Fall 2013 - Detroit Homecoming

Transcription

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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
FALL 2013
Page M3
In Detroit music scene, auto is an instrument
hink about a billion-dollar industry for metro Detroit. What comes
to mind?
Something automotive-related,
of course. The region’s gambling
industry, maybe? Professional sports is
likely up there.
Did music come to mind? If it didn’t, it
should have.
The business of music is more than just
the history of Motown. It’s big business, as
well. That billion-dollar figure comes courtesy of Anderson Economic Group, a Lansingbased economics firm that crunched the
numbers in a study done for Crain’s, as
you’ll read on Page 14. Much of that impact
is from live music and venues.
But there’s another driver of the money
behind music. Pardon the pun, but it’s the
automotive industry.
The relationship between music and cars
goes deep, beginning with the first radio in-
T
stalled in cars. (A littleknown fact: One of the
first production radios
was called the “Motorola”
in 1930 and is a predecessor to the current communications company.)
Suffice it to say, we’re
far beyond that these
days, as touch screens replaced dials and streamDuggan
ing Internet audio feeds
are even replacing radio signals, as you’ll
read in Dustin Walsh’s story on Page 11.
But that innovation for the next chapter
of music and cars is very much a local story. The automotive division of Panasonic
Automotive Systems Co., for example, is in
Farmington Hills. Microsoft Corp. has a
large local presence to work with Ford Motor Co. and other automakers. Not to mention local businesses that are pushing
things forward — like Southfield-based JacApps, which creates streaming radio apps
for radio stations to play on mobile phones
and cars.
The story of automotive and music goes
beyond the in-car experience, as well. It extends to the brands. Just ask The Go.
In Nathan Skid’s story on Page 4, The Go
is not just the poster child of branding and
licensing deals. It’s the example of such
deals that Detroit artists can get. Brands —
in particular, car brands — love “the Detroit sound.”
In their case, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific wanted to use The Go’s stuff in a commercial. Band members weren’t thrilled,
but their manager, Howard Hertz, urged
them to do it. All of a sudden, they had a
nice portfolio of advertising work.
Part of it is talent, but part of it is that a
band from Detroit has something different.
As two-time Grammy Award-winning
producer Don Was put it:
“Being a musician from Detroit, it means
you must be the real thing. You have to be
genuine and put real soul into your music.
Justin Bieber couldn’t possibly be from Detroit.”
By the way, if you like what you’re reading in this special section of Crain’s Detroit
Business, you can experience it live.
On Sept. 26, Crain’s will host the SoundBiz Music Conference at Cobo Center, starting at 11 a.m. Topics from the stories in
these pages will be panel discussions at the
conference. People interviewed in some of
these stories, such as Was, will be speakers. And Crain’s reporters Walsh and Skid
will moderate panels based on the stories
that they wrote for these pages.
Interested yet? If so, register at crainsdetroit.com/soundbiz.
Daniel Duggan, managing editor/
custom and special projects
PLAYLIST
4 The Detroit Brand
When it comes to licensing,
Detroit’s culture and history are
selling points. Advertisement
producers like Detroit-born songs
that exemplify individuality and
perseverance. A look at the upshot
for local bands.
ISTOCK PHOTO
Music:
16 Detroit
A who’s who
Behind the artists who write and
perform the songs is a roster of
people and companies that makes
up the backbone of the region’s
music industry. The studios,
producers, labels and attorneys
that make up the regional music
community.
TINA HAGERLING
accidental
7 Anbranding
story
Detroit-based Faygo has had an
“unsolicited sponsorship” of the
Insane Clown Posse. A look at the
business story of a family-oriented
brand and a band whose fans are
classified as a gang by the FBI.
Plus: What would iced tea taste like
if Bob Marley made it?
Crain’s SoundBiz conference:
10
Q&A: Don Was
See the speaker lineup and read
what the head of Elektra Records
thinks about the power of just
one good song, Page 13.
The two-time Grammy
Award-winning producer
and Detroit native says the
authenticity of the “Detroit sound”
lies in the struggle of the city and in
the earnestness of its people.
NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
John Krautner, founder of The Go, a band that faced a road to oblivion until one day, a car company came calling ...
11
Race to the dash
Automakers, suppliers,
app developers and Silicon Valley
are knee-deep in designing the
future dashboard for audio
enjoyment as music delivery and
business plans are reshaped. The
looming question: What’s the
business model?
Plus: Ferndale’s Livio Radio aims to
connect the automotive and
consumer electronics industries
with a new service.
About this project
䡲 Editor: Daniel Duggan, managing
editor/custom and special projects,
Crain’s Detroit Business
䡲 Design: Bob Allen, senior
editor/design, Crain’s Detroit
Business
䡲 Copy editors: Gary Piatek, senior
editor; Bob Allen; Tracy Balazy; Ed
Bradley; and Beth Reeber Valone,
Crain’s Detroit Business
䡲 Cover photo: Nathan Skid and
Pierrette Dagg, Crain’s Detroit
Business
Plus: Study finds that AM/FM is still king, but
Internet radio is gaining.
14
Music: Detroit’s
billion-dollar industry
An economic study of music in the Detroit
region by the East Lansing economics firm
Anderson Economic Group finds a
large impact of the music industry
in the region.
ISTOCK PHOTO
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The Go was about to become The Gone, with
sales of its albums sagging and debt growing.
Then came a call from a car company looking
for the ‘Detroit sound’
CREATIVE
LICENSE
BY NATHAN SKID
I
f it was only about the money, The Go should
have quit making music a long time ago.
The Detroit rock band suffered a slow decline
since its debut album, “Whatcha Doin’,” was released on the venerable Seattle label Sub Pop
Records in 1999 with a starting lineup that included Jack White.
White turned his attention to The White Stripes,
The Go was dropped by Sub Pop Records in 2001,
and debt and lackluster sales took their toll.
The Go was about gone.
Then came an ad agency request in 2008 to use
one of the band’s songs in a major ad campaign.
Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific wanted to harness
the “Detroit sound” and singled out The Go’s
garage-pop song called “Summer is Gonna Be My
Girl.”
It’s the kind of offer that can find its way to
bands in the Detroit area. When it comes to licensing, Detroit’s culture and history are selling
points. Advertiser producers like Detroit-born
songs that exemplify individuality and perseverance.
In The Go’s case, the band almost missed its
moment. But a manager with a long-term view
helped make a deal with Mercedes’ ad agency.
Their manager knew the selling point.
Howard Hertz, manager of The Go and cofounder of the Bloomfield Hills-based law firm
Hertz Schram PC, had just 72 hours to change band
members’ minds about the Mercedes deal.
Hertz knew what a deal like this could mean
for a fledgling band.
“It’s very important for musicians to think
about licensing their music,” he said. “For The Go
to be able to say their music was used in an international car advertisement can open doors to
record companies or music publishing companies.”
Licensing: Starts with one song
For musicians, a proven track record of licensing deals is like a resume-builder. The more an
artist or group gets its music placed, the more
likely it will get another deal.
The Go’s founding member and rhythm guitarist, John Krautner, 36, said the band didn’t
want to sell its music. But the fact was, members
were nearing the end of the line.
“It was like that story about a guy who is
drowning in the ocean and when the helicopter
comes to save him, he says: ‘No, thanks. God will
save me,” Krautner said. “But it was God who
sent the helicopter.”
In 2011, a music manager from Subaru Canada
contacted The Go. She also wanted to use “Summer is Gonna Be My Girl” for an upcoming advertising campaign. The band agreed.
And a year later, French automaker Peugeot inquired about licensing the same song for an Internet-only campaign. This time, the band declined.
Instead, Hertz asked them to write a song
specifically for the advertisement.
“At 2:30 a.m. that night, the song hit my Blackberry,” Hertz said. “I sent it to Peugeot and they
loved it.”
In fact, Peugeot used the song in its Australian
campaign, as well.
That was the first time The Go had written a
song with the intent of selling it to a company for
the sole purpose of being placed in an advertisement.
The licensing deals helped The Go chip away at
its debt until it was gone.
The exposure in the Peugeot campaign
prompted an independent French music label to
pick up The Go’s latest album, “Fiesta,” and
band members are considering a series of concerts in France.
“Fiesta” was released this year on the Fullerton, Calif.-based label Burger Records.
“When we were starting out, we had the Kiss
comic books in our heads, playing shows in front
of thousands of fans with pyrotechnics and
screaming girls,” Krautner said. “That’s what
rock and roll is supposed to be.”
All deals aren’t all equal
The hard truth is, licensing deals vary greatly.
And not all work out as well as The Go’s deal.
A cable television spot might not pay anything
upfront, offering only exposure, while a local television commercial may net the musician up to
$3,000. An appearance in a network television
spot can pay a relatively unknown band up to
$12,000 for the use of a single song. An appearance
in a movie trailer can pay tens of thousands of
dollars.
Don Was, a Detroit native, two-time Grammy
Award-winning producer
and president of the New
York City-based jazz label
Blue Note Records, said The
Don Was talks
Go’s evolution from Detroit
about the “Detroit
sound” and why it
rock band to Detroit small
resonates,
business is a normal transiPage M10
tion for musicians looking to
WAS Q&A
John Krautner, founder
and rhythm guitarist for
The Go, said the band
originally didn’t want to
sell its music. But when
you are near the end of
the line ...
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“
You have to broaden the definition of what a music income stream consists
of. All the people we think of as authentic artists, like Robert
Johnson and Muddy Waters, they ran their music like a business.
make a living playing music.
“By all conventional wisdom,
The Go should’ve shut down a
long time ago, but they’ve survived because they have been creative,” Was said.
“It’s not a negative. You have to
be good at selling your music. I
think that has always been true.”
Was — whose label is preparing
Blue Note-branded products including coffee, wine, clothing and even
a high-fidelity in-car audio system
with Panasonic Corp. — said successful artists are able to sell their craft.
“You have to broaden the definition of what a music income
stream consists of,” Was said. “All
the people we think of as authentic
artists, like Robert Johnson and
Muddy Waters, they ran their music like a business.”
‘A juggernaut of paperwork’
NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
Vinnie Dombroski knows a
thing or two about what rock ’n’
roll is supposed
to be.
The Detroit
native is the
lead singer of
Detroit bands
Crud
and
Sponge. The latter
group’s
songs “Plowed”
and
“Molly,”
Dombroski
both from the album “Rotting Piñata,” made it to
No. 5 on Billboard magazine’s
Modern Rock chart.
Now, fresh off a ’90s nostalgia
tour, Dombroski sounds more like
an executive than a front man for
a rock band.
While “Rotting Piñata” sold well
and was able to recoup the cost of
production and the accompanying
tour, the band’s two subsequent albums lagged, leaving a $1 million
debt to Sony Records that it still
owes.
And to make matters worse,
Sony owned the masters to
Sponge’s music, and the band had
a difficult time securing any licensing deals.
“Sponge had a drought of licensing opportunities because companies didn’t want to deal with the label,” Dombroski said. “We had
several offers, but they fell on deaf
ears.”
One of those offers was from a
toy maker called WowWee Group
Ltd., which wanted to use the song
“Plowed” in an advertisement for
its Paper Jamz line of toys.
The offer came after the statute
of limitations expired for Sony to
exclusively promote the music on
“Rotting Piñata.” So Dombroski
re-recorded the masters at The Loft
studio in Saline, where “Rotting
Piñata” was recorded.
