LyingInTraffic kept me from signing to a shitty label
- Gabe Saporta from Midtown/Cobra Starship recently responded to a post on Absolutepunk.net where he discussed his reasoning for turning down a $500,000 advance from Columbia to sign with Dick/Peter/Willy/Wang Wentz's label Decaydance. To sum up what he said, Midtown wrote a great record and Columbia helped run it into the ground. As a result, when it came time for Cobra Starship to sign, he decided to go with Decaydance:
"Because I want to be able to make music for a long time. I want to have a career. I don't need to be rich doing it, but I would love to be able to make a living. And I know that the people that will be working with me at Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance understand where I'm coming from and where I want to go. If I stayed where I was, I would have gotten a fat check upfront, but that would have probably been the end of my career. Here, I'm getting nothing upfront, but I'm getting people who believe in me and know how to help me have a career."
I think time will show that Gabe made one of the smartest moves of his career. If there's one thing you don't want to do if you're in a punk/emo/hardcore/screamo/blahblahblah band, it's sign to Sony/BMG. Or EMI. Or Hollywood. Or Drive Thru. Bottom line, sign to UMG or WMG.
Bullshit, you say? Columbia is part of Sony/BMG. Lostprophets, Midtown, Acceptance, Coheed, A Static Lullaby. All bands that signed to Columbia and have a following within the scene. Also bands who probably would have had great success if they were on Geffen or Reprise, but who did not meet expectations. If you sound like Beyonce or The Dixie Chicks, you're golden. If not, you're fucked. Same goes for Capitol. Saosin, From First to Last, Yellowcard. We'll see what the future holds for Saosin, but with the limited promo and ANOTHER performance video, it won't do as well as it could with the right backing.
The other side of the coin? AFI, +44, New Found Glory, blink-182, Fall Out Boy, ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS! All on Universal and all very successful. Warner? My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Story of the Year, The Used, Green Day. Same story. It's easy, there are labels that can take your record and dip it in gold or platinum and there's labels who will put you in the studio and then go back to hyping Coldplay and fucking Morningwood.
Indies? As much as I hate to admit it Victory will at least help you sell your shit. You might not get paid for it, but you'll sell records. Back in the day the same could be said for Drive Thru but Richard and Stephanie have pissed off so many bands and started signing 'bands that are different and what we like', so they're on the 'dude, don't sign with them' list.
I know this is long, but it's something Chainsaw and I talked about and something that we wanted to mention. It's not that hard to figure out, but unfortunately a lot of bands don't get it.
- Speaking of Saosin not selling records, do them a favor and go pick it up. It's $5.99 at Best Buy. If you can't afford that, go trade in all six of your NoFX records.....then ask to borrow $4.00 from someone.
- Kasabian singer Tom Meighan has spit some shit about 'emo' bands like MCR, FOB and PATD!, as well as Justin Timberlake.
"I keep hearing how emo music is bringing kids together and that it's got these positive messages and all that, but if it's damaging teenagers and if it's making them depressed, how can that be a good thing? All it causes is moaning teenagers. There's nothing positive from it. It may upset people, but emo is dead in my eyes. F**k emo. Just enjoy the world."
As for Justin?
"He's a midget with whiskers who is just trying to be black. He's a puppet in a million-dollar suit who's had his strings cut off. It's just money music. Absolute rubbish. You can smell the money coming off it. He's a k**bhead."
Just to be clear, the dude on the left is talking shit about how JT looks. Wow.
Listen here redcoat, if there's anything that depresses people it's opening the jewel case of the CD they just bought to find the steaming turd that your band keeps stuffing in there. Here's an idea, why don't you stick to ripping off Oasis on CD and leave the shit-talking to the OGs Noel and Liam. Trust me, the last thing I ever want to do is defend bands like Fall Out Boy or Panic!, but as the saying goes, 'If a really shitty band talks shit about a less shitty band, the less shitty band wins.' Oh yeah, Kasabian is on Sony/BMG too. Case in point.
- Finally, a couple of videos fo' dat ass.
First off, the new +44 video 'When Your Heart Stops Beating'. Not as good as Angels and Airwaves, but less hype by the dudes in the band. Result? Kids like +44 more. (And yes, Mark is wearing a Famous shirt in the video. G-A-Y.)
Next, Oprah pumping gas. I'm well aware that this isn't music related, but video of Oprah pumping gas(or not knowing how to pump gas, as the case may be) is funny shit. I mean I understand that you haven't done it in 20 years, but we're not talking about trying to play Halo or some shit. I'm sure if you someone put 4 meatball sandwiches in front of you you'd still remember how to cram them in your mouth.
