Last month I accepted the fact that I just lost over $500,000 selling digital music and books for another company. I took their site from only thinking about selling physical CD's into the Internet Age – and finally showed them that we needed to go digital and showed them how. Instead of taking my pay out of the company I left it in to help fuel our constant need for growth and change. Several times the Founder came very close to making deals with larger companies that would have made us all multi millionaires. I kept pushing the sites forward, he kept working the deals. Suddenly, early this year, he died. Dropped dead in an instant while talking on the phone. His widow called and asked for my help to keep it going. We found so many loose ends that it is taking her months to sort them out. The sites are at a standstill. I can see now that I am never going to get paid by them.
I have one pressing need right now. How do I at least get my $500 - $600K back out? The answer is simple. Instead of working for other companies I work directly with you.
I get calls from all over the world from artists and site owners asking my advice and asking me to handle their music and books. I usually answer questions for free and help as I can – there are lots of great people out there but I did not see how I could work with individual artists, bands or writers and handle the work that I was already doing.
Now that's all changed.
A few months ago an artist named Lawrence was given my name and phone number and called me. He has been making music for decades but went into something else when he “grew up.” Now he's back. He's dropped everything to make music again. It took about 2 minutes of conversation for me to realize that Lawrence didn't know anything about the music business. Nada – zip – zero. I gave Lawrence an assignment to read certain things and then told him after he's done that he can email me and if I have time we can set up an appointment to talk again on the phone. Two months later he emails, lets me know that I was absolutely right and he's done his homework and made significant progress. But he's not selling any music. Can I help him?
I talk to Lawrence and he's so sincere that I tell him I'll look into developing a program that will work for Individual artists. Then I realize the obvious. I would much rather work with serious, committed artists directly than go into another company and have to worry about their solvency or the decisions that they make or don't make.
My Dad was a surgeon – he said to me more than once, “I would much rather be operated on by a surgeon who can make decisions even if he sometimes makes a bad decision than by a surgeon who can't make decisions or who's afraid of making decisions.” My Dad taught me a great lesson with that. I can't tell you how many times in the past few years where I knew what needed to be done but had to wait until everyone else caught up – by then it was too late or we had lost a huge advantage that we could have been gained by moving quickly.
I know how to make decisions. Selling Digital Music Tracks and Books on the Internet requires a love of working in an environment that changes every day. There is no list of rules that we can tack on the wall and just follow. We have to respond to different opportunities and changing Internet Social and Market structures every day. (If you're wondering why the Internet is so powerful go here first then come back)
Hal Kant died October 19, 2008. Before you ask why I mention that read on. Hal Kant was the longtime principal lawyer and corporate counsel for The Grateful Dead. Hal also represented other artists like Sonny & Cher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Hot Tuna and Captain Beefheart among others. When The Grateful Dead's revenues hit about $100 million a year he focused solely on them.
The Grateful Dead were known for staying outside the clutches of traditional music business. Hal Kant was a huge part of that because he put the interests of his artists first. He decided early on that taking care of his artists was a win win situation that he wanted to be a part of.
I feel the same way. I'm not an attorney – I do marketing and advertising. Every artist who does well and keeps their money has someone in their corner who becomes a part of their team/family and fights for their rights and success. I work the Internet and traditional media. I want my artists to do better than well. I want my artists to be the best and biggest selling artists ever – and I want my artists to do this using the incredible power of the Internet because that is what keeps the artist free. You have as much power as any major label if you have someone to work the Internet for you to get you in front of those billions of people who are on the Internet every day.
Who I Will Work With
Now to the important part. Who will I work with? I'm going to go through this in detail. You will notice that I will spend a lot of time letting you know who I will not work with. That saves us all a lot of time. There is a certain kind of committed, dedicated, “I know I can do it” artist that I am inviting to come with me. The rest are not up to what we will do and are not ready for this wild and wonderful journey.
I don't work with artists who spend time asking, “what if I don't make it?” Through the years I have noticed that people who hesitate to move forward because they are worried about “what if I don't make it?” are more focused on failure than on success. I focus on success. I work with artists who have already decided that failure is not an option. They have already turned that corner and can smell, see and feel that they are on the right track to get what they want doing what they want to do – make music – write books – turning people on with what they do. It doesn't matter if their parents, spouses, significant others, friends, landlords or anybody else keeps telling them that they should get into some kind of “real job” - If you work with me you already know that you have what it takes and you are going to prove it. Period. I cannot answer any questions that start or end with “what if I don't make it?”or “what if this doesn't work?” or any variation thereof. If you want an answer to that question go ask someone else -
If you are afraid of real world, big time, grown up commitments, don't call me. To work together we will sign a grown up, real world, success oriented, adult person's agreement. Our standard marketing agreement is written to cover us when you start selling thousands, then millions of digital music tracks or books. I don't want to work with you if you are not ready to think and act on that level. Believe me, in the entertainment business there is no satisfaction or greatness in thinking small.
