Chord Records

Social media is the stepping stone for music marketing. Musicians who are successful have a marketing plan in place. Social media presence is just a tip and stepping stone to the over all music marketing plan.

Musicians Resources Blog has a great free ebook which consists of 96 pages of great music industry know how, and its completely free. Check out their post "Music Marketing: 20 Things You Should Know".

Another interesting book to look at would be "Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail".

The book retails for approximately $17, its a great investment for any musician, and well worth reading, just for the industry knowledge.

The more you know about your industry, the better prepared you are to conquer it.

In most cases, music publishers will make an agreement with song writers to purchase the various copyrights  to their songs in exchange for promoting the song to the recording industry, as well as video and television entertainment venues.  They may offer a small up front advance on royalty earnings to the writer.  Most generally, the music publisher will enter this arrangement with the contracted terms that they will be entitled to a 50/50 share of any future royalties earned from the song they are promoting.  The music publisher is then responsible for promoting the song, keeping track of where the song is used and collecting the royalty payments for its use.  Once any advance money paid to the writer has been recouped, the publishing company is also responsible for disbursing the writers portion of the royalty payments to them.

Thanks to the U.S. system of copyright law, there are several venues of music publishing so your music publisher may be able to sell your song multiple times to increase earning capacity.  While there are many copyrights involved in music publishing, there are four main categories that music publishers are concerned with:  Mechanical, Print, Synchronization and Transcription.

To facilitate accounting and make it possible for your song to be used over a much wider scope, the music publisher will register your song with one of the three performing rights organizations (also called PRO's in the United States):   American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), or Society of European State Authors and Composers (SESAC).

The performing rights organizations are responsible for tracking the Mechanical copyright usage of your music in radio or television, businesses background music, night clubs or by bands performing your song at a club.  The performance royalties that are paid for this use are negotiated by the PRO's by setting up blanket contracts with the various users of your song to pay a set amount as a performance royalty and then using research combined with an algorithm to determine the most probable amount of usage for your song or music.  The publishing company  and the writer are then issued checks for their portion of the performance royalties earned by the song as was outlined when they registered with the PRO.

All other granted copyrights are controlled by the music publisher and those wishing to negotiate royalty prices for their usage must contract them through the music publisher who is paid directly and then pays the songs creator.

Establishing your own gospel record label may be easier than you ever dreamed.  The definition of a record label is an entity that records and produces media in the form of CD's or other recording formats.  When your band creates its first CD and successfully sells at least one copy, then you have become the minimalist form of a record label.  But what if you want to take the whole process a bit farther?  Following the simple advice in this article can put you in competition with the big label giants faster than you could imagine.

Choosing the right name is important, especially for a gospel record label.  Independent gospel record labels are recognized by their names and some of the more successful labels state exactly what the intent of the music produced by the label is.  One successful independent gospel record label is Redeemed Soul.  With a catchy name that drives right to the point, there is no doubt in the music fans mind about what type of music will be on the recordings of this company.  Similar independent gospel record labels like Christian Records and Bought Records have seen similar success.

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own record label independently with no major label distribution. We'll now you can since we are in the the digital age of music. Major record companies are scrambling trying to catch up with the internet, but this leaves a great opportunity for you the music entrepreneur. Ok, so where do you start when you have decided to run your own record label?

1. Come up with a catchy name for your own record label and find an inexpensive graphic designer to design an upscale looking logo for you. Go to Google and search after other record label logos and start there. Remember this is your brand and identity for your own record label so make sure it looks professional so an artist will want to sign with you.

2. Set up your business structure for your own record label, are you going to be a LLC., Inc., or you can simply go down to your local city hall and file for a DBA license for your own record label.

3. Find a great artist with great music to represent. This can be the tricky part because like sports you can't teach speed, its the same with the music industry either you have a good ear for music or you don't. When signing an artist to your label always get an entertainment lawyer to review your contracts and make sure the artist you are signing has a great single and a great album ready to promote. I don't advise paying for studio time if your budget is low it's ideal to sign an artist with their own production capabilities so they may just hand-in their project to send to the distributor. Also, let your artist know upfront your financial situation to avoid what I call the "Daddy" syndrome many artist have. What that means is when an artist signs with your record label they now believe it is your responsibility to take care of them and all their financial needs, this is a recipe for disaster so let them know upfront your financial situation, or give them a small advance upfront and let them know this is all the label can afford to pay you until the record sells.

