Does bankrupt indie label TVT owe you money?
If so, you're in good company. House of Blues is left holding a $230 bar tab and EMI Publishing is looking for more than $25K. Use the scroll bar on the right to view the full list.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) will celebrate its third
anniversary this July 4th in conjunction with Independent's Day 2008, a
global event spotlighting the importance of independent music.
July 4 - 6, A2IM will join with the World Independent Network (W.I.N.) for Independent's Day 2008. With 14 trade organizations participating worldwide, the day will include the release of a limited edition digital compilation and an eBay auction of rare paraphernalia.
With 300 members, A2IM is a leading US voice for independent music. In 2007, independent music labels represented over 30% of music sales and 39% of non-terrestrial radio airplay (web radio, satellite radio, cable services, etc.). "The music industry finds itself at a crossroads," says A2IM President Rich Bengloff. "With physical sales diminishing while digital music sales grow both online and in the mobile marketplace, A2IM has become a strong voice for independent labels in meetings with the major labels, artists and their representatives, and third parties who distribute and market our music.
But after three years A2IM as well as other indie advocacy organizations are facing their biggest challenge yet. The major labels are negotiating deals with next generation music services like MySpace Music, YouTube and Nokia's "Comes With Music" and the indies are treated as an afterthought.
MORE: Will Indies Be Left Out Of Music 2.0? as well as more about A2IM after the jump.
Continue reading "A2IM Turns 3, Joins Independent's Day Celebration " »
Fontana, the independent distribution arm of UMG, has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Pulse Recordings, the label controlled by 360 music startup Pulse. Pulse was founded by Josh Abraham, Jason Bernard and CFO Scott Adair as a multifaceted entertainment company including management, record label and a recording studio. Recently, industry veteran Marc Pollack and longtime manager David Surnow joined the team.
Upcoming releases include the new album from multi-platinum selling rockers Filter. Entitled 'Anthems for the Damned' (produced by Abraham). This will be followed by releases from The Outline, Ima Robot and Lukas Haas and others.
BANDS & MANAGERS ASK "WHERE'S THE MONEY?"
We may be in the middle of the new age of Music Business 2.0, but its still the Dark Ages when it comes to record label accounting.
Stories have been bubbling for months about labels putting some acts into the digital domain without the proper contracts and paying out a smaller percentage of digital profits than seems logical. (How do you jusitfy taking a packaging deduction on a download?) More recently managers and acts have been asking where their check is from the settlement of illegal download cases with Napster and others?
Now comes word that artists thus far haven't seen any of the money from the licensing deals the majors signed with YouTube. According to the site, they are sharing ad revenue with the record labels. Yet, "I don't know any artist who has gotten a royalty statement (from their label that includes YouTube money)," music attorney Chris Castle told cNet. There are also real concerns that YouTube's filtering system does not track all performances (like those of a fan covering a song) accurately.
Seperately, I know that many indie labels have no deal with YouTube at all and that efforts by some indie trade organizations to cut group deals have stalled. Many labels and acts are afraid to pull their content because of the promotional value that YouTube provides.
Ad supported music and videos only works if a fair share of the the revenue actually trickles down to the artist.
“We will continue to promote Pitbull f/Lil Jon’s ‘The Anthem,’ which goes Top 10 at Rhythm this week. Ying Yang Twin’s ‘Drop’ is #32 hip-hop track on iTunes despite it 
only being at mix show."
"We have been an agent of change, most notably fighting for respect for independents when most major media and trade outlets minimized their role, and fighting for industry change in the digital arena whether in our breaking ranks and settling with Napster in 2001, or in numerous other initiatives. I am optimistic that the company’s independent spirit, history of innovation and willingness to pioneer new music and new business models are more valuable in this marketplace than ever before and that we will emerge from this reorganization a stronger more vibrant entity."
Gottlieb says the publishing arm is not effected.
The media is filled with articles on doing business in China, but nowhere is there a primer for understanding the music industry there. Ed Peto lives and works in Beijing as a promoter, music consultant and writer shares his insights. (Read Part 1- Piracy & Retail)
INDEPENDENT & MAJOR LABELS -
The major labels are shadows of their western motherships and there is a gaping hole where the independent record label scene should be. In order to survive it has become necessary for labels to take over an artist’s entire life - recording, publishing, management etc. - obsessively tapping all revenue streams in order to survive. You can count the number of recognizable independent labels on a pair of chopsticks.
