Confessions of a Record Producer: How to Survive the Scams and Shams of the Music Business

by Moses Avalon

Overview

(Book). For more than 15 years, Confessions of a Record Producer has exposed the inner workings of the music business and empowered artists to protect their interests. With inside knowledge and hard numbers, Moses Avalon reveals the truth of how the industry functions (or dysfunctions), showing what artists actually make from their "hits" and how producers, labels, managers, and even the artists' own lawyers conspire to rip them off. This is the only music business trade book that: * Intimately analyzes the differences between ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC * Compares different types of record deals using real-world math and dollar figures * Speaks critically about relationships between big industry entities and how they can hurt artists * Gives the reasoning behind major industry trends and decisions, particularly recent deals with Spotify, Apple, etc. Since the first edition's release in 1998, Confessions has grown from an underground favorite to a widely read staple, evolving along the way to address Internet-age realities and the pitfalls coming with rapidly changing technologies. This new, fifth edition tackles the complexities of music streaming and how the diminishing revenue it provides is becoming the new normal for an industry that has shrunk by half in less than two decades. Fully updated with recent industry developments and the latest scams, Confessions of a Record Producer remains a must for artists who want to survive, thrive, and get their fair share.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781495022135
Publisher:	Backbeat
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Edition description:	5th Edition Revised & Updated
Pages:	358
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Fast-Forward and Reverse v

