Indie Artists - Is Piracy Really Your Problem?

Great post by Derek Sivers: Founder of CD Baby

What’s really keeping you from where you need to be? (It’s not piracy.)

I spoke at a conference last weekend, where a woman in the audience was SO mad about piracy that she was physically shaking, red in the face, tears in her eyes, fuming spitting livid, asking how we can stop this rampant piracy.

I didn’t answer her concern well, but I said “More people are killed by pigs than sharks each year, but because shark attacks are more newsworthy, they seem more prevalent. Piracy gets all the attention, but I don’t think most of you in this room have lost more than $30 to piracy.” (I got a big “Booo” from the audience for this.) “Obscurity is your real enemy. Fight obscurity until you’re a household name, then piracy will be more of a problem than obscurity. Until then, worry about pigs, not sharks.”

The woman got so furious about this that she screamed at me with tears in her eyes, “I HATE YOUR POINT OF VIEW, BUDDY!” (and some other angry things I forget.) From her point of view, piracy was Enemy #1 and anybody ignoring this massive threat was hurting us all.

Read the rest here...

Music 2.0

Music futurist Gerd Leonhard has released a video explaining what music 2.0 is and how the music industry should change to adapt to 'web 2.0' principles:

Rock Brand 2.0: What Advertisers Really Want

If music is the soundtrack to our lives, then advertisers want a piece of the experience. But how can artists forge powerful and profitable relationships with brands? At South by Southwest on Thursday, entrepreneurs started sharing notes on the elusive branding partnership.

The major label recording contract was once the ultimate prize for many artists, simply because of the financial, distribution, and promotional muscle involved. But artists now have alternative paths towards broader-scale success, including direct relationships with brands.

Superstar artists certainly have their place in the advertising world, and multi-million dollar sponsorships prove it. But brands are usually interested in connecting with targeted demographics, and that opens the door for smaller labels, bands, and scenes. "I would actually rather work with a medium-to-small sized artist," commented Trey Shelton, chief executive of Music Interactive. "With an up-and-coming act, you are getting a little bit more of a tastemaker crowd."

But connecting with an advertiser or advertising agency is a tricky proposition. According to those close to the deals, speaking the right language is the first step towards securing lucrative partnerships. "The music industry is not the best industry at understanding its consumers," commented Dominic Hodge, senior strategist at Frukt. "But the advertising industry is all about understanding who is buying, where to reach them, and how to target them."

In the pitch phase, that means deemphasizing the artistic elements for one moment, and shifting towards more concrete demographic details. "If you are a manager, artist or label, you need to be able to communicate what it is you are offering the brand," Hodge continued.

And of course, any music-related advertising discussion usually includes online and mobile platforms, simply because of the hyper-targeting involved. Bands have been finding niche fans online for years, though advertisers also know the terrain well. "If you are partnering with brands, you can ride along with their targeting," Shelton advised. "They're going to know where their demographic is."

Things you can learn from the music business (as it falls apart)

By Seth Godin
The first rule is so important, it’s rule 0:
0. The new thing is never as good as the old thing, at least right now.
Soon, the new thing will be better than the old thing will be. But if you wait until then, it’s going to be too late. Feel free to wax nostalgic about the old thing, but don’t fool yourself into believing it’s going to be here forever. It won’t.

1. Past performance is no guarantee of future success
Every single industry changes and, eventually, fades. Just because you made money doing something a certain way yesterday, there’s no reason to believe you’ll succeed at it tomorrow.

The music business had a spectacular run alongside the baby boomers. Starting with the Beatles and Dylan, they just kept minting money. The co-incidence of expanding purchasing power of teens along with the birth of rock, the invention of the transistor and changing social mores meant a long, long growth curve.

As a result, the music business built huge systems. They created top-heavy organizations, dedicated superstores, a loss-leader touring industry, extraordinarily high profit margins, MTV and more. It was a well-greased system, but the key question: why did it deserve to last forever?

It didn’t. Yours doesn’t either.

2. Copy protection in a digital age is a pipe dream
If the product you make becomes digital, expect that the product you make will be copied.

There’s a paradox in the music business that is mirrored in many industries: you want ubiquity, not obscurity, yet digital distribution devalues your core product.

Remember, the music business is the one that got in trouble for bribing disk jockeys to play their music on the radio. They are the ones that spent millions to make (free) videos for MTV. And yet once the transmission became digital, they understood that there’s not a lot of reason to buy a digital version (via a cumbersome expensive process) when the digital version is free (and easier).

Most items of value derive that value from scarcity. Digital changes that, and you can derive value from ubiquity now.

The solution isn’t to somehow try to become obscure, to get your song off the (digital) radio. The solution is to change your business.

You used to sell plastic and vinyl. Now, you can sell interactivity and souvenirs.

3. Interactivity can’t be copied
Products that are digital and also include interaction thrive on centralization and do better and better as the market grows in size (consider Facebook or Basecamp).

Music is social. Music is current and everchanging. And most of all, music requires musicians. The winners in the music business of tomorrow are individuals and organizations that create communities, connect people, spread ideas and act as the hub of the wheel... indispensable and well-compensated.

4. Permission is the asset of the future
For generations, businesses had no idea who their end users were. No ability to reach through the record store and figure out who was buying that Rolling Stones album, no way to know who bought this book or that vase.

Today, of course, permission is an asset to be earned. The ability (not the right, but the privilege) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them. For ten years, the music business has been steadfastly avoiding this opportunity.

It’s interesting though, because many musicians have NOT been avoiding it. Many musicians have understood that all they need to make a (very good) living is to have 10,000 fans. 10,000 people who look forward to the next record, who are willing to trek out to the next concert. Add 7 fans a day and you’re done in 5 years. Set for life. A life making music for your fans, not finding fans for your music.

The opportunity of digital distribution is this:

When you can distribute something digitally, for free, it will spread (if it’s good). If it spreads, you can use it as a vehicle to allow people to come back to you and register, to sign up, to give you permission to interact and to keep them in the loop.

Many authors (I’m on that list) have managed to build an entire career around this idea. So have management consultants and yes, insurance salespeople. Not by viewing the spread of digital artifacts as an inconvenient tactic, but as the core of their new businesses.

