On "Record Producing Today, The Industry & The Internet"
Date Published: 5/19/2008
Editing Date: pre-edited 5/19/08
Introduction By: Steve Timonen
55 year old Jimmy Iovine lives in Staton Island, New York with his beautiful wife Vicki and their four children.
Today Jimmy Iovine is mostly known for his Record Producing and his ownership of Interscope, Geffin and A&M Records.
He started his career as a record producer in the late seventies when he produced Patti Smith and the album included "Because The Night" (A Bruce Springsteen cover). The song became a top forty hit and Jimmy's career was on its way.
From there he went on to produce Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks.
In the 80s Jimmy Iovine moved-on and began to produce “The Pretenders”, and again began working with Patti Smith and “U2."
In the nineties Jimmy began to withdraw from producing and founded Interscope Records; which soon hired “Primus," “No Doubt," “Bush," “The Wallflowers” and Marilyn Manson.
In short, although he rarely produces anymore, Mr. Iovine has an uncanny knack for finding and producing some of the biggest names in the industry. It's almost as if he can tell the future. Today his knack is in owning and running one of the most successful record companies in the world.
Although he sometimes finds himself surrounded by controversy (Mr Iovine sometimes finds himself linked to the violence and anger of today’s popular music) he continues to stay on top of the entire industry and continues to know what the people of tomorrow will want, need and demand.
Artist House Music sat down with Jimmy and asked him to speak on the most important key issues of today's music industry. Jimmy unselfishly shares his thoughts; and whether you're an artist, a producer, or a fan, there's an awful lot to learn from this brilliant man. You will not regret taking the time to read his words.
Jimmy Iovine
(In His Own Words)
Having a Successful Career in Music
The bad news is that it's really tough right now in the music industry, but the good news is that there's a lot of communication. There's very easy ways to communicate and get your music out to the audience and there's a lot of great technology and people to help you create your music and get it on some sort of digital form.
So you can upload it to the Internet and different sites, hand out CDs at shows and stuff. But the most important thing is that you learn your craft. Don't get ahead of yourself ya know. First of all I think it's very very important that artists today be multifaceted, be able to see their own video or story or make it, or film it themselves, make their own website.
You don't have to do that. If you're born Bob Dylan you don't have to do that. But I think having a wide view of media and everything that's going on, it's really really important. It's a real asset. You don't have to do it but it's a real asset to have.
On the other hand, if you're in a band make sure that somebody in the band or the group of people in the band can write and really write, be really tough on the songs. If the band can't write then the likelihood is that you don't have the right combination of guys or girls or whatever.
So the song-thing is very important and I would also say, "try to be unique and try to be different.” Everybody today... like if you put on alternative radio - the guitars sound exactly the same. A lot of people blame the record companies for that but it's got nothing to do with the record companies. It's got to do with the lack of imagination that we're going through right now in certain areas of music. Kids think that they're supposed to copy things on television or on the Internet and that's how they're gonna get successful. Well the best way to get successful is to have it influence you but make up your own thing.
The Future of the Music Industry
Whatever it is there'll be someone who's going to organize it and put it together and that'll be called a record company. It's a matter of who, but I feel good about it because we're doing a lot of different things with it. We're going into a lot of different areas. We're starting an online magazine with Gwen Stefani. It's so incredible to work on that with her. It's just really fun. We have a couple of nightclubs with “The Pussycat Dolls” so we do a lot of different things. We had the “U2” iPod. We were parties in that with them. So we do many things now and it's going to grow from there. We're going to be doing it on a broader and bigger scale. I'm trying to find myself ya know, so if that does that then great. I'm never settled about it. I really just keep pushing the barrier, find out where it is. I'm going to keep pushing.
When we get our platform going I think it's going to be a good model.
Making New Music Distribution Models Work
I believe people want all the music and they want access to all the music whether it's download or subscription. There's also a lot of talk about advertising models or a combination of. But I think people really want access to all the music. Right now we don't have any really great editorial in the industry. Nobody knows what to buy. There's three million songs on line and no one knows what to buy. There's no people helping. There's no sites that are really really good at explaining music and walking you through it and walking you through those sites. There's some that are very good but they're also very dry.
