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TOM
BRUSKY
News
& Editorial Archives -
2018
I
Thought Toyotas Were Supposed to Be Reliable!
September
12, 2018
A
couple years ago, I bought a Toyota (used, low miles) to use as a band
vehicle thinking
it
wouldn't require as many major repairs as a domestic car. Boy, was I
wrong:
June 2016 - A/C: $685.00
June 2016 - Wheel bearing: $410.00
September 2017 - Wheel bearing: $450.00
November 2017 - Exhaust: $150.00 (Two service centers
quoted the exhaust work needed at over $3,000)
February 2018 - Front struts: $1,470.00
March 2018 - Exhaust: $100.00
April 2018 - Ignition coil: $525.00
July 2018 - Front brakes: $470.00
August 2018 - Transmission: $3,900
TOTAL
MAJOR REPAIRS TO DATE: $8,160.00
Golden
Rule for Booking Oktoberfest Entertainment
August
10, 2018
Every
year I write about how venues should book their Oktoberfest
entertainment six to twelve months or more in advance. What I haven't
written about, however, is how important it is to maintain those
bookings. When you book a polka band for your Oktoberfest event, that
band is 100% comitted to your
event. That means they are turning down all other offers they're
receiving for the same date. If you decide to un-hire the band,
especially on short notice, you put every member of that band at risk
of losing income.
The
Saturdays from mid-September through mid-October are the "New
Year's Eves" for polka bands. Booking a band for one of these dates is
like hiring a band for New Year's Eve. Likewise, cancelling a band on
short notice for one of these Saturdays is the equivalent of cancelling
a New Year's Eve booking on short notice. It's a major no-no. You just
don't do something like that, because the band is not only losing the
income from your event, but every event they've turned down while they
were committed to yours.
If you
need to cancel a booking, INFORM THE BAND RIGHT AWAY so that
they have as much time as possible to book another job for that same
date.
Universal
Music Group Withdraws Ownership Claim to My Song
July
14, 2018
A
few weeks ago, I wrote about how I was unable to collect RO (rights
owner) royalties for one of my songs, because ownership to the song was
being claimed by Universal Music Group, Inc. UMG's claim of ownership
to my song was reported to me by SoundExchange, a company that collects
and distributes royalties to
musicians when their songs are played over internet and satellite
radio. All of my songs
are registered with SoundExchange.
Since I wrote and recorded the song claimed by UMG and never sold the
rights to
anyone, I immediately disputed the claim. SoundExchange attempted to
negotiate the dispute, however, UMG did not relent. As a result, all
radio royalties earned by the song would be held indefinitely by
SoundExchange until the ownership dispute was settled between UMG and
me.
I immediately emailed UMG with background information about the song,
explained that I never sold the copyright to anyone, and asked them to
settle the dispute by rescinding their claim of ownership. I waited
several days, but UMG did not respond.
I then wrote a cease and desist letter and mailed it to UMG. Within a
half hour of receiving the letter, UMG responded to the dispute by
rescinding their claim of ownership to my song.
How UMG came to claim ownership of my song is a mystery to me. My guess
is that a radio station somewhere along the way made a clerical error
by reporting my song to SoundExchange as cover of another artist's song
by the same name which is owned by UMG.
SoundExchange accepted the dispute
agreement and everything is now fine.
My
View on Awards Considerations for Positively
Polka
June
20, 2018
Since
distributing my new album to DJs, fellow musicians, and other
professionals in the polka music industry last week, I've been
overwhelmingly requested to submit my album to various polka
organizations for music awards nominations. I am both humbled and
flattered by these sentiments, because I hold the opinion of my fellow
musicians in high esteem.
My personal feeling, however, is that I create music to bring enjoyment
to people – not to garner trophies. The only accolades that mean
anything to me are the personal compliments and words of encouragement
I receive from those who listen to my albums. Twenty years ago, I would
not have hesitated submitting my music for awards consideration, but
now that I've grown a little older, trying to win awards is just not my
style. A plaque telling me my music is a winner may look good on a
résumé, but it's not going to make my music sound any
better.
One friend, however, brought up a valid point in favor of submitting
Positively Polka for awards: I'm not the only musician on it. I have to
admit, I never looked at it from that angle before. I am extremely
proud of the talent that Abby, Mollie, and all the other vocalists and
musicians contributed to my album, and I would never do anything to
prevent them from receiving the recognition they so rightly deserve. So
here is my official stance on the subject:
I will not personally submit Positively Polka for any music awards,
however, anyone else who appeared on the album has my permission to do
so, and I will support their decision 100%.
Do
You Copy CDs?
