AMBC Part 3: “Things Are Fucked.”
As the AustralAsian Music Business Conference winds down to a close, A.H. CAYLEY finds herself surrounded by desperate last-chance self-promoters and cons. It's fucked – but is the industry itself?
Part Three: Saturday, August 22
I enter the conference room on the final day of the AMBC as an American man I've not seen before utters the words, “I'd like to begin with a prayer.”
“Oh, Jesus,” I think, as I find a seat.
No, not Jesus. Anti-Jesus.
“Oh, anti-Jesus,” I think, as I find a seat.
And so, he begins: “Ridin' down the highway/Goin' to a show...”
Oh. I immediately withdraw my internal comment, while Brent Grulke, the creative director of South by Southwest, proceeds to quote AC/DC's ‘It's A long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)’ in its entirety.
“With that,” he says, “I'd like to acknowledge everyone for coming out so early this morning. One of the reasons I got into the music business is because I believed that rock'n'roll would afford me the opportunity to sleep in.”
Grulke speaks calmly and knowledgeably. He seems perfectly at ease before this audience, and seems to speak the absolute, no-bullshit truth. He has no tricks up his sleeve; no special marketing strategy to outline. His keynote address gives great advice on getting ahead in the industry, and in particular how to go about touring the US. He sees a live act as the most important consideration for an artist, not Twitter or Facebook. He encourages perseverance, but won't deny the role of luck. He seems to genuinely be in this business for the music. He is not what I expected.
“For the last [few] days I've heard lots of people giving advice on how to succeed, in varying degrees of information and lots of contradiction,” he says. “The one thing that doesn't get acknowledged is luck, and I think that's important for your perspective. Because, if you succeed, and act like an asshole, believing that what you've done is a little bit smarter and a little bit better, you haven't acknowledged that fate has had a big role in that. The planets aligned. Luck.”
He explains that SXSW survived due to lucky circumstances – the town planning of Austin, Texas; the time of year; the costs, etc. “Any other belief is hubris. The fact that you have to be lucky is important to keep in the back of your mind, and even more importantly, you should let that inform what you believe success to be. Success ... is the ability to continue pursuing one's art on one's own terms.”
That epitomises Grulke's address. Though the rest of his presentation explains touring the US (which I won't go into it as it's all fairly straightforward, and information that can be found elsewhere), he continually and emphatically argues that it should be done for the love of the music, on one's own terms, following one's own beliefs. I am so glad the other attendees can have such an important point highlighted. It's a tough world out there, after all.
The first panel for the last day is a discussion of live music, “Capturing Audiences and Monetising Them For Life”. It features Soundwave Festival promoter AJ Maddah; Dorry Kartabani, the owner of Big Tree Artists Agency and former senior agent at the Harbour Agency; Jaddan Comerford, half-owner of the Staple Group, which includes Boomtown Records; Marc Sousley, promoter and booker with C3 Presents, which produces Lollapalooza and apparently more than 800 shows in the US; and Grulke again.
The basics are mentioned: band etiquette, hard work, respect, getting the fans to take ownership of the band and thus promote them for free, following the scenes, making a good impression, being well-represented, etc. It's when the conversation shifts to the issue of money, however, that I can't help but gasp at the frankness of discussion. “Make the agent the superstar,” says Kartabani, an agent, without even a hint of irony. “Show the agent how you'll make money. I'm in the music business and I'm in the business to make money.”
He continues: “An artist's success is not measured by how good they are, what they sound like, where they played. It's how much money they've made.” I know that on the whole it's true, but I always saw it as being a don't-mention-the-war kind of thing, or an un-PC comment that everyone thinks but you just don't say in public. Unlike the very first panelists on the very first day, this guy doesn't seem to give a toss whether we think he's just in it for the money, because it seems he might be. I shouldn't be shocked – I had expected everyone here to be like this – but I am. My willfully naive idealism can be such a heavy cross to bear. Still, I have to give him credit for having the bollocks to say it. Imagine how big they must be.
The last ever keynote speaker is Jeff Price, founder and CEO of TuneCore and president/GM/co-founder of spinART records. If Grulke seemed comfortable onstage, Price seems at home. In his half hour he seems to fit two hours worth of words, all in long sentences. He rarely pauses. I'm not the only attendee (of any gender) with crossed legs. No-one can look away from Jeff Price. It's a shame that something so quick will fill so many pages of writing, as I'm tempted to just quote him in full. He discusses the change between the old (restrictive) and current (open) model of music distribution - a change he helped create. I know this only because I read it – at no point does he big-note himself. He describes it as the “democratisation” of the industry.