Now he could license the masters to his songs.
Dombroski said WowWee sold
over $4 million units of Paper
Jamz, netting the band 1.8 percent
of sales, or about $70,000.
“Sony would have had to go and
find the physical stems to our
songs in the vault, then send them
to WowWee,” Dombroski said
”
— Don Was
“That is like trying to move a juggernaut of paperwork. When they
came to us, we could use our own
master. It was so much easier.”
Independence helps
Jonathan Weiss, a music supervisor for Van Nuys, Calif.-based
Bunim-Murray Productions who has
placed several Detroit artists in
shows like MTV’s “The Real World”
and “The Challenge” and the E! Entertainment Television’s “Keeping up
with the Kardashians,” said there
is a big difference between negotiating with an artist and a label.
“It’s so much easier to deal with
a person instead of a label, and it’s
an advantage for the artist because
he or she doesn’t have to split fees,”
Weiss said. “But it’s a Catch-22 because the reason you own the masters is probably because you aren’t
signed to a major label.”
Weiss, a Detroit native himself,
used to negotiate directly with Detroit rapper D.J. Assault, whose
raunchy hits were popular with
the types of shows Weiss supplied.
But that changed when Assault
signed a music publishing company to manage his catalog.
“I used to be able to call D.J. Assault and ask to use his hit song,
which I got placed in several television shows,” Weiss said. “Now,
instead of me calling him, I have
to call Bug Music, and they will negotiate on his behalf.”
Weiss said he is not discouraging artists from signing publishing deals but said owning your
own music is a distinct advantage.
“Is it a great time to own your
own music? The answer is yes because television, film and advertising are the new radio,” he said.
“That’s where bands are getting
discovered, and you want it to be
as easy as possible to get your music placed.”
Camille Hackney, senior vice
president of brand partnerships
and commercial licensing at Atlantic Records, said licensing music
is about more than just the money.
“It has gained popularity among
artists in that they see how it creates familiarity for a song and improves radio play,” Hackney said.
“As we move into a world that is
no longer just about radio or MTV,
commercials are now exposing
people to music.”
Dombroski said most of the licensing deals he signs for cable
television shows offer little to no
money upfront. Instead, he signs
performance royalty contracts in
hopes the show gets put into syndication.
“The value is getting $300 to $400
every quarter per song,” Dombroski said. “If you can amass dozens
of these things, it’s a consistent financial payoff.”
But the holy grail of licensing is
the big screen: movie trailers.
Two minutes of a Crud song
used in a “Sherlock Holmes”
movie trailer netted the band
$35,000 plus royalties, said Dana
Forrester, owner of Ferndalebased Aural Pleasure Music. The
boutique publicity and music li-
censing company handles licensing for several Detroit bands including Sponge and Crud.
As more bands look to licensing
deals for exposure, Forrester said,
it can become difficult to get a song
placed.
“Now bands and listeners are all
about music in TV shows, commercials, in Internet radio,” she
said. “Bands are clamoring to get
in on these opportunities.”
Frankie Turner, 38, lead singer
of the band Gentlemen Mutineers,
let General Motors Co. use one of his
songs for free in an Internet ad for
its new version of the Chevrolet
Impala. At this point, the exposure
meant more than a paycheck.
So far, the ad has attracted more
than 45,000 views on YouTube.
“Anything that makes people
aware of us,” Turner said. “I’ll do
almost anything to bring attention
to our music.”
Power of the Detroit brand
According to a recent study by
Lansing-based Anderson Economic
Group, at least 434 musical groups
and 304 independent artists in
metro Detroit eke out a living
through their music.
And although there might not
be a specific monetary value to being associated with Motown, Was
said, being branded from Detroit
is a benefit.
“It is a brand, isn’t it?” Was
said. “I cite my Detroitness constantly, and it works.”
Was, who grew up in Detroit as
Don Fagenson and lived here
through his mid-30s, said coming
of age away from the crowded
streets of New York and the shimmering allure of Los Angeles creates an air of authenticity.
“Being a musician from Detroit,
it means you must be the real
thing. You have to be genuine and
put real soul into your music,”
Was said. “Justin Bieber couldn’t
possibly be from Detroit.”
Dombroski said the lack of opportunity when he was growing
up in Detroit created a sense of
lawlessness that permeates the
music scene today.
Part of that sense of freedom,
Was said, is due to Detroit’s being
so far removed from the fashion
centers of the world. By the time a
trend in fashion or music filters
through Detroit, it’s vastly different from what it was at its origin.
“I believe Motown was a bunch
of Detroit jazz musicians trying to
imitate New York R&B records,”
Was said. “They ended up putting
their own stamp on it because
they couldn’t help it.”
The relentless pursuit of being
different, he said, creates the “Detroit sound.”
“Being different and being an
individual is held at a premium in
Detroit, where in other places conforming to the moment is held at a
premium,” Was said. “That celebration of originality comes from
being a city that is real.”
Nathan Skid: (313) 446-1654,
[email protected].
Twitter:
@NateSkid
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Insane Clown Posse’s
Violent J sprays fans
with Faygo, a tradition
that company execs
don’t find too hard to
swallow.
An, uh, unsolicited
sponsorship shakes
up a spurt in growth
at Faygo
SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK-N-RYE
PHOTOS BY TINA HAGERLING
BY ROSS BENES
SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
W
hen it comes to branding, there are some
sponsorships that Detroit-based Faygo Beverages Inc. can control, and things that it can’t.
Outside its control has been its “unsolicited
sponsorship” from a band many companies might
not associate with, a band whose followers are
classified as a gang by the FBI.
It’s meant national attention for Faygo as the Insane Clown Posse made the soda a staple of its culture. And there’s anecdotal evidence that it’s
helped grow into new markets.
ICP is a hip-hop duo from Detroit that gained
fame rapping about serial killers, necrophilia, violence, sex and black magic. In addition, however, the group expresses a passion for Faygo soda
in many of its songs.
At concerts, in fact, ICP sprays its fans, affectionately known as juggalos, with truckloads of
Faygo. As a result, juggalos demand the soda be
sold wherever the band tours.
“The impact from requests was substantial,”
said Al Chittaro, an executive vice president with
Faygo.
“Every place Faygo was not found, sales managers complain because they spend so much time
answering requests because the requests volume
is so huge.”
Faygo still receives requests from ICP fans,
and many requests come from northeastern states
of Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island and
Maine, Chittaro said. Faygo is still primarily a regional soda with about 50 percent of its sales coming from the Great Lakes region.
Although juggalos frequently request the soda,
Chittaro doesn’t believe it helped Faygo gain traction with any retailers. In spring 2013, the company signed a contract with Knoxville, Tenn-based
Pilot Flying J to expand the company from 30 states
to the rest of the contiguous 48 states, he said.
Rather, the deal with Pilot J, not Violent J (one of
the two ICP rappers), is helping them expand, he
said.
However, Faygo brand manager Josh Bartlett
has heard anecdotal accounts where ICP fans
helped Faygo gain popularity in new places.
“I’ve heard stories that in a handful of markets
there have been requests for selling at certain retail locations because there was a significant
cadre of ICP fans living in that market,” said Josh
Bartlett, Faygo brand manager. “And they more
or less demanded that the brand be sold at certain
retail locations.”
Randall Shanker, owner and president of Lans-
ing-based Canada Dry Bottling Co., which distributes 55 brands including Faygo, said there have
been ICP-related Faygo requests.
“We’ve even had ICP fans from Texas and California ask us to ship them eight to 20 bottles of
Faygo because it’s not sold where they live and
they want to have it for the concert or for a party,” he said. “We’re just a distributor, so the effort
these 20-year-old kids put in to get a few bottles of
Redpop to spray each other with is classic. And
the fact they’re willing to pay three times more
for the shipping than the soda shows you just how
much they’ve embraced the band.”
Shanker said it can cost $20 to $50 just for the
shipping costs.
Barrels of Faygo await a concert by the Insane Clown Posse.
See Faygo, Page M9
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MARLEY & WE
Success of
Bob Marley
brand excites
Mellow Mood
nother of Southeast Michigan’s music-branded beverages hails from Southfield.
At Marley’s Mellow Mood, it
quickly becomes apparent the
company brands itself with music,
specifically Bob Marley, whose
likeness is on all its products. The
tea, iced coffee and soda the company sells are named after the Bob
Marley songs “Mellow Mood” and
“One Drop.” Its website also
streams a handful of reggae
artists.
Visitors can watch ad campaigns synched to “Three Little
Birds” and see Bob Marley’s image plastered on nearly every item
in the office including clocks, road
signs and refrigerators. The company, which is in partnership
with the Marley family, aggressively promotes its image using
reggae music in a myriad of ways.
“We view ourselves as not just a
beverage company, but an entertainment company,” said Lee
Brody, global marketing director.
“If you are going to market a
brand, you need to live the brand.
We live the brand.”
The company grew from 2.5 million cases sold in 2012 to a projected 3 million in 2013. Revenue for
this year will be $30 million, according to company estimates, up
from $25 million in 2012.
Marley’s Mellow Mood hosts a
music festival and a talent search
contest where the winner gets a
track produced by Stephen Marley.
The company even designs its
fliers to look like CD booklets.
And its posters, which mimic
those sold in record stores, are frequently stolen by college students.
“We judge the effectiveness on
whether or not it gets stolen,”
Brody said. “Having college kids
take your posters is one of the
greatest compliments you can get.
Can you imagine walking into a
dorm room and seeing pictures of
your favorite band, football team
and a Mellow Mood poster? They
don’t see it as an ad, they see it as
a poster. A piece of art.”
The ganja-smoking, free-spirited Rastafarian image also means
big business. Bob Marley was the
fifth highest grossing dead celebrity in 2012, earning $17 million
from the grave, according to a 2012
story by Forbes.
— Ross Benes
We wish they would do
a limited edition Faygo
pop run with us. Maybe one
day, when they get a new CEO,
they might change their way of
thinking. But whoever’s in
charge now wants to steer clear
of Insane Clown Posse. They
consider themselves a family
product. I guess they don’t
make it to throw
at each other.
“
A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
”
— Violent J.,
Insane Clown Posse
PHOTOS BY TINA HAGERLING
It doesn’t matter the flavor, as long as it’s Faygo that’s flying.
Faygo: A family soda brand meets the ‘juggalos’
■ From Page M7
“They gotta have the real thing and have
the real branding,” he said. “It’s a funny phenomenon.”
When ICP uses the soda in its shows, it connects fans in a way that television and Internet advertisements cannot, said Jeffrey Stoltman, Wayne State University associate
marketing professor. Psychologically, the
song references and soda showers give fans a
personal connection to ICP when they drink
the soda themselves, he said. This connection
starts at the individual level before moving on
to family and friends where it then “becomes
a powerful self-reinforcing machine,” he said.
Mike Bernacchi, professor of marketing at
University of Detroit Mercy, said that Faygo benefits by keeping its association with ICP unofficial.
“The lack of solicitation is the mother milk
of brand success,” he said. “Kids know this. If
you can build a brand without formal advertising, it’s one of those things you’ll gravitate to.”
ICP and Pscyhopathic Records declined an interview. But Violent J of ICP spoke to Seattlebased independent newspaper The Stranger in
May on why the group promotes the discounted price soda.
