Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Music Business Journal October 2010 Issue
Music Business Journal October 2010 Issue
Mission Statement
The Publisher as a Record Label The Music Business Journal, published
at the Berklee College of Music, is a stu-
By Evan Kramer
dent publication that serves as a forum for
At the start of the summer of 2010, leaving artists without proper tour support, intellectual discussion and research into the
the release of the self-titled debut album from promotion, and, in some cases, management. various aspects of the music business. The
Oklahoma rockers, Taddy Porter, signified a “[Artists and managers are] looking for a lot
landmark shift in the music industry. While more from their publishers nowadays,” said goal is to inform and educate aspiring music
sales were low and chart time only lasted a Primary Wave Music Publishing partner/GM professionals, connect them with the indus-
week (peaking at 24), the band’s debut still mer- Justin Shukat in an interview with Billboard.
its significance as one of the first major releases “They want more than synchronization and try, and raise the academic level and interest
to be recorded, developed, and managed by a writer collaboration opportunities. They are inside and outside the Berklee Community.
music publisher. expecting a marketing plan and brand market-
ing.”
As cost -cutting major labels continue Inside This Issue
sending departments to the chopping block, With this in mind, the company de-
publishing com- cided to try its
panies are be- luck in Artist
ginning to pick Management,
up the slack by forming its
opening shop Urban Man-
in areas outside agement Divi-
their traditional sion in June Gail Zappa
business. Pri- 2009. Two of
mary Wave, in the industry’s Page 4
particular, has elite talent
become a pio- finders, Rick
neer among a Smith of Wild
new breed of Justice and
publishers. It is Scott Frazier Spotify & RDIO
one of the larg- of Overtone Page 6
est independent Music Group,
music publishers were brought
in the world, and on to head the
has climbed to new depart-
its rank in a rela- ment. “Rick Back to the Future
tively short time. and Frazier are Page 8
Founded in April an exception-
2006 by a former ally talented
Virgin Records executive, Larry Mestel, the management team with a unique passion and
company has established its reputation control- commitment to their artists,” said CEO Larry
ling the rights to the catalogs of, among others, Mestel. “By leveraging our relationships
Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, Steven Tyler/Aerosmith, with key players in the music, television, mo-
Lawmakers in Brazil
Daryl Hall & John Oates, Founding Members tion picture and advertising industries, Prima- Page 10
of Chicago, Steve Earle, and Bo Diddley. Pri- ry Wave will be able to add significant value
mary Wave also retains co-publishing deals to the artists signed to the new joint venture.”
with artists like The Airborne Toxic Event, Sav- So far, the Smith and Frazier duo has already
ing Abel, and Blue October. signed five new artists to its roster including
Saving Abel, Crowfield, Abby Owens, Rook- Catering to the Home Studio
Over the past few years, with the ie of the Year, and of course, Primary Wave’s Page 12
publishing business clearly booming, Primary newly-released Taddy Porter.
Wave began noticing that changes in the indus-
try were opening doors in areas outside of their For Taddy Porter, the timing could
métier. With record labels pinching pennies not have been better. The ink had hardly dried
like it were the Great Depression, the quality on their Urban Management contract before
of their service had been significantly reduced, Primary Wave announced the grand opening
(Continued on Page 3)
Volume 6, Issue 1 Music Business Journal
In the meantime, this latest issue is sure to capture your attention. Most excitingly, and courtesy Law Section
of long-time contributor Michael King (BerkleeMusic), the MBJ has been granted the right to pub-
lish an exclusive interview with Gail Zappa (wife of Frank Zappa). Mrs. Zappa spares no detail in
Copyright in Brazil................................10
describing her role as the sole owner of the Frank Zappa catalogue and her plans for its future--a must
read for anyone interested in the possibility of hearing some previously unreleased Zappa tracks.
Interviews
It seems that online cloud-based music libraries are the wave of the future for consumers. Nick
Susi provides us with a very informative report on both RDIO and Spotify, and Spotify’s attempts Gail Zappa...............................................4
to seize the American market. Alternatively, Jamie Anderson shares, an up-to-date (quite literally) Jim Odom...............................................12
piece on Spotify’s largest competitor, iTunes Ping. Both articles point to possible directions of digital
music’s future. MBJ Editorial
Media futurist, Gerd Leonhard has graced us with an original piece entitled, “The Price of Free,” Mission Statement...................................1
which examines the inevitable gains that spawn from distributing music for free. Leonhard discusses Editor’s Note...........................................2
the concept of “Freemium,” and explains his view that revenues are beginning to lose their direct Upcoming Topics...................................16
relationship with actual music, forcing profit sources to be generated elsewhere.
Sponsorship
The summer touring season ended falling noticeably short; Kerry Fee has provided us with an
informative follow-up report. Luiz Silva, a Brazilian lawyer/ Berklee student, has contributed a rare Berklee Media....................................... 15
insider’s view to new copyright laws in Brazil. Hunt Hearin was able to sit down with Jim Odom,
co-founder/ CEO of home-recording equipment pioneer, PreSonus. Odom shares company history
as well as his aspirations for the future. Lastly, I’ve contributed a piece on independent publisher,
Primary Wave, and their innovative new model that is reshaping the publishing industry.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce this first issue of the MBJ’s 5th year. My hope is that you
will find it both interesting and informative. Be sure to visit us at www.thembj.org and check us out
on facebook as well.
