Music Business Info a Go-Go

Here's the deal. Times are tough. But this means you need knowledge about the music industry more than ever if you want to be a successful musician. And so we could sell The Freedom Guide for Music Creators for $100 and still be giving you a deal. But, for now, check out what's below for free, as just a taste of what the Freedom Guide has to offer:

1. Copyright information spelled out in regular English (just below this section)

2. Breakdown of the messes in record contracts

3. Straightforward critiques on music resources, organizations, and websites

4. Brevity. No muss, no fuss -- read what you need, get in, get out, and get busy.

5. Bonus web links to excellent music business resources

'Nuff said. There's enough below for you to handle a lot of your music business, and I'm confident that if you're serious about your career, you'll put down the cash to get the rest by buying your instant download of The Freedom Guide for Music Creators. And you'll be pleasantly surprised by the price as well. But, if you don't have the money right now, read, learn, and send the link on to other musicians so they can read and learn. But please realize -- your musician friends are smart, like you are. Once your friends grasp what's being offered here, they are going to buy the book. Don't be left out -- do what you have to do, and get your instant download. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the price! Read. Learn. Buy.

(Thanks very much to My Platypi - Free Do Follow Website Directory for including this page!)

Oh, this site is now

Copyright means the right to make and distribute copies, and this extends to works of music, literature, and visual art, and combinations of the same. The minute you get that music, poem, story, or image out of your head and into a tangible form, you have not only created a work of art but an intellectual property. Such a property is as real and potentially as valuable as any piece of physical property that you own.

Sheet music, albums, and videos have a definite price. But copyrights can generate millions of recordings and millions of dollars; the only limit to a copyright's value is the musical skill and business knowledge of those that possess and use it.

Peter M. Thall in his What They'll Never Tell You About the Music Business gives an example of the value of copyright that is very important in these troubled economic times. Many people know the name of Irving Berlin, who gave us "God Bless America," "Blue Skies," "Steppin' Out with My Baby," and other songs still popular today. Mr. Berlin was very prolific in the late 1920s and through the 1930s, and Mr. Thall tells you why: Mr. Berlin's only means of keeping himself and his family fed during the Great Depression was his royalties from his copyrights. The value of Mr. Berlin's copyrights was literally the difference between feeding himself and his family, or not - quite possibly between life, and death.

When you have written down your song or recorded it for the first time, you have created an exclusive bundle of rights slapped under the general title copyright. These rights are laid out in the United States Copyright Law and include:

1. The right to make copies, in visual or audio form

2. The right to distribute copies, through sheet music, through recordings, through digital transmissions (think Mp3s and the like)

3. The right to publish through mass distribution and public performances

Generally speaking (there are exceptions for educational, scholarly, and religious uses), no one has the right to make, distribute, or publish your works without your express permission.

To protect your work from theft, promptly register your copyrights with the appropriate government agency in your country of origin.

In the United States, the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress handles these affairs. Here is the address and phone number:

U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20559-6000
(202) 707-3000
http://www.copyright.gov

The Copyright Office has recently changed its registration methods, simplifying them and gearing them much more toward computer users. The Office would prefer you to register your works online, pay by debit or credit card, and upload a computer file of your work. The cost for this is $35, plus $1 for each additional title submitted if you are registering works as a group. Or, you can register your works with form CO, which is a fill-in PDF form (you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file). You fill in the blanks, print the file out, and send it along with your sheet music or recording and a check for $50 (changed as of August 2009). Add $3 for each additional title if registering a group of works. Paper forms are still available by request; you'll need to ask for form PA for sheet music, and form SR for sound recordings. I'd go for the print-out or paper forms; it's always good to keep a copy for your records.

Think you'll be needing what you're reading? Have it for your very own in minutes by getting the book here:



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

Please pay careful attention: if you want to use other people's work, you need to get permission. If you want to record or arrange or excerpt somebody else's song - or even make photocopies - you need to get permission from the composer or the composer's publisher. Penalties for not doing so can be steep -- between $400 and $100,000 for every improperly used song.

Fortunately, permissions are not all that hard to get. After all, composers and publishers want you to use their works. Here's how you can get the permissions you need:

1. If you are doing an album with somebody else's works, you'll need a mechanical license from the composer or publisher. Apply to the copyright holders directly. The present rate is 9.1 cents per song.

2. If you need to photocopy sheet music or make overheads for a song, you'll need a miscellaneous license; again, apply directly.

3. If you're looking for songs for church services, Copyright Licensing International offers a Church Copyright License for more than 150,000 songs. Call them at 1-800-234-2446 or go to www.ccli.com. Also, check out The Free HIMbook for links to public domain hymns and choruses you can download.

