Regardless of what you celebrate, enjoy the holidays and the music. Try not to get too down about the economy. Plenty of Egg Nog and/or Vodka will probably do the trick. Thanks for a great year and here’s to a rockin’ 2009.
Merry Christmas from Peter Griffin
Happy Hannukah from Adam Sandler
and a HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ABBA!!!
Follow up post to Are you Exclusive (like a Chinese Democracy)?
The preliminary sales results are in for Chinese Democracy and they are not pretty. It looks like Axl and the crew made out like bandits while Best Buy are left holding the bag (the bag of a million unsold copies of the CD). Again, cd’s are dying, if they are not already dead.
Read more about it here: At Best Buy, an Album Sounds a Sour Sales Note.
where's my wallet?
Recently I attended the Q-Tip and Cool Kids concert at House of Blues. During a bumping version of Bointa Appelbaum, my friend Aaron, taking a brief break from bobbing his head off-beat, asked me how can Q-Tip play this song without the rest of Tribe? Relishing the opportunity to spread my music and law knowledge I began explaining to him how copyrights work and wondering aloud whether a Tribe Called Quest had a band member agreement. Aaron, much like most people I talk to about the law, immediately glazed over and went back to doing his version of the electric slide.
I figure, however, if you are reading this blog, you may want to know how Q-Tip was able to publicly perform some of Tribe’s greatest hits or how Roger Waters could sing Dark Side of the Moon or how Phil Lesh and friends can delight fields of the unshowered with Sugar Magnolia. These artists have the ability to dig deep into their former band’s repertoire for several reasons.
Most of us have been to a concert where the headliner covered another song. Bands can play other bands material at a concert so long as they register the performance (oftentimes after the fact) with ASCAP, BMI or SEASAC. But the Q-tip situation is a bit different. Q-Tip was treating the crowd to set full of classic songs made famous by his former group. If Phife Dawg was on tour, could he ask if he “Can Kick It” (click on the link to see who holds the copyright)?
The answer, unfortunately, is that it depends on how organized the band was. If they had a band member agreement (see http://lawyer4musicians.com/2008/08/ for more about band member agreements) it undoubtedly contained provisions for an eventual band break up. Issues that may seem unnecessary today may have a huge impact later. A leaving member or termination provision will have an invaluable effect on how your band’s brand is treated after the life the of the band is over. If properly written, the termination provision will ensure that the band’s name and its value are not diluted. It will set out who can use the songs, who can tour under the band’s name and who can re-issue recordings.
Think of it this way: Smashing Pumpkins break up (for like the 5th time) but James Iha and Billy Corgan want to tour with new members using the Smashing Pumpkins band name and the Pumpkins’ catalog of music. If there is no agreement between the members of the Pumpkins, and both try to tour under that name, they will both most likely fail or at least end up in court fighting for the right to use the name and songs.
For independent artists that are not quite at the band member agreement phase there are steps to take to ensure that this type of confusion and conflict do not occur. First, just talk to your band mates about it; get a sense for where everyone is on the issue of song ownership. Second, register your copyrights in your recordings. The copyright registration will allow you to designate the author of each song you register. That way, if there is a debate down the road you can at least point to the copyright to show who owns what and who has to get permission from whom before a song is performed or recorded. Third, trademark your band name. The trademark registration will allow you to claim ownership of your band name and logo. Finally, suck it up and put everything in writing. Keep in mind your first agreement can be amended and modified as many times as you want.
SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: WHATZISFACE
Check this MC out. Okey Dokey makes the stiffest of us bounce a little bit.
Is the music business closing shop for good?
Last week the world economic situation claimed another victim in the music world. Pinnacle Distribution, one of the biggest British independent music distributors, declared bankruptcy (known as administration in the UK). The ramifications of another large physical (CD’s and vinyl) distributor going out of business will have a wide reaching effect.
Distributors work with independent labels to distribute hard copies of a label’s catalog out to the stores and the public. The labels wait for delivery of payment from the distributors based on the number of units sold. If a distributor goes under, the labels, and the musicians who are signed to labels, stand in line with every other client/creditor of the distributor waiting to get paid. Usually the result is not enough money to go around. A label may end up taking pennies on the dollar for what is owed rather than taking nothing at all.
It’s a true domino effect. Simplified example: Jimmy usually buys $100 bucks per year in cd’s for holiday gifts. This year Jimmy got laid off and is no longer buying cd’s for his buddies. The store (Best Buy/Target or the last remaining record shop) where Jimmy used to buy cd’s notices that a lot of its customers are like Jimmy and does not order as many cd’s as it did in the past. The distributor who distributes Jimmy’s favorite bands’ music orders the same number of cd’s as it did last year from the manufacturer, but cannot sell as many units. The distributor cannot pay the manufacturer nor can it pay the labels who provide the distributor with its product. The label cannot sell as many of its artists’ cd’s nor can it distribute its cd’s worldwide. The label who is chiefly dependent on record sales to make cash, cannot continue to market or advertise its artists. And finally, you, the artist who survives on royalties from record sales does not get paid.
Major downer. Sorry. At first glance it appears that the sole reason for the chain reaction which is not-so-eloquently described above is the crumbling world economy. However, if you have been paying attention to the music industry and reading this blog, you already know that is not the only reason. The underlying reason for the crumbling music industry is rise of digital music as a true industry standard for music sales. The cd doesn’t make sense any more. It is a “loss leader” for most bands and distributors alike. The overhead involved in manufacturing, shipping, returns and fees make it almost impossible for an independent label or the artists on that label to make any real money from physical cd sales.
Yes the economy is scary. Yes music sales as a whole are not great. But, today there is no reason for a creative independent label or artist to be shackled to the dying distribution system. Using digital distribution companies, releasing digital only albums, striking exclusive deals with non-music websites or stores are just some of the out-of-the-box methods for musicians to make money. New and unique methods for delivery are popping up everyday. Bands can provide fans with exclusive content on its website or through a fan portal or by selling thumb drives with its music preloaded on it.
As the old industry infrastructure continues to crumble, independent labels and artist must move quickly to avoid being swept under by the collapsing giant. It is truly time to think independently, meet with other creative people and think of methods on your own to get your music to the masses. Most musicians are creative. Successful musicians realize that their non-musical-team which they choose to work with must be creative as well.
SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: The State of Illinois (?)
My adopted state government of Illinois finally got something right. Recently it passed Senate Bill 1981 which increased the state film tax incentive in Illinois from 20% to 30% and also includes a tax credit of 15% for the using labor on a film production from poverty stricken areas. The prvious bill was set to disappear on January 1, 2009 is now extended for an undetermined amount of time. Independent film makers in the music, movie and television industry should all be happy. Now the trick is trying to explain the tax incentives to a potential investor.
Way to Go Rod!
DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON DECEMBER 8, 2008. HOT ROD DID NOT GET ARRESTED UNTIL DECEMBER 9, 2008. THE AUTHOR HEREBY RECANTS ANY AND ALL APPLAUSE OR PRAISE DIRECTED AT THE SOON TO BE “FORMER” GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS.
