(Just some thoughts for the day...)
As a singer/songwriter, I am often working on new ideas for lyrics and chord progressions to allow the melody to stand out. It’s kind of hard to imagine that there’s really only so many keys on a keyboard or notes on a guitar but there are almost unimaginable ways to put those “single notes, two notes or thee notes (chords) together” and millions of ways to wind the melody around those chords. I’m often dumbstruck at how a lot of my songs can become so complex and yet not get the point across in a sonically pleasing way.
I’m always amazed at how the BEST of songs are usually so BASIC and SIMPLE to play. Perhaps part of the trick is – the easier it is to play, the easier it is to listen to and that’s certainly true of Pop, Rock or Country (which has now become a combination of both Pop and Rock). I’ll skip all other genres as the point of this blog is to speak to songwriters that would like to get their songs recorded by some other act or to perhaps get their songs out to the general masses. And I’ll point out that I do NOT profess to a hit songwriter but have worked with countless number one songwriters in the past and countless people in the music industry at all levels and around the world!
One important thing to try to do is to make the stand out from the pack and that’s a real trick as I can assure you that while working on Music Row in Nashville I was exposed to 100’s of thousands of songs and very, very few of them were good and even fewer were GREAT! But I have found acts that I’ve worked with from a development standpoint as a producer to help them develop their songs, their overall sound, and their own unique style and perspectives.
Some of the tricks that I use are to LISTEN to other people and look for catch phrases or turns of expressions that could serve as a them or a title. I also then look for the HOOK! The hook is the most important thing – and many writers approach that in a lot of different way – some writers will write with JUST the bass player to build the song from the root of the beat and a very simple structure. While others will use piano or guitar chords (or course other instruments as well) but sometimes while they are using different chord inversions and structures that can become a little complex for a simple melody.
And even though you have a great hook you must learn to use dynamics and even more importantly an intro, pre-chorus, and even a bridge to let the HOOK breath and to create moods, build tension and release that tension. This is exactly like developing a character in fiction, working on the plot, using foreshadowing to give the reader something to look forward to and then on to the dénouement and the conclusion or in the songwriting world the OUTRO.
Just remember that there is NO RIGHT WAY or WRONG WAY – it either works or it doesn’t and I can assure you with my writing and even most number one songwriters, they have to write 100’s of songs just to find TEN that can be then fine tuned down to just one or two that actually have a shot, but the real secret is writing and writing and writing. I have so many people that want to write with me or want me to critique their songs and more often than not they just have not put the time into the BASICS of songwriting to even be close to being able to write a professional song. And then just out of nowhere, somebody can get a turn of phrase, a great hook or a good structure that as a producer, I can NOW work with them and take the song to a much more developed and a really good song. And once that song is down – then it’s time to get it recorded on tape or in digital format – and that’s when it goes to a whole other level and you start to think more in terms of not just the song, but the arrangements, the overall SONIC quality, harmonies, etc. etc.. but if you really want to write songs – then learn to LISTEN and work on your craft – the strongest and most sincerest form of flattery is to copy someone else’s style or several others styles and then make it your own! With time and hard work – and NEVER giving up, you may just find that in a matter of a year or so, you could have several songs that are actually worth working on some more and getting them recorded…but production and recording is an almost completely different discussion that I’ll save for another time….
Just keep writing! Or as my friend "Brother Dege" would say...
WRITE ON!
Steve Moore
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Self-Promotion or Going with a Label & What about "tour support"?
NRC's are DEAD! FACE IT! Who really buys CD's anymore. I had a friend in the business offer to send me a CD - and actually sent me a physical CD of another act (promotional purposes only - FREE goods). I received the PHYSICAL CD and 'skimmed" the credits, didn't even stop to read the lyrics. I downloaded the other songs that I wanted from iTunes on that CD and was fine with that - I found MORE info on the internet about THAT CD than could have ever gleaned from an 8 page insert (with print that needed a microscope to read) and was able to read MORE about what I WANTED to read - and not what the label/artist wanted me to SEE on the physical CD. And to be honest - I ripped the physical CD into my computer - jumped it over to my mp3 player and that was that - assuming that I even wanted all of the songs, which I didn't - I just wanted a couple...
I'm even considering taking ALL of my CD's and ripping them onto a hard drive (well that's not true - just the ones I actually bought and only the songs I like)- I've actually got 4000 or so CD's of stuff I received when I was in Nashville that I maybe listened to and like 40 whole songs off the entire lot. I don't even think I could get $50 bucks for them on E-bay for a bulk sale. And MANY of them are PROMO GOODS anyway - so what to do with THOSE - can't resell them - so I guess I'll donate them - assuming ANYBODY would take them!
So now we KNOW that NRC and the CD is dead...do we still want to sign with a label? I struggle with that EVERY SINGLE DAY. There's still a place for a major label but they've got it ALL WRONG - they shouldn't cling to the old business model - it's fallen and it can't get up! And LIFE-ALERT won't bring anybody over in a hurry to resuscitate the labels. Sorry but no amount of emergency procedures are going to help...if you haven't made out your living will...then you'll just have to suffer...had you filled it out, we'd pull the plug for you so we could put you OUT of your MYSERY - If IDOL has MORE power, then things are truly SAD! But since you at the Majors have treated your acts like something worse than a dog - more like a beast of burden and the RENTED MULE is now useless with its broken leg.
Be that as it may, there is still a place for a label but about the ONLY place I see it is possibly tour support. You can now buy PMD services a la carte (which is a GREAT IDEA!) I mean if you can raise enough to cut a record (which can be done for SO much cheaper with so many great home studios) - then you should put the EXACT same money aside for PMD. And the P&D part of that equation is NOT nearly as important. You need to promote your record - but you CAN do self-promotion and reach thousands of people if not HUNDREDS of thousands of people if you are willing to work at it!
(SHOUT OUT TO YOUNG MS MELLOT - she's only just out of Berklee and working it big time and putting in more time than MOST of the people that ask me to help them - that INTRIGUES ME - Wow good old honest hard work - what a concept - and using EVERY SINGLE self-promotion tool OUT THERE!)
