The Music Industry is notoriously unsupportive of artists. To qualify that statement let me also say that it’s not entirely the Industry’s fault, which doesn’t make it the artist’s fault… As far as we can tell, it’s just the way in which the Industry has evolved with the social trends that have occurred. But let’s just say it and be honest about it, because once this is out in the open, we have an opportunity to change, grow, develop, evolve further… the industry suffers from its mistake of not putting the artist first. This is the way the industry is, and it’s why the Industry moves, albeit forward, at such an increasingly slow pace.
When I hear an artist say that they’re looking for a record deal, I want to cringe at the thought of their beautiful music being at the hands of people that don’t care about the music itself, just his or her numbers on Twitter and Facebook, and viewership on YouTube. Not to say that signing an artist isn’t what True Source Entertainment might do. We develop artists, we sign artists to campaigns, and will sign artists as any other agency or label might… but we also aren’t looking to change what that artist does, or to sign people just to have a shelf to put the record on in “safe keeping” in case one day we want to pull it down and show it to our grandchildren. Sure numbers count, but they don’t tell the whole story. It can be incredibly beneficial for artists to sign “deals” in general. The real choice at the end of the day, for artists, isn’t whether to sign a deal or not. The choice is, what type of deal is going to push their message, their agenda, their music to where they want it to go.
Artists have an inevitable “shiny object” appeal. When an attractive man picks up a guitar, has his photo taken, and puts that photo on Facebook, his “likes” increase. We’ve toyed with this theory ourselves,but we suggest you let the scientists in London do the work for you and read their results. At the end of the day, artists are attractive, and the real benefit to any business or “Industry” that an artist serves, is their brand appeal. The personal affect a girl and a keyboard has on men and women alike is greater than any shoe or cola is going to achieve. This is what we call a “Passion Point”. A thing that relates to, and taps into a person’s passions and interests. It’s why brands have been hiring bands and artists to be their brand ambassadors since the beginning of the business.
It’s empowering for artist and agency/business alike to see this truth, and magnify it with a project in alignment with what that artist’s message might already be. Brands love bands because it’s where they get to tap into the heart strings of an audience in ways their product may not have had an opportunity to otherwise. A good partnership between a brand and a band can amount to a match made in heaven on Earth. A bad one is just as bad as getting record shelved… Or putting soap on the shelf with the wrong info printed on the label…
Don’t let the Label fool ya. Put your money where the heart is, because it’s the only way the message is going to be heard.
