Hi, thank you for taking the time to visit my page.
If you have received an invite to be my friend, it is very likely that I have stumbled on your page while browsing and noticed you have a very good specific taste in music. You are obviously someone with a mind of your own who doesn’t allow yourself to be brainwashed by the world of manufactured pop and someone whom I thought would appreciate what they read and heard.
If you you are a band, songwriter or musician etc and have stumbled across my page, thank you and welcome!
I hope you like what you read.
My name is, Steve. I run an independent record label called ‘Northern Starfish Records’ and I think you will appreciate what we are about and what we stand for.
Just by taking a few minutes today and reading this page, you will help in our campaign.
In today's present climate, one which has the major record labels and companies fearing their demise, scratching their heads and blaming bad single sales on the easy accessible free downloads available on the internet. Have they overlooked one key factor? You the British public!
It's a plastic pop world. Are we all plastic too?
Due to the invasion of reality TV, the British pop industry is in turmoil. In 2002, a quarter of number 1 records were covers and the song 'Unchained Melody' was released for the tenth time. This only goes to show, that in today's industry there is little thought goes into making music. The major labels do not care what gets released so long as they make huge amounts of money, in a short period of time. Marketability is more important than the record itself.
These days, major labels are happy to sign individuals from a TV show. A far cry from the days when the A&R (Artistes & Repertoire) person from a record company went out looking for new talent whom they could sign, develop and nurture. Today, the A&R person is not left to his/her own devises but is told what to sign.
The consequences of this regime are devastating to the industry and are as follows:
· Major labels are investing in all the wrong areas
· As a result of the above, they are not developing new talent. Once, the British music industry could pride itself on having the best music charts in the world, will this be so in 5-10 years?
· No real live circuit anymore
· Lack of substance and longevity
· Lack of quality through reality T.V.
The funny thing is, the major labels do not seem to realise that although they are making huge amounts of money on the back of these reality TV shows, will they be making it 5-10 years down the line? The real money is made through back catalogues. Which goes back to the point raised earlier about developing bands and nurturing them.
How do the major labels operate?
'In money we trust' would be a good motto for the majors!
The major labels soul aim is that of making as much profit possible, in a short period of time. They are looking for fast returns on investments. The major labels control 75% of the market, which allows them to dictate, manipulate and brainwash you into believing manufactured pop is the only music available. They don't want you to hear new music from other sources, they only want their own artistes to be heard. The really sad thing is, there is plenty of brilliant new music around that is not signed or being heard and sadly never will be, if the majors continue to have their way.
Ugly people can no longer sing!
Isn't it remarkable that as soon as reality TV hit our screens, ugly people can no longer sing, only 'easy to market' people can! People with brilliant voices and musical talents because they were not pretty, found themselves the butt of a joke, by judges who claim to be music experts! Yet others who had less vocal talent and no musical skills went through simply on their looks. Is this the music industry or the modelling? ( These very same judges said they would put a band together that would be massive, that would shatter all records. After all, they were the experts and they knew better than everyone else what would sell and most importantly, what you, the British public wanted, 'Hear Say', where are they now? ) Some experts they turned out to be!
These very same 'music industry experts' are probably the ones who turned down Oasis, told Coldplay that they didn't have and never would have a hit song in their repertoire, said KT Tunstall was too old and stopped funding David Gray because they said his music did not have a place in British pop. Strangely enough, all these were released on independent labels, two of which were their own.
Have the majors gone one step to far?
Eventually, the reality TV bubble will burst, leaving the major labels scratching their heads wishing they had signed all the bands they had dismissed. It is important to note that smaller labels have a love for the music they promote. They may not be making millions like the majors nor have the millions of pounds budget like the majors but have set up an independent label to release music they believe in and not what will earn fortunes.
It's time for change!
The major record companies should not underestimate the British publics abilities to recognise a good songwriter, nor should they insult your intelligence by promoting endless manufactured pop. There is enough room for all kinds of music. The British chart is renowned for it's diversity but at the moment we don't seem to be getting it. If the majors stopped putting all their money into a minority of big acts and began to spread their money and spend less on a bigger pool of smaller acts, they could develop and nurture. Maybe, just maybe, this get rich quick scheme could be put to rest and maybe we would begin to see acts coming through like they did 20 years ago. Acts that I am glad to say are still around today. Imagine if the same regime, which is now in place today, was being practised back then, how much great music would we have never heard?
Our soul aim is to promote new talent throughout the UK. If the major labels won't do it, we will but we need your co-operation.
As I am sure you are well aware and can appreciate, releasing any kind of single is an expensive project, especially when you are marketing it at entering the charts. We have already mentioned that the major labels have an endless budget when it comes to promoting and marketing a new artiste/band, so, if they don't recoup the millions they spent on one artistes/band they simply write it off as a tax loss and move on to the next act. We as an independent label cannot afford to do that. It just simply is not economically viable. To be totally honest, (even the majors will agree with me on this one!), releasing most singles is not economically worth it, but it is an essential product.
As an independent label, it is essential we get it right first time. We simply cannot afford to make big mistakes when releasing the debut single of a new artiste/band, as we are playing with our own money.
Our aim is to try and build a network of like minded people that can offer advice, help and contacts throughout the music industry and help you achieve your goal.
In 2007 we are hoping to start a FREE newsletter, which will give advice on key areas in the industry but this can only happen if we have your support.
We can only achieve this, if there are enough people to warrant us spending our time putting the newsletter together.
This could be a great marketing tool for you, so please don't just sit back and think your voice does not count, it most certainly does.
All we need to know, is whether or not you think this would be a good idea and whether or not you would want to receive the newsletter. If it's FREE and can help you in some way further your goal, I cannot for the life in me think why you shouldn't.
We will hope to discuss issue such as:
Demos
Publishing
Recording
Record deals and contracts
Copyright
Collection societies
Pressing and manufacturing
Distribution
Marketing
Promotion
Pluggersand so much more!
If you think this will be a good and worthwhile project and would be interested in receiving a copy, please send a blank email to:
[email protected]
The website is: http://www.northernstarfish.co.uk
Thank you very much for your time and understanding. I look forward to hearing your comments.
Take care and keep smiling
Steve
Northern Starfish are currently promoting:
http://www.myspace.com/cameronwalshuk