Interview with Danny Rose of Mini Tribe Records

 As a record label owner, do you think a record label is necessary still to get your music out there?

 

1)  We don’t really consider ourselves a record label really, and that’s because we think the label model is flawed.  It’s too “corporate,” we prefer the ring of record collective.  It reinforces a spirit of artists for artists, not CEOs for artists (but secretly for themselves).  Getting music out to the people is easier than ever; all the labels have are radio and TV, both of which are great places to reach middle America or country fans, but to grab the youth and the hip young listeners, it’s all about the immediate accessibility to internet markets.

 

How does social media change the cost of PR? Do you think every band needs to be up on their Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr game to survive?

 

2)  Social media frees up the game for promotion, however PR still requires a lot of financial power.  You need money to print T-shirts or to get posters and other swag to the fans.  Social marketing makes this easier to communicate, but the material costs are still there.  The social media outlets you mentioned are absolutely essential, you need to have ready access to your fans on any and all of these platforms.

 

Have you noticed a difference or new trend in the way bands create their music?

 

3)  They’re finally FREE!!  It’s all about creating their content and making their mark, not about what will sell well or get more cash flow.  To get noticed artists have to be unique; every artist knows that to be unique is to be themselves.

 

How has this all affected the general costs of starting a band in the modern era?

 

4)  The general costs have definitely gone down due to open access to media outlets, but the alternative is an awkward comparison.  Before, labels carelessly spent money trying to guess at how their artists would fare.  Now we can directly access our fans and target the ones we want to target for free; this cuts upkeep by a lot.  That’s why everyone’s jumping into the game!

Interview with Nick X Dierl of Life or Death PR/Management

1. As a record label owner, do you think a record label is necessary still to get your music out there?

 

As a publicist there are a handful of artists with whom I start working before they have a record label or have released a record commercially. Given the way bands come up now, which is through the blogs and then on to print media, it’s entirely unnecessary to have a label on board to get your foot in the door as a band. A few good songs getting into the hands of the right people can get you all over places like Pitchfork and The Fader etc. That being said, internet famous is still very different from having fame in real life. It’s entirely possible to be all over the internet and still be unable successfully draw audiences to a live show. More than ever, it’s really important for artists to be on the road winning over fans and having their albums in retail outlets where people who aren’t necessarily music-savvy can discover their music. Labels are really important in providing that distribution that gives you retail placement and often times the financial support for a first tour or two that might not be financially viable for the artist to do on their own.

 

2. How does social media change the cost of PR? Do you think every band needs to be up on their Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr game to survive?

 

Social media has definitely changed the landscape of the PR game. This is for the simple fact of how quickly information can be shared via a platform like Twitter – there’s no post to draft up and editing to be done. Often times we’ll have bigger artists of ours like Tyler, The Creator break news of a new video or song via his Twitter and that’s what credible publications like Spin will credit as their source in a news story. Obviously social media isn’t absolutely necessary to the success of the artist because there are people out there like Burial who hardly use it and definitely do fine for themselves but I think generally speaking it can be very effective when used strategically. A group like Odd Future built such an immense and rabid fanbase by completely dominating platforms like Tumblr, Twitter and Formspring and interacting with their fans through those networks. If you’ve ever seen an Odd Future show it’s pretty apparent how well that worked for them.

 

 

3. Have you noticed a difference or new trend in the way bands create their music?

 

I can’t say I’ve noticed a different way that artists create music, other than that I think a lot of artists are creating more music than they have done historically simply because of the immense volume of artists receiving press due to the more democratic nature of the internet. The access to listening to just about anyone you’d want at any time of the day has definitely made getting continued coverage more competitive because there’s just a ton of good music coming out daily. More than ever before, listeners have short attention spans and memories – if you go silent on people for a while I think they’re more prone than prior generations to lose interest. 

 

4. How has this all affected the general costs of starting a band in the modern era?

 

This is an interesting question because the cost of starting a band is probably lower now than it ever has before. Most kids have access to a computer and that’s really all you need to start depending on what you want to do. That being said, the cost of being in a band is probably higher than ever because it’s tough to make much money on record sales. Most of the bands that I work with that are financially successful are able to do so because they play a lot of well-attended shows and get great licensing opportunities (ie. their song gets played on an episode of True Blood). 

Interview with Guitarist Phillip Devries

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Describe to me a day with the band. How do you guys record? How much do you pay?

