Input\Output Podcast: David Lowery and the Future of Artists’ Rights

In this episode of Input\Output, Geoff and Eli talk to David Lowery, the former frontman for Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, who is now an economics professor at the University of Georgia.

Last summer, Lowrey wrote an open letter to Emily White, an NPR intern who claimed to have had almost 12,000 songs in her personal library, but to only have paid for just over a dozen albums. This letter generated a firestorm of attention, drawing upwards of a half million visits a day to Lowrey’s artists’-rights blog The Trichordist.

As a label-owner, econ professor, a former “quant” for the financial sector, and a platinum-selling musician with indie cred and a cult following, Lowery brings a singular perspective to the business of music.

In this podcast — the first in a 3-part series where Geoff and Eli talk to experts about copyright and intellectual property in the 21st century — Lowery offers some compelling ideas about how we got where we are, and where the industry is headed next.

Listen to the podcast below, or right click here to download.

Input\Output Podcast is produced by Justin Colletti for SonicScoop.

TuneCore Expands Global Royalty Collection For Songwriters — Adds Four Sub-Publisher Agreements

To make the most of musical revenue, tapping into the global marketplace is more important than ever.

TuneCore (NYC)  has just increased worldwide royalty access for its Music Publishing Administration Group clients, with the announcement that it has signed four new strategic Sub-Publisher agreements.

The four agreements and the territories they cover are expansive. They include:

– Schubert Music Europe – France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Andorra, Monaco, and Lebanon;

– ROBA Music Verlag GMBH – Germany, Austria, and Switzerland;

– Native Tongue Music Publishing PTY LTD. – Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea;

– Cafe Concerto International S.R.L. – Italy, Vatican City, and Republic of San Marino.

The new agreements come in addition to territories already covered, which include TuneCore Japan KK’s representation of Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, along with direct society affiliations with MCPS/PRS – UK, Ireland; NCB/KODA – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland; BUMA/STEMRA – The Netherlands; SABAM – Belgium; CMRRA and SOCAN – Canada.

TuneCore Publishing Administration was launched by the digital distributor TuneCore in November of 2011. It provides an integrated service that allows TuneCore artists to collect the revenue from their music downloads and streams, and also allows them to receive their songwriter/publisher royalties from hundreds of societies, digital stores, and other sources, through one entity which acts as their Worldwide Publishing Administrator. The result is significantly streamlined global publishing administration for independent artists and publishers.

TuneCore Publishing Administration currently has 10,000 songwriters signed up for its service, representing 125,000 compositions. The service is available to all songwriters and publishers not currently represented by a Publishing Administrator.

Do Producer Managers Help Your Career? An In-Depth Report

Scratch below the surface of almost any producer, and they’ll tell you they’d love to find The One that can propel their artistry and careers to new heights.

No, they’re not talking about songwriters, vocalists, or A&R VP’s. The human resource many producers, mixers, and engineers crave the most is a manager. And as elusive as this goal may be for many hard-working studio pros, for others having a producer manager is a reality.

Peruse a partial list of audio achievers who have managers, and you’ll see a common thread of great creativity and platinum sales. Here’s just a few: Ron Anielo, Howard Benson, Steve Booker, Michael Brauer, James Brown, Chris Carmouche, Bob Clearmountain, Chris Coady, The Dust Brothers, Stephen Hague, Nic Hard, John Hill, John Holbrook, Trevor Horn, David Kahne, Kevin Killen, Holly Knight, Ryan Leslie, Chris Lord-Alge, Tom Lord-Alge, Lawrence Manchester, Paul Northfield, Paul Oakenfold, William Orbit, Hugh Padgham, GGGarth Richardson, Andros Rodriguez, Dan Romer, Jesse Rogg, Geoff Sanoff, Elliot Scheiner, Matt Shane, Chris Shaw, Trina Shoemaker,  Sly and Robbie, Randy Staub, Tony Visconti, Andy Wallace, Josh Wilbur, Alex Wong, Brad Wood, and Emily Wright.

While having a manager is no guarantee of a multi-platinum career for a producer, mixer or engineer, there’s an undeniable connection between hits and the people in the above list, all of whom employ a manager. But can a producer manager actually get more – and better-paying – projects for their clients? And how does an emerging audio pro snag one of these desirable wingmen for themselves?