“You gotta remember, we started out way
back in the early ’90s, comin’ off the heels of
the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. DMC rapped
about Adidas, and that was kinda like their
thing, and the Beasties, at least back on their
first album, used to mention White Castle hamburgers. Those things would link you to a
group back then. When we were sitting
around working on our very
first songs, we wanted to incorporate who we were. We always drank Faygo.”
But Faygo advertises itself
as a family soda. And although
juggalos refer to themselves as
family, they don’t exactly
come off as wholesome — the FBI classified
juggalos as a gang because of their association
with violent crimes.
So a family soda reacts cautiously to endorsements from a rap group that the FBI
views as criminal, said WSU’s Stoltman.
“The script for Faygo would be we like people drinking and enjoying our product,” he
said. “But we don’t want to be officially associated with ICP. … From Faygo’s perspective
they may not want to go on record about it, but
they’re happy to have it.”
ICP has not sought an official sponsorship,
Chittaro said. And issues regarding the
brand’s association with the band do not come
up much, he said.
“We wish they would do a limited edition
Faygo pop run with us,” Violent J told The
Metro Times in a 2010 story. “Maybe one day,
when they get a new CEO, they might change
their way of thinking. But whoever’s in charge
now wants to steer clear of Insane Clown
Posse. They consider themselves a family
product. I guess they don’t make it to throw at
each other.”
“
Chittaro acknowledged that he prefers consumers to drink the soda rather than throw it
at each other.
He wouldn’t declare if the company approves or disapproves of ICP’s association
with Faygo, noting that he treats all customers
the same. As for whether the brand has impacted the company’s sales or image, “I don’t
have an answer for that,” he said.
Bartlett also indicated that Faygo most likely would not pursue an official deal with ICP.
But he did acknowledge the group’s impact on
the company’s brand.
“In some ways, any brand would welcome
that kind of support, where in some ways their
fans are pushing exposure and desire for the
brand organically,” he said.
He likens the juggalos as being like a family,
themselves.
“It’s funny because we’re a family soda and
the juggalos are a family too, and in that way it
kind of fits. I’m very happy to see this particular group and their fans have such a good time
with our brand. And that they’re experiencing
the fun and flavor of Faygo in their own way.”
It’s funny because we’re a family soda
and the juggalos are a family too, and
in that way it kind of fits. I’m very happy to
see this particular group and their fans
have such a good time with our brand.
”
— Josh Bartlett,
Faygo Beverages Inc.
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FALL 2013
Q&A “
N
JENNY RISHER
DON WAS
It is a brand, isn’t it? I cite my Detroitness constantly. And it
works. I think it reads like no jive, man. It’s the real thing. It
comes from the heart. You can’t fake being from Detroit,
and that’s because there are no frills that you can hide behind.
ew York, Los Angeles
and Nashville lay claim
as the music capitals of
America, yet most of the
musicians who break out
of those cities aren’t native sons and daughters.
Detroit breeds musicians.
The list of Detroit-born artists is so
vast that to name only some would be a
disservice to the rest. It spans genres —
from Motown, jazz, R&B and hip-hop to
punk rock, prog rock, garage rock and
heavy metal; there’s a Detroit-born artist
pushing the limits of his or her genre,
fashioning it to fit his or her vision.
And somewhere in that re-creation
lies the “Detroit sound.” A sound as
hard to describe as it is to fake.
Two-time Grammy Award-winning
producer and Detroit native Don Was
says the authenticity of the Detroit
sound lies in the struggle of the city
and in the earnestness of its people.
It starts with their upbringing: Impressionable sons and daughters
watching their hardworking parents
punch in and out every day, creating
the desire in their children to seek a
different path while instilling the work
ethic necessary to succeed in a cutthroat industry.
Was, whose given name is Don Fagenson, got his start in Detroit with his
band Was (Not Was), which was popular in the 1980s.
He talked to Crain’s reporter Nathan
Skid about branding the Detroit sound.
What makes the Detroit music scene different from those in other, more glamorous
parts of the country?
Detroit is kind of unadorned by fashion. It comes straight from the heart.
It’s so soulful. You can feel the blood in
its music.
I think the music scene reflects the
overall personality of the city. And it’s
a very unpretentious town, you know.
When I was growing up there, I don’t
think I ever saw a limousine. Never
saw a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley. You see
this shit everywhere in Los Angeles. In
Los Angeles, you can pretend that
you’ve achieved all kinds of success because of what you can buy.
That stuff, it just didn’t matter in Detroit because everyone was in the same
boat, which was: Your fate was tied to
the auto industry.
And the overall belief was you would
stay in town and do something that was
impacted by the auto industry. My parents were teachers; if the factories laid
off workers, then they had fewer students and might be out of a job.
You just sort of knew your life was
going to be connected to that. There
would be no point in pretending to be
something other than that. It’s reflected
in the music. It’s gritty and honest.
From jazz to R&B to rock ’n’ roll.
I take it back to John Lee Hooker, who
is one of the rawest and most soulful of
all the blues musicians. He epitomizes
Detroit. He was the king of the whole
Hastings Street movement. He was a guy
who was working in the factories while
he was singing on Hastings Street.
Does using the label “from Detroit” have
any significance for musicians?
This is a good point. It is a brand, is-
DETROIT IS,
NOT WAS
n’t it? I cite my Detroitness constantly.
And it works. I think it reads like no
jive, man. It’s the real thing. It comes
from the heart. You can’t fake being
from Detroit, and that’s because there
are no frills that you can hide behind.
You know, if you say you are from
Detroit, it always gets a good response.
It gets respect, and people back people a
little bit. ... Being a musician from Detroit, it means you must be the real
thing. Justin Bieber couldn’t possibly
be from Detroit.
I lived in Detroit until I was in my
mid-30s and made records in Detroit. I
found it advantageous to be away from
any milieu of compromise. In Detroit,
there is no one telling you what to do or
teaching you what to do. There was no
way to learn audio engineering. I was
really fortunate a couple of guys let me
learn. I learned by trial and error at a
place called Sound Suite. The building
is still standing without a roof on Puritan and Greenfield.
How does that sense of identity affect
Detroit’s musicians?
You get a strong work ethic, which is
something it takes to be successful.
And, uh, speaking personally, my goal
was to not lift heavy boxes at the storeroom floor in Cunningham’s. I didn’t
want to have that kind of job.
Now, that is not a reflection of anyone who has that job. But that wasn’t
for me.
Why have so many big-name artists
come from Detroit?
Part of that is because people have
devoted themselves to sticking around
here. People choose to stay here.
Marcus Belgrave stayed in Detroit
and mentored so many musicians, so
many great jazz musicians. James
Carter is from Detroit, and he says he
wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Marcus
Belgrave. You have real contact with
mentors from Detroit.
”
There seems to always be a Detroit artist
pushing the boundaries of his or her genre.
I think a large part of it is being removed from the fashion centers.
The evolution of music is a lot like
the game of operator. You whisper
something in someone’s ear, and by the
time you get to the fifth person, it’s a
different message. I think that’s true of
music and fashion, too.
I believe Motown was a bunch of Detroit jazz musicians trying to imitate
New York R&B records and ended up
putting their own stamp on it because
they couldn’t help it.
I think that is how new things come
up all over the world. You are imitating
something that you’ve heard. Being removed from New York or LA or London
is really helpful; you end up putting
your own stamp on it.
In some places, it may be seen as a
negative. In Detroit, I think that being
different and being an individual is held
at a premium, where in other places conforming to the moment is held at a premium. That celebration of originality
comes from being a city that is real.
How important is licensing and branding
to a musician looking for exposure?
I think it’s absolutely critical. I
would look at network television as a
model. You can’t make network shows
without an association with a brand.
As record sales decline as people listen
to music on Spotify and Rhapsody,
those are great for exposing an artist,
but it doesn’t help bands like The Go.
I would suggest that everyone view
their possible revenue stream. The
broader perspective is that if you are
relying solely on royalties from sales of
CDs or digital albums or performances,
you might find yourself in trouble.
You have to broaden the definition of
what a music income stream consists
of. Be creative. It’s liberating for musicians. I don’t think anyone has to compromise what they do.
You have to broaden the definition of
what a music income stream consists
of. Be creative. My label, Blue Note
Records, is entering a partnership with
Panasonic to create high-fidelity car audio systems that will be Blue Notebranded. We are also talking to clothing manufacturers to have a line of
Blue Note clothing. We are talking
about a Blue Note wine, coffee. We are
looking for strategic partners.
How do you do that without selling out?
I think that it always was. All the people we think of as authentic artists, like
Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters,
they ran their music like a business.
It’s not a negative. To do something
for a living, it’s your business. You gotta be good at it. I think that has always
been true. The beauty now is you are
only limited by your own creativity.
The Go is a great example. By all conventional wisdom, they should’ve shut
down a long time ago, but they’ve been
creative. If you are gonna sit in your
basement and play guitar by yourself,
that’s a pure thing. I take off my hat to
anyone who does that.
But once you start taking it to people,
you shouldn’t really kid yourself about
the fact that you are in business. In the
’60s, we tossed around the word “sellout.” You don’t have to sell out; you just
have to sell.
20130902-SUPP--0011-NAT-CCI-CD_--
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Page M11
PARADIGM BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT
PHOTO COURTESY OF FORD MOTOR CO.
BY DUSTIN WALSH
F
rom AM/FM to eight track to cassette to CD to
MP3 — music integration has been part of the
driving experience since the 1950s.
But the Internet — specifically, the Napster filesharing service — decimated the recording industry,
changing the music industry forever and how you
listen in your car.
The same minds that leveled the recording industry are now working to monetize music in the automobile — sans discs, wires and other outside devices.
And they have help as the race to the dashboard hits a
new octave.
Automakers, suppliers, app developers and Silicon
Valley are knee-deep in designing the future of audio
enjoyment in the automobile as music delivery and
business plans are reshaped.
But at the same time, the industry as a whole is
struggling with the notion of monetizing music services, said Doug Newcomb, an automotive technology
consultant and contributor to Wired magazine’s Autopia blog and the automotive information research
site Edmunds.com.
“When you look at this technology today, people are
used to getting music for free,” he said. “With satellite
(Sirius XM), the subscription fee let everyone get paid —
the satellite company, suppliers and automakers.
“But now with this new technology, automakers and
suppliers are struggling with how to charge for services.”
In January, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. both
announced they had opened their respective infotainment systems to outside developers.
Ford cut itself out of the business model for music
services, focusing more on giving customers what they
want instead of creating complex, low-margin fees for
service, said Doug VanDagens, Ford’s global director of
connected services.
“We want to offer what they have on their smartphone so they have more choice and use the voice engine (Microsoft Corp.’s Sync) and drive safely,” VanDagens said. “If they have that in their car, they will enjoy
their car. So we can sell more or they will pay more for
their car.”
Through Ford’s AppLink development platform,
users can access through the Internet music services
such as Spotify, Amazon Cloud Player, iHeart Radio and others directly from the Sync system in most Ford models.
“The reason we’re able to launch with all these services, even nonmusic services, is because we’re not en-
It used to be you turned the button or pressed
‘play’ and then tried to sing along. But then came
the Internet, and now the music industry — and
with it the auto industry — is going to have to
sing a different tune
cumbering them (app developers) with a difficult business
model,” VanDagens said.
Ferndale’s Livio
GM also opened up its platform
Radio says its service to developers but is creating a
can help auto and
proprietary model that will inconsumer electronics
clude a service fee.
companies with
Internet radio was integrated
communication,
into 1.6 million vehicles in 2012,
Page M12
according to Northville Township-based IHS Automotive Inc.
