The Eye of the Hurricane

To the beat of the Turnpike Troubadours “Every Girl”.

for reference

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Every Review

Well it was released in the morning late October San Antone
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever known

Well it was released in the morning late October San Antone
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever known
It’s not your average country, it sounds more like the stones
Oh it’s every review I’ve ever known

It grabbed me from the first note, there’s not a track I hate
They say they don’t want a label, but they’ll be superstars at this rate
It’ll sound good at a party or if you listen to it while you’re alone
Oh it’s every review I’ve ever known

The singers voice is a amazing, and the guitar it is absurb
Oh it’s every review I’ve ever heard
The drums and bass are a rhythm that echo every word
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever heard

It sounds so much like the live show that I really can’t complain
No doubt they’ll win an award so break out the champagne
Couldn’t get a quote from the band, you know they’re as flighty as a bird
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever heard

My 150 words are almost up and I’m starting to get sad
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever read
I’ll just keep saying it’s great because nothing on it is bad
Oh it’s every review I’ve ever read

Make sure you take a listen in your house or in the car
This new album will speak right to you no mater who you are
And I give it 4 stars because I don’t want to make anybody mad
Aw it’s every review I’ve ever read

Well it was released in the morning late October San Antone

p.s. yes I know it’s not great. yes I know I make fun of every review including mine. yes I offended myself when I wrote this.

I’m not much on being a “news outlet”, but this is too huge to pass up and I think it has more depth to the story than just two guys leaving a record label. There’s so much about this that makes sense… and yet so much that doesn’t.

As reported by William Michael Smith of the Houston Press:

According to Carll’s longtime manager, Mike Crowley, label head Luke Lewis called to let Carll and Crowley know that it was time for the label to exercise its option to keep Carll and asked the pair if Carll wanted to stay with the label or go. Carll opted to leave.

And, according to Crowley, Ryan Bingham, who had so much success with the movie Crazy Heart, is also not renewing with Lost Highway.

Lost Highway has always been a label of trust for me. I knew I could go to their site and whoever is on that label will not only be good, but fit in with the rest of their roster. I’ve always said that was what they offered from music (non-business) standpoint was more important than anything else they were doing.

The thing that is amazing is the reason Crowley sites.

…but it’s gotten to the point where there’s no place left for them to throw money toward selling records. And the bottom line for most artists is that no one is selling many records.

Obviously he doesn’t speak for Bingham and if I had to guess there is more to it than record sales for Ryan. But if this is the major reason that Hayes is parting ways it’s pretty telling for the rest of these guys on the local scene. I can’t help but think there are bigger reasons than just the record sales thing, but maybe I’m just sad to see these guys leave a great label (from my point of view).

Feels like I’m a broken record here, but music sales is changing. Texas Music is no different than the rest of the music business world, and this move by Hayes should be a signal flare to everyone.

Chappelle had been doing fairly funny movies early in his career, but when he got his own show on Comedy Central in 2003 he took the world by storm. By 2004 you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing someone quoting “I’m Rick James, bitch!” In the peak of his career he fled to South Africa, claiming that the show was too popular and was getting in the way of his vision and even his standup routine. Chappelle was a victim to his own success, but still remains one of the funniest guys I’ve ever seen.

Kickstarter could be on it’s way to the same fate.

Kickstarter, is a stroke of genius that puts the funding of projects (films, albums, inventions) in the hands of the people. If the people like it.. they commit a certain dollar amount and when it’s funded (we’ll get back to that) your credit card is charged and the project moves forward. It’s a “Screw the man and let the people speak” mentality that gives us ownership.

Independent Films were the first to benefit and musicians have had a fair amount of success as well. It’s been going strong and has made THOUSANDS of creative projects happen that might have never gotten a chance otherwise. Kickstarter is a good… no.. great thing for the creative community, that earlier this year reported over $40 Million dollars had been funded to projects.

Much like Chappelle was on track to be the next Eddie Murphy, Kickstarter seems like it’s the next record label. But… let’s take a closer look at some interesting things I’ve seen in the last few months.

Failure Rate
As the chart below shows.. almost 50% of the projects don’t fund. If you don’t make your goal (not enough people pledge), then you don’t get anything. 50% is a big number and there are many reasons why they don’t fund. It could be anything from a bad idea to asking for way too much money or even not being clear with what you are doing with the money.

Even The Big Boys Fail
One one the most prominent Indie filmmaker, Phillip Bloom, jumped in on a project to make a TV pilot for a show called Riven (think Game of Thrones). Kickstarter was set at $48,000 to cover costs, which was reasonable, yet it failed to fund. It had all the parts for success: trusted people, lot’s of fans, good vision, smart budget and adequate time.. yet now they are forced to try to recoup investors with the following:

If you believed in us enough to contribute on Kickstarter, then we ask that you stick with us and do the same with our PayPal campaign.

It’s not working.

Local Boys Don’t Understand
Last month I was talking with a genuinely talented musician that is just flat broke and can’t afford to make a record. So he says to me:

Someone told me about this Kickstarter thing. People could give me money to make an album

Doesn’t work that way. Everyone’s broke these days or at least careful of what they spend. Nobody just tosses money at things they have no clue about. Before asking for money, he needs to get out and play the state… make as many friends as possible. Facebook his ass off and use the Twitter like he actually wants to make a living at this. Establish that relationship, then ask people to buy in to what you are doing.

