Getting paid for digital downloads from iTunes, Amazon, or other stores is pretty straightforward. The artist or label submits songs for download, perhaps through a distributor like TuneCore or The Orchard. Each time a user buys a download, the store takes its cut, the middlemen take their cut, and the artist gets the remainder.
If you don't register with SoundExchange and give them enough song metadata to find you, you could be leaving money on the table.
(Credit: Psychonaught, via Wikipedia)But there's another potential source of revenue that a lot of artists are missing out on: streaming Internet music. This includes thousands of standalone Internet radio stations, personalized radio services like Pandora and Slacker, and broad-based distributors like MediaNet. Here in the United States, a nonprofit organization called SoundExchange is responsible for collecting the money from these streaming services and distributing it to artists based on the number of times their songs are played. SoundExchange also collects money from satellite radio (Sirius/XM) and cable TV companies (which offer their own dedicated radio stations), and Congress is considering allowing it to collect from traditional over-the-air radio stations as well. (Traditional radio has been historically exempt from paying royalties because copyright owners viewed it as valuable publicity. Now, with other forms of revenue like CD sales declining, they're no longer sure this is a good deal.)
But if SoundExchange can't figure out who owns the copyrights on a particular stream, it can't pay. Writing in Billboard this week, SoundExchange Executive Director John Simson explains that the organization had about $40 million in royalties in 2008 that it couldn't distribute because artists and copyright owners didn't attach enough information to the song. At the very least, Simson pleads, every song should include metadata identifying the group, song name, album name, and label or copyright owner. The group was also holding about $39 million in escrow for artists and copyright owners who simply hadn't registered with SoundExchange yet.
For artists, the lesson is simple: don't be lazy about labeling your work, and be sure to register with SoundExchange. This will become especially important as streaming music services become dominant over the next decade, replacing individual downloads.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Artists: Label your songs, or you won't get paid
A&R Star Makers: The Vanishing Gatekeepers
As 2007 dawned, Jon Sidel had been West Coast head of artist and repertoire (A&R) with superhip V2 Records for seven years. Life was good. Sidel, who'd previously been an A&R executive at Interscope Records, was working with the likes of the White Stripes and the Crystal Method; was a successful restaurateur (a former owner of hot Hollywood hangs Swingers and Small's); and counted actress Rosanna Arquette among his exes. But that January, V2 was suddenly shut down by new owners, and its entire staff was laid off. Except they forgot about their man in L.A. "I felt like the guy in Office Space," Sidel laughs. "In the basement, still working away."
That may be the only way to keep an A&R job these days.
Kali Ciesemier
Once the most powerful career in the music business, artist-and-repertoire (A&R) executives are charged with finding new acts for record labels, signing them to contracts, and then supervising their artistic development. They oversee the recording process, including the selection of producers, songs and singles, and liaise between artist and label. Thus, these largely anonymous gatekeepers have quietly influenced the soundtracks of our lives.
For many musicians, the "A&R guy" became an almost mythical figure who could pluck them out of obscurity and place them on the charts. But that was in the 1980s and '90s — the CD boom years, before file-sharing and iTunes — when the major labels were making jaw-dropping profits and signing artists relatively freely and frequently. When, at the turn of the millennium, the record industry fumbled the digital-distribution opportunity presented by the budding Internet, its profits plummeted, as the public lost interest in the suddenly clumsy compact disc (U.S. album sales shrank from 785 million in 2000 to 428 million in 2008, according to Nielsen Soundscan).
Drastic layoffs followed — more than 5,000 industrywide between 2000 and 2007 — as buyouts and mergers reduced the major labels to a "Big 4" and significant brands like Arista, V2 and DreamWorks vanished altogether. A&R ranks withered accordingly: 127 A&R executives were let go or chose to leave their jobs during 2007 alone, according to business-contact source The A&R Registry. Even some with proven, contemporary "golden ears," like Sidel, Island Def Jam's Rob Stevenson, who signed the Killers and Fall Out Boy, and Interscope's Mark Williams (the No. 1–ranked record man on the World Top 100 A&R Chart 2005, an annual list of the year's best A&R people from HitQuarters.com), exited their posts.
Many ex-A&R folks remained a part of the entertainment business, acting as managers, consultants or producers. Others moved into unrelated professions like real estate or teaching. "Few managed to ever get another A&R job," says Ritch Esra, publisher of The Music Business Registry (which includes The A&R Registry) and former director of West Coast A&R for Arista Records. Some embraced semiretirement, like veteran Columbia/MCA Records A&R man Ron Oberman, who signed the Bangles, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Warrant and is now writing a book and playing "a lot of poker."
Even surviving A&R staffers enjoy less deal-making power than they did a decade ago. While artist-and-repertoire execs of old could see a band in a club, run it by the label head, and then offer the act a contract, they now often require the approval of a whole committee of superiors at increasingly cash-strapped and cautious record companies. "I remember when A&M, Interscope and Geffen merged [in 1999]," says Michael Rosenblatt, who discovered Madonna, the B-52s and The The during an A&R career at multiple major labels. "At that time there were 11 people who could say, 'Yes, you're getting signed.' After they merged, it became three. And that has happened everywhere."
"I think these days A&R execs at major labels are scared to put their life on the line and sign new artists for fear that if a new artist's CD doesn't sell a million units, that could be the end of their job," laments Michael Alago, who describes his A&R career with Elektra (where he signed Metallica) and Geffen as "23 years' worth of sex and drugs and rock & roll." He is disheartened by how things have changed. "Unfortunately, there's no artist development anymore. Where back in the day you could sign an artist and sell 100,000 records and be happy ... I don't think companies think that way anymore." Alago is now a photographer and provides occasional A&R advice to artists, including Cyndi Lauper.
The digital-age A&R person tracks audiences (chiefly online) as avidly as he does artists. "In the old days they were searching every nook and cranny, and if they found something that shined in the grass, they picked it up and developed it," Esra says. "[Today] they're not looking for talent, they're looking for an ongoing business ... for the culture and the marketplace to tell them what is good and successful."
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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lupe Fiasco's "Steppin Laser Tour" Feat. B.o.B Coming to a City Near You!
B.o.B is opening for Lupe Fiasco on the upcoming "Steppin Laser Tour". Dates below.
03/05 - Bridges Auditorium - Claremont, CA
04/07 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
04/09 - House of Blues (Atlantic City) - Atlantic City, NJ
04/10 - The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza - New York, NY
04/13 - 9:30 Club - Washington, DC
04/14 - Royal Oak Theatre - Detroit, MI
04/16 - Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
04/20 - Peoria Civic Center Theatre - Peoria, IL
04/23 - UNC – Charlotte - Charlotte, NC
04/26 - House of Blues - Houston, TX
04/27 - House of Blues - Dallas, TX
04/29 - Ogden Theatre - Denver, CO
05/01 - House of Blues (Las Vegas) - Las Vegas, NV
05/02 - House of Blues (Sunset) - Los Angeles, CA
05/05 - Regency Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
05/07 - Showbox SoDo - Seattle, WA
U coming out to the concert when it comes to your city???
