Mi2N - Music Industry News Network

Mi2N - Music Industry News Network

Artistopia Launches Music Business Service

by Artistopia.com

http://www.artistopia.com


Artistopia announces the launch of a new service offering that empowers music companies to promote their products and services, and collaborate on projects with an extensive pool of talented music artists, musicians, and songwriters.

Artistopia again shocks and amazes the online music community by continuing to revolutionize how music talent is discovered on the web. Artistopia announces the launch of its newest service that’s solely focused on music businesses in their pursuit to find top-notch talent on the web. Music companies have access to the best independent and competing music artists, musicians, and songwriters the Internet has to offer. Record labels, publishers, producers, promoters, managers, and music law firms now all have a home at Artistopia to collaborate, network, promote, manage, and market their products and services to a highly targeted and eager audience.

Artistopia’s new service offering arms music companies with a wide array of productive and marketing tools not found anywhere else on the Web. Some of the many powerful features include comprehensive company profiles, member rosters, events/tour schedules, news releases, affiliate and partner listings, fan list generators, newsletter editors, photo galleries, custom profile URLs, class ad postings, bullet-proof privacy protection, search engine inclusion, and much more. And with many more features slated for future release, Artistopia is rapidly becoming the one-stop shop for music companies to develop, grow, and manage their business online. If music artists, musicians, and songwriters are the core of your business, Artistopia is the place you want to be.

Based in the Internet capital of the world, Virginia, U.S.A., iCubator Labs, LLC (ICL), Artistopia’s parent company, develops advanced technology solutions that cater to two major audiences in the music industry, music artists and music companies. Founded in 2001, ICL empowers artists and music companies with quality technology and business solutions that leverage the Internet to their respective advantage. With an increasing number of music artists, indies, unsigned and DIY talent screaming to be heard, ICL is strategically positioned to shift the music industry to a higher gear - doing business online the real-life way.

Artistopia the ultimate artist development resource

MusicDish Industry e-Journal

MusicDish Industry e-Journal
Do Parents Allow The Entertainment Industry To Eat Their Young?
By: Jaci Rae
2004-12-27

"In today’s society we know that the moral fiber of our communities is in peril. Why then, do we not protect our children? We have a responsibility to safeguard our most vulnerable; instead, we prematurely catapult them into a world they are not mature enough to handle and destroy their innocence.

Frequently, I am asked by parents and friends of aspiring “stars” to offer my opinion about getting their child into show business. Here is a typical question:

“After the performance I spoke with her mom (who was in tears the whole time) about their incredible daughter and her future. Their daughter's dream is to be on stage singing professionally. I said I would forward some information to you - to get your thoughts
After much contemplation, I wrote to the parents (excerpt):

“No matter how strong your daughter or your dream is, wait until she is 18 to try for stardom. She is already doing what she most wants, and that is to be on stage. Once she is 18 and you are ready for her to sell sex to other teenagers and older men in their 20s - 60's, she will be better equipped to handle the response, as you will be also ...” "


Read the article is poses some interesting thoughts and advice.

MusicDish Article

MusicDish Industry e-Journal

MusicDish Industry e-Journal

Songwriters Tour Guide: Touring, Part 1 of 7 Goal Setting
Plus Tales From Out There: Diversifying Your Musical Pursuits

By: Erik Balkey, Performing Songwriter (Associate Writer)

"I find my primary pursuit of building a name as a performing songwriter to be exhausting. Not physically. Somehow, I can sustain the miles and lifestyle of this pursuit very nicely. I’m lucky that way. But, I find it exhausting mentally and psychologically. It’s tough working the business, attempting to build a name for oneself, touring, and trying to build audience. It takes time and allowing it to happen."

Make Your Presence Known in the Music Marketplace by Hal Selzer

"The majority of the reader e-mail I get asks the same basic question: "How do I get a record deal?" The answer, of course, is both varied and complex. There is no standard way. The most common is through an attorney, manager or producer shopping an artist to record labels. To do it through this route, you have to have great songs and a demo that is so strong it will attract attention even with a quick listen.
The second most common way is the "D.I.Y." ("Do It Yourself") mentality. An artist takes his act on the road and builds up such a great following that the labels can't ignore them. By packing clubs and selling enough CDs on their own, they show up on the radar screen in the A&R community just by the force of their local success.
But two recent examples of artists that got record deals show the varied way things can happen. One band, recently signed to Lava Records, was heard by an A&R executive on MP3.com. Yes, it really happens ... industry people do check out what's happening on the leading music websites. If your band is charting and/or getting a lot of hits for your songs on one of the top music Internet portals, there's a decent chance someone will hear you. Whether it's MP3.com, musicgorilla.com, myspace.com, or any others that develop music "communities," there's a good chance that with a strong enough presentation you could get discovered by someone looking for what you have to offer."

Article Continued

"Hal B. Selzer is a former major label recording artist and has played with superstars such as Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi. He is also involved with several independent record labels. He is published in the East Coast Rocker and Powerplay"

From The Inside Connection Magazine

Effective Use Of Street Teams

Effective Use Of Street Teams

By Keith Holzman,

The marketing of music for independent labels has become considerably more difficult during the last few years due to increased competition and because the major labels have driven up the cost and reduced access to most general and music media.

MusicDish Network Sponsor

So what's an indie label with limited resources to do?

Well, one of the best methods is to form and make considerable use of street teams. They are a great way to get your music to the most likely consumer, but the majors are even now appropriating this marketing aid as well.

