by Scott Turner

The Loyalty Factor

Believe it or not, there actually was a time in this industry when artists didn't change labels as many times as they changed their socks. During the era of House Producers, you could actually go to a major label and someone would take the time to listen to the songs you were submitting for a specific artist and in some cases (though rare) you might get a hold of a song that day. Today you can fire off a shotgun at a major label and all you'd hit would be attorneys and secretaries. In a few instances, some labels have a "Leave It At The Front Desk" factor, but you really don't know if the material is listened to at all.

The best example of loyalty I ever witnessed was the case of Julie London and Liberty Records. Every Monday there was an A&R staff meeting when the subject of "Who Should Be Dropped From The Roster" came up. Invariably because she wasn't hot at the time, the name Julie London would come up and the recommendation would be sent down to the President Al Bennett (on Monday) and by Tuesday, she would be picked up by Al. One evening, I happened to be out with Al and I asked him "Why, when the A&R dept. drops Julie on Monday, do you adamantly say "no" on Tuesday?" Al's reply has stuck with me for life. He said, "I came out here from Gallatin, TN with $10,000 in my pocket to start Liberty Records and Julie cut our first number one hit "Cry Me A River". I'll NEVER drop her!" What a great philosophy because that one record led to the success of such great artists as Bobby Vee, Johnny Rivers, The Fifth Dimension, Cher, Vikki Carr, Jerry Wallace, Canned Heat, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a memorable jazz division and...oh yes....The Chipmunks, plus a host of other acts including Don McLean.

I can't see that happening these days mainly because (most) artists switch labels before they can be dropped (or re-signed) by their "Home Base". I know of two instances though where two major label artists who had just come off of #1 (radio play) records and they were dropped. The reason - they were radio hits, not #1 sales records.

Personally, as a house producer, I recall going to al Bennett's office and telling (asking) him to increase the royalty percentage on one of my artists as his contract negotiations where coming up in six months so why wait? Do it Now. Al made the call that day and the artists stayed with the label. Who was it? Slim Whitman - that's who and his career sales were over 80 million records worldwide.

In closing, again, as a house producer, I received a copy of an R&B record from Florida that had sold over 2500 units with a small distributor in Miami. As R&B was not my division, I brought the record in question up to Al. The label picked up the record and group which happened to be "Treat Her Like A Lady" by Rosie and the Originals. The record ended up selling 3 million units - 'nuf said.