So I think that an environment with the right subscription, for lack of a better word... but when you get all the music you can pretty much do what you want to do with it. When all the music is at your disposal you can make lists or trade lists with your friends.. different things like that. I think that's going to be real important in the next couple of years.
CDs are disintegrating. I've always said this; we have to make more revenue from the work that we do and we have to increase opportunities for the artists as well. So when you start out with a new artist you restructure the way that the relationship is and then, when a new model…does hit (which will be soon), when we really start going with it, I think it’s going to be good. I think that people like service, so I think you'd be selling a service as much as anything else. It certainly makes things easy for people, easy for a family to get music and wire it through the house or put it in their car. It helps you what to buy.
So, I mean, the CD going away... There's still tons of CDs being sold but we all know where it's going. But it's just a transition into something else. You know, sales are down right now, but that's because it's been very hard to figure out a way to make that transition. I think the record industry has been slow on the uptake for a bit but it's not as easy as it looks.
Retail Today
The record industry, really for a long long time, really missed the opportunity on advertising. I mean, we're the only people in the world that gives away their content and someone else advertises around it and we call it promotion. Now that is just naive. It's silly.
So these things happening, in the end, will be a good thing; because it's forcing everybody to think like businessmen. So what are we doing? How could we give our content away and call it promotion? It's really a silly thing.
People that give their music away are usually a young band that no one knows. If all the musicians kept giving their music away... truly because no one else even wants to steal it, ...... I mean.... Put out a song that someone wants and everyone in the world will have it in five minutes. You don't need to give them away. I mean, if you want to you can.... but that's a fly on an elephant's butt. Hopefully people who know your music like you. They're there. You're touching them somehow. So if you're giving it away for advertising... I mean someone's got to pay for it ya know. I mean... unless someone wants all the music in the world to be free.... which I guess... is communism or something. I don't know.
Competing with Free
I believe in service on the actual music side alone
This business has never had a relationship with its customer. It never has and I think we need to have that now, a direct relationship. And I think we need to service them. That will turn the tide... something as simple as that.
Let’s say we had a subscription service, but only if the service was in an environment that you could go in and know everything about that artist, things related to that artist, artists that are related to that artist, creditable playlists by unique people, all the videos in one place, all the original and unique content. Like.. artists make a lot of records around this place. Feed them. Put the music out every month. People are interested in that. So you keep building the service to where it's really good. I think that's one of the things that can turn the tide.
There are many many things that are more complicated about all this but the bottom line to me is; get the music, marry it with technology and make the service incredible.
I think they would pay for a service as well, if the service was right, and good and clean and reasonably priced. Or subsidized and priced ya know. It can go a lot of ways. Phone companies or technology companies, hardware companies. There's a lot of ways to do it. Remember, it's about whoever has the content, in the end, the unique content, especially the music.
The reason why music is in trouble on the Internet is because it's the best apt, cause it flows through that thing like water. So that's really going to help the record industry in the end; because if you look at it like some of these big companies, what they’re paying a lot of their bandwidth on - is those kids watching videos, music videos. So if we make them unique there's a certain advantage. Certain big cable companies or online companies, technology companies.. When we advantage people it's really going to be very rewarding. Our license will be very valuable.
You know... kids may be willing to steal music but corporations have a lot more to lose.
Finding New Artists at Interscope Records
There's a hundred different ways. Wherever it comes from, if it's MySpace or somebody brings in an artist or a friend of another artist. It can come from anywhere. This company is very agile and very light on its feet.
It's not hard to get a record deal here. It's just that the heat has to come with it. It's gotta be really really good or somebody here has to believe it's really good.
Personally I look for "now." I'm looking for something original, something different, you know... something where the songs are there but the spirit is also there. To find people that are unique and special.
On the 360 model… I believe in it. I'm not adverse to it. I don't think every model applies to every situation. I think you have to adapt to deal with the situation and circumstances. The labels do put up a lot of money for touring and development and... years and years and years... and, if they're willing to do that and they can work out a deal with the band or a singer where the balance is different... I also believe the balance can change where it's better for the artist on the record-side so you can really balance that out. You can make it work. We've done a few here that have really worked.