5. A frightened consumer is not a happy consumer.
I shouldn’t have to say this, but here goes: suing people is like going to war. If you’re going to go to war with tens of thousands of your customers every year, don’t be surprised if they start treating you like the enemy.

6. This is a big one: The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum.
It’s not so easy for an unknown artist to start from scratch and build a career self-publishing. Not so easy for her to find fans, one at a time, and build an audience. Very, very easy for a record label or a top artist to do so. So, the time to jump was yesterday. Too late. Okay, how about today?

The sooner you do it, the more assets and momentum you have to put to work.

7. Remember the Bob Dylan rule: It’s not just a record, it’s a movement.
Bob and his handlers have a long track record of finding movements. Anti-war movements, sure, but also rock movies, the Grateful Dead, SACDs, Christian rock and Apple fanboys. What Bob has done (and I think he’s done it sincerely, not as a calculated maneuver) is seek out groups that want to be connected and he works to become the connecting the point.

By being open to choices of format, to points of view, to moments in time, Bob Dylan never said, “I make vinyl records that cost money to listen to.” He understands at some level that music is often the soundtrack for something else.

I think the same thing can be true for chefs and churches and charities and politicians and makers of medical devices. People pay a premium for a story, every time.

8. Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as ‘clean’ as the old one.
It’s not easy to give up the idea of manufacturing CDs with a 90% gross margin and switching to a blended model of concerts and souvenirs, of communities and greeting cards and special events and what feels like gimmicks. I know.

Get over it. It’s the only option if you want to stay in this business. You’re just not going to sell a lot of CDs in five years, are you?

If there’s a business here, first few in will find it, the rest lose everything.

9. Read the writing on the wall.
Hey, guys, I’m not in the music business and even I’ve been writing about this for years. I even started a record label five years ago to make the point. Industries don’t die by surprise. It’s not like you didn’t know it was coming. It's not like you didn't know who to call (or hire).

This isn’t about having a great idea (it almost never is). The great ideas are out there, for free, on your neighborhood blog. Nope, this is about taking initiative and making things happen.

The last person to leave the current record business won’t be the smartest and he won’t be the most successful, either. Getting out first and staking out the new territory almost always pays off.

10. Don’t abandon the Long Tail.
Everyone in the hit business thinks they understand the secret: just make hits. After all, if you do the math, it shows that if you just made hits, you’d be in fat city.

Of course, the harder you try to just make hits, the less likely you are to make any hits at all. Movies, records, books... the blockbusters always seem to be surprises. Surprise hit cookbooks, even.

Instead, in an age when it’s cheaper than ever to design something, to make something, to bring something to market, the smart strategy is to have a dumb strategy. Keep your costs low and go with your instincts, even when everyone says you’re wrong. Do a great job, not a perfect one. Bring things to market, the right market, and let them find their audience.

Stick to the knitting has never been more wrong. Instead, find products your customers want. Don’t underestimate them. They’re more catholic in their tastes than you give them credit for.

11. Understand the power of digital
Try to imagine something like this happening ten years ago: An eleven-year-old kid wakes up on a Saturday morning, gets his allowance, then, standing in his pajamas, buys a Bon Jovi song for a buck.

Compare this to hassling for a ride, driving to the mall, finding the album in question, finding the $14 to pay for it and then driving home.

You may believe that your business doesn’t lend itself to digital transactions. Many do. If you’ve got a business that doesn’t thrive on digital, it might not grow as fast as you like... Maybe you need to find a business that does thrive on digital.

12. Celebrity is underrated
The music business has always created celebrities. And each celebrity has profited for decades from that fame. Frank Sinatra is dead and he's still profiting. Elvis is still alive and he's certainly still profiting.

The music business has done a poor job of leveraging that celebrity and catching the value it creates. Many businesses now have the power to create their own micro-celebrities. These individuals capture attention and generate trust, two critical elements in growing profits.

13. Value is created when you go from many to few, and vice versa
The music business has thousands of labels and tens of thousands of copyright holders. It's a mess.

And there's just one iTunes music store. Consolidation pays.

At the same time, there are other industries where there are just a few major players and the way to profit is to create splinters and niches.

13. Whenever possible, sell subscriptions
Few businesses can successfully sell subscriptions (magazines being the very best example), but when you can, the whole world changes. HBO, for example, is able to spend its money making shows for its viewers rather than working to find viewers for every show.

The biggest opportunity for the music business is to combine permission with subscription. The possibilities are endless. And I know it's hard to believe, but the good old days are yet to happen.

If The Old Music Business Is Dead, What's Next?

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

If The Old Music Business Is Dead, What's Next?
By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by James Montgomery

Letting fans choose how much to pay for your album. ... Leaving the label you've called home for your entire career to hook up with a concert-promotions giant for a $100 million-plus deal. ... Recording iTunes-only one-off singles not slated for inclusion on an album. ... Offering "artist subscriptions" to fans, who pay a flat annual fee for more intimate access to their favorite acts. ... Serving up the millions of songs in your label's catalog to MP3 players and cell phones for one all-you-can-listen-to price per month. ...

These are just a few of the game-shifting changes the music industry toyed with in 2007, a year when the old model of signing with a major label and releasing an album every few years finally began to look like a relic of the distant past. As artists stretched their minds to imagine new and innovative ways to get their music into the hands of fans faster, cheaper and on the fly, what some have called the death of the music business is being viewed by others as the opportunity of a lifetime.

"The meteor's hit, the dinosaurs have all died and now it's time for whoever's next to take over," said Fall Out Boy bassist/lyricist Pete Wentz of the wide open future he sees for the industry. "And I think that it's a good time for new ideas to be out there." Wentz is at the vanguard of the new model of music-industry success where record sales are great (if you can get them), but delivering in concert, merchandising your "brand" and branching out into fashion, vanity labels and celebrity endorsements are almost as vital as writing "Umbrella"-like hooks.

This was the year of the so-called "360 deal," what some are calling the wave of the future in which companies like concert promoter Live Nation cut $100-million plus deals with longtime major-label superstars like Madonna in exchange for a piece of her merchandising, touring and recording monies. According to reports, one of the motivations for Live Nation to partner with Madonna is an expectation that, over the next decade, they might be able to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in tour revenue from one of the most recognizable, and profitable, live performers on the planet. And while it was a shock that Madonna left her career label home, Warner Bros. Records, to sign with a company that has never released an album before, 360 deals were being cut across the board, even by fresh faces like Paramore, and some think they could be the thing that helps kick start a hit-starved industry.