You need a marketing plan - and most people don't even know what that is - but in my book you can read about it! And you can just read about it online - but a MARKETING 101 course would be better than NO IDEA as to what to do to MARKET your BAND and YOUR SONGS (not cd's, NOT singles, but SONGS!) - Here's a 1 sentence wrap-up of marketing - find out who your core audience is - (who would download your songs AND pay, who would come to your shows, who would buy your merch, who would be interested the MOST in what YOU as a PRODUCT have to offer and focus your energy in building your brand by getting to that MARKET! I mean branding is EVERYTHING - but who even knew what a KLEENEX was and now it has SECONDARY MEANING STATUS in TRADEMARK law. You don't ask for a TISSUE - you ask for a KLEENEX - how did THAT happen - GREAT ADVERTISING AND MARKETING and of course BRAND LOYALTY!
On the distribution side - do you really need a record in Wal-Mart or any other music store - not really! If you have to put out CD's - don't get a distribution deal UNLESS you've got TONS OF MONEY IN PMD to spend - because you're gonna end up with a lot of ship-backs and charge offs and spend more on accounting that you can make from the record! But you can do a digital distribution deal in less than an hour and they take ALL COMERS - so you can have your songs for sale on EVERY PLACE there is to buy a download! Many of these companies can even pick and pack your physical goods if you feel you MUST put out a CD.
But now you've got your studio stuff done, you've got your merch - you're getting a lot of hits at your website and myspace page, et al - people want to come see you - how do you get in front of them?
Do you get a sponsor? Well - that's a nice thing that a company is going to give you some clothes, a guitar, some strings, etc - but you really need is MONEY to get a VAN - and let me just tell you FORGET about the BUS! With the price of gas - that's a ridiculous waste of money and it's NOT GREEN! But what about just getting out on tour - will a sponsor help - sure if you're willing to engage in corporate prostitution. It all depends on what type of act you are - and what you can bring to the SPONSOR - if you're bubblegum pop and can get Wrigley’s to give you some money - hey that's great - but if you're a hard core rock band - what corporation wants to risk working with you. They have to protect their brand! But there are ways - and you don't have to tour the world right away - you can build your tour in REGIONS- and let it grow and let the money that you make from MERCH -maybe CD sale as POP (point of purchase) Sales - and what you can get for playing - but face it - if you're getting $400 a show for 45 minutes to open for a HEADLINER - and there's ONLY 4 people in the band that's less than $80 bucks a day per person after you pay your booking agent and your manager/road manger or ALL of the above. You just can barely eat and sleep in a cheap motel for those rates much less change your strings or drum heads or wear CLEAN CLOTHES for that matter!
But IF you play your cards right - get some GREAT SONGS FIRST - build some interest in THOSE SONGS in any way you can - self-promote slowly build up some cash flow from merchandise, maybe some regional sponsors (or you could get lucky and Budweiser will throw a ton of money at you) - I mean TV and RADIO ads aren't paying off like they used to - the internet is sucking away listeners/viewers like raindrops in the desert. So you could get some money - but if you build it like a business- KEEP as much of the money that you can - you can continue to grow like any other business - 10% growth per year is fine for a lot of businesses - but wait we're playing the young person's game now - if we don't hit by the time we're 25 to 30 - our careers are for the most part OVER! Not necessarily - but this goes back to YOUR MARKET - and YOUR FANS - and will they still be interested in your when YOU and THEY both grow up - that CAN BE DONE! But you can always play music for the right reasons – because it’s what you LOVE to do!
If you get out there and build your fan base - and continue to work HARD to grow that fan base and IF the music is REALLY, REALLY good - people WILL come! You will be on a fast track - and then the labels will come calling - BIG TIME - and instead of trying to suck up to them and let them control your career from the get-go, YOU will have negotiation strength to get a GREAT deal - and then you'll be in front of the WORLD - with THEIR money and YOU will get to KEEP more of that than you would if you compromised from the get-go and sing a REALLY BAD deal! Like the new 360 deals - once you're first single bombs - you're DONE! On, on, on to the next one....
Everything is changing - better get busy if you think that you can keep up with the times!
SM
I'm even considering taking ALL of my CD's and ripping them onto a hard drive (well that's not true - just the ones I actually bought and only the songs I like)- I've actually got 4000 or so CD's of stuff I received when I was in Nashville that I maybe listened to and like 40 whole songs off the entire lot. I don't even think I could get $50 bucks for them on E-bay for a bulk sale. And MANY of them are PROMO GOODS anyway - so what to do with THOSE - can't resell them - so I guess I'll donate them - assuming ANYBODY would take them!
So now we KNOW that NRC and the CD is dead...do we still want to sign with a label? I struggle with that EVERY SINGLE DAY. There's still a place for a major label but they've got it ALL WRONG - they shouldn't cling to the old business model - it's fallen and it can't get up! And LIFE-ALERT won't bring anybody over in a hurry to resuscitate the labels. Sorry but no amount of emergency procedures are going to help...if you haven't made out your living will...then you'll just have to suffer...had you filled it out, we'd pull the plug for you so we could put you OUT of your MYSERY - If IDOL has MORE power, then things are truly SAD! But since you at the Majors have treated your acts like something worse than a dog - more like a beast of burden and the RENTED MULE is now useless with its broken leg.
Be that as it may, there is still a place for a label but about the ONLY place I see it is possibly tour support. You can now buy PMD services a la carte (which is a GREAT IDEA!) I mean if you can raise enough to cut a record (which can be done for SO much cheaper with so many great home studios) - then you should put the EXACT same money aside for PMD. And the P&D part of that equation is NOT nearly as important. You need to promote your record - but you CAN do self-promotion and reach thousands of people if not HUNDREDS of thousands of people if you are willing to work at it!
(SHOUT OUT TO YOUNG MS MELLOT - she's only just out of Berklee and working it big time and putting in more time than MOST of the people that ask me to help them - that INTRIGUES ME - Wow good old honest hard work - what a concept - and using EVERY SINGLE self-promotion tool OUT THERE!)
You need a marketing plan - and most people don't even know what that is - but in my book you can read about it! And you can just read about it online - but a MARKETING 101 course would be better than NO IDEA as to what to do to MARKET your BAND and YOUR SONGS (not cd's, NOT singles, but SONGS!) - Here's a 1 sentence wrap-up of marketing - find out who your core audience is - (who would download your songs AND pay, who would come to your shows, who would buy your merch, who would be interested the MOST in what YOU as a PRODUCT have to offer and focus your energy in building your brand by getting to that MARKET! I mean branding is EVERYTHING - but who even knew what a KLEENEX was and now it has SECONDARY MEANING STATUS in TRADEMARK law. You don't ask for a TISSUE - you ask for a KLEENEX - how did THAT happen - GREAT ADVERTISING AND MARKETING and of course BRAND LOYALTY!
On the distribution side - do you really need a record in Wal-Mart or any other music store - not really! If you have to put out CD's - don't get a distribution deal UNLESS you've got TONS OF MONEY IN PMD to spend - because you're gonna end up with a lot of ship-backs and charge offs and spend more on accounting that you can make from the record! But you can do a digital distribution deal in less than an hour and they take ALL COMERS - so you can have your songs for sale on EVERY PLACE there is to buy a download! Many of these companies can even pick and pack your physical goods if you feel you MUST put out a CD.
But now you've got your studio stuff done, you've got your merch - you're getting a lot of hits at your website and myspace page, et al - people want to come see you - how do you get in front of them?
Do you get a sponsor? Well - that's a nice thing that a company is going to give you some clothes, a guitar, some strings, etc - but you really need is MONEY to get a VAN - and let me just tell you FORGET about the BUS! With the price of gas - that's a ridiculous waste of money and it's NOT GREEN! But what about just getting out on tour - will a sponsor help - sure if you're willing to engage in corporate prostitution. It all depends on what type of act you are - and what you can bring to the SPONSOR - if you're bubblegum pop and can get Wrigley’s to give you some money - hey that's great - but if you're a hard core rock band - what corporation wants to risk working with you. They have to protect their brand! But there are ways - and you don't have to tour the world right away - you can build your tour in REGIONS- and let it grow and let the money that you make from MERCH -maybe CD sale as POP (point of purchase) Sales - and what you can get for playing - but face it - if you're getting $400 a show for 45 minutes to open for a HEADLINER - and there's ONLY 4 people in the band that's less than $80 bucks a day per person after you pay your booking agent and your manager/road manger or ALL of the above. You just can barely eat and sleep in a cheap motel for those rates much less change your strings or drum heads or wear CLEAN CLOTHES for that matter!
But IF you play your cards right - get some GREAT SONGS FIRST - build some interest in THOSE SONGS in any way you can - self-promote slowly build up some cash flow from merchandise, maybe some regional sponsors (or you could get lucky and Budweiser will throw a ton of money at you) - I mean TV and RADIO ads aren't paying off like they used to - the internet is sucking away listeners/viewers like raindrops in the desert. So you could get some money - but if you build it like a business- KEEP as much of the money that you can - you can continue to grow like any other business - 10% growth per year is fine for a lot of businesses - but wait we're playing the young person's game now - if we don't hit by the time we're 25 to 30 - our careers are for the most part OVER! Not necessarily - but this goes back to YOUR MARKET - and YOUR FANS - and will they still be interested in your when YOU and THEY both grow up - that CAN BE DONE! But you can always play music for the right reasons – because it’s what you LOVE to do!
If you get out there and build your fan base - and continue to work HARD to grow that fan base and IF the music is REALLY, REALLY good - people WILL come! You will be on a fast track - and then the labels will come calling - BIG TIME - and instead of trying to suck up to them and let them control your career from the get-go, YOU will have negotiation strength to get a GREAT deal - and then you'll be in front of the WORLD - with THEIR money and YOU will get to KEEP more of that than you would if you compromised from the get-go and sing a REALLY BAD deal! Like the new 360 deals - once you're first single bombs - you're DONE! On, on, on to the next one....
Everything is changing - better get busy if you think that you can keep up with the times!
SM
Who wouldn’t want to make it in the music business?
THIS BLOG has BEEN REDIRECTED TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE - CLICK ON LINK
Music Square One's Website
I'll leave this up for a while and then move to DRAFTS - so I don't lose my "hit history"....
---------------------------
ORIGINAL BLOG POST:
If you have dreams of "stardom", that's great! One should follow ones dream...
However, one must also take stock in the fact that the music business is AFTER ALL a business. And it costs a lot to get started. Years of practicing, learning your craft, working on your songs, learning how to record, make records, play live gigs, etc. Again, this IS a business and you have to treat is as such. Success does not come knocking - you've got to get out and find it. HOW?
HARD, HARD WORK for years and years and yet there are still no guarantees. History is full of people that have tried and failed. Did they have a backup plan - an exit strategy? In most cases, and sadly, the answer is no.
So how do you hedge your bets? Again, hard, hard work…
You've got to have the talent, the desire and the willingness to risk it all...and most importantly you've got to learn as much as you can ABOUT the business as you possibly can. You have to become a CONSUMATE PROFESSIONAL. You just can't be an "artist" that shows up when you want to - at least not until you've made it - and even then, that kind of work ethic won't be tolerated for long.
If you are trying to get a deal and somebody asks you to do something in order to effectuate that process - you'd better do it - and put enough TIME into it to inspire confidence. You can't just go off half cocked and expect results. You won't hit the target and you will risk burning a bridge - and this is NOT a business where you can afford to burn bridges. It takes a whole lot of help to make it on your own - but you also must understand that those that are trying to help are trying to make a living too. Life's too short to deal with wannabes that will NOT do the work. And sadly there are a lot of people with very little talent that are willing to work 10 times harder than those with loads of talent that comes naturally.
I guess the gist of this entire message - is that hard work, networking, building STRONG relationships, surrounding yourself with people who KNOW what they are doing, having a solid plan, with several contingency plans - and the willingness to LISTEN, LEARN and take what you can from those that may or may not know more than you do. The worst thing that can happen is that you will learn what NOT to do - but for many they learn most lessons when it's way too late...
Experience costs a great deal of money - don't buy too much if you can't afford it.
Steve M.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Promotion, Marketing and Distribution - "The Catch 22"
Promotion, Marketing and Distribution can be a “Catch 22” As printed for Damn Good Tunes - Bruce Maier - http://www.damngoodtunes.com/ABOUT_US_XXAD.html
*(Entire Article less Gif's)
The state of Normal Retail Channels (NRC) sales is so dire that it’s really hard to justify selling CD’s anymore, at least not in record stores. In fact, the traditional PMD plan is NOT working for the major labels, so what’s the point of traditional P/M/D? In business, you always want to have enough products to meet demand. If you don’t you’re losing money. After all, demand is what drives sales. However, what if you have the product, it’s in the stores and there’s NO DEMAND? You’re STILL going to lose money. So what to do?