June
4, 2018
I
am often asked whether or not there are ways for bands to prevent their
CDs from being copied and illegally distributed. Unfortunately, there
is no way prevent it. Despite copyright laws and
protections, audio CDs can be copied as easily as documents
these days. Most of the copying is being done by people who either
don't fully understand that what they're doing is illegal, or they do
understand it's illegal but they're out of touch with the impact of
their actions.
Below is
some information regarding the copying of compact discs. Some
of it is based on laws, and some of it is based on practical,
acceptable scenarios regarding intellectual property rights and
accountability.
When you
come into possession of a band's CD, whether you purchased it
or received it
as a gift, what you're actually receiving is a single-user license to
enjoy the music on that CD. You can listen to it at home, in your car,
on your computer, or on your portable music devices. You can rip the
songs from the CD to put on your MP3 player, and you can even keep the
CD at home and burn a copy of it for your car or boat.
What you
absolutely cannot do, however, is make copies of the music on
that CD for anyone other than yourself. You cannot copy the CD for a
friend or make digital copies of the music and distribute them in any
way. Even though you paid for the compact disc, you do not
own the music on it, and therefore have no authority to distribute the
music to any other person.
Technically,
you're not even allowed to play the CD in the company of
other people (I'll bet you didn't know that!) but just like driving a
few MPH over the speed limit is 100% acceptable by real world
standards,
so is playing your CDs in the company of friends.
If you
decide later on that you'd like to sell the compact disc at a
rummage sale or on eBay,
you must delete all of your copies of the music from that CD from your
computer, phone or MP3 player, and you must
destroy any CD copies you've made for yourself. When the CD
transfers to a new owner, so
does the license to enjoy the music on that CD.
When
someone makes an unauthorized copy of a recording, it's called
pirating. Piracy affects all aspects of the audio and
video recording business, but grass-roots bands, such as polka bands,
are affected the hardest; their market is typically very small to begin
with, which means every CD sale is an important one. When you buy a CD
from a polka band,
that $15 you spend will help
them pay off their enormous recording expenses as they aim to break
even.
Recording
an album is expensive. Studio time, talent fees, licensing,
and manufacturing costs typically add up to several thousand dollars.
If you
think making a few copies of a band's CD can't hurt, here's some
food for thought. Shortly after I released my Polka Pontoon CD in 2014,
practically every musician I ran into had a copy of it, and yet, very
few of them were registered sales. Most of those musicians openly
admitted they received burned CD copies from other musicians. I
estimate that there are literally more illegal copies of that album in
existence than legal copies. There are a handful musicians who
purchased legal copies in bulk to
give away to their friends and fellow musicians, and if it weren't for
their integrity, I would have ended up taking a bath on
the project. Nonetheless,
the losses to piracy were so damaging that I would never risk making a
second volume.
Since the
pirating of CDs can't be prevented, my purpose for writing
this article is to help deter it. Now that you understand the impact
you have when you make an illegal copy of a band's album, I'm hoping
that you'll think twice and choose not to do it. The polka bands who
are still recording and releasing albums are selling to a market that's
much smaller than it was just fifteen years ago. They need every dollar
from every sale just to reach their goal of breaking even. Please don't
take a single sale away from them. Support your local bands by
purchasing their CDs directly or through authorized retailers.
A Few Words for
Third and Fourth Generation Fans of Polka Music
May
21, 2018
It's
generally been accepted that we were all born a few decades too late
since we missed the heyday of polka music. When we talk about the
"polka greats" we typically name musicians who thrived in the 50's,
60's and 70's. The best musicians of that era became household names
because polka music was so popular at the time. Although the popularity
of polka music is just a fraction of what it once was, there's
something that absolutely cannot be overlooked about the time we're
living in now:
Being a
music producer means I get to work one-on-one in the recording
studio with some of the best singers and musicians around. After
working once again with Abby Broeniman, Mollie Busta, and David Austin
on the production of my latest CD, and being privy to their level of
proficiency behind a studio microphone, I am convinced that while the
heyday of polka and it's biggest names have long passed, some of the
higest-caliber talent in the history of the genre is living and working
in our generation.
We will
always remember and cherish the bands and musicians of the
past, and we may long for the by-gone days of overcrowded polka clubs
on every street corner, but when we go out to hear some of the bands
performing today, such as Barefoot Becky, Gary Bruggen, Klancnik and
Friends, and Steve Meisner to name a few, we're not just hearing the
best polka music available today; we're hearing polka music as good as
it's ever been.
Whenever
we wish we could step back into the 1960's to catch Johnny
Pecon or Eddie Blazonczyk in concert, let's not take for granted that
we need only look to our current generations of musicians and vocalists
to find equivalent greatness. Popularity adheres to a time clock.