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Do’s and Don'ts for getting your music on Music Blogs
by Tess Cychosz
Music Blogs are the new A&R scouts for new music. Music Fans and Record Labels use influential music blogs to filter out and find new music. Some Music Blogs write about popular music and give reviews, gossip and MP3’s, but the most influential ones are usually written by one blogger who writes about music he loves and does not follow the mainstream music scene.
Music readers on these sites go there because they have the same musical tastes of those bloggers and want to discover cool new music. As a result if your band is lucky enough to be positively reviewed on a site it can bring you new fans to your shows and your websites.
Well how do these Bloggers find new music to write about? They go to record stores (yes there are still a few around) and ask the clerks what is new and cool. They ask friends and check out lots of live shows. The last way is they almost all take submissions and on their site where they explain how to submit your music. The challenge is most bloggers have no time to listen to everything sent in so the chances of them listening to your MP3 and getting put on their blog are slim.
However, we at MusicNomad have heard from music bloggers themselves on the do’s and don’ts for submitting your music. So we have compiled a list that will hopefully increase your chance of them opening up your submission and getting mentioned in their music blog.
Do’s
- Make sure you check out the style of music the blogger likes and send your music to only those bloggers that like your style/genre.
- Personalize the email and refer to something you read in the blog that you liked. Mention some of the bands the blogger likes and that you are in the same genre as them.
- Tell the blogger some cool bands you think he will like and then in your signature put your band’s myspace page, etc and tour dates.
- Use the subject matter to draw attention to something important such as you are touring through the bloggers town or you sound like one of his favorite bands.
- If you are touring through the bloggers town, let him know and ask him to come down and check you out.
- Send MP3 links
Don’ts
- Don’t show up at their home or place of business, they don’t like stalkers
- Don’t send CD’s unless they specifically ask for it.
- If you are a rap artist don’t send your MP3 to an indie rock blogger and vice versa.
In the end most bloggers write about music they like and share it with their readers that have come to respect them for their recommendations and taste. These influential bloggers help bring people to an artists show and promotes the artists concerts. They also get pleasure in helping the bands they like and bringing new fans to them. I hope this article helps your chances of getting on some influential blogs.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Decade Of Meteoric Sales Of Mostly Mediocre Music
Decade Of Meteoric Sales Of Mostly Mediocre Music
(UPDATED) The recorded music industry may feel like its in a death spiral, but that didn't stop The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from releasing a celebratory tally of the decade's highest Gold and Platinum award achievemecelnts.
TOP ARTIST TALLIESEach level of multi-Platinum counts as its own unit and contributes to the tally. Only music released, as well as certifications granted, during 2000 - 2009 are included. Most total certifications (includes cumulative album, digital song, master ringtone, and music video certifications):
Group: The Eagles – 48 (Warner)
- Male solo artist: Michael Jackson – 44 (Sony/Epic)
- Female solo artist: Beyonce – 64 (Sony/Columbia)
Most album certifications:
- Group: Nickelback – 25 (Roadrunner)
- Male solo artist: George Strait – 29 (UMG/MCA Nashville)
- Female solo artist: Britney Spears – 23 (Sony/Jive)
Most digital song certifications:
- Group: Linkin Park – 13 (Warner)
- Male solo artist: Kanye West – 19 (UMG/Def Jam)
- Female solo artist: Taylor Swift – 25 (Big Machine)
Most master ringtone certifications:
- Male solo artist: T.I. – 15 (WMG/Atlantic/Grand Hustle)
- Female solo artist: Beyonce – 19 (Sony/Columbia)
HIGHEST CERTIFIED RELEASES*Format is: (record label/year released)Highest certified album:
- Group: *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (Sony/Jive, 2000), – 11x Platinum & OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – 11x Platinum (LaFace/Jive, 2003)
- Male solo artist: Usher’s Confessions – 10x Platinum (LaFace/Jive, 2004)
- Female solo artist: Shania Twain’s Up! – 11x Platinum (UMG/Mercury Nashville, 2002)
Highest certified digital song:
- Group: Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” – 3x multi-Platinum (EMI/Capitol, 2008) and The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” – 3x multi-Platinum (Sony/Epic, 2006)
- Male solo artist: Flo Rida’s “Low” – 5x multi-Platinum (Warner/Atlantic, 2008)
- Female solo artist: Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” – 4x multi-Platinum (UMG/Interscope, 2008) and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” – 4x multi-Platinum (Big Machine, 2008)
Highest certified master ringtone:
- Group: D4L’s “Laffy Taffy” – 3x multi-Platinum (Atlantic, 2006), Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel” – 3x multi-Platinum (Universal Records, 2006), and Shop Boyz’ “Party Like a Rockstar” –3x multi-Platinum (Universal, 2007)
- Male solo artist: Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” – 5x multi-Platinum (Universal/Cash Money, 2008)
- Female solo artist: Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” – 3x multi-Platinum (Sony/Columbia, 2006)
NOTABLE DECADE DATESJanuary 3, 2000 LeAnn Rimes’ self-titled 1999 Curb album becomes the decade’s first Platinum album
May 10, 2001 *NSYNC’s 2000 Jive album No Strings Attached is certified the first decade’s Diamond album of the decade
July 29, 2003 The decade’s top certified artist – Beyonce – receives her very first Gold album award for Dangerously in Love (Columbia, 2003). The album is currently 4x multi-Platinum
September 23, 2004 The decade’s highest certified album by a female solo artist – Shania Twain’s Up! – reaches 11x multi-Platinum
October 22, 2004 Digital Single award introduced. 45 titles were included in the initial group of certifications, encompassing tracks from each major recording company and representing nearly every genre in music
October 7, 2005 Interscope artist Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” becomes first digital single to sell one million units
January 7, 2005 Warner band Linkin Park earns a Diamond award for Hybrid Theory (2000)
February 15, 2005 Norah Jones’ debut Blue Note album Come Away with Me turns Diamond three years after its release
April 15, 2005 The Beatles earn their 5th Diamond award for 1 (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol, 2000)
November 1, 2006 Capitol Nashville country artist Garth Brooks takes Double Live (2008) 21x multi-Platinum. Garth Brooks is currently the best-selling solo artist in history having certified more than 128 million units to date
June 2006 Master Ringtone award introduced. The Black Eyed Peas, Chamillionaire, D4L, T-Pain earn the RIAA’s first multi-Platinum ringtone certifications
January 10, 2007 Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” goes double-Platinum to become the RIAA’s first multi-Platinum digital download
July 27, 2007 The best selling ringtone by a female solo artist, Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable,” certifies 3x multi-Platinum
2008 RIAA celebrates 50th Anniversary of Gold Record
November 7, 2008 The decade’s highest certified album by a male solo artist – Usher’s Confessions – reaches 10x multi-Platinum
May 8, 2009 Flo Rida’s “Low” goes 5x multi-Platinum; is the highest certified digital download in history
August 21, 2009 Michael Jackson’s legendary album Thriller climbs to 29x multi-Platinum to tie the Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) as the highest certified album in RIAA Gold & Platinum history
October 12, 2009 The decade’s top recipient of digital download certifications – Taylor Swift – takes her best selling song “Love Story” 4x multi-Platinum
December 15, 2009 Lil Wayne’s ringtone “Lollipop” becomes the highest certified ringtone ever at 5x multi-Platinum
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
**MEDIA ALERT** B.o.B aka Bobby Ray PERFORMS LIVE CONCERT Webcast in Atlanta February 18th
**MEDIA ALERT**
B.o.B AKA BOBBY RAY PERFORMS LIVE CONCERT WEBCAST IN ATLANTA FEBRUARY 18th
WHO: Rebel Rock / Grand Hustle / Atlantic recording artist B.o.B AKA BOBBY RAY.