That number is expected to grow to 9.24 million by 2019
or more than half of all vehicles expected to be sold in
the U.S.
“It’s to the point where if you don’t have some sort of
Internet integration, you’re behind the times,” said
Mark Boyadjis, a senior analyst and manager of infotainment and human-machine interaction for IHS in
Minnetonka, Minn. “Make no mistake, automakers are
not doing apps to make money. However, to sell more
cars, they need this app integration.”
Automakers and suppliers must work quickly to
maintain pace with the rate of innovation in consumer
electronics, said Steve Koenig, director of industry
analysis at the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association.
“Users want a more congruent experience in the vehicle than they are getting,” Koenig said. “There’s a
rapid cycle of innovation in consumer electronics
which automakers aren’t accustomed to, but they are
beginning to foster greater and greater connectivity
and leverage new options.”
Ford conducts frequent overnight “hackathons” with
developers, during which the computer coders develop
apps that integrate with Ford’s AppLink in 24 hours,
VanDagens said.
KEYS TO THE CAR?
The car is viewed as the next great endeavor for app
developers, Koenig said.
“Consumers are starting to look at technology over
mpg,” he said. “But it’s about integrating not only the
technology but the consumer’s experience across the
user’s other experiences on their smartphone and
tablet. And whoever develops that experience, they are
going to win hearts and minds.”
Panasonic Automotive Inc., which co-develops North
American automotive products in Farmington Hills
and Peachtree City, Ga., is after hearts and ears, said
Tom Dunn, group manager of marketing.
“Our goal has been to have an emotional connection
with the consumer,” Dunn said. “It’s not about hardware or about purely an interface. We want to look at
all the elements of the chain to provide the best possible solution that is as accessible as possible.”
In March, Panasonic Automotive acquired the German-based music streaming service Aupeo Personal Radio because of its large geographical presence and high
bit rate of streaming music.
As automakers continue adopting global platforms
— selling the same car in many to most markets — the
ability to offer services across entire platforms becomes critical. But the limitations on individual apps
are causing headaches for the automotive industry,
said Gareth Owen, principal analyst at the New York
City-based market research firm ABI Research.
“These services simply aren’t available in every country,” Owen said. “It’s an issue because the apps need permissions from every country, depending on their digital
rights management laws. And say you’re driving across
several countries across Europe — this is troublesome.”
Aupeo is operational in 43 countries, Dunn said. PanSee Dashboard, Page M12
20130902-SUPP--0012-NAT-CCI-CD_--
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4:21 PM
Page 1
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FALL 2013
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worlds talk? Livio says it has Keys
As the automotive and consumer electronics industries continue their waltz toward complete
integration, communication becomes integral.
Ferndale-based Myine Electronics
Inc., which does business as Livio Radio, aims to connect the two through
its new service, Livio Keys.
The service, launched in June, is
designed to connect developers
and programmers with automakers and
suppliers in using standard
protocols and
services, said
Jake Sigal, Livio’s founder and
Sigal
CEO.
“The service really allows developers to do business deals with
OEMs,” said Sigal, recognized in
the 2009 Crain’s 20 in their 20s program. “It’s ideally a one-stop shop
for developers looking to enter the
automotive market.”
Livio charges a licensing fee to
use its technology and system, Sigal said.
The service can connect developers with both Bluetooth audio
and proprietary link protocols, including compatibility with mobile
apps from iTunes, Android, Windows Mobile and other platforms.
Livio Radio also sells vehicle Internet apps for iPhone and Android phones, a Bluetooth Internet
kit for cars, and devices that allow
drivers to access Internet radio accounts from their cars.
Last year, Livio announced its
first contract with an automaker
— General Motors Co. — for software designed to integrate mobile
apps into vehicles. The first will
be the 2013 Chevrolet Spark.
However, Sigal said, the company hopes Livio Keys will help
more developers succeed.
“It’s a business system to allow
two parties to manage and report
the business between themselves,”
he said. “We’ve got ourselves out
of the gold-mining business and
into the shovel business.”
Livio, founded in 2008 with a
$10,000 loan from Sigal’s parents,
in 2010 attracted an equity investment of undisclosed size from the
$185 million InvestMichigan Growth
Capital Fund that Beringea LLC comanages with Credit Suisse on behalf of the state of Michigan.
In its infancy, the firm sold WiFi Internet radios for home use
but ditched that market to refocus
on automotive, Sigal said.
During the transition, revenue
dropped from $2 million in 2011 to
$1 million in 2012, according to information submitted to Crain’s.
— Dustin Walsh
Dashboard: Tech alters
the auto, music worlds
■ From Page M11
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dora, in contrast, is currently
available in the U.S. only.
Dunn said Panasonic would unveil its automotive plans for Aupeo at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas and the North
American International Auto Show in
Detroit, both in January 2014.
Dunn hinted that the service is
likely to be paired with Panasonic’s branded audio systems, such
as Fender and Abbey Road, both of
which are already in vehicles.
“It’s going to be about providing
an experience you’re familiar with
and discovery, since most new
music is discovered in the vehicle,” he said. “We want a better listening experience than they (consumers) have at home or in
headphones and earbuds and put a
smile on people’s faces when they
are driving down the road.”
Danny Shapiro, director of automotive for Santa Clara, Calif.based processor maker Nvidia
Corp., said the push to processing
more data through in-vehicle
modems is making it easier for
suppliers and automakers to integrate more technology.
“Most of the content is coming
from an external source, a personal device,” he said. “As you start
to see more and more connected
cars, you have the ability to easily
connect to the cloud or another device to get your content.”
In August, Nvidia opened a
sales and engineering office in
Ann Arbor.
Robert Acker, vice president of
connectivity for the automotive division of Harman International Industries Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif., said the
full integration of embedded mobile
services in the car is still more than
six years out. Harman operates a
sales office in Farmington Hills.
“We see a gradual transition
from current solutions to more advanced solutions happening in fits
and starts, with multiple solutions,” Acker said. “Modems are
being brought into the car now,
and we’re getting to the point
where there will be consistent
data carrier plans. You won’t need
your phone anymore; the car will
be just another device on your
shared data plan.”
Harman acquired the streaming
radio service Aha Radio in 2010.
Aha uses a mobile phone to stream
Internet radio into the vehicle.
Acker said current business
models revolve around content
fees from the automakers, but he
thinks a more integrated advertising model is on the horizon.
“In the future, we’ll work with
content providers, monetizing
them with advertising,” he said.
“But we just don’t have the scale
to make that sustainable.”
Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042,
[email protected].
Twitter:
@dustinpwalsh
20130902-SUPP--0013-NAT-CCI-CD_--
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FALL 2013
Q&A
JEFF CASTELAZ
All it takes is
one good song
Starting as an entrepreneur,
creating an independent label and now
running Elektra Records, Jeff Castelaz
has seen the spectrum of business
models associated with music.
Castelaz has played a key role in
the careers of a diverse range of
artists, including
Silversun Pickups,
Fitz and The
Tantrums, Sea
Wolf, Dropkick
Murphys, Eagles
of Death Metal
and Phoenix.
He co-founded
Dangerbird
Records and
Castelaz
Music Publishing
in 2003, building it into a well-known
independent label on the West Coast.
In October 2012, Castelaz took
over as Elektra president. The label
counts among its artists over the
years: 10,000 Maniacs, Anita Baker,
Bjork, Jackson Browne, The Cars,
Tracy Chapman, Natalie Cole, The
Cure, The Doors, Queen and Linda
Ronstadt. Elektra’s current roster
includes CeeLo Green, Charlotte
Gainsbourg, and Ed Sheeran.
Castelaz, a keynote speaker at the
SoundBiz conference Sept. 26, spoke
with Daniel Duggan, Crain’s managing
editor of custom and special projects.
There are so many ways for music
to reach people, with social media,
downloads, streaming services,
etcetera. How does this change the
ways that artists get noticed?
When I was coming up, you were
calling (artist and repertoire) people,
using faxes, putting things in the mail.
Now it’s email, mp3, soundcloud
links. It’s easier for it to happen, but
there’s also a lot of noise in the
market.
There are hundreds of things A
and R’s can look for. Artists have to
think about how to get attention,
stand out, make themselves
special.
What makes someone stand out?
It comes to one thing: a great song.
It will get you where you want to, and
it might only be one. These days, it’s
my belief, if we’re not in the singles
reality, we’re getting close to it.
One great song will get people’s
attention. You can be a small band in
Cleveland and be a radio hit in two
months.
How do you, on behalf of a large
label, think about the unknowns
that will come in the near future?
It comes down to finding great
songs, great artists. And we do deals
with them that allow us to support
and grow their business. That simple
plan will fortify us against unknowns
in the future.
I take the Warren Buffet approach
— focus on things everyone needs.
The basic things at Elektra are
great songs, artistry and sustainable
business around those artists. I
don’t see how anything in the future
can alter that reality in any way.
Because that’s a great practice.
Page M13
Event attuned to music biz in Motor City
BY DANIEL DUGGAN
Detroit’s sound is as legendary as the automotive products it produces.
It’s a sound that represents not just successors to Motown, Eminem, Jack White and Kid
Rock, but the branding of powerful companies
and the technology being created for the new
generation of in-car entertainment — and how
money will be made.
The connections between music, innovation
and branding will be the theme of the Crain’s
SoundBiz Music Conference, starting at
11 a.m. Sept. 26 at Cobo Center in Detroit.
Speakers, some of whom are included in stories in this section of Crain’s, will talk about
the business of music in Detroit and the branding associated with Detroit artists and companies, as well as the role that music will play in
the future of the automobile.
Jeff Castelaz, CEO of Elektra Records, will
discuss how the search for talent in the record
industry is changing along with the music industry.
The role that Detroit’s music and brand has
played in the resurgence of Chrysler Group LLC
will be a topic discussed by Saad Chehab, president of the Chrysler brand.
Locally, the impact of music in metro Detroit will be discussed by Patrick Anderson,
CEO of East Lansing-based Anderson Economic
Group. The firm recently did an economic
study about the business of music, written
about in a story on Page 14.
Panel discussions will take a deep dive into
larger topics, as well.
Hear from local businesses about how Detroit’s music scene has changed with the larger industry. Branding experts will talk about
how the Detroit brand has been used as part
of national marketing campaigns.
Look into the future of infotainment, too.
Julius Marchwicki, global product manager
for Sync AppLink at Ford Motor Co., will set the
stage for the future of infotainment in vehicles. And later in the day, a panel discussion
will feature automotive executives talking
about the role of infotainment in the car and
the competitive dynamics driving that innovation.
Information, including how to register, can
be found at crainsdetroit.com/soundbiz.
Marchwicki
Chehab
Jacobs
Anderson
Was
SEPT. 26 EVENT: SOUNDING OFF ON MUSIC IN DETROIT
The innovation, the sound and the money behind music in Detroit. Join Crain’s Detroit Business for
this event Sept. 26 at Cobo Center in Detroit.
The following are the speakers and panels scheduled for the day. To register, go to
crainsdetroit.com/soundbiz.
Note: Speakers and times are subject to change.
䡲 11 a.m.: Registration and networking lunch
䡲 Noon: Conference begins with a national overview of music and infotainment in the car.
