An Urgent Message From Marilyn Bergman
January 28, 2008
To All ASCAP Members,
Over the years, ASCAP has worked tirelessly to convince Congress and the courts that all songwriters, composers and music publishers are entitled to fair compensation for their copyrighted musical works. As you know, ASCAP represents the performing right, a large and growing part of your compensation. But mechanical and synchronization rights are also a critical element of your livelihood.
Today, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) begins a hearing that will determine mechanical rates for every songwriter and music publisher in America. It will be critical because, in addition to setting rates for physical products, rates will be set for the first time ever for digital products such as digital downloads, subscription services and ringtones.
Our friends at The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) will be representing the mechanical right interests of songwriters and music publishers in this hearing. They will be fighting vigorously to protect those mechanical right interests to ensure that musical compositions are compensated fairly. On the other side of this fight stands the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Digital Media Association (DiMA). Both the RIAA and DiMA have proposed significant reductions in mechanical royalty rates that would be disastrous for songwriters and music publishers.
David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO tells us, "The current rate for physical phonorecords is 9.1 cents. The RIAA has proposed slashing the rate to approximately 6 cents a song - a cut of more than one-third the current rate! For permanent digital downloads, NMPA is proposing a rate of 15 cents per track because the costs involved are much less than for physical products. The RIAA has proposed the outrageous rate of approximately 5 - 5.5 cents per track, and DiMA is proposing even less. For interactive streaming services, which some analysts believe will be the future of the music industry, NMPA is proposing a rate of the greater of 12.5% of revenue, 27.5% of content costs, or a micro-penny calculation based on usage. The RIAA actually proposed that songwriters and music publishers should get the equivalent of .58% of revenue. And DiMA is taking the position that songwriters' and music publishers' mechanical rights should be zero, because DiMA does not believe we have any such rights!"
Irwin Robinson, ASCAP Board member and Chairman of the NMPA added, "Our opponents in this hearing are proposing a rate structure which would have devastating consequences for songwriters, composers and music publishers trying to make a living, now or in the future." The initial hearing will last four weeks, followed by a rebuttal hearing in May, and a final decision expected on October 2. Among the ASCAP writer members testifying at the hearing are Rick Carnes, Phil Galdston, and Board member Stephen Paulus.
And while all this is going on, ASCAP has been leading the fight for fair performance right compensation in Federal Court against DiMA members AOL, Yahoo! and RealNetworks. Our case has been heard and we expect an outcome this summer.
Clearly these are perilous times for those of us that create the music that generates profit for those that use our music. But remember this, there would be no profit without our musical compositions that they are fighting to use so freely!
Marilyn Bergman
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
In Songwriting News: Should music be free?!!!!!!
If you want to know, ask these 2,000 people:
From billboard.biz:
EMI Confirms Up To 2,000 Job Cuts January 15, 2008 - Global
By Andre Paine, LondonEMI confirmed today that it will cut up to 2,000 jobs worldwide in its Recorded Music division as part of a major restructuring of the company.The new private equity owners Terra Firma say the cuts will save up to £200 million ($392.2 million) a year and will enable the group to become the world's "world's most innovative, artist-friendly and consumer-focused music company." The changes include a focus on A&R and encouraging new revenue streams from digital services and corporate sponsorship.EMI Group chairman Guy Hands is today announcing the reshaping of the company -- home to Coldplay, Kylie Minogue and Norah Jones -- in a series of presentations to staff, artists and managers. The group says the changes will be implemented over six months and are intended to enable it to invest more in A&R operations, in order to sign strong new artists and maximise the potential of the existing roster of acts.In addition to the repositioning of the labels to make them completely focused on A&R, the changes also include developing a new partnership with artists "based on transparency and trust" that will help them monetize "the value of their work by opening new income streams such as enhanced digital services and corporate sponsorship arrangements."Other plans for the restructuring include bringing together key support activities including sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution into a single division with a unified global leadership. Hands also announced his intention to eliminate significant duplications within the group to simplify processes and reduce waste.EMI says the changes reflect the rapidly-changing nature of the music industry and the restructuring follows an "intense" three month consulation review of the business by Terra Firma, following its acquisition of EMI for £3.2 billion ($6.3 billion) last year.The new owners were already facing an artists' revolt even before today's announcement, with Robbie Williams' manager expressing concern about the direction of the company and Coldplay's manager voicing his "confusion" at the departure of EMI U.K. Chairman and CEO Tony Wadsworth last week.However, the company claims many of the measures being implemented have come at the suggestion of staff, artists and their managers."We have spent a long time looking intensely at EMI and the problems faced by its Recorded Music division which, like the rest of the music industry, has been struggling to respond to the challenges posed by a digital environment," said Hands in a statement.He added: "we believe we have devised a new revolutionary structure for the group that will improve every area of the business. In short, it will make EMI's music more valuable for the company and its artists alike. The changes we are announcing today will ensure that this iconic company will be creating wonderful music in a way that is profitable and sustainable."