"I don't think we really realized how big an opportunity it is, and how big of a change it is for the music industry," said Paramore singer Hayley Williams of her band's deal with Fueled by Ramen, in partnership with Atlantic Records. "But it's cool because I feel like we have a new kind of partnership with our label, and I do think that it's going to change the music industry completely. And it's forcing bands ... [and] people working in the industry, forcing them to be more creative about how they approach marketing or promotion or picking the single."

Williams said her band's deal makes it feel like the staff at their label are more invested in Paramore's future — and had the group not cut this kind of deal, the label may not have been as patient with their slow-blossoming success.

"A lot of bands on indie labels, they're working their way up, but it's slow," she said. "And so they don't get the chances we got. We spent two years playing to, like, anywhere from nine to 20 kids, and it grew gradually over those two years, and it got to where it is today because of that. But I don't feel like a lot of bands get that leniency, that patience, to just wait around for that big single to happen."

The Only Way To Get Rich In The Music Industry

Unless you have spent the majority of your life living under a rock then you should be familiar with the saying, If you want anything done right you need to do it yourself!

This may very well be one of the most valid sets of words ever spoken. Those words apply to the music industry like a hand in a glove.

I have had the fortunate opportunity to grow up around the music industry, and experience firsthand all of the ins-and-outs of the game. I have been to all of the work shops, I have read the books, I have purchased the e-books. After all of that I am embarrassed to say that very few individuals actually have a clue on how to break into the industry.

Well my friend, if you are at all serious about breaking into the music industry you need to continue reading this article. All I ask of you is to read it with an open mind.

Here we go:

First and foremost let me break it down in simple terms You (the independent artist) are a small business. As a small business you have to learn how to do many jobs. Some jobs you cant wake up in the morning and get started on. Others jobs will make you feel like you want to jump out of a window and you will hate every second of it.

The major distributors and record labels are like the bank, or a team of investors. The only thing that they care about is the bottom line. At the end of the day all they want to see is a positive return on their investment.

Are you still with me so far? Ok Good! Keep reading

Unless you have millions of dollars lying around the house collecting dust sooner or later you are going to need to hook up with the majors. There are a few different ways that you can do this but for right now I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Nine out of ten independent artist, have this misconception that the music business is about 90% talent and 10% business. That is so far from the truth that it is ridiculous. The truth is its totally the opposite. The music industry is 90% business and 10% talent. Out of 100 independent artist that I have interviewed 99% of them create a demo and submit it to every record label on the planet. Then they walk around telling everyone that they are about to get a record deal soon. To put it nicely ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Remember a few moments ago I told you that the record label is like a bank? Well that is the truth and you have to approach them in the same manner.

Here is what most artist are doing They go to the bank (the major labels, distributors etc) thinking that they are going to get a small business loan (a cash advance). The first thing the bank wants to know is what type of assets do you have (why should they invest in you.) The artist confidently states that they have a double platinum record on their hands and they know that it will make tons of money.

Although though the bank is laughing inside the banker will ask does the artist have proof of his or her claim (Can you prove that your record will defiantly sell.) The banker will want to see your business plan i.e. how much money have you made on your own. How large is your current fan base. How many units have you sold without them etc..

Now the savvy artist thinks that they can out smart the banker by lying about their credentials, not realizing that they are masters at this game. The artist will boast about their live performances, how many units they have sold etc But when the banker ask for proof, the gig is up. If you do not have press coverage, sound scan print outs you have no loan translation. Your not going to get a record deal.

I think it was Bill Gates who said if you build it they will come. Take a look at Microsoft that is more than enough proof. Bill Gates created an interface that made the computer simple enough that a monkey could use it and the whole world purchased it.

The same is true with your music career. If you build it they will come (the record labels). Its not that hard to build a lucrative music career, it is however extremely time consuming.

If you are reading this you should already have a finished product. That is what you are going to build your initial business plan around. The first thing you have to do is build the foundation.

You foundation is your own domain name. Most artist make the mistake by only having a myspace.com page which is good, but extremely risky to your music career.

What if you build your entire fan base and have them use to coming to MySpace to find out what is going on with your music career and MySpace decides to sale the company, or worse yet their company folds.

I know some of you are probably saying Fat Chance of MySpace Closing. Thats the same thing that millions of others said when MP3.com collapsed. I personally know individuals who lost thousands of dollars because they trusted in MP3.com.

One close friend of mine lost his house and his car, because he built his entire career around MP3.com.

Take a little time and think about the things I have discussed in this article and look out for more articles from me soon.

Brand meets band: now they're in business

Having a song featured in an ad can be a vital leg-up for newcomers, writes Julian Lee.

Remember when rock'n'roll was all about rebellion and showing the world the proverbial finger? When the very thought of working with big business would have provoked a splenetic bout of self-righteousness among band members and fans?

As much as some of us like to reminisce about the good old days, it seems the music industry has forsaken them. Up-and-coming bands are likely to seek out business deals that can give them a leg-up and cut short the long and often painful climb to the top.

Apple's use of Are You Going To Be My Girl in iPod ads transformed Jet from a workaday rock band into a global name. A similar deal was cut with Vodafone in Britain, ensuring Jet's musical footprint was extended.

Call it smart marketing or a sell-out, but Jet's album Get Born has sold 3.5 million copies. Had Apple not made the call, Jet might still have been performing at low-rent venues in the US, says Heath Johns of Jet's label, Universal Music Publishing.

"The exposure definitely sped up the process," Johns says. "But they followed up the ad with a killer [album]." Without the exposure, the album might have sold just 100,000 copies.

Although artists are never pressured into commercial deals, they are one of the first things talked about when artists, managers and publishers sit down to draw up a contract.

"There's no glory in the starving artist stereotype any more. These guys don't have a weekly pay packet, they have bills to pay," Johns says.

In his six years in the job, he says, no artist has refused the chance to get their song in an ad or on TV. "It's really rare in this day and age to get a new band who are not keen on striking any kind of deal."

