Indie Artist Will Receive 58% In Streaming Royalties From Apple Music…

by Sheme Jobs

While Apple basks in the publicity it stirred up at WWDC 2015 earlier this week, a recent document leak shows that the company’s new music service will kick back just 58% of subscription revenues to indie artists who use the platform. 

The figure, which doesn’t apply to major labels according to DMN, pales in comparison to the 70% in subscription revenues Spotify offers comparable rights owners. The 58% subscription revenue figure is applicable to both individual and family accounts on the soon-to-launch Apple Music, the latter of which costs five dollars more than the baseline $9.99/month fee. 

Perhaps even more damning for artists and rights owners, Apple Music will pay out precisely 0% for music released during the service’s initial three-month trial period. That means if you’re an artist that releases music on the service between June 30 and September 30 you can expect nothing in return financially. 

Meanwhile, Apple is on the hot seat for potentially illegal negotiations with music labels and is being investigated for violating antitrust laws in two states, New York and Connecticut, according to The New York Times. The investigation will look into whether Apple broke the law in pressuring and/or conspiring with music labels to migrate away from competing “freemium” services like Spotify. 

Sony To Face Class-Action Litigation Over Spotify Advances?!?!

by Sheme Jobs

Sony Music Entertainment, as well as Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, could face a very serious, class-action lawsuit involving non-payment of streaming advances, according to multiple sources.

Specifically, the action would seek to get artists paid fairly for massive, upfront cash transfers from streaming services like Spotify, which many artists and managers say are not being shared with a large majority of signed artists.

The class-action would come in the wake of a very embarrassing leak of Sony Music Entertainment’s 2011 contract with Spotify, one that featured large cash advances and control over portions of Spotify’s advertising inventory.

The leaked contract also included ‘Most Favored Nations’ guarantees, which strongly suggests that the other two major labels are enjoying similar terms.

“This goes beyond Sony, and [the other majors] can be touched,” one source relayed.

The sources were careful to stress that the potential action has not been filed, and currently faces significant hurdles related to artist participation and the language of specific artist contracts. Importantly, that includes specific language in many artist contracts that could offer major labels absolute impunity to claim 100% of advance payments from Spotify— regardless of the ethical issues involved.

That appears to be the case with an older contract between Lady Gaga and Universal Music Group, which contains specific language allowing UMG not to pay Gaga anything on special advances, cash-outs, or anything else that doesn’t involve the direct, specific use of Gaga’s tracks.

But even if that problems persists, sources noted that a group of artist representatives and attorneys may still be motivated to bring the action, merely to highlight just how badly these contracts are screwing their clients.

“That may be the only way we can get this to change,” one source relayed.

Elsewhere, both the European Commission and US Copyright Office are taking a look at the Sony/Spotify contract, thanks to urgings by organizations like the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF) and the International Artist Organisation (IAO). At this point, it’s unclear what action these influential organizations will take, though this will certainly sway future decision-making.

Meanwhile, both Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group have been frantically taking steps to assure artists and managers that they are indeed paying artists on streaming advances. But the statements all revolve around ‘breakage,’ an antiquated concept that protected labels from making payments on things like cracked wax cylinders and broken vinyl that couldn’t be sold. “Under the Sony Music ‘Breakage Policy,’ SME shares with its recording artists all unallocated income from advances, non-recoupable payments and minimum revenue guarantees that Sony Music receives under its digital distribution deals,” Sony offered in its only post-leak statement this week.

Warner Music Group has now chimed in with a similar message, despite almost laughable skepticism. “Warner Music shares all advances, minimum guarantees and ‘flat fees’ with its artists,”Warner Music Group offered in a statement.

“This policy has been in effect at Warner Music since 2009, purposely treating breakage like other digital revenue.”

Warner Music Group, like Sony, is no stranger to massive class actions. Just recently, WMG settled a large class-action lawsuit by more than 3,000 interns, who accused Warner Music of deliberately exploiting them and violating local labor laws by paying little or nothing for their work. Elsewhere, Warner also agreed to pay $11.5 million to settle class accusations of underpayment on digital downloads, part of a broader group of settlements related to digital royalties to legacy artists.

More as this situation develops.

