on 4/23/03 11:40 AM, Ellery Eskelin at eskelin@earthlink.net wrote:
Hey Skip, No disagreement from me...in an "ideal world" that is. But we ain't got one 'a them. But hell, lot's of shit gets subsidized, all the way up to big business and their tax breaks...oh, and don't forget that those CDs we sell cost something up front, so it's not all gravy. Even if I made and pressed them myself it would still take awhile to recoup the investment, particularly if I want to pay my musicans what I think they're worth. Tour CD sales help but it may not be as much as it looks. But it's more and more becoming the norm to sell on the gigs since the shops are not at all consistent in stocking these things. And besides, Gerry Hemingway is the king of on stage sales, one night in Ann Arbor I witnessed 75 CDs fly off the stage during a 15 minute break. Now that's a decent chunk of change...
Trust me on this -- you'll recoup your money a lot faster if you self-press. In fact, you WILL ACTUALLY HOLD -- IN YOUR HANDS -- THE MONEY THE DISC GENERATES. Even if getting the things in stores was easier, Tower has a year to pay. Between the bandstand, the net, and those little distributors that service Downtown Music Gallery and that one store in every city that stocks you or me or our nefarious little buddies, you'll reach your audience more expediently. Frank I don't think an Ellery customer or a Skip customer is shopping at Tower these days anyway. As for tax breaks subsidizing big business: at least in California, they've subsidized my business (right along with the BMI from the Flintstones and shit like that). I put almost all my income back into my business. As for paying people what they're worth, I pay my regulars well above what the union says they're worth for film/cartoon stuff, so if I have to pay 'em less on one of my sessions, they don't mind too much, as long as they're the first call for everything. CD sales do vary, but I've found that they really do pay for a serious chunk on a day-to-day basis. The road is a "$20 here- $50 there" operation (food per diems, gas, van rental etc). If I can defray $100 a night of that, that's a pretty good clip off the stuff the gig itself pays for (plane tickets, band salaries, and motels being the main stuff). Also, I'm the kind who'll book a gig in a town like Oshkosh or a high school clinic just so we're playing every night, and I've never had a bad experience with those sorts of things, even if only five people show up. Plus, it keeps money coming in for the van and the fuel, not to mention defraying some of the bigger costs. Call me crazy, but I'm a great believer in cutting out as many middlemen as possible. sh np: the lottie lenya album