Jeff Castelaz, CEO, Elektra Records
Julius Marchwicki, global product manager for Sync AppLink at Ford Motor Co.
䡲 12:50 p.m.: Economic impact study on the business of music in metro Detroit unveiled.
Patrick Anderson, CEO, Anderson Economic Group
䡲 1 p.m.: The business of music in metro Detroit and how it continues to evolve.
Brian Pastoria, Harmonie Park Media Group/UDetroit
Darrell Garrett, Detroit Music Factory
Mike Jbara, president, Alternative Distribution Alliance Worldwide
䡲 1:35 p.m.: The “Detroit brand” and what it means for artists as well as companies.
Saad Chehab, president, Chrysler brand
䡲 2 p.m.: Reaction panel discussing the Detroit brand
Moderator: Nathan Skid, reporter, Crain’s Detroit Business
Camille Hackney, senior vice president of brand partnerships, Atlantic Records
Howard Hertz, Hertz Schram PC
䡲 2:30 p.m.: Automotive panel: A look into the future of infotainment as it relates to cars and the
entire experience.
Moderator: Dustin Walsh, reporter, Crain’s Detroit Business
Jake Sigal, CEO, Livio Radio
Paul Jacobs, CEO, JacApps
Tom Dunn, director of business development, Panasonic Automotive Systems Co.
䡲 3 p.m.: Closing keynote speaker: Don Was, Blue Note Records
Study: Internet radio gains traction with motorists
BY DAVID SEDGWICK
CRAIN NEWS SERVICE
Automakers are rushing to add Internet radio apps such as Pandora, iHeartRadio, Spotify
and Aha to their infotainment systems.
Although Internet radio trails its more established rivals, it has gained a foothold
among motorists, according to a February survey by Arbitron Inc. and Edison Research.
Twelve percent of respondents said they
have listened to Internet radio in their vehicles. That compares with 15 percent for satellite radio, 63 percent for CDs and 84 percent for
AM/FM radio.
But automakers appear eager to add Internet
radio, and the nation’s radio stations are fueling the trend by streaming content on the Web.
“This is one of the hottest topics in the radio
business,” said Ed Cohen, Arbitron’s vice
president of measurement innovation. “It’s
like the Wild West. It’s way too early to declare
a winner.”
Pandora has a clear lead in the Internet radio
race. According to the Arbitron/Edison Research survey, 47 percent of smartphone owners have downloaded the Pandora app, 15 percent downloaded iHeartRadio, 6 percent Spotify
and 5 percent Aha.
PANDORA’S
MUSIC BOX
Pandora dominates
the Internet radio
segment, according
to an Arbitron survey.
Here’s the share of
smartphone owners
who downloaded each
app.
Pandora: 47%
iHeartRadio: 15%
AM/FM stations: 9%
Spotify: 6%
Aha: 5%
Other: 9%
Source: Arbitron and
Edison Research,
February 2013 survey
Smartphones
receive Pandora’s signal
from the Net and channel it to the vehicle’s
infotainment system.
In addition, some
automakers include
Pandora’s app in infotainment systems, so
motorists can use the
cockpit controls to select Pandora stations.
Twenty-three car
brands have integrated Pandora into their
infotainment systems.
Pandora boasts that
through June it had
71.1 million active listeners on all devices.
Pandora offers a
choice of free service
a commercial-free ser-
with commercials or
vice for $3.99 a month.
The company built its listening audience,
which attracted automakers eager to accommodate those listeners.
Harman International’s Aha Mobile Inc. —
which offers 30,000 stations featuring music,
talk shows, news and comedy — has taken a
different approach.
“We’re a little bit like cable TV,” said Rod
MacKenzie, vice president of automotive business development. “We are not the branded
content; we are trying to be the pipe that
brings it into the car.”
MacKenzie said his company acts as an umbrella for a variety of infotainment apps,
then updates them as needed. This frees automakers from having to handle software updates and motorists from having to visit dealerships to get those updates.
Aha also can help automakers analyze vehicle and customer data to determine what motorists listen to and when, MacKenzie said.
Automakers could use that information to
design apps and services that would appeal to
motorists, said analyst Roger Lanctot of Strategy Analytics. Aha and TuneIn are the Internet
radio providers best positioned to help automakers do this, Lanctot said.
“If the customer agrees to share his information, they would have the ability to turn the
car into a moving customer clinic,” he said.
Aha, which Harman acquired in 2010, has
signed up Acura, Chrysler, Ford, Honda,
Porsche, Scion and Subaru.
From Automotive News
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Those tips
add up
Study puts
value of
Detroit music
industry at
$1 billion
ISTOCK PHOTO
BY GARY ANGLEBRANDT
M
usic in Detroit amounts to a billion-dollar industry.
That’s the summation of a study
conducted for Crain’s by East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group LLC,
which inventoried the number and
types of music businesses and employees in Southeast Michigan, defined as
Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, Livingston
and Washtenaw counties.
AEG found about 6,000 people employed in the local industry, earning a
total $162.5 million in 2012, with the
average worker bringing in roughly
$27,000 a year. The number of establishments in the industry came out to
be 486, with an average of 12 workers
per establishment and total sales volume of $1.15 billion.
It’s a unique study, because solid
figures are not well known for Detroit’s music industry.
“As far as I know, this is the only serious study of the music industry, at
least in terms of economic impact,”
said Patrick Anderson, CEO of AEG.
AEG set clear delineations as to the
type of person counted: Items such as
businesses selling
car radios or workers at a pizza place
that happens to
have music were excluded, Anderson
said.
His team spent
three months looking at federal data
from various
Anderson
sources such as
County Business Patterns data from
the U.S. Census Bureau and repackaged
federal data from ESRI Inc. They used
industry and occupation codes to include portions of other larger industries in their definition of music industry, and compared metro Detroit to
cities of similar size, most of them in
the Midwest.
The team also looked at bars and
restaurants that host live music,
award-winning artists with connections to Detroit and music education.
Businesses were split in the study
into 11 categories based on employment data.
The biggest business category by
employment size was by far the music
venue category, with 3,500 workers,
dwarfing the next highest category,
schools, which had 800 employees.
Music supply stores and the artists
themselves were other categories with
substantial representations.
Anderson said he was a little bit
surprised at the $1 billion figure, having guessed it would have been lower.
Howard Hertz, known as metro Detroit’s go-to lawyer for music industry
matters, said the number sounded
right.
“We should shoot to double and
triple it,” he said, through more concerted promotion efforts.
Hertz and others said artists aren’t
lacking for most of the resources they
need — such as studios and talent —
in metro Detroit.
“We’ve got probably 10 studios
here capable of doing major label
recordings as good as anywhere
else,” Hertz said.
Agents and major labels are scarce
here, though, he said.
As artists start to get established,
he encourages them to play in everwidening geographical circles to
build a fan base that eventually
reaches Chicago, New York and Los
Angeles. At that point, they will have
the base they need to get the attention
of agents and labels, which are based
in those cities in more plentiful numbers.
“There are resources, they’re just
not as plentiful as 20-30 years ago,”
said Daniel Dennis, president of the
Recording Institute of Detroit Inc., a music recording school in Eastpointe
started by Dennis’ father, Bob Dennis,
in 1974.
Dennis, too, said he was not surprised at the $1 billion figure.
“It’s not obvious to the average person, but there are a lot of music
venues in Detroit, a lot of places to
play live and a lot of musicians to play
live,” Dennis said.
His school still graduates between
50 and 100 people a year, down from
its peak of about 200 in the 1980s, but
still steady.
The figures in the study are minimums. The actual size of the local music industry is much larger because
the study relied on data for full-time
work. Much of the activity in music is
part-time work, be it the server at a
See Economy, Page M15
STUDY FINDINGS
$162,500,000
Amount earned by local music
industry workers in 2012. The average
worker made about $27,000 a year.
6,000
$1,150,000,000
People employed
in the music
industry locally
Total sales generated by the 486
establishments in the local music
industry, with an average of 12
workers per establishment.
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Page M15
Economy: The noteworthy impact of music here: $1 billion
■ From Page M14
restaurant that isn’t classified as a
music venue, the guitarist in a
band who has a day job or someone who runs a basement studio
on the side.
“It’s an industry that’s easy to
undercount because of the number
of people involved in it on a parttime basis,” Anderson said. “Most
people fixing instruments at the
school orchestra are not being
counted in this data.”
That is unfortunate because business activity doesn’t stop just because it’s not counted. “Commerce
occurred because you went to see
your friend play guitar,” he said.
The local industry is larger still,
considering the large underground
hip-hop scene that wouldn’t make
appearances in most federal data,
said Tom Gelardi, a marketing and
promotions representative for Detroit rap artists.
“The rapper stuff I do, nobody
knows anything about,” said Gelardi, who got started in the business
in 1957 working for Capitol Records.
The scene supports independent
retailers in Detroit such as Shantinique Music and Damon’s Record
Center that still do good business
even as general music retail business has fallen off, he said.
To get a grip on how much parttime work adds to the mix, the research team called 216 bars and
restaurants in metro Detroit to find
out how many nights of live music
they offer on average. The answer
was about three a week, or 25,000 a
year.
Most musicians who play these
nights aren’t doing it full time, and
there’s definitely more of them than
the 434 “musical groups and artists”
or 304 “independent artists, writers
and performers” found through the
federal employment codes.
“Somebody is playing those
25,000 nights of music and, by and
large, it’s not the 300 people the
government cited,” Anderson said.
AEG estimates that there are 400
such venues in the region that
wouldn’t fall into the government
music industry statistics and about
2,000 performers who play at them.
Roughly half of those performers
could be added to the 6,000 total employment figure for the regional
music industry, on the reasoning
that the other half of those performers probably have music industry
jobs represented in the statistics,
said Alex Rosaen, director of public
policy and economic analysis at
Anderson.
Part-time workers at those
venues would not be counted as
they would fall into other categories such as alcohol sales, but
the venues and its workers do benefit from the draw that live music
brings, he said.
One person who might not show
up in the numbers is John Spurrier, a singer in Ferndale-based psy-
HOW DETROIT STACKS UP
Detroit’s music industry was at the
top of the rankings for business
share of total area earnings
compared to the other cities
studied — Indianapolis,
Minneapolis, Kansas City,
Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Dallas
— with 0.20 percent, tied with
Minneapolis and ahead of
Indianapolis at 0.17 percent.
By share of total area employment,
Detroit came in second at 0.37
percent, behind Minneapolis at
0.52 percent, with Pittsburgh
practically tied with Detroit at 0.36
percent.
chedelic rock band Blue Black
Hours. He works a day job as a
window washer and said most of
the people he knows in other
bands also carry day jobs.
Whatever they write down on
their income tax forms for occupation, it isn’t music-related, he said.
Yet the work of being in a band
takes up quite a bit of time.
Spurrier said his band, and most
bands he knows, rehearses a few
times a week. That’s two to four
hours each meeting. Then there’s
the personal time taking to write
songs, as well as promotion work
and actually playing the shows,
which his band does once a
month.
“We’re all pretty much in the
same boat, even the bigger bands,”
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he said.
Omar Ajluni is someone who
would show up in the federal data.
He runs his own business, Salvadoria LLC, based on the full-time composing and production work he
does for commercial clients, such
as Nike, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte.
The Bloomfield Hills native
worked out of New York before
setting up in Detroit a year and a
half ago. He can work from his
downtown loft just as readily as he
could in New York, while putting
money into new technology for his
business instead of into New
York’s cost of living.