Great Artists That Have Never Won a Grammy…

by Sheme Jobs

In honor of the 57th Grammy Awards, here are 57 artists that somehow never got honored…

1. Bob Marley

2. Tupac Shakur

3. The Doors

4. Queen

5. Jimi Hendrix

6. Curtis Mayfield

7. The Who

8. Snoop Dogg

9. Björk

10. Chuck Berry

11. The Grateful Dead

12. Diana Ross

13. Nas

14. ZZ Top

15. Queens of the Stone Age

16. Katy Perry

17. One Direction

18. PSY

19. Justin Bieber

20. Janis Joplin
21. Buddy Holly

22. Notorious B.I.G.

23. (Eric B. &) Rakim

24. Rush

25. Run D.M.C.

26. Guns n’ Roses

27. Boston

28. Sam Cooke

29. Talking Heads

30. The Ramones

31. The Everly Brothers

32. Patti Smith

33. Public Enemy

34. Sly & the Family Stone

35. The Sex Pistols

36. Parliament &/or Funkadelic

37. The O’Jays

38. Creedence Clearwater Revival

39. The Stooges

40. Motley Crue

41. Kiss
42. Deep Purple

43. Journey

44. Jackson Browne

45. The Pretenders

46.Toby Keith

47. New Order

48. Depeche Mode

49. Tiesto

Update: Tiesto just won his the first time Sunday

50. The Kinks

51. Morrissey

52. The Smiths

53. ABBA

54. Dusty Springfield

55. Teddy Pendergrass

56. Oasis

57. Busta Rhymes

(And for fun, try searching a few artists on grammy.com’s ‘Past Winners’ database, here.)

“The Music Industry Built Twitter and Instagram,” will.i.am…

by Sheme Jobs

On Larry King Live…

Larry King: You told Page Six recently ‘everything around music is so 2000s, like 2003.’ What did you mean?

will.i.am: The business of music, the industry, still operates as if we’re making hard goods. When the way we consume music is, ‘did you hear that new song check it out,’ then you go to Google, you just go to YouTube.

King: We had three very successful musicians, from three generations on the show. Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Melissa Etheridge and T-Pain… all of them said the music industry is not in a good place.

will.i.am: No, it’s not. Before, Michael Jackson would compete with Prince. The Rolling Stones would compete with the Beatles. Sly & the Family Stone would compete with… ya know, Earth Wind & Fire, Commodores.

Music is not competing with Instagram. Music is not competing with Twitter. Music is not competing with the other thing, mindshare.

Before you used to listen to music in your room, or drive, and that was your mindshare. So in the world of mindshare, how does music compare with Instagram, where you are refreshing every five minutes? The average amount of time that someone spends looking at their phone is about six hours a day. That’s a lot of mindshare.

So how much of that is associated with music? So, as an industry, what are we doing to compete? We don’t even have our own platform, we borrow everyone else’s.

You would have thought that the major three would have created a platform by now. You would have thought that WhatsApp was ours. You would have thought, right, we have — we adopt everybody’s platforms and socialize on that.

Twitter was built by us, Instagram was built by us… you would think we would have our own thing by now.

So, after our success with Beats, I developed this company [new smartwatch venture Pulse]. So, you have the music industry, and inside the music industry you have Beats.

So what we accomplished with Beats is what the record industry hadn’t done, I don’t know, ever.

Larry King: Beats was your idea.

will.i.am: No, no. It was my idea to do hardware, I told Jimmy [Iovine] that we should do hardware. Beats was Jimmy’s idea with Dre and he brought me on board to be a part of the company. Actually, the first time I ever — I think the first time that Beats was shown on television was the interview that we did, with Maya Angelou in 2008, I had Beats on my head, on my neck.

Larry King: Really.

will.i.am: Yeah, those were prototypes.

The complete interview, here.

DANIEL EK Addresses The ‘Myths’ Of Streaming Music…

by Sheme Jobs

SPOTIFY CEO DANIEL EK has taken to the company blog to address TAYLOR SWIFT’s decision to remove her albums from the streaming service.

EK writes, “TAYLOR SWIFT is absolutely right: Music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. We started SPOTIFY because we love music and piracy was killing it. So all the talk swirling around lately about how SPOTIFY is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time. Our whole reason for existence is to help fans find music and help artists connect with fans through a platform that protects them from piracy and pays them for their amazing work.

“QUINCY JONES posted on FACEBOOK that “SPOTIFY is not the enemy; piracy is the enemy”. You know why? Two numbers: Zero and Two Billion. Piracy doesn’t pay artists a penny — nothing, zilch, zero. SPOTIFY has paid more than two billion dollars to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution to songwriters and recording artists. A billion dollars from the time we started SPOTIFY in 2008 to last year and another billion dollars since then. And that’s two billion dollars’ worth of listening that would have happened with zero or little compensation to artists and songwriters through piracy or practically equivalent services if there was no SPOTIFY — we’re working day and night to recover money for artists and the music business that piracy was stealing away.

