Asura Records

The Value in D2C

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 May 2013 01:30:00 +0000

Direct to Consumer (D2C) model for distributing music has been on fire the past five years. As musicians flock to the Internet with dreams of gold as their fans open wallets to purchase every new version of their latest hit. Larger profit margins can be obtained versus using a third party for distribution. It builds the fan base and costs the artist very little. In the article Direct-To-Fan Holds Much Promise, Many Problems, Kyle Bylin explores the reality of this sales model for a musician. While the profit margins are undoubtedly greater then utilizing a third party on the surface, many costs do not come into consideration by most musicians when making this choice. In the article he interviews several individuals in the industry that have experience both positive and negative with D2C. I will boil it all down to some simple concepts, but first I will state that do not be deterred in the use of D2C as it does have valuable results, just do not depend on it as your sole source of distribution revenue.

For me it boils down to aspects of cost, SEO and placement for the finding the new fan and selling an album. A band website or Facebook post alone are not positioned to be the ideal locations to sell an album (unless you already have a strong fan base and following exceeding 10,000 individuals). Why? Well let us examine successful models like iTunes which have many employees whose sole job is to drive traffic to the website. I do not know the budget they have for SEO but I am pretty sure that the average musician trying to build their brand does not have the budget to accomplish what they already have. This brings me to cost of which there are many when considering D2C for example, secure website service for customer transaction (SSL), shipping, returns, advertising or pay per click ads, and let us not forget the labor from the band members managing all of this.

Just to remind you the reader I am not saying do not do it, just examine the costs and find those transactions that are worthwhile to the fan and help establish revenue to continue doing what you should be doing best, your music that your fans love.

Cooperative Funding and the SBA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:14:00 +0000

Finding funding for a worker owned business is a daunting task. Restrictions on types of outside investment limit for-profit cooperatives to loans. The Small Business Administration (SBA) according to an article by Micha Josephy with the Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) states that the SBA as of 2010 now views cooperatives as small business. While resources have been open for not-for-profit cooperatives SBA funds were restricted for the small worker owned business. The Small Business Act of 2010 opened the doors of the SBA to worker cooperatives to access low-cost funding as well as other SBA resources available to traditional small businesses.

In this Act created an Intermediary Lending Pilot of which non-profit organizations can obtain funds for creating community development. This includes CFNE and they have already applied, received and dispersed funds for worker owned businesses in New England. Further cooperatives now have direct access to 7(a) General Small Business Loans across the country. These loans are lower interest and the SBA regulates terms.

This finding gives cooperatives of all industries access to resources, that were limited to agriculture and rural community cooperatives. This SBA FAQ on the Intermediary Lending Pilot states the qualifying factors for determination as:

“A producer cooperative is eligible for SBA financing if: (1) it is engaged in a business activity, (2) the purpose of the cooperative is to obtain financial benefit for itself as an entity and its members in their capacity as businesses, and (3) each member of the cooperative is small. (SBA Standard Operating Procedure 50 10 5(C), p109).”

“Worker cooperatives, in which the employees of the small business cooperatively own the company, are eligible for loans under the ILP program if they meet the requirements for eligible small business concerns in 13 CFR § 109.400.”

This is great news for anyone interested in developing a cooperative structured business.

Shark Tank and the Business Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Image 1.

Currently I am focusing on the business plan and I thought that speaking about a show I currently enjoy watching Shark Tank. This show is derived from a Canadian show titled The Dragon’s Den and if you have not seen an episode has a panel of entrepreneurs that the participants then pitch their idea or company in hopes of landing a investment deal. Two of the Shark Tank investors are from the Canadian show, Robert Herjavec and Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary. Both are Canadian and quite successful in their given fields and as entrepreneurs. Herjavec I admire the most not only his personal takes on business but his story being a first generation immigrant from Yugoslavia to his days at IBM and then as a information technology security consultant and multimillionaire. His human touch but distinct business rational are a combination that appeal to me. O’Leary while he can cause many people to hate him is very much on point about what he wants out of a deal (Money). This transparency is fact he will make a deal if the ROI is right, if not he is not interested. Come prepared and have your numbers handy.

The ABC site for Shark Tank has several interviews and article on advise for potential business endeavors or those who think they may want to be on the show. One such article is titled Business Tips from the Sharks, which covers ten topics. Numbers five and six both ask about the business plan itself. How do you create a business plan that works?   Herjavec response places emphasis on the overall Vision and creating short-term plans. He states forecasting to far in the future is dreaming and that over time size of a company through growth demands plans that extend into the future. Keep it simple and small is what I took away from his response. Where can I get help creating a business plan? Again Herjavec stresses less importance on the plan and more on doing the work of the business. Talking to people, selling your product or service, build a reputation and network.

Given that several questions do point to what the investor looks for in an investment. That being the point of writing a business plan we can examine common threads in what needs to be communicated in order to secure the deal. First and foremost each of the Sharks state do the numbers make sense and will there be a healthy capitol return for the risk, next is there an element of trust. These two items seem to resound from all of the Sharks despite their own individual investment preferences.

Exploring YouTube Analytics

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:56:00 +0000

Image 1.

YouTube.com has been for some time the leading social video exchange site. It is also a very important site to promote your music. From the recent viral video and dance craze of Gangnam Style to talent discovery (Bieber), YouTube has the potential of propelling an artist’s career. But first you need to understand how to create content that will attract fans and go viral. While there is no true answer to this question as viral videos are subjective the basics is create as high of quality and dig into the analytics of your channel. YouTube being owned by Google has a tab for Analytics in your Channel Manager and just like Google Analytics a very detailed report can help you determine what works and does not work for your viewership.

While researching I generated a report for the Asura Records channel on YouTube, I found the demographic information to be inline with past marketing research. The engagement aspect is a very worthwhile metric as it shows top viewed videos for your channel. Breaking down total minutes viewed per video and average time viewed with a average percentage compared to the length of the video. I went on to dig up further articles on the subject of YouTube Analytics and found two worth noting here.

How to master your data with YouTube Analytics is a blog article that breaks down how to interpret data on your analytics page. This article focuses on the retention metric used in the report, specifically Absolute Retention and Relative Retention. Absolute is a measurement comparing watch time versus the length of the video being watched. Relative is a comparison to other videos of same type and length. Bottom line add this blog to your reader as many tips and news about YouTube are posted through this medium.

While figuring out how to attract and retain fans is the goal of analytics, for some the fast road of paid visits to build perception of popularity is also present with YouTube as with other sites like ReverbNation. I found an article by Brian Hazard that describes the tool and “Dirty Little Secret”. This article describes a site and service by Vagex that users can purchase hits to their YouTube channel. Further Brian himself uses the service in an experiment on one of his own recently posted videos to determine the quality of hits. While the service gives the impression of popularity through increase hits the retention metric is thrown off by using these types of services. If your metric is based on false hits then how can one determine the true effectiveness of a posted video? Therein lies the danger, do not delude ones self through bloated metrics. Figure out what really works then repeat!

References

Hazard, Brian (January 11, 2013). YouTube’s Dirty Little Secret. Music Think Tank. Retrieved from: http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/youtubes-dirty-little-secret.html

Image 1. (2011). googleanalyticsyoutube.jpg [digital image]. Hudson Horizons. Retrieved from: http://blog.hudsonhorizons.com/Article/YouTube-Rolls-Out-YouTube-Analytics.htm

n.a. (May 29, 2012). How to master your data with YouTube Analytics. YouTube Creator Blog, YouTube.com, Google, Inc. Retrieved from: http://youtubecreator.blogspot.com/2012/05/this-is-part-of-ongoing-series-sharing.html

Fan Funding Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 05:33:00 +0000

Fan funding through social media and websites like Kickstarter continue to prove successful for many but some artist find that they cannot drive their campaign to meet the need goal to cash in. Levi James of Music Think Tank wrote an excellent article highlighting the top five reasons campaigns fail. He notes that while 56% of campaigns succeed there is the 46% that do not. As one may expect setting one’s expectation to high is on the list, be realistic and set a campaign fundraising goal that is inline with your fan base. These five suggestions apply to any fundraising and are useful for any artist.

If you have found that you just can’t meet your goals other services like gofundme.com allow for the fundraiser to withdraw as the campaign is in progress and are not required to meet the target before the project is financed. Care must be taken with these types of campaigns to ensure that you a capable of delivering on promised rewards for the tiers that are defined.

Other methods of fan funding include offering ‘pay what you want/can’ on albums placed on Bandcamp.com. I am preparing to do this for my back catalog, by offering them in this format for MP3. If a fan would like to contribute they can and I can also sell high lossless files of the same album for those that prefer quality. I feel the key is to have a variable set of options for fans and potential fans. These can be everything from free digital downloads to limited edition vinyl. The ‘pay what you want/can’ model may just surprise you with a value high then you would have sold the album at from a dedicated fan.

A Free Grab for Tech Companies: Internet Radio Fairness Act

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Pandora Radio, according to sources is in need of higher profitability as costs outpace revenue. Instead of raising advertisement costs they have chosen to go after music creators pockets through litigation and political action. The current bill titled Internet Radio Fairness Act wants to set residual royalty payment to below market fair value. What is the royalty rate right now? Remember that the Digital Millennium Music Act set the value at “fair market value” which is a value that is negotiated between licensing companies (ASCAP, BMI…) and content provider companies (Pandora, Spotify…) currently Pandora pays out 0.0011 cent per play. Even the most popular artist would be pressed to get a living wage just off those revenues. Do the math 16.4 million plays are required for 18k of revenue. All the while Pandora is market cap is valued at 1.5 billion dollars. If they are losing profitability due to rising costs of royalty payments is it the fault of the industry or just a bad business model, which never could reach the intended vision of the company. Pandora has further issues losing subscribers to competition like Spotify and their stock has taken a hit with announcement of iTunes Radio.

Let us take a look at the proposed act before Congress. At the core they are arguing that it is unfair for digital streaming music to pay market rates when other broadcasters either pay zero as with AM/FM radio or below market rate as with satellite or cable radio. It is stated that it is unfair and restrict new technology development and profitability. Well my opinion is that the entire system has a problem. Why should we grant our copyrighted material to be used as a vehicle of profit for a large corporation, while we as owners and creators are not compensated. A fair bill to put forth would be to end the enacted laws that permit broadcasters to obtain below market rates and or free content which in turn they make billions through advertising.

The following link will help generate a letter to your representatives and provides more information on awareness for fair wages for artists:

http://www.musicfirstcoalition.org

Music Industry 2012 Legal Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 23:38:00 +0000

2012 has seen several legal issues in the music industry; this post covers three in particular. First in the aftermath of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) the large copyright holders in the industry like Universal Media Group and Disney have sought other methods on stopping illegal downloads. These companies, the US Government and industry agencies have engage a software company called MarkMonitor to scan peer to peer sites and record offending user internet addresses then engage volunteering ISPs to send warning and education on theft of intellectual property (IP). This plan also includes service disruptions or slowdowns for repeat offenders. A Wired Magazine article explains the six steps of this plan to discourage the user from downloading copyrighted material. It is my opinion that these measures do put undo burden on the end user through a 35-dollar fee to dispute any claim that MarkMonitor has identified your behavior as illegal. Also I have not seen provisions to protect the work of independent artists and labels. My assumption at this point is that registering works to be monitor would require a fee to MarkMonitor and thus be cost prohibitive to a small artist or label. After this is implemented I will also watch for potential legal issues of consumer privacy rights.

Another issue that has developed this year has been a trend of law suites where the artists are suing their labels over digital royalties. As a label this is a concern, as we do not want to be in a position of conflict over royalties with our own artists. Lee Simmons in his article for Hoovers.com identifies that this recent rise in legal cases as a product of new technology and regulations and the artists need to voice their position on how these profits should be divided. As a label open dialog with the artist roster is important and standards that are fair should be agreed upon. These court cases in particular will be on the rise as revenue streams have shifted to technologies companies leaving less of the profit share for label and artist.

