[OutVoice] JGLsongs Newsletter - "ontrack" - August 2008

Mon Aug 4 12:00:16 CDT 2008

Hi Everyone,

Hope you¹re all having a good summer so far! Since there are a lot of good
things going on, I couldn¹t wait until September for the next newsletter
(many of you received one last month entitled ŒSummer 2008¹), so I thought
of giving it a try to do a monthly run with it. It¹s not all just selfless
self promotion, so you might get some pearls of wisdom out of it. In any
case, thanks for reading. This and all previous newsletters are online at
www.jglsongs.com  on the ³Artist Services,² ³Commercial Services,² ³About
JGLsongs² and ³Contact² pages  or just download the .pdf newsletter at
www.jglsongs.com/JGLsongsNewsletterAUGUST.pdf .

All the best, and have a great August!

Jon

[text version  ontrack  August 2008]

TENNESSEE BOUND

Jon will be adding his piano chops to performances by Freddy Freeman, among
others on Fri., Aug. 29th as part of Bearapalooza Nashville and will also
perform on Sat., Aug. 30th in addition to being the ³house band² for 70¹s
Night as part of ³That 70¹s Bear Run,² featuring a lineup of performers
including Daniel Cartier, Kendall, Michael West, Jay Freeman, Gordon
Michaels, Swin Dunbar and lots moreŠ The event takes place right in the
heart of NashVegas. For more info, visit www.bearapalooza.com

GLÜCKLICH ZU SEHENŠJE SUIS ENCHANTÉŠ

The New Stage Theatre Company production of ³Oh, Those Beautiful Weimar
Girls² has commissioned Jon to compose a full background score to the
dramatic work about post-war and cabaret life in 1920¹s Germany, with a
focus on contemporary legend Anita Berber (Weimar Germany¹s answer to
Josephine Baker and Isadora Duncan) who died at the age of 28 in 1928. The
play debuts in New York in November 2008. More info, visit
www.newstagetheatre.org.

AMAZONIAN UNDERTAKING

JGLsongs will be working with New York and Brazil-based TRIA Productions on
composing an original score to an upcoming film ³Parintins  Beauty,
Culture, Magic and Happiness,² and hopefully the start of a long-term
musical/media relationship, which will include future films and media
productions.  TRIA is run by Raphael Alvarez and Tatiana Issa, and although
living in New York, they both are recognized (literally and figuratively)
for their work in Brazil and their successful TV show Nova York Underground
 as well as award-winning short films Medusa, I¹m Still Here and the
upcoming Dzi Croquettes.  For more info, visit www.triaproductions.com.

VINTAGE 2009 

Work continues on the 2009 release of pridetwothousandnine featuring a
totally new and updated version of Jon¹s 2001 single ³Pride² (plans for a
video) as well as other new high-energy cuts commemorating the 30th
anniversary of the rainbow flag and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall
Rebellion, as well as the latest addition of a revised and revamped Dean
Friedman cult hit  (and covered by Barenaked Ladies) from ³McDonalds Girl²
to ³Starbucks Boy.² Keep tuned.

SNEAKPEAK

€Curtain up  light the lights: a new collaboration is underway with Todd
Michael Thomas. The project (still untitled) will be part traditional and
part non-traditional stage musical with a list of known and respected names
along the Great White Way as possible cast members and partners. Still in
the beginning stages, so there¹ll be plenty more to come.

€Art for art¹s sake? Musical collaborations are in the works with two rising
artists and a rising gallery. Jon has given some musical touches to a
promotion of visual artist Jonathan Wagner as well as a musical Œsoundtrack¹
to a new installation in the works by visual and multimedia artist Yevgeniy
Rokhlin. Both artists are on exhibit at _Ist Artist Resource Group, 135 W.
20th St. in New York.

