US DOJ ruling

[john]

Hi

 

It was already difficult for songwriters to make a living writing songs

 

You have probably seen Kevin Kadish's thoughts about his earnings from "It's all about the bass"?

 

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2015/09/24/my-song-was-played-178-million-times-on-spotify-i-was-paid-5679/

 

$5,679 total payment from Pandora (at least I believe it is Pandora specifically) for.... wait for it.... 178 MILLION plays. Eek!

 

Only streaming services themselves and the advertisers they sell advertising to are making money from music these days. Okay, bigger bands might make money from performance and merch, but that is it. Music is largely a loss leader

 

Still, according to the US DOJ songwriters make too much money... that is the only conclusion:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brittanyhodak/2016/07/01/u-s-dept-of-justice-deals-crushing-blow-to-songwriters/#5d25bd9a1127

 

Can you hear the death knell of songwriting as a career? Just as well we all love it, feel driven to do it. Otherwise we might just tell them where to stick it. Then again, they rely upon exactly that.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Just1L]

There's nothing in the real world that technology/internet won't destroy at some point. Of course by destroy I mean delete vast amounts of jobs and replace them with only a few. Government handouts will be a necessity. We'll all get free internet connection and gadgets to 1) keep us sedated and "busy" and 2) allow us to vent and gripe online so it feels like we're doing something about it.

 

Some things could be done to stop the hemorrhage, but they won't because you can't stop progress.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Just1L

[Rudi]

it stinks alright.

I played that song last night at a seaside venue to an appreciative audience (me & 6 others) in Lee-On-Solent.

 

The Music Business was always more business than music, but the golden goose was spared in order to keep the egg supply going. Now I know that the business has suffered massively due to the nature of modern tech, so this looks like their way of passing the hurt on to the goose.

 

 

[Guest Rob Ash]

I'm not sure how it makes me feel, but I find myself in agreement with Tom.

 

I was a paid professional creative illustrator. Means I drew stuff that was pretty fun to draw for money. I've also made some money as a musician. Over the decades I've worked with lots of musicians, including song writers. In my experience, Most visual artists already know that they haven't got a real chance unless/until they treat their career as a business. No matter how classical, or purely inspired they may consider their work to be. I used to tell my artists (I was an art director during the last two decades of my career) that they needed to act as if they were a corporation of one. They would need to learn to act as their own advocates, their own legal team, their own promotional department, in order to succeed. This is only more true now.

 

In all my experience, I never observed visual artists collectively act as unwilling to accept the conditions of working in the field they loved as music writers and musicians often do. If you judge who considers their art more "spiritual" or disconnected with the menial world of earning a living, it is musicians by far. I feel that has to change.

 

Writing music for a living is a better way to earn your bread (or your "bread")(look it up, millennials... it means money) than digging ditches. That makes it a privilege rather than a right. If you want to pursue music, or song writing as a career, you better get used to and be willing to do what it takes to succeed in the field. This doesn't mean I agree with the DOJ (who only enforce the law, they do NOT write it), and Forbes can go suck a root. But I do tend to accept that the world is ever changing, and a smart person wastes little time in bitching about it.

 

They might need that spent energy to keep up. And incorporating your own label seems a small price to pay, really, to be able to do the job you want instead of the job you end up with. Hell, seems to me a writer would want their own label, to better guarantee their ability to establish rights of full ownership.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2016 by Rob Ash

[john]

Just as a follow up, both ASCAP and BMI have posted responses:

 

ASCAP

 

http://www.ascap.com/playback/2016/07/action/paul-williams-doj-100.aspx

 

BMI

 

http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/mike_oneill_updates_bmi_songwriters_on_doj_issue

[MonoStone]

On 9 July 2016 at 6:52 PM, RobAsh15 said:

I was a paid professional creative illustrator. Means I drew stuff that was pretty fun to draw for money. I've also made some money as a musician. Over the decades I've worked with lots of musicians, including song writers. In my experience, Most visual artists already know that they haven't got a real chance unless/until they treat their career as a business. No matter how classical, or purely inspired they may consider their work to be. I used to tell my artists (I was an art director during the last two decades of my career) that they needed to act as if they were a corporation of one. They would need to learn to act as their own advocates, their own legal team, their own promotional department, in order to succeed. This is only more true now.

