| Dear Friends and Colleagues |
Firstly, I hope that all of you together with your loved ones had a thoroughly enjoyable and restful Christmas and New Year holiday. Now that we are all back in the fray, I thought I would drop you a line about one of the key issues currently on our agenda. As you know, our recent and very intensive political lobbying has paid off – thanks to your efforts. The video message(www.ppluk.com/fairplay) to the Prime Minister and the letters to MPs have got through. Just before Christmas, the Government announced a change of heart on copyright term. In his speech to the Creators’ Conference, Andy Burnham revealed that they have now accepted that the term should be extended in principle, although they still fall short of offering performers parity with other creators. We will continue to talk to them about moving to 95 years. Our focus is now shifting to Europe where the draft Copyright Term Directive is being debated. There are two crucial votes coming up in the European Parliament in February and March. We have already been talking to many of the MEPs (Members of the European Parliament), urging them to support us. If you would like to help further in the Fair Play for Musicians campaign, then you could write to your MEP, urging him/her to vote for the Copyright Term Directive. The main points to make are below. Just choose two or three to include in your email: |
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You could also ask them if they will be supporting this Directive. We will put the names of all supportive MEPs on the PPL website. Make sure your MEP is added to the list! You can find your MEP by looking at the European Parliament website http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/MembersMain.htm. If you click on your region, you will find a list of half a dozen MEPs, all of whom represent you in Europe, with their email addresses. If you are feeling strong, send an email to each of them, and copy my colleaguedominic.mcgonigal@ppluk.com. Many thanks again for your support in this. That support is showing results and we are determined that in these final stages we get the copyright term that you deserve. Watch this space and in the meantime, on behalf of all of us here at PPL, I offer our very best wishes for 2009. Kind regards Fran |
FRAN NEVRKLA PPL WATCH OUR VIDEO MESSAGE TO GORDON BROWN AT www.ppluk.com/fairplay |
Category: Strategy (Page 10 of 11)
Strategy, policy, ideas, opinions and discussion of
Can you give away MP3 downloads of your music for FREE and increase your sales income?
I think you can but have a look and make up your own mind, here’s a few things i sent to some people i work with for discussion,
listen to this: http://freetail.tumblr.com/post/69439673/bbc-radio-4-program-on-free
have a read of this:
“Is the business model of the future one where the customer no longer pays? Already products in the digital marketplace are being given away free, yet companies are still making profits.
The internet has created a revolution for free products, says Anderson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7811481.stm
One firm believer in this increasingly common business model is Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine.
He claims the costs in the digital world are so low that both the companies and their customers are winners. ”
also
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2347/125/
and
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1194442
I just came across this one whilst looking into the whole Copyright thing again. It is dated July so there may have been some discussion between all parties since then but there is clearly a genuine diversity in viewpoint.
If you have any interest in this, you know what to do.
The piece was described as “A musician’s look at the changing music industry” with Jeff Balke – “…..I’m not a huge fan of copyrights, nor am I a some corporate lackey who wants the world to remain for sale to the highest bidder. But, I do understand the practical nature of capitalism and the human nature of musicians. With all due respect to Andrew Dubber, who I respect immensely, his concept may seem like a great idea in theory. In practice, it would be a creative and logistical nightmare.”
well, would it? Read all about it and think for yourself: http://blogs.chron.com/brokenrecord/2008/07/dubber_copyrights_should_last.html
I thought you would like to see the video message to the Prime Minister recorded by some of your performer colleagues. You can view it here http://www.ppluk.com/fairplay and, if you feel inspired, you can even record your own video message and send it in. The video message was delivered this morning to the Prime Minister, urging him to support musicians and our industry by backing the Copyright Term Directive.
His Minister, John Denham, is still refusing to support us and he has been attempting to block this Directive in discussions in the European Council of Ministers. A number of musicians have now written to their local MPs and we are noticing that this is increasing the pressure on the Government to review their position. I would like to repeat my thanks to you for taking the trouble to take this up with your MP. If you have not yet done this, there is still time. You can find your MPs at www.locata.co.uk/commons. Please send them the link to the video.
The arguments remain the same. It is only fair that performers should have the same copyright term as other artists, such as composers, lyricists, photographers, authors and graphic artists. They get life plus 70. We are limited to 50 years from the release of the recording.
The USA has increased copyright term for performers and producers to 95 years. The European Commission has drafted the Copyright Term Directive to take our copyright term up to 95 years. The French and German governments are supporting this. In the UK, the opposition parties, the Culture Select Committee and numerous backbench MPs support this proposal. But our own Government continues to refuse to back this Directive.
The UK Government needs to hear that we are not giving up on this. Musicians deserve a fair copyright term.
FRAN NEVRKLA
Chairman & CEO, PPL and VPL
PPL
1 Upper James Street, London W1F 9DE
T +44 (0)20 7534 1000 / F +44 (0)20 7534 1111
PLEASE VISIT THE NEW WEBSITE http://www.ppluk.com/“>http://www.PPLUK.COM”>http://www.PPLUK.COM” style=”font-size: 8pt; color: rgb(255, 129, 0); font-family: ‘Arial Black’; “>http://www.PPLUK.COM”>WWW.PPhttp://www.PPLUK.COM”>LUK.COM
A year on this is still an important piece of writing…..
Band manager, label owner, promoter and magazine producer, Scott Roe certainly knows his way around the various paths to making a living in the music industry. Scott explains that we need to get our terminology right and then work out who is best placed to make creative use of public funding.
The West Midlands’ music industry – strengths and Weaknesses
The West Midlands’ music industry is a phrase that is used far too often in inappropriate ways. Often the phrase “industry” is used instead of business. My view is that if we truly look at the music industry sector within the region there is little to say or discuss as the industry infrastructure is very small indeed and what we have here is a string of related “music business” set-ups that work loosely within the wider music industry itself.
The success of the region musically need not be tied to how much or little of a music “industry” infrastructure we do or don’t have. It may well be more of a case of how well our music businesses talk to the wider communities.
Despite the major changes and advancements within the wider music industry, the Midlands should be trying to “do it all”. The digital age has brought potential rewards for non-major companies such as greater distribution, recording, licensing advantages etc. However, if the region is to export major amounts of music across the UK and beyond, it must also embrace traditional routes to market.
The traditional methods used within the industry may not be as cost effective as they once were in terms of investment verses profit, but they are still massively powerful. The major players and mid players have of course shifted their focus regarding the “digital revolution” which leaves less of a vacuum than there was at the beginnings of this new period. Whilst middle men can be cut out of the equation now in many ways the key players in a music business team are still required. Breaking a band these days is less done by the majors than the smaller independent companies, but the power of PR, Pluggers and the traditional forms of media are not diminished.
One of the region’s major weaknesses, I believe, is that most people working within the music sector do not understand the basic principles of the business. Knowledge of the business would be a very good first step and of course the other 90% of the mix does not relate to knowledge as much as experience, contacts and a general’s flair for the kind of challenges faced. I am here referring more perhaps to managers, small labels and publishers rather than people dealing with the complex nature of “Industry”.
So the difference between business and industry must be drawn firmly as many newcomers are claiming to be “in the industry”. Having dozens of inexperienced people masquerading as industry does no good for the region’s image or for artists. Many of the music business people are part-time and often working for no salary. Whilst this is to be applauded it would be beneficial for people learning the ropes to engage with more experienced contacts before leaping into the hard-nosed arena of the music industry.
To summarise:
Strengths
* The region is extremely diverse in terms of musical output, creative business ideas and management styles.
* Good range of small music venues which have always been a good breeding ground for new talent.
* Spirit, determination and passion for succeeding within the music business.
* Experienced music industry players who have a wealth of experience working throughout the UK and abroad.
* The location should be a huge advantage for us.
* The perception of the region’s music scene has risen dramatically over the last five years or so.
Weaknesses:
* Lack of skilled music managers, skilled business types involved with music business or vision to explore markets outside of the UK by many.
* Inappropriate use of funding on a yearly basis; too much discussion and talk about “The industry”
* Lack of medium-sized music venues (that old chestnut!)
Best practise within the region?
There are many examples of best practise some of which include:
Zoot promotions
working for many years finding their way through the music industry channels, early work with New Electrics amongst others led the way for them to “break” Editors and now The Twang.
Arthur Tapp – Catapult club
A promoter who has done much for the region’s live scene, consistently putting on solid nights at various venues such as The Jug of Ale and The Academy. His perseverance put him in a position whereby various A&R contact him on a regular basic to see what is happening in the city.
Gavin – Magic Garden
A great track record from working with bands such as The Smiths, Carina Round, Nizloppi, The Twang etc. Gavin has been a vital link man between the wider music industry and a number of the regions acts over the years.
Mark Badger – Iron Man records
The Music network has done some important work in uniting people across the region with a common musical purpose. Through his relentless work Mark has also ensured that certain important artists have gained recognition and signposted people to the right people.
Markus Sargent – Glee club
Provided important groundwork with the Songwriters festival and other key shows whilst promoting at Ronnie Scotts then The Glee Club booking quality international acts generating much media attention – a huge boost for the region.
Andy Roberts
Andy & myself producing “Media Assassin” fanzine now for five years and this has become somewhat of a barometer for the music industry as regards what is hot in Birmingham. We have dozens of high profile music industry subscribers including, Sony, Warner Chapel, Radio One, Hall Or Nothing, Parlophone, The NME, etc and we have championed many acts such as Editors, The Twang, Liner and Vijay Kishore.
Solar Creations
Run by myself, helping to book and promote acts before they broke placing them on the same bill as artists like Mystery Jets, Ooberman, Mark Morris (bluetones), we have carved out contacts overseas with help from Chamber of commerce funding and have now secured a US publishing deal, Hollywood movie sound track and various licensing deals for Birmingham band “Liner”
What are the next steps?
* Less democracy and more firm decision-making.
* Clear accountability for all funding spend.
* Engaging key player within the business.
* We shouldn’t try “to be London”, we must seek the help and advice of music business experts outside of the city and build up strong relationships
* Less posturing and politics.
* We must not look at the UK as being all important, but neither should we haphazardly send representatives around the world on business trips.
* Don’t “out-cool” ourselves. Too many people playing it cool end up isolated because of this. Don’t be cool unless you have the punch to back it up.
* More music managers needed with relevant skills.
* A firm grounding in business practise is needed.
* As a region – stop using unqualified “music lawyers” and engage with the high profile lawyers in London OR develop really good music lawyers in the region.
* Smaller salaries for people working within think-tank style music departments, especially people whose business knowledge does not extend to the relevant music areas and yet they still have power to direct money etc.
The key thing is to empower capable people within the music business to just do it. If a steering group or committee can’t decide which people should be supported or if they can decide but doesn’t make this happen, they should be dealt with. I really do hope that the cycle of steering groups, bumper salaries for unskilled workers, ill-placed trust and fraud is ended soon, I expect it will just move to whatever business sector is receiving most attention and funding in the future.
On a final note, I think that the most important thing at this stage for the perception of the region is for the right people to be seen carrying the flag and approaching the wider music community in the correct way. Someone working for the public sector, speaking to Sony and saying “I’m a leading music industry worker and I have a really good band…” isn’t the way forward. The egos must be left behind and the pots of money must be distributed to people with real knowledge and integrity.
About the Author
Scott Roe manages the band Liner and handles music licensing across Europe and the US. He also runs Solar Creations, a record label based in Birmingham which has released the work of numerous West Midlands acts. Scott also helps produce the fanzine Media Assassin which has accumulated high-profile industry subscribers in the five years since its inception.
http://www.myspace.com/solarcreations
