best technique for making money out of your music?

Just wonder what technnique, strategy have you used before you've become rich and famous?

I wrote Happy Birthday, Auld Lang Syne and all the James Bond themes.

Joking aside I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how I'm actually going to set myself to sell my tunes. SOCAN rules are weird. Like you can't just send them some recordings and sign up. You have to have them released or published but there is also an option of if you ever played your stuff live that qualifies you but how do you go about proving that? Give them the bar's phone number? I also want to be my own publisher but those rules are even wackier. Add to that I'm no longer involved in any bands and the ones I have been in that actually released stuff... well the one wants nothing to do with copyrighting and the other I haven't been in contact with for well over a decade and I only have partial credit for like one of the songs (even though I busted my arse fixing all their old material).

Then how do I sell it? Amazon? I don't have the money to manufacture on my own (yet) and even if I did how do I distribute it? Just lots of craziness. It's gonna take a while for me to make all the appropriate phone calls to get it sorted out. I'd like to get an entertainment lawyer on my side or study entertainment law myself if possible but the former costs money and the latter costs valuable time I could be producing music with.

Big scam IMO. It was a lot simpler when I just tore up stages and left it at that.

You sell out and write for music libraries.  Of course, that will probably not address the rich or famous aspect

  I'm not sure about this since unfortunately my music is as of yet nowhere near being good enough that people would actually buy it, but, I'm pretty sure there are many ways of selling your music nowadays? Such as beatport, junodownload... It depends what genre you're working with of course, but you could google that: such as "beatport for metal" and so forth. Another way, I would imagine, would be to send a nicely polished demo to all your favourite record labels and see what feedback you get. Alternatively, try newer more independent start-up labels which might be less picky/give your music the consideration it deserves and work your way up from there thanks to the exposure you'll get from 'your foot being in the door'. Finally, market yourself well by creating some great pages on Facebook and the like and network extensively... That's my (apologies if overly obvious) 2 cents

I'm pretty sure I could make more money selling my music equipment than I ever will by selling my music.
And it's cheap gear.

offnote


Just wonder what technnique, strategy have you used before you've become rich and famous?

I let an Indy record label do all the work for me. The album sold fairly well which set up my second album which also did fairly well. From that, I made amazing contacts within the industry to where my studio has prospered because of it.
 
I've had 2 worldwide releases. When you can get into major stores and get your name around, it gives you a bit more power even if you aren't a big star. My stuff was sold in Best Buy, Virgin, Tower Records, Coconuts, Sam Goody etc so it's really helpful to have the right distribution.
 
This is why record labels are so important. You can't even compare something like the distribution you would get from say Disc Makers or CD Baby. A label (even if it's a decent Indy) will have connections. These connections come by way of distribution and licensing. I not only released all over the world, but to this day have a record deal within Japan with a company called Marquee Avalon. It's not easy to get a Japanese deal. You need connections for it...and without my first label hooking me up with them having "contact power" I would have never landed that deal.
 
With licensing comes publishing and air-play. This again, is where connections come into play that can only come from a label. My publishing company in Japan "The Burnn! Corporation owns about 40 radio stations as well as a few magazines. Each time I appear on a station or in their mag, I get royalties for that. So as you can see, we're building things up more and more now on "the inside" of the deal.
 
The deal you sign is what's important. With an Indy, there are less middle men. For example, my deals have all been the same. They give me an advance. Once the advance is recouped, I get 50% of every album sold and 100% of my publishing IF the label doesn't tap into its connections for airplay. When airplay is done by one of my labels (one in Europe, one in Japan) there is a publishing split. For Europe, the split is 30 me, 30 the label 40 for GEMA. For Japan, it's 45 me, 45 the label 10 for Burnn!. In the USA, since no one has done any radio airplay for me here and probably never will, if I decide to push it myself, I get 100% of my publishing.
 
