Sunday, September 22, 2013

You Created a Masterpiece...Now What? - Music Distribution 101


You’ve worked hard at creating your music. You’ve mastered it to perfection and created artwork for the physical CD and even gotten some pressed. But how do you really get your music out to the ears of the listening public? After all, you didn’t make your masterpiece so that it could sit on a shelf or in a file in your computer. So how DO you get distribution? Well, here’s the not-so-short and not-so-decisive answer on the subject.

In order to get their music out there, an artist must have either a distribution deal with a record label (which is rare these days) or an artist can self-distribute through many of the available sites that are online. There is a great article written by entertainment attorney Bart Day called The Different Kind Of Deals Involving Record Labels: A Thumbnail Sketch where he identifies the different considerations that an artist can have with a distribution deal with a label. Mr. Day does a nice job laying out the different deals that can be made with major labels and distributors, but most artists will not be in the position to be distributed by a major label right away. The age of the Internet has given today’s artist a viable distribution alternative, which is the Publish-On-Demand (POD) concept.

There are several online services that now assist in the distribution of an artist’s music. One of these services is TuneCore.com, where an artist can pay a flat fee ($9.99 for songs and $29.99 for albums) and TuneCore will make sure that nearly ever digital outlet in the Internet market (including iTunes) will carry that artist’s music. TuneCore is exclusively for music distribution, and it is the favorite of many of the artists with whom I work. They like it because they are able to keep the royalties from the sales and they don’t have to sign away any licensing rights.

Another service that does POD services for music is called CreateSpace.com. They only connect with one digital service, AmazonMP3, so they have less distribution power with the digital outlets. But they have a great option for physical CDs where they create CDs on demand. An artist doesn’t have to worry about spending money to press CDs and then have them collect dust. With CreateSpace’s system, the POD means exactly that…the CD is printed ON DEMAND once the ordering customer pays it for. CreateSpace takes a percentage (a fixed charge of $4.95 plus 15%). The breakdown of what an artist could expect for royalties from selling a physical CD with CreateSpace can be found here under the Pricing & Royalties tab. The nice perk about this system is that the artist doesn’t lose any money because of unsold CDs, but they can still market their catalog of CDs to fans who might buy them due to being able to publish or print on demand.

Last but certainly not least, probably the most commonly know POD site for music artist self-distribution is cdbaby.com. CDbaby is unique in that customers can actually purchase music directly from their site, and they also distribute your music to a few other digital markets such as iTunes, AmazonMP3, Spotify, and others. They don’t distribute to as many as TuneCore, but they certainly cover the main digital markets that most people visit.

Now, all three of these sites are set up for an artist to sell his or her music. Often though, in order to build their fan base, an artist will give away free downloads. This can be done in a lot of ways, but some of the most popular are ReverbNation.com, Soundcloud.com, HotNewHipHop.com, and Myspace. All these sites allow artists to upload their music, and then allow those who wish to download it the ability to do so rather easily. Many new artists must start this way, as they don’t have enough of a fan base to be successful at selling their music yet.

Whatever path an artist chooses, they should understand that just putting their music out into the world will not necessarily get them the attention that they need to make sure that the music sells. They still need fans to buy it, a way to get the word to the fans where to find it, and a way to create buzz about their single or album so that they get some press coverage for that press kit that I discussed in my last blog post. Just knowing how to self-publish or distribute, however, will go a long way towards making that phenomenal music career a reality.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Press Kits: What's In Them and Why Do They Matter?

During my Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution class this month, we have had some discussion about press kits and how important it is to have an effective press kit to be taken seriously as an artist. There are two types of press kits. One is the actual tangible, physical press kit complete with a folder of information on the artist such as bios & press clippings, likely a demo CD, maybe a demo video DVD, and any other items that an artist may feel will get him or her noticed. Then there’s the Electronic Press Kit, or EPK, where everything that would be in a physical press kit is displayed on a website. This option, along with other electronic options, can really save an up-and-coming artist a lot of money. And when an artist is young in the business, unsigned, and just trying to get themselves out there, often the one major obstacle that an artist has is a lack of money! So EPKs can be a great way to have a professional press kit for very little investment.

Before discussing EPKs at length, just to give you an idea of how much money a good, quality, professional-looking physical press kit will cost, here’s a quick breakdown of what should be included. So let’s discuss the elements of a press kit. It all starts with a great biography of the artist or band. It should be professionally written with no grammar mistakes. Some artists actually hire professional writers to write their bios. No matter who writes it, it must be professional. Amateur grammar and spelling mistakes make the artist look like an amateur in the music industry and will likely be discarded. There is a great blog article that talks more about writing a professional bio here. And don’t forget a cover letter that is personally tailored to whoever is receiving the press kit. Being personal is very important. It shows that an artist took the time to find out the decision-maker of the company to which they are sending their press kit. That speaks volumes as to how serious they are in their career.

After the great bio is written, the next piece will be a media and press section. Choose media clips that highlight you as an artist. If you have little to no press coverage to include in your kit, here’s a great article on how to triple your odds of getting music media coverage from diymusician.cdbaby.com. Along with press coverage, it is helpful to include reviews of the artist's albums or singles.

The heart of the press kit is the artist’s music itself. This should be either a full-length album or professionally recorded demo. A burnt CD from a recording off of an iPhone or a basement lab is not acceptable. Those receiving the press kit will expect that an artist takes his or her craft seriously, and a professional recording is a must. An artist shouldn't skimp on mastering their recording either. To see why, read my previous blog post here. If the kit includes an album that has been released commercially, then also include a One-Sheet. Think of a One-Sheet as a press release for an album. It should contain as much information about the album as possible, including the style of the music, any pertinent information about the recording process, a track listing, and anything else that will make the album stand out. If an artist is sending a press kit to a potential distributor of their music, a One-Sheet is an absolute must. An equipment list is also important so that venues will know what an artist will need for a performance.

