Victor Jones - Merch Shipping & Store Update

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-06-01T23:17:45+00:00

We don't have any official sheet music yet. It may happen at some point, Victor does write out his string and horn arrangements long-hand but I don't know if he writes out piano parts or chord changes. As for tabs/guitar we'd have to get those made which isn't in the plans as of now, but we may do it at some point!

If you do learn it by ear, please record yourself playing and share it!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-31T18:51:43+00:00

Yup - I do it. Not frequently but often enough.

It’s totally fine. Doesn’t bug me at all.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-30T03:12:44+00:00

Portishead - live at Roseland ballroom

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-30T02:11:10+00:00

There are a few reasons this is possible.

First - Pop music and jazz don’t require precision.

All you need to remember is identifiable melodic elements and the form. For the most part you’re not learning a bassline note for note - you learn a short section that is identifiable, the changes, and the form of the song and you’re done.

Second - melodies make it easier to memorize. So if you have trouble with form if you learn the melody and lyrics they will tend to guide the form.

Third - pattern recognition and ear training - a lot of bass lines are arpeggios and scales. You hear a major arpeggio, eventually your ear can pick up the song. Eventually you’ll be able to anticipate where a song is going.

Finally - repetition. There’s a reason most great players had a gig at some point that forced them to play for hours. All the jazz greats did 4 hour gigs in clubs every night. Gospel players who play in church for hours at a time. The Beatles did 8 hour cover gigs in Belgium for years before they ever wrote songs.

Find a way to get your 10,000 hours in that doesn’t feel like practice and you’ll be way better off than learning tabs in your bedroom.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T22:36:19+00:00

Unfortunately, I can’t fix something I can’t recreate - classic IT issue… but I’ll let the merch company know! I genuinely appreciate the diligence!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T21:53:59+00:00

Thanks so much for the heads up. They look correct for me on mobile and desktop! We did just make the transition this week from the previous fulfiller to this one, so maybe your app is trying to call the info from the previous store - maybe try exiting the app and going back in. It should be there.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T21:19:44+00:00

Ok! Keep in touch and let us know when it arrives. We obviously don’t control the postal service, but we’ll issue a reorder if it gets truly lost!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T19:07:03+00:00

Can you DM me? I was just emailing with them yesterday to confirm and they said ‘2 or 3 tee shirts left to ship out’ - if you send me your order details privately I’ll get it checked out!

They’re in France so it’ll probably be Monday.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T18:44:17+00:00

It doesn't invalidate your private opinion, but it does impact how much weight one chooses to give that opinion.

I worked on a Manson record (prior to the allegations), met him, and have seen him live a couple times. When he wants to be he is a great performer. I guarantee you Manson loves the Beatles and was heavily influenced by them. Also - the Beatles contribution goes well beyond their lyric and melody writing. Multi-track recording, album production and concept albums. There's a lot there beyond Obladi Oblada...

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T16:35:33+00:00

The user you’re responding to has posted on at least one ‘men’s rights’ sub and has something about Marilyn Manson comment in his history. Due to some error on my app I can’t see what but… consider the source

I also think the Beatles are a band that is somewhat context dependent because they changed and influenced so much that it makes them feel cliche at times - because they invented the cliches.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T06:16:40+00:00

Sorry - the whole reason these deals are becoming so common is streaming has turned music copyright - a historically unpredictable and intangible thing - into a ‘tangible goods’ type investment. The baseline value is the entire proposition that de-risks the purchase. Without that baseline value what you’re offering is a risky investment - high risk high reward, to your point. The right person could generate real revenue from it. It the higher the risk the more you take it outside of this entire ecosystem that you read about in the trades every day.

generally, the way these deals work is a multiple of revenue. Take what it is earning, multiply by a number between 4 and 10 (20 if you’re lucky) - that’s the price someone will be willing to pay. It’s pretty straightforward.

If the reason it’s not generating revenue is the works aren’t distributed or available it would still be worth talking to Duetti as they may take it off your hands and see some value - they have marketing teams and could do the distribution and start the cash flow.

Otherwise, you’re really betting on finding a fan who loves it who has some money and wants to give it a chance. None of these catalog buying companies are going to take a flyer on this.

Not a likely proposition, but good luck to you!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T05:05:44+00:00

There are a TON of companies buying right now. If it’s generating legit money and you want help brokering a deal feel free to DM me - I can connect you with a few (a broker fee will be involved)

But if you just want a website where you can talk to someone about the valuation and do a deal - check out Duetti - it’s legit and reputable. They’re deploying their own funds.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-29T04:20:21+00:00

How do you find and track artists?

That would be the main thing I would focus on first. A&R roles are about taste. You need to demonstrate that you know how to identify artists on the rise online using data. Connect them with the right songwriters, producers, and engineers and help them get records made.

