By Rodney Jones
So now the fun begins--budgeting the new album.
Budgeting is the part where I have to go from being a musician to
being an accountant. I consider this process a necessary evil. Knowledge
of how to prepare a budget--both the details and the presentation--is a
tremendous advantage for any musician. It has given me a degree of
control over my own destiny, career-wise. I know where the money
allocated for each recording is spent. I am able to find the best way to
use the recording budget, and I am not at the mercy of a manager or
record company person dictating where the money is going (or not). So,
for all of you aspiring musicians, take note: this is an important
installment--not in terms of the music, but in terms of your career. Let
me tell you how I got into the whole budgeting thing.
Many years ago, I got a call to be a part of a recording session. We
were recording the music for The Cosby Show. Naturally, I
accepted the date, and it went off without a hitch... until it was time
to get paid. At the recording session, I filled out all of the required
paperwork. Almost two months later, I still had not received any money.
I called the (then) musical director, who apologized profusely,
explaining that there was a mix up with the papers, and saying that the
guy who was doing his budget had made a mistake, and so on. I casually
mentioned, "Hey, I could get a budget together faster than that. If you
ever need someone to take care of your budgets, just let me know." He
thanked me, and that was the end of that. I received my check from him
about two weeks later, and it was right on time!
Then, about two months later, I got another call from him asking me
if I would like to play on another Cosby session. I said sure.
And then he added, "OK, then prepare a budget, and I'll get together
with you in about a week to review it." He called my bluff!
"OK," I said, "it will be done." Over the next day, I got a listing
of all the musicians, the studio information, details about union
requirements, etc. All I had to do was prepare a budget... the only
thing was I had never done one on this scale. This was a date for the #1
show on TV, with top musicians and a huge budget.
Then my brain kicked in. "How hard can it be?", I thought. "It's just
like a small budget, only larger! I can do this." I ended becoming the
Contractor (the person who hires all the musicians and handles the
needed union paperwork), as well as the Budget Director (the liaison
with the network and the musical production company) for two years. I
learned a lot from that experience! So here I'd like to impart to you
the important lessons that I learned.
Jazz records usually have very small budgets. By small, I mean in the
range between $10,000 and $50,000.
Many factors help determine the budget an artist is given:
- What is their track record for selling CDs?
- How great is their name recognition?
- Are they on the road and touring? (This helps to sell records.)
- What is the potential value of their work? (Jazz, unlike many
types of music, sells well over time... as opposed to having a big hit
and then fading out forever.)
- Is the music they are recording "hot" right now? (If you want to
know what record companies are looking for right now, just look at the
charts. Despite what you might hear about creativity, etc., most record
companies are looking for a formula that will sell units with minimal
expenditure of time and money. Each label has a few "creative artists,"
and the rest fall somewhere in the cracks.)
- How good a lawyer do they have?
- Have they had any recent good press? Is there an industry buzz
about them?
- Does another label want them? (Competition is
always good.)
- Do they seem like they know how to work with a budget, and can
they talk the record company talk? (This is very important.)
In my case, a number of these factors came into play. I was (and
still am) what you might consider a known quantity. I've been on the
scene a long time and worked with many different people. (If you'd like
to see a fairly up-to-date discography, visit http://www.allmusic.com and search
for my name.) I've built my career on a number of things outside playing
the guitar. These other things can make a big difference for many
musicians between working and not working. To be a successful working
musician, it helps to develop the following skills:
- Be on time.
- Make sure musical equipment is functional.
- Dress appropriately for an engagement.
- Be able to read the music presented.
- Offer something which adds to the music and helps make it come
alive.
- Project good social skills: get along well with other musicians,
and avoid bringing excess personal baggage to the session.
- Work well with authority figures, ie. bandleaders, producers, etc.
These are some of the critical areas where I have seen musicians
succeed or fail. I'm not saying that I have/had all of them together all
the time, but I always made the effort!
Now about that budget... Fortunately for us, we live in an era where
personal computers make complicated tasks possible. I have always been
really poor in mathematics--but I've found that with a little effort, I
could use a computer to come up with a spreadsheet that would cover most
of the elements in the budget. I've included that spreadsheet here so
you can see what it looks like. This is the actual template that I used
to prepare the budget for my CD.
click thumbnail to view actual size
I prepared this working template using Microsoft Excel. It should
give you a general idea about the elements involved in putting together
a budget.
The basic components of a budget include the following:
- Rehearsal costs
- Travel costs
- Engineer cost
- Studio Cost
- Media costs (tape, etc.)
- Equipment Rentals
- Food for studio
- Musician fees
- Music preparation fees
- Union fees(work dues, etc)
- Contracting fees (if used).
- Personal media (cassettes, DATs, rough CD's, etc.)
After I submitted my budget, it had to be reviewed and approved by
Blue Note. Of course, there were phone calls asking for specifics
regarding travel costs, etc. But it was generally a painless process.
Needless to say, the budget was approved. And then I was ready to go
with the music.
My next installment in this series will be about the rehearsal. It
was fantastic!
Share your questions and comments with your fellow AAJ readers.
