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The basics of music licensing

By
Scott
 – July 12, 2010Posted in: Legal aspects of the music business
The basics of music licensing
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Music licensing consists of giving permission to someone else to use your music or parts of your music. In today’s market there are so many places that your music can find a home beyond CDs, digital downloads, and the stages of the world.

Entering the world of music licensing can open up new ways for you and your band to make money doing something you enjoy – making music. With an ever-expanding cable TV universe, a huge onrush of independent filmmakers, a commercial world, and the internet, music is needed to help these projects convey their messages.

There are four basic types of licensing you should be familiar with:

• Master License – gives permission to someone to use a full song (one song at a time) from your original recording in their project
• Synchronization license – this license is specifically permission to use your song together with a visual image
• Mechanical license – permission to duplicate and sell your audio recording
• Compulsory license – permission to “cover” a song and record, duplicate, and sell it

It is very important to keep track of your music copyrights, who controls the master recording rights, and any licensing you have out on your music. Though these four types of licenses give the basics of what is available, there are many nuances to licensing that go beyond the basics; such as digital uses, ringtones, or importing.

These licenses can bring with them terms of exclusivity or non-exclusivity. Exclusive agreements mean that you cannot offer licenses for that song to anyone else during the term of the license. Non-exclusive agreements will specify if and where you can license your songs to someone else while still under other licensing terms.

With all of these types of licenses floating around, hopefully you can see how important it is to keep track of everything. Signing with a publishing company can help. Being associated with a Professional Rights Organization (PRO) such as ASCAP or BMI will assist in making sure you are paid your royalties if your agreement specifies those types of payments.

The world of music licensing offers your music a larger arena to be heard from. There are a number of resources on the internet that can also help guide you in the right direction if you are seeking to license your music. Sites such as www.filmmusic.com offer lists of classified ads where you can submit songs for films needing music. You can go to agencies like the Harry Fox Agency (www.harryfox.com) for all sorts of licensing needs. Good music business lawyers can find you licensing opportunities, as well as work the contracts for you. However, music licensing (if not done by you) will generally be done by your music publisher.

How to copyright your music

By
Scott
 – June 15, 2010Posted in: Legal aspects of the music business, Music Business
How to copyright your music
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For musicians today, copyrighting your work has become easier with online filing. Once you have decided to file your music with the copyright office, the process is easy.

As mentioned in the “The basics of copyright protection for your band” article, you are afforded the protection of copyright without filing, but once you start dealing with record labels, publishers, licensing, or lawsuits, you are going to have to have your music filed with the copyright office.
At the U.S. Copyright Office website you will be able to find all the information you will need to file both electronically and by mail. Filing electronically will save you $30, however. As of this writing, the fees for filing your music are $35 for e-filing and $65 for mail-in submissions.
There are pdfs and PowerPoint presentations available that you can read and watch which will explain the process to you, but most of it is self-explanatory.

It may seem like a lot of work, but most of it is simple information like names and addresses. Be prepared before entering the filing process. If you are having trouble, either refer back to the tutorials or get help from a lawyer.
When you are ready to register your music, you will need:

  • the names of all the authors of the music (so, you will need to decide as a band who – if not all of you – will be listed as the authors)
  • to choose to whom the certificate will be mailed
  • the year of creation and/or publication (if you have already made and distributed copies of your songs, technically you have already published the works)
  • information regarding the origins of the publication
  • names of claimants or correspondents that you are either signing rights over to or that you are allowing to act in your behalf

All of these issues could be sticky subjects and should be discussed prior to filing. Depending on how you have set up your band as a business, whether you are operating your own independent record label, or working everything as individuals, the information you put on the submission forms may vary.
Once you have gotten to a certain point in the registration process you will have to pay for it either by EFT or credit/debit card.
Finally, you will upload your music files. These are the current file formats you by which you may submit your music to the copyright office:

  • .aif, .aiff (Audio Interchange File Format)
  • .au (Audio File)
  • .mid, .midi, .rmi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
  • .mp3 (MP3 Audio File or Layer 3 Audio Compression)
  • .ra, .ram (Real Audio File)***
  • .rmi (Resource Interchangable File Format)
  • .wav (Windows Wave Sound File)
  • .wma (Windows Media Audio File)

Luckily, you can file a complete album as a collection of music and only pay one fee. To obtain a paper copy of the copyright submission form, go here.
Here is one last note about how music copyrights work when you write music as a work-for-hire. Work-for-hire is when you write music for a company like a jingle. In this case, the company owns the music and will also own the copyright.

References
Copyright.gov. United States Copyright Office, July 2008. Web. 1 June 2010. .
Passman, Donald S. All You Need to Know About the Music Business. New York: Free Press, 2009. Print.
Twomey, and Fox. Anderson’s Business Law and the Legal Environment. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Wilsey, Darren, and Daylle Deanna Schwartz. The Musician’s Guide to Licensing Music. New York: Billboard Books, 2010. Print.

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David Byrne’s TED Talk about how architecture can impact how music is written

By
Brett
 – June 14, 2010Posted in: Links
David Byrne’s TED Talk about how architecture can impact how music is written
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I viewed this post on the awesome musician blog Hypebot.com, and I really liked it. Byrne talks about how the place music is written and performed can impact how the music sounds.  Back in the day I was in a band that practiced in a tiny garage, but we had the  loudest guitar and drums you could imagine. I had to scream right into the microphone to hear myself over them. It sounded great in practice, but was a terrible idea at venues with good sound systems.

I wonder how much our practice space impacted our music.

image by tachyondecay

The basics of copyright protection for your band

By
Scott
 – June 9, 2010Posted in: Legal aspects of the music business, Music Business
The basics of copyright protection for your band
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The legal side of the music business is probably one of the most ignored (or feared) parts of being in a band or being a musician. Even the basic laws that are designed to protect us are often overlooked or seem too confusing to bog ourselves down with. It really isn’t that difficult.

Copyright law is fundamental to all musicians (and all creative persons.) Learning and understanding the basic laws that protect your music should be a priority as you and your band progress through the steps of your music careers.

For this research, we will assume that all works are originating from within the United States. Cutting through the history and reasons behind the copyright laws, let’s get straight to what is and is not protected by the copyright laws.

A copyright is the protection given under the United States law to authors of “original works.” As the author of your songs, you are granted these rights and may pursue legal action against anyone who violates these rights. The protections you get with a copyright are the rights to:

  • reproduce copies of the work
  • produce alternate versions of the original (prepare derivative works)
  • distribute copies of the work to the public or transfer ownership
  • display the work publicly
  • perform the work publicly

One of the more confusing things about the law is whether you have to actually file with the United States government to obtain a copyright. The answer is that you DO NOT have to register your work to receive copyright protection. In the case of a song, it is considered copyrighted once you have recorded it (onto a tangible format.)

The key for musicians in copyright law is that your songs are not considered copyrighted until you have recorded them. Playing songs in your garage, basement, or live, does not constitute a copyright. You must record the song first before it is afforded copyright protection.

The above protections are for songs and lyrics (as well as a list of other creative works.) Other aspects of your band and image, however, are not protected by copyright laws. For some of the following, we will have to explore other aspects of the law and file for other protections such as trademarks or patents (which we will discuss in another article.) Copyright law does not cover:

  • works not fixed in tangible form (i.e. choreography that is not written down)
  • titles, names, slogans, phrases
  • ideas
  • works consisting of no original authorship

So, if you are afforded the rights to copy without filing with the government, why should you file? The quick and simple answer is that if you ever have any legal action concerning any of your songs, you are going to have to register anyway. This goes for someone trying to sell your music without your permission, possible licensing problems, or even piracy of your music. You will also need to register your copyrights when you get into record deals or distribution through other companies.

