MAB PRO RANT
Or “WHY IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!”
Okay guys, since you wondered if you had gotten the “real MAB” thoughts on the BMI/ASCAP/SESAC/Harry Fox/NSAI, etc. conundrum, you really haven’t yet. But you are about to. I try to come here to give you as much real no nonsense information and as much encouragement as I can. Sometimes it might seem I am depressing but I am really not. I am 100% positive about some things, and 100% negative about other things. But I always tell the truth and tell you WHY I come to the conclusions I have. You can read further at your own risk, but you asked for it.
(And NO, I’M NOT MAD. I’m just a REALIST! THIS IS HOW IT IS.)
In every aspect of anything I deal with, workshops, Internet web sites, songwriters, artists, songs, etc. all making their journey’s all trying to find out what they can, all trying to make some sense of all this, the single biggest thing people seem to want to talk about is MONEY. How do you make money? What web sites are going to deliver the money? Where do I place my songs to get PAID? What PRO is going to get me the best return? How do I get into the all-knowing all seeing TELEVISION/MOVIE MONEY?
Cause they ALL have heard about someone who knew someone, who heard about someone else, who provided a link to another link that provided a different link to tell someone who told someone else about the MAGIC MONEY MACHINE!!! Where is THAT? They ask!
To answer them all I say: NO WHERE!!!! THE MONEY IS GONE!!!!
Imagine a giant TITANIC out there. There is this enormous gang plank with millions of millions of people waiting in line to board. On the other side, where no one can see, is the giant hole in the side and the boat completely sinking. And all the people who saw that, have taken all the lifeboats. They are gone. But people keep climbing on board. And they are all trying to rearrange the deck chairs and furniture. But the boat is still sinking. It is done.
That is what this is like. For the past 20 plus years I have been in the Halls of Congress, sat with Senators, met with representative after representative, have heard record labels, publishers, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC artists writers, all meeting about what to do to stop the sinking. The truth is THEY CAN’T. Do you want to know why?
People. We are in not the first, not the second, but the THIRD generation that have had FREE MUSIC their entire lives. The people that were in High school and college in the late 90’s developed ways to get free music. Their kids, born in the 2000’s got better at it. Now their GRANDKIDS are all coming into it. Music HAS NO INTRENSIC VALUE TO THEM. It is something that has always been there. On the radio, on their computers, on their CD players. They have never purchased music at all. Ever. They’ve never had to.
Think about when you grew up . You went to a RECORD STORE. You listened to the new latest bands on the radio and spent hours in a record store looking at those big vinyl things. You spent your allowance on a couple of 45’s and the latest record. You took it home. You sat in your room, read every liner note, you saw the pictures, you memorized every line. You put the needle down, you heard the scratching noise and then got blown away through your little speakers or headphones as MAGIC came out. As a musician you learned every lick. Girls had their record parties and dance all night long in their pajamas. They watched Dick Clark’s American Bandstand on the weekends. They had their favorite DJs.
That ended in the 90’s. People got computers. Cd’s replaced the albums that were replaced by the cassette and then electronic downloads replaced the CD’s. There were no more big albums to pour over. Music was everywhere. Along with VIDEO and then computer games, the Internet brought YOU TUBE and a million web sites. Streaming services started then ate each other alive, each trying to offer more for free, and finding out you can’t eat free. Justin, you were in the second group.
Those artists that tried to stand up were pilloried and called the “1%.” “Free everything” started working it’s way into the dialogue. Here is where I’m REALLY GONNA RANT.
Right now we have a huge political race going on for president. I’m not ABOUT to get into all that. It all drives me crazy and that is not why we are here. But I will say this ONE THING.
In one party, there is a candidate getting everyone fired up. He is promising EVERYTHING FOR FREE. Free housing, free rent, free food, free health care, free jobs forever. Everyone loves him because he is ALL ABOUT FREE. And they are ALL ABOUT FREE!!! They believe LIFE SHOULD BE FREE. These are the same people I have been watching for 25 years who have DESTROYED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!!! Ask anyone in the music business HOW THAT FEE STUFF IS WORKING OUT”?!!! Well great. Because if you like that, wait till the Doctors have to work for free, the software designers, the business owners. And wait till they start replacing EVERYONE with a kiosk or a machine that does everything and doesn’t complain about things. We’ll see how FREE works out.
