In our last installment about SoundExchange, we highlighted some shady accounting on artist royalty payouts and news of the exit of Executive Director John Simson. Well, we’ve learned a couple of things since then that I thought you might find interesting.
Shady payouts? How about exorbitant salaries? From a tip from Digital Music News, Simson is taking about $350K a year for his work with the organization. He has caught some serious criticism about it and it seems pretty obvious why. Whether it’s true or not, lack of transparent accounting + low artist payouts + large compensation for executives = super shady. Perhaps I’m just a conspiracy theorist, but his exit from the company seems a little too timely.
So who is going to take his place? Well, the most prominent candidate at the moment is someone you might not expect. It’s Samantha Murphy, an artist with her eye on the prize and an artist-friendly campaign strategy to boot. After all, who better to put in the top seat of a “by artists, for artists” non-profit than an artist. I love this angle, but I can’t say I know who Ms. Murphy is. Even after poking around a bit and looking at her site I can’t tell you much except that this is a great way to promote her singer/songwriter career and that she certainly isn’t terrible to look at. As far as talent (as if that mattered when running one of America’s most important non-profits), I would say it isn’t my cup of tea, but I have to give her credit for having the nerve to step up and ask for the position. That said, I don’t think it will do anything to change SoundExchange’s transparency issues. Pretending like she doesn’t have to answer to SoundExchange’s board is ridiculous.
SoundExchange seems to be having open elections and Ms. Murphy has a petition going around if you want to give her your support (full disclosure: she isn’t getting my vote). Maybe I should run.
I didn’t realize that SoundExchange elected people. I was busy thinking that they hired them. My question is: if SoundExchange is just a shady collection agency backed by the even shadier RIAA, why would you want to get involved?
Since Chris Anderson wrote his best-selling book, The Long Tail, there has been much speculation over whether or not this conception of the future of content distribution is beneficial or detrimental to the music industry at large.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term, it derives from a typical demand curve, which looks like this:
The basic premise is that with the advent of Internet, content (in our case, music) can be produced much more cheaply and distributed at virtually no cost. Brick-and-mortar distribution models rely on scarcity; factors like shelf space, storage and store location that limit the variety of products available. Thus, only the broadest, most commercially-viable products (and as such, the least niche-friendly ones) can be stocked, leaving the vast majority largely unavailable to consumers.
As production and distribution costs fall to zero, businesses (in theory) can harness the Internet to realize serious profits by selling small amounts of a much larger array of harder-to-find products, which, in aggregate, can be quite significant.
Check out this TED talk from Chris Anderson for more info:
However, as wonderful as this concept is, exploiting it may have far-reaching implications. While many companies (Amazon, Netflix, TuneCore, CDBaby, ReverbNation) have successfully taken advantage of Long Tail business models, there has been considerable backlash from some music industry professionals regarding the effect these models have had on the quality of content.
More specifically, a particularly vocal dissident of Long Tail distribution of music has been Tom “Tommy Boy” Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records has focused his (sometimes rather scathing) opinions at one of the biggest champions of the Long Tail model, TuneCore’s CEO Jeff Price (formerly of eMusic).
TuneCore’s model basically removes the barriers of entry for the digital distribution of music; allowing anyone to submit their music to outlets such as iTunes (regardless of quality), previously a privilege available only to signed acts.
So what’s the beef? Silverman basically bemoans the fact that TuneCore (and similar models) fills the digital music space with “noise” created by mere “hobbyists” and has tried to back this up publicly at a variety of conferences and in this recent Wired article (highly recommended reading). The argument is getting fairly personal in the media, but I think this is a very interesting point of contention.
While many TuneCore distributed artists never achieve significant release numbers, the question in my mind is, so what? If a product is good enough, it will get traction in a crowded marketplace (even if not as much as in the heyday of CDs and N’Sync).
CD sales in every genre are in the toilet, signs of a dying format. However, just because consumption habits are increasingly digital doesn’t imply that these “noisy hobbyists” on TuneCore represent a major cannibalization threat to quality products elsewhere.
The challenge we see here for artists is getting traction in a crowded market, but when was it ever easy to get ahead? When services like TuneCore didn’t exist, there were simply different (higher) barriers to entry, such as not having a record deal.
