association of more than 315,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Furthermore, BMI and SESAC are another membership-style PRO, or Public Rights Organization, similar to ASCAP and serve the same function with often times overlapping demographics. In light of performing, make sure to check out Live Nation, one of the leaders in concert information and ticket sales. If you aren’t familiar with Copyright law, or are simply slightly out of date due to the ever changing litigation within the industry, I suggest you visit the U.S. Copyright Official Site. Here you will learn the basics of what a copyright is and how it may be applied to music and other related fields. After a piece of work is created and embodies all adequate copyright properties, an artist now has the ability to distribute his or her work which requires mechanical licensees by United States Law. By properly licensing cover tunes, the Artist ensures that the publisher that represents the songwriter who wrote the composition gets paid. This is all regulated by the Harry Fox Agency. To track record sales however, industry professionals will refer to Soundscan. Soundscan is responsible for collecting sales data weekly from “point-of-sale cash registers from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets.” Lastly, for any musicians out there, the Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians are organizations of thirty-thousand plus musicians of all ages which is responsible for the negotiations that take place among major employers within the industry. All and all, this newly updated guide serves merely as a window of brief explanations as I encourage you to visit my linkroll and follow the links from there.
March 29, 2008
The Latest and Greatest: A Guide to My Linkroll Part II
After my initial probe into the depths of the internet for content-rich, reputable websites that meet IMSA as well as Webby Award criteria, I have recently discovered ten additional websites that serve as excellent resources for Music Industry enthusiasts. To begin, Music-News.com is an industry wide, newsworthy source that contains a plethora of different styles of reviews including live, single, and album reviews plus more. Besides Music-News.com, American Songwriter is the monthly publication’s website, in its 24th year—continuing to cover every aspect of the craft and art of songwriting, from how and why writers give birth to their songs, to engaging and informative assessments of songwriting culture as a whole. To protect and profit from such songwriting talents, a songwriter/musician may join ASCAP, a membership association of more than 315,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Furthermore, BMI and SESAC are another membership-style PRO, or Public Rights Organization, similar to ASCAP and serve the same function with often times overlapping demographics. In light of performing, make sure to check out Live Nation, one of the leaders in concert information and ticket sales. If you aren’t familiar with Copyright law, or are simply slightly out of date due to the ever changing litigation within the industry, I suggest you visit the U.S. Copyright Official Site. Here you will learn the basics of what a copyright is and how it may be applied to music and other related fields. After a piece of work is created and embodies all adequate copyright properties, an artist now has the ability to distribute his or her work which requires mechanical licensees by United States Law. By properly licensing cover tunes, the Artist ensures that the publisher that represents the songwriter who wrote the composition gets paid. This is all regulated by the Harry Fox Agency. To track record sales however, industry professionals will refer to Soundscan. Soundscan is responsible for collecting sales data weekly from “point-of-sale cash registers from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets.” Lastly, for any musicians out there, the Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians are organizations of thirty-thousand plus musicians of all ages which is responsible for the negotiations that take place among major employers within the industry. All and all, this newly updated guide serves merely as a window of brief explanations as I encourage you to visit my linkroll and follow the links from there.
association of more than 315,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Furthermore, BMI and SESAC are another membership-style PRO, or Public Rights Organization, similar to ASCAP and serve the same function with often times overlapping demographics. In light of performing, make sure to check out Live Nation, one of the leaders in concert information and ticket sales. If you aren’t familiar with Copyright law, or are simply slightly out of date due to the ever changing litigation within the industry, I suggest you visit the U.S. Copyright Official Site. Here you will learn the basics of what a copyright is and how it may be applied to music and other related fields. After a piece of work is created and embodies all adequate copyright properties, an artist now has the ability to distribute his or her work which requires mechanical licensees by United States Law. By properly licensing cover tunes, the Artist ensures that the publisher that represents the songwriter who wrote the composition gets paid. This is all regulated by the Harry Fox Agency. To track record sales however, industry professionals will refer to Soundscan. Soundscan is responsible for collecting sales data weekly from “point-of-sale cash registers from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets.” Lastly, for any musicians out there, the Musicians' Union and the American Federation of Musicians are organizations of thirty-thousand plus musicians of all ages which is responsible for the negotiations that take place among major employers within the industry. All and all, this newly updated guide serves merely as a window of brief explanations as I encourage you to visit my linkroll and follow the links from there.