From billboard.biz:
EMI Confirms Up To 2,000 Job Cuts January 15, 2008 - Global
By Andre Paine, LondonEMI confirmed today that it will cut up to 2,000 jobs worldwide in its Recorded Music division as part of a major restructuring of the company.The new private equity owners Terra Firma say the cuts will save up to £200 million ($392.2 million) a year and will enable the group to become the world's "world's most innovative, artist-friendly and consumer-focused music company." The changes include a focus on A&R and encouraging new revenue streams from digital services and corporate sponsorship.EMI Group chairman Guy Hands is today announcing the reshaping of the company -- home to Coldplay, Kylie Minogue and Norah Jones -- in a series of presentations to staff, artists and managers. The group says the changes will be implemented over six months and are intended to enable it to invest more in A&R operations, in order to sign strong new artists and maximise the potential of the existing roster of acts.In addition to the repositioning of the labels to make them completely focused on A&R, the changes also include developing a new partnership with artists "based on transparency and trust" that will help them monetize "the value of their work by opening new income streams such as enhanced digital services and corporate sponsorship arrangements."Other plans for the restructuring include bringing together key support activities including sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution into a single division with a unified global leadership. Hands also announced his intention to eliminate significant duplications within the group to simplify processes and reduce waste.EMI says the changes reflect the rapidly-changing nature of the music industry and the restructuring follows an "intense" three month consulation review of the business by Terra Firma, following its acquisition of EMI for £3.2 billion ($6.3 billion) last year.The new owners were already facing an artists' revolt even before today's announcement, with Robbie Williams' manager expressing concern about the direction of the company and Coldplay's manager voicing his "confusion" at the departure of EMI U.K. Chairman and CEO Tony Wadsworth last week.However, the company claims many of the measures being implemented have come at the suggestion of staff, artists and their managers."We have spent a long time looking intensely at EMI and the problems faced by its Recorded Music division which, like the rest of the music industry, has been struggling to respond to the challenges posed by a digital environment," said Hands in a statement.He added: "we believe we have devised a new revolutionary structure for the group that will improve every area of the business. In short, it will make EMI's music more valuable for the company and its artists alike. The changes we are announcing today will ensure that this iconic company will be creating wonderful music in a way that is profitable and sustainable."
Artists, STAND UP!!!!!!!!!
I recently heard on V103.3 that Lupe Fiasco is so upset with the music industry and sales/the downloading issue, etc, that he's threatening that his current album will be the last album he puts out. He will instead just perform for free. And I feel him!
Not being compensated for what you do and what you bring into the world is slavery! Why do people always want things for free?! If our industry was any other industry in which someone expected a lot for nothing, we would be outraged. If this was the computer industry and you could get all the free software you wanted, I'm sure the geeks of the world would stay hell no! But then again this is America! Have we gotten so spoiled with having things for little of nothing that we devalue everything? I mean where else can you buy 10 value menu items for $1? Where else are there one dollar stores? Where else has man gotten "free" labor from its own people? So why would it be surprising that Itunes and Walmart would introduce music for $.99 and $.88? Why would it be surprising that when you google "free music" or "free music downloads," there are 57,400,000 hits and growing?!!!!!!
I was recently working to get an author who is my client some speaking engagements. For the large part, we've been successful: in fact (self-plug) make sure you look out for JaWar at a music conference near you!!!!! Now! Now, artists, managers, music professionals, etc pay their hard earned money to attend these conferences, pay money to perform, and spend money buying business cards, making CDs, and promo kits. Sponsors spend their hard earned money trying to make the conference happen and help with advertising and branding their name. However, these two music conferences said they don't pay their speakers!!!!!!! What the hell! How in the hell can you have a music CONFERENCE without speakers and why in the world would I as a speaker, pay money out of my own pocket to travel, stay in a hotel to attend YOUR conference, pay for parking, possibly a rental car, and buy food for an all day, half the night conference, and you ain't paying me!!!!! And I know that I'm adding value to your conference! I'm giving YOU the content you need to make your CONFERENCE A CONFERENCE!You've got to be kidding me! If this were an artist showcase, okay, cool: no need for panelists or speakers. But you are having a conference! If anybody should be paid, it should be the speakers! And then one of the conferences kept SAYING they were going to offer some sort of compensation and when pressed about what that compensation was, said we don't operate that way, tell your client, maybe next year! WHATEVER!! Recently a senator asked 6 or 7 ministers what they were doing with the congregation's money, I'd start asking some of these music conferences where is all this money going to anyway?!!!!!!Okay, enough with that (If you want to read my author's comments about this experience, go to his blog or myspace.com/jawarspeaks). My point: everybody wants something for freaking free and free ain't always right!!!!!!!!!
