Music Business 395a Final

The most common commission cap range that artist unions impose on booking agents is what

10-20%

What year did Thomas Edison invent the phonograph, which played cylinders?

1877

When did radio stations largely abandon live music and turn to recordings as TV cut into its audience?

1950s

Stereo was introduced in the record industry in what year?

1958

Under the AFM definition, what is the minimum record royalty an artist must receive in order to be classified as a royalty artist?

3%

A recording contract that gives the label a cut of revenue from licensing artist products such as T-shirts with the artist's picture or band's logo is called a _____ deal

360

Regardless of eventual royalties that might be earned, it is commonplace for royalty artists to be paid for a recording session an amount that is

3x scale

Historically, after deducting certain out-of-pocket of third-party costs, what has been a typical amount a record company shares with an artist for recordings that are licensed for other than direct sales to consumers, such as license fees paid for masters licensed for synchronizing with motion?

50%

In a typical artist royalty contract with a controlled-composition clause, what percent of the full statutory mechanical rate is the label usually willing to pay for the full album?

75% or 7.5 timed the statutory rate for a standard-length composition

What are the two duties of the special products department, otherwise referred to as catalog?

?

Which situation would be the most ethically dubious

A lawyer represents an artist in a negotiation with a publishing company with which the lawyer has an ownership interest

What is an inaccurate statement about a mechanical license?

A mechanical license only applies to phonorecords

What are some qualities and competencies that should be sought by an artist in a personal manager?

A personal manager should be well organized, straightforward, an effective communicator, believe in artist's vision, have a reputation of honesty, and have industry contacts.

What is the difference between a recording budget and a recording fund?

A recording budget is an estimate of the cost of album production. The fund is the overall balance.

A magician who performs at a major theme park is probably working under the jurisdiction of what labor organization?

AFM

An orchestra conductor on a live network TV show is probably working under the jurisdiction of what labor organization?

AFM

An opera star performing in a major opera house is probably working under the jurisdiction of what labor organization?

AGMA

Which entity in the United States does not issue a mechanical license on behalf of copyright owners?

ASCAP

Based on the range of representation services that a full-service booking agency usually provides to its music industry clients, which of the following contracts is least likely to be one the agency would ask a client to sign?

ASCAP Member Composer Agreement

Which of the following is part of what some companies call the "administrative" department for a record label?

Accounting

The union know informally by the name "Equity" represents which kind of worker?

Actors in live theater

Name the oldest active labor organization in the US representing musical performances

American Federation of Musicians

Spell out the full name of the organization represented by the acronym AGMA

American Guild of Musical Artists

Which labor organization typically represents performers in live venues such as theme parks, casinos, and fairgrounds?

American Guild of Variety Artists

SAG-AFTRA might often represent many employees performing what kind of work?

Announcers

According to the representative organizational structure illustrated in your text, if a dispute arises who generally has the ultimate authority for decisions for a major act

Artist

According to your textbook, in addition to the personal manager, who should approve the selection of a business manager, accountant, or auditor?

Artist

Explain why labels push for 360 deals

Because the label argue that the deal incentivizes them to spend significant developments and marketing resources on the artist's behalf

Why is the manager's commission base important to both the artist and manager?

Because the manager may be the person principally responsible for the rise and fall of the client's income

Explain how the term billing is used in the entertainment industry

Billing has to do with the size, emphasis, and position of artist's names in print ads and screen credits.

Which statement is untrue about the role of a SAG-AFTRA vocal contractor?

Cannot be the vocal director

For which use below would a mechanical license be inappropriate?

Commercial radio broadcast of nondramatic music

Talent agents or booking agents typically engage musical artists for what kind of work

Concert or club dates

Describe in a sentence how California state law defines the role of a talent agent

Deliver artists to talent buyers and serve as middlemen/negotiators

Your text describes some creative elements that artists should seek to control for a video project. Name 2.

Director, storyline, budget

The Recording Industry Association of America, which is best known for issuing certifications for big-selling records, does not concern itself with which one of the following?

Disputes over individual artist payment royalties

Once a personal manager manages to nail a deal with a record label for the artist, which of these activities by the manager is likely to be most important?

