I thought it was about the process of getting signed to a label.
When an artist has a lot of money behind them, but the label internally passed on signing them, they'll put on a "showcase" to make the backers believe that the artist had a fair shot.
This is usually a really big production. An auditorium at the headquarters will be filled with middle-management and executives (read: assholes) and the artist will have between 15 and 30 minutes to show off. They'll have full production support, including PA and lighting design (lights ran through the colors). The audience will have been instructed to act overwhelmingly receptive to the music, regardless of their personal tastes (music seemed to comfort).
At the end, the artist will either be offered a "development" contract, which grants the label certain rights to the artist with no promise of return for the artist's investment; or they'll simply get radio silence from the label. Very rarely do labels send outright rejections.
When a label actually likes an artist, it's never as-they-come. They want to change the artist or the music somehow to fit with the catalog that the label is trying to build, but without overly stepping on the toes of an existing label artist (or sometimes, deliberately stepping on the toes of an existing artist).
The last stanza describes the artist finally realizing that the industry is run like a sort of mafia. I like the fact that Volbeat leaves the ending open to interpretation, because the last line is "thank you very much for listening," which is often how bands address the audience of execs at the end of their showcases. It could also be meant sarcastically, as if he's telling the label to eff off.
I thought it was about the process of getting signed to a label.
When an artist has a lot of money behind them, but the label internally passed on signing them, they'll put on a "showcase" to make the backers believe that the artist had a fair shot.
This is usually a really big production. An auditorium at the headquarters will be filled with middle-management and executives (read: assholes) and the artist will have between 15 and 30 minutes to show off. They'll have full production support, including PA and lighting design (lights ran through the colors). The audience will have been instructed to act overwhelmingly receptive to the music, regardless of their personal tastes (music seemed to comfort).
At the end, the artist will either be offered a "development" contract, which grants the label certain rights to the artist with no promise of return for the artist's investment; or they'll simply get radio silence from the label. Very rarely do labels send outright rejections.
When a label actually likes an artist, it's never as-they-come. They want to change the artist or the music somehow to fit with the catalog that the label is trying to build, but without overly stepping on the toes of an existing label artist (or sometimes, deliberately stepping on the toes of an existing artist).
The last stanza describes the artist finally realizing that the industry is run like a sort of mafia. I like the fact that Volbeat leaves the ending open to interpretation, because the last line is "thank you very much for listening," which is often how bands address the audience of execs at the end of their showcases. It could also be meant sarcastically, as if he's telling the label to eff off.