Finally another legal issue to keep tabs on is the dispute of whether streaming videos illegal. Stephanie Rabiner writes about the subject in her article titled: Is Streaming or Watching Movies Illegal? While posting an unauthorized copy of a movie is illegal as is downloading (copying to local hard drive), there is a legal grey area being disputed about streaming the content as no copy is made in totality. This does not make copyright holders happy and we can expect more cases until the issue is resolved.

References

Kravets, David (October, 2012). Copyright Scofflaws Beware: ISPs to Begin Monitoring Illicit File Sharing. Wired Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/10/isp-file-sharing-monitoring/

Rabiner, Stephanie (April 23, 2012). Is Streaming or Watching Movies Illegal? Findlaw.com. Retrieved from: http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2012/04/is-streaming-or-watching-movies-illegal.html

Simmons, Lee (May 1, 2012). Music royalty litigation heats up. Hoovers.com. Retrieved from: http://bizmology.hoovers.com/2012/05/01/music-royalty-litigation-heats-up/

Artist Managers in a New Music Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 01:52:00 +0000

George Howard in his article titled ArtistManagers Must Understand Their Role Is Now Business Development states that an artist manager’s role has shifted from a focus of finding a label to sign their artists to “developing and unlocking value for their bands; i.e. business development” (2011).

What does he mean by this? Most would counter that the concept of developing an artist has always been about business and following those principles. Howard does mention several artist managers that do take this approach, but many do not and rely on labels to function as the business managers for the industry. Counter that thought with today and the state of the music industry where if you are not a profitable producer for a major label, your only course is to develop your brand through “indie” or DIY methods. This means for the majority of artist that the importance of having an artist manager that is capable of running a business is a must.

Core competencies must exist within the manager that lends to the development of the business that is your band. But this person also must be able to work with the vision of the band to find how to capitalize and refine their product to generate further fans and increase revenue to meet the financial goals of the group. In the book The Product Manager’s Field Guide by Full Sail University describes the competency set “Ability to Deliver Results Through People” (2003), this set that is focused on the capability of a manager to work effectively in managing products through people. Building consensus, communication, building report and adapting to both internal demands of the band but external professional contacts and understanding the needs of the fan base are all examples of this competency.

Again the goals of the band need to be examined to understand at what level in the industry they are striving for. If the desire is to find a living with in the industry then the art of business development must be a part of the plan. Building a team with a good manager at the helm is a recipe for success, which in place the artist can focus on writing that hit.

Reference:

Full Sail University. (2003). Product Manager's Field Guide. Full Sail University. McGraw-Hill Create. ISBN-13: 9781121176843

Managing the Grateful Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:40:00 +0000

Danny Rifkin & Rock Scully - 07/31/1966

Photographer: Herbie Greene

When the words Grateful Dead and Corporation are uttered, one would feel that they are not inclusive of each other. Well the business of music was well played by the band through the management team that would take a group of hippies with talent to become icons of their generation with a profitable brand. Joshua Green wrote Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead an article published in The Atlantic, which lifts the curtain and shows the business side of the Grateful Dead. Insight into how early on the incorporated their band and trademarked brand images. Just like any other corporation had a board, CEO and divisions. The board not only included band members but according to Green’s article roadies and other members of the artist’s team. He also goes onto describe innovations as a corporation that would be adopted by the greater marketing world like targeted marketing. Until the death of Jerry Garcia the Grateful Dead were continuing concerts and one of the longest running profitable brands in the industry.

This says a lot about the organization and their band manager Rock Skully. He served as the band’s manager from 1964 until his eventual firing in 1985 due to personal drug use interfering with his duties. Regardless of his personal problems, of which he was able to eventually overcome, he and the team that developed the organization that is the Grateful Dead excelled. For 20 years Skully traveled with and managed the band, in 1992 he wrote a book on the subject titled Living With The Dead: Twenty years on the road with Garcia and the Grateful Dead. As a manager he also managed other Grateful Dead spinoff acts. Further insight into Skully, and his experience during the period managing the band can be found in an interview by Fine Art Magazine. One noteworthy part is when Skully talks about how they made the decision not to play clubs for in which they earned very little and create their own events. This move created growth for the band as profitable events allowed for further equipment purchases and investment into the band.

Interview: Rodney Orpheus

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Today’s post is a short interview with Rodney Orpheus on the topic of the music industry and his own experience and lessons as a musician. Rodney is a friend and one whom I respect because of his passion for not only music, but also the technology that is a part of the way we create today.

Daniel: Give a short introduction and bio.

Rodney Orpheus: Born in Northern Ireland, first record released in 1985 with The Cassandra Complex, have sold about quarter of a million more since then and worked with acts such as The Sisters of Mercy, Future Sound of London, etc. have also worked for Music Tech companies such as Steinberg, DTS, and PreSonus, as well as teaching Music Technology at college level.

Daniel: What steps in your career do you feel made you successful?

Rodney: That's hard to say. First it's hard to define what "success" is, and secondly, so much of it is sheer luck and/or a long process of continual hard work. So to point out a clear "step" is difficult.

Daniel: While each person has his or her own interpretation of success, and luck is an uncontrollable factor, what has been your strategy in terms of “hard work” as you put it?

Rodney: I guess the first thing is to learn as much as possible. I devoured every piece of reliable info on music making that I could find. Luckily it's a lot easier to get that info these days than it used to be. Not just reading, but talking to professionals, watching videos on YouTube, whatever. That's the first hard work you need to do - learning stuff. After that, it's putting it into practice as often as you possibly can.

And I don't think "luck" is an uncontrollable factor. You need to put yourself into a position where opportunities present themselves, and be ready to grab those opportunities. That's what "luck" often is.

Daniel: Surviving in the industry for so long you have also been witness to many changes. There are some good conceptual models for the industry in relation to the new digital model of revenue for the artist. What is you interpretation of where the industry is going and how an artist can position for the future?

Rodney: I honestly do not know - I wish I did. That's why I haven't released a record in a decade. I genuinely no longer know what it means to "release a record" or even what a "record" actually is. I am beginning to think that the age when music as a normal business is over, and we'll go back to musicians being a community resource - effectively busking on a grander scale.

Daniel: In business developing a profession network is crucial. What steps did you take on early in your career to develop you own professional network?

Rodney: I wrote to people I liked and told them who I was and what I wanted to do. A surprising number contacted me back and gave me good advice. I'll be forever grateful to Green Gartside from Scritti Politti who spent a whole evening on the telephone with me explaining all the details of how to release an independent record for example, even though he had no clue who I was. There are some good people in the music business, buried among the assholes. You just have to find them

Daniel: Cassandra Complex has had a long run since 1980 and has continued to be your central focus. What is in store for your fans on with the upcoming CC2012 tour?

Rodney: Lots of greatest hits songs of course, since we don't play that often. Hopefully a few songs that we rarely play, and also we're planning to play some new material (which we are still writing!)

Daniel: Do you manage all aspects of the project or are you working with a label or manager? Have you been able to manage at least a break-even with festival bookings and tours?

Rodney: We currently manage everything ourselves, and have done through most of our career. It's not an option that I would recommend for most people though. We do have an agency booking tours for us. Hopefully we can make money on this tour - that's the plan anyway.

Daniel: You have gone through different roles in the industry from writing reviews, working for Steinberg and now a resident with PreSonus. Tell us a little bit about your role with PreSonus and what excites you about working for them?

Rodney: I am the European Product Marketing Manager, which is a nice vague title that means I do presentations to musicians and at trade shows, make training videos, help back up our European support staff etc. I love PreSonus because it is a company that is first and foremost run by musicians for musicians, it's not just another faceless corporation.

Daniel: PreSonus acquired Nimbit in April of this year. What are some of the key benefits for the user of Studio One and other PreSonus products?

Rodney: Integration. We want someone to be able to load up our Studio One software and do *the entire process* of writing, recording, editing, mixing, mastering AND releasing without needing any other tool, or having to leave that environment. When you open that software, anything you need to do that involves your music should be right there seamlessly, no matter what that is.

Daniel: What closing advise do you have for those musicians that desire to find ways to reach their fans and reach financial sustainability in their careers?

Rodney: Learn everything you can. It's called the *music business* for a reason - it's about music AND business. If you think you can make a living just by playing the guitar and singing about how your girlfriend left you, you're an idiot.

Daniel: Thank you, Rodney for the insight and opportunity for this interview. To view his work please visit: http://cassandracomplex.co.uk

Licensing Service: Restorm’s Rightclearing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Image (c) Restorm.com

Revenue streams are important to an artist, publisher and label to generate cash flow for survival. One aspect of the music industry is licensing music for use in films, video games or for other artists. Restorm is a website for fans, artists, venues and labels to unite. A user-friendly interface allows for quick development and synchronization with existing social media sites. Including the ability to import video and pictures from the accounts saving much time not having to reload files to a new service. This feature saves time and frees the artist or label to move onto other activities like communicating directly with the fans or getting back to the studio. The site is geared to sell music to users and media partners and as the site promotes offers a higher percentage then most other sites for each sale to the artist.
The best feature they have to offer over other web service companies is uploading loss-less files that can be offered through the Rightclearing service. This service allows media partner and users to play tracks to find music for a project, then directly license the music from the artist. All legal contracts, transaction management are conducted by Restorm. All rights to the music and 100% of the price point set by the artist are positive parts of this service. Once an artist has setup an account and upload the loss-less file these can be offered for licensing. It is that easy, for Asura Records we will be test running the last three albums by the artist ZoneWire. A follow up post will be made as soon as we secure our first license deal. Other similar sites that offer licensing services include: The Music Licensing Store, Harry Fox Agency, and Broad Jam to name but a few. The difference with Restorm and these other services is that you control the pricing and the legal contracts are very transparent to the artist. The downside is that the artist waits for the licensee to make the choice out of the catalog as opposed to other services that allow for direct submission (some at cost to the artist!) to projects.
Bottom-line, licensing is a big part of developing positive cash flow for an artist and their music. This form of revenue needs to be a part of the revenue mix for developing sustainable income for a musician and Restorm brings to the table a free service that helps develop this aspect of the business for the artist, publisher and label.

Business Storytelling

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:17:00 +0000

This blog post is going to highlight effective story telling in public communication. Through research trying to locate a topic that relates to cooperation or cooperative business relationships I discovered a TED video by Howard Rheingold titled The new power of collaboration delivered in 2005.

His opening sentence is inviting the audience to join him in challenging past notions on how biological creatures accomplish tasks specifically humans. The preamble continues with the presentation of commonly perceived facts of human nature. The use of the term “only” is emphasized with “competition”, “winning” and “dominating” another person or group to survive. Rheingold then shifts to highlighting another perception and emerging trend across disciplines of cooperation and interdependency. As he continues he returns back to human nature to look at the past with the lens of cooperation instead of competition. Demonstrating a past not just filled with war and conflict even from our early days of nomadic life but cooperation to achieve mutual beneficial results.

Rheingold built trust and was able to communicate his ideas by creating a contrasting palate for the audience. Simple terms that appealed to the audience, which made acceptance of his narrative palatable. The use of the term “only” for oppositional thought to his thesis created a restrictive, narrow counter argument that seems ridiculous if one only thinks of the complexity of nature itself. This made it possible for the audience to accept his thesis as it was not constrained and had multiple motives for human development through both cooperation and competition. Throughout this initial discourse he also inserted terms of communication, technology and wealth. In the end his central subject is that increased open communication through technology and cooperation can develop new forms of wealth equality.

In relating this to the cooperative business model he gives some great examples of how even large companies working in an open format are able to develop economic gains not just for themselves, but for the community that jointly participated as well. The only misgiving I have with the structure of the storytelling is that it gives me a feeling of Us versus Them, those that think one narrow way and those that have a more broad perception. It is effective speech to win over an audience but does the audience need to be won over on this topic? I say this as the target audience for TED seems to be progressive, intelligent minds especially in 2005 which was prior to TED going to an open format for all to view (2007 was the year TED Talks started publishing to the public on the Internet). Rheingold is effective in delivering his point and his overall demeanor is good for public speaking. Even his orange suit grew on me a bit.

Performing Rights Companies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:09:00 +0000

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performing rights company that collects and administrates licensing for artists and publishers. Asura Records has been a BMI client since it’s inception. Publishing and rights collection is complicated in that it is an immense undertaking to monitor and track performance and utilization of one’s music in the various many forms of broadcasting. Because of this it is best served to subscribed to and register one’s work with an agency like BMI. There are several to choose from the main two being BMI and ASCAP. We chose BMI for the single reason being that most artists in our genre are also BMI artists.

BMI has many useful tools for a working musician to expand business and develop new forms of revenue. One such tool related to marketing and branding is a simple two page pdf file that outlines simple questions to ask yourself while developing a brand strategy. Another recent service is the BMI Live service, which allows performing artists to register concerts and then receive a portion of the performance licensing fees collected from venues by BMI.

BMI is active in representing artist right in legislation. This past March BMI was invited to speak in a round table with the U.S. Register of Copyrights to recommend industry best practices and help communicate the importance of intellectual property rights in the music industry. Two recent legislative acts that highlighted a need for clearer communication and the need to protect rights while also protecting privacy of individuals were the anti-piracy acts (SOPA and PIPA). These two acts lead to a clash over the right to fair compensation for performance/broadcast of IP and the privacy of the individual and possible censorship of websites.

When making a choice for a performance rights company, review the needs of your business and the community of artists in your particular genre. Weigh the options of tools and the benefits that are offered by each to determine which organization will be the best fit. Please feel free to comment on this thread about your experience with any rights company or if you would like further information on my own experience.

Co-Op Record Labels and more on Direct Distribution

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:49:00 +0000

This article will explore research of existing Co-Operative (Co-Op) or Work-Owned record labels. While Co-Ops have existed for many years and have gained popularity since the 60s there are few advertised Co-Op record labels. 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative, as proclaimed by the UN Division for Social Policy and Development. I will not go into depth on what constitutes a Co-Op here in this article but wanted to share some research into locating Co-Op record labels. Another ongoing stream of research into websites and services that offer artist to fan distribution and services of which is a new start-up about to launch called distro.fm.

In my research to date three Co-Op Record labels have been identified that show some success in their operations and have made it past the first couple of years as a startup business. Two exist here in the U.S. and one in Canada. The Blocks Recording Club is based in Toronto, Canada since their founding in 2003 and became a Co-Op in 2005. They host a variety of indie artists; one nice feature is that they use another Co-Op or collective to help with merchandising and sales called The Blue House. For the U.S. there is Black Cactus Records (BCR) in Phoenix, Arizona and Revolutionary Productions Artists and Musicians Cooperative (RPAMC) or Revolutionary Records in Seattle, Washington. BCR presents itself very professionally and give a good account of being a Co-Op and how the logic of combining resources and creating less duplication of effort goes a long way to freeing up individual time to focus on the art of making music. RPAMC appears much smaller in scope but highlights the purpose of passing knowledge from one generation of musicians to the next. This aspect of education to create skilled workers through community effort is the key purpose of creating Asura Records as well as the founding of systems like the Mondragon Co-Ops of Basque, Spain. Follow on articles for Co-Op record labels will explore how these organizations formed and their own business structures, which require outreach and interviews to come.

Distro.fm is a new startup non-profit company that will host artist-to-fan subscription services like you would find on Spotify.com, but the bulk of the money generated from the subscription goes directly to the artist not a tech company. This is a great concept which I will watch as they move towards their launch date. This idea combines the streaming radio trend with content that the artist can release directly to their fan base outside of traditional releases. Content can include jam sessions, concerts, art and interviews. Really it is up to the artist to devise what their fans want and make the content have value to keep them subscribed year after year. A great steady revenue stream potential in this concept especially if Distro.fm delivers on a percentage of profit sharing that beats out the competition.

Please comment to this article if you would like to share any other Co-Op record labels for my research.

Fan Funding Choices for the D.I.Y. Musician

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Fig.1

Fan funding has proven itself as a method for a musician to gain support for their projects directly from their fan base. Bruce Houghton wrote an article on Hypebot titled Music On Kickstarter By The Numbers [Stats], which highlights that the music category on Kickstarter.com has ranked number two in total funding, with over 38 million dollars raised. Houghton highlights on artist, Amanda Palmer, who as of this post has broke the record in raising funds for here current project by raising $360,000 in 48 hours. Palmer’s record breaking Kickstarter project was noted in another post by Houghton. A personal friend, mentor and fellow musician Lon Milo Duquette restarted his music career recently. Duquette used Kickstarter to help fund his latest album and far exceeded his goal of $4,350 raising a total of $7,345.

While this shows the good side of fan funding, one must remember that it requires some creative marketing, fans willing to open their wallets, and solid plan that can be followed through. Another area of concern is the ability to scam individuals using these funding sites. Peter Smith in his blog writes about one such incident involving a video game project on Kickstarter. His advise in the end is to be vigilant as an investor and research the projects before making a fund commitment and as users help police the site in order to keep it a viable source for all to use.

Beyond Kickstarter there are other fan funding sites that can be used by a musician. Gofundme.com is one such site with an advantage over using Kickstarter. This advantage is that the fundraiser can access the money raised to date without having reached the funding goal. This can allow the musician to begin a project as the funds flow in and not wait until a goal has been reached.

Either site can be useful to a D.I.Y. musician, take time to research and find the site that best meets the needs of the project.

Fig. 1 (n.d.). Kickstarter.com logo [digital image]. Retrieved from: http://www.hypebot.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2016765f8fecd970b-popup

New Business Models

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:41:00 +0000

As the music industry continues to evolve in an age were technology is creating shifting revenue streams the emergence of new business models is required. As I am focused on how to create a Mondragon style co-operative record label, my research has led me to several interesting approaches to running a business in the industry today. While both of these businesses are recent startups the idea behind each have a common thread: Let the artist maintain intellectual property (IP) and control of their work and splitting the revenue from the joint venture. This concept is what drives me to develop a co-operative label, the difference only in approach and the fact that these two examples are businesses run by current industry managers/professionals and not a collective of artists with business aptitude.

Last month I ran across an article posted on Hypebot’s Music Think Tank blog titled “OurLabel Launches 100% Fan Funded Record Label” by Clyde Smith. This article covers a start up which is based on a new business model centering on fan or crowd funding for artists. The label’s industry professionals handle the business side of music production once an artist reaches the financial target set for the project. Revenue is then split between the label, artist and the supporting fans. OurLabel founders are Asaf Elani and Brandon Robin.

Today Clyde Smith covered another startup 3/4 Records, which is pushing another new business model. The article is titled “Three Quarter Offers Musicians New Model: 'We Run The Business, You Run The Art'”. 3/4 Records is the brainchild of David Airaudi a industry professional and former executive with Interscope Records. This model creates partnerships between the artist and 3/4 Records who acts as the business management or operations of the partnership while the artist focuses on the creative aspect guiding the enterprise. What is interesting about this model is the ambition and scale in which Airaudi would like to take the company. Smith points out that while venture capital and IP retention is common with successful artists, it is rare if not unheard of in the small independent artist.

Both of these companies are worth watching for any independent artist serious about success and a career in the industry. The current trends of developing new business models to compete and stay profitable are worth researching to discover what works and does not work today and those that will thrive in the future of technological evolutions.

Record Label: Social Networks and Fan Funding

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:50:00 +0000

This article covers an interesting trend of a social driven record label: "OurLabel Launches 100% Fan Funded Record Label"