Snoman R. Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques

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On completion of a dance track (or album), you may want to release it to the

general public but you can’t simply burn it to CD and send it out to every-

one. Indeed, you will ﬁ rst need to copyright your music and also register your

band name.

Registering your band name isn’t absolutely vital but it can be worth the effort, if

only to ensure that no one else in your country releases a record using your band

name. By registering, the Worldwide Registry notiﬁ es artists and labels if there is a

potential name conﬂ ict and also registers your claim to the band name. The most

recognized way to register your band name is at http:// www.bandname.com .

Once you have your name registered, you’ll also need to copyright your music.

This is to ensure that wherever the music is played, you’ll be paid or credited

for it and is deﬁ ned by UK law as “the right granted to the creators of original liter-

ary, dramatic, artistic and musical works to ensure that copyright owners are rewarded

for the exploitation of their works. ” Basically, this means that as long as you taken

the appropriate steps to copyright your creation, you have the right to deter-

mine what people can do with what is essentially ‘your property ’ and allows

you to prevent anyone from:

■ Broadcasting the work through radio or television

■ Copying the work onto any medium

■ Distributing the work to the public

■ Renting the work out to anyone

■ Adapting any part of it, for instance remixing it

■ Performing in a public place

■ Using it as ‘background’ music on ﬁ lms or corporate videos

Publishing and Promotion

CHAPTER 21

’ I signed away Voodoo Ray for a hundred pounds so

that I could buy a new drum machine. I had no idea that

the record would be so big

… ’

A Guy Called Gerald

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Although the current UK law states that as soon as you produce an original

piece, it is automatically copyrighted to you, it’s vital that you take steps so that

you can offer physical proof that it is your work before you sign it over to a

record company or release it commercially.

The most common perception of how you should keep this evidence is to write

a copyright statement on the media, seal this into an envelope and post it to

yourself. As long as you don’t open it, you have proof from the date stamped

on the postage.

However, while this approach is still commonplace amongst many musicians, it

is sometimes not considered suitable evidence of copyright ownership. Therefore,

a much more sensible approach is to write the copyright statement on the media

and mail it to a solicitor or bank and ask them to keep it (unopened) for you as

these prove to be much more reliable should the copyright ownership be ques-

tioned. A typical copyright statement simply consists of:

Also you can only copyright the recording of the music (which lasts for 50 years

after ﬁ rst publication) and the melodies and words used in the music (which

lasts for 70 years after the death of the last surviving composer). This means

that you cannot claim copyright to the musical arrangement or the song title!

Once your material is copyrighted, you can then look to releasing it in the gen-

eral market. Generally speaking, this is possible in one of the following three

ways: you can sign the record over to a record label, press and release it your-

self as a white label or promote and sell it yourself over the internet. Each of

these requires a different approach and so we’ll look at each of these options

in detail starting with the most obvious route, signing the recording over to a

record label.

RECORD COMPANIES AND CONTRACTS

Sending a ‘demo tape ’ to a record company has to be the most infamous way

of acquiring a record deal. Even though this approach is looked upon with a

certain amount of scepticism today, it cannot be denied that many artists still

use this route and, as a result, some of them have been signed on the strength

of the demo. Before we go any further into this, though, there are some home

truths that you should be aware of if you have big plans to sign to a large label

and become an overnight ‘mega star ’:

1. Signing to a large label is not a guarantee that you will ever reach super-

star status.

2. The record company will expect the rights to everything you ever plan to do.

3. The record company will expect you to become who they want.

4. The record company will expect you not to change your musical style

midway through the contract but reserve the right to turn away any

music you produce and tell you to make it more ‘commercially viable ’.

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5. The record company will expect you to do exactly what they say, when

they say.

6. The record company will expect you to appear on humiliating music

programmes.

7. They will invest money in what they want, not what you want and will

expect you to pay for these expenditures out of your royalties.

8. You will be expected not to make any demands or requests to the

record company whatsoever.

9. They reserve the right to drop you if they see ﬁ t, but you do not have

the option to drop them if their performance is terrible.

10. It costs between 1.5 and 2 million to launch an artist into the ‘public’

eye and the record company will expect you to do everything to earn this

money back, and then some, before you receive any royalties.

If you’re still interested in being signed to a large label for superstar status,

my advice would be to seek urgent medical attention or psychiatric help. Of

course, when presented with a contract and a cheque for a substantial amount

of money, it is a challenge to say no but bear in mind you could be signing

away your life for the next 5 years.

Rather, if you want to take the record label route, it’s much more advisable to

forget stardom and aim for the smaller labels that specialize in the genre of

music you write. These are much more reliable, make fewer demands and will

appreciate you for who you are.

Even taking this route, however, the days of sending a ‘demo-quality’ CDs have

long since died; they will expect the music to be professionally mixed or, at

the very least, have some good production values behind it. More demos have

been thrown in the bin from crap production values than anything else and

literally hundreds of musicians, many of who are talented, have destroyed their

careers because they didn’t have a good mix to back their ideas up. Therefore, if

you’re serious about sending a demo to a label and are not fully conﬁ dent with

mixing, then it should be put in the hands of a qualiﬁ ed engineer.

A typical well-kitted studio will charge around £40–60/h and to mix a track

containing vocals, harmonies and overdubs should take around 20 h. Before

visiting a studio you should also ensure that the arrangement is complete;

attempting to make it up on the spot while the studio’s clock is ticking can be

incredibly stressful and the attitude that a further instrument could be added

during studio time can prove to be an expensive endeavour. Bear in mind that

a typical session musician will charge anything from £50 to 100 an hour! Note

that even employing a session musician to play a tambourine can cost in excess

of £50/h. Don’t think that you can play one yourself either; as simple as it

looks it is difﬁ cult.

Most studios will now burn the record direct to CD, but if they offer DAT, there

is no harm in accepting that as well as the CD. If they only offer DAT, you need to

seriously consider whether this is appropriate. DAT, while a popular recording

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medium for studios in the 1990s, is now slowly becoming defunct and there-

fore you should request the mix in 24-bit data form on CD and also 16-bit

audio. After all, demos that are delivered to a label on CD are more likely to be

heard than the one that arrives on DAT as not many ofﬁ ces or cars have access

to a DAT machine.

When it comes to posting the mix, ensure that you put your name, address and

phone number on absolutely everything you send, along with a publicity shot

of yourself which is in keeping with your musical direction. This way, the label

can immediately tell what music you write and where you get your inﬂ uences.

The addresses of most record companies can be found printed somewhere on

their latest release, or alternatively in a publication known as the White Book ,

which contains the names and addresses of most reputable labels.

It is also worth including a single sheet of A4 paper containing everything that

you want to say about yourself and your music but this should be kept short

and to the point – the same applies with your demo CD. The basic premise

behind sending in a demo is to give the company an idea of your talent, not

your entire song-writing history. Therefore, you should start by sending only

two or three songs, ensuring that your best music is ﬁ rst. This way – assuming

that they do actually listen to your demo – the ﬁ rst 20 or 30 s are the ones that

matter the most. If that doesn’t grab them, they may listen to 20 s of the second,

but if that doesn’t work then the game is over.

This means that the musical arrangement will also need to be closely analysed,

especially for club-based dance music. As it isn’t unusual for club music to con-

sist of the drum track alone for the ﬁ rst 16 –32 bars, if you’re submitting to

an A &R department, this should be shortened so that the main elements of

the music, which would commonly start around 2 –3 min into the track, start

within the ﬁ rst 10 –20 s. Ideally, the intro should be kept particularly short and

new melodies should be introduced as soon as possible to maintain attention.

That said, care does need to be taken that you don’t introduce too much at

once; it’s a ﬁ ne line that has to be trodden carefully.

You should also prepare yourself for a negative response, if you receive one that

is. Larger labels very rarely respond unless they’re interested in signing you, but

smaller companies are more likely to either phone or write to you informing

you of why they’ve rejected your music.

Rejection is something that you will become accustomed to, unless you hap-

pen to be a musical genius, but it’s important to bear in mind that it’s nothing

personal, and you should spare your ego the devastation of their laughter by

phoning or contacting them asking why. Just keep in mind that they’re simply

business judgements that are made according to the current market status.

If you are accepted, then you may be notiﬁ ed by post but more usually by

phone. Naturally, you will be tempted to say yes to anything they have to offer,

but only fools rush in. With smaller labels, this call will probably be from the

director/owner of the label, but with larger companies it will almost certainly

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be the head of the A &R department. At this stage, do not agree to anything

contractual over the phone and insist that you meet them before you agree to

anything. This is important as some companies will send the contract by post

and expect you to sign and return it, but without meeting the people in charge

you don’t have the opportunity to negotiate a better deal.

When the time comes to meet the director or head of A &R, make an effort

to look presentable, reputable and trustworthy. Though you may have been

offered a contract on the strength of the music alone, you haven’t signed at this

point and ﬁ rst impressions count. It’s vital that you adopt a professional and

business-like attitude. These companies exist to make money and you need to

prove that you’re dedicated enough to be both reliable and sensible, which also

means turning up on time. The excuse of ‘I missed the bus ’ isn’t particularly

concerting. They will have literally hundreds of artists lining up waiting to get

on their books, and if you present a poor or unreliable image, they’ll simply go

for someone else.

While it’s doubtful that you’ll be asked to sign any contracts at the ﬁ rst meet-

ing, it is sensible to contact a solicitor who has dealt with the music industry

before negotiating the terms of a future contract. This not only helps to ensure

that you turn up on time but if the label does present a contract, the solici-

tor can look through it for you. As tempting as it may be to save money at

this point by reading up on the law yourself, I strongly recommend that you

employ one to check that the terms are acceptable. A typical record contract is

crammed full of numerous clauses, and if any escape your attention, you could

end up losing not only money but also the rights to your current music and

any future releases.

ROYALTIES

When presented with a contract, the part you’re most likely to be interested in

are the royalty rates as these dictate how much money you will earn from each

sale. Most labels will either offer a publishing deal or simply choose to license

the music, and the royalties you receive will depend on whether you’re being

offered a licensing deal or a publishing deal.

Publishing deals generally pay a much higher percentage for royalties but in

return you’re giving them the rights to release any future material you produce

over a speciﬁ c number of years that is stipulated in the contract. This is com-

monly set over 5 years, but some labels are known to sign for a period of 10 years

depending on the past sales performance of the artist. As these types of contract

are long term, they should be scrutinized very carefully by a qualiﬁ ed music

savvy solicitor, as a missed clause on your behalf can result in a long, drawn-out

legal battle against the label if they’re not performing up to your expectations.

Despite the temptation of being on a label’s book for a number of years, from per-

sonal experience it is not worth signing these types of deals because you will be

tied to the label. Instead, if it is offered, the label involved is clearly conﬁ dent

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that your music will sell and it will be open to negotiation and could be per-

suaded to sign a licensing deal instead. This is a more secure route to take, not

only allowing you to assess the label’s competence but also giving you the free-

dom to walk away and ﬁ nd another label for your next release if at all it goes

horribly wrong.

Licensing deals are less complicated and are more common on the dance

music scene. Essentially, by signing such a contract your music is licensed to

the record company for a speciﬁ c period of time in which they can do with

it however they see ﬁ t. These are most usually signed for a period of 1 year,

although it can sometimes stretch to 2 or 3 years depending on how popular

the label thinks the track may become. It can therefore be generally accepted

that the longer the time period you’re expected to sign, the more potential the

record company believes the track will have, and this can open up some bar-

gaining power. In fact, it is often worthwhile asking for a few changes in the

contract if there is something that you’re not happy with.

From past experience, I’ve learned that many labels don’t even understand their

own contracts and therefore occasionally are only too happy to change some

aspects as long as it isn’t changing the percentage of the royalties you or they

receive. Even some of the larger labels didn’t understand their contracts when

they were dissected!

Perhaps the most important aspect to look out for here is a clause stipulating

that they have the right of ﬁ rst refusal on any other tracks you produce. This

means that you could be forced by a legally binding contract to hand over any

subsequent releases to the same label regardless of their previous performance.

Alongside the royalties received from the record company, you may also

receive payments from the Music Publisher, Performing Rights Society (PRS),

Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS), Association of United

Recording Artists (AURA), Performing Artists ’ Media Rights Association

(PAMRA) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL). Some of these pay-

ments will be made directly to the record company who will pass these, along

with your royalty payments, onto you or your manager while others will pay

them directly to you, depending on the circumstances.

To better understand the roles that each of these companies play and how it

all ties together in the real world, we’ll use an example by envisaging two art-

ists, James and Jon. They have just ﬁ nished engineering a track and featured

an artist (Emma) to perform the vocals on the record. So the artists can con-

tinue to make music rather than deal with the recording industry; they’ve also

employed a manager who we’ll call Steve.

Unless there is a speciﬁ c written contract between the band members, the man-

ager or the record company stipulating that they are all entitled to an equal

share of all proceeds, the members may be able to claim different sums of

money from different organizations, as well as the record company, depending

on the circumstances. Figure 21.1 outlines how this works.

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MCPS

(Copyright)

PRS

(Songs)

VPL

(Video)

PPL

(Audio)

AURA

(Performance)

PAMRA

(Performance)

Broadcasters

(pubs, clubs, TV & radio)

Publishing

company

Record company

Steve

(Manager)

Emma

(Performer)

Distributor

Retail outlets

Customers

Licencing bodies

Royalties

Licences

James & Jon

(Artists)

Pressing

plant

Payments

Music source to destination

FIGURE 21.1

How the recording

industry licenses and

collects monies

Record Company

The record company will pay any royalties due to you from record sales or

licensing deals. If you have a manager, he will receive the payments and then

distribute them to you and any other group members while keeping an agreed

percentage for his managing duties.

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Publishing Company

Publishing companies work very closely with record companies and deal with

releasing the recording and tracking the national royalty systems around the

world on behalf of the original author of the work. For this they take a percent-

age of any of the royalties, paying the rest to the original author.

Phonographic Performance Limited

The PPL licenses records to radio stations, clubs and pubs. This is because every

time the record is played to a collective public audience, whoever is playing the

music must pay for the privilege of playing your music. The PPL then collects

these royalties and pays it directly to the record company involved and to any

UK featured artists. For this service, the PPL keeps a percentage of the royalties

collected.

Video Performance Limited (VPL)

Similar to the aforementioned PPL, the VPL licenses the music video to be

played by broadcasters (such as MTV), pubs and clubs. These royalties are paid

directly to the record company involved, and for supplying this service the VPL

keeps a percentage of the royalties collected.

Association of United Recording Artists

If a piece of music has been engineered by a professional producer or it fea-

tures an artist (session musicians etc.) who is not a member of your group,

then AURA may become involved if the featured artist is not from the UK.

These collect royalties from the PPL and pay them directly to the producer or

featured artist. It is up to the producer of the featured artist to join this associa-

tion, and although membership is free, AURA keeps a percentage of the royal-

ties that are collected.

Performing Artists ’ Media Rights Association

PAMRA is similar to AURA and collects any royalties that are due to the per-

formers. Like AURA, it is up to the performing artist to join, but while mem-

bership is free, they keep a percentage of royalties for offering this service.

Performing Rights Society

If the song is going to be performed in public by a third party, then royalties

are due to the original writer of the song every time it is performed. These roy-

alties are collected by the PRS and paid directly to the author of the song. Like

AURA and PAMRA, it is up to you to join if you wish to collect. For the rights

to 15 songs, membership costs £400 with the PRS also taking a small percent-

age of the royalties. Joining the PRS is rare for dance musicians since it is rarely

performed by another party.

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Mechanical Copyright Protection Society

Once signed to a label, the record company will make a number of copies of

the record for distribution and sale. These are referred to as ‘mechanical cop-

ies’ and all the artists involved are due ‘recording royalties ’ based on the value

of the number of copies made. The MCPS collects these royalties, which are

currently 8.5% of the wholesale value, and pay them directly to you. Again, it’s

up to you to join this organization that costs £50 for membership along with a

percentage of the royalties collected.

Naturally, there is no universally accepted amount that you should receive

from any of these companies but especially from the record company as it

depends entirely on the size of the label, your past performance and the way

the label works its accounts. Most labels will operate on an ‘all-in’ basis which

is derived from the suggested retail or the wholesale price. An all-in royalty rate

means that if a third-party producer, musician, instrumentalist or song writer

was employed during the recording process, their payment is derived from your

own royalties rather than the record companies.

Whether the royalties are based around the suggested or wholesale price is also

an important consideration. The suggested retail price (SRP) is usually double

the wholesale price, so if you have a 40% wholesale-based royalty rate then you’ll

get paid the same as a 20% retail-based royalty. This percentage is quite normal

for a royalty rate, and if it’s any less you should try to negotiate a better deal.

PACKAGING

One of the biggest mistakes any artist can make is asking whether their single

or album is released in commemorative or novelty packaging. While it is true

that leather cases or steel boxes sell more copies due to their novelty value, they

are incredibly expensive to manufacture and this additional cost will come out

of your royalties.

In fact, though jewel cases and booklets aren’t actually part of your music,

they’re essential for delivering it to the audience and you pay for their manu-

facture, not the record label. This is usually described by many labels as a ‘sales

allowance ’ and, depending on the label involved, the charge can be anywhere

from 80 to 20% of your net royalties, although this can quickly rise to above

50% if you’re adamant that your recording be released in novelty packaging.

This allowance is also used to cover any damage that the packaging might suffer

from on its way to the shops. Along with this sales allowance, most labels will

also take a percentage of royalties for ‘recoupables’. These are one-off expenses

that are incurred by the label for promotional purposes. This includes tour sup-

port, personal advances, photo sessions, artwork, publicists, copies given away

for promotion and music videos.

Today, more than ever, videos provide a huge promotional tool and the current

MTV generation needs videos to associate with the music. The price of making a

music video can vary tremendously from as little as 10 000 to over 2 million