Industry Insight from Universal Records

For all you artists looking to get signed to a "major" check out page 50 of the current Variance Magazine article. www.variancemagazine.com. This gives great insight into what traditional labels are looking for and how they view the state of the industry through the eyes of Universal A&R. 
Without help and resources the typical unknown but talented artist doesn't stand a chance. But how do you get the help and resources? Tate Music Group. It's a shameless plug I know but this article is very revealing that what we do for artists is SO needed in the industry. We are doing things different but the industry needs different or new artists are going to continue dieing out and we will continue to see the same old recycling at the top. While you are at Variance Magazine check out the TMG artists featured. Another shameless plug but our artists ROCK.

Royalty Realities When Signed to a Major

Most artists want to get signed to a major label. What they don't know is the harsh realities of being signed to a major. There is a reason they are majors...they make big money. I commonly get asked questions about royalties and how our rates fare against the rest of the industry. The truth is a can confidently say that I haven't seen rates as high as ours anywhere. In the end it is up to the artist to decide if they believe me or not. Unfortunately most artists don't take the time to go to reliable sources to find out for themselves. The following link is to a great article that breaks down what an average artist on a major label makes on digital download sales. It is quite eye opening. Please keep in mind as you read this that these numbers do not take into account the artists that have not recouped (paid the label back for their investment) and are making far less and often times nothing. Compare these rates to the 50% TMG pays out.
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111103labelpays?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Reality of Getting Shelf Space in a Major Store

Everyday I talk to artists who are focused on getting their music in a major retail chain. They speak of it as if it were the Holy Grail of the music industry . I hate to break the news to you but this is not 1999. Music does not sell off the shelf anymore. If you don't believe me walk through a Walmart, Barnes & Noble, or Best Buy music section and see for yourself how sad those sections of the stores have become. The reason why the brick and mortar stores have all but eliminated their music sections is because they are not seeing product moving off their shelf and therefore the music is taking up retail space where they could be placing product that will sell. Digital download sales are increasing by 15% to 20% yearly and retail sales are dropping by the same amount. You can do the math. The world leaders in music sales are iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody. The brick and mortar stores know this and subsequently have moved much of their music product online. If artists themselves don't even purchase music from retail stores then why would they expect their production to sell in stores? Vanity. Vanity never made an artist successful. Hard work, appropriate placement, and marketing makes artists successful. If your music never makes it into a single store don't you worry. Some of the biggest names in the industry are in the same boat and happy to be there. Ask Lady Gaga where she would rather have her music, on a store shelf collecting dust or online selling thousands. I bet you know the answer.

The following link is a great article on store sales.  http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/article_2320c2b0-56ea-5b94-8c44-5b4ebee869f2.html