WHAT: B.o.B AKA BOBBY RAY will perform a LIVE concert webcast for all his fans this Thursday. Celebrating the new release date of his highly anticipated debut album, “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray” IN STORES & ONLINE APRIL 27th!
WHEN: Thursday, February 18th
TIME: 8:00 PM EST
WHERE: Check out the performance on his official website: www.bobatl.com
Monday, February 15, 2010
Video: B.o.B & Bruno Mars “Nothing on You” Behind the Scene
Can't wait to see this video...it's on some other shit for real...next level!
B.o.B "Down For Yall" | New Album Release Date April 27th
In celebration of B.o.B's album being moved up to April 27th we want to give this new music to the fans to let you know how much we are "Down For Y'all"
Sunday, February 14, 2010
53 Ways to Become a Better Entrepreneur
Do you want to become a better entrepreneur? Well who doesn’t, right?
Over the past 8 years I have started around 9 companies. Sadly most of them failed, but the good news is, I have learned a lot over the years. Some of these things maybe obvious to you, while others may not, but none-the-less there will be something that will be beneficial to you.
Here are 53 things to keep in mind if you want to be a better entrepreneur:
- Don’t let emotions cloud your decisions.
- Accept criticism, no matter who gives it to you.
- Never stop networking.
- Learn from your own mistakes.
- Learn from other people’s mistakes.
- Around every corner lies an opportunity for you to sell something.
- Don’t get too greedy… pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
- Try not to mix your family life with your business life.
- No matter how successful you are, you shouldn’t stop learning.
- Spending money on good lawyers and accountants will save you more money in the long run.
- Don’t pick a stupid company name and if you do, don’t change it later on.
- Hiring employees won’t solve most of your problems.
- Be agile because slow and steady won’t win the race.
- Being agile isn’t enough, you also have to be scrappy too.
- Having a good business partner will be a key factor in your success.
- Don’t be afraid of the unknown.
- It is easier to save money than it is to make it.
- You don’t always have to innovate; there is nothing wrong with copying.
- Have a marketing plan.
- Don’t under estimate your competition; you can’t always know what they are doing.
- Watching movies like Boiler Room, will teach you how to sell.
- If you don’t have a business mentor, you better get one.
- Your income will be the average of your 5 closest friends, so pick them wisely.
- Diversifying is a good way to play things safe.
- It doesn’t matter what you want, it only matters what your customers want.
- When others are fearful, you should be greedy. And when they are greedy you should be fearful.
- You don’t always have to pay for advice. You’ll be amazed with the free advice you can get pick up from the web.
- The best chances you have of becoming rich is through your willingness of working hard.
- Even the most idiotic business idea can make money.
- Sex sells and it always will.
- An easy way to make more money is to up sell to your current customer base.
- Base your business decisions around metrics.
- There is no such thing as a safe bet.
- You don’t have to start a business to be successful.
- Raising venture capital is harder than being struck by lightening.
- Staying under the radar isn’t always a bad thing. Being out in the open is a great way to attract more competitors.
- Learn to be a team player.
- If you ever get screwed over, think twice before you burn the bridge.
- Learn to manage both your personal and business money.
- Live in a location filled with entrepreneurs.
- If you don’t take any risks, there will not be any rewards.
- Don’t let anything stand in your way.
- Sometimes you have to wait for good deals to come to you.
- The smartest route isn’t always the easiest route.
- Being too aggressive can backfire.
- With networking, it isn’t about whom you know, it is about whom your network knows.
- It’s never a bad thing to know too many rich people. Whether you like them or not, they can always come in handy. So make sure you always play nice with them.
- Use your email signature to promote your business.
- Don’t be afraid of social media. It is a great channel for customer acquisition.
- You’ll learn more from starting your own business, than going to business school.
- Having a personal blog doesn’t only help build your personal brand, but it helps your business as well.
- Your competitors don’t have to be your enemies, you can learn a lot from them.
- You can grow your business by working for free.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Key To Making Free Music Services Work
In a previous post I explained how free music services such as Spotify were making premium rental services such as Rhapsody and Napster increasingly irrelevant. Why pay $9.99 for unlimited on demand streaming music when you can get it for free? It seems that Warner Music’s chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. has had enough, stating that “free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry” and adding that WMG will no longer license to such services.
Such a stance is both understandable and also flawed.
Services like Spotify and YouTube are crucial tools in helping the music industry transition from the 20th-century distribution business of selling units, to the 21st-century paradigm of monetizing consumption. On-demand, access-based services will be the foundation stone of the 21st-century music business. Added to that, the majority of consumers simply have no appetite for paying for digital music, certainly not on a subscription basis. Free and subsidized services are quite simply part of the future.
But, and it’s a big “but,” these services and their associated business models still pose many as yet unanswered questions.
From the record labels’ perspective, on-demand free music services such as We7 and Spotify have yet to deliver the goods. They haven’t made a dent in illegal downloading and they haven’t converted enough new consumers to pay for digital music. (Spotify’s 250,000 paying subs is an encouraging start, but is just 3.6% of its 7 million total installed base.) And there is a very real threat that these services are educating mass- market consumers that music online is free.
It’s one thing having spotty teenagers downloading from BitTorrent casting nervous glances over their shoulders, but having their parents stop buying CDs in favor of streaming Spotify into their living rooms is another proposition entirely. And to top it off, all these services have yet to learn how to make ad-supported music pay. (Pandora is a notable exception, but it took many years to finally hit operational profitability in 2009 and it isn’t even fully on-demand, so has lower rights costs.)
The nightmare scenario for the record labels is that consumers in the tens of millions are wooed by free music, only for the services to go to the wall in couple of years time after having failed to build robust businesses. The free-music-vacuum would inevitably be filled by the grey market.
So how can these two opposed positions be balanced?
