WELCOME TO TREATWELL.COM
Hart: We are different because we are bringing dignity back to artists and audiences. Dignity. Respect. Value. We’re going to lead the way, and show the rest of the music industry that you can still make money without engaging in exploitative behavior. I don’t blame the rest of the music industry, because they are a business, and when they make money, many families get fed. However, they could be making so much more money if they qualitized artists and took steps to endear their consumer base. They know a lot, but they don’t know all of what they can do, they don’t know how things could be different, and I believe if they are just shown a better way to go, they’ll do it. Dignifying artist and consumers in new ways. So Treatwell’s success will provide a positive role model that will be good for everyone.
Frank: Uh, right, but, what is dignity? I mean, we know what dignity is, but how do you quantify that?
Hart: Quantify dignity? You mean, how are we going to bring dignity back to musicians and fans? Let me first touch on musicians. We want musicians to own their own music. We want them to be free, financially, artistically, and creatively. The best way to explain this is to give an example of what we’re doing right now. An example, let’s see. Let’s really dig deep into this example, because it’s a good one. It’s the boilerplate. The example is the relationship between Treatwell Music and Taric Mirza. Yes. This man has been a dear friend of mine for many years. He is a brilliant drummer. And it’s more than just his technical prowess, which is, as you will hear, mighty great indeed. But he’s more than a technician. The guy’s got soul. He doesn’t just bang out a static beat and keep time. He’ll listen to the demo for the songs he’s going to perform, and he will listen to the ebb and flow of every melody, every little change-up, every finesse. He then weaves his drumlines, carefully and sensitively, around the melodies, and the harmonic textures, and the result is a real composition. You’ll hear what I’m talking about, because he played the drums on Treatwell’s soon-to-be flagship album, The Ghost of Rock Awakens. It’s a guitar rock album. I write and play all the instruments except the drums, I write and sing the lyrics, all the vocals. But I can’t do drums. It’s outside of my intuition, my skill, my everything. My drumming would be boring, boom-chk-boom-boom-chk stuff. And the Ghost of Rock Awakens, this album is really something special. It needed something really out of this world for the drums. And thanks to Taric, that is there now. Taric flew in from California three times for grueling all day and all night sessions with no breaks. One time he was even redoing some songs from when our first studio lost a lot of our material. And he was always so positive, so energetic. And he worked so hard on his own, listening to the demos night after night, and he’d call me, and we’d discuss the subtle finesse of ideas he had for this song or that song. You can tell how much soul went into those songs. The drumwork is amazing.
Hart: Yes. I wanted to give Taric props, because it shows how incredibly valuable is Taric’s participation on the album. Treatwell Music respects that. Here’s how we’re handling it, here’s how we think everyone should handle it. We’re not locking him into a contract where he can only put out albums through us, or only perform for us. Instead, we’re going to walk Taric through setting up his own entertainment corporation, and Treatwell will pay the expenses. Happily. Our agreement will be for this one album. An agreement that only talks about how Taric will be compensated. We aren’t trying him down. We don’t want to control him. Our business will be business between two equal parties at a table. Nobody has to lose their freedom. Most record labels out there typically only compensate artists with very complex schemes based on royalties debited against their expense accounts. The math, I’ve studied it quite extensively, and I say without reservation that record labels only make the math so convoluted so they can sneak in a thousand different ways to deal dishonestly with the artist, charge him with expenses that don’t really exist, and shave off money to which they have no right from his profits. Over two bucks an album debited against their expense account for production costs per album. Ridiculous, it doesn’t cost that to produce an album when you do it in bulk.
Frank: What? That’s ridiculous.
Hart: Some people say it’s ridiculous for us to do that. Ridiculous like a fox. But you’ll have to bear with me. This system, this way of doing it, it’s better. But we’ll get to that. Bear with Hart. Taric performed creatively, okay? He composed. A piece of him is in these songs. So Treatwell says it’s only fair that he can use them. He can re-record them. He can pull the already recorded songs right off the album and put them on his own compilation to sell. He can sell licenses to movies to use the songs, although in that last case, I would still get paid on it, and he’d have to get my approval, just as if I were to do the same, he would get paid, and I would need to get his approval. Because I don’t want my music on Debbie Does Denmark, and Taric doesn’t want his music on Libertarian Lampoon Vacation, because Taric is a staunch and scholarly Libertarian. But aside from pimping out the music to others, Taric can do whatever he wants with it, just like me.
