JONES B FRANCIS

00745162

MARKETING AND MONITISATION

REGGAE / DUB

Word Count 1648

 Marketing and Monetising your Music

This essay will cover the inter-relationships between the three main sectors, which include

recorded music, Live Music and Publishing and how music is marketed, promoted and distributed

to a modern music audience . Record companies in the heyday enjoyed considerable amounts of

leverage which were unchallenged till the digital revolution. As technologies progressed over the

years record giants had to adapt to moving tides, forcing them to redefine their roles and how their

companies functioned. This essay aims to demonstrated how these digital technological

advancements have disrupted these traditional core structures and how newer models opened the

way for progress. Other aspects covered are how artists are discovered and promoted, the various

revenue streams there are for artists, including strategies implemented by record companies to

recoup revenue.

It has been argued in the past that Record Labels were in full control of the music industry.

Indie labels operated in a smaller capacity compared to a major record label, which had various

departments under it's wing. The A&R personnel held a primary spot in these record companies to

scout and recruit new artists, including securing a record deal with them. After the initial stage, an

A&R would manage the affairs of these artists and develop them fully fledged. When the recording

was completed and the album or single were ready, next stages would be promotion, manufacturing

and distributing. At that time artists were promoted and publicised via music Magazines like

“Melody Maker” and “NME”, and on radio stations like the BBC or TV programmes such as

BBC1's “Top of the Pops” that hosted weekly performances of chart topping artists and exposed

them to a broader audience.

 In the advent of newer TV programmes being aired in the 1980's, record labels had a further

opportunity to promote their artists. By August 1st 1981 MTV was launched and during that

period the videos of Peter Gabriel's “Sledge Hammer' and Michael jackson's “Thriller” became

major international hits on MTV which proved profitable and beneficial for record labels.

“MTV was the red-hot centre of the music business Michael Jackson's $1.5 million "Thriller"

video helped make the album the best seller of all time”. (Anon, 2018)

The launch of Napster's file sharing network in 1999 caused many youngsters to freely

upload and download files which eventually dented CD sales in the music industry. A legal battle

were eventually waged against Napster who were sued by certain record companies for copyright

infringement. The public have moved away from the CD which once allowed easy compilation and

transference of audio files. As the graph shows it resulted in a gradual decline in CD sales up to

the present.

Figure 1 Richter/Statista/ fall and rise of compact Disk (2018)

The digital revolution was well on its way when Apple released their iTunes app in 2001

which changed immensely how we purchase and listened to digital data information. Because of

the illegal P2P downloading, it gave countless consumers an appetite for downloading and so

Sony's iTunes and iPhone was a perfect legal antidote for consumers. Just over a decade and a half

and traditional high street stores gradually nose dived as CD's declined.
 In turn there are now endless online stores who offer downloads and streaming, including

online digital radio that can be tuned in on your mobile phone. Such brands as Spotify, Deezer,

Tidal, Napster to name a few, jostle for a percentage of consumer subscriptions. From the

countless streaming platforms that are now online, no need to buy an album with only three good

songs. Paying for a monthly subscription, on any of the countless streaming platforms, you could

now compile singles into a playlists from your favourite artists. As stated Smirkes, R (2018)

“Streaming revenues grow 41.1% to become largest revenue source, driven by 176 million users

of paid subscription accounts”.

One of the leading online streaming apps is “Spotify” which launched on 7 th October 2008

offering various subscriptions, from free subscription, to premium packages, family and student,

which could be downloaded or streamed, or even listen to online digital radio on your mobile

phone. As reported in the 2017 issue of the IFPI, streaming have reached a milestone with

paying subscribers reaching 100 million globally, with digital streaming accounting for

50% of the revenue. As can be seen in Spotify's global chart, subscription gradually gained

momentum from 2010 and has now peaked at a massive 83 million in 2018.

Figure 2 Baron /Statista / Paying subscribers (2018)

 Streaming has become the prime mover within this decade with impressive figures being

shown and out performing Compact Disks, downloads and Vinyl.