Free music services will get there, but only as a part of a three-tier monetization hierarchy:
1. Premium: the smallest in size but highest in ARPU (average revenue per unit) segment
2. Subsidized: the best balance of scale and ARPU, with telcos and device manufacturers hiding some or all of the cost to consumers
3. Ad supported: the largest segment but lowest ARPUFree music services can work, and bring real value to the music industry. But only if they are clearly positioned in this market-level hierarchy and if sophisticated consumer lifecycle strategies are used to identify the right consumers to migrate up the chain at the right time.
It’s not the end of the line for Spofity et al, but the outlook at the start of 2010 is very different from a year ago. Expectations are more realistic and building audiences in a sustainable manner is paramount. It is probably no bad thing that Spotify wasn’t able to launch in the U.S. in late 2009. Spotify wouldn’t have been able to afford strong success (an extra 10 million or 20 million free customers to the bottom line could have been crippling) and the nascent digital status quo would have been disrupted. (However, different the value proposition Pandora may be, I wonder just how many PC-only users would remain loyal given the option of Spotify.)
The original Napster started the free-music race, but if the industry doesn’t enable the likes of Spotify to pick up the baton and run with it, BitTorrent et al will continue to do so regardless.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Southwest selling $39 tickets & Other Airlines are matching prices. Sale ends TODAY!
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines Co. is offering a sale geared toward leisure travelers who want to make short trips this spring.
The discount carrier said Tuesday it will sell tickets starting at $39 each way on some routes under 500 miles.
As usual, the airline didn't say how many seats it will offer at the sale prices, and Friday and Sunday flights aren't included. The sale ends Thursday and covers travel from March 15 through May 25.
Delta, American, United, Continental and US Airways matched the sale prices on routes where they compete with Southwest, said Tom Parsons, CEO of BestFares.com. Fellow discount carriers JetBlue and AirTran matched on some routes, he said.
Southwest has reported steadily rising traffic for several months — up 7.1 percent in January compared with a year earlier. The Dallas-based airline broke its own record for average occupancy in January. Still, 28 percent of seats were empty.
The sale shows that airlines are struggling to fill planes, especially during the relatively slow travel period between spring break and summer vacations.
"In order to fill up those last 20 percent of seats, Southwest still has to discount to get people off their couches and on to their computers booking tickets," said Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com.
Since the sale is mostly limited to short hops, the airline can still
charge a reasonable price per mile, Parsons said.Advertisement"That's still money, and cost per mile is what they go by," Parsons said.
At $39 one way from Dallas to Houston, Southwest would get more than 16 cents per mile. In 2009, the airline's operating costs were a bit more than 10 cents per mile, so it can make a profit even at the sale prices if it can fill the planes.
But flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles would barely break even if every seat were taken at $39.
Got a HIT RECORD? Get it REVIEWED on #NewMusicReviewTV TONIGHT at 7pm by @TJsDJs
Watch New Music Review TV Tonight at 7pm
WATCH HERE
The New Music Review TV is a platform for artists, producers &record companies (Rap, R&B, Reggae, Pop) to get their music heard and reviewed LIVE by TJ Chapman of TJ's DJ's and various special guests from the Music Industry. You also get INSTANT FEEDBACK from the hundreds of other DJs & People watching the show. Guests include DJs, A&Rs, Artist, Producers and other influential people in the music business. Past guests: Tony Neal (CEO Core DJs) & B Rich (Mgr for B.o.B). Feel free to let me know if you'd like to be a Co-Host on the show or even suggest someone you'd like to see.
1. How Do I Submit Songs for the New Music Review TV?
ALL MUSIC has to be uploaded to http://Bln.kr(make sure u fill out the description w/ Artist Name, Song Name, yourTwitter Name & then in LABEL type NewMusicReview). Lastly, the link w/ artist name & song name must be posted to @TJsDJs or @NMRtv on Twitter when the Show starts!2. What kind of music can I submit for REVIEW?
You can submit REAL songs (R&B, Rap/Hip Hop, Reggae, Pop & more)! No MIXTAPE SONGS over other people's beats!3. I'm a Producer, can I submit my BEATS for REVIEW?
Producers this is for you too! YES you can submit your beats for review. You might even get lucky & get a placement. Remember there's hundreds of artists watching every show.4. How much does it cost?
It's FREE to get your music REVIEWED unless you don't want to WAIT & wanna be a VIP!5. How do I GUARANTEE my stuff gets reviewed & I don't have to WAIT!
Just pay the $25 for the VIP SERVICE! U get a GUARANTEED REVIEW & NO WAITING in the long line of songs that might or might not get reviewed. Go HERE & follow the directions for VIP REVIEW6. What is SONG of the DAY?
Everytime we do a New Music Review we pick a Song of the Day that we highlight the video footage of that song's review, Tweet it out to everyone, post on our Facebook page & on TJChapman.com. That's FREE PROMOTION for you!7. Anything else I need to do?
Make sure you follow @NMRtv & become a FAN of the New Music Review TV Facebook Page HERE.
Everyone Loves to Win: Ideas for Fan Contests
Everyone Loves to Win: Ideas for Fan Contests
By admin
Categories:on February 11th, 2010
ResourcesSonicbids
Free stuff? Yes, please. Everyone loves winning – so what better way to get fans excited about your music than having contests?
Why should I have a contest? There are tons of exciting reasons why you should hold a contest for your fans. Most importantly, it’s a way to get the word out about your band and your music. It also gives you a chance to have a little fun with your fans and engage them in a new, creative way – changing it up a bit from the standard weekly newsletter. If the contest is fun and fans enjoy it, they’ll end up letting their friends (and hopefully your future fans) know… “Hey you’ll never guess what band X just did for a contest!” You’ll have new fans and more EPK hits before you know it.
What kind of contest should I hold? There are many ways to go about creating contests that are mutually beneficial for both your fans and your band. How? Try creating a contest where fans have to send e-mails or Facebook messages to “X # of people” linking to your EPK in order to be considered for the prize. They can either CC you on the e-mail or take a screenshot of them sending messages out as proof. You can even give your fans a template e-mail out to make things easier. Then – give the prize to whoever tells the most people about your music, or put everyone into a random lottery.
What should I give the winner? The next part of the deal is the prize. This is where you can get creative! You can give the winner a CD or a t-shirt…but what if they’ve been your fan for a while and already have these things? Make it an exciting prize so more people want to participate. You want examples? Sure. How about writing out the lyrics to the winner’s favorite song and signing it? Or, you could film a video of your band singing a song of the winner’s choice and put it up on YouTube. Or, you could call the winner and chat with them for a little bit. The best thing about all of those options? They’re free or extremely low cost – and take just a few minutes of your time to create. These unique prizes will get people excited to take part in your contests…and they’ll keep checking back in the future to see what you’ve got in store next.
