No. Its a very fair question. My first assumption was the fundraising was sort of a marketing survey to assess potential interest. And a wise business move to only invest his time into an endeavor that was metrically sound. In other words, it’d assumed it was mostly about risk management.
It seems I was partially right. Eric and I had been shooting emails back and forth for the last couple days…among them was this, an excerpt from a mass response he sent out a few days ago.
“Mixerman’s loaded, he’s worked with all these big albums, he’s made a killing in the music business, why the fuck does he need my money?”
It’s not that I’m unaware of this perception. In some ways it benefits me, because people want to feel like they’re learning from someone really super successful. Which I have been. Then life happens. Then the music business shits the bed along with the entire economy. Then Big Tech takes over every industry, leaving all of us to either adapt or die.
My entire long-term plan was set up around the idea that I could continue to collect royalty checks into my retirement. The royalties are gone, some twenty years earlier than I’d like to retire. I can tell you, everyone has been affected drastically by the devaluation of music. Everyone.
CLA is hawking mix videos with Slate. Former A-listers now Mix with the Masters.These are indicators that the music business has affected everyone’s incomes. Unless you’re Max Martin or one of his team of writers that write hits in a factory setting. Then you’re doing great. Unfortunately, those are not my circles.
If I could sit down and write a book for three months without some kind of funding, I would. It’s way easier to sell book that exists than it is to sell one that hasn’t been written yet.
Moving off a publisher is something that I’ve considered for quite some time. The problem is, you are what you do, and I’m a producer, not a publisher. And if I’m going to act like a publisher, that means I’m going to have to be willing to be a publisher. And if I’m going to be a publisher, then I have to operate as a publishing business. I can no longer avoid that. Nor do I want to.
Music is, and always will be, an integral part of what I do. But music is still a contracting business, and although I can see signs of life, and it looks like producers are going to start to profit-share again through US legislation, I ain’t 30 and I’ve pretty much had my runs.
So, this has been a bit of a conundrum for quite some time. Invariably, the question I ask myself is, can I get back on top in the music business? And it’s ALWAYS about getting back on top, because success begets more success in this business. And unless you’re in that kind of feedback loop, you’re scrapping for gigs just like everyone else.
Writing, on the other hand, has been something I’ve developed for quite some time now, and I think I’m pretty good at it, and I really love doing it. It’s also an expanding venture for me, not a contracting one. But if I’m going to do it, if I’m going to finally make a go of writing as a business, I have to own my product. Because if you don’t own your product in this arena, you’d better have a day gig. Sound familiar? And while I do have a day gig as a producer and mixer, I’m tired of putting my heart and soul into writing a book for months on end, for a little side cash twice a year.
Iso, I decided to run this campaign because it provides me an opportunity to get my writing business in order. If I could do that without pre-selling books, I can assure you, I would have.
“Whacha gonna do ? Share!” Haha! 