4. The contract, is very important and when I sign an artist I usually will put out two singles and give them a two album deal with 3 option periods. What is an "option renewal period"? An option renewal means that if the artist's music doesn't sell the way the record label wants then the label has the right to keep the artist or drop him from the label. This is important because what if the artist sells BIG and a major label wants to pull them away from you, you have those option periods this will lock in the artist, and the major label will have to negotiate with you and can't steal your artist.

5. Distribution: Distributing an artist in the old days was very expensive because a label had to pay upfront for the manufacturer to press up say 100,000 or more CDs to be shipped out to retailers before the release date. NOT ANYMORE! Everything is digital now CDs are obsolete. Usually Mp3's and wav files are sent to digital distributors like Itunes or rhapsody. You can usually find a digital distributor that will handle all this for your and pay you 90% to 100% royalties via paypal every 30 days. When doing digital distribution it usually takes 6-8 weeks for your album to reach all the digital stores so plan your release accordingly.

All through the improvements that have impacted the music industry, a very important factor that has always been consistent is music for production. This usually has, and can remain, just about the most desired markets for composers as well as musicians. Music for production is very important to a production's success. Each and every film, TV show and also corporate video requires music to lift their final product... they usually have and will be always. Record labels could only get you so far, but bringing a tune in a TV show may gather its returns for a long time.

Production music libraries in many cases are requested by composers and musicians about how precisely to publish their very own music for production. An excellent library should be available to a stable circulation of fresh material from both experienced or veterans and new musicians. Who knows what undiscovered talent is waiting around in the wings! While all of us devote most time of our day online, connected to our email and the world wide web, it's very easy to deliver out an MP3 with a link to a site to browse around. Yet, a bit of work in your production can surely significantly help. Posting a demo CD featuring your very best work, with all clearly branded might have longer desk pile life than an email that's very easy to delete and tag as spam. The majority of production music libraries hold the greatest submissions on hand, generally organized by genre, for upcoming projects. Do not be blown away to listen to back from a library one year after, when they eventually comprehend they do need an album of mariachi rock music for production.

For some music libraries, composer agreements are made on a work-for-hire basis. The library will have the masters and copyrights, and will keep 100% ownership of publishing shares. But, the composer is eligible to take part in all writer performance royalties. Agreements may change among various music for production libraries, although many work on a work-for-hire basis to be able to support the type of music for production libraries as a one stop licensing shop.

Publishing indie music for production is actually a the same process. But, the management contracts differs from exclusive to non-exclusive deals, varying term period and publishing share splits. Many music supervisors, who be given a continuous stream of submitted music for production, highlight the value of exclusive agreements. It's within their greatest interest, as well as your best interest as a composer/musician/artist, to do business with just one company to try to sell your music. By doing this, all parties included are clear in terms of the prices and true ownership/representative of the music in use. You do not wish to contend against yourself and also have the music supervisor settle for a less expensive license fee. You may be losing out on well-deserved license earnings!

Thus, just what occurs when all the parties agreed and your music is used in a TV show such as Grey's Anatomy or Fringe? Hopefully you are a registered writer with either of the US Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), namely ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. These PROs are every author as well as publishers' very best friend. These people are responsible to keep sending you those royalty checks each quarter, yet most importantly, they help safeguard your rights as a composer and publisher.

Making music for production can be an extremely rewarding experience and a great profession. Having your foot in the door will not be simple, but understanding your rights and connecting with the right people will definitely bring you closer to success.

Today, there is a rather wide variety of music publishers, small and large. In reality, everyone that writes songs is a de facto music publisher if they intend their music for the public and they do not have a publishing deal. That is, if someone wants to use the music, then, at least in theory, they would come to the songwriter for permission to use the song. This would be an example of a songwriter acting as a publisher in a reactive role as the user comes to the songwriter in this case.

The primary role of a music publisher today is usually more proactive. Music publishers find users for original music and sometimes manage the usage of the music on behalf of the songwriter. Of course, songwriters can also be proactive in promoting their original work. Music publishers can be the songwriter or they can be someone who represents the songwriter in either a reactive or proactive role.

While there are many opportunities for songwriters to manage the business side of music, there are only so many hours in a day. Therefore, for some songwriters, it makes sense to find an advocate. This advocate is the music publisher who shares in the potential income for the original music in exchange for services.

Small music publishers are varied in their approach to the business. Some small music publishers are individuals who have only their personal songs. Some small music publishers may own a catalogue of music that is intended as a form of investment. This is usually music that has been recorded and continues to collect royalties. This type of music publisher wants to collect fees for their property much like a property owner collects rent for a rental property. Other small music publishers may have limited "catalogues" of music which have been assigned temporarily to them for the purpose of finding a customer willing to pay for each song. Again using the real estate analogy, this service would be like a fee based real estate leasing company.

The rights of songs are temporarily assigned to the publisher as the publisher seeks to find interested "buyers". The primary function of the assignee or publisher is to find "customers" for the owner. For assignees or publishers, there are many secondary functions which may include managing the account for the owner and/or maximizing exposure for the owner.

I think it is important at this point to distinguish between two misunderstood terms related to ownership in the music business. In particular, I want to describe the differences between an owner and an assignee. When a song is written, it is automatically copyrighted under U.S. Copyright Law and it is the property of the songwriter or songwriters. The songwriter at this point is the owner. The copyright should also be registered, which is a statement of claim to the intellectual property which is the song. This is done with an application through the U.S. Copyright Office. This copyright may be assigned to a second party at the time of registration or it may be assigned after being registered in the name of the songwriter or it may not be assigned at all. If assigned, it may be assigned to a publisher for the purpose of finding interested artists, larger publishers, commercial sponsors or labels. Therefore, the publisher becomes the assignee but the songwriter remains the owner. This arrangement is typically based on a set period of time. That is, the assignment of rights will eventually revert back to the songwriter or owner. Some publishers will pay to own a song in which the songwriter generally receives a lump sum of money in exchange for the song. In this case, the songwriter is usually entitled to no additional compensation unless otherwise stipulated in a contract.

The smaller music publishers tend to take on specialized roles to provide needed services in niche markets. These roles are expanding with the changing music industry. Small publishers now take on a variety of responsibilities that may overlap with a variety of other music professionals. There is a good reason for this. The publisher has a stake in the success of an artist so they often take an active role in the artist's development. Therefore, it is not unusual to see publishers acting as agents for the artist, for example. Agency is a service provided for the more specific purpose of maintaining a steady stream of business for a client. Good agents provide valuable services and should not necessarily be confused with a small publisher. The larger the potential income for an artist, the more specialized the roles become which is why you see big names in music with high powered agents. Agents typically maintain the amount of business and associated income of a big name artist because the big name artist doesn't have the time to manage all elements of their career at this level of success.

Big name artists also have publicists and managers, but for a new artist, many of these hats may be worn by a single interested individual. The small publisher will often take the role of agent, publicist and manager in addition to the role of publisher. In some cases, a small publisher will perform as a fee collection agent for mechanical rights as they already receive a portion of the fees that are due for usage. While some small music publishers may provide a variety of services with only a handful of clients, there are also small publishers who specialize in more limited services. They may specialize in a particular classification of music, for example. These publishers tend to have more clients as they tend to have a more limited scope of overall responsibility. Their strength lies in understanding a particular segment of the market and knowing the right people.

Most small publishers are risk takers. They attempt to select unsigned artists with maximum potential, hoping for a "break out". The reward for the small publisher is usually in the form of fees that are guaranteed by United States Copyright Law. Of course, a "break out" can also launch the career of a small publisher if there is a strong relationship with the artist founded on mutual trust. Small publishers may eventually get "squeezed out" by the more dominant players in the industry following the success of a signed artist. Contracts will eventually expire, so it is possible for a small publisher to receive their reward for the duration of work covered under the original contract, but to not receive further compensation for new material from a newly discovered artist who signs with another publisher. It is the nature of the business.

Small publishers maintain contacts with larger publishing companies, record companies, retail marketing executives, and are now using their skills to help promote independents. Some small publishers know when projects are coming up with a label, for example. They also know the type of music that interests various A&R professionals. Other small publishers may be better equipped to assist an independent artist with possible promotion opportunities through a retail store. In either case, an efficient small publisher will use contact management techniques and software to help them keep up with the necessary periodic calls. A good small publisher will follow up on every hold and make sure that a client is paid for all usage of a song.

Large music publishers may perform in the very same capacities as described above on a much larger scale. Catalogues owned by a large music publisher can be in the hundreds of thousands of songs. Large music publishers have the distinct advantage of size. They are well known among industry professionals and, as a result, have easy access to a lot of high powered folks. Large music publishers tend to also have a print media division that distributes printed materials such as sheet music. Large music publishers have other departments assigned to very specific responsibilities such as artist and repertoire or A&R personnel. Overall, the primary focus of the large music publisher is to maintain a positive bottom line through acquisitions and account management, thus it is much more of a corporate style of business.

Finally, there are many different types of music publishers, but the role continues to expand. With the emergence of independent artists and new online distribution models, the role of music publisher must change to meet new demands. It is very likely that the new small music publisher will have sufficient computer skills along with the more traditional understanding of music publishing, marketing, promotion, contact management, accounting, copyright law, negotiation, business etiquette, contract law, music business politics, and just plain old common sense.

Article distributed by permission of Del Boland and http://bluemusepublishing.com

Many artists and bands think like that, they believe that the music industry is exclusively just for them. It's natural, after all it's evident to them that they have both great music and talent, that the recording companies will automatically want to sign them up for a multi-million pound recording deal, invest in their genial work and fling open all the doors to success.

What a sweet dream.

Real life is different. The music industry is exactly that, an industry, which needs to make a profit and have guaranteed returns on its' investments.

Everybody knows that the music industry is passing through a difficult time, in financial terms. With this tightening of the financial reigns, comes change in the moment of signing up new talent.

Recording companies want and indeed need to record (it's the way they make their money to survive!), but they will only sign up artists that they believe will give them a good and fast ROI (Return Of Investment).

To be brutally honest, what is more important to a recording company is the sale of the music and not necessarily the music in itself. This evaluation is made with criterion becoming more and more rigid every day.
Recording companies take into consideration:
Bands' History - if the band has a solid background.

Bands' Fan Base - if the band has a consolidated and expressive number of followers that fill out the venue each time the band performs.

Band Concept - if the band fits into the concept of the recording company. eg. A recording company that specialises in Rap wouldn't consider recording a folk artist!

Bands' Image - if the band members are attractive and cute (in the case of Boy Bands, or Girl Bands!) or with a hardened look (in the case of Heavy Rock). The age of the band members in relation to the style of music (Younger people for Pop, mature for Romantic Ballads). If the band is easy to sell to a broader audience.

Professionalism - if the band is made up of responsible, discerning people (that's why the music needs to be well recorded at demo level!), that they are punctual, clean and good professionals in general. Also if the people can travel and pass prolonged period of time away from home.

Bands' Personality - if the band members are friendly, if they are easy to work and are prepared to do what the recording company needs and wants.

Musical Talent - if the band members have talent

really know how to play their instruments live, and will continue to create new quality material day after day for a prolonged period of time under pressure.

These examples are a few of the criterion that a recording company would take into consideration before signing up a new band or artist.

The good thing is that each one of us musicians can learn and supply what the recording companies are looking for. It's just a case of looking at the business with a wider perspective. Ask yourself, "Why would a recording company want to sign a recording contract with someone?" and "What more do I need to do to satisfy everything that the recording company is looking for?"

Steve Allen is consultant and music producer. Author of "Marketing Your Music – Success Strategies", "Personal Management in the Music Industry" and "Street Teams – Expand your Fan Base" http://www.marketingyourmusic.net

Free Music Business Contracts are the ultimate way to save money and time. They are easy to find, download and print. It just takes a few minutes to do and you have a simple yet professional document in your hand. However sometimes you have a need for a more complicated agreement. You may need this type of document for a recording deal or a long term performance deal. Sometimes there are differences in the legal interpretations of agreements when it comes to different states. Whatever the reason modifications to the original form may be necessary.

When you need to modify a Free Music Business Contract you can use these steps to help you:

·            Search and find Free Music Business Contracts: You can do this easily by using Google search. You just type in the keyword and the results will bring up a lot of websites. You will also find some websites via the Google Adsense ads on the right hand side. However these may be samples encouraging you to buy full blown agreements, so be careful and read these offers carefully. Click through on some of these links and you will find a good selection of forms. Choose the ones you need. It may be necessary to choose more than one if you have different agreements to negotiate.

·            Download and print your Free Music Business Contract : download the form to your computer and print out several copies.

·            Check the document to see if you need modifications: Once you have done this it is time to go through the document. If you or your manager is familiar with agreements you will find this easy, because you will know what to look for. Take especial care for small loopholes that the company can use to get the upper hand and possibly take you for a lot of money.

·            Hire an entertainment lawyer to check if you have missed anything in the Free Music Business Contract . Although this part will cost you some money it is worth it. Legal experts can catch things that might have been overlooked by you and your manager. They will insert clauses to favor you not the company. The money you make from the deal will more than pay for the lawyer and their valuable advice. It will still be cheaper than getting a lawyer to write up a complete agreement. Besides you will not be wasting time sifting through pages of a lengthy contract. Added to this an entertainment lawyer will also know about the local laws that can affect an agreement.

Setting up a record label isn't an easy task. One of the things you have to remember is that there are thousands of people every year who have a huge interest in music, trying to set up there own record label and have little success.
The absolute most important part of a record label, the one thing is can survive without is salable artists. Many people are so caught up in making there label look trendy, with flashy websites, witty banter and fashionable image, that they totally miss the point. Your artists are without doubt the most important thing on your list.

Small independent record labels should do there absolute up most to keep there signings happy. That way when the suits from huge mega corporations like Sony and EMI come along to try and sign your now moderately successful artist for there next album, they will be less likely to risk the move. Dance music

record labels are usually slightly different as they don't usually sign there artists to sign contracts for albums. The Dance music industry revolves around singles.

One question you will have to ask yourself early in the process of setting up your label, at least in the time before your first release; is whether or not you should be a digital only label. That is for example, not to sell CD's or Vinyl but only mp3's or m4a's. While this is great for singles, the industry as a whole has found people tend not to buy the full album anymore, cherry picking the songs they've heard or like of the radio.

One for the recent changes within dance music imparticular, is the shift from vinyl to CD. With the massive lurch towards the digital age, dance music has embraced the CD deck. The majority of DJ's I know only use CD's now. They are lighter, less cumbersome and less easy to damage. However the good new to mp3 labels is the fact that is very easy to burn off a CDR full of mp3 and stick it into a Pioneer CDJ. Not many people have a vinyl cutter in the bedroom.

One of the problems with mp3's is they are far easier for people to pirate. However I believe this is not the problem that media will have you think. Some of you reading this article will remember back to when the said the cassette tape would kill the music industry. Yet here we all are still having fun listing to great music.

Unfortunately for many of you, the time maybe too late four you to start your dream carrier. It all depends on your chosen style of music. If you're a pop fan, which I'll assume most of you are not. You will never compete with the likes of EMI, so put the idea out of your head of setting up a pop label. I also think the same should be said about indie. There are plenty of independent labels out there who focus on indie music (that's how the genre got its name) who are a lot more established, and have a good reputation.

Your best bet is to build your label around a niche market, and try to embody the sound. Like what Factory Records did in the 80's in the UK.

So I'm off now to set up my afro-gabba-funktastic-trance-tro label see you on the other side.

