What to do ????

[edteja]

Hey good going! Sounds like you are playing it out intelligently and carefully. Best of luck, although it seems that isn't taking much of role in this. Enjoy! (Both of you...)

[davewalton]

Quote:OK here are our updates. and in just 2 weeks the world has changed.We met a lawyer. She gave me an expensive tutoring lesson and reworked the development deal. We sent the revisions to all of the "producers" .One was was livid that we would question the deal, or even attempt to write additions to the contract. He then sent an e-mail littered with mis spellings and wholly un-professional with indignation.He asked me what I thought I was doing, I told him my role is to bring a happy healthy teenager to adulthood and if mixing it up with him meant that I get her there, great. If not he could seduce another parent.we have not spoken since... oops.On the other hand another producer actually took the time to meet us while we vacationed near his studio. We met there ( my suggestion) just to see if the thing even existed, especially after dealing with the kook.He agreed provided she sing live for him ( first time he could hear her live) at a very public event he was part of.I will tell you only that she sang at the event, and for the moment we are now in the middle of a made for TV movie.Turns out other people we sent her demo to were there....To report the details will jinx everything, further no one would believe it until it plays out. But, I promise to report the events once the ride is over.Thanks for your advice, the lawyer thing and learning to trust trustworthy folks means a lot.It seems simple in retrospect, but its truly hard to see the forest from all the gilded trees..I think I need to learn what a manager does...regards,ADADInteresting response from the first guy... livid that you would contact an attorney and through that attorney, ask for clarifications and changes. Since doing that is as much a part of the business as taking people to lunch every once in a while, "real" industry people wouldn't even give that a second thought (other than to recognize that in addition to themselves, you too are a professional). You successfully exposed a fake and you'll miss nothing because you passed on him. Well, other than missing a lot of headaches, ulcers, and maybe a drained bank account . Or worse, a disillusioned and heartbroken teenage daughter. The other situation sounds very promising and even if it's one of those things that don't work out (for thousands of ligitimate reasons having nothing to do with anyone's talent or whatever), you've had a chance to see things from both sides, making it easier to "size up" future suiters to your daughter's career.Heck, that "healthy skepticism" and the ability to size up fakes, as well as the real thing, will prove useful (as a dad) with future suiters coming over for dates with the young lady. DavePS - You'll notice that most people reporting deals don't give away too much in terms of "details". Feel free to use your own comfort level. If she gets a deal with Disney, you could probably "name drop" that without too much problem.

[chrisbee]

adad - Congrats to your daughter! and to you for being a wise parent in this!!I wanted to throw the name of a couple of good books out to read - Nomi posted that going to the library would be a good thing. I can't agree more!!As your daughter goes forward, the more she (and you) knows about how the industry works, the better. You can, in a short amount of time, get to the point where you kinda know what is "standard" in how the industry works and what to expect from here.There's a person who goes by the pen name of "Moses Avalon". He (or she) has written a few books about the industry. One is called "Confessions Of A Record Producer", which was a best seller in the late 1990's - kind of a scary but informative book about the underside of this industry. He/she also wrote "Secrets Of Negotiating A Record Contract". I never read the first one, but "Secrets..." saved me a ton of money in dealing with record companies and lawyers. It got me out of signing a really bad deal - the company I was dealing with was small and I didn't have the money to get a lawyer, so I bought the book looking for help. I read it thru and have used it as a reference book ever since. It has actual blurbs from contracts in there and then the english translation on the facing page. I found things in my contract that were "red flagged" in the book and asked for changes. Moreover, it helped me understand WHY they were bad from the artist's perspective. It was worth the $22 at Barnes and Noble, to say the least.Even though you're going to be using a lawyer occasionally, the more you know (and your daughter knows!!) the better... and cheaper! One of the biggest helps this book and others have been to me is that they showed me how the money flows. It's not what I expected at all when I was younger. But going in knowing what to expect is so much easier on you. I highly suggest that she reads some stuff too. Would understanding how the industry works help her career?? You bet! You won't always be there.Here's another book I really like: "Start And Run Your Own Record Label" by Daylle Deanna Schwartz. I know you're not starting your own label (neither was I when I read it), but this book explains how the industry runs as a whole. Each chapter covers a part of how things happen, who does what, etc. It's from the label's point of view - so you get to see what THEY are thinking. I really like this book! It's VERY easy to understand - no overwhelming language or concepts - it's an easy read.There are a lot of great books out there. I don't mean to leave any out on purpose. I just want to encourage you to learn as much as you can and get her to learn this stuff too. The more you two know the easier it will be to stay on the path you want.Congrats again!! Wish you two the best!cb

[adad]

OK I am back. I hate the hurry up and wait of the business...A flurry of activity over two weeks and then zip, finally 2 months later, we have a development deal. My daughter sang at the event mentioned in July and was asked to perform the following morning for a veep at a MAJOR label in Santa Monica.He was pleased to meet us and invited us back the following week. Unfortunately we have been pre-empted on 2 occasions from pulling the second meeting together.In the meantime, we have agreed to a development program with a mid level producer, they will front all the monies needed for masters recordings, the works......A very exciting time.

[kouly]

Glad to hear of your progress. After reading the thread I only have a couple of pieces of advice and they are...The books by Moses Avalon are an invaluable resource since this lays out the way the BUSINESS works. I capped that word because in the end that is all this is, a business. I feel Moses hits on a very valuable point in his book "Confessions of a Record Producer", which is any person saying that they care about your daughter (excluding you) only cares about her to the extent that it helps their bottom line. Anyone in any business knows this is true. You can like a person you do business with but if they are having problems living up to the expectations of that business relationship then that relationship is over. Also remember that those monies that are being fronted are a loan and will need to be paid back. This is one part of a "deal" that people sometimes fail to realize. So do not have so much success that your in more debt that you can handle. Keeping a entertianment attorney on call should help with this situation. Continued success!

[davewalton]

Quote:OK I am back. I hate the hurry up and wait of the business...A flurry of activity over two weeks and then zip, finally 2 months later, we have a development deal. My daughter sang at the event mentioned in July and was asked to perform the following morning for a veep at a MAJOR label in Santa Monica.He was pleased to meet us and invited us back the following week. Unfortunately we have been pre-empted on 2 occasions from pulling the second meeting together.In the meantime, we have agreed to a development program with a mid level producer, they will front all the monies needed for masters recordings, the works......A very exciting time. Exciting indeed! This is one of those great stories where the balance between healthy skepticism and shoot-yourself-in-the-foot skepticism isn't always clear. It seems that you navigated that grey area pretty well in this case... told one guy to take a hike (if I remember correctly) while giving a little trust to another where it appeared that the trust was deserved.There's always a little leap of faith required, for them as well as us. Probably the reason why it's hard to "break into" the business. We have to somehow get past their skepticism.