Musicians should know at least the basics about broadband. Our microphones work on broadband (due to spectrum). Our music, played through the internet, is heard because of broadband. If that’s not important enough, broadband enables Americans to learn, research, engage in civic activities, economic opportunity and contribute to the clean energy economy through lower carbon emissions and energy efficiency. If a community lacks access to broadband, and many in the United States today still do, their connect-ability is impeded. In early 2009, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission to create a National Broadband Plan to ensure that every American has access to broadband. When President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nearly $7.2 billion was obligated for broadband-related activities under the auspices of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service. The final funds were dispensed and so far the reports have been positive. Read more .
Tag: Future of Music Summit (Page 1 of 2)
Future of Music Summit
Imagine that you are the host of a party in 1985. You grab your giant box of vinyl records and drop it next to your record player and begin spinning, acting as your own DJ. Guests come by the standard 8-foot banquet table that you have assembled and flip through the cardboard folders looking for their favorite artists. Unfortunately, you have Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album but not U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. Fast forward to cassette tapes, and though the table gets smaller and the box lighter, you still run out of listening options.
My how things change. Today we have subscription-based music services. For $9.99 per month, subscribers can listen to their choice of millions of songs on a mobile app, online, on a home listening device, mp3, iPhone or iTouch. I spoke with Brendan Benzing, Rhapsody’s chief product officer, about how subscription-based services benefit music fans and artists.
Benzing describes subscription-based services as a “powerful music experience” and likens it to being your on DJ. Instead of downloading each song, thereby limiting a listener’s musical choice by affordability and storage space, a listener has, in the case of Rhapsody, 10.5 million songs to experience. The rationale is this: consumer tastes can be fickle and music can be enjoyed one moment in time and discarded the next. Benzing believes that an access-based model is the preferred choice because the overall experience for listeners is heightened by their ability to control the experience. Listeners can explore a wider variety of music, when and where they want.
Today, there are only about two million people who use subscription-based services. While digital downloads account of the great majority of digital revenue, Rhapsody and its competitors are expecting that as the cost of data services in the mobile market continues to decrease, and subscription services become accessible on more platforms and devices (Rhapsody is already available on more than 30), the number of subscribers will continue to increase. Benzing says that once subscribership achieves a mass-market level (I won’t hold him to an exact number), its payouts will make an even greater impact on labels and independent artists alike.
I asked Benzing how a subscription-based business impacts smaller artists. He responded that subscription-based services are good for artist discovery because listeners are not limited by their wallets. For a flat fee, listeners can discover new artists and categories of music. Rhapsody has deals with labels, and independent artists can be included in Rhapsody’s catalog through companies like CD Baby, tunecore, and The Orchard.
Music subscription service is certainly a business to watch. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing how this market develops (will Apple enter?) and how artists will be both discovered and compensated in it.
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- Shai Littlejohn
Shai Littlejohn is an attorney in the music industry, singer-songwriter and Professional Music major at Berklee. She is currently interning with the Future of Music Coaliton, an artist’s rights lobby and advocacy group in Washington DC. Though late November, Shai will work as an integral member of the coalition team in developing, organizing and promoting both the Future of Music Policy Summit as well as the Dear New Orleans Benefit Rock Show.
Follow Shai on Twitter for continuing tips and updates on music law and policy at https://twitter.com/ShaiMusic.
See also:
Future of Music Series: Is the 360 Degree DIY Model Good for Musicians?
Future of Music Series: Internet Streaming Revenue
Future of Music Series: The Role of Video
Future of Music Series: The Shrinking Pie
Future of Music Series: Setting the Stage on Music Policy
Future of Music Series: Shai Littlejohn
Partial To-Do List for Emerging Artists:
Register your copyrights, build a website, create and manage Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook accounts, write a newsletter, form a company, get health and equipment insurance, trademark your name and logo, register with a performing rights organization, draft an agreement between band members, contact venues, schedule appearance dates and negotiate terms, design t-shirts and other merch (and sell it), write your music, record your music, produce it, mix it, and then distribute it. And make sure that it’s all done right and above all that your music is good.
This laundry list is several occupations rolled into one where the music sort of comes last. So, who has time for the craft? If you think you might fall short in your knowledge of at least half of these areas, you are not alone. So is the do-it-yourself model necessary for musicians or is it detracting from the music?
At the 2010 Future of Music Policy Summit in Washington DC, Emcee and hip hop entrepreneur Oddisee explained that it is important for artists to work the business side of their craft but that artists must be careful to put the music first. He believes that “the better the music, the easier it is to get the music out. “ Oddisee turns the business switch off when it is time to create. He only works the business side once the music is totally complete.
Both Oddisee and jazz musician Marcus Johnson (JD/MBA) seemed to agree that you should work the business yourself for as long as possible, particularly the parts that you can do well. This way, you’ll know what it takes to perform each role and whether the person you eventually hire is actually making or wasting hard earned dollars. On the flip side, Eric Garland, Founder of BigChampagne Media Measurement, said that the notion that an artist has to do it all is “false if it is not in your heart.”
