Winter Class of Music Business School 2012 - London

Meet Our First Students studying to graduate the MMBE Music Business qualification.

It was a great day for us at Music Business School when our first group of students began classes for the new industry recognised MMBE Music Business qualification.  We’re sure you agree they look like a smart bunch and it was encouraging to find that so many of them are already either working in the music business or developing their own business plans. We’re confident that the information they are receiving as part of the course will support them as the begin to grow their music business plans.

Day One of the new year not only saw us teaching the new course but saw the return of our industry guest speaker programme. This week Dave Goggin from the PPL came along and informed us of the role that the PPL plays in the music business. Perhaps the PPL is one of the most important companies in the music business that you’ve never heard of.  Well Dave’s presentation fixed that for our students.

The current course was fully subscribed, however if you want to find out more about attending Music Business School London then now is the time to act.  We are now taking applications for the next course which commences on May 09 2012.  To find out about an interview and coming into the school to meet tutor Steve Melhuish to go the contact page and fill out the form.

We’ll also be introducing you to some of the students over the coming months so that you can hear first hand from them what they are getting from the course and where they are hoping to go in the music business. To keep up with this and other useful music business news subscribe to our newsletter via the subscribe form on the side of this page.

We look forward to meeting you soon.

Steve and the Music Business School Team.

Jay points to data that shows

In an iTunes world, the average person consumes music by, at most, 7 artists a month. In a Spotify world, the average person consumes music by, at least 40 artists a month.

With consumers listening to music by so many more artists per month and with much of that listening inspired by viral recommendations from friends the chance of discovery for new artists is so much more. As has been said on numerous occasions recently – for new artists the aim should not be how much money are you making from your sales but how much scale are you achieving? How many new fans are you adding to the tribe and how many friends are they bringing along.

The way Spotify is becoming an music discovery tool is a real opportunity for both new artists and promoters who book and promote new artists but tell us what you think.  Good or Bad, Friend or Foe? Which is Spotify?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section here or over on our Facebook Page.

PS. Jay Frank might just be one of the smartest people in the music business.  His compelling blog FutureHit DNA is here and his blog post about Spotify is HERE.

The big announcement this week for new and developing artists was that YouTube owner Google had purchased rights administration and payment company RightsFlow. However the news was hardly reported here in the UK on the usual unsigned artists networks.

Why is it significant? Industry pundits have been observing that earlier this year Google made commitments to music rights owners to do something about all those cover versions that new artists post on YouTube; or more particularly the fact that when they get posted the songs rights owner rarely gets compensated.

In the future, if things pan out as expected artists will pay a small fee by way of compensation to the owner of the published work – that is the songwriter.  This should be seen as a good thing in a business where declining incomes have become an issue and this new source of income will hopefully be seen as fair by all parties concerned.  However we expect some disquiet when the new and unsigned community realise they now need to pay for uploading those cover songs in the hope of attracting new fans.

But what do you think?  Are you happy to pay for the right to use someone’s song on YouTube? Are you a rights holder and do you think this will work?  Let us know what you think either here via the comments section or back on our Facebook page.

The full RightsFlow announcement is here and there is an excellent article by Matt Rosoff on Business Insider here. But don’t forget to come back and comment after reading.

The Music Managers Forum is the peak industry organisation representing artist managers in the UK and their CEO, Jon ‘Webbo’ Webster is one of the best known and best liked identities in the UK music business. We’re proud that Webbo is one of our brilliant guest speakers so we thought we’d take a moment to introduce you to him and the organisation he represents.

The MMF as it’s known is the largest representative organisation of featured artists managers in the world. The membership of the UK organisation has over 400 members who between them represent some of the most successful artists around today.  The MMF is in turn part of the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF) which is the co-ordinating organisation between the 17 MMF groups around the world.

Webbo’s CV includes devising the Now that’s What I Call Music brand, the is the founder of the Mercury Music Prize and in 1992 having left Virgin and working with Richard Branson set up his own company to work closely with Genesis, Peter Gabriel and UB 40.

Webbo’s Presentation.

His presentation at the London Music Business School brings real life examples about managing artists in an ever changing environment to life. it gives students an opportunity to ask questions directly of someone who has not only done so much himself but from someone who is working day to day with some of the UK’s leading artist managers.

