Is the latest question from FanBridge. At first I got a bit on the defensive side, but as I read the question over and over, and talked with a friend of mine. She pointed out that not everyone understands how things work. She never knew until she met me. This is what inspired this blog.
I have learned a lot. 1. don't ever take things personally, you can't. If you did, you would never survive the criticisms that come, and believe me people can hit below the belt. 2. Always be gracious, but don't let anyone run you over. You can get run over doing what I do. Its best you don't let anyone do that. You can be the best ever, but you can also be clever at not losing your cool.
Hokay so, if Will Ackerman believes in me, why doesn't he help out with the album? He is helping out, by me hiring him to be my producer. He is no longer the head of Windham Hill Records. He doesn't sign people to labels, that is not what he does now. He offers his unique perspective that he has gleaned over the years and you pay for that. Oh and he doesn't just magically appear. You have to email him and ask him. He then listens to your music, THEN he chooses to work with you or not.
The music industry is in a flux of change. Its not the same like it used to be. Say for instance, if you are George Winston during the late 70's signed to the Windham Hill Records Label, the label paid for the recording costs, ie: producing, musicians, studio time, engineering; which included mixing/mastering, manufacturing. They told you how you were release the music, and tour. Touring is another whole can of worms. Let me just focus on the production. Producing an album can vary in costs. It can cost from $5k to $100k or more. "Trillium" was staggering. It cost me... yes ME $80k. THAT includes production, recording, mixing/mastering, musicians, encoding, manufacturing, a publicist, radio promotion team no tv. If you want advertising on TV, that will cost you more. To be really rounded out to market something you need the marketing web. Which includes mailing, emailing, internet, online radio, radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, reviews, interviews. Oh and I had Ed Bonk working with me to promote "Trillium". He and I were a team together. He didn't do all the mailing of the albums, I did. He did all the phone calls to all the radio stations which includes internet radio/organic radio. All of those things MUST be put in place because none of this stuff is easy to tell people about it all. If you look at a commercial nowadays, you will see these commercials repeated during a tv show or during a radio broadcast or even a podcast. We are all creatures of repetition. We have to be told several times before things sink in.
So now, I need funding. Since I am an independent musician, I don't have the financial backing of a major label like Universal, Sony, EMI or any of those companies. Have I submitted my music? Sure I have. Since I was rejected, I chose to do this on my own. Would I like to be on a label? I did that with an Independent Record Label and got burned financially by them. The conditions have to be favorable for me to consider a label. I am still submitting, so who knows?!!
In order to produce a really good album worthy of Windham Hill of the past, which is my goal, I want/need a few things in place. Will Ackerman is part of that, then his studio and engineer is another part of the puzzle, I want great mastering, so that is another cost. All of these things are money driven. Which is true for most things in the Arts. I decided to change up the album I am working on, to do a solo piano project. Simply because, making another album like "Trillium" is expensive. VERY expensive. I had funding for that. This time, that funding is not there. I am looking to people to pledge $1, $30, or more dollars if you can spare that. I am not looking for thousands of dollars from one person. Wait, didn't "Trillium" sell? Sure, but I have not recovered my costs for that. Not even close. Then why do I do what I do? Because I am not in this to make money. I am in it because this is something I love to do. LOVE it, BREATHE it... its what motivates me to get up in the morning and "Carpe Diem"!!!! I am certainly not poor, but I don't have that kind of capital and that is why I am using Kickstarter.com to help me with this.
That is why I am coming to you to ask for help, which is not easy for this prideful chick to do. If I could do this on my own I would and never ask, but here I am asking because I feel that its worthy of my time and yours.
I hope you join me and pledge today!
Peace in Music,
Kori
5 comments:
Nice answer Kori,
I know this question wasn't poised to me, but I'd like to offer a different point of view as a fellow artist:
Here is why we ask for money:
Making music is an expensive thing. Having a piano tuned? 100.00. A day in a recording Studio? 1000-1500.00
Recording a symphony orchestra session? 15,000 per day +
And on and on and on ad nauseum.
There are no record labels for artists like us anymore- that means we do it ourselves and through the support of angel patrons of the arts.
These were the thoughts that were on my mind yesterday when the woman on the other end of the phone asked me to play a concert at her 50th wedding anniversary,
When it came down to my price, she unfortunately didnt have anything in the budget- but she was willing to offer a me a nice dinner.
Size of her house? 17,000 square feet.
Location of house? Oceanfront.
Car she drives? Bentley.
Amount of genuine respect she has for my work- ZERO.
Amount of her ignorance? Galactic
My response to her offer? Im sorry I am booked.
And even if I wasnt booked, the answer would have been. "Sorry I am booked."
Fortunately these kinds of calls happen very rarely, and where it used to annoy me, it now amuses me.
Why? Because success has a way of twisting a frown into a smile. If tahts sounds a little overly confident, I don't apologize- believe me, I've earned it
To the person who posed the question, I don't honestly think you are trying to be rude, and you ask a good question- but the nature of your question places you position that could be perceived as ignorant.
And Iam NOT insulting you by saying that- ignorance simply means that perhaps you lack a better understanding of the situation.
Let me explain: Here are some examples of some other artists who relied completely on endowments, underwritten support and patronage for their large scale performances.
Johann Sebastian Bach.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Frederic Chopin.