Career Boosters

The most common expectation that audio pros have for hiring a manager is that their workload will increase significantly. Most managers see that as a primary function, but also point out that their job description has many diverse aspects which go far beyond that benefit.

New York-based music industry veteran Joe D’Ambrosio started his full-service management company 10 years ago, and has grown a roster that includes Tony Visconti, Hugh Padgham, Kevin Killen, Elliot Scheiner, Joe Zook, Larry Gold, Rob Mounsey, Jay Newland, Lawrence Manchester and many more producers, mixers, arrangers, songwriters and engineers.

“A manager really does three things,” D’Ambrosio says. “33% marketing you, 33% getting you work, and 33% getting you paid. That last one is quite important: You’d be surprised how many people, big and small, don’t get paid — or get paid in an untimely fashion.”

By removing his clients from discussing finances, D’Ambrosio explains, it allows them to focus solely on their craft. “The first thing I attempt to impress on the clients I represent is, ‘If you’re going to allow me the pleasure of representing you, you cannot talk about money. If people ask you how much to mix, tell them three words: Talk to Joe. He’s there to handle the business.’”

On the “gets-you-work” tip that D’Ambrosio lists, tuned-in producer managers can be a major asset in the current climate, where the plentiful major label projects that once kept everyone busy have slowed to a relative trickle. “The whole industry is smaller and more compact,” says Alia Fahlborg, Executive VP of Nettwerk Producer Management. “It used to be that if you were a producer, you didn’t have to worry about not getting the big pop or rock record, because there was plenty to go around. The challenge now is you have far more producers and mixers competing for less work, with smaller budgets than ever before.

“I’m always on my soap box saying that the producer is the next-most important person in the industry, besides the artist themselves,” continues Fahlborg, who counts Howard Benson, Bob Clearmountain, Chris Lord-Alge, Tom Lord-Alge, Mike Shipley, and Victor Van Vugt among her 21-client roster. “The rest of us are expendable, but the producers, mixers and engineers are the ones actually making the product that everyone else is selling. So their part in this whole thing is invaluable.”

But supply is at an all-time high in proportion to projects, as noted by Sandy Roberton, who is widely regarded as a pioneering force in producer management. Currently, Roberton’s L.A.-based firm World’s End represents a long list of audio pros including Nick Launay, CJ Eiriksson, Matthew Wilder, Atticus Ross, and Peter Katis.

“At any one time, there are only a handful of producers or mixers who are in demand at that moment,” he observes. “Bearing in mind that a good producer or mixer doesn’t suddenly become a bad producer or mixer, they are simply in and out of fashion. A good manager is constantly in touch with labels, A&R, artists, and managers to keep their clients’ name in their thoughts.”

As producer managers go about their task of marketing their clients to artists, managers, and labels, they strive to articulate an audio pro’s value to an upcoming project, while making their connection to successful past projects crystal clear. In the process, managers maintain a link between their clients and the outside world.

“Hopefully they’re in the studio all the time, so while producers are trying to be creative and focus on their current project, they need someone out there promoting them,” Fahlborg says. “It may take a year for a record to get made, and it can be really difficult for them to come out of the cave and say, ‘I’m here!’ So it’s really helpful for the manager to be out there, interacting with the industry, and keeping them in the loop.”

Debbi Gibbs, who heads up Manhattan-based Just Managing, and along with Dan Backhaus represents a nine-client producer/mixer/engineer roster including James Brown, Chris Coady, Geoff Sanoff, and Matt Shane, agrees that providing a conduit to the outside world is a key function. “What a manager does,” she says, “is to make sure that everyone can find them, that the artists who work with them are kept informed and responded to in a timely manner, and that the best projects that come in are scheduled and organized in the most effective way. So producers can do more of what they want to do.”

Of course, audio pros don’t just want a nonstop stream of projects. They want projects that fit their skillset and creative outlook, and a good producer manager will keep on top of their clients’ personal evolution. “You think about the combination of projects that they’ll be doing, how those projects will use their skills, and what will be the most effective musically,” notes Gibbs. “But a record producer often sees himself going in one direction, while the artist who’s interested in them likes something they did a year or two ago. Part of my job is finding projects that are halfway between where a producer’s been and where they’re going – rather than something that’s strictly about what they did in the past.”

