Need Distribution? Let's Talk about it. 2

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Hello Everyone!

Ok, I know earlier we were talking about publishing and distributing music through POD’s like Tunecore.com and CDBaby.com. Both companies offer similar options to publish and distribute your music but very different options in fees. Tunecore.com’s ability to claim and collect all of your royalties worldwide without a percentage of your sales is a plus.

I really didn’t see any ways to promote on Tunecore.com.  It’s going to be very difficult to sell anything if you don’t promote it. I like what Reverbnation.com has to offer. They help independent artist in so many ways. Not only do they help you distribute and sell your music, they offer promotional services, show bookings, app building, etc. Reverbnation helps artist keep in contact with their fans and all around digital presence all on one platform.

The whole site is a great tool for independent artist, promoters, labels, and managers. Reverbnation connects the artist’s with their social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and their Youtube accounts so you can update your digital presence all from one site. Everything is kept track of with statistic and demographic reports, a manager’s dream. They have so much to offer, you have to go and visit their site to get all the valuable information.

Reverbnation’s prices are reasonable for independent artist on a small budget. They have plans that for emerging artist starting at $19.95 per month and even for rock star level artist at $41.67 per month.  They even got basic free accounts for artist just getting started. Check them out when you get a chance.

Oh yea, for all of you film producers, I have a classmate named Kevin Petterson who did a great research on a POD site called Distribber.com. Distribber is a site that works similar to Reverbnation but for films only. When you get time check them out also. Thanks for your time again,

C.D.Wright

Need Distribution? Let's talk about it.

 

Hello Everyone! 

Thanks for checking out my blog today. It’s been a busy month since spring break and I’m happy to be back with you striving towards our careers to be successful in the entertainment business.  

In my Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution class in the Entertainment Business Master's program at Full Sail University, we are discussing a great topic on how to publish and distribute our own media, like music, books, films, and even video games. I love talking about self-distribution and publishing because I started out as an artist in this business as well. Back in those old prehistoric days were awful for independent artist, you would have to record a demo and try to get someone at a record company to sign you. Living in Oklahoma made that somewhat impossible for us in the early 90's. Then some of us were able to raise enough money to promote and sell our own music but most of us just fell to the wayside due to the lack of knowledge on what to do next or the funds to do it.

 Thank God for technology because now days with the Internet and social media, you can promote, distribute and publish your own music, books and films with POD (print on demand) sites. Companies like CDBaby.com, Tunecore.com, and Reverbnation.com are publishing and distribution companies that can help independent artist us take our careers to the next level of the game.

Since I came from the music side business of entertainment, I want to start out talking about the sites that can help us promote and sell our music to our fans. First let’s look at CDBaby.com. CDBaby.com is a great site to sell albums or singles. There are no any annual fees and they only charge $49 per album for worldwide digital and physical distribution. If you want global royalty collections then it’s $99 per album. You can sell singles for $12.95 for a sign up fee or $39 per singles if you want global royalty collections. CDBaby.com also offers disc manufacturing and you can also sell mp3’s, vinyl and physical CD’s.

            You can get a UPC code for only $20 an album or $5 per single and you can get web hosting for only $199 per year. You pay only $4 per album and artists keeps the rest of their own set price. That means we receive 91% of all digital downloads! That’s cheaper than iTunes and Amazon. You can also license your music for films, T.V., movies and even for YouTube. You can even set the amount you want to be paid out and once that amount is reached, you will be paid. Payouts are every Monday.

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Now you have other sites like Tunecore.com that offer similar ways to distribute  your music as well. TuneCore.com charges a set up fee of $29.99 and an annual fee of $49.99, but

you get to keep 100% of your sales and rights. There are no physical CD’s or vinyl to distribute, but Tunecore claims and collects all of your publishing royalties across the world. There is a $75 fee for the publishing administration.

Both of these sites are great for independent artist to sell our music to our fans and keep a good track record of it as well. Even though these sites make things easier for the artist to sell their music to their fans, you still need to promote, promote, promote. You have to build up your fan base so they will even want to pull out their credit cards and purchase your music. Let’s talk about that in my next blog.

PS: We will also talk about publishing and distributing films and books in my next post. Thanks for your time, 

C.D. Wright.

References: 

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https://members.cdbaby.com/what-we-do.aspx

http://www.tunecore.com/index/how_it_works

Intellectual Property and It's Importance.

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Today let’s talk about intellectual property (IP) and why it’s important to your business. Wipo.int describes intellectual property as creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories:  Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs (Wipo.int, 2013).

For those who are thinking about starting a business may want to consider your intellectual properties and how you may want to protect them from being infringed upon. In order for someone to protect his or her IP’s for business use will have to register for a trademark through The United States Patent & Trademark office.

