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A "Silver Plated" Bullet Hits the Music World

The Web is giving little-known musicians a way to reach new audiences. Are the big labels ready for a new development model?

Michael Stroud
12.22.04

Record labels love artists like Geoff Byrd. His first album, "Candy Shell," plays on FM stations around the country. The album's debut track, "Silver Plated," is among the 20 most downloaded songs on MSN Music. His photo was just on the cover of Billboard magazine.

That's why it's noteworthy that no record label built Byrd's career. He's the product of a unique marketing campaign—launched by GarageBand.com, MSN Music, and Live365.com—designed to create the first web-based rock star. If the plan succeeds, you can expect to see record labels, internet music services, and artists try their hand at creating big acts on the Web.

Before his recent success on the internet, Byrd got nowhere with record labels.

"I tried emailing all these A&R people and they'd write back and say, 'Sorry, we're not interested. We don't take unsolicited stuff,'" the former high school social studies teacher from Oregon says. "I realized that the internet was my only option."

No longer. Based on his internet successes, Byrd signed an agent from Creative Artists Agency, two managers, and a publicist. Island Def Jam, Universal, and other labels now take his calls. Byrd has a shot at record label stardom.

And Byrd won't be the only winner in this scenario. If he gets signed, he'll have saved the label upwards of a million dollars in development costs. Record companies develop artists like venture capitalists invest money: one big winner pays for the nine lemons. Labels pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into scouting, recording, tours, and promotion—long before they know whether an artist will grab fans.

GarageBand.com and Live365.com will also get a piece of the profits from any downloads sold by labels, just as they get a slice of every Byrd song downloaded at MSN.

GarageBand.com CEO Ali Partovi won't disclose how much Byrd earns per download, but says the artist gets a bigger share than the three companies. Typically, Partovi says, an artist earns 10 cents on a 99-cent download. On a $15 CD, an established artist might make $1 or $2. A new act might make nothing until the label recoups its initial investment.

"The idea on the MSN downloads is not to get rich off the downloads," Partovi says. "MSN will prove that Geoff's songs, when heard by passive listeners, can translate into sales. It will be a test case for sinking hundreds or millions of dollars into him."

You can see how labels might jump on a "no money down" model, and artists might jump on a model that lets them make a living.

Byrd's experience demonstrates how such a model might work. After quitting his high school job at the end of the school year in 2002, Byrd roughed it as a singer-songwriter in the Northwest, then posted four songs from his album on GarageBand.com in December 2003. The website serves independent artists from around the world who post their songs and judge each other's work.

By February 2004, all four of his songs had made it to the site's Top 10 list. Considering that 125,000 artists submit material, and that songs are randomly assigned to listeners for judging, that's a statistically near-impossible feat. Internet and FM radio stations around the country started picking up his songs. He started getting gigs in San Francisco and Los Angeles, playing to fans who discovered him on GarageBand. His management and publicist discovered him at the top of the site's charts.

Last July, Partovi decided Byrd would be a good guinea pig for his idea that rock stars could be broken on the Web, and negotiated partnerships with MSN and Live365. (At 6'7", sporting an earring and a shaved head, Byrd stands out, anyway).

Partovi wants to apply the lessons he's learned from Byrd to other GarageBand artists. He's planning an automated system that would contact artists as they rise up his charts and offer them the opportunity to be promoted via internet, satellite, and FM stations. Artists who don't get FM airplay—most commercial stations are leery of airing unknown artists—would still get internet time thanks to his Live365 and MSN agreements. He also hopes to sign agreements with other radio networks, including satellite.

A few select GarageBand artists, like Byrd, might have a chance at a contract with a record label.

Byrd's success in landing a record label contract is by no means assured. Labels have their own farm system and in the past haven't taken kindly to Silicon Valley startups telling them how to run their business. Besides, Web entrepreneurs have boasted vainly for years that they would make a killing on content developed on the Web. (Remember the Digital Entertainment Network? Do you want to?)

Remember, too, that artists recording on the internet are literally a dime a dozen. Byrd says he recorded his first album for $56. Anyone can post on GarageBand who is willing to listen to 30 other artists or pay $20.

But the record industry, faced with declining CD sales and rampant piracy, is also more open than it's ever been to new models. Witness how it's allowed its songs to post on iTunes, MSN, and Rhapsody. Perhaps it's open to a new development model, too.

So, who wants to be the first to take a chance on a lanky, former schoolteacher from Oregon?

Michael Stroud is CEO of iHollywood Forum Inc., which produces conferences and seminars about digital entertainment and mobile technology.

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