That willingness to work with big brands has paved the way for groundbreaking deals. This year the Levi's jeans company started its own record label, Levity, to foster Australian and New Zealand music. Levi's pays the recording, distribution and marketing costs, and the acts agree to appear in the company's marketing.

The Sydney band Mercy Arms and the New Zealand group Cut Off Your Hands were the first to sign. They have released EPs and are to go on tour in the next few weeks, significant steps for two relatively unknown acts.

The brand director for Levi's, Steve Williams, says the company gets the kudos from backing music while connecting with a younger, hipper audience in a way it could not have done with conventional marketing.

For brands like Levi's it's about grassroots marketing. "If you take a mainstream track and use it then all you are going to be hitting is a mainstream audience," Williams says.

He says all the bands Levi's is talking to are happy to appear in its marketing, and puts the change in attitude down to the rise of bling: "Just look at the US hip-hop artists that flaunt their association with big-name brands. I think that's changed the perception of brands working with artists."

Older acts - or their executors - are also cashing in: Led Zeppelin for Cadillac and Elvis Costello for Lexus.

Of course, it helps if you are Levi's, with its history of using music in its ads, from Marvin Gaye and Madonna to Stiltskin and even the Clash.

But some companies are beyond the pale, says Rebekah Campbell, who represents Operator Please and Evermore, among others. "We wouldn't do it for McDonalds," she says. But she did cut a deal with Virgin Blue for Operator Please. Their single Get What You Want features in an ad targeting younger travellers. Why Virgin Blue? "Because it's a cool campaign and a cool ad."

Since the ad has been on air, sales of the single have shot up, the song has been picked up on radio and it was played live on Rove.

But as much as we would like to think that business is showing a more altruistic side by fostering music, it comes down to money. Or, rather, the lack of it, on both sides. Shrinking production budgets for ads, the cost of licensing a big-name artist - about $100,000 for a three-month deal in Australia alone - and the wider availability of acts have played into the hands of marketers looking for street cred on the cheap.

With the sale of digital downloads yet to make up the shortfall in declining CD sales, the music industry has been forced to look for other sources of revenue, namely ads, TV shows, films, ringtones and even games. There is more supply out there and the distribution channels that the industry used to rely on - radio stations - are mostly unwilling to stray from a conservative playlist.

Advertisers are also getting smarter in their targeting, publishers say. For example, Mercedes-Benz was until recently using Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz track of 1970 to promote its luxury cars, which is ironic, given it was written as a satire on the trappings of material success. For baby boomers who could forgive Mercedes's chutzpah, it would have struck a chord. Now Mercedes is using a rocky track, I Only Want You, by a little known American band, Eagles Of Death Metal, in an ad for its M-Class four-wheel-drive aimed at younger drivers.

The general manager of Mushroom Music Publishing, Adrian Murray, says: "They [advertisers] are all getting a lot more savvy about what music they use for their brand. Rather than choosing it because it is a hit, they are looking at the music and how it fits their brand."

But Murray says that not all ad-pop deals lead to chart-topping success. "Nothing's guaranteed," he says. "There's still a lot of discussion about how you go about these deals."

That doesn't bother Kris Schroeder, bassist and singer with the Basics, a Melbourne three-piece whose single Rattle My Chain features in a Volvo ad. The ad has been on air for only a month, but Schroeder is realistic about what it means.

The deal is not big enough to allow band members to give up their day jobs - Schroeder is a customer service representative for a publisher - but it is enough to give their confidence a boost. It has opened up horizons and who knows where it might lead, he says.

After five years of hard work, Schroeder feels that, with one of his songs chosen for an ad, the band is on the cusp of making it. "I guess it gives us and our fans a sense of affirmation that we are on the right track. It also sticks it to the doubters."

When asked if he feels he is selling out, he replies: "We don't have anything to sell out. We are only minor players so there's no risk there."

More Bands Experimenting With Free As A Part Of The Business Model

from the good-for-them dept

Eric the Grey writes in to let us know about yet another band understanding the economics facing the music industry. Apparently the band Big Head Todd and the Monsters isn't just giving away free downloads of their new album, but are also giving away 500,000 CDs. They're actually doing it in an interesting way. Somewhat similar to Prince's recent offering to give away CDs with newspapers, BHTM is giving the CDs away via radio stations. Fans could sign up on the band's website for the CDs or get them from radio stations who are being given the CDs in batches to be given away. While giving away physical CDs doesn't make as much sense as just offering the downloads (it's a lot costlier...), it appears that the folks involved with this project understand the basics: "This sort of thing might very well be the future of music distribution. Give away the music, build a bigger fan base [and] generate revenue through live shows, merchandising and other platforms." That, of course, is what plenty of folks have been suggesting for years, while having record label execs insist it would never fly. Where are they now that it's flying? Oh, right, playing dumb.

So What is this Creative Commons thing?

What is it?
Did you know that the moment you create something, anything, which could be considered intellectual property it is automatically protected by copyright law? It might seem surprising, but the angsty teenager who just ranted on his myspace blog has every bit as much protection under the law as a published novelist. So let's say you find a photo on flickr of a cat that you absolutely must put a caption on and show to all your friends. By default, all rights are reserved by the person who took the photo, and unless you actually track that person down and ask him/her if it's ok to use it for your own purposes, you're breaking the LAW (gasp) with every "i can haz cheezburgerz".

Now, imagine that you're the photographer, and you would have no problem with anybody using that picture of your cat if they asked you. In fact, you think it'd be really cool to see your cat displayed with a demeaning caption in some random corner of cyberspace. You need to license your work under something less restrictive than default copyright. You could choose to make it part of the public domain, but you don't really like the idea that somebody could make a million bucks off of it without you seeing a penny (-cough- Crazy Frog -cough-). And, you know, it'd be kind of nice to be given credit for the original photo when the version with that hilarious caption shows up on the front page of Boing Boing. You need Creative Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial in this specific case.

Creative Commons (some rights reserved) acts as a middle ground license between copyright (all rights reserved) and public domain (no rights reserved). It gives you the flexibility to allow people to use your original content in whatever ways you'd like them to without forcing you to give up complete control over over the work.