I was surprised to read an article in the NY Times of November 8 that was headlined "Proctor & Gamble Now Promoting Music." The web version of Proctor & Gamble Now Promoting Music (free subscription required) is titled "The Next Hit Song? Ask P&G" It's the same piece -- just a different title.

The gist of the article is that the EMI Group has retained Proctor & Gamble to "test and distribute new music through a special division that uses a network of teenagers to promote products. As part of the arrangement, EMI's record labels plan to send early copies of forthcoming CDs and promotional materials like stickers to the network's young members in an effort to build word-of-mouth publicity. Music executives also expect to survey the network members to determine which of an artist's new singles should be promoted to radio programmers or video channels.

"The network, run by a company unit called Tremor, includes more than 200,000 teenagers and young adults and has pushed products for a variety of outside clients in addition to P&G's own lines, which include cosmetics, shampoos and other consumer goods. The company says its network's members even helped choose the T-shirt design for the punk-leaning Warped Tour.

"Still, Tremor does not have nearly as much experience marketing music, particularly compared with the coterie of small firms that specialize in 'street' marketing for the music industry."

What is a street team you might ask?

A street team is a group of devoted fans and volunteers that work together to spread the word about their favorite music or artist. A street team tries to increase a band or artist's presence in a local community and on the Internet, and aids in increasing music sales. A person joining such a team will have access to the source for the latest official music, videos, pictures, breaking news, etc. He or she may receive free promotional items like stickers, magnets, buttons, advance music, concert tickets or backstage passes, just for doing the things that fans do naturally -- like requesting songs at radio, requesting music videos, posting flyers at local hangouts, creating a buzz on the Internet, and sending emails to friends and family. In short, they increase an artist's visibility.

Street teams can be useful for labels with repertoire that warrants the concept -- which tends to be alternative rock, hip-hop, rap, and such. They're like fan clubs, consisting of friends or lovers of the artist's music who are willing to help out. They may promote, market, and sell records on high school or college campuses or elsewhere in their hometowns. Or they might put up flyers that help promote artist performances. They could also pass out promotional CDs and "fluff" at concerts of similar musicians. Fluff consists of such free materials as stickers, patches, and other inexpensive promotional items that the label supplies to team members.

The teams work at the direction and coordination of someone on your marketing staff, and may be located throughout the country if you're striving for a national marketing campaign. Street team members are not usually paid, although they might receive a modest commission. They do it for the fun and experience, and for free CDs, concert tickets, clothing such as T-shirts, advance "inside" information, and the satisfaction of being involved in something personally worthwhile.

You can get people interested in joining your street team effort by posting a notice on your web site or other appropriate Internet newsgroup. For example, in July 2001, a message was posted in the Lost Highway Yahoo! Newsgroup about Lucinda Williams' newest release, persuading her fans to get conversations going in various other newsgroups and message forums. Also e-cards promoting the CD were made available to fans to send to their friends. Each participant in this street effort was requested to initiate ten contacts on the topic and to forward their postings to a Lost Highway moderator as proof of their work. A group of winners was selected at random and given free tickets to Lucinda Williams' next performances. The total cost to the label was a few tickets and a bit of effort.

Some street team members help artists get concert bookings in their hometowns, and when the artist is performing there they let their friends know about the gigs, put up posters and distribute flyers, and help sell CDs at the venue. They frequently get attendees email addresses for news of future performances by the artist or other artists from the label. This assists in the label's attempt at viral marketing.

Team members might also participate in special label or artist chat rooms and message boards. They are the secret weapon in the battle against boring or out-of-place advertising campaigns thought up by people out of touch with what's really happening in youth culture. Street teams originally came about as a way for fans to promote their favorite recording artists, particularly ones who didn't have big labels marketing for them. Now, marketing and advertising agencies have begun to realize that hiring street teams is one of the most effective forms of youth marketing available.

Street team members may receive weekly newsletters with all the information they might need including the latest news about the artist including performance dates and local performances, plus multimedia links for photos and music. Street teams are not paid for their services, but they might get free CDs, artists' autographs, and other freebies such as T-shirts, posters, stickers, etc., and more important, be put on the guest list for shows at which the artist is performing.

Labels should also do special things, particularly for team members who've worked particularly hard. Artists might mention their names at the end of a performance, or do other things to praise them and make them feel they've contributed to the overall effort.

Team members also have a responsibility to the label and the artists to be friendly, helpful, but businesslike. They shouldn't post stickers or posters on other people's stores or signs or do something illegal that might result in fines, or worse.

You can form your own street team by placing a box on your web site soliciting team participation, or by hiring firms specializing in the building, maintaining, and supervising of team activity. I suggest, however, that you get your feet wet by starting and managing your very own street team. This keeps your costs down and gives you the opportunity to get a sense on how it functions and to increase your "hands on" experience.

Increase your label's marketing effectiveness by forming a street team campaign for the next artist whose performance and music warrant it.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting (Part IX)

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting

Part IX: Conclusion

By Michael Einhorn,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

The Department of Justice and ASCAP have negotiated a proposed Amended Final Judgment that promises improvement in a long problematic area for television and radio broadcasters, the presence ­ or lack thereof -- of a "genuine choice" between blanket and program licenses charged for the right to publicly perform music in non-dramatic settings. If implemented for ASCAP and extended to BMI, AFJ2 would provide for broadcast licensees a reasonable opportunity to use a system of program, direct, and source-contracts as a means of avoiding "all-or-nothing" blanket licenses that they may find overpriced.