But the beauty in all of this lies within the connections I've made all through my journey. I have enough of my own connections to do all my own licensing and distribution with companies from all over the world. The main thing in this business is connections. Once you have them, your worst enemy is yourself.
 
-Danny

offnote


Thanks Danny for sharing very interesting reading,
but how do you actually start with independent labels? What's the procedure and costs involved?

You're very welcome. :)
 
Labels: The first thing to keep in mind is, you must always be a few steps ahead of them. If you are searching for a record deal, you must have all your ducks in a row and be willing to do what they tell you in the drop of a hat. Meaning, if all you have ready are 4 songs, if they like you, rest assured they will ask for more. Don't make them wait. Don't make excuses....don't be slow to reply and always use FedEx even if it costs you more money. Timing is the key. That should be your only cost. Sending things in the mail and of course your time if you are doing the recording. If not, you'll need to hire studio and may need to front the money until the label advances you and gives you the money back. That's the only out of pocket expenses I've ever had though. Flights too...sometimes hotels. They reimburse you for all that though, so it's not really out of pocket. I've only had to do that a few times...but most times they pay for things in advance and when they didn't, they'd pay me in cash when I got where I was going or shortly after.
 
But approaching them depends on how they handle things. Most big labels will not talk to you due to them wanting to speak to an attorney because they have a "no unsolicited material" rule. Meaning, if you don't have any legal representation or legal representation ties to that label, you don't have a chance.
 
With Indy labels, this is a bit different but it depends on how big the Indy is. Most times you can do a search on the net looking for labels that cater to your style of music. Dropping them an email asking if they would be interested in you with a short (and I do mean short...I can't use my "Danny novels" on them lol) bio and a bit of what you're about as well as what your music is like. Don't send an mp3 or any links unless they tell you it's acceptable.
 
But most of them don't have a "no unsolicited material" rule so they are approachable. Don't let the word "Indy" scare you, offnote. I made more money with my Indy's than I did when I was with Sony years ago. The Indy's don't quite have the power a major has, but they also don't have as many "middle men" that need to get paid. They don't mess with your publishing as much and they can pay you because everything is on a smaller scale.
 
For example, both my deals currently sport the same sort of contract. They give me an advance. That advance pays for recording costs, money to live, pay the band if I have one etc. Once they recoup that money in sales, I get half of every CD sold. The key is to keep your advance low if you can. Like for me, I don't need much advance money because I own the studio I record in and I really don't need to be paid for that. So, when the album gets released, my recoup period is much shorter because my advance was smaller.
 
The other side of the coin is....sometimes it's better to take the biggest advance you can because if you flop, you got a little something out of it. Sometimes you have to pay that back to the label though...it depends on the deal you make. Or, if you tank, they may give you another chance at another album. All the money from that would pay off your first advance before you'd see a dime from the new album.
 
Most times we sell the CD's for $10.00. Once the stores get them, they jack them up to about $15, sometimes $18. So, with each sale, I see $5.00, the label sees $5.00. Times that by the amount of CD's....which in my case is usually quite decent, and you can grab quite a bit of cash. 5000 sales as a worst case scenario times $5.00....which is pretty easy for me to do in my style of music, (I've crushed that both times so far) and there's a nice 25k in your pocket. 2500-5000 in sales units is actually decent for any Indy artist for their first CD. Add in endorsements, radio airplay in Europe and Japan, and you can make a nice living from it. Get airplay in America and you can really kick some tail. My labels don't push me on the radio in the USA, but do push me in the stores, so any US publishing that comes my way is all on me or if I hire a radio marketer. But that's a whole other conversation. Again though, the 2500-5000 in CD sales is a worst case scenario. Try to sell that many without the help of a label and distribution. You're lucky if you sell 1000 on your own....VERY lucky.
 
So the contact part is easy. You just have to be able to deliver the goods after that or you don't stand a chance. For example, when I got my deal with a label in England in 1999, I had never played and sang live before. All my stuff was studio only at that point. We released a song off the album before it was done to get the feelers out and it exploded. From there, we tried another and that too was just nuts.
 