The writers guild has it right!!!!!!! Boycott! The actresses from Girlfriends had it right: Stand the hell up for GETTING PAID!!!!!!! Lupe, you are right! Folks in OUR industry have been too passive about our music being ripped off. The PROs (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) are our representatives (and that's only if you've joined those groups so I suggest you find a way to join!) and they have been fighting hard for us but we've got to do our part. If this were a political problem, you'd write letters to your local commissioner, mayor, governor, senator, etc. You'd get a petition started. Have you called ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC and said, enough is enough or asked what you can do to help! If you have the attitude that well, whatever you want to give me is fine, then don't be surprised when they say nothing!
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.ning.com
thedyb.magnify.net
Not being compensated for what you do and what you bring into the world is slavery! Why do people always want things for free?! If our industry was any other industry in which someone expected a lot for nothing, we would be outraged. If this was the computer industry and you could get all the free software you wanted, I'm sure the geeks of the world would stay hell no! But then again this is America! Have we gotten so spoiled with having things for little of nothing that we devalue everything? I mean where else can you buy 10 value menu items for $1? Where else are there one dollar stores? Where else has man gotten "free" labor from its own people? So why would it be surprising that Itunes and Walmart would introduce music for $.99 and $.88? Why would it be surprising that when you google "free music" or "free music downloads," there are 57,400,000 hits and growing?!!!!!!
I was recently working to get an author who is my client some speaking engagements. For the large part, we've been successful: in fact (self-plug) make sure you look out for JaWar at a music conference near you!!!!! Now! Now, artists, managers, music professionals, etc pay their hard earned money to attend these conferences, pay money to perform, and spend money buying business cards, making CDs, and promo kits. Sponsors spend their hard earned money trying to make the conference happen and help with advertising and branding their name. However, these two music conferences said they don't pay their speakers!!!!!!! What the hell! How in the hell can you have a music CONFERENCE without speakers and why in the world would I as a speaker, pay money out of my own pocket to travel, stay in a hotel to attend YOUR conference, pay for parking, possibly a rental car, and buy food for an all day, half the night conference, and you ain't paying me!!!!! And I know that I'm adding value to your conference! I'm giving YOU the content you need to make your CONFERENCE A CONFERENCE!You've got to be kidding me! If this were an artist showcase, okay, cool: no need for panelists or speakers. But you are having a conference! If anybody should be paid, it should be the speakers! And then one of the conferences kept SAYING they were going to offer some sort of compensation and when pressed about what that compensation was, said we don't operate that way, tell your client, maybe next year! WHATEVER!! Recently a senator asked 6 or 7 ministers what they were doing with the congregation's money, I'd start asking some of these music conferences where is all this money going to anyway?!!!!!!Okay, enough with that (If you want to read my author's comments about this experience, go to his blog or myspace.com/jawarspeaks). My point: everybody wants something for freaking free and free ain't always right!!!!!!!!!
The writers guild has it right!!!!!!! Boycott! The actresses from Girlfriends had it right: Stand the hell up for GETTING PAID!!!!!!! Lupe, you are right! Folks in OUR industry have been too passive about our music being ripped off. The PROs (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) are our representatives (and that's only if you've joined those groups so I suggest you find a way to join!) and they have been fighting hard for us but we've got to do our part. If this were a political problem, you'd write letters to your local commissioner, mayor, governor, senator, etc. You'd get a petition started. Have you called ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC and said, enough is enough or asked what you can do to help! If you have the attitude that well, whatever you want to give me is fine, then don't be surprised when they say nothing!
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.ning.com
thedyb.magnify.net
Thursday, January 10, 2008
In Songwriting News -A Creative Way to Distribute Music!
As songwriters, we study music which means buying music and in times past, meant buying CDs. But who wants to haul around CDs?! If, like me, you've carried around CD binders with 200 plus CDs, you know that that's a heavy load to carry. So I was happy when the IPod came out and happily bought one (though I've had to return it three times due to technical issues either with the Ipod itself or the updates which is a whole nother blog!). Now Sony introduces MP3 Album cards! So for all of us indie artists and songwriters who bought blank CDs & CD burners, or who are paying companies to make CDs to distribute our music, we now need more creative ways too to distribute our music! Check out the songwriting videos in this blog on how to do that or go to http://thedyb.magnify.net and watch over 75 videos on the business of songwriting in this new technology age!
from billboard.com
Sony BMG To Debut MP3 Album Cards
January 07, 2008 - Retail
By Ed Christman, N.Y.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment will roll out its Platinum MusicPass series of digital album cards beginning Jan. 15 at Best Buy, Target and Fred's, with Trans World and Winn-Dixie coming to the party by the end of January.