Jon also talks through the Music Management Bible – a leading publication produced by the MMF and sought globally as one of the must have tomes of the music industry.  You find it listed on our Recomended Reading List.

Meeting key industry figures such as Webbo and our other guest speakers is just one of the benifits of attending the London Music Business School. To enquire about enroling in the next course intake send us a note via our Contact Page or if you’re ready to Apply Now for an Interview with Course Leader, Steve Meluish.

Anne Harrison’s book has been the go-to resource for people new to the music industry for some time.  Now in its 5th Edition the book covers all the essential topics. One of the prime reasons that Music: The Business continues to top our list of must have books is that it is written about the UK music business. Whilst some of the best music business books in the world come from across the pond, having such a comprehensive reference book written about the UK legislative environment is a blessing.

To give you an idea of exactly what the book is about look no further than its sub title, The Essential Guide to the Law and the Deals. Chapters within the book cover information on things like, Putting together your team and Finding a Lawyer; What is in a management contract; What is a good record deal and much more.  Too much in fact for us to list here.

Reviews from across the industry have praised Harrison’s book with The Daily Mirror calling this ” The most comprehensive and accessible guide to the workings of the British music industry.”

Need we say more?

There are e Book options for those of you who have the latest devices however at the time of writing the newest 5th edition, published July 2011 hard back is the only current option.

For a copy of the full London Music Business School – Recommended Reading list please have a look HERE.

If there are any music business books that you have enjoyed or thought useful get involved in the conversation over on our Facebook page and let everyone know about them.

This issue was highlighted recently when artist Jon Hopkins recently tweeted – “Got paid £8 for 90,000 plays. F**k Spotify! There have been numerous stories around artists receiving little income in return for a high number of plays on digital platforms at they become ever more popular.

However consider the response to this situation from MMF member and independent manager Erik Nielson who looks after the business interests of UK act, A Genuine Freakshow.  He recently told Music Ally – “I saw the Spotify row starting, so went into my sales figures for A Genuine Freakshow for October 2011. In short, we got paid £7.29 for 1,923 plays,” he says. “This is based on £10.24 gross income minus 85p mechanicals, minus £2.10 PIAS distribution fees. And this is based on worldwide Spotify plays.”

Erik’s act is self-released and it would seem is doing a lot better for it. However it raises all sorts of questions that you might need to answer for yourself when you enter the music business.

Is £7.29 a fair income in return for 1,923 plays of a song?

Do you understand how to track this revenue and how to ensure you receive revenue from all sources?

Tell us what you think about this issue. You can make comments below or back on our Facebook page.

Also if you want to ask any questions that relate to this topic ask them here and we’ll answer them on our Facebook page.

13 weeks with 3 week Tutorials and Assessment.

Fees

Pete Townshend calls Apple ‘a vampire’

Pete Townshend said “a creative person would prefer their music to be stolen and enjoyed than ignored”

The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has urged Apple’s iTunes to use its power to help new bands instead of “bleeding” artists like a “digital vampire”.

Townshend made the comments in BBC 6 Music’s inaugural John Peel Lecture, named in honour of the legendary DJ.

He also argued against unauthorised file-sharing, saying the internet was “destroying copyright as we know it”.

“The word ‘sharing’ surely means giving away something you have earned, or made, or paid for?” he said.

The rock legend listed eight services that record labels and music publishers have traditionally provided to artists, such as editorial guidance and “creative nurture”.

“Is there really any good reason why, just because iTunes exists in the wild west internet land of Facebook and Twitter, it can’t provide some aspect of these services to the artists whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire, like a digital Northern Rock, for its enormous commission?” he asked.

Apple should employ 20 talent scouts “from the dying record business” to give guidance to new acts and provide financial and marketing support to the best ones, he added.

ITunes accounts for more than 75% of all legal downloads. An Apple spokesman declined to comment on Townshend’s remarks.

The guitarist also said that people who downloaded his music without paying for it “may as well come and steal my son’s bike while they’re at it”.

If someone “pretends that something I have created should be available to them free… I wonder what has gone wrong with human morality and social justice”, he said.

But he also told listeners: “It’s tricky to argue for the innate value of copyright from a position of good fortune, as I do. I’ve done all right.”

Creative dilemmaAnd he added: “A creative person would prefer their music to be stolen and enjoyed than ignored. This is the dilemma for every creative soul: he or she would prefer to starve and be heard than to eat well and be ignored.”