To close, the cost of a grand vision often exceeds the available finance to fund it.
Its no different than any other business.
We do what we can to realize a vision. And often times that means we ask for help-
Hope that sheds some light on it, and thank you for your support of Kori's music- her new album is going to be amazing! And I am glad to make my donation to her effort!
Jace Vek
www.jacevek.com
Bravo Jace... BRAVO!
Excellent addition to the subject at hand. Thanks for adding your thoughts!
Hello Kori and Jace,
I submitted the question that apparently struck a few sour chords (all pun intended) with you. Thank you so much for creating this forum so we can discuss this very important topic to squelch any misconceptions for the artists and the fans alike.
You were totally correct in your assumptions about me, Jace and thank you for having the thoughtful insight to recognize that I truly meant no harm or disrespect to Kori, Will Ackerman or any of the fine artists like yourself who work so hard to share with people like me the remarkable results of your lifelong passions. Each of you have inspired me with your music in ways that can't be described. Your passion and desire to share the fruits of your work with people like me made a difference in my life. In my book, you can't put a price on that kind of gift, a gift that you have given truly from the heart and the soul.
I am deeply saddened to learn that I put our beloved Kori on the defensive about something that she is obviously extremely passionate about. It is clearly my fault and I feel terrible about it. I would never intentionally do that to Kori. It was getting late when I wrote it and I chose not to proofread it before sending it off, which was probably a mistake. I can’t even recall everything that I wrote. At any rate, you have my deepest apologies, Kori. : )
In my original comment, I tried to convey that I love music, especially tremendously terrific music like Kori’s. If music ceased to exist today, I would probably begin wondering why I should wake-up each morning. Despite my love of music, I do not know about or understand a lot about the music industry. I do, however, want to be educated more about it. It fascinates me. When I asked the question about why Will Ackerman wouldn’t be willing to “front” Kori any necessary monies to record and produce her album, then recoup his money from the sales of Kori’s new CD, I was thinking that Will still owned the record label and studio and that he must surely recognize Kori’s potential. After all, even I can recognize Kori’s potential, right? Kori hit the nail on the head in her response to my comments. I was thinking that the label still covered all the expenses these days. OK, I’ll say it for you…I am an idiot! Well, I’d like to think that I’m just ignorant to how the music business operates these days. In my ignorance, I was just wondering why the label was making this poor, talented young lady resort to reaching-out to the fans, friends, family, etc. to raise money to get her solo album recorded, especially after she has proven that she has what it takes with her Trillium album.
Now that Kori and Jace so graciously set me straight – for which I’m very grateful – it is much clearer in my mind how the music business functions and how much it has changed over the course of many years. I, of course, don’t have a full understanding of the business, but enough to make me feel a little foolish. But that’s OK. It’s a good, hard lesson that will stick with me always.
Let me just say this now. Kori, I will be contributing to your cause. I believe in you and I know you’ll continue to do very well with your music. And…I’m going to admit to being a little selfish: I want to have more of your music! I love your music and I would be honored to play even a small part in helping you get more great music in my hands! Let’s do it, sista!
Should I win the lottery, Kori, I will gladly share some of my winnings with you to help fund your album. In the meantime, I will give what I can give and I will pray that you achieve your goal. You deserve it, Kori. God gave you an awesome gift and he would want you to share it with us.
On that note, I hope we’re “good”, Kori and Jace…and Will Ackerman! I love and respect all of you and I hope that you can forgive me if I came across as offensive in any way. That surely was not my intent. Bless you all and keep that great music coming!
Hi Phil,
I am thankful that you took the time to write your thoughts. It took some courage to come and express yourself. Its not an easy thing to do. I applaud you for that.
I would not call you an idiot, just un-informed. I am pretty sure everyone that buys music do not understand the amount of money it takes to make an album. Even I did not know how much it would take to create an album when I was younger. I am a good study, and so I learned quickly.
I am pleased that you love the music, and I am grateful that you were able to understand that I meant no disrespect to you either. I am very passionate about what I do, that is true. I felt I had to write my answer here on my blog and to have room to discuss our thoughts.
Thank you for your support and again, for taking the time to write to me!
Peace in Music,
Kori
Hey there Phil,
No worries, and I certainly wasn't trying to place you in an awkward position for asking a simple honest question..
Anytime the artists and listeners understand each other it is a win for everyone, and you asked a good question- I perhaps I should have eased of the accelerator in my resonse a tad..
I guess I should admit that the simple truth is that it always tends to strike close to a nerve with us artists when asked questions like that.
it probab;y has something to do with the intense passion we have, There is so much we want to do, but we are constantly having to limit what we can do
by the available budget. Sometimes its workable. Sometimes its frustrating. Sometimes it's infuriating haha.
Each one of us has a unique story that defines how, where, why, we do what we do. For many pf us, financial gain is a definite bonus, but not at the top of our list of priorities. It leaves in a place of being often misunderstood by the world at large.
In turn, that places in a position of having to rely on our talent to open the door to the opportunity to share it.
In today's world and the digital age- there is A LOT of artists doing A LOT of relying. hahaha.
I guess one could say there is only so much admiration to go around.
Heck, The truth is, I'm still trying to figure it all out.
Thanks for your kind candor, and genuine curiosity.
I wish there was more of that !
Jace Vek
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