Friday, January 25, 2008
Industry Facts
Overview
Delivering and tracking content on the internet is a major issue in the digital media industry today. Collectively, the numbers of digital objects being generated each year are estimated at 1 trillion worldwide. Within the music, entertainment, print publishing, software and stock image markets the value of this content is over $500 billion and is estimated to grow to over $700 billion in the next 3 years. Along with this dramatic growth is the increased need for content owners, distributors and consumers of digital objects to understand how their content is being used on the internet.
Trends
While the awareness has been raised it remains extremely difficult for content owners to enforce copyrights and license rights. It is the tremendous success of the internet that is driving the growing use of and misuse of intellectual property and copyrighted material. Underlying this increase in internet use are the following trends:
The ever increasing bandwidth that allows for the near frictionless delivery of music, image, digital text and more recently digital video
Improvements in the ability to monetize digital intellectual property such as digital images, music, text, and video
The lack of identification, tracking, and business intelligence systems for these digital objects
A myriad of non-interoperable digital rights management schemes and systems
Pushback by consumers of digital rights management systems Recent DevelopmentsRecent developments reveal that owners, distributors and consumers are becoming increasing concerned about the lack of being able to track or identify their content as well as the mechanisms to identify and protect it:
Viacom Sues Google, YouTube for $1B over copyright infringement – USA Today, March 2007
Threat for Big Media: Guerilla Video Sites – Wall Street Journal, April 2007
ITunes and Music – DRM does not work – Steve Jobs – Thoughts on Music, February 2007
Corbis sues Templatemonster for $109M over copyright infringement of images – Reuters News, July 2006
Rep. Lamar Smith and Sen. Orrin Hatch introduce the “Orphan Works Act of 2006” (H.R. 5439), which creates new guidelines for use of copyrighted material when the original owner cannot be located – Washington Post May, 2006
Pirates Foil Hollywood's High-Tech Security – Wall Street Journal, October 2007
As a result, the industry is losing upwards of $11B in lost revenue in 2006 and predicted to grow to beyond $140 billion over the next 8 years
According to the MPAA over $7B in revenue due to illegal piracy of videos content.
The RIAA reports that the trade of pirate music content was worth $4.5 billion globally in 2006
Infoflows Fedmark Platform
It is against this backdrop that Infoflows introduces the Fedmarksm Platform and the Fedmark Image and Video Solutions. The Fedmarksm Platform is focused on an innovative approach to tracking, monitoring, legal control and recovery of online assets by content owners. Supported by an easily managed user interface, the most powerful internet crawl technology available, and a dynamic visual search capability, Infoflows believes that Fedmark will become the standard for intellectual property protection for all forms of digital objects – be they stock images, video clips, audio files, or software applications.
Delivering and tracking content on the internet is a major issue in the digital media industry today. Collectively, the numbers of digital objects being generated each year are estimated at 1 trillion worldwide. Within the music, entertainment, print publishing, software and stock image markets the value of this content is over $500 billion and is estimated to grow to over $700 billion in the next 3 years. Along with this dramatic growth is the increased need for content owners, distributors and consumers of digital objects to understand how their content is being used on the internet.
Trends
While the awareness has been raised it remains extremely difficult for content owners to enforce copyrights and license rights. It is the tremendous success of the internet that is driving the growing use of and misuse of intellectual property and copyrighted material. Underlying this increase in internet use are the following trends:
The ever increasing bandwidth that allows for the near frictionless delivery of music, image, digital text and more recently digital video
Improvements in the ability to monetize digital intellectual property such as digital images, music, text, and video
The lack of identification, tracking, and business intelligence systems for these digital objects
A myriad of non-interoperable digital rights management schemes and systems
Pushback by consumers of digital rights management systems Recent DevelopmentsRecent developments reveal that owners, distributors and consumers are becoming increasing concerned about the lack of being able to track or identify their content as well as the mechanisms to identify and protect it:
Viacom Sues Google, YouTube for $1B over copyright infringement – USA Today, March 2007
Threat for Big Media: Guerilla Video Sites – Wall Street Journal, April 2007
ITunes and Music – DRM does not work – Steve Jobs – Thoughts on Music, February 2007
Corbis sues Templatemonster for $109M over copyright infringement of images – Reuters News, July 2006
Rep. Lamar Smith and Sen. Orrin Hatch introduce the “Orphan Works Act of 2006” (H.R. 5439), which creates new guidelines for use of copyrighted material when the original owner cannot be located – Washington Post May, 2006
Pirates Foil Hollywood's High-Tech Security – Wall Street Journal, October 2007
As a result, the industry is losing upwards of $11B in lost revenue in 2006 and predicted to grow to beyond $140 billion over the next 8 years
According to the MPAA over $7B in revenue due to illegal piracy of videos content.
