Josh Deutsch
(CEO of Downtown Records)
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Far from the cold stereotype of a major label--the villainous, fat cat, greedy exec who's only interested in sales, sales, sales-- Josh Deutsch and his label, Downtown Records, are putting more emphasis on artist development and reaping the benefits. From Gnarls Barkley, to Justice, MSTRKRFT and Santigold, Downtown has made a splash since Deutsch founded the label in 2006. With a strong emphasis on innovation and quality artists, Downtown just might be the type of label the industry needs if it has any hope of being saved. Deutsch took some time from his busy schedule to answer some questions about the state of the industry, his "Jerry Maguire"-esque approach and why he's not spending his time trying to "defeat the Internet." Interview by Natalie B. David. Read Here. |
Hans' Recent Playlist
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1. Dr. Dre "The Chronic 2001"
2. The Press Fire "Es Slash Tee"
3. The Ravonettes "In and Out of Control"
4. Dinosaur Jr. "Farm"
5. Freddie Hubbard "Sony Jazz Trios"
6. Gina Villalobos "Days On Their Side"
7. Built to Spill "There is No Enemy"
8. Lucinda Williams "Little Honey"
9. Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight"
10. Eels "Hombre Lobo"
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Musician's Resources
(Useful Links)
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 Long time no talk!
Two things I wanted to say right off the bat: I wish my friend Ajay Malghan a speedy recovery... he's managed to produce 2 albums while undergoing 13 surgeries. Think about that the next time a DAE error threatens to ruin your session. And I send my thoughts and well wishes to composer/bassist extraordinaire Brandon Turner and his family. His brother is miraculously recovering from a sudden stroke and coma. Hang in there guys. Your stories are one of the many reasons I chose to write about musicians' health care this issue.
I usually try to do this bi-monthly but the last 5 months have just evaporated. I've worked on some great records including performances by Will.I.Am.,The Everybody (feat Joey Santiago and David Lovering of the Pixies), Carly Simon, Matthew Ryan, Duncan Sheik, He Who Cannot Be Named (the Dwarves guitarist), Appleseed Cast, Coalesce and tons of other artists you can check out over in the side column. I even got to work on a few records produced by Tony Berg, a favorite of mine.
If you have a moment and want to help spread the word about us, please swing by and rate our zine on the E-zine Directory. We're ranked in the top 3% (by hits) on this site and I'd like to keep it that way.
This month we had the honor of interviewing Josh Deutsch, founder and CEO of Downtown Records and RCRD LBL. The man responsible for bringing us Gnarls Barkley, Santigold, and many others has some interesting things to say about the current state of the music business. Check it.
Update: The asshats over at Hitt Music Group (a "music placement company" with which I've had some interesting run-ins) have now changed their name to SongPlacements.com. Thought you should know.
Client News: Congrats to Marc Enfroy for winning the NAR (New Age Reporter) 2008 Best Neo Classical Album award.
"LISTEN, A benefit Album for Our Time," is on the Grammy Nomination list. It's
category 91, nomination #147. If you are a Grammy member, please vote for it!
Gina Villalobos' album "Days on Their Side" reached top 5 of the Euro Americana Charts for the month of June. Ahead of other "up and comers" Bob Dylan and Dave Alvin. The album also received 4 stars in Mojo Magazine.
LA's Irish punksters The Dirty Filthy Mugs just signed with DC-Jam Records. The band will be releasing their 3rd record in early 2010.
Freddy & Francine's song Brownstone Alley was Today's Top Tune on June 4th over at KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. Matthew Ryan's side band The Dead Satellites also earned the same distinction on July 8th.
Jules Larson's
song "Your Kind of Girl" is featured in the trailer for the Movie "My
One and Only" starring Kevin Bacon. That's 5 degrees closer than the
rest of us.
Helen Austin was named Indie Artist of the Week (May 4-8) over at Indie Music Universe and has also placed two songs in upcoming MTV shows.
Cavalier Rose was voted NYC Artist of the Month of May by The Deli Magazine
Dakotafish's amazing animated film for "Landlocked" reached #8 in the Adcritic Top 20 over at Creativty-Online.