Evan Krammer
Management
Editor-in-Chief................................................................................................................................................................. .Evan Kramer
Content Editor.........................................................................................................................................................................Nick Susi
Webmaster..................................................................................................................................................................Itay Shahar Rahat
Faculty Advisor and Finance.....................................................................................................................................Dr. Peter Alhadeff
Layout Editor..................................................................................................................................................................Lau Meng Wai
Marketing Manager.......................................................................................................................................................... Minden Jones
Contributors
Editor’s Note.....................................................................................................................................................................Evan Kramer
Business Articles.................................................................................................................Jamie Anderson, Kerry Fee, Evan Kramer
Business Articles (cont)................................................................................................................................Nick Susi, Gerd Leonhard
Law Section...................................................................................................................................Luis Augusto Buff de Souza e Silva
Interviews....................................................................................................................................................Hunt Hearin, Michael King
Staff.................................................................................Moana Avveneti, Witt Godden, Ben Hong, Trish Hosein, Gabriella Howard
Staff (cont)........................................................................................Dean Millser, Silvina Moreno, Dahyun Ed Seong, Mia Verdoorn
Business Articles
The Publisher as a Record Label (cont.)
of its Label division in the earlier part of this campaign to secure corporate sponsorships
year. Also called Primary Wave, the label to help ease the financial load for their art-
performs all of the functions that one would ists on tour. “Being on the road is an inte-
expect. It signs new artists, develops talent, gral part of a band’s success,” said Devin
and produces records. For physical distribu- Lasker, Partner/Chief Imagination Officer
tion, a deal was signed with EMI in March for Primary Wave. “Unfortunately, touring
2010. GM and Sr. VP for EMI Label Servic- is an expensive proposition, so we created
es, Dominic Pandiscia, speaks about this program to alleviate that burden.” Re-
the deal: “Primary Wave is a great partner for cently, on August 26th, an agreement was
EMI Label Services, because we’ve both de- signed with Motel 6 that offered six weeks
veloped a different approach to the business of free lodging to bands touring under the
in response to the changing needs of artists “Rock Yourself to Sleep” banner. So far, the
and third party labels today.” partnership has been an enormous success,
having helped subsidize the tours of Stephen
Primary Wave is not the only pub- Kellogg & The Sixers, Hit The Lights and
lisher to have ventured into record label ter- Sparks The Rescue. “We are really grateful
ritories. London-based publisher, Notting to Primary Wave and Motel 6 for choosing us
Hill, recently launched an independent label,
Transmission Recordings, last October. The
new operation has already signed R&B/ Hip-
to be a part of [this tour]” said Alex Roy, lead
singer for Sparks The Rescue. We are “going
to rock hard and sleep well!”
Find
hop artists like The King Blues, Bodyrox,
Ezcapade, Rhythms Del Mundo, and Lil J.
Bug Music, another independent publishing
With hands in almost every pot of
the industry, Primary Wave appears to be
us
heavyweight, has also jumped on the band-
wagon, signing a deal with the Kings of Leon
imprint label and 429 records in June 2010.
flourishing, and has potentially found a qual-
itative business model for the future. “We are
now a full-service entertainment shop look-
on
The label plans to debut with the release of
new music by The Features. Other publish-
ing for opportunities in all parts of the busi-
ness,” says Justin Shukat. But from an aerial Facebook
ers, such as Peermusic and Sony/ATV, have view, one can’t help but be reminded of Ma-
also entered similar co-production agree-
ments.
jor Label’s extortive use of 360 record deals
–designed to extract revenues from all fac- and
ets of an artist’s career. And under this light,
Mastering the Recording Rights the Primary Wave model looks suspiciously
similar, only they actually do own the rights www.
The interesting thing about this to everything.
trend is that ownership of a label grants a pub-
lisher exclusive rights to master recordings. The problem is that it is actually
thembj.
This opens the floodgates for all sorts of new more dangerous for the artist, because a pub-
revenue streams and promotional opportuni-
ties. Take for example, the ability to control
lisher would legally control an artist’s entire
career, starting of course, with the assign-
org
both sides of a synchronization agreement–– ment of the copyright. Such concentration
the publishing and the master rights. Peer- of power may pose a serious threat to mu-
music, a well-known independent publisher, sical talent, and would arguably continue to
suggests that “total ownership” is the next deepen the industry divide that is so apparent
step in the evolving music business. Ameri- in the existing business. While Primary Wave
can Regional President, Kathy Spanberger, was founded on the ideals of supporting art-
explains: “We used to be able to develop new ists and promoting great music, and it has
talent without owning master rights, but these done nothing but that so far, the point must
days, because Internet marketing and film, be made. Nevertheless, such innovations also
TV and advertising promotion is such an im- have enormous potential to advance an art-
portant part of development, we need to own ist’s career.
or administer the masters as well in order to
expand the development opportunities and
ease the licensing issues.”
Interview
(Continued on Page 5)
4 www.thembj.org October 2010
Volume 6, Issue 1 Music Business Journal
Interview
MK: How are you working to expose somebody interpret Frank’s music because United States of America, because that’s
new listeners to Frank’s music? If a lot of in many cases it’s no different than identity what copyright law is. I didn’t invent it.
Frank’s catalog is unavailable digitally, and theft or character assassination. When people I’m not the bad (or good) guy that said
physical retail is cutting back with their in- just take it into their own hands and arrange this is how it’s supposed to go. There’s
ventory, what other ways are you working it without getting permission and do terrible a reason for copyrights to exist because
to expose potential fans to Frank’s music? things to it that were never intended - because they actually are proof and a working ver-
for them it’s easier to play that way. So I feel sion of the ideas of those people, at this
GZ: In an ideal situation, I would be able to that I have a really strong contract with Frank time and this place and I like that idea.
have more participation in the original catalog Zappa to get that music out there the way that The more freedom there is to express
than I do right now, and that may yet happen he intended it and that’s the other part of how these ideas, the better off we all are and
in the next few months. If it does, then you the releases work. that’s the reason why I also love and en-
will see a very big change. For me, any kind joy the Bill of Rights. However, when you
of release that we get out there helps to sell But, getting back to the disappointing aspect. consider the means by which other people
everything. I mean, people think I’ve planned, For me it is that there are all these people that are trying to take copyright law and try to
perhaps with Dweezil, how to do this and worked under Frank’s baton and not one of take it apart at the seams, they’re doing
Dweezil has certainly contributed to introduc- them does covers. You know, you would think it by misinformation. It’s disinformation
ing music to a younger audience, for the most that somebody would think it’d be a great basically. If you want to start a war and
part, so that already exists. I get letters from idea to do a cover version. I’d love to license pretend that somebody took the first shot,
people that are fourteen or under all the time Frank’s music but it’s just so inappropriate to you use disinformation as we’ve seen in
that are interested in the music. The problem license classics in so many ways because they the past, to make that happen. This is war
is, is that you are fighting a huge battle. It’s were never written or intended for, especially against artist rights and I think that it is not
great that Dweezil is out there performing not those performances, they were never in- a very good idea, in this day and age, to
the music because the saddest part is that he tended for commercial exploitation. If people introduce any kind of arts programming,
comes closest to having produced the band did covers though, I could certainly consider in terms of educational programs, with-
that I think Frank would’ve actually hired licensing those if they were something that I out introducing also the means by which
himself, including Dweezil on “stunt guitar”. thought was sincere and represented the intent you protect your rights. It’s no different
That would have been ideal, but there’s noth- of the composer. than a signature at the end of the day. It’s
ing else out there that touches that band, in like this, if somebody is a Muslim or a
terms of Dweezil’s intention with respect to MK: Could you give me an example of Christian, do they have the right to make
what he is trying to accomplish with musi- something that you would be interested in you be one by voting by majority vote?
cians of that caliber. licensing? No, that’s clearly not the American way
and it’s the same with copyrights. If you
The Music GZ: Well, for example, I get a billion requests want to give your music away for free,
for “Willy the Pimp,” but there is no way that that doesn’t mean you get to join a group
MK: I saw them two years back in Boston I am going to let that go out there unless I had that’s going to take apart everyone else’s
with Steve Vai and they were just great… some other version because I don’t think that it rights just because that’s what you be-
is right to exploit Frank’s particular statement lieve. You have a choice. Go ahead. Give
GZ: Yeah, but that was back when everyone and that actual recording. I mean a lot of these it away. If you think that that’s the best
believed that you had to have former mem- records were made back in the day, where way to market your music, by never be-
bers of the band. With all due respect, you these studios themselves were instruments in ing able to earn a living from doing that,
know, we love Steve Vai - but here’s a disap- the hands of the composer and that’s no lon- great. Join that fabulous club and enjoy.
pointment that I have to say fairly regularly, ger true. Everybody works out of a box now
and that is that Frank’s agenda was to educate that you plug in. Back in the day, the studio MZ: Any other thoughts on the state of
because when you educate the audience, you was one of the actual instruments and control- the music industry, and ideas on how to
give them the opportunity to experience a ling what you could do in a studio gave you move ahead as an artist?
wide variety of musical entertainment. Now as many opportunities in terms of the sounds
I can’t do that as well as Frank because I’m that you could get as any other instrument. So GZ: Mostly, the business of music these
not in a band. I mean, on stage, he would in- a studio in the hands of a skilled composer is a days is a popularity contest and it’s the
troduce Stravinsky, Varèse, and Bartok, you whole other animal. ability of some performer, primarily, to
know, all sorts of composers and lots of R&B capture the attention of an audience and
music that he loved when he was a kid and Artists and Copyrights expand on that. I think as a musician/
he went out of his way to make sure people composer, you can’t look at that as com-
heard those sounds and heard that music. It MK: I read an interview you did where you petition. I mean this industry was bound
wasn’t so important from them to know who had this great quote, “my job is to make to implode on itself because it’s like any
the composer was until he did interviews; sure that Frank Zappa has the last word in other. Once the distributors are more fa-
you don’t have to announce it on stage be- terms of anybody’s idea of who he is and his mous than any artists they distribute,
cause then people don’t really pay attention. actual last word is his music.” What does you’ve got a problem because there’s a lot
The fact is that their ears are being trained; that mean in terms of your opinion of copy- of money going in to support that struc-
I can’t do the ear training that Frank did but right as it relates to Frank Zappa? ture that shouldn’t be in their pockets.
I can constantly reinforce the idea that there You know, its like if an agency is more
is a basis; there is a history behind all of this GZ: Well, I think that every person who cre- famous that the actors it represents, in the
stuff. It’s based in intention; the composer’s ates anything in the realm of intellectual prop- public’s mind, you can see how that’s a
intent is everything. So you can’t just have erty is protected under the Constitution of the problem. Well that’s what happened to
(Continued on Page 14)
Business Articles
Music streaming certainly seems to by the company is limited. In April 2009, to an advertisement-free subscription. Thus
be a formidable combatant against illegal file Spotify announced its one-millionth user, far, on an international scale, Spotify has been
sharing and P2P users. Recently, the cloud- and claimed to accrue 40,000 new users per successful in bestowing avid listeners with a
based streaming service Spotify has been in day. By the end of 2009, the company grew large selection of readily available music.
the news frequently. Created by Daniel Ek, to over 6 million users, with 50,000 newcom-
Spotify was only available in the United ers joining the service every day. Annual In lieu of Spotify’s inability to en-
Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France revenue exceeded a staggering 10 million ter the US, a promising new music streaming
and Spain when it was first launched, but has euro ($14.1 million). As 2010 commenced, service, RDIO, has entered the music industry.
successfully spread to the Netherlands and Spotify revealed that it had roughly 250,000 Founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zannstrom,
continues its attempt to break into the Ger- actual paying subscribers. By the end of the creators of Kazaa and Skype, RDIO is now
man, Chinese, and American markets. spring of 2010, Spotify increased its paid sub- available to the public in the United States and
scribers to over 320,000, with over 7 million Canada as of August 2010.
Spotify’s business model operates users.
through subscription fees and advertisement Operating on a very similar model,
investors. The company generates revenue So what competition would Spotify RDIO’s price tiers include:
through multiple price tiers, which include: face in the United States? Internet streaming
services such as Grooveshark, Napster, and • Free trial period for 3 days, then the user
• Free streaming for twenty hours per month MOG pose threats. Grooveshark offers ad- must upgrade
with advertisements vertisement-free streaming for $3 per month. • $5 per month for unlimited streaming on the
• Free unlimited streaming with advertise- In addition, Napster provides unlimited music Internet
ments, but only with a special invitation code streaming for $5 per month. Finally, MOG • $10 per month for both online streaming and
• 4.99 euro per month for unlimited streaming proffers music streaming along with mobile mobile applications (on iPhone, Blackberry,
without advertisements applications for $15 per month. After con- and Android)
• 9.99 euro per month for a premium service, version rates, most of these business models
which includes no advertisements, mobile are cheaper for the consumer than Spotify’s, The music-streaming site provides
applications, and offline usage but lack many of its features--most notably users with a user-friendly interface for mak-
the offline service options. ing playlists and searching for artists/songs.
In regards to the premium service, RDIO scans the computer’s iTunes library
Spotify has mobile applications available for Regardless of Spotify’s competi- and makes suggestions to the user based on
iPhone, iTouch, and Android, which conve- tion in the United States, the company still their musical preferences. Moreover, it has
niently thrust users’ music playlists straight aims to tap into the American market. For social networking features, in which users can
to their fingertips. In offline mode, premium over a year, the company has fought to suc- review and share music with their friends. All
subscribers have the opportunity to sync up cessfully extend its services but has continu- things considered, a casual observer might
to 3,333 tracks to their computer’s hard drive, ously hit brick walls when negotiating licens- begin to notice some distinct similarities be-
which are then accessible even when discon- ing deals with labels. Spotify is without a tween RDIO and Spotify’s features. Although
nected from the Internet. With premium fea- doubt a very popular service in its operating RDIO does not seem to bring anything entire-
tures such as these, Spotify clearly strives for countries, but the company continues to find ly new to the table, perhaps the company will
a expedient and versatile listening experi- difficulty monetizing their product. Because perfect the features already provided by other
ence. of this detrimental factor, the US speculates music streaming sites.
that the business model is not profitable
Spotify’s interface resembles that enough. Moreover, to use Spotify, whether Since RDIO has only been in exis-
of iTunes, and it is incredibly user-friendly on a computer or a phone, one must down- tence for about a month, the company has not
for making playlists and searching for art- load an application, rather than stream music yet provided the public with numbers regard-
ists/songs. Users can also upload the music on the website itself. This limits Spotify’s ing its user/subscriber count or monetary prof-
from their iTunes library or hard drive to the expansion into other territories beyond com- it. RDIO has signed agreements with the Big
streaming cloud. With social networking be- puters and phones, such as in automobiles, Four major labels, as well as the Independent
ing arguably the most prevalent contempo- televisions, gaming systems, and DVR units. The Orchard, Ingrooves, Finetunes, and Iris.
rary phenomenon, Spotify cleverly incorpo- Online Distribution Alliance, The Orchard,
rates Facebook and Twitter features. Users On that note, however, Spotify did Ingrooves, Finetunes, and Iris. However, the
can connect with their Facebook friends and recently sign a deal with TeliaSonera, a tele- grand opening might have been a bit hasty in
Twitter followers on a live feed, sharing the vision service in Sweden and Finland. Within that, negotiations with independent music la-
latest music updates and suggested artists and those two countries, premium subscribers are bel, Merlin (Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend,
tracks. Users of Spotify have quite an active- able to stream music from their television sets et cetera), had not been completely finalized.
ly involved experience. in their living room. Spotify also recently This action led to a some-what turbulent web
developed a “homepage takeover” ad that launch with Merlin accusing RDIO of not
As far as quantifying Spotify’s suc- stretches across the entire computer screen, understanding or respecting what consumers
cess is concerned, the information provided in an attempt to sway free users to upgrade really want. As it appears in all cloud-based
(Continued on Page 7)
6 www.thembj.org October 2010
Volume 6, Issue 1 Music Business Journal
Business Articles
This year has undoubtedly been a every song in your library has a Ping button last.fm, thesixtyone and mybandstock.
banner year for Apple. With the release of next to the track title, which allows you to ei-
the iPad in April, and the launch of the new ther share the song on your wall with a person- The appearance of iTunes Ping is
line of iPods last September, Apple has main- alized note, “like” the song, or recommend it another step in the simplification and better
tained its reputation as an innovative manu- to others. This feature is currently only avail- utilization of the digital music market. The
facturer. Quite recently, an enormous upgrade able for music sold in the iTunes store. In ad- merger of social networking technology with
to iTunes was made with the introduction of dition, direct Facebook and Twitter integra- an Apple product will this time enable users to
the new music and social networking service, tion was added, allowing users to share their discover songs and artists with their peers and
Ping. Combining features from Facebook & findings on other social networking platforms share in the excitement of music and concert
Twitter and integrating them with the music with a simple click of the mouse. ticket purchases from within the same device.
found in the iTunes store, Ping provides a As well, direct integration with Facebook and
musical experience unlike any other. Users Ping adds a whole new dimension Twitter will enable access to as yet more uni-
can search freely through Ping’s database for to digital music sales. Websites like Spotify & versal social networks. Finally, the hope is
their favorite artists and connect with friends Mflow offer a similar service in the UK, and that as artist profiles multiply and the iTunes
whom they can musically interact with. the potential of the digital market in the US library diversifies, Ping will begin to establish
Though still in its early stages, this service could be better exploited. AsTunes Ping de- itself as a consumer standard.
has the potential to open up an entirely new buted in the United States on a near-universal
way for listeners to purchase and discover platform, it is bound to stimulate the domestic
new music. music Internet market; it could possibly take it
by a storm.
To get started on iTunes Ping, all
one needs is an Apple ID. If you own an Discovering upcoming live events Spotify & RDIO
ipod or are involved in any of Apple’s retail and purchasing tickets, for example, is a huge
services, you can use the same ID to log on benefit of Ping. Having signed a deal with (cont. from p.6)
and retrieve all your personal information. Live Nation/Ticketmaster for all ticket sales,
The next step after logging in is to create a consumers can easily purchase tickets directly cases, RDIO and Spotify’s main obstacles
profile where you can upload your picture, from the artist’s Ping profile. Once an item come in the convoluted task of licensing the
share music you like, concerts you’re going is purchased, the transaction is automatically music used in their libraries.
to, and eagerly wait for friends to post their posted on the user’s wall, thus informing oth-
new findings on your wall. Once your profile er followers and Ping users of the upcoming All discrepancies aside, both com-
is created, the world of Ping is at your fin- event. All surcharges and fees associated with panies are leading the parade towards perfect-
gertips. One can easily navigate through the Live Nation/Ticketmaster are still implement- ing an “all inclusive” cloud-based web plat-
music database either by searching for a spe- ed, but the process of obtaining tickets is far form. In fact, RDIO was rated the Number 1
cific artist or friend, or by browsing recom- less painful. Best Start Up Company of 2010 by Billboard
mendations from the homepage. In search- Magazine last May, and Spotify is concur-
ing for friends or people with similar music As with any new technology, Ping rently hogging the news headlines in its Eu-
tastes, Ping allows you to look at the music could use improvement. Before the 10.0.1 up- ropean turf. Both services are reshaping the
they’ve purchased, what upcoming con- date, users were only able to share and “like” industry as we know it and are sure to contrib-
certs they’re going to and what music they music they had purchased directly through the ute to the way music aficionados approach the
might recommend. If you’re only interested iTunes store. With the new update, the door mediums of listening to music.
in following certain bands, the information has been opened to allow people to share
on each artist’s profile is more than enough songs from their library that have not been
to fuel your craving. All music released by purchased through iTunes. However, if the [1] Music & Copyright – December 10, 2009
[2] Music & Copyright – June 2, 2010
the band is available for purchasing directly song is not recognized in the iTunes database, [3] Music & Copyright – October 15, 2009
through the iTunes store as well as videos and it still cannot be shared with your social net- [4] Music & Copyright – April 30, 2009
concert tickets. In addition, you can preview work–in essence, defeating its purpose. An- [5] Music & Copyright – December 10, 2009
the band’s discography (in most cases), read other constraint: Ping currently features art- [6] Music & Copyright – January 27, 2010
about their history & influences, and even be ists signed only to the majors and prominent [7] Music & Copyright – June 2, 2010
notified of upcoming tour dates & new re- independent record labels. While the social [8] Music & Copyright – March 24, 2010
leases. media feature––coupled with the iTunes li- [9] Music & Copyright – July 14, 2010
[10] Music & Copyright – June 16, 2010
On Friday September 24th, iTunes brary––boast a vibrant new landscape of mu- [11] Digital Music News Blog – April 7, 2010
released Ping version 10.0.1, which corrected sical discovery, one finds a disappointingly [12] Billboard Magazine – August 21, 2010
the major operating issues found in the first limited selection of anything too far off the [13] Billboard Magazine – August 21, 2010
version, as well as introduced some new mainstream path. Fortunately, independent [14] Billboard Magazine – August 21, 2010
features. Now, listeners can “like” and share artists can open and create Ping profiles and [15] Digital Music News Blog – August 10, 2010
music directly from their iTunes library–– they have been doing so in quantity. Still, the
as opposed to manually searching for songs iTunes catalogue and network is yet no match
or artists while inside Ping. Once selected, for sites like Mflow, Spotify, thehypemachine,
Business Articles
Free information, free music, Enter the Internet: now the high-
free content and free media have been way has become the road of choice for
the promises of the internet (r)evolu- 95 percent of the population, the attitude
tion since the humble beginnings of the of increasing the price by playing hard to
World Wide Web and the Netscape IPO get is rendered utterly fruitless. Like it or
on 9 August 1995. What started out as not, a refusal to give permission for our
the cumbersome sharing of simple text, content to be legally used because we just
grainy images and seriously compressed don’t like the terms (or the entity asking
MP3s via online bulletin boards has for a licence) will just be treated as ‘dam-
now spread out to every single segment age’ on the digital networks, and the traf-
of the content industry – and even into fic will simply route around it. The inter-
‘meatspace’ (real-life) services such as net and its millions of clever ‘prosumers’,
car rentals. Without a doubt, ‘free’ has inventors and armies of collaborators will
become the default expectation of the find a way to use our creations, anyway.
young web-empowered digital natives Yes, we can sue Napster, Kazaa or The
and now the older generations are jump- PirateBay and we can whack ever more
ing in too. moles as we go along. We can pay hun-
dreds of millions of dollars to our lawyers
On top of the already disrup- and industry lobbyists – but none of this
tive force of the good old computer- will help us to monetise what we create.
based Web1.0 we are witnessing a glob-
al shift to mobile internet – a WWW that The solution is not a clever legal
is, finally, so easy to use that even my move, and it’s not a technical trick (wit-
grandmother can do it. While five years ness the disastrous use and now total de-
ago, we needed a ‘real’ computer tethered money to pay the composer (or rather, the mise of Digital Rights Management in digital
to a bunch of wires to port ourselves to this publisher), at least not until the advertisers music). The solution is in the creation of new
other place called ‘online’ and partake in start bringing at least 30–50 per cent of their business models and the adoption of a new
global content swapping, now we just need a global US$1 trillion marketing and advertis- economic logic that works for everyone; a
simple smart phone and a basic data connec- ing budgets to the table. logic that is based on collaboration, on co-
tion. With a single click of a button, we’re in engagement and on, dare we mention it, mu-
business – or rather, in freeloading mode. Traditional expectations and pre- tual trust – an ecosystem not an egosystem.
internet licensing agreements are exactly Once we accept this, we can start to discover
As users, we love ‘free’; as cre- what are holding up YouTube’s deals with the the tremendous possibilities that a networked
ators, many of us have come to hate the very music rights organisations such as PRS and content economy can bring to us.
thought. When access is de facto ownership, GEMA: this is what the rights organisations
how can we still sell copies of our creations? used to get paid for the music that is being Much has been written on the persistent trend
Will we be stuck playing gigs while our mu- copied, and this is what they want to get paid towards free content on the net. It is crucial
sic circles the globe on social networks, or now. This impasse is causing significant fric- that we distinguish between the different
blogging (now: tweeting) our heart out with- tion in our media industries worldwide. Yet, terms so that we can develop new revenue
out even a hint of real money coming our below the topline issue of money, there lurks models around all of them. ‘Free’ means no-
way? an even more significant paradigm shift: the body gets paid in hard currency – content is
excruciating switch from a centralised system given away in return for other considerations,
Daunting as it may seem, we can of domination and control to a new ecosystem such as a larger audience, viral marketing
Business Articles
velocity or increased word of mouth (or
mouse). I may be receiving payment in the
form of attention, but that isn’t going to be
very useful when it’s time to paymy rent or
buy dinner for my kids. Free is... well, un-
paid, in real-life terms.
Law Section
Business Articles
aters. The shock of the summer came with company would be negotiating lower guar-
www.post-gazette.com/pg/10259/1087708-388.stm.
09/16/2010.
U2, which, following last summer’s 360 antees for existing talent on their roster. This, [4] Talbott, Chris. “Sour Note: Economy Hits Summer
Tour, was poised to be a record-grosser. fused with other measures, would help Live Tours.” AP Entertainment Writer. http://www.msnbc.
Emergency back surgery for a front man is, Nation get better results and sign up more art- msn.com/id/38043219/. 07/1/2010.
nevertheless, a rare event, and U2’s cancel- ists. Overall, and according to Rapino, there is [5] “Live Nation On Track To Meet Reduced Outlook”
lation seemed reasonable. However, no such a supply problem with talent, and tour dates, Associated Press. Billboard. http://www.billboard.biz/
bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ie4f24b85cbd4c811d-
factor played into the sporadic deletions of given their limited market appeal, are now far
32939040b61ef30. 09/17/2010.
tour dates by The Jonas Brothers, Lillith too expensive.
Fair, Rihanna, “American Idols Live,” The
Eagles, Kings of Leon, and Rascal Flatts. Lowering ticket prices is also part of
the discussion. Live Nation offered discounts
It must be duly noted that even dur- on tickets as low as ten dollars—and with no
ing the downturn, there were a few tours that
service fees; the company had been toying
managed good numbers. Although no official
records of attendance have been released at with such deals for years, anticipating that the
the time of writing, it is apparent that Jim- ancillary revenues from parking, merchandise,
my Buffett, Brooks & Dunn, Tom Petty and food and other areas would offset the potential
Toby Keith were at a sellout or near-sellout losses of weaker shows. Ticketing reductions,
level. A handful of acts have been able to sell however, can be a double-edged sword. Kevin
Interview
Synching Tools For Musicians
An Interview with Jim Odom of PreSonus Audio
By Hunt Hearin
Jim Odom is a co-founder and studio recording – and that’s where you really born out of “I can’t get anybody to do this for
CEO of PreSonus Audio Electronics, a get your chops up. me so I’ll do it myself” and my eagerness for
Louisiana-based designer and manufac- chops. That’s kind of how I got involved in
turer of digital audio equipment. Since the We were recording down in Bogalusa, LA at Electronics and Electronic Design
company’s inception in 1995, PreSonus has Studio in the Country – Warren Dewey did
been a leading pioneer in the home studio the engineering. We mixed at Studio B in MBJ: Where did you start PreSonus? Did
movement and is responsible for many of Capitol Records out in Los Angeles. That ex- you have much help?
the standard products used in the industry perience really kicked my career, in terms of
today. Adhering to the PreSonus ideal, “for business, into gear. JO: I was always doing a lot of recording
musicians, by musicians,” the company has and working in studios, but between college
experienced exponential growth, designing We were working with Budd Carr – he man- and starting PreSonus I was designing Sonar
affordable equipment for recording and live aged Kansas and us (LeRoux) at the time, so Equipment – working with underwater imag-
sound without sacrificing quality. Over the he kind of helped me get a career path to- ing and acoustics. After doing that for four
summer, The MBJ had the chance to talk gether. or five years it was really all that I could take.
with Jim about his company and its role in
the changing recording industry. MBJ: Were you developing any engineer- I had started on a project - I was mixing on
ing chops? a lot of old consoles that didn’t have a lot of
MBJ: Tell us a little bit about your back- automation and it was a little frustrating, so I
ground JO: Absolutely – I guess my last year in high designed a product to insert into every chan-
school my dad had an old barn – I took it and nel of these analog boards called the DCP8
JO: I started playing music around Baton renovated the upstairs. I was about 17 or 18. that gave you automation, compression and
Rouge in the mid seventies. I started play- It was just a practice room at first – but then gating on every channel. Same thing we
ing guitar at about 10 years old – I got good I bought a Tascam 80-8 analog recorder. We used to have on the Neve and SSL boards
pretty quickly, it was kind of natural for me. put that and a small console up there and iso- but we could use them on the older, cheaper
By the time I was about 12 or 13 my mom lated everything and just started recording. consoles. You could take the sequencer and
was dropping me off at gigs around town. The rates to record in town were ridiculous, automate your whole session to bring up later.
By the time I was about 15 or 16 I started so we just built our own. We let that studio
doing session work around Baton Rouge. run 24/7 - it was free if you brought your own MBJ: The DCP8 was truly a groundbreak-
There used to be something called profes- tape. People were in and out all the time – we ing product in that it brought previously
sional studios everywhere – there was a met a lot of people doing that. It helped me unavailable functionality to the consumer
place called Miscellaneous Records, and a get my chops up. level. Tell us a bit about how this product
lot of jingle studios making radio commer- set the tone for PreSonus and its future de-
cials…so there was work doing that. MBJ: When did you first become interest- velopments.
ed in designing/building gear?
MBJ: You toured with the band, LeRoux, JO: We created the DCP8 in 1995, but hon-
playing guitar for a while. How did this JO: Speaking of studio in the country - after estly we haven’t gone too far away from that.
experience affect you as a musician? LeRoux fell apart in about 1985, the members Now we’re making products for live sound,
moved all over the place. I was helping Gene which incorporate some of the same functions
JO: In 1981, after a few semesters at Berk- rebuild the room – we installed the Neve con- – automation, recall, and now the incorpora-
lee [College of Music], I left and joined a sole. Him and I spent months doing that. tion of digital recording. Our new console,
band from Baton Rouge called Louisiana called the StudioLive, allows you to do all
LeRoux, who was signed to RCA records. I was playing guitar, mixing, and engineer- of those things plus recording live, plus per-
I recorded and toured with them for a few ing and doing a lot of stuff. I would run forming with tracks. All of our developments
years until 1984 when I went back to Berk- into issues and there wouldn’t be a piece of have spawned from that.
lee for one last semester. gear to fix. Back then, one of the things we
would run into was synchronizing multiple Then we got into interfaces. In about 1999
The experience was a whole lot different machines – we had Linn drum machines, we started working with FireWire products –
than what I had at Berklee. I went from Ensoniq sequencing machines – none of it We released a product called the Fire Station
playing in a local scene around Boston to a would sync up. One of the things I did was in 2001 and followed that up with the FirePod
whole different world. You end up loosing a design a box to sync all these different signals shortly after.
little bit of your creativity when you go into together. Out of frustration, more than any-
something like that. We did a record, went thing, I went back to LSU and got a degree MBJ: PreSonus is known for creating pow-
on tour, it was fun; I met a lot of people, in Electrical Engineering and Computer En- erful tools for the musician at an afford-
played on a lot of big stages. It was my first gineering because I wanted to design my own able price. Was this always your vision for
taste of $300,000 dollar recording budgets. product for the studio environment. That was PreSonus?
We’d spend a month living in the recording
(Continued on Page 13)
12 www.thembj.org October 2010
Volume 6, Issue 1 Music Business Journal
Interview
great record, but we can’t afford a lot of stuff. fordable technology available to musicians walked in with the DCP8 to the NAMM
This was really true in the mid 90’s. There on a budget. Do you feel as though com- show in Los Angeles. For our first show we
was a huge gap between the two – that gap panies like yours have been vilified and/or had a little 10 x 10 booth where we put the
has closed a lot, you can make good record- blamed for this? product out, had some cool graphics done
ings now with pretty inexpensive stuff. But up. As it turns out we got a spot in the top
we wanted to empower the musicians – that JO: Not at all. It still takes, in my opinion, a 10 products of the show by Craig Anderton.
was our goal. room and an engineer and a producer to pro- They were open to innovation of a really big
kind. I think its still that way – where you
MBJ: My first recording inter- run into problems today is with dis-
face was a PreSonus FireBox – a tribution. Distributors aren’t really
lot of other musicians can say keen on taking big chances like
the same. What impact do you they used to be, especially with
feel that you and your products new products. What I’ve found
have had on the home recordist over the years is that brand is re-
and the bedroom studio trend? ally your most valuable asset. You
can create hype like crazy over the
JO: We were certainly part of it – Internet with all of the newly avail-
PreSonus and M-Audio were the able avenues, but to go all the way
first two companies on the market through that to the basic consumer
offering firewire products. The (the musician in his bedroom) is
reason that we liked firewire was very difficult. It takes time and a
because of the ability to get high lot of hard work.
channel counts at the time, as well
as the ability to power the device MBJ: As a businessperson, how
through the firewire cable. This does your training and experi-
made our interfaces extremely ence as a professional musician
portable and very simple to use. come into play during your day
to day?
Our vision has always been to
give you an affordable product JO: I think it had a lot to do with
that sounds as good as some of the it – I often tell people that being
really expensive consoles I used to a musician is the ultimate entre-
use – if our product can get you preneurial event. Even as early as
a solid recording and prevent you high school, if you’re going to be
from having to rent an 1000 dol- a musician, you have to be a good
lar/day room, we’re done. entrepreneur. You have to create a
product and advertise it. You have
to sell and promote your product.
MBJ: A lot of musicians are see- You have to take care of issues and
ing the ease and value of record- handle problems, deal with people
ing themselves. How has this and listen to feedback. You have to
trend affected your business? handle employees and pay people –
it is basically no different. By the
JO: It has been tremendous – we time you want to start a business,
have this saying that “the record having done all of that for five or
business is over, but the music ten years, you have a good idea of
business is just beginning” and how to handle yourself. Being a
that has to do with a shift in control. Instead duce certain records at a certain level. Sure professional musician was wonderful train-
of being controlled by the industry, the indus- there are some talented musicians who have ing for the business world.
try is now controlled by the people. There is the chops to do it at home, but there still are a
an amazing amount of talent that can be found lot of artists that need help. A lot of the artists MBJ: What advice would you give to
on the Internet now. someone interested in creating/marketing
you hear on the radio still
his or her own music equipment?
need a producer and an engineer – they need
We’re very excited about some cloud-based
technology we’ve been working on. Our someone to keep them on track and on budget JO: Fortune favors the bold – even if you
software, StudioOne, now works with Sound- in order to get their record released. don’t have the most breakthrough or inno-
Cloud and we’re working on some collabora- vative concept, you’ve just got to show up.
tion software so that musicians from all over The record industry really just lost its foot- You have to put it out there. You learn more
the planet can easily work together on the ing – maybe it was overspending. They just from the response you get then by all the
same project without a whole bunch of work. weren’t properly managing their businesses. schooling and studying in the world. You
There was a lot of excess going on – too much learn more from the feedback than you ever
MBJ: It seems like more and more famous profit was being taken off of artists, there was will in a classroom.
studios are closing their doors these days. a lot of excess spending going on.
Some attribute this to the explosion of af-
Business Articles
Gail Zappa (cont.) Gerd Leonhard (cont.)
the record companies too, in many ways. The own consumption, I buy music to have oth- tent creators and/or content industry pro-
real issue for artists to consider is there are so ers hear it – another potential growth area for fessionals must now put our energies into
many times where decisions are being made content sales. investigating and constructing web-native
about your rights and people who are not even and deeply collaborative revenue mod-
including you in the conversation are taking Authenticity and the official stamp els based on open platforms and the total
them away from you. A perfect example of of approval will become a crucial and paid- embrace of the sharing economy that has
that are record ratings. The RIAA bent over for value: how would I know that Paulo already taken hold in our society. Once we
and gave away rights that belong to the art- Coelho is happy with a German translation of move from egosystem to ecosystem, from
ists because they wanted their special pay tax his latest book if I don’t buy it from him or monopolies, cartels and walled gardens to
bill. We’re about to put out a release so you’ll some other authorised source? Yes, I could partnerships and open systems, I am con-
see that, Frank’s testimony on the issue, but download it for free, but I have no way of fident that we will discover dozens of new
it’s a perfect example of the fact that artist’s knowing if it’s the real thing until I’ve al- generatives that will allow us, the creators,
aren’t at the table; they aren’t represented. So ready read the first chapter. Once e-books to prosper in the future. Nothing can re-
I would say to any artist that wants to make a become more widespread (and duly Napster- place that unique human power of story-
living on what he does, the first thing is: don’t ised) this will be crucial. I anticipate authors telling and creation – the more technology
stop doing what you are doing. The second using digital authenticity watermarks and we employ to distribute and access con-
rule is keep on doing it. The third rule is get other embedded technologies to give each tent, the more we need those good stories.
a very long-range plan and stick to it. You’ve authorised digital copy that special stamp of Ditch control for compensation, leave the
got to use the force of your imagination har- approval that will make it worth the effort. monopolies behind, start trusting your us-
nessing the force of your will and once you Once the costs of digital books are brought ers, viewers, listeners and fans, and see the
put the two of those things together and you down to a level where the payment is a no- value of your creative work rise above and
have a clear picture of what it is that your try- brainer rather than a punishment (10 to 20 beyond. Don’t start by asking who will pay
ing to do as an artist, it doesn’t matter how per cent of the deadtree versions), and the for your content, but ask who will pay at-
you change your path in terms of how you buyer feels like he/she is part of the author’s tention, who will trust you, who will follow
accomplish your goals but you just have to
authentic fan network, these models will gen- you –and then work with all involved par-
keep on doing it and don’t let anybody get
erate enormous new revenues at much lower ties to convert that attention into income.
in your way by telling you that your work is
cost.
not valuable. Invest in yourself even if no one
‘Free’ is the keyword to success
else does, because that is the only way that
The other increasingly relevant is- for 2009 and probably 2010, not just be-
you are going to survive. You’ll find ways;
first of all, there is no competition for what sue is what actual form remuneration may cause of the current economic crisis but be-
you do. Absolutely none, anywhere. It is hard take. For creators, this may be derived in cause the last decade of technological ad-
to get peoples’ attention but it happens if you many ways other than with cash payments. vances has already made many previously
work at it! If you do nothing, it won’t happen. Flickr now boasts more than 3.5 billion imag- paid things free, and the lure of free is a
That’s for damn sure! es uploaded by an estimated 12 million mem- powerful tool. Google’s Gmail has made
bers, many of whom happily pay their $29 cutting-edge and powerful email services
for the upgrade to ‘Pro’ level. Photographers available to everyone, entirely for free and,
Mike King (@atomzooey) is the Director of gain viral exposure for photos that become as a consequence, Microsoft’s Outlook
Marketing at Berklee College of Music’s on- popular on Flickr, often getting millions of market share has shrunk considerably. Now,
line school, Berkleemusic.com. He is also the viewers and hundreds of comments from the with its new offline Gmail client, Google is
author and instructor of three online music Flickr crowd around the world. While no bound to wipe out those other email clients
business courses at Berkleemusic, including content creator will sneer at real cash com- we used to pay for, such as Apple Mail and
Online Music Marketing with Topspin. His ing his/her way, one can still observe a strong Outlook. Revenues that used to go else-
book, Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, trend that places increasing value on social where now have moved mostly inside the
Distribution, and Retail came out on Berklee capital, personal influence and what is some- Google kingdom. I get Gmail for free, but
Press last fall. time referred to as the ‘reputation economy’. I am paying a lot of cyber dollars with my
attention. . I am allowing Google to ‘read’
While these forms of remunera- my emails and sell my data to advertisers.
tion may take longer to be converted into My use of Gmail and all Google services
real cash (if at all), they are indeed becom- generates a huge amount of value for the
ing important currency in a world of hyper- company. All of us have become content
connected individuals. We are about 18–24 providers for Google. It is the master of this
months away from that crucial take-off point kind of disruption: it makes great products,
in the new content economy. We are about gives them away, we all come to love them
18–24 months away from that crucial take- and get hooked on the Google goodies – but
off point in the new content economy. The the former middlemen crumble and fade
point at which it all falls into place and it fi- away. Reinvent or die, brought to you by
nally becomes clear how creative output will Google et al.
be very nicely remunerated without having to
go back to what I like to call Content1.0 – to
control, force and friction, such as the paid-
14 www.thembj.org October 2010
Volume 6, Issue 1 Music Business Journal
Berklee College of Music
Upcoming Topics
VEVO & Google TV The Music Business Journal will be released
three times in the Fall, three times in the Spring,
Some of the topics we will tackle in and once in the Summer.
next month’s issue of the Music Business RightsFlow & Music
Journal:
Licensing For more info, please contact any core
member of the editorial board. The journal’s
e-mail address is thembj@gmail.com. Also,
Mergers in the Products our website is www.thembj.org, where we have
not only our current issue (as well as all back
Industry issues) available, but also, much more.
www.thembj.org theMBJ@gmail.com
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________