Ross: "Writers across country can be very helpful when bands come in from out of town." He also recommends that you "get on-air appearances for your artists who are on tour. Call people, tell them why your artist will be good for their station or their club." Taylor challenged him to give an example of how he talks to people on these calls. To much laughter, he said, "If I'm talking to a club, I always say artist plays 'good drinking music.'"

Laski: "There are different levels of publicity. At start, you call reviewers. As you move up in sales, you hire a publicist to work a release or a tour, and you make certain he is in proper genre of music. You can also call BMI or ASCAP publicist, who can be helpful in getting contacts in press."

On preparing marketing plans for artists:

Yeko: "It's helpful to list your goals, and steps you need to take to achieve them. This is a good idea even if you don't follow your plan exactly as it was written."

Ross: "Unfortunately, marketing plans require marketing money."

Laski: "Marketing plans are too time-consuming. We plan what we need to do as need arises. Too many factors change as you go along."

On touring:

Ross: "Outside of L.A., you can actually make some money."

Laski: "Touring is going to be a losing proposition at beginning of an artist's career, unless you can get tour support from a record label."

On making money for indie artists:

Laski: "We place songs on TV and film soundtracks. It not only makes some money for artists, it is excellent exposure."

Yeko: "We have had great success with film and TV placement of songs, but some of our artists have developed clothing items and merchandise that actually generate more income at shows than CD sales."

On artists looking for a magic formula for a breakthrough:

Yeko: "There is no shortcut to success other than hard work."

Ross: "When you get those e-mails from people offering to set-up showcases, or ones that tell you all about a great CD sampler they're sending out, run away. These are never a good deal."

On must-do lists for artists and managers:

Ross: "Whatever you receive from anyone, whether it's a writer, club owner, or someone at retail, thank them!"

Yeko: "Look into NACA, National Association for Campus Activities at www.naca.org. We've also had an artist who did an entire summer of playing shopping malls."

Ross: "When you send CDs to radio or press, remove shrinkwrap. And do not send a CD to radio without a proper 1-sheet." NOTE: you can download a PDF of a proper 1-sheet here: http://www.delvianrecords.com/onesheets/1S_Platinum_Radio.pdf

Oddly, most provocative statement of evening failed to draw any comment from audience or panelists. Taylor began program with a prediction that "In wake of industry changes such as Sony/BMG merger, indie record distribution may ultimately move from a single digit percentage to as much as 25 to 30 percent." Perhaps this is really a prelude to next LAMN or NARIP presentation.

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