Encourage label executives to live up to the terms of the contract

What is one way motion picture music licensing differs between the United States and much of Europe?

European theaters pay for a blanket performance license

A "small right" is defined as the right to exploit a composition that is less that one minute in duration (such as a brief sample used in a rap song) this is in contrast to a "grand right" which is the right to exploit a composition with a duration longer than one minute

False

A disadvantage of publicity - which solicits the press and others for coverage in media - is that it costs more than other forms of promotion or advertising

False

A label negotiating a recording contract with a new artist will usually suggest the artist use the label's own attorney to represent both parties, thus saving legal costs that might be a strain for the artist

False

A personal manger for an established touring act typically attends nearly every performance

False

A typical "key man" provision in a personal management contract protects the manager from the lack of performance by the "key man" in the deal, who is the artist

False

A union steward's primary function is to serve performers refreshments every 2 hours during rehearsal or performance.

False

About half of ASCAP's revenue comes from clubs, restaurants, hotels, and similar venues.

False

An AFM royalty artist receives 50% of a standard session payment for each recorded song on top of whatever royalty the artist negotiates

False

As artists gain superstar status, royalty rates generally go down in percentage terms because the absolute amount paid to the superstar rises substantially as unit sales increase

False

BMI foreign collections are of little importance to BMI affiliates.

False

Because legally they are regarded as obsolete "toys" according to the 1976 copyright act, jukeboxes are now exempt from licensing fees that they were required to pay in an earlier era

False

Because music videos are of such short duration, video producers are not required to have a synchronization license from the publisher of the music.

False

Because of conflict-of-interest rules, it is illegal for an artist's attorney to manage the artist's publishing company

False

Because of its large membership and many famous performers, AFM can usually impose its jurisdiction on both local casual gigs as well as national broadcasts

False

Because of requirements for fairness in pay.ing copublishers from different PRO's, each use identical sampling and survey policies to calculate earned royalties for their members and affiliates

False

Contractually obligated to achieve maximum income for the artist, a personal manager is well-advised to accept every possible gig when the guaranteed fee is attractive

False

Even a strong manager cannot expect to earn, over the long term, an income comparable to one of his or her successful clients

False

Few publishers will accept a negotiated mechanical royalty rate from record companies.

False

If a major label licenses a master from a DIY artist, no one will end up obligated to pay union scale to backup singers

False

In ASCAP's early history its membership largely excluded composers and authors of Broadway musicals and pop songs.

False

In New York, most personal managers must be licensed by the state as booking agents

False

Independent record labels always spread their resources nationally and are not satisfied with simply getting regional hits

False

It is virtually impossible for a label to make a profit for itself on a recording that does not recoup the advances made to the artist

False

It's rare for major labels to buy independent labels because their scrappy, iconoclastic organizations are a bad fit with a major

False

Labels generally prefer that artists have weak personal managers so that the label can better influence the direction of that artist's career.

False

Large labels and their parent organizations don't care much about the music publishing rights for the songs by their artists who are under recording contracts

False

Large, full-service booking agencies concentrate on representing acts at all levels, including unknown artists that regularly appear in venues and towns of all sizes, thus being able to "fully serve" the industry

False

Lawyers are ethically required to charge the artist clients only an hourly fee or a flat fee retainer

False

Legal ethics require that when negotiating on behalf of a band, each member of the group must have an attorney representing his or her interests as an individual

False

Most albums recoup the expenses advanced to artists

False

Most recordings at major music labels turn a profit

False

Music publishing usually is combined with A+R in an organizational chart for a record label

False

Musicians who establish themselves as star performers generally don't have to join a union as their career progresses

False

New artists usually pay personal managers lower percentage fees at the beginning of their careers because they simply cant afford to pay the percentages charged by superstars

False

Only after all the final language of a contract is agreed and the contract is signed, an attorney typically then drafts a "deal memo" to summarize the essential elements of the agreement

False

Personal managers, as the name implies, are primarily responsible for the personal well- being of their clients, leaving most business decisions to attorneys and booking agents