The RIAA reports that the trade of pirate music content was worth $4.5 billion globally in 2006
Infoflows Fedmark Platform
It is against this backdrop that Infoflows introduces the Fedmarksm Platform and the Fedmark Image and Video Solutions. The Fedmarksm Platform is focused on an innovative approach to tracking, monitoring, legal control and recovery of online assets by content owners. Supported by an easily managed user interface, the most powerful internet crawl technology available, and a dynamic visual search capability, Infoflows believes that Fedmark will become the standard for intellectual property protection for all forms of digital objects – be they stock images, video clips, audio files, or software applications.
Facts about the music industry (Take Notice)
1. Sales of CD's have decreased since people began burning CD's? A loss of between 700 million and 1.5 billion dollars worth is the latest estimate mostly lost by US owned companies.2. Smaller bands have become less profitable due to the demand for access to their free mp3s. Small bands are struggling more because overall CD sales are down even at small local shows and small record shops. Most bands must give away their songs just to get low paying gigs. Most websites that sell indie CD's report low to nonexistent sales while demand for their free mp3s nearly overload their website's bandwidth proving free mp3s are not helping to nurture more new bands trying to break into a very expensive industry.3. CD manufacturers are making a lot of money off blank CD sales but all other aspects of the music industry are loosing money; from large record companies, big record chains, popular musicians no matter how large or small and even indie record labels, smaller bands, and small mom and pop record stores.4. Many businesses such as Napster and mp3.com are opening to supply music to the buying public legitimately. They are now a legitimate business selling licensed products. They are now selling songs for from 88 to 99 cents per song for a single person to use thus legitimizing the business. This has not however revitalized the industry as many have hoped and many users continue to download and burn CD's illegally.This leads me to wonder If people can get away with burning CD's and illegally downloading has it contributed collaterally to the decay of our values making people crave more things for which they haven't paid? Also now that people seem to expect things like music for free is its quality and value lessened for all of us because of it? I'd love to hear what you think about this subject.
Creates Golden Opportunity
The rapid rise in the value of the Euro has created an even stronger foreign market for American music. International business is almost always conducted in dollars. Oil, natural gas, gold, silver, wheat, rice, sugar, and many other such things are priced in dollars. Music, movies, and other art forms are usually priced in dollars. Most of western Europe uses coins and bills called Euros. Just a few months ago, the Euro was worth about 80 cents, in American money. Now, the Euro is worth well over a dollar.
This is a very important fact if you are interested in leasing your music to one of the European music distributors. The rise in the value of the Euro has lowered the price of everyday items in Europe.
Here's an example. Oil sells on the world market for about $30 per barrel. When the Euro was worth 80 cents, a barrel of oil cost 36 Euros. That same barrel of oil now costs about 25 Euros. If you take this same effect and apply it to other everyday items, you see the impact it is having on the European economy. Imported cars, electronics, and clothing from Asia, meat and grain from the United States and hundreds of other items have become 25% to 30% cheaper.
The overall effect is to increase the purchasing power of the average European by about 30%. It is almost the same as if everybody in Europe had been given a tax free 30% raise in pay. The average European has more money to spend on entertainment. Some of that increase will be spent on American music.
The demand for American music is increasing. European music distributors will need more American music to meet the increased demand. This is only half of the overall picture. Let me give you another example. Assume a German music distributor wants to lease American music to meet the increased demand. Assume the cost per album is $20,000. Before the run-up in the Euro a $20,000 album lease would have cost the German company 25,000 Euros. This year, it will cost about 18,000 Euros. Assume the German music distributor had a total of 100,000 Euros to spend leasing American music. Last year, he could lease four American albums. This year, he can lease five American albums.
