Overheard @ Day 1 Of Scion’s Music(less) Music Conference In Los Angeles

/ By Kyle Bylin / in Music Business/ No comment

This guest post is by Max Willens, editor of We All Make Music, a website dedicated to helping musicians thrive in a post-label world.

"If I charged more for what I do, then everybody would start nickel and diming one another, and the whole thing would just fall apart." Black Lips' Joe Bradley, on why he doesn't take extra money for his role as the band's tour manager.

"On average, fans pay 50% more than the minimum amount set by artists." Bandcamp's Ethan Diamond on his site's pay what you want option.

"When you sign with a record label, you'd better have your team together, because there's no money for artist development anymore. All you can hope for is some marketing and ad money." Jayson Jackson, former VP Marketing & Promo, Bad Boy Entertainment.

"People talk about selling out, they're hailing artists like Bob Dylan or the Stones or the Beatles, but they were aligned with a social movement. I don't know anyone who's a part of a social movement in America today." - Naeem Juwan, a.k.a. Spank Rock, on selling out

"If Camel or whoever wants me to play, what fan is going to be pissed that they got to see me for free." -Tommie Sunshine, on the question of selling out

"If you were on welfare, you got an extra $100 per month if you worked in publishing. And me and my friends thought that sounded like a pretty good scam." -Suroosh Alvi, founder of Vice, on his company's humble beginnings

Editor: Jesse VonDoom of Cash Music also presented and explained the non-profit music tech company's unique mission.