A few months ago I was discussing the current state of music with a music publisher/producer in Nashville and asked the age-old question: “How does an artist make money with their music these days?” Obviously, this is a loaded question, but I really wanted to know how artists are trying to make a living in the current file sharing, $0.99 per download world. The answer I got back was pretty standard and boring: “If you figure out the answer to that one, you let me know.”

Stoner

It really is tougher than ever to make a living or even part-time dollars creating music. I don’t know any musician that picked up an instrument solely to get rich; maybe to get chicks, but not to get rich. While most artists would be fine making a meager living being able to create and perform their art, even that is a tall order these days. The worst part of this is that a ton of new music has been stifled because Jack and Jane Musician are working low-paying 50 hours a week jobs to pay the bills, buy their instruments, maybe a PA system, and a trailer or truck to haul it in, while paying for cutting some demos of their original songs. To even try to “hit the road to make a living” is just asking to be homeless when bar gigs pay no more now than they did 25 years ago. Music labels have been decimated by the music file-sharing world, so there isn’t much venture money to help new bands along and promote them.

So, about a year ago I set out on a quest to find some non-standard ways for musicians to make money with their original music without living on the street. Admittedly, I haven’t had the time to look under all the rocks and I’m still on the prowl but I’ll share with you what I have learned so far with a meager budget of $500 for the project.

First, I’m going to cover some songwriting basics and let me say some of this has been “borrowed” from my friend, John Bohlinger’s (yes, I’m name dropping) monthly column in Premier Guitar magazine (all borrowed info is in quotes). John is a Nashville multi-instrumentalist best know for his work as band leader for all six season of NBC’s hit program Nashville Star, the 2011, 2010 and 2009 CMT Music Awards, as well as many specials for GAC, PBS, CMT, and USA:

He shares: “When you write a song, you immediately own the song — 100 percent of the songwriter’s share and 100 percent of the publisher’s share. The song exists as soon as you’ve written or recorded it, and can potentially be worth money. The profits from a song are split evenly between the writer(s) and publisher.”

If you do your own publishing, you get all of the royalties or licensing from a song. If you have someone publish for you, you would split the profits 50/50. If you and your buddy co-write a song and you use a publisher, the publisher gets 50% (100% of the publishing) of the profits and the writers get 25% each (100% writing credit split two ways). In a band with 5 members, the members would have to figure out how to split up the 100% writers credit between the 5 musicians depending on how much input each member had writing the song. The drummer usually gets nothing — just kidding, drummers!!!!

Confused yet? It gets better.

What’s a publisher? John writes: “Before recordings, songwriters earned money from sheet music printed by publishers. Today, publishers don’t print much music, but they do administrate copyrights, license songs, and collect royalties for songwriters. Most importantly, publishers pitch songs to recording artists to get cuts.”

Publishers sometimes pay for recording demos of songs and often pay writers a “draw” (a monetary advance against future royalties earned). If the writer’s songs earn money, the publisher recoups the advance through the writer’s share of royalties. If the songs never make money, the publisher takes a loss. Keep in mind that as a new writer, you won’t get offered an advance since you are unproven as a writer. Most new writers without connections in New York, Nashville, or Los Angeles will need to use a publisher to get their songs “out there.”

Do you need a publisher? Bohlinger replies: “A great publisher works wonders. Bob Dylan did not become a legend because of his first few poor-selling albums. His publisher got his songs recorded by the Byrds, the Mamas & the Papas, Peter Paul & Mary, Sonny & Cher, The Hollies, and nearly every other successful act in the ’60s. After his songs hit for others, people discovered Dylan’s own recordings. Publishing worked for Dylan, but it’s not for everybody.”

Actual Dollars: There are royalty rates, mechanical royalties, licensing, and synchronization dollars. Your music can be sold for a flat fee OR you can hope it gets picked up by a big artist, put in a movie, TV show, or video game and then collect your royalties. I won’t go into detail on the standard amounts as that would double the size of this blog post your reading and put you to sleep.

Where To Sell Your Music: This is a big one. There are probably a million places and ways to go to sell your music so I’m going to tell you about two things I tried with my $500 budget. A friend of mine who is an excellent songwriter and I teamed up to try to sell his music. The first thing I did was order a publication that I had read about called Music Row Publisher’s Special that you can buy for $30 at http://www.musicrow.com/subscribe/ (Look for the back issue title Publisher’s Special). This directory gave me the names, websites, e-mails, and addresses of the big publishers in Nashville. This was tedious work but I went to each website and searched for their submission policies. They are all different so this takes time. Some refused to accept unsolicited material but many would accept emailed files or a sample CD but they all are very strict in their guidelines. I probably sent about 60 emails or CDs and did not hear back from most of them. However, it only takes one and a couple months ago, I heard back from a publisher on one particular song that he liked, and we struck a publishing deal.