In Canada, participating retailers include Best Buy, CD Plus, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Wal-Mart with HMV coming on board sometime during the first quarter.
As reported previously, the move marks the company's first commercial foray into MP3s in the U.S., a strategy that until recently it resisted in favor of selling files with digital rights management capabilities.
The digital album gift cards, which retail for $12.99, will be artist-specific and feature album artwork, and will come with bonus material. The card will contain a scratch-off that will reveal a PIN number that can be redeemed for a download at MusicPass.com.
"We see MusicPass as a great way to bring digital music to the physical retail space," said Sony BMG Music Entertainment global digital business & U.S. sales president Thomas Hesse in a statement. "We believe it will have strong appeal for a broad range of consumers, and that it will ultimately expand both the digital and physical markets for music."
Among the titles receiving this treatment are the Backstreet Boys' "Unbreakable"; Brad Paisley's "5th Gear;" Bruce Springsteen's "Magic"; Celine Dion’s "Taking Chances"; John Mayer’s "Continuum"; Three Days Grace's "One-X"; and Tony Bennett's "Duets." Compilations include "70's Pop Hits"; "Sensational 60's"; "Country Gold"; and "Everlasting Love."
In addition, as part of the launch, two titles--Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" and Celine Dion's "Taking Chances"--will also come with expanded offerings that retail for $19.99. In addition to those complete albums, the expanded MusicPass offering on those titles will include bonus material and the choice of one additional album from that same artist's catalog.
To see what the cards look like, go to: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i017145c042c6bedacb734078d47045db
from billboard.com
Sony BMG To Debut MP3 Album Cards
January 07, 2008 - Retail
By Ed Christman, N.Y.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment will roll out its Platinum MusicPass series of digital album cards beginning Jan. 15 at Best Buy, Target and Fred's, with Trans World and Winn-Dixie coming to the party by the end of January.
In Canada, participating retailers include Best Buy, CD Plus, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Wal-Mart with HMV coming on board sometime during the first quarter.
As reported previously, the move marks the company's first commercial foray into MP3s in the U.S., a strategy that until recently it resisted in favor of selling files with digital rights management capabilities.
The digital album gift cards, which retail for $12.99, will be artist-specific and feature album artwork, and will come with bonus material. The card will contain a scratch-off that will reveal a PIN number that can be redeemed for a download at MusicPass.com.
"We see MusicPass as a great way to bring digital music to the physical retail space," said Sony BMG Music Entertainment global digital business & U.S. sales president Thomas Hesse in a statement. "We believe it will have strong appeal for a broad range of consumers, and that it will ultimately expand both the digital and physical markets for music."
Among the titles receiving this treatment are the Backstreet Boys' "Unbreakable"; Brad Paisley's "5th Gear;" Bruce Springsteen's "Magic"; Celine Dion’s "Taking Chances"; John Mayer’s "Continuum"; Three Days Grace's "One-X"; and Tony Bennett's "Duets." Compilations include "70's Pop Hits"; "Sensational 60's"; "Country Gold"; and "Everlasting Love."
In addition, as part of the launch, two titles--Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" and Celine Dion's "Taking Chances"--will also come with expanded offerings that retail for $19.99. In addition to those complete albums, the expanded MusicPass offering on those titles will include bonus material and the choice of one additional album from that same artist's catalog.
To see what the cards look like, go to: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i017145c042c6bedacb734078d47045db
In Songwriting News - Creative Ways to Make Money with Your Music
Here's a group who thought outside the box and found creative ways to get paid from their music:
from nytimes.com
Radiohead Finds Sales, Even After Downloads
By JEFF LEEDS
Published: January 10, 2008
LOS ANGELES — In a twist for the music industry’s digital revolution, “In Rainbows,” the new Radiohead album that attracted wide attention when it was made available three months ago as a digital download for whatever price fans chose to pay, ranked as the top-selling album in the country this week after the CD version hit record shops and other retailers.
The album, the first in four years from the closely watched British rock act, sold 122,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That represents a mixed result for the band. It’s a sharp drop compared with the debut of Radiohead’s previous album, 2003’s “Hail to the Thief,” but it’s far from a flop, considering the steep decline in music sales in the last four years and the typically weak sales in the post-Christmas period. “Thief” sold about 300,000 in its first week in 2003.
