Interview: Kathy Fisher, of Internet music success story Fisher
The Los Angeles-based duo Fisher--husband-and-wife team Kathy Fisher and Ron Wasserman--caused such a stir on MP3.com, the ensuing listener-furor got the attention of radio station KFMB 100.7 FM in San Diego, Farmclub.com and Interscope Records.
The latter two scrambled to get Fisher's debut "True North" onto record store shelves after the San Diego adult alternative radio station started playing the ballad "I Will Love You."
Fisher and Wasserman were playing folk in clubs and doing music for television and movies--from "Great Expectations" and "Ally McBeal," to jingles for Hyundai and Verizon. Fisher also sang Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" with Sarah McLachlan and Sinead O'Connor on the Lilith Fair tour in 1998, but real breakout success didn't happen until Web-oriented fans downloaded "I Will Love You" over two million times.
SoundSpike correspondent Don Zulaica spoke with West Virginia-native Fisher about its rise via the Internet, and the web's future in the music industry.
SoundSpike: The deal with Interscope/Farmclub started with putting your music out on MP3.com. How did you decide to do that?
Ron first put music on the net for us in late March or April of '99. The whole Internet phenomenon was just starting, so it was a great time to jump in and see if it would do any good. We were basically ready to give up. We'd been doing the whole L.A. club scene and getting nowhere.
And the Lilith Fair.
Yeah, we did so many things that just never turned into a record deal. So we were frustrated. In Los Angeles, it's very difficult to play out. It's very expensive. It's called a "showcase" because the labels are supposed to come and tell you if you're worthy of a deal. So we were always putting the money together to pay the band, pay for rehearsal space, and all that stuff. The labels tell us they're coming, and before you know it we'd spent $1,000 and they didn't show because something came up. Time and time again, that would happen.
We figured, "With the Internet, we can put it on for free. We're not going to lose anything. This is a good way for people to get exposed to the music. Then we can find out if we have a fan base or not." We'd always heard, "Your music is great, but we don't know who would listen to it."
So you put a few songs on MP3.com.
Yeah. "I Will Love You" and "Any Way." It was slow at first; we had 12 downloads the first day. When we went on there, they were a small company and they actually took the time to listen to some of the submissions. So they were impressed, and did a weekend feature of us, and that really got the ball rolling because it got us on their charts. And since we were on the front page, and people were pointed in the right direction, when we got on their Top 40 charts, we stayed on.
And then how did Farmclub.com get into the picture?
They found us. They were getting ready to launch their whole company and they kept seeing us everywhere. So they actually called us [and said], "You're everywhere, where aren't you? We need to have a meeting." They said, "You guys are living the role model that we're trying to start with this new website." So that got our deal together, through them and Interscope.
What happened at KFMB in San Diego?
What happened was, the record hadn't been released yet, and they heard "I Will Love You" on the Internet. Then they clicked over and found out we were on Farmclub.com and that we were signed, and figured, "Hey, there's no reason why we can't play this. They're a signed band." And they did, and the response was just phenomenal.
I think a lot of it is because it's a military town. There's a lot of people there missing their loved ones, because they're all serving. So it really touched a lot of nerves. People were pulling over crying on the freeways, calling the station on their cell phones.
What are your feelings about Napster, the music sharing community and Internet distribution in general?
Ron and I have different feelings on it. He's not as afraid of it as I am. I think he feels like, "How do you want to do something like this that's already started?" And to a great extent, he's right.
But my whole thing is ... I'll tell you an interesting thing: I got an e-mail from a woman who said, "I'm a 54 year-old grandmother and I heard you on Napster. And guess what? Napster is good, because I went out and bought your CD." And at first I thought, okay, Napster's not as bad as I thought."
Then I thought, wait a minute. She's 54 years-old. She's used to hearing music that she likes on the radio, and going on and buying it. Her brain is trained to eventually go out and buy it. But when you raise a new generation on ...
[The idea that] everything should be free ...
Exactly. It's very Pavlovian. You press the button, you get the cheese, you know? You don't have to go and buy the cheese at the store, it's just there. I'm worried that we're training a generation of music lovers that there is nothing wrong with getting everything for free.
Do you see the Internet opening up possibilities for other bands doing different kinds of music? Will Internet radio and the like be able to do anything to the MTV and conventional radio machine that pushes whatever the major labels want?
Everything goes in cycles. Just like with MP3, Ron and I both agreed that it wasn't going to be long before major artists were consuming space on MP3 sites and bumping out indie artists; that's exactly what's happened. If you look at MP3 charts now, it's Madonna, David Bowie, Barenaked Ladies. It's like they've already taken it over.
Ron and I approached the Internet as a marketing tool. And as much as it could benefit an independent artist, so much of it is going to be industry-paid-for sites that are going to promote the known artists already, so that is still going to push the indie artists out. So, yes, it's a great opportunity, but everything becomes corporate eventually. The most pure, beautiful little thing becomes corporate.
Once somebody figures out you can make that much money ...
Yeah. When radio first started, I think it was a lot more eclectic--aside from the racist part of it, where some radio stations wouldn't play black artists. But it was more eclectic, and as it became more mainstream ... now you have six selections. That didn't happen overnight.
I guess my fear is, yeah, we have this wonderful opportunity for Internet radio, but how long will it be before corporations seize it and limit what can be played there as well? As Cyndi Lauper sang, "Money changes everything."
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