Artists will also want to include some professional photos. An artist should include at least one head shot, one full body shot, and possibly a few performance photos. Don’t overload the press kit with photos, however. The music should be the star of the kit. Just make sure, as with everything else in the kit, that the photos are professionally done.

Finally, the artist and booking contact information should be included on every piece in the kit along with a professional business card from the artist or their representative. The packaging can truly make or break an artist, as unprofessional packaging will likely never get opened. Now here’s where we get into the cost of the press kit. To have a professional-looking package, it is best to use a printing company. One such company, InkRockIt.com, creates beautiful packaging, but at the best pricing, an artist can get 1,000 kits for $999.00 (including shipping & handling). That works out to about $1 per kit, which isn't bad when you see what you get (see price breakdown & samples here), but then again, it’s still a dollar shy of a Grand. That can be tough to fit in the budget for a struggling artist. Thus, using the EPK format can mean a professional kit at a huge savings.

An EPK will have the same elements, but those elements will be hosted by a website. The cover letter portion will simply be the email that is sent with the link to the EPK attached. One great website we got to use in our class was Power Press Kits. An artist can create an account and try their service for free for 15 days, and then if they want to continue to use Power Press Kits, the cost of hosting the site starts at $7.99 per month if one pays for an entire year in advance at the cost of $95.88. This may seem expensive, but when compared to the cost of making 1,000 physical kits, it’s a tenth of the price. This fee allows an artist to send an unlimited number of press kits to any number of potential interested parties. Or artists can create their own websites on many of the free blog sites. But the advantage of using a site that is specifically set up to handle EPKs is just that…they are SPECIFICALLY set up to show an artist’s EPK in the best possible way. They have the capacity to handle all the high amounts of data that an artist will want to include, and Power Press Kits comes with a media player that can play music as the reader flips through the different photos, press clippings, and other information.

No matter how an artist decides to create his or her press kit, one thing is certain. It must be created. The music industry will not take an artist seriously without one. For the artist without a press kit, music is only a hobby. It’s worth it to put some time and research into creating a press kit that shows how serious the artist is about their craft. The time and money invested will pay off in spades down the road.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Keeping Up With Entertainment Law Amongst a Changing Music Landscape


In the world of the music industry, the scope of copyright law is often stretched and contorted in an attempt to answer legal issues that didn’t even exist when said copyright law was written. Often, the current law must be interpreted in ways that the writers of the law likely never imagined. For businesses whose main product is music or the use of music, it is important to keep up with the various case law that is being created based on how the courts are ruling on these copyright issues. One way that music business such SadSon Music Group, LLC (the studio of which I happen to be a part) can keep up with the ever-changing landscape of copyright law is to pay attention to the various legal blogs and podcasts that exist on the Internet. I recently reviewed two of these said podcasts, and found some examples that illustrate my point about copyright law.

The first podcast is from the Entertainment Law Update Podcast where several copyright issues were discussed. In the podcast, entitled No copyright, Sherlock?, where entertainment attorneys Gordon P. Firemark, Esq. and Tamera H. Bennett, Esq. discuss a variety of current legal cases. One of the cases that made my ears perk up was one where SiriusXM Satellite Radio is being sued by two musicians who are former members of the band called The Turtles. The Turtles recorded several songs in the 1970’s that are being played on satellite radio stations owned by SiriusXM. Tamera discussed how XM, prior to merging with Sirius, was paying royalties to SoundExchange in order to play pre-1972 songs. Once XM merged with Sirius (who hadn’t been paying said royalties), the new company that was formed no longer paid any money to SoundExchange for the broadcast of these pre-1972 sound recordings. Why are songs recorded prior to 1972 an issue, you ask? Well, February 14, 1972 was when recorded songs began to fall under copyright protection. Prior to that, there is no law to force a radio station or other entity to pay a royalty to a copyright owner. This is an ongoing case, where case law exists both in favor of and against the defendant, SiriusXM, so it will be interesting to see how the laws created in 1972 will be applied to the new technology that is now in place.

A second podcast from Entertainment Law Update Podcast titled 360 deals, rights of publicity, and more discusses the emerging practice of record labels and what is known as 360 deals. A 360 deal is a record deal that allows the signing record label to share profits not only from the artist’s record itself, but also ownership or profit sharing of the artist’s entire career revenues. In California, there is a Talent Agencies Act that exists that says that only a licensed agency can “procure” employment for an artist. There are similar laws in New York and Tennessee (due to Nashville and the Country Music Industry). It is currently a hot issue as to if these 360 deals are in violation of the Talent Agencies Act, because the record label is NOT a licensed agent. Obviously, these laws don’t apply in most states, but the fact that most music industry business occurs in either California, New York, or Tennessee, the legal issues that arise due to the 360 deals will be an important topic to stay current on if one is to be part of the music industry in general.

Suffice to say, if one is to stay current in the legal aspects of the music industry, one must devote time every day to educate themselves about current copyright and other intellectual property issues that surface EACH DAY. This complicated world of entertainment law is even more evidence that any artist or other music industry professional would do well to retain an entertainment attorney (not just any attorney) in order to protect themselves as the legal landscape continues to shift as technology and business practices continue to change.