Assessment music and society Task 4

Introduction
Business within the industry, is very necessary for anyone that either has or
hasnt quiet made it within the music industry. In vital ways the music can
exploit and have exploited acts in not a good way as some record labels can give
acts contracts in which the record company gets most of the earnings whilst the
artists may get very few earnings from their own material. This is the basis on
which Ill be writing about.

Record contracts:
Record contracts are something that any artist will have to deal with when sitting
down with a very big commercial record company. You have 4 real types of
record deal; licence deal, exclusive deal, development deal, and 360 record deal.

Licence deal
Positive: you are licencing the record company to use your songs and therefore
you get more of a profit out of the record companys earnings. This means you
are not signed as you give all your songs to us on a ridiculously bad
percentage. Its almost done as the record company works around what they
want to pay for the Licencing of songs.
Negative: however you dont have as much help from the record company. This
means you have to or you have to find people to promote a lot of your stuff
yourself. It also means that a lot of the perks such as recording time, as you
dont typically get as it is money that a record company doesnt want to lose
when artist might eventually get paid more from the earning of an album or flop
to get on to the charts as well as this means that a lot of money needs to come
from your pocket as far as recording time goes as well as travel etc.

This means that its good for a profit made by a band as it gives the band control
over licencing there songs however it is bad for the band as they might not be as
commercially successful as intended.

Exclusive deal
Positive: you dont pay for anything as far as recording time goes, as well as
there Is a lot more publicity which the record company can provide.
Negative: this all sounds good when you get to the negative as a record label
takes a more substantial sum or percentage from your earnings from the album.
This means that there is less profit to be made on an artists side then the record
company side.

This in my opinion is the best as you can get unless you are going to selfdistribute because you get a lot of the record labels attention whilst them taking
a lot more of a sum then a licence deal however you can become a lot more
commercially successful.

Development deal
Positive: a lot of people will work with you as far as sitting down with song writers
and recording. As well as either your chosen instrument coaches as well as
producers. They work with you and they will promote you.
Negative: you pay into this scheme with a very hefty sum which is between 1000
and 1500 pounds depending on who you get signed with as well as if you might
not make it they keep the sum of money as well. If you dont get famous from
this scheme the company takes all your rights, to all your songs as well as your
royalties etc.

My analysis of this is a development deal can be a bit of a scam as a lot of

people dont make successful however it can be good due to you get the help
you need to become successful but obviously people in a development deal can
only do so much as its the public that makes the decision by record sales if you
make it or not.

360 deal
Positives: the record company will push you and get you out there so you can be
the biggest worldwide success you possibly can be.
Negatives: the record company gets all entitlements or percentage of
merchandise sold on bands behalf, ticket sales, as well as recording sales. The
contract can even get into things such as documentarys made about the band
or films an artist/band may want to do.

This contract is basically you signing your life away to the recording label. There
is marginally only a small amount of positives before the negatives. The record
label makes a huge profit off an artist and there is literally a small amount you
would get back as an artist.

Self-distribution
Self-distribution is something that a lot of bands / artists do after they come
commercially successful as it is very hard to self-distribute when you havent
really got a name. I say its hard to self-distribute as if you want to work with big
name producers and working in big studios.

Now record labels!

There are two types of record labels there is record companys and indie record
companys (independent record labels).

Independent record label?

A indie record label contracts can range quite a bit and the way the contract
works can range quite a bit but usually there quiet genuine people and not
usually like sharks like a lot of big commercial record companies. They usually
sign people because either there genuine fans or really like what their music is
and what it is about. The positives about indie record labels is that they dont
want to con you out of money like the big commercial labels do. The big thing
about indie record labels is that they give you a lot of attention as they dont
usually sign a lot of bands and can cater to every needs they can. Also an indie
record label doesnt get involved in your overall sound and will be happy to allow
what sound you have been signed for to go on. However have you heard of, big
fish small pond, well an indie label is that small pond so therefor sometimes
things works a bit slower and this means that some big things that a major
record label can do like a lot of PR etc. , indie labels might not have as much of
that. A lot of negatives with being that pond are things like such as;
-Getting spending money upfront (Thats rightNo allowance for fancy guitar
picks with your name on it)
-Recording in million dollar studios
-Working with a world-renowned producer
-Getting your CD on every chain-store shelf but that means that a lot of things
which is put online such as iTunes may not be allowed depending on your
recording contract. This means some of the mainstream audience may not got
hear some of a really talented musicians music.

Also you have careful (as an artist) as a major independent record label, as they
can be part of some major record company and you could still get caught up in it
when it comes to contracts as the could coincide with a major record labels
contracts deals and contracts.

Some examples of independent record labels are drag city, 4AD, and factory.

Major Record label:

In a major record label you get a lot of perks due to the labels commercial
success -High Quality Recording also you get all this; Production, Major
Distribution, Music Videos, Pro-Photography, Pro-Advertising, Tours, and
Merchandise.

However as seen with some of the record company deals (just shown before), a
lot of their contracts are designed to take allot of said artists money and
therefore can be quiet a nun-necessary idea to try and make it, in my opinion.
Some examples of record companies is EMI, virgin records, warner music group,
and Sony music entertainment.