Talent does not.
Booking
Agency Blunder
March
25, 2018 (Updated May 4, 2018)
From
my experience, just about every bandleader seems to have their own view
of talent/booking agencies. In my personal opinion, I think they
provide a
beneficial service. I've never felt them to be a necessity to me
personally, because I
book 95% of my band's jobs myself, but I feel the extra 5% is a win-win
proposition for everyone — my band gets a few extra gigs that I
may not have had otherwise, and the booking agency gets a well deserved
commission.
Booking
agencies typically have a clause in their contract that states,
in one way or another, that if they bring you into a new venue, and
that venue
decides to hire you at a later date without going through the booking
agency, you will continue to owe the agency a commission. Not
everyone likes this clause, but it makes sense to me that if a booking
agency
is responsible for introducing your band to a new venue, it would be
unethical for the band to bypass the agency by booking future jobs
directly.
There are
three booking agencies that I've been doing business with for
the past several years, and I haven't run into a single hitch working
with any of them... until now.
When I
first started playing at one particular venue several years ago, the
venue
hired
me directly. A year or so later, the venue hired me through a
booking agency. I don't know why they did that, because it meant
they'd have to pay out 20% more for the same band, but
ultimately their reasons were not my concern. This spring, however, the
venue decided to go back to hiring me directly.
When the
booking agency
found out about this, they claimed that I owed them a 20%
commission. I explained to the booking agency that I am grateful for
the
jobs for which they hired me at that venue, but they are not
responsible
for introducing me to that venue. I had already established a direct
business
relationship with that venue before the booking agency ever became
involved, therefore, no commission was owed.
An
employee of the agency made some rather accusatory statements which
I did not appreciate. I supplied him with specific dates clearly
showing how my
business relationship with the venue preceded their intercession, and
therefore superseded their claim to a
commission. I also said that I
was willing to chalk the entire matter up to a misunderstanding
and continue working with the agency.
They
never replied.
Just last
week, my band was hired to return to a festival that we used
to play years ago. The above booking agency introduced my band to that
festival back in 2005, so I emailed the agency to tell them we were
re-hired, and that I would be sending them a 20% commission check. I
also said I hoped it would allay their misunderstandings about my
character and business practices.
Again, no
reply.
Despite
the fact they screwed up and are apparently too narcissistic to
admit it, they'll still get their commission check from me, because I
play by the rules. It's just a shame that a "professional" booking
agency would stoop to such childish behavior.
Since
this section of my website is a blog and does not provide a means
for others to post rebuttals, I don't think it would be ethical of me
to publicly state the name
of the above booking agency. I can say that it was neither Talent
Associates nor ACA
Entertainment, both of whom I've been pleased to work with over the
years. If you're interested in learning the name of the booking agency
that gave me problems, please email
me.
My point
for writing this article is to remind all of my fellow
bandleaders out there to be wary of the contracts you sign.
Understanding when you owe a commission is no less important as
understanding when you don't.
Phasing
Out Compact Discs
March
12, 2018
If
you go to my music page, you'll notice that all of my music is offered
via
download, and my latest album is available on all of the major music
subscription services. In 2016, music streaming services
finally surpassed CDs to become the most
popular way in which people buy music, but CD sales have been declining
dramatically since the early 2000's.
The
main reason for the decline, as it pertains to polka music sales, is an
aging target market. Whereas
polka music fans used to buy CDs to listen to at home and while
traveling in the car, many of them have now moved into senior
residences and no longer travel. They're not going out and following
bands like they used to, and therefore no longer buying recorded music.
Cookie-cutter, beer-drinking polka CDs still sell to the general public
at
Oktoberfests, but the discerning polka music market that once thrived
has dwindled to the point where it's no longer
economically viable for most local polka bands to manufacture CDs.
Polka music distribution has always
lagged
behind the rest of the music industry by about fifteen years, so
compact discs will reign unchallenged in the polka market for
a number of years yet. But the bands that will be making most of the
CD sales are the traveling bands who can spread their points of sale
out
across multiple festivals around the country. Local bands, who once
relied on a thriving local fan base, are now facing up to a 75%
reduction in compact disc sales compared to just fifteen years ago.
My next recording, which I estimate will be released around the
beginning of June, will likely be my last compact disc release. From
then on, my music will be released via digital distribution only, which
means it will be available through online music streaming services and
nowhere else. There's always a possibility of an unknown factor causing
enough of a local sales bump to have me rethink my position on
manufacturing CDs, but I'm not counting on it. My latest album is being
enjoyed by music service subscribers all over the world, and that suits
me just fine.
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