The way Don McLean's music thrives
By Larry Getlen • Bankrate.com

If you just judged him by his songs, such as "Vincent" and "American Pie," you might get the idea that Don McLean is a sensitive soul. Touchie-feelie. Mellow.

The truth is different. In conversation, McLean comes off as, more than anything else, an incredibly shrewd and experienced businessman, more the CEO of Don McLean Inc. than a dreamy folk singer riding the rails of life.

While he did start in the folk-singer movement, performing benefits with the likes of Pete Seeger, McLean quickly learned the harsh realities of the music business. Early on, McLean made an astute move: he kept the rights to his own music. We talked to McLean about the business end of his career, and the move made him set for life and a brilliant business model for any up-and-coming musician or songwriter.

BANKRATE: As a musician, you made some incredibly shrewd business moves -- you actually own all the rights to all your albums and publishing. Yet, you started in an era where musicians and songwriters usually got the short end of the stick. How did you wind up with full ownership?

DON McLEAN: I went to college and have a degree in finance, and I actually got into Columbia graduate school for a master's, but decided to go back to the music business. What this did for me was, I never signed any bad agreements with management, because I read the agreements and knew what they meant, and I also held out for my publishing. That's one of the reasons why I was turned down by about 30 record companies in my attempt to put out my first record, "Tapestry." I finally reached a wonderful little label called Media Arts Records. They signed me and they were willing to part with the publishing.

There was a lot of pain involved, because there was a lot of disappointment. Most people want pleasure immediately. They say, "I want to get a record out," and they run. Unfortunately, you have to sit back and say, "Wait a minute, maybe this isn't right." It's a very tough thing for an artist.

B: So you had opportunities where you could have had the record out, and you said . . .

DM: Oh yeah. Thirty different times. There were record labels you never heard of, like Bell Records, and labels like Columbia and RCA, but they wanted the publishing. I can be very stubborn. I didn't want the songs because I thought they would be worth something, I wanted them because ... I just wanted them. They were mine. Kind of dumb, really, but I wound up owning these wonderful songs, so it's turned out great. And "American Pie" is certainly the star of the show, but all these songs make money. "And I Love You So" makes a lot of money every year. There are hundreds of recordings of that song.

B: Has "American Pie" made you set for life?

DM: No. Actually, if I were to sell that song today, it would be worth in the tens of millions of dollars probably. Copyrights are very valuable.

B: How much does it bring in every year?

DM: I would not care to say, but it brings in a lot. But all the songs together bring in a lot more. And all these songs are in print. Every album I have ever made is in print.

B: How many licenses do you sell a year?

DM: Since the Madonna record and the Weird Al record, I have as many licenses in the last nine months as I have in the past six years. Hundreds, hundreds and hundreds, for all sorts of different things, but primarily "Vincent" and "American Pie." But also "Crying," "Castles In The Air," quite a few of "And I Love You So." These songs turn up in TV shows and movies, like "Ally McBeal." "And I Love You So" was in the movie "Bowfinger." You probably didn't hear it, but it made a lot of money for the sync license.

B: Do you get a lot of requests for the trademark that you turn down?

DM: I spend a lot of time threatening people -- to stop using that phrase, or to change the name of your pizza shop, or your pie store, or whatever.

B: The movie "American Pie" seems out of character for the song -- why did you approve that?

DM: I didn't approve the movie. The movie just went ahead and used that song as a title, and I had to bring an action to get some attention.

B: So you reached a deal?

DM: We have an agreement that they had to license that name from me in order to make that movie. That has nothing to do with the song -- the song's not even in it.

B: Did you have the power to say to them, "You can't use this title, end of story"?

DM: I had power enough to make them acknowledge the ownership of the trademark and settle the dispute with me, so they could not steamroller me.

B: So you couldn't stop it, but you could make sure you got paid.

DM: I could definitely, maybe not stop it, but there was a very good chance, in that I had the trademark registered, it would have effected their ability to market the movie to such a degree that they wanted to come to an agreement.

B: It's very confusing, isn't it?

DM: Yes it is, and with the Internet there's a lot more stuff. Most lawyers' businesses are now Internet driven. Napster -- perfect example. This guy thinks that he can just go along and create this thing and take everybody's copyright and infringe on them like crazy, and everybody's going to go along with this. It's nuts.

B: So you're anti-Napster, I take it?

DM: Of course.

B: Well, it looks like you won.

DM: We'll always win, because copyright laws are very powerful in this country. Intellectual property is protected, as it should be. If you buy a car, a substantial amount of the money for that car is royalty payments to inventors who invented all sorts of different things involved in the making of that machine. You wouldn't think of petitioning Mercedes Benz and saying, "We don't feel like paying for that windshield wiper royalty, that's just extra stuff. We want that for nothing." But when it comes to music, somehow there's this sense that it's just out there floating around and you can just take it.

B: People have a very different response when it comes to creative endeavors.

DM: Well, they're going to learn different. They're going to learn the hard way, especially the character who started this Napster, because I'll tell you this: If he gets on a paying basis and gets through the thicket of dealing with the major record labels, at that point he's going to have a ton of suits from people like me who've had their publishing infringed for millions and millions of dollars. I'm sure I've been infringed millions of times. He's going to start from square one, and he's going to have to settle with us next. The only reason we're not on his case is the record companies have effectively wrecked him.

-- Posted: April 12, 2001