There is also royalties:

Royalties was set up by mainly by PRS which means this lets songwriters,
publishers as well as artists and bands, to make money from there recorded
tracks. It enables them to get money through different things such as the times
you hear your favourite band on a TV commercial, film as well as covering an
artists time on the radio (every time an artist get played to the public, you get
royalties).
As well as streaming services:
Streaming services is things such as iTunes and an artist will get money every
time an album is downloaded. However there is things such as Spotify and sound
cloud which you download music for free.

Performance Right
Performing right royalties are paid to songwriters and publishers whenever their
songs are performed. It is based on a songwriters and publishers right to
perform the work or cause a sound recording to be heard in public.
Performance right royalties are paid on terrestrial radio plays of songs and songs
played in clubs, in restaurants, in bars - anywhere music is played publicly. The
royalties are also collected whenever someone does a cover version of their
song.

As a consumer this is like when we are listening to radio, TV, etc.

Print
Print royalties are generated from sheet music for writers or publishers only.
These royalties are typically bundled with performance rights royalties

Digital Performance Right

Digital Performance Right (DPR) is the right of the sound recording copyright
owner to perform or cause his/her sound recording to be performed via digital
transmission. DPR royalties are paid to record labels and performers for the
performance of their sound records via digital transmissions, i.e. satellite TV and
digital cable, non-interactive websites (including re-transmissions of terrestrial
radio), interactive webcasting services, and satellite radio.

Foreign
In addition to US copyright royalties, there are many types of foreign copyright
royalties that you may be entitled to collect. Music royalties and copyright laws
differ greatly by country. Many of the U.S. royalty organizations mentioned on
this website have agreements with foreign royalty organizations that could
benefit you. We encourage you to sign up with US royalty organizations for
worldwide royalties collection. By permitting the US organizations to represent
you worldwide, you are benefitting from the domestic and international
experience held by the legal teams in these organizations. If you opt to attempt
to collect foreign royalties directly from the foreign organization, please make
sure that you have not already authorized a US organization to collect the money
for you.

Home taping
Home taping royalties are generated from the sales of blank media such as CDs,
and digital audio home recording devices such as standalone CD burners, DAT
recorders, music centres or servers, and portable satellite radio devices which
have recording capabilities.

Mechanical
Mechanical royalties are paid to songwriters for the use of musical compositions
for use on CDs, records, and tapes. . Payment is based on sales of the CDs,
records or tapes. For instance, when a record label presses a CD of a song, a
mechanical royalty payment is due to the songwriter. If the songwriter has a
publishing deal, then the publisher gets a percentage of the songwriters
mechanical royalties.

Rental/Public Lending Rights

Rental and Public lending rights are exceptions to the distribution right and must
be explicitly provided for in a countrys laws. Rental means making available for
use, for a limited period of time and for direct or indirect economic or commercial
advantage.
Lending means making available for use, for a limited period of time and not for
direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage. For example when it is

made available through establishments that are accessible to the public, i.e.
public library.
Rental is more likely than Lending rights to require the payment of
remunerations to performers and copyright owners. One country that has a
large rental market is Japan. AARC collects Japanese rental royalties for its
members.

Sales
The most common royalty you may think of is a royalty generated from sales of
music, either at a retailer or digitally online. These royalties are not administered
by an organization, but privately contracted between the artist and record label.

Synchronization Right
To use music in a motion picture, the producer must acquire the right to record
the music in synchronized or timed relation to the pictures in a film, video or
DVD. Synchronization royalties are generated from music tied to a film, TV show,
commercial, or background music. These royalties are usually distributed with
performance rights royalties.

Corporate sponsorship
Corporate sponsorships are bridging the revenue gap that has become extremely
evident in the musicians community and is dwindling in the 21 st century.
Corporate sponsorship includes; CD sales and less-than-meaningful
micropayments from streaming services, such as Spotify and Radio are for a
musician now a day are on the decline.
The days of musicians earning money from record and merchandise sales are
dwindling at a faster rate than you would believe. In a report by David Carr of the
New York Times, musicians are now turning to brand partnerships in order to rake
in some income while music labels take a back seat.

Conclusion
To conclude my opinion on how an artist has earned his money today has been
greatly differentiated by how an artist used to earn his money (before 70s and
80s) because there was never another medium to do any listening of music back
then. It was all done through vinyl players and more record sales but I think due
to the introduction of music in our 21st century society musicians have wavered
slightly as no its not done by record sales and radio plays but through the web
or the internet. This has destroyed artist with free illegal downloads. There has
been a great incline in sharks in the music industry which in their eyes only see
dollar signs when they see sign able acts along with record companies. Theses
sharks along with major record companies (even though its not as bad now)
trick young artists to sign with very bad and unreasonable deals, as well as in my

opinion the trickery that some major indie record labels may give to you as they
may not mention when signing a contract if there part or bought up by any major
record label. To be honest a lot of the music industry when looking at record
deals are all just tricks and set up by the major record companies. Also major
record labels vs indie record labels, I think are a bit of a controversial matter, in
my opinion if you have got a good sound and you might not be as a commercial
success depending on the genre such as, metal, then I think you should consider
a major indie label that hasnt been bought out by a major record label as the
contract may be a bit of a better deal as the money you see might end up
greater. However if youre going to be the next Beyonc you may have to go with
a major record label because they will give you the right tools go be a
commercial success. But when it comes to contracts an artist needs to be very
careful nowadays. In my opinion this is why (because of the sharks) you need
artist to go to corporate sponsorship to fill there void earning which is bad on the
artists because he might not be able to afford things that he realistically should.