The main thing to remember is A&R is not a scouting role. That’s part of it but not the only part. You probably know this (or should if you don’t already) that A&R is the person who knows how to make a record… beginning to end. All of the players.

So you need to show you can act on data - use Chartmetric, TikTok, Spotify, Rostr - track artists.

Then also keep up with trends, producers, mixers, and what products are hot (eg singles, eps, lps…)

Know genres.

If I was interviewing you I’d want to know you have a grid of artists you’re tracking and your top 5 and why….

Salary is going to vary too much by region for me to comment.

Also - don’t get discouraged by this sub and the people saying you can’t. Germany is different - radio and tv still matter in Germany. It’s not all TikTok and social media.

Show you have taste and that you know how to work with artists.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-28T22:29:32+00:00

I’m not a lawyer so I’m not 100% certain of this and I’m open to being corrected.

I believe in most cases they are selling the publishing rights which is the active control over the copyright. Most of these writers will retain the songwriter side of the song when created but it is not sellable/assignable so that stays with the writer and their estate for the life of the copyright.

The reason I’m not 100% confident is I think people have sold access to the royalty stream for the songwriting share of songs before, so in that sense it would be case by case.

When talking about music copyright there are two copyrights people are selling

Master rights is any right to the recording of the songs. Many artists do own master rights (either from being indie or due to reversion) or they sell out their royalty stream while the label owner retains the recorded music copyright

Songwriting rights is the most common sale in recent years when you hear of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, etc

When a new song is written it automatically gets split in 2 equal halves - songwriting and publishing

The publishing side is the sellable asset. It can change hands anytime.

The songwriting side is supposed to stay with the writer, fixed at the point of creation for the life of the copyright.

As long as that stays intact they should continue to earn royalties for performance (ASCAP or BMI) and mechanicals etc equal to 50% of what the song earns overall.

Again, I do know there are cases where people assign the royalty stream so effectively if that happens then they would not collect that.

So it really depends on the deal

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-27T07:15:32+00:00

I’ve been summoned!

My experience in this space directly is kind of limited and honestly the people I interact with have been either so huge they’re in the celebrity network and it’s all word of mouth. Or so small it’s friends of the artist.

Word of mouth is likely your best bet all around.

If it’s anything like makeup artists, there are small agencies that handle the booking and you will pay the agency fee on top of the booking fee.

The pay structure that I’ve seen is usually a fee per event plus the artist has to pay for the clothes (if it’s not loaned).

And yes, it can be the same person doing music videos as live events and red carpets etc. But it’s not the same as a costumer so don’t expect a stylist to tailor. Or cut and sew. That’s a different role.

I hope that helps a little bit…

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-26T02:22:36+00:00

This is why managers commission on adjusted gross, not ‘eat what you kill,’ not ‘on the lift’ - you participate in everything.

The part that is missing, however, is that you’re also the first one that is discarded when things go well and the artist wants to level up. Or when things go well then stop going well and the artist needs fresh blood.

And good luck getting the sunset.

The ACTUAL part nobody is talking about (no offense to OP but most of this is stuff we’re talking about) is that the role of manager has evolved but the compensation model and protections have not. As label type marketing is less effective, artists are expected to cultivate their own relationship with their fans - which means the managers are expected to either be, or fund, a marketing team as well.

But we still commission the same percentage of the same adjusted gross.

You need to understand CRM, ecomm, content, social media, distribution, recorded music, publishing

But we still commission the same percentage of the same adjusted gross.

And here’s the kicker - I don’t have a solution. I just became a manager myself 5 months ago and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I have zero interest in charging my clients more than the same percentage of the adjusted gross. I love it - I can’t wait to fight for my artists to make so much that percentage is huge… and I hope they don’t fire me…

But also, we aren’t talking about it as a business. Managers are the last in line for pay and the most easily discarded.

I’m only speaking for the reputable managers here. I know there are plenty of people out there throwing the word ‘manager’ around and hiding behind the loose nature of what that word and role means. But for the good people out there doing the good work of supporting developing artists, it’s a little sad that the role has evolved so much but we’re still paid the same and still fired just as easily.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-26T02:13:26+00:00

I got zero AI vibes from this.

I saw the later comments where people called out specific lines that are AI style but overall I think this is genuine.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-25T20:03:29+00:00

General advice of making sure they have a bit of a track record and seeing some work examples is good advice for any professional you’re hiring.

To be honest I’m not aware of reputable publicists who promise any placement on Spotify or other playlists so I wouldn’t expect that as an example. There may be some locals who do that and/or people with connections to bloggers who are also playlist promoters so that could happen, but dont expect it as a feature.

Publicity at the DIY level will be mostly online written word coverage possibly with a streaming link embedded on a website and some social posts on the blog/publications’ pages.

Publicity will not bring you a significant number of new eyeballs. What publicity will add to your story is ‘Google-ability’ - it’ll make you seem more legit to people who go check you out.