Don't bother if you are afraid (often hidden under the words “I can't”) to share the risks and costs of developing your sales and success. One of the reasons that I used to prefer to work with companies is that they have budgets for services that have to be performed – those might include legal services, video production, re-recording parts and/or remixing and/or mastering music tracks, photography and unusually extensive programming, to name just a few. For example, I am going to want video of you performing, but if you don't have $20,000 to produce that video we will do it cheaper. We will use video that you shoot for free if we have to. What matters is that I get the video to use as I need to. As we make sales, we will upgrade our video production. When we have the budget I will produce your video within that budget. If the budget is $100 I will help you produce video to meet our needs for that $100. If you are afraid of that concept then I won't work for you. If you are excited that we will produce exciting video and whatever else we need by working together doing whatever we have to do then call me today.
I charge a set up fee of $275. It will take us weeks to get everything set up for you. That includes evaluating your music or book. With music that means having my engineers give me a report on the technical aspects of your tracks. If they are not up to professional quality I will let you know that and give you a plan to bring them up to professional quality. I will review all graphics and copy that you have already put together to create an Image of who you are to the public. If it needs changes I will let you know what needs to be done. If you do not have anything already produced I will let you know what we need to create. If your Image and Music were already perfect you'd already be selling millions of tracks or books. If they are already OK then that's good – I will then immediately be able to start putting together your marketing campaign. Some people think that I'm getting rich off the $275 set up fee and a few are terrified of losing the $275 “if it doesn't work.” If you are either of those, don't call me. I'm not getting rich off the $275, it costs me far more than that in time and expenses to set you up. If you can't afford to live without the $275 then you're just not ready. Call me later when it's not such a big deal. I have just two kinds of artists when it comes to the set up fee. Those who say things like,”my girl friend would have to pay it and I can't ask her.” Or those who just ask, “how do you want me to pay, check or credit card.” I've set the set up fee as low as possible to make it affordable to anyone who is committed to their music or writing career. People who won't pay it won't be able to perform reliably when it's time to do something, especially when we start selling music and we start getting requests for interviews and requests for shows start showing up.
Still reading? Not offended by my candor? Then we're looking more and more like a fit. I'm excited by what I'm doing and work best with fearlessly ambitious artists. If everyone else is telling you to go get a real job and you won't quit your music or writing, then we can work together. There are many really good musicians and writers, but only a few who will become well known. There are also a surprising number of successful artists who used to be with labels but have been dropped or decided not to re-sign with a label and need someone to handle this part of the business for them. Real Artists who know that they can make it - Thats who I work with.
The artists who I work with pay me $50 per month and 15% of their revenues. If that scares you then work with someone else. The monthly fee doesn't even begin to cover my time and expenses – the only reason I work with artists is to find the ones whose work sells well and then I can make a profit from the percentage. If you could find a label that would work as well as we do and give you the same deal you'd be with them.
Finally, I'm in position to get bulk rates on studio time and mixdown and recording engineers, beatmaking and programming. I do the same to provide photographers, designers, editors, and other special services that artists need. I am ready to build from what you have when that is necessary.
I also provide incentives to new artists to bring in referrals. In all my businesses my main source of new accounts has always been referrals from existing clients. There are so many artists who need what we do that I am not concerned that we will have enough of them, but in my experience, referrals are the best because my clients rarely refer anyone to me who is dishonest or otherwise really hard to deal with.
For now, you may not be a referral. This may be the first time you've heard of me. I understand your concern about agreeing to work with someone who you do not know. I have the same concern about you. That is why I have been so bold about saying who I won't work with. If you have gotten this far you must have an incredible ambition to succeed by creating your particular magic – the art that keeps you going. Me too. I'm positively obsessed with the marketing which frees you to concentrate on making your music. I'm counting on our common ambition to succeed and be the best at what we do best - doing what moves us the most - to draw us together into a profoundly productive, successful and workable relationship.
Send me an email with your contact information and lets set up a time to talk.
Put “Viral Marketing Client” in the subject line – I toss out hundreds of emails a day. You can reach me at cmw1234 at pacbell.net
Comments