 

I'm also an art director, and recently I've made a small amount of money with music via the same channels... and I've done the whole chasing the dream with a band thing in the past and dedicated every moment to it... and in my opinion, whilst making a living as an illustrator, concept artist, 3D artist etc is not easy... it's a damn site easier than making a living as a musician or songwriter. That's not an opinion based on me being bitter about my own experience with music (I'm honestly not), it's just a fact that a half-decent-but-nothing-special visual artist can find more paid work than a decent musician/songwriter and will get paid a better rate. 

 

P.S. Can you or any artist you know paint disney-esque environment/level concepts for video games? Seriously... I'm trying to find a good one.

[john]

On 8 July 2016 at 9:34 PM, tunesmithth said:

Try to look on the bright side guys!

Yeah, the ruling sucks, but changes in regulation are typically followed by adjustments to the affected business model...in this case "songwriting".

Unless I misread the article, it now makes more sense than ever...

• for songwriters to also be performers
• to shift the songwriting-only model to works-for-higher (at a higher rate of pay), rather than the traditional shared royalties
• for songwriters to register their own labels, since labels & performers are not bound by these decrees

I'm not tryin' to tell you this was a good thing. But in many ways it boils down to the same old thing.

Songwriters need to recognize that professional songwriting is a business FIRST, then an art.

In business, the ability to adapt to change is crucial. This is no different....adapt & change as needs dictate, or perish.

No one has to "like" the ruling, but everyone has to figure out how to live with it...at least for now.

 

Tom

 

 

Not it great for lyricists then, or disabled or a multitude of others who would be very challenged to become performers. While setting up a label or publishing house may squirm around it (for now), the cost of registering a label or publishing house isn't that cheap. It makes entry that bit harder.

[Guest Rob Ash]

5 hours ago, john said:

 

Not it great for lyricists then, or disabled or a multitude of others who would be very challenged to become performers. While setting up a label or publishing house may squirm around it (for now), the cost of registering a label or publishing house isn't that cheap. It makes entry that bit harder.

 

10 hours ago, MonoStone said:

I'm also an art director, and recently I've made a small amount of money with music via the same channels... and I've done the whole chasing the dream with a band thing in the past and dedicated every moment to it... and in my opinion, whilst making a living as an illustrator, concept artist, 3D artist etc is not easy... it's a damn site easier than making a living as a musician or songwriter. That's not an opinion based on me being bitter about my own experience with music (I'm honestly not), it's just a fact that a half-decent-but-nothing-special visual artist can find more paid work than a decent musician/songwriter and will get paid a better rate. 

 

To begin with, I am not a fan of governments. Not in America, nor in Britain right now. Although I am a conservative, what has happened in the UK is taking things a bit far, I think. But I digress. What I mean to say is that I do not support this ruling. If I could change it to reflect the needs of artists better I would.

 

That said, however, my general feeling on this is...ready for this? Suck it up, buttercup! Life is hard all over, as the saying goes.

 

Several of the top 50 paid artists in music today are not charmers who were hand picked by the big corps. There are notable acts that "got there" solely on their music. And it is noteworthy, to me at least, that many of the top money earners among touring bands are acts that are OLD MEN and OLD WOMEN. How bloody hard do you think it is to slog it out for 3 hours under hot lights when you are 72 years old? Ask Mick Jagger.

 

Even for song writers or lyricists who work from a studio... do you think it's a whole lot different for a young artist who works his/her ass off all day at two menial jobs, then comes home and draws, or works on art on the computer for 6-8 hours to get ready for college, or to get her portfolio in shape for a interviews. Been there, done that, and raised a couple of kids in the process.

 

Young doctors work insane hours as interns and on staff at hospitals starting out. Insane hours. Like 36 on, 12 off sometimes. And if there's an emergency, like a pile up on a major highway? They work until the bodies stop coming and the blood stops flowing. Period. Young lawyers, working on that partnership, or towards opening their own firm, slog it out as pool lawyers and aides at big firms, working incredible hours on crappy pay.  Part of this is because new hires do all the research for every case, and part of it is because the firm is charging all those hours to clients.

 

Many, many jobs that offer potential major reward are difficult to get into, difficult to stay in, and damned difficult to rise to the top in. If it was easy, folks, everyone would do it. And, again, I am sorry, Hard or not. I am pretty sure I could write a list of jobs that are a LOT crappier than song writer, or lyricist.

 

If you want it.... really want it, you have to forget all about the obstacles and the difficulties and go for it. Even if you only think you can make a reasonable. but not a rich living, plan on investing your entire self into your career, NO MATTER what you decide to do.

 

Anything less is only investing in your potential failure.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Rob Ash