Reddit reviews This Business of Music, 10th Edition (This Business of Music: Definitive Guide to the Music Industry)

"This Business of Music."

1. It's different. I know how Kanye works better than the others, mostly because my former band mates work with him quite a bit. It's a very collective event in the studio. Kanye brings in various creators (of beats, sounds, melodies, etc) into the studio. Kanye approaches music creation in a much different way. He's kind of a post modernist in that sense. Almost more like a film director than a typical composer. He curates the songwriting. In an ideal world, everyone who is involved in the creation of those songs should be getting songwriting credits and performance royalties. But it's not always the case. People can also be paid "for hire" as it's called. Where you're paid a fee up front to relinquish your publishing/songwriting rights. But I want to stress, what he does is very particular...and also, in my opinion, pretty amazing...creatively speaking.
   
   As for the others, many of them have songwriters that they regularly work with, or the producers they work with know other songwriters that pitch material too. I don't work with those people on any kind of substantive basis. So I can't speak for how they work. But I would assume that most of them are singing other people's songs. So the way royalties get distributed is split between the performer (ie Ariana Grande) and the songwriter (whoever). And it gets even more complicated than that (the songwriter's publishing is split between the "writers" side and the "publishing" side). There are whole books that have been written about the complexities of royalty payments. But suffice it to say, the reason it's complicated is specifically to screw songwriters out of their publishing. See: Ray Charles, and pretty much every other black songwriter/performer from 1900-1975.
   
   (also worth noting, this is incredibly simplistic explanation...I'm sure someone else can explain more eloquently)
   
   
2. The people who create the songs dont necessarily also know how to launch the careers of artists. Those are two completely different skill sets. That's a marketing genius vs a songwriting ace. Different parts of the brain at work there. And often, songerwriters aren't particularly interested in developing a performer's career. That involves management, PR, etc. Very quickly becomes not about songwriting. Also, there are way more songwriters than pop stars. Once a star is established, there are alot of talented songwriters out there that can write a hit. I promise you.
   
   Also, keep in mind, that's just one very narrow understanding of songwriting. Most any band you listen to on a college radio station, or on a Zach Braff soundtrack, wrote and performed those songs. So they are also affected by all this. This is not an issue limited to the people who write hits for Lady Gaga (though I think she writes a bit herself as well).
   
   
3. Labels dont control what gets played on the radio. At least not directly. Of course, their influence is pretty overwhelming. But they aren't literally telling people what to play. That's called payola. And it was a thing. And then it was made illegal. Also, keep in mind major radio is really just controlled by a couple of very powerful companies.
   
   So is it possible to get on major radio as an independent artist? Yes. But it's incredibly difficult. Major labels definitely have the lion's share of control of what gets played. But they aren't literally making the playlists. At least not to my knowledge. But admittedly, I know less about major radio politics. Bc it's gross and terrible.
   
   
4. Major labels do NOT control everything. This really needs to be made very clear. I, and many many others, exist in a music world that is completely independent from that model. And that's the point I'm trying to make. Indie record labels actually DO pay their artists. College radio actually DOES pay alot more in royalties than streaming services. There's a whole music economy that exists independent of major labels and commercial radio. And streaming is crushing us. At least financially. It's still unclear how beneficial it is in the long-run. But for sure, the payment structure (roughly 1/1000 of a penny per play) seems pretty nuts compared to the royalty rates for college radio plays.
   
   As for what criteria is used to create a pop star, hell if I know. Who would've thought that Kesha would be a star if you saw her sing or walk down the street? Some are more obvious choices. I've seen Katy Perry in really early video when she was 16. She had a powerful voice. Good personality. Good stage presence. And obviously good looking. It's not rocket science. And even in the pop world, most of it is still very much a bout luck. For every Katy Perry, there's 10 people you've never heard of who are playing at some rinky dink carnival right now trying to drum up some "viral content." It's still a crap shoot, even at that level. No one knows what will stick.
   
   They used to say that the music business is the only business where 1% of your business makes up for the rest of the 99% failure. Major labels are set up for handling either massive successes or huge failures. They've always had a hard time managing the careers of modest/middle-of-the-road musicians. They're just not built for that.
   
   Definitely not dumb questions at all. It's all super confusing. And deliberately so. But the overarching point is, most musicians are writing their own music. And they more than likely still own at least part if not all of their publishing rights. So when you stream music or steal it, you really are taking money out of their pockets in a substantial manor.
   
   I use Spotify. I get it. It's great. But people need to know how the business works before they start making assumptions like "well, they make tons of money touring." It's not true. But anyway.
   
   Check this out if you want to know more

When you're at the bottom of the heap and haven't established a fanbase who always comes out to your local shows (like at least more than 20 people who aren't on the guestlist), it can be tough to demand any kind of money from a venue for playing. That's when it's important to open for bands that are a little bigger than you in your style, stick around for the whole show, talk to people, act professionally, tear down your gear quickly, and generally make yourself as likeable as possible to make up for the fact that you didn't bring the whole world out to see you. That plus going out to other shows to support other people who are doing similar things as you are, doing an appropriate level of promotion, and being a good musician/songwriter will get you to the place where you have a fanbase and can start firmly but politely demanding the money you deserve. Then there's hiring a lawyer to shop a demo, all sorts of stuff. Definitely never pay to play, but playing for free, I'd say sure, maybe at the beginning. Demanding money up front that you can't earn back from ticket/drink sales for the venue the night of the show is just going to make you a pariah of the scene. If you want your soul further crushed about the music business, read this: http://www.amazon.com/This-Business-Music-Definitive-Industry/dp/0823077233

This is the essential one: http://www.amazon.com/This-Business-Music-10th-Edition/dp/0823077233