Indie Artists Meet Clear Channel Execs
"What does it cost to get a record on the charts?" The question
was directed to Mike McVay, programming consultant to about 400
radio stations owned by media giant Clear Channel.
A hush fell over the audience, as this was a piece of
information that could determine the fate of independent artists
everywhere.
McVay pulled no punches. Depending on your genre, the amount is
"a hundred thousand dollars up to a quarter of a million."
And suddenly, the economic reality of the airplay portion of the
record business was in full view.
In a different part of the day's event, someone asked another of
those all-important, career-shaping questions: "How many slots
are typically available to independent artists?"
This time, the question was directed to Shane Bourbonnais of
Clear Channel Entertainment. "Not many" was his reply, albeit in
the nicest tone imaginable.
Did these terrifying facts of life appear to dampen the
enthusiasm of most of the artists? Nope. After all, hope springs
eternal.
Judging from the questions to other panel members during the
day, it was clear that many artists in attendance thought that
somehow they would be the one who got past the gatekeepers, the
one whose awesome talent would cause cold-eyed business people
to waive the entry fees, the one whose marketability would get
them the major label contract and backing to enter the game with
a large checkbook behind them.
And why not? Why shouldn't they be hopeful? Are they not
talented? Judging from the CDs handed to me, there were some
amazingly gifted artists at the conference known as the Boot
Camp workshop, which was organized by Blak Dog Promotions in
association with The Beat 94.5 FM and the Western Canadian Music
Awards.
Consider some of the artists: Smokekiller makes music that
vibrates with consistent excitement. Ultimate Power Duo blends
equal parts modern punk and retro Liverpool sounds for an album
that is fun from beginning to end. Lyricist Jacqui Leddy has
written lines that make you feel the inside of the human soul.
There also was silky, subtle and seductive jazz from Sandy
Foster; strong rock from Scott Douglas; evocative country from
John Wort Hannam; excellent rap from Don Castro; and power plus
glory in the heavy grooves of Aly Young. Not to be outdone,
event organizers Shawn Smith and Chin Injeti are themselves
supremely electrifying recording artists.
The quality of the acts was of the highest level of any event at
which I've been a panelist. Group after group, artist after
artist were very impressive. Karen Howlin' Fowlie seems to put
megawatts of electric power into even her softest vocal
passages. Sonicjoy delights in fusing electronics with rock 'n'
roll. This is not to overlook Rallycar, Green Door Club,
Chesterfield Rock, Morgan Mayer, Maurice, and James Pender, all
of whom are excellent.
Here's hoping this music gets to your ears. And if would be
terrific if someone was recording the panels, because a lot of
valuable information was presented by a lot of very smart
people, including:
Chris Myers, Program Director, The Beat Michael McCarty,
President of EMI Music Publishing Michael Persh, Music Manager,
E! Networks Jonathon Simkin, Co-owner, 604 Records Christopher
Ward, Songwriter (Alannah Myles, Ming Tea) Bob Power, Producer
(MeShell N'degeocello, The Roots, David Byrne) Jim Vallance,
Songwriter (Bryan Adams, Steven Tyler, Gene Simmons) Terry
O'Brien, SOCAN Tom Wilson, Songwriter (Billy Rae Cyrus, Jimmy
Rankin)
The event was well-run by Smith, Injeti, Natalie Rhodes, and a
large contingent of volunteers. Attendees seemed uniformly
pleased: "Extremely informative," said singer and voiceover
artist Marina Seretis. "The whole day was very encouraging,"
stated Mitch Helten of SPI International. "It was enlightening,"
said singer Jafelin. "This was great," said Jacqui Leddy. You
can't stop people with this kind of enthusiasm.
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