The Business the Musk Business: the Texas OBSERVER ° the Texas Observer Publishing Co
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Senate and AG endorsements, p. 11 ER, R April 14 1978 500 -,- 1.4ktur-;;;"'"; ",•T--- ,2414 NtaGN ag*** The business The musk business: The Texas OBSERVER ° The Texas Observer Publishing Co.. 1978 who pays Ronnie Dugger, Publisher Vol. 70, No. 7 April 14, 1978 Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Demo- the piper? crat, which in turn incorporated the Austin Forum-Advocate. EDITOR Jim Hightower MANAGING EDITOR Lawrence Walsh ASSOCIATE EDITOR Linda Rocawich EDITOR AT LARGE Ronnie Dugger PRODUCTION MANAGERS: Susan Reid, Susan Lee By Mike Tolleson ASSISTANT EDITORS: Colin Hunter, Teresa Acosta, Austin Vicki Vaughan, Eric Hartman Has everybody got Saturday night fever? It would seem so, if STAFF ASSISTANTS: Margaret Watson, Bob Sindermann, Debbie Wormser, Margot Beutler, Leah Miller, Connie Larson, David the phenomenal growth of the record and music industry is any Guarino, Beth Epstein, Beverly Palmer, Harris Worcester, Gerald guide. McLeod, Larry Zinn, Janie Leigh Frank But as music lovers buy more records, tune in to more hours CONTRIBUTORS: Kaye Northcott, Jo Clifton, Dave McNeely, Don of radio, and drop in more frequently at concert halls and Gardner, Warren Burnett, Rod Davis, Paul Sweeney, Marshall Breger, honky-tonks, few realize that their pastime has become very big Jack Hopper, Stanley Walker, Joe Frantz, Ray Reece, Laura Eisenhour, Dan Hubig, Ben Sargent, Berke Breathed, Eje Wray, business, a bonanza firmly under the control of a handful of Luther Sperberg, Roy Hamric, Thomas D. Bleich, Mark Stinson, Ave record companies, radio chains, talent agents, and other Bonar, Jeff Danziger, Lois Rankin, Maury Maverick Jr., Bruce Cory, middlemen. Between the performer and the music customer John Henry Faulk, Chandler Davidson, Molly Ivins, Ralph Yar- stands a growing army of corporate executives that, while add- borough, Laura Richardson, Tim Mahoney, John Spragens Jr. ing enormously to the cost of music, siphons off a great chunk of profit and at the same time exercises undue influence over BUSINESS STAFF: Cliff Olofson, Alice Embree, the availability of musical styles. The business of music is worth Ricky Cruz a close look. A journal of free voices Total worldwide record and tape sales now exceed $7 billion We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the truth as we annually, and observers who will venture to explain the boom find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the rights of humankind as the say it is the result not only of the general spread of wealth and foundation of democracy; we will take orders from none but our own technology, but of an increase in the average age of record conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to buyers on every continent.' Predictably, the U.S. is the big serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human music consumer. The American dollar is involved in 43 percent spirit. of 'all global expenditures, but yen, marks, rubles and all kinds The editor has exclusive control over the editorial policies and con- tents of the Observer. None of the other people who are associated of other currencies help fuel the world's music industry. with the enterprise shares this responsibility with him. Writers are In the U.S., music sales jumped prodigiously between 1973 responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not and 1977—from $2 billion to $3 billion. The biggest buyers turn themselves written, and in publishing them the editor does not neces- sarily imply that he agrees with them because this is a journal offree out to be Texans. More money is spent on commercial music in voices. the Lone Star State than in any other—$200 million for records in 1977 and at least $25 million more for tickets to live perfor- Published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly except for a three-week inter- val between issues twice a year, in January and July; 25 issues per year. Second-class mances. Texas is such a strong market not only because of its postage paid at Austin, Texas. Publication no. 541300. fast-growing population, but also because of the state's many Single copy (current or back issue) 50V prepaid. One year. $12; two years. S22; three innovative radio stations and long driving times, which encour- years, $30. Foreign, except APO/FPO, $1 additional per year. Airmail, hulk orders, and group rates on request. age radio listening and cassette tape use on the highway. In Microfilmed by Microfilming Corporation of America. 21 Harristown Road, Glen addition, Texas is culturally diverse, ranking prominently as a Rock, N.J. 07452. source of musical talent in all the popular genres, from rock 'n' Editorial and Business Offices: roll and country-western to Chicano, soul and gospel. 2 600 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 Although Texas is seen as but a small part of the overall gross 7.430,'"if (512) 477-0746 national profit picture by the record company-owning conglom- erates based in New York and Los Angeles, and is largely sub- 2 APRIL 14, 1978 ject to the whims and fantasies of New York desk jockeys, the Wherever they start, the initial leap into the music business state remains a unique bastion of regional roots. It continues to for most musicians/songwriters is like a spin in a clothes dryer defy the sensibilities of the typical national marketing director with a handful of marbles and a couple of cats. Few come carefully plotting his annual sales quota. through without scars, a tinge of paranoia, and a true hate for While most major markets center around one or two large those who run the big machine. metropolitan areas, the Texas regional market encompasses In a business sense, the young performer typically tries to large cities, a vast rural area, and distinct and well-represented advance from the status of an unknown, go-it-alone freelance to sub-groups. The state's unusually broad mix of music business that of a well-known artist who by necessity often heads up a activities has managed to mesh into the national structure. commercial operation grossing from $500,000 to $1 million an- Houston is the home of ZZ Top, Texas' premier rock group, as nually, with many employees and sub-contractors. The ascent well as the state's major black music organization, Peacock is treacherous and costly. The crucial stepping-stones to suc- Records. Lubbock has given us Buddy Holly and Waylon Jen- cess are slippery: the artist must stabilize his income, organize a nings; San Antonio and Corpus Christi are centers of activity band, develop an audience, connect with a record company, for a chicano record industry almost totally self-sustained by its find an honest manager, and produce and promote a hit—all Texas audience. 3 Waco is headquarters for Word, Inc., the with some degree of continuity. largest religious music record company in the world; Dallas is Many musicians decide along the way that their chances of the base of operations for Showco, Inc., one of the largest "getting it together" are better in Los Angeles, Nashville or sound and lights companies providing stage production services New York, depending on which of the national recording cen- to top-name pop music acts; and Austin, which supports a busy ters appears most receptive to their styles. For the artist who club and concert scene, is the present base of Willie Nelson chooses to stay in Texas, put together a band to perform origi- and the point of origin for "Austin City Limits" (a highly suc- nal music, and does not have a record company, the local club cessful PBS network music series). So Texas, as the home of circuit becomes his primary source of revenue. He might find a recording studios, various music production projects, and a niche in one club or one city, but the musician out to establish growing film industry, adds up to a desirable place for musicians himself regionally will try not to overexpose his music in one to live and work. locale; instead, he'll seek "gigs" in other cities to enlarge his audience and build demand for his music that will allow him to Texas would seem a good place for a new group to get a raise his fee. It is extremely difficult for the unknown band—in start in the music business. However, survival here may not Austin, San Francisco or anywhere else—to break into better guarantee successful entry into the national music market. club dates, new cities, and higher fee brackets. Since the com- 1.Billboard magazine, in its April 1 edition, reports on the results of a are country stars at home and abroad, among them Willie Nelson, Warner Communications, Inc.-sponsored survey of consumer age Freddie Fender, Johnny Rodriguez and Jerry Jeff Walker, to name just a trends in the American music market. According to the study's findings, few. Joe Ely, a Lubbock singer-songwriter, was named the best new people 25 and over account for 55 percent of the total dollar expenditure country artist of 1977 in England for his first record release, and the for records and tapes; teenagers, it was found, were good for 23 percent, Texas Playboys, Bob Wills' old band, recently won the Country Music and those in the 20 to 24 age bracket, 22 percent. Association's award as the best instrumental band of the year (1977). 2. Of the various musical styles indigenous to Texas, country music 3. In South Texas, the Zavala County Economic Development Cor- seems to be the most exportable.