In any case the figures challenge the conventional wisdom that music fans no longer have an affinity for plastic. The sales of the album, which also snagged the top spot on the British weekly music chart, came despite the fact that “In Rainbows” — in the form of digital files — had been acquired by many fans after the band offered it in an unconventional pay-what-you-want offering through a Web site, inrainbows.com. The album was released on plastic CDs and vinyl LPs on Jan. 1, with the CD priced at $13.98, though it could be found for as little as $7.99 at outlets like Amazon.com.
Some retailers viewed the Radiohead figures as a sign of the continuing market for so-called physical products in the music business, where the popularity of iTunes, music blogs and other sites have made the digital file appear to be the coin of the realm. In particular they said even fans who received the digital files distributed by Radiohead may have decided to pay for the better audio quality versions on CD or LP.
“Having a physical, archival high-fidelity master recording that you can side-load into your MP3 player of choice for a similar price is significantly better than just purchasing zeros and ones,” said Eric Levin, owner of the independent record shop Criminal Records in Atlanta and founder of an 18-member alliance of independent retailers. “I feel like that’s what 75 percent of the people are saying.”
Mr. Levin said that at his store vinyl copies of “In Rainbows” outsold the CD by a wide margin. Demand for the album was such that some record shops put it on sale before the label’s planned “street date,” resulting in sales of about 9,000 copies the previous week.
But sales of the plastic and vinyl versions of the album also received a boost from digital services like iTunes, where the album sold about 28,000 copies. The iTunes service, which sells individual songs for 99 cents and albums typically for $9.99, had not carried any of the band’s previous albums, owing in part to Radiohead’s demand that its recordings be sold only as complete works.
But Bryce Edge, one of Radiohead’s managers, said the band decided to sell “In Rainbows” on iTunes because it expects that EMI, the British music giant that released the band’s first six albums, will soon post them for sale on the service, and it would be strange for the new album to be excluded. An EMI representative declined to comment.
The decision to release the music as a digital file so far in advance of the CD also allowed time for the music to circulate on free, unlicensed file-swapping networks. Big Champagne, a tracking service that studies file-sharing, estimates that the album was downloaded more than 100,000 times on free networks in the first 24 hours after Radiohead delivered it to fans who had preordered it from its Web site. But Eric Garland, chief executive of Big Champagne, said that by offering the music for as little as zero from their own site, Radiohead “stole market share” from pirate networks.
Mr. Edge said that sales of 100,000 copies of the album this week would be “almost certainly less than the number we would have achieved if we hadn’t” offered it as a digital download. But the band still came out ahead, he said, in part because it attracted so many fans to Radiohead’s Web site, where it collected e-mail addresses from fans looking to acquire the album.
The band has not said how many copies it distributed. Now that the CD is in shops, some fans who paid for the initial downloads may have been tempted to buy the album, in effect, for a second time. But Steve Gottlieb, chief of the independent label TVT Records, said he believed the sales mainly reflected fans who were acquiring the music for the first time.
“Radiohead is one of those really big groups that appeals to people outside the intensely pirating demographic of 16 to 29,” he said. “To the extent Radiohead still has a significant audience in its 30s and 40s, there’s a bigger audience of those people who will still pick up something at Best Buy or don’t want to bother with figuring out how to go to a Radiohead Web site and track it down.”
Still, Mr. Gottlieb said, the sales suggested that the band’s name-your-price offering, and fans’ subsequent free sharing of files, had taken a toll. “Clearly we can’t give it all away and expect to sell CDs,” he said.
But Radiohead will have yet more opportunities to gain fans. The band said yesterday that it planned to perform in more than 20 North American cities this year.
from nytimes.com
Radiohead Finds Sales, Even After Downloads
By JEFF LEEDS
Published: January 10, 2008
LOS ANGELES — In a twist for the music industry’s digital revolution, “In Rainbows,” the new Radiohead album that attracted wide attention when it was made available three months ago as a digital download for whatever price fans chose to pay, ranked as the top-selling album in the country this week after the CD version hit record shops and other retailers.
The album, the first in four years from the closely watched British rock act, sold 122,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That represents a mixed result for the band. It’s a sharp drop compared with the debut of Radiohead’s previous album, 2003’s “Hail to the Thief,” but it’s far from a flop, considering the steep decline in music sales in the last four years and the typically weak sales in the post-Christmas period. “Thief” sold about 300,000 in its first week in 2003.
In any case the figures challenge the conventional wisdom that music fans no longer have an affinity for plastic. The sales of the album, which also snagged the top spot on the British weekly music chart, came despite the fact that “In Rainbows” — in the form of digital files — had been acquired by many fans after the band offered it in an unconventional pay-what-you-want offering through a Web site, inrainbows.com. The album was released on plastic CDs and vinyl LPs on Jan. 1, with the CD priced at $13.98, though it could be found for as little as $7.99 at outlets like Amazon.com.
