Spotify Music Industry Terms

DI Box

A DI box creates a balanced signal. An unbalanced output can pick up unwanted noise, ruining the sound, so if you have an instrument that emits an unbalanced output (usually a keyboard, synth, or guitar), you can plug it into a DI box, which balances the output. The DI box plugs into a mixing console, which sends a noiseless signal through the speakers.

DAW

A Digital Audio Workstation is a software application that allows you to record, edit, and mix multiple sound sources on a computer. Pro Tools is perhaps the most widely used DAW today; Logic Pro, Cubase, and Reason are all popular as well. Pro Tools was created by Digidesign for the Apple Macintosh in 1989 (and was originally called Sound Tools) and was touted as the "first tapeless recording studio." Some of the early albums recorded with Pro Tools include Bjork's Homogenic, Beck's Odelay, and Mezzanine, by Massive Attack.

KPI

A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is the numeric goal you set for any facet of your campaign. This could be a certain amount of streams, album sales, shows booked, etc. you want to achieve through marketing.

UPC

A Universal Product Code is necessary to identify your product within a digital or physical store. Similar to an ISRC, it is a 12-14 digit alphanumeric code; however UPCs denote the album level and not the song level of your product. While one version of a song will always have the same ISRC, an album may have different UPCs depending on its format—the same album on LP, CD, and cassette will have three UPCs, while the digital version will require a fourth UPC. Again, if you are using a label or artist distributor, you may not necessarily need to sweat UPCs. But if you do need to provide your own you'll need to consult the appropriate agency within your country. In the US, for instance, it is here, in Canada here, etc.

Backline

A backline usually refers to the non-instrumental sound-system equipment, like amps and speaker cabinets, that you need to play a gig. In many cases, depending on the gig and venue, it can also include instruments like drums (often minus the breakables) and keyboards. You'll most often hear the term "backline" during logistics chats about a one-off festival date, where quick changes between acts are essential, so artists aren't necessarily expected to have all their own gear with them. When that's the case, the organizer should give you a rundown of what elements of the backline the venue will supply—gear brands, the size and power of amps, the number of pieces in the drum kit, and any other relevant details.

Call to Action

A call to action is a prompt that persuades a user to complete a desired behavior as determined by you, like streaming a single or buying an album. It can be as simple as "click here" or "listen now."

Campaign (Marketing)

A campaign is the entire overview of the push to market a release or tour or even increased public awareness of you as an artist. It includes your strategies, assets, release dates, analytics, budget, and more.

Label Copy

A collection of information that accompanies a musical work, including artist name, song title, ISRC, composer, publisher, and rights holder. Without this information it is impossible to distribute royalties properly. To see an example, you can look on a CD booklet or LP sleeve. In digital music, the label copy is contained within what's known as metadata.

One-Stop

A company that buys physical product wholesale from distributors and resells it in small quantities to small retail stores. Rare, but not totally extinct today.

Rack Jobber

A company that rents shelf or rack space within a physical retail location in order to sell their own stock which they buy wholesale. CDs sold in gas stations, bookstores, or gift shops, for instance, are often the work of a rack jobber.

360 Deal

A contract between a record label and an artist where the record company receives a percentage of other income the artist generates, not just from their recorded music or live shows. A 360, which is so named because it relates to a full circle of artist revenue streams, often includes merch, touring, publishing, endorsements, and more on top of records and singles.

Conversion

A conversion is when a user performs a desired behavior such as clicking through a link then purchasing something, following your profile, or listening to a song. Conversion rate, similar to CTR, measures how often this happens versus how many people see your content.

Scratch Track

A demo of sorts, a scratch track is the recording of a single element of a song—the bass line or vocal, for instance—in isolation, so that other elements of the song can be built around it. Once this scratch performance has served its purpose, it is replaced with the "real" version. Ironically, scratch tracks do end up on final mixes with some regularity when a singer or musician can't match the feeling of that first take.

Distributor

A distributor is a third party that gets a product from the manufacturer to a retailer, whether virtual or actual.