In a future article, we will discuss how to go about registering a copyright with the government. It’s pretty simple. If you still have questions or are confused about something regarding copyright law, check out one of the resources used for this article or contact a lawyer in the music business.

If you think your music career is at the point you need copyright protection, it is time to get some serious help. Below we list the most basic sources you will need (not including a lawyer) to understand the specifics of music law.

Image from Flickr user Horia Varlan

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Why you still want a record label (for now) even as they are dying

By
Brett
 – June 4, 2010Posted in: Interviews, Legal aspects of the music business
Why you still want a record label (for now) even as they are dying
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Music lawyer Donald S. Passman talked with us at Detone8.com about the current state of the major labels, getting their attention and the first thing every band needs to do.

Late last year Donald S. Passman released the seventh addition to his book “All You Need to Know About the Music Business,” and we interviewed Passman about the changes to the book caused by some dramatic shifts in the music industry.

“There has been a huge change from the last edition,” Passman said.

For fans, the most recognizable changes in the music business have been listening to interactive streaming music online with companies like Pandora, and it’s an issue the industry wrestled with right up to the publication of the book. Yet the biggest change to this version of Passman’s book is how the new 360 deals work.

The 360 deal is one of the last ditch efforts by record labels to stay afloat. Simply put, this new contract will not only split the profits from record sales with musicians and labels, but record labels now want a piece of every dollar a band makes. This includes digital sales, merchandise and even performance profits from live shows.

It’s an unprecedented way for record labels to stay afloat, although they have a strong argument in favor of the 360 deal Passman said. It’s not fair that record labels put up most of the money to get a musician off the ground and not share in all of the profit that comes with success.

And the worst part is that this maybe one of the best options for bands right now. As long as record labels are the key holders to major success in the industry, all other business plans are untested. Passman said he has yet to see any completely independent band break into the mainstream.

There is so much competition that even Internet sensations like Justin Bieber have signed with major labels to get mainstream exposure.

“There is what, 7 million bands on Myspace right now, so how do you break through that noise,” Passman asks.

Yet as much as the labels are hoping the 360 deal will save their business model, Passman has yet to see any results. “It’s too early to tell,” he said.

It seems even the experts like Passman are unsure of the future of the industry.

To sign or not to sign is purely academic if you are not even getting noticed by the labels in the first place. So, what is the first thing a band needs to do? Get it in writing.

You don’t need to cough up several hundred dollars it takes to create a business before you make any money, but Passman recommends putting an agreement in writing.

Before the band ever takes in one dollar you need to write down how the band will make decisions, who owns the name and assets of the band and how to kick someone out or bring a new person in. Then everyone signs it.

Passman warns it is harder than ever to get signed. There are less labels, less money and fewer deals made. But the keys to getting signed have stayed the same. You need to build a buzz, a story and learn to manage your fans.

Key Info from music lawyer Donald S. Passman: Before your band makes one dollar put an agreement in writing.

image from flickr.com user NobMouse

Book Review: “Tour: Smart – and Break the Band”

By
Scott
 – May 16, 2010Posted in: Music Business, Touring, Touring Bands
Book Review: “Tour: Smart – and Break the Band”
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“Tour: Smart – and Break the Band” by Martin Atkins is a must read for any and all musicians, bands or anyone in a touring industry. It is amazing that someone actually took the time and effort to write such a comprehensive book on the subject – take advantage of the expertise.

This book is chalk full of insight, not only from author Martin Atkins (PIL, Pigface), but also from dozens upon dozens of interviews and stories compiled from touring insiders, musicians, tour managers, club owners, record executives and roadies – just to name a few.

I think Martin Atkin’s introduction to the book really sets up what you should know and will learn while you read this book:

“You should fail because your band is shit or because you don’t have the balls. You shouldn’t fail because of a lack of some basic advice and a bit of planning. Your music, your band, might be important to some people, very important to a few, mildly important to a few others, but it will never be more important to anyone than it is to you. Apply that principle to everything.”

Don’t let the book’s immense size turn you off (over 500 pages.) This is not a book that needs to be read cover to cover (though, that is what I did.) This book is meant to be picked at little by little. Chapters are short and impressively interesting. The book covers everything from the necessities of a tour to why those on tour shouldn’t do drugs or crap in the tour bus toilet. One resounding message is that you have to treat your music as a business and be responsible for that business at every facet.

The highlights of this book are presented in chapter summaries and lists outlining things that bands should do and not do. These smart tips are enough to guide bands in the right direction, but once you start reading the book, you are really going to get drawn into the witty and relevant stories from the industry insiders. The experiences that these people have went through range from the intensely cautionary to the absolutely hilarious.

“Tour: Smart” also goes into some great detail about marketing efforts, especially when the band is getting ready for a tour. These marketing tips will give you a great starting point for any efforts, though. The book tells you how to book shows, advance a show, get radio play before a show date, assemble a street team and actually get them to promote, and keep track of it all. Putting your best song first on the CDs you make, knowing your audience, and keeping track of everyone you meet, are a few of the other essentials Mr. Atkins stresses.

Learning the ropes of touring will never be easy, even if you think you are prepared. This book provides stories that show the highs and the lows of touring, what (and who) to avoid, and overall what you can expect out on the road. It is basically the quintessential textbook on the subject of touring.

“You need one voice for the tour. It has to be a benevolent dictatorship.” – Martin Atkins

Every band should have this book in their possession whether they are just getting ready to tour or are in the midst of one. If you are just starting out, you will learn a whole lot of things to do and expect on a tour. If you are already touring, you will not only enjoy reading the book and comparing your own experiences, you will almost certainly learn something new as well.

“Tour: Smart – and Break the Band” by Martin Atkins can be found at Amazon.com for less than $20 new.

Promotions and merchandise surveys

By
Scott
 – March 21, 2010Posted in: Music Business
Promotions and merchandise surveys
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We need your help by filling out our quick and easy survey.

Here at Detone8, we are always trying to find ways to help bands achieve success. One way we are trying to do this is by creating surveys that fans and music lovers can take to help us (and you) determine what marketing tools are actually working.

We have created two surveys to find out what kind promotions are working, where people are finding music, and types of merchandise that are popular. The more fans we can get to take these surveys, the better information we can provide. So, please help us and yourselves by getting people to take these quick surveys.

Post the links to your MySpace, Facebook, or other sites you use.

Show Promotion Survey

Merchandise Survey

image by Rennett Stowe


Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail: book review

By
Scott
 – March 21, 2010Posted in: Music Business
Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail: book review
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Music marketingI am going to start by saying that “Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, distribution, and Retail” by Mike King is a very informative book. The book lays out, in some detail, ways to achieve success in the music business through the various outlets available to bands these days. The book doesn’t strongly emphasize any particular avenue or approach, but does give a fair amount of do’s and don’ts that can really be helpful to bands trying to break through to the next level.

However, this book is not for the fly-by-night reader. I would venture to say that a typical band member picking up this book and trying to grasp the concepts in it, would be pretty hard pressed. Most of the stuff in this book seems to be designed from the perspective of a publicist, marketer, or music business insider. While this does work on many levels and gives some great insight into areas a band may never think of, the reading is more in-depth than I would have ever cared to endure when I was in a band. Even as a Marketing major, some of the concepts in this book are a little beyond my grasp.

The book has a heavy lean toward the Boston-area (which is where the book was published, incidentally.) It’s not that big of a deal, but I mention it because the music scenes vary from one city to the next and a city-centric focus may be off-putting to some readers. The book also has a much heavier focus on bands that have already kind of established themselves and are trying to make it to the next level or get signed. So, I would caution brand new bands from picking this book up. Furthermore, many of the concepts in this book cost a lot of money with little focus on guerrilla tactics of marketing.

