Music Industry
Thursday, January 24, 2008
MERCHANDISING RIGHTSRecord companies are realizing that they spend huge sums recording, manufacturing and promoting albums that end up getting downloaded and ́burnedî more than purchased. The labels have trouble earning their money back but the artist gets exposure that leads to revenues from publishing, touring and merchandising. The labels are now seeking participation in these revenue streams.
Traditionally, artists could avoid giving away merchandising rights but this is changing. Many major labels now insist on participating in this revenue stream..
A separate advance should be paid. However, these advances should never be recouped from record sales.
Many labels now sell merchandise directly to consumers via their web sites or newly created internet merchandise companies.
Artists should try to retain merchandising rights, if possible. Selling gear at concerts is big business. There is no upside to giving labels these rights, especially if the label is simply going to turn around and assign these rights to an established merchandising company.
If the record company is not seeking merchandising rights, the Artist can get an advance against such rights by negotiating directly with a merchandising company.
For artists on small labels, paying a printer and then having a friend sell gear at the shows is usually the only option. Even if there is little profit in doing this, selling shirts, jackets, hats, etc. with the Artist¹s name on it is worthwhile as it provides free advertising and exposure.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
"PAYING FOR MUSIC IS STUPID"I have friends who get all of their music from borrowing and burning friends' cd's or illegal downloads. The justification is still the same: the labels are ripping us off! A cd costs a dollar to manufacture but they charge $15.99....Well, it's not the cost of making the cd that determines profit. There are recording costs, marketing, promotion,etc. If the labels were ripping us off (like the oil companies) they'd be having record profits instead of bleeding red ink. Next time you go to the movies and pay $5.00 for popcorn, or order a coke at a restaurant, think about how much those products cost to make versus whay you are paying. Have you ever watched looting during a riot and thought 'People will always steal rather than pay if they think they can get away with it.'
Music is a good entertainment value. If you don't pay, your favorite artists will get dropped from their contracts.... and your life will be the worse for it.
Monday, October 29, 2007
ARTISTS/ LABELS TO RADIO: STOP RIPPING US OFF!In every other developed country in the world every time a song gets played on the radio the artist gets a royalty along with the songwriter. Not in the USA, however. Here, artists get nothing. My friend, pianist Philippe Saisse, recorded a wonderful jazz version of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". It was a huge smash on jazz radio in 2006. Philippe did not make a cent. Radio stations argue that radio play is free promotion for labels/artists and increase album sales. This is no longer true in a world of free downloads. Phillipe's record did not see any spike in sales from all of this airplay. The writers, Fagen and Becker, got (well deserved) paid each time the stations played the track, but the artist and his label who arranged, recorded, financed and released it, saw nothing. According to Billboard magazine, radio earned $20 billion in ad revenues last year. With labels and artists struggling financially, this injustice needs to be remedied immediately.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
DEATH OF THE ALBUM?Our lifestyles are increasingly frenetic and mobile. This has affected America's viewing and listening habits. Just as Tivo has transformed television, sea changes in how we listen to music are occurring. Youth today, the drivers of the market, are listening to music on subways and cars on the way to school or work. Campuses are filled with students listening to ipods between classes. Music is listened to while checking emails.
This has affected purchasing patterns. Who has the inclination to listen to a 14 track 60 minute album? More likely, an individual song is purchased and put on 'shuffle' to create a personal radio station of favorite songs. This is perfect for the common fifteen minute listening experience.
What does this mean for aspiring artists? There is little point in recording entire albums. When an artist has two, three, four or five great songs, they should release them as a single or ep. They will be able to sell them physically at shows for less money and achieve more sales. The songs will be stronger and, therefore, will get more download attention than the inevitable album filler.
Artists should focus on quality, not quantity, in their releases. They will be that much more likely to make it into their neighbor's ipod 'playlist'.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
NOBODY MAKES GOOD MUSIC ANYMORE?I was looking through my myspace friends and decided to check out guitarist Kaki King. I sampled the music on her page and thought it was intriguing so I BOUGHT her latest album. After listening to it from beginning to end I was blown away. Later, at a MUDluscious show (an exciting L.A. I'm managing) I BOUGHT a cd from a band named Animatronics. This disc is amazing. In addition, new self made albums by Humdinger, Listing Ship, Amy Raasch and Sandy A. are as good as anything the labels have turned out over the years.There is great music everywhere, you just have to go discover it!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
HIRING A MANAGER OR ATTORNEY
Rules and Philosophies in the hiring of Music Attorneys and Personal Managers:The Personal Manager gives advice and counsel in all aspects of the artist's creative career and bases his comissions accordingly. He should be free of conflicts of interest. He should have a total understanding of the artist's creative and business objectives; and have an enthusiatic belief in the atist's creative abilities.
The Music attorney should also have an understanding of the artist's creative vision and career objectives before he negotiates agreements with record labels, managers or publishers. Some artists should value and require long term development over big initial advances.Ư Large advances place enormous pressure on the artist to sell quickly or face being dropped from the company's roster due to financial consideratins. A large inital advance may work for a 'boy band' but not an 'alternative' artist.
Different career objectives and circumstances will dictate whether to seek a publishing contract or self-publish for artists who pen their own material
Friday, November 17, 2006
ARE MUSICIANS BEING RIPPED OFF IN CYBERSPACE? CATEGORY: MUSIC
Billy Bragg, musician and artist-advocate, recently published an article in Billboard magazine warning musicians about being ripped off on music sites. Artists uploading their songs onto social networking sites such as myspace and mtv Flux sign a contract when they post their songs.
Bragg questions how many artists actually read the 'terms and conditions'? On MTV Flux the artist must agree to surrender ownership of their material to MTV in perpetuity (forever) and gratis (for free).There is no termination clause. If you remove the song from the site they still can exploit the song in any and all media worldwide, forever.
Bragg states that he confronted myspace about this policy and was informed that they have altered their clause to reflect that all ownership rights are retained by the artist. Mr. Bragg notes that, with myspace, if you withdraw the song, the license ends.
I applaud Mr. Bragg for shedding a light on the exploitation of artists on the web. Myspace apparently has done the right thing but all artists should read the fine print before uploading material onto any site.