Gregg Latterman |
Given his amazing set of ears and accomplishments in the music business, it's hard to believe that Gregg Latterman started out his career as an accountant. Fortunately -- both for listeners and bands such as Matchbox Twenty, Train, John Mayer, Shawn Mullins, Better Than Ezra and Five for Fighting -- Latterman grew bored of his job as a CPA and started his own label, Aware Records, in his Boston apartment in 1993 as a way of helping regional bands get national exposure. The first Aware CD -- originally calledAware: The Compilation, but now known as Aware 1-- sold 30,000 copies.
Latterman wound up leaving his CPA job to teach skiing -- first in Portland, and then Vail -- before heading back to his native Chicago to get an MBA. By that time, the third Aware compilation,Aware 3, had been issued, featuring a song by a Florida group called Tabitha 3, later known as Matchbox Twenty. By 1996 Latterman had released a string of successful Aware compilations and developed a reputation for unearthing great bands with mainstream potential, which helped him to score an artist development deal with Columbia.
While many of the artists on Aware compilations have moved on to enjoy strong sales on major labels, a few artists -- most notably Five for Fighting, Train and John Mayer -- have released albums on Aware Records. The results speak for themselves: Five for Fighting's America Town has gone gold, Train's two albums are platinum and near-double platinum, and John Mayer's Aware debut, Room for Squares, is platinum and still going strong. With nine Aware compilations under his belt -- plus a recently released Aware Greatest Hits CD -- Latterman shows no sign of either slowing down or losing his ear for discovering great new music.
Recently, StarPolish CEO Vivek J. Tiwary caught up with Latterman to talk about breaking into the record business, finding the bands to put on the compilations, and his relationship with Columbia.
And if you'd like to purchase the new Aware Greatest Hits CD, which contains tracks by artists including John Mayer, Five for Fighting, Better Than Ezra and Matchbox Twenty, among others, just click this link.
Breaking In
TIWARY: You started out by doing compilations -- was that for financial reasons, in that the songs were already produced and recorded, and you just had to license them?
LATTERMAN: I suppose. I just wanted to start a company and put out a product for as a little as money as possible, since I was basically bootstrapping to start the company.
TIWARY: What was the motivation for putting out the original compilations, and is it the same for the Aware Greatest Hits CD?
LATTERMAN: [It was] to get into the music business and be involved in doing something that I love.... and to get out of being a CPA. It's a lot more fun saying you run a record label vs. saying, "I'm an accountant." I wanted to get up in the morning excited about going to work. As for the AwareGreatest Hits, the primary motivation was that I wanted to put all the highlights off the first nine Aware compilations -- out of print except through the Aware store -- all onto one CD.
TIWARY: How did you choose the bands that made it onto the original compilations? And how did you choose the bands that made it onto Aware Greatest Hits?
LATTERMAN: We have to love the music, and want to be involved with those bands and their team of people that support them -- management, lawyers and agent, etc. We chose the Aware Greatest Hits based on what we felt were the best songs and which bands had achieved some measure of success.
TIWARY: You often hear it said that in the music industry, it doesn't matter where you went to school or what your formal education is, it's more about your practical experience in the biz and who you know. What do you think the value of a formal business education is in the music biz? Do you recommend that aspiring players get a formal business education?
LATTERMAN: It helps gain respect. I have gotten some great press simply from being an MBA (Northwestern-Kellogg '96) and starting a company, and I probably gaineda lot of confidence and formed new relationships by going to a top MBA program. That said, it really rarely enters into my daily business. My accounting background was a great thing for starting up and I understand and grasp the business side easily, but most people could figure it out in time. The music business is pretty simple: it's about relationships, and I think street smarts are what determine if you can make it. But to answer your question, going through a MBA program helps the overall process.
Role Models
TIWARY: Are there any role models for you and what you'd like to see Aware become?
LATTERMAN: I read every biography that comes out about business. I have read everydecent book on the music business and I try and learn from every experiencethat others have gone through, whether good or bad. So, while there is no one person in particular, I have a lot of people that I work with on a daily basis that I consider role models.
I want Aware to continue to grow and everyone that works at Aware, and the bands we sign, to continue to feel that they like what we are doing and whatthey are doing. My main goal for everyone that works at Aware and the bands we sign is for them to have the lives they want... to be able to afford a house, get married, have kids, invest money for retirement, etc. That's it!If everyone can do that and be happy, we will have succeeded.
Aware is essentially what I want it to be, so we don't need to become anything "different," as long as we just keep growing and evolving.
TIWARY: People tend to buy bands, not labels, but you've managed to create a recognizable identity for Aware. Was that intentional? Do you think Aware stands for something in record-buyers' minds?