Tags: advice, Fan Contests, Resources, SONICBIDS, tips
Have you ever done a contest? Did it work for you? What was your prize?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Music Festivals: Cash In On The Big Show
Summer is prime time for large musical festivals. Every genre and crowd has their own music business in all major festivals. Between musicians, fans, and press the event can be a practical who is who of any given scene. Regardless of who is there the large volume of people make a music festival (or any show really) the perfect opportunity to spread the word about your own music business.
I know that we all have been at a show or festival and been handed a flyer to another show. I typically find this action annoying, but that is because the presentation of the person handing out the flyer. They act as if they are handing out a sample of toothpaste on the street during lunch hour. If you are passing out flyers or demos you need to impress the people in the ten seconds you have their attention.
You become a living television commercial in these situations. You need to grab and hold attention while inspiring your audience to check out your music biz or show. Exude genuine enthusiasm when you approach someone. Sell yourself and your music to them. Do not act cool or disinterested. You obviously are interested since you are handing out flyers or CDs. Remember this is a commercial and you want the people to remember you.
A good example of memorable grassroots promotion comes from Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. In the documentary DiG! Anton is shown outside a CMJ music business showcase wearing roller blades, all white, alien goggle glasses, and a fur cap passing out free LPs for industry people to listen to. This presentation will definitely be remembered. Of course this technique may be a bit over the top
for most and pulling off something so dramatic will definitely come off as forced. This style worked for Anton because it matched his personality. Your personality and that of your music must come through just like Anton did at CMJ.When handing out your bands materials always be sure to look the person in the eye and make sure you have their full attention. You need to lock on and make that connection and sometimes eye contact may be enough to reach someone.
When advertising you will be seen by many but the percentage of people who actually invest time in whatever you are handing out will be small regardless of how well you present yourself. The point is to be seen by as many people as possible in hopes of sticking with a few observers. Do not be afraid to put yourself and do not be turned off by a low success rate. Getting even one person interested is worth the effort.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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Five (non-obvious) ways to get new fans
by Alex Pham
If you're a musician, your magic number is 1,000.
That’s the number of “true fans” required to launch a band from being a night job to a day job, at least according to Kevin Kelly, who wrote a famous essay on the topic. The theory goes that if you can get 1,000 hard core fans to pay $100 a year to attend your concerts, purchase your songs and buy your T-shirts, you'd have a tidy $100,000 income. (Of course, there are minor details, such as expenses and the fact that there may be other people in your band. But that's a topic for another day.)
So where do you find fans, now that you’ve already recruited your parents, roommates and cousins to be your fans on Facebook?
We asked the industry pros who came to the New Music Seminar in Los Angeles on Tuesday for their best, non-obvious tricks for bagging new fans. We’ve distilled their advice into five quick tips.
1) Play nice with search engines. So the obvious thing is to get people’s email address. One of the less obvious ways to get new fans is to have good [search engine optimization]. Thirty percent of new fans come from emails. But 30% come from Google or Yahoo. It’s people who are using search engines to find you. You need to make sure that if people look for you, they will find you. – Ian Rogers, Topspin
2) Use SMS texting. You can give away a song download or wallpaper or ringtone to people who text you their email address. Next time you’re playing in town, you can tell them and let them in free if they bring three friends. So your 100 fans suddenly become 300 paying fans. With live concerts, the goal is to sell 300 tickets. That’s incredibly hard to do. – Tom Silverman, co-founder, New Music Seminar
3) Buy a Facebook ad. "I spent $10 on a targeted Facebook ad and got 50,000 impressions and a good click-through rate. You can target only people who work at certain companies, like Google. You can target fans of other bands like yours. You can target only people in L.A. or San Francisco. So go to your band page on Facebook. There's a link that says, 'Get more fans. Promote your page.' Just click it." – Corey Denis, music marketing consultant, Not Shocking
4) Speak to the fringe. "We had a client who spent 11 months out of the year sailing and one month recording an album. Her songs were all about sailing. And she pitched her story to these boating and yachting magazines, and they all did these stories on her. She sold 10,000 albums a year, and most of them were to other sailors." – Derek Sivers, founder, CD Baby
5) Talk to your fans. A lot of bands disappear when their show is over when what they really need to do is come out and talk to them. Have them engage in your show. Give them a video camera during the show and have them pass it around. Get their email addresses and then send them a notice when you post it so they can embed the video on their own sites. – Mike Doernberg, founder, ReverbNation
And as a reward for reading this far, here's a bonus tip from Silverman, whose credits include the creation of Tommy Boy Records, a record label for hip hop, dance and electronica bands:
6) Develop your story. "Let’s take Susan Boyle. Her music was irrelevant. She was irrelevant. What sold her albums was her story. Of course, the music has to be good, too. But there’s a lot of good music out there. But there aren’t a lot of good stories."
Is DIY Suddenly DOA?
Is DIY Suddenly DOA?
Artists have always needed fans - lots of them - but now more than ever, they need friends. Not groupies, but a group of smart individuals, or even - shockingly - a label.But the broader theme was 'partner,' not just 'label,' during a Tuesday roundtable at the New Music Seminar in Los Angeles. "This is not about 'oh I need a label,' this is about, 'oh, I need a partner,'" TopSpin CEO Ian Rogers relayed. "The value chain is moving from what used to be artist-label-distributor-retailer-fan to artist-marketing partner-technology-fan. There are a lot of people who are going to be in that technology box, and there are a lot of people who are going to be in that marketing box."
Sounds perfectly logical, and other experts agreed. But the subtext was striking - suddenly, all the Long Tail, do-it-yourself zeal of previous years was getting updated by something more sensible and realistic.
Even by some of its more ardent supporters. "I'm tired, tired of hearing about DIY, I don't need a label crap. Tired of it," ReverbNation chief Michael Doernberg stated. "Because the truth is that everybody needs advisors. Everybody needs people to help them. Because when you get bigger, you need help. The question isn't 'do you need help?' - the question is, 'who?'"
And TuneCore? In the days leading up to the Seminar, Tommy Boy Silverman found himself in a high-profile spat with TuneCore CEO Jeff Price. The oft-unhealthy debate canvassed a few topics, including the extreme difficulties that artists face when trying to 'break,' whatever the definition of that is. Is a serious team and promotional firepower needed, or can a career get jump-started from scratch?
Price was not on hand, though the consensus seemed to fall somewhere in the middle. Indeed, Doernberg offered ReverbNation as a well-oiled technology partner, not a superhighway to DIY superstardom. In the end, 'experts agreed' that even the best DIY weapons need a supporting platoon, or at least a well-coordinated band of brothers. Other questions related to marketing firepower and financing may take some time to answer.
But what will this next-generation team look like? According to Rogers, different bands require different and customized support structures. But the manager will be a critical part of that future structure. "The manager is truly... the artist partner who quarterbacks and puts it together," Rogers noted.
