To your question about the 'former label', I think you have a fair criticism. If I knew what i was talking about, why didn't I stay?
Any one can start a label and put stuff out once in a while. We could have done that but that isn't a business move but a vanity label. We did the label with the intent of getting the product distributed and did get distribution to chains like Tower etc. The trick in distribution is to regularly release material to satisfy the distro deal. Most distro houses expect 2 release a month, every month. Doesn't sound huge when you think of what majors do but when you are financing any portion of the process from recording, licensing, package design to manufacturing, it is a huge cost for each one. Do that two times a month. This is the deal if you go through anything such as Sony's R.E.D. Distribution etc. It's standard stuff.
So, in order to get a distro without having to meet the '2 fer' requirment, we joined a coalition of labels to group releases to meet that.
Sounds good. Two labels carried all the sales of the group and one was ours. Easy to say if I'm trying to prove something to you but I stand behind it. The distro company we used came to us directly to see if we wanted to skip the group because we had a decent sale record but we couldn't meet the '2 fer'. Then the coalition fell apart because the others weren't selling and getting returns (you have to accept all returns up to 120 days). Also, you don't get paid fro 120 days after invoicing a shipment.
Well, to shorten the story, labels dropped from the group and somehow, we ended up out of $7000 dollars.
Understand, that was a side business to our main business of import/export. So, after this happened, we decided that despite the positive responses we got and still had a Canadian distro deal, that it was a loss and a took too much time from our (still today) profitable business segment.
So, take that for what it's worth. We sold plenty of stuff and even with the lost, broke even. However, breaking even is not good business.
As to executive producers, financing is a large part of the deal. Agreed. I the executive producer is also the label owner, that means that you are paying for it but also needing to make sure that you can sell it. This means that you spend time with bands trying to direct output so that it can meet market needs even in a small niche. One of our better selling releases was a German band we licensed. When they produced a follow up to the release we put out, the 'changed' and we had to decline the new one. It would sell and they were disappointed that we didn't release it. The one we didn't release sold horribly because of changes.
This applies to what Executive Producers can do. Marshall the overall direction. While my example is not exactly that, it speaks to what can happen when you don't. We had a few bands that did follow ups with us and we turned back the recording to them until we knew it would meet the market. So, we weren't always (or even usually) in the studio when recording but we would direct the progress and redirect when it was not up to par.
In lots of cases, unless we trusted them, took care of the mastering and a number of instances with mixing too.
I think the point about producers etc (ie - the John Lennon quote) can be overstated too. You have great non-musicians in the business that could barely play a note if at all that were great ears. David Geffen, Doug Thaler, John Kalodner, Ahmet Ertegun among many that knew it when they heard it and were usually right.
I think, although it's kind of implied because I'm here, that I'm a musician. I've played guitar since '82 and was a serious shredder in the late 80's. I completely bagged on theory and focused on playing by ear (regret...) and thus why I'm here. Theory and also learning some style I always fancied (Joe pass type jazz and some chicken pickin'). My biz partner was a very skilled drummer. So, it's not that we hadn't been around that block.
What does all this prove? Not much. It's mostly telling a story. More to the point, the music world is littered with people that have a similar story to mine. It doesn't discount the experience but point out what a mess you're getting in to. It is also to say that learn from those that went that mile. I sold lots of product...getting paid for it is they key.
So it comes down to composition. I only spoke to the vocal song and otherwise, really like the other ones better. In all this, the point is not to lose the hook. That's all.
Last...if the deal isn't inked for your licensing deal, you shouldn't say anything. It wasn't clear that was the case. So, no worries.