A band could get a few key components from this book, however. Since the book does provide press release examples, promotion examples, and insider interviews, a band could use this as a tool to help model their own marketing efforts. Another good thing about this book is that it provides a workshop exercise at the end of each chapter for a band to understand the concepts better and flesh out their marketing strategy.

This book is great for someone who wants to become a music marketer specifically or a publicist perhaps. For a band, however, it might be a little too much to handle while trying to flesh out the best music you can (because that is the most important part, even according to Mike King in his book.) Don’t get me wrong – a band should probably know the stuff in this book as they progress – but, my advice with this book, if you are really interested in picking it up, is to give it to the person running your merchandise booth, to a friend that isn’t in the band but wants to help out, or to a parent that would help. Give it to someone who really has the time to work on and understand the concepts in this book.

“Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail” can be found at Amazon.com for less than $20 new, and is also available as a Kindle edition.

NOFX, and having the ambition to survive the music industry

By
Brett
 – March 9, 2010Posted in: Interviews, Music Business
NOFX, and having the ambition to survive the music industry
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NOFX manager Kent Jamieson describes himself as “not that ambitious.”

For example, his lack of ambition lead him to create a highly successful, all-ages, punk club so he could bring top punk band from around the world to play in his home town.  He then learned to work the sound board, and was hired to be the house sound guy for local and touring bands.

The band NOFX must have related to Jamieson’s lack of ambition. A Van’s Warped Tour mainstay, NOFX has being playing together since the early 1980s, recording more than a dozen studio albums, and have been touring for close to thirty years all over the world.

In the early 1990s NOFX was looking to bring a sound guy on a tour in Europe. Jaimeson called Fat Mike, singer and bass player for NOFX, about the job, and Mike immediately hired Jamieson.

A year after being their sound guy NOFX hired Jamieson to be their touring manager. The band continued to grow in popularity and eventually NOFX asked Jamieson to be their full-time manager.

“I manage them, I manage the tours, and I book most of the tours. We have an agent in Europe, but I do all of North and South America and the rest of the world as well. So, I essentially do everything,” Jamieson said.

Oh, and he manages Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, a cover band of punk rock all-stars. Perhaps my definition of ambition is different than Jamieson’s.

The good news is that “non” ambitious people like Jamieson have found success in the music industry. Finding a way to work in the music industry in a small Canadian town helped him create the work ethic and the connections to tour the world for 20 years and more.

Jamieson has also seen the dramatic change in the music business over the decades. According to Jamieson, there was a belief in the late 1990s that bands could continue to make money of their catalogues of music even after a band breaks up.  Yet now that money has all but dried up.

“Touring is defiantly the main income source for musicians now,” Jamieson said. “Putting out your music is really just promoting your band as a live entity.”

In the digital age of music there is not enough money for bands to live on.  NOFX continues to have a large fan base, but too much of this generation of fans do not believe in paying for music. There is not enough money to sustain musicians who do not tour. “Selling music digitally is working out fairly well, but it ain’t nothing like it used to be,” Jamieson said.

The record labels are not helping much either. A few are making the transition, but most are not. And the ones that are struggling have never been know for their musician friendly business models.  “Life for bands on major labels sucked for band in the 90s when things were good. I can’t image how it is now,” Jamieson said. “A new band should absolutely go it alone, because at this point a record label is going to want some of their touring merchandise.”

Yet as much as things change, making in the music industry has always been hard.  “ You’ve got a one in a million shot,” Jamieson said. “There is still a chance to make a living at it for sure…the challenges really haven’t changed that much. You need to be good. You need good songs, be entertaining, and you need perseverance more than anything on top of that.”

