Tuesday, January 31, 2017

What is Musichelp?

This question I get almost every day. And it is kind of hard to explain. I guess we are a artist development company. What does an artist use Musichelp for? Most artists seek the traditional outlets like Record Label, Publisher, manger.  I guess you can say we are all above but also develop the team. Yes we know it’s kind of strange, but that is also the reality of the new music industry. Today alone a Record label usually can’t do that much, same with a publisher or just a manger. It’s when the whole infrastructure around the artist is formed things happens. I guess we are a good company to create that infrastructure.

I guess when you look on our recap movies you can see how we are adding artists and follow them along. First they just get one mention until two years later they take up the whole episode. Some quit as well and some just flashes by.

Look on the movies from 2013 and to 2016 you will notice how we build up Adée and The Magnettes for example.







Monday, January 30, 2017

Have you thought your plan through?

Good songs are not everything. I would put in that mindset is more important than the songs. In all ways you can always buy a song from a talented songwriter, but you can never buy a mindset. People sometimes try to buy mindsets. You get approached by people that are willing to pay you money to do all the things so that person can have a career.

In theory it might actually work, but practical it’s really hard. I would say impossible. You have to have goals all along both long ones and short ones. And you have to live the lifestyle.

Same thing I would love to open a restaurant. I love to cook food and see stupid food shows on TV, experiment with different flavors. And I got some skill on it, many people praises the food that I serve.

And they sometimes say: You should open up a restaurant.

In a way yes, I like cooking. But I have been an entrepreneur so long that I also know the back of it. To have a restaurant you have to get there early every day and actually cook the same menu all the time. Sure it's fun to create the menu. But it will be there for at least a year. Then you have opened for at least to 10 pm and after that is cleaning and stuff. Sure if I had a really deep passion for food. I would probably do it. Now I have a deep interest into it.

Also to have a restaurant you have to calculate that you will work like that for at least eight years until you can have a proper vacation. You will be stuck to that kitchen. The question would be: I’m I ready for that?

In my case no way! And that is the reason why I don’t open it up. I guess many should think the same when trying to be a professional artist. Imagine the backside of the whole thing even though some one says you sing beautiful.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

2016 Recap is released

We release a recap every year about the previous year. It’s always fun to do them, but it is also a lot of work finding all clips and pictures taken over the year on Facebook and other sources. So here it is Musichelp Recap 2016.




And also if you want to work with us we just opened submissions for 2017.

http://musichelp.se/send-music/

Friday, January 20, 2017

Sad Girls Club

Yes we release The Magnettes new single "Sad Girls Club" today. It has been a really big push so my working shcedule has been constant the last 24 houers. But good results, Sad Girls Club has been added to New music friday, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The magazine Elle posted it on their site and their push. Music Times had the premier and some blogs are already popping up.

I also work with a big blog thing. I hope to post it later today or during the weekend.


Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Sweden Live

I'm on the conference in Sweden for live music. It's a nice event and it's a nice change from the other music industry event I usually go on.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Desperate people?

I see more and more hopeless cases getting bigger and bigger names behind them. Usually when this happens it’s a thing that the industry is going very badly. Last time I saw it was 2006. And yes this goes in cycles and it should be around this now.

Why hopeless I say. Well if a bigger producer chooses to write with a artist that last did something bigger was in 1992 and after that just are something that are a novelty. Then you just know that it’s hard to get in jobs and that this producer needs the money. There is no chance that a one hit wonder from 1992 that is 48 years old would break on a big scale. There is just no way.

Of course these are around all the time and try to get some attention, but usually these producers and PR people can take them choose them off since they have more work and more interesting work. So when you see things like this happens well then you know, the bigger names has not as many missions as they claim to have.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Monkey business and Ad:s

One funny thing with the blog is that we have ad:s. I actually put on the ad:s just to see how it works and what comes up. And I only had the regular restrictions.  Sometimes I just want to turn them off. Some of the ad:s that is on there are actually the things I’m writing bad about.

For a while there was a distribution company that REALLY sucks had ad:s on the site. I was thinking to just write something bad about them and see what happens. Never had time to do it.

Then it was some ad:s about meeting girls from Russia. I don’t know really how that got there. If it’s on my surfing pattern, well that would end up ad:s about obscure music sites because that is what I’m usually surfs around on.