Figure 3 Savage/BBC/ UK Music Consumption (2018)

Many of todays upcoming artists no longer have to relying on a record label to sign and

nurture them. Positions have changed now in the music business, artist now have the advantage to

promote themselves to a specific demographic fan-base on social media's such as Tweeter,

Facebook, Instagram, Sound-Cloud and other online platforms amassing a substantial core fan-base.

Good social media presence and a solid fan-base does not guarantee success, so while artists

or a band is eager to perform, an events manager is needed to work closely with booking agents

and promoters. The manager is responsible to organize live gigs and concert events, sort out the

marketing and promotion and getting payed. Booking agents are normally in close contact with

venues, pubs and clubs all over the country sending out promotional packages and collecting sales

from online or inbox deposits for the event.

 Promoters are mainly responsible for the nights event. Their name would be showcased on

all promotional material such as flyers and posters, organizing, making payment agreements,

sorting out dates, the venue, radio or TV appearances, transportation and hotels ect.

The live music industry has grown tremendously, as more and more people attend live

entertainment, smaller capacity gigs to massive concerts such as O2 and Wembley stadium.

According to Sweeney, M. (2018)

“Mega gigs with U2 Gunz N' Roses including return of Star Wars help propel the live

entertainment sector to a record £17bn in 2017.

and goes further to state.

“Revenue from live performances, such as concerts or the theatre, hit £2.1bn last year and is

expected to grow a further 7% this year, Live Nation, which owns Ticket master, said it had a

record year in the UK, with a 44% increase in shows” in 2018.

Live shows are a brilliant way to broaden a potential fan-base, it also coerces fans to buy

merchandise and encourage fans to stream favoured songs from streaming services, thereby

boosting sales and the artist's brand. Traditionally record companies allegedly gained a substantial

amount of profits via Vinyl and CD sales and could afford certain advances to prospective artists

which were eventually recouped.

Record labels had no part of revenue streams from artists, such as live performances

merchandise, sponsorships and ringtones. After the decline in sales, record labels could no longer

offer massive advances and so were forced to diversify and rewrite contracts stipulating a share in

all artist's earnings, which is known as a 360 deal, this would involve a percentage of revenue from

all synchronisations.
 For music publishing companies it was much more straight forward in the past to track and

collect mechanical rights royalties from hard copy sales and from performing rights royalties from

PRS who collected revenue from songs being performed live, in a theatre, pub, club, radio or TV

ect. In recent times publishing companies sort ways to generate more revenue and so focused on

also managing synchronisation deals and collecting revenue from for it's members, which intern

opens up artist to a broader fan spectrum.

The position of an A&R has changed but still can be seen as a significant asset through the

skills attained. They no longer need to scout for artist in local pubs, clubs and live performances

but with a keen ear from there armchair can rummage through countless playlists or search on

social media, such as channels like Youtube, Facebook, Bandcamp, SoundCloud or Spotify to find

aspiring artists never before heard. Only after an artist has done their groundwork and proved

themselves with good online presence, would an A&R pay any kind of interest.

Through online formats an A&R can instantly scrutinize and sift out songs or artists.

Successful chosen artist can now be placed on playlist or selected songs could be allocated to

TV,film or video games. Coming from a different perspective an A&R can now work to boost the

awareness of the artist's vision and personal Brand on social media and music audience.

CONCLUSION

The inter-relationships between the three sectors have seen considerable changes in the

various formats, for better or for worst. While record companies have adapted to circumstances and

maintained some kind of stability, the live sector and digital streaming have steadily made

considerable gains over the past years which is good for business.
 At this rate it seems very encouraging if this were to maintain its course. The internet has

aided in swift digital Distribution and marketing. All three sectors have hauled in some kind of

revenue from respective streams.

Record labels have seen some sort of stability because of collecting from artist

synchronisation. Artists themselves have gained roayalties from live performances and

merchandise ect. Digital music streaming seems to have kept the music industry aloft. Song

writers / publishers including master recording holders have gained some kind of revenue via

royalties and synchronisation. when we look at the figures it is evident that digital sales have

grown considerably since its ascendancy. Subscription have risen to respectable heights while

digital streaming have also increased, making the streaming sector and the music industry as a

whole, seems quite healthy. Interesting enough it would good to see if profits are maintained in the

coming years, after paying royalties to copyright owners /publishers including mechanical right

owners.

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