March 9, 2008
360 Deals: A New Business Model
Rolling Stone magazine said, "Record sales are down twenty-five percent since 2000." While digital sales are on the rise, both the artist and the label are quickly looking for different, profitable income streams. Instead of an artist being signed exclusively for their recording services and being viewed solely as an artist, they are now being viewed as well-rounded products that can be marketed, distributed, and sold similar to any other product hitting the shelves this spring. This is made possible by the evolution of the 360 deal, which is also known as a multiple rights deal. Emo-punk rock group, Paramore along with superstar talent Madonna have popularized deals such that Madonna signed a 10-year pact with concert promoter Live Nation for an astounding $120 million dollars, not just for her exclusive recording services like a normal recording contract would entail, but for a rich mix of cash and stock in exchange for the rights to sell three studio albums, promote concert tours, sell merchandise and license her name. While newer business models may raise a few eyebrows and concerns, thus far the multiple rights deal has shared success among the artist and the label.
Historically, artists have been recruited into major labels for their “exclusive recording services." From this, incomes and specific percentages are derived from record sales only. The same contract provisions that money be paid to the artist in the form of an advance for recoupable expenses such as touring support and independent promotion. While this is hap
pening, record companies such as EMI, Universal, Def Jam, and others are putting fourth millions of marketing dollars to enhance the image and name of the artist in hopes to increase such record sales. Logically, it would only make sense that the record company be the sole beneficiary from such investments. However, since the artist signed a contract for his or her "exclusive recording services," he or she has no right or obligation to share any other streams of income such as the merchandising revenue they accrue while on tour. At the same time, the label is putting money fourth for the artist to be seen and heard, or marketed, the artist is able to collect nearly 100% of merchandising and endorsement profits without the record company seeing a dime from such sales. This is where there has recently become discrepancy amongst the label and the artist as well as its solution; The 360 deal.
360 deals, profit deals, or also known as multiple rights deals, are an attempt to unify revenue streams that the artist and label accrue. Aside from Madonna’s popular deal with Live Nation, Paramore has shown us what a 360 deal does for a band starting from scratch that does not have twenty six Grammy nominations, countless lifetime achievement awards, and world notoriety. Accordin
g to the New York Times, “Music executives and talent managers cite Paramore as a promising example of a rising new model for developing talent, one in which artists share not just revenue from their album sales but concert, merchandise and other earnings with their label in exchange for more comprehensive career support.” The article goes on to explain, after three years of touring in and out of clubs and festivals, the band sold more than 350,000 records, doubling the sales of their debut and is now selling out theaters on its biggest tour to date. It is my belief that by fostering young talent from the very start with a 360 approach, like Paramore, the labels are able to take full advantage of the profit deal. Here, they can construct the band from the ground up as a product, tailoring it to the current and future markets trends and demands for maximum profitization for both parties.
If it is so successful, the question may be asked, “If Paramore can do it from the ground up, why isn’t everybody signing these kinds of deals?” While the number of artists and bands currently signed to 360 deals is difficult to accurately estimate, not everybody seems like they could be a winner. For example, we see hip hop artists like Soulja Boy come out with a single that rocks the industry and charts for an extended period of time. Young, talented, and widely accepted, it almost seems like common sense to capitalize on such success with a profit deal. Conversely however, it seems as if hip hop artists may be at a disadvantage to the multiple rights deal. While the costs of a hip hop record may vary, generally hip hop acts are not touring successes. A hip hop show is more effective for the artist throughout smaller venues and nightclubs versus a performance at a large venue. Without that kind of outreach that a larger venue allows them to have, it is almost impossible for them to move merchandise and create different revenue streams. If 360 degrees of revenue cannot be generated from the artist, the multiple rights deal becomes obsolete.
Traditionally, merchandising, touring, endorsement, songwriting, and publishing incomes are all standard, additional revenue streams for the artist looking to profit from beyond record sales. In addition, recently the cell phone industry has opened up a new playing field in the world of music sales. Donald Passman, a well-established author and music lawyer believes that "Cell phones may change the future of the industry" Aside from the instant, downloadable access via cellular technology that may be upon us in the near future, ring tones and ring backs are currently a thriving business. Built on the foundation of being a fashion statement, customized ring tone features have provided over 3.5 billion dollars in revenue this past year. With these new types of income streams available, the industry may be headed towards capitalizing on them by using the 360 deal.