Each American artist is still getting $20,000 for his album. The payment has not changed. The overall pie has became larger. The total number of artists receiving $20,000 has increased. The German music distributor's cost has remained the same. The demand for American music has increased. The price in dollars has remained the same. The cost to the distributor has fallen about 20%. These three factors mean there has never been a better time to lease American music to European record distributors. The world's largest music trade fair is held in January. Visit http://www.midem.com for details.
This is a very important fact if you are interested in leasing your music to one of the European music distributors. The rise in the value of the Euro has lowered the price of everyday items in Europe.
Here's an example. Oil sells on the world market for about $30 per barrel. When the Euro was worth 80 cents, a barrel of oil cost 36 Euros. That same barrel of oil now costs about 25 Euros. If you take this same effect and apply it to other everyday items, you see the impact it is having on the European economy. Imported cars, electronics, and clothing from Asia, meat and grain from the United States and hundreds of other items have become 25% to 30% cheaper.
The overall effect is to increase the purchasing power of the average European by about 30%. It is almost the same as if everybody in Europe had been given a tax free 30% raise in pay. The average European has more money to spend on entertainment. Some of that increase will be spent on American music.
The demand for American music is increasing. European music distributors will need more American music to meet the increased demand. This is only half of the overall picture. Let me give you another example. Assume a German music distributor wants to lease American music to meet the increased demand. Assume the cost per album is $20,000. Before the run-up in the Euro a $20,000 album lease would have cost the German company 25,000 Euros. This year, it will cost about 18,000 Euros. Assume the German music distributor had a total of 100,000 Euros to spend leasing American music. Last year, he could lease four American albums. This year, he can lease five American albums.
Each American artist is still getting $20,000 for his album. The payment has not changed. The overall pie has became larger. The total number of artists receiving $20,000 has increased. The German music distributor's cost has remained the same. The demand for American music has increased. The price in dollars has remained the same. The cost to the distributor has fallen about 20%. These three factors mean there has never been a better time to lease American music to European record distributors. The world's largest music trade fair is held in January. Visit http://www.midem.com for details.
What Is Midem?
MIDEM is the premier music trade fair on the planet. For more than 30 years, music industry leaders have gathered for five days of total music immersion.
Recently, over 9,000 people from 94 countries gathered in Cannes, France. Representatives from 3,975 music companies attended. The event was covered by 750 journalists. It was attended by Crown Princes, members of the British Parliament, and high ranking government officials from many nations.
All of which is interesting, but not as interesting as why they were there. They were there because that is where the action is. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of music business was done. Record distribution deals of all types were made. Booking agents made deals with concert promoters. Songs were pitched, publishing companies were bought and sold. If it is business and involves music, some of it was done.
We look at all this professionally. We intend to achieve the maximum results. We want to place great independent music with foreign record distributors. They attend MIDEM hoping to find some high-quality music. They want to sell it in their home markets. They want to make a profit doing what they do. They distribute music. They need great new music to distribute.
There are countless variations, but it works along these lines: Distributors go to MIDEM looking for music from any place except their home market. A Japanese distributor might make a deal to distribute music from Germany. A German distributor might make a deal to distribute music from Australia. A distributor from Taiwan might make a deal to distribute music from England. All of them might make a deal to distribute music from America. American culture has spread throughout the world. The demand for American music has never been greater.
Only the biggest foreign distributors can afford to make deals for the best known American artists. Regional distributors don't have the financial muscle to buy the distribution rights to the music of big-name American stars. They are looking for music in the $15,000 to $50,000 range. They want exclusive rights, but only for their market. They don't care what happens in other markets. Nothing prevents such limited regional exclusives from being sold to several different regional distributors. Put together several $15,000 to $50,000 distribution deals on an album, and you're talking real money.
We are reviewing music now. Over the next few months we will be selecting the music we will pitch. Our only requirement is quality. There is a demand for all kinds of American-style music. Country, pop, urban, rock, bluegrass, and gospel, have fans in various parts of the world.
I agree with what Louie Armstrong said many years ago, "There are only two kinds of music, good and bad." Great Country music is being produced in Australia, Canada and other countries. We will base our selection on quality. It would not be fair or good business, to disqualify music from any country.
MIDEM is a part of our yearly operation. We are building a reputation for pitching high quality music from unknown artists. We already have many foreign business contacts. We are hard at work establishing more. The well known artists have huge corporations representing them. Our mission is to help highly talented and professional unknown artists.