It’s just so painfully obvious that way too many bands put way too much money into producing a CD and getting it pressed with shiny new shrink-wrap without having given ANY thought whatsoever to PMD. And what’s the point of having a ton of CD’s stuck in a closet? Or worse, lugging around a bunch of CD’s that you can’t sell at your gigs? You have to have a plan.
No record label would ever release a CD without a marketing plan. It’s relatively simple – figure out what the core audience will be and direct your marketing budget accordingly. Of course, the labels do have more money to throw at marketing although those coffers are drying up. Further, all major labels always plan to PAY for Ad’s (yes that’s what they call spins on Radio – Ad’s) and that is called PROMOTION. Yes, it should be illegal to pay for spins– however, the record labels can’t pay a radio station directly, but they CAN pay an independent promoter to insure the independent promoter pays the radio station to secure the coveted number of spins per day in all the major markets. If you don’t like it – then write your legislature because the FCC which provides the licenses for the radio stations is owned by YOU, as in “WE, the people”. And these radio stations ARE required by law to be for the GREATER good of the PUBLIC– not just to put MONEY in their pockets. But when you stop and think about it how many of you actually listen to the radio that much anymore? Are radio plays the end all that they used to be? Not with so many choices in today’s markets.
Then there’s distribution – the 3rd leg of this three legged dog! The record companies have major distribution – they can get their product placed in the record stores. But who’s buying the CD’s? Not many people, that’s for sure. Record sales are WAY DOWN and now iTunes has surpassed Wal-Mart as the number one retailer. In fact, Tower records is gone, Best Buy has reduced their SKU’s from the 10,000 or so mark to more like 2000 and record stores are closing all over the place. So what’s the point of shipping physical goods? Not much. In fact why ship ANY CD’s at all– most of them will be returned and charged against the artist’s account which is ALL recoupable by the labels. If you get into the NRC shipping game (at least shipping product that are not already paid for) you will run into the same costs. But there’s hope! If iTunes is the number one retailer doesn’t that level the playing field? Yes – to a degree because getting on iTunes is NOT hard at all. But you STILL have to have a PMD plan! How else are you going to stand out from ALL of the other bands that are vying for the same audience?
But PMD can be a catch 22 – if people hear your band’s brand new CD on the radio and they can’t find it at a local store, what are they going to do? Some will buy it…but more than likely find it for FREE on the internet and that’s not going away. You have to get creative! Some bands have actually increased their record sales by promoting file sharing! But beware - because people are tired of buying a CD that only has two tracks on it that they like. The buying public is educated and they are not going to WASTE money on music they don’t want, there are just too many options for them to get ONLY what they want and your job is to make yourself available to those that are willing to buy!
What should YOU do? If your label has paid for independent promotion, which is in line with their super cool marketing plan, and they shipped out product through their distributor to all the stores – then you should sell records, right? Not hardly. You are much better off figuring out what you can do on YOUR OWN and skip the entire major record company. They want a 360 deal anyway (a piece of every revenue stream that they can make) which leaves you with even a smaller piece of the pie than what you got 10 years ago which was basically a crumb anyway. About the best you could get out of record company was the PMD and tour support…but you wouldn’t see much by way of money coming back from record sales. So figure another way of going about it – as the old model is broken and billions have been lost in this decade alone!
But you can still put time, effort and money into promotion, marketing and distribution – just don’t do it the way it’s been done for the last few decades and you will be guaranteed to LOSE MONEY! Think outside the box and come up with NEW ideas to get the word out. And even though the core audience of regular radio is dying – it’s still a great way to gain exposure and to use a measuring stick as to what IS being promoted, so you are going to still have to work your local and regional radio stations, play those towns and KEEP playing them, give FREE tickets to anyone at the radio station that will come to a gig, leave your CD’s on consignment at mom and pop CD stores everywhere you can. AND anywhere you can and give the people that work at the CD stores FREE tickets to your shows to insure they help promote your stuff! Sell your CD’s at your gigs – or better yet GIVE YOUR CD’s away but bundled with a moderately priced T-shirt. At least you can build the cost of the CD into the T-shirt and the T-shirt acts as FREE advertising. And lastly work the internet – it is for all intents and purposes FREE but figure out a way to stand out from the crowd. You’re going to have to research and work at it – and not let one single avenue to work your product slip away from your clutches. And LASTLY, don’t expect fame and fortune to come knocking just because you have created what you think is THE greatest studio CD! You have to KNOW that the life of a even GREAT CD is short (unless of course you’re lucky enough to write a classic number one) so you will have to meet or beat what you’ve just done on your last studio record with yet another CD or offering and with a quick turn around. So full blown CD’s are not going to work – think in terms of smaller offering, in fact ONE SONG at a time!
Face it - you’re going to have to earn your fans one at a time with hard work and constant touring. But I can assure that IF your music (both recorded and LIVE) is that THAT GOOD, then people WILL KNOW IT and word of mouth is the best promotion you can get – people know what they like and what they will spend their money on. You have to have a core fan base and that fan base CAN support you both economically and spiritually. But that FAN BASE has got to be built through a lot of touring, and staying in touch with those fans. Figure out WHO your core market is and stay in touch with them in as many ways as you can – now that is a Promotion, Marketing and distribution plan! Your fans are your life blood - figure out what they want and give it to them. And if THE PEOPLE (the coveted and hoped for fans) don’t like your stuff - then you may want to consider another line of work. But you have to get out there and TRY because you CAN do what you want to do for a living (and that should be the goal to quit your day job) IF you are willing to work at it hard enough and you can’t just make great records or write great songs, you have to have a plan! After all one out of five business fail in the first year and the number one reason why they do fail is that their business plan doesn’t work! But again, don’t give up, you can do it – just make sure that you get that plan, and stick to it and allow for that plan to change as the markets change as they are going to change again and again. Exciting times we are in…take advantage of them!
If you would like to read more – please read my book, “The Truth about the Music Business”. If you can’t find it in your local store, just ask for it. They CAN get it!
Best of luck with your future endeavors…
Steve Moore, B.A, J.D., Author
This article is a Copyright (© 2008) of Music Square One, All rights reserved.
*(Entire Article less Gif's)
The state of Normal Retail Channels (NRC) sales is so dire that it’s really hard to justify selling CD’s anymore, at least not in record stores. In fact, the traditional PMD plan is NOT working for the major labels, so what’s the point of traditional P/M/D? In business, you always want to have enough products to meet demand. If you don’t you’re losing money. After all, demand is what drives sales. However, what if you have the product, it’s in the stores and there’s NO DEMAND? You’re STILL going to lose money. So what to do?
