The Swiss Project Management Journal
The Creative Project
How difficult is it to secure the resources
you need to record a CD?
It is very difficult nowadays as record
labels don’t sign artists anymore that
aren’t already "happening". You have to
create your own hype today and THEN you
get a contract. That used to be a labels job
in earlier days.
In 1998 my band sent out demo cassettes
and we had Virgin EMI and Warner and
Sony knocking at our doors offering us all
deals - so money to pay for a production.
17 years later, having quite a large fanbase already, having had several number
one hits in the swiss charts, having sold
platinum and gold with previous records I
tried to get a deal but didn’t get one.
The music business is broken. Everybody
is scared. If an AnR (Artist and Repertoire those were the guys who in earlier days
used to listen to demos sent to them and
go to see concerts to find new artists to
sign) signs somebody today and the
record company loses money with this
artist (which is very likely to happen since
nobody buys CDs anymore) the AnR of
course will end up fired.
So what happens now is: they wait and
see, check what’s being searched on
Shazam (so what kids listen to in the disco
and want to know what it is…) check
Twitter follower numbers etc. So you as an
artist have to market yourself and be
already „happening“, and being a Hype
before they’d even consider signing you
which is totally twisted and stupid, but
that’s the way it is. So many artists
nowadays ask their fanbase to help them
out via crowdfunding.
When is the CD recording project actually
considered as being finished?
When you’re lucky enough to have found
a distributor: when it’s on Itunes and the
CDs are in the shop. If you’re doing it
yourself… once you sell the CDs on your
website or after your shows. I’d say.
What typically goes wrong during a CD
recording project? What's the worst
thing that has gone wrong?
Project Management Institute
SWITZERLAND Chapter
The producer forgot to do backups and
the computer crashes and work of weeks
is gone.
Or the responsible person for that job
sends out the demos (or the wrong artwork file or whatever) instead of the
master to the manufacturing company
and you’ll end up having thousands of
copies of something you’ll have to pay for
but can’t sell.
How do you deal with quality control?
Does everything have to be 100% perfect
or is there a point where you say now it’s
good enough?
I am a perfectionist, so yes, I wouldn’t be
able to sleep if I put something out there I
am not 100% sure about. If you’re exposing yourself as much as you do as a
musician you know from the beginning
there are gonna be MANY people who will
tear you to pieces anyway. So if you’re
sensitive - make sure YOU love your work,
because then it’s easier to put up with
criticism. Of course a record is NEVER
finished. So you have to draw a line and be
aware that this is a RECORD. So „recording“ a STATE… you might wanna change
stuff in two months, but that’s okay. For
NOW it’s done.
Does the CD have to be finished by a
certain date? What happens if it takes
longer?
If you have a record deal, they might give
you a deadline. I prefer not to work with
one for the reasons mentioned above. It’s
finished when I feel it’s finished. It happens quite often that releases get postponed because of several reasons.
Has the move to your solo career, after
being the front woman of a band, changed the way in which you collaborate to
make music?
Yes quite drastically since I was working
with a producer and as a band we produced ourselves. Also I fired my manager
and my booker so am doing everything on
my own now. Also I don’t have a record
deal so I am dealing with distribution
company and promotion company and
marketing plans etc. all on my own. It’s fun
and exciting but a lot of new things for me
so I had to do my „homework“. It makes
much more sense for me though since I
Photo: T-ingénierie
is already pretty clear: take a band like
Franz Ferdinand or Coldplay - you can put
any producer in front of them and they’ll
still sound like themselves.
6
know all the people in Switzerland that I
need to know, so I don’t have to give away
20% of my income for somebody who is
literally just forwarding calls to me because people prefer to talk to me directly
anyway.
How do you see the music industry going? Do you see the future as streaming
subscription, crowdfunding, recordings
being only free adverts for live-shows?
I am afraid that might be the case yes. But
there is also an optimist inside of me
saying people will never stop to cherish
reading a book or listening to a CD. But
maybe that is just because I am like that.
Today kids are very used to treating music
as something that comes free. It makes
me quite sad sometimes how everything
is becoming quicker and less valuable.
Nowadays DJs are the rockstars and music
festivals are just a get together for getting
drunk. Haha, I probably sound like a 100
year old person, but yes the music industry is in a very bad place at the moment
indeed.
As an independent artist carrying your
own projects, how do you approach time
management, any useful techniques? Do
you set yourself working time limits?
I do yes … but being VERY flexible about
them.
Akmal Faruqui
2016 Edition