Believe it or not, I receive the inspiration for my articles from letters I receive from the people who visit this site. Your letters and your questions are the issues I address. Why do I do this? It's simple, I love people and I love music. Doing this allows me to help others avoid the mistakes I have made. Plus, it also helps to sharpen my own music industry savy. So, keep those letters coming!
Also, as of April 20, 2006, I have finally added a proper forum to this site. We can finally interact on a one-to-one basis with each other and the other visitors to this site… By all means, feel free to go to the Vixette Review forum
Page 3 Articles:
"What? I need to be a publisher too?"
"Personal Niche: your key to success."
Page 1 Articles:
"How to succeed in the music business"
"Singing tips for vocalists"
Page 2 Articles:
"Protecting your band name and your music"
"The money-go-round"
"Am I allowed to breath, without a license?"
Please take the time to check out some of my music at the Cheyenne Music site
What? I need to be a publisher too?
Although I may be moderately well versed in the music industry, I believe in being forthright and giving credit where credit is due. The bulk of this articles is from the efforts of Michael P. McCready. Mr. McCready is a high-standing and respected, music industry attorney, located in the Chicago area.
First off, what is publishing? Publishing is a lucrative area for bands that write their own material. When a band writes a song, they own the copyright in that song. Publishing is the money you receive for writing the song. A quick distinction must be made between the copyright in a song and the copyright of a sound recording. When you record the song for a record company, the company owns the copyright of the sound recording (the version you record for them), but you retain the copyright of the underlying song. Remember, if you are under contract with Sony, BMI, Mercury or any other label, you, technically, are a work for hire under a agreed contract for an agreed amount. The sound and music you produce belongs to that label. Keep that in mind. Publishing money comes from the copyright of the song, not the sound recording. Bands that write songs own this particular copyright and receive publishing money from their ownership.
The owner of the song is entitled to certain exclusive rights. This means that only the copyright owner can do certain things with his song, unless people pay him to use it. When people pay the copyright owner, the owner is said to grant a license. The money from these licenses is what is called publishing. There are essentially four areas of publishing income: performance, mechanical, print and synchronization. There are a few others, but they rarely come into play.
The right to prohibit public performance of your song is the first right and area of publishing income. No one can play your song in public unless they pay you. BMI and ASCAP are responsible for collecting money for licenses from people who want to play your music. For example, every time your music is played on the radio, you are entitled to performance license money, which BMI, ASCAP or SESAC will collect for you. These organizations are involved in one small area of publishing (performance licenses) and are not true music publishers, but I will touch on this later.
The second right of the copyright owner is the right to reproduce the song. This is known as a mechanical right, which gets its name from when they used to mechanically make records on wax tablets. This technique is gone but the name remains. A mechanical right means that each time someone makes a physical copy of the song, you own the copyright for, you receive money. The current rate, as set by the United States Copyright Office, is a minimum of 7.1c per song. Once again, there are exceptions to this, but they are too complicated to go into here. If you write 10 songs on an album at 7.1c per song, you will receive 71c for every album made. If you sell a million albums, it does not take an accountant to figure out you are looking at serious publishing money.
The third and fourth main areas for publishing money are print and synchronization licenses. These are small compared to performance and mechanical, but they are additional sources of revenue. A band receives publishing money from a print license any time the song is written down and published. For example, the piano score for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has probably made a lot of money from print licenses. Money from print licenses is usually a few cents per copy printed. A synchronization license, affectionately know as a "synch" license in the industry, is granted any time your song accompanies a visual image. Videos are a good example of synch licenses. In addition, commercials, movie soundtracks, and background music on TV are also examples of publishing money from synch licenses. The amount of money for a synch license varies widely. Your record company will demand a free license for a video while a feature song for a movie soundtrack from an established artist can exceed $100,000. Each license will generate a different fee.
Since figuring out how much money everyone owes you from your publishing can be difficult, many bands hire a publisher. A publisher's job is to collect all this money for you. They will also have a better idea of the going rate for the various licenses you will want to grant. For example, how much would you charge for a commercial, which wanted to use your song? Publishers "administer" your copyrights, which is just an industry term for collect money. Not surprisingly, publishers do not do this for free. Most publishers will collect your money and give you half while they keep the other half as a fee. There are other arrangements, but this is the standard publishing deal. It surprises many bands when they find out that they actually sign over (assign) the copyright to the publishing company. A publishing agreement usually states that the band assigns their copyright to the publisher and in exchange, the band will receive one half of the publishing revenues generated. In this way, it really does not matter that you do not own the copyrights, as long as you still receive your money. For those of you who want to know why you must assign your copyright, the answer lies in a legal technicality that states the owner of the copyright must sue to enforce a copyright. You pay the publisher to take care of enforcing your copyright for you. Ask yourself one question: would you rather be in court or on the stage?