Blanket License

A license, often issued by a performing rights organization (PRO), that gives an entity permission to play any song in the rights holder's catalog for a set period of time. Companies that use blanket licenses can include TV and radio stations, restaurants, social networks, and streaming services.

Mechanical Rights

A mechanical right is the right to reproduce your music on a vinyl record, for example. Songwriters are entitled to their mechanical rights, and get them via their publisher (in the U.S.) or a society (outside the U.S.). Starting in January 2021, songwriters will be able to take advantage of The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), a nonprofit organization that "will issue and administer blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States." The MLC will then collect royalties and distribute them to songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers. When someone streams a song, both performing and mechanical rights are activated, because a stream has been classified as a combination of the two.

Pitch

A pitch is you, your publicist, manager, or booking agent trying to sell another party on an idea. The goal might be getting your music written up by a publication, earning brand sponsorships, finding venues to book you, or in the case of Spotify, pitching your music for playlist consideration. A well-targeted pitch can land you many opportunities.

Advance

A pre-payment given to an artist by their record label or publisher either upon signing or specifically to pay for the recording process. Advances are usually recoupable, meaning the artist won't receive any more money from the label or publisher until they've earned enough income from their music to cover the original advance amount.

Press/Media Release

A press release is a statement that alerts the media to what you're up to—a new release, tour, collaboration, etc.—in the hopes it will get coverage.

Publisher

A publisher is the person who gets your songs into as many ears as possible, both through recording and then use, such as public performance like radio or TV broadcast, which generates royalties. They pitch to all types of music users including labels, other artists, and music supervisors, and once someone's interested, they license the song rights to that user and collect a fee, which they then share with the songwriter. Publishers also make sure that work registrations (see below) are sent to performing rights societies and that songwriter rights are managed properly by those societies. They collect as much money as they can from all over the world for the artist, and in return, they get a percentage of both performance and mechanical royalties. If you're with a publisher, your mechanical income will come through the publisher, and performing income will come both directly to you and via the publisher. If you're not with a publisher, you'll need to join a mechanical rights society in order to collect your mechanical income.

Radius Clause

A radius clause dictates a geographical area where you may not perform during a specified time frame surrounding an event. It's used to make your appearance exclusive to that event so that interest isn't diluted. For example, if you're playing the Eaux Claires festival in early July, your contract may state that you can't perform in the state of Wisconsin between April and October.

Rider

A rider is a part of your contract that stipulates what extras the promoter must provide. This is most often in the form of food and drink in the green room for before and after the show, but it can be expanded—depending on the situation—to include almost anything. There are countless stories about bands at the height of their popularity demanding bizarre things in their riders, including, perhaps most famously, Van Halen's request for a bowl of M&Ms with all the brown ones removed at every gig. But remember: the rider comes out of your money at the end of the day. So if you're ordering puppies backstage, make a note—you'll be paying for them.

One Sheet

A single-page document that highlights an artist's new music and summarizes their bio, stats, and achievements. It's given to media, promoters, or anyone else who can further the artist's career in some way — for example, by hiring them for a gig, interviewing them, or playing their music.

Stage Plot

A stage plot is a visual representation of what your set-up looks like. It indicates where amps, drums, keys, microphones, DIs, and anything else you've got in your arsenal goes. It's usually just a simple drawing of where things go on stage, most often a digital image file, and is provided to the venue's stage manager so they know how to prepare for your set.

Digital Service Provider (DSP)

A streaming platform (like Spotify!) or an online store that distributes digital audio to consumers.

Licensees

A third party that purchases the ability (license) to manufacture, market and distribute all or part of a rights holder's repertoire. For instance, a third-party licensee may purchase the rights to the UK version of an album owned by a US artist or label. This also applies to digital music releases, despite the fact that the web is, well, worldwide.

Touring Market

A touring market is the geographical and demographical areas in which you plan to perform. This could be broad, like "Europe," or specific, such as "towns with populations under 50,000 across the Midwest US." Part of your campaign will involve determining how to target fans in these markets.

