Allen Kovac believes every music promoter should be a developer of talent, and he points to his own success over the last 40 years in the business as evidence of that claim.
โThe entire music ecosystem has been poisoned by quarterly billing reports,โ he insists. โYou canโt break music in quarters, and all of the major labels and major promoters work in quarters. When the majors have these pressures, they start trying to manufacture it. Then it becomes generic, then it becomes white-bread and then it doesnโt consume.
โDo what we did in the 60s, 70โs and 80s,โ Allen continued. โWe developed artists. Making music is not like making widgets. Youโre in the damn music industry. Every promotor should have an artist development fund.โ
That sentiment is more than a romantic view of a time long past. Thatโs a business strategy that Kovac uses every day as CEO of Better Noise Music and at his management company, 10thStreet Entertainment. Kovac has managed some of the biggest acts in the world including The Bee Gees, Duran Duran, Motley Crue, The Cranberries, Luther Vandross, BLONDIE, Papa Roach and Five Finger Death Punch. Some of the newer acts that are breaking through are bands such as Canadian artists: Bleeker, and Cory Marks, a Mongolian metal band, The HU, and Bad Wolves.
โWe develop a few artists a year,โ he explained of the formula. โWe try to have nothing that sounds like anything else. People said we could do that in todayโs market.โ
While the catalogue seems to skew in the direction of hard rock, Kovac sees opportunity in what he thinks is an emerging genre.
โWe try to go where the majors arenโt,โ he notes. โRock and country music have the same psychographic and demographic, and we see a real opportunity. By just crossing those audiences we know that recordโs going to do 10 million streams before it even gains a substantial audience at radio.โ
During his 40-year career, Kovac has been at the centre of almost every major technological innovation that has taken over the music industry. Most importantly today was his work in online music, downloading and streaming. Working with people at leading technology companies including RealNetworks, Google, and Apple, Kovac saw the future and took it to label heads at Sony, EMI and MCA.
โIโll never forget watching him look at me like I was going to ruin the music business,โ he recalled with a wry chuckle. โYouโll take the magic away. The major labels were more interested in protecting their business than leaning into the changes that were happening. It was amazing the hubris of the industry.โ
That said, Kovac is concerned with the obsession the industry shows in streaming figures for Pop and Hip Hop.
โWhen you look at 12- to 14-year oldโs, they have all the time in the world. They have the time to listen for free,โ he insists. What they donโt have, is purchasing power. Thatโs an older demographic. โThose people who have a credit card change their tastes. Theyโre not listening to pop music anymore. Long term fans mean something to me. Engagement means even more to me.โ
Kovac will be the keynote interview for this yearโs Canadian Music Week, scheduled for September 8 to 12. That discussion is titled โDonโt Drink the Major Labelโs Kool-Aidโ. For his contrarian attitude, Kovac was awarded the Association of Independent Musicโs 2019 Innovator award. On that honour, Kovac demurs.
โI learned from my mom, the only way I would learn was to ask questions from people who were smarter than me,โ he said. โThe more questions I asked, the more I learned.โ
This approach has led Kovac to develop some basic pieces of advice for young artists.
โCompete with the best,โ he says. โJust because youโve made it doesnโt mean itโs great. Compare yourself to the very best. Make what you produce mean something. Make it there to last.โ
He also believes thereโs no substitute for hard work, something some new artists he says lack.
โArtists are lazy now,โโ he said. โIt used to cost a lot of money to make an album, and now itโs cheap. Itโs like an athlete making the Super Bowl without training. Everything is about instant gratification. Itโs poisoning this new generation.โ
That caution aside, Kovac believes the next decade is going to be big for independent music. Already 40 percent of the market, he sees similarities to a golden decade of the past.
โI think the 20s are no different that the 60s,โ he mused. โThe dam had to break. How many times could you hear a Sammy Davis Junior song that sounded like a song by Frank Sinatra which sounded like sometimes like Dean Martin.
โIn the 60โs there was a new technology that moved music from AM to FM. Artists like the Rolling Stones, Beatles and The Who replaced the manufactured artists on AM radio,โ Kovac recalls. โThe same will happen when curators at streaming move from trying to immolate radio, an antiquated music platform. To a long-term consumption platform at streaming. There is a wonderful opportunity. Every artist and label need to realize they donโt have to be the same. Different is good.โ