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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Record Companies Transform As Consumers Ask For More
High profile album releases are now often accompanied by hundreds of digital formats and products including the album itself, digital singles, exclusive digital tracks, digital ‘bundles’, artwork, videos and a whole range of music products created for mobile phones. While music products diversify, the business of getting it to the consumer is becoming more holistic, with digital marketing and distribution strategies developed right from the start of a campaign. It is not unusual for a record company to offer an artist’s fan base wireless full song and video downloads to go with personalization tools such as ringtones and wallpapers.
Source: Digital Music Report 2007 by the IFPI http://www.ifpi.org/
MySpace: Do-It-Yourself Media Empire.
A Music X-Press Magazine Feature
Where can music fans hear and see thousands of unsigned or independent artists at the click of a button? What has become a multidimensional networking tool for these artists to reach millions of fans? Why is it so addicting? Myspace.com. Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation, Fox TV) could see beyond the tacky html code that glittered juvenile text alongside photo slide shows of teenage debauchery. He saw a global network of millions of people doing just about whatever then wanted with cyberspace and Myspace translated into a branded name that could rake in serious cash. Ever since Murdoch's News Corporation bought out Myspace, the company kept profit and revenue figures secret, so only Tom (Founder Tom Anderson) and his 300 Myspace soldiers know the millions they swim in daily. In 2006 there were a record 100,000,000 accounts being used on Myspace and the company can brag of up to 230,000 new accounts created a day. It's safe to say that of those Millions, a good percentage of pages are musician created and fan based. Almost everyone's Myspace page has their favorite tune of the month, week or day, playing over and over for friends and family to hear as they post blogs about breakfast or comments about cats. It is probably one of the most randomly phenomenal web portals created, but also one drastically altering the business of music. Anyone who's anyone in music circles has a Myspace page, with a fair share of nobodies to boot. Everything about the site is free and artists can upload songs, videos, promotional tools, start their own fan club and create an unforeseen intimacy. When fans get added to a musician's "Friend List", there is a direct connection made, whether real or illusion. Who knows if most artists actually read and respond to messages and comments posted by fans? For many independent or struggling musicians the responses may very well be real, but if Shakira writes back with Xs and Os the day after you send a message, chances are it's her PR team. Creating a Myspace page has become increasingly dummy proof with supporting websites popping up by the dozens to aid with graphics and code. It's almost a paint-by-numbers web design once you get the hang of it. Artists who take full advantage of the pages can tease fans by premiering tracks from upcoming albums, establish direct links to CDs and merchandise and create a push button publicity machine. Independent artists have been reaching out to their "Friends List" to find out what cities react, planning tours and gigs around who responds. Singer/Songwriter Colbie Caillat recently put a call out to her almost 100,000 strong friends to see who would come to a show if she popped into their town. Where else could an unsigned artist plan and promote a nationwide tour without the marketing expense.
Promoting in the actual cities on tours is another benefit many artists take advantage of on Myspace. A quick e-mail reminder to all the fans in any particular city/state is easily arranged through a search and send feature. In the digital studio, it's also become easier for artists to get a feel for what people want to hear. All it takes is uploading a new song and waiting to see how many plays the songs get, as people post comments; and they will especially if asked. This is the ultimate feedback system for an artist trying to find their audience. Where years ago it might've taken a band in Minnesota decades to discover they had a potential following in Paraguay, it can happen over night on Myspace. Every genre you've never heard of is on Myspace, along with all the favorites. This makes exploring the site's dedicated music section a truly enriching experience. From A'ccapella to Zouk, from Ghettotech to Shoegaze, or K-Pop to Bossa Nova, the world can suddenly become an addictive click-fest of ear candy. Such extensive learning tools can also open doors for networking and collaborative efforts with artists. Myspace expanded this potential by adding a Music Classifieds section, where musicians and professionals post free ads to find that perfect voice, promoter or piano tuner. After the News Corporation acquired the site's operation, a Myspace Record Label was developed with the backing of Universal and Interscope Records. Though it didn't exactly cause the stir probably intended; signing artists like Mickey Avalon, Hollywood Undead, Sherwood and Kate Voegele. Surely a respectable roster, but the true musical innovation of Myspace has been, and hopefully will be it's harvesting of Do-It-Yourself artists. Where a media conglomeration like the News Corporation lived off the method of consume and control, Murdoch had the foresight to see Myspace as the future of collaborate and connect. Check out Music X-Press Magazine at myspace: www.myspace.com/musicxpressmag
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Independent Record Labels
Every DIY label is an indie. Independence means running your own record label, preferably with your own publishing.
The point of independence isn’t spurning the music industry—it’s being your own boss and avoiding arbitrary costs and constraints. Big business services can sometimes help you do what you want—it is possible to use them and stay independent. Indie doesn’t have to be a religion—that would defeat the object.
The term “independent” is often used fairly loosely:sub-labels of the major record companies (not really independent at all); sub-labels of the majors that are specific to a big artist deal (not independent); independent labels with major label shareholders (depends on the relationship); non-major labels that are would-be-majors and behave just like them (you decide); labels for so-called Indie music (whatever that is) maybe independent or not; labels that are independent and different to major labels; the indie genre, the indie philosophy or anything predominantly autonomous.Musical independence has several technical meanings but none of them are definitive. AIM admits record labels with less than 50% major label control. Various independent charts use their own criteria for eligibility.
The advantages of an independent label
If you’re a writer and performer you can also be the publisher and record label, and keep your rights and recordings. You can make direct contact with your audience using the Internet and mail order, supported by live gigs and publicity. This is DIY. Publishing your own work and making your own records is fairly straightforward.The Internet, home recording and cheap duplication make DIY easy and attractive.
You don’t have to sign a contract—you work for yourself. Nobody will try to turn you into a copy of someone else. You decide the art-work and which tracks go on the CD. You decide the running order, production and arrangement. You decide your own recording and release schedules. You license what you like, where and when you like, to who you like. There’s no label boss to impose copy-protection or DRM. No one else makes decisions about you and your work. You own the web site, publicity, promotion material and your image. You can charge fair prices and avoid reselling old tracks on new compilations. You can give yourself more points than the Stones and still undersell the majors. If you make a profit you get to keep most of it yourself (although it may be smaller).
Big record labels normally deduct expenses from an artist’s royalty, including:packaging, promotion (freebies, discounts, some advertising); different territories (countries), formats (SACD, DVD-A, download), times of year (Christmas); breakages (even if there are none), retail at less than full price, record club sales.Recoupable costs will be deducted too (as specified in the contract) and these can include recording. So 10% always means less than 10%. An artist who has paid back their loan and other costs is described as recouped, but they’re the exception rather than the rule. There’s more about record label costs in The money sponge.
A DIY artist obviously keeps 100% after expenses, and independent record label deals are often 50/50.
Major label sales fell after 2000 and recovered to record levels in 2004/5 before falling again.40% of UK platinum releases in 2002, and 30% in 2003, were independent. Independent releases outnumber the majors 5 to 1 and although the majors dominate popular media they’re responsible for less than 20% of CD titles. 25% of download sales are thought to be independent although high volume online retailers don’t promote much indie content.There are several thousand record labels in the UK, nearly all of them are independent. Together the independents are bigger than any of the major record companies.Independent retailers carry more indie releases than high street record chains. Many low-volume genres (punk, folk, jazz, blues, etc.) are better represented by indies because the bigger labels specialise in mass media and pop chart releases.Most DIY and some small label releases, and many CDs sold at gigs are not bar-coded or counted in official figures, so the official numbers for releases and sales inevitably under-report indie statistics.
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