“The impact of technology and what it has done for the music industry is astounding. So for the past 100 years if you were Madonna or The Beatles or Led Zeppelin or AC/DC or You Am I or name your band, you only had one choice, one path to having a career in the music industry, and that was getting signed to a record label, and the reason for that really had to do with one aspect: the one thing you could never do on your own was distribute your physical product.”
This, he explains, was the work of a distributor.
“This is why the advances that have occurred because of technology are so astounding. Because the music business industry is about distribution. Or at least, it has been, until recently. You now have unlimited shelf space. Everything can be in stock at no detriment to anything else. You also have an unlimited inventory for no upfront cost that reproduces itself on demand as a perfect digital copy with no limit as to how many units are being bought. It's always in stock, it's always available; it never runs out and there's no upfront costs.
“[You can] become a distributor without having to invest $100m into a physical infrastructure, and you have the same distribution power as Sony, Warner or EMI, and that's why things are fucked right now. Now some punk-ass kid like me can start up a company four years ago and become the largest distributor of music in the world, simply by having agreements with the digital stores.”
He's talking about TuneCore, a site set up to give artists a simple place for selling their music. Through TuneCore, an artist can chose to have his or her music sold on pretty much every major online music store for a single upfront price, and keep all the earnings in one place, until he or she decides to withdraw that to a PayPal account. Many acts on TuneCore have sold millions, proof, says Price, that the “doom and gloom” of the industry's future is exaggerated. “People are selling music, and anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit.”
“From this cross-section, I don't see a united industry, ready to march into the future, but I do at least see some mavericks who are being heard, and that is something.”
The second panel explores streaming media, radio and broadcasting. It features: Jeremy McVean of Austero; Anto Skeane, a musician and music video director; Keith Welsh (AMPAL, Music Network, Icehouse); and Shaun James (XYZ Networks). Frankly, it's dull. The wrinkles on the neck of the man in front of me form a perfect zig-zag, and if I squint, it looks as though the flowers onstage are sprouting from his ear. The man sitting next to me peruses Google Reader pieces on his whyPhone entitled “The Daily WTF” and “Photoshop Disasters.” Everyone is winding down after three long days. I suppose it could be the fever, but I can barely remember a word that's said, even as I copy them down. Looking around, I can tell I'm not the only one.
With the AMBC in its final throes, those around me take their last chance before the next panel to mingle and sell.
“I'd love to encourage you to become a member and then you'll be open to all these opportunities,” says a middle-aged woman diagonally in front of me to a group of teens about something or other.
“Like what?”
“Well, all these great opportunities. Exclusive briefs … no-one earns any money from this, I'm a volunteer.”
“So where does the money go?”
“Your membership fee goes...”
Her voice lowers and I can no longer hear her. The next thing I hear her say is, “So, where's your suckometer? You've just gotta not suck”, before a bespectacled woman who's not even looked at me in all three days pulls me from my prying reverie as she thrusts a card at me “in case we don't get to chat later, darling”. We won't, darling. A bare-chested band of teen boys (aged nine to 15, I'm told) pout up at me from my palm, looking airbrushed and made up and thoroughly pimped. She waits for me to say something. I could have kissed Phil Tripp for announcing the final panel at that moment.
This panel sees two attendees as speakers – Saba Saliba, a Sydney electro artist and Matt Davidson, a Melburnian singer/songwriter otherwise known as Mildsparrow. Both of them responded to a survey of music users that took place leading up to the conference to try to gauge, among other things, illegal download figures and opinions towards it. Joining them is Nick Love from MySpace (again) and Marianna Annas, GM of Music Industry Piracy Investigations, to discuss online music consumption. It soon becomes a discussion of little more than illegal downloads. Both artists agree that they love physical products, and mostly download what they can't find elsewhere. And no, they don't really care, which seems to be a generational thing. Davidson offers the brilliant term “indigital” in that he is indigenous to the digital landscape.
Very quickly, the whole thing descends into a what feels like a stand-off between the whole room and Annas. Working for MIPI, she helps prosecute illegal downloaders, and on this issue, she seems to see no greys in among her blacks and whites. “MySpace and Facebook have created a narcissistic consumer. It's my space. It's my Facebook. They feel entitled to this music.”