Driven Cure Featured in Madera Tribune

Two Chowchilla police officers took a leap of faith last year when they turned in their badges and guns and picked up a bass and a microphone to pursue musical ministry.
Ex-officers Heath Middleton and Phil Cheatham — joined by Phil’s son Michael and Michael’s friend Justin Webster — took their contemporary Christian band, Driven Cure, on the road.
Together they’ve played in venues across the country and will perform next month at Spirit West Coast — one of the largest Christian music events in the country.
Middleton and the Cheathams led the church band at Passion Driven Ministries in Chowchilla for years before deciding to branch off and become an outreach worship group in 2008.
“We had a vision to go from church to church to teach people what worship is about — and what worship is about is a relationship with God,” Middleton said.
After throwing around names in the police department’s report writing room, Middleton and Cheatham decided on Driven Cure, Cheatham said.
“Jesus is the cure,” he said, to which Webster added, “We are driven to bring people to the cure.”
The group aims to take listeners on a musical and spiritual journey with their progressive rock worship style, band members say.
The band signed with Oklahoma-based label Tate Music Group in January 2009 and released its first album, Astray No More, that fall.
“Lyrically it’s straightforward Christian music that you would hear in church,” said Webster, the band’s lead guitarist. “Heath, the main vocalist, wrote all the songs. We just kind of threw together what we had and got it out there.”
The band took more time to perfect its sophomore album, Message, which will be relased August 9.
“It’s more metaphorical,’ Webster said. “The albums share the same themes, but the second was a collaborative writing effort.”
One of the underlying themes was inspired by a worshiper’s testimony, Paul Cheatham said.
“He said he made a mess out of his life, but God made a message,” he said.
“God can always use what looks like a rough or tough situation and make it into a message that can benefit that person or other people,” Webster added.
Driven Cure spends much of its time touring — as far east as Nashville and as far west as Hawaii — and the remainder of its time serving as the worship band at Good News Ministries in Madera.
“Last April we all resigned from our employments to pursue full-time music ministry,” said Webster, a former construction worker.
Although it has sometimes been difficult adjusting to widely flexible schedules and financial uncertainty — and trying to find a niche in a music industry that is ever evolving — the band members say their passion for music and for God make it all worthwhile.
“We don’t want to be doing anything other than this,” Webster said.
The band books its own tours, and will perform “anywhere they’ll let us,” Paul Cheatham said. “We can call 600 venues and 599 of them might say ‘no’ and one person will say yes and we’ll jump on it.”
“We play everywhere from as tiny as a little 10-people church to coffee shops to music festivals to as big as the main stage at Spirit West Coast,” said Micheal Cheatham, the band’s drummer and a former marketing student at UC Merced.
Spirit West Coast is a big step for the band, members say.
Last year Driven Cure had to “pay to play” at the event, which means their fans had to purchase a certain number of tickets for the group to be able to perform.
“We ended up doing more than $10,000 in ticket sales and they put us on the Air One mainstage,” Webster said.
This year the event’s organizer booked the band to play two concerts at the three-day festival, held at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey.
The band is also in the midst of the Igniting the Body Tour — a worship tour featuring Driven Cure and Good News Ministries’ pastor Eddie Gallegos. Tour information can be found on the band’s website, DrivenCure.com.

By Farin Montanez

3 Tate Music Group Artists in the Top 10 for Alive 11 Music Festival!

I am so excited for 3 Tate Music Group artists, yes 3, who have made the Top 10 in the New Artist Talent Search for the Christian music festival, Alive 11! What an incredible opportunity for each of them...and we will continue to promote and push them towards one of the coveted stage spots.

Check them out...and hear some great music!

Abbey Gregory - www.myspace.com/abbeygregory

Changing Pace - www.tatemusicgroup.com/epk/?id=10610

Thirty-Nine Thoughts - www.tatemusicgroup.com/epk/?id=14378

What to Look for in a Record Contract

I talk to artists every day who are looking for any way to get a leg up in the industry, whether it's a recording studio, a music distributor, radio promotion, a booking agent, or a manager. In my experience as a signed artist and now an A&R representative for a label I've repeatedly heard the same needs and concerns. The problem I continually come across is that artists in general don't know how the industry truly works or what an "industry contract" looks like. They get all their knowledge from what they see on television. Based on this, here are a few of the most important things I feel you should look for when searching for the right record label for you:

1. Look for a label that lets you keep your rights. You should never give up the rights to the music that you wrote and poured your heart into! You wouldn't work for a company that asked you to sign over your personal property so why would you sign with a label that did.
2. Look for a label that lets you maintain a level of creative input concerning your project. Why would you spend time writing an upbeat rock song only to have a label turn it into a country ballad?
3. Don't get tied down for x number of albums or x number of years. If it didn't work out for you for the first album or your needs and ambitions change, wouldn't you want the freedom to move on?
4. Typically the label is also your manufacturer. Ask whether there's a minimum product purchase. Who wants to be stuck with 1,000 albums in their living room or the trunk of their car? The label should meet your needs where you are at. There is no need to tie up capital in a mass amount of CD's if the demand is not there yet. That is money you can invest in your music elsewhere.
5. Read the fine print. If you're fortunate enough to be one of the few who are offered an advance or the label is fronting 100% of costs (very rare in today's industry), be sure you're prepared to pay that back in full if your CD, merchandise, and ticket sales don't cover the label's investment in you. In the industry, this is called recoupment and is a very common practice. Recoupment clauses typically state that an artist must fully pay back the label prior to them being able to earn royalties or profit from the project. I large misconception of the industry is that the music business is a giant ATM machine handing out money and resources. It is a business and a business doesn't have longevity if it just throws money away.

If you want to see how TMG works and the opportunities and resources we provide get in touch with me. I am glad to answer your questions. I hope this helps with your search for representation in the industry. tdavenport@tatepublishing.com.