Just like we didn't expect, however, the room was crawling with entertainment lawyers.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. We love entertainment lawyers! Some of our best friends are entertainment lawyers!
But because the panels were held at a law school, they focused on giving lawyers an idea of what kinds of services they ought to be comfortable offering their musical clientele. Here are some things we learned from the two panels:
It's Not Just Booking Anymore
The night's first panel, which consisted of seven musicians, was charged with coming up with a consensus on what a successful artist's team should look like, and what they need to achieve financial success in the industry. One of the things on everybody's list, except the people that like spending “eight hours a day on the phone and e-mailing every presenter multiple times," was a booking agent.
But according to Natalia Nataskin, Esq., who works as Director of Business Development at The Agency Group, one of the biggest booking agencies in the world, booking agents are going to have to start proving that they can offer more than just dates at good venues. “One thing we're looking at is how we enhance what a booking agency provides," Nataskin said. “We're looking to create new revenue streams from tours." In other words, there's nothing wrong with asking your booking agent to try and set up a signing or some kind of extra gig or promotions opportunities when you're on the road. They should be looking out for that stuff already.
Offer(s) Available For a Limited Time Only
As we've gone over many times before, more and more brands are looking for music to sync into advertisements and campaigns, and more and more bands are looking for those opportunities. As the market's grown, the competition's gone up, and the rates have gone down. “The big white rhino sync of $150-200,000 doesn't exist anymore," said Elliot Resnick, an entertainment lawyer at Shukat Arrow Hafer Weber & Herbsman who served on the second panel.
That means you can't sit around twiddling your thumbs, waiting for a bigger offer or pondering the consequences of what a given placement will mean. “If you don't call the sync agent back in ten minutes, he's already moved on to someone else," Resnick continued. In other words, before you try to get your music into television, films, video games, or anything else, make sure you develop a clear idea of what's acceptable to you and what isn't.
Give the People What They Want
If you can afford to subscribe to BigChampagne's BC Dash, you can finally concoct the perfect setlist when you and your band roll into town. David Mazur told the audience about how one of his clients would use the BC Dash to figure out which of their songs had been downloaded most from file-sharing networks in a given state, then tailor their night's setlist accordingly.
And finally, if you're open to aligning your music with good causes, it can help get you on the road. “I know where some of the music industry's money has gone," said Jonny Dubowsky, the man behind Jonny Lives and the Rock 'n' Renew Foundation, “and that's cause marketing."
“You can make your music the soundtrack to something else," Dubowsky offered, explaining how his foundation organizes tours around community-building activities like planting gardens or cleaning up parks.
