitable eventually. In an industry where only ten percent of the artists will survive there won't be much venture capital available.
The Holodigm concept concentrates the artists and managers on the job of building a viable live act, in local and regional markets, around which products can be developed and sold. It focuses on do-it-yourself systems, mechanics and protocols. And, it forces the players to run their enterprise as a business without giving away equity to third party service providers.
Artists who wait for investors will be doomed to fail. Those who take action on their dreams will create their own destiny and they will reap the reward. They will own their masters and publishing and the most talented will build a permanent annuity to support them in their old age.
I totally understand the pressure you were under the day we met. I am a long time observer of your significant accomplishments and hold you in the highest regard. The work you do in support of the continued growth and development of our business is significant and necessary. In time the labels will let go of the old paradigm and embrace digital download distribution for their catalogs. And, they may even be able to buy up a few new acts as they emerge. But, it will never be the same.
The music industry is thousands of years old and will not expire under the weight of digimodernization. The record business is just over a hundred years old and will surrender to the digital sword. In the transition the business of recording will fall to the hands in which it belongs, the men and women who create music.
New artists will no longer be imposed by record company moguls or A&R producers of the month. They will be discovered, nurtured and revered from the fan base up. The information super highway is the arena and the Internet is the rocket.
I hope you will visit www.HolodigmMusic.com and consider that perhaps the new paradigm exists and only has to be implemented. This concept evolved from an historical observation of the effect of new technologies on the record business pre Napster; and, on my personal experience directing careers as an agent and personal manager in the postmodern era.
The invitation to speak to my class still stands.
Pax et Amo. Hartmann
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Music Business FAQ - February 9, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
Cyber-Bucks
L. Grandy asks:
You mentioned in your blog in 12/10/09 that, "The big four stalled at Napster and allowed download distribution to be developed by others. By trying to preserve the highly lucrative CD market they let the big cyber-bucks get away." Do you think there is any way for the 'big four' to regain the cyber market? or are they doomed to control the less lucrative CD market?
Hartmann responds:
The Big Four record companies attempted to destroy Napster before they understood what it was truly all about. The governing executive corps of the postmodern label system lacked the long term vision to imagine a music world without plastic and paper. RIAA lobbyists attached the appellation "theft" to the file "sharing" process and sued their customers. The backlash from this futile tactic ensured their eventual demise. By the time the dust settled, Napster was a shadow of its former self and various similar systems took up the slack and made music free for the taking.
The old paradigm could only have been preserved if the global fan base embraced the idea that sharing was stealing. However, that did not resonate with the cyber-youth culture that simply and irrevocably considers the information super highway their indomitable domain. If it is on the web, its free for the taking. This is demonstrated millions of times a day, as music lovers explore the myriad of genres and styles instantly accessible and forward their discoveries to their friends.
Never in recording history has so much music been available to so many people at such a low cost. The obligation to pay lays between the mind set of the consumers and their affection for the act. Everybody under thirty knows how to load a song on their iPod or install it on their computer. They can stream it any time they want and pass it on at will. There is no guilt or hesitation involved in the exchange. The participants recognize that they are supporting the artist by distributing their music to a wider audience and no power on Earth can stop this practice.
This places the advantage clearly in the hands of the musicians and bands that are willing to recognize the Internet as the new radio. Except the airplay is free and record companies have no control over the system. The power now belongs to the artists who accept the challenge to create their own business enterprises, without investment from third parties. In the end, ownership of their masters and copyrights will far outweigh the value of a label's contribution to a band's career development. A tight bond with the fan base is all their survival will recquire.
The artist + fan connection is forged in the crucible of concert performance. Without a strong and entertaining live show an enduring relationship between the two will never form. When it does happen, it must be nourished and maintained through direct communication on the Internet. A band's fans are the lifeline to their survival. Once acquired a fan must be invited to join the act's support mechanism. Membership should be valued and specific. Symbols of partnership and specific identification of status and priority must be awarded to the most ardent supporters.
No major paradigm shift happens in a vacuum. The transition out of the postmodern era into the music renaissance will not be accomplished by the flip of a switch. The major labels will endure for another decade as digimodernization slowly swallows their extant catalogs. The older generation might repurchase their favorites for awhile longer, but in the end downloads will be the only delivery system for music. The artists will market their CDs and ancillary products directly to their fans from self owned and operated web sites and at live events. Only the most talented will make a profit and survive. The less talented will give up and join the army.