Consequently, broadcast licensees increasingly will be able to contract directly with a composer rather than enter into licenses with her respective performing rights organization. ASCAP and BMI will have to offer program licenses that compete with their own members and affiliates, and broadcasters, advertisers, and the public-at-large will benefit from the outcome.

However, AFJ2 and the Rate Courts may be lacking in their governance of the competitive market between ASCAP and BMI. In vacating all protections for payouts for ASCAP members, the Department would rely upon head-to-head competition between the two organizations for new writers. As explained, ASCAP and BMI now do not operate under administrative rules that adjust blanket license fees consistently for changes in usage or catalog size.

Consequently, they do not have the financial ability to engage consistently in the competition that the Department envisions. A companion piece to this paper also suggests that competitive rules are lacking with regard to selective discounting, cross-subsidization, and license avoidance. If the Courts cannot establish rules to enable vigorous across-the-board competition for songwriters and composers, the Antitrust Division might tell us the purpose of having two (or three) PROs.

At the dawn of the Internet era, this is a timely issue that broadcasters, webcasters, artists, legislators, and regulators should resolve in short order. With administrative difficulties in systematically relating blanket fees to music use and catalog size, the most efficient means of providing a blanket license for radio and television broadcast now appears to be regulated monopoly. Writers and publishers may benefit considerably from scale economies in litigation and administration costs that could be achieved if the blanket license for musical compositions were so operated, as is now the case in every nation except Brazil.

Based on most recent web site data, for every dollar paid out to members and affiliates, ASCAP and BMI respectively retain 18.2 cents and 22.0 cents. These numbers, as well as all implicated negotiation and administrative costs incurred by music licensees, might reasonably be halved were blanket licensing of performance rights restructured as a regulated monopoly. Legislators may then reasonably call upon the Department to state exactly where it sees workable competition emerging between ASCAP and BMI and the ways in which its Consent Decrees will facilitate it.

As a final matter, the Department's suggested prohibition on digital licensing is a practical idea that can be implemented for webcasting and other non-interactive services now eligible for compulsory licensing of sound recordings under Section 114(d)(2) of the Copyright Act. In November, 2000 (after the release of AFJ2), the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade association for the five major record labels, unveiled the online arm of its Sound Exchange royalty payment system, which now collects digital royalties for sound recordings broadcast over digital satellite and music subscription services. Sound Exchange has signed deals with 280 record companies, with Big Five contracts likely very soon.

The system will monitor online performances of all sound recordings, and distribute royalties evenly between recording labels and artists. Evident transactional economies would be possible if Sound Exchange or similar label organizations were empowered to administer additionally the performance rights for the underlying musical compositions and split royalties evenly between publisher and writer. Indeed, a joint collection process now exists for tax revenues collected on digital audio recorders and tapes under the Audio Home Recording Act, which statutorily assigned two thirds of revenues to copyright owners in the sound recording, and one third to the musical composition.

Administrative efficiencies would also be considerable if digital performances of musical compositions and sound recordings could be regulated together. License fees for statutory licenses for digital sound recording performances and secondary mechanical reproductions are determined periodically in arbitrations at the Copyright Office, where all affected players have equal standing to comment and present arguments. Such a process is more open and more efficient than the present system for performance rights that operates under two independent Rate Courts that interpret Consent Decrees narrowly, fail to coordinate operations, and deny standing to all parties except the Department, ASCAP, and BMI. Integrated administration allows for coordination of approaches and consistency of outcomes between complementary media

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting (Part VIII)

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting

Part VIII: Other Safeguards

By Michael Einhorn,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

There are a number of other provisions in AFJ2 that will enhance license competition between ASCAP and its membership, as well as the power of users to achieve a more efficient outcome.

Collective Licensing: Under Section IV(B), ASCAP may not interfere with the right of its members to license compositions directly or through any agent other than another PRO. This extends member rights from the direct licensing of individually controlled compositions to contracting with agents, such as music libraries, that can negotiate and contract on behalf of a group of writers.

"Through to the Audience": ASCAP must offer to each broadcaster, background music provider, or on-line transmitter a "through to the audience" license that automatically conveys performance rights from licensee to a secondary user; e.g., from cable network to cable operator. This would allow the original entity, which controls decisions regarding the deployment and licensing of musical content, to make competitive choices and convey savings to downstream users. "Through to the audience" licensing represents a big competitive gain for Internet transmitters, who do not now have an explicit right under the present Consent Decree to request and contract for "through to the audience" licenses.

First Time Rules: ASCAP may not use license fees negotiated during the first five years with a new party as a benchmark for subsequent fees that it may seek. New music users are perceived here as fragmented, inexperienced, lacking in resources, and unduly willing to acquiesce.

Digital licensing: Recognizing the potential of digital rights management to supplant the need for ASCAP monitoring and protection of digital rights, the Department's accompanying memorandum states:

Technologies that allow rights holders and music users to easily and inexpensively monitor and track music usage are evolving rapidly. Eventually, as it becomes less and less costly to identify and report performances of compositions and to obtain licenses for individual works or collections of work, these technologies may erode many of the justifications for collecting licensing of performance rights by PROs. The Department is continuing to investigate the extend to which the growth of these technologies warrants additional changes to the antitrust decrees against ASCAP and BMI, including the possibility that the PROs should be prohibited from collectively licensing certain types of users of performances. (emphasis mine)

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

The Inside Connection: Articles: How to Succeed in the Music Business

The Inside Connection: Articles: How to Succeed in the Music Business

by Hal Selzer

(an excerpt...)

"Yes, it really happens ... industry people do check out what's happening on the leading music websites. If your band is charting and/or getting a lot of hits for your songs on one of the top music Internet portals, there's a decent chance someone will hear you."

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting (Part VII)

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting

Part VII: Writer Relations

By Michael Einhorn,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

As a second key modification, Section XI of AFJ2 entirely dispenses with an amendment to the original Decree known as the "1960 Order". Recognizing ASCAP's then-control of 85 percent of all catalogued music compositions, the "1960 Order" was designed to govern ASCAP's arrangements and operating procedures regarding its member writers. The Order constrained principally the weights used to divide ASCAP's royalty pool among its membership for different uses of music (e.g, feature vs. commercial), but also prescribed rules for voting, performance surveys, and mechanisms for resolving disputes among members. These rules were to be made public and changes submitted to the Department or Rate Court for approval. Nonetheless, ASCAP's relations with its soundtrack and commercial writers have been quite contentious and the Rate Court has often declined jurisdiction.

In moving to vacate the "1960 Order", the Department confirmed that there are no practical economic standards useful in judging the relative worth of different kinds of performance minutes and expressed some discomfort that ASCAP claimed a Department imprimatur on the fairness of its rates. Rather, Section XI(B)(1) would allow ASCAP to distribute, without DOJ oversight, collected monies (less costs) to writers based on the number of ASCAP-licensed performances of their works, with varying weights for different kinds of music based on ASCAP's subjective assessment of the value. Special awards are permitted to writers of material with particular prestige value. The chosen weighting method must be consistently applied and made public; upon request, a writer may learn exactly how her resulting royalty check was determined.

For members who contend that ASCAP's payment system is unfair, AFJ2 restricts greatly ASCAP's existing ability to impede writer exit. Contingent upon the entry of a similar rule in the BMI Consent Decree (which is yet to be negotiated), Section XI(B)(3) would enable writers to leave at the end of each calendar year without penalty. The Department suggests that its surveillance of ASCAP payments can be vacated because BMI, with a market share now roughly equal to ASCAP's, and SESAC now present a more substantial competitive alternative than in 1960. Presumably, any ASCAP member dissatisfied with its royalty system would willingly move to another PRO, which ostensibly has the financial means to compensate the new migrant.

The Department here may be relying upon untested economic theory and ignoring some important administrative considerations that now limit the financial ability of ASCAP and BMI to compete. BMI's considerable increase in market share in 1960-1994 resulted because ASCAP was fee-regulated, while BMI was not. BMI now operates in a similarly regulated world that continues to keep its license fees some amount short of ASCAP's.

Despite a 1993 District Court ruling that blanket fees paid to a PRO should be tied primarily to changes in usage of its particular catalog, adjusted for revenue growth and inflation, subsequent actions have not granted to ASCAP and BMI the financial ability to compete across-the-board to attract talent from one another. In the short run, there is no administrative procedure by which either organization can adjust blanket licenses for quarterly or annual changes in catalog size or usage. Consequently, royalties for acquisitions of new writers and material covered by a blanket license can only be distributed by reducing payments to other writers. With no immediate correspondence between license fees and usage levels, a "zero sum game" of this nature evidently limits competition.

Presumably, ASCAP can earn more at its next major negotiation with a broadcast license if it can attract talent from BMI. Here too there is no demonstrated dependence of contract fees upon catalog size. Though each may pursue a limited number of "star" writers who enhance the prestige of their catalog, the connection between catalog prestige and actual negotiated amounts is quite tenuous as well.

Aggressive competition for migrating writers would be conceivable if license payments could be adjusted immediately for changes in PRO market share. For example, if blanket licenses were adjustable for quarterly changes in market share, license amounts due to ASCAP and BMI would change in appropriate and opposite directions if shares were to shift. However, unless overall usage increased, the combined amount paid to the PROs would not change.

However, usage-based pricing would be difficult to implement for a number of practical reasons. With different Rate Courts, there is no one legal authority that could tie ASCAP and BMI blanket rates to changes in their respective market shares. Furthermore, different music usage types would have to be weighted and aggregated. The matter reintroduces more arbitrary judgment and each advocate could be expected to produce a weighting scheme that is particularly favorable to its market position. Adjudicating between them would be a difficult administrative task.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

How To Get Big Sponsorship Money For Your Band, Tour, Event Or Production

How To Get Big Sponsorship Money For Your Band, Tour, Event Or Production

By Thomas King,

Touring is a bands greatest opportunity for success. But, touring can be very expensive. Getting your tour, band or event sponsored is critical to your success. Sponsorship can offset production, travel, promotion and virtually any of your expense. The right sponsor can also significantly augment your advertising, publicity and promotions. But, getting sponsorship participation can take a lot of effort and commitment on your part. You will need to prove to potential sponsors that your opportunity will deliver a good return on investment for them.

The following is a step-by-step procedure we have used at Multimediary Entertainment Marketing to secure hundreds of thousands of sponsorship dollars for numerous tours, events, artists, television programming and feature films. We have done this for several major record labels and both signed and unsigned artists. Now we want to share our knowledge experience so you can do this on your own.

Create an Introduction Letter

The first step in securing sponsorship dollars is to craft a professional introduction letter highlighting the features and benefits of the opportunity you are offering. Some of these features and benefits might include inclusion in advertising, product sampling, banner display and more. After you have given a brief overview of the opportunity close the letter by asking their permission to send them a more detailed presentation. The introduction letter is the most critical part of the sponsorship success equation. If well crafted, it will get your foot in the door.

Demographic Analysis

Understanding your audience is critical. Potential sponsors will want to know whom you are reaching. The best way of gathering this information is right at you finger tips. Call radio stations you think should be playing your music. Ask for an account executive and ask this person to fax you their Tapscan, Scarborough or Prism demographic and qualitative information. In all likelihood you will now be armed with a detailed overview of what your audience looks like and can match this up with potential sponsors. You will also have a great hit list of companies to start hitting.

Creating Your Sponsorship Presentation

Now that you have your introduction letter and demographic profiles, you are ready to begin creating your presentation. The presentation will seal the deal with sponsors only if it contains all the information they will need to make an educated decision on your opportunity. The presentation must contain the following elements:

1. A Two to three paragraph overview of your opportunity

2. A detailed overview of tour routing, markets and venues

3. An overview of what type of public relations and media support you expect to have and how the sponsor will be included

4. Your audience and demographic profile

5. Tour partnership deliverables or what the sponsor will receive for their investment

6. The total investment you are looking for from your sponsor and the return a sponsor can expect

Now that you have all of the pieces of the puzzle you are ready to go out and shake the trees for sponsorship dollars. With effort and consistency you will land a sponsor. Always deliver on what you promise to retain your sponsors year after year. Under deliver and they will promptly kick you to the curb. Our philosophy is to always under promise and over deliver. With this philosophy you will be assured ongoing solid sponsorship participation for years to come.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Careers in the Music Business

Careers in the Music Business
"The music business is a multi-billion dollar industry that touches people in every corner of the world. It all starts with the songwriters and composers, without whom there would be no music. But once a song is written, there is a whole industry that supports it -- the "business" side of the music industry."

This article highlights music industry jobs, and gives the up-and-coming indie or unsigned a look at the other side of the coin. It takes a look at jobs in the A&R, Artist Management, Booking Agent, Engineer, Entertainment Lawyer, Journalist (music critic), Marketing, Product Manager, Promotion, Publicity, Publisher, Radio, Record Producer, Retail, Tour Manager and Video, as well as General Fields. Some people do start their careers as musicians, and evolve into the business side, as well as vice versa, for various reasons.

Tips For A Great Recording Session

Tips For A Great Recording Session

By Richard Dolmat,

You know your songs are great (and so does your girl/boyfriend, family, pets etc), and you finally decided to record an album in a real studio. That's great! But what actually happens when you get there?

When you finally do pick the perfect studio, one that you feel comfortable at, there is a certain routine that must be followed in order to get the best performance and the best recording for your budget:

1. Tune Your Instruments. This also includes your drums and any tunable percussion instruments you may have. There is absolutely nothing worse in the world than to have a perfectly written song with a perfect performance be ruined because someone didn't take an extra two minutes to check their tuning. Tuning takes a few minutes; a recording lasts forever.

2. Be Well Rehearsed. You'll be surprised how many bands suffer shock when they get the final recording bill. The main reason for this is because they confuse rehearsal time with recording time. Rehearse at home, in the garage, at your uncle's house; anywhere but at the recording session. When you arrive at the studio, you should know your songs inside-out and be ready for the red light.

3. Practice with a Click Track. A lot of drummers aren't able to play with a click track. Make sure yours can. A click track is essential in getting a good basic rhythm track that the rest of the band can lock in to, and to sync-up loops and delay times.

4. Be Early. Many studios start charging their clients from the exact time agreed to in the contract. Just because you decide to show up late, doesn't mean that the studio should give up that time for free. Be early and be ready to go.

5. Get the Sound Right. Never, ever try to ³fix it in the mix². It doesn't work like that. Take an extra few minutes to tweak the sound before recording it. Turn that knob, tighten that string, have another sip of water. Remember again, tweaking may take an extra minute, but the recording will last forever.

6. Know When To Quit. Recording often leads to diminishing returns. Spending 20 hours in a row at the recording session isn't going to make your song twice as good as spending 10 hours. This rule also applies to mixing. If you're tired, call the session and come back the next day fresh and ready.

7. Record Alone. Don't bring your friends, family, parents or anyone else into your sessions. As fun as it may be, you are there to do a job and record the best music possible. If you are a millionaire, then by all means, have a party at the studio, but don't count on getting anything done.

8. Mix and Match. After letting the engineer do the first rough mix alone (which he should), do an A/B comparison of your mix to some of your favorite CDs. Remember that the production CDs you are listening to have already been mastered. But it's a good way to compare levels and panning.

9. Bring Spares. Always bring spare strings, drum heads, bass strings, water bottles, throat lozenges, etc to a session. You'll always need the one thing you forgot to bring, so bring it all and leave them at the studio until your recordings are finished.

10. Have Fun! This is THE most important point of all. Creating and recording music isn't rocket science. Although there is a science involved, you should let the engineer worry about that. If you're not having fun, then you're in the wrong business!

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

IndieTips: Articles by Heather Dale

IndieTips: Articles by Heather Dale

Label or Independent
Starting a Record Label
Recording Yourself
Copyrights
Record Producers
CD Pre-Production
CD Recording
CD Mixing/Mastering
CD Manufacturing
Promotion
Consignment Sales NEW!
Websites
Mailing Lists
Performance
Psychology of Being Independent NEW!
Books/Resources Updated

Intellectual Property and Antitrust - Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting (Part VI)

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting

Part VI: Second Amended Final Judgment

By Michael Einhorn,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

Faced with the ongoing responsibility generally to enforce the nation's antitrust laws and specifically to afford to music licensees a "genuine choice" between blanket and program licenses, the Antitrust Division targeted ASCAP's licensing practices as a necessary first step to reform licensing in the performing rights industry:

Notwithstanding the clear requirement... that ASCAP offer broadcasters a genuine choice between a per-program and a blanket license, ASCAP has consistently resisted offering broadcasters a realistic opportunity to take a per-program license. Among other things, ASCAP has sought rates for the per-program license that have been substantially higher than the rates it has offered for the blanket license, and it has sought to impose substantial administrative and incidental music use fees and unjustified and burdensome reporting requirements on users taking a per-program license [including the costs of protracted litigation]. In addition, ASCAP has refused to offer a per-program or per-program-lie license to users other than those explicitly named in the decree, although, over time, such licenses would be practical for more and more types of users.

The Justice Department negotiated a second version of the Amended Final Judgment, AFJ2, which is designed to enhance competition between ASCAP and providers of direct- and source-licenses.

The objective is to ensure that a substantial number of users within a similar situated group will have an opportunity to substitute enough of their music licensing needs away from ASCAP to provide some competitive constraint on ASCAP's ability to exercise market power with respect to that group's license fees. (Emphasis mine)

This statement contrasts with Magistrate Dolinger's stated intent to limit exit from the ASCAP blanket license. The Department is now negotiating a similar decree with BMI.

In this pro-competitive context, Subpart VII(A)(1) of AFJ2 would oblige ASCAP to offer per-program licenses, upon request, to any requesting broadcaster or on-line transmitter. Subpart VII(A)(2) extends the idea of program licenses to segment licenses that may implicate day parts (on radio), page links (on web sites), broadcast channels (on music subscription services), or other means of breaking down music usage by time or location. The per-segment license aims to ensure that users that do not transmit "programs" may nonetheless have access to a license that varies with music use. Accordingly, AFJ2 would allow the Rate Court magistrate great flexibility in its implementation.

The new segment license conceivably could enable stronger competition between ASCAP and BMI. Because music licensees generally require catalog from both organizations, the two PROs do not compete against one another to sell blanket licenses and have no incentive to undercut the other's blanket fee. Rather, each may use the other's blanket fee as a benchmark for its own in its next negotiation with the particular industry group at hand.

However, the two organizations could be given incentive to compete in the sale of segment licenses to broadcast and webcast radio users, who can readily bunch songs from different writers to provide exclusive "all-BMI" or "all-ASCAP" segments. In a competitive market where license revenues depend on the number of segments actually sold, each PRO would have financial incentive to sell more exclusive segments by cutting license fees and assisting with material designed to extend the length of the segment.

Net of a surcharge that is designed to cover the additional costs of administering the program license, AFJ2 aims to ensure that the "total license fee [including commercial uses] for a per-program or per-segment license approximate the fee for a blanket license for a typical user." Music licensees are then to be categorized in groups of similarly situated customers that operate comparable businesses and use music in analogous manners. Each category must have a Court-approved "representative music user"; i.e., a hypothetical licensee whose frequency and intensity of usage are typical of the license group-at-large.

For this representative user, the total expected payment for a necessary slate of ASCAP-program licenses should approximate its fee for the blanket alternative. That is, if 50 percent of a representative station's programs use ASCAP music (defined as having any music written by an ASCAP composer regardless of how it is eventually licensed), the appropriate percentage multiple for the program license should be 2 (2 = 1/.5) times the percent rate for the blanket. The representative station may pay a blanket fee of 1 percent of its total advertising revenues, or a program fee of 2 percent of advertising revenues for the particular programs that it actually licensed.

If ASCAP were able actually to license all the programs where its music was used, payments of the representative user would be identical under the blanket and program alternative licensing systems. However, payments to ASCAP diminish as more programs migrate to competitive alternatives. Once derived, the multiple is then extended to all stations in the user group.

There is a significant difference here with the Dolinger formula in Buffalo Broadcasting. In AFJ2, all of the station's programs that contain performances of music written by ASCAP members would be counted as part of the 50 percent that use ASCAP music, regardless of eventual license source. This contrasts with the Magistrate Dolinger's formula of Section 5, which bases a program multiple on the fraction of station programs where the ASCAP program license was actually deployed.

To illustrate further the difference, suppose in the above example that the representative station were able to source- or direct-license music requirements in 60 percent of its music-using programs. This reduces the need for the ASCAP program license to 20 percent of all programs (.20 = .50 x (1 - .6)). Dolinger's per program rate for the representative station, and all users in its group, would have increased to 5 percent (= 1/.2), which recognizes that ASCAP program licenses were actually deployed in 20 percent of all programs. However, the revised fee percentage under AFJ2 would be 2 percent (= 1/ .5), since 50 percent of all programs continue to use ASCAP music under one license or another. Substantial savings are evidently possible in the latter system and ASCAP can no longer increase the program rate as usage of its program license declines.

As another pro-competitive gain, AFJ2 permits to each program licensee a full offsetting allowance for the "mini-blanket" fees for commercial and promotional music that is now used outside of the program. This amendment contrasts with previous procedures (see Section 5) that fixed charges for the commercial "mini-blanket" as an addition to the program total. As previously mentioned, ASCAP may also fix a surcharge to compensate for its additional costs of administering the program license.