As a new songwriter, no dollars were advanced, but we do now have one of the artist’s songs in a publisher’s catalog for the next two years in Nashville being shopped to big artists. If the song gets picked up and recorded and actually sells, royalties will start showing up about a year later (the industry moves SLOW). You will inevitably receive offers from many of these places offering to “pitch your song” for a fee. Some are legit and some are not. Without knowing whom to trust (or having much of a budget), I stayed away from those offers. Again, no money has come in but the seeds were planted in hopes of some future payoff.

The other avenue we tried was using TAXI. Taxi.com claims to be the leading independent A&R company (song pitchers) in the world. Here’s the lowdown, you pay $200 for a one-year subscription to TAXI. They have listings of songs needed in different genres for publishers, movie producers, TV show producers, artist’s managers, video game designers, etc. You find a listing you want to submit to you and for $5 (per listing) you submit a song and your artist profile. Your song is then evaluated by a TAXI representative to see if they feel it fits the listing and is of high enough quality to submit to their client. If it gets through the TAXI rep, they send the song to their client and the client will contact you directly if they want to make a deal. After about 25 submissions, we had two songs make it through and were presented to TAXI clients. One was for a TV show and the other for an Australian publisher. It’s been a few months, and we haven’t heard anything yet. However, I don’t know how long it usually takes to hear back from the end client. The downside is there’s no way to prove any of these listings actually exists. You are putting quite a bit of trust in everything being printed by TAXI. The band Crossfade was signed through TAXI and became a big success, so they are held up as the gold standard for this model, but buyer beware.

So, that is how we have spent the $500. Three seeds have been planted, and we now wait to see if anything grows.

THE ODDYSEY CONTINUES…

Summary

Musicians are usually very wary of business people and for good reason. The music industry has a history littered with artists being manipulated and outright robbed by business people. Do your homework and read everything you can on music business. Information is your weapon in the music industry and you need all the weapons you can get your hands on. Many artists are frightened to outright sell a piece of music, but don’t make that mistake. I know there’s a possibility that your song could go to the top of the charts, and you will be banging your head on the wall listening to it the rest of your life. But believe me, those chances are very slim and if you’re that good, you’ll be able to write another hit. Many would argue that this is a stupid way to do business. Maybe, but if you want to make music, selling your tunes outright may be what allows you to do just that.

John offers this example: “Willie Nelson shares this philosophy. He received less than $300 in total for three of the biggest revenue-generating songs of all time — ‘Crazy,’ ‘Ain’t It Funny How Time Slips Away,’ and ‘Night Life.’ Though he lost millions on these songs, their success made people recognize his genius as an artist (and gullibility as a businessman), which led to the incredible career he’s enjoyed for over half a century. Had Willie not sold his songs for a pittance to some smarter businessmen, he may not have become Willie Nelson. Business people will exploit the talents of artists, but usually some reward makes it to the artists, enabling them to create. Sometimes the best business plan in the arts is to focus on making great art.”

Steve Stoner

Keith Franx (acoustic)
WHEN: 6 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Martinis at 515, 515 Maine

PubL1c D1sturbance and Devonte “Jonvine” Clark (rock)
WHEN: 8 a.m. Friday
WHERE: Turner Hall, 926 Hampshire
COST: $3

George Cate featuring Steve Stoner (acoustic)
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Martinis at 515, 515 Maine

Highway 99 (country)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bang’s, 138 N. Front

Ketcham Louden Live (acoustic)
WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: One Restaurant & Bar, 600 Hampshire

AD/HD (Tribute to AC/DC)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Johnny Bang Bang’s, 138 N. Front

The Cheeseburgers (classic rock)
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: The Wood Inn, Carthage, Ill.

Kevin Brashears & The Mighty Mississippi Band (country/classic rock)
WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: The Holler and Swaller Saloon, 538 Washington

Tri Point Paradox (rock)
WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: One Restaurant & Bar, 600 Hampshire

Barrington Wildfire (acoustic)
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Ridgeview Winery, Mount Sterling

More details on upcoming shows are available on the calendar page at www.thelocalq.com.

For information on bands and concert venues, go to the music page at www.thelocalq.com.

Submit details for upcoming shows at www.thelocalq.com/node/1767.

The Luna Imagine guitar

Admittedly, I spend way too much money on guitars. I’m an addict and there’s no hope for me. Unfortunately, my tastes also gravitate to the higher-end guitars that cost around $800 to $2,000. I’m asked frequently if a guitar that costs that much sounds or plays different enough from a $300 guitar to justify the expense. Probably not, but that’s for a whole different blog post. My kids probably don’t need Nike shoes when the quality of the Wal-Mart specials are about the same but they still think they “need” (and get) the Nike’s.

Stoner

I’m also frequently asked what a person should buy for themselves or their children for a starter guitar. Since I run a charity where we teach beginner guitar, I’ve become very familiar with starter guitars and have actually been able to find some very quality guitars in the $200 range. Obviously, if you are unsure whether you really want to play guitar or if you have a child that wants to learn to play, it’s best to stay in the lower end guitars just in case it gets strummed a couple of times and then shoved under the bed.

So, here’s my advice to those looking for a starter guitar.

First, figure out which type of guitar you would like to play. Would you like an electric guitar, a classical guitar, or an acoustic guitar? For new guitarists, I would suggest staying away from classical guitars. They are very cheap but the necks are much larger than acoustics, which makes them hard to play, and since they have nylon strings, you don’t get the steel string acoustic sounds that you typically hear in your favorite songs. Electric guitars are great but are usually more expensive and require an amplifier. Therefore, most starters find it is better to start with steel string acoustic guitars for the reason that it is much cheaper than an electric guitar, and it is easier to play than a classical guitar. It’s much easier later to move from acoustic to electric than to start on electric and move to acoustic because the acoustic necks are a bit larger than electric guitars. Something else to think about is whether you would want an acoustic guitar that has a built-in pickup (usually called an acoustic/electric) or just a regular, acoustic guitar without a pickup. A pickup means that the guitar has electronics inside the guitar that picks up the sounds of the strings and can transmit the sounds (through a guitar cord) to an amplifier. If you plan to eventually play the guitar in a band, at church or anywhere else where it will need amplified through a PA system or amp, it would be best to buy an acoustic/electric even though they cost a little bit more.

Aria AW-20 acoustic guitar

So let’s assume you’ve decided on an acoustic guitar to start with. Secondly, (and this is a big one), choose to buy from a local music store. I don’t say that just to support small local businesses. While that is a great reason, there is much more to it. I’ve fallen into the trap of finding guitars online that have great prices, free shipping, and in some cases avoid sales tax. However, you need to find a guitar that makes you feel comfortable. You should feel a “spark” or a “connection” to a guitar after trying out a few of them, and you can’t do that online. You also might be able to find a cheap guitar at Wal-Mart or K-Mart but you can’t try them out to compare them and you certainly can’t take it back to have the action (distance between the strings and fret board) lower or higher, or some other modification made. A local music store can help you try different options, they typically have both new and used guitars (which may help get the price lower), and they can do any type of setup work on the guitar to customize it to your liking.

So, now let’s move on to some specific brands and models. While there are literally hundreds of models and brands in this range that are good guitars, I’m going to touch on some acoustic models that I have actually played AND that you can get through local music stores in Quincy.

Dean Performer guitar

For a child, I would suggest a cool Luna guitar like I just bought for my youngest son at Second String Music. The Luna Imagine guitar costs just over $100 and is part instrument, part art project for kids. It’s a black guitar that comes with erasable markers so your child can draw pictures on the guitar. My son actually labeled the strings on the guitar with the markers and wrote down chords for a song I taught him right on the body of the guitar. The guitar comes with erasable markers and a gig bag to protect the guitar.

Fender CD-60 acoustic

For adult beginners, you can spend about $250 and get an Aria AW-20 acoustic guitar or buy a ¾ size Aria AF-20 for around $200. Both of these models are great for beginners. For around $300 you can jump up to a Dean Performer E acoustic that has a pickup and built-in tuner, spruce top and mahogany back and sides. This is a cool looking black guitar that plays and sounds great. Luna, Aria, and Dean guitars are available through Second String Music at 800 S. Eighth in Quincy.

Fender CD-60CE

For around $250, you can also buy a Fender CD-60 acoustic. This is an all-wood (spruce top and mahogany sides & back) guitar and comes with a hardshell case. It gets great reviews on all the guitar forums and is great for beginner guitarists. For an extra $50 or so you can get a Fender CD-60CE. This guitar adds electronics (hence the “E” at the end of the model number) so you can amplify the guitar if needed. It also has a cutaway (hence the “C” in the model number), which means the guitar has part of the body cutaway from where it attaches the fretboard so you can reach the higher frets. It also comes with a hardshell case, which is a nice benefit. Time To Play Music at 307 N. 36th St, Suite 107, in Quincy is an authorized Fender dealer and has these models in stock or can get them for you.

Again, I would strongly suggest going to the music stores and trying out a few guitars. See which one(s) moves you and feels comfortable. You might also see some used guitars that might move you as much or more than a new one and that’s not something you can find online or in Walmart. That will be the right guitar for you.

Oh, and if you do try to play guitar and figure out it’s just not for you, there are some great charities that can use donated guitars. See www.facebook.com/sixstringheroes for one such charity.

Steve Stoner