Thousands of laid-off record company employees will lead the vanguard of entrepreneurs who will attempt to revive the old way or try to invent the new paradigm. The Big Four have the most incentive to create a new system, but are not likely to accept the loss of high profit CDs as part of their formula. This lack of imagination will precipitate their downfall. The concept of 360 degree participation is a good idea, but an act doesn't really need a label to establish such a program.
The artists will be better served to create their own record companies dedicated to their success. New bands will be built one at a time by managers in partnership with the act. If the CEO's survival depends on the artist's success a band's business will be assured of full time attention.
The labels are the traditional enemy of the artist and they are not going to have a long term place at the table. The subscription and advertising based distribution models being devised today will slip away and artist direct streaming will dominate. The labels will die off because of their failure to engage in artist development and the participation of big business will fall to the ISPs and telephone companies. The big winner is the music fan who will decide where it all goes form here.
Cyber-Bucks
L. Grandy asks:
You mentioned in your blog in 12/10/09 that, "The big four stalled at Napster and allowed download distribution to be developed by others. By trying to preserve the highly lucrative CD market they let the big cyber-bucks get away." Do you think there is any way for the 'big four' to regain the cyber market? or are they doomed to control the less lucrative CD market?
Hartmann responds:
The Big Four record companies attempted to destroy Napster before they understood what it was truly all about. The governing executive corps of the postmodern label system lacked the long term vision to imagine a music world without plastic and paper. RIAA lobbyists attached the appellation "theft" to the file "sharing" process and sued their customers. The backlash from this futile tactic ensured their eventual demise. By the time the dust settled, Napster was a shadow of its former self and various similar systems took up the slack and made music free for the taking.
The old paradigm could only have been preserved if the global fan base embraced the idea that sharing was stealing. However, that did not resonate with the cyber-youth culture that simply and irrevocably considers the information super highway their indomitable domain. If it is on the web, its free for the taking. This is demonstrated millions of times a day, as music lovers explore the myriad of genres and styles instantly accessible and forward their discoveries to their friends.
Never in recording history has so much music been available to so many people at such a low cost. The obligation to pay lays between the mind set of the consumers and their affection for the act. Everybody under thirty knows how to load a song on their iPod or install it on their computer. They can stream it any time they want and pass it on at will. There is no guilt or hesitation involved in the exchange. The participants recognize that they are supporting the artist by distributing their music to a wider audience and no power on Earth can stop this practice.
This places the advantage clearly in the hands of the musicians and bands that are willing to recognize the Internet as the new radio. Except the airplay is free and record companies have no control over the system. The power now belongs to the artists who accept the challenge to create their own business enterprises, without investment from third parties. In the end, ownership of their masters and copyrights will far outweigh the value of a label's contribution to a band's career development. A tight bond with the fan base is all their survival will recquire.
The artist + fan connection is forged in the crucible of concert performance. Without a strong and entertaining live show an enduring relationship between the two will never form. When it does happen, it must be nourished and maintained through direct communication on the Internet. A band's fans are the lifeline to their survival. Once acquired a fan must be invited to join the act's support mechanism. Membership should be valued and specific. Symbols of partnership and specific identification of status and priority must be awarded to the most ardent supporters.
No major paradigm shift happens in a vacuum. The transition out of the postmodern era into the music renaissance will not be accomplished by the flip of a switch. The major labels will endure for another decade as digimodernization slowly swallows their extant catalogs. The older generation might repurchase their favorites for awhile longer, but in the end downloads will be the only delivery system for music. The artists will market their CDs and ancillary products directly to their fans from self owned and operated web sites and at live events. Only the most talented will make a profit and survive. The less talented will give up and join the army.
Thousands of laid-off record company employees will lead the vanguard of entrepreneurs who will attempt to revive the old way or try to invent the new paradigm. The Big Four have the most incentive to create a new system, but are not likely to accept the loss of high profit CDs as part of their formula. This lack of imagination will precipitate their downfall. The concept of 360 degree participation is a good idea, but an act doesn't really need a label to establish such a program.
The artists will be better served to create their own record companies dedicated to their success. New bands will be built one at a time by managers in partnership with the act. If the CEO's survival depends on the artist's success a band's business will be assured of full time attention.
The labels are the traditional enemy of the artist and they are not going to have a long term place at the table. The subscription and advertising based distribution models being devised today will slip away and artist direct streaming will dominate. The labels will die off because of their failure to engage in artist development and the participation of big business will fall to the ISPs and telephone companies. The big winner is the music fan who will decide where it all goes form here.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
New Music Seminar - Tommy Silverman - February 3, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
An Open Invitation to Tommy Silverman:
The New Music Industry Paradigm
Dear Tommy:
Thank you for a very interesting day at the New Music Seminar. In our brief conversation, I was somewhat shocked that, for as long as you have been pursuing this concept, that you seem to have totally missed the target. I suspect it is due to your RIAA affiliation.
I have been exploring the new music industry paradigm concept for over seven years and my 2500 students and I have debated every aspect of how the stars of the music renaissance will be born. They will NOT be dictated from record company board rooms down; the superstars of tomorrow will rise from the cyber-grass-roots up. The last to know what is happening will be the major labels. When an act creates a significant enough following through live performing and web integration the majors will try to throw money at them but it will be too late. No self respecting artist will enslave himself to the old paradigm.
You profess that a band needs an investor; but the labels are not investing in new artists. In fact, what can a label really offer an act today? Certainly they aren't going to give them any significant money to record, and fortunately for the artists, they don't need it. Record companies will promise them radio airplay but will fail to deliver it. The radio game is way to expensive and even if they did buy some spins, who is listening? Not the kids in a world where iPods rule. Furthermore, the oldsters don't buy records anymore because they already own the soundtrack to their lives and couldn't care less about new acts.
Just what do the labels have to offer, tour support? Forget it. There is no value in going into debt to play for 200 people in Chicago. In fact, a band does not need an investor if it has a great live act and a modicum of talent. What new artists need is to become the dominant musical force in their local region. If a band cannot make it at home, it can't make it anywhere. If it can make it at home, it can make it everywhere.
From San Diego to Santa Barbara there are hundreds of venues playing live music every night. If a band starts at the bottom of the food change and works its way up, they will accomplish Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice and they will build their 1000 true fans. If they develop an efficient merch system, nourish their fan base with "personal" attention and play each regional market monthly within a 100 mile radius of their homes, they will build a following.
All talent being considered equal, this system will not put their earnings into long distance travel, over-priced fuel, over-weight baggage and hotel rooms. Controlling all income streams and channeling the earnings into expansion of their product line and the extension of their performance radius will allow them to grow. If this doesn't work, they should reconsider their act, perhaps it isn't as good as they think it is. This is the TALENT business and only the talented succeed.
Bands today must own their own masters and publishing and create a booking mechanism that allows them to develop their business one fan at a time. If they can sell 1000 tickets in any given market they will be added to the big shows that don't sell out. They will connect with the headliners who will take them on tour at a profit. And the world will come to there door. This is how the postmodern record business was born and this is how the music industry will be regenerated in the music renaissance.
The first level of success is survival. Of the millions of acts on http://www.myspace.com/ only ten percent of the competitors will reach that plateau, and they will earn ninety-nine percent of the money. Survival means, I make my living from music without a day job. The other ninety percent will never make a profit and will eventually be sucked down the black hole of broken dreams.
As you pointed out several times, nobody actually has to buy music. They will pay for it only if they love the act like we loved Elvis and The Beatles. This affection is most likely to occur at live events where the bonding is most intense. The fan probably already has "shared" the music or why is he there in the first place. They all saw MTV and they know when the buy the band's products they are putting food on the table and contributing to the act's survival. Fans will only purchase CDs and merch after they have already joined the act's support team.
Where is the place for three-sixty deals in this scenario? What can a label do for an act, today? Even if they could deliver the always dangled airplay, who is listening? There are no brick & mortar stores and anybody can access digital distribution without a middle-man. Radio is a default source for music and this generation does not want to be told what they like; they want to tell you. To them it is not "stealing" from the act; it is free record promotion. The connotation of "sharing" has no immoral quotient and the cyber-youth will not adapt to the RIAA standard.
I would love to have you visit my class at LMU some Wednesday evening to present your point of view on this subject. I have seventy-five students who would like to hear what you have to say. And I must admit I too am curious to hear someone try to defend the label's justification for their continued existence. I hope you can find the time to take up this debate. I enjoyed your speakers, but failed to see a new paradigm within the conversation. Pax. John Hartmann
An Open Invitation to Tommy Silverman:
The New Music Industry Paradigm
Dear Tommy:
Thank you for a very interesting day at the New Music Seminar. In our brief conversation, I was somewhat shocked that, for as long as you have been pursuing this concept, that you seem to have totally missed the target. I suspect it is due to your RIAA affiliation.
I have been exploring the new music industry paradigm concept for over seven years and my 2500 students and I have debated every aspect of how the stars of the music renaissance will be born. They will NOT be dictated from record company board rooms down; the superstars of tomorrow will rise from the cyber-grass-roots up. The last to know what is happening will be the major labels. When an act creates a significant enough following through live performing and web integration the majors will try to throw money at them but it will be too late. No self respecting artist will enslave himself to the old paradigm.
You profess that a band needs an investor; but the labels are not investing in new artists. In fact, what can a label really offer an act today? Certainly they aren't going to give them any significant money to record, and fortunately for the artists, they don't need it. Record companies will promise them radio airplay but will fail to deliver it. The radio game is way to expensive and even if they did buy some spins, who is listening? Not the kids in a world where iPods rule. Furthermore, the oldsters don't buy records anymore because they already own the soundtrack to their lives and couldn't care less about new acts.
Just what do the labels have to offer, tour support? Forget it. There is no value in going into debt to play for 200 people in Chicago. In fact, a band does not need an investor if it has a great live act and a modicum of talent. What new artists need is to become the dominant musical force in their local region. If a band cannot make it at home, it can't make it anywhere. If it can make it at home, it can make it everywhere.
From San Diego to Santa Barbara there are hundreds of venues playing live music every night. If a band starts at the bottom of the food change and works its way up, they will accomplish Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice and they will build their 1000 true fans. If they develop an efficient merch system, nourish their fan base with "personal" attention and play each regional market monthly within a 100 mile radius of their homes, they will build a following.
All talent being considered equal, this system will not put their earnings into long distance travel, over-priced fuel, over-weight baggage and hotel rooms. Controlling all income streams and channeling the earnings into expansion of their product line and the extension of their performance radius will allow them to grow. If this doesn't work, they should reconsider their act, perhaps it isn't as good as they think it is. This is the TALENT business and only the talented succeed.
Bands today must own their own masters and publishing and create a booking mechanism that allows them to develop their business one fan at a time. If they can sell 1000 tickets in any given market they will be added to the big shows that don't sell out. They will connect with the headliners who will take them on tour at a profit. And the world will come to there door. This is how the postmodern record business was born and this is how the music industry will be regenerated in the music renaissance.
The first level of success is survival. Of the millions of acts on http://www.myspace.com/ only ten percent of the competitors will reach that plateau, and they will earn ninety-nine percent of the money. Survival means, I make my living from music without a day job. The other ninety percent will never make a profit and will eventually be sucked down the black hole of broken dreams.
As you pointed out several times, nobody actually has to buy music. They will pay for it only if they love the act like we loved Elvis and The Beatles. This affection is most likely to occur at live events where the bonding is most intense. The fan probably already has "shared" the music or why is he there in the first place. They all saw MTV and they know when the buy the band's products they are putting food on the table and contributing to the act's survival. Fans will only purchase CDs and merch after they have already joined the act's support team.
Where is the place for three-sixty deals in this scenario? What can a label do for an act, today? Even if they could deliver the always dangled airplay, who is listening? There are no brick & mortar stores and anybody can access digital distribution without a middle-man. Radio is a default source for music and this generation does not want to be told what they like; they want to tell you. To them it is not "stealing" from the act; it is free record promotion. The connotation of "sharing" has no immoral quotient and the cyber-youth will not adapt to the RIAA standard.
I would love to have you visit my class at LMU some Wednesday evening to present your point of view on this subject. I have seventy-five students who would like to hear what you have to say. And I must admit I too am curious to hear someone try to defend the label's justification for their continued existence. I hope you can find the time to take up this debate. I enjoyed your speakers, but failed to see a new paradigm within the conversation. Pax. John Hartmann
Saturday, January 23, 2010
MUSIC BUSINESS Q&A - January 23, 2009
HolodigmMusic.com
MUSIC BUSINESS Q&A:
Kaitlin Curtin asks:
In terms of the Big Top you said that about 10% make it and they make 99% of the money. The music industry has changed so much over the last few years in terms of how money is being made -- has that changed the percent of profit that the Big Top musicians are making? In other words, are the musicians who are not considered to be at the Big Top making more money these days because of things such as MySpace, Facebook, and other such technologies, or is the division of profit still about the same?
