Areas Of The Music Industry
Artist Management
Artist Management?:What Do They Do?:
An artist's manager handle the day to day business affairs of their artist(s) such as:
Organising gigs (usually for promotion)
Helping with explaining and negotiating contracts
Finding and organising time in the studio for their artist(s) (to record, obviously)
Promoting their artist(s) with things like possible chat show meets, online blogs or video chats (Q&A)'s etc, where the artist can directly promote themself because they can talk about certain things.
Organising travel to attend important dealings with their career (possibly a gig).
They consult with their artist(s) to find the correct way to progress in their career(s).
How They Make Money:
Managers are paid through their artist(s). They get a substantial cut of the artist's salary, which is appropriate as they do a great deal for them. They get an average of 15-20% of the artist's salary (they can negotiate other cuts) which, if the artist does eventually become famous and wealthy, can be alot of money.
Good Qualities:
A good manager needs to have at least some experience, good time keeping, great communication skills and they have to be VERY organised.
In my opinion a manager is a very important part of a musician's career because, although it is possible for an artist to promote themselves, when/if the artist becomes famous and popular it will become too hard for them to manage their own business affairs themselves. I personally feel a manager with only 1 client would be the best to choose as it means that their main focus is on their only artist as opposed to a manager with several clients (because there could be a lack of focus on the managers behalf) and, although it may mean less pay for the manager, more focus means more artist promotion which will lead to more money for the artist which, of course, leads to more money for the manager!
Record Companies
Record Companies?:A record company is a company which would sign artist(s). The artist would record their music under that record label.
What Do They Do?:
Record companies would sign an artist and would basically have the main involvement in what makes their records/music (CDs). For example an artist like David Guetta is signed to Virgin Records, Virgin Records would control the recording (in the studio), mastering (sorting out the final copy/arrangement of the record) and pressing (actually making the CDs). It is common for a record label to give their artist(s) an advance in money (money before any music is released) so that their artist(s) have money to live off for the time being, the artist would usually pay the money back through royalties (profits from music sales). Record labels are also known to audition artists themselves, although this is a rarity. They would audition them and, if they thought the artist was good enough, they would consider signing them. Record labels can even organise collaborations which, I should imagine, is a big help for the artist as:
1: The artist(s) would not have to do it themselves (or rely on their manager to do it).
2: It could lead to even more promotion for the artist (especially if their collaborator is more famous than them).
Once the artist has signed to the label they have stability in making their music. By this I mean that, as long as the contract still stands, the artist is secure enough in their label that they are able to produce their best work comfortably.
How Are They Making Money?:
Record companies make money from the royalties that their artist's music makes from their music being sold. For example, if you went into a shop and bought an album, the record label would have recieved the money and split it with the artist (how it is split is decided between the artist and the record company). So, basically, the more an artist sells the more money the label makes.
Good Qualities:
A good record label has to have good connections (contacts), in order to be able to promote their artist(s), good promotional skills and good negotiating skills (if they want to make a good amount of money)
There has been many a debate about whether minor record labels are better than any major ones. Personally I feel that the popularity of the label isn't nessecarily important, it's whether the label "gets" the artist. By this I mean whether the label understands how to cater to their artist's genre and understands the best way to promote their music. The only way I feel a more famous record company would be that they have more money. More money could lead to better promotion, which, of course, leads to better profit but this isn't necessarly the case, a record label is not always about the money.
Music Publishing
Music Publishing?:Music Publishing means to protect, develop and possibly distribute an artist's music. An artist would have to sign on to a music publisher themself (or have their manager or record label do it for them) because, although publishers can audition/scout for new talent, if the artist is already signed to a label (which is possible) they are not allowed to audition for other people (without permission, if it states in their contract.).
What Do They Do?:
By protect the music I mean the publisher would copyright the music. This means that the song has been registered with a collecting society (the company that will collect the money if the music is used). If a song is registered with a collecting society, such as PRS in the UK, then it is officially illegal for anybody to use that specific song (for professional reasons like promoting a drink) without permission from the publishing company. Of course another job for the publishers is to take the correct action if any one should use their music illegaly (prosecute, sue, etc), it is in their rights to pull anyone up who has not been granted permission to use their music and demand money for doing so. Publishers can also produce promotional material, things like sample CDs and brochures, just to help promote their artist and their music, which would in return make them more money.
