> Man, you have GOT to be kidding . . .
>
> "Multi-million dollar record companies closing up" ???? Not likely. The
> US music industry, RIAA, et al. may be slightly concerned, but don't think
> for a minute that the industry is packing up and shutting down.
>
> First, while there is a small amount of bootlegging going on via the net,
> it really only counts for a 1-3% decrease in profit for the majors.
> Second, what you must remember is that most of the major record companies
> are units of MUCH larger international entertainment
> conglomerates anyway.
>
> For example, take Universal studios: They count A&M, Geffen, MCA,
> Universal, Interscope, Mercury, Island, London, Polydor, Motown and Def
> Jam; country music's MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville; jazz's
> Verve, GRP
> and Impulse!; and classical’s Decca, Philips and Deutsche Grammophon among
> their labels. They do business in 48 countries, and sell 25% of ALL the
> recorded music sold in the U.S, which amounts to something like
> $18 billion
> for tapes and CD's alone. But not only do they sell CD's and tapes. They
> own the plants that make them. They own the publishing rights to the music
> in many cases. They own the channels through which the music is
> distributed. They own the venues where live concerts happen. They also
> make a great deal of money PROMOTING concerts. They have VAULTS full of
> material that has been recorded for them over the years that belongs to
> them and can be reissued at any time, and the list goes on.
>
> Sony Music is another example of the same thing. They hold Columbia, CBS,
> Epic and Work records in their fold, and they have some of the hottest
> growth in the industry right now. And they are similarly vertically
> integrated as Uni is.
>
> Owning a record company is like a license to print money, especially when
> you have the critical mass to vertically integrate like the giants do.
> Think about the process: you sign a young band and they record for you.
> After paying a couple of hundred thousand to the producer and the band and
> the studio and the mastering studio and the pressing, you have a product
> that costs you about $3 to mass produce. You sell it in stores for $19.99
> regular price, $14.99 on sale. Sell one CD and you've made five
> times what
> you paid to make it.
>
> Then Radio starts playing your artist's single, and they're paying you
> their royalty -- which may be cents per play, but in the case of a top-40
> single that gets into high rotation that song may be played once an hour
> for a couple of weeks -- as is music television. Then your artist is on
> the road touring. While there are some upfront costs again, the tickets
> are like $40 and you're skimming 35-50% of that as profit. Then
> you take a
> concert video of that show and sell IT in stores for more profit still.
>
> In short, the music industry is NOT hurting, at least not right now. MP3
> is a concern, but not enough of one that anything will be done about it
> soon. In any case, before some one puts that MP3 out on the net and says
> "Screw the record companies . . . " I'd like to ask that you consider who
> you're really hurting: the artists.
>
> The artists are probably the worst done-by in this deal. They often have
> to give up the rights to their music, which means their payment comes only
> on the original recording, not on any of the spin off stuff. And the
> royalty can be as low as .25c per CD. Granted, $250,000 is nothing to
> sneeze at on a platinum record, but if you're in a four-piece band, you're
> splitting that between four guys and all of a sudden you're down to
> $62,500. Not a bad wage, you say? Well, for what these guys go through,
> all the touring and the PR and stuff, it's not nearly enough. I see it
> first hand when a hard working band comes into Muchmusic for an
> appearance.
> Typically, their record company has scheduled them to do a whirlwind day
> in Toronto, perhaps three or four appearances where they have to load in
> their gear, play, answer some inane questions, sign autographs and talk
> with fans, load out their gear and move on to the next venue. The day
> usually starts like 7:00 and goes 'til about 2:00am the next morning,
> because the last stop is a local club show. Then it's back in the van or
> on the bus to the next city to repeat the process. It's a lot of work and
> if you've signed away your publishing rights, you're getting 62,5 for all
> that work. No overtime, no premiums, no guarantee that you'll be doing
> this next year.
>
> These are the people that MP3 bootlegging hurts.
>
> Personally, I see nothing wrong with making MP3's out of CD's one has
> bought and owns legally. The precedent for that is well known
> and has been
> upheld many times. It's exactly the same as recording your records to
> tapes. In fact, I'm also building an MP3 changer for my Dak.
>
> I have a bigger problem with people who take advantage of a
> technology like
> this and rip off the artists who have worked hard to produce the material
> that I enjoy listening to. While I'm not normally one to be a zealous
> crusader, let me say this: Buy your music. Buy it on sale or at a
> discount or however you have to do it to make it work for you, but PAY for
> it so that our artists get paid.
>
> my nickle's worth
> -ch
Very well said Chris! I could not have said it better.. BTW you missed one
of the top 3 music conglomerates...Bertelsmann AG which owns...
Arista
Arista Nashville
RCA Victor
RCA Nashville
Volcano
Bad Boy
V2
GetMusic.Com
20% of AOL
Milan Records
BMG Latin
BMG Classics
BMG Video
CMC International
PEEPS.COM
TWANGTHIS.COM
BUGJUICE.COM
Ariola A&R
SonoPress
Bertelsmann Publishing AG
Random House
Bantam,Dell,Doubleday
Looks like they got publishing as a whole well covered...
Greg
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