Online music gives the recording industry heartburn. If the music can be downloaded for free, then how will the artists — and their producers — get paid?
But that's not the real issue, according to Jim MIlligan of FreedomZone.com. The problem with the music industry, he will tell you, is that "so many talented, creative people are not going to get much chance to follow their passions, at least from a career standpoint."
There are simply very few gatekeepers, and they make all the decisions.
Unless, of course, Milligan has his way.
Milligan retired at the end of 1998 from a long career in money management. He spent the next year battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. The next phase would be about fun. Milligan, his wife and daughters were getting ready to sell their house and sail for a couple of years. But they went one night to a Dave Matthews concert. And while listening to a musician play in the parking lot, he realized that with his lifelong success in marketing and the pool of musical and other talent in the world, he could have an impact.
That was the birth of FreedomZone, www.freedomzone.com. He and wife/business partner, Rosemarie, hooked up with Jorge Rojas, a longtime friend who is an artist. Rojas' own experience hadn't been that different from most struggling artists, Milligan said. He'd wait tables to pay the bills, doing whatever he had to so he could paint. The Milligans talked him into joining their fledgling enterprise.
Then they invited Mike Christensen in, as well. He had an extensive film background and worked on movies like "Liar Liar" and "Independence Day."
The four of them wanted to take the incredible opportunities of the Internet and apply them to the arts — music, film, painting. First they thought about doing an MP3, referring to the Web site that is now under attack from the music industry because folks have been able to go online and download music without artists receiving royalties. They soon realized that everyone was trying to promote emerging artists over the Internet, including artists themselves. It was attractive for listeners because most of it was free.
"Clearly, that's not going to happen forever. The industry will put a block on that."
Milligan analyzed the phenomenon and realized that the people who are downloading are young. "My parents don't download," he said.
Downloading can be slow and quality has a long way to go. And "the other problem is the tons and tons of songs out there. Too many. You have to wade through junk before you find something to download."
The selection reminds him of his Wall Street days. With the glut of stocks, how's a buyer supposed to know what to get? That's why mutual funds were born: So someone else could sift through them and pick the gems. And that's the role Milligan and company hope to play.
"We want to be the portfolio manager of music, finding the best country, jazz, hip hop, classical. If we build a reputation of trust, people can come to FreedomZone."
You can sample, but you can't download on FreedomZone.com. Instead, they've worked a deal with recording artists that allows FreedomZone.com to distribute up to 1 million copies of a CD. Cost to the consumer is $1.75, to cover shipping and handling.
"We aren't making money on this particular product. But over and over artists say if people could just hear my music I would have a fan base. Those people would support me financially. We're giving them an opportunity to create a fan base. If we can send out 1 million CDs, 10 percent will become somewhat of a fan. And if of those 100,000, many buy (the artist's) next CD, it's a million bucks."
Milligan calls those first million CDs the musician's "donation to the world." And to his or her future.
As part of the distribution agreement, FreedomZone gets to split the money made on subsequent sales, the number of albums negotiated as part of the contract. Milligan's company pays the cost of recording.
They're looking at other innovative ways to put their music before the public. For instance, they can produce a CD version of a prospectus or annual report for a company cheaper than it can be printed, he said. So they're partnering with public companies to put their musicians on a soundtrack on the document. If the recipient likes the music, he'll hang onto the CD.
They are also trying to get their artists' music into commercials.
They're already getting national attention. FreedomZone is hosting this years "Levi's 1st Stage Emerging Artists Tour," what they affectionately call a guerrilla tour. The musicians will perform in conjunction with The Steve Miller Band's tour of 10 cities throughout June and July. The featured picks are Chola, Phat Sidy Smokehouse and Troy Horne.
"Levi's wouldn't sponsor us if we didn't have really good music."
Though music is the focus so far, FreedomZone is working on doing the same types of things with artwork and independent films. It's a way, Milligan said, to bring art to the masses.
And while the company's energy is currently going into the music, the art may very well be the best value, because the artists are not unknown. For instance, a print of "Wolves" by Ray Harm (who was commissioned by President John F. Kennedy to do bald eagles for the military) on high-end, acid-free paper, is $3.75. For an extra $10, the print will be signed. The original art of each of their prints sells in galleries for between $50,000 and $150,000.
E-MAIL: lois@desnews.com