Interviewing EB.

I interviewed Ebony B., past-Director of The Compound Foundation. The Compound Foundation is the passion project of RnB singer, Ne-Yo to serve youth growing up in foster care and group homes. The foundation serves as a support system for foster care youth to encourage the pursuit of education, individual goals and dreams. Ebony B. was the founding Director, creating foundation programing and securing many grants as funding. Ebony also worked to establish relationships with local group homes and foster care agencies in Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York.

CW: Thank you for agreeing to sit with me and telling me about your experiences in entertainment. Take a moment and tell me about your career and how you became the Director of a celebrity non-profit.

EB: My non-profit career began when I was a student at Howard University. I began working for a women’s reproductive rights organization as an intern. Within a year, I was promoted from an intern to a field manager for the organization. I worked on a local front to educate women of their rights and to encourage them ask their politicians to legislate on behalf women’s reproductive rights. My time at the organization introduced me to politics afforded me the opportunity to move to Atlanta. Atlanta made it possible for me to combine my interests in politics, non-profit work and entertainment.

CW: You have an extensive resume, how has the power of negotiation helped you in your career?

EB: As I have worked in many different fields from non-profits, entertainment and politics the art of negotiation has been a major benefit to me. I have had to negotiate on behalf of clients, organizations and myself. I have had to negotiate on behalf of clients for my boutique public relations firm to land media deals and coverage. As Director of The Compound Foundation, I negotiated on behalf of Ne-Yo to The Board of Directors as well as supporters and partners of the organization. I was able to negotiate deals that allowed the Foundation to directly impact the lives of foster youth.

CW: How do you plan for negotiations?

EB: I plan for negotiations by collecting all of the facts possible for my argument then outlining the argument that I am making. I often prepare for negotiations as I would prepare for a presentation while trying to anticipate the argument of the other party. I find it best to prepare for negotiations by researching all topics applicable to my argument.

CW: Ebony, thanks again for taking time to speak with me.

Where's the Tour Money

As the structure of the music industry has changed and record sales no longer generate the majority of income, artists have had to turn to other directions to earn a living. Many artists, belonging to major or independent record labels, have returned to the live performance component of the music business. Live performances are one of the very few ways for artists to interact with their fan bases. As many listeners are subscribing to streaming services such as Spotify, the already struggling record industry is experiencing continued challenges. Touring and live performances have successfully sustained many entertainment careers in this struggling industry.

Just as an industry is reinventing itself, Billboard releases a report that many opening acts for your favorite artists are losing money with every show played. As touring is proving lucrative for superstars, once again smaller artists are suffering. The practice of setting ticket prices is a delicate art and could be one of the sole determinants of a well-attended show. As venue sizes increase, this fragile ticketing formula is continually put to the test to benefit the headlining artist.

 As tour and business managers have the interests of the headlining artist as a priority, opening artists are feeling more and more of the pinch. An opening artist with a $15,000 performance fee spends about $10,000 per week on production costs and an additional $7500 per week on crew costs including tour management. As an opening artist, you are often relying on your label for as much financial support as possible given your inability to cover basic touring costs. As an opening artist signed to a major label, it is likely you will not see much income from touring.

As an artist or act becomes larger, the costs of touring also grow larger just as the guaranteed percentage of the tour’s gross income. As the live show requires greater resources, the potential for income also grows as the demand for additional items such as tour merchandise grows. Tour merchandise allows an act to cover additional expenses that have accumulated while touring such as production, transportation and crew costs while being respective to ticket prices and consumers.

With the increased costs of touring, many headling artists may eliminate opening acts and many openers may decline major tours. Artists such as Beyoncé, Elton John and Stevie Wonder perform without opening acts, will the trend continue?

Resources

Waddell, R. (2014, Oct. 3).  In Why are Opening Acts for Superstars Losing Money?. Retrieved Oct. 5, 2014, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/6274026/why-are-opening-acts-for-superstars-losing-money

“The Power of Performing Arts” as delivered by Ben Cameron at TEDxYYC

Art administrator and live-theatre connoisseur, Ben Cameron, delivered a Ted Talk about the importance and power of performing arts.  Cameron, like many living in the digital age consumes music and movies using devices such as iPods and over the Internet. The popularity of the iPod and the availability of digital downloads have changed the structure of the entertainment industry; fans no longer purchase physical albums when digital copies are available for a fraction of the price or can be accessed for free.

Cameron acknowledges his passion for the arts and entertainment along with his adaptation of the ways he consumes art.  As an arts administrator, Cameron states it is important that the theatre and opera rethinks the way each entity interacts with fans. Reassessing the practice of charging theatre patrons $100 per ticket when these are the same persons that download music for $.99 per track was important for many theaters to keep their doors open. Performing artists have reinvented themselves and the way in which they do their jobs. No longer are the days of just stage actors, many actors use their skills to help communities in need such as providing therapeutic releases for prisoners and school children dealing with violence and societal issues.

As an art administrator, Ben Cameron embraced changes in the entertainment industry and though proactively about how he could prepare his theatre for change. Theatre is an aspect of the entertainment business that has experienced little change in interaction with fans since the inception of paid theatre. There are many examples of theaters and operas that are now struggling due to the changing tastes of art patrons. Cameron exhibits bravery in an industry where many follow the notion of “if its not broken, don’t fix it” and applying fixes when it may be too late. Cameron encourages artists to use their talents in non-traditional ways to share the art of theatre with new audiences, teach and heal communities. Art administrators, managers and artists should be able to anticipate changes by studying the landscape of the entertainment industry as a whole and make changes accordingly, Cameron was able to do just that.

Resources:

Cameron, B. (2010, Feb.). Ben Cameron: The True Power of Performing Arts. TEDxYYC. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2014, from http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_cameron_tedxyyc.

Drama at the Met

Last month, the Metropolitan Opera was set to have 15 out of the 16 union contracts with expire. Without viable contracts with each of these unions, the Met could face a lockout from employees such as stagehands, lighting designers and musicians. Much of the disagreement to new contract terms could be attributed to declining ticket sales.

The Met wanted the unions to agree to lesser rates and terms due to the decline in attendance. The unions argued that the Met’s unmatched spending was penalizing them in the downturn of the opera. This year’s contract negotiations were not the first to turn sour for the Met but they were unique because of the play to the media. Details surrounding the proposed cuts were leaked to the media shortly after the unions received them.

Two of the major unions were able to come to an agreement this week that clears this year’s season to open without any delays.  A federal mediator was called in on behalf of the orchestra musicians as well as singers and dancers. The mediator released a press release announcing a deal had been reached although there were several budget cuts and compromises. The savings found in employee labor costs will be matched to the non-union employee costs.

The Met was also able to make an agreement with the stagehand unions that employees are represented by. This fifteenth hour agreement helped to stave off any potential lockouts from stagehands, which are essential to each production. While there are several other agreements that need to be made with smaller unions, it looks as if the show will go on. The Metropolitan Opera has also agreed to bring in an independent financial analysis of the organization’s spending. Salaries in the US among artistic workers are the highest in the world; orchestra musicians can earn a base pay of more than $100,000.

Place that Song

Many of us have discovered new bands after first hearing a song in an Apple commercial, television show or movie. Without music, movies would be a collection of words that fail to convey emotion.  Songs are used in movies and commercials to further paint the picture intended by the writer, imagine Footloose or Jaws without the background music. Music supervisors are the individuals responsible for placing music in a matter that completes the story.

Music placement also serves as an alternative revenue stream for artists and record labels among declining record sales. Once a record has been chosen to sync against a movie, television show or commercial, the terms of use have to be negotiated before the piece is licensed.  Music licensing has helped jumpstart the careers of countless artists.

Moayeri, L. (2014). A Music Supervisor’s Story. Electronic Musician. 30(7), 76-78.

The Art of Music Supervision. (2013). Billboard, 125(44), 39.