Where are the Promotions people?

[pitkin88]

Dennis made a comment about he hopes Bob doesnt take as long mixing this as he did the HV's so I'm guessing we are at least 2 months away. Be careful what you wish for regarding promoting it, there was a lot of stuff surrounding ACAS and that was dead on arrival.

[mr.barlow]

In today's market, Alice is basically recording for his fanbase and the niche hard rock/classic rock consumer. Music today is all micro-marketed.

An artist like Alice can make as much money selling 20,000 units as he did selling a million units back in the day. The John Prine and Oh Boy Records story can give a great insight on how an artist can do and keep all the money for themselves. Today, it's not about how many units you can sell but rather how to maximize your profit from the least amount of units sold.

The advent of the internet and social media saves an artist from the costs of physical promotion. What used to be done by paid promotional people across the globe can now be done by one employee and a computer.

Also, keep in mind that Alice is nearing the end of his career. I think he is under no delusions that he will sell a million units with any release. The money spent on promotion is relative to the projected success of the album. Shep, Alice and Erzin I'm sure budget just what they need to make the album a success and to reach their expected sales goal. If--by chance--the album were to skyrocket, they will then have the funds to spend as they need.

Trust me--Alice and Shep would not spend any money they felt would be wasted. The whole point of Alice recording a new album is to make a profit. The whole reason he tours is to make a profit. I wish people would understand that ALL musicians, bands. etc are in it to make a profit. There is no furthering of a career without money--large sums of it! And there is no better motivator on Earth than profit. Like it or not--money drives the world. Alice has understood this concept from day one!

[Babysquid]

I wish people would understand that ALL musicians, bands. etc are in it to make a profit. !

I think there might be at least a couple who are in it for the music

[tommycooper]

From Pitkin 88:
"Be careful what you wish for regarding promoting it, there was a lot of stuff surrounding ACAS and that was dead on arrival".

I think a number of board members might have been grateful for the advance promotion on ACAS. I remember getting pretty excited in the months leading to release- which was a good thing. If the album had just landed I would have had nothing but crushing disappointment!

From Mr Barlow
"The whole point of Alice recording a new album is to make a profit. The whole reason he tours is to make a profit".

I know you've said this before, but like Babysquid I'm not entirely convinced. Alice must recognise that there is at least a chance that his next studio release will be his last. Because of that I would hope he'd like to round off his 50 year career with something memorable-not merely cheap but profitable.

It's up to him of course. I have no sense of entitlement as Alice owes me nothing.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Babysquid:
"I think there might be at least a couple who are in it for the music"

Yes, if they are prepared to lose money or make just enough to be able to carry on recording.

[A_MichaelUK]

From tommycooper:
"I remember getting pretty excited in the months leading to release- which was a good thing. If the album had just landed I would have had nothing but crushing disappointment!"

That really makes no sense. You are saying you were happy to be disappointed following a period of excitement as opposed to just being disappointed with no preceding period of excitement.

>Because of that I would hope he'd like to round off his 50 year career with something memorable-not merely cheap but profitable.

I don't think that's the point mr.barlow was making. He was referring to the costs involved in the 'old days' when it came to promoting an album as opposed to the current forms of promotion. I don't think he was necessarily referring to the content of an album.

[pitkin88]

In today's market, Alice is basically recording for his fanbase and the niche hard rock/classic rock consumer. Music today is all micro-marketed.

An artist like Alice can make as much money selling 20,000 units as he did selling a million units back in the day. The John Prine and Oh Boy Records story can give a great insight on how an artist can do and keep all the money for themselves. Today, it's not about how many units you can sell but rather how to maximize your profit from the least amount of units sold.

The advent of the internet and social media saves an artist from the costs of physical promotion. What used to be done by paid promotional people across the globe can now be done by one employee and a computer.

Also, keep in mind that Alice is nearing the end of his career. I think he is under no delusions that he will sell a million units with any release. The money spent on promotion is relative to the projected success of the album. Shep, Alice and Erzin I'm sure budget just what they need to make the album a success and to reach their expected sales goal. If--by chance--the album were to skyrocket, they will then have the funds to spend as they need.

Trust me--Alice and Shep would not spend any money they felt would be wasted. The whole point of Alice recording a new album is to make a profit. The whole reason he tours is to make a profit. I wish people would understand that ALL musicians, bands. etc are in it to make a profit. There is no furthering of a career without money--large sums of it! And there is no better motivator on Earth than profit. Like it or not--money drives the world. Alice has understood this concept from day one!

While I take your point about sales that is an exaggeration. There was certainly a lot of revenue coming in from radio plays etc in the old days. I think MB said his first royalty payment for NMMNG in 73 was $90,000 and that was for just one song.

[mr.barlow]

I agree completely. There still is a revenue stream from royalties but even that is nowhere near what it used to be thanks to streaming, etc. This also is a reason tnat less money is spent on promotions. I can only imagine the mere pittance of airplay royalties that would be generated from this new release. Any signifigant royalties still being collected would be from the classic albums and singles. I would bet that the royalties from anything post 1980, with the exception of Trash, are minimal.