Hartmann responds:
If an artist lacks ambition and wants to sit around and wait for the business to come to him, find another act. This is the most competitive environment on the planet and with the easy entry provided by digimodernization only the most aggressive and inspired artists will reach the survival plateau.
Only 10% of the bands competing will make a living from music without having to have a day job. They will share 99% of the money spent on music. The other 1% will be earned by the remaining 90% who will compete for a time and then get sucked down the black hole of broken dreams. Bands marketing themselves on MySpace, Facebook, will split that 1% without record company support. The ones who are truly talented will grow there fanbase and reach the survival level.
The tough part about this equation is that the top 1% of artists will split 90% of all money spent on concerts and recordings. This is a core principal that does not change. It is a very small, elite group who battle their way to The Big Top, and to whom most of the fame and fortune accrues.
We are experiencing the emergence of an entire generation of musicians who have received an extraordinary amount of musical training. They start younger with "toys" like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and many, experiencing the thrill of performing are inspired to take up "real" instruments. These fledgling artists enter the competition early and grow faster.
With thousands of colleges and universities around the country presenting majors in songwriting, recording and performing curricula, these musicians are learning more than the few chords utilized by the originators of rock & roll. These students are also being taught the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of the every evolving music industry.
After graduation, college educated musicians will combine their musical talents with their accumulated knowledge of how to execute business strategies. They will create a new, sophisticated quality of music that will inspire their peer groups to support their favorite bands. It is even possible that the bonding experience created at live performances might inspire the public top pay for the music.
They may already have "shared" the artist's music, or why are they at your show in the first place. However, the connection between artist and audience is strengthened at live events and the fans saw MTV, they know when they buy the CDs and T-shirts at your gig that they are contributing to your survival. The artist's survival will depend on their ability to attract, nourish and maintain a relationship with the fans who respond to their music and are willing to come back for more.
MUSIC BUSINESS Q&A:
Kaitlin Curtin asks:
In terms of the Big Top you said that about 10% make it and they make 99% of the money. The music industry has changed so much over the last few years in terms of how money is being made -- has that changed the percent of profit that the Big Top musicians are making? In other words, are the musicians who are not considered to be at the Big Top making more money these days because of things such as MySpace, Facebook, and other such technologies, or is the division of profit still about the same?
Hartmann responds:
If an artist lacks ambition and wants to sit around and wait for the business to come to him, find another act. This is the most competitive environment on the planet and with the easy entry provided by digimodernization only the most aggressive and inspired artists will reach the survival plateau.
Only 10% of the bands competing will make a living from music without having to have a day job. They will share 99% of the money spent on music. The other 1% will be earned by the remaining 90% who will compete for a time and then get sucked down the black hole of broken dreams. Bands marketing themselves on MySpace, Facebook, will split that 1% without record company support. The ones who are truly talented will grow there fanbase and reach the survival level.
The tough part about this equation is that the top 1% of artists will split 90% of all money spent on concerts and recordings. This is a core principal that does not change. It is a very small, elite group who battle their way to The Big Top, and to whom most of the fame and fortune accrues.
We are experiencing the emergence of an entire generation of musicians who have received an extraordinary amount of musical training. They start younger with "toys" like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and many, experiencing the thrill of performing are inspired to take up "real" instruments. These fledgling artists enter the competition early and grow faster.
With thousands of colleges and universities around the country presenting majors in songwriting, recording and performing curricula, these musicians are learning more than the few chords utilized by the originators of rock & roll. These students are also being taught the systems, mechanics, protocols and politics of the every evolving music industry.
After graduation, college educated musicians will combine their musical talents with their accumulated knowledge of how to execute business strategies. They will create a new, sophisticated quality of music that will inspire their peer groups to support their favorite bands. It is even possible that the bonding experience created at live performances might inspire the public top pay for the music.
They may already have "shared" the artist's music, or why are they at your show in the first place. However, the connection between artist and audience is strengthened at live events and the fans saw MTV, they know when they buy the CDs and T-shirts at your gig that they are contributing to your survival. The artist's survival will depend on their ability to attract, nourish and maintain a relationship with the fans who respond to their music and are willing to come back for more.