“When I hear stories about artists and songwriters who say they’ve seen little or no money from streaming and are naturally angry and frustrated, I’m really frustrated, too. The music industry is changing — and we’re proud of our part in that change — but lots of problems that have plagued the industry since its inception continue to exist. As I said, we’ve already paid more than $2 billion in royalties to the music industry and if that money is not flowing to the creative community in a timely and transparent way, that’s a big problem. We will do anything we can to work with the industry to increase transparency, improve speed of payments, and give artists the opportunity to promote themselves and connect with fans – that’s our responsibility as a leader in this industry; and it’s the right thing to do.”

Read the full post here.

Music Quote Of The Day!!

by Sheme Jobs

“I think there’s a great beauty to having problems. That’s one of the ways we learn.”

— Herbie Hancock, musician

The Ramones’ Debut Album Goes Gold…

by Sheme Jobs

The Ramones released their debut album, Ramones, in 1976. It features highly recognizable songs, such as “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Judy Is A Punk”.

The album didn’t really capture critical attention when released, but has since been recognized as a visionary punk album. The album also influenced a wide range of rock acts outside of the punk scene.

The RIAA certified the album as gold on April 301th, 2014 – 38 years after it was released. This means the album has finally sold over 500,000 copies.

This isn’t the first time the band has gone gold, in 1994 the band’s compilation album Ramones Mania (1988) went gold. However, it did take a long time for this influential debut album to hit the 500,000 mark.

West 77th Street Has Been Changed Forever….

by Sheme Jobs

…at Riverside Drive.

Why Music Managers Just Don’t Cut It

by Sheme Jobs

Back in the day artists created and managers managed. The end.

When I hear artists today say “I just want to make music, I don’t want to do any of the business stuff.” I want to scream “YEAH, ME TOO!”

But that’s not today’s reality.

Artists who are lucky enough to have a manager who is passionate, dedicated, loyal and connected will be able to hand off some of the things necessary to advance their career, but definitely not all of the things that need to get done.

Artists who have managers (especially early on in their career) tend to relinquish all decision making and necessary business duties to their managers. This used to work when a successful artist had a full team around them: Manager, Label, Agent, Lawyer, Publicist.

Some successful artists still surround themselves with this team and think that’s enough.

But it’s not.

Your well-connected manager only knows how to handle a small amount of what is necessary to launch (and maintain) a music career in today’s rapidly shifting industry.

The Well-Connected Manager

Everyone understands the concept of a well-connected manager. She has multiple clients, usually works at a management company, and one of her phone calls is more effective than 30 emails and calls from a ‘best-friend’ manager. Many times, it is in the contract that this manager gets the band a record deal (or they part ways).

But what this well-connected manager doesn’t do is live and breathe the band she’s working for (she just has too many clients). She’s stuck in the system that had been set in place when she entered the field. She may have had some success, but to truly manage the career of a band today, it takes much more than just a vision and some connections. Trial and error is necessary. A passion is necessary. A well-rounded knowledge of how everything works, top to bottom, (not just top) is necessary.

The Best-Friend Manager

The ‘best friend’ manager starts with 0 connections and has to make them all. BUT he lives and breathes the band. He and the band work together on a vision and lofty goals. He screams at the top of every rooftop about how his band is going to take over the world.

Some best friend managers see their band to the top. Some get fired and replaced by a well-connected manager when they start to see some success.

But what BOTH types of managers are missing is the stuff that ACTUALLY needs to get done, day to day, to build a connection between band and fan.

THE NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM

Whether you have a label or not, there are crucial duties that are necessary in every band’s career. If you do have a label, many times the label will handle some of this for you. But with a 98% major label failure rate (that’s of the bands that are actually signed) you better understand what needs to get done on your own.

Well-Connected Manager

It’s important to have someone on the management team who can get the band opening tour slots. Get in-studio performances at radio and TV stations. Get the band signed (if that’s part of their plan). Get a publishing deal (or a licensing company). Get songs placed on TV and in movies. Who can get album reviews at major blogs and newspapers (if a publicist isn’t involved).

These people have the clout to make this happen. But their job description typically ends there.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a well-connected manager that handles the important minutia of the day to day.

Personal Manager

This person picks up the slack.

He’s the tour manager when the band is on the road (or hires the tour manager). He imports mailing list names after a show; creates Facebook events; uploads tour photos to Facebook and the website; runs the merch table (or finds people to do it); manages the website and works with the graphic designer and web developer to keep the site up to date and truly representative of the band; writes the press release and bio (or finds a writer to do it); finds the best distribution company (if a label isn’t involved) and distributes the music appropriately; uploads songs to SoundCloud; NETWORKS on SoundCloud; creates the YouTube channel and understands the internal intricacies of the community and how to grow a YouTube subscriber base (hint: it’s not by getting a viral video (or 5); becomes a master at all necessary social media sites (and apps) and trains the band; manages all the finances (before an accountant is involved); contacts the street team in every city and arranges flyering, postering and Facebooking in advance of the band’s show; hires interns to handle all of the above duties that he doesn’t have time for; is the band’s therapist.

Well-connected managers don’t do this.

But this stuff not only needs to get done, it all needs to be up to professional standards. Everything needs to be representative of the band. If the band is unstoppable on stage or has an album that defines a new genre, but the website is a WordPress template from 2002 and the Facebook page has discombobulated information, 3 different tour calendars, 2 separate music players, and a tab that’s completely non-functional altogether, then you’re band’s fan retention is suffering.

Graphic Design Artist

This is one of the most overlooked (but necessary) elements of every band. Ideally, a band member is a pro on Photoshop.

BACK THEN, the label would hire a photographer and a graphic design artist and create an entire visual album campaign that would last for the album cycle of about two years. NOW, fans crave content regularly. New photos. New video. New songs. Every show (or tour) should have a unique poster. At least a new Facebook header. Not some MS Paint looking banner.

Every break the band gets there should be an image designed that can be posted everywhere. Have a song on a TV show next week? Don’t just tweet it, create an image and spread it. Images are 100 times more effective at spreading your message than just words.

Showcasing your tiny breaks reinforce to your existing fans that you are a band on the rise, worth supporting.

If everyone in your band refuses to learn (and master) Photoshop and Illustrator, then you need to have someone on hand who will do this for you at the drop of a hat. But, this will get expensive and the designer will not be on your time-frame. So, bands, learn this shit!

Web Developer

One of the most frustrating breed of people on earth. My brother is a web developer and I love him dearly, but like every one else in his field, he is overworked and stretched too thin.

Across the board, there is way more demand than supply for web developers. Looking for a career change?

The team at BandZoogle has done an amazing job at creating professional looking band templates that anyone can use. But this is only the beginning.

You should learn basic code. Know how to add links and change the pixel dimensions of your photos. Understand why all text is bold and italicized even though you clicked the b and i buttons off.

If you don’t learn this, then you better have a brother or lover who will put in hundreds of hours to create your professional looking website and work out all the bugs that inevitably arise (or have $10,000 to hire a developer on retainer).

Videographer

If you haven’t noticed, YouTube is kind of a big deal. Aside from it being the #1 streaming website, it is a community. People use YouTube not just to listen to music, but to get to KNOW their favorite artists. YouTubers have it down. They know they need to put out constant content (their preferred medium is video) and they know they need to showcase their humanity.

Fans don’t subscribe to YouTube channels because they love the music; they subscribe to channels because they love the creators.

Regardless if you want to become a YouTuber or not (it’s a full-time job), you need to take video seriously. Singing to your Macbook camera and using the built in mic doesn’t cut it anymore. This isn’t 2007.

You need high quality video. Lots of it. You should film rehearsals, shows, hangouts, skits, music videos, and put up any other (high quality) video content that showcases what makes you unique.

You may get more views on your music video, but don’t discredit the importance of behind the scenes clips that showcase your personality. That’s what turns a passive fan into a die hard, lifelong fan.

Similar to the graphic design artist, hopefully someone in your band knows Final Cut and has a good SLR camera. If not, the newest smart phone cameras are good enough (for now) and iMovie can work wonders. But get started! And when you have the funds, upgrade.

Having to depend on others for video creation will slow your process down tremendously (and cut into your budget).

Recording Engineer

Similar to video, you should be putting out constant music. Music YouTubers put out a new, fully produced song and video EVERY WEEK. They don’t jump into top studios every week for the recordings. They work with their close friends’ (or at their own) home studios.

So build up your home recording studio (or make friends).

The above jobs are typically not handled by 6 separate people, but they cannot be overlooked.

The most successful bands are able to manage all of these duties on their own and only outsource the jobs they don’t have the time, money or ability (currently) to do.

Back in the day when labels handled everything, managers didn’t need to do much other than craft a vision, hire a team, and delegate. Artists didn’t need to worry about anything other than writing, performing, interviewing and love making.

We’re in a new age. And managers (and band) need to step up!

BEYONCE RETURNS TO TOP ALBUMS NUMBER ONE

by Sheme Jobs

Beyonce’s self-titled album returns to number one on the Top Albums chart; Pitbull’s “Timber” spends its sixth week at the top of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100; and we unveil the list of songs which reached BDS Certified spin levels in December. Our menu of charts and analysis can be found by clicking on the image HERE.