It’s when an audience member mentions RiP: A Remix Manifesto, a documentary about copyright and remix culture featuring Greg Michael Gillis (aka Girl Talk), that she really gets her back up. “It’s propaganda. [Girl Talk] is a fundamental fraud. There was no mention in the credits of his sampling. He has stolen Radiohead's marketing idea. He has no problem with making money off other people.” It gets icier. When another audience member asks what happens to the fines ordered from those caught illegally downloading music, she is reticent to reply, but does say that the money is given to the appropriate record label. And then what?
“ARIA and MIPI's responsibility stops there. It's then up to what deals the label has with the artist.” This time it’s Tripp who pipes up: “Do you know of one instance anywhere where an artist got back even one dollar?”
She stiffens. “I wouldn't have access to that information.” It would seem anti-downloading laws have nothing to do with the artist, or intellectual property. It's about protecting and maintaining the control of the labels. I can never be arsed downloading, but I suddenly feel compelled to steal millions.
Day three is now over, and so is this conference. There shall never be another AMBC. Frankly, I feel a little melancholic. I was just starting to get into it. In the space of three days, I've gone from a total cynic to someone quite enjoying the event. Sure, I may not agree with what all the speakers are saying, but the fact that there's a forum for it to be said is quite something. I would still prefer that what was said could have been further questioned as a means of entertaining and promoting intellectual discussion about the industry, but there's nothing that can be done about that now.
This conference has been very well-run. Tripp comments that they have not received a single complaint or refund request, and I believe him. I also believe that for all his reputation, and though I personally doubt the outcome for attendees to be worthwhile, he is certainly genuine in his motives. This is not merely a money-making wankfest, though money is certainly made, and while I still find the price tag(s) too high, I wouldn't be able to suggest how to lower the costs and still keep up the high standards I witnessed. I certainly still have the same qualms with the whole thing that I’ve had throughout, but these are ideological concerns that I will never be able to shake, so I shall just leave them be.
I do hope, too, that I shall see some of my fellow attendees' names in lights one day, but I'd be lying if I said I thought it likely for more than the luckiest few, if any. As with my feelings on the AMBC, however, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
And now, to rest. I make my way through chanting crowds milling around for the Bledisloe Cup and get on my train to ponder what was. No, from this cross-section, I don't see a united industry, ready to march into the future, but I do at least see some mavericks who are being heard, and that is something.
Things aren't all that fucked.
to listen to their music now on 
As the AustralAsian Music Business Conference winds down to a close, A…
At day two of the AustralAsian Music Business Conference, a still-deli…
Faint and feverish, A.H. CAYLEY quickly learns what not to say at day …
Great series Anne, some of the most interesting pieces I've read in ages.
And that's exactly why ''the business'' is slowly choking to death on its own cock. Suck eggs.
Doesn't sound like anything was said at this panel that you couldn't read in a Bob Lefsetz email.
Fucking sterling effort, Anne. Well done.
Yeah, great read... My crush grows stronger!
Classic and very true...
''Money is a way that people with NO tallent keep count!''
Actually, I think that's one of Phil's...
HA HA HA. I loved what you did Anne and laughed at Ash's misquote of Michael Coppel's saying (it's not count, it's score!) Seriously though it was well written, funny, informed and ultimately pretty cool.
Phil
Ah, that's the one.
Yes Ash, and while we are dealing with corrections, you want to cop to the fact that we did NOT do our survey under the emply, payment or otherwise of major labels as you stated on here previously?
That's a shame.
We did the survey without payment or influence so as not to have an agenda. So you're apologising right?
Ha, yes, yes I am.
You feel better? You've taken a bit of stick over the past few days.
Sticks and stones may break the bones but whips and chains excite me. Actually, the criticism here is a micro event. I love the fact that I learned to type in 1967, do 90 words a minute (except when I have a little to much pinot in the blood), have computers around the house and can play with the kids online easily. It's not a blood sport but it can be fun.
I love critics, I especially love them parboiled.
I've really enjoyed reading all three installments. I think it's fantastically written. Very entertaining, articulate and well structured.
Well done, rock star!
Well done, mysterious AH Cayley person. I've really enjoyed reading these reports. Fair and balanced despite any initial preconceptions.
It has somewhat reinforced my view of Phil as a bit self-serving, though.
Most of the criticism directed toward him here should be viewed as constructive but is not taken as such. Has he ever commented on / contributed to any thread other than ones started by him or mentioning him? Just curious.
If you posted ''Who's the best and why am I?'' in caps whenever you write here, it'd probably save a lot of time for all.
great series of articles.
i love spinART.
GROSS! You animal.