When dealing with copyrights, Trout wrote in Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal For Online Business, “once an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium, copyright protection attaches. Although federal registration is not mandatory, federal registration is required to file suit in the United States and may entitle the author to recover attorney fees and statutory damages from an infringer”. (Trout 62)

So when you come up with a brand of some sort and you want to make sure no one tries to make a profit or receive credit for your work, it’s best you send it off for registration for protection. Here are a few examples of some lawsuits on intellectual properties and their outcomes.

EASTLAND MUSIC GROUP LLC v. LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT INC LLC

Lexisnexis.com states that The Eastland Music Group is the owner’s of rap duo Phifty-50 and has registered “PHIFTY-50” as a trademark. It also claims “50/50” as a trademark and contends that Lionsgate Entertainment infringed its rights by using “50/50 in the title of one its motion pictures in 2011(lexisnexis.com, 2013).

Findlaw.com states that it was determined that The Eastland Music Group could not sue for infringement because the title of the movie doesn’t refer to the producers of a rap album or group. This complaint fails at the threshold: it does not allege that the use of “50/50” as a title has caused any confusion about the film's source. According to law, titles to songs and movies cannot be copyrighted. Only confusion about origin supports a trademark claim (Findlaw.com, 2013)

I have to agree with this judgment because it makes sense. It’s so many songs and movies that utilize words for titles but have different meanings in creation. I feel that you have to be more original in your idea to have trademark protection.

ALREADY LLC V. NIKE INC.

This case with Already LLC versus Nike over the trademark infringement of Already’s brand “YUMS” for making a shoe that was similar to the Nike’s Air Force 1. Nike ended up dropping the suit because it’s trademark for the Air Force 1 was weak in my opinion and different from what Already had registered as their trademark. With Nike dropping the suit, Daniel Fisher wrote on Forbes.com that Nike provided a “ covenant not to sue” a promise to leave them alone in the future (Forbes.com, 2013)

I don’t know, maybe Nike dropped the suit because of fear they maybe exposed from infringement of trademarks to other brands. That Air Force 1 trademark registration drawing looks like other older brands of shoes if you ask me.

VIACOM V. YOUTUBE.COM

Rob Arcamona wrote on PBS.org that Viacom, the media conglomerate that owns a slew of television networks as well as Paramount Pictures, sued Google, the owners of YouTube, for direct and secondary copyright infringement (pbs.org, 2010).

The case centered on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and within the law, legislators created a way for website producers to escape copyright lawsuits, called a "Safe Harbor" provision. In order to invoke the Safe Harbor, the court ruled, YouTube must remove any material violating copyright laws once it has "specific knowledge" of particular copyrighted videos that the site is helping to distribute. Judge Stanton concluded that it was against the DMCA's purpose to hold YouTube legally liable for every video uploaded on the website -- some 20 hours of video every minute -- even if they might have had a general idea that the site was being used to violate copyright laws (pbs.org, 2010).

If you ask me, this one here is tricky. I can understand both sides of view. Viacom has a point and a right to protect their interest. Does YouTube have the right to distribute copyrighted property just because they are overwhelmed with activities? Is it fair that they can just say they didn’t know when really they did? We are going to have to figure something else out on that one. What do you think? Real Talk!

References:

Arcamona, Rob. "MediaShift . What the Viacom vs. YouTube Verdict Means for Copyright Law | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/07/what-the-viacom-vs-youtube-verdict-means-for-copyright-law183.html>.

"EASTLAND MUSIC GROUP LLC v. LIONSGATE ENTERTAINMENT INC LLC LLC, No. 12–2928., February 21, 2013 - US 7th Circuit | FindLaw." Caselaw: Cases and Codes - FindLaw Caselaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1623861.html>.

 http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/hottopics/lnacademic/676 F.3d 19, *2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 6909, **102 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1283Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P30,231

http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?oc=00240&hl=t&hns=t&hnsd=f&perma=true&lni=57FY-V131-F04K-F4MF&hv=t&csi=6443&hgn=t&secondRedirectIndicator=true

133 S. Ct. 721, *184 L. Ed. 2d 553, **2013 U.S. LEXIS 602, ***105 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1169

http://www.lexisnexis.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/hottopics/lnacademic/ 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3621, *

"Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit Over Nike Trademarks - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/01/09/supreme-court-rejects-lawsuit-over-nike-trademarks/>.

Trout, Brett J.. Cyber Law: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business. MBS Direct, 2007. <vbk:MBS983926#page(62)>.

"What is Intellectual Property?." WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization. N.p., n.d. Web.  8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/>.

Image References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nike_AF1.JPG

www.inoutfield.com

www.findlogo.net

Need Management?

