Getting A Record Deal - Attitude

Last year I posted about one of the requirements for landing a record deal in Nashville – or for that matter succeeding as a recording artist in any genre or label city.  In that blog I posted about talent as a requirement for success as a recording artist.  If it is your desire to get signed, be it at an independent or a major, then your attitude can also be a critical factor.

As a reminder, there are always other artists being looked at (or soon will be) for the same slot at the same label that you hope to fill.  They are just as talented as you are—but the label doesn’t have the resources to take you both.  All other things being equal, do you suppose they will sign the arrogant jerk or the person they find pleasant and that will be the easiest to work with?  This is not rocket science!

Part of a good attitude around here is not saying anything negative about anybody.  Just be a good guy or gal!  You want people to like you!  I was once helping an artist procure a recording agreement in Nashville (Back when deals were more plentiful.  Translated, before illegal file sharing.)  At breakfast with me one morning the Artist made a critical comment about another artist – one already signed and successful.  By lunch I had gotten a call from someone considering signing my artist-client.  The comment had gotten back to the person calling me!  I told the artist.  He never did that again.  In this town you never know who you are talking to or who is listening to you talk.  Even if you don’t feel it, act like you are a nice person who is happy for everybody’s success!

Attitude is not only important when in getting signed – it is equally important aftergetting signed.  More than you might realize because you’ve never heard of the artists who sabotaged their careers with their own attitudes.  Apparently after getting a deal some artists feel they can then show their true colors.  A good friend and very successful manager once told me about a certain male artist he was co-managing.  The artist was on a major label and his first album was in the stores (remember stores?) and at least one single had been released.  The artist decided he knew more than the label about selling records and announced to management that he was going to have it out with the label president.  When the managers warned him that approach might not be so wise, he retorted “They won’t drop me because they have too much money invested in me!”  So, contrary to the advice of his managers, the Artist made an appointment with the label head and let him have it with both barrels.  I probably don’t need to tell you what happened next.  He was dropped from the label on the spot and kicked out of the building.  Who was he?  No idea – I never heard of him until his former manager told me the story (surprise, surprise).  And I know of other similar occurrences – at least one of which I was involved with as the only attorney this artist used that did not get stiffed (because management paid me). 

Burning bridges, being a jerk or an arrogant ass is not going to help you advance your career.  If you think you might be one of those then get some therapy before coming to town.  It might pay for itself.

Getting a Record Deal - Talent

Does it go without saying that Talent is a prerequisite for getting a record deal?  Or for success as an independent recording artist for that matter.  If you expect a record company to spend millions to help launch your recording career then you best have some talent or you won't get signed.  Talent is one of the required elements needed for a successful recording career -- and it cannot be bought.  Granted, you can improve on what you have with practice, experience, vocal coaches, etc.  But the raw talent needed to be a star is a gift.  

It is sad that there are so many hopefuls who do not have talent and do not recognize that they do not. The sad part is that it is often these good people who support the "fringe recording industry" in Nashville and elsewhere.  People who are willing to mortgage their homes (literally) to pay some "producer" to make recordings for them and help them become "stars".  There is no point in telling these folks that they do not have the talent to compete.  My experience is they do not believe me when I am honest with them.  And so far I have never been wrong.  They spend their money trying to buy stardom -- and without fail they lose their money.  I might not be able to pick who will be a great star -- really nobody can for sure.  But I am pretty good at recognizing those who do not have a chance.

There are hundreds of thousands of hopeful artists with good voices, tens of thousands with really good voices, thousands with great voices, hundreds with incredible talent and unique voices who will get signed, and of those, only a very few that that will be successful enough to keep their record deal for very long.  If you don't believe what I just said, come to Nashville for a couple of days and spend some time at the bars and clubs downtown and elsewhere.  These are the people who cannot get deals or haven't yet -- or who have had deals and didn't make it.  And if the implication is not clear, most are exceptionally good vocalists.  As a friend of mine says, "In Nashville, talent is the common denominator."  So -- if you have the common denominator then keep reading my blog for a few other requirements for success.

Recording Commitment: Opportunity or Obligation?

A university student recently asked me if Artists view the album Recording Commitment in their recording contracts as opportunities or obligations. To put this in context, most recording agreements today provide for a "Recording Commitment" which is linked to the Term of the Agreement. A simple example would be if the Agreement provides that the Term will be for an "Initial Period" of one year. However, the label will have options to extend the Term of the Agreement, year-by-year, for a specified number of years. EXAMPLE: A Term for an Initial Period of one year with the label having options to extend for five additional periods of one year each. The Recording Commitment might provide that the Artist will record one Album during each contract period. Thus, this Artist could possibly be required to record six albums for this label.

Back to the question: Do most Artists view the Recording Commitment as an opportunity or an obligation? A good lawyer answer is: "Both!" It depends, at least in part, on where the Artist is in his or her career. Most Artist's entering into their first recording agreement are going to be looking at this as an opportunity--not as an obligation. However, as the number of required albums increase, the more it might be viewed as an obligation. Since the options to extend the recording agreement belong to the label--not to the Artist--I think most Artist's would prefer that the deal be for a lesser number of albums. The thinking is that if the Artist is a "star" by album 3 or 4, he or she would like to be free to negotiate a better deal with the same or another label. (In reality the label will usually renegotiate the deal with the Artist once success is achieved even though they are not contractually obligated to do so.) Experienced entertainment attorneys understand the long term ramifications of the length of the Term of the Recording Agreement and will generally try to negotiate these provisions so that the Artist's Recording Commitment will be on the low end. The label, on the other hand, will argue that since they took the initial risk by investing substantially in an unproven Artist they should be entitled to benefit on the back-end after the Artist achieves success.

A final note: While major label deals for a new artist will typically be for 6 or 7 albums, the Term and Recording Commitment for a first time artist signing with an independent label varies widely.