I'm sure you misinterpreted kids in the general sense vs here at M&N.
whatevah!
I enjoyed reading about all three days. Even though I go to a lot of gigs, I don't really know what goes on behind the scenes in the music industry so it was good to read about.
Glad you enjoyed it as did I. I don't know a lot bout what goes on behind the scenes either so it was a surprise to me as well...
PT
P.S. But I do know what I read
Subject: Re: Australian Idol winner Damien Leith struggled to pay the bills | Music | SONY MUSIC/ not one cent in royalties paid
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:09:54 +1000
To: Phil Tripp
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Australian Idol winner Damien Leith struggled to pay the bills
By Kathy McCabe
The Daily Telegraph
September 19, 2009 12:01am
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Damien Leith was a victim of fine print in the standard contract signed by Australian Idol contestants. Picture: Jim Trifyllis
Damien Leith sold 300,000 copies of record
Idol deal meant he didn't get any royalties
New music, music news, music reviews
AUSTRALIAN Idol survivor Damien Leith sold more than $5 million worth of records when he won the 2006 crown but had to sell his car to pay the rent.
The popular family man, whose new single To Get To You has returned him to radio playlists for the first time in three years, has revealed he did not receive any of the proceeds from selling more than 300,000 copies of his The Winner's Journey record.
According to industry sources, Leith and his runner-up Jessica Mauboy were victims of fine print in the standard contract signed by contestants, which specifies that the Idol creators 19 Entertainment and local producers Fremantle Media own the rights to their performances on the show.
The Winner's Journey records, released by SonyBMG, compiled those performances, leaving Leith and Mauboy without an income from their ''debut'' records, The Daily Telegraph reports.
related coverage
Idol didn't make a cent on 300,000 CDsDaily Telegraph, 19 Sep 2009
Reader's Comments: Idol winner struggled to pay the billsNEWS.com.au,
Australian Idol goes her own wayNEWS.com.au, 31 Aug 2009
Hard slog from Idol gloryHerald Sun, 23 Aug 2009
Indigenous star on way to the topThe Australian, 22 Aug 2009
your say
These are the same companies suing single mothers for thousands of dollars for downloading a song illegally, which they claim is so that the artists can feed themselves.
(Read More)
Danielle
The following year, winner Natalie Gauci re-recorded her Idol songs for The Winner's Journey to avoid the same fate.
But by the time Wes Carr won last year, the concept record - designed to give the winners time to record their real studio debut record - was abandoned.
Leith, who worked as a chemist before being dared to audition for Idol by two mates, said there have been ''patches'' since his win when he considered going back to his day job.
He and wife Eileen re-mortgaged their home in 2006 so he could chase his dream for the three months he needed to devote to the series.
Once he won, they believed there would be income from the sales of The Winner's Journey, which was recognised as the Highest Selling Album at the 2007 ARIA Awards.
But when his lawyer gave him the bad news that the contract didn't grant him any royalties for the compilation, the Leiths were left with no choice but to sell their car to pay their bills.
After three years of ''fighting'', Leith still doesn't know where the estimated $3 million profit from The Winner's Journey sales went.
''For the first few months after the series, we were really stressed about what was happening; we thought money from The Winner's Journey was going to come through and it didn't, basically I didn't get paid,'' he said.
''In fairness, in the months that followed the fanbase came to the shows and we got a couple of really nice guardian angels along the way who helped us out. Sony gave me an advance when they knew we were doing it tough without me asking for it.
''But it was tough, it wasn't what it was painted out to be.''
Leith said he didn't know what to tell family and fans who approached him after his Idol win telling him they had bought 10 copies of The Winner's Journey thinking they were helping support him, his wife and baby boy Jarvis. They now have a second son, Jagger.
''Fans would come up at signings and say 'I bought two copies because you really gave us all this entertainment','' he said.
''It's in the past. I would be lying to say I wasn't really angry about it; I hate the fact it was done and it's not what the show is advertised to do.
''Guy (Sebastian) got his million-dollar cheque two years earlier for his debut record, photographed with it and everything.
''You put your life on the line for the potential release of an album and making a career and that's the risk you take.''
The singer and songwriter has released two records since - studio album Where We Land and covers album Catch The Wind - and has kept his career alive and bills paid by touring.
But it is his fourth album, Remembering June, which is released on October 9, which he feels is the record he has dreamed of making for the past 16 years.
''I've bitten my tongue so many times but I'm not worried about it any more because I've got this new album and it means so much to me. This is the first real album,'' he said.