Then today it was a new one, Media Monkey. What is this? I clicked on it (ohhh 000,1 dollar to me). It’s a program that catalogues your media files. What year is this? Who has downloaded files on hard drive? Okey yes I have, but that is files that we use to send to the systems so the audience can STREAM them.  

Then the program can add stuff to the files in form of metadata from the worst places like All Music. Then it can sync to the Ipod. I just had forgotten that Ipod existed. This is like 2004 is calling and want their program back. Sure it has been around since 2001. But who needs this now?


Someone is paying ad:s for a software that is outdated six years ago. Amazing!

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Where are the people that can do something?

There are two types of people. The old ones that was very common in USA. They are mainly talking about how they know people that can do things for you. They mainly just namedrop different people who have worked with big names. But like I explain acouple of days ago, it’s usually a team doing things so in many cases where you have read the bio of the artist that person they namedrop is not even mentioned in the book. The person probably worked with the artist. But yes what did they do? If they coordinated the tour, sure they did something important. Still it was not that important in the artist career. And that can be the case of a recorded boss or a manger also. There are so many people that are just there and don’t add really so much. They just do a job. In the old days there was a majority of mangers doing just this. The only job was to get the band on a record label. Take their part of the upfront money and then get the hell out of there.


The people I’m looking for is the ones that not present a lot of namedrops, instead tell you what they can contribute to your quest. They tell what they can get going and what they could take a try on. Not that they know the person that can do that. Where are these people?

Tools of today

The good things today are the new tools. You get contacted from someone that you really not sure they are legit. And with a easy search you see the link between this person and you is some shady manager that really works in the low field of old people in the business. It’s amazing that it can be done. I wish I had these tools during the 90: s where you have really just to trust the word or someone close by to ask. A fancy homepage is not everything. You can search success stories on Spotify as well as Linkedin. 

Saturday, January 7, 2017

A must see about the world today.

Okey this is must too see for all that want to be an artist, manger.  At least from 8:00 in the video, still see the whole video since you need to look on your cellphone.

Yes there is no app for being a big artist. There is a mountain that you have to climb. Doesn’t matter what you think, that mountain is there. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you climb it, but you have to do it. There is no straight way to the top. You have to be patient, and there is no guide, you just have to try not consulting Google or any app.

So in the video take off job graduation to music career. Loving relationship to team around you. Even the part that it takes time to make releationship.

Friday, January 6, 2017

What is sucess?

Got this in the comment section about my manger blog (http://ihuvudetpaenar.blogspot.se/2016/12/a-managers-biggest-mistake.html):
"This rant seems a bit weird. Where are the successful acts you represent? Are you really the one to give advice?"

This is a typical thing people talk about. At the same time what is success? I usually tell the story when my mom meet Dee Dee Ramone. Of course Dee Dee was one of my childhood heroes since he played and wrote in Ramones and I was star struck. My mom just thought that he was a funny musician nothing else. A couple of years later I was in a studio and there was an old Swedish artist called Björn Skifs, you might recognize his hit hooked on a feeling from 1974. Here it is:


So I took a picture with him and sent to my mom. And there she was star struck, it was huge that I meet Björn Skifs, so it depends on your vision, what is big? What is successful? For me Ramones is more important then Björn Skifs in my moms world was it the opposit.

Go back to Ramones. Who did the Ramones? Danny Fields, Seymour Stein, Linda Stein, Monte A. Melnic, Arturo Vega? I bet you don’t even know who these people are. Danny Fields is their first manger, well to be really true Tommy the drummer was their first one. Did he get them signed to SIRE. Maybe, what we know is that Linda Stein, back then married to Seymour Stein the founder of SIRE records, was going a lot on CBGB:s and was nagging to get Seymour to sign them. Monte then, well he was their roadie for the whole career, probably the one that was closest to the band the whole time. Then Arturo he was the graphic artist that made all these famous logos and artwork around the Ramones. Seymour usually take credit for signing them. But the whole movement well that was designed by Tommy and Arturo. And I’m really not sure Seymour was that interested in Ramones, if you read the books you get the feeling that this is mainly to make his wife happy.

Yes it’s never going to be one person, it’s a team. Well then if it’s a team I have a lot of artist on my mind that I have working with. Tove Lo, Major Lazer, Millen Colin, Metallica, Depeche Mode, Danzig, Misfits, Silvana Imam, Icona Pop, Little Dragon, Like Swimming, You say France & I Whistle, Tina Turner, Nickelback, Pandora, Red Hot Chilipeppers, even Ramones, the list can go on. And yes it depends on what did I do. I saw a job add 10 years ago with a girl that was seeking jobs in the business and she claimed working with many big bands. When you looked closer what she did was a work on Universal getting the records out to the stores in the right quantities. Yes she had work on Universal 20 years so most artist that are big had head her way. Still did that effect their career, yes in a way, but I guess she was a smaller link in the chain. Same as me and Metallica, where I can admit just was part of the merch team but I have done different things for different bands.

If you start working on a major company sure you will handle big artists. But these mega companies just buy up the things that already are a success. To go out and buy an artist that already has thousands of followers is not that hard. I meet a lot of these people that claims fame just by working with a concept that a team already built up. I’m more interesting in the early part of the career.

I guess what people want is like Stikkan Andersson who was the creator behind ABBA and really the fifth ABBA member or Ash Pournouri who was the manager of Avicci. Well even here it becomes hard. Sure Ash was running around on Midem years ago promoting an artist called Avicci, really no one cared. That is the usual, you get hundreds of these managers running around. But once in a while they get lucky. In this case it was other people that had the connections that got him a break. And since he hasn’t really done any other artists after I guess that was a one off thing.

And the field is quite big of these people. That just got lucky with one artist, or just worked on a position where many famous artist passed by.

To be really honest there is very few that actually could claim such a thing. But my hero Ola Håkansson who developed artists like The Cardigans, E-type and A-teens (I actually worked with one of the members of A-teen, off topic) on Stockholm records. Well he was not alone there he had Alexander Bard who also developed some acts like Army of Lovers, Bodys without Organs. I guess the readers outside Sweden and Russia just shake their heads Army of Lovers, Bodys without Organs who are they? And here we come back to the prospective. I would easy say that Tove Lo is bigger than Army of lovers, but it depends where you are in the world.

Well Håkan started a new company called TEN music group. They have success with Zara Larsson, Icona Pop, Elliphant and more. But wait Icona Pop was actually broken by Atlantic that got them on license deal after they were kicked from Mercury records, since Mercury thought the song “I don’t care, I love it” was not a good song. Yes like I wrote, it’s all about the team. Sony didn’t like Zara Larssons “Lush Life” well TEN proved them wrong as well.

Still its teams doing it so it can be hard talking about who really did stuff that got the artist famous. And that is the tricky part. Many people want to see that it is a just one person. You can read my blog post about the band that signed with an old fart that had done some bands years ago (let say they are still under 1000 listening’s on Spotify), they just took the guy since he had worked with a famous band in the 80:s.  They were writing everywhere that they will work with the guy that broke U2. Well maybe he did but that can just have been very short, and since this was 1979 and he hasn’t done any other bands and was during another era of the industry, I wouldn’t go for that.

I guess people want it simple, it should be that person that breaks the artist, but in reality it’s a large team. And of course some things about timing. But I’m the right person to talk about this since I haven’t done an ABBA?

I have worked in the Music industry for over 25 years. I have been number one in USA, I have got Grammy Awards, MTV Awards. I have spoken on the biggest conferences in the industry like SXSW, Midem. In total I have been speaking in over 25 conferences all over the globe. I’m a board member of SOM (A2IM, WIN for Sweden) and Mbin (Music Business independent network.) I was part of start up to of the biggest conferences in Sweden for music. I have built up several distributions systems. I have place songs in the biggest commercials in the world. I have place songs in the biggest movies. I have worked with the biggest games. Over 8000 artists has been run through my systems. I have supported the new systems like Spotify and Music Dealers. I guess I’m confident enough to say yes in this question I’m the one who can give advice. Usually much better than anyone who had a success in the past. To be honest I’m not so impressed by the work in the old industry. To impress me you need to have a success the past 5 years. And when we go there, well you don’t have many people to choose from.

So yes I can give the advice. And I’m in a process right now to break artists in the new system. Keep an eye out for The Magnettes, Adée, Royal Prospect or other bands that we successfully put on the biggest showcases as part of the new batch of artists that is going on, they might be big, you never know.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

One fanbase is not enough.

Yes we see it everywhere right now. Artist making collaborations. Even artists with hell of a lot of followers like Taylor Swift is teaming up to get into other artists fasnbase to promote her music. And that is the new thing. I guess we will see a lot of this now when the media is shattered into so many pieces.

So one of the new criteria’s when you look for artists is. Avoid the douchebags. There was sign when they recorded Band Aids “Do they know it’s Christmastime” outside the studio saying “Leave your ego here”. Yes it was a big thing to get artists to work in the same room and not be too much of a megalomaniac.

Too day it’s a must. Yes put that attitude outside the door. There is a reason why the Gallagher brother is no more.



Varför jag inte litar på artisters omdömen.

Just sånt här får mig att misstro varje artist. Jag listar inte på för fem öre vad en artist säger om bolag och folk i branschen. Man får alltid hör att det här bolaget gör si och inte ett dyft med mera. Sätter man sig i fallet så i 98% är det artistens eget fel eller okunskap.

Den okunskapen är så förrädisk att den sätter spår i hela branschen. Jag ser det i många andra fall också. Nästan i hela samhället. Saker som är så självklara att det blir svårt att bortförklara. Jag läste om någon dåre som viftade med en pistol kopia mot poliser och de skjuter honom. Familjen tycker att poliserna borde ha kollat. Jo man tackar.  Det finns liksom in get att man borde kanske inte ställa sig och vifta med ett vapen framför polisen, nej då, det här det nya Sverige jag har ingen som helst del i att det går snett det ska någon annan fixa åt mig.Här är ett typiskt sådant mejl.

Ärende: Ta bort **** från musiksajterna snarast! Pga Feldistribuering av er.
Man kan ju undra hur man gör fel distribuering?

Hej,
Vad vi har förstått så är er julledighet slut nu, och vi vill komma i kontakt snarast.
Idioten skickar mejl på en söndag, det här kom på tisdagen på Facebook, knappast att det har gått lång tid. Det är också typiskt, alla ska släppa allt för att svara på någon idiots ärende.

Vi i bandet ******* använde oss av er för att släppa vårt album "******" 2013. Tyvärr uppfyllde ni inte alls de kriterier som man borde kunna förvänta sig och som ni utlovade.
Hmmm de kom upp på alla sajter, vi lovar att vi ska försöka så vi lyckades nog mer än vad vi lovade. Sen 2013, det är 3,5 år sedan?

Vi vill därför att ni omedelbart tar bort vår band *******, och vårt album ***** från varenda plattform. Vi vill inte ha den uppladdad genom er överhuvudtaget. Detta måste hända omgående, då vi kommer att släppa ny musik genom annan distributör i dagarna och vill att allt förknippat med oss ska vara seriöst och korrekt.
Ja det är väl inte svårt, det behöver man inte ens vara otrevlig för. Det är bara säga att man vill bli nedplockad på ett hövligt sätt och vi frågar inte ens. Att den här artisten skulle vara seriös, knappast om man kommer och klagar på något som hände 3,5 år sedan.

Vi i ******* har själva producerat vår musik och det var vi väldigt tydliga med, men inte en enda musiksajt där ni laddat upp vårt album står det som det var tänkt. Informationen om skivan är felaktig och utskriven huller om buller på de olika musiksajterna. Det är vi själva som står för musiken och producerat den, men trots det står det istället till exempel att DISTROSONG är vårt skivbolag, fast ni enbart var distributörer!
Ännu roligare, allt fylls ju i av artisten när man laddar upp. Tydligen är det vårt fel att artisten fyller i saker fel. Sen informationen är korrekt, men fel genom fel ifyllt.

Som copyright står det ibland "**********", trots att det är ****** som har copyright.
De har själva skrivit just det där i copyrightfältet och det andra i p fältet. Kan ju vara bara och skriva båda rätt i båda fälten. Det intressanta är att de tycker vi ska fixa saker som vi inte ens vet att vi ska fixa. Men okey det är tydligen vårt fel att ni skriver fel i fälten som man faktiskt bör veta vad de står för.
På t.ex Napster står det att artisten heter "******, *vanligt namn*, *vanligt namn".
Vanligt namn och Vanligt namn 2 är två  av bandmedlemmarna, men de ska ju inte stå som bandtitel. och för den delen så är vi tre personer i bandet.
Det här är ett typiskt fel. Vi ser det hela tiden hur idioter lägger till sig själva på feautring med sina egna namn för att de är självkåta på att synas. Jga gick in och kollade mycket riktigt fyra dagar efter releasen är vi inne och tar bort feautring och annat för 3,5 år sedan. Alltså ytterligare ett fel som de själva har lagt till. Det finns faktiskt inga fält idag att skriva in att du hade Janne Schaffer på gitarr på din inspelning, och ingen bryr sig heller. Tyvärr sådana här metadata fel är inte lätta att rätta i efterhand, ännu svårare om man inte ens veta att de existerar.

När man söker på ******* på Google så är det första man ser i en högerspalt med en övergripande samlad beskrivning av ****** står det "skivbolag: DISTROSONG". Återigen felaktigt att Distrosong skulle vara skivbolag, och ert varumärke får credd för något ni överhuvudtaget inte gjort eller varit delaktiga i. Det här vill vi att ni omedelbart gör någonting åt då det är ni som är anledningen till att det ser ut som det gör på nätet.
Se här nu kan vi kontrollera Google också. Jisses vi försöker distansera oss från dessa idioter så vi till och med laddar upp i ett annat namn. Ja amatör artister har vi ett separerat konto med ett annat namn för att just hålla koll. Att vi skulle vilja ha credd på från någon som på 3,5 år knappt nått över 1000 lyssningar på Spotify är skrattretande. Problemet är att hen verkligen tror vi kan gå in på Google och ändra i sökenheten. Man ska tillägga att det är rätt vanligt att dock artisterna lägger till oss som  skivbolag i allehanda sammanhang innan de blir sura på oss 3 år senare.

På alla musiktjänster står *Bandnamn med versaler* som "*Bandnamn med gemener*" trots att vi tydligt skrev vårt bandnamn som " Bandnamn med versaler " när vi registrerade oss hos er för att distribueras.
Sånt här är det värsta. Artister som tycker att det är Lunarstorm och kan skriva IdiOT med stor och små bokstäver och att det ska följa med över allt. Inte ens Prince kunde ändra sitt namn till en symbol, ännu mindre ett sketet fjantband från Eskilstuna. Vad får de sin hybris ifrån?

Vi är inte alls nöjda och vill att hela distributionen av oss avbryts omgående. Vi hoppas verkligen att inga andra band råkar ut för samma sak som vi har gjort med er.
Nej ni kan ju börja med att veta vad ni ska fylla i. För det andra så har jag redan satt upp er på listan över artister man ska undvika, ja vi har sådan system där man tipsar om olika artister som man ska passa sig för. Nu tror jag dock inte de här någonsin kommer så långt. De kommer väl bli förbannade när deras professionella Spinnup lägger till sitt namn när de laddar upp.

Tyvärr går de här runt och tycker och tänker en massa saker då de fel som uppstår är ren okunskap från deras egen sida. Just här min tillit till artister får sig en väldigt stor törn.

Som en anekdot, bandet spelar cirkus pop, jag gissar vilka som är clownerna.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

It’s different working with your dream then living your dream.

So many times when I go around in the music business, as same as the film industry you bump into them quite regularly. People that work their dream not living it. What I mean with that are the people that chose something with the dream to be close to it. For example I want to be a musician, but to make a living I start to work in the reception of a studio.

Usually the excuse is that you will get the network and your chance working in that studio. And yes if you really have something it can work. Jon Bon Jovi work as a cleaner in Electric Lady and got free time recording when the studio was empty. So they got really good demos. I don’t know if that would be an option today. Today it would be better saving up to buy a computer and hire some microphones.

And usually the record labels are full of people with old artist dreams, or was a smaller artists for a while. The renting companies for movie making is full of people wanted to be directors or actors.

I guess so find the new path more exciting and change their dream. The trouble is when you still want that other position but is locked in your “day” job even though it is in the industry.

Usually these people that are locked are not doing their job that good. Their minds are somewhere else. And some places are worse to pick up these people that never really made it. Usually government run operations or huge service stations for like a PRO or an archive in some way.

So don’t take a job just to be close to your dream. Take a shit job instead so you become motivated to really pursue your real dream. But be sure that it is really your full dream.

Monday, January 2, 2017

First working day

Yeah. I been busy the whole day to do the recap movie and answer questions. You can tell that people doesn't have much to do on their work. The questions stops after 15:30. Usually they start there.