Metaverse

A virtual world rendered to look like a three-dimensional space where users are digital avatars that can interact with each other and the environment. One example is Roblox, where users can enjoy Spotify Island.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a way of identifying which of two options is more effective. It involves presenting a sample group of users with two versions of a single variable—like two different designs of the same webpage—and measuring which option, A or B, gets better results.

Copyright

According to the U.S. Copyright Office, "Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture." Copyright laws differ from country to country, with most granting copyrights to the author of the work—unless they sell the rights—until usually at least 50 years after they've died (in the U.S.) or 70 years after (in the EU). Song copyrights are also granted 70 yrs after death in the United States. Copyrights can be bought and sold, and can be held by one individual or shared between multiple people. The holder decides who can use a song and for what purpose, and they're entitled to the royalties generated from its use.

Artist Distributor

Aggregators and distributors are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, but ostensibly a kind of middleman that can be used by artists to deliver their music to Spotify, other DSPs, and stores. While this solution is perfect for artists who are just starting their careers, it is not uncommon for a well-known artist or even an independent label to have digital distribution through an aggregator like DistroKid or EmuBands. CD Baby is a hybrid company that offers digital distribution while also facilitating the manufacture of physical music formats.

ISRC

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a string of 12 alphanumeric characters that is used to identify any sound recording or music video. ISRCs are like ISBNs for books or VINs for cars—no two are identical. ISRCs make recordings automatically identifiable, which helps ensure that royalties are properly distributed.

EP

An abbreviation of "extended play," an EP is a "mini-album" that is significantly shorter than a standard full-length album. EPs typically include three to six songs.

Advance (Songwriting)

An advance is when a publisher fronts you money in anticipation of a song earning royalties before it actually does. In exchange, you enter into a deal with them regarding the rights to your songs. This can mean different things based on different deals. In a publishing administration agreement, you own the copyrights to your music, and the publisher administers those copyrights. In a co-publishing agreement, you and the publisher co-own the copyrights, and they administer them. And in a buy-out agreement, the publisher owns the copyright in full, and is the only entity allowed to administer them. Of course, you have to pay the advance back when the royalties start rolling in, but you don't necessarily have to pay all of it back before you start earning money. That would be called "100% recoupment," which can force a period of no income (not ideal!). Every agreement is different, and it's best to work one out that generates steady income for both sides.

End-User

An end-user is the person who actually consumes (uses) a particular product. In digital streaming, the end-user is a listener—which can be just about anyone, including a fan, researcher, booking agent, and beyond. It's good practice to keep the end-user in mind when prepping something for digital distribution.

Artist Manager

An executive responsible for fostering an artist or band's career to be as successful as possible. The manager guides the artist's professional decisions and serves as a representative and advisor for business deals. Learn more: What to Look for in a Manager

Performance Right Organization (PRO)

An organization that ensures songwriters and other rights holders receive performance royalty income generated when their musical works are broadcast or played in public. PROs also issue licenses for musical works. In the United States, PROs include ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR. Outside of the U.S., organizations that perform this function are known as Performing Rights Societies. Read More: ASCAP Q&A, BMI Q&A

Analytics

Analytics is simply the information gleaned from data or statistics, like the number of song streams or how many new users followed your artist page in a given period. This offers insights into what strategies are working best for you.

FLAC File

Another uncompressed audio format that digital distributors often accept is the Free Lossless Audio Codec. (Technical heads up: Audio should be 16-bit or 24-bit 2-channel with a 44.1kHz or higher sample rate. 32-bit or higher audio bit depth is not supported.)

4-Track Recorder

Artists of a certain age can recount stories of making their first demos using a 4-track. Introduced in 1979, the Tascam Portastudio was the world's first recorder to use standard cassette tape, enabling home recording on a wide scale. This enabled artists to create quick and dirty demos without incurring studio costs, and created an entire lo-fi aesthetic embraced by artists like Guided By Voices and Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill. Perhaps the most celebrated of all 4-track cassette recordings is Bruce Springsteen's sparse and somber Nebraska.