Many record contracts force you to give your publishing to their publishing company. This should be avoided if possible; it is just another way for the record company to take more of your money. The reputation of publishers is very important. Only sign a publishing agreement with a company that knows what they are doing. A good publisher will make you money. The alternative is to administer your own publishing and set up your own publishing company for your songs. This is something that I highly recommend. You are allowed greater control of your own music and you get to collect much more of the rewards. Unfortunately, if you do it foolishly, you also get to deal with the legal headaches.
Setting up a publishing company is very easy. The first thing you need to do is send away for the forms. Call either BMI (212) 586-2000 or ASCAP (212) 621-6000 and request a "Publisher's Application." If the individual band members have not affiliated with one of these performing rights societies yet, request "Writer's Applications" as well. When you receive the forms, read them carefully. Each application requests five potential names for your publishing company. Be creative so there is more of a chance of acceptance. After selecting a name, the application will request background information on who owns the publishing company. If the band will own the publishing company, list each band member and check "partnership" unless the band is a corporation. The application will also ask for a tax identification number. Write "applied for" in this box. I will explain later why this is necessary. If only one person will own the publishing company, use your personal social security number. Send the Publisher's Application and $100 check and in a few weeks, you will be notified of the name of your new publishing company.
When you get the approval for the name, you must fill out IRS Form SS-4, which is a request for a tax identification number, also called a Employer Identification Number (EIN). Fill this form out using the name of your new publishing company and you will receive your EIN number. Write to BMI or ASCAP and tell them of your new number. Remember, you must file taxes if you receive any money from your publishing company.
Finally, you need to apply for a business license, also known as a d/b/a (doing business as) license. Contact your county Recorder of Deeds to find out the procedure. Normally, you pay a small application fee and then publish the notice in the newspaper. You will then receive your business license.
With your EIN and business license, go open a bank account in the name of your publishing company. Remember that any checks you receive will be made out to your publishing company. How do you expect to cash them unless you have a bank account? That is all there is to it, you now have a fully operational publishing company. Did I say fully operational? Not quite, you still need to run your publishing company.
As I mentioned earlier, a band receives publishing monies when they have a song played on the radio or when a record company manufactures their tape or CD. It stands to reason, if you don't have a record contract or your music is not played on the radio, you don't need to have a publishing company. Why set up a publishing company if there is no money to collect? Concentrate your money on more important things like copyrights, protecting the band's name and advertising. Wait until you get to the point where you feel a record contract or radio airplay would be feasible in the foreseeable future, and then set up a publishing company.
Please keep in mind; the things I am telling you are for bands that want to run a publishing company for their own songs, not for someone who wants to be a full-fledged publishing company for many different artists.
Here is how a publishing company collects the money for a songwriter. First, for every song the band records and releases fill out a BMI or ASCAP form. Remember, your publishing company and each band member belongs to either BMI or ASCAP. Both performing rights societies require you to fill out a form for each song. The information on the form asks for each songwriter and what percentage they will receive. This may be the case for the distribution of funds, but not for the copyright itself. The US copyright office does NOT differentiate between percentages. You may inform BMI that one member of the band contributed 30% to the song; while another contributed only 10% and you were responsible for the remaining 60%. As far as the Copyright office is concerned, the three of you have an EQUAL share of the copyright. The second half of the form asks for who the publisher is. Fill in the name of your publishing company in this section. BMI and ASCAP monitor how often songs are played on the radio (among other things). They take that money and give half to the writers directly and half to the publishing company.
The second area of income from publishing companies comes from mechanical royalties. A band (through the publishing company) is entitled to mechanical royalties every time the record label makes a copy of their tape or CD. Currently, a copyright owner received 7.1c per song per copy. This means if the band wrote 10 songs on their CD, they will receive 71c per CD. Seventy-one cents multiplied by 100,000 adds up. This is publishing money, which the publishing company must collect. Fortunately, just like BMI and ASCAP, there is a company that performs this function as well. Contact The Harry Fox Agency at (212) 370- 5330. They will require you to fill out a form very similar to the BMI/ASCAP forms. It will identify the songwriter and the publishing company. Harry Fox will do the rest.
The Harry Fox Agency can also negotiate synchronization licenses for you as well. A synchronization license is one you grant to television to play your song accompanied by video images. There is a small fee, but a band's publishing company should avail itself of the Harry Fox Agency's experience in such matters.