However, the differences that
make Detroit attractive compared to
New York also make it harder to do
business, at least locally, and illustrate that it’s still a small market.
While any resources Ajluni
might need — musicians, high-end
studios — are available here, the
amount of available local work is
limited.
Local producers have asked Ajluni to do projects for $300 that he normally would charge $12,000 to do.
Samantha Corbit is another one
of those people who doesn’t show
up in the official tallies.
Corbit is an active figure in Detroit’s techno and house music
scene, throwing parties at venues
such as MotorCity Wine and The
Works. This is a task that involves
bringing in DJs from out of town —
often Europe — hiring sound and
security when needed, setting door
prices and promoting the events.
None of that shows up in the official records. Her day job as a project manager at Organic Inc. in
Troy does. She estimates most of
the people in the scene also have a
day job.
“I don’t know anyone able to
make a living off music full time,
other than the obvious,” she said
referring to longtime techno
heavyweights such as Derrick
May.
Corbit, who plans to move to
Berlin where several music business offers await her, also said
there’s a lack of understanding
here as to what it takes to do business.
She throws parties because she
enjoys it and wants to bring interesting artists to Detroit crowds,
paying for the parties out of her
checking account and hoping the
door fees pay her back.
Anderson said the value of the
industry is also driven by the value of the area’s brand — something that’s easy to forget about.
“Music is part of Detroit’s
brand. It’s easy for us here in
Michigan to forget, but if you go to
Europe or Asia and have a Detroit
D on your shirt, they have a recognition that’s sometimes deeper
than we have.”
20130902-SUPP--0016,0017,0018-NAT-CCI-CD_--
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4:26 PM
BY BRIAN BOWE
B
ehind the artists who
write and perform the
songs is a roster of people and companies who
make up the backbone
of the region’s music
industry.
The studios, producers, labels and attorneys constitute a group that’s handled wellknown artists such as Kid Rock and Eminem, Motown greats, and such bands as
Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam and Bon Jovi.
The following is a list of noteworthy
recording studios, producers and entertainment attorneys.
Studios
䡲 Ghetto Recorders. When the Detroit
garage rock scene was the focus of international attention, much of the movement’s
sound was attributed to the celebrated but
no-frills analog sound of Ghetto Recorders.
Founded by producer Jim Diamond, the studio has been used by Andre Williams, the
White Stripes, the Sonics, the Fleshtones, the
Electric Six, and Diamond’s former group
The Dirtbombs. 60 W. Elizabeth St., Detroit
48201; (313) 961-6740; ghettorecorders.com.
䡲 Harmonie Park Media Group. Founded by
brothers Mark and Brian Pastoria, the Harmonie Park Media Group is an integrated music, entertainment, marketing and new media communications firm.
One of the centerpieces of the enterprise
is Harmonie Park recording studio. Since
opening its doors in 1996, the studio has
been used for sessions by major artists including Aretha Franklin, Eminem, P. Diddy, Will.i.am, The Black Crowes, Tori
Amos, Mötley Crüe, Missy Elliott, Ben
Folds Five, George Clinton, and Elliott
Smith. 1427 Randolph, Suite 200, Detroit
48226; (313) 965-4343; harmoniepark.com.
䡲 The Loft. Founded in 1988 by brothers Tim
and Andy Patalan, The Loft was built in a 150year-old oat barn in Saline. The studio has
been used by bands Taproot, Cheap Trick,
The Orbitsuns and many regional artists.
Tim Patalan says the studio has tried to
adapt to the way the music business has
changed with the increased availability of
sophisticated recording tools.
“With the changes in technology, you can
record an album almost anywhere,” says
Patalan. As a result, artists increasingly
will bring in a project to The Loft that has
been started elsewhere. “We’re very good at
things that you couldn’t do with a computer
plug-in, like songwriting or arranging.”
2955 Braun Road, Saline 48176; (734) 5469273; theloftrecording.com.
䡲 Metro 37 Recording Studios. Metro 37,
based in Rochester Hills, is a recording,
mixing and mastering facility that specializes in recording analog and digital through
a combination of modern and vintage gear.
Founded by producers Matt Dalton and
Kevin Sharpe in 2008, Metro 37 has been used
by artists including Smile Empty Soul, Machine Gun Kelly, Hawthorne Heights, Yelawolf, Lloyd, and Suzi Quatro. Sharpe said
about half the studio’s clients are local, while
the other half are national or international.
In addition to music, the studio specializes in voice-over and commercial audio.
1948 Star Batt Drive, Rochester Hills 48309;
(586) 549-2879; metro37.com or 37studios.com.
䡲 Pearl Sound Studios. When major international artists look to record in metro Detroit,
they often end up at Canton Township’s Pearl
Sound Studios. Built in the early 1980s, the studio was purchased in 1997 by partners Chuck
Alkazian and Patrick Harwood.
It has hosted sessions by Led Zeppelin figureheads Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, as
well as Anita Baker, Soundgarden, Mitch
Ryder and Eminem.
While Pearl focuses on
albums by recording
artists, Harwood and
Alkazian are also partners in Oracle AMS, which
operates two studios in
Farmington Hills and
Southfield that specialize
in advertising work for
clients such as Ford Motor
Harwood
Co., Art Van Furniture Inc.
and Fieger Law PC. Annual revenue: $1.6 million. 47360 Ford Road, Canton Township
48187; (248) 789-5072; on Facebook.
WHO’S WHO
Page M16
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FALL 2013
Movers, shakers,
䡲 Rustbelt Studios. Run by two of Detroit’s
best-known producers – Al Sutton and Eric
Hoegemeyer – Rustbelt Studios has hosted sessions by the likes of Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow,
Uncle Kracker, and Sponge. The Royal Oak
studio was founded in 1996 and features analog and digital capabilities. “We’re mostly a
rock ’n’ roll studio,” Sutton said. “We mostly
focus on making records for bands and
artists.” 118 E. Seventh St., Royal Oak 48067;
(248) 541-7296; rustbeltstudios.com.
䡲 Tempermill Studios. Founded by producer David Feeny in 1985, Ferndale’s Tempermill Studios has been home to dozens of major label projects and hundreds of
independent releases. Kid Rock recorded
his first two albums at Tempermill, and
Anita Baker and The Funk Brothers also
have recorded there. Other recent projects
of note include Australian legends Crime
and the City Solution, Outrageous Cherry,
Ryan Allen, Blanche, The Meatmen, Josh
Ritter and Dean Fertita.
The studio features a combination of stateof-the-art and vintage gear. 2040 Hilton Road
Ferndale 48220; (248) 399-0550; tempermill.com.
䡲 The Disc Ltd. Founded in 1974, this studio is owned by Greg Reilly and Robert Dennis. Eschewing advertising work, the studio
focuses strictly on recording music. The Disc is favored by artists in the
hip-hop, R&B, jazz and
gospel worlds, Reilly said.
George Clinton captured
the primordially funky
sound of “Atomic Dog”
there, and many other
Reilly
members of the Parliament family have recorded at The Disc. The
late Roger Troutman of Zapp fame recorded
there, as did Ready for the World. Other
artists who have used The Disc for sessions
include Mike Posner, Akon, Mary J. Blige
and Kid Rock.
The Disc’s space features four recording
studios and a mastering facility. The partners also own the Recording Institute of Detroit, which offers training programs in
sound production. Annual revenue: More
than $500,000. 14611 E. Nine Mile Road, Eastpointe 48021; (586) 779-1380; thedisc.com.
force as a self-proclaimed
“multiplatform cultural
curator.”
The company has two
imprints: Ghostly International releases experimental pop music (which it
calls “avant-pop”), while
sister label Spectral Sound
concentrates on dance music. Between the two,
Valenti
Ghostly maintains a roster
of nearly 50 artists, including Seth Troxler,
Derek Plaslaiko, and Adult.
In addition to its record labels, Ghostly
functions as an art gallery, design boutique
and tech firm. 1327 Jones Drive, Ann Arbor
48105; (734) 623-0077; ghostly.com.
䡲 Full Effect Records. Macomb Townshipbased Full Effect Records was founded in 2006
by Anthony Srock, although Srock and Jeff
Mills released techno records under that
name as far back as 1987. Srock said the label was patterned after the beloved and
eclectic Chicago label Wax Trax, which releases a similarly broad assortment.
“I would like to think that we’ve always
been open to a variety of music,” Srock says.
The label’s roster of artists includes the
rejuvenated ’80s metal act Faster Pussycat,
Seattle-based digital hard-core band Rabbit
Junk and Srock’s own industrial act, Final
Cut. 18560 Elm Court, Macomb Township
48044; (415) 595-3003; fulleffectrecords.com.
䡲 Mack Avenue Records. Founded in 1998
by Carhartt Inc. chairwoman – and hard-core
jazz lover – Gretchen
Carhartt Valade, Mack
Avenue Records is a major contributor to the effort toward keeping jazz
alive, both nationally and
locally. On the latter
front, Mack Avenue is a
major sponsor of the Detroit Jazz Festival (which
was saved by a $15 milValade
lion donation from
Valade in 2006).
Major Mack Avenue artists include
Grammy Award-winning bassist Christian
McBride, vibraphonist Gary Burton, guitarist and former “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks, and saxophonist
Kenny Garrett, whose “Seeds from the Underground” album earned two Grammy
nominations.
In addition to Mack Avenue, the company
also runs the smooth jazz/R&B label Artistry
Music, contemporary jazz imprint Rendezvous Music and Sly Dog Records. Also the
Detroit-focused Detroit Music Factory. 18530
Mack Ave. No. 299, Grosse Pointe Farms
48236; (313) 640-8414; mackavenue.com.
䡲 Ghostly International. Founded in 1999 by
Sam Valenti IV, Ann Arbor’s Ghostly International began as a boutique label for cuttingedge electronic music. Over its 14-year history, Ghostly has become a major international
䡲 Quite Scientific. Ann Arbor’s Quite Scientific was founded in 2006 when Justin
Spindler teamed up with brothers Jeremy
and Brian Peters with the idea of releasing
compilations of local artists. The compila-
Record labels
tions never materialized. Instead, the label
maintains a Midwest-heavy roster of artists
that includes folk-rock and indie-pop darlings like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Frontier
Ruckus and Stepdad. Annual revenue:
$115,000. P.O. Box 7049, Ann Arbor 48107;
(734) 330-2598; quitescientific.com.
䡲 Small Stone Records. Owner Scott
Hamilton founded Small Stone Records in
1995 as Detroit’s answer
to indie behemoth Sub
Pop Records. Small Stone
has more than 70 bands
on its label from all over
the United States and Europe. Hamilton typically
signs bands that play riffheavy hard rock. Hamilton’s label also has licensed songs to
Hamilton
advertisements, films
and television shows, including “The Sopranos,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Entourage” and
“CSI: New York.” P.O. Box 02007, Detroit;
(248) 219-2613; smallstone.com.
䡲 Westbound Records. Founded by Armen
Boladian in 1969, Westbound Records tapped
into a deep well of funk
that was burbling to the
surface in that era. Starting with Funkadelic,
Westbound signed a series of artists that included the Ohio Players, Detroit Emeralds, Denise
LaSalle, and Byron MacGregor. “This town was
sizzling,” Boladian said.