Some retailers viewed the Radiohead figures as a sign of the continuing market for so-called physical products in the music business, where the popularity of iTunes, music blogs and other sites have made the digital file appear to be the coin of the realm. In particular they said even fans who received the digital files distributed by Radiohead may have decided to pay for the better audio quality versions on CD or LP.
“Having a physical, archival high-fidelity master recording that you can side-load into your MP3 player of choice for a similar price is significantly better than just purchasing zeros and ones,” said Eric Levin, owner of the independent record shop Criminal Records in Atlanta and founder of an 18-member alliance of independent retailers. “I feel like that’s what 75 percent of the people are saying.”
Mr. Levin said that at his store vinyl copies of “In Rainbows” outsold the CD by a wide margin. Demand for the album was such that some record shops put it on sale before the label’s planned “street date,” resulting in sales of about 9,000 copies the previous week.
But sales of the plastic and vinyl versions of the album also received a boost from digital services like iTunes, where the album sold about 28,000 copies. The iTunes service, which sells individual songs for 99 cents and albums typically for $9.99, had not carried any of the band’s previous albums, owing in part to Radiohead’s demand that its recordings be sold only as complete works.
But Bryce Edge, one of Radiohead’s managers, said the band decided to sell “In Rainbows” on iTunes because it expects that EMI, the British music giant that released the band’s first six albums, will soon post them for sale on the service, and it would be strange for the new album to be excluded. An EMI representative declined to comment.
The decision to release the music as a digital file so far in advance of the CD also allowed time for the music to circulate on free, unlicensed file-swapping networks. Big Champagne, a tracking service that studies file-sharing, estimates that the album was downloaded more than 100,000 times on free networks in the first 24 hours after Radiohead delivered it to fans who had preordered it from its Web site. But Eric Garland, chief executive of Big Champagne, said that by offering the music for as little as zero from their own site, Radiohead “stole market share” from pirate networks.
Mr. Edge said that sales of 100,000 copies of the album this week would be “almost certainly less than the number we would have achieved if we hadn’t” offered it as a digital download. But the band still came out ahead, he said, in part because it attracted so many fans to Radiohead’s Web site, where it collected e-mail addresses from fans looking to acquire the album.
The band has not said how many copies it distributed. Now that the CD is in shops, some fans who paid for the initial downloads may have been tempted to buy the album, in effect, for a second time. But Steve Gottlieb, chief of the independent label TVT Records, said he believed the sales mainly reflected fans who were acquiring the music for the first time.
“Radiohead is one of those really big groups that appeals to people outside the intensely pirating demographic of 16 to 29,” he said. “To the extent Radiohead still has a significant audience in its 30s and 40s, there’s a bigger audience of those people who will still pick up something at Best Buy or don’t want to bother with figuring out how to go to a Radiohead Web site and track it down.”
Still, Mr. Gottlieb said, the sales suggested that the band’s name-your-price offering, and fans’ subsequent free sharing of files, had taken a toll. “Clearly we can’t give it all away and expect to sell CDs,” he said.
But Radiohead will have yet more opportunities to gain fans. The band said yesterday that it planned to perform in more than 20 North American cities this year.
In Songwriting News - The Billboard Digital Music Live conference at CES
Check out this January 9, 2008 article from pcworld.com about digital record sales:
Digital Music Industry Challenged to Follow Fans' Lead
Music industry executives at the Billboard Digital Music Live conference at CES discussed what the industry needs to do to meet the needs of music fans who appear to be running the show.
Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
LAS VEGAS -- At the Consumer Electronics Show this year it's clear that consumers are making choices that are driving industry changes, and nowhere is that more evident than in the digital-music business.
Music industry and technology executives convened for the Billboard Digital Music Live conference Wednesday to talk about what those in the business need to do to meet the needs of music fans who appear to be running the show.
"2008 has to be the year we get real or the business as we know it goes away," said Fred Goldring, an entertainment attorney with Goldring Hertz & Lichtenstein LLP. He said that consumers will access music regardless of whether artists, labels, publishers and digital-music distributors approve of the means or receive money from the exchange.
Since Napster turned the music industry on its ear in 2000, the digital-music business has been rocked by dissent among artists, labels, publishers and the breed of technology companies distributing and selling music online that emerged in Napster's wake. All of these parties want to derive revenue from their contribution to the business, but have been arguing for years about how everyone should get paid.
As this drama unfolds behind the scenes, consumers continue to find ways to bypass DRM (digital rights management) and emerging revenue models to download and share music, making it not just impossible for the music industry to make money from traditional means, but also difficult to make money at all. In the meantime, artists have embarked on their own revolution, using social-networking sites and other online means to get their music directly in the hands of fans and finding other ways to derive revenue from their work.
