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Introduction: The Highest Art Auction in History
Recently a Christie’s art sale became the highest auction in history. The sale included
works by Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among
others and in total generated $495
million. The sale
established 16 new world auction records, with nine works selling for more than
$10m (£6.6m) and 23 for more than $5m (£3.2m). Christie's said the record breaking sales
reflected "a new era in the art market".
The
top lot of Wednesday's sale was Pollock's drip painting Number 19, 1948, which
fetched $58.4m (£38.3m) - nearly twice its pre-sale estimate.
All
three works set the highest prices ever fetched for the artists at auction. Christie's
described the $495,021,500 total - which included commissions - as
"staggering". Only four of the 70 lots on offer went unsold.
In addition, a 1968 oil painting
by Gerhard Richter has set a new record for the highest auction price achieved
by a living artist. Richter's photo-painting Domplatz,
Mailand (Cathedral Square, Milan) sold for $37.1 million (£24.4 million). Sotheby's
described Domplatz, Mailand, which depicts a cityscape painted in a style that
suggests a blurred photograph, as a "masterpiece of 20th Century art"
and the "epitome" of the artist's 1960s photo-painting canon. Don
Bryant, founder of Napa Valley's Bryant Family Vineyard and the painting's new
owner, said the work "just knocks me over".
Brett
Gorvy, head of post-war and contemporary art, said "The remarkable bidding
and record prices set reflect a new era in the art market," he said. Steven
Murphy, CEO of Christie's International, said new collectors were helping drive
the boom.
Myths of the Music-Fine Art Price Differential
When I came across this article I was stunned at the prices
these artworks were able to obtain. Several of them would hardly evoke a
positive emotional response in me, while others might only slightly, but for
almost all of them I really don’t understand how their prices are reflected in
the work, and vice versa. Obviously, these pieces were not intended for people
like me, while wealthy patrons certainly see their objective artistic value.
But why doesn’t music attract these kinds of prices? Is it even possible for a
piece of recorded music, not music memorabilia or a music artifact (such as a
rare record, LP, bootleg, T-shirt, album artwork, etc.), to be worth $1 million
or more? Are all musicians and music composers doomed to struggle in the music
industry and claw their way up into a career in music? If one painting can be
valued at $1 million, why can’t a song or piece of music also be valued
similarly? Apparently, the $.99 download
is the highest price a song is able to command at market value, no matter what its
quality or content, and the musician or composer must become accustomed to his
value as such.
The financial equation looks something like this:
1 painting = $37 million
1 song = $.99
Now here are a few statements that should help us clarify
what the monetary or value discrepancy between painting and music is based
upon.
(1)
There are fewer painters than there are
musicians.
(2) Musicians
are less talented than painters?
(3) It is
easier to create music than it is to paint.
(4) The
public values paintings more than music.
(5) Paintings
are more beautiful than music.
(6) Paintings
are impossible to copy unlike music.
(7) Painters
work harder than musicians and composers.
(8) Blah,
blah, blah.
Hardly anyone agrees with all of these statements and yet
all, or at least some of them, would have to be true in order for the price of
paintings to so greatly exceed the cost of music. Moreover, I doubt that art
collectors and great painters have to deal with as much legal red tape as do
musicians when releasing their work into the public domain, so why aren’t the
rewards equal, if not greater for musicians who have to work almost as much
protecting their work as in producing it. Musicians and composers must do more
than authenticate their work and obtain accurate appraisals concerning what
their work is worth.
Maybe it’s fame, and not money, musicians are after? That
would explain why most musicians settle for the low pay they receive from
record deals and digital downloads. Perhaps, that’s also why many of them are
touring more often to increase their fame and not their fortunes. But wait a minute,
that’s where musician actually make most of their money from live performances
and the selling of merchandise. I guess this is why many musicians see
themselves not as composers, but rather as performers and entertainers. So what
can musicians do, who don’t see themselves as entertainers, but instead as
composers who create music as a fine art? Because they too have a strong desire
to earn a living to support themselves in their chosen profession, there must
be a specialized approach whereby they present their work to art collectors in
search of assets and curators for unique pieces to place in their private galleries.
In thinking about how a musician can follow the example set
by painters in the fine arts, I've isolated 4 principles that should help to
make the spectacular financial rewards they've reached possible for you. So let’s
analyze some of the characteristics that govern the market for fine art and see
how musicians can apply these concepts to their creative, production, and
marketing processes.
The Ideal Vehicle for Music as Fine Art
Here are 4 principles and practical suggestions for
musicians who want to elevate their music into the realm of fine art by
following the example of the great painters of the past as well as today’s top
painters and art collectors. Part of the reason why I think art collectors and
the art world in general places such a high value on paintings is that they are
tangible assets, whereas music is not.
1) Strive to make unique music or music
collections.
The composer must design experiments with sound or
compositional techniques. Some music belongs in the realm of the public, while
other music solely belongs in the realm of fine art. It’s really not that
difficult to tell the difference. The difference is clear when one compares the
environment of the nightclub and the music one finds there with the elevated
environment of the ballet or opera and its music. The difference is not
necessarily one of the types of music, but rather in the composer’s sonic
fingerprint. In other words, not everyone thinks Jackson Pollock was a great
painter, but everyone acknowledges that it took him years of development to
reach a point where his style could be born. It’s the style of the artist or
composer that will call to attention wealthy patrons, the respect of his peers,
and widespread admiration. In music, the style of the composer, regardless of
genre, I call ‘a signature sound.’ It’s the signature sound that music and art
collectors will want to own and for that they might be willing to pay or bid up
to a higher price.
2) Create
a music gallery.
This could be modeled after
the art gallery where one or several artist put their work on display. The
difference with the music gallery is that you would have a hall filled with
listening rooms or stations. These showings would not be live performances, but
instead will be in effect sound installations. You could also separate one hall
into several compartments for different composers. The music showing would be
an exclusive event provided to serious music and art collectors who actively
seek out sonic experiences and buy what they like. The purpose of the music
gallery would be the same as the art gallery – to give the public a sample of
the artist’s talent, to give critics something to write about, to have other
composers comment on the work of a peer, and to create buzz in the art world.
3) Turn your music into a tangible asset.
The obvious difference between a painting and music is that
one is a tangible artwork and the other is not. This may or may not be one of
the key reasons why music cannot demand a much higher price to purchase. In any
case, one of the defining characteristics of a painting is that the medium and
the art are one. Unlike music, where the music must be transferred onto another
object such as a cassette tape, vinyl, CD, or mP3 player, with a painting (or
sculpture) an object has been transformed into art. In other words, a cassette
or CD can never be transformed into art by music and the canvas or stone isn’t
merely a medium that makes a painting or sculpture transportable. The cassette
and CD are more akin to a photograph of a painting, rather than a true
expressions where the medium and the art being one.
So one step a musician can take to elevate their music into
fine art is by making your music and its medium one. The best way that I can
think of to do this is by looking to the past. Ironically, the vinyl LP very
closely achieved this quality with album art, sizing, and packaging. Let’s
quickly discuss some of the qualities of the vinyl LP and valuable marketing
angles that I think opens up interesting approaches for musicians to turn their
music into fine art at price appropriate levels.
Today there are several companies around that let you
customize your LP vinyl album and artwork. This is wonderful because it gives
you total control over the art direction your packaging takes. This is an
expressive way to bring the personality of the artist, band, or project out
into physical form. Many colors are available and unique mixtures are also
possible to add a dimension to your music that isn’t normally possible with cassette
tapes, CD’s, or digital downloads. Even split colored and glow-in-the-dark
vinyl are available for bold composers looking for something with a bit more
flair. In the end, really it’s all about the music, but honestly, when it comes
to painting is it really always about the painting? To answer that question
review the pieces shown earlier in this article.
