Modern Music Biz

That's not only an interesting article, as far as I can tell it's right on.

What's especially significant to me is that my son Jamie is part of a production team (in addition to his work with 30STM), and they talk about the rise of these kinds of teams in the article. It's funny how I really wasn't aware of the strength of this trend until he told me about them.
 
But are production teams any different than what Phil Spectre did with Carol King and Goffen and the Wrecking Crew, or Berry Gordy, THe Funk Brothers and the Motown staff writers and the other big producers in NYC and Nashville?

Production teams, singles, shoe string studios, amateurs recording hits; a lot of this seems very familiar to me.
I think a lot of folks don't remember a time before the age of the Singer/Songwriters who showed up to the studio with their own bands.


http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may10/articles/stargate.htm
 
But are production teams any different than what Phil Spectre did with Carol King and Goffen and the Wrecking Crew, or Berry Gordy, THe Funk Brothers and the Motown staff writers and the other big producers in NYC and Nashville?

That's a really interesting observation, and I'd have to say that there are similarities, but also significant differences mainly related to the most important thing in the business -- ownership of the intellectual property..

You could probably add Muscle Shoals to that list, too.

I'm most familiar with Motown, partly because I'm a Detroit guy who grew up during the Motown era, and partly because one of my closest friends was appointed to analyze and evaluate the facts in the litigation here between Motown and the writing team of Holland, Dozier, Holland, which was since settled (and his report is an unsealed court record so he was able to talk about it). So I have a lot of information about Motown in particular.

Motown's team was a label-owned creation, and the studios (though in what was originally a home) were not what we'd call a "project studio" today, and it was hardly "shoestring." The place was rebuilt as a studio. Motown even had their own mastering room, record cutting lathe, etc., and the gear was certainly first class in its day. All of the performers, writers, etc., did work exclusively for the label, and HDH produced and wrote exclusively for Motown artists.

Phil Spector also formed a record label, and his staff wrote and produced for Philles artists. Again, songs were recorded in commercial studios that were booked for the various sessions. Carol King and other Brill Building writers were songwriters pitching to artists, but they were free to sell to whomever and they didn't get involved in production (though in Carol King's case, obviously, she became an artist).

So both of these cases were a little different from production teams that are unaffiliated with labels and particular artists, and that write, produce, and in some cases supply the backing tracks that are used in the master recording.

So while there are similarities, these are major differences, especially when it comes to how the intellectual property is handled.

I'm not familiar enough with the history of the Wrecking Crew to be able to draw a comparison. I know they existed, and that's about it.

Muscle Shoals was definitely a team, but the songwriting didn't come from them for the most part. For example, Aretha Franklin wrote her own material, Wilson Pickett came in with his own material, etc. What they had was a particular band, a particular producer, and a "sound" for other artists to record with. But they weren't songwriters for the most part. And of course, they were simply a "go to" studio, producer and band for one label or another during the time they were making hits. They did remain technically independent.
 
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You're right Les, Motown was pro. I should have been clearer on the shoe string studio thing, I meant that in relation to some of the studios that some garage bands recorded in. FWIW some friends of mine were among the first guys to come up with recording digitally instead of using tape. They made a nice sum of cash when they sold their company. At the time it was pretty mind blowing seeing and recording in their prototype studio, which of course these days would be a project studio.

Good point about ownership of the intellectual property and the differences in the old and new models. It'll be interesting to see if the current models will turn into some of the previous ones; after all intellectual property can be sold, even the best teams fall apart, run dry or just fall out of vogue.

I can't wait for this doc on the Wrecking Crew to come out. Once I found out about these guys (and gal) being the actual players on a lot of my favorite songs I became a fan. Today's musicians could learn a lot from these old guys who were pretty the gold standard but were pretty much pushed out of the record biz by the singer/songwriters.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wreckingcrew/the-wrecking-crew-doc-untold-story-of-rock-and-rol
 
The only new thing I can see is who is stealing from or ripping off the artist....It used to just be record label owners and now it's Spotify and the fans themselves.

The whole production team and recording in non-traditional studios thing is as old as recorded music itself, the only thing that has changed is how you work,
 
Times have changed and all of this is able to happen because of the digital nature of the media now. The ease and affordability of sharing, transmitting, and editing has allowed the change to happen. The actual experience of being someplace and enjoying the live performance with all your senses is the only thing that can't be totally duplicated and shared perfectly at this point, hence the emphasis on the festivals. The creation and recording of new music is usually only profitable to the artist if it grabs enough attention to lead to that end, where the tickets are sold.
 
I do think that one thing that may suffer is real collaboration. Nothing like a bunch of guys in the same room to bounce ideas off of, help come up with a part when you're stuck, or just let you know something stinks.
I think once the fans steal from you with impunity then the bottom falls out for the artists, and if they don't find value in the music than neither will the artists with the result of music that's just easy/cheap to make instead of interesting.
 
Regarding festivals, just because tickets are sold doesn't mean that all or most artists are making money (or even getting paid). Festivals and multi-headliner shows (Filmore) have always been around and can make or save a career (Ellington at Newport), but they are not guaranteed money unless you're big enough to get paid upfront and only perform once the check clears. For a lot of bands they are pretty far behind the guy that supplies the porta-jons for getting paid.

http://www.laweekly.com/westcoastso...-festivals-whos-getting-rich-whos-going-broke
 
I am clearly unusual. I don't usually have any interest in seeing live shows but instead will prefer to buy a real record/CD and play it in my vehicle while driving or watch performances on Blu-ray which cost a hell of a lot less than going to see a show in person and listen to a crappy sound system like they have at Jiffy Lube Live or suffer through a crappy view from the seat I wound up sitting in.

I have never bought, and will never buy a MP3 or any other digital download song. I have never owned an iPod (or anything else ever made by Apple) and never will.
 
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.There's also a negative side.”
(Not really said by) Hunter S. Thompson
 
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So I'm wondering what business isn't a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs?

Because in my many years in the business of law, seeing the inside of all of the professions (including medicine and dentistry which were specialties), and lots of different companies, and my 25 years in music, I've yet to see a business that isn't that cruel and shallow money trench thing...
 
Government contracting. Nothing but the pure of heart only wanting to give of themselves to make a better world.:flute:
 
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