I've been inspired once again to give some insight into some interesting industry inner-workings today. If you liked that alliterative sentence, then you'll LOVE what I have to say *big grin*. This tweet came across my timeline earlier this morning via @Jkits:
"Why do Major Labels put Terrible songs on Albums becuz they were produced and written by A-Listers? Wow..."
Now, P. Murray 1.0 would've gone off the handle answering this question. Said answer would've most likely contained lots of resentment, expletives, and a whole lot of shade. However, P. Murray 2.0 has gone through alot of positive changes, and can respond to this query in a way that is honest, realistic, but still hopeful. Let's attack some basic common-law music business practices first.
At the heart of any business, the key to big-time success is (drumroll please) NETWORKING. At least that's what the case has been for the past few decades or so. Hard work, hustle, and talent - regardless of the field - will pale in comparison to the right connections. It was, at one point, understood that the hard work, hustle, and talent would get you to those connections. Such is not the case anymore, thanks to over-extended nepotism, hard-held executive positioning, and plain old greed. Ergo, the music business, a business already based on inter-personal relationship and the commerce of art, exemplifies this case-point several-fold. It truly is all about "Who You Know."
With this in mind, let's examine the plight of the break-out mainstream artist. If you are new, and signed to a major label and your A&R team is shopping around for material to place on your debut project, chances are they will do one of two things: either trust in the power of good music & search out that music by way of their network (this is highly unlikely), or seek out the Big Name writers/producers to procure a single from them at a nominal fee (this is VERY likely). Any credited creator who is actively placing with the majors right now can tell you that album content means crap if there is no super-hot-big-named-give-you-a-pop-wedgie single to front the project. In the business' current climate, the labels have been banking on the single to be something that can take off and be played ad nauseam, so as to ensure that the masses will be certain to at least buy the single and hopefully gravitate towards purchasing the album. This means that even though C-List producer w/no big credits may legitimately have the hottest new set of songs that could launch his career and be great additions to any pop project, A&R's will pass him/her over if they know Swizz Beats is willing to provide the label artist's breakout single, simply because he is...Swizz Beats (cue claps on the 'and' of every count of the track).
Let's be clear: the A-List creators really have no vested interest in the new artistry coming forth from the labels; some may argue it's because the talent and brands are lacking - I'm pretty sure and have on good authority that it's because of the pricing issues and poor financial practices of corporate music. Why would Danja Handz (I dig his work, PS) have a care or thought for someone like a P. Murray if he's already placed hits with Britney Spears (to the tune of thousands of dollars in upfront checks and mechanical royalties), and can be guaranteed similar slots on other established artists' projects? The answer is: he's not - hypothetically - and if him or someone like him DOES get called in to be part of an album from an unknown major label kid, chances are his interest will be diminished, leading him to take less time on the quality of whatever comes out of the studio; i.e., the "terrible" song. The truth is we can complain about this cyclical musical mudslide, but it's not something that's about to stop any time soon. Folks in the business are too bitter and far too concerned with their own security to break out of the pattern. I mean hey, we've all got a job to do...right?
You might be asking yourself, "Well at least we can expect good stuff from these guys when they're working with the veterans in the game right?" Wrong. In the case of the established artist taking to the A-Listers for their music, even the most prolific and creative artistic minds need to submit their will to the A&R guidelines if they are to ensure their placements. It may be a case where the artists themselves are in full creative control - though rare in corporate music - but in any case, whatever sound, style, feel, or songs are desired, those A-List creators seeking to get a credit on the project will need to fall in line with that. I know for certain that folks who wrote some of the less...insightful music on the Xtina album are fully capable of composing beautiful and profound sonic masterpieces; but the album was called "Bionic," Aguilera's foray into the Euro-Electro-Bubblegum-Dance/Pop world, so while super-writers like Linda Perry (writer of "BeautifuL") could be promised an amazing ballad slot, OTHERS would've had to make sure their records matched up with that hyphenated genre, A-List or not. In the words of Wendy Williams: "It is what it is."
My personal solution to much of this can be boiled down to the simplicity (and subsequent complexity) of the following statement: start with good music and build around it. The complexity of that statement can be found in asking, "Who decides what is good music?" Well I know one thing for sure: as aptly tweeted by my godbrother Ryan-O'Neil, letting lawyers, budgeteers, and other such non-musical persons have majority say over the content of the material will usually never make for a high-quality music project. Sorry. You can't expect for an executive accountant to be able to make the final decisions in the operating room of a high-risk brain surgery; it wouldn't be their place to do so. Such is the case of the legal & financial sector of the industry and their having far too much input on the art itself. Alas and alack, it seems that it will end up taking the full implosion of the business as it's been known for the real changes to occur.
In the mean- and in-between-time, I'm gonna keep on making good tunes and doing good business with those tunes. I advise others to do the same.
P.
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