Finally, a band's publishing company will want to enter into sub-publishing deals for foreign countries. Since you don't have the ability to collect money in Europe, your publishing company enters into a sub-publishing deal for other countries. The details are beyond the scope of this article, but foreign publishing operates similarly to the procedures detailed above.
As you can see, a publishing company is charged with collecting money, but they can use BMI/ASCAP, the Harry Fox Agency, and foreign sub-publishers to collect the money for them. Therefore, for the band, who wants to operate their own publishing company, it really isn't too difficult.
There are a few other areas of publishing income but they are of little significance (meaning there is little money in it). Once again, I don't recommend a band start a publishing company until they have reached a point where a record contract or their song is receiving radio play on commercial radio, is imminent. These are the main sources of revenue from publishing, so if you don't have either, you are wasting your money. Wait for the appropriate time in your career to start a publishing company. But when you do, hopefully, this will have given you some guidance.
So, you’ve got talent: You can write and perform in virtually any genre anyone could possibly imagine. Jazz to Reggae, Classical to Rock, Techno to Rap: they’re all in your repertoire.You can belt out a Rock tune that could rival Steven Tyler and the next day, you could sit down and write out a Jazz medley that could have Miles Davis taking notice. To you, music is music and you love all of it. It’s all good and you can well appreciate the subtle and unique differences each genre or sub-genre has to offer. It is all just different ways and means of personal self-expression. You’re a natural, a sure-to-be overnight success, it’s just a matter of time. Right?
Wrong.
Unfortunately, success in the music industry can only occur in one genre at a time and that genre may not be where your true passions lie. Take me, for example, my passions are rooted in classic Rock. I grew up with the Beatles, the Stones, Zeppelin, CCR, etc., and had always despised country. Who’d have thought that I would have ended up finding the key to my musical success behind the microphone as the lead vocalist for a country music band?
Granted, you may simply be a songwriter who composes melodies and lyrics for sale to the highest bidder; or on the open market, as a work for hire. You’ve no intention to perform or seek any sort of fame behind a studio microphone. You may think that this article does not apply to you. Well, my friend, it does. Keep reading and you’ll discover the bitter truths.
Whether you are a songwriter, a performer or both, your increased success lies in acceptance and recognition in just one genre. Once you have achieved success in that one genre, then, and only then can you hope to open up any and/or all other genres. To break into that one genre, the more “tools” you have at your access the better. Use the influences from the others, but stick with the one genre. Why do I suggest this? Simple, the music business is very competitive and cut-throat. The more you diversify, the tougher it becomes to compete, as you will not be able to contribute 100% of your efforts to any one thing. Once you're in, then, you can have the luxury of diversification. Also, you run the risk of losing a potential contact because he may not like the type or style of music he hears upon first listening. What do I mean by this and how does it affect you?
Trust me, I learned this one the hard way.
As a "for Instance," via a friend, you manage to secure a meeting with a music exec and he hears one of your blues ballads, which you penned and/or performed. In less than 30 seconds into the song, he looks at you, thanks you for your time and informs you that he'll "be in touch." Needless to say, the call never comes. Why? He was a Rock/Pop producer, who never got the chance to hear that “kick-ass, rockin’, guitar screaming, blast" you’d also written. You had just suffered a case of: Wrong genre, wrong person, wrong time.
Oh, I used to thing the same way myself: "Rock, Jazz, Blues, Country, Classical, Pop ... I can write, perform and do it all." The truth is: no, I can't ... rather, to start... I'm not allowed, not if I want to play on their ball field. Just like all sports cannot be generalized into one sport, the notion, “music is music,” cannot be placed as a generalization.
Sure, I can play baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf and tennis. But how great at any one of them can I become, if I split my time and efforts between them all? Please, do not make the mistake I did, in thinking, "Yes, but we are talking Music here and not baseball, football, basketball, etc..." Aren’t we? Collectively, they are known as, "Sports." Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Opera, Hip Hop, Rap, Classical, Country: They are all considered music. Well, I seriously wonder about rap sometimes... but that's just my personal taste.
To put this in perspective: If you've got a try-out with the Los Angeles Lakers and you show up ready to play, with shoulder pads, cleats and a football tucked under your arm: You may have a problem making the team. Regardless how well you may play basketball, they'll never let you off the bench to prove it. It's the same with the music industry. If you show up with the wrong equipment, you will not be invited to play.
