Behringer Artist "Relations"

Just want to share a little story with you guys. In Los Angeles, land of the fruit, people think you have to spend $2000 a channel to get a good good quality recording. For years I've been proudly using inexpensive gear (read: Behringer etc.) with suprisingly good results, recommending for instance the ADA8000 to many people impressed by things I've produced for folks. My latest CD was recorded for a large part through that very unit.

When the new Artist Relations guy at Behringer, a former member of the band I play with currently, found out, he was excited and told me he wanted top sign me as an endorser. I'm interested in trying the BCR/BCF controllers so I told him I was interested. Next, he sends me their contracts, not one but TWO! In it, it describes all my duties as an endorser. Now remember, I'm gonna get $300 worth of free stuff for this...

1. I must put the Behringer Logo on EVERY website I manage, on the FRONT page, bigger than any other logo.
2. I must make 2 youtube videos, one talking about Behringer, on demonstrating a product.
3. I must make a least 1 blog post per month for 1 year.
4. I cannot promote a competing product (Behringer makes just about everything under the sun; you do the math)
5. I must submit all kinds of photos etc.
6. Couldn't sell the stuff without permission from Behringer
7. They are allowed to use my name/likeness for ads for 3 years!
and the list goes on and on

I politely told him I wasn't interested anymore, that the deal wasn't worth it for $300 worth of stuff! He wrote me back saying: "I wish you would've asked me about this earlier!" Keep in mind, all he DID was put my name on a standard contract and email it to me!

In the meantime, I had sent him a physical copy of the CD anyway. In response to that last email, I wrote him asking if he was implying I had been wasting his time. I told him, listen man, it's not a deal that's worth it for me, nothing personal, just business.

Guess what? He REFUSED my CD, I got it back in the mail, with REFUSED written hugely on the front!

Am I crazy, or is this beyond ridiculous? If he weren't a friend of a friend I would write the president of Behringer about this!

Rico

No you ain't crazy Rico it is petty minded just to send back a freebie CD and he won't last long in any 'relations' position if he's prepared to fall out like that with anyone, whether you contact the president or not they will soon wonder why he has no contacts left and he'll be out the door.

That list looks to me more like a commitment aimed at a franchisee rather than an endorsee.

Those sorts of things if I've found myself buying a particular brand over the years I've normally sought out and liaised directly with the companies Sales rep for the area that I've been working in.  They seem to be more flexible when negotiating mutual back-scratching arrangements largely because they get paid a direct commission if something you do for them shifts a bit of gear, then they become more interested in keeping you sweet.

Even though I haven't been playing out for a few years now I still get offered in on the occasional scheme that one of these guys has cooked up and still get a few freebies (cool t-shirts and stuff) thrown in just for still being on the end of a phone. 

I've never had much joy from marketing or PR depts.

Well, maybe this counts as your first required blog post.

See how great that marketing strategy is working out so far?

jhughs


Especially considering it's not $300 to them; depending on what their margins are.

He must've thought you were a bird in hand and it pissed him off that you flew away.  He'd have been smarter to either try to work with you or stay cordial and keep the door open to a deal in the future.

That's what I don't understand! I'm not the most famous guy in the world, but there aren't too many guys in my league using their stuff to begin with.....

Really bizarre....

I could understand it for $450-00, but this is ridiculous! :O) 

Rather be nice to your local Yamaha agent like I am - it got me plenty of stuff at great prices, with no contract to sign.

A response from the Artist Relations Manager at Behringer.

Hello all.  I am Dave Hooper, the artist relations manager at Behringer and the subject of Rico's post.

I want to first apologize publicly to Rico for the CD incident.  I did ask our receptionist to return it to Rico and I admit I was a little bugged by his response to my offer.  I did NOT ask her to write REFUSED on the envelope and I agree that that is "beyond ridiculous".  I am truly sorry for that Rico.

As for the rest, I feel I am being somewhat misrepresented by Rico as there are 2 sides to every story.  Rather than refute the details, let me just put this out there...

