I work in the music industry, am a musician, a CrossFitter, and generally interested in human development in all aspects. I'm also immature and love laughing at absurd things and poop jokes.
Once our airplane pulled up to it’s gate in the Cairo airport, we stood up to leave the plane…actually, I’m not sure if what I technically did could be qualified as standing. I got one leg into the aisle and my knees slightly bent before being sandwiched in between two men who ABSOLUTELY had to be the NEXT person into the aisle.
Eventually we made our way off the plane, grabbed our visas from the bank just outside immigration and then proceeded through customs.
As soon as we stepped towards the exit we had several people asking us if we needed a taxi. This is standard practice in Egypt. We refused the first two or so fellows and then a man in a suit approached. I was intent, instead, on talking to the information desk and communicated this to the man in the suit. He then proceeded to walk us over to the desk, lean in and blatantly say something to the man at the desk in Arabic.
I don’t pretend to be a great thinker and while I’m fairly well-educated and somewhat street smart, I also won’t pretend that I know a lot about the ways of the world. But you see I do know that leaning in and whispering to your buddy in your mother tongue in front of foreigners means scam. And I also know how to use google, and google knows a ton. And from it I had learned that a cab ride from the airport to our hotel should probably cost us around 60 L.E. (Egyptian Pounds).
So the man behind the desk tells us that a cab should cost roughly 115 LE (only 20 US Dollars!) and I was just about to scoff and turn heel when Mary said “That sounds great!” I sighed but I was determined. I knew 115 was way too much. I knew it should really only cost around 60. I also knew I was going to end up paying too much for a cab.
Luckily, what people don’t count on, is that I don’t mind awkward silence. This pays dividends in negotiations. At first I tried communicating, telling the guy “you know, I looked on google and I know it should only cost around 60LE” to which he responded “huh?”
It was then I decided to just stand there as the language barrier makes silence probably about the best negotiating tactic a foreigner has. That and turning to leave altogether. Anyway, We finally settled on 100LE and while I wasn’t thrilled, I was at least happy I won a little bit back, go USA!
When stepping up to the curb to wait for the cab, we were then introduced to a guy on the “tourism board” who flashed us a badge covered in plastic and written entirely in Arabic. Again, I’m no genius but I’m fairly certain that even if a tourism board actually DOES exist in Cairo, or at least even a good fake one does, there’d be some English on the credentials.
The guy basically hops in the cab with us for the first few kilometers trying to convince us to go see the sunrise over the pyramids right now. Luckily Mary was prepared and had read that this would happen and smartly told him we were meeting a friend at the hotel but would take his card and contact him later. The driver pulled around and dropped him off once the decline was official.
Basically what I learned, and re-learned over and over again, is how the standard Egyptian Ponzi scheme works:
1) A guy comes up to you an offers you a service. This is NOT the guy who actually provides the service.
2) The guy offering the service comes around, pays off the first guy, and then either:
a. Introduces you to another guy with a different service.
b. Offers you a different service of his own.
(in both cases, this secondary service costs more, and will also guarantee that you’ll be introduced to yet more people with more services).
3) Tip all involved parties.
I also learned that basically everything there is negotiable. What I really wanted to try, but didn’t get a chance to because I thought of it too late, was to do the following when I needed a service (in this case, a taxi):
*Andy is walking and leaving hotel, headed towards taxi guys*
Taxi Guy: You need ta—
Andy: *run enthusiastically up to taxi guy’s car, shake hand, smile emphatically* Allahn! Ezayak?! I have 50LE and was told you give the best ride in all of Cairo for this! Let’s go! *hop in the car, close the door*
I think it’d work like a CHARM. You’re in the car, you’ve got your 50 LE note out, and there’s basically nothing anyone can do to get you out at this point…though the country is ruled by martial law so I suppose it could be a bad idea.
Anyway, we arrived at our hotel, dropped our stuff, and pretty much immediately headed to the Pyramids. Mary and I were both impressed with the size of the pyramids – you see them on TV and they give you dimensions but it doesn’t even come near doing it justice in real life. These things are huge! We made three basic stops on the tour.
Stop 1 is at the base of the big-daddy pyramid in Ghiza, right near where you get your ticket. There are some good shots to be had at the corners of the thing, while a straight-on view gives a nice idea of how large, and what an amazing human feat it was, to build something of this stature back then.
Mary next to the big daddy pyramid
Scammers are everywhere near the pyramids. We were approached in a couple of ways:
1) Friendly old man in ethnic garb offers his hand in friendship to me, tells me “Welcome to Cairo!” and then says “you should take a picture of us!” to Mary. I guarantee had we complied, the next thing would have been “100 pounds please!”
Mary holding the pyramid!
2) Friendly young man comes up and says “you must come this way, the best pictures are from this angle!” Arguably, he was right. There’s a shot of Mary ‘holding’ the pyramid between her two fingers but in general it’s a great view. The advice was free. He then tries to get himself into the photo. After we refused, he then says “okay well at least put this on” and tries to put an ethnic head-dress on Mary. Again, denied.
Our tour guide was great and came running over and shooed these two imbeciles away. These guys are generally easy to avoid as, even though they’re aggressive about getting you to do what they want, they remain very friendly so just keep saying no.
Stop 2 you basically head around the main pyramid and up a hill to a really nice view of the big guy on the left and then two smaller pyramids on the right. There’s also a camel-patch here where you can partake in a camel ride! Our guide was nice enough to help us negotiate for a decent rate and we had a blast. I even took a video of the first minute, and one of the dismount.
Stop 3 was the Sphinx. The Sphinx is pretty cool, not as big as I thought it would be but nevertheless pretty inspiring to see in person. The scamming in this area falls off, however the vendors and their crappy trinkets run amuck being either funny or obnoxious trying to get your attention.
I’d also like to point out that if you’re a female and headed to Egypt, for the love of Pete, wear clothes. We saw so many young ladies dressed entirely inappropriately and you’re basically asking for unwanted gropes and grabs if you do so – you also make your home country look like idiots – so: cover shoulders, and legs below the knee. It’s that easy.
After we declined the souvenir shopping stop on the tour, we headed back to the hotel, tipped the driver and guide, and went upstairs and collapsed. That night was pretty uneventful, we simply headed to a nearby restaurant with Egyptian food and then hit the sack!
It was an awesome day, a great introduction to Egypt’s rich history. The next day would bring the Cairo Museum and lunch with another gracious friend!
Comparing and contrasting these two industries is an interesting exercise. One continues to fail in most all areas, while one continues to grow in most all areas. One focuses mainly on lawsuits and legislature. One focuses on perfectionist design.
Subscription content continues to make meager headway into the mass market. Music publishing (licensing) continues to generate growth. RIAA continues to try using the law to restrict access to copyright. Major labels are still run mostly by lawyers and boards of trustees who have little to no knowledge of music licensing, how it works, and why its successful. Steve Jobs and Apple have ALWAYS put design first and will continue to do so. Apple has just had it’s first $50-billion quarter. Streaming is inconvenient when no wireless connection is available. Apple products go out of their way to make things convenient – not free – but convenient. Apple just passed RIM in their market share. Apple sells copyrighted content and devices that access, and utilize that content seamlessly. The music industry has access to loads of copyrighted content and executes its exploitation poorly. The music industry consecutively sees revenues fall.
What can the music industry learn from a company like Apple? What can Apple learn from companies like WMG and EMI? If you had to rate Pandora as a music provider, what would you give it on a scale of 1 to 10? How would you rate Apple as a music provider? If you had to rate your iPod as a music player and content purchasing device, what would you rate it? How would you rate Pandora as a music retailer? How do you rate a major label as a music retailer? Post your thoughts to the comments!
Yesterday I came across this article about selling out by Paul Resnikoff from Digital Music News. As usual Paul brings some interesting points, this time to a discussion about selling out.
My response is – isn’t selling out the point? Or, if it isn’t, at what point does making money from music become selling out? Surely when a band posts their music on iTunes they’re not hoping to make zero dollars? Of course not, they’re looking to sell as much music as they can.
Is there then a dollar amount that you’re allowed to make and still be considered safe from the label of being a sell-out? If so, what might it be?
No, in fact there are not logical answers to these questions. Artists make music first because they love it, and then they try to disperse their labor of love in order to get something back from it – why should it matter what the income stream is? Especially at these times when there seems to be so much uncertainty about the music business model.
I’d also argue that if an artist garners the attention of a brand, chances are they’ve already sold out many concerts and had success in album sales, synch fees, merchandise, etc.
Instead, I’d offer that those labeling artists as sell-outs are merely doing so out of jealousy or worse still because of some ridiculous musical value-system. If the latter is the case it seems silly to criticize a band on getting paid to promote a brand when the real critique should be focused on the music itself. Those are two VERY different things.
Selling out is the goal. That’s why artists do what they do – to sell out. They want to support themselves by making music and I see no problem with that. If fans do then they’re deluding themselves – I can guarantee that pretty much everyone I know would take money just to wear, drink, or use something that they already enjoy doing.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think – should artists accept income from brands? Why or why not?
Over the past five years I’ve done thousands of music searches. Yes, thousands. Whether looking for music for a television promo, commercial, or film trailer there are some very consistent ideas that come across from my clients. One of those is build.
Music that builds is key in advertising of any kind (for a product, film, or show) because the goal is to tell a story, hopefully an interesting one, and do it in limited time.
Granted like any other rule there are exceptions to this one, generally speaking though it holds true. Take a listen to some of your most recent songs and ask yourself – is this going anywhere? Watch a few trailers, commercials, and TV promos and ask yourself “if I put my music under this, would it help drive the story along?”
Perhaps the best question you can ask yourself is: Does my music tell a story on it’s own? Where’s the beginning, middle, where’s the end? Even better try asking your friends to identify it for you and see what they say.
If your songs do build you’ll have a much greater chance of getting licensed than if they’re fairly static or even-keeled, which means you’ll have a better chance at making some money and getting great exposure with your music.
If you’re a musician you’re use to living in patterns. iii-vi-ii-V-I, circle of fifths (or cycle of fourths if you prefer), and so on. Patterns literally surround and encompass everything musically and help give loose structure to the art form. This structure can be manipulated, modulated, changed, transformed and broken altogether for the sake of making a great new sound.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about what advice musicians should take to heart; how to get the most bang for their buck when it comes to all the questions that entail getting a song licensed or expanding their audience.
In the end, it comes down to recognizing patterns in everything you do and improving them. Music practice applies to everything in life – business, health, success and failure in general. So what can you learn from yourself? What lessons might you already know?
Approach every problem or obstacle in your life like practicing your craft. Identify the goal of practicing (is it notes in a particular phrase? a complex rhythm? or do you just want to improve your fluency in a given key signature?), set out the tasks to help you improve at it (slowly go over notes, break down complex rhythms, identify scales/chords/passages in the key), and most importantly get started.
Even if what you decide to work on or how you start to solve a problem doesn’t turn out to be the most efficient, you’ll still learn a ton – both about yourself, and the problem at hand. Set a goal, make a plan, and get started.
At the BBMiA conference waaaay back in June I was simply blown away by Kid Rock. Not having really listened to his music (other than not really liking Bawitdaba’s radio domination years ago) I wasn’t sure what to expect.
What I heard at his keynote was:
1) A guy who has worked his butt off from day 1.
2) Someone who’s taken the time to learn ALL aspects of his craft (creative, business, etc).
3) A very down to earth individual with a fantastic outlook on life.
…and more. I was able to record some of the Q&A at the end of the session with my phone and I’m posting it here. I hope you enjoy it!
While it’s definitely been a great summer with a lot of big changes for me I haven’t been able to write as much as I would have liked about current issues in copyright and the music industry.
However, some big news! I’ve got a panel proposed for the 2011 iteration of South by Southwest! I’m very excited to have the opportunity to share with artists some really great details about getting music used in advertising, TV, and film. However, I need people to vote for it first! The following is a link to my panel and it’s description so give it a read and then give it a thumbs up!
Note: You do have to be registered on the SXSW 2011 Panel Picker, however it’s completely free, and very fast. To find my panel, you can also copy/paste the title into the search box after you’ve registered.
Just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know that I’ll be at the Billboard Music in Advertising conference for the next two days. Keep your eyes here for thoughts on the keynotes!
The music in the ad was obviously created by editing video of people doing various things with Craftsman products. The composer/editor in this case was Kutiman (the internet sensation from a while back who created music from various YouTube clips he put together).
Adweek’s Mark Dolliver critiques:
But the percussive sounds achieved here by using Craftsman tools in oddball fashion just don’t seem all that interesting. When a saw is used to create a rasping sound as it scrapes a cinder block, I feel like telling it not to quit its day job. No doubt some viewers will feel differently. But the self-consciously artsy approach seems like a mismatch for the audience of people who buy and use Craftsman tools.
While I agree the spot leaves something to be desired I’d offer up that the spot not captivating the viewer has less to do with trying to “artsy” but more because it’s lacking two simple components: build, and melody. It’s definitely edited well and the beat it creates is nice, but when a client asks me for music they typically ask for something that builds (or “goes somewhere”), is relatively positive, and then they’ll drill down to whatever specific sounds strike their fancy for the brand.
If you watch the spot again closely you’ll notice beats being layered throughout but the layering doesn’t really create a build, and serves to muddle sonically as more elements are added. When the spot ends you don’t wander away humming anything, just perhaps thinking “that was clever” or in Mr. Dolliver’s case something written with more @’s and &’s.
Since the spot is focused explicitly on creating music with tools, to my ears the error was made in not creating a more melodic soundtrack that “goes somewhere.”
For a final thought I’d like to throw out this old Nike commercial:
Even something as simple as the squeak of the sneaker allows you to create a melody – a very simple one no doubt, but listen carefully! There’s build, it sticks out above the beat of the rest of the commercial, and also the focus on the underlying beat was a more simple approach and doesn’t take away from the sneaker squeak. In fact when harkening back to this spot, I immediately started humming the rhythm sneaker-squeak melody.
Overall I think the Craftsman spot is still pretty cool and Kutiman definitely deserves kudos for his editing skill, but the music itself leaves a little something to be desired to really drive the commercial home.
Doing my industry reading like a good music biz employee today I came across an article by Paul Resnikoff on Digital Music News. The article – “What Coachella is Telling Us” – speculates that the economics of the current festival/live performance aspects of the music business could be highlighting a trend: Fans discovering music online as freebies causing a drive upward in concert revenue. He mentions that even in the face of the current economic situation ticket prices are still soaring – and selling.
I’ve never been a proponent of artists giving away music in hopes that exposure will grow, however now that I’ve been at my job for 5 years I can definitely see some interesting prospects for acts that are starting to gain a somewhat significant following (we’ll say 1,000+ followers).
While Paul seems to indicate that bands giving away free music could maybe might just somehow lead to increased ticket sales perhaps, I’d argue that music should still never be “free.” However fans can offer a value even if it isn’t in cold hard cash.
Bands looking to gain some sort of monetary value from their music can go about it in various ways and I feel one of those channels should definitely not be selling an album to the mass populous. Well, at least not at first. But what Paul suggests – giving music away can drive concert revenue – is actually getting close to not a bad idea. Let’s take it one step further though.
Value fans can give:
1) Free PR (Word of Mouth, Blogging, Twitter, etc)
2) Free Distribution (burning CDs, emailing files, etc)
3) Money (concert revenue, album sales, merchandise, etc)
4) Connections (Music supervisors, ad agency producers, etc)
I’m sure there are more but these are a good start. As a band on the cusp, I’d say the main goal is to generate money with music. That means doing two things: Live performances and Licensing. Fans can help do both though point 4 above is far less likely until points 1 and 2 have reached a tipping point.
After reviewing this info, a band might then post something on their website offering fans some sort of value (perhaps a few mp3′s or discount code for merchandise or concert ticket discounts) based on the following:
1) Email address entry (increase mailing list/following)
2) Material dissemination (some sort of referral program for the mailing list)
3) Money (naturally, paying for the tracks should always be an option – low cost at first of course. Also, buying them a track could earn them a discount on merchandise or concert tickets)
4) Professional introduction (I’m not sure exactly how this would work, but it could be a very lucrative opportunity for a band so the reward should be fairly high for the connected fan)
In all I think Paul definitely makes some valid points about how the industry is being more and more shaped towards live performances since that’s a great way to make money as a musician. However, giving music away for free, I think, is always foolish. Think about the value your fan-base can bring to you, and reward them for it – quid pro quo. Thousands of businesses do this already (Gilt Group, ING Direct, and more) and the sooner you start treating your music like a business, the faster you’ll start to generate income from it.