Song Split

As described above, co-writes make it slightly more complex to determine who is owed what when it comes to collecting royalties on a song. A song split is exactly what it sounds like—a divvying up of the contributions to the creation of a song. Song splits are clarified by split sheets, which identify who did what during songwriting, and what percentage of royalties they are entitled to.

Asset/Creative

Assets, or creative, are the media you have or will create specifically to promote a release, including music videos, promotional photos, and album artwork.

Attribution

Attribution measures the effectiveness of which types of marketing lead to a conversion, allowing you to see where your campaign is most successful.

Tape Machine

Before the advent of digital recording, all studios captured music on reel-to-reel machines that pulled magnetic tape across a mechanism, called a head, which converted an electrical signal into magnetic fluctuations that were written to the tape. The width of the tape, measured in inches, determined the fidelity of the recording; thus a studio might have a ¼" tape machine, a ½" machine, and so on. The pride of any analog recording studio was its 2" Ampex tape recorder, and despite the relative scarcity of large-format magnetic tape today, many modern producers, including Steve Albini and John Vanderslice, still prefer recording to tape.

Bitrate

Bitrate refers to the speed at which data is transferred from one location to another; it is measured in kilobits per second (kbps). Audio files are compressed to many different bitrates. Two of the more common ones are 192 kbps and 256 kbps. An MP3 that is compressed at a higher bitrate will usually sound more clear and have a bigger range of sound than one compressed at a lower bitrate.

Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate, or CTR, is the number of times something is clicked on versus the times they see that option, whether it's an ad, song, or link to a merch store.

Co-writing

Co-writing is when two or more songwriters get together to write a song, but these get-togethers, which are known by different names around the world—"sessions" in L.A. but "writes" in Nashville, for example—can also include producers and other creative partners. While co-writes have many benefits, both creatively and from a business perspective, co-writing makes the copyright of a song more complex, as there are more parties involved, and split sheets (see below) help to clarify each party's contribution to the finished work.

Content

Content is the broad swath of media or information you share with the public, including songs, videos, blog posts, tweets, and off-the-cuff Instagram stories.

Distribution

Distribution is what makes your music available to stores and streaming services. This can go through a label or a third-party company, like CD Baby, Tunecore, DistroKid, AWAL, and others.

Breakables

Drummers on the same bill might share the bones of a kit, but they'll rarely share the whole thing. Breakables are essentially the pricey or special parts of a drum kit—snare, cymbals, kick pedal, for example—that each drummer brings themselves. If you, as a drummer, are asked to bring only your breakables to a show, this is what they mean. Shellsrefers to the other components of the kit—toms, kick drum, stands—that are often provided by the headliner. This system not only helps keep turnover tight, but also saves your precious snare from abuse by a rogue heavy-hitter.

Drum Machine

Electronic instruments that create percussion sounds have been around since the 1930s, but it wasn't until the '70s that things got interesting. That's when drum machines that let users manually program their own beat patterns began to appear. The most famous drum machine is the Roland TR-808. In the early '80s it became ubiquitous, appearing on countless hits including Afrika Bambaataa's 1982 "Planet Rock," Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Kanye West used the instrument on every track of 808s & Heartbreak.

Managers (Tour, Production, Stage)

For a big touring production, many managers are needed. A tour manager is essentially the person responsible for keeping the show going, no matter what. Their responsibilities are nearly endless: they make sure that the artist gets where they need to go on time and is in good shape to be on stage, and they track down whatever is needed in whatever town the show stops in. A production manager makes sure the production—stage, sound, lights, performance, catering, etc.—is all set up at each show and ready to go, while also dealing with issues pertaining to equipment. They are involved with the production as long as the tour lasts. And a stage manager deals with all stage and backstage issues—things like checking backstage passes, supervising turnovers, and making technical adjustments as needed—at the specific venue and on the day the show happens, ensuring a hopefully seamless show.

High Resolution Art

For digital distribution you must provide a "hi-res" cover-art file that is a perfect square of at least 1600 x 1600 pixels (in a TIFF, PNG or JPEG) at a resolution of at least 72 dpi . Other standards do apply for digital cover art, usually imposed by the stores and enforced by distributors, such as what can and can't be written on it. Check with your distributor for policy details, and know that if your cover art is an advertisement for a better mattress it will probably be rejected.

