People from lables are JERKS!!!

[chriscarter]

I can’t believe that I’m responding to this thread yet again.Fry, I think I specifically complimented your talents a couple times. My input, which you solicited by specifically asking for it, if I’m not mistaken, was purely based on business aspects and the advice I gave was specifically to address what I feel you can do in order to make yourself more appealing to record labels – since it’s a record deal you want. I never personally attacked you or called you names. Most importantly, I tried (but failed apparently) to convey to you how labels view you and your entire package – how they learn about you, how they judge you. I apologize if you misunderstood the context of my use of the word “bozo”; I was trying to convey to you exactly what an A&R person thinks about someone who has great recordings, but doesn’t demonstrate (key word there DEMONSTRATE) to them that they have all other factors going for them – they think those kind of people are commonplace and it’s simply not enough to make them want to bite the bullet 99.99% of the time. Since you didn’t demonstrate any of that business stuff in a way that’s easy to find in an obvious place (like myspace, for example), I felt the need to let you know it’s important to do so. Perhaps “Joe Blow” would have been a better choice than “bozo” that would avoid confusion (or perhaps you would have been pissed at ‘Joe Blow’ too).Yes, I did go pretty much off of what was on your myspace page because that’s pretty much what a label A&R will do – and it did in fact have more info than the other obvious places (but clearly, as I stressed, not enough in my opinion). I won’t (nor will they) spend a ton of time digging around trying to find whatever service you are using to promote yourself – they will go for the obvious ones. Myspace is generally your first impression – so I was commenting on how an A&R person would react to your page and what you can do to change that reaction. I don’t like myspace either, but it’s the tool most people in the music business use, so I have to use it. BTW – fans are relatively meaningless to me because I’m not an artist, so I’m not really sure why the # of myspace friends I have is really relevant to what I say. David Bianco lives down the road from me and has 93 myspace friends. He also has a Grammy Award and has sold something like 50 million records. Myspace friends are relatively meaningless for us – as opposed to artists. I said you had 25,000 friends because that’s what it says on your myspace page (approximately) and that is what A&R will see - I was just telling you how it’s viewed by a label, because you said you wanted a record deal. They won’t see your taxi post where you say you have 100,000 fans. And to be honest, (not judging you, just telling you how A&R will react), they aren’t going to believe you unless you can demonstrate the metrics somehow. Every rapper I know says they have 100,000 fans (or more, typically) so it’s your job to prove it so you aren’t lumped in with all the “bozo” rappers (or “Joe Blow” rappers, if you prefer) who are talking out of their asses about how many fans they have.That said, for the record, I didn’t just go to your myspace page. I went to the other obvious place: www.jaboyfry.com which would seem to be your official website. But the info I found there was even less than what I found at myspace. And just to drill it home, I also went to your facebook page, but I can’t view it unless you’ve accepted me as your friend – a surefire way to make sure an A&R person doesn’t view that page if it has all the great info that is missing from your myspace and website. All I know from Facebook is that you have 200 friends, so surely you aren’t using Facebook to promote yourself (that’s cool, I don’t either, but as I said before, I’m a producer/mixer – if I were an artist I would DEFINITELY be using facebook to promote myself!) My point is this: how many websites do you want an A&R person to have the patience to dig through to find the one that you actually use? Now, before you jump down my throat like I’m insulting you, think about the question I just asked and give an honest answer. Most people want the most obvious places an A&R looks to have the important info available. Maybe you don’t, but if you want a record deal, then it would be in your best interests to do otherwise. I think the most obvious ones are Myspace, your website and Facebook (probably with myspace being the first choice). Notwithstanding the forgoing, I’m glad you are taking steps that will definitely help you out (ie. new photoshoot, updating web pages, etc.).Anyway, I don’t know why this means I have to be continually cursed out and personally insulted by you. I try to make it a point not to personally insult people as a general rule of thumb. It’s not good for my business, it’s not good for my karma, and just generally doesn’t make me feel good about myself (or make other people feel good about me!) In closing, I’ll tell you a story from my past. I was just starting out at trying to be a record producer. I had cut what I thought was an awesome demo of a song, and everyone I knew agreed. I had a good connection to a well-known entertainment attorney who was giving me the time of day, so I sent it to him. I was working at Tower Records at the time and he called me there and proceeded to tear the thing to pieces. He told me it sucked, he asked me why I would send anything like that out, he listed at least a dozen things about it that were completely wrong. I mean, he REALLY laid into me good – so much so that I had to hold back the tears because I was standing at the cash register in front of customers. I disagreed with him at the time, because I, like everyone else I had playing it for, was judging it based on talent and the music. The attorney was judging it from a business perspective: how can the song get placed, can it get a publisher, can someone make money off it, etc. I could have given him the big F-U. But I didn’t. I said, “thanks for taking the time to actually listen to it and call me back, I really appreciate it a lot.” After taking the time to collect myself and really thinking about what he said, I actually used what he said to write a new song and demo the thing; and I did send this one to him. He called me back and said, effectively, that it was hot as hell. He also then referred me to several people – one was someone who hired me to do about $1500 worth of studio work (my first real paying gig engineering so at the time it was awesome) and hooked me up with a couple other industry people I really wanted to get connected to and furthered my career. I still cross paths with him often and knowing him has come in handy a few other times. Thank God I didn’t curse him out when he told me my song sucked donkey balls. I have a better story about someone who’s opinions I thought were total sh!t, but I didn’t say it and they later helped me land a great production gig, but I can’t really describe it without that person possibly finding out that at one time I thought they were full of sh!t (you never know who’s watching these forums!).With that, I will bow out of this thread. I don’t think there’s much point in paying attention to a thread full of insults launched my way. As my former, and recently late, Grandmaster Tae Hong Choi once told me when I was 17, “if someone starts throwing punches at you, run away.” LOL

