We recently had the opportunity to pick Max Willen’s brain who currently serves as the primary editor of one of our favorite music blogs called We All Make Music. The blog is dedicated to helping musicians make it on their own terms and serves as a ultimate resource for novice and experienced artists looking to take their careers to the next level.
1. Tell us a little about your background and how you got involved with We All Make Music and blogging. What role do you play and what are you responsible for as Chief Editor?
I grew up in a very musical family (father’s a classical music conductor, mother’s a music business lifer, grandparents were jazz musicians), and with all of this music all around me, I knew that I wanted to be around music my whole life. But I also lacked the discipline to really, really learn an instrument, so I took a sideways step and moved into journalism, then DJing.
As far as how I got this job, I was basically offered the editorial position by Magnet Media, the company that runs WAMM, because they knew and trusted my work; I’d been a staff writer for Zoom In Online, a now-defunct site that covered music, film, photography, design, and pretty much everything else. For WAMM, I assign and edit the site’s content, but I wouldn’t be able to do squat without the help of my interns and all the contributing authors, many of whom are far more knowledgeable than me.
2. What kind of content do you cover on We All Make Music? What’s the main goal of the blog? Who reads WAMM? Is it primarily artists or do you find more people from the music business side reading your content?
When Magnet first started WAMM, our tag-line was “Helping Musicians Thrive in a Post-Label World,” and even though we’ve since changed it (a lot of the labels I reached out to didn’t take kindly to the tag-line’s implication…), that basically spells it out. The music industry that’s coming together now is one where artists can, and should handle most of their affairs, or at the very least be well-versed in the particulars of their careers’ many facets. We’re providing insights and information to musicians who are looking to do that.
But with that said, one of my main hopes as editor is that both industry people and music fans in general will be interested in what we do, and so far we’ve had some good feedback in that regard. WAMM’s gotten good feedback from the people at Reverb Nation, for example, and I was recently interviewed by an NPR affiliate about how Facebook’s switch from Fans to Likes would help smaller bands and brands.
3. There’s a lot of talk of artists finding alternative income sources as record sales diminish, with many recommending that artists give their music away for free. What are your thoughts on this? Which alternative income streams do you think hold the most potential?
As much as I hate to say it (and both of my parents really, really disapprove of this attitude), I think that today artists have to get used to the idea of giving some of their music away for free. It’s the only way you can expect to build up a fan base. The reality is that, at present, the only real way to make money right now is on the road, and the only way to do that is to get your name out there. Kieran Hebden told this crazy story to We Love Space recently where he said that he’s played shows to 2,000 people in countries where he’s sold like, 20 copies of his records.
I do think, though, that with a little bit of luck, the online sector could become a much more viable place to make real money, especially on sites like YouTube. In Germany right now there’s this PRO called GEMA that’s in the process of renegotiating its royalty rates with YouTube. They want 11 cents for every song that’s up to five minutes long, and more for songs that are longer than that. To put this in perspective, the current rate for a stream on YouTube is £0.00085 in the UK. That’s a huge gap. I’m skeptical that GEMA will get 11 cents per stream, but if they can shave one or two zeros off the going rate, that would change the game completely.
4. Which social media/communication channels should artists be focusing their efforts on?
Anything where you can find people who are likely to be interested in your sound. Finding lots of smaller message boards is preferable to some enormous group or blog with a gajillion people on it. Soundcloud’s an obvious one, but because it’s blowing up right now, it’s never been easier to connect with people on it, and if you can join and contribute to the right groups in Soundcloud, it can do a lot for getting your music in front of the right people. And I also think, royalty rates aside, that YouTube’s a great place for an electronic musician. Start remixing all the big tracks within your genre. It’s a cheap and easy way to associate yourself with a big artist, it will naturally put you in front of a wide audience, its clips are very easily shared, the sound quality’s getting better all the time.
5. Electronic Music is different from most musical genres in that DJ and artist income comes primarily from touring. What are you thoughts on the Electronic Music Industry? Where do you think it’s headed? What words of advice would you give to someone thinking about entering the industry?
Compared to the industries of lots of other genres, the EDM world’s in a pretty enviable position. Sales may be down, but every year more and more music, whether it’s background music or top 40 radio, is electronic-influenced. I think that, as more and more aspects of the industry move online, it’s going to make it easier for certain people to succeed, but it’s also going to make success more fleeting. The old days of DJs coming up because they’re spinning a certain obscure set of records, or because they’ve pioneered a sound, are numbered; it’s so, so easy to figure out what the top guys are spinning nowadays, and also to emulate their sounds and styles. It really will make marketing more important than ever before for DJs and producers.
As far as general advice is concerned, if you’ve got a day job, quit it and get a night job. Seriously – tend bar, work at a gas station, log commercials for Nielsen, whatever. If you are serious about coming up in the electronic music industry, then you’ve going to be out late all the time. And if you have to be at a job at 9AM, wearing something other than what you wore to the bar/club/lounge/warehouse the previous night, something eventually is going to give.
7. What do you think are the biggest challenges the music industry is facing today? Which challenges, if any, are specific to the Electronic Music Industry?
The obvious answer is sales, but I think that for EDM in particular, the biggest problem is the barrier to entry. Any enterprising kid can download and crack Ableton and try his hand at being a DJ. In an abstract sense, that’s really positive and really cool, but it also just makes the market that much more crowded. Differentiating yourself in a local scene, especially as a DJ, can be really hard when everybody has access to the same records and software.
8. Moving on to the topic of Blogging. What are the benefits of maintaining a blog and who (Artists, Business people, everyone?) should be blogging?
I think every label should have a blog, but those blogs need to focus on things besides than their artists’ releases. For example, even though I’m not the biggest fan of all of their releases, I love the blogs that Fool’s Gold and Ed Banger Records run. They’ve got cool personalities, they have funny stuff on them, and it makes what they do much more approachable. If you’re an artist, it’s imperative to talk about which of your peers you’re feeling. There can be strength in numbers, and if you let your fellow producers or DJs know that you’re excited by what they do, it’s going to make it a lot easier for you to get more gigs, to get word out about your releases, etc.
Check out We All Make Music to learn more about Max or check out his twitter @maxwillens.
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