On the Beat

Alan Carton

Sometimes, a story creeps up and grabs you. This is the story of Alan Carton. Alan was an avid music fan, diagnosed with soft tissue cancer at the age of 18.   The prognosis was not good.  The cancer was in his lungs...

35-Year Reversion of Copyrights

Just when you thought it couldn't get any tougher for music companies, it does. A little known fact sitting quietly in the copyright laws will soon allow some artists to retrieve the original copyrights to their works. If you're a recording artist who sold your music to a label or publisher in 1978 or thereafter, you can request reversion of your creative copyrights thirty-five years after you originally sold them if you meet certain criteria...

Copyrights around the World

SoundScan and Metadata

For generations, success in the record business has been defined by record sales. And for the last two decades, those record sales have been monitored by a system called SoundScan. The Nielson SoundScan system is the exclusive source for the Billboard Top 200 Album Sales Chart, which is the primary gauge of success or failure in North America. Unfortunately, SoundScan, which is primarily financed by major record labels, is becoming less relevant in the digital age...

Alan Lomax in Haiti

In 1936, ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax stepped off of a Colombian steamship and onto Haitian soil. Only 21 years old, the young Lomax carried 155 pounds of luggage and special recording equipment. He was on a mission to capture the music and cultural sounds specific to that Caribbean Island. It had only been two years since the US had pulled out of Haiti, following a 15-year occupation. Alan Lomax wanted to document the aural experience of the island during this time of transition. The result of his work was over 1,500 recorded items, with more than 50 hours of music and film footage. This valuable resource has been sitting in Library of Congress for over 70 years, unavailable to the public… until now...

Music Business Tool Shed

While major record labels still generate most of the traditional media, consumers are motivated to discover new and different sounds. And musicians are delivering, recording records in their bedrooms and basements.  With only a click of the mouse, they can get their music into the hands of millions – a business concept never before possible...

MOG and Lala

If I can hear something right now, why would I want to wait? Instant gratification is quickly becoming the demand of the digital music culture.  And streaming music may well be the wave of the future. With blessings from the four major label conglomerates, streaming companies offer a comprehensive library of music that connects to consumers instantly....

All Ages

If you are under the age of 21, your options for going out to see live music in a club setting can be pretty limited. If you are under the age of 18, those options are even more remote. There are the nightclubs that bounce between 21 and over, and all ages but those clubs aren't consistent for an under-age crowd.

Music Wars

First it was iTunes: 99¢ bought you a track. Amazon and Walmart went head to head with the Apple site, competing strictly on price. Meanwhile, Rhapsody, Napster and eMusic offered a monthly fee for a buffet of music. Zune, the Microsoft company, tried to serve both masters. They offered both individual track sales and feast options; and Lala built their model on consumers paying pennies to stream and store music...

Music Excursions

How to Finance Your Career

To those who think talent is the hallmark of success in the music business, think again. While talent is essential, marketing wisdom and good business sense are fundamental skills needed as well. That's especially true for independent artists, who often self-finance their careers. With so many musical acts out there vying for attention, a keen and innovative approach is needed...

Performance Royalty Debate Rages On

The debate over whether broadcasters should pay a performance royalty is one of the music industry's hottest topics. Just two weeks ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee, approved a bill that would require broadcast radio stations to compensate artists and labels whenever music is aired...

Kevin Montgomery and Amanda Palmer

It takes tenacity and vision for an independent artist to build and maintain a career in today's music market. Anyone with a computer can record and distribute a record on their own, but building a self-supporting career is a different matter. Finally, there's some hope. A few musicians have embraced new models, sculpting out their own futures...

Data Rocks!

For the last fifty years, the traditional record label business was built on an ecosystem of radio stations, press outlets, retail stores and live venues, all of whom lived behind velvet ropes. The system closed to the public. Only the trade could participate. Today, that business is a shell of its former self...

The FTC and Bloggers

They went after funeral homes, they went after identity theft, and now the Federal Trade Commission is going after the most pressing need for consumer protectionism – bloggers...