Hart: People might think that Treatwell is being unreasonable, because they think that’s way too much power we’re giving one person. But I say, come on. Taric’s not going to screw us over. I know Taric. He’s a good man and a good friend, and I trust him with my whole heart. Besides that-
Frank: Right, I understand. But you’re saying this is how every musician should be treated by every record label. I understand you can afford to cut your friend this kind of sweetheart deal, but you can’t really believe that the whole music industry can afford to give up this much power, all the time.
Hart: But you know what? It doesn’t matter that Taric is my homeboy and that I know I can trust him. If I head just met the brother yesterday and didn’t know him from Adam,
Frank: How? It’s great for Taric, and it’s great for any artists you work with, but how does this help you blow up big?
Hart: See, the reason Taric gets all these rights, the reason we are frankly going to simultaneously let Taric be free, but also roll out the red carpet for him, is that Taric has creatively contributed. In business terms, he has built marketable product from his own expertise, his own expense, and the sweat of his own hands. Someone whose contribution is germaine to a marketable product, that person is absolutely invaluable. You want to make that person happy. You want to empower him. You want to give him the space and resources to do his job, the satisfaction of reward that lets him be happy and excited to do his job, because excitement and positive energy turn on human intuition, and you want him chomping at the bit to work with you, now and in the future. See, a lot of people complain to me that what’s on mainstream radio these days, by and large is not very special. It doesn’t have that unique moment in time about it that make people fall in love with the music. But you know, at the same time, people still listen to mainstream radio. However, the music industry establishment should ask itself some hard questions, why alternative media is picking up steam, and radio is on the decline.
Hart: That’s mainstream radio. Not college radio. College radio is different. I adore college radio. I don’t often listen to much else. Okay, great. But it’s mainstream radio that brings in the benjamins, right? Mainstream outlets in general. Let’s face it. And mainstream radio comes mostly from huge entities that have the clout to market the music to program managers whose demand commands very pricey gifts and royal treatment. Which is okay. That’s free enterprise, you know. Treatwell is more than willing to shmooze radio program managers. Not WRAS’ program manager, because you guys won’t let me, if I understand correctly.
Frank: Right, we’re a college station, so there’s different rules for us.
Hart: College radio has its own thing going on, God bless it. I can’t say that, can I? Generally bless it. Treatwell wants to point out to the big boys, to the huge labels concerned strongly with mainstream radio, what it is that makes people want to spend their money to buy an album.
Frank: Now we’re getting somewhere. Why should people spend money on an album? People can just download it all.
Hart: It’s common for the music industry to blame the internet, and downloading, for the disenfranchisement people feel towards the music industry. But you know what? Bull. Loney.
Frank: What? Come on. Most of my friends download everything they listen to. How can you say that?
Hart: Hey Frank, you’ve been around since before the days of the internet. Tell our younger listeners out there. Back in the cold caveman days before the internet, if there was an album you wanted, but you didn’t want to pay for it, what did you do?
Frank: Oh, um, that’s easy. I just dubbed a tape.
Hart: You dubbed a tape. Ah ha. Were you the only one who did this?
Frank: No. Everyone- oh. Yeah. I see.
Hart: Everyone did it! Everyone. So the ability to easily, very easily, steal music, it’s nothing new. Hm. Interesting. But it’s only as of late that we see music theft really biting the industry.
Frank: Yeah. I never thought of that.
Hart: The mainstream media doesn’t want you to think of that. But now you’ve heard the truth on college radio. It’s really quite common sense. Now, Frank, I invite you. You and all the listeners out there. Especially the ones who mostly download all their music. Now tell me. The albums you actually do go to the store and purchase. The albums that merited the effort, the sacrifice. Why them and not the rest?
Frank: Whoa. That’s a really good question. I guess some artists are more special. You feel closer to them, so you want to support them. You want to support their career.
Hart: Some artists are indeed more special, aren’t they? So you do feel closer to them. And you want to support them. Listen up, music industry. Listen up, and listen hard. Listen, everyone. You’ve heard it here, you’ve thought about it, and now you understand because it makes perfect sense to you. Something as abstract as specialness, call it rapport, or artistic intimacy if you like, this actually has an economic repercussion, don’t you see? Doesn’t it influence how you yourself, Mr. And Mrs. Listener, spend your hard earned cash?
Frank: I think I see where this is going. Sorry. Keep going. This is really good.
Hart: So, if Treatwell appreciates how much tender loving care Taric Mirza put into composing, quite frankly some of the finest drumming I’ve ever heard, we appeciate that, and we reward him. We let him be free, we pay him well, we give ownership. Do you think then, that Taric is more likely to want to put that kind of effort, that personal touch, into his music? Can’t you hear it when a musician has that kind of inspiration?
Frank: Oh yeah. You definitely can.
Hart: And doesn’t that make you want to buy the album instead of just downloading it?
Frank: Well, I mean, those are the albums I buy. Uh, those are the albums anyone would buy.
Hart: Those are the albums anyone buys. Well… whoa. Not true. Went off the deep end there. BUT- I will say this. Put out some generic schlock, maybe people will buy it, maybe they’ll steal it. If you’re a huge record label, you are gambling with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. But hey, don’t worry, music industry. I won’t tell your investors. Unless they’re listening right now, oops.
Frank: That’s funny. They’re probably not, though. I bet they listen more to what you call the mainstream radio. Because that’s uh, that’s just, uh…
Hart: Where they’ve put their money.
Frank: Uh, yeah. Thanks. Exactly. If they, uh, that’s where they put their money.
Hart: If you want a principle of the music business for free, one you can take to the bank, listen up. Here it is. Put out something generic with no soul, and people may or may not bite. But put out something with passion, where you can hear the blood, sweat, and tears, no that’s not a plug, though I do like that band, where you can hear the passion, the heartbreak, and the joy of the musicians, and it’s something real, and it connects with you more deeply than a catchy backing track, but instead it’s something close and personal… Any time you hear that, you absolutely WILL dig out your wallet and buy that album. What’s up, Frank? I see you thinking over there.
Frank: Uh, well, I see what you’re saying, for some people, but uh, people are different. So… different people, uh, you know. Some people might… I don’t know.
Frank: I mean, sure, if an album does connect in that kind of a personal way, that’s when I buy it. But as far as which albums will have that effect.
Hart: It varies from person to person, but if the music you’re putting out comes from an artist who has the freedom to do what he wants, and he is happy to be there making the album, if he is free to create rather than enslaved to produce, people can tell. You can’t fake that kind of magic.
Frank: Oh! Yeah, sorry. Now I’ve got it. If you want to put out any kind of album that even might connect with people, the music has to be, uh, I don’t know, I guess what you’d call a labor of love. And you want to, uh, treat artists, so they love, they’re in love with making music. And then, that’s what, okay, I see what you’re saying. That kind of, I guess you call it passion, that’s what comes across to people listening, on the radio, or, or, at home. I mean. If they buy the album.
Hart: I couldn’t have said it better myself. And in fact, I didn’t. So, thank you, Frank.
Frank: Yeah. This is really something to think about.
Hart: And music industry people out there, listen to Hart. Just talk to the fans, your consumers, have you actually tried sitting down and talking with them? Do it, and quickly you will learn these things I am telling you today.
Frank: Wow.
Hart: Yes. Music industry, this is for you, for your success and longevity. For a long time you have tried to commoditize the artist. That means you want the artist to be an interchangeable part, not so important, anyone will do. That makes your services of promotion, production, and distribution the luxury. The high ticket item. The thing of real value. Hey, that’s a legitimate business technique, and everyone does it. You need to make your money, and you thought that was how to do it. Everyone’s got to get paid somehow. I understand that. I’m not preaching against you.
Hart: There’s a but. B- U- T. Maybe the other kind too, but let’s no go there. Here is the thing, music industry people, that has been miscalculated. I think it’s a miracle to the music industry that anyone actually buys an album. Because it’s $17, or some of them are $12 now. Bad move, by the way, dropping the price. But that’s a complex subject that will have to wait for a whole other day, because it will take a day just to address that topic. Anyway. What is an album? A CD with some cardboard and ink. How does it ever command a price of $17?
Frank: Gosh. It does seem expensive if you think about it.
Hart: Yeah, but it shouldn’t seem expensive. It really shouldn’t. Because it’s not the data, byte by byte that commands the price. It’s not the artwork, and we know the music industry has tried that tactic, and some fans will say that too. But you know what? Talk to those fans. Really dig in, I’m talking about the people who buy CD’s in the store and justify the purchase because they say it’s for the original artwork, but really dig in and you’ll find out that the only real reason they make that purchase is because they love the artist, or they at least love the music, and it’s something that has connected with them in a real, warm, powerful, organic way.
Frank: Yeah. You’re right.
Hart: It’s not hard to do your own research and verify that I’m right. So, music industry, you want people to buy your albums? You want them to shell out the dollars instead of just downloading it? Here’s the business principle. With any good or service, but all the more so with albums. You are selling emotions. Every purchasing decision is emotional. Okay, to justify that statement for every good and service ever, that would take more time than I have today. But Frank, have I done it with music? Have I really demonstrated, incontrovertibly, which is a great word, how when you buy music, you are buying emotions?
Frank: Yes, you have. I’ve heard people say that when you sell anything, no matter what it is, you’re selling emotions.
Hart: I think that’s true. But doubly so for music, don’t you think? And have I demonstrated that it really makes sense to honor artists, not to commoditize them but to choose them carefully, to trust them, honor them, treat them well, and make them dignified entities with whom you do fair trade, equally, and give them lots of privileges?
Frank: It encourages them.
Hart: Right. You don’t want an artist to come into the studio and feel sad about how unlikely it is that he’ll make money. To think that he’s got this album to make, which is a lot of work, and he’s got seven more before the label will set him free. You don’t want to do trade with the kind of artists whose ambition is to just to shove out the easiest thing they can make onto the radio and then kick back with their drugs and hookers.
Frank: Not that there’s anything wrong with drugs and hookers.
Hart: Thanks, Frank. Not enough people on the radio these days stick up for the pimps and pushers. You’re a real inspiration. All this talk about what kind of album is sure to sell, it all comes back around to dignity. You bring dignity and freedom to artists, even if it means picking them more carefully, and people can hear it, can’t they? They can tell there’s real meat on the bone there. So you pick fewer artists, and your expenses are less because you make fewer recordings, with less promotion, and the ones you do release explode. Platinum sellers, each and every one. It’s a win-win-win. Treatwell is going to do it. We’re doing it, we’re building it, and when we do it, we want to show everyone else how they can do it too. There’s enough to go around.
Frank: So, I’m a pianist, and I guess, any pianist, or any musician, I guess they would, they would want to sign on, uh, to a label, that, um, treats them well. Or, or, this all sounds pretty good.
Hart: See, there’s a way we’re different. No one signs on to our label. The deals are for individual albums. If you’re a studio musician and you’re just playing what someone else composed, you’ll get paid handsomely that day and be on your way, with referrals from Treatwell if you’ve done a good job. If you’ve created your own music, Treatwell regards that a pithy, sacred act, and we put it on the chopping block for you. Heck yeah. Every time. Gladly. Then people hear it in the music, and guess what? They go to the store, and they buy. Oh, but Frank, I love your music, but I should mention, Treatwell is still building up, and we’ve got all we can handle right now. So what I’m saying here today is really for the benefit of the industry and for the fans. But other artists out there, you know what? You like what you’re hearing? Go out there and do it yourself. Make your own label, and treat people right. You can do it. I’m doing it, alongside the great Harvey Cotton, whom I am blessed to work with, and believe me, the two of us ain’t rich. You don’t have to be. But you can do this, and you can get rich. Like we will, believe you me.
Frank: Sounds exciting. But earlier, you also mentioned dignifying the fans. Do we have time to talk about that?
Hart: Let’s talk about the fans. Yep. What you want from your audience is loyalty. Loyalty, a sense of belonging to something. Listen up, music industry. You want money? You want to people to actually pay for your shhhhtuff? Give people something to belong to. So what you see music industry people do is hem and haw about how internet savvy they are, and they toss up this pretty website for the artist, and it’s got some free content, which is good, so do I on hartdeer.net, and they provide forums, which Treatwell will do as soon as we get the capital, so very soon, and they maybe have a little page where you can fill out a form to email the artist, or at least the artist’s handlers. And that’s all good. It’s a little more than Treatwell can do at present, to be honest. But even all that is maybe not enough.
Frank: I know what you mean. I’m sure if you go to any old website, they could be selling cola, or used cars, whatever, they’ve got all that stuff. Those are just common things.
Hart: All that stuff is very common, isn’t it? You know what originally inspired Roger Waters of Pynk Floyd to write the material for The Wall? It was a feeling that he was separated from his audience by an invisible barrier. That concerts would happen where the band was on stage doing their thing, and the crowd was off in their own world. Two separate entities, NOT having a unified experience. And a lot of artists and fans alike think that there’s a barrier they have to overcome. That the artists are quarantined.
Frank: Well, Hart, you’ve done a pretty good job with your fans, from what I can tell. I talk to your fans, and they feel pretty close to you. They feel like you’re accessible.
Hart: Yeah, well, that’s easy for me at this stage. I’m so local, it’s like, if I want to talk to my fans, a lot of them, I can just call them up. I want to be close to a fan? Ring, ring. Hey, Bob. It’s Hart. How’s everything going? How’s the wife and kids? Easy to do. But I’m not going to stay at the local level. Why Treatwell? In no small part as a vehicle through which I can blow up, get big, get famous, make lots of money. I deserve it. I will have it. And when I have it, that’s when you’re really going to see Treatwell’s plans for the fans.
Frank: Mm.
Hart: Part of it is the structure of the concert. A concert must be more than a narcissism fest for the musician. A concert must be a whole experience, where artist and audience are one. So Treatwell is going to be very creative, to make sure the audience can be involved and participate in a more personal way than clapping their hands and waving candles. I clap my hands and wave a lighter around at concerts myself, but there can be more. One of the most satisfying concert experiences I’ve had was when Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull came to the Roxy and did his solo acoustic thing. He sent a woman through the crowd, and she collected questions from the audience to ask him. He gave everyone gazoos and let us jam with him during one song. A silly thing, but effective. He pulled random people out of the audience, sat them on a couch he’d drug up on stage, and hung out with a few of us. It was pretty awesome, and I’m inspired by that kind of thinking. I’d love my audience to have a way so that some of them can come on stage. And given that there’s so many people at a concert, maybe if I can get to talk to just a few of them. That’s good. And I want to make time for my fans to get to know each other. If they are bonding with me and I with them because there is a common idea, or energy, or state of consciousness in the music, my fans are going to be of like kind to each other. It’s like, I’m a big fan of the Who, and whenever I run into a gang of Who fans, we’ve got this rapport like we’re the kind of people we each want to know. That’s community. Treatwell believes in it, with a passion. If, at the end of a concert, there’s somewhere like a park that I can go, and my fans can go, and we can all hang out together, that’s great. This idea might not prove feasible, but I want it. Why should the after show hang out be limited to the backstage elitist thing? All my fans are precious. Plus, let’s talk business, they paid good money to be with me for the evening, darn it. And I want to be with them too, and I don’t even have to pay! So Treatwell, as we blow up bigger and bigger, is going to really rewrite the rules. And it’s going to work. It’s going to work so well, everyone will do it. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the vision that drives me forward.
Frank: So you think that it’s what happens at a concert that makes artists and audiences come together?
Hart: It’s not just what you do at a concert. A concert is a special magical time, and depending on how it goes, it’s either a big noisy party, but sometimes when all the chemistry’s there, it can transcend, and in some way become a sublime event, special and unique in time, a cathartic, beautiful world all its own, so profound it can even change lives. But, um, as I was saying, that’s not all there is to it. The internet, you can only do so much with the internet. You have interactive forums, in which the artist weighs in as well, give people access, give people free content, though I would strongly advise not giving away the album, give people a way to email the artist, maybe that’s all you can do with the internet.
Frank: So what is Treatwell going to do differently with the internet?
Hart: Probably not a whole lot, if anything.
Frank: Oh.
Hart: But, what we can do, is make more real events happen. The internet is cold and sterile, you know?
Frank: Minus all the porn.
Hart: Some of us wouldn’t know or care. But I’m talking about the internet as a means of human interaction. There’s anonymity to the internet, which draws out people’s worst sides, and makes real human relations nigh impossible. The sense of community, just having places where people get together, and make new friends and have real life experiences, the internet has nearly destroyed this aspect of society. In my view, it’s important to stop relying on the internet. Get away from it.
Frank: Well, but radio is still good.
Hart: College radio. And once Treatwell hits the scene, mainstream radio will slowly start to catch up with college radio. As I was saying, Treatwell wants people to have real human interactions. I think events, where people have to drag their lazy buuuudrinkskoofahcan’t-say-those-words-on-the-radio, where people have to get up and leave the house and go meet other people. Scary. Terrifying. So, concerts sometimes make money, but other events are good, and they inspire the loyalty that compels people to buy albums, buy tickets, buy merchandise… pay the record company. What kinds of other events? I think if an artist is technically proficient with a certain instrument, or vocally, or with songwriting or some other aspect of music theory, it’s good for that musician to occasionally hold a workshop. Once again, this doesn’t have to be a narcissistic ego fest. It’s not about, I’m so great, here’s how you can be like me. What the artist can do, he can invite the crowd to teach themselves, and also he can invite other artists to teach, the artist himself can even be a very small part of the event, but he’s the glue that brings it together. Even just a general social event where people come out to celebrate and make friends, where the nucleus is their appreciate of the artist or the genre of music, but there might not be a performance, just a hanging out, and the artist is there too. And such an event would be extremely cheaper than a concert, or free if advertising could pay the record label.
Frank: You know, I really like what you have to say, and I like what you’re saying, but you, uh, you do seem pretty concerned about getting paid.
Hart: Yes. Yes, I do. I’m not ashamed of it. These days, it seems like everyone wants everyone else to work for free. People especially imagine that music is some of cushy job where you hang out, play your little garage band jam into the mike, smile for the camera, and get worshipped by everyone. Some musicians might have it that good and be that lazy, but Treatwell wants none of that. Music, done right, is more than a full time job, it’s grueling, it’s tough, even though it is satisfying and glorious. Everyone wants everyone else to work for free, but then these same people expect others to pay them for what they do. No. Everyone needs to get paid. There are many problems with the music industry, but the basic desire to accrue wealth per se is not one of those problems. The desire to accrue wealth is perhaps even a good thing. It’s how you do it. It’s the ethics. It’s the fairness. Treatwell Music is not a charity. Well, who knows, we could be quite charitable once we earn those dollars, but that’s beside the point, and the point is, we’re going to earn those dollars. We’re here to do that. We’re a business. And it’s not wrong to make money, and we’re not ashamed of it. We’re going to dedicate our very lives, risk our futures, and work until out knuckles bleed to bring the world something absolutely wonderful, over and over. And guess what? We expect to get paid for it. We will get paid for it. And that’s okay. Our thing is to make it so good for everyone, they’re happy to pay. It’s okay if we get a lot. Because we give a lot. Artist and fan dignity, Frank. That’s what it’s about. It will make money and prove the world wrong about many things, and it will be the beginning of a great change. It’s not just about us. We’re going to show ‘em how it’s done. That’s our point we’re making for the industry, that there is a fusion between artist and fan dignity, and also the business aspect of the business. This is how all the record labels are going to learn how to make their money. Do I sound crazy? Do I have delusions of grandeur? Guess what. Everyone who’s worth anything is ambitious and crazy. And nobody and nothing is more ambitious and crazy than Treatwell Music and Entertainment.
Frank: Well, thank you, Hart. It’s been a real pleasure to have you here.
Hart: And thank you, Frank. It’s been truly, truly wonderful.
Frank: Now we’re going to listen to one of your songs…
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