But getting the right manager? That is a difficult challenge. The legendary fist-thumping, bus-touring manager of old suddenly needs digital credentials, and oftentimes, a more sophisticated resume. "Someone has to quarterback it all, and that takes strategy," Tommy stated. "There aren't that many good managers."
Friday, February 5, 2010
Digital Distributor Math: Choosing the Right Distributor for Your Music
Laurence Trifon
Question:
You are a musician and you want to sell your music on digital retail sites. You are deciding between two digital distributors to deliver your new album to retailers. The two distributors, Distributor A and Distributor B, have different payment terms and fees.
- Distributor A charges a one-time album set-up fee of $20, plus an annual “maintenance” fee of $20, and takes no percentage of your sales (Distributor A passes 100% of the sales revenue it collects on to the artist).
Assume both distributors will deliver your content to the same stores and offer identical service except for the payment terms. Which distributor do you choose?
Do the math!
The answer, as you may have guessed, depends on how many albums (or single tracks) you think you can sell. If you passed junior high algebra, you’ll find the math here quite straightforward:
Let’s suppose the average revenue per album sold that your distributor collects is $7 (this is what iTunes would pay out on a $10 album, after Apple takes their 30% cut). X is the number of albums sold.
Artist earnings from Distributor A in Year 1 = $7 * X - $20 set-up fee - $20 annual fee
Artist earnings from Distributor B in Year 1 = $7 * 90% * X = $6.3 * X
Now we can find the number of albums you’d have to sell in Year 1 to earn the same amount from Distributor A and B:
7 * X - 40 = 6.3 * X
0.7 * X = 40
X = 57
And there you have it. If you sell more than 57 albums in your first year, you’ll earn more money with Distributor A. If you sell fewer than 57 albums, you’re better off with Distributor B. Using the same calculation, you will see that for every subsequent year after Year 1, you need to sell more than 29 albums per year to earn more with Distributor A.
Beware of “small” percentages
In many business situations, a commission-based model between a client and service provider makes perfect sense. There’s nothing inherently unfair about a distributor taking a percentage of an artist’s sales for their services. However, it’s important to understand how commissions impact an artist’s earnings over time, especially if there is a flat-fee alternative for essentially the same service.
Returning to our example, let’s look at what it would cost you to distribute an album for 2 years using Distributor A and Distributor B.
Under Distributor A, the cost is $60 ($20 set up + 2 * $20 annual fee) regardless of how many units you sell.
Under Distributor B, the “cost” is 10% of your sales, which in our example is $0.70 per unit. The table below shows some examples of what Distributor B’s fee would be depending on your sales numbers over a 2 year period:
| Albums Sold | Distributor B’s Fee |
| 50 | $35 |
| 100 | $70 |
| 200 | $140 |
| 500 | $350 |
| 1,000 | $700 |
| 5,000 | $3,500 |
As you can see, 10% of revenue adds up quickly. Distributor B’s model becomes significantly more expensive than Distributor A’s $60 flat rate, even for a relatively modest level of album sales.
Again, there’s nothing wrong per se with a distributor taking a percentage of revenue. But when a distributor says “We only make money when you make money!”, remember that they also take more money as you make money.
Choosing the right distributor for you
There are other factors besides payment terms that you need to consider when choosing a distributor. Which stores they deliver to, how frequently they pay royalties to artists, data reporting/analytics, reputation, reliability, and promotional services are all important factors to think about.
Ultimately, you should be able to answer the following questions before selecting a distributor:
1. How much will it cost me (in upfront payment and/or % of revenues) to work with this distributor, based on the number of albums I think I can sell?
2. Is this distributor more expensive than the next best alternative?
a) If so, how much more expensive?
b) Do they offer enough extra services/value over the next best alternative to justify the higher expense?
You can use this spreadsheet to compare how different assumptions about revenue per sale, album sales, and distributor terms impact artist payout:
READ THIS: 360 Deals are Today's "Record Deals" by Wendy Day
360 Deals Are Today’s “Record Deals”
By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition (www.WendyDay.com)I gotta state right upfront that I am biased against 360 Deals. I understand WHY they exist, I just find them unfairly oppressive in the label’s favor in an industry with a draconic history of jerking artists out of money. I stopped negotiating deals for artists in 2005 because I refuse to do a 360 Deal for any artist! How strongly do you have to hate something to stop your own income over it?
In the early 2000s, the music industry went through a severe change. Music sales plummeted, the importance of the internet reigned supreme, and there was an influx of artists into the industry causing an over saturation never seen before. It’s gotten worse, not better, for the major record labels.
Once used to a healthy profit margin that afforded grand lifestyles for those at the top of the food chain, the major labels became disgruntled as sales dropped while they missed the boat on less profitable digital sales. Taking on the role of dinosaurs fighting for survival, they tried everything from stopping the new digital revolution, to fighting it, to suing it, to band wagon jumping too late. Nothing worked for them. And they still haven’t learned from their mistakes—they still continue to fight the ways the consumers want to receive their music.
So to justify their continuing existence, they decided to take an even larger share of the pie from the ONLY aspect of the equation that they controlled—the artist (or the “content” provided for digital download). Back in the day, labels took roughly 87% of the pie while giving the artists 12% of the money AFTER the artist paid back everything spent on them from that 12% share. This means that if the artist sold $500,000 worth of CDs, and it cost $50,000 to market and promote that CD (a very low example), the artist share of $60,000 (12% of $500k) would be divided between paying the label back that $50,000 and a check for the remaining $10,000. The label would receive $490,000 for its investment and belief in that artist while the artist made $10,000. In exchange for giving up the lion’s share of the sales, the labels always told the artists that they’d make 100% of the touring. Any show money, was the artist’s to keep!
When the shit hit the fan financially for the labels, they decided to tap into the show money, and all other streams of income for the artists, as well. After all, if your profit margin is made smaller, you need to eat more of everyone’s income to keep the fat cats at the top, and the stock holders, happy. Most 360 Deals share in endorsement income (15% to 30% depending on the artist), performance income (10% to 30% depending on the artist), merchandising income (20% to 50%) and Film/TV money (15% to 40%). Before I go any further, I have to thank Bob Celestin (Law Offices of Robert A Celestin www.raclawfirm.com) for supplying me a 360 Deal contract for an indie label and the good folks at Warner Bros Records for leaking me a major label contract for an artist’s 360 Deal. This enabled me to write about REAL contracts instead of just what I’d heard from lawyers, artists, and label folks.
How do labels justify taking an even BIGGER share of the pie from artists? They complain that they are doing all of the developing, investing, marketing, and promoting. Their argument is that they believe in the artist when the artist has nothing, and they feel that assuming the lion’s share of the risk should result in sharing in a lion’s share of the profit. If the label is developing and building the artist to a level of super stardom, they feel they have the right to share in a percentage of everything that super stardom affords the artist. So if they drive the artist platinum, they feel they should get a piece of the tour that came from the fame the label helped the artist build, and a piece of the endorsement deal or film income that came from the fame that the label helped build. I guess I could see this argument better, if I actually agreed that the labels did their jobs well of building artists.
