Mathematics: Mistakes Artists Make
by Wendy Day
I’ve learned so much from mistakes—both my own and others’. These are in no particular order of importance…
Surrounding Yourself With The Wrong Team: If the best player in the NBA stepped out on the court alone, against the worst team in the NBA, the worst team would win. There’s a powerful force that occurs when multiple people come together with one goal in mind—especially if each person plays their role and stays in their lane. And teamwork is especially powerful if you have key players who are the best at what they do, all coming together to move forward towards one goal.
New artists don’t often choose the best teams. They often surround themselves with friends and family who know very little about the music industry or how the business works. Whether due to trust issues or laziness in finding the right people, I’ve seen more careers end because artists have trusted their careers to the wrong people.
There are people in the music business who are good at what they do, and even more who are not. Unfortunately, because it’s a “who you know” business, one’s popularity in the music business is not conditional upon being good at what one does. If an artist doesn’t do thorough research on a person to find out if their skill level is sub-par, they could very easily have a team member who sucks at what they do. For example, having managed a major recording artist is NOT a sign of aptitude, it’s a sign of access. Managing multiple recording artists successfully IS a sign of strong management skill.
A team consists of a manager, an entertainment lawyer, an accountant, a booking agent, and a publicist (I am the only person I know who includes a publicist as a mandatory part of the team, but if there’s no one broadcasting the artists’ moves and triumphs, no one will know). Since this is a “who you know” business, relationships, connections, experience, and aptitude are all important.
A contract can protect your rights, but it can also hurt you. It’s important to have a well-connected, experienced entertainment attorney look over everything before you sign it. It’s often what’s missing from a contract that can hurt you more than what’s in there. You need professionals on your side to advise you.
Waiting Too Long To Realize Something Is Wrong: As I was writing this article, I got a call from a major platinum producer who informed me that he was never paid his royalties on a number of #1 hits he had back in the early 1990s. By law, there is a statute of limitations on everything including collecting back royalties, and except in a case of fraud (which is difficult to prove) an artist has a limited time to file a claim for royalties due. That time can be anywhere from 2 to 4 years, and is stipulated in whatever agreement was signed at the time.
Additionally, most artists and producers have limited financial resources for legal fees and filing lawsuits against labels that are international conglomerates with very deep pockets and lawyers on staff. It’s important to chase your money immediately—twice a year, every year, so you don’t have to sue. Royalties are paid in March and September of each year and part of your team’s job is to chase money due, audit regularly, and keep track of what’s owed and outstanding.
Do not let a label or powerful artist bully you. By speaking up for what’s due you, you are NOT hurting your career, nor stopping more work coming your way, nor creating tension. By not being paid properly, they are fucking you out of what’s rightfully yours. If the money isn’t coming to you, it’s going to somebody—you earned it, so collect it in a timely fashion. You don’t want to be left with no money and no work.
Self-Destructing and Making Bad Decisions: This mistake is the most popular one I see artists, producers, and DJs make in our industry. I don’t have a solution for this one beyond getting your shit together as an artist and getting some professional help if you continually do dumb shit and can’t stop yourself. Often this occurs when an artist is surrounded by drugs and alcohol. The music industry is naturally a “party” industry. Most artists spend their time in clubs when they aren’t recording, so the influence is constant. But many artists take partying to the extreme–to the point where they miss important events in their schedules, get arrested, exercise bad judgment, or do inferior work. I’m not saying not to have fun. I’m saying that if you have to take drugs or have “chemical cocktails” on a regular basis, you are a junkie (the industry seems to have a fascination with syrup, ecstasy, Viagra, pills, cocaine, and weed—and often mix them).
But self-destruction doesn’t just come in the guise of excessive partying. I’ve seen rappers have babies like they are accessories, spend more money than they make, fight to prove their “realness,” beef with people who ether them, make music that is outside of their lane, date the wrong women, do prison bids mid-career, die, not pay people properly, say or do dumb stuff publicly without having a publicist in place to do damage control, etc. Self-destructive behavior comes in many forms, and almost always affects your work and your money.
Not Understanding How The Industry Works: Back in the 80s and early 90s, I understood how artists got jerked. It was difficult to learn how the label system worked and hard to do any research on the aspects of the industry that effect artists. But in the mid-90s all of that changed with the internet. Today, anyone can research and find out anything they need to know about anyone or anything. Not understanding how this industry works is unacceptable for anyone considering a career in the music industry. So if you come into this industry just thinking you can rap, sing, make beats, or DJ and that’s all you need to know, you are an idiot.
You don’t get “put on” in this industry without getting pimped—so building your own buzz and leverage to put yourself on is a good career move. A great connection doesn’t lead to a great career, but it does lead to making someone else a ton of money at your own expense. Sending out demos to record labels won’t get you “discovered,” but it will allow an idea, a beat, or a whole song to be stolen from you (even if you copyright your songs, do you have enough money to sue and enough proof that they took your song?). Promoting yourself at industry convention after industry convention doesn’t build your buzz with fans and people who buy records (the ones who REALLY get labels’ attention). Getting signed to a record deal isn’t a guarantee that your career will take off or that you will be successful. More people sign to labels each year than come out by those labels. Just because you have the funding to start your own label doesn’t mean you have the talent or know-how to do so. I’ve seen mediocre artists spend millions of dollars to fail.
Take the time to study the industry, learn who the players are, and find out who’s on the teams behind each successful artist (this shouldn’t be difficult to do since so few artists are successful today). Attend industry events and actually network with industry people and attend the panel discussions instead of just trying to pick up girls (or guys). Read as much as you can about the music industry. Some great books are Confessions Of A Record Producer (Moses Avalon), Everything You Need To Know About The Music Industry (Donald Passman), Dancing With The Devil (Mark Curry), Hit Men (Fredric Dannen), etc. Meet with as many successful people who are doing what you want to do, as will meet with you. Many won’t take the time for you, but many will. Build relationships with those who will.
A solid understanding of how publishing works, performance rights societies (ASCAP and BMI), and how to get a record deal, will prevent you from getting jerked out of money by others. A little bit of education goes a long way in this business. We can’t stop the huge amount of fuck boys in this industry who will try to steal your dreams from you to make themselves a quick buck, but you can educate yourself so their pitch doesn’t make good business sense to you. You can keep yourself from being a victim.
For more Mistakes, see www.MathematicsArchive.com.
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