Soundcheck

Ideally, a few hours or more before you hit the stage, you do a soundcheck. Soundcheck includes figuring out all the mix levels for the mains and monitors, so you get to indicate to the sound techs—or sometimes, more accurately, they might indicate to you—things such as how loud certain instruments should be or where a voice should be in the mix, and you work out any sound kinks so that your set sounds awesome. A line check is basically an expedited soundcheck, where you check levels quickly right at the beginning of your set and then the sound tech adjusts accordingly as you perform. (For instance, a line check is par for the course at festivals if you're not a headliner.)

Sync Licenses

If someone wants to use your music for the soundtrack of a TV show, movie, or commercial, they have to obtain a synchronization ("sync") license.

WAV File

If you've ever recorded with multitrack software, you probably know that the music gets written to your computer in an uncompressed file format, usually Waveform Audio (.wav). Because .wav files are superior in audio quality to "lossy" file formats, such as .mp3, you will be required to use .wav files anytime you upload your music to a digital service, either through an aggregator or distributor, or directly to the digital store itself.

P Line

In copyright law, the P Line is specific to musical works (the P stands for "phonogram") and is represented by ℗. The purpose of this symbol is to indicate that legal rights are held for a sound recording and to identify the owner of those rights. You may have seen this printed on an LP sleeve or CD booklet accompanied by the year that the work was first released and the name of the owner of the sound recording. For digital music the P Line is included within the metadata associated with an audio file.

Lift (Marketing)

Lift is the amount of improvement that results from a new campaign. By comparing the analytics of those who receive your new marketing strategy versus those who still experience your old plan, you can see where you've improved or declined.

Load in/Load Out

Load in is when you haul all your stuff from the van or the bus into the venue and on stage. Load-out is the exact opposite, and was immortalized beautifully by Jackson Browne on his 1977 record Running on Empty.

Demo

Most songs start life as a low-fidelity (lo-fi) demo. Like a napkin sketch that will evolve into a full design, a demo's purpose is to illustrate enough of the song's core idea so that others can collaborate and expand on it. While few people outside the artist's inner circle will ever hear it, recording a demo is a critical step in shaping the end product because it offers the earliest opportunity to hear how a song's various elements—from lyrics to instrumentation to tempo—work together. When demo versions do come to light, it can be pretty enjoyable to compare the final version with the working version. PJ Harvey acknowledged this when she released 4-Track Demos.

Turntable

No single piece of gear had more influence on early hip-hop and dance recordings than the turntable, and no other turntable could touch the Technics SL-1200. Durable and reliable, its direct-drive, high torque motor made it possible for pioneers like Grandmaster Flash to mix the beats from two records with precision. Furthermore, its powerful motor allowed a record to spin at the correct rpm even when manipulated by a DJ. Thus scratch techniques like the "scribble," the "crab," and the "backspin" were invented. Panasonic manufactured the so-called "wheels of steel" from 1972 until 2010 and then, after a petition to bring the 1200 back got 27,000 signatures, released an updated model in 2016.

NFT

Non-fungible token. An NFT is a unique digital collectible whose ownership is tracked via blockchain. Music NFTs can be one-of-a-kind or limited editions, and can include exclusive recordings or artwork.

RIAA Certification Requirements

Now that we're in the streaming era, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has different certifications for what kind of numbers make a release gold, platinum, multi-platinum, and diamond. An album or song has to hit a certain number of units to obtain any of those certifications. Gold, for example, is 500,000 units. But one stream doesn't equal one unit. According to the RIAA website regarding Album Awards, each permanent digital or physical album sale counts as one unit, ten permanent track downloads from the album count as one unit, and 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album count as one unit. For Digital Single Awards, each permanent digital download counts as one unit, and 150 on-demand audio or video streams count as one unit.

Organic vs Paid

Organic marketing, or "inbound marketing," involves content that's created naturally by an artist, like blog posts or social media updates. It can be optimized to reach bigger audiences using tactics like search engine optimization (SEO). Paid marketing is a premium strategy, like advertising, promoting posts, or doing sponsored content. By investing in this, you can potentially reach more listeners and turn them into customers more quickly.