I have a different vantage point of record labels. I see major labels based in tall glass buildings in NY and L.A. that have little interaction with the streets, fans, or the artists. I see them sign artists that have already started to build a buzz or sell music themselves, and then I see them sit back and let the artists’ teams continue to do much of the work themselves. I don’t see major labels taking much risk with their artists, but do continue to put them through a system that is almost an outdated cookie cutter version of how to sell CDs. The labels rarely interact with the fans and are quite out of touch about what the fans want or are willing to buy. They seem to create this assembly line of artists who all sound similar and fit a certain format at radio. They seem to throw a lot of music into the marketplace and work whatever catches on quickly and easily. Most labels do what’s best and easiest for the label, not what’s in the best interest of the artist. Now, in a way, it’s very unfair of me to make this sweeping generalization, because there are some amazing people who work inside of major labels and really go all out for the artists. But I find these people to be the exception, not the norm, and I also find them to be frustrated most of the time because they constantly have to fight with their bosses and the status quo to succeed on a project.
I also find that competitor labels usually hire the best people away from the labels who are experiencing some success, thereby breaking up the synergy within a team once they all learn to work well together. This is why a label like Def Jam or Universal could be so strong in the late 90s and yet be struggling to succeed today. I find that artists rarely look at the teams working at labels and just fiend for a record deal no matter the success of the label or who’s at the label (staff or other artists).
So labels got further away from the fans, the staffs got lazier or more frustrated (perhaps more work for less pay?), the artists took less risk because there were more of them and they were just happy to have a record deal, and the fans started expecting music for free because they could just download it if they didn’t feel like paying for it. Major labels continued reducing spending, slashing budgets, cutting pay, and signing “sure things” (whatever that means). And to justify the spending they were still doing, they decided to offer deals that cut into more of the artists’ income. The argument was that out of 50 artists signed to their label, only one was successful and funding the 49 losses. No other business on earth has such a backwards business model. Imagine if Ford built cars and accepted the fact that every model but the Taurus was meant to be a loss leader, and that the Taurus sales had to make up the loss of every other brand under their umbrella. Huh?
Or imagine if banks lent money for mortgages expecting 99% of the mortgages to default, and 1% of the mortgages were expected to make up the bank’s profits that year. Further imagine if each homeowner paying back their mortgage didn’t actually get to keep ownership of the house after their mortgage was paid back! The bank’s argument would be that they took all the risk on the house, so they should get to retain ownership. The people that lived in the house would still have to pay for all the repairs and upkeep, but the bank would own the house. That’s how the music industry is built. And the folks at the top with the most to lose are the ones fighting to keep this backwards system alive.
People ask me all the time what I think is wrong with the music business. I would like to blame our troubles on the greed of major labels, the proliferation of bad music that the fans don’t seem to want, or the free downloading of (stolen) music. But the truth is that if the artists didn’t agree to these incredibly bad deals, there would not be incredibly bad deals. If a bank existed that kept ownership of your house after you paid back your mortgage, you would never do business with that bank. Yet all day, every day, there is a long line of artists willing to sign their lives away to record labels because they don’t understand, or possibly don’t know about, the consequences. Or maybe they just don’t care. Maybe the need for fame overpowers the need for money…until they realize they aren’t making money but someone else is. I find that it takes artists 3 to 5 years to realize they are getting jerked. In that time, a lot of money is lost and one or two things happens: either the artist is replaced with a new artist willing to make less money, or the artist has enough value to renegotiate their deal and share a larger piece of the pie. Sometimes, they even start their own labels and repeat this onerous process with their own new, unknowing artist! They got jerked, so they turn around and jerk someone else.
But back to 360 Deals. This new model will exist until artists are willing to say “no!” and I don’t see any signs of that happening. What I do see happening are artists becoming more entrepreneurial, and instead of signing to major labels, I see them finding their own investors and building their own teams who can help them succeed. There are enough laid off employees of record labels who’ve experienced some success out here to hire to run and work at indie labels. There’s a huge void in the marketplace to deliver the kinds of music fans want…and that’s not just one kind of music.
What I learned from both the buzzes of Drake (lyrical mainstream artist who’ll succeed at radio) and Gucci Mane (not-so-lyrical street artist with gutter stories and experiences to share) is that fans still want music. Major labels are still slow to respond to the needs of the streets and the internet is only speeding up and splintering demand further. There’s still a market for good music that the fans want. Our job is to give it to them. And if we do so with a fair and equitable split of the profits, the artists can build lifetime careers and we can all make money!
I hear the artists who sign 360 Deals say that they feel they have to sign these deals because the label won’t work their projects if they don’t give up a bigger split. I hear the artists say they want the labels to help them land endorsement deals, major tours, and TV Shows and film roles—but I’ve yet to see a major label do this. Let’s be realistic, these major opportunities go to the biggest stars and the ones who apply themselves directly in those alternate areas. If you hire a film agent, and take acting lessons, you may get increased roles in film and TV. If you increase your fame through music sales, your endorsement opportunities increase. Beyonce landed a Revlon contract because she was a star, Revlon did not make her a star. How many new artists are the major labels building to be stars? In 2009, it was Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle out of all of the releases that came and went. And neither of them were developed by the major label system—one was a product of an indie label and the other a product of a TV show. The majors had access because they did deals with middlemen and then applied their systems behind those movements that were already happening. Maybe that really is the job of a major label in today’s environment.
In my opinion, a 360 Deal is an excuse for a major label to take a bigger piece of the pie without doing any additional work. It’s insurance on their part. If the artist does blow up by chance, it gives them more opportunity to make a bigger cut. And that’s just smart business. I guess if they called it what it really is, I’d be less annoyed by it: the price of doing business with a major label. If they played a bigger role in building overall success, I’d be happy to see them share in a bigger piece of the pie at the end of the day.
Example of a “360 Deal” Artist (this is not an actual artist example):
Male rapper based in Atlanta with a strong following. He has his own team of inexperienced friends and family around him and a very strong street following. The DJs, fans, other artists and industry are supporting him and propelling him forward. With no real single or CD in the marketplace, demand is high—he’s getting $30,000 a show and performing three or four times a week for the past few months. This will last about 6 months, approximately. He’s put out a series of mixed CDs, for free, over the past year. The label signed him a year ago to a 360 Deal but hadn’t begun to promote him yet because their roster was full. The artist got tired of waiting and began putting out a new mixed CD every month to build his buzz.
Advance: $75,000
Album Budget once popularity increased: $350,000
Recoupable Marketing and Promotions: $750,000
Monthly Show Income: $420,000
Endorsement Deal: $50,000Album comes out and sells a total of 350,000 copies (it was a very commercial album but the artist had been very street, almost gutter, up to the point of his album release so fans didn’t really embrace the album as expected).