Part 1 The Game 1

The Players 3

1 The Pros 5

The New Team 6

Lawyers 6

Conflicts of Interest 8

A&R 10

A&R at the Indie Level 11

Managers 12

Publicists, Booking Agents, Tour Managers, and Image Consultants 15

The New Pros and the New Team 15

Website Designer 15

Webmaster 17

SEO or Viral Marketer 17

Consultants 18

2 The Creators 21

Musicians 21

The Survivor 22

The Jobber 24

Songwriters 26

Engineers 28

Artists 30

How Much Do Artists Make? 31

Producers 32

Last but Not Least; Control Freaks 34

Counteracting The Effects of the Control Freak 36

3 Companies, Companies, Companies 39

Record Companies 40

Production Companies 40

Publishing Companies 41

Copyright Administration Companies 43

Performing Rights Organizations 43

SoundExchange 47

The AFM 48

Publicity Companies 49

Independent Promotion Companies 49

Distribution Companies 50

E-tailers 51

Digital Rights "Aggregators" (or Digital Distributors) 51

The Harry Fox Agency (the HFA) 53

The RIAA 54

The Deal-and Why We Are Still Talking About CDs 55

4 Understanding Distribution, or Why are There So Many Logos on the Record? 57

The Big Three 57

What Is a Real Independent Label? 58

One-Deep and Two-Deep Labels 60

5 The Major Label Deal from the Artist's Point of View 65

Why Are We Still Talking About Albums and CDs? 67

Recoupable Financing-the Moving Goal Post 68

The Big Three Deal with Real Deal Numbers 69

So How Long Till I See Some Money? 70

Packaging Deductions and Giveaways 70

Breakage-the 90% Rule 71

The 3/4 Royalty 72

Deep in the Hole 74

Returns, Reserves, and Cutouts 76

Cross-Collateralization, or Robbing Peter to Pay Paul 78

A Major Label Deal Is Like Having a Credit Card at 66% Interest 79

The 360 Deal 79

Is 50% Really More Than 9%? 80

Drop-Kicked from the Roster 81

Time Warp: How Long Till the Record Comes Out? 82

Need and Greed: Be Careful What You Wish For 83

6 Publishing Deals: The 200% Pie, or 100% of Something Is Better Than 200% of Nothing 85

Three-Quarter Rate 86

Publishing Advances and Their Deductions 87

Administrative Expenses 87

Sample Rights 88

7 The Major Label Deal from the Producer's Point of View 91

The Artist/Producer Conflict 92

The All-in Deal 94

Non-All-in Deals 95

The Spec Deal 98

Kickbacks 99

Kickbacks to the Artist and Manager 99

Kickbacks from Vendors 100

Kickbacks to A&R 100

Kickbacks from Musicians 100

When the Producer Wants Publishing 102

8 The Major Label Deal from the Record Company's Point of View 105

The Distribution Vig 106

Aggregation Fees 107

Deductions 107

To the Writers 110

To the Artist 112

To the Musicians 112

Giveaways, Returns, and Special Programs 112

Packaging and Manufacturing 113

Image Molding 114

A Bit of History 114

Sponsors 117

9 The Single 119

Who Picks the Single 120

The Hit Parade Charts and the "Hit Single" 121

Billboard or Bullboard? 121

SoundScan 122

Other Types of Charts 122

Airplay and Webcasting 124

Promoters and Payola 124

Net-Hype 127

Satellite, Internet, and Mobile App-Based Radio 127

10 The Independent Record Deal: The Birth of the New Indie 129

11 The Independent Record Deal from the Point of View of the Record Company 133

The P&D Deal 133

How Artists Get on the Home Page 134

12 The Independent Record Deal from the Point of View of the Artist 137

Publishing and Royalties 138

Indie in Disguise 139

Speed Trends 140

Super-Duper Cross-Collateralization 142

13 The Baby Record Deal 145

The Artist/Producer Production Deal 146

The Mini-Record Deal 146

The Joint Venture 148

The Work-for-Hire Deal 148

End-Zoning-Cutting Out the Producer 150

Informal Agreements 150

Contraceptive Contracts 151

14 The Vanity Label 153

The Virtual Budget and the Virtual Producer's Fee 155

Producer's Compensation Package 158

5% Royalty 159

Overrides 159

Buyouts, or the "Screw You" Clause 160

"Go Away" in a Production Deal 160

The Producer as a Virtual Partner 160

Where's My Contract? 161

Holding the Masters 162

What You Don't Know Will Hurt You 162

Screwing the Producer, or the Re-Record 165

Letters of Direction (LODs) 166

Artist's LOD 168

15 Wrap-Up-Who Earned What? 169

Artist 170

Artist/Writer Record Royalties 171

Recording Advances 171

Publishing 1: Mechanical Royalties 172

Publishing 2: Radio Play 172

Touring 173

Sponsors 173

Which Adds Up To… 173

Producer 175

Record Company 176

Part 2 Scams and Shams 179

Watching Your Back 181

16 The Myth of Copyright Protection, or "Hey, They Stole My Song!" 183

Suing Stars 185

Mick Jagger and "She's the Boss" 187

Michael Bolton and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" 188

New Kids on the Block and "I'll Be Your Everything" 189

2 Live Crew and "Pretty Woman" 190

George Harrison and "He's So Fine" 192

When Band Members Sue Each Other 192

Sade 192

Duron Duron 193

More Problems with Suing Stars 193

Collecting Your Money 194

Blockage 195

Name Blockage 196

Sound-Alikes 196

Sample-Alikes 200

17 Master Fraud 201

Clears, Cleans, and Fake Masters 202

Clears 203

Cleans 204

Soundtrack Scams and So-Called CD Samplers 204

CD Replicator Scams, or Getting Duped by the Duper 206

When a CD Isn't a Real CD 206

"Guaranteed Distribution" 208

Cheapie Barcodes 209

Jitter, Dither, and Blither-Blather: The lx vs. 4xDebate 210

Fingerprinting and Bootlegging 211

Digital Deceptions and iTunes Scams 212

Exclusivity 214

Payment Threshold 215

Termination and "Opting Out," or See You Later, Aggregator 215

Streaming Services' Unallocated Receipts: Meta Data Mishegas 216

Independent A&R Services 218

18 Sneaky Lawyer Stuff 223

The "I Forgot to Mark the Contract" Trick 223

Virtual Terms 224

Internet Labels and Their "Nonexclusive" Contracts 225

The Little Squeeze 227

Letters of Misdirection 229

The First Draft Is the Coldest 230

"Voted Out"-the Band as a Corporate Entity 231

Legal-ease? 233

Decoding of an Actual Warner Bros, Record Contract 238

Conclusion 244

Miscellaneous Myths and Untruths 247

19 Dogma 249

A Good Promotional Kit Is the Key 249

Gigging a Lot Is Good Exposure to the Industry 250

Second Sendings 251

"We Love It, but…" 252

Labels Sign Bad Acts for Tax Write-Offs 253

The Mercy Signing 253

SoundScan Tells All 255

Illegal File-Sharing Is Killing the Music Business 256

Are Sales Really Down? 256

So Are There Real Losses? 258

20 ASCAP vs. BMI: PRO Pontification 259

Preface 259

Overview of the Battlefield: The Players and Their Game 260

Should You Bother to Join Either of Them? 261

Who Pays More 263

What's That Floating in the Pool? 263

We're a Nonprofit, So You Can Trust Us 266

Okay, So We're Not Really a "Nonprofit." Big Whoop, We Still Act Like One, Right? 268

So, Who Owns These Guys? 271

Who Controls BMI 271

Who Controls ASCAP 272

The Bully Factor 274

Conclusion ' 277

21 Production Boners o= 279

You Need a "Master Quality" Demo to Get a Deal 279

You Must Record on a Digital Medium with at Least 100 Tracks 280

22 Marketing Mishigas 281

Lots of Airplay Assures Big Record Sales 281

"We Get to Say What Our Album Art Will Look Like" 282

Record Industry Slumps Are the Direct Result of Poor A&R Decision-Making 282

23 Getting Credit Where Credit Is Due 285

Look for the Union Label 285

Major Label Philosophy on Giving Credit to Sidemen and Engineers 288

The "Co-production" Credit 290

24 Industry Census 291

Are All the Powerful People in the Business Jews? 292

Are Women Discriminated Against in the Music Business? 293

25 The Big Picture, or the Record Industry from the Point of View of the Rest of the World 295

Do Record Companies Really Make Any Money? 296

What's the Story? 296

Loss Leader 297

A Map of the Financial Universe 299

What Does This Teach Us? 300

Major Label Family Trees ("The Big Three") as of 2015 302

Checklist for Disaster 304

Final Word 306

Appendix: Family Trees 307

Acknowledgments 319

Index 321