4. If you are doing a live performance, the venue where you are performing will be responsible for getting the proper permissions. But, if you're performing out of your home or place of business, you'll need to get a license from the composer or publisher's performing rights organization (commonly called PROs). Call and ask publishers and composers what PRO they work with on specific songs. In the United States, the PROs are ASCAP (1-800-952-7227 and www.ascap.com), BMI (212-586-2000 and www.bmi.com), and SESAC (615-320-0055 and www.sesac.com).

5. If you are a composer/arranger, apply to publishers or composers directly for permission to either arrange or include parts of their work in your work.

Also remember that you are music creators and re-creators; for any problem there may be an answer that is both creative and legal for you. And here it is: use music in the public domain. This is music that either is folk music - no particular person holds the copyright - or that was written and printed up to 1922 (in the U.S.)

(P.S. A link list to some online public domain treasure troves follows this section)

In most cases, you must work from copies of sheet music that bear the original copyright notice. Occasionally, publishers just reprint such music without altering it; no copyright notice is attached in those cases, and as long as you double-check that the piece was composed before 1923, you can use the piece. But if a new arrangement has been made of that piece, the copyright of the arrangement belongs to the arranger and publisher. You will need permission to use that arrangement.

The public domain does have its own set of rules. You still have to give credit where credit is due, to composers as well as to communities that create folk music, and there are other quirks you'll need to master. But in general, the use of the public domain can ease your difficulties in finding music to use.

So much then for the flip side of copyright - not so dangerous after all, if you stay on the right side of the line when it comes to using other people's music.

Want to know more? In just a few minutes the whole Freedom Guide can be yours. Get it here:



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

Now that we've discussed copyright, let's talk about royalties, the lifeblood of music creators, re-creators, and rich record and publishing companies everywhere.

Four major kinds of royalties yield cash to music creators and re-creators:

1. Performance Royalties: These are due whenever a piece of music is performed in public (live or through recordings on TV, radio, and the Internet), with the exception of religious services and certain non-profit and educational uses. Performance rights societies such as ASCAP (www.ascap.com or 1-800-952-7227), BMI (www.bmi.com or (310) 659-9109), or SESAC (www.sesac.com or 615-320-0055) assist musicians in collecting these funds.

2. Mechanical Royalties: These are due whenever a piece of music is reproduced on cassettes, CDs, DVDs, videos (but there is more to that) and Internet files. The standard royalty rate for is 9.1 cents, with adjustment upward for longer pieces. Record companies and publishers assist musicians (at least in theory; see the section below) in collecting these funds.

3. Synchronization Royalties: These are due whenever a piece of music is put into a movie, a television show, a documentary, a podcast, a video game, a TV commercial . . . the possibilities of music being combined with moving images are many. These royalties produce thousands of dollars for many composers. Record companies, publishers, and the movie industry bigwigs work together to assist musicians (in theory, but see below) in collecting this pool of money.

4. Print Royalties: This, of course, deals with what happens when sheet music is sold. For many musicians this source of royalties is often seen as being in decline, but it is still quite lucrative, particularly for those that use many instruments in their arrangements. Publishers generally help musicians collect these funds.

There are also miscellaneous royalties that are due when a song is used as a ringtone, when its lyrics show up in a piece of literature, and on and on and on.

Want to know more about music money? In just a few minutes the whole Freedom Guide can be yours. Get it here:



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

Before you have any kind of contract with the record or publishing companies, have the contract looked over by a lawyer who has understanding and experience with the ins and outs of music law and business. The Freedom Guide is not a substitute for good legal advice, but you will learn some things you may need to talk with your lawyer about.

Contracts for artists, artist-songwriters, composers, and arrangers with big companies generally break down in this way; in return for a publisher or record company's access to stores, necessary equipment, studios, distribution outlets, and ability to get music to folks needing music in film, radio, and various other things, music creators or re-creators give administrative control and partial ownership of their copyrights to the company.

Contracts with publishers consider royalties as having two parts. The "writer's share" of the royalties belongs to the creator of the piece of music, and the "publisher's share" of the royalties belongs to the publisher of the piece of music. The standard split is 50 percent for each party. However, a musician who is willing and able to handle some of the work of shopping their music to record companies, filmmakers, and other venues might sign what is called a co-publishing deal. In that case the big company involved takes a smaller share of royalties, perhaps 25 percent.