All in all, with new age, becomes new technologies and advancements. The multiple rights deal embraces the new age by awarding the artist with a better compensated career and the label with rightfully earned revenue from the artist they fathered from the beginning. It has been shown that while the 360 deal may look savvy, it isn't for every artist. The profit deals' versatility however, does and will help new talent develop by allowing the record company and the artist to work more cohesively as shown by Paramore's continuing success.
Historically, artists have been recruited into major labels for their “exclusive recording services." From this, incomes and specific percentages are derived from record sales only. The same contract provisions that money be paid to the artist in the form of an advance for recoupable expenses such as touring support and independent promotion. While this is hap
pening, record companies such as EMI, Universal, Def Jam, and others are putting fourth millions of marketing dollars to enhance the image and name of the artist in hopes to increase such record sales. Logically, it would only make sense that the record company be the sole beneficiary from such investments. However, since the artist signed a contract for his or her "exclusive recording services," he or she has no right or obligation to share any other streams of income such as the merchandising revenue they accrue while on tour. At the same time, the label is putting money fourth for the artist to be seen and heard, or marketed, the artist is able to collect nearly 100% of merchandising and endorsement profits without the record company seeing a dime from such sales. This is where there has recently become discrepancy amongst the label and the artist as well as its solution; The 360 deal.360 deals, profit deals, or also known as multiple rights deals, are an attempt to unify revenue streams that the artist and label accrue. Aside from Madonna’s popular deal with Live Nation, Paramore has shown us what a 360 deal does for a band starting from scratch that does not have twenty six Grammy nominations, countless lifetime achievement awards, and world notoriety. Accordin
g to the New York Times, “Music executives and talent managers cite Paramore as a promising example of a rising new model for developing talent, one in which artists share not just revenue from their album sales but concert, merchandise and other earnings with their label in exchange for more comprehensive career support.” The article goes on to explain, after three years of touring in and out of clubs and festivals, the band sold more than 350,000 records, doubling the sales of their debut and is now selling out theaters on its biggest tour to date. It is my belief that by fostering young talent from the very start with a 360 approach, like Paramore, the labels are able to take full advantage of the profit deal. Here, they can construct the band from the ground up as a product, tailoring it to the current and future markets trends and demands for maximum profitization for both parties.If it is so successful, the question may be asked, “If Paramore can do it from the ground up, why isn’t everybody signing these kinds of deals?” While the number of artists and bands currently signed to 360 deals is difficult to accurately estimate, not everybody seems like they could be a winner. For example, we see hip hop artists like Soulja Boy come out with a single that rocks the industry and charts for an extended period of time. Young, talented, and widely accepted, it almost seems like common sense to capitalize on such success with a profit deal. Conversely however, it seems as if hip hop artists may be at a disadvantage to the multiple rights deal. While the costs of a hip hop record may vary, generally hip hop acts are not touring successes. A hip hop show is more effective for the artist throughout smaller venues and nightclubs versus a performance at a large venue. Without that kind of outreach that a larger venue allows them to have, it is almost impossible for them to move merchandise and create different revenue streams. If 360 degrees of revenue cannot be generated from the artist, the multiple rights deal becomes obsolete.
Traditionally, merchandising, touring, endorsement, songwriting, and publishing incomes are all standard, additional revenue streams for the artist looking to profit from beyond record sales. In addition, recently the cell phone industry has opened up a new playing field in the world of music sales. Donald Passman, a well-established author and music lawyer believes that "Cell phones may change the future of the industry" Aside from the instant, downloadable access via cellular technology that may be upon us in the near future, ring tones and ring backs are currently a thriving business. Built on the foundation of being a fashion statement, customized ring tone features have provided over 3.5 billion dollars in revenue this past year. With these new types of income streams available, the industry may be headed towards capitalizing on them by using the 360 deal.
