Keep Your Publishing: Derek “DOA” Allen on Going From Bass Player to Record Producer (Episode 25)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Derek "DOA" Allen played bass on Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation tour, the biggest tour in the world at the time. Then he toured with Lionel Richie. Then he got tired of the road and took it to the studio.

In Episode 25 of The Career Musician, DOA tells Nomad how he went from bass player to record producer: the cassette that sat in his pocket, the first check that told him he was in the wrong business, the email that got him fired, and the phone call that brought him back on his own terms.

Keep the tape in your pocket

After the Janet tour, every big artist already had a band. So DOA started writing, paying an engineer $50 an hour, with no idea how production worked. He had one song he just knew was a hit for Bobby Brown. The problem: no connection. He had crossed paths with Bobby for years. Small talk, no numbers.

Then, the day after he decided the song was for Bobby, the phone rang. Bobby was going to Japan and wanted DOA on bass. He says he would have done that gig for free just to get his song heard.

In Atlanta for rehearsals, the cassette was burning a hole in his pocket. Finally, on a break, Bobby asked if he had something. They went to the car. About 30 or 40 seconds in, Bobby stopped the tape, rolled down the windows and called the band, the dancers and security over to hear his next single.

Nomad named it on the spot: preparation. DOA had the song ready before anybody asked. That is Luck = preparation + opportunity, and it is why everything you do is an audition, even small talk backstage.

Never give up your publishing

Bobby's business manager called with the details: two weeks in Atlanta, two songs, $15,000 per song. DOA thought she meant for both. She did not. He told himself he was in the wrong business.

Nomad asked the key question: was Bobby buying the songs? No.

"To me there's no such thing as buying a record. That language never exists, because you never give up your publishing, your rights."

Derek "DOA" Allen, 10:04

The fee was a producer's fee. The writer's share stayed his.

The session had one more surprise. Bobby asked if DOA wanted his girlfriend on the record, then walked in an hour later with Whitney Houston, who stepped into the booth and told a first-time producer to just play the track.

Work begets work

Only one of his two songs made the album, and it was not the one he wrote for Bobby. It did not matter. Once people heard he had songs on the follow-up to a multi-million seller, his phone blew up before the record even came out.

A friend set up publishing meetings in LA. At one company, the boss heard the music through the walls and wanted to sign him. It turned out to be Michael Jackson's publishing company. Two weeks later he had a two-year deal, bought a house, and kept touring. That is the point Nomad drove home: an income stream from the studio while the road still paid.

Deals with PolyGram and Disney followed. Work begets work.

Don't stay miserable on a great gig

When the Lionel Richie call came, production was slowing down and he had just bought a big house. He hoped to soak up some songwriting from the man, and found out the hard way that the Bobby story was an anomaly. On that gig, he was there to play bass.

"I'm not gonna be miserable playing the bass for nobody, because I love it so much. ... If I'm gonna be miserable, I'm gonna go to Home Depot and get a job."

Derek "DOA" Allen, 23:35

Nomad's read: that leap was faith, but not faith without works. The work was the networking and the relationships he kept building the whole time.

Know your value, then name your terms

About four years in, after a long, successful European run, DOA was ready to ask for a raise. Instead an email went out to the band: great year, but pay cuts are coming. He replied that he had been about to ask for an increase, so for now he would just stay where he was. Two minutes later he was told his services were no longer needed.

The next day his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and nothing else mattered. After months of treatment, she got good news. A day or two later, the call came. The band needed the funk back. DOA wanted to hear it from the boss, so he called Lionel, who told him straight: I need you back, I want you back.

DOA said yes, but not for the same money everyone else had just accepted. They made it happen. Nomad's takeaway for listeners: learn the art of negotiating and get good business acumen. That is Make Music Your Business.

He backed it with advice he got early from a veteran player: you have to learn how to say no. When a low offer came after the Janet tour, he passed. From that point, he wrote his own terms.

Plan for the day the gig ends

When he finally came off the road, DOA sold the big house on the lake, the one with rooms he never used, so his daughter could go to the college she wanted. He says it took close to ten years for the production side to really manifest. The best part, in his words: it belongs to him.

He had a question for everyone still riding a big tour: when it is done, who is going to pay you? And when the negative voices hit, as they do for every artist, persevere. Keep the ramen going. And look in the mirror before you blame anybody.

"Is there anything that I could have done different? And nine times out of ten, it always is."

Derek "DOA" Allen, 41:34

The takeaway

Have the song ready before anyone asks. Keep your publishing. Know your worth and be willing to walk. And build something off the road that belongs to you, because every tour ends. If you are working on getting that next call, start with the free Get the Gig guide, and see DOA's credits on AllMusic.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.