It’s me, drummer Lucas Brown and bassist Dominic Chang in Broken Down Engine. Our old drummer, James Cleary, had to quit because of school. We pay virtually nothing, though. Our producer, Danny, whose also a student, put alot of money into our music and we use his studio for free. A friend put us in contact with his label, Mini Tribe Records, and they pay for all our recording and the equipment, which is a blessing in the sky. It definitely helps to have someone with connections; it’s the only resource you really need since the only obstacle nowadays is getting noticed. I sometimes record my music on my computer but, with the high-screeching guitar, it just sounds like shit.

How does Danny market your music?

When we finish recording, he pumps the material into music blogs and the Mini Tribes’ Facebook. We don’t really use YouTube because it’s more suited for live performances. There are some videos of us at the Yippee Cafe on Bleecker up there though. The problem with programs like SoundCloud on your Facebook is whose listening to them. You’re limited to your friends and they’ll compliment you but it’s the third party that gets your name out there. That’s where Danny is – he’s our sound engineer and the suit.  Also, it’s the live shows where you play well and have people start talking about you.

See, the way Mini Tribe Records is very different then the norm. It is a decentralized collective – Danny sees it as a family. If one part of the label needs someone, another person fills in. There was no agreement; just the general notion that both of us would benefit. We would have our music played and Danny would get his name out as the producer. It’s symbiotic because we’re in the same boat of obscurity.

So do you think you need a record label to get people talking?

It’s all about generating hype; the band is making the music but the Internet is the new hype machine. A record company helps but you can still claw your way up in popularity and bypass it. Companies used to put out the advertising but now the technology erases that – you do the advertising yourself.

These days, a record label still wants to make money off of you even though they provide the connections. If you can bypass them, like Wiz Khalifa and Lil Wayne proved can be done, all power to you. With our generation, anyone can have access. You have these music blogs and social networks now instead of a fancy record label. Back in the day, you had individuals like Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn who had name recognition on circuits. Now, the Internet is the circuit so, in a way, the Internet has become the record label.

Is it hard to be a student and a band member at the same time?

It’s very hard to balance. You can’t play loud in these apartments and my interests just lie elsewhere: I’ll be up to 3am recording a song when I should be writing an essay. But it’s the only thing holding me back from really playing so when I graduate, I’ll probably find an odd job and concentrate all my time on the music.

Interview with Max Schieble, frontman of the Pharaohs

Describe to me a normal day of recording. How does it work? Where do you guys go?

We started the Pharaohs two years ago and have been working on the EP since then. I’m a perfectionist so it’s been back and forth over tracks. Well, with Danny [Lentz, a band co-member] in Paris, we have to do alot of our recording via e-mail. I’ll lay down vocals, send them to Danny and, since he knows all of his parts, he just lays down guitar and violins and sends it back. I mix it on Logic or ProTools [software mixing programs] and put it on iTunes. I got them for free, in the glory days of MegaUpload. But I don’t want things sounding too lo-fi; Pharaohs’ music loses its essence. We only have two mics and an audio recording box and, besides that, it’s more or less a cost-less process. Although I hate GarageBand and how lo-fi it sounds, now you can do this better-equipped studio sound for nothing. Converse just opened this studio in Brooklyn called Rubber Tracks that gives free studio time to anyone who applies.

Wait, free studio time? How does that work?

You basically apply and they just give it to you. We’re going to wait until Danny returns to start doing it because we have a bunch of songs. Brooklyn has been this beacon for bands like mine who want to do things differently. Like, for example, last Halloween, we played a show in free gallery space my friend knew of in Bushwick. It didn’t cost a thing, we just paid for the alcohol and made it a huge profit. It’s part of this whole anti-label thing: there’s only reason now not to go a label. It’s good that it’s happening; most people in rap are found on the Internet but now there’s just more stuff to listen to. It’s more democratic now; it’s the ideal American way of creating music. I don’t understand ‘signing’ onto a label anymore. All you get is a budget and PR, which are both helpful but your creative integrity is compromised and that’s what drives people away.

So how do you plan on marketing your music then?

Connections to blogs and DIY marketing at this point. I could post it on SoundCloud or Bandcamp and then throw it on Facebook. But, as Kanye West said, ‘it’s not cool if no one listens to your music.’ That’s the only problem with these social networks: they are extensive but they’re still limited. My plan now is to get a branding from a company like Mishka, which is a clothing company that created a record label.

How does that work?

It’s a completely different approach because the only money Mishka is for the physical promotions. They’ll put your music on their website, their SoundCloud and their Facebook and Twitter accounts for free. There’s no deal or agreement, they just want to brand it and have a mutual benefit off of it. You get airtime and Mishka’s name is seen. They did this with rapper Mr. Esquire, who had no buzz or hype, came to them, showed them their music, they liked it and started releasing music by him under their brand. Now, he’s signed to Universal. The thing that I’ve seen is having a PR-oriented group like this backing you and that’s it.

Interview with Neil Patel, founder of Back to Back Records

A history of Back to Back Records: 

Back To Back was my co founder, Ned Russin’s (Title Fight, Disengage) idea. Title Fight stayed with me in March of 09 and that was the first time I met Ned. Me and him talked about hardcore all day and he just asked me if I wanted to do this label with him. It was just an idea at that point. I moved back up north August 2009 and we put out the Disengage 7″ later in 2010. We’re about to put out our 7th record and I’m proud! We work with our friends, we hook our friends up extra than most labels. Damn I don’t think I’ve ever given a mission statement, that’s so not punk haha. People can say music is their lives but hardcore and punk is a true lifestyle. You get back what you give. I booked shows super young in Atlanta, like from 15 till I moved. I wanted to do more! Naturally as a hardcore kid, if you truly love it, you feel like you can never do enough. So me and Ned decided to put out bands and put hardcore records out so we can put history into stone. I love hardcore, it saved my life and it is the coolest thing. I don’t want to grow up or be a normal 9 to 5 drone and that’s ok because I have hardcore, I want other kids who check us out that they can be the same.

The questions…

1. As a record label owner, do you think a record label is necessary still to get your music out there? No! not at all. I think now more than ever you don’t need record labels and bands SHOULD be DIY. We actually put all the records we’ve put out available for donation download. The internet really guts the big record labels. Now days record labels make their money through “360 deals” which is basically them getting a little cut of everything past records, including shows, merchandise and etc. They have those because music is so accessible without the record label. 2. How does social media change the cost of PR? Do you think every band needs to be up on their Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr game to survive? I’ve never paid a dollar for marketing. I spend time on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Message-boards (www.backtobackboards.com) to promote our stuff. I’m a fence walker on this one because if you can go ahead and stay off the grid, then go ahead cause I think the internet is ruining everything, but at the same time, it’s making information and content so easy to access and share and that’s the beauty of it! it just depends on what content is being shared. Like this one kid was talking about how he has to get checked into rehab because he got a DUI on facebook. Really dude? It’s good if you know what to share and have a filter. As bands and labels, they also need to be aware of what they put because you have a responsibility, cause someone is looking up to you. 3. Have you noticed a difference or new trend in the way bands create their music? Most definitely. Garage band changed the game! Things like GB and Reason are huge in the hip-hop game. Same goes for hardcore and punk and any form of rock really. You can use these programs to develop music in the safety of your bedroom. Then you can put it on soundcloud or band camp. Then you can put it on your big cartel. You really don’t have to leave your bedroom! It’s amazing. 4. How has this all affected the general costs of starting a band in the modern era? Starting a band, cheaper. The only thing hitting bands right now is a touring band with gas prices. The interesting thing is that bands need to be creative and more open with themselves if they want to make money. People have such bad ADD with music now, it’s all about the flavor of the month. So either you can be creative and do things in a smart cost effective way, or you can throw more money on it and try to stay relevant.

Interview with Eric Sandler – Chief Editor at Revivalist Magazine

1. How does the Revivalist use Twitter?

We use Twitter to promote new articles everyday, as well as shows, giveaways, contests, and news. We also retweet relevant posts from other news outlets, musicians, and friends.

2. Do you think Twitter has helped or hurt the effect of your magazine’s writing and its relevance online? Is it hard to keep up with everyone?

Twitter has definitely helped the relevance of our writing. While analyzing our data, we found that up to about 25% of our traffic is directed from Twitter some days. Moreover, one of my favorite Twitter moments was posting an interview we did with Mike James Kirkland, an artist from the ’70s who was covered by John Legend and the Roots. The song ended up receiving a Grammy. We included a plea from Kirkland at the end of the interview to connect with John Legend and the Roots as he hadn’t been able to thank them yet. I tagged Legend and Questlove of the Roots in the Tweet and had others do so as well. As a result Questlove and Legend saw the interview and were able to connect with Kirkland. It both connected the artists and put us in the position of being the intermediary.