When Working with a Producer Manager Makes Sense

So how does a producer, mixer, or engineer know when they’re ready to take that next step, and legitimately vie for a spot on a manager’s roster?

“Essentially, if a producer has gotten to the point where they are so focused on the artists they’re working with that other projects are getting away from them, they need a manager,” Gibbs says. “There’s a lot to be said for producers taking care of themselves, so they know the logistics of the business. But once that gets in the way of them doing the best job in the studio, they’re ready for a manger — if the business is taking up their time or distracting their headspace, they should start looking.”

In addition to getting them the kind of work they know and love, producers and their brethren may look to a manager for help in diversification. Ollie Hammett is an NYC-based producer manager for Sir Elton John’s Rocket Music. “I think we’re in a unique position to help develop the careers of producers,” he says, “in both traditional ways i.e. producing records for artists as well as new ways, too, through opportunities in digital, interactive, film, television and theater. It’s an exciting time for music producers and there are many opportunities to rewrite the rule book.

“Anyone capable of providing music production, engineering or mixing services to the highest level (needs a manager),” Hammett continues. “You could be an up-and-coming producer who needs development but shows great potential, or someone who is self-managed and at the point where you need help. You could also be someone who is unhappy with an existing or previous management relationship and looking for a fresh start.”

Chris Lord-Alge, the world-class mixer whose massive platinum discography includes everyone from James Brown, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Green Day, to My Chemical Romance, Snow Patrol, Shinedown and Daughtry, is represented by Alia Fahlborg. “Getting a proper manager is something you build up to,” he says. “I recommend it as a way to keep yourself in the talent pool – and not just the ‘worker’ pool. When you do make a decision as to who will represent you, it’s got to be someone you trust.

“But the other point to consider is, are you willing to give up a percentage to have someone work with you? If not, then a talented manager won’t work with you. A manager is worth the cut they take, but you also need someone you can call 24 hours a days. If a good manager will take a cut of your income, then they should pick up the phone when you need them.”

Winning a Place on a Producer Manager’s Roster

Once an audio pro has targeted a manager, the next step is to make it onto their roster. With fewer projects available, managers can be expected to be even more discerning than ever in their client selection process.

In D’Ambrosio’s case, the formula is a mix of “excellence, skills, communicative ability, accomplishments and earnings.”

Similarly, Gibbs of Just Managing looks at intangibles just as closely as the balance sheet. “I have a lot of really good producers come to us, but I don’t always get a handle on what we can do to help them,” she says. “Picking the right clients is an ongoing challenge. We think we’ll take another two clients at some point this year, and choosing who that will be is always a big decision for us. It’s very crucial that we understand our clients musically, but I can’t take on a client just by looking at their discography.

“If it’s someone who’s skilled technically, but doesn’t feel strongly about the music they make, I probably wouldn’t know what to do with them,” Gibbs continues. “Producers have so many different techniques, and their studio experience is what allows a band to produce the best performance possible. You need to know your client’s m.o. in order to put them together with the right people.”

“I would say you need undeniable talent and an incredible work ethic,” advises Hammett. “Rocket’s core business is artist management and the producer roster is still small, but I think the common thread and what we look for in general is exceptional, unique clients whose work speaks for itself. We’re actively looking for new clients as part of our expansion. Personally I’m very proactive at making contact with producers/engineers or mixers that I’m excited about, and building relationships with them. We do get quite a few people reaching out, enquiring about representation too.”

Of course, the age-old chicken-or-the-egg quandary can come up for young producers, mixers or engineers who know they have the skills, but haven’t had the breakout hit yet to prove it. “There’s a Catch-22 sometimes for producers and mixers,” Fahlborg acknowledges. “They feel they could benefit from having a manager, but the manager has to have something to run with – chart success or something that’s really buzzing. There needs to be something I can grab onto, or else I can’t be effective.

“A new client also has to be the right fit,” continues Fahlborg. “You want to have a roster that complements one another, and doesn’t compete to each client’s detriment. Ultimately, if I think I can help a prospective client long term, I want to work with them. If I can’t, I won’t want to be involved.”

Falhborg receives several emails a week from audio pros hoping to get onto her roster. “I think that’s fine — they need to hustle and get along in their careers,” she says. “I try to look at them all, and if someone catches my eye, I’ll get back to them. Or I might say, ‘There’s no room on our roster right now, but keep me posted.’ Email is the best, most effective way to pitch yourself to me, and we do look at everyone who gets in touch.”

What to Expect from a Producer Manager

For those who make the grade and sign on with a producer manager, they’ll find that outside of the core offerings, each firm may exhibit different specialties and strengths.

“Broadly speaking, we offer full service career management which covers pretty much everything,” says Hammett. “For example, marketing your skills and services, managing your schedule, helping to find new projects, negotiating deals, building strategic partnerships, and handling all communication on projects between managers, labels and lawyers. Rocket also offers in-house legal and finance functions. If something very specific is needed that’s outside the scope of management, such as tax accounting, we’ll help find someone who can effectively handle that for our client.”

At Nettwerk, Fahlborg takes considerable pride in her firm’s in-house project coordinators, as well as their commitment to air-tight royalty tracking. “Our coordinators do the day-to-day of planning budgets, booking studios, booking musicians, and invoicing. And they chase the money, which is an increasingly difficult time expenditure.

“We interact with the attorneys on contracts, and once I’ve negotiated a deal I make sure that the deal I’ve made is reflected in the contract. Then there’s royalties. We often need to track down the statements, and make sure the correct advance is in there. I have one person who does all royalty tracking and analyzing of statements — that’s almost invaluable, because there are a lot of checks that never show up unless you chase them down fervently.”

For Lord-Alge, the biggest benefit of having management comes back to the concept of staying outside of financial discussions. “The biggest problem you have as an engineer, mixer or produce is that you can’t talk business with an artist,” he confirms. “Having proper management representing you is what gets you past being a salaried, paid person to an entity. That way you never have to get involved in negotiating money or time. Then you never have to know anything but one word: ‘yes.’

“That’s important, because as soon as you’re talking money, you’re not the talent any more. You’re really only supposed to have to talk with your clients about the creation of music, and what will make it better. When people ask you your price and you can say, ‘I don’t know – ask my manager,’ that’s one thing. But if you have to say, ‘It’ll cost $2,000 for me do to this,’ then you may as well be behind the cash register. You’re selling yourself. But you want an artist or label to work with you because you have talent – not because you provide a service.”

The Financial Commitment

So what’s it going to cost you? Although there are always exceptions, the typical arrangement is a 15% commission to the manager, on all projects negotiated. If the client is a writer/producer, some managers will receive a cut of the publishing as well, while others choose to keep it simple and stay out of the back end.

Whether or not that 15% will be worth it depends on many different factors. According to one multi-platinum mixer, management became nonessential as major label work grew increasingly scarce.

“A good manager will help you get work, and my previous manager did that to a certain extent, but not a lot,” says the mixer, who asked to remain anonymous. “But I don’t think that it’s a reasonable expectation that the manager will get you work. Remember — the client is looking for you, not the manager. My manager’s value came in for handling the backend and negotiating deals. When I was busy, I needed someone to handle day-to-day business, billing and that kind of stuff, which is a big pain.

“But it wasn’t worth 15% for me. In the past, managers would make really good deals that made it worth it, but with the changes in the business, that just didn’t happen anymore. If you’re a producer/writer who’s guaranteed a backend, then I believe a manager is necessary. But for a mixer, I don’t think so.”

For this mixer, the diminished workload made self-sufficiency the only real option. “With the economics of the music business today,” he says, “there isn’t much of a deal that a manager could make for you, that you couldn’t make for yourself. In order to make getting a manager make sense, you’d have to see way over a 15% increase in income, and its that much more work to offset that. I just don’t see that happening.”

Producer managers who are in the thick of a fast-changing market will be the first to confirm that the act of matching production talent to artist has undergone a major transformation. “When I managed bands, they didn’t have direct access to producers or their discography – artists had to rely on the record company to tell them what Steve Lillywhite was doing, and how to get ahold of him,” Debbi Gibbs states. “But now bands don’t rely on the record companies for that: They rely on the Internet.

“So the vast majority of the decision-making around producers comes from bands directly. They like knowing you’re professional, and knowing that a producer who has a manager will make things move smoothly, and deliver on budget.”

“The most important thing to know about the relationship is that it’s a partnership,” adds Fahlborg. “People think a manager will come in, and all this magic stuff will happen. But it’s hard work, not magic, and the client has to be doing their part as much as the manager. It’s so important for the manager and the client to be in communication, and be working the different situations together.”

Rewarding Workflow

The payoff for the team is when a producer, mixer, or engineer keeps moving forward as the two work in tandem.

“The biggest challenge remains managing your client’s expectations,” says Joe D’Ambrosio. “You do that through constant communication, expressing honesty and heartfelt wisdom throughout. The best reward is when a producer, manager or artist calls me and says, ‘Your client did a job for us. I can’t tell you how happy we are, thank you.’ I say, ‘No, thank YOU!”

Debbi Gibbs offers up a picture of the producer manager who can grow their practice in the current industry. “If you like the idea of a low-profile position in the music business that allows you to have amazing people as clients, you could be well positioned as a producer manager.”

In that sense, Alia Fahlborg is very much living the dream. “Like a lot of my clients, I get up in the morning and I’m excited for something that I’ve done for many years,” she says. When you work with so many great producers, mixers and engineers, you get to see what they do on a deep level. You see the demos, their involvement in the studio process, and you see how much better the music can be with a top producer or mixer involved. To be a part of what they’re doing, and making their careers better in some way, is a privilege.”

– David Weiss

ASCAP, Rhapsody Reach New Licensing Agreement

Could a new era of civility be dawning in the digital streaming space? A new agreement announced today by NYC-based ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and subscription music streaming service Rhapsody International Inc.may be pointing towards just such a development.

The new accord provides Rhapsody with a two-year ASCAP license for 2012 and 2013, which allows Rhapsody to perform publicly the works of more than 430,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members of ASCAP. In essence, the ASCAP blanket license is a streamlined solution wherein Rhapsody can legally stream music while respecting the right of its creators to be paid fairly.

In making the announcement, ASCAP noted that although Rhapsody has been licensed since its inception, the new agreement represents the two company’s first independent agreement since Rhapsody’s separation from its long-time parent company, RealNetworks, in April 2010. While under RealNetworks operation, Rhapsody’s license fees to ASCAP were determined by a series of rate court litigations, interim arrangements and, ultimately settlement agreements for periods through 2011.

Launched in December 2001, Rhapsody was a pioneer as the first subscription music service. Today, the company is the largest premium subscription music service in the United States, with 1 million+ paying subscribers and more than 14 million tracks spanning nearly 600 genres.

The Rhapsody service is available on more than 70 consumer electronic devices, including all smartphone platform. Rhapsody subscribers also have access to original editorial content from its staff of music writers, including reviews, features, playlists and more than 200 programmed radio stations.

ASCAP has also recently concluded agreements with other digital streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu.

Artist Growth, BMI Partner to Streamline Live Performance Royalty Reporting

Mobile software platform developer Artist Growth and NYC-based BMI recently announced a new partnership which streamlines live performance royalties for musicians.

According to Artist Growth this partnership is the first integration of its kind. It enables BMI artists to register for live performance royalties from any mobile device with the Artist Growth app as soon as they leave the stage.

100% of all ensuing royalties go to the artist. Artist Growth does not receive a percentage for facilitating the transaction – instead, the company’s revenue is based on a monthly $4.99 subscription to use the service. All BMI members are currently being offered a six-month free trial of the Artist Growth platform.

At SXSW 2012, Artist Growth also announced partnerships, offering six-month free trials of the platform, with the following entities:

- CD Baby
- Americana Music Association
- PledgeMusic
- Folk Alliance
- NYU Steinhardt’s Music Business Program
- University of Central Oklahoma’s Academy of Contemporary Music
- Belmont University
- Northern Arizona University

In addition, registration with Artist Growth is now free for all users and can be done directly from the mobile app.

”Live performance royalties are relatively new,” explains Matt Urmy, CEO of Artist Growth, “but Performance Rights Organizations (PRO’s) collect these blanket licenses — they call it ‘licensing a venue.’ They go out to all these venues – restaurants, bars, theaters, any establishment that plays music, and they say, ‘You’re a business and you’re playing music in here, and entertaining your customers and guests is part of what brings in music and helps you make money. We represent the artists that make the music that helps you get business into your establishment. And since you’re using their art, which we represent, you need to pay us a fee to be able to do that.’  So, the PROs collect all that money and distribute it out to the artists they represent.

“BMI, for example, has over 400,000 artists that are affiliated with them,” Urmy continues. “They collect money for all these licenses all year long from venues, big and small – restaurants, diners, coffee shops, as well as theaters, stadiums, etc… And now, with live performance royalties, what an artist that is affiliated with BMI does is send them the set lists they played at the venues that pay the licensing fees to BMI every year.”

There are a variety of factors that ultimately determine BMI’s royalty payout for a live performance. “BMI Live makes it possible for BMI to pay songwriters for performances that don’t fall into the top 300 concert tours and live events, which are already tracked for royalties,” says Urmy. “Payment for a BMI Live performance is determined by the size of the venue where the performance occurred and the general licensing fees available for distribution. Since the number of participants and the amount of the license fees collected by BMI can change from quarter to quarter, the BMI Live royalty payments may vary as well.”

SESAC Put Up for Sale for $500 Million

The owners of #3 Performance Rights Organization, SESAC, have put it up for sale with a $500 million asking price. The New York Post’s Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson broke the news yesterday.

Although SESAC issued a “business as usual” email to its affiliates today, it’s fair to wonder how changes in ownership would affect its members: SESAC is the only one of the three US PRO’s to have for-profit status.

Visit here to read the NY Post article.

Songtrust: This Online Solution Makes Music Publishing Accessible to the Indies

SOHO, MANHATTAN:One by one, the Internet tools for music career management are coming alive. In a digital music world where almost everything can potentially be managed better via the Web, the only wait that artists, songwriters and labels have to endure these days isn’t for the technology – that’s arrived. It’s for the idea.

When NYC-based Songtrust launched in December, 2010, its adept founders had surveyed the artist empowerment landscape and saw something important was missing: an automated solution for music publishing. Although other critical aspects of a music creator’s aspect were being handled – distribution, promotion, merchandising, touring – all had an army of online support, the potentially mind-bending world of music publishing had yet to be suitably simplified.

A year into business and with the member list fast reaching the 1,000 mark, it’s no wonder that Songtrust is taking off. The parent is Downtown Music, a forward-thinking concern which operates one of the top 10 US publishing companies, and seems to bang out big new ideas like NASA launches rockets. With billions of dollars in worldwide performance and mechanical royalties paid out yearly, but only a relatively few artists backed by a pro team to fully collect them, Downtown’s brain trust saw an opportunity to expand the DIY universe yet again.

With a vast amount of digital streaming and download possibilities available to the consumer, and an equally tantalizing spread of synch opportunities potentially bolstering artists’ revenue streams, Songtrust appears to do something even more useful than demystify the process of cashing in – for an affordable fee, they simply take care of it for their users.

SonicScoop went in-depth with Jeremy Yohai, Director of Writer Relations for Downtown Music Publishing/Songtrust, to learn more about how this New York startup is assisting indie music creators.

When you meet someone for the first time, how do you describe what Songtrust does?

Songtrust is the first online music publishing administration company for DIY/ Indie songwriters. We are the easiest way to collect royalties. Our songwriters maintain 100% ownership over their songs, they can leave Songtrust at any time and get paid 100% of their royalties.

Personally, I contributed to the building and development of the site. Currently I’m working on Songtrust’s writer relations, operations and partnership opportunities.

SongTrust has its roots in an experienced and successful group of music industry pros via Downtown Music. What made SongTrust’s founders feel like this was an essential venture to build out?

Songtrust was co-founded by Justin Kalifowitz and Josh Deutsch. Justin is the President of Downtown Music Publishing, one of the top 10 music publishers in the United States. Josh is the Chairman/CEO of Downtown Music LLC, Co-Founder of RCRD LBL, and an established songwriter and producer.

With Josh and Justin having long successful careers in music publishing, songwriting and in the digital music world, they realized that there was a need and now a way to help independent songwriters get what is owed to them. Both of them are very involved in the day-to-day business of Songtrust, since the company is based in the same SoHo office as the other Downtown Music properties — Downtown Records, Downtown Music Publishing and RCRD LBL.

That’s a solid brain trust to start with! Songtrust says that its major goal is to “level the field” for songwriters. In what ways is the field currently not level when it comes to music publishing, and how will songwriters benefit when it is leveled for them via Songtrust?

Before Songtrust the only way a songwriter was able to get all their publishing royalties was to enter into a deal with a traditional publishing company. If a writer couldn’t get a deal, they were left out in the cold, and most likely would miss out on some of their royalties. Well, now Songtrust empowers all songwriters to take control of their music publishing.

Anyone can join, whether you’re a songwriter that earns $50 a year in royalties or $5,000, you can now get what’s yours.  Traditionally writers that earned less than five digits in royalties wouldn’t get a deal. So that left a lot of songwriters unable to get their royalties — this was a main premise for the building of Songtrust.

So beyond royalty collection, what are some of the other ways you help songwriters?

There are certain steps that someone should take after writing a song, regardless of what their ambitions are, whether it’s just playing at the local club or at Madison Square Garden. We can assist with these very first steps.

We’ll help get a writer affiliated with a Performance Right Organization (PRO) (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC), and we’ll register the songs correctly with all the collection agencies in the US , including Harry Fox and Music Reports, since the PRO’s only collect performance royalties.

There’s also an educational aspect to the site. We post useful info everyday on music publishing, songwriting and the music business in general. The world of music publishing can be very confusing. We break it down and speak to songwriters in a language they understand.

We also offer some creative services — Songtrust is a partner with DMS.FM, the premier synch licensing company, which helps create synch opportunities for our bands and songwriters.

With that kind of 360 offering, what kind of membership are you currently attracting? Is Songtrust just for songwriters, or also for indie labels, publishers and other entities?  

Basically Songtrust is right for any songwriter that wants to take control of their music publishing regardless of income.

We have some great indie bands that have been gigging around locally, producers and songwriters who have had cuts with rappers and pop artists, and emerging film/TV composers. We also have some established artists that were signed to major publishers in the past.

Aside from working with artists/writers directly, there are managers, lawyers, and indie publishers using our site to as a royalty administration tool to manage the songs written by artists/songwriters that they look after.

Who are some artists who are using Songtrust, and what’s an example of what their “signal flow” would be?

Like I said before, we have a bunch of indie artists/songwriters that are with us. Some of the bigger writers are Kenna, who released albums on Interscope and Columbia, and Sam Jayne who was signed to Sub Pop and has written songs for Beck. We recently started working with this great indie band from Hawaii called The Green, that were charting a few weeks ago on the iTunes charts, and one of our younger songwriters Sarah Solovayhas had numerous placements on TV shows.

Each one of these writers was at a different point in their career when they came to Songtrust. For some of the guys in The Green, we had to help them with the very first steps in getting their publishing sorted. With an artist like Kenna, we basically step in and make sure that everything that was previously set up was done correctly.

Like any traditional music publisher, the key information we need is song title and writer information and then we get to work.

It sounds like a good start. Have you had some challenges in growing a startup like Songtrust?

The main challenge for us is stressing to songwriters that there could be royalties out there for them, it might be $50, but it’s theirs and they now have the ability to get it. If you are touring, selling your music, have music played on TV/radio or streaming on the Internet you could be owed royalties.

The US royalty collection agencies are collecting more money now than ever before and it’s not all owed to the artists/writers that are on top of the charts. There are indie artists/songwriters that could be earning a few hundred dollars a year, but they’re just not aware of it.

On the flipside, what’s made this a rewarding effort to be a part of?

What makes this rewarding is that our site empowers songwriters to take control of something that in the past was not available to them. Music publishing was only for the few lucky and some talented songwriters that had publishing deals.

We have conversations everyday with our writers and they feel like they’ve been invited into the private party now. Maybe they haven’t written a #1 song yet but at least they’re in the game, so if they do have a YouTube or Spotify stream they can get what could be owed to them.

You’re operating all this from the heart of SoHo. Why is NYC the right HQ for you?

All of our staff is based in NYC. The whole project, from the very first discussions on to our launch, was worked on from our office in SoHo.  NYC is a great place to be based — not only is the music industry here, but there are tons of creative songwriters/artists running around these streets.

– David Weiss

TuneCore Launches New Division: TuneCore Songwriter Service

The increasingly buzzing online music administration space just got a high-powered new entry.

NYC-based TuneCore today announced the launch of TuneCore Songwriter Service, a multifaceted songwriter publishing administration service. It is designed to allow songwriters to efficiently:

– globally register their copyrights
– collect owed royalties
– protect and police their copyrights and songs
– issue licenses on their behalf

According to TuneCore, their Songwriter Service brings heightened transparency to the collection of digital/mechanical royalties associated with song downloads and streams, along with a full suite of synch licensing services for film and TV music supervision-related activities.

The company explains the new division’s processes and scope in greater depth here.

Early adopters of the service include Trent Reznor for releases by Nine Inch Nails and his new project, How To Destroy Angels. Several hundred other songwriters have also signed up during the beta testing, adding up to over 10,000 songs already being represented.

TuneCore’s service joins a growing artist-oriented online rights management sector that includes companies such as SongTrust, which offers a wide array of music publishing royalty tracking/collection services. TuneSat’s new online portal gives independent artists access to the company’s fingerprinting technology for performance rights collection. Meanwhile, RightsFlow’s Limelight enables online cover song licensing, as does HFA’s SongFile service.

The seven-person TuneCore Songwriter Service division is headed up by president Jamie Purpora, who was Director of Royalties and Senior Vice President of Administration as part of his 17-year tenure with NYC-based publisher Bug Music. Bug was acquired by BMG Rights Management in September of this year.

TuneCore’s new service promises to:

1. Register songwriter’s songs with organizations that use and track their copyrights so they know they exist, what songs are theirs and what money belongs to them.

2. Issue any licenses needed and handle any requests for the use of a songwriter’s songs in TV shows, movies, commercials and other media, and negotiate any licenses with TuneCore’s in-house Film & Visual Media department to get them the best possible terms.

3. Represent the songwriter and aggressively pursue all of their songwriting earnings.

4. Get songwriter’s existing “found” money back before it is given to someone else.

5. Police the world on the songwriter’s behalf to find illegal usage or copyright violation and make it stop and/or get the songwriter paid.

TuneCore Songwriter Service costs a one-time payment of $49.99 for global registration, plus 10% of the money TuneCore collects, while the remaining 90% is distributed to the songwriter. Currently artists must be using TuneCore for distribution in order to sign up, but plans are in the works for any rights holder to be able to sign up in the near future.

Since being founded in 2005 by Jeff Price, the Brooklyn-based TuneCore’s customers have sold over 400 million units of music, with total earnings of over $250,000,000.

TuneSat Launches Online Portal, Enables Immediate Signup for All Music Rightsholders

NYC-based TuneSat announced it has extended its TV monitoring services to all music rightsholders with a new online portal that enables immediate sign-up for new users.

TuneSat provides audio monitoring service to aid music copyright holders in recovering royalties and tracking unauthorized use.

Via the new online portal at www.tunesat.com, audio rightsholders can immediately sign up for the precise monitoring services they need in the territories they choose, whether they want to monitor 10 songs or a thousand titles. Monthly subscription rates vary by number of tracks, type of service, and territories to be monitored, starting at $10 per month.

According to TuneSat, within hours after a user uploads the audio files for fingerprinting, the company begins to deliver tracking of usage within an hour of broadcast, providing the tracking data and the audio clip necessary to monitor synch licensing and royalty payments.

In addition to tracking royalties and resolving copyright infringement, TuneSat reports also provide important business intelligence regarding usage rates for a catalog, or specific writers, artists, and tracks, as well as gauging revenue patterns over time.

The company has also extended its reach to include TV broadcasts in eight new European territories: Austria, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, in addition to over 200 channels in the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy.

HFA to Administer Publishing for Spotify U.S. Launch

NYC-based The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA) has entered into a publishing licensing, administration and management agreement with the digital music service Spotify.

Under the agreement, HFA will clear mechanical publishing rights for Spotify, licensing certain rights in millions of musical works from thousands of publishers. Spotify will utilize HFA’s end-to-end publishing licensing, reporting, and royalty services to support their launch in the U.S.

HFA currently has more than 46,000 affiliated publishers.

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