To learn more about the vinyl album manufacturing process
check out this video featuring one of the oldest companies in the business -
United Record Pressing. Here’s a brief segment about them from VH1’s “For What
It’s Worth” – segment starts at 8:30 min.
Get More:
For What It's Worth
Etched Art and Your Album
Another fantastic way to elevate the music via packaging is
to consider etched art in vinyl. Etched Vinyl is an
image pressed into an unplayable side of
your record which has a frosted appearance. The Etched side does not contain
any grooves or music but adds a real touch of style to your music package. I
don’t know if etched art can also be made in to a hologram, but that would be
another dimension that would enhance the visual component of your music
package. As you see below the artwork can be very elaborate with etched vinyl
so you can also splurge with tremendous creativity in this direction with your
album art. And yes, you can custom your LP’s so that you can manufacture a
color vinyl album with a piece of etched art on one side.
To see more examples of etched album art, click here.
Art and LP Sizes
The last aspect I’d like to touch on is the size of the LP.
Unlike the cassettes and CD’s, which both come in a single universal size
determined by the media player, LP’s are played on phonographs or turntables whose
arms can adjust to the size of different LP’s. In general, LP’s come in 3
sizes: 7”, 10”, and 12”. And because the album covers have to provide a sleeve
for a large surface, they correspondingly must also be large. At a minimum the
12” LP will require an album cover that’s 1 square foot. That’s about 4 times
the size of a standard CD and anywhere from 8 – 12 times the size of cassette
tape. To give you another sense of this measurement, houses are measured in
square or cubic feet.
If you think about it even further the size of the 12” LP is
actually the size of a small painting, while the CD and cassette tape would be
tiny and miniatures. The wonderful thing about album covers is that they too
can vary in size depending on their design. Foldable or dual LP covers are also
available which provide a much larger surface with which to more greatly
present amazing album art work to dazzle customers. The dual LP album cover
would give you exactly a 24” x 12” surface to work with.
For examples of how elaborate and spectacular vinyl album
cover art can be click on amazing album art or great album art.
[A Note on LP’s and Playing Speed: Interestingly, LP’s
also play in different speeds: 33½ and 45 rpm’s (revolution per minute). I
remember as a kid one of the fun parts to playing LP’s was in changing the
speeds to incorrect settings for the album I was listening to. For example, if
you speed up or slow down a record, the results are sometimes artistically
quite startling (usually a good thing) or amusing (think Alvin and the
Chipmunks or Freddie Kruger). Another possibility for manipulating the sound of
the LP is in physically turning the album counter-clockwise on the turntable
just for kicks. DJ quality turntables also have an additional feature known as
pitch or speed control that allows them to control the music’s tempo and
timbre, so as to match one piece of music with another piece for mixing. Some
cassette players also have this feature, but its use was very limited and
impractical.
The reason I wanted to remind you of this aspect to the LP
is because this is another feature you can exploit in your music package. Requiring
an owner of one of your unique music packages to change playing speeds for
every other track on the LP might be really annoying or could be viewed by the
buyer as an integral part of their listening experience. Currently, I have no
clear ideas how playing speeds can be used to enhance the listening experience
or music presentation, but I do think this feature can be part of the LP’s value
(in price and desirability) to a music or art collector as well as another
reason why they would want to acquire it as a tangible asset.]
The Non-Vinyl LP and other Miscellaneous
Considerations
Other more sophisticated forms of the approach I’m
describing here for the LP would keep the concept of the LP at the center of
the music package, while removing the vinyl as material. The reason why I’m
thinking about dropping the vinyl out as a material base is because it is a
cheap material substance. Ideally, the perfect substance for a fine art music
LP would consist of a material that didn’t warp, couldn’t be shattered, that
would prevent grooves from wearing out, and that would be scratch-proof. So
that would mean you’d need to do your homework and find out what’s possible
with all known exotic substances, metal alloys, industrial metals, specialized
plastics, and non-scratch surfaces to achieve the perfect substance for a fine
art music LP. Moreover, this substance would play CD quality sound on any or a
special turntable with a uniquely designed needle made specifically for this
material or album.
