AU gets 'label' ed

By Joy Sherman

It’s after midnight and the lights are still on in the recording studio in the Krannert Fine Arts building. After one final instrumental run-through, the students in the studio call it quits, but not before Mark Pay, the producer calling the shots during the recording session, reminds everyone to be back in the same place at the same time tomorrow.

Late nights are nothing new to the crew of students in the music business program at Anderson University, especially for those working on a recording project for sophomore Jon McLaughlin. And McLaughlin isn’t just another AU student trying to wrap up a class project. He’s the first artist signed to the university’s new record label. It’s just one more way the music business program provides “real world” education about the ins and outs of the music business.

With a rich tradition of musical excellence, it’s no surprise that Anderson University’s Department of Music is continually seeking new ways to challenge and educate students with quality programming that prepares them to be the best in their field after graduation. And in keeping with tradition, one of the department’s major programs, music business, added a component to its repertoire this past year that has proven to exceed even the faculty’s expectations.

Aided by a $25,000 departmental initiative campus grant funded by Dr. Glenn Falls BA ’48, professor emeritus of economics and business, the university has created a student-run record label — Orangehaus Records (formerly known as Launch Records). Orangehaus is the brainchild of Dr. Becky Chappell BA ’76 and Dr. Mark Murray, two longtime professors in the music department.

When an emphasis on the music industry was introduced into the curriculum in the late 1970s, it began as a major “cognate” — or a complementary focus to a major in music. Interest in this field of study allowed the program to blossom into a major by the mid-1980s. Murray credits the chair of the music department at that time, Dr. Dale Bengtson BS ’57, as the visionary who promoted the investment of student attentions and studies in the music industry. Bengtson’s vision was part of the reason Murray was brought on as faculty.

“I was hired,” Murray says, “because I could do three things — teach trumpet, work with the jazz ensemble and develop the music industry program.” He taught recording techniques and other introductory music business courses. When Murray’s responsibilities no longer included teaching the intro classes, he “kept researching what programs were out there and what they consisted of in the quest for a model to have a music business program within the music degree program.”

Murray and others determined a distinct need to revise the program and bring it up to current standards with the other liberal arts degree programs the university offered. It was then the music business major was developed. An interdisciplinary program, the major was structured to work within the liberal arts curriculum and combined music theory and literature classes with business classes, such as marketing and management, and industry-related classes, including publishing, recording, songwriting and legal aspects of the music business.

With each change, the program saw an initial influx of student interest, but it waned over time as the industry’s evolution surpassed the quality of education AU could provide. With the addition of a required internship to immerse students in music industry work during a summer or a semester, there was hope that practical application could supplement classroom learning. But by the early 1990s, it was clear that the program was in need of a new educational model, and that prompted Chappell, Murray’s successor in teaching the program’s two introductory courses, to pursue a grant with the Lilly Foundation to do research on a new format for the program.

“I felt like what we had wasn’t meeting the needs of the students,” Chappell says. “You can’t learn music business in a classroom. You can learn terms and you can learn facts, but you can’t really understand the music business until you do the music business.”

Her research led to a student-run record label. She studied numerous universities’ models including large schools like the University of Miami, Middle Tennessee State University and Belmont University. After talking with music professionals and professors, Chappell was told, “The perfect model is the record label, because it touches on every aspect of the industry.”

“The schools I looked at didn’t pick up on that [idea], because they had record labels,” Chappell says. “But they weren’t using them as an educational role model. They were using them as an extracurricular activity.”

Chappell also recognized that AU’s current use of its own recording studio mimicked many of these top schools. “Their labels were much like what we had been doing already in terms of students doing custom projects. But they weren’t really anything organized. My idea was to put it in the classroom and try to take it to the next level of promotion and really develop one artist.”

Establishing a way to set things in motion was difficult. “Running a record label is very high risk,” Chappell admits, “and it can be difficult to convince academic institutions to put money into that. Everyone was excited about it — the funds just weren’t available.”

Still, Chappell and Murray remained motivated and optimistic that this change in programming — an addition that was taking shape to become a senior capstone course, where students could immerse themselves in every function of the industry — would be the dramatic difference the music business major needed.

“What we wanted to do was introduce the whole business to students in this context where they’re also becoming better people,” Murray says. The twosome annually presented their proposal and finally found funding with the Falls grant. The only hurdle left was to find someone skilled enough to oversee the daily running of the label.

The search didn’t last very long. Mark Pay BA ’83, already an adjunct professor, seemed a natural fit for the role. Pay has worked in the music industry for 20 years — more than 17 years as a studio musician, professional guitarist, songwriter and producer. He logged countless miles and hours on the road as a tour musician for artists like Sandi Patty, Ray Boltz, Russ Taff and Phillips, Craig and Dean, and the same on a long stretch of highway between Anderson and Nashville, Tenn., where he produced artists through his own company, Screaming Toad Productions. He joined the faculty at AU a few years ago to teach guitar lessons and later added the artist development class to his teaching load. He was the hands-down choice to become president of Orangehaus Records.

“I’ve had pretty diverse experiences in the music industry,” Pay says. “I’ve done merchandising and road management. I’ve been an artist. I’ve been a guitar player for a lot of national touring acts. And all these different experiences have tied together, where being the president of a record label is like the culmination of all these efforts.”

The offer made sense to Pay, and he accepted it with little reservation. “I understand a lot of negotiating that takes place, the psyche of an artist, the legalities, the contractual arrangements. I understand publishing because I have my own publishing company. [This job] makes sense, and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I have a lot of passion to do it, too.”

And passion is essential at the beginning of a project like this, especially for Pay, because the time commitment he has invested during the first year of Orangehaus has been far more than the usual amount a professor devotes to one academic class. Countless late nights in the recording studio to lay down vocal and instrumental tracks, long weekend trips to Nashville for mixing the final cuts, and the day-to-day networking and conversations Pay has with professionals in the industry were all outside the normal “classroom” time where Pay met regularly with 13 students to discuss the weekly advancements in the label’s success.

While Pay will be paid “points” — an industry term for a percentage of profit from a particular work — after the label produces a product that breaks even, Pay’s involvement is based on a more personal investment. “AU’s music department, including Dr. Murray, were so integral and influential in my growth as a [guitar] player, this is kind of my way to give back a little time.”

Orangehaus Records has taken more than a “little time” to pull together. After coming together at the beginning of the fall semester, the class immediately set out to write a mission statement for the label. Students then developed an organizational structure with specific areas — business/legal/finance, artist and repertoire (A&R), marketing/booking, merchandising/distribution and artist development — and divided into their areas of interest and expertise. The next step was to do an artist search, so the class solicited demo tapes and a showcase was held in the Corner Pocket in a coffeehouse style venue. Jon McLaughlin was selected as the first artist to be signed to a deal with Orangehaus.

And all of that happened by November. McLaughlin was signed Nov. 12, and the wheels kept turning. Since Orangehaus was designed to be a culminating experience for seniors in the music business program, the class functions in every aspect like a real-world record label, where business and work on a project is conducted at all hours and late nights are expected. Besides the weekly conferences where Pay and the Orangehaus staff conducted serious staff meetings concerning matters like booking venues, setting up media coverage, assuring payment to studios and musicians for their time in recording, and preparing for concerts and artist signings, students were immersed in making contacts throughout the industry in marketing and radio promotion.

And students and industry professionals alike will tell you much of the music business is about connections. “A lot of times, it’s about who you know,” says senior Elizabeth George, head of publicity for Orangehaus. “When you’ve got a foot in the door somewhere, when someone knows a name or has a connection with someone else, those are great inroads for people trying to do well in the industry.”

AU students are well-versed in keeping doors open. “Our students went out and did internships at different places, brought all their contacts and resources from these internships and used them for our label, which is exactly what you need to be doing in the music business,” says Chappell. In fact, some seniors who worked on the Orangehaus staff this year had worked at major publishing companies or labels that, in Pay’s purview, turned out to be “priceless.”

“Anna King came in with an internship from EMI that is still panning out,” Pay recalls. “That opened the doorway for our connection with them. She came in with some great experience on contracts and legal issues. Mike Mayer worked some publicity angles in London with a couple of small record labels, so he came in with some good marketing and A&R skills that have been essential for us. Anna Hammonds came to the group with some internship experience with Gotee Records, mainly in publicity, PR and promotions.

“Those three came to Orangehaus with some direct experience that’s been priceless. But we’ve had a lot of people put their heart and soul into this thing.”

Many of those people include alumni and industry people who were excited about AU’s support of a student-run label as an educational tool and offered their time with studio work or musical arranging or building bridges with other people in the industry to help the label achieve great success on a shoestring budget.

AU music business grad Jay Rouse BA ’86 (see sidebar) wrote the string arrangements for McLaughlin’s album as a pro bono gig, with input from McLaughlin who wrote and arranged all ten cuts on his first CD, Up Until Now. Rick Vale designed the label’s original logo. The label has received free counsel from attorneys spread across the United States regarding legal issues.

“I can’t tell you how many people have been willing to help us for free,” Pay admits. “It’s very expensive to break new artists. In a mainstream realm, you’re talking in the $1 million range. The album is just one-third of that; the other two-thirds are publicity and marketing. But a lot of album budgets are $25,000 and that’s a low budget. So we’ve had to be very frugal and careful, and we have been.”

Yet for all the freebies, it’s important to Pay, Murray and Chappell that this label stays in the students’ hands; the label is primarily about education. Success is just the bonus. But they deserve success; the professors will tell you how amazed they are at the hard work students have poured into this project.

“I’ve been surprised at the level of commitment from the class, the energy and resources they have pooled together,” Chappell says. “They’ve been doing as much as they can and bringing as many creative ideas as they can to the table.”

The AU label has a few advantages over today’s traditional labels. “One is the fact that it is totally student-run, and the other is because our students are targeting the college market, we have students who know the market because they are the market,” Chappell says.