Album income for label: $3.5 million
Artists’ Share after Recouping: negative balance of $405,000
$750,000 + $75,000 = $825,000
12% of $3.5 mill = $420,000
$825,000 - $420,000 = $405,000
Artist’s endorsement Deal Share: $37,500
75% of $50,000
Artists Share of Touring Income: $1,764,000
70% of $420,000 x 6 months
Artists Share of Publishing Income (50%): $100,000 (estimate of mechanicals and ASCAP/BMI royalties)
Income for Label: $4,773,500 gross income on an investment of $825,000
$3,500,000 sales
$405,000 recoupment
$12,500 endorsement income
$756,000 tour/show income
+ $100,000 publishing income
$4,773,500 gross income
Less Staff costs
Less Day to Day operating expenses
Less Taxes
Income For Artist: $1,122,375 income
$37,500 endorsement income
$1,764,000 tour income
+$100,000 publishing income
$1,901,500 sub total
-$405,000 recoupment
$1,496,500 gross income
Less 20% management fee
Less 5% Business Manager fee (Accountant)
Less Tour costs/legal costs/tour manager/DJ/Operating expenses/taxesLet’s compare gross incomes…
Artist made 1.5 million while label made 4.7 million
Artist share: 24%
Label share: 76%Let’s compare Net incomes before taxes…
Artist made approximately $1 million while the label made approximately $4.5 million
Artist share: 18%
Label share: 82%
If the label is taking all of the risk (they are not), putting up all of the money in all of the right places (they are not), devoting all of their attention to this one artist (they are not), and doing most of the work (they are not), then this business model makes sense for everyone involved. But if the artist is doing the bulk of the work, risking their career in the hands of the label, and coming out of their own pocket for many expenses, then this business model is hugely skewed in favor of the major label.
Follow Wendy Day on Twitter @RapCoalition
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
When it comes to music licensing not all clients are worth the time and effort!
by Sebastian Samuels
That’s the truth, when it comes to licensing your music to make money from it not all clients are worth the time and effort. You must choose your clients wisely and stick to the ones that will make you the most money.
There are clients out there that will will nickle and dime you for everything. Discounting off of this and off of that and the end result is you put in so much of your precious time and what did you get out of it? 150 dollars and 6 hours of wasted time. Not worth it. When you calculate the time it boils down to 25 bucks an hour. When you’re desperate then maybe that’s worth it but you must choose your clients carefully and go after projects that will bring you 150 dollars in 15 minutes or 1000 dollars in 15 minutes. Those are the types of clients projects you should be involved with.
A good musician friend once was complaining to me about this client he had. The client was producing online videos for a big global event that was going to draw major views. He had mentioned he’d delivered almost a hundred tracks to this client and he already hadn’t selected any of the tracks to license yet. This was for a prior project. I was like that’s too much of a waste of time and you it’s time to move on from that client. My friends music was awesome and the highest quality recordings. I would have used his music. My friend also mentioned that this client is very cheap. When I heard how much money he was paying my friend, I was like dude just move on already he’s not worth your time but my friend continued trying to please this waste of a time client. The client would complain to my friend all the time that he only paid 100 bucks a cut at other companies or to other artists but my friend negotiated 150 bucks a cut.
So the client contacted my friend for this big project and he was needing about 20 cuts for these online videos of this big global event. My friend started delivering many of his tracks for these videos and the client kept complaining that none of the tracks are working. So my friend delivered many, many more and finally after delivering over a 150 tracks in a one month period this client picked one track and still complained that alot of the tracks are just not working for his videos.
When my friend was telling me this story I was like dude come on it’s not worth your time and energy to try and please this very cheap and picky client, move on already.
And you know what that’s the truth, move on. Just come right out and tell the guy it’s not working out and the relationship is just not going anywhere. So my friend finally told the guy to just keep the tracks he had sent him (by now it was in the ballpark of 300+ since he had delivered tracks for two different projects) and he will not deliver anymore. If he ever wanted to license any of the other cuts and that was fine but he wont be delivering any other tracks.
So be careful when choosing clients and go after the ones that are going to make you the most money when it comes to music licensing. Stay away from the clients that are really cheap and the clients that will even complain about a penny. Those are the worst ones to be working with!
For more information on how to license your music in TV and Films check out my free newsletter by going to HowToLicenseYourMusic.Com
Top 6 Facebook Apps for Musicians
Ariel’s Top 6 Facebook Apps for Musicians
6 Apps that will make your Fanpage ROCK!
6 Apps Every Musician Needs to Know About
The Best 6 Facebook Fanpage Apps For Bands and MusiciansHave a fanpage but still not sure how to make it pop?
Here are six Apps that will set you n the right path, help you to stand out from the pack and keep your fans engaged and interested in you on a consistent basis.
1) Involver – http://involver.com
The people at Involver are masters of fan page branding. They offer two applications from their gallery free of charge (they have some wonderfully tiered packages, but those will cost you). I would recommend installing the Twitter and YouTube applications on your page, but there are other great ones as well. Your fans will then be able to see you last 5 tweets and last 6 YouTube videos right from your Facebook fan page.
*Check out the free app gallery here: http://involver.com/gallery.html
2) iLike Music Tab – http://tinyurl.com/FacebookiLikeApp
One of the premiere music applications for fan pages. One great feature that iLike exclusively provides is the ability to load a large, MySpace-esqe banner. It is somewhat difficult to currently brand yourself visually on facebook (without spending a lot of $), but this is a good start.
This app plays music, shows your Twitter feed, has links to purchase songs, etc. In order to create on one these you need an iLike account: http://ilike.com
3) ReverbNation - My Band - http://tinyurl.com/FacebookMyBand
There is a lot of overlap between My Band and iLike. The main functions that separate My Band are the merchandise options (fans can buy merch right from this tab), and the newsletter/street team sign up box.
*If you do not have a newsletter management service or widgets that you currently using throughout your web presence, I would start to get acclimated with ReverbNation, and use My Band on your FB Fan page.
If you are already using a newsletter management service and have your widget situation covered, iLike is the way to go because of the beautiful branding opportunity with the large horizontal image.
4) Poll Daddy Polls - http://tinyurl.com/facebookpolldaddy
Poll Daddy Polls feature both private polls that only your friends can see, and public ones that you can share with all of your fans. This is a great way to poll your fan base and see what they really want!
5) Selective Tweets - http://tinyurl.com/SelectiveTweet
Update your Facebook Status from Twitter but only for the tweets you choose. This is a great tool for musicians who want to save time but still want to be selective.
Just end each tweet with #fb when you also want to update your Facebook Fan Page status.
*It doesn’t work if your tweets are protected.
6) Twitter/Facebook synch - http://tinyurl.com/TwitterTweetFB
*For personal pages, not fan pages
Many people ask me about this, so I wanted to include it. This links your tweets with the status updates on your personal profiles, not your fan pages.