As an important economic matter, AFJ2 does not clearly specify whether the program/blanket multiple that is used to derive a particular station's program percent rate must be used to establish equal percent rates for each ASCAP-licensed program in the station's portfolio, or on average. Under strict nondiscrimination, the percent rate for each program licensed through ASCAP would necessarily be equal.

Alternatively, only the aggregate amount of program fees could be restrained as a percent of underlying program revenues, with individual discounts and upgrades permitted around the average for licenses charged to single programs. Enforced equality has been the case, but AFJ2 seems ambiguous. However, to provide to ASCAP the greatest ability to match competitive providers of source and direct licenses, this strict equality should be relaxed. This point is discussed further in a technical memorandum soon to be made available by this author.

While AFJ2 provides economic incentives for a station licensee to substitute from an ASCAP program to a source- or direct- alternative, the draft Decree is somewhat more protective against license exit, as would result when radio stations switch from music to talk formats in certain programs. In the latter case, no license would be needed at all. However, if the representative user were able to reduce its usage of ASCAP material (program, source, and direct) from 75 percent to 50 percent of all segments in the day, its program multiple would be adjusted in AFJ2 to restore its original revenue stream. Upward adjustments of this nature would limit ASCAP's incentives to lower prices aggressively to maintain a program or segment license against exit threats. A related competitive problem will occur in the market for exclusive segment licenses (discussed above), where rate adjustments will protect ASCAP from segment shifts to BMI, and vice versa.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Touring Successfully

Touring Successfully

By Bronson Herrmuth,

Taking a band on the road and bringing them back in one piece, still friends and wanting to travel together, is not easy. A lot of bands who hit the road to conquer the world with their music end up returning home and then quickly breaking up, no longer friends nevertheless band mates.

When my band was actively touring and traveling extensively through out the US, Canada and Mexico, we were forced to find replacements on more than one occasion, even though we were signed to RCA Records and having success. Invariably it had to do with the constant touring and the stress that caused inside the band. Every time we returned from a long tour, someone would quit and we would have to pretty much start over again from scratch. One member leaving can steam roll into two in a hurry if you don't move fast to find the right replacement. We went from a 6-piece group to a 3-piece in a two week period, with the first member giving his notice just hours after we signed with RCA.

The fact is all bands break up. They either break up or members pass away, which leaves you with the same outcome. It's the main reason it is so hard to get a recording contract as a band. The labels and industry executives know you are going to break up. The big unknown is when, not if. Knowing this makes it hard for anyone in the industry to make a commitment to your band and stick their necks out for you, which has to happen at some point, for you to move up to the next level. Someone has to fly your flag at the label or you are not going to get signed, or stay signed, for sure. Convincing an industry executive to put their job on the line on your behalf will be much easier once you can show them that you are serious and committed, including proving that your band can tour successfully. Even if you aren't concerned with getting signed to a label, if you want to make a living playing music, at some point you are going to have to hit the road.

Organization is crucial in order to have a successful tour. Unexpected changes will occur and the only thing you can do is to stay positive and be as prepared as possible to deal with them. Life will kick in and vehicles will break down, tires will go flat, the air conditioner or the heater will stop working, someone in the band will get sick. Countless things can go wrong or play out differently then you anticipated when you sat down to plan your tour. Every once in a while you even have good things happen too, so before you cancel your upcoming tour dates, keep reading.

Everyone in the band and crew need to be on the same page as much as possible before you even pull out of the driveway. This is the starting point to having a successful tour. Make sure that everyone has as much information as you can give them of what is going to happen next. Understand that this info isn't just for them; it is for their families too. Tops on the list for reasons someone leaves a touring band has to be their significant other giving them an ultimatum: the band or me. You can make it so much easier on everyone's relationships by simply supplying them with all the info you can. Everyone knowing where you are going to be and when you are going to be there will go a long way to keeping everyone organized and playing nice.

If you book yourself, you have to be sure to ask the right questions when taking the gig. If you are booked by an agent, then you have to make sure your agent knows exactly what you want to know concerning any gigs booked on your behalf. Whenever I book a show, I go through a list of specific questions and take lots of notes. This way I don't have to rely on my memory and I don't miss finding out the things I need to know. Here is an example of the information I am looking for to pass along to the band and crew:

#1. The date and the City where you will be performing

#2. The Venue address and phone number

#3. Contact name at Venue

#4. Your scheduled show time(s)

#5. Sound man name and phone number

#6. Time scheduled for loading in your equipment

#7. Time scheduled for your sound check

#8. Any discounts or freebies on food or beverage for the band

#9. Hotel information where you will be staying

#10. Names of other artists sharing the bill

#11. Names of any newspapers or magazines used for advertising

#12. Radio station(s) advertising your show(s) with call letters and station dial #'s

#13. Time scheduled for loading out your equipment

#14. Leaving location and time scheduled to travel to your next destination

It is important to understand that once you have this system in place, you need to stick with it as best you can. I know there will be times you won't have all of this information available to you before you hit the road, but be sure to pass on what you do have. Just the fact that everyone in your organization knows that there is a plan and that you are striving to be as professional as possible will help you keep everyone cool and headed in the right direction.