If you have an album you are proud of, send it to us. The mailing address is:
International Talent GroupDrawer 291827Nashville, TN 37229
Mark it Attention: MIDEM Project. Please allow plenty of time for a response. The selection process is time consuming.
For more information about MIDEM visit www.midem.com
Recently, over 9,000 people from 94 countries gathered in Cannes, France. Representatives from 3,975 music companies attended. The event was covered by 750 journalists. It was attended by Crown Princes, members of the British Parliament, and high ranking government officials from many nations.
All of which is interesting, but not as interesting as why they were there. They were there because that is where the action is. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of music business was done. Record distribution deals of all types were made. Booking agents made deals with concert promoters. Songs were pitched, publishing companies were bought and sold. If it is business and involves music, some of it was done.
We look at all this professionally. We intend to achieve the maximum results. We want to place great independent music with foreign record distributors. They attend MIDEM hoping to find some high-quality music. They want to sell it in their home markets. They want to make a profit doing what they do. They distribute music. They need great new music to distribute.
There are countless variations, but it works along these lines: Distributors go to MIDEM looking for music from any place except their home market. A Japanese distributor might make a deal to distribute music from Germany. A German distributor might make a deal to distribute music from Australia. A distributor from Taiwan might make a deal to distribute music from England. All of them might make a deal to distribute music from America. American culture has spread throughout the world. The demand for American music has never been greater.
Only the biggest foreign distributors can afford to make deals for the best known American artists. Regional distributors don't have the financial muscle to buy the distribution rights to the music of big-name American stars. They are looking for music in the $15,000 to $50,000 range. They want exclusive rights, but only for their market. They don't care what happens in other markets. Nothing prevents such limited regional exclusives from being sold to several different regional distributors. Put together several $15,000 to $50,000 distribution deals on an album, and you're talking real money.
We are reviewing music now. Over the next few months we will be selecting the music we will pitch. Our only requirement is quality. There is a demand for all kinds of American-style music. Country, pop, urban, rock, bluegrass, and gospel, have fans in various parts of the world.
I agree with what Louie Armstrong said many years ago, "There are only two kinds of music, good and bad." Great Country music is being produced in Australia, Canada and other countries. We will base our selection on quality. It would not be fair or good business, to disqualify music from any country.
MIDEM is a part of our yearly operation. We are building a reputation for pitching high quality music from unknown artists. We already have many foreign business contacts. We are hard at work establishing more. The well known artists have huge corporations representing them. Our mission is to help highly talented and professional unknown artists.
If you have an album you are proud of, send it to us. The mailing address is:
International Talent GroupDrawer 291827Nashville, TN 37229
Mark it Attention: MIDEM Project. Please allow plenty of time for a response. The selection process is time consuming.
For more information about MIDEM visit www.midem.com
How Do I Sell My Song?
The short answer to the first question is "You don't want to sell outright, a song you have written." Under the United States copyright laws, you are entitled to a royalty each time your song is used for commercial purposes. If you were to sell the song, you would be agreeing to accept one payment, and would forfeit all future earnings. A person who would take advantage of you in such a fashion would be highly unethical. The industry is full of stories about the bad old days, when people would take advantage of a writer's poverty and/or ignorance by buying a song.
All Human Behavior Is Belief Driven
Your brain is similar to a computer. Your beliefs are the programs you have loaded into your brain. Human beliefs fall into two categories. These are; beliefs about what will create pleasure and beliefs about what will create pain. We try to achieve those things which we believe will create pleasure. We try to avoid those things we believe will create pain. Any two people can have vastly different beliefs about the same thing. One person believes skydiving results in pleasure. Another person believes skydiving results in pain. One person believes smoking is cool. Another believes smoking is a nasty habit that brings early illness and death. One person believes a seat belt prevents severe injury and death. Another believes a seat belt is confining and restrictive.
The programs you choose to run will determine your outcome. If you are running a spread sheet program in your computer a series of key strokes will produce a certain outcome. If you are running a word processing program, those same key strokes will produce a different outcome.
We all have things in our lives we would like to change. Temporary change can be accomplished through disciplined change of behavior. Real lasting change requires a change of beliefs. Unless you change the program your brain is running, you will revert to your old behavior. We have all done this over and over in our lives. We have vowed to practice our instrument everyday. We have done so for a period of time, but lapsed back into laziness. We have went on diets and lost weight, but later reverted to our old behavior and gained the weight back. We have fought an addiction to tobacco, alcohol, or some other chemical. We have kicked the habit for some period of time, but returned to our old behavior. In short, we have tried to improve ourselves one way or another, but failed to create lasting change.