Why should I care?
Big business i.e. the RIAA i.e. "The Big 4" have ruined the community and creativity of our musical culture. And we, the docile apathetic consumerist American, have allowed it to happen. Copyright was originally created to foster creativity and progress in the arts and sciences. But as it is now being exploited to herd consumers like scared cattle, copyright is doing the exact opposite of what it was intended for. It is stifling expression and stamping out creativity with a steel toed legal boot. It's clear that the interests of consumers and those of the music industry are becoming more and more misaligned. It's clear that our judiciary system's modern interpretation of copyright is failing.

Wikipedia has been accused of killing traditional repositories of information such as encyclopedias. Openly available consumer tools like craigslist have been accused of killing traditional real estate agencies and print media classified ads. Priceline, Hotwire, and the like have been accused of killing travel agencies. Yet all of these things are a win for society because they get better information and tools in the hands of people who need them. This is clearly progress, and anybody who would speak out against it is simply unable or unwilling to adapt. Don't believe me? Take a look at the perspective of Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group. So the MP3 and broadband connections may very well kill the CD. So what? That, too, is progress.

Of course all of these conflicts are short-lived. The dinosaurs will eventually die and we'll continue to move closer to a free information culture. But your actions as a consumer have and will continue to be the primary force in shaping that trend. It's up to you to demand that freedom of information. As artists, it's really what most of us want too. We don't want gold plated pools and fancy cars. We just want to be able to support our families doing what we love. Some of us are just too afraid our fans won't provide the financial backing that will allow us to keep creating music. In fact, it's a basic tenet of traditional economics that consumers will only pay the lowest price possible for a good or service.

So it's also up to you to prove that a system of patronage not only works but is the only real solution for the sustainability of a culture of creativity. Personally, I'm not worried about it. We're not ultimately after you buying into us with your wallets. That's a one time transaction and a fickle river that could dry up at any moment. We want you to buy into us with your minds, your interest and enthusiasm. Those things are infinitely more valuable.

In that spirit, feel free to distribute, copy, and burn our music as much as you'd like. Chop it up and make your own mixes. Use it in your youtube videos. Plaster a life sized print of our photo on the ceiling above your bed. (Ok, that's kind of creepy, but also completely within your rights to do.) Inspire us with your creativity and let us inspire you with ours. And, most importantly, spend your time enjoying what we've created for you instead of worrying about what you can or can't do with it.

Radio Play: Will Topping The Charts Make You Bigger Than Elvis?

Every true life rock n roll television melodrama has the same scene: the unknown artist/band gives their freshly cut 45rpm single to the local disc jockey. He spins it on his top 40 radio showand a star is born. This legend has been passed down through the generations of wannabe popstars like an ancient family recipe. The ingredients may differ, but in the end you get the same glorious results: radio play equals fame and fortune.

But does this Top of the Charts fairytale still apply today in the sardonic post new millennium world we call today? Can a band in our current music scene walk into a radio station with a CD single in their hot little hands, impress and wow the DJ with their enthusiasm and chutzpa, obtain the magic and golden FM radio spins and then ride the wave of success all the way to Graceland? Well, then, I guess the real question would be, Do you believe in fairytales?

Unfortunately, the music industry, like the entire Earth, has become so overpopulated and so oversaturated with artists, music, CDs, and radio stations/shows of all kinds, that the chance of your own personal radio fairytale coming true is probably slim to none. But, dont give up on your favorite audio media outlet. Radio may not catapult you to instant superstardom but it certainly can help to push you down the path to success.

The following are a few tips that will help you to make your own music fairytale and get your music heard throughout the airwaves:

1.) Get Out Of Major Market The Top 40 Station Mentality---There was a day when getting played on a big city Top 40 radio station was like winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Bands that were chosen for play were handpicked by the voices of the airwaves whose ears were finely tuned to pick out the next new rising star. Today, things are a little different. Radio has become a huge corporation with three major conglomerates owning most of the stations in the United States. Sadly, Disc jockeys are no longer the innovators their predecessors were. Station management hands down a playlist (made exclusively of artists signed to mostly major labels) and the voices you hear on your radio are just thattalking heads animating a script. Its nearly impossible for an unknown band to break into mainstream large metropolis radio and a waste of your time and money to send packages blindly to a medium that will more than likely reject you again and again.

2.) The Specialty Show Is Your Ticket In---Still determined to get played on that hot radio station with 10 million listeners and a celebrity DJ? Well, there is a backdoor that you may be able to slip through. Its the specialty show. Many huge stations feature a weekly show structured just to highlight the little guyto showcase unsigned artists from that stations area and sometimes beyond. These shows are always worth sending your press package to, as they tend to base their playlist on your music and your credentials on not on the typical corporate artist roster. This is where you just might wow that innovative disc jockey and garner play on some of Americas biggest stations.

3.) College Radio Still Rocks---One area of radio that has stayed unaffected by the huge corporate retooling is the college/university station. Unlike companies/labels deciding what the listening audience thinks is cool or hip, college radio DJs and program directors are still setting their own cutting edges, breaking new artists, and finding the hot fresh stars of tomorrow hiding in their local clubs, coffee houses and garages. Its always beneficial for unsigned artists to send as many CDs (or email as many MP3s, if the station will accept that medium) to as many college stations as you can find. You will find stations to play you and people will be listening. This could lead to new fans, tour possibilities, and will definitely look fantastic on the radio page of your website or EPK. Whether or not it will actually make you a rockstar, it will sure make you feel like one.

4.) The Unlimited World Of Independent Radio---Back in the early days of radio, indie stations were limited to audio pirates in their basements stealing airwaves from unsuspecting Top 40 giants. Now, thanks to the internet, satellites, cell phones, iPods and cable TV, independent stations outnumber their AM/FM constituents in the thousands and new ones are created every day. Since doing a search of indie radio stations online has been known to cause a brain embolism in some, know that you will probably never be able to solicit them all in one lifetime and just relax and enjoy sending music to whomever you can, as you will probably garner hoards of airplay. Furthermore, your wallet will grow to love you as most of these stations will allow you to submit MP3s online.