Good Links: Yes. It's true. I'm on Twitter. Now, you too can find out when I brush my teeth and how I feel about Lady Ga Ga. But more importantly, I'll relay useful music news and tips. A few recent highlights:
-A place for your music that allows any file format/pricing, stats, viral dist, your own URL and no advertising: BANDCAMP.com http://bit.ly/81eVt
-Rapper Roxanne Shante PHD story a lie SLATE: http://bit.ly/4gj2bx
-Critical analysis of the VMAs: http://bit.ly/aIxJu
-Finding patrons to finance your project NYT: http://bit.ly/7l88k
-A good laugh FOD: "Radio Friendly Song" (not for those easily offended).
-Ruminations on the best way to spend indie marketing dollars: http://bit.ly/BdMzj
-Allan Rouse on the Beatles remasters: http://bit.ly/4vwMWw
-Extremely useful frequencey/instrument chart: http://bit.ly/vWhD9
-The old switcharoo: A label SIGNS WITH a band: http://bit.ly/leAM9
And to make Twitter even more fun, If you're my 1000th follower by 10/23/09 (5 pm PST) you'll win Sony Pro MDR-7506 Headphones. Not a bad deal for a simple click, eh?
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Musicians and Health Care
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 Yeah, yeah, I know. You're all probably sick to death (hardy har) of the raging health care debate but I wanted to weigh-in on the impact this issue has on musicians.
According to the Future of Music Coalition's statistics, 44% of musicians are uninsured. That's a lot of my friends and clients. Those of you who are insured, are either covered by your work (which in these uncertain times is tenuous) or you are what they call under-insured (meaning your deductible is ridiculously high and unless you have a heart attack, it's probably not affordable for you to even go see a doctor). Those of you who don't have insurance are not stupid, commies, or nazis. You probably fall into three categories; 1) you're young, healthy and lucky enough to think it's unimportant, 2) purchasing individual insurance for yourself is too expensive (anybody over 40 can expect to pay at least $400-$600 a month, just for your most basic, individual coverage) or 3) worst of all, you have a preexisting condition which means you qualify for nada or damn near. It should also frighten you to know that 50% of all bankruptcies are due to medical expenses and three-quarters of those filings are people WITH health insurance (Source: Health Affairs Journal 2005).
In the last month alone, I've received 3 invites to benefit concerts trying to raise money to cover medical expenses for musicians or writers who are uninsured. They are: Little Feat's drummer, Richie Hayward, who has liver cancer and needs a transplant. Twilight Singers' bassist, Scott Ford, who has life threatening, advanced periodontal disease. Larry Wines, longtime musicologist and editor of the Acoustic Americana Music Guide who recently underwent emergency eye surgery. These are just people in my limited sphere of friends who are fortunate enough to still be alive and fighting. Other uninsured or under-insured musicians who have not been so lucky this year: RIP Drew Glackin (Silos, Tandy), Chris Gaffney (Hacienda Brothers), and Duane Jarvis (Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakum).
I believe we can do better than this. If it's so cheap to do nothing, why do we spend twice as much on health care per capita than any other country, while maintaining the dubious distinction of being the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care? If our system is number one, why do we rank 47th in life expectancy (Canada is ahead of us) and 43rd in infant mortality (Cuba is ahead of us)? And most importantly, why was Glenn Beck whining? Ha ha.
So, I'm booking a doctor's appointment tomorrow. It's my first in over 6 years. I'm scared. My brother, who is 43 was diagnosed with colon cancer back in March. Fortunately he has health insurance and is now cancer free. I pay for my own health insurance. It's $200 a month with a $5000 deductible. Wish me luck and please take care of yourselves. If health care for everybody sounds like something you believe in, please take 15 seconds and send your elected officials a note supporting reform, or even better, the public option. Let's give the insurance companies some real, free market competition. After all, if state and private colleges can happily coexist, so can insurance providers. You can find your Reps here and Senators here. Or there's the Obama hotline if you're feeling particularly partisan. Hell, write a letter on business stationary and mail it, old school. I hear these guys/gals still really love that sort of thing.
There's a lack of leadership in Congress on both sides of the aisle, which means it's really up to us. And it's not too late.
Some more great articles/blogs on the subject:
Indy Week: "The Struggle For Musicians' Health Insurance"
Crawdaddy: "No Insurance Land: The Health Care Music Scene"
Spinme: "Resource Rundown: Health Insurance for Musicians"
Think Song: "Health Insurance for Musicians"
Good luck.
Hans Dekline
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