We will continue to try and fail until something causes us to change our beliefs. When we change the programs running in our brains, we will create lasting change. Most of us have had a life-changing experience. An experience when something we had struggled with for months changed in the flash of a moment. In that moment, one of our beliefs changed dramatically. We knew we should fasten our seat belts, but just couldn't remember to click it. Then something happened. We got a ticket or a friend was in a car wreck. Suddenly, we believed not using a seat belt creates pain. We knew we should quit smoking, but just couldn't make it last. Then a close friend was told he had lung cancer or had a stroke. Suddenly, we associated pain with smoking. We were in a bad relationship, but just couldn't seem to leave. We kept thinking it would be better in the future. Then something happened. Suddenly, we believed it was painful in the past, it was painful in the present, and it would be painful. At that moment, our beliefs changed. As soon as our beliefs changed, the struggle was over.
Real lasting change is never a matter of ability. It is always a matter of motivation. Link enough pain to the old belief and enough pleasure to the desired new belief and lasting change will happen in an instant.
We have to decide. We can decide to sit back and wait for life to hit us with some nasty belief-changing event. Or, we can take a hard look at our beliefs. Most of our beliefs are not carefully thought out and chosen. We pick them up unintentionally the way we accidentally load a virus into our computer. Our beliefs can empower us or they can disempower us, by creating artificial limits.
If we believe in ourselves and in our dreams, we will take massive action to make those dreams come true. We will set definite goals and devise ways of reaching them. We will seek out ways to meet other music people and build networks of personal relationships. We will look around ourselves everyday and ask, "What can I do today to move closer to those goals and aspirations?" If we believe our lives are created by the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the actions we take, we will live rich and fulfilling lives. If we believe success comes only to the lucky few, we will live lives filled with bitterness, despair, and failure.
The choice is ours. Our creator empowered us with free will. The good book says, "Without a vision man shall perish." We can choose to be visionaries. All that is required is a dream and the unstoppable determination to reach it.
The day Disney World opened hundreds of reporters were present. Walt Disney had died before the grand opening ceremonies. His brother was there in Walt's place. A jerk of a reporter walked up to Mr. Disney and said, "This must be a really bittersweet day, for you." Mr. Disney looked around at the beautiful buildings, rides and grounds. He saw the crowds of people enjoying themselves and marveling at the beautiful park. He told the reporter he did not understand the question. What could be bittersweet when everything was going so well? The reporter said, "Sure, everything is going well. The park is beautiful and everything is working fine. But, it's got to hurt you to know Walt never lived to see this."
Mr. Disney was cool. He remain centered. He said, "Young man it is clear to me why you are only a reporter and Walt accomplished so much. My brother dreamed of this. Because he envisioned it years ago, you get to see it today. Walt was a visionary!"
I hope you enter the the next chapter of your life with a vision of your dream shining brightly before you and the belief that through your thoughts, words, and actions you have the absolute power to make that dream come true.
The programs you choose to run will determine your outcome. If you are running a spread sheet program in your computer a series of key strokes will produce a certain outcome. If you are running a word processing program, those same key strokes will produce a different outcome.
We all have things in our lives we would like to change. Temporary change can be accomplished through disciplined change of behavior. Real lasting change requires a change of beliefs. Unless you change the program your brain is running, you will revert to your old behavior. We have all done this over and over in our lives. We have vowed to practice our instrument everyday. We have done so for a period of time, but lapsed back into laziness. We have went on diets and lost weight, but later reverted to our old behavior and gained the weight back. We have fought an addiction to tobacco, alcohol, or some other chemical. We have kicked the habit for some period of time, but returned to our old behavior. In short, we have tried to improve ourselves one way or another, but failed to create lasting change.
We will continue to try and fail until something causes us to change our beliefs. When we change the programs running in our brains, we will create lasting change. Most of us have had a life-changing experience. An experience when something we had struggled with for months changed in the flash of a moment. In that moment, one of our beliefs changed dramatically. We knew we should fasten our seat belts, but just couldn't remember to click it. Then something happened. We got a ticket or a friend was in a car wreck. Suddenly, we believed not using a seat belt creates pain. We knew we should quit smoking, but just couldn't make it last. Then a close friend was told he had lung cancer or had a stroke. Suddenly, we associated pain with smoking. We were in a bad relationship, but just couldn't seem to leave. We kept thinking it would be better in the future. Then something happened. Suddenly, we believed it was painful in the past, it was painful in the present, and it would be painful. At that moment, our beliefs changed. As soon as our beliefs changed, the struggle was over.
Real lasting change is never a matter of ability. It is always a matter of motivation. Link enough pain to the old belief and enough pleasure to the desired new belief and lasting change will happen in an instant.
We have to decide. We can decide to sit back and wait for life to hit us with some nasty belief-changing event. Or, we can take a hard look at our beliefs. Most of our beliefs are not carefully thought out and chosen. We pick them up unintentionally the way we accidentally load a virus into our computer. Our beliefs can empower us or they can disempower us, by creating artificial limits.
If we believe in ourselves and in our dreams, we will take massive action to make those dreams come true. We will set definite goals and devise ways of reaching them. We will seek out ways to meet other music people and build networks of personal relationships. We will look around ourselves everyday and ask, "What can I do today to move closer to those goals and aspirations?" If we believe our lives are created by the thoughts we think, the words we speak, and the actions we take, we will live rich and fulfilling lives. If we believe success comes only to the lucky few, we will live lives filled with bitterness, despair, and failure.
The choice is ours. Our creator empowered us with free will. The good book says, "Without a vision man shall perish." We can choose to be visionaries. All that is required is a dream and the unstoppable determination to reach it.
The day Disney World opened hundreds of reporters were present. Walt Disney had died before the grand opening ceremonies. His brother was there in Walt's place. A jerk of a reporter walked up to Mr. Disney and said, "This must be a really bittersweet day, for you." Mr. Disney looked around at the beautiful buildings, rides and grounds. He saw the crowds of people enjoying themselves and marveling at the beautiful park. He told the reporter he did not understand the question. What could be bittersweet when everything was going so well? The reporter said, "Sure, everything is going well. The park is beautiful and everything is working fine. But, it's got to hurt you to know Walt never lived to see this."
Mr. Disney was cool. He remain centered. He said, "Young man it is clear to me why you are only a reporter and Walt accomplished so much. My brother dreamed of this. Because he envisioned it years ago, you get to see it today. Walt was a visionary!"
I hope you enter the the next chapter of your life with a vision of your dream shining brightly before you and the belief that through your thoughts, words, and actions you have the absolute power to make that dream come true.
There Are Two Kinds Of People
There are two kinds of people. There are those people who believe their lives are ruled by something outside of themselves. They are the folks who find a comfortable spot to sit and wait for fame and fortune to find them. If their words do not reveal them, their actions do. These are the people who refuse to take responsibility for their own lives. They appear to believe that Lady Luck, the Lord, Buddha, Allah, Fate, Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy will one day deliver the fame, fortune, and success they so rightly deserve
Why The Music Industry Works The Way It Does
The music industry has one great difference which sets it apart from most other industries. The difference is a lack of certification or licenses. Truck drivers, doctors, lawyers, welders, and even massage therapists can show you a piece of paper which says they are qualified to provide a given service. There is no such thing as a certified singer or musician.
So, how do music people find the qualified people they need? If a major star like Garth Brooks needs a new backup singer, guitarist, keyboard player, or whatever, he could run ads in newspapers. Hundreds of people would show up for the auditions. He would spend many days listening. After enough days, he might find the person he wanted. He could do that, but he values his time too much. He would rather have a few very well qualified people show up for the auditions. He would rather spend a few hours listening. He does this by holding private auditions only a few highly selected people know about.
He asks his friends to invite their friends to the private auditions. He knows his band members, lightmen, soundmen, and so forth will only invite qualified people to the auditions. In other words, he gets referrals from people he trusts. He uses people he knows are qualified to screen the people he spends time auditioning.
If someone wants to determine whether a person is qualified, they can learn through personal experience or they can get referrals from people they trust. You can pick one at random but you won't know if they are good at what they do until you pay them to do it. Or, you can get a referral from someone you trust.