[mazz]

It doesn't get much better than that, IMO. Thanks for taking the time Chris. You can be assured that at least one person here is listening to your every word.You seem like a cool guy, for a "suit"! Thanks,Mazz

[ragani]

Yeah, ditto for Chris. Nailed it again.May 19, 2009, 11:17am, fry112 wrote: the only reason I abandoned Myspace is because it sucks !Well, I'll be the first to tell you that I dragged myself kicking and screaming to myspace, to make myself a page because I knew that even though I couldn't stand it (still can't!), I knew that myspace was where plenty of people would go to find me. In fact, just last year a Sony project landed on my lap because the producer searched for world music and another key word or two, and my myspace page kept popping up. And because of that connection, I also landed that nice two-page full color interview in Recording Magazine three months ago. [Yeah, that was real nice. Ahhh.... You all remember that one, yes?? Ah...] So it helps to remember that everything you do is a statement to the world about who you are.

[coachdebra]

Quote:for me to let someone speak to me however they want would be me selling out, now with that I can count my enemies on one hand so it’s not like its working against me. It's not so black and white. There isn't only the option of letting people "speak to me" or attack them as enemies with anger. There are many other options for response that don't involve insulting people.You can stand up for yourself without stomping on someone else. You can ask to be treated with respect WHILE RESPECTING THE PERSON YOU'RE ASKING. You are asking for respect and dumping disrespect. In my experience - what you put out comes back - leading with anger and righteous indignation - will NOT attract respect.You can open yourself up for feedback - look for the value in the communication - without selling yourself out. Be cool - Debra

[ggalen]

jaboy said:...I want people to realize that you don’t have to sell out to get ur message across. for me to let someone speak to me however they want would be me selling out. What I hear coming through is you demand the proper RESPECT, and you didn't feel like you were getting it in Chris's comments.You want to be respected as an artist, not talked down to.Is that about right?The thing is, the record business, as a business, doesn't care primarily about artistic ability. They care about selling whatever sells. Period.So I heard Chris telling it like it is. They only respect numbers. They only respect business efficiency. And if they don't see that you have proven numbers, then they really are not interested. And they won't admire you as a potential business partner. As an earner.I don't like that reality myself. And I am not attracted to "music as product". But I suppose unless you want to GIVE your music away, you have to think about what the buyers want most.

[k o star]

$$$ talks.

[fry112]

Chris I would never personally attack you, to personally attack you would mean for me to get "personal" I was giving you my critiqe But yo I dont wanna continue to eat stale chips! I think ur a good person so im sorry if I offended you. I got some good new yesterday! hopefully I will be able to post more info this week cause its a pretty big label .... But because of this forum my package will have a more legit album cover and when I meet with the "suits" I will give em a big ass hug when I first meet em. plus I will smile the entire time

[allends]

May 20, 2009, 3:41am, fry112 wrote:But because of this forum my package will have a more legit album cover and when I meet with the "suits" I will give em a big ass hug when I first meet em. plus I will smile the entire time Great news! Can't wait to hear more.Good Luck,Allen

[fry112]

Off subject but if you go to Davient art's forums and post that you are looking for someone to do artwork for you and leave ur email, you will get a massive response. I got over 100 replies for artist who want to do my cover and I am only charging 50 bucks and I mean I am getting talented artist the best of the best!

[coachdebra]

Best of luck with the meeting - keep us posted, K?