30frames

Nigel Dick is one of the top-ten music video directors of all time. He understands the business from the perspective of a label video commissioner and as the guy who did clips that ranged from "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to "Welcome to the Jungle."

Apparently Nigel taught some kind of extension class and he has generously posted his lecture notes on his website. Here is a bit where Nigel describes the situation a hot young artist will find themselves in as the do the record industry dance:

The second album has sold five million albums and the band have been on the road around the world for 18 months. They're now headlining and starting to get some serious cash from the gig money but are stunned to discover that the cost of marketing their albums, making videos etc. and the huge debt accrued by their first album only means that after 4 years of hard work there's about $800,000 profit. The manager skims his 20% off the top leaving the five band members with $128,000 each before tax. By the time they've paid tax they've got enough for a holiday, a new Range Rover and the deposit for a condo in the valley. Meanwhile the guy who writes the band's songs is a millionaire.

If you care about music videos, you should definitely spend a few hours poking around on Dick's site. He even has a section devoted to the treatments he has written. Check out how short some of those early GNR concepts were if you are wondering how much things have changed.

New stuff in store for 30frames, so good looking out, graduate.

Labels: celebrity, dick, music video, philosophy