If a fine art music LP were to ever come into existence it
would have to stand the test of time and survive usage, storage, and travel as
it transfers custody from one owner to another over centuries. These are the
main reasons why owners of fine art music LP’s will need to get insurance for
the asset. A non-vinyl LP could also be manufactured to blow away the art collector,
music enthusiast, and investor with something like an LP made of 24-karat gold
or another precious metal. This one alteration could make such an LP worth a $1
million or more depending on the aggressiveness of the bidders. Overall you’ll
have to do some research of your own to discover what your options are and can
be in order to raise your LP into the class of an investment, a tangible asset
(collectible), and fine art. In the absence of the existence of this perfect
substance, we must aim for novelty to achieve appeal.
So let’s review some of the ideas we’ve covered. First of
all, we discussed how important it is for an artist to have a signature sound
because this is what art collectors will want to own since it represents the
years of development the artist used to achieve their own personal style. Then
we talked about the possibility of creating music galleries and how they would
be useful for introducing new individual works or unique collections of music
for art and music collectors. We also covered what I think is the most important
aspect of this article, which is design and how to turn your music in fine art
via packaging. This concept is based on the idea of making the music and the
media one, so that you can maximize the visual impact your music package has on
a potential buyer. Other suggestions I recommended included using colored
vinyl, etched art, large LP sizes, and album art to further assist you in
appealing to the curator and wealthy collectors.
Another aspect we should explore has to do with the
exclusivity factor in regard to ownership of fine art. Not everyone can afford
a Picasso, but those who can, generally, aren’t willing to share it with
everyone because they want exclusive ownership over the Picasso, that’s part of
the package of owning fine art. The way to provide exclusive ownership to
interested parties is through contracts, so you’ll have to hire legal advice to
shape the legal framework governing ownership of the album. You want your
buyers to know that they can transfer ownership of the album to heirs or sell
it to other private collectors as you can with any other tangible asset, but
that they will also be responsible for the capital gains taxes on such a sale
as well as the legal paper work. This is part of the process of owning fine
art, which they’ve come to expect in their dealings with galleries and other
collectors, so deal with them as a professional.
In addition, you’ll want to prevent your buyers from
publicly broadcasting the music from your fine art LP. It’s ok if they talk
about it and even play it for a small group of people, but what they can’t do
is make copies or profit from your recordings. The beauty of a limit supply and
contracts is that together they will help you to track all of the owners over
your lifetime. If one of them can be found to be responsible for leaking the
material out into public, you’ll have a lawsuit on your hands which you should
easily win. But if a leak was to happen, the value (price) of the LP might drop
precipitously and demand could even dry up completely. So do your due diligence
and find good legal counsel.
Similarly, the law of supply and demand must also be part of
the equation for pricing your music as fine art. Basically, the law of supply
and demand works like this: the greater the supply, the lower the demand and
the lower the supply, the greater the demand. In other words, the more of
something there is, the less it’s worth and the less of something there is, the
more it’s worth. The law doesn’t always work out this perfectly, but as a
general rule it works. The problem with this law is that it only slightly takes
into account mass psychology and the way demand is created, which is by
advertising, marketing, and PR (public relations). Without these 3 factors
working in your favor, there will be little or no demand for your fine art
music LP, no matter how small your supply is. It’s only when these 3 factors
are working in your favor and demand is fairly high that the price of your
limited edition fine art music LP can skyrocket. So be thorough with your advertising,
marketing, and PR and make sure the demand is there among your target audience
prior to pressing your LP so that you can be certain your album sells out.
A Digital Point of View
Some of the ideas I’ve presented here so far can be applied
to music in digital formats as well. For example, a limited edition, gorgeously
designed iPod or alterative mP3 player with your fine art music LP built into
its locked memory is one approach. Even a really cool thumb drive could work.
You just plug it in and enjoy exclusive access to an album only a select few
have in their possession. The number one problem with a digital format is that
it’s too easy to copy files from one device to another, which is why a locked
or unhackable memory is crucial. Without the locked memory, the exclusivity
factor cannot exist and undermines the creation of a fine art music digital
device.