An example of the latter is the controversial and much-publicized move by U.K. rock band Radiohead to sell its new album "In Rainbows" direct to consumers without going through its record label or Apple's iTunes Store. The album first went on sale in October on Radiohead's Web site, allowing users to choose their price for the record; a few weeks ago, Radiohead released the record to iTunes and other retail channels.
Scenarios like this will continue to happen, both among major-label artists and independent or unsigned artists. Whether they work is not the point; it's what the industry will do to work within these models and support them rather than continue to resist that will decide how the industry will fare in the future, said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group. Nettwerk is a Canadian privately owned record label and artist management company.
"The corporate side of it has to shift," he said. "The corporate people have not allowed us to do what we know we have to do. This is about the consumer, about monetizing their behavior and giving them choice. For all of the people that believe in controlling the IP and how [the music] gets to consumers, the game is over. It was over seven or eight years ago, and soon your business will be over."
Goldring suggested the industry focus on business models built solely around the networks that allow users to download music and find ways for everyone involved to make money that way.
"We have to stop trying to keep our old business alive .. and figure out how to monetize the pipes [music files] are going through," he said.
Barney Wragg, head of digital, EMI Music Group, said that in a perfect world, scenarios like the ones McBride and Goldring propose would exist. However, the needs of different artists vary, and there are still concerns about the integrity of their work and how they will be compensated for it as new business models emerge.
"I have artists that don't want to be involved in certain business models," he said. "I have to balance those conflicts. ... There are a whole bunch of artists who are worried about how they're going to get paid, and what this is going to do about their representation or their art."
Allowing their music to be distributed through ad-supported online music services is a particularly hard sell for artists who worry that having their work be associated with advertising "devalues" it, Wragg added.
Subscription-based models such as Rhapsody that don't give users ownership of their music have struggled to take off. Wragg compared music fans' view of subscription models to the early days of e-mail, when people wanted files to be stored locally and were adverse to the concept of e-mail existing only on a remote server.
That concept changed over time, as will the perception of subscriptions if they are marketed to consumers in the right way, he said.
Another factor that should boost the popularity of subscriptions in the future is the increased spending of younger fans who are naturally more comfortable with the idea of not owning their music, said Matthew DeFilippis, vice president of new media and technology for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a membership organization representing the rights of artists.
"Ownership is a generational thing," he said. "Even though kids today are buying from iTunes, I don't think they care about owning a thing. As they become the new generation of homeowners and bill payers, [music subscription] will be moving toward a cable [TV] model."
Digital Music Industry Challenged to Follow Fans' Lead
Music industry executives at the Billboard Digital Music Live conference at CES discussed what the industry needs to do to meet the needs of music fans who appear to be running the show.
Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
LAS VEGAS -- At the Consumer Electronics Show this year it's clear that consumers are making choices that are driving industry changes, and nowhere is that more evident than in the digital-music business.
Music industry and technology executives convened for the Billboard Digital Music Live conference Wednesday to talk about what those in the business need to do to meet the needs of music fans who appear to be running the show.
"2008 has to be the year we get real or the business as we know it goes away," said Fred Goldring, an entertainment attorney with Goldring Hertz & Lichtenstein LLP. He said that consumers will access music regardless of whether artists, labels, publishers and digital-music distributors approve of the means or receive money from the exchange.
Since Napster turned the music industry on its ear in 2000, the digital-music business has been rocked by dissent among artists, labels, publishers and the breed of technology companies distributing and selling music online that emerged in Napster's wake. All of these parties want to derive revenue from their contribution to the business, but have been arguing for years about how everyone should get paid.
As this drama unfolds behind the scenes, consumers continue to find ways to bypass DRM (digital rights management) and emerging revenue models to download and share music, making it not just impossible for the music industry to make money from traditional means, but also difficult to make money at all. In the meantime, artists have embarked on their own revolution, using social-networking sites and other online means to get their music directly in the hands of fans and finding other ways to derive revenue from their work.
An example of the latter is the controversial and much-publicized move by U.K. rock band Radiohead to sell its new album "In Rainbows" direct to consumers without going through its record label or Apple's iTunes Store. The album first went on sale in October on Radiohead's Web site, allowing users to choose their price for the record; a few weeks ago, Radiohead released the record to iTunes and other retail channels.
Scenarios like this will continue to happen, both among major-label artists and independent or unsigned artists. Whether they work is not the point; it's what the industry will do to work within these models and support them rather than continue to resist that will decide how the industry will fare in the future, said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group. Nettwerk is a Canadian privately owned record label and artist management company.
