For songwriters and composers, music publishing has been an integral part of their professional lives, and quite possibly one of their most valuable and lucrative income streams. At its core, music publishing can be defined as the promotion, sale and administration of music catalogs and copyrights. (Strasser, 2010 p.18) However, historically - in the late nineteenth century, before musical recordings existed, publishing was based around the distribution and sales of printed sheet music for people to perform. (Rutter, 2011 p.92) Soon after though, the development of alternative entertainment such as radio and TV would also call for the duty of the music publisher to be widened to what it is today. (Strasser, 2010 p.18) At the turn of the nineteenth century, music publishers were selling millions of copies of printed sheet music for songs. For example, In 1893, the song “After the Ball” became the first song to sell one million copies, which was a huge milestone. (Hull et al., 2011 pg. 112) From the late 1800s to the early 1950s, 28th Street between 5th Avenue and Broadway, became known as Tin Pan Alley. Tin Pan Alley was a major publishing hub. Publishing staffs included piano demonstrators, arrangers, staff composers and lyricists. (Passman, 2006 pg. 255) As Flattum describes it, “Tin Pan Alley became an assembly line.” (Flattum, 2006) However, with the invention of the gramophone, a new form of music publishing was born which marketed the recorded performance of music.
Every music artist begins somewhere. Every artist had to do something to get their music out there. No one just automatically becomes famous. Then everyone wants to listen to your music. You start out new and anonymous and become more popular over time. Artist become famous by advertising. Every music artist should be able to advertise.
Is important for anyone who has created any intellectual property to protect it. In the music industry, in order for someone to protect their work, they must obtain a copyright. Music has been around before anyone could obtain a copyright and when the invention of the computer came along it made it easier for someone to steal another artist's intellectual property with the help of the internet. This paper will cover what events have taken a big role in copyright protection for artist, the consequences if someone was to break the rules of a copyright which is called copyright infringement, and how will a copyright hold in the future. Were copyrights enacted without the thought of life changing technology, and how can some music companies
I propose that all unsigned rising artist should target the business side of the music industry to be successful in the entertainment business because it allows the artist to be taken seriously and make solid connections that can further his/her career. Learning the works of the music industry also enables a new artist to be further successful and profitable. Recent studies show that most new artists without professional representation and a business mindset have a slimmer chance in getting signed to major or independent labels (Lowry, 2011). Overall, the specific change needed is that unsigned artists should be concentrating on their careers as professionals and not amateurs, thus focusing on the ins and outs of the music business and
The occupation or role that will be discussed is the publisher. Publishers take a song that has been already been composer and attempt to persuade various artists or producers to record the song. Publishers also register copyrights, file mechanical and performing rights to the respective organizations, audit record companies, and collect royalties and payment.
Before there were ever iTunes and Spotify, there was something called sheet music. Around 1473, the first printing press came about, allowing for not only words but for music to be printed. This music on paper became know as sheet music. Sheet music allowed musicians and people who played an instrument to play to famous compositions. The music would be passed and played around the world, ultimately familiarizing humans to others’ works of art. But the problem was that it was only being advertised to people who knew how to read music or play an
Throughout our Communication Studies, we have examined the capitalist economy through a critical lens and as a result, corporations always appear at the forefront of debate, blame, and power. From a neo-liberalist economic standpoint, the typical “prosumer” is encouraged to create consumer-generated content, but what happens when you put your creative labour to the test? York University consistently advocates, “this is your time”; in other words, students are responsible for their own success and are held liable for any failures or mishaps they may endure. While contemporary technologies have multiplied and democratized opportunities for musical creativity, intellectual property law has been used to repress our right to free speech, which is guaranteed under the first amendment (Demers 2006). Therefore, the industry’s effort at convincing people that file-sharing is equivalent to thievery have turned an increasing number of artists into intellectual property activists.
