Music Is Your Business, the Musician's Fourfront Strategy For
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Th e Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success Music Is Your Business 3rd Edition Christopher Knab Bartley F. Day Helping Musicians Help Themselves with the Business of Music FourFront Media and Music New Revised, Updated, and Expanded Edition Music Is Your Business The Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success Third Edition Christopher Knab and Bartley F. Day Edited by Sue Cook FourFront Media & Music Music Is Your Business, Third Edition A Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success © 2001, 2003, 2007 by Christopher Knab and Bartley F. Day First edition 2001 Third edition 2007 FourFront Media and Music 1245 S. 128th St. Seattle, WA 98168 (206) 282-6116 [email protected] Notice of Rights All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmit- ted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the au- thor. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected]. FourFront Media and Music is a trademark of Christopher Knab. Notice of Liability The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the authors shall not have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused di- rectly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. The reader is cautioned to seek the advice of the reader’s own attorney concerning the applicability of any law-related information in this book to the reader’s own activities. ISBN: 978-0-9743420-2-3 Designed by Sue Cook Printed in the United States of America A Record Industry Joke A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces his altitude and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?” The man below says, “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.” “You must work for a record label,” says the balloonist. “I do,” replies the man. “How did you know?” “Well,” says the balloonist, “everything you’ve told me is technically cor- rect, but it’s no use to me right now.” The man below says, “You must be a recording artist.” “I am,” replies the balloonist, “but how did you know?” “Well,” says the man, “You don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re really in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.” Anonymous iii Contents vii Acknowledgements x Introduction: What This Book Is (and Is Not) Chapter 1 Welcome to the Four Fronts of Music Marketing 2 How the Music Industry Is Structured Chart 4 What Are the Four Fronts of the Music Business— and What Do They Have to Do with You? 5 An Overview of the Four Fronts 9 How the Four Fronts Work Together Chart Chapter 2 The First Front—Artist Development and Product Development 12 Why Artist and Product Development Are Both in the First Front 13 The First Front, Part One: What Is Artist Development? 15 Ten Reasons Why Musicians Fail (and How Not To) 35 Con Jobs: Watch Out for the Flim-Flam Man 39 Artist/Band Inventory List 41 The “Creative” You and the “Business” You 44 Songwriter Relationship and Artist Relationship Charts 45 Filing Copyright Applications 48 Trademarking Band Names 53 Starting Your Own Publishing Company: An Eight Point Checklist 57 Eight Types of Publishing Deals: An Overview 63 Artist Management Deals: The Basic Deal Points 66 Artist Development: Questions to Ask Yourself 68 The First Front, Part Two: What is Product Development? 70 Who Buys Music? 76 What You Should Know about Your Fans 78 35 Things to Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label 80 Releasing Your Own Record—A 15-Point Legal Checklist 84 Preparing Your Release: Manufacturing and Design Tips 86 Let’s Talk about Bar Codes 87 Inside Major and Independent Record Labels 90 Typical Major Label Structure Chart 91 What A&R Reps Do 92 Making Sense of Music Industry Contracts 94 Production Companies iv 97 Producer Agreements: What’s the Deal? 102 Recording Contract Advances 105 Recording Contracts and Recoupables 108 Recording Contracts and the Artist Royalty Rate 111 The “Term” of Recording Contracts 114 Compulsory Mechanical Licenses: The Facts and the Fictions 120 “Profit Split” Deals: An Alternative to the Traditional Record Deal 124 Making Your Record a Priority, or Art vs. Commerce: A Music Marketplace Dilemma 128 Distribution Setups for Record Labels 129 Distribution and Independent Record Labels 131 Distributors: How to Attract Them and How to Work With Them 136 Getting Your Music to the Customer Chart 138 A FourFront Marketing Plan for Independent Record Releases 140 Sample Marketing Plan for a Band 144 The Distributor One-Sheet 145 Sample Distributor One-Sheet 146 Sample of a Distributor’s Letter of Instructions to an Independent Label 148 25 Things to Remember about Traditional Record Distributors 150 What a Record Label Should Know about Music Retailers 156 Music Is Your Internet Business 157 Selling Your Music Online—A Reality Check 165 Getting the Most Out of Your Music Website 169 Online E-Music Promotions 171 What is SoundExchange and Why Should You Know about Them? 172 Product Development Questions for Music Sellers Chapter 3 The Second Front—Promotion 174 Promotion: Getting Airplay for Your Music 175 Radio Station Music Formats 177 Promotion: How Record Labels and Radio Stations Work Together 194 Getting College, Non-Commercial Radio Airplay 197 The Promotion Game: A Day by Day Summary 201 Promotion Front Questions for Radio Stations Chapter 4 The Third Front—Publicity 204 Publicity: Creating a Buzz in the Media 205 Kits, Kits, and More Kits v 206 Ingredients of a Demo/Promo/Press Kit 207 How to Write a Bio and a Fact Sheet 210 Sample Band Bio 211 Sample Fact Sheet 212 Sample Cover Letter 213 The Quote Sheet/Press Clippings 214 Folders and Envelopes 215 Press Kit Photos 218 How to Write a Music Related Press Release 219 Tips for Working with the Press 221 Publicity Front Questions for Magazines, Newspapers and Internet Publications Chapter 5 The Fourth Front—Performance 224 Performance: Finding Your Audience 225 The Business of Live Performance 229 Selling Your Music at Live Shows 233 Have You Ever Played a House Concert? 237 Sample Band Tour and Work Schedule 242 Performance Front Questions for Working Your Live Shows Chapter 6 The Future Is Now 244 Changes in the Way Music Is Sold Over the Last 30 Years 248 New Challenges and Chances for Music Marketing 254 Licensing Music for Films, TV, Commercials, and Computer Games 259 Licensing Your Masters Overseas 264 About the Authors 265 Index Throughout the book, this symbol indicates legal-oriented chapters written by Bartley F. Day. The FourFront Marketing System chapters and all other content (except where noted) was written by Christopher Knab. vi Acknowledgments Whoever said that writing a book was a solitary experience never attempted to write a book about the music business. There are many people who helped make this third edition possible. So, I would like to thank the following people for helping me get things right. To start off I want to give a big thank you to entertainment law attorney Bartley F. Day. Bart, your contributions to past editions of this book gave a clear and concise explanation of some basic legal issues facing any musician who wishes to market, sell, or license their music. So, I’m particularly proud to have you contribute more legal chapters to this edition and truly be a partner and co-author of this third edition. Besides being a good friend and the co-author of the chapter “Contracts and Relationships Between Independent and Major Labels” in the book The Musician’s Business and Legal Guide, you understand and appreciate all the work that goes into writing a book on the business of music. I appreciate your ongoing support and helpful suggestions that make this edition much more instructive and helpful to developing artists and bands. For this edition another friend, (and Internet music marketing genius), David Nevue, of www.musicbizacademy.com, contributed the chapter on Internet music marketing. Thank you, David, for taking the time out of your busy schedule promoting your own unique piano music to write this special chapter. The information you provide will go a long way toward helping artists organize and plan their Internet marketing activities. David’s book, How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet, should be used by all artists and bands who want to make money with their music. Thank you to John Richards of radio station KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle, www.kexp.org. Your helpful tips on how artists and bands should submit their music to non-commercial stations is most appreciated. There is nothing like hearing the truth straight from the horse’s mouth. And while I’m at it, thanks to Andy Boyd, my producer of the MIYB podcasts, for editing out all my bleeps and glitches and making the podcasts sound so professional. There never would have been a first edition of this book, let alone this new edition, without the support of my mentor Diane Rapaport, who started the whole idea of helping musicians understand the business of music back in the early ’80s with her landmark book How To Make and Sell Your Own Recording, now in its fifth edition.