MEBUS 4200 Midterm

What's the rule of thumb for recording studio time, in hours, to produce one rock music song by an established artist?

10-20 hours

When was the first U.S. copyright law enacted?

1790; U.S. Congress implemented a principle of copyright enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

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

3%

Typically, the publisher of a song shares what percent of net mechanical royalty with the writer(s)?

50%

When may a songwriter register a copyright for a song?

After the song is written

Which is NOT a typical type of music industry consumer research?

Audio acoustic patterns

Copyright vests initially with whom?

Author

Standards against which peers in a group are judged called ______

Benchmarks

Who publishes the most widely quoted charts dating to 1940?

Billboard

The Copyright Royalty Board has the right to set which kind of royalty rate in the U.S.?

Cable and satellite retransmission fee

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

Cannot be the vocal director

In the days before more advanced analytics was available on retail record sales, what was the genre that tended to have its reported sales results overreported?

Country

T/F 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

T/F A survey conducted in 2018 showed U.S. consumers ages 25-34 represent more than half of the total audience buying vinyl.

False

T/F An AM royalty artist receives 50% of a standard session payment for each recorded song on top of whatever royalty the artist negotiates.

False

T/F Because local radio stations are happy to promote local talent, a singer-songwriter should give them the first opportunity to broadcast new songs before they are published or commercially released.

False

T/F Because modern studio recording is entirely digital, artists and engineers no longer use analog equipment

False

T/F Cable TV system operators are exempt from paying for transmission of copyrighted music compositions.

False

T/F Copyright law recognizes that some ideas deserve protection even prior to existence.

False

T/F From a legal process perspective, if a publisher defaults on a songwriter contract, the songwriter's best course of action is to break the contract unilaterally, thus saving the expense of expensive litigation.

False

T/F In most genres, it is usually possible to predict what will become a hit song

False

T/F It is rare for independent production agreements to provide a royalty for the producer

False

T/F Most producers never "pad" their recording budget to create some excess to apply to unexpected overages

False

T/F Music streamers share audience analytics data with professional artists and their managers for their own songs- as well as information on other artists.

False

T/F Record labels no longer own recording studios

False

T/F Recording studio reservations are automatically open-ended until songs or an album is finished; they are not available on an hourly basis

False

T/F Songwriters of hit songs are usually advised to create songs as "works for hire" because this arrangement guarantees them big royalties that continue for decades.

False

T/F The controlled composition clause in recording contracts allows singer-songwriters to earn more in mechanical royalties than nonperformers, because they control both the rights to the song and the performance itself.

False

T/F The practice of nonunion recording is rare.

False

T/F The quickest and best way for an aspiring lyricist to gain career traction is to pay a publisher to provide the melody to the lyricist's song.

False

T/F The symbol © stands for "performance."

False

T/F There are specific formulas for locating collaborators.

False

T/F Today, the singer/songwriter is an industry mainstay, and it is common for songwriters to toil away in offices, cranking out tunes on demand.

False

T/F Tracking or overdubbing is forbidden in recording sessions subject to SAG-AFTRA jurisdiction.

False

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

False

T/F When analytics analyzes POS buying transactions, POS stands for position over scale.

False

Which piece of legislation, developed to facilitate dissemination of creative works, prevents copyright holders from exercising unreasonable control over the physical product once it has left the distributors?

First Sale Doctrine

What is the most effective way to impress a publisher to sign a songwriter's work?

Get a referral from an industry professional who knows the publisher

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

If structured as a recording budget, the artist doesn't get to keep funds allocated but not spent.

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?

Label

A U.S. copyright in a composition created in 2016, and not a work for hire, extends for 70 years after which event?

Last surviving author's death

What skill is NOT associated with a record producer

Mastery of at least two musical instruments

Under U.S. copyright law, how would a phonorecord be best described?

Material object containing a sound recording

Who balances tonal qualities (serving as "the magic ear") and pieces together all tracks into a winning mix?

Mixer

Under U.S. copyright law, when is a musical work "created?"

Music is fixed in musical notation or recorded on a phonorecord.

What is MIDI an acronym for?

Musical Instrument Digital Interface

Songs being played on radio and TV channels are tracked by ______

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems

Which analytics organization absorbed Arbitron?

Nielson

In a typical royalty contract, the standard length of an artist's recording contract is _______ year(s).

One

Who owns the U.S. copyright in a new arrangement of a copyrighted work?

Original copyright holder

The Songwriters Guild of America argues that if a publisher fails to get a commercial recording of a song within a year, the contract should terminate unless the publisher completes which action?

Pays to extend its window

Who pays the writer his or her share of mechanical royalties?

Publisher

If a singer-songwriter has a major recording contract, a copublishing deal with the label-affiliated publishing company might likely have which characteristic?

Publisher gives up 50% of the publisher's income share to the writer.

Licenses of sound recordings for motion pictures, commercials, television, video games, and the like generate a synch fee, either in the form of a percentage royalty or a flat payment, which is usually shared with the artist on a _________ basis after deduction of out-of-pocket or third-party costs.

Quarterly

Superstars at contract renewals have the negotiating clout to sometimes gain control of their back catalog through a __________ clause involving "recapture." Upon expiration, they are free to bring their back catalog to another label, which means the incumbent label loses rights to that music.