Performing Rights Society

Outside the U.S., performing rights societies handle many of the same things PROs do. There is usually one performing rights society per country, but sometimes more. CISAC is an excellent resource for finding those.

Performance Rights

Performance rights (known as performing rights outside the U.S.) are what net a songwriter the royalties they're entitled to when someone performs or uses their work in a public place, or on radio or television. In the U.S., performance rights organizations grant licenses to music users like hotels and restaurants, who pay for the right to perform (play) that music, and the PRO sends that money back to the composer and publisher (copyright holder). Outside the U.S., performing rights societies handle this process.

Reach

Reach is the total number of unique users who are exposed to your content. It can help you understand how effective advertising on a specific platform is.

Registration

Registering your work as soon as splits are agreed upon, with various collecting societies is maybe the most important step to take in order to get paid what you're owed. If the societies aren't aware that your work is being used, they're unable to figure out how much royalties you're entitled to. If you're working with a publisher, they'll often handle this step for you. If not, you will have to register your own music.

Royalties

Royalties are the main source of income for songwriters and publishers. Performance royalties (referred to as performing royalties outside the U.S.) are generated through any public performances, broadcasts, or streams of a song, and are collected and paid out by societies when businesses pay the societies to use them. Mechanical royalties are generated from physical sales, downloads, and streams. They're distributed to the entity that holds the rights to the music.

EPK

Short for "electronic press kit," an EPK is a digital promotional package of assets that an artist or their publicist sends to journalists, radio DJs, record labels, booking agents, etc. to provide a summary of the artist's career and latest work. The assets typically include a biography, promotional images, current singles and videos, social media links, and highlights of the artist's streaming, sales, and radio statistics (see also: one sheet).

LP

Short for "long playing," an LP historically referred to a 12-inch phonograph record. Now, it means any full-length album, roughly considered to be around 40 minutes or longer.

A&R

Short for Artists and Repertoire, it's the department at a record label or music publisher responsible for discovering new talent and signing them to the company. A&R also works to guide the artist's career while they're signed. Read More: How Emerging Artists Can Stand Out with A&R Reps

Merch

Short for merchandise, merch is any item featuring the artist's likeness, logo, or other proprietary design meant to be sold to fans at concerts or online. Merch can be almost anything, but standard items include clothing, posters, stickers, buttons and physical recorded music like vinyl, cassettes or CDs. Read More: Fan Study, Merch Edition

Independent Distributor

Similar to the big networks mentioned above, an independent distributor works the repertoire of any number of small and medium-sized labels. Redeye and Secretly Distribution are two examples. Somewhat confusingly, many independent music distributors—such as Caroline, The Orchard, and Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA)—are owned by major labels (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, respectively). This arrangement allows the independent label to take advantage of centralized resources while having the creative freedom to focus on their own repertoire.

Condenser Microphone

Studios are judged by the quality of their gear and especially their microphones. Good-quality condenser mics are studio staples because they offer superior sound quality over the more standard spherical dynamic mics via their wide frequency response, higher sensitivity, and lower noise. In general, it's best to opt for condenser microphones in any controlled environment like a studio, and avoid using them in situations like outdoor concerts.

Targeting

Targeting is a way of narrowing down your desired audience into certain demographics and using that information to figure how out to best reach them, like promoting your music on a social network they're most likely to use.

ISRC

The International Standard Recording Code is a 12-14 digit alphanumeric code that identifies a specific recording of a song or composition; thus different remixes and cover versions of a song will have their own ISRCs. Typically a label or a digital artist distributor will assign ISRCs to your music, but in some cases you may need to provide your own. And because this "digital fingerprint" of your track should remain the same forever (regardless of who distributes your track now or who might distribute it in the future) please make sure that whoever issues your ISRC codes grants them to you in perpetuity.

Billing (Touring)

The bill is the list of acts playing a show, and there are different kinds of billing. Headline billing refers to the situation where one act (the "headliner") is the main feature of a show and is the reason why most people have showed up; that band or artist will occupy the top slot of any advertising literature and is usually represented in larger type than the supporting acts. Equal billing puts everyone on the same level. And there's festival billing, which happens when there's a high volume of performances stretching over multiple days or at least multiple stages, with more than one headliner. Acts will be broken down into tiers, the way you see it on a Coachella poster, for example.

Mixing Console

The console—sometimes also referred to as a "board" or "desk"—is the nerve center of any studio. Each of the audio signals on a session, whether they're analog (from a microphone, for instance) or digital (say from a synthesizer) are routed into the console, where they can be manipulated and combined before being recorded. Arguably the greatest console in history was the hand-wired Neve 80 series. Just ask Dave Grohl. In 2011 he bought the Neve 8028 that Nirvana used to record Nevermind and then made a documentary, Sound City, about the Los Angeles studio where this marvel of British engineering delivered classic records by Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, and Pat Benatar among many others.

Front of House

The front of house (or FOH) is the area where the soundboard and lighting controls are located. This is often a good distance from the stage, usually close to the center of the room, where technicians can see and hear everything from the perspective of the audience.

Mains

The main speakers for the front-of-house sound system. These are the speakers that provide the sound for the audience at a show. This is usually not the sound system that you, as an artist, will hear most clearly while on stage (that would be the monitor system, described in more detail below).

Big Three

The music industry's three largest record companies: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.

Support (Touring)

The opening act or acts for the headliners. Support acts get shorter set times and are usually there to warm up the crowd for the main event.

Promoter

The person, company, or organization that is planning and spreading the word about an event. A promoter can be a single individual arranging and publicizing a one-off gig, or it can be a massive corporation (like Goldenvoice, for example) putting on a festival—or it can fall somewhere in between.

Rights (Songwriting)

The rights to a piece of music determine who is entitled to earn royalties from it. They fall within two main categories.

Monitors (Touring)

The stage monitor system is what provides the sound for you while you're on stage. It's important to note that what you hear through the monitors (the speakers that face you and the back of the stage) will not be the same mix that the audience is hearing through the mains (see above). The monitor system is there so you can hear only what you need to hear while you're performing. The FOH staff will watch you for cues such as pointing to a mic or other band member and then pointing up or down, indicating that you need more or less of something in your monitor. There are also in-ear monitors.

Punch In

The term "punch in" refers to a studio trick that allows a producer to replace a portion of a track without destructively editing the entire thing. Imagine, for instance, a guitarist nailing the first seven bars of an eight-bar solo, before popping a string on the eighth. No need to ask for another full rendering; just punch in a new, corrected eighth bar, either on its own new track or on the original track itself. Each method requires a trained ear and steady hand to "punch in" and "punch out" at the right moment, but it can salvage sublime takes that otherwise would have to be scrapped.

Turnover

The time between sets that bands and techs have to shift the setup on stage from one band to the next. Turnovers are usually done as quickly as possible, and could entail striking one stage plot completely and replacing it with another, simply replacing everything but the backline, or even just leaving everything as is and having the bands share all gear. You want to avoid slowing down the turnover at all costs, as delays can eat into set times and create bad blood between acts.

Headliner

The top dogs on a bill. The headlining act is generally the big draw for a show, gets paid the most, plays the longest, and plays last.

C Line

The © symbol, or C Line, is used to indicate copyright in a range of creative works other than sound recordings. In the context of music it is used to denote rights protection for the cover art or written material included within an album, like liner notes. It can also be used in relation to the underlying musical composition and lyrics. Because the P Line and C Line refer to different rights you will always see them written separately, even when the owner of the rights is the same.

Song Identifiers

There are five key codes that are part of any musical work's essential metadata: the IPI identifies the songwriter or composer, the ISWC identifies the musical work, the ISRC identifies the specific recording, the IPN identifies the performers, and the ISNI links the other four codes together. Read More: How to Fine-Tune Your Song Metadata to get Paid

Cross-Platform

This involves marketing your music across multiple platforms, like social media pages, or via mobile vs. desktop. Aided by analytics, a cross-platform strategy leverages the specific benefits of each medium.

