''Progressive All The Way''

If you're trying to get started in the music business, it can sound like everyone is speaking a different language, with all of their demos, promos, one sheets and whozits and whatzits. Don't know the lingo? Don't sweat it! These basic music industry terms will give you all of the vocab you need to talk like an old hat music biz pro. If you want to know more about any of the terms here, just click on the word and you'll go to a more in depth definition.

360 Deals
Definition:

360 deals are contracts that allow a record label to receive a percentage of the earnings from ALL of a band's activities instead of just record sales. Under 360 deals, also called "multiple rights deals," record labels may get a percentage of things that were previously off limits to them, like:

* Concert revenue
* Merchandise sales
* Endorsement deals
* Ringtones

In exchange for getting a bigger cut from the artists they represent, the labels say they will commit to promoting the artist for a longer period of time and will actively try and develop new opportunities for them. In essence, the label will function as a pseudo-manager and look after the artist's entire career rather than only focusing on selling records.

360 deals are controversial for a lot of reasons. First of all, they're often seen a cynical money grab by labels that are facing dwindling sales and high overhead. The charge is that labels have survived a long time without these kinds of deals, so it would seem that they're suffering from a failure to manage their businesses and react appropriately to the changing industry - asking the bands to foot the bill hardly seems fair. Other people object to the whole "band branding" notion that makes 360 deals so potentially profitable for labels. A great example is The Pussycat Dolls. Sure, the branding has been a huge success - but where exactly does the music fit into the picture?

Labels counter that these deals let them sign different kinds of artists because they don't have to be so focused on recouping their investment from album sales. They can stop chasing the instant number one and work with artist in the long haul because they don't need to rely on big sales figures alone to make signing the artist profitable.

Controversial or not, 360 deals are becoming increasingly common in major label contracts.
Also Known As: Multiple Rights Deals

Agent
Definition:

In the strict definition of the word, an agent is a person who is responsible for booking shows for bands. Agents approach promoters about shows, negotiate contracts for live performances and basically make sure the wheels of a concert tour, or even a single show, turn smoothly. An agent will work with the promoter to make sure that everything a band needs will be at the venue, that there is an appropriate soundcheck period set aside for the band, and of course, what the payment will be for the performance and if accommodation will be provided by the promoter. Want only red M&Ms backstage? Your agent is the one who will make sure the promoter knows.

An agent working with small indie bands may step outside the strict role of an agent to occasionally promote shows. For all of this work, you can expect an agent to take a percentage of your income from your shows. Expect to pay between 10% and 15%, though 20% is not entirely unheard of. Note that this percentage refers to your base pay from the gig only, and does not include money you earned at the show through CD and merchandise sales.

Big Four Record Labels
Definition:

The Big Four record labels are the four major records labels. They are:

* Sony BMG
* Universal Music Group
* EMI
* Warner Music Group

Big Four labels/major record labels represent the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year.

Artists who are signed to a Big Four record label are either signed to the central label or signed to a subsidiary of the label. For instance, a band may be signed to Sony, or they may be signed to the Sony subsidiary label Columbia Records. These subsidiary labels have their staff and usually sign their own artists and make most of their own financial decisions. However, they are answerable to the "main" company, which sets their overall budget and makes decisions like reducing staff at the subsidiary.

In this respect, the hierarchacal structure of a major label can be quite complex and can differ a bit from label to label. In essence, a Big Four label is a corporation that manages several smaller businesses. In addition to the labels that are divisions of the major, these Big Four record companies also sometimes offer distribution to indie labels. Under these deals, the major label offers the indie's releases to stores along with their own releases, but they do not have a say in what albums the indie releases or how the indie manages their label.
Also Known As: Major Record Labels

Digital Rights Management Controversy
The History of Music Management

If you look at the history of the music industry, you will notice a familiar cycle of events playing out. A technological breakthrough comes along that makes sharing of recorded music between fans easier, and the music industry jumps up and down, shouts about the death of music, and attempts to shut down or control that technology by any means possible. Right back to the old "home taping is killing music" days (which ended up netting the major labels a penny off of the price of every blank cassette sold) to today, with music downloads and P2P file sharing networks, the music business has always had a love/hate relationship with new technology.

It is, of course, this brave new digital music world that is currently keeping the industry awake at night. The internet has opened up a tremendous number of opportunities for sharing music, from file sharing networks to CD-Rs, and in the face of dwindling music sales, the record labels naturally want to find a way to turn these new music markets into revenue streams and control the distribution of the music catalogs. The answer they came up with? Digital Rights Management - DRM.

What is DRM?

DRM is software included on a CD or tied to a music file that controls the way you can use the file. It may prevent music from being copied, it may prevent you from listening to a particular music file on more than one computer or playback device, it may dictate the kind of playback device you need to use to listen to your track, or it may do some combination of these things. The basic idea behind DRM in any application is that you pay a price for a CD or a song, and the record label gets to determine how much usage of that song the price you paid gets you. For instance, buying a CD may entitle you to listen to it over and over again, but with DRM software installed, the record label gets to say that the price you paid does not entitle you to copy that CD for your friends by blocking those songs from being copied. DRM is what makes the songs downloaded from iTunes only play on iPods (unless you pay for the special DRM free version) and it is what blocks you from sharing a song more than three times on paid music downloading services.

DRM Lawsuits

Starting around 2002, the major record labels started going ga-ga for DRM and began including it on just about everything they could find. At first, DRM was only found on promo CDs, to stop the flow of unreleased tracks to the internet, but it didn't take long for DRM to find its way onto just about every commercial release. The problem came to a head in 2005, when it came to light that Sony had included DRM on some of their releases without warning customers (DRM including a rootkit that caused computer security issues). Cue millions of CD recalls and several class action lawsuits. In the end, Sony agreed to do away with DRM loaded CDs - in fact, in the end, everyone did. EMI became the last label to ditch DRM on CDs in 2007.

DRM Online

Getting rid of DRM on CDs was one thing - getting rid of it on digital music files is quite another. As things stand, some music that is sold online included DRM and some does not. iTunes downloads come with DRM embedded, unless you pay an extra 30 cents to get the DRM free version, while other sites, like eMusic, do not. Record labels are making noise that they want to move away from DRM in online music, but that means a battle with online music providers. For instance, Apple likes music files that can only be played by iPods, for obvious reasons. In fact, the battle between the major labels and iTunes over how to distribute music online will have significant ramifications for the whole industry and will partly shape the future of the music business.

What about the Future?

It seems inevitable, however, that labels and providers alike will be forced to go for non-DRM managed music to stay competitive. As more portable digital music players enter the market to challenge iTunes, labels and providers will be forced to sell music that works with all of these players. The only way to sell music that can be played back from a number of different music is to sell DRM free music. What remains to be seen is what methods labels will use to make sure files can't be shared again and again and again, or if indeed they will even try to come up with methods. After all, people have been sharing music since long before the internet entered the equation. Home taping didn't kill music, maybe the internet won't either.

Demo
Definition:

A music demo, or simply demo, is a sample recording of your music. Usually, demos are rough recordings of songs and often do not include an entire album's worth of material. Demos are frequently sent by bands to record labels to try and land a deal, but they have a few other uses as well:

* Demo recordings of new songs can be given to producers before a band goes into the studio
* The songwriter in a band may give rough demos of new songs to other band members
* Sometimes, a record label will allow the media to hear demo recordings to build some interest in an upcoming release. When this does happen, it is usually the case that only a select few media members will get to hear the demos - often people who have proven themselves to be fans of the band in the past - and generally this happens when demos that contain "finished" songs. In other words, songs that are still in the writing and tweaking stage don't often get played for people outside the band and label.

One of the most important things to remember about a demo, especially when you are getting started, is that it is not intended to be a finished product. There is no need to spend a lot of money on a recording studio to make a demo. Labels expect your demo to be rough, and no one is going to give you a record deal (or turn you down) based on the recording quality of your demo. Also remember that a demo should be short. It should contain your best songs; three or four is ideal. Demos offer a taste of your music, not your whole catalog.
Also Known As: Demo

Digital Distribution
Definition:

In a nutshell, digital music distribution is the distribution of music in MP3 or other file format. There are a number of different kinds of digital distribution a band or label can have, and people may mean slightly different things when they mention digital distribution:

* Sometimes, digital distribution is done through a website that accepts everyone who wants to sell their music via that site. These digital distributors function essentially like record stores. They make the music available to people who want to buy it, but they are only involved in promotion of the music in a minimal way, if at all.
* Other digital distributors are also web based store fronts, but they do not open their site up to anyone who wants to sell there. They cherry pick the bands and labels they want to sell on their site, and as such there is a bit more promotion of the bands who are there.
* Lastly, some digital distributors are very much like traditional, physical distributors, except that they only work with digital music. These distributors typically represent a record label and go around trying to convince "store front" websites to stock that label's music. If a label has this kind of distributor, that distributor will make sure the label's music is placed on the two previously described types of distributors. They then will make sure new releases are added as necessary and collect and distribute the revenue from all of the sites, keeping a cut and paying the label.

Digipack
Definition:

Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that hold the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background.

Digipacks were first created by MeadWestvaco, and their product, called Digi-Pak, is trademarked. However, as the format became more popular and began to be used by more manufacturers, the generic "digipack" came to be used to describe all soft CD packaging.

Digipacks have pros and cons:

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They look nice, and many bands and labels like to use them for aesthetic reasons. The three section digipack sleeves opens up more design options because there is more room. However, they're more expensive than traditional liner notes and jewel cases.

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Digipacks don't crack like jewel cases do, but they will rip and eventually the paper begins to peel apart and separate.

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The trays in digipacks break much more often then in jewel cases. There's not as much protection since the outer portion of made of paper, so the teeth that hold the CD in place crack and fall out easily.

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When the teeth of the tray does break in a digipack, the CD falls out of the bottom of the digipack, because unlike jewel cases, there is nothing to hold it in.

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Digipacks can be more environmentally friendly than jewel cases because they can be made of recycled paper - however, they aren't always in fact made in this way.

Digipacks look great, but if you're just starting out and money is tight, looking for ways to cut your manufacturing costs is important. Stretching your budget to because you like digipacks aesthetically is not a good investment.

Door Split
Definition:

When you book a gig with a promoter or with a venue, the words "door split" are likely to come up, epecially if you are an indie artist and/or an up and coming band. Agreeing to a door split deal means that you are giving up the chance to be paid a set fee for your performance and instead will share in the proceeds from ticket sales with the promoter. In most instances, the promoter will first recoup the costs he/she spent renting the venue and promoting the show from the ticket proceeds, and then the remaining money gets split between the band and the promoter at a pre-agreed percentage rate. Promoters often weigh these percentages in favor of the band, so common door split rates are 80%/20% splits or 70%/30% splits (both with the band coming out with the largest percentage). However, a 50/50 door split is not unheard of and is certainly fair. Be wary of splits that give the promoter the largest share of the profits.

Of course, with a door split, if the show doesn't sell many tickets, there is a danger that you won't get paid anything at all - in fact, the promoter may not even make their investment in the show back. If you're an up and coming band trying to create a buzz for yourself, it is usually worth playing these shows. Even if you don't walk away with money in your pocket, you will walk away with new fans, maybe some press coverage, and the respect of a promoter who will book you again in the future. Look at your career long term and don't be afraid of these deals.

Gatefold Record Sleeves
Definition:

A gatefold sleeve is a record cover that either opens like a book or folds out into three sections. Gatefold sleeves are sometimes used for double albums, and they are sometimes used so that the artwork or liner notes for an album need to be extended. For a single album, the record is usually kept in the right hand part of the gatefold sleeve, as you are facing it, and with double albums, one is kept in each side. When you close the gatefold cover, it looks like any other album.

Gatefold sleeves make an impact aesthetically, and often they are associated with special editions or collectable version of albums (although not always, many albums have a regular run of gatefold sleeves as well). When deciding whether or not to go gatefold, remember that they do tend to be more expensive. If you have the budget for one, it can look great, but you should compromise critical expenses like promotion to cover the costs of a gatefold sleeve.

Indie Label
Definition:

An indie label is a record label that is independently funded and not connected to one of the Big Four major labels. Indie labels range from home based hobby labels to highly profitable, large businesses. In the 1990s, the line between indie labels and major labels began to blur somewhat, and now some large indie labels are actually distributed by the Big Four major labels.

Indie labels often face an uphill battle trying to get their music heard, as they typically have far fewer financial resources to promote their music than major labels do. Despite the struggle, many labels have survived, and thrived, for years, and many other indie labels may not have lasted forever but had a tremendous impact on music both creatively and in terms of business.

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