PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
Folk Stars Do Business Without Getting the Business !

Those "Sultans of Swing," Dire Straits, inspire hopeful male musicians. Their siren song is, "Money for nuthin' and the chicks for free." The pop star's Hollywood fantasy lingers like perfume over the odour of sweat on a late-night dance floor. When the song is done, does the smell of success remain?

Lee Aaron knows that the music business can stink! When she was at the pinnacle of metal music, her records were making millions...for someone else. Her story is a primer on what-not-to-do as a professional in the music business. In fact, she has conducted post-secondary workshops on the topic in Vancouver.

Lee and her group were my passengers on a trip to Calgary Airport at the close of JazzFest. My conversation with her sax man, Graham Howell, turned to composing and then to marketing music. Lee had been dozing in the back seat. But her head bobbed up like it was spring-loaded at the m-word.

She remembered the flattery of a record promoter. She had signed the dotted line as the final step in arriving as a pop star. Her first lesson: get a lawyer! That signature ultimately meant that Lee lost the rights to her own music and failed to receive any royalties. The contract had stipulated that promotional costs must be covered in full before she would get her first cheque. And these costs went on and on.

Worse yet, the promoter's company folded and the rights to her songs were sold to another company. This chain of succession has multiplied to the extent that Lee is now unable to track the company that currently owns her music.

If the costs had ended, Lee was guaranteed only $1 of the $20 that customers pay for her CD. Her second tip: stay away from promoters! And DO join SOCAN. Royalties that SOCAN collects for commercial play of original tunes can mean regular paydays.

Even today, Lee is frustrated at the distributor's breakage deductions of nearly 10% charged against her profits. Nearly all recordings are CD's. Breakage is not the issue that it was with records. Yet there is a dockage. Music businesses exist for profit at the musician's expense. Lee's fourth tip? Avoid the middle men. Market your own music.

This is the folk tradition! Folk music has been a kinder, gentler, business for the most part. Here's Manitoba Hal's take. People buy CD's for the moment an artist creates. "It's like I'm here with you again." Of a recording, Hal said, "Make something sustainable and sell it for $10."

Folk fans expect CD sales to be part of the concert and festival scene. The great news is that when you buy a CD directly from folk musicians they receive $17 of the $20. Harry Manx estimated that his Medicine Hat CD sales would buy the washing machine for his new Salt Spring Island home. That makes me feel good.

We should all nurture real dreams!