Mother Hubbard has been blogging again! Check out what she has to say about “LM’s”….
In my humble opinion one of the most overlooked necessities in the Texas Music Scene is Artist Development. In the “old days” a new band signed by a major label might spend the first couple years being “developed” by a team at the label before releasing it’s first record. They would school you in everything from image to musicianship to songwriting to fan base development. As smaller labels die out and larger ones tighten their spending Artist Development seems to have for the most all but disappeared. Many bands getting signed today either have already developed past the point of needing it and are selling records in the numbers which attracted the attention of the labels in the first place. Many of the brand new out of nowhere bands are creations of those very labels they are signed with, carefully put together based on look and demographic calculations.
But what about those artists who are out there trying to figure it out on their own. Many just have that “cool” factor and don’t need a whole lot of help developing and are ready to sign on with an experienced professional manager. Many should never quit their day job, get this band thing out of their system and go back to the real world. Most fall somewhere in between.
One of my observations and something I tend to poke fun of a lot are what I call the “laminate managers.” They go to every show you play because they get in free and have had occasional success with girls using the “I’m with the band” line. They are your fraternity brother, best friend, brother in law etc. Eventually they help you load in/out and sell merch. You let them tag along to a festival show which you are playing the noon slot in order to give the appearance of having a ‘crew”. You give them a laminate, they put around their neck. The result; instant hard on. The illusion of power, prestige and overall “I have arrived” feeling that accompany that 3 x 4 piece of plastic on a leash are overwhelming. They are committed 100% to doing whatever it takes to stand at the podium and again be awarded the gold medal laminate. They offer to be your manager. Knowing that having a “team” is a true sign YOU have arrived you agree. And though you notice a year later that nothing has changed in your career because your “manager” has no experience, no plan, no connections and no clue you swell with pride as you play the BBQ circuit because all 23 people in the audience can clearly see the shiny laminate hanging around your “crews” necks and surely they too will realize that you have arrived.
That’s not all….click HERE to read the conclusion of this blog entry as well as Mother Hubbard’s Top Ten Pet Peeves and more thoughts on Artist Development.
~Rb
