Music licensing is becoming an ever greater source of income for musicians at any level. However, many acts just starting out fail to see the amazing opportunity for exposure that licensing may give you. One of the best ways to get your name known is through sync licensing.
Sync licensing is the process by which a song is placed in conjunction with another vocal track, image, or moving image. For example, all the great songs you hear in the movies, television ads and programs, and even some radio commercials are sync licensing. The possibilities continue beyond that though as, for example, corporations will often license music for use in their own in-house presentations.
Sync licenses can pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands depending on a few critical contract terms and how well the music is known. Those contract terms are usually how long your music is going to be played, how large a geographic area, whether you grant an exclusive or non-exclusive license, and the duration the license will be granted. A band who gets a sync license for advertising for a whole 30 second commercial, worldwide, for a year, and exclusive rights will be paid more than if the commercial was only in the U.S., for 10 seconds of a 30 second commercial, 3 month duration, and a non-exclusive license.
But don't let money be your only worry. Television commercials, movies, and shows are powerful ways to reach a large audience and increase your exposure. Many musicians have furthered their careers solely based on a national television spot. Be on the lookout for potential opportunities in this area if you are looking to further your exposure. Besides, it might also possibly lead to a nice paycheck.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Copyright
Copyright seems to be the topic most people in entertainment know about, but few people actually understand. This is going to be a quick overview on copyright and why it is important to the entertainment world.
Copyright is defined legally as an "original work(s) of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated..." That's great, right? But what does that mean? Let us break it down.
An "original work of authorship" is any new concept that fits into a legally defined category of protection. The categories of protection includes such things as: literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, audiovisual, architectural, or sound recording. So, if you have an idea which is new and can be placed into one of those legally defined categories, you are half way there.
The next step in copyright is to place your idea in "any tangible medium of expression". Essentially, you must be able to place your idea into a format which can be physically manipulated. But, wait, what about sound recordings? You can't physically manipulate a sound recording, right? True. That is why we must combine the next section of the law which states, "from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated...". Basically, if you have an idea, even on in an electronic format, which you can convey to other people from some physical object, then you have a copyright.
That's it. To have a copyright that is all you are required to have. You do not have to register your copyright to have copyright protection. However, that said, registering your work with the U.S. copyright office makes it a lot easier to legally defend your work should someone violate your copyright.
Next time we will talk about what a copyright gives you the right to do and what you can do with it.
Copyright is defined legally as an "original work(s) of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated..." That's great, right? But what does that mean? Let us break it down.
An "original work of authorship" is any new concept that fits into a legally defined category of protection. The categories of protection includes such things as: literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, audiovisual, architectural, or sound recording. So, if you have an idea which is new and can be placed into one of those legally defined categories, you are half way there.
The next step in copyright is to place your idea in "any tangible medium of expression". Essentially, you must be able to place your idea into a format which can be physically manipulated. But, wait, what about sound recordings? You can't physically manipulate a sound recording, right? True. That is why we must combine the next section of the law which states, "from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated...". Basically, if you have an idea, even on in an electronic format, which you can convey to other people from some physical object, then you have a copyright.
That's it. To have a copyright that is all you are required to have. You do not have to register your copyright to have copyright protection. However, that said, registering your work with the U.S. copyright office makes it a lot easier to legally defend your work should someone violate your copyright.
Next time we will talk about what a copyright gives you the right to do and what you can do with it.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
360 Deals and Artist Management
It's a pretty well known fact no days that major labels are not going to sign unknown artists. The only chance a musician has at being signed to a major label is to be previously established. What I mean by previously established is that they must have a fan base large enough and a business plan laid out that shows a label they will make money on the deal from the start. But, all is not lost. There may be another way involving the 360 deal.
As the decline in records continues to wreak havoc upon the bottom line of labels they are going to look to other avenues of profit to balance their books. 360 deals offer a viable solution. In traditional music contracts the record company gives you a loan which you pay back through royalties. If the musician is able to pay off their loan then the record company gets a cut of the royalties from there on out to make a profit. The label would offset the cost of loans to musicians that didn't do well, with the massive profit made off the few musicians who did phenomenally. With the decline of record sales that is becoming less and less possible. So, how can a 360 deal save the day?
A 360 deal allows a record label access to more streams of revenue from an artist. Instead of getting a percentage of just royalties from record sales, the label gets a percentage from merchandise, tours, publishing, advertising, and anything else they can think of that will bring them money. But, little known musicians may benefit from this as well. Labels may start to see an avenue in which they are involved in artist development. By taking a slice of all revenue streams the label will have an incentive to make the artist as good as they can. Consequently, labels will find they make a profit off of small artists, thus encouraging them to sign more unknown names.
If you happen to be a band who has gotten some interest, but no deal, perhaps you should consider pitching them a 360 artist development deal that would benefit both parties.
As the decline in records continues to wreak havoc upon the bottom line of labels they are going to look to other avenues of profit to balance their books. 360 deals offer a viable solution. In traditional music contracts the record company gives you a loan which you pay back through royalties. If the musician is able to pay off their loan then the record company gets a cut of the royalties from there on out to make a profit. The label would offset the cost of loans to musicians that didn't do well, with the massive profit made off the few musicians who did phenomenally. With the decline of record sales that is becoming less and less possible. So, how can a 360 deal save the day?
A 360 deal allows a record label access to more streams of revenue from an artist. Instead of getting a percentage of just royalties from record sales, the label gets a percentage from merchandise, tours, publishing, advertising, and anything else they can think of that will bring them money. But, little known musicians may benefit from this as well. Labels may start to see an avenue in which they are involved in artist development. By taking a slice of all revenue streams the label will have an incentive to make the artist as good as they can. Consequently, labels will find they make a profit off of small artists, thus encouraging them to sign more unknown names.
If you happen to be a band who has gotten some interest, but no deal, perhaps you should consider pitching them a 360 artist development deal that would benefit both parties.
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