Don't Kill Live Music

#DontKillLiveMusic

If the festivals shut down in New South Wales it will directly affect South Australia and all of our sister states and territories. A dead NSW Festival circuit due to government legislation will devastate the Australian festival circuit and music scene.

National festivals such as Laneway Festivals and Under The Southern Star Festivals  may not be able to sustain their national touring festivals without NSW at the helm.

Secondly, festivals such as Bluesfest Byron Bay in NSW, finance and nationally tour international artists such as Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Robert Cray, Iggy Pop, Ben Harper and so forth. So if an event like Bluesfest Byron Bay is financially crippled to appease the government policing policies, then the likely-hood of these artists and many many more touring to SA and our sister states will be severely affected.

This in turn will bring lower attendances to music venues across Australia financially affecting music venues across Australia. Off storey but to make a point of the lopsided decision making for the 'peoples own good' form consecutive governments, how many lives have poker machines destroyed? How many families have separated due to poker machines? How many suicides could be linked to poker machine debt? But these greedy governments grab the money from poker machines in one hand ignoring their affects and shut down mind and sensor stimulating real world music events that are good for the soul and society in general. This government does not have the foresight to admit prohibition has not worked and refuse to allow pill testing at festivals as a safety-net for our youth.

Shutting down festivals will not fix the 'drug problem' and neither will arresting individuals for doing what young people are going to do regardless. Understanding and education, particularly by the police,  would have a far reaching affects and what better place to open dialog with the youth of Australia than at music festivals. Shutting down these music festivals by financially crippling the organisers will just send the problem further underground and into the family homes and suburban streets. The national Ice epidemic is testament to this.

As a younger man, I attended countless music festivals Australia wide along with hundreds of events and concerts that shaped my entire being. I am far happier person for their influence, social value and memories than if I had not have shared these experiences with the thousands of others and I look forward to countless more.

As a local national music promoter I urge all Australian's to join the 121,000 music lovers as of 23rd February 2019, who are already standing ground against this draconic government and against this crime against the arts and our freedoms.

Governments have no rights to stop music festivals with ridiculous demands. A dead NSW music industry is a dead Australian music industry.

SIGN NOW - https://www.change.org/p/don-t-kill-live-music-2

These views are that of my own. The events and artists mentioned above are named as examples for my prediction of the domino effect that I believe will happen should the current NSW government continue with its draconic policies against music festivals in that state. I lived and worked in the live music scene in Sydney and NSW for 12 years and still work with musicians and dancers from that state.

Brand New Price Points and Entry Levels

 

AMBM test drives the industry, points out the obstacles, straightens the chicanes and supplies the mechanics. The rest is yours to create.

After much deliberation and feed back from interested people such as yourselves regarding the Australian Music Business Manual, and already understanding the difficulties that surround musicians financially, I have restructured our pricing and developed a range of entry points. The complete package is now at $449 Inc GST a $46 Inc decrease in cost. More importantly, there are now a range of packages available that incorporate different elements of the complete management system starting from $149 Inc GST.

This will give you the ability to pick and choose what add-on you buy with the manual upfront and you can upgrade other elements down the track as you require them.

It doesn't matter if it is business set-up, branding, marketing, publicity and promotional work, or whether your seeking endorsements, releasing new music, understanding copyright and licensing your music for money, touring or any other part of this industry, if the questions are in your head, then there is a solution in the manual that will help you get your head around it properly and set you in the right direction.

So, come back in, have a look at the new price list and make your decision. Your Music Business  6ZS8YHCCRE3C

Gain Professional Management or Self Manage?

It really is a mixture of both that creates success!

Many artists we speak to who represent themselves find it difficult to get people in the music industry to take them seriously regarding band business when they also perform in the band. Self-promotion can be difficult so making contact as the band manager will help in many ways. For example, on the phone “I am in this really good band and…....” can be seen as a little self-indulgent particularly when you’re starting to learn telephone skills and nerves can affect your delivery of a call.

It is important therefore, if you are a self-managed band or artist to separate your management business from the performing artist. This will come across as more professional and help you project the act you represent (You) from an outside perspective and less as self-promotion. Think about it.

Which of these two examples sounds more professional to you?

i)“Hello, my name is Jane/John, I play in a great band called….”
ii)“Hello, my name is Jane/John from D’music Management, I represent an upcoming band called….”

Setting up your music management business as a separate entity to your musical performance act while you need to self manage will make your business look and feel a lot sharper while creating a buffer zone between the two. And it separates you the business person from you the performer.

Many individual musicians and ensembles successfully self-manage their careers for years, building at least a regional reputation and a following. Once you are successfully doing this, you are in a good position to attract reputable professional management.

Regardless of gaining a professional management team, it is imperative that musicians maintain a healthy hand on their own business. If you are a musician or in a band, ask yourself this, do you really want to rely 100% on someone else making all your decisions without understanding why they are directing your career that way? Or, would you like to play an active role always understanding what is going on, and helping to knowledgeably handle time consuming tasks and make educated decisions that will allow your new manager to tackle larger tasks and build your brand to higher levels.

To many times I have started working with hard working self managed artists that have chased my business for pro management. Then out of no where, they take their foot off the gas as soon as I start working with them. It is as if by signing to management, all their troubles are over and they kick back. However, pro management is only as good as strong, if the band works alongside the manager or management team. So kicking up the heals and thinking that your job is over in the decision making and proactive management work is suicide.

Don't suffer your future in others hands. Work hard throughout your career on the business side. And if you gain professional management, work together to create a bigger team

Australian Music Business Manual Delivering the tools to success.

Derek Sivers, an inspiring industry leader

Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby and an all round music industry leader contacts me from time to time and always inspires me with his work ethics. Recently he sent me a link to some of his videos and this one in particular runs along the same ideals as to why Australian Music Business Manual was developed. Jump over to this link and listen to Derek's' inspiring speech to first year Berklee Music College students in 2009 .. http://sivers.org/berklee6

What prevents a band being managed?

'Setting up your music business while you build your song writing capabilities is imperative for you to succeed in music. If you spend $5000 on a new guitar but you don't learn to manage your career, how will the the guitar pay for itself ?

I was asked a heap of queries by a Melbourne rocker with the proactive self managed band called The Deep End last week about bio's and endorsements and how to get his band better prepared to tackle these and other tasks. After a while I pointed Dale towards Australian Music Business Manual. His next question was a ripper and in reality, the question that is more than likely on the lips of every band in Australia.

Dale Asked "Purely out of curiosity and curiosity only, from a managerial point of view what are some things preventing the band being managed by a company such as Blue Tongue Management for example? Always nice to know what we need to do better."

I thought about tip toeing through this as the facts are actually scarey. However, I decided to hit it straight up and tell him how the current landscape stands.

'Dale, there are about 20 great management teams in Australia and maybe 100 second rung managers and it goes down hill from there, purely through lack of experience and access to knowledge. 'And you can hear those fingers pickin', and this is what they have to say'. So outta those 15,000,000 fingers playing guitar, who will the management teams choose?

It takes approximately two years to develop a bands brand to a stage labels might take interest if the bands songs are good. This two years is about setting the band or artists business up and building their brand. So if a band takes three years to develop their music and then seeks management, five years have got behind you.

Most musically good bands can get to the five year mark but this is where most start to break down due to no business structure or understanding. Usually bands don't even think about business until it is too late. It generally takes 3 albums before most bands break the market to a financially successful level. That is another five years on top of the initial five and now ten years have got behind you. So throughout this time period, you need to be building the income. And at this stage you want to be folding wads of those crispy $100 bills for self-use.

So, in answer to your question, to set a band up, a manager such as myself would need to place some 1500 hours work a year (probably more actually) with a hands on band putting in similar time on the business and marketing side to get the ball rolling properly. So that is 28 hours a week with no, or very little pay in the first two years. Everybody wants a manager but nobody wants to pay.

Musicians have to take hold of their career early in the piece and make the band financially viable, or at least be showing leadership in the direction of smart business, and then seek successful management.

Metallica, KISS, INXS, ACDC. They manage themselves. Yes they may have a manager that runs the business, but the fact is they count their own cash and control how their business operates and that is why they make the big bucks."

A band needs to work with a manager on a level playing field.

Australian Music Business Manual