Boladian
Together, these artists
recorded a series of albums that launched a
million samples in the hip-hop era. These
days, Boladian says, changes to the music
business have forced him to find new ways
to promote his current and legacy artists.
“We’re focusing on movies and television
shows and commercials,” Boladian said. In
addition to administering Westbound’s catalog, Boladian is working with new artists,
such as Critical Bill, Full Circle and Machito Sanchez. 18500 W. 10 Mile Road, Southfield 48075; (248) 569-4033;
westboundrecords.com.
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s, mixers, makers
ISTOCK PHOTO
Producers
䡲 Chuck Alkazian. As co-owner of Pearl
Sound Studios, Chuck Alkazian has worked
with many major acts in
his career. However, even
with production credits
for artists like Pop Evil
and Sponge, the Farmington Hills native says he
still enjoys “developing
local artists into larger
artists and helping them
get their music to the
masses.”
Alkazian
One of his favorite recent production credits, Alkazian says, is
Trust Company’s “Dreaming in Black and
White,” because it was a moment where
technique and artistry came together. “I really felt that experience,” he says. “They
knew what they wanted to do, and I knew
what I wanted to do. Everyone was on the
same page, and it was a really cool experience. 47360 Ford Road, Canton Township
48187; (248) 789-5072.
䡲 Ryan Arini. As one of the producers and
engineers at Metro 37 recording studio,
Ryan Arini has worked with Hawthorne
Heights, Maxine Petrucci, Hell Rides North,
Ballz Deluxe, Critical Bill, Rule 76, Nick Urb
and The Blue Anthem. He graduated from
Full Sail University for music production in
2003. He is also a vocalist in the band Hell
Rides North. 1948 Star Batt Drive, Rochester
Hills 48309; (586) 549-2879; metro37.com.
䡲 Mike Clark. Mike Clark is best known as
the production mastermind behind Insane
Clown Posse and co-founder of the horrorcore genre of music. Records produced by
Clark have sold more than 12 million copies.
Along with ICP’s oeuvre, Clark produced Kid
Rock’s mega-smash hit “All Summer Long.”
With a long-standing interest in production, Clark studied at the Recording Institute of
Detroit in 1987 and worked as an intern there
after he completed his studies. He says he
was tenacious in his early years. “It’s the
whole theory: If you want to be a cook, get in
the kitchen. Eventually somebody’s going to
throw a pan in your hand,” Clark said.
Clark recently founded a new label, Elec-
Page M17
tric Lab Recordings, as an outlet for his inhouse productions. The label released its
first three singles in late July. mikeclark.com
or electriclabrecordings.com.
Dalton
䡲 Matt Dalton. Metro 37
co-owner Matt Dalton has
been recording music
since 1994. His production
credits include albums
“Craig Owens,” “I See
Stars,” “Smile Empty
Soul” and “These Hearts.”
1948 Star Batt Drive,
Rochester Hills 48309;
(586) 549-2879;
37studios.com.
䡲 Jim Diamond. One of Detroit’s most noted
and prolific producers, Ghetto Recorders owner Jim Diamond’s specialty is capturing the kind of
gritty, high-energy, lowpretension rock that the
Motor City is known for.
Diamond is best known for
his work on the first two
White Stripes albums. He
has also worked with The
Sights, The Mooney Suzuki, The Singles, The Gore
Diamond
Gore Girls, Left Lane
Cruiser, and Scott Morgan.
The former Dirtbombs bassist is performing with the Cambodian Space Project, a
contemporary take on classic Khmer psychedelic garage pop. 60 W. Elizabeth St., Detroit 48201; (313) 961-6740;
ghettorecorders.com.
䡲 David Feeny. As a veteran of noted 1980s
Detroit bands Hysteric
Narcotics and The Orange Roughies, Dave Feeny has long been a fixture
on Detroit’s music scene.
Feeny founded Tempermill
Studios in 1985, and his
production credits include The White Stripes,
The Hard Lessons, GLove & Special Sauce,
Feeny
Thunderbirds Are Now!,
Goober & the Peas, and The Dirtbombs. He
continues to work as a musician, playing on
Loretta Lynn’s Grammy-winning “Van
Lear Rose” LP and currently performing as
a member of American Mars and Blanche.
2040 Hilton Road, Ferndale 48220; (248) 3990550; tempermill.com.
䡲 Eric Hoegemeyer. Starting as a MIDI programmer and session musician at Rustbelt
Studios in 1999, producer
Eric Hoegemeyer is a
great lover of technology.
He continues to do a lot of
mixing and programming
for Kevin Saunderson’s
Inner City, one of the
originators of Detroit
techno. “I try to find a really organic way to use
technology and machines
Hoegemeyer
that provide interesting
soundscapes,” Hoegemeyer says.
As a producer, though, he has worked
with artists as diverse as Dennis Coffey, the
Moonshine Bandits, Jessica Hernandez and
the Deltas, Mike Ellison and Audra Kubat.
In those contexts, Hoegemeyer says he tries
to focus on what the artist is trying to accomplish.
“I try to bring out what they already have
going rather than trying to put a footprint
on it,” he says.
These days, Hoegemeyer works on music
for commercials and films, with clients like
General Motors Co., MAC and Estée Lauder. 118
E. Seventh St., Royal Oak 48067; (248) 5417296; rustbeltstudios.com.
䡲 Bobby Harlow. Bobby Harlow is perhaps
best known in the area as the vocalist for
Motor City pre-garage
rock legends The Go.
However, Harlow has
been interested in production for as long as he
has been playing music.
He credits the moment
when he got his first tape
machine at the age of 20
as the moment he got serious about songwriting.
Harlow
Generally, Harlow
splits his time between recording at Tempermill Studios and using private residential
studios for his work. Not only has he done
extensive production work for his own
bands, The Go and Conspiracy of Owls, he
has worked with neo-garage Sub Pop Records
artist King Tuff as well as indie surf popsters Gap Dream and stoner rockers White
Fang. He’s also producing the first solo album by Go bandmate John Krautner. Harlow said he’s in the process of moving to Los
Angeles, where he will work with indie imprint Burger Records as an in-house producer. burgerrecords.org.
䡲 Steve King. The first time Steve “Dr.
Ching” King worked as first engineer on a
recording session, he had
no idea who the artist was.
He was shocked to discover that it was Aretha
Franklin. The session’s
producer, legendary Detroit native son Don Was,
later framed the session
lyrics for him. Citing Was
as his biggest mentor,
King’s influences were diKing
verse, taking part in the
nascent 1970s Detroit punk scene before making the leap into gospel, R&B and hip-hop.
He has been nominated for multiple
Grammy Awards and, in 2003, he won for
his mixing and engineering work on Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” album. He also
mixed Eminem’s Oscar-winning single
“Lose Yourself.” He cites his work with the
Winans Family, Anita Baker and Carly Simon among his favorite credits.
Much as King continues to credit Was for
giving him his start, King believes in helping train young producers and engineers.
He does an open forum on the second Monday of each month at the Black Lotus Brew-
ery in Clawson, and he travels to underprivileged areas to mentor teens about music
and self-expression. He works out of Ferndale’s famed 54 Sound, which these days focuses on film work and in-house projects
working closely with Eminem music publisher Joel Martin and producers Mark and
Jeff Bass. 1525 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale
48220; (248) 250-4119.
䡲 Jim Kissling. Jim Kissling has been a
producer on staff at Tempermill Studios since
1997. His production credits include records
by local luminaries The Come Ons, The
Muggs and The Dirtbombs. He has also
worked with Detroit techno legend Kevin
Saunderson. 2040 Hilton Road, Ferndale
48220; (248) 399-0550; tempermill.com.
䡲 Steve Lehane. One of Rustbelt Studios’
up-and-coming producers, Steve Lehane got
heavily into music production while getting a
music degree from Wayne
State University and playing in bands around
metro Detroit. He has
worked with such artists
as Black Dahlia Murder,
Audra Kubat, Citizen
Zero, and Autumn Wolf.
118 E. Seventh St., Royal
Lehane
Oak 48067; (248) 541-7296;
rustbeltstudios.com.
Brian (left) and Mark Pastoria
䡲 Brian and Mark Pastoria. Brothers Brian
and Mark Pastoria grew up in a musical
family in East Detroit. The partners in the
Harmonie Park Media Group have individually
and collectively left a mark on the music
business in Detroit. Between them, they
have worked with artists P. Diddy,
Will.i.am, Aretha Franklin, Dave Mason,
former Grand Funk frontman Mark Farner,
and the Four Tops. They also have created
ad campaigns for large clients such as Faygo
Beverages Inc., Hanson’s Window and Construction Inc., the Detroit Medical Center, Children’s
Hospital and MotorCity Casino. Mark is a twotime Grammy winner, earning statuettes in
2003 for Aretha Franklin’s “So Damn Happy” and in 2008 for the Aretha
Franklin/Mary J. Blige duet “Never Gonna
Break My Faith.” 1427 Randolph St., Detroit
48226; harmoniepark.com.
䡲 Tim Patalan. As co-founder of Saline’s
The Loft studio, Tim Patalan has produced
major artists, including
Cheap Trick, Sponge,
Taproot, Brownsville Station, and Lovedrug.
He also has worked as a
talent scout for Sony
Records and has done projects for major labels Columbia Records, Warner
Bros. Entertainment Inc.,
Bertelsmann Music Group,
Patalan
Aware Records, TVT Records
and Polydor Records. 2955 Braun Road, Saline
48176; (734) 717-1615; theloftrecording.com.
䡲 Andy Patalan. As co-founder of The Loft,
Andy Patalan started his audio career doing
live sound for many big acts, including Jon
Bon Jovi, TLC and Bill Cosby.
Since starting the studio with his brother
Tim in 1988, he has worked with such
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artists as Sponge, Taproot, and Brownsville
Station. “My studio recording philosophy
comes from the same attitude I have toward
doing live sound,” he says. “Make sure the
artist is comfortable, relaxed and has all the
tools they need to perform and be creative
at the highest level.” 2955 Braun Road,
Saline 48176; (734) 546-9273;
theloftrecording.com.
Luis Resto. Despite production credits
that include superstars like Jay-Z and 50
Cent and an Oscar for his
co-production work on
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” Luis Resto remains
humble about his part in
the process. “I’m mainly
a collaborator in the studio, and I would always
view myself more like
that,” Resto says. “I come
into situations as more of
Resto
a player and more of a
creative input person.”
Resto began his musical career as a keyboardist who got his first big break with
Was (Not Was). Resto cites Detroit über-producer Don Was as his biggest mentor in the
studio, and one of his most important collaborators. But it is his long-running work
with Eminem as co-producer and co-composer that raised Resto’s reputation internationally.
He is working with Eminem on a new album that should be released this year. His
preferred studios in the metro area are both
in Ferndale – 54 Sound and Effigy. He is also
building a studio space of his own near
Eastern Market. luisresto.com.
Kevin Sharpe. Kevin Sharpe’s recording
career began three decades ago out of necessity when he was a teenager growing up in
Troy. “I was playing in a band, and we wanted to record more than we could afford,”
Sharpe said, noting that soon his friends’
bands wanted him to record them, too. “It got
to the point where the city of Troy came and
shut me down because I was running a business out of my house on accident.”
This early success led to a career in
recording – first on the Emmy Award-winning PBS TV show “My Bedbugs,” and then
as co-owner of the studio Metro 37. Sharpe
has amassed production credits that include Hawthorne Heights, Critical Bill, Machine Gun Kelly and Maxine Petrucci. 1948
Star Batt Drive, Rochester Hills 48309; (586)
549-2879; metro37.com.