Are Record Companies Really Evil?
I was one of those guys calling the record companies "the big bad wolf" at 18 years as a record producer.
What happens is; you make a record, you sit in a studio and you kill yourself. It is so hard and you're doing the best you can and you really think you've created... you know... "Sergeant Pepper...." when, in-fact ya didn't.
The hardest thing for any artist to do, including when I was a record producer.... for me to do, was to look in the mirror and say, "ya know what... it was me." Everybody wants to be “Shaggy” and say, "It wasn't me." But the fact is, sometimes it is the record company and a lot of times it's the artists but the artists, simply by what they're called.. "artists" they get a voice like that and it's a very easy target. "My album was great! It wasn't me! It was that building!" What can you do about that? Over the years it's eating away. Now some of it's valid. In the early days of the record business people weren't getting paid and all this other stuff.. whatever. That's all true and that carries over as well and sometimes it is the record companies fault. Sometimes some people are just incompetent, but a lot of times it's just.. the music's stupid.
Advice for Being a Successful Artist
If they have some competency in recording it themselves or have a friend that has a good knack for it, get the music recorded! It's so easy to get music to the public right now. All you have to do is put a pretty girl on the front page of your MySpace page and they'll play your song. That's not literal but... you know.
I would go out and try to get great live. I would really work on my live-thing. It's really an asset right now but people don't really work as hard as they should on it. Some bands do. You see them get real audiences in certain cities and they start to build their thing, get on tours and they really hustle. That's pretty much what I would do.
I would make my music great. See, that's the whole thing and you'll have a clear view of what is great and what isn't great. Either way you'll be told and then.. you'll blame the record company... haha! But that's OK.
If you're living in some small town somewhere, we have the Internet now and I'll say it again; The fact that the Internet is hurting themselves and music so much, it's also making it so easy to communicate with people about music. It's so easy and the record industry has to get itself in the flow and it will.. there's no doubt.
Artists, if they really want to, right now they can find out what they've got. You can get out there like “Soldier Boy." When we signed “Soilder Boy” there were four million kids watching his video. Four million people watched the video! I mean.. we didn't have to be geniuses to sign “Soldier Boy.”
The online environment and music is so rich. It's not organized yet, which it will get. There's a lot of nonsense... people like to hear themselves talk a lot but they're being more educated. I can tell you, the kids that come in here are a completely different brew than 10-15 years ago.... different kid.
I would do a lot of self-contained stuff. I would get my website really popping. Making it really exciting, as exciting as I could. But I'll tell you, the way that this world is right now, where you've got six television shows auditioning two million people, record companies, people on the Internet.. you'll get heard! You will get heard.
It's a tough game. You have to keep your music solid and pure. It's really hard to get through the maze but just believe in yourself!
What Makes a Great Record Producer
Right now some of these guys in urban, pop music and hip-hop are brilliant. Ferrell, Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Akon. These guys are all really talented guys. They do it all. They can write it, produce it, make the drums and play them... they can do anything..
I think what a great producer is; is someone that was born with a real strong combination of natural talent and learned ability to feel what excites and can move popular culture and helps guide people to that end. The real goal for all of us is to move popular culture. That's what we're trying to do. Yeah, everybody wants to get paid and that's very popular these days but the fact is; what we're really trying to do is impact popular culture and when you can do that it's really rewarding. So a great record producer understands that instinctively and does everything he can to help move the needle.
Advice for Being a Record Producer
I would learn how to work all the great equipment. I think it's a fabulous thing to have and your whole life, no matter where you go.... today.. the fact that I know how to work a console.. helps me so much in everything that I do. I have a feel for electronics, for what the stuff does. I just kind of know... when you grow up like that.
You should know music. You should learn the piano. You should be able to communicate. If someone changes a key you should know. You should hustle and look for talent. And know that it's not a job. It's a passion and a vocation and you can't do it part time. I couldn't.
Jimmy Iovine will go down in history as the best in the business.
I hope you took the time to read all of the above article.
I hope, if you're a musician, or you know someone who is... that you know how valuable his words are. I hope you know that he gave this to us for free.
