How to be successful in the music industry

Sometimes I wish there was just a checklist of things that would make you successful. Now that list doesn't exist but this is pretty close!

http://musiciancoaching.com/music-business/how-to-make-it-in-the-music-industry

What is A Brand?

The title says it all. What Is A Brand?

This is a concept every artist needs to know in order to market themselves to be successful.

Here is a pretty good breakdown of what branding is all about

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/what-is-a-brand.html

How to Sell Your Music

A challenge a lot of artist come across is being able to sell their music to make a profit. I found an article with 10 great tips for artists who are struggling with music sales.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/10-sales-tips-for-artists.html

How to RUIN Your Music Career!

The title of this article really caught my eye. At first I thought it was going to be humorous, but the steps are very informative and important to those trying to be successful in the music industry.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-ruin-your-music-career-in-7-easy-steps.html

Networking

Life is all about who you know. You have to be able to put yourself out there and make relationships that will be mutually beneficial.

The hardest part about networking is talking to people you don't know. You may know people you want to be in contact with that you believe could benefit you, but you might not know how to approach them. It is a very common fear that must be overcome in order to be successful.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-talk-to-strangers.html

Subscription Services

So many people believe that subscription services like Spotify, MOG, and Rhapsody will be the future of music. It has taken over the internet and is being used by millions everyday. BUT there are a lot of challenges that the sites must overcome to be successful. Here is an article that outlines those challenges.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/the-hidden-challenges-of-subscription-music.html

Using Internet Trends to Market Your Band

There are so many different ways to effectively market your band and its brand. There are so many social media outlets, music sites, and other places that a band can get their name out there. Here is an article I came across that talks how to do so in a way that will pay off!

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-use-internet-trends-to-market-your-band.html

Fan engagement and technology

The internet and other technology has given artists a new way to interact with their fans. It gives the artists a more personal connection to their fanbase. Here is an interview I came across with Vincent Borel, co-founder of Webdoc

http://musiciancoaching.com/music-and-technology-2/technology-and-fan-engagement/

Balance

http://musiciancoaching.com/music-as-a-career/balance-artist-pro-dj/

This is an interview I came across about how to keep balance as an artist. It has a lot of great info!

DIgital Mechanical Royalty Breakthrough

There has been a deal made that will pave the way for revamping the way artists are paid for digital plays! Here is the article!
http://musiciancoaching.com/music-news-2012/spotify-mechanical-licensing-edm/

Branding for a Niche Market

Here is an awesome interview done all about how to effectively brand yourself in a niche market

Check it out!

http://musiciancoaching.com/music-marketing/branding-yourself-in-a-niche-market/

Talent or Fame?

I know I know, I haven't posted in a while but I am back to the keys today.

As I looked through the numerous blogs that I normally post and just make a few comments on, I found a statement from Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins Frontman) made in a recent interview at SXSW.

He made the point that the industry has become obsessed with fame, not talent.

You have the numerous cases of YouTube sensations that have made some video in their living room, got a whole bunch of views, and become some type of superstar. When in reality, they really aren't that talented. Record Labels pick you up and sign you to a deal, usually one that screws you over, and then once your 15 minutes of fame is over, they drop you and you end up on some VH1 behind the music special, or a "Where They Are Now" article.

I also believe this is an issue in other industries as well. Media is drooling over the next underdog athlete to come out of the woodwork, have a stretch of good games, and have a good backstory. Most recently, Jeremy Lin took over ESPN for a solid 3 weeks. He was an Asian-American player from Harvard that got his chance to play in a game for the New York Knicks. He puts up alot of points and all of the sudden "Linsanity" is born. Of course he couldn't sustain his lucky streak and now Linsanity is over.

Tim Tebow was a Heisman-winning quarterback to Florida, critics said he couldn't play quarterback, that he had mechanic issues, and that it would never work in the NFL. The fans in Denver demanded he be put in the game about Kyle Orton, he plays terrible for 3 quarters, then barely pulls it out in the 4th. All of the sudden, he is a superstar. He is a man of great faith, and the media creates a firestorm, just to get a story.

Not to rant about things not about music, but I am so over the media Sensationalizing every little thing and make a huge deal about nothing. It just gets old. We need to recognize true talent and hard work, and not just some lucky streak just to make good TV.

Musician Coaching

My post today is all about my favorite blog I follow. Rick Goetz runs a website called Musiciancoaching.com .