Good question but not an easy answer. These days it’s so much easier for artists to manage their own careers. From utilizing social medias for marketing and promotions to selling albums and singles directly to their fans from their own websites through iTunes, artist are taking control of their own careers more than ever before. With this in mind, artist can take care of most of their business without a manager taking a cut out of their revenues. Well, that’s how we think when we are just getting started as an artist because we want to save as much money as we can, but this is not always the best answer.

For an artist to stay creative and give his all into his arts and craft, an artist has to be free from all of the stress of day-to-day business preoccupying the mind. This is not to say that an artist can’t manage their own Twitter account, but when an artist gets too busy to book their own shows and handle calls with distributors while writing a song, then it maybe time to look for some professional help.

First of all, I suggest that all artists manage their own careers or at least take part in it because it’s a learning experience that’s much needed. Once an artist has built a web presence and is performing live, then they may want to look at taking it up a notch and getting some professional help in handling their music career business to allow them to get more done creatively. Some of us artist try to handle too much at times and it will show with lack of energy somewhere down the line.

Once an artist gets the ball rolling with shows and building a web presence, they should look into seeking a manager to help build their brand up while the artist can be as creative. Now days, artist are faced with 360 Deals that label executives throw at them making them sound great. Having a manager telling you that you may want to keep on pushing before signing could be for your best interest. Check out what Kevin Liles says about 360 deals and how good they could be for you. This is where you could use a good manager.

A manager’s job can be overwhelming at times. When an artist or group is as big as Outkast, there is no way they could manage themselves. Check out a day in the life of Blu Williams, Outkast’s manager. He has more than a busy day with a group at that level. That’s what it is all about. What level you're on? Are you at the level were you can still handle your business or have you reached a level were you may need more of a professional assistant helping you? That's a decision that needs to be decided soon if you're a new artist, Real Talk!

Thanks for reading my blog and please share with friends,

Corey

References:

     "Blu Williams on Artist Management Pt 1 - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXm_bJPt_M>.   

     "Kevin Liles on Def Jam, 360 Deals, Trey Songz and Mentoring Young America - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXXrpUX6-E>.   

www.rottentomatoes.com 

www.pmpworldwide.com 

Sign Now Or Keep Pushing?

Stay Independent or…?

Would you stay an independent artist in the music industry today or would you, “hurry up and sell completely out for the quick buck”, by signing a 360 deal with a record label? These days, artists are left with the dilemma of staying independent and is it the best thing for them or should they leave it to the professionals to help them with their careers? If you ask me it’s all about your position in this negotiation.

There’s no doubt that the record industry has been in decline-mode for the past decade due to piracy and the Internet. According to "The State of the Music Industry 2012",  The Nielsen Soundscan Annual Report, 785.1 million records were sold in the U.S. in 2000, but in 2009 only 373.9 million records were sold, a 52% drop from 2000 (Nielsen, 2009). That’s to show you that in just a decade, technology has made it easier than ever before to file share music to the masses.

Traditional major record companies have been slowly fizzling out the picture when it comes to album sales so they had to figure out something. Here come the 360 deals. According to 360 DEALS AND WHAT THEY INDICATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY STRUCTURE by Jonathan E. Basofin, “labels primary objective is to capture revenue streams beyond sales of recorded music” (Basofin, 2010). In other words, the labels do not want to just depend on the artist record sales as the only way of getting paid. They want a part of the artist merchandising, live shows, publishing, and other outside commercial endorsements as well. The record companies want in on just about every source of income possible that the artist would be able to make based off of their music career. Sounds pretty steep for some, but it can be very good for the right situation for others.

I feel like Kyle Rambeu’s “360 Deals In The Music Industry-Good VS Bad”, when he states that 360 deals can be a “win-win situation for artist”, especially the ones that have been successful in touring (Rambeu, 2011). Say for instance, Jay Z, he has recently signed a 360 deal in 2008 with Live Nation, the king of concerts for a whopping $150 million. This is great, I think, for Jay because he has an established career and now has partnership with the industry giant in live shows for all his other endeavors like Roc Nation (Rolling Stone, 2008).

I also feel that if you’re an artist with a strong independent push, you have a support system with a good team and you can promote and book your own shows then you may want to keep your leverage going for yourself until the offer from the label is too good to turn down. In these days more then ever before are an abundance amount of resources on the Internet for independent artist to be able to market and promote with best of them. If you asked me, I would advise all artists to take this approach first. So when the time does come for a sit down with the majors, you will have plenty of leverage to negotiate when it comes to the percentages in your 360 deals, Real Talk!  

References:

Basofin, J. (Director) (2010, March 30). 360 DEALS AND WHAT THEY INDICATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY STRUCTURE. Entertainment Law Seminar. Lecture conducted from Professor Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Chicago.