Eric Beall's Making Music Make Money is an excellent text for composers and songwriters considering either co-publishing or self-publishing, which describes the work of the musician who publishes his or her own music. Peter Spellman's The Self-Promoting Musician is another fine resource. Many of the resources that follow in the remainder of The Freedom Guide also are designed to help you take a more active hand in the publication and administration of your music.

All musicians, but artists in particular, need to make sure they have an audit clause in their contracts with publishers and record companies. An audit clause gives you the right to check your royalty statements (ideally with the help of a lawyer and accountant). Without an audit clause, you will never be able to know for sure if you are due to be paid and how much, but you'll need to be able to follow the money for lots of battles.

Let's start with the advance, or money a publisher or record company may give you up front when you sign a contract. Advances are intended to support you while you do what you do best -- make music. But advances are a loan, and the collateral is all the royalties your music produces in the period covered by the advance. If your music produces enough in royalties to repay the advance, the record company should begin paying you your share of royalties.

But you may never know when those payments should start coming if you don't have an audit clause in your contract. Many companies may not tell you when you have earned enough royalties to be paid. They may give you thousands or even tens of thousands in advances, but be able to keep millions and millions over decades. Why would they disturb a situation like that? You have to be the one to shake things up, and not just about the advances.

If you are an artist, you may have a further problem. United States Copyright Law provides that the owners of copyrights, be they musicians or companies, are to be paid for every record distributed and sold. Producers have also secured the custom of being paid from the first sale. But the artist gets hit with a problem called recoupment.

Major record companies and publishers may pass you an advance, but they will not pay you a further dime until they have recouped, that is, made back, every cost of making your album. All pressing, packaging, and promoting your album, every music video, every hour of studio time, every bit of tour support, every expense a record company takes on your behalf will be charged against your royalties. Many albums never break even, and so many artists never get paid.
An audit clause will at least give you the right and the ability to see if your album has broken even.

But a better strategy is to get ahead of recoupment problems. The better an idea you have of what support you need from your record label of choice, the less you will be dazzled and confused if your record company starts offering you big shiny things that may or may not help you but that will drain you of royalties in the long run.

We're just scratching the surface here on the perils and pitfalls of record contracts -- do yourself a big favor and get the Freedom Guide now!



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

It's simple, really. Chapter 5 is a bit much for casual web consumption -- it's not for the reader who is not serious about understanding the way things really are in the music business, or in the world in general. For the head honchos of the big business world, whether they be on Wall Street or Tin Pan Alley, have some BIG common tendencies, tendencies that will affect you (and, given the state of the economy, probably already are affecting you) at your musical tasks or your "day job." These tendencies have their roots in some very nasty history . . . Black history in particular. Unless you are serious enough about your career and life to look at that history dead on, and serious enough to pay for it (because what you've learned to this point should have convinced you the Freedom Guide is more than worth the investment) Chapter 5 isn't for you. Chapter 6 is but the silver lining of Chapter 5. Only the most courageous and candid, therefore, should attempt to delve those depths; it's not for the faint of heart, weak in resolve, or those unwilling to invest in their future as music creators.

(All that said, if you really don't have the cash, keep scrolling down; there's more to learn here on the site)

Millions of opportunities and good ideas are passing you every day in this business of music. The Freedom Guide is going to alert you to only a small number of them, because you need to be able to pick up this book without breaking your arm. But the things you will learn about here will give you the tools to go out and find your own millions of opportunities.

Let's begin with a time-honored practice that has sustained musicians for countless ages before the computer was invented. This is the No. 1 way to find opportunities as a musician, now and forever, so pay attention:

Meet the Needs of Your Community with Your Music

There are elementary and middle schools that don't have art or music in them any more (get that fan base early!). There are senior centers that are packed with people who would appreciate hearing something beautiful. There are community colleges that have music departments that would welcome you into their classes and schedule you to perform with and for your fellow students, and would hire you to work with those music professionals also known as professors. There are festivals and fairs in many areas that need family-friendly entertainment. There are religious and other community centers that have people of all ages that would enjoy your music. And all these people, young and old, know people who know people who know other people . . . word can spread fast when people's hearts are touched.

Then, there's the Musician's Atlas.

If I stopped after talking [and I will, at least on this Web page] about the Musician's Atlas, you would not be hurt much. The Atlas is the single finest directory of music resources and opportunities I have ever seen, and the information on the ad pages is a great source of ideas as well.

In the Atlas you will find addresses and contact information for clubs; college, land-based and Internet radio venues in the United States and Canada; festivals; song competitions and album projects; radio promotion; music press organizations; lawyers; conferences; regional promoters; publishers, associations; record retail stores - it goes on and on and on! Inside you will find every category broken down state by state and in alphabetical order, with each listing in the directory showing the right contact people, the kinds of music wanted, online and offline means of contact, deadlines - everything you need to know to decide the listed opportunity is for you.

Best of all, many of the dozens of entries in the "Conferences & Festivals" and "Contests, Compilations and Tours" are free for you to submit your music, online or off! These sections cover just a few pages of more than 300 of the Atlas. There are at least 5,000 opportunities across the music industry listed for you, including the contact information of lawyers, promoters, agents, and managers to help you.

At the Atlas Web site -- www.musiciansatlas.com -- you can find even more links to partners and resources and opportunities and educational material about the music business. You can also order the Atlas from the Web site; the online version is continually updated and easily searchable, and there is a demo version you can try out before purchase.

There is only one drawback to the Atlas, online or off; if you have a hard time staying focused, the Atlas can overwhelm you. Here's what I suggest:

1. Get the Atlas, look at it, jump up and down and scream for joy at the hundreds of opportunities that appeal to you, celebrate your release from ever needing a record company or label again to get your music out, and then put the Atlas down.

2. Think carefully about what you have in time, energy, and music available, about opportunities in your area, and how much money you have to spend on promotion, agents, lawyers, etc.

3. Go back to the Atlas; select ten things coming up in the near future that appeal to you and fit with what you can actually do.

4. Research the ten opportunities and choose the best two or three, knowing that the next month will bring ten more opportunities into your reach.

If you present yourself professionally in enough places, your music and you will get wonderful exposure and ever-growing opportunities. But if you rush at everything at hand, you could sabotage yourself.

Remember, many people listed in the Atlas probably know each other (again, there are communities to reckon with), and they will talk to one another about what they find remarkably good or remarkably bad. If you make a fool of yourself by rushing submissions and presenting music and press kits that are not well done, the resources of the Atlas will close to you before you know it. Present yourself well, and the Atlas will be open to you for many years to come.

The Atlas costs around $50, so here's a money-saving tip that will apply to a lot of printed resources. If you see that something is happening in the Atlas or other directory one year, you can always use the same contact information to find out if the people and organizations in the listing are doing similar projects in the following year. This also allows you to build relationships with the people and organizations you want to work with, and find out about opportunities not listed in anyone's directory. Now I am not saying you should not keep a current copy of the Atlas with you. I am saying that the definition of "current" is up to you!

Want to learn about more opportunities? Spend days, months, or even years looking, or get your copy of the Freedom Guide right here in minutes:



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

(Of which three are listed here)

Several online services offer free and inexpensive plans for you to have either your own freestanding webpage or Mp3 player to embed in Web sites or your MySpace, Facebook, or other social networking pages. Many of these services also allow you to sell your songs and to recruit affiliates to help you sell. I've run across a dozen or so companies like this, and here are my recommendations.

Nimbit

In the entire online world, Nimbit has the most complete set of services for the independent musician that I have ever seen. Their basic and free setup is as lavish as everything else they do - you get a live store page, to which you can upload all your artwork and Mp3s. You also get a catalog to put your works in, a blog, and an e-mail list to help you keep track of your fans.

You also can sell your Mp3s ($.49 minimum); Nimbit turns over 80 percent of the profit to you. You also can sell e-tickets to your concerts and gigs from your free site - rarely will a free service provide you this privilege. Nimbit offers not only pages for you, but an embeddable player as well to put in any site of your choice, and to give to your fans who want to help you sell.

Nimbit's paid options could cover a chapter all their own, but they include custom pages, promotional posters, print services for CDs and DVDs, and the set up of a merchandise store for you. At its retail level, Nimbit allows users to sell any physical product relating to their music directly to users, to submit songs to digital distribution outlets including iTunes and Rhapsody, and to send CDs to their partner site CDFreedom for additional sales. At the pro level, Nimbit adds several custom web design options, including MySpace customization, 8-page starter sites, premium templates, custom design, and hosting. You can check it out for yourself at www.nimbit.com.

Broadjam

Compared to Nimbit, Broadjam is a little scaled back in what it offers members on a free level - you can upload and sell Mp3s at 80 percent profit, and you get a free profile page, songlists, and fan pages. But the great strength of Broadjam, on any level, is Broadjam's access to ongoing contests, top reviewers, and uses of music - film, radio, and television -- in the entertainment industry.

I personally entered and semifinaled in the United Kingdom Songwriting Contest last year through Broadjam, and I found the process of submitting songs easy and highly streamlined. All Broadjam members receive discounts and benefits on entry and deliveries, with the discounts and benefits getting bigger as you upgrade your membership.

