Week 1 Artist Management Case Study: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Week 1 Artist Management Case Study: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Zon D. Petilla
Full Sail University


Note Above: LOL, CCR's "Bad Moon Arising" with footage of "Dragon Ball Z and GT"



When I decided to start an art services business, I had to come to terms with the fact I less artistic and more analytic. My partner recognized my skills to make good sound business moves and my love for reading contracts and asking the right questions. On the on the other hand, she has the ability to create art people actually care about naturally. So we became partners in a current content market that is free and just about anyone can make money as an independent without having to deal with corporations controlling the distribution of content. However, bands dealing with prior industries without Internet distribution of the past such as the music industry needed music corporations for production and distribution outlets. In this sense, 1960’s bands like Credence Clearwater Revival ran right into an exploitive business model. Thus, John Fogerty’s creative vision made Credence Clearwater Revival very successful; however I contend that this direction led the band to bad music industry deals and infighting among the group.

John Forgerty was the lead singer and manager for the band. Doug Clifford the bands drummer had talked about how John Forgety managed the band through their tours and contacts (James, Credence Online, Lyrics Freak). In this sense, the Forgerty formula lead to success in concrete sales, appearances like Woodstock, and awards. Ultimately, this formula caught the eye of many record companies of the day such as Fantasy Records, Asylum Records, and Liberty/UA Records.


Forgerty controlled the brand and the direction when it came to the legal decisions with the contracts and agreements. For example, “In 1967, Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss and offered the band a chance to record a full-length album, but only if the group changed its name” (Lyrics Freak). Arguably a good move in the sense of branding the band, and the band members at time more than likely agreed with Forgety who was garnering them success. However, Fantasy Records' new owner Zaentz did not to give Forgety a better contract as promised. Stu Cook a former band member and who now holds a business degree recollects that Fogerty made bad deal and as a result Credence Clearwater Revival was signed into a terrible record deal.

Their peak success was from 1969 to 1970’s taken many live performances and selling records such as Bayou Country with "Bad Moon Rising" backed with "Lodi” being on top of the music charts top tens Bill Boards. While undertaking a steady string of live dates around the country to capitalize on their breakthrough, CCR also was hard at work on their second album Bayou Country at RCA Studios in Los Angeles. Released in January 1969 and becoming number seven platinum hit. They had continued with three years of record hits and singles while enjoying touring. Then in 1972, Rainbow Records under Zaentz decided to disband the band. Because of the agreements, Credence Clear water would now face further issues legal issues while Forgerty would try to scramble for a new record deal (James, Credence Online, Lyrics Freak).

Because of bad or unfinished deals and because of legal issues such as the one with Liberty/UA records( Billboard, 1970), in fighting among members started because Forgerty still was holding onto full creative control. Moreover, Forgety was fighting to keep everything as far as copyrights and royalties not just from the record companies but from his bandmates as well (Forgerty,2007). I contend that mistrust happened on two fronts. Forgety felt he did most of the work and deserved most of the ownership of the songs. However, the other band mates felt Forgety wasn’t doing a good enough job and causing more harm than good.

In conclusion, if I was the band’s manager, I'd break contract early, tell the band to release new music under a new name in order to clear the legal issues related to Rainbow Records new management. During this break, I would then publicized and publically blame Rainbow Records miss management and create a “us” versus them “mentality”. The band “Creedance Clearwater Revival”, might just be called “Revival”, and the new catalog of songs would be released under this new name. “Revival” could be easily repackaged for the 1970’s and early 1980’s rock movements. I would also create objective criteria for a real heart to heart session between all the band members. This would include creative say, negation of contracts, and distribution rights under ticket and record sales that would be more equal. The toughest part would be to claim the mistrust and egos of the band. If Negotiations fail, I would create a BATNA for all members before a complete fail that would bring in outside third parties such as attorneys or companies. In short, I would rebrand the band, publically denounce Rainbow Records, and market the hell out of the new rock band that would emerge from the legal ashes.

