Last week I was invited to speak at the inaugural night of the Henley Business College's newest course. The school is leading the world by creating the first ever Music MBA. Backed by the music industry and spearheaded by an inspirational programme director Helen Gammons, the aim is to train a new generation of music executives in the business of music. My background in PR and now Artist management should make for an interesting addition to the course which covers all aspects of the industry from copyright law to merchandising, licensing and sync deals and beyond.
Talking about the music as a business is always a heady conversation, the music business is one of this country's biggest export, and contributes billions to UK Plc. As everyone knows though, the industry has struggled to modernise in the digital revolution and is licking its wounds over what might have been. On a positive note, the business is still vibrant with creative minds and young innovators and in talking to some of the first intake of students at Henley, its clear that they still see a big future in music as a business. My input is from the front line, which for the aspiring business leaders who will walk away with a Music MBA, should hopefully provide an invaluable insight into the realities of managing artists and bands in Music 2.0.
The main problem facing any aspiring act is where to find the first investment, that first 10 or 20 grand to record an album, another 20k or so to fund some grassroots marketing for three months and get the band on the road. Where to go to for that first 30, 40, 50 grand is becoming increasingly more difficult and there is a huge funding gap opening up, which artists are falling headlong into and being spat out of before they've even dared to dream. There was a day when record labels both major and indie signed acts, developed them, recorded some demos and invested time and money on potential. Those days are gone. Getting on the ladder even one rung nowadays requires a minimum of 50 grand and that's just to get started, labels are expecting online presence, press profile and radio plays and in some cases significant record sales before picking up an act, polishing them and presenting them as their own new signing.
This is a hot topic of conversation in the industry and a huge problem for everyone involved in developing the artists of tomorrow. I went to see an amazing band play on friday night at the Windmill in Brixton. They're called Low Moon Low and to me they represent the future of music. Amazing songs with complex melodies, incredible dual lead vocalists and a standard of musicianship you dont see that often. One to watch. Fortunately for them they've got me as a manager and interest already from a very cool label who have a real talent for picking up on bands early and giving them their first chance.
It really is an exciting time in the music industry, on Monday the Live Music Act came into law which means venues under 200 capacity can now host music and gigs without a licence... this is great news and hopefully will spawn a new era of bands to discover, bolster the live music scene and lead to a next music revolution, that is long overdue.
Finally, I hear that Radio 1 is changing and next year the promised charge of indie guitar bands to stave off the relentless rise and rise of the electronic beat and dub-step meltdown will arrive. This can only be good for all of us. More choice, more bands, more live venues, it's all good. But what to do about funding... to get there in the first place.. Nathan Graves CEO of music investment vehicle Imperial Music & Media plc has this to say, "Getting music ventures funded has never been more difficult.
Music Publishers and Labels have never been more selective and might only provide secondary funds to your business plan after you have proved some traction with fan followings or proved that key industry players have supported you. The problem is nowadays, they often follow, but rarely lead. Where they are essential still is in supplying hi-octane fuel to your campaign and global distribution when required. Private investment is the most interesting path to independence with friends and family topping the list of angel funds, along with a smattering of new VC start ups more recently. Where else do the investment funds get a high risk high return? Mining, Property, Gold, Technology....why not back a music property?"
I agree and would love to to see the industry and the government doing something proactive about funding bands. It's true, that the UKTI does sponsor British bands for things like getting out to showcase events like US festival SXSW and overseas trade missions, but that's not where the main problem lies. There are things like Kickstarter, Icebreaker and Pledge Music, which offer funding models to some degree or the other, but so far I don't know of any act that has broken properly from this kind of set up.
What I'd love to see is a BBC Introducing style system set up. Where new acts are selected for early funding opportunities democratically and based on direct feedback from fans aswell as industry buzz. They'd get an efficient budget to record with and enough money to get up and running; there is of course "so much that can be done online these days". The gaping great hole left by major labels, publishers and the bigger indies needs filling and filling quick else who will be filling the stadiums of 2050?