the data makes all the difference

Reading this blog post by Jason Spitz at Topspin Media got us clicking back to the discussion about the project that the Future of Music Coalition is doing to study artist revenue streams and aggregate some of the data in new and useful ways.  Looking over the methodologies and structure of this study, it is clear that some very valuable work product is being generated here. 

Our artist clients are engaged in the constant search for new (and robust) revenue streams, and are working hard to live the dream of eating off of what their music generates financially.  To the vast majority of artists, it remains mostly that: a dream.  But it's a dream that is born out of passion and art, so somehow- for a while at least- it is pursued honestly and with hard work.  The same observations we have been making for years- the music business model is broken, no one knows what to do- are just boring observations now.  Statements of the obvious even?

So how do we move beyond stating the obvious and get in to working towards making music work for the people that make music?  One key way is to know how the money flows--and the FMC revenue project does that, but from the perspective of the artist rather than the balance sheet jumble of labels, publishers, etc.  It is likely to be a very helpful study.

And for the record, we were really happy to have helped out (in small, lawyerly ways) on some of the collaborations between Topspin and Air Traffic Control last year.  Forward thinking projects = fun.

Featured Venture: Dear New Orleans

In late August, 2005, nature dealt a striking blow against the city of New Orleans in the form of a storm called Hurricane Katrina.  Debate over whether the chaos that ensued was the result of a freak/unique natural disaster or the failure of systems designed to protect the population from just such occurrences still rages on.  No matter where people come out on that question, one thing is clear: one of America's urban jewels was--and in some ways, still is-- devastated by the storm.

New Orleans is a music town, and in the years since Katrina, musicians have rallied around their brothers and sisters, musician and non-musician alike, to help with the recovery.  Air Traffic Control Education Fund, a national non-profit, has collaborated with the Future of Music Coalition to facilitate directed assistance to the people of New Orleans by musicians in the years since Katrina.

Their efforts have culminated in this project, Dear New Orleans - A Benefit Album, that was released last week.  Learn more about what artists have been doing to help in New Orleans by checking it out.  And get a great record while you're at it.  The work isn't done, but after five years, it helps to slow down and enjoy the music that helps tie New Orleans to the rest of America and the world.

attention venues!

  The New York Times has a great (and comprehensive) piece about the folks that walk the beat and get bars and other establishments to sign on with the performance rights organizations (ASCAP and BMI). 

Check it out HERE.

This article is really worth the read.  We get a lot of calls from clients that get visited by the performance rights organizations, and the whole "of course people should pay for music, just not us" conversation inevitably ensues. 

Is the system broken?

piracy's new (old) frontier: sheet music

Jason Robert Brown has an interesting perspective on the illegal copying/distribution of sheet music via the internet.  It's not novel, actually: he's an artist that thinks he should be paid for his creative work product.  The law agrees, but sheet music is ending up with the rest of the world's creative content: exposed and vulnerable to copy on the internet.

industry internships

 The summer is in full swing, and that means internships are as well.  The entertainment industry is one of the heavier users of unpaid student labor.  Record labels (both independent and major) are doing everything they can to stay afloat as the business of selling recorded music changes every hour, including upping their use of interns.  Independent film productions have always used interns when they can get them, and that hasn't changed a bit.  Both film and music distributors and marketing companies are trying new things all the time, and there are several unique business plans that have become reality in part because of strategic use of internship programs.  You can find students plugging away at Twitter feeds and Facebook pages at music venues and indie cinemas all over the world right now (look left for an awesome intern-attracting ad from the Brooklyn Bowl).

As news abounds that internships are getting harder and harder to find (and land), there continues to be an emphasis on enforcement of the technical legal requirements of using interns.  See the link to the Clark Hill Employment Law Alert below for some nuts-and-bolts details--we just want to flag the issues for execs and producers, as well as for those of you that are in internships this summer.  The bottom line on using interns is that you have to comply with the U.S. Department of Labor's regulations regarding compensation of interns working in the for-profit sector.  If you are not in compliance with the Department of Labor Standards, you interns will be considered employees that are entitled to at least minimum wage, plus overtime (which is a painful "plus" for those of you who know that the 8-hour work day is rare for the ranks of entertainment industry interns).

There are six criteria that are evaluated in determining whether or not your interns are, in fact, employees entitled to pay:

1.  The internship must provide training similar to what the intern would receive in an educational environment;

2.  The internship must be for the benefit of the intern (not the employer);

3.  The intern cannot displace regular employees;

4.  The employer cannot derive immediate benefits from the interns work;

5.  The intern cannot be promised a job when the internship ends; and

6.  There is a clear understanding between the employer and the intern that the intern is not entitled to pay for her work.

The best way to get these things covered is to have an internship agreement--and we can help with that.

For more on entertainment industry internships, see our April 3, 2010 post.  And check out the Clark Hill Employment Law Alert from April 27, 2010 for more details on this issue as well.