Manufacturing and Distribution

Manufacturing and Distribution: Before and After

Certainly every singer, songwriter and or producer, has the wish to one day walk into their local Walmart, BestBuy, FYE, etc., and see their work on sale, ready to share with the world. While this would be a dream for all, there is a lot of work that goes into making this dream come true. To set it all off, there has to be a Manufacturing and Distribution Deal made. This is usually made between the distributor and the record label.

Most times, the distributor will pay for all of the manufacturing involved in getting the product ready to sale. The product will then be distributed to all affiliates of the distributor. This is where those local stores come into play. In return, they will receive 100% of the profit until the manufacturing costs have been repaid. While there may be some distributors who do not require 100% from the start, this is quite common.

While it may take quite some time to be offered a manufacturing and distribution deal, there are several platforms that allow artists to share their music with the world. It is not uncommon for artists to use such platforms as iTunes, CDBaby, ReverbNation, etc. to make their music available digitally. These are platforms that can be set up and used by the artist directly. As a new artist, I would suggest utilizing these tools. When the opportunity arises, and a distribution deals is afforded to you, it will simply add on to the established fan base you have already generated.

http://musicians.about.com/od/glossary/g/Distribution.htm

http://www.reverbnation.com/band-promotion/how-to-sell-music-on-itunes

It's Beyond the Copyright

It’s beyond the copyright

After long sleepless nights and your mind going 100 miles per minute at times, you have finally finished writing a new song, or creating a new piece of work. First order of business, suggested to you by any and everyone is to make sure that you copyright your new piece of work. Now, obviously the copyright is important, simply to make sure that no one else can steal you work, or duplicate it and claim it as their own. The only issue is, no money is generated from copyrights.

This is where publishing comes into play. To receive the appropriate payouts/royalties for your new piece of work, it is imperative that you register it with a publishing company. It is quite common for new artists to register themselves with their own publishing company. It can be nice to eliminate the extra and make sure your royalties come directly to you, through your company.  But where do you go and who do you talk to, to register your publishing company?

Three of the major industry leaders in music rights management and providing royalties for publishers, composers, and authors, are American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and EMI Music

Through each of these companies, a new artist, publisher or author, can register themselves as such, and begin to receive all of the performance rights and royalties that are due them. When deciding which company is best for you to join, do your research on each one. It is imperative to find out which performing rights company caters mainly to your genre of music or works. The companies may even differ in the schedule they use to do royalty payouts, i.e. yearly, quarterly, etc.

There are several factors that will go into choosing the best performance rights company for you. Best thing to do it, make sure you choose one and begin registering yourself and your work, immediately. 

Change of Plans

Change of Plans

When I sat down to write this week’s blog, it took me the longest time trying to decide what to write about. I sorted through so much artist’s news and new entertainment industry happenings. I had finally thought that I had finally come up with the perfect topic, regarding the death of legendary Hip-Hop manager, Chris Lightly. As I began to write, a Time Warner Cable commercial came on the television. I realized that it was the commercial with young man being accepted to college. Every time this commercial comes on, I find myself stopping all that I am doing, to sing the commercial song. I finally decided that I had to find out who sings it and where I can buy it.

After many Google searches, I finally found my answer. The writer of this amazing sounding song is Chris Merritt. After coming across the link to his website, I learned that this Time Warner spot is a song that he still has not finished. While I was looking at his website, I came across so many people leaving him feedback on how much they enjoy that song and begging him to complete it and put it on an album. I was amazed to find that he has several mp3 available for download on his website, but yet the majority of his recognition came straight from this commercial spot. That is indeed a major plug for new music and artistry. I am not certain how he was afforded the opportunity to land a spot for such a major company, so definitely kudos to whomever made it possible.

This concept reminded me of another indie artist that began by commercial spots. I first heard of Priscilla Renae on a McDonalds commercial. Just like with Chris, I searched all over trying to find out who the artist was and where I could find the song.

I searched all over the Internet for the commercial so that I could share it with you. Unfortunately the song was only written for the commercial, and it, including the video of the commercial is unavailable to the public.

First Things First

Wow! I have thoroughly enjoyed my class this month. My Advanced Entertainment Law class has truly taught me so much over the past four (4) weeks. I am quite excited about finished this Masters Program and launching my new business. Because my business will focus mainly on artists and musician management, I want to be sure that all of my artists’ relations be dealt with in a proper manor. Before taking this class, I knew that it would be necessary for me to acquire an Entertainment Lawyer.

I have been afforded the opportunity to learn so much from Attorney McCallum, even before an interview. While I could have focused on advice for starting my business, I decided to focus on advice that would be useful, as it relates to artist management. Because artist and musician management encompasses so much, it is recommended that I began with only management. In my original business plan, I looked to begin with management, marketing, and merchandising. I realize that because I will be new to the industry, I do not want to bite off more than I can chew. I want to make sure that whichever platform I choose to stand on holds very sturdy, as opposed to having multiple platforms with less foundation.