To Get To You is set to put Leith back on top as it was the second most added track to radio playlists last week and features on a Channel 7 promotion for their new hospital drama Mercy.
such is the joy of fine print.
What a dick. Didn't he read before signing?
Shoulda bought ''whenthe writ hits the fan'' or found a lawyer in that music directory guide thing.
Yeah, why should he have to work for a living? HE CAN SING, PEOPLE!!!
Why cage such a beautiful bird?
He's Irish, innit, he wouldn't even make it through auditions on Irish Idol.
English people say 'innit', Modi.
Yeah, I know. I would never claim to be a filthy Irishman.
Mind you, being a filthy Englishman is not much better.
Scotland the brave, ye ken?
The Welsh will hunt you down for that, Modi. Welshwar!
Fuck you.
That was to Modi, Capt'n!
I suppose I was the textual equivalent of a bodyguard leaping in front of a bullet. Modi'll have to make do with a passed on version, now...
Fez, he's Welsh?
Even less chance of a guernsey.
Modi: no clue. I just figured they'd feel narky they'd been left out...
Apparently you don't sign at the end, you sign at the beginning as a condition of entry.
Yup. That's the way it works baby.
...which is no excuse for not reading what you are signing.
FFS, he remortgaged his house to enter. Obviously he was taking the thing pretty seriously, and just as obviously, had tickets on himself to win.
What are you going to do? Rule yourself out before you start or hope that the records you actually make after winning - as opposed to the compilation of your TV peformances - will sell?
has anyone who has won made any money out of winning?
Well, personally, I fluffed the first few lines of ''Throw Your Arms Around Me'' and got laughed out of the audition, myself.
That's right... He needed to give it a crack. It's a shame (for him) that the 'Journey' LP did so well.
Why the hell did Phil post this rubbish anyway?
People, it's a TV show. Nothing more!
There's plenty of money to be made out of Idol, but it's in the touring not the records. Shannon Noll made a small fortune touring solidly for a year after finishing second.
You get some nice clothes though, right?
I remember Nolly played every damn pub across the country.
A few get that windown of opportunity, but most don't. Still, it is possible to earn serious $ from Idol.
True. You get some serious love too. My mum (and sister) thought Nolly was a bit of alright...
I enjoyed reading the reviews of the AMBC - and wish Phil all the best in his future endeavors.
As the owner of a small record label, that doesn't do mainstream music, I must comment on the Damien Leith thread that has emerged.
Upon reading the article, in page 7 of the Melbourne Herald-Sun, my thoughts were - this guy has just received thousands of dollars in promo, all because of his ''success'' in Australian Idol. He is now a well known name in Australia due to the publicity generated by his appearance on the show - if he cannot turn that profile into dollars, he should go back to being a chemist!
None of my artists will ever receive 10% of the publicity /profile that Damien Leith has achieved - yet most of them make a living playing music.
Totally clueless!
Thanks BB. I'm glad I deflrect the bullet sby putting the Idol stuff into the thread. It's funny how things can get so easily distracted.
As for me, I;m in the midst now of working out who to sell my assets to. The directory is one both print and online, TheMusic.com.au is another either tied with the AMID and IMMEDIA!.com.au or separte, it doesn't really matter. The pet magazine Urban Animal is a third. As for the conference I lit the match on the pool of petrol so that's not an asset any more.
Maybe you will be lucky and I'll be out of here soon too!
PT
the monkey-see-monkey-do approach to music making is hardly new. and it seems that no matter what a small minority of listeners think, the Idol type of showcase is, in commercial terms, becoming one of the greatest artistic achievements of our time. most artists, especially musicians, after they stop developing rest in a place where they make pleasant but unambitious generic sound. unfortunately, it's about this time that the songs that made these types of artists great are commandeered by idol contestants and reinvented with grand familiarity turning them into hits once again. the General P. love such shit. i remember cycling into the town where i worked while living in the UK and discussing with the burley fruit and veg costermongers the previous evenings episode of Britain's Got Talent as they setting up for their weekly market. they spoke with more enthusiasm than many do when the discussion turns to football. i even met my wife through the barely nascent medium of INXS RockStar (!)
gosh.
also, all the best for all things in your future, Phil. you're a fucking legend.
Thanks for the kind words. Yeah it is difrnt strokes that drive people to music and passion.
I found that card today while clearing out my desk (as well as my 50 or so pages of scrawled notes).
I haven't laughed/grimaced so hard in months. A thoroughly disturbing image of child exploitation, but with great outfits.