There is a lot of online discussion about the benefits of bands recording music videos when promoting their music online. One camp claims its always good to try and visually grab people’s attention and a good video can help you stand out from the crowd, on the other side of the argument are the people who say there are much more productive and cost effective things to spend your budget on. So when this video landed in my inbox from Pop Noodle Record’s debut act Cha-Cha (www.myspace.com/wearechacha) I thought I’d get in contact with Pop Noodle Records to find out some more about the band and about their promotional work.

[IndieLab] Cha-Cha are Pop Noodle Record’s debut signing, what was it that made you sign them up? Do you think that bands still benefit from signing with a label?

[Pop Noodle Records] I feel that the main clinching factor when I choose to work with Cha-Cha (aside from their genuinely amazing songwriting skills) was the fact that it soon became clear we would all get along well and had the same vision on what we wanted to achieve with this forthcoming album release.

Having clear communication and a shared vision is certainly key to any label/artist relationship and I feel we all know what are goals are and what’s realistically achievable in today’s rather over-crowded music industry.  In regards to going it alone, I’m totally confident that they have the ability to do that, however, it’s always useful for bands/artists to have that external help, advice, representation and in general an entity present on behalf of a band, so that they themselves can focus on what they do best, which for Cha-Cha at this moment in time, is making brilliantly catchy, enjoyable and original songs.

[IL] The video is awesome! How did the idea come about? Who found & booked the director & how/where did you find them?

[PNR] Glad you like the video! The concept came about from exploring a combination of the director’s, the band and Pop initial ideas. We had a sit down together and went through all of our creative visions looking at what we could achieve in respect to our strict timeline (about 2 months)before the single was released. Once we had all agreed on the concept Pop Noodle found a wonderful location – 10Gales Gallery in Bethnal Green, London – and then handed the responsibility of the music video to the director, editor and producer Tom Sharman- a brilliant creative filmmaker from the Midlands who I have known for some time now.

Tom Sharman went to work selecting some assistants and a suitable Director Of Photography. In addition to recruiting a fantastic crew he also came back with the highly skilled D.O.P Jaime Feliu, who after hearing both the song and the concept of the video became keen to get involved in the project.

Tom Sharman was in charge of taking the collected vision and making it actually feasible by writing detailed scripts, shot lists, call times and basically everything else that needed doing. Without this great director the video wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. We’re all very grateful for his time, expertise and knowledge and I can’t recommend him more highly for other bands or labels looking to make a brilliant music video.

[IL]  The video looks very expensive! I guess partly because you can tell it’s been professionally directed, lit properly & was shot on an HD RED ONE camera. Was it as expensive as it looks?

[PNR] I’m afraid Pop Noodle can’t disclose the budget we spent but what I can tell you is that it was made for significantly less than most other music videos that are of the same standard.

[IL] How important do you feel doing videos are for promoting your music?

[PNR] I find in this digital era of discovery, music videos are even more essential than ever before. More and more music fans are turning to YouTube first to research a band’s name they might have read about on a website or magazine instead of checking out their Myspace first. Music fans have so much power at the moment in what they choose to listen to, and it’s brilliant to see more and more processes/software/applications that enable music fan’s to have an increased amount of choice in finding great new bands and artists that are exactly what they want to listen to. Music videos embedded on a band’s Myspace page also make it easier to track what part of the world a band’s fans are coming from. There are of course quite a few applications that can do this, but YouTube’s insight feature really is very useful and simple for both bands and labels to quickly learn more about who/where their fans are.

Even if you are a self-starting band, borrowing a decent digital camcorder and making (a decent) acoustic video in a room is so much better than having no video content whatsoever- it’s essential that bands keep up with this demand for audio-visual media, or their once-loyal fans may find that all the other bands who have at least some form of music video (even a low-quality live performance) have become more interesting all of a sudden…

[IL] What does 2010 hold for Cha-Cha & Pop Noodle? Album / single releases, gig dates etc….

[PNR] Pop Noodle Records will be releasing the Cha-Cha album, entitled ‘We Are’ in March 2010, followed by a second single that is currently in the process of being selected. Cha-Cha will be hitting the road on tour shortly after the album release so go check them out when they come to a town/city near you- you won’t regret it!

As for Pop Noodle, in addition to staying loyal to Cha-Cha we’re always on the lookout for quality bands to get involved with on our label side.  We will soon be making plans to open up an online PR arm to the company in order to help give respectable under-the-radar bands the exposure, advice and guidance they deserve.