Al Sutton. Veteran producer Al Sutton’s
biggest claim to fame is likely his longstanding working relationship with Kid Rock,
serving as producer and
engineer on a string of hit
albums and singles. Beyond Kid Rock, Sutton’s
list of credits is impressive, producing such luminaries as Bob Seger,
Sheryl Crow, Hank
Williams Jr. and Loretta
Sutton
Lynn.
But in addition to his work with major
national artists, Sutton has production
credits on some of the most noteworthy albums by Detroit artists in recent years, including critically acclaimed works by the
Laughing Hyenas, the Detroit Cobras, Big
Chief, The Hentchmen, and the Sights.
He is co-owner of Royal Oak’s Rustbelt Studios, and he has been emphasizing analog
recording more in his own work lately. He
says recording to tape offers better-sounding results and requires better musicianship because digital “crutches” can’t be
used. “I’m starting to migrate more back
into that because I’m growing tired of the
computer world,” he said. 118 E. Seventh
St., Royal Oak 48067; (248) 541-7296;
rustbeltstudios.com.
4:26 PM
Page 3
Attorneys
Howard Abrams. As a prolific academic
researcher for the past 35 years, Howard
Abrams focuses more on
understanding copyright
law than he does on representing individual
clients. “Every now and
then I do something for
an old friend as a favor,”
he said. But more often,
he is called to serve as an
expert witness to discuss
intricacies of copyright
Abrams
law and the customs and
practices of the music industry.
“There’s no question that the music industry and the Copyright Act are joined at
the hip,” Abrams says. “There are so many
things that shape the music industry that
are shaped by the Copyright Act.”
Abrams is a professor of law at University
of Detroit Mercy, where he teaches courses on
entertainment law and copyright. He is the
author of many scholarly works, including
a two-volume treatise on copyright law that
is updated annually, published by Thomson
Reuters Corp. 651 E. Jefferson Ave, Detroit
48226; (313) 596-0215.
Steven Enwright. As a founding member
of Royal Oak firm Tomkiw Enwright PLC,
Steven Enwright focuses
broadly on the entertainment, creative and technology sectors. A major
part of his music-related
work involves representing advertising firms
when they hire artists to
perform at corporate
events – the North American International Auto Show
Enwright
being a prime example.
Artists whom Enwright has helped secure
include Mary J. Blige, Maroon 5, Kid Rock,
the Barenaked Ladies, Queens of the Stone
Age, Johnny Lange and many local artists.
Enwright also helps film and video companies acquire music rights for their shows
and products. He also represents several upand-coming artists.
Enwright is also the co-founder of the
nonprofit Royal Oak Film Society, which
brings in directors and producers of emerging independent films with the goal of “creating community and conversation around
independent films and filmmaking,” he
said. 612 E. Fourth St., Royal Oak 48067;
(248) 591-7000; tomkiwenwright.com.
Christian Fuller. Growing up in the Lansing area, Christian Fuller was immersed in
the do-it-yourself hard-core punk world of the
early 1980s. While he played in a series of
small bands, he also organized shows and
published a small fanzine – things he calls
“the rudimentary business end of things.”
Once he realized that he didn’t have the talent to play music for a living, Fuller decided
instead to pursue a career in entertainment
law to continue his focus on the business end
of the field. He earned his degree from the University of California-Hastings Law School.
Fuller spends the bulk of his time working in artist management, currently representing the Electric Six, who are preparing
to record a live DVD at St. Andrew’s Hall in
September. He has also represented Motown notable Dennis Coffey. Along with
management work, he does a small amount
of intellectual property litigation and helps
clients negotiate record contracts and set up
business structures and operating agreements. 2572 Michigan Ave., No. 3A, Detroit
48216; (248) 345-1247.
Howard Hertz. As a co-founding partner
of the firm Hertz Schram PC, Howard Hertz is
one of Detroit’s most notable entertainment
attorneys, having represented clients that
include Eminem, George Clinton, Russell
Simmons, The Romantics, Marilyn Manson,
O-Town, Pantera, Marcus Belgrave, The Go,
Mike Posner and Atlantic
Records. Hertz works with
clients on contract negotiation, litigation, intellectual property, entity formation, and estate and
tax planning. But these
days, Hertz says he finds
himself increasingly on
the frontiers of cyber-culture, becoming involved
Hertz
in litigation against companies such as Apple and Facebook over
copyright infringement issues. Figuring out
how artists and publishers get paid for
works that are digitally transmitted is “a
little like the Wild West right now,” Hertz
says.
Other entertainment attorneys at the
firm: Jay Yasso and Joe Bellanca.
Hertz frequently testifies as an expert
witness in entertainment-related disputes.
He also works as manager of The Go and
teaches entertainment law courses at the
University of Michigan Law School. 1760 S. Telegraph Road, Suite 300, Bloomfield Township
48302; (248) 335-5000; hertzschram.com.
Jay Kakaty. Jay Kakaty runs the entertainment practice of the law firm Shea, Aiello, & Doxsie PLLC. He represents artists Pop Evil
and Sal Costa, as well as
artist management agencies such as G&G Entertainment and promoters such
as Embarco Entertainment.
“What I like most is helping artists transcend
their talents into successful businesses,” Kakaty
Kakaty
said. 26200 American Drive, Third Floor, Southfield 48034, (248) 3540224. sadplaw.com.
Lex Kuhne. As the co-founder of radio
station 89X and longtime columnist for
Metro Times, Lex Kuhne has had a high media profile around Detroit for years. As an
attorney, Kuhne runs a private practice,
Alexander E. Kuhne PC, that focuses in part on
entertainment law. His current clients include WCSX’s Trudi Daniels, radio legend
Russ Gibb, talk radio host Tony Trupiano
(for whom Kuhne also serves as a substitute
host), the Pink Pump women’s shoe and
clothing chain, and the rapper Esham.
Kuhne said it is especially important for
people in creative industries like music to
get their business in order, even though for
some artists talking about the business side
of things may seem crass.
“What I generally try to do is be proactive
and make sure people know how to avoid
going to court,” Kuhne says. This frequently involves planning the business properly
to make sure all the intellectual property is
protected and that there is clarity about
who gets credit – and what percentage – for
what. 330 E Maple Road, Suite 289, Birmingham 48009; (248) 644-4539; lexkuhne.com.
Shari Friedman Lesnick. When Shari
Friedman Lesnick began her law career in
1983, she worked as director of business affairs for
Champion Entertainment,
Tommy Mottola’s music
management company
based in Manhattan. She
worked with artists like
Hall & Oates and John
Cougar Mellencamp, who
were at the top of their careers at the time. She also
Lesnick
worked for Atlantic
Records’ video department, and was responsible for negotiating the Warner Music
Group’s content agreement with a thenbrand new entity called MTV and launching
the music video careers of Atlantic artists
like Twisted Sister and Phil Collins. She
came to Detroit in 1986, working briefly for
Hertz Schram PC before launching her own
practice. She went on to represent clients
FALL 2013
as diverse as India.Arie, Blue October,
Bridgeport Music Inc., and talent booking
agency Ashley Talent International LLC.
These days, Lesnick has mostly left active
practice to focus on her work as a career
and professional development coordinator
at Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Auburn
Hills campus. However, she still consults
with music clients after hours, and she says
she offers similar kinds of career strategy
advice to her music clients as she does to
her law students.
“I help people figure out what it is they
need to do and how to get there, and serve
as a quarterback,” she says. Her current
clients include Luis Resto, Sponge and
CIMX 88.7 FM morning show host Cal
Cagno. 2630 Featherstone Road, Auburn
Hills 48326; (248) 751-7800, cooley.edu.
Gregory Reed. Entertainment Law Hall
of Famer Gregory Reed has represented Motown legends such as
David Ruffin, Eddie
Kendricks and the Four
Tops, as well as luminaries like James Brown and
the Last Poets. He negotiated a groundbreaking
contract for Anita Baker
as she was looking to
jump from one record label to another, and he reReed
cently negotiated Aretha Franklin’s first
major deal in some 15 years. He also accompanied a 17-year-old Kid Rock to New York
City to help negotiate his first record contract.
These days, Reed says, he focuses primarily on intellectual property rights, helping
artists figure out how to monetize their
work in a post-record-store world. His practice, Gregory J. Reed & Associates, is based in
Detroit. In addition to consulting clients, he
is the award-winning author of 16 books. He
gives seminars on intellectual property and
teaches courses at Washtenaw Community College. He’s also the chairman of the Detroit Entertainment Commission, which is launching
a historical “Walk to Fame,” with associated projects and events aimed at attracting
tourists to the Motor City to experience its
rich musical legacy. 1201 Bagley St., Detroit
48226; (313) 961-3580.
Kim Ward. Representing hip-hop producers and R&B luminaries, Kim Ward specializes in intellectual
property and advises in
the areas of copyright,
trademark, music publishing, licensing and
recording agreements.
She is known as a producer’s attorney, having represented heavyweight
hip-hop producers like
Carl “Chucky” ThompWard
son, Detail, Kern Brantley, Tha Drummahz, and the late J Dilla.
She has also represented recording artists
Slum Village, Teairra Mari, Dwele and
American Idol Top 10 finalists Jasmine
Murray and Anoop.
Ward is also active in the entertainment
legal community. She has served as the Detroit president for the National Association of
Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment; board member and legal chairwoman
for the city of Detroit’s Entertainment Task
Force; and council board member and committee chairwoman for the arts, communication, entertainment and sports section of
the State Bar of Michigan.
Her professional memberships include
the Chicago Grammy chapter for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and
the Black Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Association. In addition, she has written legal articles, lobbied U.S. House bills and has participated in various panels and seminars
involving entertainment and intellectual
property rights. Chrysler House, 719 Griswold, Suite 820, Detroit 48226; entertainmentlawattorney.com.
DBpageAD_DBpageAD.qxd 8/26/2013 12:56 PM Page 1
THE RAW EMOTION OF
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Thursday, Sept. 26
Today’s sound represents not just successors to Motown,
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companies, and the technology being created for the new
generation of in-car entertainment – and how money will be made.
11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Cobo Center, Detroit
To register for this event, please visit
crainsdetroit.com/soundbiz
Join the app developers, auto industry managers and music and
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&
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Get perspectives on the role music will play in the future
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For a distinctive only-in-Detroit experience, the SoundBiz
conference will conclude with the opportunity to attend
the annual urban celebration, Crain’s House Party. This
event pulls together urban residents with movers-andshakers to explore the best the city has to offer.
Thursday, Sept. 26 | 4 p.m. | Cobo Center, Detroit
Saad
Chehab
Jeff
Castelaz
Charles
Goldstuck
Paul
Jacobs
Julius
Marchwicki
Patrick
Anderson
Jake
Sigal
President and
CEO, Chrysler
Brand
President,
Elektra Records
CEO,
Touchtunes
President,
JacApps Inc.
Global Product
Manager,
SYNC AppLink
Anderson
Economic Group
Livio
Radio
The future of
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cars
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in Detroit
Integrating
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TOPICS
What Detroit
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for Chrysler
The next move
for large record
labels
New business
models in music
that investors
will look at
App
development
meets the
automaker
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Fall 2013 - Detroit Homecoming

Transcription

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