Music IndustryIndependent Recording Companies and Independent recording

artists/bands

Independent Music Institution

UK Based indie/rock independent record label

Part of the 30% of global market not controlled by The Big Three

One individual company, not supported by other members of a conglomerate

Have to fight for a good reputation

Make money by having band/label merchandise, high price concerts and physical/digital sales of their bands records

Making Money

A Wolf at Your Door caters to a fragmented audience by mainly distributing digital through their own website or links with distribution platforms such as iTunes and Spotify. In doing this, they can cater for a global audience, which was near impossible for independent companies decades ago who would have to pay physical distribution fees for CDs, tapes and vinyl. The readily available and more affordable digital software and technologies have been most beneficial to independent labels and have changed the way the audience consumes music. They also make more money through gigs and merchandise found on their website.

Overall, it is clear to see that the rightful ownership of music has been blurred in the digital era. This is damaging to all companies within the industry be it major (like Sony) or independent (such as A Wolf at Your Door). Now that audiences have many ways of obtaining music it is harder to control the profit and rightful fees that belong to labels and artists. We are no longer all consuming music purely from fixed time radio broadcasts that have to pay PRS fees to labels. So the digital era has warped our consumption of media. Be this beneficial for independent labels but also damaging to all in the industry

A Wolf at Your Door/Sony Cross Media Convergence

Last year, A Wolf at Your Door had to sell the ownership rights of one of their most profitable bands, Deaf Havana to Sony to keep afloat. This exchange between Sony and smaller independent labels is beneficial to both companies who will both receive profit from this deal.

Sony get an up-coming band to promote and will benefit from the music sold. A Wolf at Your Door retain rights to gigs and merchandise, so will benefit from the extra publicity that Sony will generate for the band, this means that they can keep afloat and hopefully find the ‘next big thing,’ when the same cross – media approach will mean that both parties again can make money

Dr Rubberfunk – Independent artist case

study

Homework

Find and analyse an independent record company’s website:

Ghost Box

Finders Keepers

Distort Entertainment

What genre is Dr Rubberfunk’s music?

Soul/Funk/Hip Hop

Record label?

Distribution?

Publishing? Have a look at the websites for each of these companies and find out who they are and what they do.

For last album Hot Stone:

State 51 Conspiracy - digital distributionPhysical distribution (CD &

Vinyl)

Creative Control

Because of the way Dr Rubberfunk produces his music and his relationship with his label, he has much more control over the creative process and decisions about the direction of his career.

Quite different to how a band like One Direction would be managed with a huge A&R team, marketing department, artist management team, etc. all having an input!

In some of the usual places, e.g. independent record stores, HMV, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, but also many other

sites.

Where can you access Dr Rubberfunk’s music? Do an online search to see for yourself.

Why is digital distribution important for artists like Dr Rubberfunk? Digital distribution is much cheaper. Physical distribution is

expensive as requires an initial outlay to press CDs/vinyl and transport them to retailers, etc. – you need to be sure you are going to sell enough to get a return.

Music is more accessible to a wider audience through a range of platforms. With physical distribution it is difficult to reach everyone – i.e. expense and difficulty of getting your music in record stores and retailers nationwide. Many retailers (e.g. supermarkets) focus more on a limited range of mainstream pop music so wouldn’t stock this.

Can potentially reach a global audience.

What is the downside of digital distribution? Piracy/illegal downloading – even greater threat to independent

labels and artists like Dr Rubberfunk who do not benefit from the resources and connections of larger independents or major labels to promote to a larger audience or proactively explore other ways of generating revenue from their music.

Distribution

Where does Dr

Rubberfunk’s

revenue come from?

Licencing, e.g. Red Bull event,

Driver video game

Selling CDs – Own albums and featuring on

compilations e.g. Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club

Album, Driver: San Francisco Soundtrack

Selling Vinyl (LP & 12”)

Airplay Royalties from radio (e.g. BBC 6 Music,

international radio stations) and TV (e.g. played in

Eastenders café scenes)Click here for some info on

amount per radio play

Merchandising (e.g. T-Shirts

on dizzyjam.com)

Performing at live events (DJ

at festivals etc.)

Digital downloads – iTunes, etc.

Royalties from track plays on streaming

services such as Spotify, YouTube

and iTunes preview

Producing, mixing and remixing for

other artists as well as co-

writing

Reaching an audience Dr Rubberfunk uses new media technology to connect with

and build an audience. He can also connect with other musicians and professionals in the industry. Research his social media pages to see how. Some examples:

Shares and promotes current and recent releases, as well as unofficial tracks he is experimenting with. Has also found new musicians to work with here and gets ideas/connections for future work/collaborations

Shares images of things he’s working on, photos of record collection …as well as minis, sunsets, etc.!

Interacting with fans and industry professionals

Archive of themed mixtapes from over the years plus radio features, etc.

Not forgetting Facebook, Rubberfunk.net, Flickr, Funkydown.com, Ello, Discogs…

Reaching an audienceWhy is this particularly important for an independent artist like Dr

Rubberfunk to use online media?

Can reach target audience (without the power of traditional mass marketing).

Can reach a wider audience – build a fan base.

Can target a niche audience – connect with fans, fans sharing content – viral effect, connect with online communities.

Does not have the benefits of being part of a horizontally and vertically integrated organisation.

Making Money from YouTubeNew Technology & Distribution

Some content taken from http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/05/tidal-10-things-you-need-to-know-jay-z-madonna-music-streaming

What about YouTube and Google?

YouTube is the world’s most popular music streaming service, with a large chunk of its 1 billion monthly viewers watching music videos – especially younger users.

YouTube

YouTube is trying to get people to pay for music too: it has launched its own Spotify rival, YouTube Music Key, with a similar model of a free, ad-supported tier then a £9.99 monthly subscription with more features.

But YouTube is already a free way to listen to almost any song ever recorded. Some in the music industry fear that if Spotify’s free tier is restricted or even shut down, listeners will drift away to YouTube – which pays much less per stream – rather than subscription services.

YouTube

Watch the BBC's overview video of the YouTube Music Key service: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30024427

What difficulties might YouTube have in attracting paid subscribers? Why?

In what ways could this service be seen as a threat to existing services such as Spotify?

So, what do record labels think about YouTube as a revenue stream?

Read the following and highlight key points (please note this is from 2013 and some figures have since changed).

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jan/04/record-labels-making-money-youtube

Some excerpts from the article:

Mills says the highest unit revenue for streaming comes from Spotify – a significant multiple of what Beggars makes from YouTube, though the number of streams on the latter is greater.

"We're anticipating YouTube becoming our most important revenue stream in the future," Leach (from Cooking Vinyl) concludes.

Songwriters & Publishers

Article focusing on the rights of songwriters and publishers to claim revenue from YouTube plays, in light of all the content on YouTube (e.g. cover versions) that uses their work:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jan/18/can-songwriters-make-money-youtube

Is this all about the big guns?

Google v Apple v Spotify v Tidal v Deezer… but there’s another trend worth watching, which is the growth of fan-funding and direct sales sites, such as Bandcamp and Patreon, for independent musicians.

Is this all about the big guns?

Bandcamp helps artists sell their own music and pays out $3.5m a month to its network of musicians.

With Patreon, fans commit to paying a small amount whenever an artist releases something new: it pays out $2m a month.

Is this all about the big guns?

If Tidal represents big artists seeking more control of digital music, these fan/crowdfunding and direct sales sites fulfil a similar role for independent musicians.

Better partnerships with them may even be the way for Tidal, Spotify and other streaming services to show themselves as truly artist-friendly

Stretch & Challenge

Read the following – an interesting insight from a musician using YouTube:

http://zoekeating.tumblr.com/post/108898194009/what-should-i-do-about-youtube?utm_campaign=SharedPost&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=TumblriOS