"The corporate side of it has to shift," he said. "The corporate people have not allowed us to do what we know we have to do. This is about the consumer, about monetizing their behavior and giving them choice. For all of the people that believe in controlling the IP and how [the music] gets to consumers, the game is over. It was over seven or eight years ago, and soon your business will be over."
Goldring suggested the industry focus on business models built solely around the networks that allow users to download music and find ways for everyone involved to make money that way.
"We have to stop trying to keep our old business alive .. and figure out how to monetize the pipes [music files] are going through," he said.
Barney Wragg, head of digital, EMI Music Group, said that in a perfect world, scenarios like the ones McBride and Goldring propose would exist. However, the needs of different artists vary, and there are still concerns about the integrity of their work and how they will be compensated for it as new business models emerge.
"I have artists that don't want to be involved in certain business models," he said. "I have to balance those conflicts. ... There are a whole bunch of artists who are worried about how they're going to get paid, and what this is going to do about their representation or their art."
Allowing their music to be distributed through ad-supported online music services is a particularly hard sell for artists who worry that having their work be associated with advertising "devalues" it, Wragg added.
Subscription-based models such as Rhapsody that don't give users ownership of their music have struggled to take off. Wragg compared music fans' view of subscription models to the early days of e-mail, when people wanted files to be stored locally and were adverse to the concept of e-mail existing only on a remote server.
That concept changed over time, as will the perception of subscriptions if they are marketed to consumers in the right way, he said.
Another factor that should boost the popularity of subscriptions in the future is the increased spending of younger fans who are naturally more comfortable with the idea of not owning their music, said Matthew DeFilippis, vice president of new media and technology for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a membership organization representing the rights of artists.
"Ownership is a generational thing," he said. "Even though kids today are buying from iTunes, I don't think they care about owning a thing. As they become the new generation of homeowners and bill payers, [music subscription] will be moving toward a cable [TV] model."
Friday, January 4, 2008
Creative Ideas for Songs- Part 2
In my previous blog, I mentioned that to come up with creative song ideas, you have to have an ear to hear. Now let's talk about capturing your creative song ideas on paper.
If you don't have access to your music studio, and you think of a idea for a song, such as a creative title, melody, hook, counter-hook, riff, etc. , here's some ways to get those ideas down on paper:
1. Yes, I'll state the obvious: carry a pen or pencil, and a notebook, a calendar, planner, etc everywhere you go.
2. Use a PDA;
3. Use tape recorders (preferably digital). Advantages of this technique:
5. Call your home phone and record your ideas on your answering machine. If, however, your answering machine only keeps messages for so many days, then you again may lose a valuable idea if you forget to re-record your idea on a more permanent medium.
If you don't have access to your music studio, and you think of a idea for a song, such as a creative title, melody, hook, counter-hook, riff, etc. , here's some ways to get those ideas down on paper:
1. Yes, I'll state the obvious: carry a pen or pencil, and a notebook, a calendar, planner, etc everywhere you go.
2. Use a PDA;
3. Use tape recorders (preferably digital). Advantages of this technique:
- You can put multiple tape recorders around the house, in the car, bathroom, etc. to help you capture melody ideas.
- Having multiple recorders helps you find a recorder when and where you need it.
- If you lose one recorder, then you at least have another recorder with music on it so all is not lost.
- A digital recorder will allow you to dump songs onto your computer so now you don't have to concern yourself with losing valuable, creative song ideas to warped tapes.
- Because you can upload the files into your computer, you also don't have to worry about losing your digital tape recorder!
- A digitial recorder also allows you to organize your audio files so that you can go to the specific part without having to listen to the whole tape to find just one part.
5. Call your home phone and record your ideas on your answering machine. If, however, your answering machine only keeps messages for so many days, then you again may lose a valuable idea if you forget to re-record your idea on a more permanent medium.
6. Use Braincast. BrainCast is a free message and memo service that allows you to record reminders for yourself on the go, and automatically delivers them to your PC at home for later use. There is also an online organizational system for storing your messages so you can access them from anywhere. Simply add the BrainCast toll free number to your cell phone and you can use it from anywhere free of charge! Currently, Braincast is in Beta but it's still a worthwhile service to use. For more information on that service, you can go to braincast.viatalk.com
7. Use jott.com. This site is also in Beta. Similar to braincast, jott.com
- Send Jotts as e-mails and text messages to your friends and business contacts
- Send Jotts to specified groups that you set up
- Jott To-do lists and reminders to your e-mail while away from the office
- Stay safe using Jott hands-free while driving
Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
myspace.com/hitsamillionllc
hitsamillion.ning.com
hitsamillionmusic.com
hitsamillionllc.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