Broadjam offers three paid options in comparison to Nimbit's two. Broadjam offers greater Web options at each higher level, and Web hosting of your own domain at the Primo MoB level. Although Broadjam does not have an embeddable player, its paid options do allow video uploads and separate pages for photos, videos, albums, and contests.

Broadjam is kind enough to offer links to make it easy to check out their service. For a general overview, go here. For information on Broadjam's Web hosting program, go here. For information on how to sell your music through Broadjam, go here.

Soundclick

The free offerings at Soundclick are about halfway between the functionality of Nimbit and Broadjam. You can upload videos, photos, and build your own "radio" station of songs by other Soundclick members (there are about 3 million at last count) in addition to uploading and selling your own Mp3s. A band page, message boards, free logos, mailing lists, and blogs also are included in the free option. You can also post news about your live events.

Soundclick also has charts to show how much your music is being listened to, which can be very helpful in determining if your song has popular appeal. Plus, it's just a boost - which I've had - to see your songs hit near or at the top of the charts!

For Soundclick there is only one paid level, called VIP. As with the two other services, you have much greater control over Web design at Soundclick's paid level. You can embed links to your songs and pages in other Web pages. This allows your fans to assist you in promoting and selling your work in a manner similar to what is possible with Nimbit. Also you are eligible for featured band rotation on Soundclick's home page. Soundclick also has advanced page and song statistics for its VIP members. But the best thing about the VIP option is this: there are no popups on your pages, and no ads shoving your page placement off-center, unlike with the free option! You can check it all out at www.soundclick.com.

Think Before Tackling the Three

If you think you are ready to hit the big time for real, Nimbit and Broadjam's free options will serve you well and the paid options even better. Between the two, all the ground that record companies cover - promotion, distribution, and sales worldwide - is covered very, very well. But you might not want to tackle either one unless your music is sparkling and your Internet business plans are finely honed. Nimbit and Broadjam can overwhelm the unprepared user. You can waste a lot of time and money trying things you are not ready for at both sites.

If you are new to setting up online music operations, if your music is not quite on a professional level, or if you're not sure in what direction you want to expand your promotion, distribution, and sales, you would be well served to start with Soundclick. Soundclick can carry you a long way if you know what you are doing - the networking opportunities implied in the building of your own Mp3 station are priceless, and free.

But if you have consolidated your fan base, figured out your niche markets, honed your music, perfected your means of getting traffic to your site, built your business team and are ready to interact with the larger commercial interests in the music world, Nimbit and Broadjam are ready for you.

That's just a taste . . . more great spots are within your grasp in just minutes when you purchase the Freedom Guide here:



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

But there is something I want to say here to all you wonderful musicians out there.

Never forget to find something to give.

I have some gray hair now, so I can talk about what I've learned in my years; most of your music just isn't going to sell. Eric Beall will tell you that just about as bluntly in Making Music Make Money; he even gives you a depressing percentage on how much you can expect to have collecting dust if you look at it only in terms of what you can sell for the big bucks: 50 percent (most of the other 50 percent isn't going to do well either, to hear Mr. Beall tell it). Multiply that out over the course of a lifetime, and you can see how frustrated you're going to get about the clutter on your computer and in your house that you can't get anybody to buy from you.

Am I saying to get everything you've set aside out of its obscurity and pass it off on other folks as free stuff? Most certainly not. I am saying to adjust your thinking. Mr. Kiyosaki says in one of his books that there is always more work to be done than can be paid for; in like manner there will always be more needs to be met than the people that need are willing or able (the latter is especially true now) to pay for.

What does this mean? You will always have works on hand that you may not be able to sell in high volumes, depending on the taste of the public and the economic conditions, but that people will still love and sometimes need. On the flip side, if you determine to meet a need, you will often find money or other goods (the faster you get used to barter, the better off you are going to be in the coming days) are provided to you so that you can continue to meet that need.

I encourage you to take a chance -- by example, since if you click into my other lenses you will see that I LOVE to put out and point folks to critical information without charge -- and find works or parts of works to give away. Find a need (or niche, as it says in the actual Appendix) and fill it; if you are meant to keep filling it, you will be provided for.

Best to you and your musical endeavors! Do look over at my recommended lens to get some ideas on how to use public domain music -- the Public Domain Income Plan is worth your consideration. And of course, if you want to see my personal plan, you know the drill!



(If you want a physical copy, you can also get that by calling Marcus Bookstores of San Francisco and Oakland, at 415-346-4222 or 510-652-2344)

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