And the OTHER CANDIDATE FOR THAT PARTY IS TRYING TO OUT “FREE HIM!!!!”
And these are the same people that have demanded that all people who are talent creators do everything for free!!!! I’ve seen it my whole life and anyone who vaguely supports ANY OF THESE PEOPLE are totally insane.
That is all I am going to say on this and we are NOT GETTING POLITICAL HERE.
But how it goes into the reality of this situation is that the PRO’S, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, and every law, every registration, every kind of firewall you can put up, DOES NOT MATTER ONE BIT.
Let me go Hillary on you here:”
“AT THIS POINT, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?”
That is why I have so little patience about copyrights. About PRO’s, about publishers, about record labels., Harry Fox Agency. Because IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!!!! BECAUSE THAT STUFF IS GOING TO BE FREE!!!!
What does matter?
Finding your NICHE!
FINDING YOUR FAN BASE.
FINDING YOUR TEAMS.
BUILDING YOUR NETWORK
WRITING SONGS.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF.
DOING THE BEST YOU CAN.
Giving people service for what you do. Building DEMAND FOR WHAT YOU DO!!!
You want to see who IS DOING THIS? WHO IS MAKING MONEY? WHO IS RULING THE GAME?
TAYLOR SWIFT
She has done EVERYTHING RIGHT. She built FAN BASE BEFORE SHE GOT HER DEAL.
She presented PRODUCT WHICH SPOKE TO HER GENERATION.
The same way SINATRA SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 40’S
The way ELVIS spoke to his generation in the 50’s
The BEATLES SPOKE TO THEIR GENERATION IN THE 60’S
MICHEAL JACKSON SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 80’S
GARTH BROOKS SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 90’S
And she has SPOKEN TO HER GENERATION IN THE 2000’S.
She has won every award. Expanded her base. Just won her SECOND GRAMMY FOR BEST ARTIST, the only woman ever to do that. Take that KANYE FREAKING WEST!!!!!
Now I am not saying you have to write to kids. I’m saying YOU HAVE TO FIND YOUR TRIBE, YOUR PEOPLE, YOUR FAN BASE. You have to build your teams.
QUIT LOOKING FOR THE BIG PAYOFF. You are probably never going to get it. But you CAN BUILD YOUR WORLD AROUND YOU. YOU CAN TOUCH PEOPLE’S LIVES.
Work on that. When you do that a lot, PEOPLE COME TO YOU.
I am going to tell you that probably NOT ONE OF YOU is ever going to make a lot of money at this. Because NOBODY is making tons of money at this. I have a friend who has one of the BIGGEST ROCK SONGS IN HISTORY that is played ALL THE TIME, and every time I go on Facebook he is having another yard sale selling his platinum albums and studio equipment to PAY HIS BILLS.
I drive down Music Row and see more and more offices and big buildings CLOSED. And many of those are VERY SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES. The cost of doing business is driving those people into the ground.
So I am NOT trying to depress you. But I am doing what you are going to run into at some point. At some point you are going to be around hit writers and artists. You are going to think they are IN THE MONEY, and they are going to hit you up to pay their check. You’re going to develop an affection for some artist or writer and found out that they are FLAT BROKE. You are going to love some song and think it has to be a career song and it is going to turn out to make NOTHING. Your dreams are going to get shot down. They always do.
Does that mean we quit? Of course not. But it means we get REALISTIC about all this. Quit looking for the gold at the end of the rainbow. Quit worrying about your royalties. If you get a MAJOR CUT with a MAJOR ARTIST, you are going to have to have MAJOR PUBLISHING, LABEL AND PRODUCER PEOPLE INVOLVED. Trust me, you will find out about your royalties then.
Till then don’t quit your day job. And by the way, the really smart, really successful people in this town NEVER QUIT THEIR DAY JOB. They just make their DAY JOB part of their empire.
Okay. That is my Rant.
Quit worrying about. Just write something that doesn’t suck. Start there. Let the rest take care of itself.
MAB
Or “WHY IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!”
Okay guys, since you wondered if you had gotten the “real MAB” thoughts on the BMI/ASCAP/SESAC/Harry Fox/NSAI, etc. conundrum, you really haven’t yet. But you are about to. I try to come here to give you as much real no nonsense information and as much encouragement as I can. Sometimes it might seem I am depressing but I am really not. I am 100% positive about some things, and 100% negative about other things. But I always tell the truth and tell you WHY I come to the conclusions I have. You can read further at your own risk, but you asked for it.
(And NO, I’M NOT MAD. I’m just a REALIST! THIS IS HOW IT IS.)
In every aspect of anything I deal with, workshops, Internet web sites, songwriters, artists, songs, etc. all making their journey’s all trying to find out what they can, all trying to make some sense of all this, the single biggest thing people seem to want to talk about is MONEY. How do you make money? What web sites are going to deliver the money? Where do I place my songs to get PAID? What PRO is going to get me the best return? How do I get into the all-knowing all seeing TELEVISION/MOVIE MONEY?
Cause they ALL have heard about someone who knew someone, who heard about someone else, who provided a link to another link that provided a different link to tell someone who told someone else about the MAGIC MONEY MACHINE!!! Where is THAT? They ask!
To answer them all I say: NO WHERE!!!! THE MONEY IS GONE!!!!
Imagine a giant TITANIC out there. There is this enormous gang plank with millions of millions of people waiting in line to board. On the other side, where no one can see, is the giant hole in the side and the boat completely sinking. And all the people who saw that, have taken all the lifeboats. They are gone. But people keep climbing on board. And they are all trying to rearrange the deck chairs and furniture. But the boat is still sinking. It is done.
That is what this is like. For the past 20 plus years I have been in the Halls of Congress, sat with Senators, met with representative after representative, have heard record labels, publishers, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC artists writers, all meeting about what to do to stop the sinking. The truth is THEY CAN’T. Do you want to know why?
People. We are in not the first, not the second, but the THIRD generation that have had FREE MUSIC their entire lives. The people that were in High school and college in the late 90’s developed ways to get free music. Their kids, born in the 2000’s got better at it. Now their GRANDKIDS are all coming into it. Music HAS NO INTRENSIC VALUE TO THEM. It is something that has always been there. On the radio, on their computers, on their CD players. They have never purchased music at all. Ever. They’ve never had to.
Think about when you grew up . You went to a RECORD STORE. You listened to the new latest bands on the radio and spent hours in a record store looking at those big vinyl things. You spent your allowance on a couple of 45’s and the latest record. You took it home. You sat in your room, read every liner note, you saw the pictures, you memorized every line. You put the needle down, you heard the scratching noise and then got blown away through your little speakers or headphones as MAGIC came out. As a musician you learned every lick. Girls had their record parties and dance all night long in their pajamas. They watched Dick Clark’s American Bandstand on the weekends. They had their favorite DJs.
That ended in the 90’s. People got computers. Cd’s replaced the albums that were replaced by the cassette and then electronic downloads replaced the CD’s. There were no more big albums to pour over. Music was everywhere. Along with VIDEO and then computer games, the Internet brought YOU TUBE and a million web sites. Streaming services started then ate each other alive, each trying to offer more for free, and finding out you can’t eat free. Justin, you were in the second group.
Those artists that tried to stand up were pilloried and called the “1%.” “Free everything” started working it’s way into the dialogue. Here is where I’m REALLY GONNA RANT.
Right now we have a huge political race going on for president. I’m not ABOUT to get into all that. It all drives me crazy and that is not why we are here. But I will say this ONE THING.
In one party, there is a candidate getting everyone fired up. He is promising EVERYTHING FOR FREE. Free housing, free rent, free food, free health care, free jobs forever. Everyone loves him because he is ALL ABOUT FREE. And they are ALL ABOUT FREE!!! They believe LIFE SHOULD BE FREE. These are the same people I have been watching for 25 years who have DESTROYED THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!!! Ask anyone in the music business HOW THAT FEE STUFF IS WORKING OUT”?!!! Well great. Because if you like that, wait till the Doctors have to work for free, the software designers, the business owners. And wait till they start replacing EVERYONE with a kiosk or a machine that does everything and doesn’t complain about things. We’ll see how FREE works out.
And the OTHER CANDIDATE FOR THAT PARTY IS TRYING TO OUT “FREE HIM!!!!”
And these are the same people that have demanded that all people who are talent creators do everything for free!!!! I’ve seen it my whole life and anyone who vaguely supports ANY OF THESE PEOPLE are totally insane.
That is all I am going to say on this and we are NOT GETTING POLITICAL HERE.
But how it goes into the reality of this situation is that the PRO’S, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, and every law, every registration, every kind of firewall you can put up, DOES NOT MATTER ONE BIT.
Let me go Hillary on you here:”
“AT THIS POINT, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?”
That is why I have so little patience about copyrights. About PRO’s, about publishers, about record labels., Harry Fox Agency. Because IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!!!! BECAUSE THAT STUFF IS GOING TO BE FREE!!!!
What does matter?
Finding your NICHE!
FINDING YOUR FAN BASE.
FINDING YOUR TEAMS.
BUILDING YOUR NETWORK
WRITING SONGS.
EXPRESSING YOURSELF.
DOING THE BEST YOU CAN.
Giving people service for what you do. Building DEMAND FOR WHAT YOU DO!!!
You want to see who IS DOING THIS? WHO IS MAKING MONEY? WHO IS RULING THE GAME?
TAYLOR SWIFT
She has done EVERYTHING RIGHT. She built FAN BASE BEFORE SHE GOT HER DEAL.
She presented PRODUCT WHICH SPOKE TO HER GENERATION.
The same way SINATRA SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 40’S
The way ELVIS spoke to his generation in the 50’s
The BEATLES SPOKE TO THEIR GENERATION IN THE 60’S
MICHEAL JACKSON SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 80’S
GARTH BROOKS SPOKE TO HIS GENERATION IN THE 90’S
And she has SPOKEN TO HER GENERATION IN THE 2000’S.
She has won every award. Expanded her base. Just won her SECOND GRAMMY FOR BEST ARTIST, the only woman ever to do that. Take that KANYE FREAKING WEST!!!!!
Now I am not saying you have to write to kids. I’m saying YOU HAVE TO FIND YOUR TRIBE, YOUR PEOPLE, YOUR FAN BASE. You have to build your teams.
QUIT LOOKING FOR THE BIG PAYOFF. You are probably never going to get it. But you CAN BUILD YOUR WORLD AROUND YOU. YOU CAN TOUCH PEOPLE’S LIVES.
Work on that. When you do that a lot, PEOPLE COME TO YOU.
I am going to tell you that probably NOT ONE OF YOU is ever going to make a lot of money at this. Because NOBODY is making tons of money at this. I have a friend who has one of the BIGGEST ROCK SONGS IN HISTORY that is played ALL THE TIME, and every time I go on Facebook he is having another yard sale selling his platinum albums and studio equipment to PAY HIS BILLS.
I drive down Music Row and see more and more offices and big buildings CLOSED. And many of those are VERY SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES. The cost of doing business is driving those people into the ground.
So I am NOT trying to depress you. But I am doing what you are going to run into at some point. At some point you are going to be around hit writers and artists. You are going to think they are IN THE MONEY, and they are going to hit you up to pay their check. You’re going to develop an affection for some artist or writer and found out that they are FLAT BROKE. You are going to love some song and think it has to be a career song and it is going to turn out to make NOTHING. Your dreams are going to get shot down. They always do.
Does that mean we quit? Of course not. But it means we get REALISTIC about all this. Quit looking for the gold at the end of the rainbow. Quit worrying about your royalties. If you get a MAJOR CUT with a MAJOR ARTIST, you are going to have to have MAJOR PUBLISHING, LABEL AND PRODUCER PEOPLE INVOLVED. Trust me, you will find out about your royalties then.
Till then don’t quit your day job. And by the way, the really smart, really successful people in this town NEVER QUIT THEIR DAY JOB. They just make their DAY JOB part of their empire.
Okay. That is my Rant.
Quit worrying about. Just write something that doesn’t suck. Start there. Let the rest take care of itself.
MAB
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