Industry information that you can actually use
November 2004
 CD Replicator Scams Hit The Spotlight.
Rick James, Bernstein, Barry, Ramone, and Branigan: Grim Reaper Tours
The 80s Music Scene.
DISCLAIMER: This is not news. News is allegedly objective. This is
anything
but. This is about interpreting the news into information that you
can use.
Facts may occasionally be exaggerated to make a point. The key to
predicting the future is in learning from our past. In real terms,
this
means understanding how the big players evaluate their mistakes and
their
recent acquisitions. Let's take a look. But first…
CD REPLICATOR SCAMS: Getting Duped By the Duper? Part 1: "Guaranteed
Distribution"
I can think of no more vulnerable time for an emerging artist than when
he has just finished his CD and contemplating making thousands of copies.
Suddenly he is besieged with competitive offers by CD manufacturers-
some of them sound too good to be true. You know my rep. I like
to filter out BS from deals offered to musicians. So, starting last
month in Keyboard magazine I began a five-part series on this important
issue: how to NOT get duped by the CD duplicator.
I know some of you don't get Keyboard, so after each monthly publication
I'll post the article (expanded from the magazine version) right here
on the Moses Supposes archives. I'm going to turn over many rocks and
watch companies squirm as they justify their ads to me. It's gonna
be fun.
(Note: If you are an affiliate who likes to repost my articles, you
may NOT repost this one. Keyboard owns it. You may link
to it at www.mosesavalon.com)
To begin this series I'm going to focus on one of the newer methods
in attracting your business: "Free with every order you get your own
show on satellite radio, guaranteed distribution including The iTunes
Music Store."
Wow! Get your CDs duplicated and distributed all at the same time adding
the hot-button, "guaranteed"; sounds as close to an actual major label
deal as this arena can provide. But is it true, and is it "distribution"
that you couldn't get on your own?
Let's begin with a vocabulary lesson: distribution, as defined by the
standards of commerce refers to: "the marketing, apportioning and placement
of a volume of physical product owned or controlled by a distributor
into a retail environment rather than directly to the customers."
Most of the dupe houses who offer this, are giving away "distribution"
through e-tailers, like CD Baby and Amazon. But read the definition
above. Shipment from a manufacturer to an e-tailer is not really
"distribution." These are fulfillment services. They merely ship
units and do no marketing or promotion for their individual artists,
like the Big Five distributors, Sony, WEA, UND, BMG, and EMD. I asked
Tony van Veen, VP of sales and marketing for Disc Makers, one of the
country's largest CD manufactures, if he would confirm this discrepancy,
"I would say yes," he stated, hesitant, but forthcoming about his own
ad, "that word [distribution] could be somewhat misconstrued."
The satellite radio thing sure sounds cool, but satellite is still in
its infancy. Additionally, the company that totes this feature the most,
Oasis, a mid-sized CD manufacturer in Virginia, told me that the "radio
show" is actually composed from several samples of clients they hand-pick.
Ordering CDs is not a guarantee of getting on, and is not "your own
show."
And then there is this part: "digital distribution through iTunes."
If this feature is attracting you, you'll probably find they have subcontracted
with another company that can only submit songs for iTunes' approval.
Plus, you can do this yourself without two middle-men and your chances
of getting on iTunes will probably be about the same. In addition, most
of the iTunes "aggregators" partnered with CD Replicators require
the transfer of exclusive copyrights. That's hardly "free" and
this is a point often overlooked by replicatiors pitching this feature.
Also, when questioned, some replicators admitted that the companies
they are referring to who are "like iTunes" are actually Napster, Rhapsody
and Net Music. These are legit companies. They take chances on
music iTunes won't go near and deserve the credit, so why not mention
them in their ads? We can guess why.
All things totaled, it seems to me that the "guaranteed distribution"
promise should probably be renamed "guaranteed shipment to e-tailers
and licensing with digital rights aggregators." Not as sexy, but
more accurate. Micha Solomon, owner of Oasis comments, "You have
an excellent point." But also agrees with his chief competitor, van
Veen, that these promotional features are still legitimate value added
for the client. Solomon: "…if you're saying that the average musician
has the energy and resources to discover the equivalent of these [promotion
features] on their own… I say, it's a lot easier and cheaper just to
get the whole package through [us]. And we make pretty nice discs
to boot."
He's probably right. Bottom line on this point-there is no free
lunch, especially when it's at the best restaurant in town. Quality
distribution is still the toughest ticket in the biz. To think that
you could get it for "free" by ordering CDs may be too optimistic.
On the other hand, I believe all of the people interviewed have the
best intentions when it comes to their clients. Sure, they're
trying to compete in a tough market, and that inspires creative advertising,
but they also want their clients to succeed. That's good business
for everyone.
Next month I'm going to tackle another common ad seduction-the "free"
bar code offered by replicators. Can SoundScan really track your
sales with it? I've spoken to several at both SoundScan and the
UPC, the company that issues bar codes. Worlds will collide. Read the entire Duped By the Duper series.
References on definitions of "distribution" See:
-- www.globalcompetitionforum.org/regions/asia/
Taipei/Distribution%20Businesses.pdf
--http://www.investorwords.com/cgi-bin/getword.cgi?1495
--www.thefreedictionary.com/distributor
--http://www.wordiq.com/dictionary/distributor.html
OBITUARIES
The Grim Reaper drove his tour bus through music land this month and picked up quite a few passengers.
LAURA BRANIGAN - famous for her pop-hit "Gloria," died of a brain aneurysm at only 47 years of age. Although she doesn't share songwriting credit with Michael Bolton on her other hit, "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You," the song was the target of a serious copyright infringement suit. Branigan was accused of being complicit in borrowing the melody from a New Jersey composer who had paid Ms. Branigan $100 to sing his demos. Although a court did not find enough evidence to prove the case, both Bolton's and Branigan's reputations in the 1980s were peppered with innuendo. Branigan's powerful and lyric voice will be missed. Bolton still lives and continues to make "meaningful records" to this very day. He was once quoted as saying that he considers himself a serious contributor to the world of R&B.
JOHNNY RAMONE - (real name John Cummings ) And then there was one. Guitarist and co-founder of punk legends "The Ramones'' died of prostate cancer at the age of 55. This leaves only one of four Ramones remaining alive, quashing hopes of a reunion tour. For many, the Ramones defined punk music in America with songs like "Rock & Roll High School." Johnny, Joey, DeeDee and Tommy Ramone, were not biological brothers but were joined at the soul in musical vision. Joey Ramone (Jeff Hyman) died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer. Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin) died from a drug overdose in 2002. Tommy, the group's drummer remains healthy. Last year, a section of New York's Bowery was christened "Joey Ramone Place." It is located just a stone's throw from the famous night club, CBGB's, where just about every punk band in New York is booed off the stage as a right of passage.
JOE BARRY - The hard-living swamp pop performer whose 1960 version of "I'm a Fool to Care'' died Aug. 31. He was 65.
RICK JAMES - The original Super Freak is super dead. His 1981 Funk hit "Super Freak'' was resurrected as the key sample loop in MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" earning him a short-lived comeback before drug use and violence sent him in and out of State prison. Despite the fact that James had nine different drugs in his system when he died in August, including cocaine and methamphetamine, the police said, with a straight face to reporters, that at the age of 56, James died of "natural causes." They must have been assuming a natural death a la music biz. Despite his personal issues, James was considered something of a musical genius by many. His persona was famous around the LA scene. He will be missed.
ELMER BERNSTEIN - Film composer extraordinaire whose prolific career spanned seven decades and earned him 14 Academy Award nominations, is now conducting that great orchestra in the sky. He created too many themes to list here ("The Ten Commandments,'' "The Magnificent Seven,'' "Animal House,'' "Airplane!'' "Ghostbusters,'' "To Kill a Mockingbird,'" "Birdman of Alcatraz,'' "The Great Escape,'' "The Great Santini,'' "My Left Foot'', on and on) A supporter of left-wing causes, Elmer Bernstein nearly lost his career in the Hollywood Red Hunt of the 1950s when he refused to "name names" in the McCarthy Hearings of the 1950s. Major studios refused to hire him, and he resorted to turning out music for low-budget films like "Robot Monster'' and "Cat Women of the Moon.'' He was well respected by his peers. He was 82.
Mo out
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