How They Are Making Money:
Music publishing companies mainly make money when music they own (made by the artist(s)) gets played publicly on things like:
Radio
TV Shows
Advertisements
The collection comapny (PRS) would know that their music has been played contact the publishers and the people/company/organisation which has played their song and retrieve their money from them and give it to the publishers. The publishers would then split the money with the artist (how it is split is usually negotiated between them) and keep their share.
There has even been instances where a company would pay a publishing company in advanced to play their music, just to save the hassle of having to sort it out on a later date.
Good Qualities:
The only thing I feel makes a good publishing company is one that is very "on the ball", they just need to know when the music was played, who played it and how many times it was played and they need to be prepared for a court battle. I personally don't feel that a publishing company's popularity comes into the equation (other people may feel different), as long as they know what they are doing, you have found a good publisher.
Live Performance
Live Performance?:Live performance basically means when the artist's music or composition gets, well, performed live.
Live performance is a very important role in the music business. It's all about promoting an artist's music (and the artist(s) themselves) to a bigger scale than just playing their music and compositions on the radio and gives fans an oppurtunity to hear there favourite artist's songs performed live.
What Happens?:
What happens is that the artist, songwriter or producer will have their song performed live (or they usually perform it themselves, if they have the ability to). This could be whilst on tour or just a general booking for a show (on TV maybe).
Usually if a performace is on TV it is to promote a specific piece of music or album and is usually arranged by the artist's manager, unfortuanately, this gives them a limited range of things they can perform (if the performance is used to promote a specific piece of music).
However if the live performance is during a tour it is arranged collectively by the artists (usually), the manager, the record company (it can help promote further recordings with that record label, if the artist performs well the label will record further with them) and the owner/manager of the venue. All 4 of them will together discuss possible oppurtunites of when to perform at the arena.
The reason the owner/manager discusses the performance is, not only to arrange a date, but to be convinced on whether the artist is right to perform there. For example if David Guetta decided he wanted to perform a set at The O2 Arena (London), the owner of The O2 would have to decide on whether Mr. Guetta is a resepectable enough artist to maintain and live up to the reputation and help promote their beloved venue and only then would/should they accept.
How Is Money Made From This?:
Money is made from live performance by promoting almost everything. The artist, their music, merchandise (CDs, clothes, dolls etc...) and more. Fans get to see their favourite artist perform their favourite songs live, right in front of them, which is (frankly) an amazing idea, especially if the fans have an emotional connection with them because not only will they buy tickets they will most likely buy their CDs and merchandise.
It's a very cleverly thought out idea, record companies, artists, venue owners all see live performance as an investment to help promote themselves.
Venue owners of course are paid so the artist can perform at their venue and promote their music, they also make money from the merchandise they sell on site . The record company get paid through ticket sales as does the artist (they share the money with negotiated amounts) and the artist also gets paid to go on tour. The record company and the artists promoters pay the artist to travel around and perform their music to their fans, which would in return, earn the label's money back through ticket sales and CD sales.
Summary:
Live performance is a very important aspect of the music industry, however, I feel that all elements of the music industry are almost equally important as each other. I say this because how much promotion is an artist getting without a manager and a record label? How are they able to record at their best without the stability of a contract from a record company? Who is preventing anyone from stealing their music and causing them to lose out on money if not the publishing company? And how are their fans able to see their favourite artist's music performed live without live performance? It's all of these elements that help boost each other's performance and sales and of course help their artist climb to the top.
Bibliography
Author Not Specified, Accessed 16/11/13, mpaonline.org.uk,[http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/content/what-music-publishing]
Author Not Specified, Accessed 16/11/2013, wikipedia.org,
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_manager]
Author Not Specifed, Accessed 16/11/2013, wikipedia.org,
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry]