MUSIC BIZDOM

Some say the music biz is still the same animal just with new toys, in other
words, times change  people (or organizations) don¹t. Honestly, no one
knows where the music business is really headed. We¹re all in the
play-it-by-ear phase, and just in case you or your friends are industry
moguls or have written books on the biz, let me repeat: NO ONE REALLY KNOWS
WHERE THE MUSIC BIZ IS HEADED. So the question for the indie (and not so
indie) artist is: should my next release be solely digital? And for those
artists who don¹t sell all of the CDs they spend thousands on to duplicate,
do I want to make that extra room into a real living or working space, or is
it fine being the warehouse for the three huge boxes of CD¹s I¹ll probably
never sell. If you¹re still pondering over that one, here are a few snippets
from various industry and general pubs over the last two years, which might
help you, decide.

> The music biz can't stem the bleeding, but for now, digital tracks are proving
> to be a secure Band-aid. Album sales dropped for a seventh consecutive year,
> but a dramatic increase in the sale of digital tracks helped keep the music
> industry afloat in 2006. Some 588.2 million album units sold last year, down
> 4.9%, while consumers purchased 581.9 million digital tracks -- a 65% increase
> from 2005's 352.7 million sold. Nielsen SoundScan, which released the figures
> Thursday, counts a block of 10 tracks sold as an album. Digital continues to
> make inroads as the number of albums sold as downloads doubled from 2005.
> Current albums represented 18.6 million units sold, a rise of 93.7%; 14
> million catalog albums were scanned, a 108.9% spike; and 9.8 million deep
> catalog albums were downloaded, a 104.2% rise.
>  
> Digital albums represent 5.5% of all albums sold. Warner Music continued to
> build on its digital market share, rising 1.72% to 23.29% of the digital album
> universe. UMG is at 27.4% of all digital album sales, Sony BMG 24% and EMI
> 10%. Sales of current physical albums came in at 363.9 million, a 6.5% drop
> from '05. Catalog was down 8.1% -- 210.2 million sold -- and deep catalog was
> at 148.4 million, a 2.8% dip.
>     -Variety, January 4, 2007

> Album sales down 11% in 2008:  CD sales hard hit by closure of music stores
> Album sales are down 11% from the midpoint of 2007, while digital sales
> continue to grow at a steady pace.   Physical and digital album sales reached
> 204.6 million units in the 26 sales weeks between Dec. 31 and June 29,
> according to Nielsen SoundScan.   CD sales have been a prime culprit in the
> sales dip, as they are off more than 16% from 2007 levels, which were
> significantly down from the year prior. Sales of CDs have been hit hard by the
> closure of music stores such as Virgin and the reduction of shelf space at
> big-box stores such as Best Buy and Target.
>  
> Digital sales, however, continue to grow dramatically. Digital album sales are
> up 34% to 31.6 million units, which represent 15.5% of all album sales.
> Digital tracks spiked 30% as 524.7 million have been sold to date, a 125.4
> million-unit increase from 2007.  As much as album sales are slumping, they
> took an even bigger pounding in the first half last year. The January-July
> total in 2007 was 229.8 million units, down significantly from the fairly
> comparable first-half numbers of 2006 (298.7 million) and 2005 (298.4
> million).
>     -Variety, July 2, 2008

Those are just two of countless articles citing statistics, which are backed
up ad nauseam everywhere. So what¹s an indie to do? What¹s a major to do?
The only difference is, if the major labels want to throw out their money on
CD production, they¹ll justify it somewhere else on their balance sheets.
(Probably by financially taking it out on the artists themselves.)

Since I personally (and thankfully) am not involved in the post-production
process, it¹s not a major issue. However, one of the most important roles of
being a producer and working with artists is to be honest. Personally, I
don¹t see the point in indie (a.k.a. struggling) artists to spend money on
duplicating CDs or CD/DVDs by the thousands. You know your audience  if you
do 200 gigs a year, you¹ll need hard copies to sell; but even with that
rigorous a schedule, what does your Excel table look like? How many CDs are
really sold? How many are given away as promo comps to media and other
industry folk? And how many are given away to friends?

Most musicians, even the ones who crisscross the continent playing gigs,
aren¹t selling out their CDs. I said Œmost.¹ And I¹m just being honest from
what I¹ve seen over the years and the many friends I¹ve helped re-pack and
lug CD boxes back into the van, car or cab.

Sooner than later, the CD too will go the way of the cassette, vinyl and the
8-track. (Do people even remember the 8-track?!?) Better spend your money on
a good publicist and spend your energy in digital distribution. Or calculate
how many minutes of your life have you wasted trying to get the shrink-wrap
off of a CD or DVD.

LICENSED TO BILL

Everybody licensesŠit¹s an easy and hassle-free way of making a few dollars.
And unless you kiss a leprechaun, it¹s only going to be a few dollars.
I do recommend getting the word out that your material can be licensed 
just be aware of what¹s out there. There are a million websites who license
 some more well known than others. There are many artists who even have a
section on their website for licensing. If you do license your material 
just read the fine print and pay attention to what¹s in the Terms of
Agreement your ticking before hitting the submit button.

Whatever the details make sure you are aware of the following:

€the music you¹re licensing is legally yours  really yours, for real, no
samples or Œlifted bits¹ that go unmentioned on the copyright forms. In
reality, if you lift six measures off a Justin Timberlake cut, it probably
will go unnoticed unless it¹s the main lick of ŒSexy Back.¹ Still, it¹s
chancy. If your sample gets used for a local cable commercial  which
happens to be one of those ŒI¹ve fallen and I can¹t get up² commercials 
which end up being talked about on local radio, local comics pick up on it,
Howard Stern, ConanŠthen your music that was licensed is about to get a big
jump and you happily start filling out bank deposit slips with every cue
sheet you see! But what if those Timberlake licks were never legally
registeredŠuh oh. Those are two words you don¹t want to have to use.

€Don¹t sign your life away. Of course, you know that; everybody knows that
and nobody would make that mistake! Read the fine print of each and every
licensing company you work with  if there¹s a clause or an offer to make a
higher percentage if you waive ownership  or if you grant them permission
to be the sole licensor of the music sample(s), then you¹re signing your
life away. License your material wherever you¹d like and with every possible
licensing organization you can  everyone wants to be successful and sell
some tunes. Just make sure in the excitement of uploading and submitting you
don¹t skim over their rules and regulations which might end up in court with
you, as the composer/writer, being liable and defending yourself for
submitting or using a sample without THEIR permission.

Of course, the chances of any of these horror stories are rare, however you
know Murphy¹s Law. If it¹s out there, and can happenŠeventually it will.

And last but not least, although technically once you write something, it¹s
copyrighted. Will that hold up in a dispute? ProbablyŠpossibly. Still, if
you¹re a recording artist, songwriter, composerŠ.it never hurts to go the
whole nine yards in doing it right. Copyright and register your material
through the Library of Congress in addition to your performing rights
organization. For members of ASCAP, you can register titles online through
ACE. I¹m sure BMI, SESAC have similar catalog registrations; the foreign
PROs have them too. Like anything else, leave a (digital) paper trail and
keep records.   

What should I charge for licensing?

If you¹re signed to a label and a publishing company, don¹t worryŠthey¹ve
already made that decision for you! If you¹re indie or on an indie label
that doesn¹t get involved in that stuff, you can get an idea of market
prices by visiting my Licensing page:

www.jglsongs.com/Licensing.html

Be fair to your public, but be fair to yourself too. You work hard at
writing music  despite what you may think, not just anybody can do it  you
should be compensated fairly.

Jon Gilbert Leavitt
jglsongs.com

JGLsongs LLC
music production
music composition
music development
sound design
Tel.      +1 646 736 7JGL (7545)
Mobile  +1 347 623 2983
Skype:  jglsongs