Here’s one example of an mP3 player that has the potential
to impress an art or music collector. As long as this player was manufactured
using some or all of the principles in this article, then a fine art digital
album locked in its memory can sold for a hefty price.
And for the extreme high-end buyers here’s a likely
candidate for an mP3 player that would act as a vehicle to house a very limited
edition fine art digital album. This iPod is made from 22k gold and it features
an Apple logo made of diamonds, it estimate price is roughly $120,000.
These are by no means all of the ways in which these ideas
can be applied to your situation or in these formats, but whatever you choose
to do you’ll need to formulate the right balance of factors that make sales
happen. Many of you may be stunned by the extent of initial investment capital
you may require to elevate your music into a fine art collectible, which is why
you may need to amplify your people skills and look into taking courses in
sales training. Several of the approaches I mentioned may require you to raise
capital from a bank, institution such as a private equity firm, or venture
capitalists to get you started, otherwise you’ll need to get access to credit
at low interest rates. This will give you more time to implement your program
and generate your first wave of sales.
If your business plan for turning your music into fine art
is solid and your sales presentation is thorough, then the money will find you as
more investors see profit in the opportunity. Additionally, wealthy patrons may
see your work as an important contribution to art history or your art may really
resonate with them to such a great degree that they may just give you money to
finish your project. In either case, be business-like, get all of your
agreements in writing and have them reviewed by a competent legal representative
expert at intellectual property issues and financial transactions in
particular.
4) Put your music to auction.
Part of the reason why the paintings in the beginning of
this article sold for so much money is because competing bids pushed the price
upward. After you’ve designed an amazing fine art music LP using some or all of
the ideas I’ve presented here, you’ll need to decide how to auction your
product. Many options are available but probably the most well-known is eBay.
It would be very easy for you to set up a simple website where you talk about
your album on video, in a music blog, on the radio, in interviews, on music or
artists-oriented podcasts, and your own articles, so that you can send all the
traffic to your eBay page where all your selling are copies of your limited
edition fine art music LP. The simplicity of this plan is that you, along with
eBay as your broker, control the entire process. The idea here is as with most
auctions and that’s to watch the bidders compete with one another as everyone
watches the price get higher and higher.
The Radiohead Experiment: Name Your Price
The band Radiohead did something like this but differently.
Instead of auctioning a one of a kind or limited edition exclusive digital
album, they allowed their fans to pay what they wanted for their new release at
the time. The experiment brought in mixed results but overall was a success for
the band members who made more money personally than on any previous album.
However, it’s been reported that 38% of buyers spent an average of $6, while
the other 62% downloaded the album without paying anything at all - $0.
Globally, the average price paid was
around $2.26 and $3.23 in the U.S. Of those who did pay something, 17% paid
below $4, but 12% paid between $8 and $12.
NIN and a Tiered Approach
Likewise, tiered fine art music packages whose prices range
from a few dollars up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars are another way
to entice collectors to buy music as fine art. Here’s how Nine Inch Nail’s
Trent Reznor made a bundle with his “Ghosts I – IV” album release. In total 5
tiers are available.
The first tier offers a free download of the first 9 tracks
from the album.
The 2nd tier offers a $5 digital download with a
40 page PDF.
The 3rd tier offers a 2 CD’s with a 16 page
booklet for $10.
The 4th tier is a $75 deluxe edition which
includes 2 audio CD’s, a data DVD with all 36 tracks in multi-track format, a
48 page book of photographs by Phillip Graybill and Rob Sheridan, a 40 page PDF
book, and an accompanying slideshow on a Blu-Ray disc.
And on the 5th tier you get pretty much
everything else on the lower tiers except you also get a 3rd book
with art prints of imagery from Ghosts I – IV and each limited edition copy is
numbered and personally signed by Trent Reznor. This limited edition was
restricted to 2500 copies with a limit of one per customer for a grand total of
$300. The $300 tier was known as the
Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition Package and is currently sold out.