Sure, there are a ton of lower level execs out there that will record anything and everything. I've even known a few to do it for free - for future exposure and/or percentages, of course. But, they are not the people who pull the purse strings on the potential market. They, like you, are trying to make their way to that spot. Do not be fooled by labels or fancy titles. Just because someone has or owns a recording studio, claims to be a producer, a manager, a booking agent or any type of a musician; it does not make him or her any better off or have any more connections than you already have or cannot easily acquire yourself, through a tiny bit of effort. In this industry you need to be smart and use your own mind, ears and heart. I’ve had countless numbers of so-called producers, managers, agents make me promises and offer all things, shy of the world itself. But, with a quick listen to the abilities of their former clients, whose musical abilities where somewhat lacking; an intuitive bit of insight as to the real knowledge and personal abilities - rather, lack of abilities - they could demonstrate; and the insecure feeling I had in their true abilities to produce what they promise; it was easy to deduce that this “professional” was merely trying to achieve the same things that I was trying to achieve, but with a different venue. He too was merely a music artist trying to find his way into the potential successes the music industry could offer. Just because a “professional’s” instrument is a soundboard, a generous gift of gab or a fountain pen, instead of a guitar, does not make them any better or more connected than you already are or can easily become.
Forgive me for taking this brief departure for a moment, but this is crucial. If a lower level exec can, in fact, offer you a chance to make a low cost demo, inexpensively allow you to record an entire music catalog, make it possible for you to get those few extra paying gigs, introduce you to a few other connections, or anything else that can help you along your career: use his or her services, provided it is a quality service. I cannot stress this enough. A poor recording is likely to doom you from the start. Very few, if any, upper-level reputable execs will even consider a substantially sub-par demo. Even if you were charged $100 for your demo, if it’s sub-standard, you have just wasted $100.
Back to the topic...
In a previous paragraph, I made mention that the Rap genre is not to my taste. This does not mean that an aspiring Rap artist lacks talent, ability or potential. But, if I were an influential music exec and a rap artist came into my office, 20 to 30 seconds into his demo, I would be looking for the “off” button. I am not knowledgeable in the rap industry or market. Even if I wanted to help that person, I would not be qualified or possess the connections to help that person. If the same artist walked into one of my rehearsals and offered to sell me a song, I would not be interested. I do not perform that style of music. He will have wasted his time, time that could have been spent pitching to someone more beneficial to him.
But, what if this Rap artist was of the sort who did have that natural ability to move and adapt to any and all sorts of genres. Would he succeed any better? Yes and no. Unfortunately, execs are a fickle bunch and very opinionated. They don’t necessarily play on hunches, like the stereotypes lead you to believe. They play on hard, cold facts, based on a monetary potential from what know and their own personal tastes. Walk in with the wrong song, you may not get the opportunity to have a second or third songs heard. So, the trick is, to target your audience and cut down the odds.
Bare in mind, of all your potential talents, it may not be your favorite genre, with which you find success. Look at your potential audience, the marketing possibilities, local and national demands, and availability of access to contacts... your "Niche", if you will. Where ever and whichever genre and style this "niche" lies, is where you will find your key to the elusive door. Although passions play the major role, you must look towards your local potential. A blues artist will stand a much better chance in and around New Orleans to form a band, than he would in Austin, TX. A Rap artist in the back woods of Kentucky is going to have a very difficult time ever being noticed and/or appreciated. Look at your local area and nearby surrounding area. This is where you will get your start; your initial talent core and backing will come from this area. If you cannot even get started, you very well cannot expect to succeed.
Age and personal influences play a major role in where your niche will lie, as well. Brittany Spears does not target her audience towards the 40-something crowd. Meanwhile, Leanne Rimes, who is about the same age as Brittany, does. Different genres. If you are 40 years-old and you’re desire is to relate to a “teeny-bopper” audience, you may have a few additional problems finding your success. But, still, the Pop and Rock genres are not out of your reach. Remember, Tina Turner’s first #1 hit appeared when she was 50 years-old. Huey Lewis was no youngster when he first began. Cher’s solo career didn’t start taking off until she was well into her 30’s. Then, you must ask yourself, what are my influences, my passions and my audience? To whom can I relate? If your influences were Miles Davis, Billie Holliday and Ziggy Elman, you’d be hard pressed to win over a 20- something Pop crowd in the middle of Los Angeles. You would have a very trying time selling your music, forming a band or getting anyone to listen. Unless, of course, you disguise your influences within a different genre, a genre more appropriate to your local audience. There is nothing wrong with a Jazz influenced rock tune... in fact, we could use a bit more of that!
