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.

Show Me the (Other) Money

With a decline in record sales, record labels and labels have had to explore different ways to monetize talent. Concerts and festivals are one way that artists are able to engage their fans and earn revenue for the record label.  Then new wave of 360 degree record deals allows artists and labels to share revenue from multiple sources such as merchandise sales, publishing, record sales and touring.  Labels are increasingly encouraging artists to tour and join festivals that are popping up and reporting record successes.

Fans are appreciating that their favorite artists are actively touring.  The world’s largest promoter, ticketing company and management firm, Live Nation Entertainment, reported that attendance at live shows was up 11 percent in 2013. The company also reported an increase in cash flow generated from operations, citing fan willingness to pay higher prices for reserved seats at indoor venues during the festival off-season. As record sales are expected to continue to decrease due to streaming services, its a safe bet that more of your favorite artists will tour in the near future.

Inside a 360-Degree Deal. (2007). Rolling Stone, (1040), 14.

Waddell, R. (2014). Live Nation’s Sweet Spring. Billboard, 126(16), 10.

Streaming Royalties

Royalties are the payments made to an artist/writer for the use of a song. Royalties have long been of concern to artists, writers, publishers and record labels; the constant changes in the business have caused individuals to pay more attention to the changes in royalty rates.  Streaming services have introduced new concerns regarding fair compensation and royalty rates.

It is important that artists and writers understand the royalty system and how to monetize their content outside of record sales.  One of the best way to ensure an artist/producer receives the proper royalties are to register with a Performance Rights Organization such as ASCAP or SoundExchange. These organizations collect and distribute royalties on behalf of the content creator for services such as music streaming.

Services such as Pandora and Spotify have repeatedly made the news for their streaming royalty practices.  Several artists and record labels disagree with Spotify’s pay structure and have opted against their content being available on the service. On the other hand, industry execs and artists are looking forward to the addition of a streaming service from iTunes.  Apple direct licenses with labels the pay rates are expected to be higher than current streaming services. Apple’s newest streaming service could easily become a favorite among industry execs eliminating competition in the market.

Peoples, G. (2014, Aug. 6). This Music Royalty Cheat Sheet Can Help You Understand a Complicated System. Retrieved Aug. 7, 2014, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6207107/this-music-royalty-cheat-sheet-can-help-you-understand-a-complicated-system.

 Royalty. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/royalty

The Payout: How iTunes’ Royalty Rates Will Work. (2013). Billboard, 125(35), 25.

Digital Girl in a Digital World

The days of music being available exclusively though a physical record are long gone.  Fans no longer race to record stores for new releases, instead music is instantly available either through downloads or streaming services. Listeners are able to access these online services from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection through mobile applications and web browsers.

Digital music sales have recently been embraced industry-wide following the decline in physical album sales and piracy. Industry leaders had been discovering new ways to engage fans and encourage downloads such as iTunes Store exclusives, where content is unavailable in any other medium or platform.  Artists like Beyoncé have recently released content via iTunes digital download before making the content available across other mediums. 

The popularity of streaming services are causing further change in the industry for artists, publishers and labels. According the Neilsan SoundScan, in 2013, digital track sales decreased from 1.34 billion to 1.26 billion in the U.S. for the first time.  The same year over 118.1 billion songs were streamed through services like YouTube, Pandora, Rhapsody and Spotify. Online streaming services range from internet radio such as Pandora to on-demand services such as Spotify and Rhapsody. As the market share for digital music consumption is growing, it is predicted that personal radio will always be leader due to its ease in listening.

McAlevey, T.. (2014, Aug. 7). Guest Post: Forget the Rhetoric, Streaming Music Is Already Profitable. BillboardBiz Retrieved Aug. 8, 2014, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6214054/guest-post-forget-the-rhetoric-streaming-music-is.

Luckerson, V. (2014). Spotify and YouTube Are Just Killing Digital Music Sales. Time.Com, 1.