Klarinet Archive - Posting 001055.txt from 2002/06

From: "J.A. Etchison" <jaetchison@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Open Letter to the Klarinet Community
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 15:53:44 -0400

Hi. I=B9m sending this letter to my friends and colleagues in this community
who like to keep their ears open for good things.

Many times in the music industry it feels like we are swimming with sharks.

But at the Music Strategies Conference in Vegas, Tim Sweeney creates a grea=
t
ambience, where artists care about each other and share good things that we
have discovered, as we each pursue our own musical journeys. It is like
being on a really cool, clean, undiscovered beach, where people are hip, an=
d
nice to each other. It is fun!

How many times have you walked into a meeting and felt like the smartest
thing to do was to play your cards close to the vest? Tim Sweeney actually
encourages everyone to drop our guard, and to lay our cards out on the
table. For in fact, this is the only way we can hope to triumph in an
industry dominated by the major labels.

The mindset Tim Sweeney encourages all of us artists to have is, we can hel=
p
each other succeed. Tim deliberately keeps the numbers for his Music
Strategies Conference intimate, so you realistically have a chance to get t=
o
know some cool people, and their names, what kind of music they do, and why
they are excited about music.

It is like an earlier time. Like music was before corporations saw how muc=
h
money they could make off of it.

Sweeney was a punk artist signed to a major label in the 80s. When his ban=
d
got dropped, he started asking questions about why, and suggesting ways his
band could have been marketed better. His record label was so impressed by
his insights, they offered him a job. Sweeney became the youngest
vice-president Mercury Records had ever had.

Along the way, Sweeney helped launch careers of artists such as Madonna, an=
d
helped repair the derailed careers of other artists, such as Motley Crue,
Big Country, Matthew Sweet, and Poison. He then helped several major
labels, such as Columbia, Capitol, Epic, MCA, Universal, and Warner Bros.,
and well-known independent labels, such as Restless, Metal Blade, and
Enigma, develop the careers of some of their most promising and successful
artists. But darkness loomed on the horizon.

Sweeney unexpectedly found himself flat on his back in a hospital bed, with
loads of time to think about his life. He contemplated what he had
accomplished. As a punk artist, his first love had been independence and
revolution. He decided to write down all he had learned in the music
industry, and a very savvy book, Sweeneys _Guide to Releasing Independent
Records_, was born.

Response was good. Artists in over 27 countries pounced on the insider
music industry knowledge Sweeney makes so easy to understand. _Guide to
Releasing Independent Records_ became one of the best-selling books
Amazon.com has ever had. UCLA, the University Of Southern California, NYU=
,
Belmont University in Nashville, The Art Institute Of Seattle, and Berklee
College Of Music in Boston have all used Tim Sweeney books as either the
text for their courses or as reference material.

Sweeney pledged to spend the remainder of his life turning the music
industry on its ear. He would do this by empowering independent artists to
succeed in our home markets. His most formidable weaponry: experience and
keen insight

The people who go to Tim Sweeney conferences and workshops are very serious
about pursuing their careers, and there is an incredible camaraderie among
us. There are also many highly influential people--music critics, lawyers,
booking agents, managers, label heads, corporate presidents--who come and d=
o
not make a lot of fuss, but if you are lucky and smart enough to talk to
them, gladly share valuable information with you. And the leaders who spea=
k
at the Conference sessions--Derek Sivers of CD Baby, Micah Solomon of Oasis
CD Duplication, and Greg Piccionelli, a top entertainment and intellectual
property attorney, to name a few from last year--are uniquely positioned in
the music industry, and have a heart to help independent artists.

We friends of Tim Sweeney share what we know, and I want to invite you to
join us at this year@-----.
We had a blast last year, and I learned a lot. Check out
www.musicstrategies.com to sign up and kick your career into higher gear.

Cheers,

Etchison

iron sharpens iron

Arriving 2002 from Etchison, the South's Liveliest Multi-instrumentalist:
Jesu, Joy!

2002 Grand Opening: www.EtchisonMusic.com=20

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