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RE: (TV) Arista/Clive Davis (was Re: Kral comments)
That goes double for me. And what the hell were they trying to say sending
out EARMUFFS! Lets see give we'll them something to cover their ears. DUMB!
Obviously something that they practice themselves.
Thanks Mike for venting for WH.
BM
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Carlucci [SMTP:michael@recordsnyc.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2000 10:15 PM
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: (TV) Arista/Clive Davis (was Re: Kral comments)
Thanks Joe, well said on right on the head! M T C
> From: Joe Hartley <jh@brainiac.com>
> Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
> Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 21:15:39 -0400 (EDT)
> To: tv@obbard.com
> Cc: tv@obbard.com
> Subject: Re: (TV) Arista/Clive Davis (was Re: Kral comments)
>
> "Michael Carlucci" <michael@recordsnyc.com> wrote:
>> On a smaller scale I can tell you what a nightmare my own bands
>> situation was. We made our Chrysalis record for under $60,000 ... [and]
>> ...after the first 2 months record sales were at 30,000 which isn't bad
>> for a first time out major label record. Certainly enough for the
company
>> to recoup their investment. WRONG!
>
> No, this is right. 30K records sold certainly covered the costs of
making
> the records, getting them to the radio stations and stores, and probably
> the cover art as well.
>
>> When you have to factor in costs for 2 different promotional posters, a
>> ridiculous contest to send someone on a skiing expedition in Aspen
Colorado,
>> (snip) ear-muffs to give out, phone calls for promotional purposes
>
> This is where it gets criminal. Why is it that the artist, usually the
> ones least able to shoulder the financial burden of a 6-pack of imported
> beer, never mind a trip to Aspen, has to foot this bill?
>
> (Answer - to keep the assholes from paying taxes on the money.)
>
>> (The label...) considered the record over getting it
>> to the #4 position in the Rolling Stone Magazine college chart which was
no
>> big feat since we had reached number 5 with our last indie LP. The idea
was
>> to have Chrysalis get us to cross over which they did not.
>
> Again, if it ain't #1 with a bullet, the labels don't care.
>
> In that light, I see why Patti would have a strong loyalty to Clive.
When
> the predominant question in the industry is "What have you done for me
> lately?" (Van, you're cut. Bonnie, you're cut. Warren, you're cut.),
> the fact that Clive kept Patti even though she didn't (couldn't) break
> even against the evil accounting, shows that he *has* been committed to
> the art (and artists).
>
> Now, on a tangent....
>
> Aspen? ASPEN?? Aspen, fucking Colorado?? The only reason this came
> into existence is that some A&R person (Roget gives weasel, asshole,
slimeball
> and douchebag as synonyms) wanted to go skiing on the company's dime.
Did
> any of the band go skiing? No, they probably couldn't get the time off
> at the job that was paying the rent. Did label execs? You bet your ass.
> How does this sell records? How does this generate airplay? It doesn't.
> Never has, and never will.
>
> I've been on the radio end of this at the college level - I've got some
> interesting stuff over the years, like an Orchestral Manoeuvres In the
> Dark (OMD) pillowcase that was pretty cool, and some excellent posters,
> but this stuff doesn't help much. It's just a way for the label to spend
> their money and write it off.
>
> It's doubly sweet, in that they don't take the loss directly, but pass it
> along to the band, so rather than say "We lost $90K on Winter Hours" and
> take the loss, they get to say it's the band's fault, and if they ever
happen
> to actually MAKE some money down the line, they'll be standing there with
> their hand out.
>
> So, though I may be boring some people to tears with this, how the hell
> DOES the next Winter Hours or Television or PSG (or even those bands!)
> use the new technology to bypass the corporate middleman bullshit?
>
> I guarantee that whoever figures out a way will make a bazillion dollars,
> and spend a good portion of that on legal fees battling the labels who
> will bring suit because it's all they know how to do. Keep that in mind
> the next time you buy some blank tapes for your 4-track; the industry was
> so sure that home taping would kill music that they got the US Gubmint to
> put a surcharge on EVERY blank tape, since everyone just uses them for
> piracy, right? And don't even get me started on DAT...
>
> The modern eqivalent to DAT is the CD-R. Same argument - a perfect copy
> will always lead to piracy. Thus the new home stereo CD burners can't
use
> the standard data CD-R's at 35-50 cents per blank; you've got to get the
> special CD-Rs that have the surcharge on 'em so that the label gets their
> money anyway. (Side question: does any of that money go to the artists,
> who would get a piece of a CD sale? I'll bet you a nickel none of that
> money gets down to the artists, but I don't know for sure.)
>
> There *are* some cases of serendipity, though: Nick Lowe made a million
> bucks off of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?",
> not because Elvis did a brilliant cover, not because the world discovered
> what a brilliant band Brinsley Schwartz was, but because an insipid cover
> of it found its way onto the soundtrack album of "The Bodyguard." Thanks
> to the success of Twitney Houston's cover of a Dolly Parton song that was
> bought by every slop-sucking idiot in the country, Nick made a few cents
> every time that album was bought. It made Nick a rich man 20+ years
after
> he wrote the song! Unfortunately, that's the exception to the rule.
>
> OK, I PROMISE I'll stop now.
>
>
> ======================================================================
> Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh@brainiac.com
> 12 Emma G Lane, Narragansett, RI 02882 - vox 401.782.9042
> Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa
>
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