Guitar Noise

Talk with people about getting into music and almost all will tell you it’s all about who you know. Some will also be wise enough to tell you that it’s also about what you know.

And thanks to Bobby Borg, you now can have a friend in the business. His book, The Musician’s Handbook, gives you the benefit of Bobby’s twenty-five-plus years in the industry.

You don’t even get halfway through the first paragraph of the Preface before you run into this line:

“If you want music to be your livelihood, you must treat it as a business or the business will take advantage of you.”

From here, Bobby takes you on an incredible tour of the music industry. He details everything from choosing band members to defining terms in merchandising contracts. Most importantly, he explains everything in every day talk. You know you have a good guide because he speaks your language well and stops to make certain you haven’t lagged behind.

Let me give you an example (excerpted with permission, of course!):

CREATE YOUR OWN DESTINY BY BEING PROACTIVE

In his book, Wild Thing: The Backstage, on the Road, in the Studio, Off the Charts Memoirs of Ian Copeland, Ian Copeland, founder of Frontier Booking International (FBI) and talent agent to the Police, Sting and No Doubt, says, “Doors were usually closed to newcomers in the industry. We decided to stop beating on them and create new ones.”

It’s not enough to simply give someone a business card or demo tape and then sit back and expect to gain employment or procure a record or publishing deal. No one’s going to hand you success on a sliver platter. You need to take more control of your career and create your own destiny. Whether you’re an individual musician, a songwriter, a solo artist or a member of a band, attract the attention of those who can help you by first helping yourself!

If you’re a musician who wants to be known as a great player rather than simply a member of a band, and you want to perform with successful artists and play on lots of recordings, then get out there and be heard! Don’t wait for the phone to ring. Try starting your own band first. You’ll have the opportunity to showcase your individual style, letting people know what you do best and most comfortably. Attend local jam sessions to find other musicians whose personalities and abilities you admire and then perform together everywhere you can. Eventually, more successful musicians and bands will begin to notice you, and they may even ask you to play on their records or tours. Get to know the producers and managers of these acts. Your reputation and opportunities can grow from there. For instance, when Guns N’ Roses was looking for a replacement drummer, GNR’s guitarist Slash happened to attend a concert at which drummer Matt Sorum was performing. Slash liked Sorum’s heavy, solid style, and without auditioning thousands of candidates, Slash offered Sorum the gig. Sorum worked hard at putting himself in situations in which he could shine. As a result, he got a great job with Guns N’ Roses, one of the greatest rock bands in the world at that time.

If you’re a songwriter (not an artist/performer) who wants to get a publishing deal and get your music placed with successful artists and in television commercials and films, you can start off by contacting some of the more popular bands in your area and see if they’d be in performing one of your songs or co-writing one with you. If the group ends up getting a record deal, bingo, you’re in business! Some writers even go so far as to develop their own artists, writing songs for them to perform, and then producing them and helping them to get signed to a recording contract. It’s a long-term approach, but you have to start somewhere. You can also try contacting the film departments at local colleges to make your music available for student films. The film may go on to win an award, or that student may even go on to become a successful director one day, and you’ll be one of the first people he or she calls. Try contacting some of your local radio stations to see if they’re interested in using your material for their advertising spots. Start with the smaller radio stations and work your way up from there. Also try contacting a few of the many “music libraries” that exist (organizations who help place songs in video games, corporate video presentations, phone music on-hold, elevators, etc.) such as www.mastersource.com, and see if they’d be interested in using your material. Another viable option to further your career can be to try services such as Taxi (www.taxi.com) and Tonos (www.tonos.com), which generally serve as screeners for industry professionals who are looking for material. Also, keep your eyes open for the number of songwriter’s workshops and competitions offered by the performing rights societies (ASCAP, BMI or SESAC) as a way to gain exposure, earn a few bucks, and also improve your songwriting skills. Check out www.ascap.com, www.bmi.com, and www.sesac.com. Other organizations to check out include the Songwriter’s Guild of America at www.songwriter’s.org, Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) at www.aimp.org, and Society of Composers & Lyricists at www.filmscore.org. The opportunities to take charge of your career are endless. For over 8,000 more places to promote your music, try checking out the Indie Bible, now in its fourth edition, at www.indiebible.com.

If you’re a solo artist or part of a band that wants to get a record deal, cut your own record first! Digital technology has greatly reduced studio costs and has made home recording equipment more practical to own. CD manufacturing has also become more affordable. You can sell your CDs at live performances or over the Internet (the Internet provides a number of marketing opportunities through online stores and MP3 sites). Create a buzz! Build a following. You’ll be surprised at how many people in the industry you’ll attract once you set the wheels in motion. Everybody likes a winner and will want to be part of your success by associating themselves with you. Singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco was actually able to bypass the record companies altogether by starting her own label out of her parents’ garage. She was only twenty years old when Righteous Babe Records began. At the time of this writing, sales of her albums are known to reach 30,000 copies per month. This brings the old saying to mind, “You ever notice how fast firewood burns when you cut and then chop it yourself?” Though DiFranco is a rare example, it shows what you can accomplish when you take the initiative. In yet another example, both Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue were selling out Los Angeles clubs before Geffen Records A&R man Tom Zutaut “discovered” and then signed the bands. There were literally lines around the block to see the band’s performances. As Zutaut says, “You don’t need ears to be a talent scout; you need eyes.”

You will be impressed with the lengths that Bobby goes to in order to bring you information. He outlines the duties of the key players in the music business – the lawyers, agents, managers, producers, and many more – and also spells out what traits are important to keep in mind as you look for the right people to advance your career.

Interviews and anecdotes help illustrate points and give you even more insight into the inner workings of the business. His chapters on “Sources of Revenue” (royalties, publishing, live performance and merchandising) will teach you more than you will learn in countless seminars.

If you are serious about pursuing music as a career, then you seriously want to have Bobby as an advisor. You will wear out your copy The Musician’s Handbook from using it as a reference. It’s great to know that there are people in the industry that sincerely want to do their best to help and encourage others and my thanks to Bobby and his publishers for making this book possible.