3. How do you think Twitter affects professional music writing in general?

Twitter can definitely be abused to the point where it deteriorates the conversation being had, but at the same time the platform allows us as both journalists and fans to get minute-to-minute thoughts from our favorite artists. It has the ability to give journalism more credibility by pointing to certain thoughts and moments an artist may have during soundcheck or even during the concert. It allows fans and artists to directly connect. Twitter holds the potential to level the playing field. At the same time, sometimes this can be a bad thing. Arguments can ensue and at times you definitely get those “too much information” moments. Overall, Twitter raises awareness and promotes interaction, two great things as far as I’m concerned.

Interview with Adam L. Penenberg – NYU Professor/Journalist

> How has the real-time speed of Twitter affected the pace of marketing?

It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, Twitter makes it possible for musicians, companies, and others to connect directly with fans and consumers. On the other, a negative review can cause greater harm than it could in the days before instantaneous commentary.  For example, AT&T told me that it carefully monitors customer complaints on Twitter–and when someone has a bad experience, someone from the company contacts that person to see if it can help. For instance, I’m an iPhone user, and am therefore tethered to AT&T whether I like it or not. (I don’t.) I have often flambéed AT&T for its rickety 3G network, which often drops calls. Recently, though, I softened my stance after returning from a short trip to Toronto. An AT&T customer-service rep informed me I had racked up hundreds of dollars in roaming charges because I had neglected to protect myself with an international-travel package. She offered to retroactively apply one for $24.99, which effectively wiped the slate clean. You can bet I tweeted my happiness. The same thing has happened with Network Solutions. I complained about the high price of renewing domain names–$30 compared to $9.99 at Netsol competitors–and a customer service rep on Twitter cut me a deal; the company matched the $9.99 price. So you see, companies are well aware of negativity hurting the bottom line.

Now extrapolate that and layer it into the experience of musicians. Good reviews, good commentary, will spread and help; bad reviews will hurt. And I recall a study done on Amazon that found that positive reviews help sales of a book somewhat, but not nearly as much as negative reviews hurt sales.

> Is a musician better or worse off now in the Twitter world?

Does it matter? This is the world we live in.

> What is the effect of Twitter on the relevance of a journalistic piece, specifically in the music realm?

> My main thesis is that the life and death of a music career has been extremely sped up with the 140-character ravenous machine. Any thoughts on this?

I don’t know how you prove this. Pop and rock stars have come and gone throughout the history of American popular music. How do you know careers are more fleeting today than they were, say, 5 years ago? 10 years? 20? 50?

With the tweeting world constantly working overtime 24/7, how does a journalistic piece, in general, stand out? It seems a good piece can get swept away now as easily as a bad piece.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Take the recent brouhaha involving Kashmir Hill of Forbes and Charles Duhigg of The New York Times.

http://jimromenesko.com/2012/02/21/nyt-reporter-defends-forbes-writer-accused-of-stealing-his-work/

To recap briefly, Duhigg published an excerpt of his new book in The New York Times magazine. It’s a wonderful piece, and had some fascinating stories in it. He showed how companies like Target track users online and were able to deduce which women were pregnant based on purchasing habits (they suddenly started buying lotion, etc.) The NY Times headline was kind of bland. Kashmir at Forbes wrote a great headline, emphasizing howTarget knew a girl was pregnant before her father did. (It’s in the article.) Kashmir’s post got a ton of traffic-probably much more than the original NY Times piece did. Then a blogger accused Kashmir of stealing NY Times traffic, which was in of itself an example of an attention-grabbing headline–in essence he did the same thing Kashmir did.

In the end, The New York TImes headline is much more search engine friendly, and over time, as traffic comes more and more from search queries and not social media, the Times piece will be the gift that keeps on giving. In the short-term, however, Kashmir’s aggregation of it wins the day.

At any rate, how you market your work as a journalist these days is important, and don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.

10 Ways to Share Music on Twitter

10 Ways to Share Music on Twitter.

Here are Mashable’s top ten resources for musicians seeking to tap into the 140-character social network.

Link

Christopher Weingarten’s Twitter

This guy writes about music. And he’s famous for this speech. His Twitter is a condensed version of both. Follow him for mainstream bashing.

A Collection of Vinyl

jsurico15’s photostream on Flickr.

Here are the select few of many shots taken at record stores all over the Village. From Bleeker Bob’s to Rebel, there’s enough vinyl to go around.