I had the opportunity to ask a few questions from a friend who was a member in a very good band signed to a major Christian record label. Before he was in this band, he was in a pretty successful independent band. He was kind enough to share with me about his experiences. He recently left the band, you’ll read why below.

1- How did getting a record deal with **** change how you did business as a band

As far as the daily operations of the band, **** really had no influence on how we ran the business. They were very vocal when it came to choosing management and booking options. I can’t tell you how many promises are made in board rooms of record labels. Needless to say, I’m a little skeptical of any promises anymore. I always ask myself, how can you work at a record label and not know anything about music? The label didn’t say anything about how we paid ourselves, paid our bills, shows, etc. The best way to look at it is that a band or artist is kind of like an independent contractor for the label. Thats where it gets tricky for an artist, because if you are already running your own operation, you really don’t want or need anyone telling you how to do it. On the other hand, if you are a solo artist or unexperienced band, the label is going to put you in all the spots that they may think you belong in as far a management, booking, business manager, publicity, etc. I think most of my frustration came from the fact that we had gotten ourselves in a position to be successful and the label, in a way, wanted to take it from there.

2- How was life on tour? How often were you home the past year?

This has to be the most under-rated part of the music world. Even if you or your act is really good or terrible, to be successful you will have to be gone nonstop. No arguments. The biggest bands in the world can’t even come off the road because when they do, they money stops flowing in! Why do you think The Eagles are still touring? The hardest part is being out for extended periods of time and sometimes coming home with little or nothing to show for it. Young bands can’t be picky about the shows they play but you do need to remember you can’t lose money on every show.

At our busiest times we were playing 15 shows a month and when you add in travel days, it can easily wipe out 3 weeks a month. Thats why you hear bands asking you to buy merch so they can pay for gas to make it to the next town. We actually did OK financially but it’s hard to get over the hump and take it to the next level because of the expenses involved. I absolutely love to travel and it wore me down after 3 years, and I never thought it would.

Recently before I left the band, I would get out a calendar and figure out how many days I would be home that month so I could run errands, visit family, etc. Some months I only had 4-5 days to work with and that just kind of wears on you and can make you question what on earth you are doing.

3- How much time, percentage wise did you spend on things other than performing in concert ?

Great question. It honestly has to be more than 95 percent. Especially during your off days, you will likely be working on advancing upcoming shows, arranging travel, fixing gear, songwriting, rehearsing, arguing, and all the other things musicians do. I can think of a ton of times where we drove 8-10 hours one way for a 30-45 minute set. If you are managing and booking yourself, you can start to feel like a manager or booking agent more than you feel like a creative artist or musician. This is why managers take 15% and booking takes 10%. Time is money.

4- How much did the band make from their music sales through the label?

Thats an easy one. ZERO. 0 dollars….0 dollars. In three years i never received a single penny from the record label. I never expected to either. Mainly because i wasn’t involved much in the songwriting process, but also because we owed them thousands of dollars right out of the gate. Because we signed a publishing deal with **** as well, they in turn owned our songs and right to use and license them. We had two original songs used on TV shows and the label was paid directly because we owed them money from our artist advances. At the same time, if we weren’t with ****, we probably wouldn’t have had the songs on TV. Its a risk you take. Thats why people move to Nashville. Some make it, some don’t. We did leave **** owing them nothing and our album is continuing to sell, so there is possibility we could receive money in the future.

5- How were you treated by the label when it came to doing your 2nd album?

The second album never happened. Most of that is because of the mismanagement of the group and conflicting ideas on the direction of the band. We could tell early on after the first album came out and didn’t do what they expected, that we were soon to be old news. Part of that is because we really weren’t making traditional CCM music anymore and probably never should have been in the genre to begin with. But, that leads me to the question of why do you sign a band that you don’t know what do with or how to market them? I guess they thought they could sort of develop us on the run, but thats hard to do for a band that had been around for 4 years already who had their own identity.

