In 2004, my band, Ethnic Detour, played a gig at Latitudes, a small music venue at the Sheraton Four Points in Blacksburg, VA. While the show itself was otherwise ordinary, an experience speaking with the other band playing that night planted the germ in my head for this project. My band co-headlined1 this gig with a band from out-of-town. When the other band arrived, they pulled-up in a commercial van towing a trailer with their equipment. They displayed no interest in speaking with my band. As a drummer, I offered for their drummer to use my drum kitâa common courtesy to reduce time between actsâbut he insisted on using his own kit; of course, the bandâs name was printed on his bass drum. From the moment they arrived, they started demanding the manager change the agreed upon co-headliner arrangement so they could headline.2 The other band insisted on headlining because they were in discussions with multiple labels. They were touring the East Coast to build their credibility for a better deal. My band agreed to play first, since we would still split the door; however, since the crowd showed up to see my band, most left after we finished our set.
Although the band was unremarkable, they probably signed a record contract with a label. Assuming they did, they most likely recorded an album, at which point they would be lucky to have the label pay enough attention to their project to promote and market it. They would be even luckier if they recouped their advance.
Record contracts are notoriously exploitative of artists who sign away their copyrights in exchange for the potential to make it big. Although it is widely acknowledged that record contracts only on rare occasions equal big-time monetary success, the desire remains strong among bands and recording artists to sign unequitable record contracts. This project addresses the following questions. In what way does the desire to sign record contracts change the way labels treat musicians? How pervasive is the ideology of getting signed? Why are musicians willing to sell the rights to their music in exchange for an advance to record an album? Why do they desire a record contract? How does signing a record contract materially affect the parties in the agreement? This band is one example of a widespread desire in the American cultural imaginary wherein a record contract signifies great achievement (Celebrity? Wealth? Status?).
Dozens of authors and musicians have detailed the inequity that originates from signing major record label contracts, most notably describing the relationship, however hyperbolically, as like slavery. For instance, Prince wrote the word âSLAVEâ on his face to characterize his relationship with Warner Brothers.3 Around the time, Princeâs struggle with his record label resulted in him abandoning his name to become a sign. In another example, George Michael described his record contract as âprofessional slavery.â4 Additionally, in separate instances Courtney Love and Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter both characterized a record contract as that of a sharecropper.5 These celebrities share their own experiences with record contracts, which demonstrate that no one is immune and that celebrity isnât a way to more equitable relations.
Along with comparisons to slavery and sharecropping, industry insiders have often described the one-sided nature of record contracts. In an op-ed written for Billboard, Jeff Berke, an attorney who represented musicians in contract negotiations, admonished the contemporary record contract as âan instrument of torture and oppressionâ in 1988.6 Berke explains that through these contracts, a label has the âright to do anything it wants with [artistâs recordings] (including nothing).â7 Berke wrote this over 30 years ago, and the only thing to change with these record deals is that they have become more exploitative. Record labels use their power to negotiate one-sided deals with emerging artists who do not have the power to forge a strong positionâlabels will just move to the next musician. The more musicians who believe in the ideology of getting signed, the less bargaining power any given musician holds to negotiate with a label. Popular music scholars almost universally describe how difficult it is to succeed at earning a living from a record contract. Yet the belief on the part of musicians persists to the detriment of music, musicians, and culture.
While musicians sign record contracts for a multitude of reasons and record labels cite specific business rationale for them, in this book I argue these contracts create the fundamental mechanism with which to exploit musicians. Exploitation occurs any time that workers are underpaid for the labor that they perform.8 Instead of providing musicians with material resources, record contracts reinforce the power held by major record labels, and create the means through which record labels can generate profits. Aspiring musicians grow up hoping they will one day sign a record contract and become a star. Since the belief is widespread among musicians and non-musicians, there are always more people desiring a contract than the industry can sustain, this depresses wages for most recording artists while simultaneously obscuring the realistic outcomes of signing a contract by foregrounding the less likely experience of âbigâ stars. At the same time, record contracts are the only viable path to success in the recording industry, but the model works for very few people.
Today, viral music sensations are signing multi-million dollar record deals without ever having performed to a live audience. Each year, thousands of aspiring singers audition for The Voice and Idol brands worldwide for the goal of winning and landing a record contract. Thousands more pay to perform at record label showcases in large and small cities everywhere for the hope of signing a record deal. Record contracts have been the goal of aspiring musicians since Ralph Peer started signing blues and country artists in the 1920s. Many people think that the core logics of recording contracts are no longer important because of alternative distribution forms. This book intervenes in this narrative by demonstrating that musicians believe that record contracts still represent and mark success.
The Ideology of Getting Signed
My object of study is the ideology of getting signed. The ideology of getting signed is a social phenomenon that exists outside individuals and persists across time. Regardless of genre, aspiring musicians often dream of signing a record contract, which represents financial security, potential stardom, and is a clear marker of legitimacy. While this may have different meanings across class, race, and gender, the musicians possess the prevalent feeling that a record contract is an end in itself in addition to a means to greater things. Musicians donât sign record contracts as a back-up plan; it is their goal. Ideology is an expression of the world around us that helps produce the idea of that world. It is an upside picture of reality that helps obscure the real relations of production (more on this in Chapter 2). Furthermore, the ideology exists throughout society as the major aspirational achievement that non-musicians expect musicians to pursue. There is a widespread belief among musicians and non-musicians that these record contracts bring incredible wealth to anyone who signs one because of the large sums of money earned by a few artists.9 In numerous conversations I had with friends, family members, colleagues, and strangers, people often emphasized to me that so-and-so on the radio is rich. Non-musicians and musicians, alike, internalize the model of success through record contracts ; non-musicians encourage musicians to pursue these contracts, and musicians oblige, often believing that record contracts will bring them wealth and fame.
Aspiring musicians have desired to sign record contracts across the world beginning early in the twentieth century and continuing in the twenty-first century. The desire existed in the early days of country music when Ralph Peer began signing blues and country singers in the South.10 Tin Pan Alley brought young crooners in New York City to national fame around early record contracts. When record labels began signing British acts in the so-called British Invasion in the 1960s, those artists believed they could make it big with a record contract. The ideology existed when Barry Gordy churned out records in a factory-style production line at Motown Records.11 And the ideology existed when Island Records mined the Carribean for reggae acts in the 1970s and 1980s. During the heyday of rock ânâ roll, bands aspired to sign record contracts with major labels memorialized in popular entertainment such as movies Almost Famous and This Is Spinal Tap, and the current list of movie biopics or television series that focus on the music industry (Nashville, Atlanta, and Empire). It existed even when punk and later grunge rock derided major record label deals in favor of small independent labels.12 It exists among aspiring emcees in LA trying to âblow up.â13 It exists when aspiring singers watch talent search game shows with the ultimate goal o...