EchoXS Embraces Digital Revolution

The EchoXS model is really pretty simple.  As are many inventions, it is the child of necessity.  In this case the necessity was a void in the music market place.  This was caused by the proliferation of a digital product and delivery system combined with crashing sales of the majors and a corresponding restriction in the market.  This collision of arguably good and bad events was the genesis of the necessity to come up with a new model.

As we are all aware the digital age has fully come upon us.  An artist and his/her production associates can arguably create a digital product which is on par with a professional studio.  While money for extravagant studios and equipment is always a variable, generally there are many other players who can now line up on the same playing field.  The equipment necessary to record this acceptable product can be set up in a bedroom and has become a lot more affordable (within reason) to a much larger group of artists.  Certainly, ProTools has become the recording vehicle of choice and it has spread across the globe into more and more increasingly capable hands.

Equally or more important is the advent of a digital delivery system.  In days of old the majors ruled as they had the money and infrastructure to print and press albums, warehouse them, distribute and contract for their retail sales.  There is no doubt that inventory related expenditures are and will remain a significant capital expense for any business and the record industry of old was no exception.  Today, digital downloads make up a dominant part of legitimate music sales.  The buying public seems to enjoy the immediacy of the download, the fully functional nature of the mp3 and is not dissuaded by the diminished audio fidelity.  In terms of actual legitimate “ownership” of a musical product, the digital embodiment seems to be here to stay (even thought the type of format may change over time.)

The net effect of this change is that today the independent label or artist has been placed on nearly equal footing to the majors (with one exception to be discussed later).  The digital product is on par with the majors, as is the delivery system.  The Internet, including the monster market share of iTunes(R) is the present and the foreseeable future.  iTunes(R) is within the reach of the independent artist via a number of independent middlemen like CD Baby(R).  When an artist looks at the dollars and cents of a deal, they can sell a download for 99 cents and walk away with about 60% of that in his or her pocket.  Compare this with a royalty of 12% (minus all of the “standard” deductions) under the old record contract model, the prior is an extraordinary potential boost in income.

EchoXS’s Approach

We felt that a lot of artists and independent labels wanted to capitalize on the new paradigm brought about by the digital age but were unable for a number of reasons.  Essentially those two reasons came down to money and expertise.  Based upon those issues we decided to build a model which addressed both of them and did so in an artist friendly way.  In addition we wanted to make the process as streamlined as possible and take a “no b.s.” approach to getting the job done.  The result was the following.

We broke up the areas of responsibility in a record company into five major areas.  They are: legal, creative production, marketing & public relations, administration and finance. The idea was that if we could assemble players at the highest caliber of the industry to work together cooperatively, we could put together an effective digital record company.  Not only were we right but we have so far exceeded all expectations.  My firm has assumed control of the legal components related to both the label and the artist.  I won’t get into background here but there are links to all of our individual or firm websites referenced otherwise in this website.  Mark Hornsby, producer and engineer extraordinaire, took over the helm of creative production for the company.  The buck stops at his desk for all creative endeavors.

The next stop is marketing and public relations.  This is the area that most self-created independent labels fail.  They might have great ideas or talented artists but they lack the resources necessary to bring their artists out of the garage and onto the national (or international) scene.  This requires top shelf talent and vast experience in the game.  As John Miles says over and over again, “Marketing is math.”  While I became a lawyer to avoid having to crunch numbers for a living, the concept makes sense.  Marketing is a function of how many people can see the product, consume it and react to it.  With this critical data a company can plan the effective display of its artist’s talents.  Speaking of talent MB2 Advertising has it.  Jeff Brown is a maniac with digital art.  I have never been so excited with digital product in my life.  On top of that we have a developed great relationship with Erick Anderson who is arguable the best photographer in the entertainment business today.  Check out the product.  It is off the chain.

When putting together our artist deals I stripped down the standard industry agreements to the very core.  We established agreements that are as easy to understand as possible, yet still embody the sometimes difficult areas of copyright etc.  Those agreements share the various income streams in an approach which is more akin to a partnering relationships.  In so doing we are able to enjoy a better relationship with our artists and one we hope to enjoy for many years to come.

We have decided to embrace the digital revolution in all aspects of the entertainment industry.  We are taking advantage of the reduced overhead afforded by the sale of a primarily digital product. Finally, with our internal partnering relationship among the branches of our family tree we reduce the cost to get our artists’ product to market and concentrate on exposing their talents to the public.  We are very excited about this new approach and are ready for the rocket ride into the future.