Composer and producer T. Bone Burnett expressed a similar sentiment saying,“Artists can’t run a marketing campaign and review data . . . you need to focus on your music.” “What good is it to sell something that is not great? Get the music right first.”
Chuck D, co-founder of Public Enemy, added that part of the DIY pressure is caused by the expectation, created by the major labels, that artists attempt to create a national audience. Chuck D assured us that a “local vibe” can be incredibly effective. Artists can be successful with a small, local fan base, which removes pressure for artists to spread few resources across a plethora of geographic areas.
So the success or failure of the DIY model is probably dependent on each musician and his ability to create in spite of the distraction that business can cause. While there are some musicians whose only measure of success is a national reputation and wealth, it is important to acknowledge that we can succeed as artists even though we might fail commercially. We have to remember what music means, how it makes us feel, and simply respect music as an art first.
________________________________________________________________________________
- Shai Littlejohn
Shai Littlejohn is an attorney in the music industry, singer-songwriter and Professional Music major at Berklee. She is currently interning with the Future of Music Coaliton, an artist’s rights lobby and advocacy group in Washington DC. Though late November, Shai will work as an integral member of the coalition team in developing, organizing and promoting both the Future of Music Policy Summit as well as the Dear New Orleans Benefit Rock Show.
Follow Shai on Twitter for continuing tips and updates on music law and policy at https://twitter.com/ShaiMusic.
See also:
Future of Music Series: Internet Streaming Revenue
Future of Music Series: The Role of Video
Future of Music Series: The Shrinking Pie
Future of Music Series: Setting the Stage on Music Policy
Future of Music Series: Shai Littlejohn
Any discussion on the future of artist compensation is incomplete without mentioning the potential for revenue generated by internet streaming. The performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC) collect and distribute performance revenue for the owners of copyrighted musical works. Those entities do not however collect revenue for the online streaming of sound recordings owed to owners of the sound recording copyright. This responsibility has been exclusively granted by The Copyright Royalty Board (under the authority of the Library of Congress) to the non-profit organization, SoundExchange. SoundExchange collects digital performance royalties generated by the streaming of sound recordings over satellite radio (like Sirius XM), internet radio (like Pandora), and cable television music channels, on behalf of featured recording artists, master rights owners (like record labels), and independent artists who record and own their masters.
Artist compensation has changed, and artists who previously used touring and record sales as primary sources of income, are compelled to find additional revenue streams. Can the exposure opportunity offered on YouTube for music videos result in noteworthy revenue? Can it help to establish your artist identity? The popular rock band OK Go made a rather unintentional entre into the world of online music videos with a video that cost just a few dollars to create. The band created the video unbeknownst to the label, and when they showed it to the head of digital marketing, he said, “If this gets out, you’re sunk.” The label was obviously wrong, and OK Go eventually became famous, not only for their music, but also for the treadmill, marching band, and end love YouTube videos among others. Band member, Damian Kulash, spoke on Tuesday at the 2010 Future of Music Policy Summit sponsored by the Future of Music Coalition here in Washington DC.
As for OK Go, the videos have undoubtedly added to the band’s revenue though the exact amount is difficult to measure. Damian says that OK Go has a video fan base that consists of some people who “would never buy a ticket for a rock show” and “some of the people who watch our videos don’t even know that we are a band.” Still he says that a segment of video fans do purchase tickets, merchandise, and downloads. As for sponsorship and product placement in the videos, Damian said that while the band exercises caution in this area, OK Go is able to show potential marketers exactly how many hits their videos are likely to generate, which means potential revenue for the band, even after what ranges from a $5,000 investment for the treadmill video to over $400,000 for another.
I asked Damian which comes first, the music or the video, and he insists that the music still comes first.
“Music has always been a social and passionate engagement for me,” he says. “The music simply provides a backdrop for the video that the band envisions and really lives a life of it’s own.”
The band’s creativity also extends beyond music and video to merchandise sales. For example, to connect with fans (more than for the revenue generating opportunity), OK Go sold thirteen of the marching band outfits in their video for about $90 a piece.
Other artists attending the Summit, felt like musician Rebecca Gates who said, “I struggle with the combination of audio and video because I am a musician and it’s about what you hear. I am not a filmmaker. . . ”
Perhaps the most important point that came out of this discussion was that video is a choice. It is not the only way to promote an artist’s work and create revenue, but it is one effective way.
________________________________________________________________________________
- Shai Littlejohn
Shai Littlejohn is an attorney in the music industry, singer-songwriter and Professional Music major at Berklee. She is currently interning with the Future of Music Coaliton, an artist’s rights lobby and advocacy group in Washington DC. Though late November, Shai will work as an integral member of the coalition team in developing, organizing and promoting both the Future of Music Policy Summit as well as the Dear New Orleans Benefit Rock Show.
Follow Shai on Twitter for continuing tips and updates on music law and policy at https://twitter.com/ShaiMusic.
See also: