Moderator: Stuart Ross, Music Tour Consulting
Paul Korzilius, BJM
Doc McGhee, Doc McGhee Entertainment
Steve Rennie, REN Management
Jesse Aratow, Madison House Inc. West

Paul Korzilius, Jesse Aratow, Stuart Ross, Steve Rennie and Doc McGhee

It's not easy to be noticed as an artist these days. With an over abundance of talent and so little help from record companies, the possible solution is the "Doc McGhee School of Management," as dubbed by Incubus manager and fellow panelist Steve Rennie.

Maybe poking fun at one of his newest clients, a pre-teen metal band called Crooked X, McGhee, who manages KISS and shepherded Bon Jovi in the early days, said one way to tour more and build an audience is to start young.

"It's fucking unbelievable," McGhee said in one his many tirades that had everyone, especially the other panelists, cracking up. "You got these 4-year-olds, and you tell them, 'Get out of the playpen and get out there." Rennie said that when asked by young people interested in the business about how to be the next Doc McGhee, he can only tell them that the business has changed enough that you just can't be a Doc McGhee anymore.

"Kids from Nashville know more than I do," McGhee said, adding that artists today really need to get to work and that managers are there to provide better marketing opportunities.

Steve Rennie

Panel moderator and Tom Waits manager Stuart Ross brought up Radiohead's experiment in distributing its latest album on the Web, making fans responsible for the pricing of the "record." He cited reports that "sadly, it backfired" and that fans would steal music if unrestrained.

"My biggest peeve is the devaluation of what artists do in recording," McGee said. "People want to give it away for less than coffee at Starbucks. "Maybe records should be 50 bucks. But to have someone tell you how to sell it and cost you to sell it - devaluing isn't a good idea," he said, presumably questioning iTunes' 99-cent-per-song policy.

But McGhee didn't say the Radio-head experiment was anything close to a failure, calling it a "tremendous marketing ploy" that "sold." And if it didn't sell, he said, he would have said it did anyway.

Rennie jokingly said that's what managing is really all about, and commended Radiohead's "genius" in thinking outside the box.

Touching on one of the biggest themes of this year's CIC, Rennie was the most vocal in his distaste toward the 360-degree record label deal, saying, "There's something strange about record companies, having enough trouble with records" and wanting to get in on more lucrative aspects of the business.

>Doc McGhee and Stuart Ross

Ross said the 360-degree deal's motivation is simple.

"Record labels wants to know how they can get gross ticket income - I swear to God - and become promoters," he said.

Jesse Aratow of Madison House, which handles about 15 acts, explained that his company has started up a label and merchandising, with publishing the only thing missing.

"I'd rather the buck stop with me than with someone inexperienced or irresponsible," he said.

Paul Korzilius of Bon Jovi Management said he'd like to think that 360 deals could work but it would be tough. Although "every time something is consolidated, everyone talks about saving money and being more efficient," he said he doesn't understand how it would work in regards to publishing.

McGhee said it would make sense if it "was a great marriage." Much like in his discussion of why he's stayed independent, he said there's no point to these deals unless you add value. He brought up KISS, which teamed with Viacom's VH1 Classic to sell three box sets. Each went three times platinum with no record label.

The panelists also admitted that many artists basically have 360 deals already, just with three or four different specialized companies.