As it relates to artists management, it is imperative that I first build a relationship with the artist. While it is the thought to maintain a business relationship, when it comes to management, the manager must know their artist and have their best interests at heart. When that working relationship is established and continually built upon, it makes way for more trust to be built between the two parties. Trust is definitely a major issue when it comes to managers and their artists. It makes communication so much easier, especially conversations in contracts, etc. I have also learned that it is imperative to thoroughly dissect every contract, whether it’s a contract I am issuing, or one that is issued to us. Many times, individuals will try to pull quick tricks in the form of contracts. It is easy to avoid these tricks if one makes sure to really understand the components of the contract, and also have a prior knowledge of contracts that are similar. This will help us to easily recognize a component of a contract that is not “realistic.” 

Where Do We Go From Here?

Where Do We Go From Here?

As I was reading up on some recent news in the entertainment industry, I learned that famous rocker, Stephen Tyler, has decided to bow out of his position/role on American Idol. According to recent reports, Tyler stated, “I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back… I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress ‘American Idol’ before she boils my rabbit.” With the exit of Stephen Tyler, also came the exit of host, Jennifer Lopez. Yes, Tyler’s exit is understandable, focusing more on Aerosmith, as the continue to tour and release their latest album, after 8 years of silence; however, I wonder if that was the only factor for him leaving, Jennifer also. I thought to look into more the show itself. 

This past season, viewings only came in at roughly 21 million on the season finale. This is extremely low compared to how many viewings that would come in over years past. The wall street journal reported that “Fox has already had to agree to reductions of about 20% on the price of ad packages for top sponsors such as AT&T Co. and Coca-Cola Co. whose contracts range from about $25 million to $35 million and include ad time, product placement and other cross-promotions…” American Idol’s audience hit its all time high in 2006, it has had a consistent decrease since then.

I truly believe that FOX has done a great job with this show. Not only have they opened the eyes to the U.S. to so many talented singers, but they also created the platform for shows such as GLEE, The Voice, etc. 

CD or EP... What say ye?

CD or EP... What say ye?

Recently, I was sitting at Waffle House having a conversation with a group of friends. For sake of this post, I will give their respectful titles, an artist, an artist manager, a producer/musician, and myself, a musician as well. We were discussing the music business, as it relates to product. More directly, we focused on such this like, a live recording versus a studio recording, or a live studio recording. We also focused on creating product such as singles, full compact discs (CD’s), or Extended Play Records (EP’s).

As we progressed in conversation, it triggered a thought. “When did Extended Play Records become so popular?” The idea of an EP is not anything new to the music industry; in fact, it was made quite common during the time of the vinyl record. While many are no longer playing vinyl’s, except for me because I prefer them over CD’s J, the fact still remains that is simply the median between a single and a full album. According to Heather McDonald, “Musicians release EPs for a lot of reasons, but perhaps most importantly, they are frequently used as a promotional tool. EPs are used to introduce new bands, keep interest in an artist alive between full length release, to help promote a tour and more.” It makes perfect sense.

I remember when bands and artists were only releasing singles, most times, depending on the genre, it had two to three versions of the single on the CD. That quickly got old. Now, it is not uncommon to see groups, especially new artists, put out an EP, and letting that serve as their “full album.” I personally believe that, while it is a means to promote a tour or an upcoming album, it is simply a means to make a presence in the industry. Just looking through iTunes, I have seen more and more artists release EP’s. From new artists quickly gaining distribution via iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc., to already known artists making sure their name is not lost in the wind. There are many music services that are available for artists to use, in an effort to get distribution through such portals. Just to name a couple, CD Baby and ReverbNation.

I must say, I am definitely a fan of Extended Play Records, especially for new artists.

Let's Go Eat!

Separating the People from the Problem

For this week’s blog, I chose to interview Dakota Hilliard, one of the artist managers for Sivart Productions. For this interview, I decided to focus on the method, separating the people from the problem. During our interview, she shared with me that it is imperative to use this concept. There are many areas of negotiation where one can easily get consumed with talking to the issue and not talking to the person. According to Dakota, “Nothing is personal. The person that you are talking to is not the problem.” She shared that many times, a company standard is taken as a personal blow, when in all actuality, it is strictly company policy, “It’s not personal, and it’s business.” I asked how this concept affected her personal and working relationship with one of her current artist. Dakota shared that, “you have to know how to put on and remove both hats.” She shared that at the end of the negotiation, afterwards, you should be able to take the business hat off and say, ok, “where are we going for dinner?” I enjoyed how she used the movie Lean on Me as a reference of this concept, taken from the scene where the principal and the superintendent got into a fight and then at the end of the argument, they were able to go eat as friends.

So in essence, the ability to compartmentalize is imperative to the success of a working, productive and functional relationship. This stands true for colleagues, as well as newly found clientele. I asked Dakota what would be her number one word of advice for someone entering the business, either as an artist manager, or an artist. The answer she gave was “Do your own research, don’t solely rely on anyone else’s opinions or past experiences.”