It’s just so painfully obvious that way too many bands put way too much money into producing a CD and getting it pressed with shiny new shrink-wrap without having given ANY thought whatsoever to PMD. And what’s the point of having a ton of CD’s stuck in a closet? Or worse, lugging around a bunch of CD’s that you can’t sell at your gigs? You have to have a plan.
No record label would ever release a CD without a marketing plan. It’s relatively simple – figure out what the core audience will be and direct your marketing budget accordingly. Of course, the labels do have more money to throw at marketing although those coffers are drying up. Further, all major labels always plan to PAY for Ad’s (yes that’s what they call spins on Radio – Ad’s) and that is called PROMOTION. Yes, it should be illegal to pay for spins– however, the record labels can’t pay a radio station directly, but they CAN pay an independent promoter to insure the independent promoter pays the radio station to secure the coveted number of spins per day in all the major markets. If you don’t like it – then write your legislature because the FCC which provides the licenses for the radio stations is owned by YOU, as in “WE, the people”. And these radio stations ARE required by law to be for the GREATER good of the PUBLIC– not just to put MONEY in their pockets. But when you stop and think about it how many of you actually listen to the radio that much anymore? Are radio plays the end all that they used to be? Not with so many choices in today’s markets.
Then there’s distribution – the 3rd leg of this three legged dog! The record companies have major distribution – they can get their product placed in the record stores. But who’s buying the CD’s? Not many people, that’s for sure. Record sales are WAY DOWN and now iTunes has surpassed Wal-Mart as the number one retailer. In fact, Tower records is gone, Best Buy has reduced their SKU’s from the 10,000 or so mark to more like 2000 and record stores are closing all over the place. So what’s the point of shipping physical goods? Not much. In fact why ship ANY CD’s at all– most of them will be returned and charged against the artist’s account which is ALL recoupable by the labels. If you get into the NRC shipping game (at least shipping product that are not already paid for) you will run into the same costs. But there’s hope! If iTunes is the number one retailer doesn’t that level the playing field? Yes – to a degree because getting on iTunes is NOT hard at all. But you STILL have to have a PMD plan! How else are you going to stand out from ALL of the other bands that are vying for the same audience?
But PMD can be a catch 22 – if people hear your band’s brand new CD on the radio and they can’t find it at a local store, what are they going to do? Some will buy it…but more than likely find it for FREE on the internet and that’s not going away. You have to get creative! Some bands have actually increased their record sales by promoting file sharing! But beware - because people are tired of buying a CD that only has two tracks on it that they like. The buying public is educated and they are not going to WASTE money on music they don’t want, there are just too many options for them to get ONLY what they want and your job is to make yourself available to those that are willing to buy!
What should YOU do? If your label has paid for independent promotion, which is in line with their super cool marketing plan, and they shipped out product through their distributor to all the stores – then you should sell records, right? Not hardly. You are much better off figuring out what you can do on YOUR OWN and skip the entire major record company. They want a 360 deal anyway (a piece of every revenue stream that they can make) which leaves you with even a smaller piece of the pie than what you got 10 years ago which was basically a crumb anyway. About the best you could get out of record company was the PMD and tour support…but you wouldn’t see much by way of money coming back from record sales. So figure another way of going about it – as the old model is broken and billions have been lost in this decade alone!
But you can still put time, effort and money into promotion, marketing and distribution – just don’t do it the way it’s been done for the last few decades and you will be guaranteed to LOSE MONEY! Think outside the box and come up with NEW ideas to get the word out. And even though the core audience of regular radio is dying – it’s still a great way to gain exposure and to use a measuring stick as to what IS being promoted, so you are going to still have to work your local and regional radio stations, play those towns and KEEP playing them, give FREE tickets to anyone at the radio station that will come to a gig, leave your CD’s on consignment at mom and pop CD stores everywhere you can. AND anywhere you can and give the people that work at the CD stores FREE tickets to your shows to insure they help promote your stuff! Sell your CD’s at your gigs – or better yet GIVE YOUR CD’s away but bundled with a moderately priced T-shirt. At least you can build the cost of the CD into the T-shirt and the T-shirt acts as FREE advertising. And lastly work the internet – it is for all intents and purposes FREE but figure out a way to stand out from the crowd. You’re going to have to research and work at it – and not let one single avenue to work your product slip away from your clutches. And LASTLY, don’t expect fame and fortune to come knocking just because you have created what you think is THE greatest studio CD! You have to KNOW that the life of a even GREAT CD is short (unless of course you’re lucky enough to write a classic number one) so you will have to meet or beat what you’ve just done on your last studio record with yet another CD or offering and with a quick turn around. So full blown CD’s are not going to work – think in terms of smaller offering, in fact ONE SONG at a time!
Face it - you’re going to have to earn your fans one at a time with hard work and constant touring. But I can assure that IF your music (both recorded and LIVE) is that THAT GOOD, then people WILL KNOW IT and word of mouth is the best promotion you can get – people know what they like and what they will spend their money on. You have to have a core fan base and that fan base CAN support you both economically and spiritually. But that FAN BASE has got to be built through a lot of touring, and staying in touch with those fans. Figure out WHO your core market is and stay in touch with them in as many ways as you can – now that is a Promotion, Marketing and distribution plan! Your fans are your life blood - figure out what they want and give it to them. And if THE PEOPLE (the coveted and hoped for fans) don’t like your stuff - then you may want to consider another line of work. But you have to get out there and TRY because you CAN do what you want to do for a living (and that should be the goal to quit your day job) IF you are willing to work at it hard enough and you can’t just make great records or write great songs, you have to have a plan! After all one out of five business fail in the first year and the number one reason why they do fail is that their business plan doesn’t work! But again, don’t give up, you can do it – just make sure that you get that plan, and stick to it and allow for that plan to change as the markets change as they are going to change again and again. Exciting times we are in…take advantage of them!
If you would like to read more – please read my book, “The Truth about the Music Business”. If you can’t find it in your local store, just ask for it. They CAN get it!
Best of luck with your future endeavors…
Steve Moore, B.A, J.D., Author
This article is a Copyright (© 2008) of Music Square One, All rights reserved.