No one likes to be kept in the dark about their future and it can be tremendously frustrating to wait for someone to tell you what is going on and what is expected of you at the very last minute. I have sat in many a motel room for hour upon hour, waiting to get the details for a show that very night, only to get a frantic phone call telling me we leave in 30 minutes. Being able to plan ahead and be prepared will relieve much of the stress associated with being out on tour, and increase your odds greatly in regards to keeping your band together and willing to tour.

One of my former managers summed it up best one day in a conversation we were having as our band prepared to hit the road for a tour. Everyone was pumped and excited, laughing and cutting up with each other as we loaded up the bus and got ready to head out. He pointed that out to us and said the thing that separates the pack when it comes to really being a good band and having a long successful run together was being able to return from the tour in the same way.

To be just as happy and excited about being in the band at the end of the tour, as in the beginning. To come home, already anxious to be heading back out as soon as possible to tour and perform again with your band mates. Not to drag back in whipped and fighting among yourselves because of negative things that happened on the road inside the band. Having a strong internal organization will go a long way toward your band being able to tour successfully by heading off potential disasters that are just waiting to occur, if you let things get out of control and lose your direction.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Band Weblogs: A Worldwide Directory of Music Blogs Written by Bands, Musicians, Songwriters and Creative Music Writers.

Band Weblogs: A Worldwide Directory of Music Blogs Written by Bands, Musicians, Songwriters and Creative Music Writers.


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Where music comes to life.

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Why blogging is so useful:

Check out these Site PRO News articles on making the most of your blog...

Blogs – Diamond in the Rough
for your Marketing?


If an RSS Feed is the Yahoo
Backdoor, is a Blog Google's?


If RSS is the Yahoo backdoor,
is a Blog Google's? (Part 2)


So, updating quality content regularly, how it is used and several other factors, blogging is indeed a very useful tool for marketing.

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting (Part V)

Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Music Performing Rights in Broadcasting

Part V: The ASCAP Rate Court

By Michael Einhorn,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

The matter of rate determination for program licenses moved in 1990-91 to the ASCAP Rate Court, which conducted an administrative hearing in which 963 independent and 20 network-owned stations sought final determination of blanket and program fees for historic periods in which interim license fees had prevailed. These local stations were attempting to negotiate with ASCAP an all-industry fee aggregate that could be subsequently assigned to individual stations based on respective audience size, day part ratings, and program clearance. Hearing Magistrate Michael Dolinger issued a decision in 1993.

Consolidating testimony from two opposing testifying economists, the Magistrate found that there is no applicable economic theory for determining blanket rates for performance licenses. Previous fee levels -- tempered by the recognition of changing circumstances -- were the only reasonable starting points for subsequently administered fee-setting. The Magistrate then applied ­ with adjustments for annual inflation and station growth ­ fee levels from a prior blanket license in 1972. This produced a serious reduction from ASCAP¹s requested amount for the blanket percentage.

ASCAP had urged the Court to set the percentage-of-revenue for program licenses at a fourfold multiple of any blanket fee amount, together with an unspecified increment to cover additional expenses that it would have incurred in administering and monitoring the program. The Magistrate held that this proposal was designed to render the program arrangement "technically available but practically illusory for all stations". It "would trivialize what was plainly not intended to be a trivial set of provisions" in the Consent Decree.

To resolve the problem, Magistrate Dolinger designed the program fee in a manner where the typical local television station would pay to ASCAP equal amounts under the blanket and program alternatives, exclusive of additional administation costs. To do this, the Magistrate estimated that the typical local station used the ASCAP program license in roughly 75 percent of its programming. Magistrate Dolinger set the percentage-of-revenue in the program license at a 1.33 multiple of the blanket rate. This roughly ensured "revenue equivalence" between program and blanket revenues for the typical station (i.e., 1.33 x .75 = 1).

A 7 percent increment was then added to compensate ASCAP for the additional inefficiencies and administrative costs that inhere in program licensing. Facing the retroactive application of his formula to eleven historical years, the Magistrate¹s stated intent for the implemented program licensing system was to limit switching from blanket to program licensing.

ASCAP and its licensees subsequently agreed to an additional 10 percent increment on the program license amount to provide a separate "mini-blanket" to cover all commercial music used during the day. This modification enabled stations to clear individual programs simply by attending to music within the actual content of the show, rather than the more difficult process of clearing both content and commercial music. However, this second rider added yet another cost to the program license compared with the blanket alternative, which automatically covers commercial uses at no additional cost.

ASCAP¹s present fees for program licenses for radio stations, which were established outside of Rate Court and designed with no reference to revenue equivalence relationship, now offer even less of a "genuine choice". Commercial radio stations pay fees that are based on a percentage of adjusted station revenue; the percent fees can be negotiated individually or by an all-industry licensing committee. ASCAP¹s blanket license for major radio stations is 1.615 percent of adjusted gross revenue.

For program users, percentage fees per licensed program are set at 4.22 percent of the first 10 percent of weighted program hours where feature music is used. Fees for all additional hours with feature music are set at 2.135 percent. ASCAP then adds an additional 0.24 percent for a "mini-blanket" to cover all music used on radio commercials. Depending on the number of weighted hours, the markup of the program percentage above the blanket rate may range from 60 to 177 percent. The matter took a turn in 1995 when a group of radio stations unsuccessfully sought to apply Magistrate Dolinger¹s equivalence formula to obtain a better program license for their particular situation. Not yet under a Consent Decree, ASCAP¹s licenses for webcasters incorporate similar discounts for blanket licensees.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission