Music Management Risks

The music business in itself is a tough business to work with. When working in this business as a manager or management company one has to consider all music management risks and prepare proper reaction when an unwarranted action occurs. For instance, over the last decade the music management risks have been extreme due to the excess of piracy via the Internet. These types of music management risks are those that any management team in today’s industry has to work extra man-hours to diminish the inevitable ability to illegally copy music from the artist.

 

There are even more music management risks to 

be discussed with the ubiquitous distribution of digital music. Some older artists have an issue of whether or not digital music should be treated as a license or sale. According to Ben Sisario (2011), in an article published by the NY Times “Four years ago, the producers who discovered Eminem sued his record label, the Universal Music Group, over the way royalties are computed for digital music, which boils down to whether an individual song sold online should be considered a license or sale. The decision made was one that would benefit the production company and Eminem millions of dollars for years to come, as well as set precedents for other artists. As stated by Sisario, “Eminem’s contract stipulates he gets 50 percent of the royalties for a license but only 12 percent for a sale.” In layman terms, if this were to remain the standard, there would be an injustice for the artist signed to a label more than a decade ago, with music sold online, due to the fact that digital music was not in use back then. Hence, the artist and production team makes a lot less money for a technology that wasn’t developed during the time of the signing to the label. The result of this case ruled in favor of the production company ruling digital music to be considered a license. This is more music management risks and precaution for any manager or management team to consider when working with an artist signed before the commencement of the sale of digital music to insure adequate revenue is received for the artist as is rightfully so.

 

In more recent news, like the popular band “Radiohead,” “R&B singer “The Weekend” suggests a new business model based on free music. The weekend released a new and very popular album via the Internet for free. Some would consider this a nightmare for the manager because of the lack in music sales, ergo lack in revenue.

Needless to say, there are several music management risks that a manager and or management company can encounter when maneuvering about in this business. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/business/media/28eminem.html?pagewanted=all

http://bragmedia.com/blog/?tag=music-industry-talk

Entertainment Podcasts

In a podcast entitled “A seminar in Copyright Law with Entertainment Lawyer Greg Eveline,” Greg Eveline was asked what he thinks about copyright law. His reply was powerful and extremely in favor of the musician. Eveline mentioned that the entire entertainment industry all evolves around copyright law. “It is the only right enumerated in the constitution” was a statement made by Attorney Greg Eveline as he corroborates his claim by explaining that all copyright is is the ownership of a property.  As an aspiring CEO of a management team I agree and understand his statement about the exclusive rights to the music in having it owned. One always has liability risks when dealing with music. Conversely, the escape of this is if you own the copyrights, then you own the song.

Attorney Mark Davis in a seminar at Loyola University assists students in helping them understand how to approach copyright in the music business. He breaks down the roles of what he feels the ownership of a song is broken down into; “four roles: Artist, Publisher, Writer and record label.“ Mark Davis then defines what is copyrightable as “anything that is an original expression in fixed form.” It is important that one completely understands this when going into any area of the music business. I found that this podcast has elucidated things that I have heard over the years by the plain language that is used.

Mark Goldstein, a retired attorney of 25 years and current professor at USC Thornton School, expresses his opinions on a more facilitated skill set to work in the music business. He says that one who has worked in the music business already would be a much better communicator and manager to represent someone because of having been on both sides of the table. That is, the creative side as well as the business side. Although none of these things are fact patterns, they are beneficial and helpful information due to the fact that they are coming from experienced individuals that have been in the industry for years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhRhf4fY5as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei50ZKq0Y_k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fqDLx0jFF0

Artist Management Liabilities

The music business is a tough business to be in. It’s one filled with sharks and smooth criminals. Having said that there are many caveats that one must consider before deciding to be engulfed with this work and these types of people. Artist managers can sometimes be the best and worst person in the music business and sadly it’s the artists that suffer the most if they don’t pay attention to who they have on staff.

At any given moment the managers run the risk of being sued from anyone they are doing business with. Be it the artist themselves or someone rom the business, venue Internal Revenue Service, etc. I aspire to run my own management company and in doing so I have had to do some extensive research on the actual many tasks of the managers, in addition to what the artist management business is responsible for. It is understood now that “the managers have to understand their managerial duties from all perspectives,” according to an article from Music Industry Form Contracts. Otherwise they simply run the risk of being sued. What is the most conundrum of the job is that the artist is the face of the product but the manager does all of the hands on duties to get the job done. The public hardly ever sees the managers as much as they do the artist themselves but the managers is the one with his or her hands on everything that the artist is into. Like a business with products, the managers make sure that the price, product, promotions, and locations are correct but the product, like the artist must sell to operate the business successfully and if it does not it is the manager’s fault.

Having said that one must consider the liabilities that come along with being an artist manager or when operating in the music business with a management company. 

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/appeals-court-raises-damages-award-music-piracy-case-202331291--finance.html
http://www.lacostamusic.com/record-labels/manageracloserlook.htm

Self-Publishing

The NY Times has published an article about the10 best books of 2012: Bring Up The Bodies, Building Stories, A Hologram For The King, NW, The Yellow Birds, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Far From The Tree, The Passage of Power, The Patriarch and Why Does The World Exist. All of these books have something in common. Not one of them has been self-published. The writer of each book felt as though it were necessary to shop around only for an agent to shop around for the deal that would make life easier for them. Whether it is done via digital media, a friend who knows a friend or just determined and dedicated human search engines that will not stop until they get what they need for their book, it is not impossible. Yes, we see that the trends for the most successful books have been that of which were published by major publications. However, I could not stress to the world of writers how unworthy a company is to receive pay from work that you have spent endless hours on creating. The World Wide Web has a great myriad of information on how to do it yourself. Including videos, blogs, publication and even self-published books on how to self-publish your own book. According to Joe Konrath (2013) some famous examples include Little Girl is Possessed by Demon, Shark Attacks New Yorkers, Scientists Clone Dinosaurs, Boy Discovers He Is A Wizard, Vampires in Modern Day Maine and Virgin Falls in Love With Billionaire Sadist.”  If you are looking to have a book published I would strongly advise that you take precaution and do it yourself. It is not an easy task, however, it is not impossible. Take advantage of the resources at hand and utilize the information provided. DO IT YOURSELF!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/books/review/10-best-books-of-2012.html?_r=0

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

Book Publishing

Publishing a book is not an easy task. Some writers go decades without having their work published or even noticed by someone in the publishing industry who matters. Writer Nataly Kelly says it was a dream come true to get a deal with a major publisher like penguin.  Nataly Kelly (2013) explains how after years of pitching concepts to get a publishing deal. A number of writers say that social media pays a major role as a contributing factor in getting a book deal. It takes a series of reading books, blog posts, articles and just simply acquiring knowledge about the publishing process. Most writers agree that you most likely would need an agent to help you get the deal with a major publisher. As suggested by Kelly (2013), “Anyone who has ever seen a book contract knows that these are complicated legal documents with numerous terms, caveats, clauses, and stipulations.” In researching some of the suggestions that these writers had to say I have found that the majority of them have given good tips on what to do and what not to do during this process. They almost make the task easy to complete.

Although almost all writers agree that agents will make it easier for you to get your book published some would argue that you do not need them. In an article from a website call 2publishabook.com a writer explains that “agents are simply people who shop your manuscript around to publishers in hopes to land you that rare publishing deal.” If you you have the time and budget for it one would suggest that you self-publish your book and cut out the middle-man. After all, it is your work of creation ad if you self-publish then you will receive all emoluments from your own work that is deserved.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nataly-kelly/six-things-i-learned-abou_b_2412322.html

http://www.2publishabook.com/