Ryan's Gig Guide - February 2019

Welcome to the music industry Being brutally honest, the majority of young and mature independent musicians, from their own experiences, have the opinion that the main- stream music scene does not welcome them with open arms and I'm going to explain why. Ever seen the enormous list of animators cred- ited to a single Marvel film?Well, it's a large paid team, none of the names run the show or are likely to be known by you and all of them played a crucial role in shaping the final product (a movie). Now take a look at the credits to any album (product) by a major artist released by a record company; it's minuscule in comparison but there are various jobs involved in its cre- ation. Now imagine that behind every major recording artist or band there's always been teams behind the scenes paid to be responsible for everything you see, hear or know about their clients and they are battling to keep their jobs due to a difficult musical climate. Success and playing the long game Think about it. No mater how much talent you personally possess, unless you can hurl cash at those established as working within the corri- dors of the mainstream music industry then they'll not even consider you as part of it or ac- knowledge you even exist; in fact if you've pushed hard your music career independently off your own back then you and your music are arguably unwanted smaller competition stood in their way; the more you succeed the greater chance you and your ideas threaten their liveli- hood and income. I speculate that it's always, to an extent, been this way. If the mainstream music industry is so inviting and angelic by design then ask yourself why it has a shark infested moat of human excrement around it? Establishing a major artist & the fabrication of pop glitter dung There's an entire job industry with different di- visions and expense that lead to the final con- crete product (an album or single release); songwriters are compensated within reason to sell their soul and create music or lyrics as most major artists have zero ability to compose con- fidently for themselves; many can barely read or write.Vocal coaches are pistol whipped in and hired at hourly rates to teach clients how to screech their own songs or encourage them to be autotuned and mime in future. Rehearsal rooms and recording studios are often booked and filled with paid session musicians; some of which bribed further to perform the material live on a tour if the product is successful. Fur- ther outlay is spent in mastering studios to pol- ish whatever satanic tripe recorded is suitable for broadcasting as it takes countless hours to perfect bland soulless uninspiring chart music. Branding and marketing teams ensure the artist isn't presented like a dog turd on the end of a selfie stick; often achieved by financing the produc- tion of glossy unimaginative music videos and fine art photography disguised as pornography (many unnamed staff involved). There's also the scandalous price of commercial radio and music channel playlist placement; meaning the client is forced to pay criminals to sell the concept of transmitting them on alleged popular media outlets to other criminals work- ing for alleged popular media outlets; not to mention there's expenditure needed for tour management to amass too but that's a whole other world of corruption, lies and deceit. Con- clusion: As long as you can raise your first mil- lion before you begin a music career you'll be a rock star in no time at all.Anyone would think that most mainstream bands and artists already had lots of money or came from a family music dynasty before they became famous but that sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Little broke musician holding a guitar If you're an independent musician then a career in the music business may sound quite bleak to you; especially if you originate from a downtrod- den background starting out afresh striving to create, entertain and play music for a living but are about as popular as a nail bomb in a lucky dip. It's also why many genuine artists and bands Music Industry Explained [Part 1] By Nick J.Townsend 16 rgg Feb 2019 www.ryansgigguide.com