As we’ve already discussed here, being given a huge budget to record a great sounding record is no longer necessary. Digital technology has lowered the budgets required within reach of many independent artists. In fact many independent artists are now getting very creative when it comes to finding funding for recording their albums. The most straightforward method is just to take out a loan from either a bank or relative to fund the recording.  In essence that’s what a record deal used to be anyway, a loan from the label to record a product that the label would then receive all the money from sales until it’s loan had been repaid. There are obvious dangers in this as you are taking all the financial risk as opposed to the label and in the current climate of falling music sales it should not be entered into lightly but in a world where very decent sounding albums can be recorded for a few thousand pounds it’s not complete business madness to consider it if you have an established fanbase to market to.

Other models of funding pioneered by artists who we’ve heard of include schemes like pre-selling albums to fund the release. Artists have asked fans to pay a sum of money usually about twice the usual album price to fund the recording of the record, of which some demos are usually available as part of the marketing. There is a set release date and an assurance of either a product or the money back. Those early ‘investors’ receive a special limited edition copy on release as well as free tickets to a release show or similar. Not only does this make use of your loyal fan base but it can also help hype the final release. However, as we’ve said before, recorded music sales are falling so persuading people to part with cash before a record’s even been recorded can be very hard but the more you can make them feel uniquely involved in the project the more chance they’ll be willing to help with it.

Another scheme we’ve heard of is artists ‘micro financing’ projects by selling small amounts of shares in future album to fans and investors. They offer people a split of the profits from a release in return for an investment of a couple of hundred pounds or so. Not only does this make fans feel a part of your music and your creative work but it also offers them the prospect of getting their money back with the possibility of a return on the investment. Again paperwork always needs to be prepared stating the exact terms of the deal so that everybody is in no doubt what to expect from the other parties.

There are even dedicated websites that allow you to buy and sell shares in bands, sites like sellaband and slicethepie boast several artists who have gone on to record albums with the funds the websites have provided. Exposure on these sorts of sites can be very helpful in introducing your work to a larger audience and as part of a release marketing campaign. However a quick warning – always read the terms of signing up to these sites very carefully and find out what the implications are for ownership of the final recording if it gets made as some artists we know have found those terms unfavourable.

One of the biggest benefits of paying for the recording yourself is that you then legally you own it. This used to be one of the biggest complaints of the old record label model of doing things. An artist could spend a year of their lives making what they thought was the perfect record but once they’d finished – they didn’t own it! The label owned the copyright to the ‘sound recording’ because they paid for it and therefore had the sole right to exploit it for the duration of the copyright. In a worst-case scenario a label could then either stall releasing a record or even cancel it altogether if they didn’t feel it would recoup their investment or it didn’t fit in with their current vision for the company. They did of course stand to lose all the investment they put into making it but their logic was if they didn’t stand a chance of recouping then why spend the extra money on duplication, distribution and marketing? Owning the copyright to your own recordings is very valuable, it gives you complete control over how they are used and so should not be signed away lightly.

Music distribution –>

There is of course a huge debate about when signing up to advertise with large multinational companies effectively becomes selling out. Certainly The Dandy Warhols received a bunch of criticism from some of their hardcore indie fan base when they temporarily abandoned indie obscurity for widespread mainstream commercial success. In reply singer Taylor-Taylor was quoted as saying “grumpy little indie Nazis are good people to piss off” ☺

With the support of the Vodafone campaign The Dandy Warhol’s track hit number 5, it opened doors and provided finance for them to continue experimenting and making music for years to come and there is a definite possibility that without that advert we would never of heard of them again.

For the up and coming artist getting a placement in an ad or TV show can be the break that you’ve been waiting for. A friend of ours in New York managed to get a song placed in the hit US TV series “Bones”. Not only was there a generous paycheck involved but the night the show went out the hits on her myspace page went through the roof. There is now a real buzz and anticipation about the forthcoming album release as well as the added bonus of the show being sold to other international territories, opening new markets for her.

So how do you get these opportunities? Well the short answer is that there is no short answer. People come by these deals in a whole different number of ways, our friend’s management company was quite well known and included her song on a compilation they sent out to most of the major TV networks and production houses. The music editor of the show liked the track, asked if they could use it and the deal was kicked off from there. The problem for most artists is that the networks get hundreds such submissions a week and it’s hard to break through the noise of everyone else and get heard. As always it helps if you can in some way build a relationship with the people your sending your music to (via phone, email or IM) or you can get someone with some credibility to recommend you. As we’ve said before, a good management or publishing company should have these contacts and be able to open doors for you that would otherwise have stayed closed, if they can’t then the huge question is what is the point of signing with them and giving them a percentage of your earnings?

Even with the contacts though it is just a matter of hard work and perseverance, keep digging out the contact details of production companies and music editors and sending them your work. Find the good music publishing companies and try and get them interested in a deal and maybe most importantly – make sure the music is a cut above everything else that they’ll hear. Seriously this is key, if you start with an amazing track that gets everyone excited the first time they hear it then the rest will start fall into place.

Related Articles:
How to get ahead in Music – Make an Ad! – Independent.co.uk