He has a extensive background in the music business and now is a music business consultant. He offers services such as, writing your bands bio, writing a marketing plan for you, product management, he can help critique your existing business and help to make it more successful, and he also does corporate work like licensing and event production.

His blog consists of different interviews he does with key music industry people, or articles he comes across that he finds beneficial to read.

Alot of the articles I post about here on my blog have come from those which he has posted. He tends to post a few times a week, so he gives me alot of material to base my posts off of if I am having a hard time finding topics to write about.

I will be giving a presentation near the end of the semester about this blog, so keep checking back to get my full analysis of his blog!

As Always,

Keep the Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie.

Why Even Major Label Musicians Rarely Make Money From Album Sales

Once again, I came across an awesome article that breaks down the reality of producing and selling an album on a major label. Even artists who go double platinum may never see a dime from those sales.

The article points out,

"Lyle Lovett have pointed out that he sold 4.6 million records and never made a dime from album sales. It's why the band 30 Seconds to Mars went platinum and sold 2 million records and never made a dime from album sales. You hear these stories quite often."

How crazy is that to think about!? You sell millions of albums but never see a dime.

"Courtney Love famously laid out the details of recording economics, where the label can make $11 million... and the actual artists make absolutely nothing. It starts off with a band getting a massive $1 million advance, and then you follow the money:

What happens to that million dollars?

They spend half a million to record their album. That leaves the band with $500,000. They pay $100,000 to their manager for 20 percent commission. They pay $25,000 each to their lawyer and business manager.

That leaves $350,000 for the four band members to split. After $170,000 in taxes, there's $180,000 left. That comes out to $45,000 per person.

That's $45,000 to live on for a year until the record gets released.

The record is a big hit and sells a million copies. (How a bidding-war band sells a million copies of its debut record is another rant entirely, but it's based on any basic civics-class knowledge that any of us have about cartels. Put simply, the antitrust laws in this country are basically a joke, protecting us just enough to not have to re-name our park service the Phillip Morris National Park Service.)

So, this band releases two singles and makes two videos. The two videos cost a million dollars to make and 50 percent of the video production costs are recouped out of the band's royalties.

The band gets $200,000 in tour support, which is 100 percent recoupable.

The record company spends $300,000 on independent radio promotion. You have to pay independent promotion to get your song on the radio; independent promotion is a system where the record companies use middlemen so they can pretend not to know that radio stations -- the unified broadcast system -- are getting paid to play their records.

All of those independent promotion costs are charged to the band.

Since the original million-dollar advance is also recoupable, the band owes $2 million to the record company.

If all of the million records are sold at full price with no discounts or record clubs, the band earns $2 million in royalties, since their 20 percent royalty works out to $2 a record.

Two million dollars in royalties minus $2 million in recoupable expenses equals ... zero!

How much does the record company make?

They grossed $11 million.

It costs $500,000 to manufacture the CDs and they advanced the band $1 million. Plus there were $1 million in video costs, $300,000 in radio promotion and $200,000 in tour support.

The company also paid $750,000 in music publishing royalties.

They spent $2.2 million on marketing. That's mostly retail advertising, but marketing also pays for those huge posters of Marilyn Manson in Times Square and the street scouts who drive around in vans handing out black Korn T-shirts and backwards baseball caps. Not to mention trips to Scores and cash for tips for all and sundry.

Add it up and the record company has spent about $4.4 million.

So their profit is $6.6 million; the band may as well be working at a 7-Eleven."

Makes you think twice about major labels huh?!

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml

As always,

Keep the Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie!

Blogging for Journalist Guest Speaker: Dave Rhea

On Tuesday, We had the multimedia editor for the Journal Record here in OKC come speak to our class. He discussed his job at the Journal Record and how the industry has changed, and his views on blogging.

What really caught my attention was the fact that he has a history in the music business. Out of his whole presentation, that is what I found interesting, Surprise right?

He was in a band with a record deal with Atlantic (if I remember right). The reason I found it interesting, is because he is someone who thought he had made it. Every band begins with the goal of getting a record deal and making it big. He is a great example for the reality of a major record deal does not always mean mainstream success. They recorded a few albums, realized it wasn't going to work, and now is out in the work force trying to make a living.

So many artists or bands think that all they need is a record deal and they are done. They have a false reality that once they are signed, they are set for life, going to make a living playing and recording music. So many artists are struggling to play music and make a living. Some even are having to choose to quit playing music in order to get a job. Such a small percentage actually make it big.

