Winslett Usher (Digital Club Network) (April 2003)

Inside The House Of Usher: An Interview With Digital Club Network's (DCN) Usher Winslett

MuzikMan: Who is Usher Winslett?

Usher Winslett: I am a music fan, with a particular passion for live music. I practiced law for about 10 years with a big Wall Street law firm before going into the music business about 7 years ago. I have been Chief Operating Officer of DCN for 3 years, and I joined DCN because I believe that DCN's model represents the future of the music business - more opportunities for more artists, more direct communication between artists and fans, and more emphasis on quality live performances.[*]

MM: Why was DCN created?

UW: DCN was created to give artists the opportunity to greatly expand the potential of their live performances ... taking full advantage of emerging technologies and the exciting possibilities they create. Take Ralph Stanley as an example. On February 11, 2001, Ralph played his regular gig at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California. It was a sold-out show, but McCabe's capacity is only 150. Because DCN was there to record and webcast the show, we have been able to expand that audience to hundreds of times its original size. We produced a CD from the recordings, Dr. Ralph Stanley And The Clinch Mountain Boys: Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, which we released just after Ralph won multiple Grammys last year, and it has proved to be one of Ralph's most popular CDs in his 55-year career. Moreover, the show is available for on-demand webcast (free) at any time on dcn.com.

We have done the same thing with live CD releases by great artists like the Meat Puppets, Blue Mountain, Trent Summar, Wanda Jackson, Imperial Teen, and Sam Bisbee, just to name a few ? all available at retail stores throughout the country and at dcn.com. And we have thousands more great concert recordings in our catalog from hot, emerging artists in every genre, like O.A.R., 41 Down (now TRUSTcompany), Howie Day, Ben Kweller, My Morning Jacket, Low, Spoon, Liars, Laura Cantrell, Ron Sexsmith, Ted Leo, The Faint, The Movielife, etc. etc. ... the list goes on and on.

MM: Your site is beautiful and very user friendly, I can imagine it is very popular amongst artists and fans alike. Have you been able to handle all the hits it gets without any problems technically? How long have you been online and what has been the growth process since its inception?

UW: For the most part, we have been able to handle the traffic without any problems. Like anything else, we had a few rough spots in the beginning, but that was largely due to the immensity of our launch. DCN officially launched in July 2000 with the Digital Club Festival, the world's largest on-line music event ever. More than 200 bands performed, including blink-182, Wu Tang Clan, Ben Folds Five, Wilco, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Widespread Panic, Steve Earle, Medeski Martin & Wood, Koko Taylor, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn, Richard Thompson, and X - to name a few.

Therefore, we really had a baptism by fire that forced us to work out all the kinks right from the beginning. Since then, our site traffic has been consistently heavy, but well within our capabilities. We still face challenges periodically. For example, last year we webcast the Trey Anastasio show from the Higher Ground in Vermont, and that was probably our highest traffic show ever.

MM: Can the music fan as well as the artist join your site? What are some of the benefits? There are tons of sites out there now doing similar things, what makes your site unique?

UW: The DCN website is available to everyone, anytime, 24/7 ... all free. It is the only place in the world you can go to hear (and see) thousands of hot, up-and-coming bands performing live ... all pre-screened by the most important, tastemaker music venues in the country.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that DCN is far more than a website: we are a network of premier music venues around the country; we are a successful record label; and we are a source for valuable promotional opportunities for artists.

The core of DCN is our exclusive relationships with some of the most important clubs and concert halls in the U.S. - venues like the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA, the 9:30 Club in D.C., The Metro in Chicago, First Avenue in Minneapolis, and dozens more like these. Over the last 20 years, these venues have been the proving grounds for almost every major performing artist, including Creed, Eminem, Sheryl Crow, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, REM, Dave Matthews Band, Jewel, Green Day, No Doubt, Blink-182, and hundreds more. The equivalent stars of tomorrow are playing these venues today, along with hundreds of other talented, hard-working bands who are developing strong fan-bases, and DCN has been recording their shows every night and tracking their careers for over two years.

As a record label, we launched in November 2001, and have since released 14 live CDs and 5 studio CDs. We choose the bands we record and webcast primarily based on the recommendations of our affiliate venues. Each week, every venue sends us a list of the bands they have booked for the coming weeks, highlighting the bands with the hottest buzz in the market. For example, about two years ago, Seth Hurwitz who owns and books the 9:30 Club in D.C. contacted us about a band called Dispatch. He told us that the band had never played the D.C. market before, and that they had just sold out his club in a matter of minutes. We took the tip, recorded that show and several more during the next few months. And Dispatch's live album, Gut The Van, turned out to be DCN's first CD release, which has sold more than 60,000 units.

DCN also provides amazing promotional opportunities for artists. For every band we work with, we build a band page on dcn.com that features the band's bio, pictures, webcasts, and anything else the band wants to include, like videos, links to sell CDs or merchandise, etc. We also promote DCN-affiliated bands through our email newsletter that goes out to over 400,000 subscribers. In addition, we focus on promotional tie-ins that can actually generate income for the artists while raising their profile. Some examples of creative DCN promotions include:

• We placed 15 bands, performing live, in TV commercials that aired during Friends
• We have placed about 25 bands, performing live, in Web-based promotions for huge international brands.
• We have promoted over 100 DCN-affiliated bands by having their live performances webcast on AOL Music, which has over 20 million users.
• At no cost to the artists, we have produced DCN samplers and distributed them to press and key industry contacts.