The next thing you know, the label calls me and says "we're doing so well with this song we need you to play here in 2 weeks." I was like...."WHAT?! I never sang and played at the same time doing lead vocals....I'm so not ready for this!! You told me I'd have plenty of time to prepare.....omg...I'm still working on mixing the rest of the album...no no no no no!"
 
After a long chat with the label president, he warned me that it was crucial to strike while the iron was hot. I told him I have no problems with that, but you can't grab me in the middle of mixing this album and make me play live when I told you I'd not had a chance to do that yet! So, he talked me into it. The next 2 weeks were pure hell on me. Playing guitar the way I play and singing lead vocals is/was a nightmare. I had to go through it all in steps. The first thing was to learn all the songs I'd be playing on guitar without thinking about them so I could concentrate on singing.
 
So once I had the songs all down (took me about 4 days to lock in on guitar and get all the lead guitar parts down) I started to at least try and move my mouth while playing. Once I sort of got that down, I started whispering the words sort of to get my lips used to moving. LOL! By the last week, I was pretty confident and had everything down. What I was terrified about at THIS stage was, would the backing band he hired for me be able to cut it as well as all the back up vocals I do?
 
Needless to say, the show went off without a hitch and was a great boost for my career. I played to a packed house and went all the way to England to do it....which was a first for me. I had never been out of the USA at that point. My reason for sharing this with you, you always have to be ready. If this label president was a slave driver, he would have said "you do the gig or you can find a new deal." Instead, he talked me through it and truthfully...he shouldn't have had to. I still don't think they should have interrupted my mixing for this one off show and forced me to step up and perform, but I'm glad they did because that gig brought on a tour throughout England which was one of the best times I ever had in my life with other tours that followed.
 
So, when you go into this thing....leave no stone unturned. Be ready for anything. Don't ever lie or pad the truth...tell it like it is and step up and rip their faces off whenever you can. An Indy may not be the be all end all as far as a deal goes, but you never know what connections you might make from it. That's where it's really made a difference in my life. The clients I mix and master for are mostly artists and labels/studios. Some big and well known, others will be known soon or had their time. It also paved the way for the record deals I am working out now for my new album. You just never know where you'll end up and you will just about always make some money on an Indy. The majors have too many things that go on. You have to be a super star to see anything big. Even at that, you may not make anything because they own you...period. All your publishing, all your songs, everything. And, though it pains me to say this, rightfully so because if you get a major deal, they sink hundreds of thousands into you, maybe even millions if they believe in you enough...so it's only right they get that investment back.
 
Indy labels may spend 25k-250k on you if you're good enough...sometimes more. So definitely consider contacting a few. They are approachable for the most part and if they aren't, you can always do what I did....act like "the attorney for Offnote." LOL!!! Yeah, I was so broke at the time man, I couldn't afford an attorney. I studied some music and law so I turned into Anthony Gianovisci....acting attorney for Danny Danzi. LOL!! The label didn't know this for nearly 6 months...then one day, I finally came clean about it. Thankfully, the president had a laugh, called me a lil git, a wanker, and then bought me a beer. Hahaha! Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do! But that was the only lil fib I told. I knew enough about contracts etc to add in my ammendments and counter some of the things they had in the contract. When I parted ways with that company, it was an amicable split with no law suits. :)
 
Anyway, hope some of this helps.
 
-Danny

Rich beats famous any time!

Really good stuff in this thread. 

I believe it may have been when I was a TAXI member at the rally in LA...or perhaps somewhere else... but it was a comparrison chart of the money made by  a big name artist vs an indy selling on a smaller scale.

The indy actually made way more money on sales up to about 20,000 units and the break even point was much much lower for the indy. The problem the indy has is getting the word out to create the buzz and interest in the music to sell more than the first 12 CD's. 