The guitarist praised John Peel, who died in 2004, for his dedication to listening to the music he was sent by up-and-coming acts.

“Sometimes he played some records that no-one else would ever have played, and that would never be played on radio again,” he said.

“But he listened, and he played a selection of records in the course of each week that his listeners knew – partly because the selection was sometimes so insane – proved he was genuinely engaged in his work as an almost unconditional conduit between creative musicians like me to the radio audience.”

The talk, held as part of the Radio Festival, will become an annual event given by a different music figure every year.

Held at The Lowry theatre in Salford, it is intended to be the music industry’s equivalent of the annual MacTaggart Lecture, which is given by a leading media executive at the Edinburgh International Television Festival every August.

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• James Robinson and Mark Sweney
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 28 October 2011 20.26 BST
• Article history

Kylie Minogue, one of EMI’s acts. The company’s sale is expected to create a third major global record label. Photograph: Martin Philbey

EMI, the record label that signed the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Coldplay, is likely to be broken up this week and sold to a Russian-born billionaire.

The sale will mark the end of an era for UK music. EMI is the last major domestic music label and its record of signing homegrown talent has made it the unofficial home of British pop.

EMI’s other acts include Kylie Minogue, Kate Bush and Tinie Tempah. It is now owned by American bank Citigroup, which took control of the label when its private equity owner Terra Firma failed to repay the loans it took out to buy EMI in August 2007.

Citigroup has been in talks to sell EMI’s recording arm and its music publishing division since last year, but at the end of the week Universal, one of the main potential buyers, pulled out of the bidding process, leaving the wealthy businessman Len Blavatnik in pole position to buy the bulk of the business.

Blavatnik is the New York-based founder and owner of Access Industries, the international chemicals conglomerate that bought EMI’s rival Warner Music for £2bn in May this year.

He is expected to pay around $1.5bn for EMI’s recorded music division, according to industry sources. Its publishing arm, which owns the rights to a catalogue of more than a million songs by artists including Kanye West, Arctic Monkeys and Jay-Z, is likely to be sold to the German media group Bertelsmann and KKR, an American private equity company.

The deal will create a third major global music label to rival Universal and Sony, which have emerged as the dominant forces in global music following a string of deals in the industry over the past decade.

It is also likely to mean the end of the EMI brand in America, where the label is expected to be phased out, although the name will be retained in European markets.

The final details of the sale are still being hammered out, but music industry sources say official confirmation is likely to come at the end of the week.

Senior industry figures are already bemoaning the fact that a national industry champion is set to fall into foreign hands. Jazz Summers, a rock music veteran who was manager of British indie band the Verve, said: “It’s a tradition that I’ll be sad to see end. It will be a stronger record company [after the sale] but it will also throw a lot of people out on the street.” The new owner is expected to trim the combined group’s workforce after the sale is complete, and hundreds of jobs are expected to go as a result.

EMI’s sale follows the disposal of other quintessentially British companies, including Rover and Cadbury, to overseas brands. Cadbury was bought by the American food giant Kraft in 2009.

But Sir Martin Sorrell, who chairs British-based WPP, one of the world’s most powerful advertising and marketing companies, said that it would be wrong to feel sentimental about EMI falling into foreign hands.

“I think it was probably inevitable, given what happened with Terra Firma and given consolidation due to [the shift to] online content. It was inevitable that the established brands would have to consolidate”, Sorrell said.

He added: “We do work in a global economy, we don’t operate in a vacuum. Plenty of [UK] companies have benefited from overseas expansion and have done well overseas. It is more to do with global business and not a great British brand disappearing. The pressure has been there since Napster and the impact of online on the music business.”

The digital revolution and the advent of iTunes and the iPod transformed the economics of the music industry and has forced major labels to seek merger deals.

Terra Firma, which was founded by the millionaire buyout specialist Guy Hands, embarked on a cost-cutting exercise after it acquired EMI four years ago, in an attempt to reduce debts of around £2bn.

Hands cut up to £100m a year in spending on items including “fruit and flowers” (widely believed to be a euphemism for drugs). The company’s £700,000-a-year London taxi bill was slashed, and some 2,000 jobs went in his first year.

That exercise is now likely to be repeated by EMI’s new owners, with further redundancies of around 10% expected at its global workforce of around 3,500.