Hiatt, B., & Knopper, S. (2008). Live Nation Strikes Deals With Jay-Z, U2; Shakes Biz. Rolling Stone, (1051), 11-12.

Rambeau, K. (n.d.). 360 Deals In the Music Industry - Good vs. Bad | Suite101. Suite101. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://suite101.com/article/360-deals-in-record-contracts---good-for-the-artist-a339869

The State of the Music Industry 2012 - | The Blend.ie - News That Matters Ireland. (n.d.). | The Blend.ie - News That Matters Ireland. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://www.theblend.ie/comment/the-state-of-the-music-industry-in-2012/

Nielsen SoundScan 2009 Annual Report, available at http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100106007077&newsLang=en [hereinafter “SoundScan 2009 Annual Report”].

Image reference:

www.qualitybath.com

Negotiations, an interview with G.F. of Problem Child Records.

By C.D. Wright

What's good my friends? Today I'm here talking about negotiating deals with other business owners. I did a quick interview with independent rap artist and CEO of Problem Child Records, G.F. out of Oklahoma City. Before I get into all of that here is a brief background of G.F. The Godfather.

G.F. short for Godfather, is an independent rap artist in Oklahoma City, reppin’ Port Author, Texas. G.F. has a great lyrical flow, descriptive like a Stephen King Novel, with an original “gangsta swag” that’s impeccable. G.F. has worked with rap artist like C-Bo, Killa Tay, Marvaless, Mob Figas (Rhyda.J.Klyde), and Fed-X. G.F. also went even further to record the underground classic "See Me Flossin", with deceased rap legend Pimp C. He has been shown interest by Scarface while Face was over Def Jam South. MCA Records also sought out G.F., alongside with several other well-known independent labels. Since then G.F. has been running Problem Child Records, his own independent label and has went on to open up shows for Slim Thug, Foxy Brown, Juvenile, West-Coast vet C-Bo, E-40, and several other prominent hip-hop factors.

The first question I asked G.F. about negotiating was when I asked him how does he separate the people from the problem when negotiating?

When I asked G.F. that question he went on to tell me about the time he negotiated the deal to get Pimp C on a track with him. G.F. said he first spoke to Pimp C’s manager at the time and his manager gave him a price of $20,000 for a verse. G.F. stated to him that he thought that was too high and out of his price range. The manager went in the positional bargaining tactics direction. He used his position to belittle and attack G.F’s ego and position to negotiate his side of the deal. Then G.F. told the manager that he wanted to speak to Pimp C directly to see if this was legit, but when he got Pimp C on the phone he could only pay Pimp C $5,000. Pimp C told G.F. that he would only freestyle his verse if that’s all he was going to pay him. G.F. then flipped the game and attacked Pimp C’s ego when he told him he would “murder him”, lyrically of course, if he decided to just free-style on the track. G.F. seen Pimp C later that night a show Pimp C was doing and the sound equipment had messed up so he caught him in a situation were he was in Okc and he might as well make a few more thousand while he is here. G.F. separated the people from the problem by focusing on what both parties truly wanted and not the positions people.

Next, I asked G.F.,do you utilize objective criteria when negotiating? How?

G.F. said of course. Having objective criteria when negotiating is like a war tactic G.F. explained. He went on and spoke about a negotiation deal he did with West-Coast Mafia CEO and artist C-Bo. He spoke about that he knew first hand that C-Bo would do a track for a cheaper rate than what he requests. G.F. knew a friend that just got C-Bo on a track for one price that sounded reasonable. By G.F. knowing that C-Bo had done a verse for cheaper and was not in high demand as earlier in his career, G.F. not only said that he only had a certain amount and put the cash on the table. He knew it would be hard for C-Bo to turn down the cash that was in his site and plus C-Bo was cool with artist in Oklahoma City so he didn’t put up a fuss about it.

Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal?

G.F. started speaking about a time when he had to negotiate with a club owner when he was promoting a show with Trae’ The Truth. G.F. said the club owner wanted a fixed upfront price. G.F. said instead he asked the club owner to take a percent of the door. Also he added that he would buy out the bar and give the club owner a cut of the bar sales as well. By doing this, G.F. was able to come to a mutual agreement for a mutual benefit for both him and the club owner. The club owner was cool with that deal and G.F. was able to have the show with Trae The Truth and the club owner made his money for the club.

G.F. has demonstrated various negotiation skills with his label for business. It is very important that we negotiate to make things happen instead of being so cut and dry with each other when we want to do business but our egos sometimes get in the way.

Real Talk!

Check out G.F. The Godfather on; Reverbnation.com/7deucegf, Facebook.com/joegfcool, Youtube.com/tokool72, and Twitter.com/@gf72