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You Didn't Try To Call Me... The Lingo Oh well, I wrote a lot of stuff about actual playing lately, licks, exercises, etudes etc. But one thing I learned is that, in most cases, you’ll need more than just good songs, an ability to perform them, good gear and a nice outfit. This one is more of a column, something to make you think and check out some things you might have never paid that much attention to... Unless you are able to just restrict yourself to playing at home, recording some stuff without trying to "take the next step", you will have to deal with some business stuff. Not only contracts and such (those should be read carefully, but I guess that should be common knowledge these days) - No, you also have to get in touch with people, meet some people, get your promotional material out, make contacts etc. This starts from the moment you want to play a gig (unless it’s in your own backyard, in that case you might have to deal with the police only, if you’re too loud) One good example of the business-side is: the TRADESHOW. You know the NAMM in LA and Nashville, or, in Europe, the "Musikmesse" in Frankfurt. For many of us, that’s an event we definitely wanna be at, not only to see all the cool gear (although it’s usually not a bunch of amazing new stuff every year anyway), but to get in touch with people, make contacts, spread the word. Man, I remember attending some of those tradeshows for the first time. I was really a bit naive. Every positive reaction I took as a huge success, every word, every confirmation I took for granted. And I left thinking "Man, once I get home, the phone won’t stop ringing, cuz I really made some awesome contacts here". And boy oh boy, was I crushed after a few days of the phone NOT ringing. And I remembered the advice of a more experienced friend of mine "Dude, don’t take everything for granted, don’t believe in every promise... this is a lot of politics. Don’t set your expectations too high, you’ll most likely be disappointed if you do". I soon learned that there were a bunch of common phrases that even became running gags among some of us "Dude, we really got to get together one day and jam" ... "I will call you up. We have to get together and record something". "Sure, I can get you a job as a touring guitarist. I’ll call you up". "Once I get home, I’ll immediately send you one of my CDs and then I’ll get in touch with you". I also learned that often, those are just common phrases that are dropped without any intention to actually do what was said. Or that it was just one way to say "I really am busy right now, so please go away, maybe I’ll get in touch (if I still remember you in about 15 minutes)". For them, it was just the common "lingo", while I really believed every word and took it as a huge success. Just because I really didn’t have a clue. So you might wanna write down rule No.1: - Take nothing for granted as long as you ain’t got it on paper with a signature. Now, I don’t wanna come over as completely negative or whatever. All this applies to a bunch of people, not all of them. I have met some great guys who really stood by their word and did what they said they would. Guys like Paul Rivera, Steve Blucher etc. are really fun to deal with cuz they mean what they say. But in general, don’t put your expectations too high and get used to the "lingo". See, you usually have your goals and expectations. In the beginning, you lack experience, and if some "big guy" just says a casual "Maybe we should stay in touch" we tend to interpret too much into this. Consider this: Sure, you are proud to hand your demotape (or CD) to someone, and you are sure that it’s good, and you expect that person to really pay attention to it. But you shouldn’t forget that there are a BUNCH of guys who hand those "Big guys" a demo-tape, a press-folder, or whatever. They do have a lot of stuff to listen to, and a lot of business to take care of themselves. Often, they try to be nice, and they wouldn’t go "Listen, this is about the 60th demo I received today... I really won’t have time to listen to it"... Instead, they take it. But don’t expect them to run home and listen to it for a few days. Consider yourself lucky if he / she does listen to it at all. After all, that’s the way it is: these days, everyone seems to have a demo. It also takes a lot of experience to decide how to go on after you gave someone a demo. Usually, you go home and you expect a fast response within a few days. If that doesn’t happen, you gotta decide whether you wanna wait some more (usually a good choice) or check what’s going on by sending an Email or calling that person. But you gotta consider that sometimes, people like it if you really show some determination and actually call them up to say "Hey, I was wondering whether you checked it out", while others might think that that is a sign of impatience, and an annoying thing to do. So you gotta