The financials on the 5th tier can be calculated
really quickly and I’d like to do that with you right now. Since we don’t know
how many of the other packages were sold we cannot come up with a good estimate
for Reznor’s income on them. However, with the Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition
Package, we know there were only 2500 copies and that each sold for $300. So,
2500 x 300 = $750,000. Imagine what prices could have been reached if Reznor
had allowed the buyers to bid on the Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition Package. He
could have started the bidding at or just below $300 and watched the prices go
up from there. I think he still would’ve sold every copy and his income might
well have been closer to $1 million. In a bidding environment, a $400 average
price per package would have been needed to reach the $1 million target. Let’s
not forget though his $750,000 income on this album package excluded his income
from tiers 2 – 4, which certainly brought his total revenues further passed $1
million than anyone realizes.
To learn more about how NIN structured their website to
facilitate their sales, click here.
So with all of this information now at your disposal I think
it’s possible for every composer and musician to rethink their approach to
selling music on- and off-line to maximize profits. All of the ideas in this
article can only work though if the artist follows them as specified. So let me
leave you with a brief summary of the key concepts we’ve covered throughout.
1)
Strive to make unique music or music
collections. Possessing a signature sound is a prerequisite for turning your
music into fine art. In the art world, this will be known as your sonic
fingerprint. It will signify a distinct style found in all of your music and
unique only to you.
2) Create
a music gallery. Come up with your own ideas for how to present your new compositions
at a music showing. It should look and feel much like an art exhibit, but be
adapted for music. My suggestions included setting up private listening
stations for individual art collectors or small rooms for a limited listening audience
and auctions to occur.
3) Turn your
music into a tangible asset. The primary difference we’ve identified between a
painting and music is that the painting elevates the canvas and paint into art,
whereas music can never elevate a cassette tape or CD into art. Another key
difference is that a painting elevates and transforms its medium, while music
is almost always is simply transported by its medium. Consider the vinyl LP as
an ideal vehicle for music as fine art.
4) Even
though we’ll sacrifice the best in sound quality, nearly all of the
characteristics and features specific to the vinyl LP make it the ideal vehicle
for music as fine art. Remember, we’re not trying to be practical we’re talking
about art and novelty not sound quality. For example, colored vinyl (solid
color, mixtures of color or split color), etched art, large album art, and the manipulation
of playing speeds are all qualities that contribute to the LP’s specialized
nature. Even the possibilities of manufacturing LP’s made of precious metals,
exotic materials such as industrial metal alloys, high-grade plastics, and
non-scratch surfaces can exponentially increase the fine art LP’s value.
5) Figure out
ways to adapt these ideas to music in digital formats. This may require you to
research technology companies that may be willing to design a limited edition
mP3 player or a really cool thumb drive just for your music in a win-win partnership
for massive profits. Just be careful to do your due diligence and protect your fine
art music with legal contracts and unhackable technologies to prevent pirating.
So be sure to have legal counsel on your team and get familiar with tech
companies or services that can help you stop illegal filing sharing. This is
extremely important in cases where frauds of fine art pieces destroy the price
and demand for the work in question. Above all, exclusivity is part of the
package of fine art ownership, so be sure you can guarantee this for your
buyers.
6) Lastly,
use an auction system to create massive profits. Keep the law of supply and
demand in mind when building your music into a tangible asset and don’t forget
the vital role advertising, marketing, and PR play in creating demand. There’s
no purpose in creating a supply of anything for which there is no demand.
______________________________________
Related Music:
Ceremony
Geoforms
Take Me Higher
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Related Music:
Ceremony
Geoforms
Take Me Higher
______________________________________
Related Articles:
A Living Album: Why Stereo Thesis Albums Grow and Change Over Time
_______________________________________
A Living Album: Why Stereo Thesis Albums Grow and Change Over Time
_______________________________________
P.S. To support
Stereo Thesis with a financial donation, click here.
Marc
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