MM: Do you feel that you are morally, ethically, and spiritually in harmony with independent artists and their needs? What has been the consensus of artists that you have dealt with thus far? Do they feel that it has helped their careers move in the right direction?

UW: DCN is completely in harmony with independent artists and their needs. One of our most basic principles is that the music industry should be refocused on the artists who actually create the art. And we are happy to provide new opportunities for artists - either within the traditional record industry or as an alternative to it.

Somehow, the mainstream record industry has evolved into a "hit factory," where a studio album is viewed as the one-and-only product and everything else that the artist does is viewed as marketing for that product. So if that product doesn't sell a million units, then the artist is viewed as a failure ... never mind the fact that the artist might be a brilliant live performer with a strong core following and the ability to sell both tickets and records. At DCN, we offer a different path, with more options. If DCN-affiliated artists want to sign major label recording contracts, we will help them achieve that goal. However, we also offer a home for truly independent artists - the type of artists who want to maintain full control of their careers and avoid the major labels.

The artists' reaction has been fantastic. When we first started out, we had to spend a lot of time explaining DCN and its benefits to every artist we worked with. Now the word on DCN seems to have spread thru the artist community, and artists are often approaching us before we approach them.

MM: What is your advice to artists on how to use the services you offer most effectively?

UW: My most important piece of advice is that DCN has something to offer every artist - from an undiscovered singer-songwriter who has never played outside of his or her home market to the biggest act in the business. Working with DCN makes sense for any artist who shares the basic tenets of DCN's philosophy - (1) That live performance is the essence of music; and (2) That live music recordings should be as true to the live experience as possible. There is virtually no risk or downside in affiliating with DCN, since we do not attempt to monopolize an artist's career and our deals provide artists with complete flexibility in all areas. Almost all of our agreements are one-offs, with neither options for future recordings nor re-record restrictions. Moreover, in working with DCN, bands have complete artistic freedom in their recordings.

DCN simply offers bands opportunities that would otherwise be lost forever. John Lennon was quoted as saying that the Beatles best performances were in the small venues they played early in their career and were never recorded. DCN can ensure that the bands of today will not experience the same sort of loss. If a band plays Arlene Grocery in New York and does not affiliate with DCN, then a maximum of about 150 can experience the show and then it will be lost forever. However, if that same band chooses to affiliate with DCN, then hundreds or even thousands of additional fans can attend the show, virtually, through the live webcast on dcn.com. Then thousands more can attend, virtually, by accessing the archived webcast. If the band goes on to greatness then hundreds of thousands, or even millions, more fans will be able to experience the show, and DCN and the band will share any profits generated by the recording.

In summary, bands have nothing to loose by affiliating with DCN, and the gains could be astronomical.

MM: Do you think eventually that the corporate conglomerates will fall in line with the way that Indie music has marketed itself? Do you feel that the Internet has been a key factor in the growth of Indie music? It seems their mindset is the polar opposite of the independents and there is no hope of that ever happening. I feel it will be the death of the major labels if they do not change. What are your thoughts on all of this?

UW: There is no doubt that the Internet has been, and will continue to be, a key factor in the growth of Indie Music. Internet technology, along with other emerging technologies, has provided artists with many new opportunities in terms of both production and promotion of music.

The big corporations have been slow to catch on, but I think they are coming around. It seems like every day I read something new about the corporate conglomerates' participation in initiative like Echo, Pressplay, Musicnet, and Rhapsody - all evidence that they are jumping in the game.

The thing that will hold them back is business-as-usual thinking and some degree of paranoia. The majors need to understand that a company like DCN could be an incredibly strong ally. With our network of A-list venues and our extensive database of emerging artists, DCN is tapped into the ground-level music business in a way that the majors could never aspire to. In addition, our live recordings are the perfect complement to the studio records that are the majors' bread and butter. Therefore, if we can figure out a way to work together, everyone will win - particularly the artists and fans.

MM: What are the plans for the DCN site and what do you seek to accomplish in 2003 and beyond?

UW: We will continue to blaze new trails every day, but we will also keep doing many of the same things we have been doing for the past 3 years. Every week, we will record about 30 full concert performances by the hottest up-and-coming bands in the country. We will continue to provide innovative promotional opportunities for DCN-affiliated artists, always looking for new ideas and prospects. And we will continue to release CDs of the best DCN recordings.

Interviewed by MuzikMan March 2003. Reproduced with permission of the Usher Winslett.

[Editor's note: In the 2nd Quarter of 2003, Digital Club Network was sold to Dimensional Associates, the "the New York-based private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. Its portfolio companies include eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional Music Publishing [...]" More business actions and transactions can be read at the Orchard website. Usher Winslett is now serving as president of the entity he founded, WhiteCap Group, LLC, "a group of experienced executives and entrepreneurs who provide management expertise - and hands-on assistance - to a variety of companies, with a particular emphasis in the media, entertainment and technology industries.]

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