Its true that the legendary story of the unknown band that got one single played on the radio and became superstars within a month is probably as outdated as the 8-Track tape. But that doesnt mean that the process of artists soliciting music for radio play has become archaic. Radio remains, to this day, one of the best ways for musicians to promote their music and their projects in their area.and now, thanks to terrific technological advancements, nationally and worldwide. The repetition of your single in the ears of even the most jaded radio listener, may lead to: CD and merchandise sales, gigging opportunities in your city and others, visits to your website, posts to your fan club forums, potential press and even maybe industry attention. So, dont stop sending those CDs, and emailing those MP3s because the next person who hears your song on the radio might just be the one who leads, either directly or indirectly, to your much sought record deal. And who knows? You might just wind up becoming bigger than Elvis.

A Quick Guide To Copyrighting Your Music

Registration is NOT required for a valid copyright.

First, understand that you don't need to register your copyright with the United States Copyright Office in order to have a valid copyright. You have a valid copyright as soon as your song or sound recording is "fixed in a tangible medium of expression". This is a term used by the Copyright Act and means that your song or sound recording must be written down or recorded.

Although registration with the Copyright Office is not required to have a valid copyright, registration does provide several benefits:

* the establishment of a public record and evidence
of your claim as the valid copyright owner of your
songs and sound recordings

* the ability to file a federal lawsuit against someone
who uses your song or sound recording without your
permission

* eligibility to receive statutory damages and attorneys'
fees in the event you file and win a copyright
infringement lawsuit

THE REGISTRATION PROCESS

Registering your copyright is fairly straightforward. To register your copyright, you must send three items in the same package to the Copyright Office:

1) a completed application

2) A deposit of your song or sound recording

3) the filing fee (currently $30)

It will take the Copyright Office approximately six months to process your application and send you a certificate of registration. However, the effective date or your registration is the date on which the Copyright Office receives your completed application package.

THE APPLICATION FORM

Form PA is for filing a copyright of the song itself: the melody and lyrics, and chords. This is the "circle C" symbol: ©.

Form SR is to file a copyright on the sound recording. Usually the record label will do this, as it usually 'owns' the masters to the recording. This is the "circle P" symbol: (P). This 'protects' the actual recording (and recorded arrangement) of the song.

Form CA is to make a correction to a Form PA. If the song is significantly updated (musically, lyrically or otherwise. e.g. new co-writer) and has been previously filed for copyright, then Form CA should be used. This form can also be employed to 'break out' the individual titles within a song collection under copyright.

The Copyright Office will give you free applications along with detailed instructions for completing them. You can get the forms from the Copyright Office's internet site (http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/forms/). You can also request the forms by calling the Copyright Office's forms and publication hotline at 202-707-9100, or by writing to the Copyright Office
at the following address:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, SE,
Washington, DC 20559

Indie labels struggling to make money in digital era

By OTIS HART

The digital music era was supposed to be the great equalizer.
No longer would independent labels waste money pressing physical copies, securing crucial and costly distribution, or warehousing unsold albums. They could use the windfall to promote and market their artists, to turn tiny trickles of returns into legitimate revenue streams.

The Internet's long tail of niche audiences provided access to an unprecedented number of potential fans.
Well, the mp3 did end up leveling the playing field ... just not the way many had hoped.

As more and more people discovered the wonders of high-speed connections, music gave new meaning to the adage "the best things in life are free."

For indie acts, popularity no longer guarantees profit, much less the promised land — not when entire records are available for the taking via torrents or one-click hosters. And for the millions of teenagers who grew up After Napster, those files come largely guilt-free.

Amazon.com opened its store in September, selling complete, no-strings-attached mp3 albums for $8.99, 10 percent less than iTunes. And that's not accounting for sale prices — while you can download Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" for $11.99 from iTunes, you can get the same files for $4.45 from Amazon.

"We plan to build a successful digital business in the same way we built a sustainable business selling physical goods, which is by starting with the customer and working backward," said Amazon spokeswoman Heather Huntoon. "That's what we've done with Amazon MP3, starting with what we think customers want — convenience, selection, and low prices — and worked backwards."

Given the already low margins associated with digital music, moving album prices lower would barely dent Amazon's bottom line, but could very well turn indie labels into Non Profit Organizations.

"The pricing model is going to be driven down to probably — without artwork, with Amazon, with Best Buys coming in — somewhere between $6.99 and $7.99 when the dust settles," said Howard Greynolds, owner of the tiny Overcoat Records in Chicago. "What percentage of that we're getting remains to be seen."

Price point taken

Is $7 an album enough to keep an indie label in the black? Not according to Rian Murphy, sales manager at Drag City Records. Murphy's label decided to pull its catalog from digital subscription service eMusic because it had to sell three times the amount of songs to make the slim profit iTunes already provided. The service provides plans that can whittle the price of a song down to 27 cents — appetizing to consumers but nauseating for artists.

"Keep your eye on the bottom line, and if it doesn't make sense, don't do it," Murphy said. "Things become known eventually. You don't really have to force them down people's throats."

Murphy says it's up to independent labels to resist slashing their own prices just to fit someone else's corporate business model. Drag City albums sell for $9.99 on iTunes and $8.99 on Amazon, though Murphy says Amazon is swallowing the difference.

"There are too many people out there who don't value their own exposure, who want (their music) to get to the maximum number of people and they don't care what they have to do," Murphy said. "This is the reason, as far as I'm concerned, that the industry is in trouble."

It's the music, stupid

The industry Murphy speaks of consists of labels, distributors and managers, but primarily artists — artists who discovered it's quite easy to make your own record on ProTools, but not so easy to trade it for goods and services.

"There are a lot of very mediocre bands out there right now, and it's going to be harder and harder for those sorts of artists," Gillespie said. "There's too many bands on too many labels putting out too many records.

"If you figure in single-track downloads at 10 tracks equals one album, the economy of the music industry is only off about 8 percent of where it was in the late 20th-century peak. So it's not that dire, but it's become diffused over so many bands and so many releases."

As the de facto price for digital albums falls, labels will have to become more selective in who they sign and look for alternative resources, like licensing and touring.

"You've got to be a good live band," Gillespie said. "If you're no good live, you soon won't be able to sustain a career in this business."

Capitalism. Cannibalization. Piracy. Getting a piece of this pie has never been so hard. Unless, of course, you've got talent.
"Ultimately, it still comes down to good music," Greynolds said. "Bands can complain that their record isn't selling, and the hardest thing for any band to admit is maybe people don't like their music."