This explains why the music industry operates the way it does. There is no other way it can operate! This is why networking is the single most important thing you can do. The amount and quality of your networking will determine the degree of success you have. You save time, money, and energy by getting referrals from music people and this is how you find opportunities. Most opportunities are unadvertised. Only a few people know about any given opportunity. If you know one of those few people you will know about the opportunity. If you don't know one of those few people, opportunity will not knock on your door.
Remember three facts: Fact number one is, there is nobody in the music industry so important you must know them. People change positions within the industry constantly. Today's star is tomorrow's has-been. Today's big shot is tomorrow's hard-luck case. Sony Music recently fired the top three people in it's Nashville office. There is absolutely no job security in this industry!
Fact number two is, there is nobody so unimportant you don't need to know them. Today's unknown singer is tomorrow's star. Today's unknown producer is tomorrow's new kid on the block. Several years ago, a person was fired by Mercury Records' Nashville. It appeared his career was over. He is the new President of Sony Music's Nashville office.
Fact number three is, you can't know everybody. There will always be some people you haven't met. There will always be some people you just don't like. Call it a personality clash, if you choose. If you feel it, chances are they feel it too.
Meet as many music people as you can. Be friendly with as many as you can. If you can't be friendly with a person, try to avoid being enemies. You never know when the next favor will come your way, or from whom it may come. There is an old saying in the music industry, "Success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." It is an old saying because it was as true decades ago as it is now.
Opportunity is not achieved by meeting the right person. If you had known the executive when he was about to be fired, it would not have helped your career. If you had met him after he was fired, you might have thought he would never be able to help your career. He's now on top again. Do you think he will forget those friends who stayed with him during the bad years? Today, he is surrounded by favor-seekers. If you were in his position, who would you help?
Success is not created by meeting the right person. It is created by being friendly with the right person at the right time. None of us can see the future clearly. None of us can predict who the next big shot will be. If we could and started sucking up now, it would still be sucking up. Networking is not about sucking up to big shots. Networking is about sharing friendship, mutual interests, and information. Networking is about meeting a lot of people with shared interests, goals, dreams, and aspirations. It's about friends helping friends.
Networking is an important part of success, in any field. It is the single most important part of success in music and entertainment. There is absolutely no substitute for friends in this industry! If you are the most talented person on the planet and nobody else knows it, you will not be successful. If you are the most beautiful lady or most handsome man and nobody likes you, success will not come your way.
I can honestly say, every good thing that has occurred in my career was a direct result of a friendship. My greatest assets have always been my love of people and ability to build strong friendships. Without those, I would have had no success. Without those, I wouldn't even know what success can and should be.
So, how do music people find the qualified people they need? If a major star like Garth Brooks needs a new backup singer, guitarist, keyboard player, or whatever, he could run ads in newspapers. Hundreds of people would show up for the auditions. He would spend many days listening. After enough days, he might find the person he wanted. He could do that, but he values his time too much. He would rather have a few very well qualified people show up for the auditions. He would rather spend a few hours listening. He does this by holding private auditions only a few highly selected people know about.
He asks his friends to invite their friends to the private auditions. He knows his band members, lightmen, soundmen, and so forth will only invite qualified people to the auditions. In other words, he gets referrals from people he trusts. He uses people he knows are qualified to screen the people he spends time auditioning.
If someone wants to determine whether a person is qualified, they can learn through personal experience or they can get referrals from people they trust. You can pick one at random but you won't know if they are good at what they do until you pay them to do it. Or, you can get a referral from someone you trust.
This explains why the music industry operates the way it does. There is no other way it can operate! This is why networking is the single most important thing you can do. The amount and quality of your networking will determine the degree of success you have. You save time, money, and energy by getting referrals from music people and this is how you find opportunities. Most opportunities are unadvertised. Only a few people know about any given opportunity. If you know one of those few people you will know about the opportunity. If you don't know one of those few people, opportunity will not knock on your door.
Remember three facts: Fact number one is, there is nobody in the music industry so important you must know them. People change positions within the industry constantly. Today's star is tomorrow's has-been. Today's big shot is tomorrow's hard-luck case. Sony Music recently fired the top three people in it's Nashville office. There is absolutely no job security in this industry!
Fact number two is, there is nobody so unimportant you don't need to know them. Today's unknown singer is tomorrow's star. Today's unknown producer is tomorrow's new kid on the block. Several years ago, a person was fired by Mercury Records' Nashville. It appeared his career was over. He is the new President of Sony Music's Nashville office.
