In a world of "death of the music industry" ranting and raving, how about a little perspective? With decades of experience under his belt, Jim Halsey is the man to give it. Halsey, long time Oak Ridge Boys and Roy Clark manager (he started managing Clark in 1959), has had a hand in a long list of successful music endeavors over the years. He's got plenty to teach us, and what is even more exciting is that he is so willing to share it. His new book Starmaker, in which he shares his prescription for your music industry success, is just the latest undertaking of a man whose career has been as much about teaching as it has been about building stars. In this interview, Halsey offers some industry tips and a taste of all of reams and reams of knowledge you can find in his book.
Question: I wanted to start out with a broad question. Given your long history in the music industry, I'm sure you have seen a lot of changes over the years. I am wondering what you make of the music industry right now. There is a lot of talk about a new music industry and death of the old label model. I'm wondering if, given your experience and perspective, if you have seen this kind of upheaval before or if you think something really unique is happening now?
Answer: I think it is always unique, and it is always change. Change is creative, but you look back through the history of the music business in particular, even before there was recorded music, and with each new discovery and each new change, it brings a revolution within what is normal.
So, what is normal really is change. I think in this business in particular, it is so creative that it opens up opportunities. There are probably more opportunities today in the music business than ever before. This includes at what we know as record companies, which have all now changed their names to "music companies" - which is fine, because we are just going on to a new way of communication and taking care of that communication - accepting it.
The thing that never seems to change is that the center of everything of everything in our business is still the creative person - and for the most part, that is the artist - the performer, the singer, the creator, the songwriter. There are just different ways now of focusing on that and transmitting it to people who want to get it. Of course, the thing now is with the online transmission of information of music, data and information.
Do you think that this new transmission method has made it more difficult for artists and music companies to be profitable?
I think it has presented some challenges, and there are people in the business who are now figuring out ways to do it. What I think it has done now is that has created opportunities for a lot of creative people who maybe couldn't get their foot in a record company door before but now have an opportunity to get themselves heard.
That is what being discovered is all about - and that is what I write about in my book - is that being discovered is really just about being seen and heard by someone that can do something for you or who wants to buy a ticket to come see you.
You've been teaching and advising musicians and music business students for many years now. Was there a reason now was an important time to write the book or has it been on the plate for awhile now?
It has been on the plate for awhile now and it has also been in evolution. Like every author that writes a book, I keep changing it and changing it so it is current and contemporary. Basically, it is about life and how to live it. It just so happens that I write it around the music business and give illustrations of things that have happened to me in that business. I think the book clearly illustrates the evolution of the business as it continues. But if you go through this, it is basically 60 years of my life in this business, talking about the artists I have been involved with. It is not really so much about my life as the artists and the formulas that we use.
But it is still all boils down to the same thing. You have to be creative to be heard, you have to be creative to write your material, and you have to be seen and heard by somebody to create an audience.
It is the same way it was 60 years ago when I started in the business. There are just different ways of doing it now. Next year, there will be something new and something different. I'm for it. I think it is the most exciting time in our business, and I think I have said that in almost every period of time over the years.
You talk about a musician needing to put together a "star team" to get to be heard - do you think there is a point a musician needs to be at before they start thinking about these things? When is the right time to put together a star team?
I think immediately. If you are thinking about being in this business, you want to know who the players are and how I can become successful in it. So once you've waiting until you are out there, maybe you've wasted three years of time. It is still really the same players as always - the managers, the agents, the producers, the promoters, the press and PR people, media strategists as they are called now - still the same stage crew, a lot more technical now - but you still have the video crew, sound, lights, touring gear, touring vehicles, the music publisher, and the music companies - whether they are record companies or music companies - there are still big companies like Universal, Apple, Sony, BMG, Warners - that are so important to the business. They are way ahead of all of us in the technology, and if you are lucky enough to get involved with one of them, that should maybe be one of your goals that you aim to be.
But nowadays, if you're not, you can still get out there with your music and be heard on an international basis whether you have one of these big companies behind you or not.
What would you say to a musician who was just starting out and getting ready to put their team together - what should be at the top of their to-do list?
The top of their to-do list is to perfect their art. If you are a songwriter, and most of the big names we see today are songwriters, I would say start perfecting your craft and learn how to write songs correctly and do it every day. Just like an athlete that trains for an event or game, they don't wait for the event to start to train - they are out there learning everything. So, in the beginning, a lot of times, you have to do it all yourself. You have to be your own manager, your own booking agent, your own press person, because no one out there is interested in doing it and there is not enough money to hire anyone. You're probably not going to be real good at it, and you're probably going to make a lot of mistakes, but that is better than not doing it all.
Take your little club in some town - that is the beginning of where you go, and look at it being before an audience and getting used to being before an audience. Maybe it is only five people or 20 people or something like that, but still you're on that stage, you're performing and you're perfecting your craft.
Once a musician starts doing that - they're booking their shows, and they have 20 and the next time they have 40 people - and they are looking for the manager and the agent - what should they look for in a team?