Who Owns the Airwaves for Radio? (An Older Blog 2008)
Ever wonder why all you hear the same stuff over and over on terrestrial radio? It's always the same old thing and if you like to listen to a lot of radio you are sure to hear the latest hits, or the same old hits over and over again. If you take a drive from Nashville to anywhere in the United States and the more rural you get the less choices you have. And the further you go the more it all stays the same. Ever wonder why? Because a computer called "ARBITRON" is picking the songs FOR the program directors and in the case of Clear Channel stations – there's actually no local D.J. – just a computer that pipes in the music to be played locally and then broadcast. Naturally local commercials are made at the local radio station but that's about it.
So what can you do to get better choices? You have to realize that WE, the people, own the airwaves…not radio stations and certainly NOT the major record labels. We've got no problem with RADIO being commercial…everyone deserves to make a living…but why do we have to listen to the SAME SONGS all 24 Hours of every single day? Furthermore, we don't necessarily want to have to hear a lot of bad music that isn't worth being on the radio. But shouldn't the consumers of the music decide what they want to hear. After all, what is the request line for anyway? If the song is bad, don't play it. If it's good, then don't play it until it's NOT good anymore! But at least let the listeners decide what they want to hear!
We could all very easily start a grass roots movement dedicated to freeing up the airwaves for variety and to give those that deserve a chance to have their stuff heard who aren't on a major label that are paying huge dollars to independent promoters. And IF people heard a great song that they liked but didn't have to hear it all day long, that would provide more impetus to go buy the damned record. Record sales will go up and everybody will be happy! But we're sick of this over-corporative, homogenized, mocha chino land where everything is the SAME. This is America… we're supposed to be different! We all like the warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we can go get a hamburger that is exactly the same everywhere we go…but we don't want to eat at those places every day of the week—we all need some home-cooked grits and greens now and again. Variety is the spice of life! And if the consumers demand it – eventually they WILL get it!
Steve Moore
So what can you do to get better choices? You have to realize that WE, the people, own the airwaves…not radio stations and certainly NOT the major record labels. We've got no problem with RADIO being commercial…everyone deserves to make a living…but why do we have to listen to the SAME SONGS all 24 Hours of every single day? Furthermore, we don't necessarily want to have to hear a lot of bad music that isn't worth being on the radio. But shouldn't the consumers of the music decide what they want to hear. After all, what is the request line for anyway? If the song is bad, don't play it. If it's good, then don't play it until it's NOT good anymore! But at least let the listeners decide what they want to hear!
We could all very easily start a grass roots movement dedicated to freeing up the airwaves for variety and to give those that deserve a chance to have their stuff heard who aren't on a major label that are paying huge dollars to independent promoters. And IF people heard a great song that they liked but didn't have to hear it all day long, that would provide more impetus to go buy the damned record. Record sales will go up and everybody will be happy! But we're sick of this over-corporative, homogenized, mocha chino land where everything is the SAME. This is America… we're supposed to be different! We all like the warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we can go get a hamburger that is exactly the same everywhere we go…but we don't want to eat at those places every day of the week—we all need some home-cooked grits and greens now and again. Variety is the spice of life! And if the consumers demand it – eventually they WILL get it!
Steve Moore
Steve Moore Article for FNO Magazine (May 2008)
THE MAJOR LABELS HAVE A CANCER AND THE PROGNOSIS IS NOT GOOD… by Steve Moore
The problem is systemic and there is no known cure – as of now. The day of the Indy label or independent artist is upon us and the timing has never been better for a do-it-yourself, grassroots start up to find its core market. In short, find a niche and you can reap the benefits. You CAN make a living as independent – but don't expect to get truly "mad money" rich – unless you are pretty lucky. But the old adage that the harder you work, the luckier you get and luck truly is when preparation meets opportunity!
I remember when I was working as a music attorney in Nashville during the early to mid 90's, the music business was experiencing the best times ever, old vinyl recordings were being released and CD's were selling, the major acts were all over the radio and thus concerts were actually in large arenas, and most major acts didn't have a hard time filling them. But that did not last long as the internet was changing EVERYTHING. I specifically remember watching everything changing and thinking "now is the time to start an independent label". With everything that's changing out there…it won't be long before physical CD's won't be worth much and the music stores will start to die. And that's exactly what has happened.
At first P2P and the over-pricing of CD's started to show smaller sales overall, and this was only a small cut on the heel of the major labels. But the majors did nothing and that cut began to fester. In today's world of the Internet, MP3, P2P, iPods and a host of other ways to get music out there, the major labels through their lack of understanding of "digital rights" (possibly the cure) is killing them. Their failure to take any preventative steps to allow the cut to scab over and heal has left a festering wound that has grown worse in time. The problem has gotten so bad that this once minor cut has now become an open bleeding sore with no real quick fix that could possibly help. In fact, it's going to take major surgery, possibly life threatening, to cure what ails them.
The Major Labels are not going away as BIG BUSINESS will find some way of saving itself, and there is a still a place for them in the larger scheme of things as there are no shortage of acts that are really good enough to actually break through on the major scene. The piece of the pie for these artists will shrink even more as the labels ask for more rights and hence more of the artists' money! In record deals offered today the Majors want your management, booking fees, your merchandising, in short EVERYTHING they can get their grubby fingers on leaving the artists to have to break EXTREMELY huge or end up never recouping a dime and thus never able to get out of their contract to try to make it on their own.
With the proliferation of home studios, and a wide variety of ways to get your music out there, you just have to find your core market and niche and exploit it the best way you can. And there's so many ways to do it now – your chances have never been better.
You may not be able to quit your day job but if you work at it – you never know what could happen. There are bands out there that have used their website and myspace pages to sells hundreds of thousands of CD's on their own. Even if you sell the CD's for cheap or even give them away if you bundle them with a t-shirt you're probably going to make more money that if you give a major label 90% of your profits! So the plan should be to record EVERYTHING you can – whether it's live or in the studio and get your music out there. Once you honed your act into a viable, solid act – hit the road and tour, tour, tour! You will be surprised what you can do all on your own – and once you've made a great reputation for yourself and you still want those major label dollars behind you to break it really big – at least now you have some negotiation strength to get the best deal possible.
If you're interested in learning more, I recommend you read my book The Truth about the Music Business. Go to http://www.truthaboutmusicbiz.com and click "Buy The Book". I also have a solid business plan that I've worked on for the past 5 years that I'm willing to share. Just contact me at steve@truthaboutmusicbiz.com.
