Act II – Caught in the Crossfire 

So we now know this band got bad advise from a manager to latch on to a popular trend and it did pay off, they scored two hit singles from their debut album and it looked like things were starting to really take off for them. But two things were about to happen to them that they had absolutely no control over and couldn’t see coming, that would utterly blindside them and they would never recover. 

Unbeknownst to the band and their manager at the time, the head of their label (which was a subsidiary of a larger label) was vying for the presidency of the parent label. The head of the parent label didn’t take too kindly to this and since he had all the real power, he retaliated by trying to undermine the success of the subsidiary. It’s the age old pissing contest in a corporate board room and unfortunately as often happens, those who are involved with the power play come out smelling like a rose at the end but the careers of those under them are destroyed.  This band along with a few other emerging bands on that label got caught in the crossfire and because of the head of their label’s aspirations these bands paid the ultimate price with their careers. 

This band in particular got hit hard because after the success of their debut album which enjoyed decent sales for a first effort, they were trying to make up for the mistake of latching on to the popular image at the time and really toned down their look and instead decided to make an album that would quiet all of their critics and those who labeled them just another band in the cattle heap jumping on the band wagon at the end of a trend in music. It almost worked. 

This band’s sophomore album was light years ahead of their debut and instantly won them critical praise. Their star seemed on the rise with radio, the music press and even MTV paying attention but that buzz ended almost overnight when the band was blindsided by the battle going on in the corporate boardroom. The head of the parent label pulled out all the stops and took away all support for the artists on the subsidiary. So as this band watched their first single start to get airplay and climb the charts, all of a sudden radio stopped playing the song. Why? Because the head of the parent label actually instructed the label’s radio promoters to have radio stations and MTV pull the song from rotation. Even worst, is the band had an opening spot on one the biggest tours of that summer and without explanation they were told that the tour was off. 

So the band was stuck holding the bag, they had created the album of their career, were hailed by critics and were actually making end roads into re-establishing themselves as a band above the current trend in music, trying to shake off the shackles of that image with their new album, when the rug was pulled out from under them. By the time some people at the label leveled with them and told them what was happening, it was too late. 

They knew that their album wasn’t going to get promoted by the label and was dead in the water. They could have returned to the studio to record a new album but they knew it too would be dead on arrival. So their manager advised them to file bankruptcy to get out of their record deal. Which they did.  Luckily, they were immediately picked up by another big label and given a much smaller deal that would allow them to carry on and have a chance at salvaging their career. 

But the miscalculation of going with a certain image trend backfired on them and even through they had tried to divorce themselves from that scene with their second album, with their label pulling out all support for that CD, they were unable to break free of the image of their first album. In the mean time, that trend was replaced by an entirely new one and when this band’s third album came out a few things worked against them. One, the image which they had thrown away almost as fast as they embraced it, still hung over their heads and worse was the fact that their new label’s approach to promoting them was all wrong. This label had very little experience with rock bands so to them success rested firmly on the top 40 charts, unfortunately the kind of music needed to break the top 40 at that time was a death sentence for a rock band. The label head convinced the band to include two power ballads on what was otherwise a strictly hard rockin’ album. Needless to say, when it came time to promote the album, the label miscalculated and misread the rock scene at the time and went with the ballads. So that album was doomed from the start. In the meantime, the band’s manager had went overboard during the recording of the album and rented lavish hotel suites, was being shuffled around in a rented Rolls Royce and brought in fancy catering to the studio, and even had the band go back in to the studio with an expensive producer after the album was completed to rerecord the two ballads to make them more “pop.”  So at the end of the day, even with the deal they struck and the amount of albums they did sell, the band should have walked away with a modest profit, but due to lavish expenses run up by their manager they were once again in the hole to the record company. 

