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USING PEER-TO-PEER
TO LAUNCH A CAREER:
 How
The G-Man Got Played, Got Signed,
Got a Publisher, & Got on iTunes. . .
All by Giving His Music Away For Free.
By Janis Amy
The G-Man is
a musician who knows how to "work the Web," perhaps
because he's also deeply involved in the worlds of
advertising and marketing. Some of his marketing
savvy was put to use in launching his music career.
DEFYING THE RIAA:
What did he do that was so extraordinary?
Defying the wishes of the RIAA and the major record
labels, he offered all the music on his first album
for free.
In fact, he went even farther than that: he
contacted thousands of DJs and remixers, established
peer-to-peer filesharing relationships with them,
then offered to send them individual tracks (bass,
synth, vocals, drums, guitar, etc.) if they wanted
to mix new versions of his songs.
The results have been spectacular, involving
reviews, remixes, club play, radio play, a record
deal, publishing and licensing agreements, and
awards. All three of his albums have been nominated
Electronica Album of the Year by the Los Angeles
Music Awards, and he won for his "Grin
Groove" album in 2002.
INDIE SIGNING & HIS OWN COMPANY:
He is signed to Delvian Records, all of his
albums are on Apple's iTunes, his song catalog is
administered by Janssongs.com, and he has opened his
own company, G-Man Music & Radical Radio, where he
creates songs, sonics, radio spots, and music for
film, TV, and games.
Perhaps best of all, two of his songs have been
remixed by Matt Forger, best-known as Michael
Jackson's recording engineer on "Thriller," "Bad,"
"Dangerous," and four other albums, and who also
worked with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Van
Halen, and many more. These tracks are a part of The
G-Man's "The Platinum Age of the Remix," an album
featured on StudioExpresso, home to more than 100 of
the world's best music producers and engineers.
Additionally, The G-Man has become a creative
director for NARIP (National
Association of Record Industry Professionals),
an associate writer for MusicDish.com, and a content
supplier for Circle of Songs,
L*A*M*P,
Bitchin Entertainment, and Venus Music.
RAVE REVIEWS:
Reviewers have compared his songs to such
artists as Devo, David Bowie, Art of Noise, Brian
Eno, OMD, Thomas Dolby, Spandau Ballet, and Frank
Zappa. From mainstream media like the All Music Guide, to respected Web sites and eZines, music by The G-Man is written about with
zeal.
AIRPLAY:
The G-Man is also receiving airplay on college
stations in many cities across the United States and
Internet radio around the world. Most important from
the business aspect, his songs are being licensed
for use in radio and TV commercials.
HOW IT BEGAN:
"The 'give it away' approach may be a cool new
way of starting a career," G-Man states. "And some
people say this method puts me in the vanguard of
changes that are overwhelming the music industry.
Perhaps it's both," he says with a grin.
"I think that the music business as we know it is
splintering into a million shards," he states, "and
it is being built up into something new right before
our eyes."
SIX YEAR OVERNIGHT SUCCESS:
Six years ago, Scott G was an advertising
writer, radio commercial producer, and sometime
music critic. But he wanted to make sounds, not just
write about them, so he picked up a guitar and began
learning to play.
In 2001, he started recording his first album,
creating music that fuses today's dance grooves with
pop melodies and then adds sly commentary. Some have
called it dancebeat, some have called it Zappa-esque,
but Scott calls it "grin groove music."
Using "Grin Groove" as his album title, The G-Man
did several things that together represent the
beginnings of a quantum shift in the way music is
created, marketed and disseminated to listeners
around the globe.
First, he put up a simple, graphically clean, "100%
animation-free" Web site at
http://www.gmanmusic.com . Next, he combed other
Web sites for the e-mail addresses of media as well
as 25,000 DJs, remixers, and those involved with
raves, clubs, electronica, dance, and drum 'n' bass
genres. "This took as much time as it did to record
the songs, but it was worth it," he says.
KEEPING IT SIMPLE:
Then, two simple e-mail messages were created.
He followed the ideas recommended by
Indiespace's
Pete Markiewicz,
namely, put the basic idea in the Subject line, keep
the message short, and do not include any graphics.
One e-mail message announced his new genre of music
to the media. The other e-mail offered to send
tracks for free to anyone who wished to remix his
music -- and that is perhaps the most significant
part of his approach, as you will see.
IT'S IN THE REMIX:
Remixers have been using his tracks all around
the globe. "I have had five songs remixed in Russia
by a sonic master called Random Distribution," The
G-Man states, "and one of these tracks went to #1
over there. Meanwhile, an Australian DJ known as
Zero Point Energy has done a remix that is now
showing up on Web sites around the world. A jazz
artist known as William Morosi has begun remixing
more of my songs and we have now agreed to
collaborate on some acid jazz music."
Perhaps most interesting is the reaction from the
European community. A consortium of remixers called
The Allianz, led by DJ Insane, created remixes of
every song on "Grin Groove." One of the DJ Insane
tracks reached #5 on a European dance chart.
PART OF A PLAN:
All of this could be viewed as just a series of
fortuitous accidents, but The G-Man doesn't think
so. "I believe that the music world is breaking up
and is at the same time transforming into something
new, and you have to address the peer-to-peer file
sharing in order to exist in this new world."
As seen in the presentations by
Indiespace's
Pete Markiewicz
and Jeannie Novak
in the Future Of
Music seminars, "the structure of the music
business is different now," Novak says, "and it
involves several new methods of working. One is
cooperation in combination with competition, or 'coopetition,'"
a word Novak coined.
It also involves an attitude of total independence
from traditional distribution, and a faith that the
business end of your work will play 'catch-up' to
your art. "You create and market and interchange and
share and compete with fellow musicians," The G-Man
says. "And only afterwards does the business world
come in to license your work for commercialization."
Did he write out his business plan? "Absolutely. I
used the methods outlined by John Stiernberg and his
Succeeding in Music organization. Some said my ideas
were crazy, and certainly the record company doesn't
let me do this anymore, but the plan worked. I
wouldn't have even been talking with Delvian Records
if they hadn't heard about me from all the activity
with my songs all around the world," he points out.
"Mostly, I love the fact that the business was
totally being driven by the art," G-Man says. "Plus,
it was and is the most fun I've ever had in the
world. And besides, under what other set of
circumstances could I be collaborating on music
simultaneously with people in Australia, Moscow, Los
Angeles, Big Bear Lake, and The Hague in Holland?"
Janis Amy may be contacted at:
janisamy@cs.com
The G-Man:
www.gmanmusic.com
NARIP: www.narip.com
Delvian Records:
www.delvianrecords.com
Janssongs:
www.janssongs.com
John Stiernberg:
www.succeedinginmusic.com
Matt Forger:
www.studioexpresso.com
Jeannie Novak & Pete Markiewicz:
www.indiespace.com
Circle of Songs:
www.circleofsongs.com
Venus Music:
www.venusmusic.com
L*A*M*P:
www.lamusicproductions.com
Bitchin Entertainment:
www.bitchinentertainment.com
Music Dish:
www.musicdish.com
iTunes:
www.apple.com/itunes
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