Roadie

This is a term usually reserved for an employee of a touring band who sets up and maintains equipment, but it can be used to describe pretty much any employee who tours with the band. They load in and load out, drive tour vehicles, ensure the security of instruments and artists, and keep the show on the road.

Guarantee (Touring)

This is the amount of money that you are guaranteed to get paid for a gig, regardless of net income. A "guarantee-plus-percentage" deal offers the guarantee plus a percentage of sales from tickets or alcohol, for example.

Metadata

This is where all the liner-notes information about a digital file lives, including what's readily visible on an album or track web page (such as the track, album, and artist names) as well as the back-end database info that can often be found with a click or two (the year the song or album was released, the label, the producer, etc.). Getting this information right when music is first uploaded is crucial, since it's what is used for accounting and is the only hope for getting royalties properly distributed for online music use. For a deeper dive on metadata you can this Spotify For Artists blog post.

On Hold (Songwriting)

To put a song "on hold" means that the song's publisher promises an exclusive first right of refusal to a specific artist or group with regards to performance and recording. It's an informal agreement, where the person granting the hold agrees not to issue a recording license for the song until the artist for whom it was placed on hold decides to record it or pass on it.

Strike (Touring)

To strike something is to take it down and off the stage. That could mean an amp, an instrument, or the entire set-up for a band.

Sample

Today sampling techniques have become such a integral part of making music that it's hard to imagine a time when lifting pieces of music (or snippets or speech, loops of sounds from nature, or any number of other audio elements) from other sources and incorporating them into a new work was novel. The E-Mu SP-1200 was a popular sampler, and it's impossible to overstate its importance in early hip-hop as well as house and techno of the late '80s. The 1200's gritty 12-bit sound, choppy samples, and murky bass lines defined an aesthetic in much the same way as cassette 4-tracks defined lo-fi bedroom records. Madlibmade The Unseen entirely on a 1200; Public Enemy used one on the opening track of Fear of a Black Planet.

Per Diem

Translating to "per day" in Latin, a per diem is a daily allowance given to an artist usually while on tour to cover basic needs like food.

Buyer

Usually referred to as a talent buyer, this person negotiates on behalf of the venue or event to determine how much you'll be paid, and works out any necessary contracts.

Major Distributor

When physical media was the only way to buy and sell music, the major labels developed their own distribution channels to move product to where people could consume it. Now that digital download and streaming platforms make up so much of the music business, the majors have their own digital-distribution arms as well. Because of their scale the major distributors can call on broad marketing resources and strong global relationships that often help break songs and artists internationally.

Collecting Society

When you own a copyright—and if you've written a song, you do—you're entitled to collect royalties when other entities use the song or other piece of intellectual property under that copyright. Collecting societies (also known as collection societies) track the royalties connected to copyrights, collect them, and pay them out to the owners. Different collecting societies collect different types of royalties: Some collect mechanical rights royalties, some collect performing rights royalties, and some—especially those outside the U.S.—collect both. You have to register your work with these societies in order to collect royalties.

Take

You'll hear this word a lot in a recording session. Similar to how it's used in film, a "take" refers to a single attempt at recording a song or a part of a song. And as it is in film, a take doesn't have to be 100% perfect to be considered a keeper, since you can isolate parts of different takes and edit them together.

Plugin

Your DAW will likely come with a set of effects that you can "plug in" to your audio source to shape your track. Often they emulate the sound of vintage gear, like the Hammond B3 organ, or replace the work of vibey (not to mention bulky) devices like compressors, which literally compress an audio signal to a degree that is pleasing to the human ear.

Set/setlist

Your set is an allotted amount of time to play on stage; a headlining set is typically much longer than the sets for support acts. A setlist is the list of songs you plan to play during your set. You don't need to plan and share your setlist beforehand, but if you're working with the same crew for a number of shows, it's a great resource for your sound and lighting techs especially. You can make things up as you go, too. But having a setlist makes it easier to keep the band and production crew on the same wavelength.