False

Since a personal manager works at the pleasure of the artist, an artist will find relatively simple the termination of the artist's financial obligations to the departing manager

False

Songwriters, whether or not they are performers, are required to be members of AFM to have their songs performed in a venue that uses union musicians

False

Specifying when an artist may demand a financial audit is no longer necessary since the frequency of such audits is now specified in state law

False

The 4As is a group of performers' unions organized as a rival to the AFL-CIO

False

The best way for a client to avoid paying an unreasonable legal bill is to discharge (fire) the lawyer

False

The growing popularity of the Creative Commons license since 2001 has led to widespread adoption by music publishers because of the simplicity of rights administration

False

Though social media activity and fan pages are great for the ego, they are generally a waste of time for an artist trying to impress potential personal managers.

False

To save time and legal fees for beginning artists, most experts advise having one experience attorney represent both parties in a negotiation

False

Tracking or overdubbing is forbidden in recording sessions subject to SAG-AFTRA jurisdiction

False

Under state law, an artist may only grant "power-of-attorney" rights to a manager who has passed the bar exam in that state.

False

When a producer obtains a synchronization license for a video, it is not necessary for the broadcaster airing the video to have a performance license.

False

When a record bombs in the marketplace, artist royalty contracts typically require the artist to return the production money advanced by the label

False

With the rise of concert tours as an income source, road managers typically end up guiding careers in place of personal managers

False

Compared to independents, what are the areas in which major labels have the biggest business advantage?

Financial strength and distribution prowess

According to your textbook, what are some major areas of responsibility of a personal manager?

Handling of finances, negotiation of business contracts, etc.

A stagehand for a major concert hall and a motion picture camera operator may both be working under the jurisdiction of what labor organization?

IATSE

In what year did singers in the US generally come under jurisdiction for music videos released by some of the larger record/entertainment companies?

In 2012, when music videos were becoming relatively less critical than in earlier years

In the Great Depression of the 1930s, what emerging platform helped prop up the struggling record business?

Jukeboxes

When all the albums that are part of a multialbum slate are no longer being actively promoted at retail in their original release, the rights to the sound recording typically will be controlled by which party?

Label

The chief executives in charge of record labels tend to have risen from which work background?

Lawyer or producer

Which provision is not a common feature of union agreements that franchise or license a booking agent?

Limit on juridiction to a 300 mile radius

In lawsuits such as the Rosa Blasi case or the Kesha case cited in your textbook, the artists were pursuing which central legal argument?

Managers who are clearly incompetent need not be paid

If both groups are represented by SAG-AFTRA, each member of a group of 3 to 8 singers is paid what in comparison to each member of a large choral ensemble with a national reputation?

More

Name the organization that gives out the coveted Grammy music awards

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

In brief, describe how digital technology has leveled the playing field, reducing the competitive advantage that major record labels have over competitors

Now artists can record their own works at home. The quality of home recorded music on computers are just as good as what was professional. They can also do their own marketing and promotions online with youtube and other forms of social media

A provision of the Taft-Hartley Act frustrate music unions primarily for what reason?

Performers in some venues are classified as independent contractors, not employees

Which one of the following is not a genre that independent music labels pioneered?

Pop

What viable genres did the big labels overlook, leaving them to independent labels in the 1950s?

R+B and C+W

What ground down the mom-and-pop independent record stores that dominated music retailing in the 1960s?

Rack jobbers, record supermarkets, and mail-order record clubs

A lawyer who is said to "participate" in a deal has what role?

Receives a percentage of the deal value as a fee

Which one of the following is not typically a responsibility of a marketing department for a record label?

Royalties

Which job on a network TV show is least likely to be subject to AFM jurisdictions?

Singer

In the 1970s, what type of recording artist emerged for the first time as superstars by meshing another creative ability with singing?

Singer-Songwriter

Instrumentalists recording music for a major label release perform work covered by union contracts negotiated by which entity?

The AFM national or "federation" office

Explain briefly why members of the Dramatists Guild of America should not be regarded as members of a union

The Dramatists Guild is best thought of as a trade association (and not a union) as its members are not considered employees. Guild members include composers, lyricists, and book writers active in the theater. The guild doesn't negotiate wages in a traditional sense, but it works to protect the intellectual property rights (copyrights, royalties, subsidiary rights) of its members.

Provide a brief explanation of how cross-collateralization works in a royalty artist recording contract that encompasses several albums

The advances made for each album are added together. Even if one album in the series may be highly successful, the poor sales of earlier albums may reduce or even eliminate the potential for the artist to receive any more than the total advanced amounts. In this scenario, the label is never fully recouped

A "key man" clause in a contract between an artist and booking agency provides what kind of protection?

The artist is protected against an agency substituting a new agent in place of the one with whom the artist has established a working relationship.

Your textbook asserts who is in the best position to handle the act's money?

The business manager

Which statement is less likely to be true about a recording contract that provides for the production of a video?

The costs of a video production commercially distributed are first recoupable from the artist's audio recording budget or fund, and if not fully recoupable from that source, then from the video budget fund.

Selecting music to record may be influenced by several people. With a major label deal, who typically has the final say on what gets released?

The labe

Identify a common reason artists become disenchanted with their label

The label does not give promotional support

A "sunset clause" in an artist management contract provides a roadmap for an orderly de-escalation of the financial obligations between the artist and manager

True

A club's blanket license is based, in part, on its seating capacity and weekly budget for music.

True

A common method of settling disputes surrounding artist management contracts is to submit the issues to arbitration

True

A label will typically use option-provisions that obligate an artist to deliver one or more follow-up albums at the label's request, as opposed to obligating itself to release a specific number of albums beyond the first one

True

A large, national booking agency generally takes commissions of 10-15% of the artist's gross income from work generated by the agency or otherwise eligible for commission

True

A major label acquiring a master recording from an independent producer must pay musicians (retroactively if not already) the relevant AFM and SAG-AFTRA scale and contingent scale payments

True

ASCAP does not handle grand rights for its members.

True

An artist may work on a nonexclusive basis with an agency contracted to work with the artist in a limited or specific territory or kind of performance

True

As a practical matter, successful booking agents serve the interests of two different parties, the artist and the talent buyer

True

As the recorded music industry declined after 2000 due to the digital revolution, many performers no longer looked at major label deals as a career necessarily for the first time

True

BMI charges its writer affiliates no dues.

True

BMI often negotiates with trade associations representing individual licensees.

True

BMI's first affiliates included songwriters from many genres of music that had not been previously represented by performance rights organizations, including jazz, R&B, country, gospel, and folk.

True

Background singers on a major hit album might earn contingent scale payments of more than 10 times the scale payment they received from the original recording session

True

Cable TV systems in the US generally operate under a compulsory blanket license for music

True

California law prohibits personal managers from procuring employment for their clients

True

California laws limit activities of people representing artists more than do the laws of most other states

True

Despite their fame and clout in negotiations, most big stars remain subject to the rules set forth in collective bargaining agreements negotiated by a union.

True

For an artist with the goal of securing a record contract, a reasonable period of time for a personal manager to achieve that objective is 1 to 2 years.

True

For most music business attorneys, the majority of their time is spent with "transaction" work as opposed to litigation

True

Generally, artist personal managers in New York State are not franchised or licensed by a union

True

In an all-in deal between an artist and label, the producer's royalty comes out of the artist's royalty

True

In an open shop, employees who are not members of a union are subject to the same wages and conditions as those employees whose union negotiated a collective bargaining agreement

True

In recent years, it has become increasingly uncommon for an artist's recording deal to require the use of a label's in-house producer

True

In the AFM, dues assessed members are related at least partially to a percentage of earnings on jobs subject to union jurisdiction

True

Jukebox public performance licenses are now administered by the Jukebox Licensing Office.

True

Like most large business entities, major labels are conservative and are slow to catch up with shifts in tastes in the consumer marketplace

True

Major record companies have their own in-house offices in 40 to 50 countries overseas

True

Many publishers derive additional synchronization income by facilitation cover versions of their repertoire to be used in motion pictures

True

Negative tour support is the money the label has advanced to make up for financial deficits the artist incurs while on tour

True

Performance rights organizations find it impractical to survey performances in venues such as clubs, hotels, and the like.

True

Self-contained groups recording for a major label are typically subject to union contracts that deal with issues not addressed in royalty artist contracts

True

Some specialty labels, particularly in classical music, sidestep conventional distribution through stores to instead go direct to buyer and seller via online

True

The AFM Sound Recording Special Payments Fund pays musicians a percentage of the scale payments they received over a base period

True

The artist generally appoints a manager as his or her exclusive personal manager, while the manager's services to the artist are nonexclusive.

True

The fundamental distinction between "grand rights" and "small rights" is the relative size of the use fees.

True

The going rate for a personal manager's commission is usually in the range of 10-25%

True

The record label staff that tries to interest radio stations in programming music and get songs on popularity charts also works to arrange promotional appearances, interviews, giveaways, and contests with radio stations

True

The term grand right and dramatic right are often used interchangeably.

True

Typically an artist seeks a term of no more than 2 years for the initial term of a personal management contract

True

Unions negotiate wages and working conditions

True

When "weighing" the value of sampled performances, ASCAP takes into account whether the music used was theme music or background music.

True

With a recording fund, a royalty artist who incurs recording recording expenses lower than the budgeted amount may be able to pocket the difference

True

Your text advises that an artist must usually warrant to the personal manager that the artist (whether an individual or group) is the sole owner of the professional name

True

Your textbook asserts that an unestablished artist needs a personal manager about the time the performer can earn more than union scale

True

Your textbook suggests that there should be a cap imposed by the artist on the manager on the level of expense that may be incurred without the artist's consent

True

The AFM Sound Recording Labor Agreement calls for paying the musical director how much?

Twice sidemusician scale

Most artist management contracts require a manager to loan the artist money under what circumstances?

Under no circumstances

In a typical royalty contract, which expenses would not be charged back to the artist's royalty account?

Wages to label executives

If, as part of a contract negotiation, one party "takes points" in the deal, what does that mean?

When a party "takes points" it means they receive a small percentage of specified deal elements being negotiated

Which of the following statements is most likely applicable when licensing live music at a major hotel?

a blanket license

most applicable for a local radio station broadcast of a hit record not provided by a radio syndicator?

a census technique (actual logging) is used

The function of negotiating and finalizing contracts for business deals and licensing copyrights is called ______ _______ at record labels

business affairs

Which would be the overall better deal for an artist in a recording contract?

can't tell without more information

The function at record labels of conceiving marketing messages and originating marketing and sales materials is called

creative services

Specialty labels tend to be successful when they

do not compete in mainstream music where the majors dominate

To prevent being ensnared in antipayola regulations, record labels no longer include swag in electronic press kits

false

In 2012, Clear Channel (iHeart) and record label Big Machine cut a deal that was significant for what reason?

first time a label would directly collect negotiated performance royalties from a US broadcaster

most applicable for a new opera debuting at the Met?

grand rights license

Which of the following statements is true about a "spec" recording session?

is discouraged by the union

How did the term mechanical originate in the music business?

it was originally a license to reproduce music through piano roll

Union singers working on a national broadcast commercial are usually paid additional fees when the spot airs

more than 13 weeks

Describe what is meant by the term special material

music, lyrics, dialogue, and patterns specially written for a particular artists's performance

Your textbook advises that an artist's contract with a personal manager should be

nontransferable

The executives at larger record labels who oversee distribution of recordings to the consumer marketplace, including packaging, advertising, tours, publicity, promotion, and sales activity, are known as

product managers

What are the duties of the A+R rep?

see

What economic and distribution advantages do the major labels possess over rivals?

see

In one sentence, describe how independents, as compared with majors, approach which artists and genres to sign.

see independent label

most applicable for a motion picture film score for a movie shown in US theaters?

synchronization license

most applicable for Muzak programming heard in a supermarket?

transcription license is needed

The AFM Sound Recording Labor Agreement calls for employing an AFM contractor under what circumstances?

when a session calls for 12 or more sidemusicians