When rockers cut ties from labels

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Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails walked into the Santa Monica, Calif., headquarters of Musicane last month and stunned the start-up's employees with his tech knowledge and fierce attention to detail.

Typically, when artists sign on with Musicane, a company that helps musicians distribute their music online, they are satisfied with letting Musicane's programmers, administrators, and designers make the decisions, said CEO Sudhin Shahani. (After all, William Adams, or "Will.i.am," of the Black Eyed Peas is the company's marketing chief.)

But Reznor had his own ideas about bit rates, Web design, and pricing. He even toiled over the text messages customers would receive when their purchases were confirmed. And all this work was for someone else's album. Reznor had hired Musicane to provide fulfillment for The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust a record by rapper Saul Williams, which went on sale Thursday on Williams' site. Reznor was the album's producer.

"Trent is well-informed, articulate and is very knowledgeable about technology," Shahani said. "We had a great meeting, but he didn't hesitate to disagree or say what was on his mind. He was extremely detail-oriented. There's not a word on the site that he didn't read or, most likely, write himself."

Reznor last month left music label Universal Music Group, and the administrative tasks he undertook for Williams could teach him some valuable lessons. Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Oasis, Madonna and a growing number of other artists have fled the big record companies and are taking more control of their music distribution. While striking out on their own offers more freedom, the performers also lose the label's prodigious distribution and marketing muscle.

Credit: Nabil Elderkin

Vikramaditya Jain and Sudhin Shahani,
the Musicane co-founders.

In the future, these musicians may find themselves being forced to make decisions about technology, customer service, and marketing. That's where companies like Musicane, Indie911, Fuzz, Snocap, TuneCore, and dozens of others come in. They offer to free artists from the music-label yoke by helping them manage the chores that come with selling music online.

In the case of NiggyTardust, Musicane distributes the digital downloads, accepts credit card transactions, and provides customer service. Shahani declined to say what the company charged Williams for the service, but he did say Musicane typically receives a 20 percent cut of all transactions.

The company, founded by Shahani, 24, and Vikramaditya Jain, 25, also provides promotion assistance by providing artists with a media player that fans can embed on Web sites, blogs, and social-network profiles.

The player presents a performer's music, videos, photos, and text, and allows fans to buy music or merchandise without being sent to a new Web page. Snocap has a similar tool, which it refers to as a digital-music vending machine.

Music promotion is vital to Internet music sales because this is the area where the labels are supposed to be strongest. As Shahani pointed out, the "labels are expert at making stars." While the Internet allows anyone to boost their profile by posting a Web page, how is an unknown act supposed to get heard when legions of performers are doing the same thing?

Credit: Saul Williams

Cover art for Saul Williams' The Inevitable
Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust.

The Internet shouldn't be sold short as a platform to introduce new stars, Reznor said in an interview Tuesday. The Web is starting to replace some of the traditional methods that record companies have used to promote acts, such as radio and music magazines. Yet, he's not totally sold on the popular belief that MySpace.com can help up-and-coming bands find an audience.

"I don't go on MySpace," Reznor said. "I find it chaotic, and it looks ugly to me. I've been going to more and more blogs to discover music. I think they're replacing radio stations and music magazines. I don't trust what Rolling Stone has to say. I don't believe them anymore. I go to a few Web sites that have similar tastes as I do."

Another factor that has irked music fans about downloads is copy-protection schemes. Musicane allows artists to choose whether they want Digital Rights Management (DRM) software attached to their music or not. In Williams' case, he and Reznor chose to deliver the songs in an MP3 format free of DRM. This allows users to play the songs on iPods, Zunes or any digital-music player.

[`WarpKat]

And it's about TIME

Artists need to be paid what they're worth - the digital age waits for no one and the RIAA has lost a lot of momentum now that they're stuck playing catch-up.

I applaud the efforts of any and all artists making the plunge but I would warn with a bit of caution that coming out of the frying pan doesn't always mean the flame's off.

Artists need to do just one more thing to make this all work, and that is to provide their music in multiple formats for multiple types of devices or stay with MP3 as the defacto standard for playback - not AAC and not WMV.

Having one universal format that everyone plays back is THE BIGGEST piece of this puzzle. My players all do MP3 and Creative makes their Stone only play back non-DRM'd material, including MP3, so it stands to reason that the universal format used be non-DRM'd and MP3.

[lingsun]

If artists want to sell their music for nothing, it's up to them.

If artists want to sell their music for nothing, it's up to them.

[lingsun]

Another example of the left's bias against intellectual property

The left seems to think that music and software should be free. They hail bands that give away their music as being heroes when they're really idiots. The record companies have the right to sell their property for as much as they want. Listeners don't have the right to steal just because they don't like the price.

[Blito]

Poor man's promotion

Obviously the Internet is scattebrain and not everyone goes on it in the way you may want to see your band.
Can't there be a media company that can promote bands like a "Battle of the Bands" and put them as opening acts on tours. Isn't that great advertising enough, without them owning your music too?
If not then this process can't work totally.

[stormz69]

new music models

Excellent article. Record co's need to wake up and be fairer to artists and fans, and embrace new partnerships, like www.sellaband.com, where artists and fans are in business together. More music initiatives are popping up all the time, but it still takes alot of money to promote an artist, as you can have the greatest album in the world, but if no-one knows it exists....

[ceoballmer]

... they usually come crawling back!

Thats what happens.
http://****************.blogspot.com
the leaving is just a ploy to negotiate more money!

[Len Bullard]

A Missive from a Nowhere Man

When royal patronage quit being the source of composer/performer income, the music business adapted (see Beethoven). Some didn't and some incredible artists died young. (See Fraz Shubert).

While I enjoy the new business starts and applaud what they are trying to do, the fact is music is a culture with no middle class. There is a top and a bottom and not much between them. Perhaps we'll have that as a result of the internet sales combined with tours (No, not all musicians want to tour. See Kate Bush.).

The rest of us have to make choices. We adapt. I choose to have a day job to pay for a music jones. I *give* the music away, meaning you can download my songs in mp3 format for free. If you like those and want CDs, send $$$. Otherwise, fill up that iPod and enjoy. ITunes? No thanks. That is the oldMusicBiz in a brand new wrapper complete with middle men taking bites and a monomaniac at the top.

But here is the kicker: I Do What I Want To Do.

I don't compose for your tastes or try to impress an audience anymore. I don't hang out in bars trying to get sleazy gigs from sleazy owners. I can say "No Gigs With Cigs" and if they don't like that, I don't play. I can write music for a porn site or a church play with equanimity and not a ripple of remorse. It's all good.

What do musicians want? I can't speak for all of them, but I know what I have: control of my environment and absolute control of my music. If a listener likes what I do, please go download and enjoy. Drop me a line. Fair Dinkum. If they don't, keep it local because I don't care.

I don't have to. The freedom is marvelous. Is this Jeremy, the Nowhere Man? Sure. Anonymous, satisfied, and still standing.