LATTERMAN: Aware tries to stand for great music. The goal was to create a pipeline for people to find great new music by word of mouth, and not have to rely 100% on the radio to reach consumers. Windham Hill and Sub-Pop are two very different labels, but the one thing they have in common is that they both have an identity, and that people would buy almost anything they put out. That's what we're hoping to do at Aware, to build a trust with the music buyer.
The Art of the Deal
TIWARY: I read that your deals with artists are different - for example, as part of the deal, you buy the band a van so they can tour constantly. Why is this so important? How else do you see your deals with artists as being different or unique?
LATTERMAN: My goal is to give a band a record deal that allows them to be successful. To do that, they have to make a great record that is efficient. You don't have to spend a half-million dollars to make a great record, and by putting them in a van to tour, it saves money. So hopefully they become self-sufficient as soon as possible on the road. No one will get rich off the deals we give up front... my goal is they get rich because we break the band. By doing efficient deals, it allows us to have more time for the band to break. And most importantly, Columbia/Aware won't give up on the band because we know it can take awhile to build up a band's initial touring base.
TIWARY: As Aware has grown and its roster encompasses artists such as JohnMayer, Five for Fighting and Train, do you find yourself competing with the major labels for up-and-coming talent? When you can't compete on a cash basis, what do you offer that would make an artist want to sign with Aware?
LATTERMAN: We don't compete at all -- we usually sign bands that no one knows about yet, or that people already passed on. I think we have an incredible roster right now, and I also think that what we are doing is working... and if a band wants to go sign a bigger deal somewhere else, then we would wish them well.
TIWARY: Aware is a unique label that operates independently, but has the ability to tap into the deep-pocket resources of a major label, so in some ways you have the best of both worlds. Having experience on both sides of the fence, do you have any advice for buzzing artists that are asking themselves the indie vs. major question? What are the key considerations artists should keep in mind when making this choice?
LATTERMAN: I agree, but it took awhile. At first, when we started working with Columbia, bands we were interested in would say, "We would rather be signed straight toColumbia." But now bands do see the benefits of having the best of both worlds. The whole indie label vs. major label dichotomy just depends on what is right for that band. It's hard to say without knowing the situation... I say be yourself and we will find you. Whether it's an indie or a major or a label like ourselves -- Vagrant, ATO, etc.-- that have similar situations.
TIWARY: Do you feel that indie labels have assumed the A&R function in the record business today?
LATTERMAN: Sometimes. For the most part, I think bands discover themselves and A&R themselves when they are truly great and original. We can help steer them tomake the right decisions, like who to use as a producer, and situations like that.
The Deal with Columbia
TIWARY: Aware is affiliated with Columbia/Sony -- there is no equity stake, but the deal seems more than just a straight distribution deal. Can you talk about that relationship, which seems to work like a lot of hip-hop labels? Is this one way that you avoid losing bands you've helped to break once they get bigger?
LATTERMAN: It's a joint venture. It's perfect to be able to build a band and then seamlessly have it go over to Columbia. Columbia is involved early on with uson the project and we are still involved when it moves over. It works. Every time we have done it, it's a little different, from Train to John Mayer.
TIWARY: College reps seem to play a big role in Aware. How important do you feel college reps are in breaking Aware artists?
LATTERMAN: College reps are unquestionably huge... a major part of our success.
TIWARY: Can you offer any advice or guidelines to artist for setting up their own street teams or rep programs? Any special techniques you'd recommend that artists employ with their teams other than simple postering and flyering?
LATTERMAN: People have to come to you -- they have to want to be involved in getting your music out to other people.
Finding Bands
TIWARY: Although you obviously love music, you're not one of those guys who goes out to clubs every night looking for the next big thing. How do you find the artists for Aware?
LATTERMAN: I listen to an artist's demos or studio recordings, and I talk to a lot of people... people who tell us about bands.
TIWARY: In an interview with VH1, you said you don't need to see bands live to know you want to sign them, that if they sound great on a CD you can "make them great live" if necessary. Appreciating that every act is different, can you offer any general advice to young acts for improving their live show and/or increasing their touring profile?
LATTERMAN: Keep playing live, build an audience and you will eventually become great. Make the effort to build an audience or do something else... it's Darwinism,survival of the fittest.
TIWARY: Where do you stand on the whole peer-to-peer/filing-sharing argument? Do you effectively use P2P to help promote Aware bands?
LATTERMAN: Fans use it to talk about bands and share music... and in that aspect, I think its good to help build a band's profile, but it's not so good when it cuts down on sales. I think people burning CDs is a much bigger issue right now on cutting down on sales, but as iPod's and other similar products continue to get more mainstream, it will continue to slice into CD sales.
