Douglas Spotted Eagle Homepage

MUSICIAN'S PAGE

We get a lot of calls at the studio from people wanting to know more about music, the music business, and how it all seems to work, in spite of so many varying aspects of the biz. So we've decided to put up a page just for musicians and wanna-be musicians, or just for people outside the business to understand more of what goes on behind the scenes. This first 'issue' will be about resources, contacts, what they do, and who they are.

MANAGER- Just what the name implies. A manager is responsible for handling the day to day scheduling, travel, performance, appearance, taxes, bookings, and other issues relating to the artist and his/her lifestyle. Managers sometimes act as booking agents as well. They negotiate payments to the artist for recording dates, performance dates, handle some press/PR responsibilities, and generally make sure that the artist is focusing on music rather than on business. A manager is perhaps the most important component in an artist's environment.

BOOKING AGENT-Sells the artist's services and skills to performance venues, television shows, festivals, and other points of performance. Booking agents work closely with managers, negotiating pay scales based on travel costs, schedules, and promotions. Booking agents are the people that the venues will hear from about an artist first, so it's important to have a good booking agent. In the past, we've had experience with bad ones and good ones. The bad ones will sell the artist's services to anyone, regardless of what the venue really needs or is looking for. When the artist arrives, he/she finds themselves in an environment strange to what they do, and the venue wonders how they are going to recover the lost ticket sales due to a mismatch between artist and venue. We actually worked with one booking agency that would consult a psychic and palm reader before booking any gigs. If the stars weren't in alignment on that particular moment, then the gig didn't get booked. It seemed for a whole year, the stars were not lining up, so neither were the performances. Needless to say, it was a short period of time before we found another agency. (Not that we'd say that psychics or palm readers are wrong to use, but relying on them for your business decisions on a moment by moment basis can get to be distracting and counter-productive.)

PUBLICIST-Few artists have full time publicists, more often hiring one to handle publicity for a specific event, such as an album release, or tour announcement. Publicists handle the distribution of materials to the media, photos, press kits, schedule appearances on television, radio, and in newspapers and magazines. They also arrange for the press to attend concerts and review performances. A good publicist is quite costly, though well worth the expense in a worth while project. Smaller publicity issues can generally be handled by a manager.

A&R CONTACT-A&R is for "Artist and Repertoire". This person is the contact at most record companies. The A&R person deals with the music the artist is recording, helps put the record together from the perspective of the purchasing public, and helps the artist and his team through the business and artistic channels at the label. A good A&R person will make sure the artist makes a good record. A bad one simply won't do much of anything, or else will fight to make the artist become something they are not. Remember when KISS did the disco music in the early 80's? Bad A&R guy.

ENDORSEMENTS-Sometimes manufacturers of musical equipment will be endorsed by an artist. The artist agrees to use the manufacturers equipment for a no cost/lo-cost to the artist, and the manufacturer gets to use the artist's name on their products, helping sell more product. For instance, Washburn makes a Craig Chaquico model acoustic guitar. Made to Craig's specs, and sounds wonderful. He plays them in the studio and on the stage, and Washburn plants a tree for every guitar that someone buys. Good deal all the way around. At Native Restoration, the studio and VOICES OF NATIVE AMERICA tour and the NATIVE RITES tour proudly use AUDIX microphones, CAKEWALK 8.04 computer software, and SONIC FOUNDRY w/ACID recording software. We also have a huge assortment of TASCAM recording equipment. Douglas Spotted Eagle uses WINDS SONG flutes, and flutes from the OREGON FLUTE STORE custom shop.

Hope our new page answers some questions, and please feel free to e-mail us with any questions about the music industry. If we can answer them, we will. If we can't, we'll find the answers together.

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