Vol 2, Issue 13: Alternative Sources of Revenue Pt IV: Licensing & Songwriting, Indie Vs. Major Representation

It is possible for musicians, without representation, to both license and write songs for various purchasers, but as Simon Wilcox, a highly successful songwriter for EMI Music Publishing notes, signing a deal with representation helped her enormously. In terms of finding appropriate opportunities for her music, expanding her portfolio, and allowing for collaboration with industry veterans, EMI more than helped her get her foot in the door. With projects including writing for Juliette Lewis, Three Days Grace, and The Trews on her resume, EMI presented Wilcox with breaks she likely wouldn’t have been able to muster on her own. But in saying that, she most certainly credits her perseverance, and hard work as factors in her success. After all, if it wasn’t for her already established impressive songwriting portfolio, she likely wouldn’t have grabbed EMI’s attention.

According to Michael McCarty, Managing Director of EMI Music Publishing Canada and a graduate of Fanshawe’s very own MIA program, EMI only signs about one out of every thousand artists they review (and keep in mind artists are ONLY reviewed if they have been recommended through a previously established connection). However, Steve Thomson of Backstage Productions offers more of an optimistic view with his new talent recruitment protocol.

Unlike the majors, Backstage Productions and other independent music publishers are willing to accept unsolicited material, and even provide funding for the recording of a demo, if they truly believe that the songwriter has got what it takes. Take David Baccha, for example.

Starting out as a controversial radio discjockey in Cleveland, Ohio, Baccha migrated to Toronto to elude government authorities that weren’t too happy with the satirical content of his show (to say the least). Again, through the magic of connections, he was able to hook up with Steve, then the manager for Ronnie Hawkins, who instantly recognized Baccha’s potential and contracted him as a songwriter for his company. Throughout his career, Baccha has had the privilege of undertaking many songwriting endeavours including writing for numerous commercial campaigns, and movie scores. Maintaining his American roots, Baccha also initiated a writing deal with Jimmy Inner, drummer for Lighthouse, and the composer behind the “Dirty Dancing Soundtrack”. Through Inner, he obtained the opportunity to write for pop-band Dejavu, which spawned for Baccha, a series of billboard charting hits.

Despite the fact that both Wilcox and Baccha have carved out successful songwriting careers for themselves, they continue to compose their own original material, and participate in various gigs on the side. According to Wilcox, “a successful song in Canada is worth about four figures on average, five, if you're lucky, but that can vary greatly depending on [the song’s genre] and where it is being played.” In general, it would seem that pop songs, because there are more outlets for distribution, tend to generate higher revenues, and instrumental tracks, especially if intended for synchronization use, are easier to sell.

Although, as Wilcox indicated, a single composition can allot a songwriter a substantial chunk of change, Baccha quickly pointed out that because royalty payments are issued annually, budgeting one’s expenses carefully is absolutely essential. Elaborating on this point, Baccha also explained that songwriting does not earn a writer a consistent paycheck because there is no way to guarantee the success of a given track. In fact, he has personally had tracks that weren’t “discovered” (or profitable) until TEN years after their initial release!

From my own personal experiences with licensing, I can tell you that I have had a moderate amount of success including having ANTI-HERO’s album featured on MTV’s hit tv series, Next, WITHOUT being signed to a music publisher. However, the opportunities with which I’ve been presented are sporadic at best, and are usually “exposure deals” in which there is little or no monetary exchange. In addition to music publishers, there are several licensing agencies whose job it is to solicit the work of independent artists to various music buyers, but after two years of being signed to a handful of these agencies, I’m still waiting for something to come into fruition!However with the growing popularity of sites such as www.youlicense.com , a site designed for independent musicians to solicit their music directly to music purchasers FREE of charge, things may be changing.

Both Backstage Productions and EMI Music Publishing are always on the look out for new emerging talent to feature on various projects, and if you want to be successful in this alternative artist arena, diversity will be your ticket.

For more detailed information on songwriting and licensing, Baccha suggests picking up a copy of Songwriters magazine, an industry publication issued by the Songwriters Association of Canada.

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry is the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase.

Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.For more information on Rose Cora Perry and her band's accomplishments, please visit http://www.anti-hero.ca/ or http://www.rosecoraperry.com/

Vol 2, Issue 12: Alternative Sources of Revenue Pt III: Licensing & Songwriting: An Overview

It’s wasn’t until "1234" made its debut in Apple’s 2007 advertising campaign for their latest iPod Nano that Leslie Feist, more commonly referred to solely by her surname, became a worldwide phenomenon. Despite the fact that she had been performing in and out of many notable acts since the 70s, had previously toured with the likes of The Ramones, and had released two solo albums previous to her current effort, The Reminder, for Feist, it was a licensing agreement that finally sealed the deal. This kind of a story, according to music industry experts, is not uncommon.