The major artist didn't break even or show a profit let alone make any money until the sales were in excess of 100,000 copies IIRC. 

even in todays market ...or should I say especially in today's market.... the big boys and girls do not make their money on the CD's and the music. It's all made in the merchandising that goes on.... T-shirts, cups, photos, etc.... The music gets the fans in the door, the merch makes the money. 

On a smaller scale.... back in the day.... serious story here. The band I played in was well before the CD and home studios so we never recorded anything. But we did set up and sell T-shirts with our logo, and photos as well as buttons. It was supposed to be a joint venture but I was the only one in the band who had the money to pay the man for the t-shirts.... so it was determined to be my "side project" with the bands blessing and they could buy in if they wanted. (they never did) 
At clubs and other events we played, I kept the t-shirts stocked in various sizes and colors and plenty of pics and buttons too. It became a big part of my income on the weekends and in many places, I made more from the merchandise sales than I did from the gig. If we had tapes to sell, we could have made even more. 

My point is that it works even on a small scale. CD's sold on site are almost pure profit. 

A talented and smart local act with a solid fan base can make a nice living locally in the clubs and at the events they play when they combine merchandising into the big picture. 


EDIT TO ADD: If you want to make money, you have to treat it like a business. Because, plain and simple...that's what it is.  In the clubs and at live dates and events collect emails from the fans. Have an email signup sheet on the table and get everyone to sign up. Keep it current... remove the "bouncers" and send out announcments of scheduled dates, new music offers, give the occasional "free MP3 download" of a new song available only to email subscribers...... advertise new projects and link to your website....
On the website have a schedule of dates and events with addresses of the venue. Keep it current or don't do it. Nothing says "I don't care" like hitting the band's website to check for dates and finding that the schedule is over a year old.... (yup... it happens..I know a band right now where this is the case) .... 

Use social media.... the dreaded Face Book and Twitter..... many folks are on those things and I have a few musician friends who advertise their upcoming live events on there all the time.... 

just a few ideas....

Ummmm....this blog bursts the bubble a bit.  Seems like there is no money to be made on music.

http://music3point0.blogspot.ca/

sell cd's and t-shirts at as many gigs as you can book.

don't print more cd's than you can really sell.

spend time getting to know your local radio personalities, especially if they have a feature 'locals' show.

just like the pros that get signed, if you put it out there enough, and are good enough, you might just get picked up.

@sharke... Yeah, I'm totally into that kind of thing. Just gotta get a decent portfolio together. I'm really not great at on the spot sight reading but can feed the sheet music into a MIDI enable notation software and go about it that way. I can play almost anything by ear and have completely duplicated extremely complex guitar parts that way. I used to be the tribute bands dream guitarist because of that skill. I might even be able to get into transcriptions but I don't find that particularly enjoyable and because I've generally done everything by ear my notation skillz are pretty rusty. It would take me forever to get anything done on that level.

I'll just have to see where all this DAW stuff will take me. I seem to be getting some good reactions with what I've done so far so I'll just keep hammering away at it and try to set up a website or something. Cheers.

I have just read article about top earning women in 2012 and I almost dropped under the table:

"New York: Pop star Britney Spears edged past Taylor Swift to claim the title of top-earning woman in music after bringing in an estimated $58 million from her album, endorsements and a perfume in the past year, Forbes said on Wednesday. Country-pop singer Swift, 22, was a close second with an estimated $57 million paycheck thanks to her tour - which made more than $1 million each night - a contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, her own line of fragrances and her new album 'Red.'
R&B star Rihanna, 24, earned an estimated $53 million to put her at No. 3, two places up from last year, followed by Lady Gaga, 26, who slipped from No. 1 in 2011 to fourth place with $52 million.
Katy Perry, 28, the only musician other than Michael Jackson to produce five No. 1 hit singles from one album, rounded out the top five with about $45 million in earnings."

So there is money in music to be earned :)  plus you don't have to have talent or brain to do it LOL
How that chick Britney does that, hard to believe...


http://content.ibnlive.in...n-music-310283-45.html