With the arrival of the radio in the 20's, Tin Pan Alley scrambled to contract all their artists. Tin Pan Alley began to focus on Hollywood, creating music for films and musicals; as the radio stations started to record performances. ASCAP began collecting fees from the broadcasters, they would increase royalty rates up to more the 400% by
Over the past fifty years, the British Music Publishing industry has undergone dramatic changes. It has evolved as an entity with innovations in technology, changes and creations of laws and new mediums to promote and exploit songs to a wider audience. Therefore, the way in which the music publishing industry operates and exploits its assets has completely transformed, and continues to do so at a rapid pace. This paper will attempt to explore the ways in which publishers exploit song copyrights and the way in which this has changed over the past 60 years. It is important to define what is meant by copyright and its role within the industry. The Performing Right Society website states: “Copyright
Many people have dreams of being a part of the music industry and becoming successful musicians, but do not seem to do the research necessary to make the dream come true. The music industry is a branch of the entertainment industry and is where music, whether it is recordings or performances, is distributed and sold to the public. One of the problems is that people do not realize the risks that come with being a part of the music industry and being a musician. There are many factors that come into play when deciding to pursue a career in the music industry. Factors would include having noteworthy knowledge of music, originality, publicity, and business entitlement.
Music has become such an important part of people’s lives today. One cannot walk down the street without seeing earbuds in a person’s ears or hearing the bass to a radio in someone’s car. But how did music become such an important and constant part of the lives of so many? What do artists have to go through to reach their audience? At the beginning of musical development from the medieval Georgian chant to the arias of Mozart and fugues of Beethoven, people could only listen to music in a live setting. This is how most performers would make their money. According
Questioning the correlation of commercial success and true artistry began in the light of mainstream music. Mainstream music has been given a negative connotation due to the supposed lack of originality of the artists. Repetitive chord progressions and meaningless lyrics compose the majority of “mainstream music,” making each song sound like the next . Despite these patterns in music, artists still ventured outside of what was societally normal and created music that was unheard of. Despite the potential risks in being an individual in the music industry, several groups achieved high success and maintain the popularity in the present. Creativity and commercial success can definitely exist alongside one another, and this paper will prove that through the music of the Beatles, the performance styles of David Bowie, and the grunge movement in Seattle which was fueled by Nirvana.
Emily Toronto is the director of opera, and associate professor of music at South Dakota State University. She has received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan University, and has performed in a multitude of different opera groups. The fact that she is a musician gives her a unique perspective on the topic of copyright. Stephen G. Wood is a law professor at Brigham Young University, and has served as a consultant to the US Department of Labor, and Administrative Conference for the United States. Toronto and Wood begin this publication by explaining why copyright is needed, then continue on to show examples of copyright reforms. They finish by informing music teachers what they can do to encourage copyright reform. This paper argues
The music industry has changed in very quickly in so many ways it almost seems impossible. Thomas Edison recorded the first voice in 1877 and now we listen to hundreds of different types of music on devices that hold more information than the computers that sent the first astronaut to the moon. People have been getting music in tons of ways for the past hundred plus years and when the internet came into the picture, the music industry sky rocketed. People could get their own music out and be heard just by clicking a few measly buttons and using the internet to stream millions of songs with high speed. But even though the internet has helped the music industry by making it easier to distribute, advertise, and produce music, it still has its disadvantages.
When musicians produce albums, they want people to listen to the albums. There is not one specific way for a band or single musician to gain an audience and promote their music. Musicians use many different kinds of media to promote their music. They use visual media as well as strictly listening media. The radio, television, and the internet are all different types of media musicians use to promote their music.
Becoming a singer/songwriter has always been a passion of mine. I find this line of work to be both fun and challenging. Having a dream and actually succeeding are two completely different things. The career of a singer/songwriter can span for years until breaching the point of success. This particular field confuses people, mainly due to the label as both a singer and a songwriter. Most people who listen to the radio only know who sings the song. They often to not familiarize themselves to who wrote the words to the song. Many of today’s music artists that are played on the radio do not write their own material. Some singers do write, but I have noticed that most that are credited to songwriting credits are penned with several other writers, which makes me question their ability as writers. For me it is important to be able to have the ability to write songs by yourself, as well as being able to write with other writers. In this paper, I have found that the business is hard, risky, and always changing, but my interviewee, Patrick Britt, a singer songwriter himself, has made me stronger and more determined to make this dream a reality.