*To view Feist's Apple Ipod commercial, please visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=tkpdJ_0ubXI*

In fact, Steve Thomson of Backstage Productions, a Canadian independent music publisher, informed me that the licensing of a single song, if picked up by the right client, can set a songwriter for life! So why, then, aren’t more musicians taking advantage of this aspect of the industry? Well, it’s NOT as easy to navigate as one may anticipate.

In addition to the fact that one literally needs to apprise themselves of a dictionary’s worth of technical jargon, success in music publishing is highly dependent upon connections, and therefore, tends to be restrictive in many ways. As unsolicited material is generally NOT accepted, making it as a new aspiring songwriter is anything but easy. To make matters worse, resources regarding this area of the industry are limited, and it would seem that, based on my own personal experiences trying to track down songwriters and music publishers alike for interviews, this is no coincidence. However, my persistence finally paid off! Based on my findings, I hope that I will be able to shine some light on this rather contentious employment avenue from both an indie and major perspective. But, before we get started, a review of some key definitions is required.

First and foremost, it’s important to establish the difference between licensing and songwriting:
Licensing is the act of granting permission to a purchaser (which may include: a media/production company, ad agency, cd compilation manufacturer and/or film producer) to feature one of your originally written and recorded compositions in a creative project whereas there is a promise of remuneration for your contribution. Payment may take the form of an upfront flat rate per song or royalty payment depending upon the success of the project. In some situations, the licensing of a song is granted to a purchaser free of charge if there is promise of potential exposure, which may in turn lead to further commercial success for the artist.

Songwriting, on the other hand, again involves the granting of a license of an original composition by an artist, but, the purchaser is free to edit and re-record the work for the project. Songwriting purchasers most often include: established recording artists, media/production companies, and ad agencies.

Either avenue can involve exclusive or non-exclusive agreements, and fees will vary depending upon whether or not you have representation. However, it’s important to note that the practise of selling song ownership has long been out of use. Whether you license material off of your current band’s album, or write songs for fellow artists, as the original songwriter, you will maintain the ownership of all of your song(s), will be credited for all of your contributions, and are able to both release your songs commercially through your own means concurrently with your licensing efforts and/or grant licenses to a variety of companies for a single track unless specified otherwise by an exclusive agreement.

So then what exactly is a music publisher? According to the Canadian government, the primary role of a music publisher is to act on behalf of authors of musical works as an intermediary between the artist and the marketplace. Aside from finding advantageous placements for their songwriters’ compositions, music publishers, whether independent or major, are additionally responsible for negotiating contracts on behalf of their songwriters, and fulfilling all of the necessary paperwork to ensure that their songwriters are receiving compensation in the form of royalties for their efforts.

Within Canada, there are four main types of contracts that outline royalty and ownership splits between the music publisher and its songwriters, but the two most commonly in use are the standard music publishing agreement (50/50 split between the publisher and songwriter), and the co-publishing agreement (songwriter is entitled to 75% of the gross royalties earned). For more information on the kinds of available publishing agreements, please visit:
http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/pubs/statistical_profile/3_e.cfm

One last area that we need to conquer prior to delving too deep into the realm of licensing and songwriting, concerns royalties (I promise I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible). In Canada, there are three basic forms of royalty payment that are issued: mechanical, synch, and performance fees:

1) Mechanical royalties have been set at the industry standard of 8 cents per song, and are awarded based on commercial sales. This means that the more the project on which your song is featured sells, the more money you will be paid for your contribution, and if you have multiple songs featured on a project, you will collect profits for each track.

2) Synchronization royalties (more commonly known as synch fees) follow more of a play-pay method in which payment is dependent upon how frequently your song is aired in conjunction with a video project. Synch royalties would be awarded to you if one of your songs is used as "theme" or "background" piece for a commercial, movie, news track, video game or DVD. Currently, synch fees are negotiated on an individual basis.

3) Finally, performance royalties are paid directly to original artists for the live performance of their works at various venues including clubs, radio, and tv stations, and internet webcasts.

For the purposes of this article, I will not be discussing where the details of the monetary exchanges in each of case, but if you would like more information regarding royalty payment in Canada, please visit SOCAN’s official website located at http://www.socan.ca/

About the Author:

Rose Cora Perry is the frontwoman for Canadian hard rock band ANTI-HERO known as “The 21st Century Answer to Nirvana”, as well as the sole owner and operator of HER Records, a management company in which she offers marketing, promotion, publicity, tour booking, and artist development services.

Her band ANTI-HERO has toured extensively across North America playing notable festivals such as Warped Tour, Canadian Music Week, NorthbyNorthEast, Wakefest, and MEANYFest.

Voted “Best Rock Act of the Year” by numerous industry publications, their critically acclaimed debut album, "Unpretty" is available worldwide for purchase.

Rose Cora Perry is a dedicated promoter of D.I.Y. ethics, and an avid supporter of independent musicians.For more information on Rose Cora Perry and her band's accomplishments, please visit http://www.anti-hero.ca/ or http://www.rosecoraperry.com/