Media Publishing and Distribution

I am currently enrolled in an Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution course. One item of interest has been reinforced with me this week; the need for a strong distribution channel when self-publishing ones material. I personally love the website CD Baby for the musical artist. It is a complete service for any musician needing and wanting to self publish their music. The site offers a large variety of services; the name does not give it justice. According to CD Baby an artist can, “Distribute your music to every popular download and streaming site. Sell your CD's and vinyl in stores around the world. Make money from your songs on YouTube. Share and sell music on your website and Facebook page. Collect global royalties with CD Baby Pro. No distributor offers more stores, more opportunities to make money from your music, and more heart than CD Baby” (CD Baby, 2015). The services I have found most useful are the physical duplication of music.Once signed up an artist can distribute their physical copies of their music in stores around the world. The site even has a graphic design department that can help with the art for CD cases of any type, as well as vinyl design. What many people do not realize is vinyl has made a huge come back. According to Newsweek “ In the first half of 2014, sales of vinyl records were 4 million, compared with 2.9 million for the first half of 2013, an increase of almost 40 percent"(Bernasekm, A., November 6, 2014). It is smart with music distribution to stay up-to-date on current trends. Even though digital downloads still out rank all album sales and were up to 70 billion songs downloaded in 2014, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the trendiness of vinyl records is on the rise. “When you buy virtual music you’ve got nothing to hold on to. So for the first time with records, kids are holding something physical in their hand and collecting something they can show off and be proud of” (Wright, C. Owner of Innersleeve Records). This is why services with wide distribution such as CD Baby are important to artists. These services stay current with trends so when artists reach out to self distribute, the ideas are already there.

Staging Liabilities

Staging for concerts is becoming more extravagant. The concert goer is always looking for something new and exciting in the concert experience. This has pressured concert producers to up their game and create bigger and more elaborate stage sets. Outdoor festivals are becoming increasing popular. The elements of an outdoor concert cannot be controlled. Add into the elements a giant stage and new craftsmanship; every precaution must be taken to prevent an accident; even if precautions mean canceling a concert due to inclement weather. Stage collapses are rare, and honestly in my opinion should never happen. The person at the helm of the show should be pertinent to clear and drop the stage quickly before weather becomes dangerous, never AFTER weather becomes dangerous. Many stage managers, and production companies succumb to the pressure of concert promoters and do not err on the side of caution, and keep their stages flown until it is too late. The stage is a huge liability for a production company to take on. The company is responsible for the safety of the crew, the bands, and the guests of the concert. The most recently notorious stage collapse happened at the 2011 Indiana State Fair. According to IndyStar IndyStar, "Seven people were killed and more than 100 were injured" (IndyStar,2015). "Two investigative reports released in spring 2012 found that the scaffolding was not up to standards and the Indiana State Fair Commission did not have adequate emergency planning in place....three "knowing violations" -- were levied on Mid-America Sound Corp., which built the stage structure and leased it to the fair"(CNN, 2014).. Mid-America Sound Corporation has been in business since 1975. The company paid a $50,000 fine after the stage collapse and agreed to increase training of its employees. The liability sound companies carry when offering staging with super-truss is the education, experience, and reliability of their employed riggers. Not every state is unionized. Not every company employs riggers; most hired riggers are on a freelance basis. In the Indiana State Fair incident it would be difficult to point a specific finger, but to say the company and fair officials failed collectively. Production companies can also do everything in their power to structure a safe stage up-to-code to all regulations and still have an accident. The liability of such a large temporary structure over a crowd of people, crew, and performers still looms. In 2011 at the Pukkelpop Music Festival in Belgium, five people died when two stages collapsed. The storm came into the festival quick and unexpected. Uprooted trees landed on the stages causing them to collapse. Trees flying at stages is something no concert promoter, or stage manager can predict, or possibly even prepare for. In 2008 at Rocklahoma in Tulsa, Oklahoma two stages collapsed due to 65 mile an hour winds(Hasler J., 2014). Luckily no one was killed and only minor injuries were reported. Once again in this example of a stage collapse, even though the stage was constructed properly, it is not made to withstand the level of wind it experienced. The stage should have been dropped to prevent an accident, even if this meant upsetting a crowd. In this incident it was also pointed out just how much gear, personally owned by performers, and sound companies was destroyed because of the stage collapse. The staging company must always consider the lives of the crew and the equipment they are putting in danger by not making the executive decision of safety first and dropping the stage. Any sound or production company wanting to expand into staging for outdoor festivals must keep in mind the liabilities the staging presents. As I listed storms are the major foe in outdoor concerts. The second liability to staging is employing competent riggers. Production and staging companies need to protect themselves with insurance or chance bankrupting their company with one festival. "Concert event insurance can protect you and give you peace of mind knowing you, your crew, the concert workers and the fans will be covered if an accident or unforeseen problem occurs. You can typically either buy insurance for a single concert or as a yearly policy for a series of events" (Trusted Choice, 2014). As part of a business plan for a concert production company the assurance insurance will be provided for concerts is a plus. Concert insurance can and should include liability protection including general, liquor, auto, and third party, also property damage coverage for buildings and equipment, and medical insurance for staff. Also as part of a business plan, the production company should state membership to the Event Safety Alliance. "The Event Safety Alliance (ESA) is dedicated to promoting “life safety first” throughout all phases of event production and execution. We strive to eliminate the knowledge barrier that often contributes to unsafe conditions and behaviors through the promotion and teaching of good practices and the development of training and planning resources” ((ESA, 2015). This will ensure your company is practicing all safety guidelines available. References: Allen, P., 2011, Pukkelpop Stage Collapse Belgian Music Festival Cancelled, MailOnline, Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2027607/Pukkelpop-stage-collapse-Belgian-music-festival-cancelled-5-deaths.html#ixzz3fRpbEUH4 Botelho, G., 2014, $50 million settlement reached in Indiana State Fair stage collapse, CNN, Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/19/us/indiana-state-fair-settlement/ Evans, T., 2014,IOSHA, Mid-America Sound reach settlement on state fair stage collapse, Indystar, Retrieved from http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/31/iosha-mid-america-sound-reach-settlement-state-fair-stage-collapse/7118077/ Event Safety Alliance, 2015, Retrieved from http://eventsafetyalliance.org/ Hasler, J., 2014, Why Are So Many Outdoor Concert Stages Collapsing?, Popular Mechanics, Retrieved from http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/music/a7108/why-are-so-many-outdoor-concert-stages-collapsing/ Mid America Sound, 2015, Retrieved from http://www.midamericasound.com/index.html Protect the Big Show with Concert Insurance, 2014, Trusted Choice, Retrieved from https://www.trustedchoice.com/business-insurance/liability/special-event/concert/

Product and Artist Management.

I am just finishing up another course of my masters program at Full Sail University titled Product and Artist Management. I can say I have fully enjoyed this course and it came at the most opportune time. The first week of my course we learned about what to expect when you take the artist you are managing on tour. The funny thing is, in three days I leave with my husband with the band he manages on a mini tour. You can image my delight when I learned my session in class was focusing on touring with an artist. I was thrilled to say the least and took notes like a mad man. Many of the topics listed in the session I was already familiar with, but it was validating to hear the information textbook style. One topic I liked in the session on touring was "the talent must be ready to go". Honestly, everyone in the management team, the booking agent, and the production crew can do their part to a t, but if the talent isn't ready, there was no point in the rest. I also liked marking off the objectives listed in the session of why a tour may take place. I was able to mark them all off. Our band Co-Op is taking this mini tour to: access a new market, be more visible, create a buzz, feature new music, and to make some cash. I have also worked very hard on the public relations end after reading about it in this course. I have made sure we are establishing personal relationships with venues and with fans. The more attached to the band professionals and individuals feel, the more they will promote for us, and come out to the shows. I am looking forward to a post conference after this tour to see what we did well and what we can improve upon. In the course I also enjoyed learning more about the talents and aspirations of veteran talent managers. As many of you know, I usually focus my efforts on Shep Gordon, Alice Coopers manager because I think he wrote the book on artist management. But, this course I researched Sharon Osbourne. I believe the public may find her a little crazy and quite eccentric, but I see her as a woman who stands by her family, shows us what true love is, knows how to do her job well, and will not compromise. I respect her a great deal. To me she sets the bar for women in management in the entertainment industry. I honestly wish this class could go on for a few more weeks. I would highly recommend both books, A Project Managers Field Guide, and Artist Management for the Music Business by Paul Allen, for anyone navigating the entertainment industry.

Negotiating and Deal Making: My interview with D Evans.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing D Evans for my Negotiating and Deal Making Course at Full Sail. As part of my masters program we are learning more about professionals in the entertainment industry and what they do to negotiate their successes. D is the front woman of two successful bands “Dierdre”, and “Southwest by Midnight”. Both bands have to work together in studio time, on albums, both digital and physical releases of records, booking of shows, budgets, and time. As we know, time is sometimes the most difficult item to negotiate. I sat down with D and asked her the following questions on how she has made it work, with not only one, but two successful bands. Me: “How do you separate the people from the problem when you are negotiating? What tips do you have for new negotiators who are trying to do this”? D. “If I was recording a band's album in the studio and we were all trying to decide what to name the album, we would do this in a democratic fashion. I would reason with them and give them the pros and cons of the choices that we all came up with/the choices at hand, and then we would use democracy and data and vote on all of the options". Me: I see that you use the important aspects of objective criteria, “appreciation, the desire to be recognized and valued; affiliation, the desire to belong as an accepted member of some peer group; role, the desire to have a meaningful purpose; and status, the desire to feel fairly seen and acknowledged”(Fisher, R. 2011). Each member of the band has a voice when you use democracy. Everyone having a voice makes them feel appreciated. Me: “How do you handle positional bargaining tactics? D: “If I am negotiating a deal, I already know the maximum amount that I can afford. I start low and I know what I want to pay. I will usually split the difference of 50%. So, when buying gear (studio gear, or guitars, amps, etc) for instance off Craigslist or other sites, if something was being sold for $800 and I was willing to pay $600, I would offer the guy $400 to start negotiations. With those kind of negotiations you usually end up at $600. A fair price for both parties”. Me: “Wow! Great example of positional bargaining! That is great you continued to negotiation for mutual benefit. When both parties in a negotiation win, everyone feels satisfied”. Me: “Can you give me an example of how you worked toward mutual benefit when you were negotiating a deal”? D “For instance, if negotiating a deal between a band and a bar/venue, and the venue doesn't want to put out any money to pay the band out of their pocket. We would negotiate a deal where the bar/venue could keep the money from the alcohol sales, and the band would keep the money from the ticket sales at the door. Thus, everyone gets a fair cut”. Me: “This is an awesome example of the term BATNA I learned in my course, which translates to “Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement” (Fisher, R. 2011) When an initial deal could not be made; getting paid upfront, the best alternative was to keep the money from the door. Negotiations are tricky, but as we can see when you separate the people and their raw emotions, from the task or problem at hand, a conclusion everyone can walk away happy with can be met". Roger, Fisher,, Ury, L.. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. Penguin Books, 05/2011. VitalBook file.

Entertainment Business Finance

I am currently wrapping up my masters course in entertainment business finance. I believe it took me twice as long as anyone else to work through the course work because I had to read, and reread the material and research and re-research because I refuse to fail, even though I am very conscience I am not enjoying this. It has been an eye opening course and I have come away with two themes, which I was well aware of before. One; you are not required in this life to be good at everything. I am not good with money. I am an impulse spender. I don't really look toward the future when it comes to saving and investing because the future is not promised. “No day but today” right? I’m not completely irresponsible, don’t get me wrong, but I am committed to living to be happy, and not buying those awesome jeans would make me relatively unhappy. That being said, I don’t have to be good at understanding finance, investment, stocks, and such because luckily there are people out there who ARE good at this stuff. I will seek these people out and hire them so my company can be successful. Two; I will hire an accountant as our company grows. There are ridiculous amounts of reasons why hiring a CPA is a good idea; changing tax laws, finding ways to invest, income statements, annual reports. Basically it’s a great idea. Probably the best idea to grow the company. Just writing all of that out makes my palms sweat and my blood pressure rise. I do respect the need for this course though in the end, and totally enjoyed the case studies because they are actual representation of our industry; the industry my husband and I own our company in and live and breath daily. The case studies really helped me to see the need to create a financial plan for the future of our company. Now, while I don’t want to make this plan myself, I'd rather go to the dentist; I am glad that I will understand while I have the accountant work through it for us.

Social Media and Small Business

This week I was blessed to involve myself more in our business and dive into editing the website, and social media pages. I feel I am continuously learning about the nature of people, and the human condition. I amazes me when one pursues and pushes for success there are others out there pushing back. I'm not writing about mere competition, but sabotagers of anyone's success other than their own. I say this because the more public our crusades to better our businesses, and grow our small companies become, the more they are open to scrutiny and at times backlash. Facebook, and comparable sites put our business on public display. The social media sites make it easier to find out information on a business without ever stepping in the location, or speaking to a company representative. I know I am not alone in the fear of putting your hard work on display for the world to see in such volatile forum such as Facebook. We should be proud of our hard work as small business owners and what we are achieving, but at times this can be a scary space. I read an article addressing the same fear, "Is Social Media Bad for Business?", by Juliet Barbara; "Social media does have a powerful amplifying effect. But just like any technology, it can be used for good or evil. The key is building the right social strategy for your brand. It’s not a “one size fits all” marketing solution. It has to be adopted in strategic, tailored ways". In her article Barbara cites work from Sam Fiorella, a partner at the marketing firm, Sensei Marketing. Fiorella approaches business and social media marketing this way, “A successful business cannot lay in fear of risk but embrace the rewards it can achieve. Brand negativity by those few you speak about will occur even if your business never logs into a social network. In fact, there’s a greater risk since that negativity will be the only content feeding social proof around your brand. Social media does embolden haters but it also provides a new soapbox for great experiences. If anything, social media has increased the importance of building positive customer experiences online and off.” Fiorella does a good job in expressing what I try to convey about having our small businesses out there in social media cyber world. I think we should all proudly fly our independent flags high. We started our companies because of our confidence and hope in their success, not fear of the unknown, and certainly not in fear of the internet bully, so we should continue with the entrepreneurial spirit in the same way online.

Branding

I am finishing up my most recent course of my masters degree titled "Business Story Telling and Branding". It has been a very useful course for me as a focus on creating the brand Trade Sound Productions. I don't think many of us think about the thought, work, and creative thinking gone into the brands we know and love, and the brands we have grown up with. I think most of us just think they "are". I know I have been trying to explain to my 17 year old son, a brand is not a company, and it's like trying to convince him the sky is not blue. I think the conversation would go roughly the same with the general population of adults. According to The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, a brand is "A person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization; the art and science of brand building". Do a search on "what is a brand", and many perspectives will pop up. It's almost as complex as searching "how did the universe originate". According to Forbes "Put simply, your “brand” is what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name. It’s everything the public thinks it knows about your name brand offering—both factual (e.g. It comes in a robin’s-egg-blue box), and emotional (e.g. It’s romantic). Your brand name exists objectively; people can see it. It’s fixed. But your brand exists only in someone’s mind". Simple right? Hardly. The course has taught me about the steps I can take to create and expand my brand. It is a science, and I will be referring back to the course content for years to come. These great questions were proposed by Carol Phillips, professor at Notre Dame, "Seven Signs you have developed a Brand Identity; 1. What is the brands particular aim or mission? 2. What makes it different? 3. What need is the brand fulfilling? 4. What is it's permanent crusade? 5. What are it's values? 6. What is its field of competence? Of legitimacy? 7. What are the signs which make the brand recognizable?" Answering these questions as I continue to focus on strengthening our brand is becoming extremely helpful. I think many entrepreneur companies who do not have the backing of marketing gurus, branding experts, and a team of know-it-alls, will never even think about what they can do to turn their small company into an iconic brand. I strongly recommend watching the short video "Visual Hammer" by Laura Reis. This video has me contemplating ways of placing my brand AND my logo into the minds of my specific consumer.