Modern Sky is one such label. It has just celebrated its tenth year in existence and, much like its rabbit warren of an office in West Beijing, it’s business model is a convoluted arrangement of media company, record label, artist management and design house - a model that has allowed it to survive in this most hostile of environments. In the process of surviving it has also amassed a significant percentage of the Chinese rock catalog. Physical releases are practically a loss leader for Modern Sky with digital revenue also remaining a minor consideration.
Label Manager Meng Jinhui explains that they normally take over management, allowing them to promote the hell out of the artist rather than the album. Resultant brand co-operations with these artists and the label itself generate the bulk of Modern Sky’s income.
The ‘big four’ majors are all over here in some form or other...
Continue reading "A Guide To The Music Industry In China - Part 2 Indie & Major Labels" »
Read an exclusive interview with RoyaltyShare President and COO Steve Grady here.
RoyaltyShare, a provider of technology services to the music industry, has announced a new web-based platform for managing and distributing digital music. The service, which could offer serious competition to digital aggregators like The Orchard and IODA, provides labels and distributors with a lower cost way of managing the digital sales process including metadata, encoding, storage and delivery to retailers.
When combined with the company's royalty processing service, labels can manage the entire digital sales cycle through RoyaltyShare. Traditional digital aggregators do not offer comprehensive royalty processing.
The new RoyaltyShare service targets record labels and small distributors looking for an alternative to costs and restrictions imposed by...
Continue reading "RoyaltyShare Adds Digital Distribution, Expands Beggars Deal" »
UPDATED: Qtrax's announcement on Sunday that it was launching its ad supported download service at midnight with music from all four major labels may have been premature or at the very least misleading. Warner, Universal and EMI are denying deals with Qtrax. Only Sony BMG has not commented.
“Warner Music Group has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax’s recently announced service," WMG spokesman Will Tanous told Silicon Valley Insider. The LA Times is reporting that EMI also has no deal. Sources at Universal Music Group say they have no agreement with QTrax either, but is "very, very close to one".
Now Sony BMG has joined the other services in saying it does not have a deal with Qtrax, according to a source.
COMMENTARY: If Qtrax chooses to launch - as thy now say they will - content from WMG, EMI, Universal and Sony BMG, it could find itself in legal hot water. But this strategy has been used in recent months by several music 2.0 services who have used major label content to build an audience and leveraged that audience into funding and deals with the labels. Stay tuned...
MORE: The latest on the Qtrax launch
In a letter to its labels this week, digital distributor IODA recommended not granting licenses to prominent net services imeem, LaLa and others that offer full song streams due to inferior royalty structures. The distributor's struggles underscore that even in Music 2.0, there are vast inequities which leave indie labels fighting for position behind the major labels and their large catalogs.
According to the letter, "imeem proposes to pay out a percentage of advertising revenue from its site, but will not thus far commit to a base per-stream floor rate...in contrast to the deals many of the majors received (more)...Under this structure, the imeem royalty rate could end up lower than the compulsory DMCA rate paid by non-interactive internet radio webcasters (just $.0014 per performance)...
IODA CEO Kevin Arnold said further that Lala intends to "stream full songs for free on its' site in the hope that these streams will result in sales of downloads and CDs. They have proposed a complex payment structure...that includes caps on streaming payments which would result in rates uncomfortably below the levels paid by other streaming services. It remains to be seen the degree to which free streams will result in sales..."
The letter also names Grooveshark and Aime Street among sites that IODA are negotiating with and causitons against making individual label deals siting the power of collective bargaining and the growing strength of indie trade groups like A2IM, WIN, Merlin.
UPDATE: A clarification from the IODA's CEO here.
READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER AFTER THE JUMP.
Continue reading "IODA To Labels: No Deals With Imeem & LaLa" »
EMI CMG Distribution and new indie Vertical Shift have signed a worldwide distribution agreement for Christian, general market and digital and mobile outlets. The new partnership launches with new releases from successful indie bands Re:zound and Ever Stays Red in early 2008.
Ken Mary, President of Vertical Shift Records is a veteran of both mainstream and the Chrisitan comtemporary music industries and his work as a producer and musician has included such diverse artists as Alice Cooper, LaRue, Gene Simmons, Ricardo, Everybodyduck, The Beach Boys, Trik Turner, and Megadeth. The first two Vertical Shift artists will hit on March 11th with Re:zound and Ever Stay Red. Releases by new artists Kelly Mack, Out of Ruin and Vikki Jordan follow.
Expect more similar deals in the coming year as EMI and other majors try to shore up their declining bottom line by aligning with or even purchasing independent labels.
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