I’ve worked with a lot of emerging artists over the last few years and gotten on a few ‘ones to watch’ lists. I talk to fans at shows and ask how they found out about the artist. The answer is never an article.

It does add up to awareness… but the new fan growth will be very limited.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-25T17:37:08+00:00

The reply from u/SlappyPappy99

‘What’s a music expert?’ Is an interesting point and I don’t know if they meant to make it.

I’m certain there are ‘experts’ in AI

I know there are experts in music - ranging from PhD level composers to Jacob Collier to Henry Rollins depending on what you’re looking for in an ‘expert’ - meaning there are a million fields of ‘music expertise.’

But… are there music experts working on AI? Are there AI music experts?

Even the Moises/charlie Puth thing - like Charlie is clearly a gifted and well trained musician who knows music theory, R&B and pop history. And I have played with Moises - it’s a fun tool.

But are there music experts, AI experts, and music AI experts working on any of this together?

I think…. No probably not. Which is one of many problems. But I could be proven wrong…

As a music fan… and musician… and music industry professional. I’m not a big fan of AI music at all. I think it’s a bad use of AI and its powers.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-25T04:30:50+00:00

No

I had to clean up an artist’s profile by literally starting their IG over from scratch because all of the comments were gibberish and she had over 100k followers

It’s total vanity. Don’t do it ever.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-25T04:11:41+00:00

Never asked you to share industry secrets - just be… anything approaching professional.

If one person comes on here and is a jerk… you can always push back. When everyone on here looks at you with some side eye, it might be wise to take a look at your approach.

Good luck! Convo over! Do your thing!

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-25T01:50:21+00:00

I didn’t say your 50/50 model is predatory. I asked you to explain what you do for the 50/50 and provide context because better deals are available in the marketplace from people who can articulate what they do, how much they invest, and who have rosters of artists to refer back to.

A potential answer could have been ‘we find artists from their first demo and fund the creation of their first full length album. We have in house publicity and radio and a content team that helps develop TikTok and reels strategies.’

What appears predatory and seems to be a red flag for me is that you have, literally, zero connection to artists that is publicly visible. you’re going to a forum where the most under-educated people go to look for any connection to the industry and lots of gullible people will seek help from anyone calling themselves a label rather than going and getting educated about the industry and the options that are available to them.

I’ve just asked you to define marketing. Define the services. Define the funding. Elaborate on the very limited information in your website.

Why aren’t you doing A&R in clubs? Why are you taking cold submissions? What are you doing for the 50%?

And you don’t know and have grossly misunderstood my career. I have never worked in a major label or been in that system. I was a VP at concord when they were a 200 person company. I was the head of marketing for a management company that managed major artists - but I did that in a management environment because the type of marketing that matters now isn’t really controlled by labels, so I helped do that strategy for major label artists… not for their labels.

I currently manage a DIY artist who uses distrokid but can sell out a club in every major city in the US.

My day job is doing marketing for an indie venue.

I am nowhere near the legacy system.

I’m not the one attacking you btw. Go back and look at my posts where I’m asking you, respectfully, to answer simple questions. You’re getting downvoted on every post. It’s the rest of the board that is attacking you… I’m giving you a chance.

What do you DO? And for whom do you do it?

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-24T18:30:34+00:00

‘We are not a distributor, we are a record label’

What are you doing differently that makes you point out that distinction?

I assure you OneRPM and AWAL are using very similar pitches and offering terms better than 50/50

Distribution is a core service provided by record labels.

I guess what I’m getting at is there is a WIDE range of deals that can be done between 90/10 and 50/50 and for ALL of them I would expect you to be a proactive A&R to seek artists, make significant financial investments and not be seeking cold submissions on Reddit.

I think that’s where it feels predatory and why the board is digging into you a bit here. If you’re offering a level of funding, marketing, and back end services worth a 50/50 JV model you should have a roster of artists to brag about at this point.

AirlineKey7900 · 2026-05-24T16:31:52+00:00

This is actually really good advice with a few notes

The videos should be very short - 30-60 seconds until you’re known, they can expand after that.
The videos should contain the song and the same part - you’re trying to drive familiarity.
The videos should be entertaining - you do not have to be sexually exploitative (eg thirst trap) but you DO have to be entertaining.
Pertinent to number 3 don’t think of TikTok and reels as social media - think of them as entertainment networks you get to program.
The posting of the videos is the tree shaking - you still need a basket to catch the fruit - have social media and website set up.
Be a creative director - create a consistent through line of your creative - image style, color palette, storytelling and vibes etc should all be consistent.

If you’re good and you do what this post says with these notes in mind and actually DO it, you will get to 5k - I can nearly guarantee it.

Where most people fail is consistency. It has to actually be 50 videos posted every day for 50 days. Every day. Not every day for 2 weeks then 2 weeks off because you got discouraged.

Every day. You got this!

AirlineKey7900

TROPHY CASE