Wednesday, August 9, 2006

In the Music Business, Rights Make Might

By David Gouldin

All You Need to Know About the Music Business

The music industry, and on a larger scale every form of media, is in a state of flux. The consumer is winning, the powers that be know it, and it scares them. The RIAA isn’t fighting piracy; they are attempting to hold onto a discontented buyer population, tightening their grip using bullying and fear tactics. These are the signs of a business model that has lost touch with its target market. But with the current rate of technological change, how can you expect any other result? Executives in their fifties and sixties sit in big offices on the 38th floor of an LA high rise and tell us how many years of experience they have in the industry. Meanwhile, their consumer base of 14 year old girls vlog about the sweet new cell phone that has a gazillion megapixel camera, enough memory to hold their entire music collection, and is smaller than a credit card. Does anyone else see an inherent disconnect?

Thus begins a vicious cycle. Album sales drop, the industry tightens the reins. Wash, rinse, repeat. Slowly new strategies are being adopted, new technologies begrudgingly embraced, but everyone has felt the hit. So where does this leave you as the aspiring rock star? What does any of this have to do with your music?

The musician now has the equally difficult challenge of adapting to a changing business landscape. You have to realize that nobody will take a chance on you. Sure, A&R want to find and release great albums, but given the choice between releasing a musical masterpiece and keeping their job, 10 out of 10 will choose the job and drop the album. The legitimate “big break” has all but disappeared, and in its place remains a highly volatile and suspect career path. This is the path of the one hit wonder and the penniless multi-platinum artist. Not very attractive. Career development is no longer of concern to labels. That torch has silently been passed to the musician himself. Unfortunately, most bands don’t realize it until it’s too late.

As a result, the new musician, bred for the current and future function of music in our culture, has a new primary responsibility: a thorough and complete education and understanding of the music business, of the inner workings of the “machine”. Good songs are the fuel, no doubt. Without them, the machine never gets started. But the nuts and bolts, the cogs, gears, and wheels are all rights. The music business is a business of rights. Rights are the only source of income any artist has and the only bargaining tool at the musician’s disposal.

Labels are losing their source of revenue. If they can’t get it from the consumer, guess who their next target is. Do you know the difference between publishing and songwriting royalties? (Did you even know there were two different types?) Do you know what a mechanical license is and under what circumstances you are due compensation based on copyright law? Do you know the only source of income whose rate is set by Congress? That label who has you giddy because they have been showing interest in you, the one who wants to come out to see your live show and is dangling the idea of a record deal in front of you - they do.

The music business is one of the most complex in existence and is a completely unique animal. An attempt to strike it out on your own and learn the ropes can quickly lead to a case of information overload. The amount of “stuff” there is to learn is quite simply overwhelming. Luckily, entertainment lawyer Donald Passman has compiled the basics into an extremely practical and highly acclaimed book entitled All You Need to Know about the Music Business. The 464 page read includes everything from record advances to manager contracts to merchandising and motion picture licensing. Every musician who wants to make a career out of music needs to know the material contained in this book. Every one. Throughout the universe and in perpetuity.

This article was submitted by a member of the TexasGigs community. David plays bass for Ben Zephyr.

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Comments

Mike Orren Staff

Here's an interesting interview with Passman. And he's a Dallas native.

http://www.aandronline.com/reading-ro...

We ought to get his take on this stuff.

2 years ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )