Our friends at Long & McQuade provided a series of seminars in the month of March 2003 for their Long & McQuade University event. The fifteen different presentations took place at L & M stores in the Greater Toronto Area and featured something for everyone in the business of making music in Canada.

On Monday, March 10, Bob Roper presented an in-depth lecture entitled "The Business of Music." This is part 2 of 8 that will appear in the GW Review, presenting some of the insights shared by Roper.

Being Successful in the Music Industry

According to Bob Roper, in order to produce a marketable product, your focus needs to be on your song writing skills. Roper says that most people get into the music business because, at one point or another, a song they loved moved them. Writing songs is, therefore, the genesis of the music business itself.

Furthermore, Roper states that focussing on the musical arrangement and trying to create a new musical piece should be secondary to the actual lyrical content. The lyrical content is, arguably, the part of the song that the public can most relate to. If you can write a story set to music that will move your audience, your song becomes more endearing. And, since the human experience has so much more variance than musical arrangements, you have a better chance of creating something original with your words than the actual musical piece itself.

Consider joining SAC (Songwriter's Association of Canada). As a member, there are opportunities to join forces with other writers and they also have a variety of workshops and functions to strengthen and encourage your song writing efforts.

What You Should Know About Song Writing

Intellectual Property

In Canada, a songwriter has a significant advantage over other locales because; if you write a song you are the unquestioned owner of that intellectual property. These rights can only be waived IF; a) someone receives permission from the owner, or b) if the owner is paid an agreed upon fee for those rights.

Copywriting

Copywriting protects your intellectual property so that, if someone tried to use your song without your permission, you can legally demonstrate that the work is your own. This is an important step that SHOULD NOT be skipped. Protecting your property should be your very first consideration, after the piece has been written.

There are a variety of agents that can legally copy write your material for a fee. However, the most affordable recognized method of copywriting is to simply put a copy of the recorded material, or song sheets, along with lyrics (if applicable) in an envelope and send it via REGISTERED MAIL to yourself. When you receive the package DO NOT OPEN IT. File it away for safekeeping. Hopefully, you will never need it. If you do have to go to court to prove that a work is your own, the package will be opened there.

Song Writing Royalties

As the undisputed owner of your songs, you are entitled to receive financial benefits for the material until 75 years after your death. In order to receive financial benefits, you need to have your songs performed commercially, of course.

In Canada, the agent that collects royalties for songwriters is SOCAN. Songwriters who are registered members of SOCAN will receive ROYALTIES from a variety of sources including; Radio play, TV play, Night Club performances with a cover charge of $6 or more, Sheet Music sales, etc.

If you are not already registered with SOCAN and you are a songwriter, visit their Website to find out how you can become a member. It's easy to become a member and it's free.

Publishing

Once it is in a recorded form, your music is published. As an independent artist, it is recommended that you do your own publishing in order to be cost-effective.

What Does A Publishing Company Do?

1. They acquire songwriters to produce material for their catalogues to be made available for sale/use commercially
2. Song Plugging-Promoting songs in their catalogue to artists who do not write their own material, for TV, Movie Soundtracks, etc.
3. Exploiting (in the sense of "making the most of" for profit) -An example was given of a Sony product called "My First Tape Recorder." A 3 or 4 song tape of Sharon, Lois and Braham material came with the tape recorder and royalties were paid on the songs for every "My First Tape Recorder" sold
4. Royalties are collected-Most publishing deals are 50-50 (50% of royalties go to the publisher, 50% go to the artist-writer)
5. Administration/paperwork is completed

If you find that you are able to write material easily, it may interest you to know that new artists have a better chance of being signed to a publishing deal than in a recording deal. For example, this year Sony anticipates signing 3 new artists for recording deals and 12 new artists for publishing deals.

Publishing deals will pay artists a salary-approximate range is $25,000 to $30,000 per annum. Songwriters with a publishing deal are expected to write 1 great song per month.

Roper discussed the Canadian pop group Moist as an example of how this arrangement can work to a songwriter's benefit. Songwriter David Usher was signed by EMI to a publishing deal. Usher decided to form his band Moist and EMI agreed to pay for the recording of their demos. When Usher could not get a record deal with the demo, EMI agreed to pay for the independent release of the Moist album. EMI also paid for the production of a Music Video. This turned out to be the band's big break.

The Music Video went into regular rotation on Much Music, which resulted in Moist being signed to a record deal.

Our next issue of Networking 101-The Business of Music will focus on Management; how to manage yourself, when it's time to have someone else represent you, and how to solicit for representation by a third party manager.

Bob Roper is the President of The Bob Roper Company and is currently managing Larry Gowan, Rick Emmet and Glass Tiger to name a few. Bob also lectures at The Harris Institute and was formerly the A & R rep for Sony Music Canada. Bob has an extensive history of success in the Canadian music industry, too notable to do justice in this short profile.