Do you recall Phil Stacey of American Idol fame? He was lucky in making the cut, and not everyone can. Being lucky is no longer needed if you have the right team supporting the building of your success.
Known Pitfalls
In a 2012 article by Steve Knopper in Rolling Stone Music, he wrote “Over the past decade-plus, the old-fashioned way of making money in the music business – selling recorded albums – has dropped off a cliff, splintered into a zillion pieces and been run over by that methylene train from Breaking Bad. Many top stars have switched their focus to selling concert tickets; while this is a prudent plan, generally speaking, it's getting trickier now that everyone else is on the road with the same idea. But there's still money out there. Pop stars just have to be creative. "Despite the fact that the traditional ways to make money are challenged – record sales and tickets in particular – there are ways for artists to exploit their talents that didn't exist 10 years ago," says Gary Stiffelman, a veteran music-business attorney who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Eminem and Lady Gaga.”But what are those ways? You can go to REVERBNATION for 10 examples, some of which are OK, or turn to advice from sources such as Music News Austin. I sort of like what Zac Shaw wrote in his article “Answering the Question, “How Do Musicians Make Money in a Free Culture?”:
“First, I need to dispel this myth that musicians are getting paid by the people consuming their music. In fact, it is the labels, publishers and performing rights organizations that get paid and then distribute money to musicians. Along the way, that money is subject to all manner of recoupment, administrative fees and questionable distribution formulas that favor corporate-backed music enterprises. So forget about this idea that when you buy music, the musician is making money. Too often, musicians making money is the exception to the rule.”
“Second, I need to dispel another myth — that when musicians make money, it’s because their music is good, or at least popular. It’s certainly much harder to make money off of bad music, though a casual glance at the Billboard top 100 shows it can be done if you throw enough money at the problem.”The only drawback to Zac’s article is his last line, “And remember, true musicians don’t make music to make money. We continue to rock whether it pays the bills or not.” True musicians do want to make money just like everyone one else in the world… if for no other reason than to simply be able to afford doing what they love, and that is where Conquer Entertainment shines. The UnLabel takes away both of Zac’s myths and much more. The idea that a musician has to throw money around in order to be successful is no longer an issue and when a musician signs up as an, UnLabel doors begin to open in many ways.