Reversion

What company tabulates unit sales of recorded music in 19 countries for both digital and physical format and offers the tabulations to the music industry on a subscription basis?

SoundScan

Which technique is considered more reliable in estimating sales of physical product at retail?

Tallying POS data

Identify a chief cause why artists become disenchanted with their label.

The label does not give promotional support.

The text maintains that it is often advisable for one songwriter to collaborate with another. In this case, what is the best way to structure the relationship?

The pair negotiates how to divide the songwriter royalty and seeks a deal with a publisher.

Under U.S. copyright law, if there are two composers and three lyricists for a song, they must share the royalties according to which formula?

There is no specific royalty allocation dictated by law

If the album is released by a record company signatory to a SAG-AFTRA or AFM agreement, the company may be required to pay the royalty artist up to __________ times minimum scale.

Three

Which program is a body of material that has been produced for the sole purpose of communication to the public in sequence and as a unit?

Transmission

T/F A demonstration recording (demo) for a singer-songwriter seeking a label deal is often approached differently than a demo for a nonperforming songwriter.

True

T/F A producer who is particular about equalization (EQ) and timbre will usually go into a studio with the engineer prior to the sessions to check out the console, the monitoring system, and the acoustics

True

T/F A singer-songwriter could use a demo to showcase both his or her writing ability and potential as a performer.

True

T/F A work shall not be considered to have been made "for hire" unless the parties have signed a written agreement saying the work is made for hire

True

T/F AFM contracts control wages and working conditions for backup artists.

True

T/F Almost all recording contracts require the artist to record, during the term of the contract, only for the label that has the artist under contract.

True

T/F Anyone may make a recording imitating or mimicking the sound of a commercial release without owing a sound recording royalty to the original artist or label.

True

T/F As a result of the 1989 U.S. accession to the Berne Convention, the U.S. Copyright Act was amended to provide for negotiated licenses with jukebox operators.

True

T/F Because music is in a state of constant development and change, acts-particularly in the pop, rock, and hip-hop fields-can go from star to has-been status, sometimes within the same year.

True

T/F Because of copyright law, under certain circumstances the employer may be considered to be the "author" if the employer engaged a person to perform on a work-made-for-hire basis

True

T/F Consumer attitude research reports may be one-off or infrequent (such as quarterly), which typically mesh findings from consumer interviews with sales or usage data.

True

T/F For many years, the record-buying public has repeatedly demonstrated that it is attracted by the sound of the music, not its type.

True

T/F In "custom research," where an entity such as a trade group, artist manager, or record label hires a research company to report on a desired topic and the full report is sold to others.

True

T/F In addition to royalties, it is standard practice for the label to pay a production fee

True

T/F 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

T/F It is commonplace for songwriters to spend as much time promoting their works as creating them.

True

T/F It's common for an album to be made at more than one recording studio

True

T/F New distribution technology threatened the business model of selling physical media.

True

T/F Next Big Sound was founded by college grads in 2008 and funded by venture capitalists.

True

T/F Nielsen BDS' computer-based technology prevents programmers from giving false airplay reports.

True

T/F Other than works-for-hire, a copyright transfer or license granted after January 1, 1978 may be rescinded by the grantor after 35 years.

True

T/F Staff writer positions are becoming rarer and rarer in today's marketplace.

True

T/F The Audio Engineering Society holds annual conventions that feature seminars, technical paper presentations, and workshops on new recording technologies and displays of equipment manufacturers' latest audio products

True

T/F The mastering engineer might do basic preparation work such as sequencing the album, adding the space between each song, and making sure that the track starts at the correct moment with regard to the corresponding track number

True

T/F The rise of the high-quality home or project studio, along with the tightening of recording budgets by labels, have combined in recent years to put a squeeze on the commercial studio sector

True

T/F The services of backup performers are often controlled exclusively by the terms of the applicable union agreements.

True

T/F Under the Berne Convention, notice of copyright is required in deposit copies

True

T/F When a singer records for a signatory label, SAG-AFTRA has little difficulty controlling minimum wages and working conditions.

True

T/F When a song is played on the radio, the royalty is collected by the writer's affiliated performance rights organization.

True

T/F When consumers load mobile apps to their devices, their app activity can be precisely monitored, and the digital activity of the consumer is known.

True

Who is the ultimate authority for U.S. copyright law?

U.S. Constitution

Royalty statements are usually issued _______ to artists.

bimonthly

Collected data and analyses are often crammed onto single-screen displays called _______, which executives can scan when formulating plans and allocating money and personnel.

dashboards

What job has become more important because modern digital recording equipment offers a wide array of options and capabilities, with much to navigate?

engineering

The most important advantage of using a preproduction/demo studio is that it offers _____

lower rates than full-service commercial studios

Tracking sheets that log information on what is recorded usually do NOT contain _____

music publishing rights

Producer royalties typically are effective from the first record sold, while the artists usually have to wait until recording costs are recouped, which is considered fair because artists ____

receive a large advance payment for albums

An advantage of automated consoles that interface with computer controls is that this setup allows the computer to ____

remember previous settings