The Fair Play Guide: Co-promotion deals
Musicians now have easy access to an environment that encourages the growth of online communities, and the interaction between artists and music consumers. For emerging and unsigned artists, promotion is therefore now very much part-and-parcel of the musician’s role. With this in mind, co-promotion deals, whereby artists assist in the promotion of their shows, are, for some, the most effe...
The MU has been categorically against ‘pay-to-play’ gigs since their emergence many years ago. These deals typically involved musicians being forced to buy large quantities of tickets for their own gig, which they would then have to try and sell to punters. The role of promotion was, in effect, transferred to the musicians, often leaving them out-of-pocket, playing to empty venues, and str...
Music industry royalty collection societies directory
We recently received a message from a professional musician asking for our advice on how to check up on their royalty payments. Although we're not in a position to offer exact advice, as there are many variables to consider - songwriting splits, recording performances etc, we did point him in the direction of contacting his regional collecting society. If you're interested in this then here...
SoundExchange is growing fast, $89m paid to artist & labels
SoundExchange is growing fast & so is the amount being paid to artists & labels. On their official blog they have just announced that in Q4 2011 they paid out $89m, here's an excerpt: "We’ve been fortunate to have seen tremendous success as both the organization and digital music services continue to grow. We have made very clear that this is also one of our greatest challenges, and not u...
Is Google+ important for musicians?
Social networks are dynamic, evolving entities. They are constantly changing appearance, accessibility, security and privacy. Google+ is a social network competitor of Facebook and Twitter that exhibits many similar features. Why then is another social network necessary for a rising band and how is it going to aid in exposure? Firstly, Google is the largest and most popular search engine a...
