Spoiler Alert!!!! This gives plot points to the movies Avenger Infinity War and The Devil and Daniel Mouse.
Disclaimer. I am an industry (radio) employee and this is not I repeat, THIS IS NOT A KNOCK on the ENTIRE Entertainment industry.
[Thanos is now briefly inside the Soulworld, where he sees a young Gamora on the home world of the Zen Whoberi]
Thanos: Daughter?
Gamora: Did you do it?
Thanos: Yes.
Gamora: [beat] What did it cost?
Thanos: [solemly] … Everything
For those of you who haven’t seen Avenger Infinity War, the above dialog comes from one of the final scenes in the movie. The moments leading up this dialog are full of the type of smoke that legends are made. The scene is a conversation between the Antagonist of the movie (Thanos) and his “daughter” (Gamora). The scene takes place moments after Thanos won a long fought war that he had been strategically fighting for years. Thanos waged the war “for the greater good” of humanity, but to win the war, he had to make unimaginable sacrifices. One of which, was the life of his very own daughter…
Good Day Fam. Thanks for stopping by. In Today’s blog post, I’m going to talk about the Entertainment Industry. The focus will be on the way in which some of the “gate keepers” to the industry will exploit the weaknesses of an artist, and manipulate an artist to compromise their values and systems of belief. The “gate keepers” do this to make an artist a Slave or a puppet, easily controlled and managed. This can be accomplished by the aspiring artist lack of…
- legal knowledge
- family system
- socioeconomic status
- social support
- self esteem
- religion (belief in a higher power of Some type)
- education
- financial literacy
- structure or “root” system
In the song “Say You Want It All“, which is a banger I may add, by Amel Larrieux, a re-occurring message that is given throughout the song speaks to what you have to give, and or give up, in order to succeed in the Entertainment industry.
Enter the aspiring artist. This artist can hold a note like Whitney, drop a hot 16 like Kendrick, make a beat like Pharell, and has the looks of Nikki, (or whoever the Hot Dude of the moment is for the ladies, please feel free to fill in the blank ______ 🙂 ). This aspiring artist, like so many great artist before he or she, is young, unsuspecting, and comes from a marginalized place. This artist in many cases lacks education, financial literacy, and doesn’t know any specialized law. On top of that, the artist may come from a family where for whatever reason the family structure is lacking. The community that the artist resides is underserved, and the crime rate in their city is high. The one thing (or at least that what the aspiring artist thinks) that they have going for them is their talent. With the school that this artist has or is presently attending not having the resources to keep up with the schools of the higher socioeconomic standards, their ONE talent is the salvation and hope to end their families generational poverty, hurt and pain.
Enter the Entertainment industry gate keeper. This person may be a talent scout, someone from a “record label” a lawyer, a company executive, a music producer, a bouncer for a club, a record labels “A&R” rep, etc. This person is charming, trendy, stylish, good looking, well dressed, nuanced in the “industry” vernacular, and seemingly trust worthy. At a local talent show on a Friday night at the youth center, school auditorium, or community center, the industry gate keeper notices the aspiring artist in their rare and unique form and sees an opportunity. The industry gate keeper contacts the “record label” and proclaims that they have found a winner. The record label invites the aspiring artist to the studio, verifies the talent and presents an opportunity to the artist. The opportunity for the aspiring artist is spelled out in the form of a “Contract”. The aspiring artist, carries the weight of the pain and suffering that his family, community, city, race, and or gender has endured for centuries on his or her shoulders. This artist now has a choice to end all of it with the stroke of a pen.
Ahh. The choice to end it all. That which the artist seeks to end and make better is what often times the industry insiders use against the aspiring artist to trap them into a “bad deal”. If you have ever been broke, hungry, or in pain, watching those that you love suffer, the only thing you’re concerned about is making it all go away. You want it to go away quick fast an in a hurry. This longing for relief and making problems disappear fast is all too often the path of exploitation. The inspiring artist from the underserved school never really learned what a fiduciary financial adviser is let alone how to vet one. Besides, (as told to the aspiring artist) this deal must be finalized right now or the deal will go away for good. The deal will be gone as well as the opportunity for the artist to end the hurt. In the short animated movie “The Devil and Daniel Mouse” a simplistic but relevant view of this is offered (for kids 12 and under this movie serves teachable moments or gives you an excuse to watch it yourself ;)). Plus, that industry gate keeper seems like an alright dude. He promised the artist mama that the label would take guuuud care of her baby and he or she personally would never let anything bad happen to the aspiring artist.
With that, the aspiring artist signs the dotted line and enters into a contract with the record label. Not to get into the specifics of what make up a “bad” recording contract, but if you want some examples, click here, here, and here. Some of the stories I have seen and read about are truly unbelievable. Recently, one of my favorite groups of all time, De La Soul expressed concerns, (or potholes), about their 30 YEAR problematic relationship with a record label that they have a past with, in an interview with Sway on Sway In The Morning. A deal that also can be potentially harmful for the artist is the notorious “360“deal. In an article that appeared on the website Digital Music News, a 360 deal is described as “an exclusive recording contract between a record company and an artist in which, in addition to monies from sales of the artist’s recorded music, the label shares in other income streams such as touring and live performance, merchandise, endorsements, appearances in movies and TV, and if the artist also writes songs, publishing.” (Gordon, Steve How to Avoid Getting Completely Screwed By A 360 Degree Deal. Retrieved from https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2013/07/02/threesixty/).
Talk about getting blood from a Turnip….geeze, but in all fairness I get it. These are companies in it to make a profit. You should expect a return on your investment and nothing is wrong with that. Profit is not a dirty word however. These type of deals offer a lot of ways to screw a hungry aspiring artist, who under different circumstances might consider other options and weigh his or her choices more thoughtful.
Another thing that I find problematic is the “creative differences” that can result from recording contracts between the artist and the record label. These creative differences can stifle an artist creative expression and limit the control over the type of content that an artist can create. An artist became an artist because they had an expression that they felt the world deserved or even needed to see or hear. To get this message out the record label will put up the money to help facilitate the propagation of the artist message in the form of advances. The advances are not only money to help the artist eat and provide immediate help for his or her family. The advance might also cover studio sessions, music videos, wardrobe, promotions, touring expenses etc. From the website IFPI The following illustration is offered graphically displaying some of the advances that the record label may provide…
(How Labels invest . (2019, March 17). Retrieved from https://www.ifpi.org/how-record-labels-invest.php)
The label knowing the artist cannot afford to pay back the advanced money in most cases as presented in the contract and in accordance to the contract (which the artist probably didn’t understand in the first place), know they now own the artist and have them right where they want them. The artist under pressure to pay back advances given to them by the label to mitigate the pain that the artist was in at the time they signed the contract, is left with little choice but to do as they are told creatively or be cut off by the label and face lawsuits that will enable the label to recoup the advanced money they gave the artist. Here’s where the label may start to tweak the artist creative expression just because they can. Again, I get it. The artist may need a tweak and hey…Smokey had a big hand in the Temps success (if your under 40 then go holla at ya auntie for explanation. Pack ya lunch…I’m just sayin 😉 ) however. A lot of times these tweakers are out of touch and wouldn’t know art if it slapped them n the face.
To achieve this “tweak” the tweakers might want to change the artist music, lyrics to their songs, wardrobe, hair, makeup, Skin complexion, body image, jewelry, lifestyle, masculinity / femininity etc. This can be painful for an artist in that they are being told that their message, and maybe even their Self is not worthy or valuable enough to be heard or seen. Can you imagine what it would be like for an young impressionable person to be told that what they have to say doesn’t matter. Can you imagine the damage that can be done to a young person that is told that their image is not what it should be. Here you have a young person, away from the familiarity of home, with people telling them how to speak look walk talk dress act sing dance etc. These artist are being stripped to a point where they can barely recognize their self sometimes. Often these tweaks are presented to the artist at times when they are very vulnerable. The artist may have just received bad press, an unfavorable review, a slump in sales or streams, news of a loss of a family member, or just may be going through a bad stretch like we all do from time to time. At these times more than ever Validation Matters. Sadly, it is in moments like these when the people who’s validation is needed are often hidden from the artist, whom may at that fragile moment just need to hear a familiar “hello”, and/or “well you know mama still loves you if don’t nobody else do”. <—-(Roots!)
Perhaps you have heard of stories where child and young adult stars fall down while in the spotlight of the entertainment industry. Here are some artist who stories can serve as Cautionary Tales of the effect that life in the spotlight can have on an artist.
With all that has been said above, I do feel that a young aspiring artist can have a successful carrier in the entertainment industry. The following is what I feel could help mitigate some of the potential damage described above, that could impact the young aspiring artist.
- The validation of a aspiring artist dreams and beliefs with encouragement from home matters. Don’t let the first person to validate the aspiring artist be someone from out of the home. Let the artist know that YOU are their biggest fan.
- The moment you notice a child with aspirations, LEARN THE GAME HE OR SHE WISHES TO PLAY
- Vet potential Lawyers who offer Free Fiduciary Consultations.
- Let the aspiring artist know that regardless of the success or failures that they endure along the way, they can always come home.
- As you notice an inspiring artist gifts, help them make music & videos. Take some time to learn some basic video and music editing skills. Here are some free editing tools for music and video. Have some FUN with the artist!
- Encourage the artist, family members their age, their friends and other youth of the community to become good “gate keepers”. This would include lawyers, accountants, managers, psychologist, physical therapist, etc. These are big money careers that are often slept on in the realm of the entertainment industry.
- Remind the youth often to have fun. When their artistic expression starts to feel more like work than fun, an evaluation of their current circumstance may be in order.
- ALWAYS, ALWAYS have an INDEPENDENT lawyer who does NOT have ties to the Label thoroughly scrutinize any and ALL documents before signing! No matter how insignificant they may seem to be, err on the side of caution.
As the world stays in constant flux, and change comes fast and relentless, music has always soothed the soul. Let us all do our best to be positive patrons and stewards of music and the artist that create it. Lets stay vigilant and keep an eye out for the bad apples in the industry gate keepers barrel. They are but wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Posted 3/17/2019
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