Thanks for reading! RIF
Steve Moore, B.A., J.D., Author of The Truth about the Music Business
Don't forget to support Julie at FNO - she's in my top friends on My Space for MSO and HCR!
The problem is systemic and there is no known cure – as of now. The day of the Indy label or independent artist is upon us and the timing has never been better for a do-it-yourself, grassroots start up to find its core market. In short, find a niche and you can reap the benefits. You CAN make a living as independent – but don't expect to get truly "mad money" rich – unless you are pretty lucky. But the old adage that the harder you work, the luckier you get and luck truly is when preparation meets opportunity!
I remember when I was working as a music attorney in Nashville during the early to mid 90's, the music business was experiencing the best times ever, old vinyl recordings were being released and CD's were selling, the major acts were all over the radio and thus concerts were actually in large arenas, and most major acts didn't have a hard time filling them. But that did not last long as the internet was changing EVERYTHING. I specifically remember watching everything changing and thinking "now is the time to start an independent label". With everything that's changing out there…it won't be long before physical CD's won't be worth much and the music stores will start to die. And that's exactly what has happened.
At first P2P and the over-pricing of CD's started to show smaller sales overall, and this was only a small cut on the heel of the major labels. But the majors did nothing and that cut began to fester. In today's world of the Internet, MP3, P2P, iPods and a host of other ways to get music out there, the major labels through their lack of understanding of "digital rights" (possibly the cure) is killing them. Their failure to take any preventative steps to allow the cut to scab over and heal has left a festering wound that has grown worse in time. The problem has gotten so bad that this once minor cut has now become an open bleeding sore with no real quick fix that could possibly help. In fact, it's going to take major surgery, possibly life threatening, to cure what ails them.
The Major Labels are not going away as BIG BUSINESS will find some way of saving itself, and there is a still a place for them in the larger scheme of things as there are no shortage of acts that are really good enough to actually break through on the major scene. The piece of the pie for these artists will shrink even more as the labels ask for more rights and hence more of the artists' money! In record deals offered today the Majors want your management, booking fees, your merchandising, in short EVERYTHING they can get their grubby fingers on leaving the artists to have to break EXTREMELY huge or end up never recouping a dime and thus never able to get out of their contract to try to make it on their own.
With the proliferation of home studios, and a wide variety of ways to get your music out there, you just have to find your core market and niche and exploit it the best way you can. And there's so many ways to do it now – your chances have never been better.
You may not be able to quit your day job but if you work at it – you never know what could happen. There are bands out there that have used their website and myspace pages to sells hundreds of thousands of CD's on their own. Even if you sell the CD's for cheap or even give them away if you bundle them with a t-shirt you're probably going to make more money that if you give a major label 90% of your profits! So the plan should be to record EVERYTHING you can – whether it's live or in the studio and get your music out there. Once you honed your act into a viable, solid act – hit the road and tour, tour, tour! You will be surprised what you can do all on your own – and once you've made a great reputation for yourself and you still want those major label dollars behind you to break it really big – at least now you have some negotiation strength to get the best deal possible.
If you're interested in learning more, I recommend you read my book The Truth about the Music Business. Go to http://www.truthaboutmusicbiz.com and click "Buy The Book". I also have a solid business plan that I've worked on for the past 5 years that I'm willing to share. Just contact me at steve@truthaboutmusicbiz.com.
Thanks for reading! RIF
Steve Moore, B.A., J.D., Author of The Truth about the Music Business
Don't forget to support Julie at FNO - she's in my top friends on My Space for MSO and HCR!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What will I do now By KABANA - Music Square One
PRODUCED BY STEVE MOORE for Music Square One
Recorded at Point Recording - Written by Kabana who are: Mike Wheeler (Bass and Lead Vocals), Kenny Suire (Eletric Guitars and Backing Vocals) STIX on Drums and backing Vocals) - additional percussion by Steve Moore, Organ by Clay Barnes! Recorded, Mixed and Masterey By Clay Barnes
**(BTW, I did NOT write this song - I only produced it and hence did NOT have anyone in mind while producing!)
More to come!
Steve Moore, Music Square One
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
How to get paid for YouTube plays or even “spins” on My Space, etc…UPDATED
I was asked - "how do some artists or content creators get paid for YouTube plays and some dont?" In fact, there are cases of artist/creators that have had millions of hits but NOT made a dime.
From what I understnad if you have enough videos on your "personal" YouTube Channel - such as these young kids that are doing whole series of videos on how to use Sony Vegas, After Effects, and instructional videos on many other software applications. In short, they end up with a LOT of content and get a LOT of hits and then they apply for "YouTube Partnership" (the more videos, the more hits, etc means MORE AD vies and hence pays for that dedicated channel) - which equals AD REV's for plays.
Otherwise, this is what I understand to be the basic YouTube Revenue Model:
If one Google's song or just searches in YouTube or even clicks through to a YouTube via a link from a website, blog, tweet, or from a social network, etc it will take you to a "main" type of YouTube Page with a number and/or list of many videos...therein are the ADS at the top and right side of those pages and YouTube will REV SHARE those ADS IF You are a "Partner"(and then you can subscribe to that channel and THEN go watch ALL the videos); but if one just has a video up there and doesn't have a WAY of tracking it via Analytics that's tied to the partnership deal, then no way to get paid. Of course, you can also use Ad Sense on your personal video channel which means each time someone visits your exclusive channel you can get paid - but the "partnership deal" is way more lucrative "IF" you get HITS. If you're not using AD SENSE then you are at the mercy of the ads placed on YouTube by Google and hence you won't ever get paid.
There's a YouTube link that you can Google on "How to become a YouTube partner" and the rules are pretty stringent - you have to have viable CONTENT and get a lot of hits and PROVE or make a case via a statement as to WHY YouTube should be a partner with you.
