What do you mean they aren't mine?

So let's do a little reality check here:

You make an offer to buy a house.  The seller accepts your offer, and before you know it you are living in a beautiful home with whomever you chose.  Of course not everyone can pay for a home all at once, so you choose to pay over a fixed amount of time.  After several years of making payments, you finally OWN the home.  It has been paid off and you are the OWNER of the home now.

Why does this relate to music?  Think about this:

You gotten signed to a record deal and have been advanced money to record an album.  You spend several months, holed up in a studio with a great engineer and producer.  Before you know it, you have a great record...one that the label thinks is a masterpiece.  You go through all the work of marketing and promoting and finally the album comes out to rave reviews and incredible sales.  Naturally, the money that was advanced to you by the label to record the album must be recouped.  So they start taking money of the artist royalties before you see a dime.  Fine, it's the nature of the beast.  Then comes the glorious day that the expenses have been recouped in full.  But wait a minute, what do I have now?  Sure I'm getting artist royalties, performance royalties, one of your songs is about to be used in a movie, but you're still missing something.  What is it?  YOUR MASTERS!!!  You went through the tough creative process, recorded the album on top of dealing with what goes on besides your music career, you did press tours, played shows, paid back the expenses and advances...yet you don't own your masters?  You created it, why shouldn't you? 

You see it's not like when you buy the house you pay the previous owner full price only to not own the home.  YOU OWN THE HOME REGARDLESS OF PREVIOUS OWNERSHIP OR INVESTMENTS MADE TO THE HOUSE!  Hardwood floors...you own them.  Granite tile in the kitchen...you own it.  Jacuzzi-tub in the master bath...you own it.  Beautiful patio area...it's yours.

So why don't you own the masters?  You wrote the songs, you recorded the tracks, you dialed in the guitar tones, you took take after take, you sang the lyrics, and you finally paid back the expenses.  And yet after all that you don't own you masters?  Sounds like a screw job to me.

In my opinion, if I did the vast majority of the work and payed the money back...those songs and recordings ARE MINE!  No CEO in an office with the gold nameplate, Mercedes SL500, and the huge salary had anything to do with what I created.  Why should the bigwig own MY creations?  I have a BIG problem with that.

Does anybody else agree?  Or maybe you disagree?

Until next time,

Sean Johnson

DO YOU VALUE YOUR TIME?

Hey there,

Have you ever looked forward two years from a point in your life and felt that it was a long time away? Have you ever felt that you had plenty of time to get around to doing something? 

Have you ever looked back two years from a point in your life and it felt like it went quickly? Have you ever realized that if you got busy doing something right away you could be half way through college, two years through grad school, or two years further promoting your band?

Get the point! Don't wait tomorrow to do something you can start right now. I know that the whole DIY thing is hard to set into motion, but you have to start it sometime. So start now.

Let me know what you guys think about this.

D.I.Y. or Die

Hello everyone! 

Let me introduce myself: my name is Sean Johnson and I'm a student of Bobby's at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA.  I've recently started in the Music Business Program and we are well under way in our studies.  

One of the things we've been discussing with Bobby is the "Do It Yourself" movement that seems to sweeping the music industry these days.  With artists like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails taking all matters of writing, recording, mixing, marketing, and distributing into their own hands the basic ideas of the D.I.Y. movement are getting a lot more press these days.

Do It Yourself is exactly what it sounds like: doing everything pertaining to your music yourself.  And while the idea seems crazy and the task seems daunting, new technology and services have made it easier for any independent musician to be their own record label.  

Recording equipment is no longer limited to the huge consoles found in professional studios.  Software programs like Reason, Pro Tools, Logic, and GarageBand have made easier than ever for ANY musician, or anyone else for that matter, to record themselves.  And putting these songs onto a blank CD is just as easy.  Many programs will let you import these tracks you've created to your iTunes library, and from there you can create numerous copies of what you've recorded.

Distribution and Manufacturing has also gotten easier for us as well.  Companies like Disc Makers will handle everything from mastering and duplication to artwork layout and packaging.  And there are several small, independent distribution companies, such as CD Baby and Red Eye, that work to get you CDs to you audience.  CD Baby will even help you set up an iTunes distribution, making it even easier for those who want want your music to get it.  But it doesn't end there.  You can always sell your music at your shows, and you can also sell your CDs through your website.

  

But of course, whether or not you agree with this concept is up to you.  Maybe you think your band has a good shot at getting that record deal.  We all should be that confident, but we should all be realistic too.  Take the music I am making for example.  The music that I write is not "radio friendly".  There are no "hit singles".  What label would want to take me on as a new artist?  You'd probably suggest your favorite independent label.  That would be awesome but in all honesty I just don't think it would work. 

 I know there is an audience for my music.  But the only way I can get it out there is to take matters into my own hands: to record, mix, master, manufacture, and sell my music...my way.  I guess it all comes from holding to the philosophy that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

Like I said earlier, this is merely the way I think.  But everybody has different opinions.  What do you guys think?  Is all about "D.I.Y. or Die"?