If you think to long the oppertunity is gone!

I had an artist that we are discussing a contract with answering very fast and very surely on the corresponding we have. And that is really good, but it made me think of all the times when I had artist miss out on opportunities because they could never take a decision.

Okay, I understand that when a contract comes on the table it's quite a big thing for an artist. I'm dealing with contracts almost every week it's not that special. And I also know that this contract is just a piece of paper and doesn't mean a shit until you start doing stuff.

So when artists are looking over a 2-page contract for two months you start to lose interest in them. You are thinking of the more serious problems you have to take very fast decisions on along the way and if they are sitting löike this and just think, well then I really don't want to work with them.

At the same time, you don't want the persons that just go straight ion and just sign the deal and doesn't understand what they have signed. they can be equally bad to work with.

I guess it is a bit like a job interview. You don't have all the time in the world to say yes and don't propose to start tomorrow if the job is scheduled to next mouth.

My record was a band that I sent a contract to and they wrote back eight months later with a lot of comments what they wanted to change in the contract. I never answered them back. Two years later I meet them again and they still thought we were in negotiation.

Do we have a deal?

What really annoys me is when an artist is trying to change a deal just because things have changed. Imagine I get to you with a great new company idea. I will open a juice bar that serves a new juice of an apple and a pear that just got on the market. I need money to open the restaurant and to the PR. There is no safety that this new apple and pear will even take off, in fact, the first tree is just ready to get fruit in a couple of months. But you need the money now so you have to take a risk that it will work.

The more money you put in the more percentage you will get. So we strike a deal that you take 50% of the risk. The part you will do is also shouting about on the social media since you have really many followers and do some work in the juice bar for no payment when we open the bar.

Everything is fine and the juice bar opens. And the apple really takes off, it comes out it's really healthy and everyone wants it. The pear is going okay, but not as good as the apple which is a success.

The money that you lent me is got back to you. But no profit so far, you will start getting profit from it. Then I come back and start talking about that we should change the deal. You can still get a percentage of the pear part but the apple, well it was my trees and you already have gotten your money back. We should change the deal.

Not nice huh. I mean you took a risk just getting me the money and now when we finally get some I want to cut you out?

This happens all the time. When you then say no they go around and tell that you are the evil music company. You invest in their record and then when you get a hit they don't want to give you the percentage that we agreed on. That you took a risk, well you knew it was a hit so it was no risk. All that work you did for free since you calculated to get it later. That free work was just for fun.

Look what you have.

Sometimes it's easier to work with an artist that has been on a company that didn't deliver. Signing a new artist that really doesn't know what to expect is much harder. They build up fantasies around what you should be able to carry out for them. Also all the time the grass is much greener on the other side.

One such case was a group that I know who was giving out on a smaller indie compnay. the company did a  great job witrh them,. But what did they have to compare too? One day a really big manager came by and loved the band. They get signed with the manager. His point was to get them to a bigger company and spread the music.

In my eyes, they were not that commercial to even do that. They were more likely to have a good time on this indie company.

Well, the manager found a small thing in the contract and used it in the worst way to get the artist from this indie label. Of course, this was done with the concent of the band so no blame on the manager.

Then they signed with a big label, released an album that really went nowhere. Then teh big label was not that intrested in them and they still had an option. Less and fewer opportunities came in and the manager also grew tired of them. In the end, nothing relaly was going on and they fired the manger.

After that, they went back to teh indie label and tried to get them to release their latest album. Ot course the label was pissed and just told them to get fuck out of there. The band in the end now has no outlet and really not exist that much.

Sure the grass looked greener but in reality, it was a dead end. Same time they took a chance and lost it. I can't say it was a bad decision but I would have done some things in a safer way.