“Really good songs are always going to be the mainstay of bands, no matter what the format they deliver,” Jamieson said. You will also need Jamieson’s questionable “lack of ambition.”

image by Edvill

Over 4 million plays on Pandora? It’s just business for Barefoot Truth

By
Brett
 – February 21, 2010Posted in: Distribution, Getting Shows, Interviews, Marketing, Touring Bands
Over 4 million plays on Pandora? It’s just business for Barefoot Truth
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Starting off Barefoot Truth was just two high school friends (Jay Discoll and Will Evans) writing and performing songs for their own enjoyment. When they started playing out they got such a good response that they decided to record an album. By the time they both graduated college Barefoot Truth was no longer just for fun. It was a full band, and it became a career.

Since spring of 2007 the members of Barefoot Truth have been working full time on the band. Recently they have received national attention and an undetermined amount of money from success on Pandora Radio. The internet radio site exposed Barefoot Truth to a much larger audience, and that audience can’t seem to get enough of Barefoot Truth. The band has had more than 4.5 million plays on Pandora.

Although the band had little influence on promoting their music on Pandora, their dedication to making quality music and their professional approaches to the band are key to this success. The band is doing everything right. They made the band into a small business and keep track of all of their money. They even get tax write offs at the end of the year.

Discoll took the time to help answer some our questions about Barefoot Truth’s success.

barefoot truth

How do they afford to be professional musicians?

“We have a pretty good situation, we all live together. So a lot of the money we make as a band stays in the band going towards our own rent…it really just cuts down on costs.”

“When there is downtime…we’ll have our own little things going. Odd jobs and things are always coming up.”

What was the first step to becoming a regional band and getting shows in different areas?

“Show swapping is defiantly a big thing for us. It has been for breaking into new places…We’ve also been lucky to have interest from a lot of colleges and high school students [then we] go to their student activities board and tell them [the students] would like us to play at their school. It’s been cool to break into new markets. From there we try to get into local clubs.”

How does Barefoot Truth handle management responsibilities?

“Right now it’s pretty much mainly handled by the band. We’ve been though management a little bit and had booking agents and had some help with different tours…but beyond that we are constantly booking shows ourselves. We do a lot of the admin stuff ourselves which definitely gets tedious.”

Barefoot Truth’s first recording was produced by a Grammy nominated producer and has worked with the band Dispatch, how did that come about?

“We’ve always looked up to [Dispatch] and we went to what was planed to be their final show back in 2004. We happened to meet them, and we actually had a cassette tape. We played it for them in our car. They were really cool to us, and they said if we were really serious about making a CD we can hook you up with our producer Jack Gauthier. We said yes. We got to record our first few CDs where they recorded their CDs.

We’re never afraid to talk to people. We love meeting new people in the industry and learn how other people have gone about their career.”

The band has gotten a lot of exposure from Pandora, but how much has it helped Barefoot Truth?

“We started getting requests from different parts of the country to play, then we started seeing CD Baby sales from all different parts of the country. When someone buys your CD on CD Baby they get a chance to tell you how they have heard of you. About 80 percent was coming from Pandora, and we thought wow this is cool. Then our music got on iTunes, and we were making way more digital sales than physical sales…It’s grown exponentially.”

What advice does Barefoot Truth have for young bands?

“The biggest thing for us has been to put all the money back into the band. You can’t grow without putting money into recording, gas, graphic design or publicity. There is so much to put into the band you need to have a money flow. Just don’t get greedy with the money you make at gigs.

And don’t be afraid to play anywhere. One example that I remember we played a very small bar gig we were hesitant to play. We were pretty sure no one was going to come hear us who knew of us, but it ended up meeting a kid there who is an IT guy. He was able to do an internship for us, and he was able to build us an entire website and graphic design and get credit for it…you never who you are gonna meet and what each gig is going to bring to you.

And don’t drive in the snow…We got into an accident, and that sucked.”

Learn more about how to get your music onto Pandora, advice from Pandora’s founder and getting royalties from internet and satellite radio.

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