6- Why did you guys decide to leave the label?

It came down to us not wanting to change who we were as a band. They signed us on a handful of songs, and when our next batch of songs wasn’t the same, they seemed to be confused. We felt like they had no clear marketing strategy for our band and our album came out and no one knew about it. With little radio support and no major touring, we still managed to sell over 20,000 records in the first year.

Our band didn’t really sound like anyone else in the christian genre at the time and that actually hurt us. Thats why most CCM music all sounds the same today on the radio. That’s why some people don’t listen to it and why a lot of bands don’t write songs for radio anymore. No artist likes to be told he/she is cookie cutter and typical. Sadly, the christian industry hasn’t embraced change or learned how to become relevant in a secular driven world. I can always tell when I stumble upon a christian radio station. Here’s why: the same hired guys play on all the tracks, the same guys mix them, the same guys master them, the same group of co-writers write the songs, they use the same studios, etc, etc….Thats just how it is.

I urge people to get out of that box and be creative! Who cares if no one signs you. Be inspiring. Don’t play the same 1-6-5-4 chord progression in the key of E. Thats why people in the 1950’s freaked when they saw Elvis, he was cutting edge! Make your music and presentation as compelling as the message.

7- Why did you decide to leave the band? Details please:)

The travel and just growing tired of the instability of the whole music world. Sometimes the end isn’t worth the means. I think just playing part-time could be more fun and more rewarding than the pressures of a full time music career. You forget to enjoy what you are experiencing because you are always thinking of a way to get farther and to get there faster. It can also be discouraging when you are out there on the road and you come across great singers, songwriters and musicians and they are just fighting to gain fans and you know that the music business doesn’t always utilize the most talented people. Thats why Im so frustrated by shows like American Idol. The real talent is out there playing across the country, not singing on a reality TV show where they always show the terrible acts more anyway!

8- If you had to be indie or signed, which one would you rather be? Why?

A good manager IS the new record label, plain and simple. When was the last time you bought a CD at a store? I do every now and then, but only from a select group of artists. The only reason that labels were so sought after in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s was because of their huge distribution network. Have you noticed how small the music section is at Wal-Mart and Target lately? It used to be the only way to get the music you were hearing on the radio was to go buy the hard copy at a store. Now that the Internet and Itunes has taken over who needs a distribution network? It would be like 7 Eleven opening 10 million gas stations while the whole country was driving battery powered cars.

There is no demand for physical product. If you can write and record your own songs and put them up on the internet, you are in the music business. Have you noticed how many signed and unsigned bands do pre-sales now? Thats because the labels need to put up big sales numbers to give them an idea of how much the artist will or will not sell. Its always interesting to me when a band thats been around for 5 years and put out 3 albums is already putting out a greatest hits album.

9- What do you think will happen to the music industry the next year?

I think music is more in demand that it has ever been. There are more artists and bands out there slugging it out than ever before. Thats why people don’t accept friend requests from bands on Myspace! Everyone seems to be in the music business these days and it is very competitive and hopefully that will push people to come up with their best stuff. I think you will continue to see the decline and eventual collapse of labels as things move toward computers and digital outlets. Hopefully, artists will focus on their live show more because digital recordings and vocal tuning has changed the way people hear music for the worse. I think the artists that are the most creative and that market themselves in a unique way will rise above the others. People nowadays have seen everything and things don’t grab their attention like it used to. You need to be good, professional and also a good salesman of yourself.

10- Any last words of wisdom for independents wanting to be dependent on the industry machine?

I would just encourage artists not join a scene or try to get into a record deal or anything exclusive just for the purpose of being a part of something. Stay unique and engaging and people will be coming to you. You should be the one that decides what paths you want to follow. One thing that Jason Roy from Building 429 told me has stuck with me for a while now. He told me that no one is going to work harder for YOU than YOURSELF. Don’t depend on labels, agents, managers, whoever to make you a success. They will always move on to the next big thing, thats how the business works.