Shortly after that the band left that label and finally severed ties with their manager, who had lead them so far astray it’s not even funny. Since then, the band has released a number of albums on independent labels, all of which were met with critical praise and if they would have had some muscle behind them in the promotion department, they could have been huge hits, but sadly so many things went wrong for this band in the early days and they were compromised to such an extreme by their management and record labels that they never stood a chance. Even though the music warrants success, sadly this band will never have an honest shot at it and that is just another thing about the music industry that not only deeply saddens me, it pisses me off to no end. What the hell is wrong with an industry that screws over bands that produce quality music, while mediocre bands top the charts?  Will the roaster eventually come home to roost? Will these kinds of practices backfire on managers and labels eventually forcing them to change? Will artists finally start taking charge of their own careers and sidestep shyster lawyers, corrupt managers and record labels that are out to screw them?  It may have to get worst before it can get better but looking at the current musical landscape, I can’t see how it could possible get any worst with even the record labels losing money by sticking to their old tried and true practices. Something has to break soon, but also bands need to know going in that some of the people that are supposed to be looking out for their best interest are actually only out for themselves. 

Act III - It's Really Up to Us

Great music will always be made as long as there are people who love it and are inspired to make it. But the sad fact of the matter is there may be a whole wealth of incredible music for us to chose from but we will never have the chance to hear it, simply because we don’t know it exists. I don’t know the overall lesson or moral of this story; it might just be a sad commentary on how the music business works but then again it’s important for people to know that the problem exist so they know that it has to be changed. The record industry is currently fighting a desperate battle against the winds of change and the promise of the Internet. We are not nearly at the point where the net will make a fundamental difference for quality bands, but the writing is on the walls. The bands and the fans know that the old ways don’t work and hopefully someday we will no longer have stories like this to tell. We will have a music industry where the bands are able to reach the fans directly and also make a decent living. But at this point that is just a pipe dream and the entire foundation of the music industry would have to change for that to happen. 

The first step is recognizing the problem and now it’s time to look for solutions. One thing you can do as a fan is to go out and support local and independent music. If you hear of a great local or indy band, tell everyone you know about them, drag those friends to the shows, buy the indy CD’s. It has to start at the grassroots and if every serious music fan made the effort to support just one indy or local band, the effect could be tremendous. It’s up to us to keep the real music scene alive. We can’t count on radio, MTV or the record industry to do that. 

Keep this band’s story in mind the next time you see a listing for a local or indy band playing at a club or theater near you. Because that is where you will find them playing today and despite all of the setbacks and roadblocks placed in their way, they have kept one thing burning in their hearts, it’s about the music. While they have been robbed of their chance to become hugely successful, they continue year after year to carry on because in the end what’s important is they love music and will go through hell and back to keep making it. That’s why it’s up to us to support them and all struggling bands because they are doing it for us and because they love the music. At the end of the day that’s what the music industry should really be about, the music. It’s up to us to help bring that about. No amount of ranting or complaining about how terrible the music mainstream is will bring about the changes needed to give the music industry back to the fans and the honest musicians. It’s up to us to help that happen, so look around town for where live music is being performed and take a chance on the unknown bands playing there. True, the bands may be terrible, but then again you’re future favorite band could being playing right down the street as you read this. I’m not naïve enough to think that this will help fundamentally change the music industry but it’s a good start in that direction and we have to begin somewhere. 
 

FAN SPEAK: Agree or Disagree?  It's your turn, what do you think? 

Fan Speak:

Posted by vae:
In the beginning, before there was vinyl (recorded music that is) and record companies, everything was performed live and it was mainly of a local nature, with local talent. In my hometown, in Charleston, WV there was a time when you could turn on the radio or TV and hear/see your family; friends and co-workers make music “live”. I caught the tail end of it as a child. Your readers would be served well by getting a copy of “Mountain Boys Are Free” and learning something about the LEA act; the early days of the music industry, the music business and how the musicians lived and what they sacrificed and lived through. The business practices of the current music industry model are probably capitalism at its very worse. On the music end of it, I hear and see beautiful young girls, blessed with great voices that have no creative or artistic ability what–so-ever. I hear guy bands that can’t read or write music, play an instrument, much less sing. The actual bands I hear are little better than a garage band. Most of these people haven’t paid enough dues to have developed technically much less creatively. I’m sure this will piss some of the younger readers off, but there are some outstanding artists in this country who have and will never amount to anything in the business, because they are just to authentic and the industry doesn’t like that. The music industry wants “players”, individuals with no character that they can manipulate. That’s the bottom line, unfortunately. 

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