References:
Credence Online. Creedence Clearwater Revival. http://www.creedence-online.net/faq/

Fogerty, John, (2007)Reclaiming My Voice. Newsweek, Vol. 150, Issue 23 Academic Search Premier. Retrieved From: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=119&sid=48efed5f-d5ec-4964-ab06-8356b62ab607%40sessionmgr110&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=27643174

James, Gary . Interview. Retrieved from: http://www.classicbands.com/CCRInterview.html
Lyrics Freak. Creedence Clearwater Revival Biography http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/creedence+clearwater+revival/biography.html

Connect with Fans Part B + a Reflection to Webcomics Weekly #77

First off, According to Attack of the Show on G4, Myspace has been having issues making money for itself this last decade, which is interesting because “Myspace Music” is pretty awesome service when considering how it first connected major businesses and artists to the general public early 2000. However, with other free music services out there for starting and established creators to give their music for free, and the seemingly exodus over the years for Myspace user towards services likes Facebook has really hurt the Myspace scene according to Kevin Perrah (2009) on Attack of the show. This means that Myspace Music users may be using social media tools like twitter and Facebook to connect or establish markets for new and old artists and artists are less likely using Myspace itself to market their products.



So when considering the 2009 Nine Inch Nails (NIN) free marketing, we first have to consider the established twentieth century “radio to sales model” and how it relates to the “Connect with Fans” (CWF) concept. The radio to sales model as described by Half Pixel states free music on the airwaves leads to direct sales. Taking a look at the effects of Napster in relation to Tower Records going bankrupt around 2003 in concordance with popularity of the I-pod, there isn’t a new music content model at all. Instead, the industry just changed technology and faces (Berklee Case Book, and Kurtz, Straub, Kellett, and Guigar, 2008).



Getting away from music and looking at digital book sales, an analogues trend to Tower Records seems to be happening to Borders Book Stores. Boarder’s recently filed for “Ch11”, meaning the most popular book store in the country is losing money and owns certain distributors like “Diamond” millions of dollars. At the same time, the Kindle and I-pad have made portable libraries and digital books very popular. Barnes and Nobles who embraced the new technology earlier then Boarders and is not filing for Ch 11 bankruptcy.



What’s happening now is you don’t even need book publishers to sell a book; instead the creator can now sell a digital pdf to their fans. And listening to Michael Masnick talk about the success of NIN in comparison to Scott Kurtz talking about the success of artists like Skottie Young selling his own art book to the general public via PayPal through his blog there again seems to be new tech trend based on the old “radio model”(Webcomics Weekly 2011, and Young 2011). Of course, there is always new technology that can lead to direct sales, but we have to realize connecting with fans through giving away free stuff has been around a lot longer than the internet. Thus, I concur and contend the “free model” still holds marketable as long as you develop a niche fan base, connect with the fan base, then offer content they will enjoy.



The model I propose from this case study…


1. Develop a market (Free Content with established and emerging technologies)
2. Connect with that Market (Using established and emerging communication and data collection technologies)
3. Offer products, Services, and Content they will enjoy (Paid Content on established and emerging technologies)



References

Berklee Case Book http://berkleecasebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/foreword_26.html


Kurtz, S, Straub, K, Kellett, D and Guigar B (2008) How to Make Webcomics. Image Comics.

Pereira, K. (2009. May 26) The Loop. Retrieved from: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/hl-16583423/attack_of_the_show_is_myspace_in_trouble/


Young S. (2011 ) THE ADVENTURES OF BERNARD: Digital Book http://www.skottieyoung.com/


Webcomics Weekly (2011) Webcomics Weekly #77 - Skottie Young Retrieved from http://ww.libsyn.com/webcomics-weekly-77-skottie-young

Connect with Fans

I feel dirty becuase this is from another blog, but it is a note worthy case study for how the concept "Connect with the Fans" (CWF) relates to free that leads to money for the music industry.
http://berkleecasebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/foreword_26.html

Note for the non-music people...
I'm not a music maker. I know I'm all about making money the right way by developing art products (i.e. comics, toys, and video games) I want to make, but music isn't really something I would try to make money at because I never really pursued it. However, replace "music" with your "art" and it opens a lot of doors to different types of entertainment business discourse. Of course, not all models work for your art, but there are some universals such as "find an audience" and "connect with them".








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