I think the perfect example and the best way to sum up what I am trying to say to you is: Shania Twain. Growing up, her passions were for good old-fashioned, rock-n-roll. Her first album was an obscure independent release, featuring Shania - then known as "Eileen Twain" - performing and blasting out 80's Techno-Rock, something akin to Lita Ford. As you may well know, it went nowhere. Then, she wised up to her market potential and local demands and began to perform exclusively in the country genre. In this niche, she found her success and her key to the major music industry doors. Once she was in and established, she then began to diversify out into the Pop music industry. Now, if you had never heard her prior to today’s date and were to hear her for the very first time, you'd swear she was more akin to Britney Spears, than to Faith Hill. But, she has the luxury of doing that.
It is the same with writers: Once you make a name for yourself, all the other doors will open. Bare in mind, the first step to achieving true success and true creative freedom is to get out of your local area. To do this, you have to be heard and you have to “sell” your music to the people of your own hometown and surrounding areas. By “sell,” I don’t necessarily mean monetary. I mean more of an appreciation and desire to hear, play and be a part of your musical creations.
However, staying with one genre does not mean generalization or commercialization of the stereotypes of that genre. Here's the catch-22: you have to be true to a genre, yet be completely different from everyone else in that genre. Still, your influences of the various genres will help you greatly. Use them. On the Cheyenne music site, my former producer placed three songs, all country within the Country genre, yet all three are different: a ballad, a rock influenced and a blues influenced. All three are completely different, yet all three are essentially the same. The trick to “cross-over,” is to have enough of your other influences involved in your music; wherein, a person who claims to dislike your genre alters his or her opinion upon the first listen.
Another thing to keep in mind is the amount of competition you may have in a particular genre in any one given area. In extreme cases, you may forego your chosen genre for the second most popular genre in that area. In an earlier paragraph, I mentioned Jazz and New Orleans. Granted, of all the cities in the world, New Orleans is one of the very best places to be if you would like to form a Jazz band. However, you and 200 other aspiring musical talents are out there, all competing to be heard on a limited number of stages. If the competition is so great that it is darned near impossible to even be heard, you may consider a different genre, where the competition is not so heavy. After all, the main thing, once you are ready to do so, is to become heard - subsequently, to become known as a legitimate talent. You very well cannot do that if there are 200 other talents standing in line in front of you.
In the Country music genre, I cannot count how many times people have asked me why I don’t move to Nashville. “I’m not going to Nashville until I am invited to do so!” If I lived there, I’d be just another nameless, faceless hopeful, amidst a vast array of aspiring artists, struggling to get even a single note of their music heard. Elsewhere, the market may not be in a huge demand, but there is always an audience to be had. Provided you have some degree of talent, the passion to carry you through and music that people want to hear; with a lesser degree of competition, you will get that chance to be heard. Make your mistakes at home; with the people you already love you. Correct those mistakes, hone your talents and polish your skills. Then, in the next town - the one that is 60 miles away - book your act or sell your works there. Sooner or later, you will come to realize how much in demand you are and be able to extend that 60 to 100 mile radius even further. You keep expanding, sooner or later; you’ll be in demand in multi-state locations. That’s exactly how the majority of the most successful people in the music industry managed to earn their success.
Within my own personal successes in the music industry, I never reached a point where I would be considered nationally popular or a celebrity. Still, I did manage to reach a point where persons, who were heavy fans of the genre, would recognize the band and our music. Admittedly, I still get a thrill when I am in a city, other than my own, half way across the country, and have someone recognize me or say, after I mention the name of the band, for which I sing, “That’s you?Wow, I know that group! I saw you last year...” As thrilling and exciting as that may be, I think I get a greater feeling of accomplishment when I hear someone say to me, “I hate Country music!” Then, after a single listen to one of our songs, that same person turns to me and says, “That’s not too bad. I like this. Where can I buy one of your CD’s?” Ah, a Country convert.
Please forgive me for taking such liberties, as to suggest what you should or should not do. Personally, I think if you have the talent and the potential to achieve your heart's desires, go out and do so. But, do not be surprised if you find your successes, via the vehicle of a genre you least expected. Step back for a moment, take a good look at your local market: the competition, demand for a particular type of music, availability of fellow musicians, number and type of venues to perform. Add to this: your own personal passions, influences, talents and desires - and find your niche. Once you have achieved, to the level you desire, then you may open up, spread you wings and find the freedom of personal musical expression you so desire. Nevertheless, through your passions, style and influences, always be sure to give them just a hint of what you really intend to do.
It may obvious that your passions lie within the music. It can heard in every note you perform or write. But, target one genre, one market place and find your own personal empassioned niche.
I wish you all the best and I hope I have been and can continue to be helpful in your quest.
As always the Vixette Review forum is available for any further questions, comments, suggestions you may have.