decide. Usually it’s better to wait, unless you are really convinced that that person might be impressed by you hurrying up the process. No business like... Now, here comes a sad fact about the business: I told you that (at least in my opinion) there are some really great people in the business. People who care and really are still enthusiastic about stuff. Guys who remember how THEY felt when they were starting out. At the same time, there are a bunch of people who have some problems... they enjoy and need that feel of power, so they let you wait. Or they simply don’t care about whether they hurt you or not. Remember: the music business IS a business, and it’s about profit. That’s sad but true. And the guys who really get out of their way to get back to you, to give you a reply, or to give you a chance, are rare. (But they are there, I know it!) Sure, it would be awesome if everything could be based on trust, if we all would decide things based on our love for music etc. But usually, that’s not the case. It’s the business side. It takes contracts, signatures, a bunch of paperstuff. It sure can be a pain in the neck to have to make contracts about your rehearsal room, the payment for the show you’re gonna play, the copyrights and all that. But it’s rather stupid to not take care of that stuff and get ripped off without having a chance to do anything about it. What do you think made Steve Morse leave the music business twice? Or how about Shawn Lane and the stuff he recently went through? How about the biographies of Joe Cocker, Van Halen, Prince ...? As sad as it is, if you wanna be a professional musician, you have to know some stuff about business... taxes, contracts, the legal side. Don’t think this is fun for me either. But man, I got ripped off seriously a few times. Not only money that was stolen or gear I was ripped off... no, it was about my motivation and enthusiasm. Cuz getting ripped off hurts. And it can really push you to the point where you just wanna get out. There are several good books about contracts and legal stuff in the music biz, and also some websites dealing with that topic. It sure sucks that you have to make a contract before you can do what you love, but hey... does this sound familiar: Owner of the venue: "Dudes, I can’t recall that I said I’d pay you 60% of what I get from selling tickets. I said 10%. Do you have a prove I said 60%? Here are your $20, get out of here!" Bandmate who was kicked out: "Hey, remember the song we wrote? Well, actually, I wrote it. Or can you prove me the opposite? Didn’t copyright it? Too bad! I am gonna play it with my band". At the show: "Who said you’d get a meal before the show? No contract? Well, then I guess you either gotta pay or go someplace else to eat". I know that all this might sound discouraging. But seriously, this kinda stuff happens. It’s a biz, after all, and if you wanna be part of it, you need more than just chops, cool songs and a great amp. You need to educate yourself a bit, and make sure you have some security. As long as you stay home and just jam some with some friends, or record some tunes for your girl / boyfriend, you don’t have to worry that much (unless you upload this song as an MP3 to a MP3-site... believe it or not, some of those may rip you off, so you really should check out the digital contract they show you once you apply for your MP3-space... read it!) But once you wanna play some gigs, or record some stuff in the studio, or have your music being sold or broadcasted, or wanna tour as a "hired gun", you need to remember that it is a business, and just like in every other business, you gotta deal with a lot more than just that weird chord or the wide stretches required to play a certain scale. Don’t let some of the "common behaviour" discourage you. Deal with it. Write your songs, work on them, work on your performance, be confident about it, and then make sure everything is secure. And maybe one day you might be able to pay someone to take care of this for you... but make sure to make a contract so he / she won’t... you know the drill... Some of this might be common knowledge, some of it might be new to you. And it’s dang far away from stretch pentatonics and alternate picking. But this packet of advice, to me, is just as important to give away as all the licks and exercises I showed you. Just like I tell my students about chords, scales, techniques, I tell them about related stuff like performing on stage, setting up gear and paying attention to the business-side of things. Cuz you have to deal with all of that in most cases. And you gotta learn about contracts and stuff just as you have to learn about how to fret an Em11... Hope this was of interest for you... use the web, ask some colleagues, make sure you check into it... what did Frank Zappa say... "If you’re ignorant, you can become a victim". OK, I’ll now shut up and play my guitar |
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