Pay agrees. “The research our students do on the college demographic is traditionally, for labels, a very difficult area to tap into, because the psyche and the taste of a college student is always changing. They don’t like mainstream [music]. At a college level, a student is seeking underneath that. They want artists who question more; they want new underground trends and the cool new sounds coming through. And to try and keep a finger on that as an A&R guy at a label is hard.”

What students liked this year was homegrown singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin, an Anderson-area native who took the AU artist showcase by storm last fall and received a resounding response from executives and professionals this spring in Music City when he, Pay and some of the Orangehaus staff were there during Gospel Music Association (GMA) week.

“One of the best moments of the year was to see Jon do so well in an environment that’s not ‘home,’” says Pay. “There were a lot of industry people at GMA, and [Jon] performed live without a sound check. To see the students’ faces who had helped get him to that point, to see their reaction, was very emotional for me.”

McLaughlin performed in Nashville for GMA on April 9 before coming to Anderson the next night and playing for a hometown crowd at East Side Church of God to promote his album’s release.

Chappell and Murray affirm that McLaughlin’s talent has been an important part of Orangehaus’ ability to do well in its first year. McLaughlin, they say, comes from “a tremendous pool of talent at AU.” His giftedness at arranging and writing original lyrics is a definite draw, and his blend of contemporary “funky, pop and rock style” mimics artists like ColdPlay, Ben Fultz and the recent throwback to piano-heavy musicians like Norah Jones. The local Herald Bulletin described McLaughlin’s music as having an “abundance of soul.” This unique combination of styles is what Chappell believes makes McLaughlin so marketable.

“This is totally new music. These kids have a vision of the Great Commission that says, ‘Go out into the world and bring the gospel,’ and they really want their Christian music played in secular venues.”

But McLaughlin will tell you that talent at AU is broad and he’s not so unique. “There are a lot of good musicians on this campus, and people are used to having them around,” he says. All three professors agree that the depth of talent at the university will benefit the label in the long run. “I think that what we have over other universities is an incredible talent pool of songwriters and artists,” Chappell affirms.

As proof, Orangehaus signed AU junior Betsy Walker to a three-song developmental deal on April 11. Walker opened for McLaughlin at his album release concert, and the next night played at Reardon Auditorium with well-known artists Newsong and Natalie Grant.

But just because she signed later in the year doesn’t mean Walker gets the short end of the staff. This year’s students committed to work through the summer to help the label transition into its new staff in the fall of 2003, both to keep McLaughlin singing at venues across the United States and to keep Walker focused on her work.

And there’s plenty of work to be done. Orangehaus is currently in conversations with major distribution outlets for McLaughlin’s album, and national release of his music is still to come. Pay wants product in the store before McLaughlin’s first song — probably “The Way” for Christian radio outlets — hits the airwaves. Additionally, McLaughlin will be playing for camps and other audiences this summer to get some recognition. And next year’s staff will likely plan another showcase and potentially re-sign McLaughlin and Walker.

Hopefully, Pay says, there will be other work happening this summer — on the technological side. One of the limitations the program has faced in its first year is the need for updates in the recording studio. “It’s better for students if we have more compatibility with other studios in the area,” he adds. Along with Pay, Murray and Chappell both note the need for strategic improvements on the equipment end of the program.

“The standard in the industry currently is a system called ProTools, a whole system of audio recording and editing software and hardware being used by the lion’s share of professionals in the business,” Murray explains. “A very basic system costs $45,000. That doesn’t include acoustical improvements we’d like to make.”

Chappell also notes the need for a larger office space that’s functional for a staff of at least 10 students to work in and store their product, and the transformation of some practice rooms into “writers’ rooms” with keyboards and basic recording equipment.

Those needs haven’t fallen on deaf ears. Dr. Jeffrey Wright, dean of the College of the Arts and chair of the Department of Music, says with the expansion and continued interest of students in the music departments programs — education, business and performance — the current facilities are taxed in a number of ways. Current performance halls are being used both for rehearsals and recitals, increasing the wear on those rooms. In order to take the program to the “next level,” Wright says “there will need to be a significant building project that could function as a communication center housing the facilities for Covenant Productions, WQME and larger recording studios, as well as improved performance facilities and recital halls.”

With the music department’s use of Byrum Hall, that theatre also has its own limitations. “We’re bursting at the seams,” says Wright, “which is excellent as far as student interest goes, but difficult as far as how we can provide for them.”

Despite room for improvement, Wright is greatly pleased with the outcome of Orangehaus in its first year. “This class is exactly what we hoped it would be — a place where students are pulling together all their coursework and experience from their previous years of student work and culminating their education with a capstone course.

“I think the excitement we’re currently experiencing on campus is spilling over to prospective students,” adds Wright. “This offers tremendous potential for us. The music business program’s development is a unique educational opportunity for a school of our size and type.”

Murray echoes that sentiment. “I believe that this could be ‘the place’ to go for music business if you’re interested in a Christian institution that is able to provide a high quality education in a liberal arts environment.”

“The place” where students launch their education into a career.