The market has always been crowded, both when gatekeepers controlled the major distribution channels and when companies like TuneCore opened them up. The main difference now is who gets to decide what’s popular, the label execs or the consumers. Who’s to say what constitutes great music? Who can really hate free expression and virtually-free distribution? I’m certainly not complaining; I have no trouble finding the music I love.
I think it’s less productive to discredit services that have found a way to profit off of populating the marketplace and more productive to discuss solutions for exposing artists effectively to their target audiences. Perhaps focusing efforts on filtering content to reach target niches is the next power play, but complaining certainly isn’t getting us anywhere.
No one said it would be easy, but as in all other disciplines, the cream always rises. Great products only have trouble spreading if they are, in reality, not great products. Don’t hate the service, hate the game.
Finally! IBMA Newsletter Going Digital
Just got word that the IBMA is finally planning to make the adjustment to an “all-digital” monthly newsletter. While the print edition doesn’t cost members anything extra, in an effort to save costs adjust to consumer consumption habits, all I have to say is it’s about time. If a few people still want to hold out for the print edition, they should have the ability to opt-in via the IBMA website.
How they didn’t have an online version (downloadable) to this point is beyond me. Now we can share it with others, spread the bluegrass gospel and never relinquish the option to print (if you’re still into paper publications).
All this should come as fairly obvious, but for your convenience I will be posting the link to the PDF here each time I receive a newsletter. The July 2010 edition is now available and you can get it here. You can save the PDF from the linked page.
Enjoy.
As always, just want to keep you up to speed on some kick-ass developments in the wonderful world of bluegrass.
Del & Shorty
Congratulations are in order for Del McCoury and “Texas Shorty” (fiddler Jim Chancellor) who are amongst this year’s 2010 recipients of National Heritage Fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts. They will be honored at The Library of Congress and give a concert in Bethesda, MD on September 24.
Del & Shorty join a long pedigree of bluegrass and americana musicians who have received this lifetime achievement award. Among them are the likes of Mike Seeger, Mac Wiseman, Doyle Lawson, Jim & Jesse McReynolds, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, Wade Mainer and Kenny Baker.
Sam Bush Keynote at WOB 2010
Mr. Bush has been on fire this year. His newest LP, Circles Around Me has received some serious critical acclaim, but that’s not why I’m excited, rather, I just got word from The Bluegrass Blog that Mr. Bush is giving the main keynote on 9/27 at this year’s IBMA World Of Bluegrass, a gathering of the who’s who of bluegrass music and industry. Working on my passes now, so feel free to reach out and I’ll see you there! Also, he has two more instructional DVDs due out on Homespun Tapes about lead and rhythm mando, respectively. They are both due out Monday, 7/12.
Chris Thile Review
We wrote here a while back about The Punch Brothers’ CD release party in Brooklyn (which was totally amazing by the way). Their recent release is causing a major stir in the acoustic community and so there are a few things I think are worth a read.
- A show/music review from the NYTimes about The Punch Brothers and their recent release. Gives you an idea of how amazing the Brooklyn show was. Goes far enough to classify their material as mostly “acoustic prog rock”, a characterization I will definitely be using in future posts.
My favorite quote however, was about Mr. Thile and Noam “Pickles” Pikelny:
Mr. Thile contains multitudes: he connects the full-hearted yodel of Jimmie Rodgers and the insecure falsetto of Thom Yorke; he looks a bit like Robert Pattinson, and talks in manic raps of hyper self-consciousness. (“I’m having an absurd amount of fun,” he announced, eyeing his audience hungrily.)
Noam Pikelny, the banjoist, played the foil, delivering saturnine jokes behind the beat. It’s in their humor — spoken and musical — where their bluegrass training comes through most.
- As posted before, a great interview (via The Fretboard Journal) between David Grisman and Chris Thile about early influences, practice and my favorite instrument, the mandolin.
That should keep you busy for now, keep checking back for more heady bluegrass content.
Ok, so this may be a slight stretch for this blog, but I had to put this up. Sharon Van Etten, whose first album, Because I Was In Love blew me away when I got a hold of it this past spring and now she is about to drop her second LP, a seven song release called “epic”.
First and foremost, you can download the track “Love More”[DOWNLOAD} (right-click save-as) to convince you that she means business.
Great song writing, sparse but not empty textures, hypnotic harmonies. Just simple, great music. This track has a harmonium, which just makes it that much more awesome. Super tasteful and lyrically compelling. Might not hit you at first, but try it with headphones and no distraction. She’s got something special.
The LP was recorded in Philly’s Miner Street Studios.
Also, Weathervane Music, with Philadelphia radio station 88.5 WXPN (some of the classiest programming in town, trust me), created this great video series called “Shaking Through” which featured Sharon at Miner Street recording material for this new LP.
Check this out. It’s kinda hard to look away. Her music really haunts you.. in a good way.
Shaking Through: Sharon Van Etten from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.
That’s not all
Sharon will be at Zebulon in Brooklyn on July 7th to perform with a screening of The Builder.
Grab a copy of her LP from iTunes or sharonvanetten.com. Join the mailing list, whatever..
RADAR: Cool Bluegrass Reads
This will be quick:
3 things I think you must read.
- Chris Thile Interview conducted by none other than David Grisman (articly by Michael John Simmons via The Fretboard Journal. Literally 2 hours of two mandolin masters talk about their music and their instrument.. MUST READ.
- Great book: “Blind But Now I See: The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson” by Kent Gustavson. You can get an excerpt from the book’s website and of course you can grab it from Amazon. Review forthcoming.
- Another great Bio about to be released: The story of legendary banjo picker, Wade Mainer in a book entitled, “Banjo on the Mountain – Wade Mainer’s First Hundred Years”
In case you don’t know Wade, from The Bluegrass Blog:
Born in North Carolina in 1907, Mainer performed professionally from 1934 until 1953, originally in his brother, fiddler J.E. Mainer’s band (Mainer’s Mountaineers), and later with his own group, The Sons Of The Mountaineers. His hey day was during the popularity of “hillbilly music” in the 1930s and ’40s, but he left music to work for General Motors in the 1950s. Since that time, he has recorded only a few albums of Gospel music and toured sporadically with his wife, Julia. He has played very little since he retired in 1993.
And one great thing you should watch:
Have a nice day!
There has been a lot of speculation about how much the performing rights collection agency, SoundExchange has actually paid out to their member artists. Long story short, numbers were reported, then adjusted (repeatedly) and now don’t look like they are adding up. Payments to artists have been much slower than expected.
Why this is important:
- If you are signed up with a collection society such as SoundExchange and have songs playing regularly on a service such as Pandora, then you are potentially owed royalties
- If you aren’t a member of SoundExchange and are getting heavy exposure on a Pandora-like service, then you are leaving money on the table.
Even if you aren’t getting heavy rotation on Pandora or Slacker, you still ought to be a member of ALL the types of Performing Rights Organizations. ASCAP, BMI or SESAC (for songwriters) and SoundExchange for the limited digital public performance right mentioned above. Basically, as a recording artist, you should already be signed up.
Here is a great video about how SoundExchange works:
Things to remember:
- This protection is for ONLY copyright owners of Sound Recordings, NOT the underlying composition (although, in many cases they are one and the same).
- The royalties collected are only for DIGITAL streams of the songs (i.e from platforms like satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), internet radio (Pandora, and online-only webcasters), and cable TV music channels (such as MusicChoice).
While I am a strong proponent for performing rights collection societies and, in full disclosure, a major advocate for non-profit organizations such as SoundExchange, there has been some confusion as of late regarding the “huge” payouts recording artists are actually receiving.
According to the SoundExchange website, Q2 2010 was the highest quarterly payout to date, a reported $54.8 million, which for their 45,619 artist members is certainly nothing to sneeze at. However, over the last few weeks there has been conflicting reports about the accuracy of these dollar figures.
In Q1 2010, Digital Music News reported a little “inconsistency” between the payouts reported by SoundExchange and records from the IRS (see article).
Back in May, SoundExchange reported an outstanding balance of $200 million in unpaid royalties, then after some backlash over SoundExchange’s failure to distribute them, the number was suddenly adjusted to $39 million.
So why the switch? Looks like a little “creative accounting”. Perhaps it’s time for an investigation so that artists can utilize this service and expect to be compensated fairly.
Direct from Digital Music News (5/24):
Does this revision make any sense? According to publicly-available IRS documents (included in this report below), the year-end, unpaid balance in 2008 was actually approaching $260 million ($259.7 million). Presented with that $260 million figure earlier this month, SoundExchange immediately shaved the balance down to $200 million for early 2009 based on ongoing payouts.
During the multi-week investigation, the group declined to offer a more revised, up-to-date figure, citing auditing confidentialities. SoundExchange executive Laura Williams noted that “’stuck’ or delayed funds in 2007 were around $101 million and a little over $200 million at the start of 2009,” while acknowledging a “110 percent” increase in just two years.
It gets worse. The updated math seems more than just fuzzy, and suggests a broader transparency issue. In an indirect retort to Wired and other outlets unwilling to ask tough questions, Calhoun noted that $39 million remains reserved for ‘artists and copyright holders who haven’t yet registered,’ and led with that figure. But the same SoundExchange breakdown also includes a roughly $40 million outstanding balance from ‘bad data,’ ‘no data,’ or money locked in foreign PROs. That alone adds up to about $79 million in unpaid royalties.
Then, about $100 million of the $200 million, according to new figures from Calhoun, is ‘flow-through’ that has already been paid out. The rest is being held pending court resolutions on various royalty rates.
The flow-through figure raises even more questions. Flow-through is certainly present, though according to an earlier breakdown from Williams, year-2008 payouts were already more than $100 million. Still, the IRS filings show an end-of-year balance of $260 million, suggesting a far greater figure in 2010 by simple extrapolation.
Perhaps Calhoun is engaged in a bit of balance ‘time-shifting,’ a practice that seems to ignore incoming – and unpaid – royalty amounts while focusing heavily on subtraction. Here are the outstanding ‘fund balances’ (end-of-year) as confirmed by the available federal filings (documents below). So far, the only documented balances have come from the IRS.
Something is definitely not right here. For me, this is really an issue of transparency. A lot could have been done to simply report a mistake rather than shove it under the rug with inaccurate figures and focus only their quarterly payout figures. For a look at the currently available IRS documents, they are currently uploaded via Digital Music News.
See Line 34 of the document below:
IRS report – 2008
You’ll know more as I do. Keep checking back as this story develops.
UPDATE: SoundExchange Executive Director John Simson to Step Down
Not meant to fuel the fire, but to add urgency to the problem.
From Hypebot:
SoundExchange annnounced late today that Executive Director John Simson will be leaving the organization by the end of the year. He will remain until a successor is found according to the statement. As a manager in the 1990’s, Simson had lobbied to pass the Digital Performance Rights in Sound Recording Act of 1995. He was SoundExhange’s first full-time employee and launched the new collecting society in 2000.
A desire to return to his “creative roots” was given as the reason for his departure, but SE has been criticized in some sectors of the industry for a lack of transparency and allegedly slower than needed payments to artists. A recent campaign spearheaded by SoundExchange VP Brian Calhoun has aggressively sought out artists, managers and record labels; and worked to improve communications and provide better service. [emphasis added]
As you may or may not have heard, the fantastic powerhouse acoustic extravaganza known fondly as The Punch Brothers has just released their new LP Antifrogmatic (Nonesuch), available last Tuesday (6/15).
A little background on the name (wikipedia):
Thile notes, “‘Antifogmatic’ is an old term for a bracing beverage, generally rum or whiskey, that a person would have before going out to work in rough weather to stave off any ill effects. This batch of tunes could be used in much the same way, and includes some characters who would probably benefit mightily, if temporarily, from a good antifogmatic.””[2]
It’s the group’s third release and will be the first album with bassist Paul Kowert, replacing Greg Garrison. For those just joining the party (welcome), the musicians appearing on this LP are the great-great-grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer Sam Thompson, Chris Thile [mandolin], Mr. Impeccable Gabe Witcher [fiddle], Noam Pikelny (Leftover Salmon, anyone?) [banjo], former Infamous Stringduster Chris Eldridge [guitar], an Arkansas-bred muleskinnin’, Paul Kowert [bass]
Title history (wikipedia): From the Nonesuch site: “Antifogmatic is named after a type of 19th-century alcoholic drink that was meant as a cure for the effects of fog and other inclement weather. Of choosing the title, Thile notes, “’Antifogmatic’ is an old term for a bracing beverage, generally rum or whiskey, that a person would have before going out to work in rough weather to stave off any ill effects. This batch of tunes could be used in much the same way, and includes some characters who would probably benefit mightily, if temporarily, from a good antifogmatic.””[2]
For a preview, check out their Myspace page to stream “Rye Whiskey” and “This is the Song”. There’s a video of “This is the Song” as well.
More Media: Video about the new LP and a killer Paste article.
Deluxe Action: includes an instrumental CD, All Of This Is True, and a live DVD, Live from the Lower East Side: It’s p-Bingo Night!
Tickets are still available for our NYC album release show at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on June 23. This will be Punch Brothers first performance in Brooklyn. Come out and celebrate the release! The special guest for this show will be the Julian Lage Group.
Just a few things to report (thanks to The Bluegrass Blog and Bob Cherry’s Cybergrass for the heads up). For constant news updates, keep checking our Newsreel that features streaming feeds from both of these sites.
Things on my radar:
- Doc Watson’s Biography Blind But Now I See Published – Dr. Kent Gustavson’s bio of one of America’s most influential flatpickers is a MUST READ. Excerpt now available on the book’s website. The book can be purchased for around $10 on Amazon (buy here). There are also some great videos of some early doc performances.
- Great interview with outstanding mandolin picker, Doyle Lawson. Courtesy of Mandolin Cafe. Includes some fantastic videos, pickin’ and even a brief forward from President of the IBMA and Special Consensus’s banjo picker, Greg Cahill
- New LP from The John Hartford Stringband. Unfortunately, John Hartford (a musician very near and dear to my heart) has not come back down from on high to grace us with another album, but the bands “tribute” album entitled Memories of John is available as of 5/27 courtesy of Compass Records. Let’s be sure not to downplay the band, which includes the likes of Chris Sharp (guitar), Bob Carlin (banjo), Matt Combs (fiddle) Mike Compton (mandolin) and Mark Schatz (bass). All of these fine musicians were part of John’s last touring band and appeared on his last 5 releases. For the full write-up, check out the article from Cybergrass
That’s it for now. Gotta catch a plane to Dublin. Will invade your inboxes when I’m stateside. Thanks for reading!
- Management
ALBUM DROP: Keller & The Keels – THIEF
May 25 – Amsterdam:
Checked email. Keller dropped me a note. Album dropped.
Did you see these killer videos of some of the “unconventional bluegrass covers” tunes off the new LP? If not. Do so.
In case you weren’t aware. Keller is playing some mean mini 12-string, and Larry and Jenny rock something fierce on the 6-string and mule (respectively). Their previous collaboration “Grass” was also both groovy and technically impressive.
Pick it up at Keller’s official store and win a chance for you and 49 friends to have Keller and the Keels live in your living room. Well worth it.
Here’s what the site had to say about it:
KELLER, LARRY AND JENNY ARE ON THE LAM…..and we have no idea where they’ll end up! In a never ending quest to do things that have never been done, we present a opportunity like no other, and if you play your cards right, you may be the lucky one able to assist in their capture and collect the REWARD…..a 90 minute acoustic performance by Keller and The Keels in YOUR living room for you and up to 49 of your friends! All you have to do is buy the new album “Thief” at Keller’s official store by August 31, 2010, and you’ll be automatically entered into the contest.
Remember, as with most cool things in life, there is fine print involved, so go to www.kellerwilliams.net for contest rules and details, and, no, Keller’s mom is not eligible for this contest. Unfortunately, Rhode Island residents are not able to participate, although since medical marijuana is legal there, we don’t feel so bad for you. Also, since we gotta travel to you, folks from the Florida Keys get double entry…..just joking….or are we?
So, go buy a copy, get your friends to buy a copy, and increase your chances to win. Let’s Party!
Available thru 8/31. My birthday is the 23rd if you want to invite me to the living room acoustic set once you win. As always – jon@thesessionspot.com.
See you at the show.