My Top 8 for Getting What You Want in the Music Business

I know dozens of musicians and songwriters who are gifted at making music. However, it seems that only a small percentage of these talented folks ever rises above the fray and experiences substantial success. Even music people who are smart, personable, and driven often end up running out of gas and settle for working on their craft in obscurity. Why is that?

After meeting and observing many successful musicians, I've come to the conclusion that individuals who move beyond ordinary levels of achievement do a few simple things different. Most importantly, these people make good use of goal setting. The most successful musicians know what they want and make detailed plans for getting it.

What follows are eight steps you can take to get the most out of your long-term musical plans:

1. Decide specifically what you want
Before you set out to conquer your music business goals, you have to know what it is you really want. Do you have a clear idea of what you're going after? Vague concepts about some day being a rock star lead to vague, weak actions in attaining them. However, detailed target goals -- such as selling 500 copies of your new CD, doing 10 radio interviews a month, generating 2,000 downloads of your free MP3 file -- keep you focused and on track.

2. Write down your plans
Don't keep goals in your head. Put ink to paper or fingers to a keyboard and commit your aspirations to a tangible form. Writing down your goals adds another element of conviction to your intent to reach them. All of my accomplishments -- started as notes to myself jotted down in a notebook. Don't overlook the power of the pen.

3. Identify the information and resources you need to achieve your goals
You may already know that it's a good idea to have a database that includes the names and addresses of your fans, media sources, industry contacts, and so on. In addition, you should make a list of the things you need to learn to reach your goals.

For instance, if you want to add a subscription form to your home page, do you know the proper way to use CGI scripts to create one? If you want to make MP3 files of your songs available, do you know how to convert a song from your CD to MP3 format? Look through your list of goals and figure out if a lack of knowledge is keeping you from making progress. Then get busy acquiring the information you lack.

4. Set deadlines
Remember how you always got off your butt and went to work the night before a term paper was due? Deadlines have a way of motivating us to act. So do commitments we make to others and ourselves. Set a time limit for achieving each stage of your goal-setting action plan. Then do whatever it takes to meet those deadlines. Make sure your deadlines are realistic. They should strike a balance by being far enough away to allow you time to reach them, but soon enough to motivate you to meet them.

5. Create your plan
To write the first draft of an action plan, start with the goal itself and work backwards through the process. Keep breaking down every stage of the plan into its most basic tasks, such as writing songs, recording, registering domain names, writing press releases, and more.

Next, make a short list of the primary things that need to be done first, making sure they're basic, attainable steps. For instance, if your goal is to get signed by a major record label, you wouldn't make calling Atlantic Records your first task. There is a whole series of preliminary steps you'd take long before you ever got near a major label.

6. Re-examine and refine your plan
Long-term plans are not set in stone the moment they are written. They should be revised and improved. The first step to refining your plan is to get away from it for a while and let the details float around in your subconscious mind while you work on other things. Then come back to the plan with a fresh eye and start evaluating the logic in your sequence of events.

It doesn't have to be perfect. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can't get started just because there are a few things you don't yet know. Trust your abilities and know you can handle them when they come up.

7. Take Action
Before long, you have to get busy working on the plan you've just created. It's tragic, but a lot of great ideas sadly wither away because the person who came up with them never takes action. Don't let this be your fate. Don't wait for nature to takes its mystical course. Vow to yourself that every day you will take some action based on your music career plan.

Even if you think you don't have time or you aren't feeling motivated, do at least some small deed every single day. Even if it's only playing with a new melody idea for a few minutes or sending one e-mail message to a fan, do something every day.

8. Measure Your Progress
Once you come up with your musical master plan and start working on it every day, you have to know if your actions are leading you in the right direction. Are you moving closer to your goal or further away? Is the pace slower or faster than you anticipated? The only way to answer those questions is to regularly evaluate your plan and measure your progress.

If you find that you're way behind schedule on getting things done, ask yourself what you can do to get the result you really want. Making adjustments to your plan is an essential part of the goal-setting process. Be prepared to measure often and come up with solutions. When something is working, fit more of it into the plan. When other aspects prove to be duds, cut back or drop them completely. Fine-tuning is what goal setting is all about.

Now get busy formulating your goal-setting plan!

Make sure you have all the right ingredients

Of all the clients whom I have represented in promotion and publicity through the years, unfortunately, many have not had their entire proverbial career 'ducks lined in a row'. As such, and based in part on this factor, many clients' music did not obtain the status that it so richly deserved.

Consequently, prior to working with them, I attempted to explain (and, to a number of deaf ears) that achieving a truly successful music career, in both notoriety and financially, is much like baking a cake.

To really create a great-tasting cake, consider that it requires the following ingredients as a minimum; flour, eggs, water, milk, baking soda, icing and, possibly, nuts of some sort. Now, that's a total of seven ingredients.

Similarly, a music career requires (and demands) multiple ingredients as well if it is to be a success, such as; radio airplay, press coverage, live performances, radio interviews, print feature interviews, music reviews.

The reasons (I feel) that many independent artists fall short of obtaining major success in today's industry, particularly, since the operational expenses of the industry are at their most minimal ever in the history of the industry, is a combination of a lack of efficient planning and a lack of proper selective marketing elements.

For instance, when releasing their new music, most recording artists have only radio promotion as a forethought for exposing their releases, although it is the most difficult for them to both obtain and maintain on their own. Distribution seems to run a distant second while print media publicity is, practically, never considered.

While no musician has the power of an android to stay awake twenty-four hours and concentrate all his waking hours on marketing, the truth is, it takes more than radio promotion to make a release a well rounded success.

So, let's review the ingredients necessary in order to bake a tasty music career 'cake'.

Ingredient 1: Radio Promotion:
Obviously, it goes without saying that radio promotion (broadcast, Internet, satellite and otherwise) is, by far and still, one of the most important avenues to bring exposure of your music to the masses. And, it is still easiest to realize airplay fastest on college, public and community stations.

Ingredient 2: Press/Print Media Coverage
However, if you only concentrate on radio promotion, you are leaving a significant media loophole if you are not also approaching the print media in the radio stations' areas that are giving you airplay. Because radio stations can be, to a degree, influenced by what is presented in its local print media.

And, the reverse is true as well, in that area print media will give more serious consideration of a feature interview or music review if it is aware that your music is also being aired on its area stations.

