Curt Smith Official Website

On the heels of my “‘Splain” post I received a thoughtful response from a follower who intends to make a career in entertainment management. The writer says, in part (emphasis mine):

“Your forte is singing and songwriting. I am much better at marketing and law than I am at singing. I feel that delegating is important; people need to focus on their strongest suits as life is short! You state that you don’t like the record labels, marketing execs, lawyers, etc. getting too big a share of your profits. I am planning to be a paralegal / manager in the entertainment business. My livelihood is being threatened by this view. I think there is a bigger picture to this issue. I empathize with how you thrive on artistic control (not being suffocated by a record company dictating what to record, where to go, what to wear, etc.), but the “one person does it all” mentality is not proving to be economically sustainable. For example, if artists stop utilizing lawyers as frequently, then new attorneys are not hired. Paralegals, secretaries, and janitors for the legal firm then suffer as they are not paid as much salary! Less salary equals less disposable income, which in turn means that these employees are going to fewer concerts and buying less music. In other words, the 5% cut that you take initially in hiring your attorney, is given back to you in sales and concert revenue.”

I would never discourage anyone from going into a field about which they’re passionate. Artists can benefit from good management, and as I explain below, even from lawyers . But as with the previous letter, this one contains a few misperceptions that I’d like to (gently) correct:

1) It definitely takes a village. I in no way “do it all,” nor do I claim to do so. As noted elsewhere, I have a manager for my endeavors outside of TFF, and she has worked with me for going on five years now. On an as-needed basis I hire lawyers, graphic designers, photographers, studio musicians, crew for my solo shows, etc. I have a company to administer my publishing and of course I have an accountant as there is unfortunately no Creative Commons equivalent of the tax code. TFF engages booking agents, business managers, tour managers, touring musicians, road crew, etc. That’s just s sampling of the village of professionals with whom I surround myself for both my solo and TFF careers.

2) A does not equal B. This letter draws a straight line between myself (or any other artist) “not using lawyers as frequently” and a resulting decline in concert and music sales. It likewise asserts that money spent on lawyers would come right back to me in music and ticket sales. If only that were the case……… but it’s not, I can assure you.

Technology has enabled us to do many things more efficiently and often for less money. See: cars / horses, light bulbs / candles, digital / film, Pro Tools / recording studio. The world’s economy hasn’t fallen over as a result. And it’s the same, as far as I’m concerned, with Creative Commons / full copyright.

I release my music under a Creative Commons “some rights reserved” license so that people know they can legally and freely use it under certain conditions. Under a full copyright, you’d technically need to get a license to use my song in your fan video, student production, remix, etc., even if no money was changing hands between us and you weren’t generating revenue with your use. To carry that logic forward, if someone is spending their money to negotiate or secure a license to use my song, that means they have less money to spend on my concerts or music. And if people don’t buy my music, I don’t have the money to spend on lawyers, which puts us back where we started . So Creative Commons seems like a better way to go for both myself and my supporters, even if less money goes to lawyers as a result.

3) I gladly pay for value. The many professionals whose services I employ do things I don’t have the time, inclination and/or expertise to do. I’m more than happy to compensate them accordingly. What I object to is the multiple and insanely costly layers of “service providers” who insert themselves into the traditional music business process without adding any value. This applies especially to labels who in all but a very few exceptional cases are little better than loan sharks. TFF are very lucky in that we have recouped the advances for all our albums, even so we have to audit and sue to get proper accountings and payments.

Some examples:

• Did you know that labels still try to take “packaging” and “breakage” deductions on digital sales? Or that they attempt to classify iTunes as a “third party sale,” as opposed to a license, to avoid paying full royalties on those sales? (Don’t believe me? Click here.)
• I was approached a few years ago by a company that  offered to handle digital distribution for me in exchange for 20% of sales. My response: I’m planning to put the record up on TuneCore (through which it goes to iTunes worldwide, Amazon MP3, and a host of other digital retailers/services) and CD Baby. What is it you’re going to do for me beyond that? Their reply: “Well, sounds like you’ve got it covered.” Under $100 in one-time fees to put it up myself versus an ongoing 20% of sales to have someone else do it for me? No thanks!

The writer went on to say:

“I highly respect your view on not touring extensively, but again I feel there should be a middle ground. I see comments on Facebook and Twitter from Tears For Fears fans frustrated by your limited tour dates. Again, I am not saying going on the road for 6 months out of the year like a lot of artists do, but how about 30 dates a year? From what I have heard from fans and from a marketing perspective, you may want to utilize your market value more to keep fans “relatively” happy. I feel it would be nice to share more of your incredible gift while you have the opportunity, as it always looks like you and Roland Orzabal have so much fun while performing.”

First off, it so happens that we did play 30 dates in 2010 (with shows in LA, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the U.S. East Coast). So it’s not as if we’re opposed to doing that many dates, or that it never happens. We’re musicians. We like to play our music, and we like it to be heard. We’re incredibly grateful that our shows continue to sell out and that audiences are appreciative – even a new generation of them thanks to Donnie Darko, American Idol, and of course their parents playing our music for them

Second, as I’ve said many times (see It’s Not That We Don’t Love You), our desire to tour – which I’ll address in a minute – is only one side of the equation. In order for a tour to happen, we need to get offers from promoters that make it financially viable. Unbelievable as it may seem, whilst we would be very happy to tour the UK and Europe, among other places we haven’t been recently, the offers we’ve received haven’t made that feasible.

Last, as I’ve said many times, our families are our first priorities. Not only Roland and myself, but many of our band and crew, have children living at home. I make no secret of the fact that I grew up with a largely-absent father and I don’t intend to repeat that in my own home. If it comes down to a choice between my kids or my fans being happy – and luckily that’s not a distinction I have to draw terribly often – my family will win, every time. If that costs us in touring revenue or record sales, SO BE IT. I hope you can understand.

Having said that, I try to make myself available to people as much as possible whilst maintaining a “normal” life and protecting my family’s privacy. I’m glad to chat with people on Twitter, Facebook, here on my website, etc. Whilst the crowds and security at TFF shows preclude it, I have open meet and greets after my solo shows. I’ve been doing a bit of public speaking and college lectures the past few years, and enjoy the interactions that result from those talks.

My final thoughts for the writer personally, as you have chosen a career as a “paralegal/manager in the entertainment business” are:

1. Ignore the old business model.
2. Make sure you add value to the artist’s career. We don’t want someone to solely translate a contract (read language) that was invented to keep lawyers in business.
3. If you add to the bottom line you will be compensated.
4. Fight for us & not your position in the business. We will exist when the current way of working is dead. We will always make music. If your passion is music then find new ways to make it work for the artist. Without us you don’t have a job. Without you we still have music…..and how great is that? .

Thanks for reading, if you’ve gotten this far. I’m happy to continue the discussion with any and all of you in the comments. Edited to add: Follow the golden rule – speak as you would be spoken to. The author of the note was respectful to me and I was (I hope) respectful in turn. I expect anyone commenting here to behave likewise.

Papa S.

Graphic by Simon Adriaensen