Audrey Music Group

blog

This page is a blogroll of useful sites, blogs, and updates from our own AMG reps by which we might assist you amidst the constant turmoil that is the music biz…

Awesome people we think you should know about -
Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby, entrepreneur, and pal of Hannah’s)

Amanda Palmer (musician & awesome opinionated lady)

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DATE : 7 December 2009
AUTHOR : Hannah ‘Augustalia’ O’Reilly
TITLE : Born to be Wide

Thursday 3rd December saw yet another Born to be Wide music seminar held at the Voodoo Rooms. This one was about Music Publishing, and was supported by the Music Publishers Association.  Born To Be Wide was launched five year’s ago to provide a meeting place for those involved or interested in the Scottish music scene, with a diverse range of musicians, journalists, promoters, label owners and friends of music, invited to play their all-time favourite records.  Seminars on various subjects began in 2008. 

The panel members included Paul Harris, head of A&R at independent publisher Reverb XL, lawyer Murray Buchanan and one-man publishing operation, Paul Shedden, owner of Shed Publishing, and sync specialist David McGinnis from Mute Songs.

It was a really interesting seminar with a really knowledgable and interesting panel.  To give you a run-down…  Music publishers do a few things - 1. they act as the collection agent for all your royalties (PRS, MCPS), 2. they look after your song catalogue and foster further writing (publishing advances), and 3. they pimp your songs out to advertisers, film studios, other performers etc.  Some publishers do all of the above, others do parts thereof.  Basically, for small-time singer/songwriters (my level ) there is no need to have a publisher, as it is a profit-based sector, meaning that if you aren’t shifting a lot of units of music, then there is nothing in it for the publisher, and no need for any admin on your part.  However, if you get to the point where you are earning more than you can keep track of, then approaching a publisher could be a good idea!  Publishers charge anywhere from 15-30% depending on the deal they are offering (single song or full catalogue), and these deals all include sunset clauses, meaning that they will retain the rights for a period after the contract ends.  If you are a musician wanting to write library music (stock music for advertising etc), then publishers are the ones who deal with this too.  Publishers also do admin-only deals sometimes, where they take a lesser percentage for simply doing royalty collection and admin.

So, moral of the story is… if you’re doing well, or get offered a record contract (ensuring the publicity to start selling units), then it would be wise to get yourself a publisher.  Luckily, unlike record companies, publishers are easy to get hold of - they want to find talented (money-making) songwriters just as much as you want to reap the benefits of this skill!

To be included on the Born to be Wide seminar mailing list email Olaf Furniss on - borntobe_wide@yahoo.com

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Speaking of getting paid - read this article too, from the Harvard Business School - ‘It Is Okay for Artists to Make Money… No, Really, It’s Okay’

you coulda called me an armchair blogger recently… i’ve been sitting comfortably, not doing much!  i’ve been writing my shit poetry, and updating my facebook status entirely too often for most people’s palate.  but i’m happy with my inactivity - i have had uni work to do after all!

so, yesterday Amanda fucking Palmer posted this wonderful piece on why she’s not afraid to take YOUR money (http://blog.amandapalmer.net ).  now, most people that know me will know that this subject is very close to my heart …

I BELIEVE IN GETTING PAID FOR MY ART

like amanda, i am the brash, loud, uncouth person asking you to your face to pay me for hearing me play.  i am the one who doesn’t apologise.  i am the one demanding a decent door split from the venue, or even for a flat fee.  and i am the one asking for a decent sound engineer and decent equipment in return.

i think that many people underestimate the amount of work and soul that goes into creating music… both on a CD and live.  i value the work, effort, soul, catharsis, heart that i put into creating this stuff.  therefore i kinda have an expectation that others should too.  i don’t write the songs for the specific purpose of entertaining you, that is just a bi-product, but for me to perform them to you requires effort on my part and money, and time, and well, if i do all that shit to deliver you a fucking bi-product that’ll rock you, love you, make you cry, make you bop, make you feel something, anything, then isn’t that worth something? 

i have been given a fair amount of shtick over the years for this opinion.  in fact, i’ve even lost friends over it.  which i think is bullshit.  but hey, i can’t help people’s ignorance. grin.

i have friends who work solely as musicians, they survive completely on the worth they and you place on their music.  so tell me, if you like something in a shop window, and you want to have it/use it/listen to it/etc, you pay for it right?  so, why is it different for a live performance?  you spend ridiculous amounts of money on seeing crap comedy acts at the fringe festival each year, yet begrudge a couple of quid to someone you enjoy listening to…

for the artists who ‘just do it for the love of the music, man’ - here is my only words for you…  keep doing it for the reasons you do it, but recognise that there are musicians out there who rely on this business as their livelihood - and by playing for free at venues that can and do pay, that you essentially lower the bar of expectations that venues have of performers and their fees.  being paid by a venue, or by the audience is a good thing.  it shows that they value you and your talents.  it is not something to shy away from.  are you worth it?

for those who don’t know how to go about asking for money… if it’s a venue, most should ask what your fee is, but if they don’t make sure you ask them what their going rate is - if it’s lower than market standards, ask for more - all they can do is say no (be sure to ask nicely of course!).  if you’re playing for free, make it strategic - is it a trial gig, a beautiful venue, a one-time opportunity, or a great audience that will love you forever?  make sure you check if the venue is PRS registered, so that you can get your percentage of their license fee through the pubs & clubs scheme, and don’t be afraid to sell your wares to the audience afterwards.  mention to them if you have a CD for sale, give out your website flyers, ask people to sign a mailing list.  people that love you = people that will support you = people that will pay to see you…

simple really.

or at least i think so.

i’m not afraid to tell people how much money i’ve made from music.  so far this year i have made approximately £2000 from a mix of self-employment tax rebates, gig fees, PRS royalties, and CD sales… and this is from a part-time gig (i work 9-5 too y’see, so music is my side-project).

if i can raise this much with my half-arsed attempts this year, then i’m sure full-time musicians could make a decent wage.  and why the fuck shouldn’t they?  what they produce is culturally enriching, valued by many, and should be revered like it used to be - did you know that roman poets and musicians would have a ’sponsor’, who would pay them to create art and music and in turn only ask for the occasional song or poem to be written about them.  a pretty good deal really, given that the artist would be given a villa or house and wages!

this segue brings me nicely to my final point - my new band Augustalia (a roman name).  my drummer asked ‘you mean we’re charging for our first gig?’ and i was like - ‘umm, yes, if we’re good enough to play in public, then we’re good enough to be paid’…   the audience didn’t seem to begrudge us this, enjoyed themselves immensely, and even had spare cash to buy 4 cds off me afterwards!  plus we now have enough cash in the kitty to pay to get to our next gig.  show us the love, and we will show you love back.  love love love!

ok, rant over. 
i love you, amanda, we both rock heaps y’know!?!

on a more personal note, i have been laying low musically recently, with a nasty case of post-festival laryngitis, but will be reappearing at a venue near you soon.  in the meantime, keep your noses clean, kids!  i’m working on a plan for a DIY music video, so hang tight while i figure out how to accomplish this feat!

love & laudanum,
Hann x

http://www.hannahoreilly.com/
http://www.myspace.com/hannahoreilly
http://www.myspace.com/augustalia
http://www.twitter.com/hannahoreilly

Currently listening to:
Your beauty must be rubbing off - Hawksley Workman
Ampersand - Amanda Palmer
Lizard Jack - The Gods Were Convicts
Strange Fruit - Nina fuckin’ Simone!

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DATE : December 2008
AUTHOR : Susanna Macdonald
TITLE : GOD BLESS PRS

So in this financial downturn, sorry, recession (will people STOP calling it a ‘crunch now’?), I feel like the Gods of consumerism and finance are smiling down on us. We have been divinely given at this Holy time of year a blessing in the form of Woolworths going bust and clearing stock, with up to 75% off. (OK, so a British retail cornerstone of the High Street has gone under, but if we really cared or shopped there for more than anti-slip stick-on soles, or cheap tupperware, then the shop would be thriving and not in administration.) And this morning my PRS statement came through. Now, for those of you who don’t know, PRS (the Performing Rights Society) are the people who manage royalty payments. Royalty payments are due on any performance of music in PRS licensed premises. This includes pubs, clubs, local and community radio, country clubs etc… For the smaller artist, there is something called the small pubs and clubs scheme, where, if you play regularly, you submit a core set list and log all the dates you play with PRS. You then get money. So, even if you just play lots of open mics, say 3 a week, that makes 156 per year and you are entitled to money for all of them. Even at £5-10 per three songs (I need to check the figures for that), that’s £30 per week. Multiply by 52. Not bad for ‘free’ performances, eh? The bonus is they sometimes survey gigs in registered venues and when they do you receive a significant amount of money per song. I think there is an allocated amount per performance, but it’s worthwhile. I was surveyed in February at a gig I wasn’t officially paid for and where I played 6 songs. I just received my final payment. Given that to join PRS for life is a one-off payment of £100, I have now more than quadrupled my money from one gig. You don’t get those sorts of interest rates at any bank, even one underwritten by the government. Now for people who can’t be bothered or have some bizarre ethical/moral argument for not joining PRS I’ll just repeat the best argument I have been given for joining: IF YOU DON’T CLAIM THE MONEY IT GOES TO ROBBIE WILLIAMS, SIMON COWELL, PETE WATERMAN AND MICHAEL JACKSON. Because they own the publishing rights for most of the songs in the world that are played regularly on the radio, in films, by covers bands etc. The money doesn’t just go nowhere, it is distributed, and the more you own the more you get if people aren’t claiming what is due to them. As an unsigned songwriter it is not common to get paid for your work and certainly not paid well. So why don’t you? It is your duty as a musician to make sure Simon Cowell doesn’t even passively exploit you even more than he already does.

God bless PRS.

To read more of Susanna’s blog - go here

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