Friday, January 15, 2010
HOLOGRAM - The Reflectacles @ Dakota Lounge - Jan 22
HolodigmMusic.com
The Reflectacles at Dakota Lounge - January 22, 2010
The Reflectacles at Dakota Lounge - January 22, 2010 If you are 21 years old and ready to party, please come and join our back-to-school celebration featuring The Reflectacles at Dakota Lounge in Santa Monica January 22 at 11:oo PM. There will be drinks, dancing, door prizes, free downloads and a healthy dose of good old Americana rock & roll. So put on your dancing shoes and come on down to Dakota and we'll get this year off to a rocking good start. Tickets $10 in advance, $13 at the door. Three bands. Show starts at 9:00 PM and goes all night. I'll be there. Pax et Amo. Hartmann
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MUSIC BUSINESS Q&A - January 10, 2010
HolodigmMusic.com
The Comeback Trail
dpkiper asks:
After something as detrimental as the incident with Chris Brown and Rihanna, how does a manager (assuming he/she is still believes in this artist) deal with the situation to help the artist bounce back and regain his/her fan base?
Hartmann responds:
Colonel Tom Parker, the legendary manager of Elvis Presley, is often quoted as having said,"There is no such thing as bad publicity." That may have been true in the golden days of Hollywood when movie studio publicity departments carefully fabricated stories and arranged relationships to accommodate the promotional needs of the "star" system. The media traded the truth for access and played along in order to lure patrons to the box-office. The fan magazines perpetuated the mythology and a gullible public believed everything because they wanted to.
Only the most heinous violations of moral and legal standards of the day burst through the veil of protection provided by the movie studios. Fatty Arbuckle paid for his peccadillo's, Robert Mitchum was arrested for smoking pot, Errol Flynn was criticised for being a Nazi sympathiser and Elvis was goaded into a bar room brawl, Ray Charles was a heroin addict. Sometimes the incidents incited public animosity and sometimes they were greeted with acceptance and humor. The public is very fickle and the bond with its heroes is thin and fragile. The long term effect of bad publicity varies from case to case.
Behavior that is acceptable from one artist may be totally detrimental to another. Careers are like fingerprints, from a distance they all look the same, up close each is different. Fatty's career evaporated, Mitchum became a superstar, Flynn shook off the stigma and Elvis incorporated the incident into one of his movies. Ray cleaned up his act, was declared a genius and became a legend. All of these incidents created huge negatives in the media, each with different results.
Back then, there was a certain naivete attached to the print media and how the fourth estate was manipulated by the system and the advertisers. With the advent of multi channel television and twenty-four hour news the game has drastically changed. Throw the paparazzi and the Internet into the mix, add ubiquitous photography, reality programming and universal video and the dynamic changes completely. Where there was once a shadow of a doubt in the stories of the past, today there's recorded proof of just about everything that ever happens in the life of a media star.
Artists have stories to tell in support of their career advancement. The seeds of these stories are sewn by managers and publicists to achieve a certain image and to stimulate interest in the act. The fans digest the seeds and evolve mental illusions about their personal relationship with their idols. Hero worship is the driving force. In the minds of the fan base an entitlement grows with the bond. The fan expects the artist's lifestyle to conform to his vision of what is "supposed" to be.
The story never overlaps the truth. When an artists sins are discovered and exposed in the media there is a moment of pause, while the fans love is tested. What one believes depends on who it is, what happened and weather or not it is acceptable to the fan. If the action is compatible with the artist's image the attention will not have a deleterious effect. When the artist's behavior is completely out of character with the fans perception of the person, it can cause permanent career damage.
Social mores are constantly changing and what may have been okay in the past, could be destructive today. Brittany Spear's "sans panties" incident was shocking, but not out of character. It didn't cause her any long term harm. Chris Brown's assault on Rhianna was completely unacceptable behavior. His fans didn't like it, her fans were outraged and their mutual fans were devastated. Since the O.J. incident domestic violence has a very definite connotation in our society. Men battering women is about as low as it goes. Nobody condones it for any reason.
Personal managers are responsible for how an artist relates to the media. It is a double edged sword. The acts court the media to get the "good" publicity, but fear and hide from them when their is "bad" news or something to hide. They cooperate to get their promotional licks in, pretend to not want it when out in the world and abhor it when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. We all swim in the media ocean and sooner or later we all get wet. Sometimes when the "truth" hits the fan it is best to just walk away and let the dust settle. A career must be built to last a lifetime,showbiz is a marathon. Nobody dashes to the finish line. Fix it tomorrow.
Artists are seriously affected by the exposure of their weaknesses and flaws. Fans don't build those elements into their view of a star. The person they imagine the artist to be is idealized in the mind of the beholder. The bursting of that illusory bubble can be the end of the relationship or the beginning of a new era of affection and alliance. The difference is in how the problem is initially addressed by the artist, how it is handled in the long run and the degree of culpability.
A personal manager in a successful business relationship with an artist should not jump ship because his client gets in trouble. Untoward "incidents" provide opportunities for managers to prove their worth. Very often managers stand between the act and the law in dealing with potentially embarrasing situations. Sometimes containment and control will dictate the survival of the artist's career or personal liberty. In the case of Bobby Brown, there is a lot of power and money at stake.
In the shame of discovery, one's natural instinct is to deny everything regardless of innnocence or guilt, as Bill Clinton did in the little blue dress debacle. However, if there is absolute, irrefutable proof because that is your picture and you are doing "it," there are two ways to go. Come forward immediately and confess as Hugh Grant did in the Hollywood hooker matter. Grant defused the bomb before it went off. Yes, he looked foolish for a minute but it all blew over, no harm, no foul.
In the face of absolute guilt, it is often better to exercise one's right to freedom "from" the press, as in the case of Tiger Woods. He did it, there is no room for denial, and he is very wise not to throw fuel on the fire. I experienced this personally when my late brother Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife a decade ago. The media was instantly stirred into a feeding frenzy.
Reporters descended on our world like locusts and they were insatiable. We became a form of prey and were forced into hiding to conceal out tears and protect the dignity of our family at a very difficult time. We were all dazed in the first days following the tragedy and any statement would have projected only anger and pain. Despite a continous inquiry from every possible source, we said nothing for four and a half years. There was no flavor that would turn that pill sweet.
It always shocks me when the day after the incident the survivors are displaying their grief on television for all to see. This happens because they don't know that it is their right to say nothing. They don't owe the media a story or an answer; not a lie, not the truth or anything in between. Reporters are in business to sell their papers, magazines, TV shows and blogs. You do not have to participate in the process. The less you contribute, the smaller the historical archive will become.
The good news is the fickle public has a short memory. If Bobby and Rhianna show up on enough red carpets the fans will forgive and forget. After all, they are the only ones who know what really happened and why. If she can forgive him, so will the fans. If he keeps doing good work his career will survive and he will continue to thrive in The Music Renaissance. Bobby is young, and kids make mistakes. He has plenty of time to recover and if he was talented and driven enough to make it once, he can certainly do it again. There will always be room for talented artists on The Comeback Trail.
The Comeback Trail
dpkiper asks:
After something as detrimental as the incident with Chris Brown and Rihanna, how does a manager (assuming he/she is still believes in this artist) deal with the situation to help the artist bounce back and regain his/her fan base?
Hartmann responds:
Colonel Tom Parker, the legendary manager of Elvis Presley, is often quoted as having said,"There is no such thing as bad publicity." That may have been true in the golden days of Hollywood when movie studio publicity departments carefully fabricated stories and arranged relationships to accommodate the promotional needs of the "star" system. The media traded the truth for access and played along in order to lure patrons to the box-office. The fan magazines perpetuated the mythology and a gullible public believed everything because they wanted to.
Only the most heinous violations of moral and legal standards of the day burst through the veil of protection provided by the movie studios. Fatty Arbuckle paid for his peccadillo's, Robert Mitchum was arrested for smoking pot, Errol Flynn was criticised for being a Nazi sympathiser and Elvis was goaded into a bar room brawl, Ray Charles was a heroin addict. Sometimes the incidents incited public animosity and sometimes they were greeted with acceptance and humor. The public is very fickle and the bond with its heroes is thin and fragile. The long term effect of bad publicity varies from case to case.
Behavior that is acceptable from one artist may be totally detrimental to another. Careers are like fingerprints, from a distance they all look the same, up close each is different. Fatty's career evaporated, Mitchum became a superstar, Flynn shook off the stigma and Elvis incorporated the incident into one of his movies. Ray cleaned up his act, was declared a genius and became a legend. All of these incidents created huge negatives in the media, each with different results.
Back then, there was a certain naivete attached to the print media and how the fourth estate was manipulated by the system and the advertisers. With the advent of multi channel television and twenty-four hour news the game has drastically changed. Throw the paparazzi and the Internet into the mix, add ubiquitous photography, reality programming and universal video and the dynamic changes completely. Where there was once a shadow of a doubt in the stories of the past, today there's recorded proof of just about everything that ever happens in the life of a media star.
Artists have stories to tell in support of their career advancement. The seeds of these stories are sewn by managers and publicists to achieve a certain image and to stimulate interest in the act. The fans digest the seeds and evolve mental illusions about their personal relationship with their idols. Hero worship is the driving force. In the minds of the fan base an entitlement grows with the bond. The fan expects the artist's lifestyle to conform to his vision of what is "supposed" to be.
The story never overlaps the truth. When an artists sins are discovered and exposed in the media there is a moment of pause, while the fans love is tested. What one believes depends on who it is, what happened and weather or not it is acceptable to the fan. If the action is compatible with the artist's image the attention will not have a deleterious effect. When the artist's behavior is completely out of character with the fans perception of the person, it can cause permanent career damage.
Social mores are constantly changing and what may have been okay in the past, could be destructive today. Brittany Spear's "sans panties" incident was shocking, but not out of character. It didn't cause her any long term harm. Chris Brown's assault on Rhianna was completely unacceptable behavior. His fans didn't like it, her fans were outraged and their mutual fans were devastated. Since the O.J. incident domestic violence has a very definite connotation in our society. Men battering women is about as low as it goes. Nobody condones it for any reason.
Personal managers are responsible for how an artist relates to the media. It is a double edged sword. The acts court the media to get the "good" publicity, but fear and hide from them when their is "bad" news or something to hide. They cooperate to get their promotional licks in, pretend to not want it when out in the world and abhor it when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. We all swim in the media ocean and sooner or later we all get wet. Sometimes when the "truth" hits the fan it is best to just walk away and let the dust settle. A career must be built to last a lifetime,showbiz is a marathon. Nobody dashes to the finish line. Fix it tomorrow.
Artists are seriously affected by the exposure of their weaknesses and flaws. Fans don't build those elements into their view of a star. The person they imagine the artist to be is idealized in the mind of the beholder. The bursting of that illusory bubble can be the end of the relationship or the beginning of a new era of affection and alliance. The difference is in how the problem is initially addressed by the artist, how it is handled in the long run and the degree of culpability.
A personal manager in a successful business relationship with an artist should not jump ship because his client gets in trouble. Untoward "incidents" provide opportunities for managers to prove their worth. Very often managers stand between the act and the law in dealing with potentially embarrasing situations. Sometimes containment and control will dictate the survival of the artist's career or personal liberty. In the case of Bobby Brown, there is a lot of power and money at stake.
In the shame of discovery, one's natural instinct is to deny everything regardless of innnocence or guilt, as Bill Clinton did in the little blue dress debacle. However, if there is absolute, irrefutable proof because that is your picture and you are doing "it," there are two ways to go. Come forward immediately and confess as Hugh Grant did in the Hollywood hooker matter. Grant defused the bomb before it went off. Yes, he looked foolish for a minute but it all blew over, no harm, no foul.
In the face of absolute guilt, it is often better to exercise one's right to freedom "from" the press, as in the case of Tiger Woods. He did it, there is no room for denial, and he is very wise not to throw fuel on the fire. I experienced this personally when my late brother Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife a decade ago. The media was instantly stirred into a feeding frenzy.
Reporters descended on our world like locusts and they were insatiable. We became a form of prey and were forced into hiding to conceal out tears and protect the dignity of our family at a very difficult time. We were all dazed in the first days following the tragedy and any statement would have projected only anger and pain. Despite a continous inquiry from every possible source, we said nothing for four and a half years. There was no flavor that would turn that pill sweet.
It always shocks me when the day after the incident the survivors are displaying their grief on television for all to see. This happens because they don't know that it is their right to say nothing. They don't owe the media a story or an answer; not a lie, not the truth or anything in between. Reporters are in business to sell their papers, magazines, TV shows and blogs. You do not have to participate in the process. The less you contribute, the smaller the historical archive will become.
The good news is the fickle public has a short memory. If Bobby and Rhianna show up on enough red carpets the fans will forgive and forget. After all, they are the only ones who know what really happened and why. If she can forgive him, so will the fans. If he keeps doing good work his career will survive and he will continue to thrive in The Music Renaissance. Bobby is young, and kids make mistakes. He has plenty of time to recover and if he was talented and driven enough to make it once, he can certainly do it again. There will always be room for talented artists on The Comeback Trail.
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