I was just thinking back to Sunday, and how yall wouldn't let me finish telling about the signing process and what REALLY goes on behind the scenes with recording contracts. Well, now, guess what? I have a captive audience. You could flip away from my blog, or skip this part, but you love me too much to do that. And this way, writing about it, i don't run the risk of being whacked by a bible (the Sword of the Spirit) or drowned out by Melly telling me to "Shut UP!" First off though, i want to certify what i'm about to say by first saying: I've practically grown up in the music industry. My mom has a degree in broadcasting and recording technology, my dad toured with several great Christian artists, and they were both DJs and reporters with many connections on the inside, my mom even being part of a band, Higher Power, which was in the process of being signed, and which was destroyed by the very contract which was written to boost them more into the spotlight. All through my family there are producers, engineers, and i've learned much of the business from them. I think i'm qualified to share about the process, just sayin =P NOW i want to also say i am NOT sticking up for the Jo Bros here. i HATE them. I would love to have their marketing agent, but that's beside the point. All i was saying is that they might not be choosing what songs they sing or how they are billed as. You can't accuse someone of "selling out" When they're not the ones doing the trading!! This is how it usually works, and as i don't know the story behind the Jonas Brothers, i am assuming it is the same for them, because this is just how the industry works. Here's the process... some garage band, lets call them Bob's Band, gets their first big break. Billy Joe's Indipendent Label signs them on! They produce their first little record in Billy's project studio, and Billy Joe's label then takes the album to his contact at say Big Bad Studio. Well Bobby's band doesn't like what Big Bad Studio would make them do, even though this will boost them to national fame. Oh wait - too bad! Bobby's band signed a contract with Billy Joe which stipulates that Billy Joe can sell them to whoever he likes... Well now hey Bob's band is now signed on a huge label, but they have been forced to sign a contract... well now they are a national sensation, but hey Bob can't write songs that say "God" or "Jesus" in them because the record company doesn't like it... and Bob can't do a thing about it until his contract runs out. And let me tell you, you NEVER want to disolve or break your contract. They will ruin you, and you will be DONE in the industry. Instead of singing the lines to your hit song in front of 100,000 people you'll be singing the McDonald's theme song as you say "Do you want fries with that?" Now... this is an extreme example, and usually it's not this drastic. But the industry is cutthoat - it thrives off of people's greed. They'll love you as long as you make them money. That's just the cold reality of it...
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Thursday, March 5, 2009
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7 comments:
it's not nice to hate people nathan.
;)
but i understand. thats cool how your mom was in a band!! i didn't know that!
Well - don't you feel the same way? =P I thought i made sure of that on Sunday =P
Actually, seeing as how i've never met them, i really can't judge. I just strongly dislike their public image =P
Yep! She ran sound mostly lol, but she also did lead vocals for them sometimes. Kind of a tragic story for them, though... they were getting ready to be signed, when their (married) band leader one night stole their tour bus and ran off with one of the other singers... the band was ruined after that :-/ But she still had the experience, and they had toured around for months and months beforehand so my Mom feels like it was worth it.
Ah Nathan, my friend. You make me laugh, haha!
I totally understand what you're saying here. I understand how you can be bound to contracts, etc... But here is my point.
Someone has to decide between pleasing the world or God. It think it's practically impossible to please both.
Paul went to prison for standing up for Christ. I don't care how many contracts or agreements you're bound to...it is possible for you to get out of it. No one in this world can absolutely force you to sing something you don't want to sing.
This said, I have 2 other things to add to this. First, I'm not condemning the Jonas brothers. They(as far as I know) have kept their lyrics at least somewhat moral and have stayed pure and have not been in any huge scandals. However, I do think they are eating up every bit of fame and attention from the media. I think they are loving that all these girls are obsessing over them. This is where I have the problem. And because of this, I do not believe that they are sitting here upset right now for being 'forced' to do all of this.
Does this make sense? Do you at all see my point in this?
there are positive things and negative things about the Jonas Brothers... like Emily said - lots of girls pretty much worship them and they don't seem to give the glory to God but on the other hand their lyrics are clean and they seem to be a pretty positive influence on theier audience.
im not a big fan of them or anything and but i don't hate them. ;)
Haha Emily i'm glad i do :-) I love making people laugh :-) Laughter is joy, and joy is a wonderful thing to have :-D
I understand exactly what you're saying! And yep you're totally right. But the thing is, you have to be smart to stay on top of this. (And have great lawyers) Because sadly there really /isn't/ a way to break a contract legally and stay in the business. Basically your choice is to get out of the business altogether and go into another field, or accept a little bit of compromise and stay in a place where you can positively influence hundreds of thousands of people potentially for Christ. I know of many artists that don't like to compromise but stay in the game because they see that "the end justifies the means" that a little bit of compromise is worth it in the long run if you can have a huge witness base. It's sad that the decision is so black and white, but hey, the World is not asking to be witnessed to, they are asking to be entertained. I think i'm going to let you borrow a book i own called "The Wind in the Wheat", a fictional story by a former christian recording artist and producer, about this very same thing - the compromise decision. I have read it five times, and it will really open your eyes about the reality of this decision. I'll bring it saturday if you want.
You're exactly right there. I think it's immaturity. I can really relate to their situation - guys my age enjoying all that popularity and attention by hundreds of thousands of girls, enjoying credit cards with no limits, huge shows where they can be "rockstars" and many other perks. If i were them, i think i would have a hard time resisting that temptation, and i would most likely be a lot less pure than they have remained. But yeah, again, i'm not sticking up for them =P haha
Yes, Nathan...laughter and joy are both wonderful =P
I do get your point. If this 'compromise' actually honored God and brought people to Him, then maybe I would feel differently. But so far, I'm not seeing that. I'm sorry, but....oh, never mind. I don't want to argue =P
I do understand the struggle....but I'm sorry, just because it's a huge temptation, doesn't make any more ok. This said, it's also the hundreds of thousands of sick girls(lol) fault too. I know the Jonas brothers really have no control over who's 'in love' with them. But they are also not fighting against this...they are encouraging it and loving it.
If you want to let me borrow the book, then that's fine. I have a ton of reading in school right now, so depending on how long it is, I may not be able to read and finish it right away :)
Thanks for writing this.
^_^
I...despise the music industry at times. v.v They don't promote talent anymore...just their own agenda.
~Steffi
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