To be clear--any new recordings are being financed by Alice, Shep and Ezrin with the possibility of outside investors. It's not the days of the big labels anymore--at least for 90% of artists out there today. When the success or failure of a project directly effects one's own personal bank account, you can be sure they watch every single penny spent and making sure it is spent wisely.

Securing a label would be mainly for distribution and promotions in exchange for a cut of the profits, contracted fee or both. Alice would maintain all ownership of everything. I think this has been the case since around "A Fistful Of Alice". Maybe AMUK could confirm this.

At any rate---I'm in no way saying that Alice does not care about the music. In fact in order for the album to be successful it has to contain great music. what I am saying is that ALice & Co are not recording and releasing albums to take a loss or even break even. What is the point in that?

[Lucius Morthem]

Just to be hated:

I Did like ACAS. I though the promotion of the album was great AND taking it into account, The album did pretty well on sales if I'm correct

[darkmenace]

It's not a black and white thing. Most artists don't release music strictly for profit or strictly for enjoyment. It's a balance of both in varying degrees depending on the artist. I'm sure for Alice that both factors are important.

[A_MichaelUK]

From mr.barlow:
"Securing a label would be mainly for distribution and promotions in exchange for a cut of the profits, contracted fee or both. Alice would maintain all ownership of everything. I think this has been the case since around "A Fistful Of Alice". Maybe AMUK could confirm this."

Yes, that's all broadly correct.

[A_MichaelUK]

From darkmenace:
"Most artists don't release music strictly for profit or strictly for enjoyment. It's a balance of both in varying degrees depending on the artist. I'm sure for Alice that both factors are important."

Exactly and that's why it's referred to as the 'music business'.

[ConstrictorRules]

We are coming into April, for land's sakes. (sic) It is time for solid news. Some would say that certain bands give far too much advance notice for their releases. It occurs to me that this a great method for connecting the audience with the date. It is a sweet feeling - paying off all of that anticipation. Not only that, but it happens on the date that you've had your eye on.

Let's have some news. A title would be nice. If they need help in Promotions, then please consider this to be my official application. I have local experience.

I'm blown away that you got slammed for wanting some news about Alice. What is going on here??? The lesson I guess...keep your mouth shut and you'll get what you get when you get it.

[A_MichaelUK]

From ConstrictorRules:
"I'm blown away that you got slammed for wanting some news about Alice."

That is an exaggeration.

>The lesson I guess...keep your mouth shut and you'll get what you get when you get it.

You didn't understand "The Lesson". There is nothing wrong with wanting information or asking questions, but there was a bit of a 'tone' to the original post which Dannorama admitted he didn't intend to convey. No harm has been done.

[Daggers & Contracts]

From darkmenace:
"Most artists don't release music strictly for profit or strictly for enjoyment. It's a balance of both in varying degrees depending on the artist. I'm sure for Alice that both factors are important."

Exactly and that's why it's referred to as the 'music business'.

OK, so after recording & mixing costs (& maybe mastering) from Alive Enterprises,(might be a stretch there) then the search begins for an acceptable label & then the lawyers "hammer out" the rest?
No wonder it takes so long.

[Dannorama]

We are coming into April, for land's sakes. (sic) It is time for solid news. Some would say that certain bands give far too much advance notice for their releases. It occurs to me that this a great method for connecting the audience with the date. It is a sweet feeling - paying off all of that anticipation. Not only that, but it happens on the date that you've had your eye on.

Let's have some news. A title would be nice. If they need help in Promotions, then please consider this to be my official application. I have local experience.

I'm blown away that you got slammed for wanting some news about Alice. What is going on here??? The lesson I guess...keep your mouth shut and you'll get what you get when you get it.

Thanks, C.R. (That's country-club speak.) I'm glad that you were able to read past my snarkiness. Yes, I was being a little snarky, but I thought that it would come off as just being funny. Text doesn't always carry my sarcasm well. To be honest, I actually learned a thing or two from all of the responses, so I am glad for the info, as always. I'm just looking forward to some good news, whenever it is, and whomever it comes from.


Also, as for the "certain bands" part of my initial post: This was all sparked by the recent Steel Panther release. When did we first hear about it? New Years? Seems like it. Either way, that was plenty of advance notice, and it made the wait kind of fun.

[pitkin88]

We have waited six years what is a few more months? There will be some promotion when the time is right.

[Dannorama]

The new teaser video is exactly what this thread was started for.... Mysterious, tantalizing, and just a tiny hint of what's coming... I saw it here first, Si! Thanks! And, thank you, promotions. This is cool. We now have a date to circle, and more to look forward to. I'll bet that Alice drops the first song on his radio show within weeks. (Is that Dennis' bass?)
SIDE PREDICTION: Alice will appear on The Tonight Show, partly due to Paris Jackson's comment.