Fact number three is, you can't know everybody. There will always be some people you haven't met. There will always be some people you just don't like. Call it a personality clash, if you choose. If you feel it, chances are they feel it too.
Meet as many music people as you can. Be friendly with as many as you can. If you can't be friendly with a person, try to avoid being enemies. You never know when the next favor will come your way, or from whom it may come. There is an old saying in the music industry, "Success is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." It is an old saying because it was as true decades ago as it is now.
Opportunity is not achieved by meeting the right person. If you had known the executive when he was about to be fired, it would not have helped your career. If you had met him after he was fired, you might have thought he would never be able to help your career. He's now on top again. Do you think he will forget those friends who stayed with him during the bad years? Today, he is surrounded by favor-seekers. If you were in his position, who would you help?
Success is not created by meeting the right person. It is created by being friendly with the right person at the right time. None of us can see the future clearly. None of us can predict who the next big shot will be. If we could and started sucking up now, it would still be sucking up. Networking is not about sucking up to big shots. Networking is about sharing friendship, mutual interests, and information. Networking is about meeting a lot of people with shared interests, goals, dreams, and aspirations. It's about friends helping friends.
Networking is an important part of success, in any field. It is the single most important part of success in music and entertainment. There is absolutely no substitute for friends in this industry! If you are the most talented person on the planet and nobody else knows it, you will not be successful. If you are the most beautiful lady or most handsome man and nobody likes you, success will not come your way.
I can honestly say, every good thing that has occurred in my career was a direct result of a friendship. My greatest assets have always been my love of people and ability to build strong friendships. Without those, I would have had no success. Without those, I wouldn't even know what success can and should be.
A Solution to the Harsh Facts of the Music Industry
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the typical dream for songwriters and musicians alike was to write and perform amazing music, get signed to a major record label, and make millions of dollars. Unfortunately, even platinum selling records and lavish worldwide touring rarely puts a million dollars into the pockets of the lucky 1% (of major label signed artists) who accomplish this feat.
The music industry has shifted to an entirely different business model in the last five years. The digital revolution has increased the competition for the entertainment dollar. DVD's, video games, and the Internet are just a few that can be held accountable. As major labels and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) attempted to fight off the digital revolution, they should have joined the opponent in the onset. And thus the downfall of the major labels began.
What does this mean for the songwriter and/or musician? One must enter the industry with a completely different mindset. Do it yourself. Look to achieving success through your own business strategy, rather than being at the mercy of one of the five major recording labels
Maintain a dual-focus, "Be a great musician and a street-smart entrepreneur at the same time." There is no need to live up to the "starving artist" image when there is money to be made. Besides, it's easier to write songs without a growling stomach.
What if you still desire the fame and worldwide distribution a major label can bring to an artist's act? Still seriously develop your music business independently. Most majors aren't picking up acts unless they have already proved themselves. If you have developed your own image and audiences have really taken to your music, then you are less of a gamble, and thus more attractive to a major label. The cheaper your act is to develop, the more money you make.
One article is not nearly long enough to outline all the necessities of promoting your own music. However, I hope it has encouraged you to seek other resources to learn more about developing "your business."
The music industry has shifted to an entirely different business model in the last five years. The digital revolution has increased the competition for the entertainment dollar. DVD's, video games, and the Internet are just a few that can be held accountable. As major labels and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) attempted to fight off the digital revolution, they should have joined the opponent in the onset. And thus the downfall of the major labels began.
What does this mean for the songwriter and/or musician? One must enter the industry with a completely different mindset. Do it yourself. Look to achieving success through your own business strategy, rather than being at the mercy of one of the five major recording labels
Maintain a dual-focus, "Be a great musician and a street-smart entrepreneur at the same time." There is no need to live up to the "starving artist" image when there is money to be made. Besides, it's easier to write songs without a growling stomach.
What if you still desire the fame and worldwide distribution a major label can bring to an artist's act? Still seriously develop your music business independently. Most majors aren't picking up acts unless they have already proved themselves. If you have developed your own image and audiences have really taken to your music, then you are less of a gamble, and thus more attractive to a major label. The cheaper your act is to develop, the more money you make.
One article is not nearly long enough to outline all the necessities of promoting your own music. However, I hope it has encouraged you to seek other resources to learn more about developing "your business."
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When the passion of music is real