One can also get paid for Ads that run BEFORE your video *(which you see with a lot of major artists) - which means that you've either set up a deal with an Ad company or directly with the advertising division of a major company that comes to you or vice versa to get THEIR AD PLACEDE and then the money is paid direct to you the "video channel owner" based upon the number of plays. Pay for plays. And then a smaller chunk for the Ad Sense adverts that are on your "video channel" that can also be set up for a "click through fee" if people go to that company and BUY something! So you have to run Analytics to show that you do have the click throughs to that company that BUYS from your Ad Sense placed - which is a LOT easier to track via a widget from your own website vs. YouTube
But just like with My Space - I questioned way back in 2005 or so - when would they start to pay a small performance fee via streaming fee for my spins for all my copyrights - which is now with all 4 of my My Space Pages combined well over 15,000 to 20K spins - but NOT a penny on my BMI Statement and don't expect to see it with the soon demise of My Space. BMI and ASCAP just doesn't want to PAY because it's hard to tell if someone listened to 1/10 of the song or the whole thing based upon their current set up on My Space - and artists can log in and increase their spins by playing their own music over and over - which is somewhat true of Reverbnation - they all but accused me of doing that when I NEVER go to "my MY BAND" site and listen to my own stuff - just got a bunch of people that know me that go stream my music all the time - but I can understand why it could LOOK like it was just me doing it. However, do go to Sound Exchange and register as they will help you colllect for Digital Royalties for STREAMING your music in any number of formats http://www.soundexchange.com/
The real crux of the problem is that the Law cannot keep up with technology such that artists can get PAID for their YouTube spins, my space spins, and every other way a song can be listened to LEGALLY - not pirating. But YOU CAN get paid a small amount for Reverbnation and similar digital distributors for your streams and/or sales through iTunes, etc - it's not much - but you do get paid.
Lastly, unless you take your "video" and post it to iTunes then you won't get anything but AD money as opposed to the link was sent to me: http://www.youtube.com/show/autotunethenews?s=1
You should note that on link #4 Bed Intruder (now on iTunes) they have to give credit and hence revenue share with and to the "family" on the video as well as to the copyright creators and of course iTunes.
So that's basically it - if you don't sign up for the partnership AND get it - you won't get paid and even if you do it's fraction of pennies on the dollar.
If an unsigned artist wants to monetize a single, he/she can sign up for the "Individual Video Partnership Program" with YT. Also, the amount of advertising revenue a video can earn is totally the function of the performance of the video, but the creators of "David After Dentist", a two-minute clip that has generated 63M views on the site, have made $30K from the original video. That equates to $0.00047619 per view.
So what does that mean for the creators? File your copyrights! Send in your Clearance forms to BMI/ASCAP/SESAC and make sure you sign up for the “Partnership Program” and then hit the social networks and get the word out!
SM and MSO
From what I understnad if you have enough videos on your "personal" YouTube Channel - such as these young kids that are doing whole series of videos on how to use Sony Vegas, After Effects, and instructional videos on many other software applications. In short, they end up with a LOT of content and get a LOT of hits and then they apply for "YouTube Partnership" (the more videos, the more hits, etc means MORE AD vies and hence pays for that dedicated channel) - which equals AD REV's for plays.
Otherwise, this is what I understand to be the basic YouTube Revenue Model:
If one Google's song or just searches in YouTube or even clicks through to a YouTube via a link from a website, blog, tweet, or from a social network, etc it will take you to a "main" type of YouTube Page with a number and/or list of many videos...therein are the ADS at the top and right side of those pages and YouTube will REV SHARE those ADS IF You are a "Partner"(and then you can subscribe to that channel and THEN go watch ALL the videos); but if one just has a video up there and doesn't have a WAY of tracking it via Analytics that's tied to the partnership deal, then no way to get paid. Of course, you can also use Ad Sense on your personal video channel which means each time someone visits your exclusive channel you can get paid - but the "partnership deal" is way more lucrative "IF" you get HITS. If you're not using AD SENSE then you are at the mercy of the ads placed on YouTube by Google and hence you won't ever get paid.
There's a YouTube link that you can Google on "How to become a YouTube partner" and the rules are pretty stringent - you have to have viable CONTENT and get a lot of hits and PROVE or make a case via a statement as to WHY YouTube should be a partner with you.
One can also get paid for Ads that run BEFORE your video *(which you see with a lot of major artists) - which means that you've either set up a deal with an Ad company or directly with the advertising division of a major company that comes to you or vice versa to get THEIR AD PLACEDE and then the money is paid direct to you the "video channel owner" based upon the number of plays. Pay for plays. And then a smaller chunk for the Ad Sense adverts that are on your "video channel" that can also be set up for a "click through fee" if people go to that company and BUY something! So you have to run Analytics to show that you do have the click throughs to that company that BUYS from your Ad Sense placed - which is a LOT easier to track via a widget from your own website vs. YouTube
But just like with My Space - I questioned way back in 2005 or so - when would they start to pay a small performance fee via streaming fee for my spins for all my copyrights - which is now with all 4 of my My Space Pages combined well over 15,000 to 20K spins - but NOT a penny on my BMI Statement and don't expect to see it with the soon demise of My Space. BMI and ASCAP just doesn't want to PAY because it's hard to tell if someone listened to 1/10 of the song or the whole thing based upon their current set up on My Space - and artists can log in and increase their spins by playing their own music over and over - which is somewhat true of Reverbnation - they all but accused me of doing that when I NEVER go to "my MY BAND" site and listen to my own stuff - just got a bunch of people that know me that go stream my music all the time - but I can understand why it could LOOK like it was just me doing it. However, do go to Sound Exchange and register as they will help you colllect for Digital Royalties for STREAMING your music in any number of formats http://www.soundexchange.com/
The real crux of the problem is that the Law cannot keep up with technology such that artists can get PAID for their YouTube spins, my space spins, and every other way a song can be listened to LEGALLY - not pirating. But YOU CAN get paid a small amount for Reverbnation and similar digital distributors for your streams and/or sales through iTunes, etc - it's not much - but you do get paid.
Lastly, unless you take your "video" and post it to iTunes then you won't get anything but AD money as opposed to the link was sent to me: http://www.youtube.com/show/autotunethenews?s=1
You should note that on link #4 Bed Intruder (now on iTunes) they have to give credit and hence revenue share with and to the "family" on the video as well as to the copyright creators and of course iTunes.
So that's basically it - if you don't sign up for the partnership AND get it - you won't get paid and even if you do it's fraction of pennies on the dollar.
If an unsigned artist wants to monetize a single, he/she can sign up for the "Individual Video Partnership Program" with YT. Also, the amount of advertising revenue a video can earn is totally the function of the performance of the video, but the creators of "David After Dentist", a two-minute clip that has generated 63M views on the site, have made $30K from the original video. That equates to $0.00047619 per view.
So what does that mean for the creators? File your copyrights! Send in your Clearance forms to BMI/ASCAP/SESAC and make sure you sign up for the “Partnership Program” and then hit the social networks and get the word out!
SM and MSO
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