Ingredient 3: Live Performances
Live performances in your radio and print media areas are another strong aspect, and such performances are vital in order to capitalize on and support radio and print media efforts, as well as add additional income.

In attempting to get media coverage, it has become increasingly important for print media that artists are performing in the media's area, particularly if there is no existing radio airplay, before print media will grant coverage.

And, while I don't necessarily agree with print media's policy on this, especially, since readers can now easily purchase music online, they are, indeed, the 'gatekeepers' to print access whose rules we must abide by if we are to work with them.

Ingredient 4: Video Promotion
While once a luxury only major label artists could afford, not only has video production become an affordable reality for independent artists as well, but it is now also a vital necessity. In fact, if you are still not incorporating your singles into video, you are shortchanging yourself 'out the gate'. (See below for steps on how)


Ingredient 5: Distribution
It still amazes me how (and why) independent artists will release new music, and even send it out to stations and print media, nationally and even worldwide, with absolutely no distribution set up, neither online nor offline.

With these artists, I have to wonder if their music careers are simply hobbies. However, in my experience, most recording artists have either themselves invested money in both production and manufacturing, or someone has invested such for them.

Therefore, it is only financially logical that a recoupment and, hopefully, profit would be expected.

Again, success as an artist within the Music industry is not based on one single big thing (radio promotion), however, it is based on a number of little things occurring simultaneously to bring about one great big (hopefully) successful result.

Therefore, the best rule of thumb is to create a plan on paper by listing each of the above areas, then implementing a small portion of them on a daily basis. Much like mutual fund investments, your risk will then be made minimal while, at the same time, getting you noticed in wider areas.

And, that is how you bake your own successful music career 'cake'.

* Steps to Getting Your Video Singles Produced Cheaply *

1. After you have your mastered soundtrack, and have selected your first single, you should then contact an area college, university or art institute.

2. Tell the school's administration department that you need to get in touch with its "broadcast journalism" department.

3. When you reach the broadcast journalism department, ask to speak to an "advisor" or "department head."

4. Tell the advisor or department head that you are an artist interested in getting a music video produced, and that you would like to be put in touch with either a senior student or graduate student who is majoring in broadcast journalism with, perhaps, a concentration on "production" or "direction."

You may also want to stress your preference for a student who has experience with having produced music videos already. Depending on the size of the school, there will likely be several highly qualified student candidates.

The Myth of Getting Signed

Today a lot of artists and bands have their hopes set on landing a big record deal, making millions, getting a hit song on the radio, and being on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of adoring fans! They think if they can just get a top record executive to hear their CD, theyll be called in to sign for a big record deal.

I have to confess, I had that fantasy too. But I've discovered over the years that my pursuit of getting discovered has led mostly to dead ends. I, like you perhaps, spent many months and many dollars recording a top-notch CD, and then sent it to every record label and radio station I could think of. Only to get back answer after answer that they just had so much music so many hundreds of bands wanting to get their music noticed that they couldnt possibly take it all it. In fact, if you surf the net, youll read on most Record Company web sites that they dont accept unsolicited material. What does unsolicited material mean? It means, if they didnt specifically ask you to send it, its unsolicited.

Okay, so its time for Plan B, right? Just play at places where the talent scouts will be! You know, like in the movies, you see the talent scout comes to secretly look for new, fresh talent to swoop up before someone else does? Friends of mine, who have had contact with several record industry people, have said generally talent scouts are not out lurking in the shadows waiting to recruit new bands. There are too many bands, too much competition, and too much to do.

So the chances of well-known talent scouts seeking you out or even just happening by where youre band is playing, are pretty slim , and the odds of getting discovered just by putting a CD together and sending it to a record label, are not high either. Usually the bands that do get discovered somehow had the right contact--someone in the band personally knows someone high enough up in the record business to notice them. They have an in.

So where does that leave the rest of us, who havent met that right personal contact yet? It leaves us needing to shift our focus from relying on getting discovered before we tour, to learning how to book our band ourselves, and get our music on the road even without a label!. Why wait around practicing in your garage, hoping someday youll get signed when you could be out there right now making a living and doing what you love bringing people to Jesus through your music! And who knows, while youre on the road building a fan base, just maybe the someone in the label industry will hear about your band through enough source, and youll get that right connection!

What Does A Manager Do?

This is an excellent question, and one that many managers even have a hard time answering. The reason its so hard to qualify what a good artist manager does is that its a complex, encompassing job with no definite boundaries of scope and scale. It also varies by artist, as some need more help in certain aspects of their career than others. A simple way of looking at it is that the musicians write and/or make the music, the manager does (or coordinates) everything else. This can include explaining business developments to the artist, putting together the rest of the business team (the attorney, booking agent, etc.), designing and executing a marketing plan, assisting in the record production process, dealing with record labels and getting the band signed to one, liaising between radio stations and press outlets, handling PR issues, dealing with the bands legal and financial matters (with the help of appropriate experts like music attorneys), dealing with the-day-to-day administrative tasks and troubleshooting, and so on ad infinitum and ad nauseum.

A good manager should also provide objectivity and guidance, putting things in perspective and thereby helping to shape your entire project. Often managers get involved with the development of your look and image, your live show, song selection, and recordings.

A manager needs to able to approach record and publishing companies. It is best they have some experience of dealing with record companies, and an understanding of record deals. Record labels are uncomfortable dealing directly with the artist, though it does happen, particularly with the smaller independent labels. However, on the whole they prefer dealing with a manager, so they can talk through the cold business details without embarrassing or offending the artist.

Commissionable Income will include income from live gigs, publishing and record advances, royalty and PRS payments, personal/radio and TV appearances, sponsorship, merchandising etc., and a Manager will expect to earn commission on some of these for a period after they no longer manage you.

Obviously a manager should like your music and be interested in your creative development. It is not always the case that managers help to shape your musical sound. There are artists who have clear ideas about how they want their music to sound, who they want to work with, what studios they want to use and so on. However, a good manager will have contacts with producers or other writers who can help you shape your demos and songwriting before you approach record and publishing companies, and will offer advice if you need it.

Your manager should have good personal skills. Diplomacy, patience, ability to think strategically, endless energy and the fine art of salesmanship are all essential in a manager's kitbag.