I have 2 gigs this weekend with Rico. (awkward)  I hope to iron out our differences in person (rather than on a public forum) and it is my hope that we will become friends.

I knew that Behringer did not have a great reputation in the music industry when I took the job a year ago.  But after meeting the owner and finding out that I had played with most of his heroes (Lee Ritenour, Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock etc...), he offered me a chance to build a great roster and a chance to really improve the public image of the company, and I accepted the challenge.

This is a tough business...  One I grew up in and now work as both a player and an AR manager.  This weekend will be an interesting test of egos and forgiveness.  However it turns out, I will post a recap... or Rico will.

Feel free to look me up and write me if you have any comments.  And wish us luck this weekend.  -Dave
http://www.hooper.com

Dave,
 I think many of us admire the quality of the actual Behringer product.

 Personally, I can't can't past the imaginary scenario that floats around my brain every time I see a Behringer item. I have this recurring nightmare where Uri steals plans for nuclear weapons, works up a financing package, arranges to have them built in China, and then offers them for sale in economically depressed markets.

 I advise everyone to buy domestic... which is to say... I advise people to support their own local economies and technical infrastructures.

 best regards,
mike

Since Dave promised that one of us would post an update, here it goes:

First of all, let me say that Dave is one hell of a drummer! His resume is undeniable of course, but he really is an awesome musician and we had a blast playing. He's way too good to have any time working for Behringer, but he has a great interest in technology so it makes sense in that way. Secondly, as I already knew, he is a nice cat too; it was a manly thing to sign up for the cakewalk forum and put his name on the whole affair and I appreciate a stand-up kind of guy. the whole weekend was just a great experience, and a good time was had by all.

Sunday night I told him, I know he really doesn't want my CD but I'll give him one anyway, we laughed and he gave me one of his. Gotta say, it's really cool!

As far as the endorsement thing goes: bizarre thing is I talked with a few more peeps about it, and they said they had just signed the contract, with NO expectations of ever doing any of the things list on it! This I really don't get. I'd like to think that contracts mean something, but I guess we have come to a time where that stuff is meaningless. All I know is, I'm NOT going to sign that, and I still find it bizarre.

Now, on to making more music!
Rico

Hi,

+2

Men who value honor and honesty - it's great to know that these things haven't died out.

Glad to hear things are working out.

Happy to say that Rico and I worked it all out.   He is a tremendous player and we had a great weekend.  He even gave me his CD which is excellent.

I thought I'd say just one thing about the contract... and I agree with Rico on this point.   Some will sign and disregard the contract.   I have found that musicians aren't the best a promoting themselves.   The requirements for a Behringer contract are there to promote the gear AND the artists.   

I'll explain.   

The Behringer site gets 60,000 hits a day.  That's almost 22 million per year.  Each time our artists submit a photo, blog post, youtube video, audio file etc... we can put it on the home page of the site and make news of it.  We encourage them to submit as much content as possible - giving them a chance to really take advantage of the giant Behringer corporate machine.   We also have a ginormous promotional budget for ads, tradeshows, concerts, clinics etc.... and are VERY liberal with free gear.  Especially if they are on tour or tv.   Any artist who signs with us can take advantage of this and I know for a fact that it sends a lot of new visitors to the artists webpages and showcases their musical abilities.

I suppose it is the endorsers prerogative to disregard this stuff and pass up an opportunity to promote their talent.  When this offer goes out and gets turned down, I'm always left scratching my head.   As a musician, I know we don't always get to choose our gigs... the phone rings and we take work to pay our rent.  The famous musicians get called to do the big gigs.

It is a new era of Social Media and web promotions and everything is trackable now.  The endorsers on our roster who show enthusiasm will undoubtedly see success in growing their brand (we all want to be well known in the business) and those who don't will get dropped.  The numbers will not lie.  Balance will be restored.

Anyway, thanks for letting me join the discussion and contribute a little drama.  I have definitely grown through this experience.

-Dave Hooper
Drummer/Artist Relations Manager
http://www.hooper.com