Last time I heard 'Oprah' and 'pump' in the same conversation was Chainsaw talking about 'pumping Oprah all night long while Steadman watches.' Gross.
That's it for now. Out.
- Black -
"Because I want to be able to make music for a long time. I want to have a career. I don't need to be rich doing it, but I would love to be able to make a living. And I know that the people that will be working with me at Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance understand where I'm coming from and where I want to go. If I stayed where I was, I would have gotten a fat check upfront, but that would have probably been the end of my career. Here, I'm getting nothing upfront, but I'm getting people who believe in me and know how to help me have a career."
I think time will show that Gabe made one of the smartest moves of his career. If there's one thing you don't want to do if you're in a punk/emo/hardcore/screamo/blahblahblah band, it's sign to Sony/BMG. Or EMI. Or Hollywood. Or Drive Thru. Bottom line, sign to UMG or WMG.
Bullshit, you say? Columbia is part of Sony/BMG. Lostprophets, Midtown, Acceptance, Coheed, A Static Lullaby. All bands that signed to Columbia and have a following within the scene. Also bands who probably would have had great success if they were on Geffen or Reprise, but who did not meet expectations. If you sound like Beyonce or The Dixie Chicks, you're golden. If not, you're fucked. Same goes for Capitol. Saosin, From First to Last, Yellowcard. We'll see what the future holds for Saosin, but with the limited promo and ANOTHER performance video, it won't do as well as it could with the right backing.
The other side of the coin? AFI, +44, New Found Glory, blink-182, Fall Out Boy, ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS! All on Universal and all very successful. Warner? My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Story of the Year, The Used, Green Day. Same story. It's easy, there are labels that can take your record and dip it in gold or platinum and there's labels who will put you in the studio and then go back to hyping Coldplay and fucking Morningwood.
Indies? As much as I hate to admit it Victory will at least help you sell your shit. You might not get paid for it, but you'll sell records. Back in the day the same could be said for Drive Thru but Richard and Stephanie have pissed off so many bands and started signing 'bands that are different and what we like', so they're on the 'dude, don't sign with them' list.
I know this is long, but it's something Chainsaw and I talked about and something that we wanted to mention. It's not that hard to figure out, but unfortunately a lot of bands don't get it.
- Speaking of Saosin not selling records, do them a favor and go pick it up. It's $5.99 at Best Buy. If you can't afford that, go trade in all six of your NoFX records.....then ask to borrow $4.00 from someone.
- Kasabian singer Tom Meighan has spit some shit about 'emo' bands like MCR, FOB and PATD!, as well as Justin Timberlake.
"I keep hearing how emo music is bringing kids together and that it's got these positive messages and all that, but if it's damaging teenagers and if it's making them depressed, how can that be a good thing? All it causes is moaning teenagers. There's nothing positive from it. It may upset people, but emo is dead in my eyes. F**k emo. Just enjoy the world."
As for Justin?
"He's a midget with whiskers who is just trying to be black. He's a puppet in a million-dollar suit who's had his strings cut off. It's just money music. Absolute rubbish. You can smell the money coming off it. He's a k**bhead."
Just to be clear, the dude on the left is talking shit about how JT looks. Wow.
Listen here redcoat, if there's anything that depresses people it's opening the jewel case of the CD they just bought to find the steaming turd that your band keeps stuffing in there. Here's an idea, why don't you stick to ripping off Oasis on CD and leave the shit-talking to the OGs Noel and Liam. Trust me, the last thing I ever want to do is defend bands like Fall Out Boy or Panic!, but as the saying goes, 'If a really shitty band talks shit about a less shitty band, the less shitty band wins.' Oh yeah, Kasabian is on Sony/BMG too. Case in point.
- Finally, a couple of videos fo' dat ass.
First off, the new +44 video 'When Your Heart Stops Beating'. Not as good as Angels and Airwaves, but less hype by the dudes in the band. Result? Kids like +44 more. (And yes, Mark is wearing a Famous shirt in the video. G-A-Y.)
Next, Oprah pumping gas. I'm well aware that this isn't music related, but video of Oprah pumping gas(or not knowing how to pump gas, as the case may be) is funny shit. I mean I understand that you haven't done it in 20 years, but we're not talking about trying to play Halo or some shit. I'm sure if you someone put 4 meatball sandwiches in front of you you'd still remember how to cram them in your mouth.
Last time I heard 'Oprah' and 'pump' in the same conversation was Chainsaw talking about 'pumping Oprah all night long while Steadman watches.' Gross.
That's it for now. Out.
- Black -
posted by lyingintraffic at 8:54 PM
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