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How Do You Make It in Music Business?

Aired August 07, 2002 - 10:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR; So, you want to be a star, and you can't get that kind of national exposure, what do you do to make it in the music business, or at least get your foot in the door? Kashif is the author of "Everything You'd Better Know About the Record Industry." He's also a veteran award-winning songwriter, producer, and artist who's sold over 70 million records, and he's also worked with talent ranging from Whitney Houston, to Kenny G.

Kashif joins us this morning from Los Angeles.

Hey, how are you doing? Good to see you.

KASHIF, MUSIC PRODUCER: Good morning, good to see you.

HARRIS: Haven't heard or seen you from a long time. Good to see you this morning.

Have you been watching this show?

KASHIF: Yes, I have.

HARRIS: What do you think about it?

KASHIF: Well, I think that's it's great. I think when you have an opportunity like that, it's a chance of a lifetime and you should make the most of it. Unfortunately, not many people will have that chance.

HARRIS: Not many people have that talent, either.

KASHIF: That's true too.

HARRIS: For people who have the talent, this book you pot together, it's book very interesting. You didn't write on behalf of any studio or anything, want the let the audience know. This basically is a how-to, to pretty much get yourself started in the business. How did you come up with this idea?

KASHIF: My career has been very fortunate. I've worked with a lot of different artists, and folks always ask me questions about how to break into the business, and I felt obligated to share that information. I've been so fortunate.

HARRIS: Some of that information. We have graphic here about things that you're saying that people are supposed to know. Number one, educate yourself about the business. Now, that's a pretty broad piece of advice right there.

KASHIF: Well, you know, when you break into any business, you usually educate yourself. If you are a lawyer, you go to medical school. If you want to be a medical doctor, you go through the rigors of medical training for years. But the music and entertainment industry you usually just jump in, and you're jumping into an industry that generates incredible revenues, but if you don't know what you're doing, you may not be able to maximize on that revenue being generated.

HARRIS: What is it about the business that you would suggest that someone get out there and try to know first?

KASHIF: First, in general, you should know how to operate in business. You want to have a good attorney. You want to have a good manager. You want to have a good accountant. These folks will guide you in the direction that you should be headed in and help you from making like great pitfalls that most people make.

HARRIS: You also -- I'm sorry to cut you off there.

KASHIF: Yes, most people sign contracts that they have no idea what those contracts mean. And at the end of the day, they're poor. Look at Toni Braxton, for instance, entered into a contract, and she had idea poor, poor girl, and she suffered from that. She's covering.

HARRIS: I heard that before. This picture on the screen right now is one of the sample documents that you've got in the book as well. You do more than just tell folks to get the know the business. You actually show the kind of documents and things people should be looking out for. Tell us why you do that and what these are to look for here?

KASHIF: I want people -- I want young musicians, singers songwriters and music entrepreneur to really comfortable with these agreements. And when you first get them in your hands, it's an emotional reaction. And most of the time, folks will either not hire a music industry attorney. They will just sign the contract. And unfortunately, once you sign it, you're held to that contract, and that can be very devastating, if it's not to your benefit. So I want folks to be familiar and comfortable with that.

HARRIS: The other pieces of advice, we had them up on the screen a moment ago -- make a quality demo. That seems to makes sense. Establish the right contacts and choose the right dream team. We asked folks out there this morning, Kashif, to send some e-mail questions for you. We got a lot of folks out there, apparently, who think they ought to be on this show.

This is from Carrie P. How would you advise her? "How do I protect my music and words from being copied? Just putting it into a sealed envelope and mailing it to a record label ain't protection.

KASHIF: Well, she's got a partially right. You can put it in a sealed envelope and send it to yourself. But it has to be registered, and once you receive it back, you don't open it, put it in a safe place. But that's only partial protection, because in order to receive maximum protection or the maximum resource should someone plagiarize your music, you have to file it with the copyright office in Washington D.C.

HARRIS: Let's see if we can get another one in her quickly.

We got one from Megan. "I am 14 years old. And I'm on an independent label." Way to go, Megan. "It is distributed in Wal-Mart and Christian book stores, but I want to be on a major label. How do I get there?"

KASHIF: Well, I mean, she really needs to determine whether she really wants to be on a major label. If that independent label doing a great job, and being in Target and Wal-Mart is certainly a great start. If she starts to develop a sales story, if that, you know, product starts to move out of those stores, then those record companies will start looking for her. I would suggest to her to go to her parents and sit down and ask them to find her a good music industry attorney, because they will come away if she starts selling a lot of units.

HARRIS: As a matter of fact, since you bring up that "p" word, parents I must say, that's one of the things that struck me about the book. This might be the best for parents of people who are trying to break into the business to buy. Do we have time for one more e-mail.

Let's get one more. I think we have time for one more.

"Is it better to go with the flow and perform music that is the most popular, play what people have not heard yet?" That's from Chris. I'd love to hear your answer on this one, Kashif.

KASHIF: I think there's two answers to that. I think when you're starting out, and making your first record, I think it's a good idea to do a remake, because people are familiar with that song, and usually when you do a remake you do remake of a song that's already been a hit, if it's been a hit , then that's one thing out of the way. You know the song, at least, is a big hit. That's a big part of the problem right there. But also, being able to create original music, I think, has a lot to do with what record companies and music executives are going to be interested in you. So original music is really the way you're going to make your career last a long time.

HARRIS: You're talking to one guy who is starving for some original stuff. I would love to hear some new stuff that is original.

Kashif, thanks for the advice. Appreciate it. The title of the book is "Everything You Better Know About the Record Industry." There's also a CD-ROM that Kashif is putting out to help you get everything -- get your home studio organized and get yourself fully protected.

Kashif, all the best to you.

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