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”].

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