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| THE MUSIC SPECIALIST |
CHANGE IS
CONSTANT
Today’s music business is heading rapidly toward
entertainment industry structural changes, the laws and regulations we use for
our everyday business are morphing into a totally new set. Greater interest in direct digital licensing among publishers,
efforts to establish Pan-European licensing and the creation of a global
repertoire database are reshaping the landscape being navigated by Writers,
Publishers and Performing Rights
Organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc...) worldwide
Outlets, businesses, independent labels and some major
labels are not renewing their digital agreements with the performing Rights
Organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc...) A number of large digital music
users, including Clear Channel, Entercom and Sirius XM, have negotiated direct
licenses with various music labels in an effort to lower the rates that these
services pay for music royalties. Future changes in the entertainment industry
will include PRO (Performing Rights Organizations) having smaller revenue bases
and possibly charging higher percentage rates or even dedicated service
charges.
For in-store business music services (also called background
music services, or business establishment services), one of the largest
companies negotiated a direct deal with one of the largest music publishers –
and the negotiated prices eventually were found by rate courts to be the best
evidence of the market price, which were used to set the price that ALL
players in the market pay to ASCAP and BMI.
We once thought that Regardless of what happens in the digital market,
PROs will always have general performance licensing to fall back on because
monitoring song plays at bars, clubs and stores requires boots on the ground to
track. Technology is changing that
concept by monitoring on line streaming events, “live” and recorded shows and
the design of tracking software for cloud storage of music & video files.
New
online services now enable the music industry to do business (as never
before) by providing the searching, previewing, license pricing,
contracts, invoices and download access needed to foster efficient,
professional relationships between the music creators and the industry people
needing to license their tracks for an unlimited variety of commercial media projects.
The new music industry has been ushered in with a swift
change of leadership and direction. Many
foolish people still hold on to ancient concepts and believe that the Black
radio & record community will revive itself. This is NOT going to happen, for everything
must change. My generation made the
music industry an industry of “smoke & mirrors” where companies and
individuals were paying thousands of dollars just to tell a LIE about their
music. The reasoning was that a major
label would pick them up, pay them and make them a star. Technology, even though still used to
perpetuate LIES, has made several common place entertainment entities
completely worthless.
RETAIL PROMOTION
– Hiring people that would make sure that your song got Sound Scan reports every
week and assist you in “hyping” the charts.
No longer is it necessary for there are no independent records on the
charts to be hyped.
RETAIL TRACKING –
Seems like there is no one who really cares about where your record is
physically or digitally located and what it is doing on a weekly basis. So there’s no one left who calls retail on a
regular rotation.
RADIO PROMOTION –
The KING of hype games is still being played but on a much larger, more
expensive level. Today you can pay a
promoter $25,000 to $65,000 just to get spins at night, during mix shows and on
weekends. This can get you into the
Billboard charts, however you haven’t sold any music and you still have to
spend money to have your artist work promotional dates. For $80,000 - $250,000 you can have your
music placed on air (depending on the stations format), BDS (Broadcast Data
Service) reported and eventually Billboard charted. However since NONE of this promotion is
truthful you still have to find another way to sell physical and digital product
to the masses.
RADIO TRACKING –
This was a given job for hundreds of label secretaries and interns, now there
are no lists of songs for the station to give out, no one within the station
who even makes a decision on music or relationships between the caller and the
station. Independently owned music is
not even being played on terrestrial radio under any format except
non-commercial.
VIDEO PROMOTION –
Who tracks your video plays, has the relationship with the major video
television companies or even owns a list of the available television programs
to send your video to? Of course there
is You Tube and multiple online outlets, but who knows that your video is on
You Tube?
RECORD POOLS –
When DJ’s were playing records, then you needed someone who knew the most
popular club DJ’s and could get your music to them PLUS get feedback on your
tune. The advent of MP3 technology
coupled with the shady, money hungry actions of Record Pool Directors has made
this type of company totally unreliable and unnecessary. The reasoning behind even having a Record
Pool was to give unbiased feedback directly from the “end user” (audience),
today your feedback is coming from Facebook, Twitter, Reverb Nation, You Tube,
etc..
INDEPENDENT RETAIL
STORES – Sure there are still a few stores left in certain neighborhoods
around the United States ,
the biggest transformation is that they are selling music as a sideline. Their front line business is clothing, drug
paraphernalia, household accessories or hair care products. An extremely few specialty stores are making
Sound Scan reports, but most of those can be bought and have no honest
relevancy.
BILLBOARD - The
Billboard charts were once used as a list for the record retailer to purchase
from. Customers would come in, look over
the list, normally posted on a wall or bin, and make their purchases. As a
record label you had to chart your record to justify sales, improve airplay and
get wholesalers to pay you what they already owed you. It truly was the bible of the music
industry. No longer is it necessary to
“climb” the charts to become a musical success.
The “bible of the industry” has become the “comic book” of the major
labels.
INDEPENDENT
DISTRIBUTORS – These are the wholesalers that operate as middlemen between
the label and the retailer. Because the
chain system (Best But, Target, K-Mart, etc...) now controls the majority of
sales of recorded music, these distributors have a much tighter and smaller
inventory and some malicious games for the label. As a label you must pay for distributors’
promotion, marketing, place and positioning within stores, special programs and
if your product sits on the wholesalers’ floor more than 30 days you pay for
storage.
ONESTOP – a
smaller wholesaler that has almost disappeared from the industry landscape,
while most were specialty record orientated there inventory was never large.
The majority went out of business based on outstanding debts coupled with
mobile music trading, purchasing, streaming and video.
I am truly glad for the change that has over taken the music
industry. Today you can own your music
completely and sell directly to the consumer without any middlemen. By the way, for all you old timers that
wishes for the good old lying, hyping and buying reports days to come
back. Keep dreaming.