Roger Zee: How did your double major in Music Production and Economics at SUNY Purchase work out for you?
Scotty Marz: It certainly took a lot of effort. Despite working two jobs, I occasionally found myself on the Dean's
list! When I first entered college, business drove me. But by the time I graduated, entertaining enticed me more. As I
matured, I found that success at business doesn't necessarily reward beyond a paycheck. It can also include unscrupulous
practices as I found out years later. Neither interested me! I enjoyed DJ'ing at 7 Willow Street in Port Chester, NY where I
programmed music sets around the bands and eventually started a very successful promotion series with Erin Paul called "Bounce."
Although I applied my Economics education to most of the small businesses I started, I learned the hard way that if you don't
control the bank account, you run the risk of getting ripped off no matter how well you do.
Roger Zee: You developed mCAST, one of the first streaming platforms, to supply music to
restaurants and hotels.
Scotty Marz: Jody Pennette of the CB5 Restaurant Group started us creating custom music soundtracks for large
hospitality entities. Initially, we delivered the content via CD and later iPod. But both methods proved flawed. Staff would
lose or steal the physical media. If a client wanted a simple change, it took forever. They say "Necessity is the mother of
invention!" I asked a couple of tech friends if we could drop the dependence on materials and just go straight to the Internet
for delivery. That eventually morphed into mCAST. In the days before Facebook and streaming "Radio", we never imagined taking
this to a mass audience because we didn't believe people would totally forsake the beauty of physical media.
We now use this simple platform for artists to easily distribute their work. Check it out at
www.mCAST1.com. We plan to launch Version 2.0 this Spring with new branding and additional
team members to help grow the segment.
Roger Zee: Talk about DJ'ing for Moby, The Chemical Brothers, and producing large scale Raves/events at Randall's Island.
Scotty Marz: All those experiences stemmed from producing dance events at Willow Street and other local venues. We
didn't know they were Raves. We just loved music and culture. So we brought in DJ talent from all over the the world. For a
brief moment, I became pretty well known locally as a DJ and promoter and as a producer in other parts of the country. I also
co-hosted a late-night mix show on a Long Island radio station, WDRE. Once again, relationships led me to opening up for big
names and performing at large events on Randall's Island and Atlantic City. Fortunately we had a long string of successes with
the Raves and "small" dance events. In those days, we considered only three hundred people attending our gig a failure!
Roger Zee: You signed a number of different record deals. How did they turn out?
Scotty Marz: Exciting at first! We were young and romanticized the idea of getting signed to a
label. It validated that our work mattered. These companies included a string of indie-rock and electronic firms out of New
York City. One of the last labels I signed with ended up producing a long-time friendship which eventually led to another
relationship that started my career in television. Many thanks to John Trepp for that and believing in me. So many great
stories to tell from those days. Some fun, full of familiar names and venues. Some not so fun - lawsuits, frustration, and
wastes of time. When the old label model existed, we thought our "great" music and our "good" looks would carry us through.
We couldn't have been more wrong! To succeed in music back then you needed a different formula. First and foremost, the label
had to make your releases a priority and put lots of money behind them. That's where things go off track. You need a good
single or two and lots of tour dates to move the needle of awareness.
Roger Zee: What role do you play with the group "Le Grand Jones?"
Scotty Marz: LGJ has turned into a passion project. Fortunately I remain part of it after many years with Philip Brown,
a great friend and the best musician I know. I credit him and another pal, Will Ward, as the two guys who gave me the gift of
music. In Le Grand Jones, I co-write songs and do most of the keyboards, sound design, and vocals. Phil handles the bass,
guitar, and other co-writing beauty. We split the producing duties and strive to write music with no pretense or expectation.
LGJ provides a great source of comfort and hope to me. Sometimes I hear it playing in the background on Pandora and forget it's
us! The song "Opening Twilight" typifies a lot of the process. Most times when artists write a tune, they follow a vision. In
this case, we just sat with our instruments and wrote through a stream of consciousness. It still amazes us that it turned out
so cool! As music fans we have our influences. But with this project, we just throw out the playbook and write music as we
feel it. We've garnered some success - a lot of followers on Facebook (mostly European) and a licensing deal with yet another
NYC based label who's business model seems to be throw it against the wall and see what sticks. Although Phil and I stay very
busy writing for television shows, I feel the group's best work lies ahead.
Roger Zee: Do you find it lucrative creating music for television shows such as "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," "Pawn Stars," "The Housewives" franchise, CBS, and HBO Sports?
Scotty Marz: I call the most lucrative aspect of creating television music "The cause and effect syndrome." When
musicians and DJ's gig, we do it with the notion that we'll get paid after the performance. But it's much rarer that we can
compose an original piece and then find compensation for it. The business model has changed from the glory days when the
artist would spend time in the studio writing songs, get them on the "radio," and tour. Once that went away, pessimism set
in. I lucked out in that my connection started me on a different path to earn money making music - one I hadn't thought of
before. Now I compose a piece and get paid for it through a royalty. It's not that simple but that's the short version. We've
created a sophisticated mechanism over the years. Here's the crib note. You cannot succeed in business if you don't first put
the basics in place. View your music as a product and yourself as the brand. Know what's required to take what you produce to
market. Don't be myopic. Get a financial infrastructure in place to receive compensation for your work. Without it, you'll
never get off the ground. Now that I've done it, I see music and opportunities in ways I never did before. Obviously, you need
to be good at your craft and know how to feed the market what it wants.
Roger Zee: Tell me about the music you write for commercials.
Scotty Marz: I produce regional spots and promotions that large brands use to feature new products and releases.
Fortunately, sometimes they select me to write the music. It's just another stream of revenue for artists. In today's
environment, the working musician needs to get as creative outside the studio as inside it!
Roger Zee: How do you see the future of the music business?
Scotty Marz: It's no secret that "Corporate Rock" killed the record business many years ago. We must accept it and move
forward. I see the future as streaming. Sadly, my payment statements from Amazon, Hulu, and other streaming video platforms
always seem much, much lower than from the more traditional broadcast means. We all know the artist lament about Spotify and
the like. Yet now Warner Music makes more money streaming than they did from sales just a few years ago. However, that's a big
corporation with a massive catalog. This doesn't say much for the little folk. Big time artists such as Taylor Swift tried to
boycott by not allowing their material on these platforms but the fans have spoken. If you don't give them the instant access
to your music anytime, anywhere for "free," they will forget about you. The problem lies with the people who consume the
music. The record companies follow the market and their consumers. I always want to remain an optimist, but when you see
the figures and ratios from your publishing statements, that's very hard to do! In my surly opinion, the industry should
consider going backwards instead of forward into the future. This would require re-visiting a time when Rock stars and fans
had tangible things to buy and sell. They limited supply and you had to wait for your favorite song to come on the radio.
The more anyone has instant access to everything they want, the more
they become desensitized to it's magic and effort. To change would require everyone agreeing that this is the best solution
and resetting the table. However, it's never going to happen! Sadly and despite the rhetoric, when it comes down to it, musicians
have no say in the process. In this new landscape, there's no choice but to find creative ways to produce and sell your
content. If you're good/great at it, someone will always buy your wares! I can only hope that the oddball formula for streaming
compensation gets sorted out and that more artists will find their fan base and DIY opportunity in this digital age.
©2017 Roger Zee