www.vmusicbook.com sells an e-book, which provides solutions for most issues that unsigned musicians experience.
VmusicBook was created for those who wish to set up and successfully run an independent music business, especially for the URBAN markets such as Hip-Hop, R&B, Drum & Bass and all other Dance genres including UK Grime.
VmusicBook is one of the first music resources of its kind. It is said to be the most comprehensive and detailed directories sold online giving you direct access to 100s of important contacts.
VmusicBook is an invaluable business tool for unsigned talent looking to turn their talents or skills into a legal business. No matter what you do if it is creative and entertaining then this is without doubt for you.
The VmusicBook was made for unsigned artists and musicians, label owners, music producers, songwriters, engineers and mangers. Get your music or songs into television, films and commercials.
Hip-hop has been a very popular form of music since for the last few decades and most people like to listen to it. Even though hip-hop sounds so complicated but it can be learnt easily. You can also learn with the help of e-books. Learning it from the Hip-Hop Music e-Books it a very convenient way and has some other advantages as well.
Where you can find them
There are a large number of websites where you can find the Hip-Hop Music e-Books. Generally, they are not free and you will need to download them first. However, the cost is much lower than an actual Hip-Hop music book. Thus, the e-books will also save some money.
How are they useful
The Hip-Hop Music e-Books can be used in the same way and to the same effect as the conventional books. Moreover, e-book versions of the popular conventional books for learning Hip-Hop music are available. Therefore, if you want you can also use such e-books.
What e-Books provide
• You will get all the information about Hip-Hop music through the Hip-Hop Music e-Books. They teach you right from the beginning i.e. what Hip-Hop music is, why people like it, the different aspects involved in Hip-Hop music like raps, turntable, music instruments, the human beat boxing, etc.
• The music instruments like drum machine, sampler, and synthesizer are not at all difficult to learn. You will be able to learn them within no time with the help of Hip-Hop Music e-Books. E-books offer a lot of training on playing instruments. They also have some samples for better understanding and learning. Breath beats also are very important in Hip-Hop music and the e-books will teach you to effectively use breath beats while playing Hip-Hop music.
• Rapping is the most crucial as well as difficult aspect of Hip-Hop music. To learn rapping you will need some time, understanding the different things related to rapping. Therefore, it cannot be learnt from a professional. Just observation of rapping in the popular hip-hop music tracks and along with it, the e-books are helpful for this purpose. The Hip-Hop Music e-Books will provide you the basics, tips, as well as number of samples along with analysis of raps.
• In addition to teaching you Hip-Hop music, the Hip-Hop Music e-Books will also provide you information about how you can get into the Hip-Hop industry. This is important because, there are several important things, which you need to know about the Hip-Hop industry before you enter into it.
Advantages
There are several advantages of Hip-Hop Music e-Books. They are available in different formats and therefore you they can be easily downloaded on your computer. As you may know, e-books do not require much storage space and about 500 e-books can be stored on a single CD.
Moreover reading the e-books is much more convenient than the paper books. You can adjust their font, color, etc. Some computer software also helps to search the e-book for finding what you want. Some Hip-Hop Music e-Books are editable therefore; you can add you own notes as well.
Coutesy of www.vmusicbook.com ©VmusicBook, Inc. 2008
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Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Music Publishing is one of the real money-spinning sectors of the music industry and understanding its significance is elementary for all aspiring musicians. To get paid for your music  for example, from a  radio play, the music must be published by one of the music publishers and registered with a performing rights organisation. If you have made some good music and want to get it published, here are some guidelines to get your music published:

1. Get a sheet of the music piece. You should have a printed sheet of music when you contact a music publisher.
2. Find publishers in your area. When searching for a publisher, make sure the publisher publishes the genre (type of music) that you have composed. Many specialize in specific fields, such as Rock, Classical, etc...
3. Be Flexible, (assuming they continue with you) they might tell you to revise some parts in the sheet music to fix mistakes, etc... Be Flexible and clean up the mistakes, and take it back.
4. Copyright, Make sure that before it's published, that the music company gets it formally copyrighted. Musicians historically have been ripped off on publishing simply because they failed to do this one task. Take care of all of your legal obligations and apply the use of these new forums for getting your music published in addition to some of the older tactics and you could soon be reaping the rewards of publishing royalties.
5. Offer free download, If you are a beginner you can offer a 30 second demo for free download so that people may test your music before buying.

With the internet the music publishing game has changed. With sites/services like EditionPeters.com musicians can simply get a membership and have their music advertised or sold through their website.  Peters Edition has been publishing music since 1800 .They are a music publishing company for musicians, run by musicians. Music published by Peters Edition has been licensed extensively in public performance, CD, DVD, film, advertising, ballet, radio and television and we are able to offer a fast and comprehensive service for every licensing requirement.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/getting-your-music-published-1478599.html#ixzz0tQYMk200
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution