Marcus Meston

4-22-2015

MDIA 3307

CURRENT ROLE IN THE INDUSTRY

• I produce, record, and mix local artists in the Pittsburgh area

• I am a guitar player in the band “The Wholehearted Halfwits” in Athens.

• I am interning for the video production company “Phenomenon Post” where I will be helping with audio post production and miscellaneous tasks.

DESIRED FUTURE ROLE IN THE INDUSTRY

• I aspire to work on audio post production for film. I want to eventually start my own company and work on different projects.

• I also intend on freelancing with producing and recording artists.

ANOTHER INTEREST IN THE INDUSTRY… SOUND DESIGN

• I am very intrigued by sound design and I hope to get involved or get to witness a professional in action.

• It is incredible how much ambiance and the audio can bring a visual to life.

• Also, I love to watch videos of foley artists at work. It is crazy what some of them do in order to get a sound for a video game or movie.

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT PUBLISHING

• I learned that publishing is a key component in the music industry.

• I discovered that the process is not the simplest and different PRO’s have different formulas to pay their artists.

• The publisher is mainly responsible for royalty collection and licensing.

MUSIC PUBLISHING IS RESPONSIBLE FOR…

• Reproduction

• Adaptation (Right to derivative works or to modify)

• Distribution

• Public Performance I: The right to perform

• Public Performance II: The right for digital audio transmission

• Public Display

DOES PUBLISHING SEEM IMPORTANT?

• Publishing is important for obtaining all of the different royalties and paying the songwriters and artists accordingly.

• Licensing is huge as well. Synch licensing is a big revenue for certain artists and it can bring in ginormous pay checks.

• With the advancement of technology and streaming, publishers may have to hash out different deals with artists according to the different trends in the industry.

COPYRIGHT AND FAIR USE

• Fair use entails:

1. Educational purposes

2. Critical review

• Copyright

1. The work is protected for 70 years plus the life of the creator.

2. After that it is put into public domain where anybody can use it.

THREE TERMS I DID NOT KNOW BEFORE THIS SEMESTER

1. Sundry license

2. The impact that streaming has on the industry

3. The amount of money that can be made from sync licensing.

SUNDRY LICENSE• Category of licensing that give the rights for music in

1. Advertising

2. Retail

3. Arcade games

4. Songs used on planes

5. And more…

• I never thought that there was a legal side to the music that I just took for granted.

STREAMING’S IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY

• This industry is changing at such a rapid pace, that this slide could be outdated in 4 months.

• It just came out today that Spotify is worth more than the entire U.S recorded music industry.

• There have been debates about if royalties are fair and how to compensate artists in a responsible way.

SYNC LICENSING

• Simply put, this is when publisher’s try to exploit an artist’s song for visual media.

• If the music is put into the right hands, it can result in a big pay day or a lot of exposure for the artist.

• For some people, it is their biggest revenue stream in the industry.

• Certain bands ask for an absurd amount of money.

TRUE STORY: MAD MEN PAID 250K TO USE A SONG BY THE BEATLES

• Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner paid $250,000 in licensing fees to use the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows”

• "It was always my feeling that the show lacked a certain authenticity because we never could have an actual master recording of the Beatles performing," Weiner told the Times.

• The Beatles are notorious for having high costs for their music in film.

EXCITING PARTS OF THE INDUSTRY

• I personally find the creative aspect of the industry extremely exciting.

• It would be a dream to write for artists on a publishing deal, or doing music for film.

• That part of the music industry seems very competitive and challenging.

ANOTHER EXCITING PART OF THE INDUSTRY

• I love to produce and record musicians.

• I look up to a lot of multi-instrumentalist songwriters/producers and it inspires me so much.

• It is absolutely astonishing when one person can perform so well on each instrument and write a good tune.

EXCITING PARTS (CONTINUED)

• The legal side of the industry is very exciting and new right now.

• Although the content is challenging, it would be working and changing in a rapid pace that it would be exciting.

3 RELEVANT PUBLISHING REVENUE STREAMS

1. Sync Licensing

2. PRO royalties for public performance

3. Session payment for audio post production

SYNC LICENSING

• If I were to ever write a song that was featured in a TV show or movie that would be incredible.

• Sync licensing is an interesting revenue stream because it can help build momentum for an artist.

• Sync licenses can really do wonders for an artist.

PRO ROYALTIES

• If a song I wrote were to appear on the radio, TV, in clubs or a restaurant that would be a revenue stream for me.

• This would be paid to songwriter/composer/publisher by ASCAP/BMI/SESAC.

SESSION PAYMENT FOR AUDIO POST

• Although it depends on the situation, there can be session fees for somebody mixing or editing audio post production.

• This can be paid by the movie studio or production company.

• If it is a freelancer there could be a union wage for the worker.

VIEWS CHANGED ON THE INDUSTRY

• This class opened my eyes to the intricacies of the publishing and licensing world.

• There is so much thought and legal action point into things I would not even think twice about like arcade music or karaoke.

CHANGED (CONCLUSION)

• The music industry is growing at an incredible rate.

• We watched certain cases progress and end in our class (Sam Smith v. Tom Petty AND Marvin Gaye v. Robin Thicke).

• This makes me excited and interested in where the industry will go next.

THE END