All in all, with new age, becomes new technologies and advancements. The multiple rights deal embraces the new age by awarding the artist with a better compensated career and the label with rightfully earned revenue from the artist they fathered from the beginning. It has been shown that while the 360 deal may look savvy, it isn't for every artist. The profit deals' versatility however, does and will help new talent develop by allowing the record company and the artist to work more cohesively as shown by Paramore's continuing success.
March 3, 2008
The Latest and Greatest: A Guide to My Linkroll
This week I probed the Web for superlative music industry resources. In my search for sites that comply with IMSA Criteria, I found it to be rather difficult to gather ten well-written, structured, content rich, attractively designed websites. More often then not, it was almost inevitable to find sites infested with generic, non integrated pop-ups and advertising, which indicated that the sites were not reputable. However, I did recover ten sites throughout my inquisitive investigating that are wonderful music industry related resources that offer a variety of current news and information. The first resource I chose to cite was Apple's iTunes site. Apple, with its iTunes program, has innovated the way that people receive their music and entertainment. With a 7 year decline in physical CD sales, Apple has innovated an industry-wide change and continues to do so as the leading online distributor of music and digital entertainment. If people aren’t buying their music through iTunes, they are listening to Pandora Internet Radio. The creators of what is known as “The Music Genome Project” explain Pandora Internet Radio as, “captur(ing) the essence of music at the most fundamental level. (They) ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. 
Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.” Pandora’s simplistic functionality and interactive advertising makes for a wonderful resource I recommend to any music enthusiast. MySpace Music is another website that has revolutionized the way music is distributed. Here, users from around the world are opened up to a phenomenal music portal that has unique interactivity, decent visual design, but most notably, an endless catalogue of content. Along with the legal distribution of music, there is a growing concern amongst the industry of piracy. To police such crimes, the Recording Industry Association of America’s mission is, “to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' (record companies) creative and financial vitality.” This site contains a vast amount of recent, up-to-date information about the ever changing legal issues of the industry. More personally however, Not Evil Music is a blog that is a free resource for all musicians, who want to learn about online music marketing, music business and the future of music industry. I can personally attest to the interactivity of this well-kept, attractive blog after receiving a response from the webmaster only a short seven hours after a post I made on an article he recently wrote. Less interactive, yet one of the better designed sites, Billboard Music Charts is a diverse music resource for industry news, but especially, it’s numerous charts that help industry professionals and other enthusiasts track who’s selling and who’s not. If the charts don’t tell all, Rolling Stone Magazine will. I find this a great website for its strong content depth which is easily accessible through its smooth structure and navigation. Similar to Apple, Clear Channel Communications is also a large corporation that has substantial influence on the music industry whose site contains a fair amount of content but particularly, its superb functionality. The last two resources I gathered, The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame and VH1’s Save The Music, both have outstanding interactivity but could use a touch-up on their functionality since it took me marginally more time to navigate both sites.
Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony.” Pandora’s simplistic functionality and interactive advertising makes for a wonderful resource I recommend to any music enthusiast. MySpace Music is another website that has revolutionized the way music is distributed. Here, users from around the world are opened up to a phenomenal music portal that has unique interactivity, decent visual design, but most notably, an endless catalogue of content. Along with the legal distribution of music, there is a growing concern amongst the industry of piracy. To police such crimes, the Recording Industry Association of America’s mission is, “to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' (record companies) creative and financial vitality.” This site contains a vast amount of recent, up-to-date information about the ever changing legal issues of the industry. More personally however, Not Evil Music is a blog that is a free resource for all musicians, who want to learn about online music marketing, music business and the future of music industry. I can personally attest to the interactivity of this well-kept, attractive blog after receiving a response from the webmaster only a short seven hours after a post I made on an article he recently wrote. Less interactive, yet one of the better designed sites, Billboard Music Charts is a diverse music resource for industry news, but especially, it’s numerous charts that help industry professionals and other enthusiasts track who’s selling and who’s not. If the charts don’t tell all, Rolling Stone Magazine will. I find this a great website for its strong content depth which is easily accessible through its smooth structure and navigation. Similar to Apple, Clear Channel Communications is also a large corporation that has substantial influence on the music industry whose site contains a fair amount of content but particularly, its superb functionality. The last two resources I gathered, The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame and VH1’s Save The Music, both have outstanding interactivity but could use a touch-up on their functionality since it took me marginally more time to navigate both sites.
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