Just some thoughts. Overall, I like Dave Rhea.

Until next time,

Keep the Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie

Price of Whitney Houston's Music Rise After Death

Hours after reports of the tragic passing of vocal superstar Whitney Houston, Sony and ITunes reportedly raised the price of her music. An unnamed inside source claimed that her death prompted review of her Ultimate Collection catalog and it was discovered that it was priced incorrectly, which brought about the price increase.

This brings most people to believe that it was a cynical ploy by Sony, due to the increasing sales of music by Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse after their recent passing. I, myself, can't believe that they would stoop so low just to make a few bucks. You would think that people would have more respect than too use someones death to make money off them. I understand the saying that you are worth more after you are death but come on, seriously?!

The particular 1997 album, The Ultimate Collection, was priced at £4.99 (or approximately $8) in the Apple iTunes Store before Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m Pacific time from unspecified causes. At roughly 4 a.m. the following day, the price bumped up to £7.99 (or approximately $12.60), leaving millions of fans who wanted to commemorate her death scrutinizing the music giants for attempting to profit off this global tragedy (taken from Digitaltrends.com article)

Unbelievable Right?

Leave some comments and let me know your thoughts

As Always,

Keep The Music Alive and Straighten Your Tie

Blogging for Journalist Class Post: Kurt Hochenauer

In our class Tuesday, Dr. Hochenauer came and spoke to us about his blog OkieFunk. It is a very liberal blog about politics. He mentioned that most of his posts spawn as responses to the editorials in the Oklahoman. Honestly, I found him quite arrogant, as I do most liberals. I felt as if he was just out to argue against any conservative thoughts that people posted online or in the paper. I find it quite humorous that most liberals say conservatives are narrow-minded, but it seems to me that most liberals are the ones being narrow-minded.

Not to make this a liberal bashing session, Dr. Hoch, as they call him, is a very knowledgable person in the world of blogging. He has been blogging for a long time and has a lot of wisdom on the topic. He does, though, go against most blogging advice and he is making his post quite lengthy.

Sorry for the non-music related post. I will be posting soon about Whitney Houston's death and the controversy about Sony and ITunes raising the price of her music after word of her passing.

Until next time,

Keep The Music Alive and Straighten Your Tie

The Death of CD's??

Today in class we discussed a topic which has been talked about frequently in the past couple years, the fall of CD sales. It is a big issue as I have stated in past posts because with the average royalty structure, CD sales make up the majority of revenue.

I read an article in which I think breaks down the decline very thoroughly. He makes great points like CD will last as long as you can buy a CD player. So I encourage you to talk a look at the article as it will you give great insight to the status of CD sales.

I want to end this post with a question. Do you think the recent trend of vinyl production and sales is artists and labels attempt to make up for lost CD sales? Comment and let me know your thoughts!!

As always,

Keep The Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie!

Music Streaming: How are the artists paid?

I came across an great article that talks about the many different music streaming sites that are primarily free and how popular they have become. David Harrell breaks down probably the most popular streaming site, Spotify. It is almost scary how small the payout is per play for the artists.

Spotify Per-Stream Payouts August 2009 to March 2011

Smallest: 0.02056 cents
Largest: 1.1456 cents
Average: 0.2865 cents

That means that it would take an artist, on average, 244 plays on Spotify to equal the cut they receive from a .99 ITunes download. Crazy to think about huh?

To read the whole article check it out here

Never Give Up Your Copyright!

We talk all the time about how, in today's industry, important copyright is to writers. With the endless avenues to promote your music and the countless opportunities to get your music played commercially, labels are out for copyright and publishing rights to more and more music.

I came across another great article talking to an expert in the world of copyright law, Barry Heyman. Take some time to take a look at the article and let me know your thoughts on the importance of keeping your copyright.

Keep The Music Alive, and Straighen Your Tie

Music Like Water

"Re-building the music industry is going to have to center around really understanding what the fans want and finding an infrastructure that will solidly support artists’ rights" - Trent Reznor

I just read an article about an interview that the CEO of TuneCore Jeff Price did recently with Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. He talked about how he was focusing more on scoring films but what really caught my attention was when he began to talk about the future of the music business.

The quote at the beginning of this blog is something that we have been discussing in some of my classes at the Academy of Contemporary Music. I personally believe that in order to survive this new digital age, the music industry is gonna have to find a new structure for paying artist royalties.

The next statement made by Reznor is also an interesting one.

"What I consider, from a consumer point of view, the next good business model, the next thing that makes sense, is if there were mass adoption of music subscription services, like Spotify."

I am reading a book right now called "The Future of Music" by David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard. The authors titled the first chapter, Music Like Water. It is the idea that music will become a utility, like your water and electricity. You will pay a subscription fee once a month and have unlimited access to your music.

Now this book was the first time that I had seriously thought about the true possibility of this type of service. With programs like Spotify become highly popular, people are using these subscription services more and more. Does this mean that digital and physical sales are doomed? I personally don't think so, but you can't rule out the possibility.

I say all of this to make a point. If the industry is going to a more digital avenue for sales and such, we must restructure the way artists are paid. With the current system, artists are not making much off their digital sales. Most of the money is still coming from physical sales. Let me throw some numbers at you to put it into perspective with how artists are paid with an average major label contract.

When an artist has their music on ITunes, an average song costs anywhere from .99 cents to $1.29. For the sake of the argument, and for my lack of math skills, We will say the label has priced your music .99 per song. Apple has an agreement with all who sell their music on ITunes that says they will receive 30% of the revenue. So in this case Apple receives .30 cents per song sold individually. That leaves .70 cents for the label and artist. In most contracts, the label and artists split the digital revenue of the song. That means the artist themselves only make .35 cents per song off ITunes.

Let's say the label gave the band an $100,000 advance to produce the record. They will not see a dime of revenue from the sales until they pay back the advance. If my math is correct, that means the artist must sell 285,714 songs on ITunes before they ever see a dime.

With CD sales, the artist usually sees 10% of the revenue from each sale. In 1995, the average CD cost around $18.95 so the artist received 1.89. The average CD now cost around $10, so the artist receives $1 per sale. As the price of CDs continue to drop, the artists will continue to make less and less.

These are just a few of my thoughts and hopefully they will make you wonder about the direction the industry is currently taking. Leave comments and let me know what YOU think.

As always

Keep The Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie.

The Fall of MegaUpload- Not about Piracy?

I read an article recently on a blog I read pretty regularly. The article is about how the shut-down of the Megaupload website may not have been all about anti-piracy. Sources are suggesting that the record industry shut down the popular site because the pending release of a new music service known as "MegaBox."

"Megabox had outlined a model that would allow unsigned artists and any other unattached content creators to sell their works through the site and pocket 90% of their earnings. Artists would have also had the option to completely give away songs and still be paid for them through a “Megakey” service. According to its founder, Megabox had potentially discovered way to get around the labels, RIAA and the entire music business."(from article).

Online media sales and the artist royalties is a constant debate right now in the music industry. The labels and artists are looking for new ways to get paid in this new world of digital media.

Take a minute to look over this article and give your opinion on the topic.

Keep the Music Alive, and Straighten Your Tie.

Tips for a Great Blog Post

Today's class assignment was to look at some tips about how to write a great blog posts and then post about how it applies to us. Well I found a great site with some tips on how you can make your blog posts better.

The idea I liked the best was about writing the same way you talk. If you make your posts too formal, readers tend to become disinterested. It is important to keep your posts lively and conversational. This makes it easier to read and makes it more personal for your readers.

Information Overload

This blog is also being used for a class, Blogging for Journalists, and I will be posting about topics assigned by Dr. Clark from time to time. We just read the article State of the Blogosphere 2011 off the Technorati.com blog. As you can see by my title, it was a lot of information to take in at once. As I read through endless amounts of graphs from the research done by the website, I saw a trend. I honestly think that a lot of times we over-analyze things as a society. Is it really necessary to completely dissect the demographics that are active bloggers? I think the bottom line is this: Some people blog as a hobby and some blog for money. It's really not that complicated. I think blogging is an industry that some see as a way to put their thoughts out for everyone to see, while others just see dollar signs. I don't need to flip through a stack of graphs and figures to discover this. I don't need to see what ages and education levels are blogging. All you need to know is that now, more than ever, people are blogging, simple as that.

First Post

Hello World! Welcome to Music with a Tie. This blog is all about the music business and what is going on behind the scenes in the industry. I will be posting my own thoughts on current issues, and also other articles and interviews I come across. The music business is like an iceberg. On the surface it seems so concrete and simple, but under the water it is a huge operation. I hope that you will get out of my posts what I do. Keep the music alive and straighten your tie!