Again… We’re All Broke
Here’s the real issue. Let’s say there are 200 new (1 album or younger than a year old) bands in Texas. Over the next year, half of them ask for moderate funding. For me.. that’s 50 times I could be asked for even just $10. I don’t have an extra $500 to throw at bands I don’t know and moreover… I just get tired of the asking.

So What Do We Do?
This article is not going against any of my prior thoughts on fan funding. I still think it’s the future. It’s just that Kickstarter is not going to be the single savior. So is Kickstater dead? Not by a long shot.. I’m even thinking about using it for an upcoming project. But time will tell how investors react to it… the same way we’ll see if Chappelle can come back and not do movies like Daddy Day Care.

Educate yourself if you’ll be using these kind of services and do some research. You may not have money, but you have time.

No one gets an award for the first album released of the year.

Lots of people are asking about what shows I have lined up to put on over the fall/spring, so I figured I’d catch everyone up now that I have a little direction. With all my talk of “musicians need a different money model”, I figured it was time to quit talking and start doing. Starting this fall, I’ll be putting on several unique, smaller shows where I’m going to try out some ideas I’ve been working on. Okay… So now what does that mean?

Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Boeski, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever. ~Rusty (Brad Pitt)

That’s my favorite line from one of my favorite movies, the remake of Oceans 11. The line comes when the gang is planning to rob a casino and someone asks Brad Pitt what it will take to make it happen. It’s a long list of things we have no clue about, but all make sense when it’s over (sort of).

That is about how I feel when I try to explain what I want to do. They will all be smaller shows with a house concert kind of feel. I’m planning the first one now, and talking to several people, all over Texas, about using their houses/venues for more starting in November. Each one will be different in size, feel and performance.. all based on the host, the musicians and the crowd. Some will be a “new music” kind of thing and some will be “you have to know their music” kind of thing. Some will be stripped back… some will be more formal. One thing remains constant and that is that I want to try to make sure that the music is pure and that we are compensating the musicians appropriately. All in all I’m really excited about it… even though I have no idea how it’s going to turn out.

One thing I ask, is that because they are small (sometimes 5 people.. sometimes 30), that you all have patience. I’m trying not to leave anyone out and by putting on a whole series of these types of things all over the state(s)… there will be plenty of chances to attend! The more we do.. the more well oiled they become.. which makes it easier to keep having more. I am deliberately taking it slow to make sure we do this right. You might hear about this first one coming up in October and think “Why wasn’t I invited?”, which is the wrong question to ask. Instead go for, “When is the show I want to be at coming up?”

Plus we will always have bigger shows like GreenFest. This spring, the Spring Acoustic Show will make a reappearance.. I’ve been holding to making sure everything is right with it and it’s looking good! Maybe we could even do another larger event in the cooler months.

If you’re interested in hosting something or even lending a hand, please give me a shout. I’m also working up a way that you can know about attending a show.

Should be a fun few months…

I’ve gotten a few emails since my post on Streaming Music asking some questions about local payouts, some reminding me of the age of the data from the chart, but many of them brought up Lefsetz’s article “Century Media/Spotify” that was posted just a few hours after my piece went up. Surprisingly many people think that we have differing opinions on Spotify, which is completely not true… we both love it. Re-read my first sentence in the 2nd paragraph…

So I figure I’ll clear up some things. Lefsetz and you guys are right.. the chart is old but that doesn’t make it irrelevant. It shows that as Spotify’s popularity increases, the payment to the artist decreases over time. This is the future. I’ve said it… read through my stuff… “music sales are dying and artists need to adapt” is a common theme throughout my writings, although I don’t say it quite as point blank as Lesfetz.

My point for that posting that chart and calling attention to the decline of music sales is that I don’t see many people in this scene worried about it! New musicians go out there and crank on the music model of 10 years ago like it’s all they know. Close-minded booking and management continue to push musicians down this road with no thought of what happens when fans demand that music from our scene be included on Spotify. Fans balk against Kickstarter or don’t understand anything off the beaten path. We’re going to have a lot of real talent out there clueless what to do if we don’t start paying attention.

Listen to me. The ability to hear all of recorded music for a low price is a good thing. It enriches the lives of listeners and benefits creators if they’d just shut up and give it a chance. ~ Bob Lefsetz

Yes. This. Sure right now it sucks for musicians because we’re looking at it terms of music sales and money, but in terms of exposure it’s great! The industry just has to figure out how to adapt and make money elsewhere… which is hard mean things move slower in a scene not so tied to mainstream. We have to redefine what musicians do and how we support them. If we, as fans, don’t embrace other methods of supporting musicians then that “all of recorded music” thing might be dying as well because with no money how do you make more music?

I haven’t said anything new from the original article, but I hope it clears things up for people that care enough to ask questions.

I’ve got more thoughts on a Part 3 that deals with records stores, Supporting Local and the emotional tie to buying physical music… which I believe is just as important as this whole making money thing.