I’m finally back from the weeklong debauchery known to industry players as CMJ Music Marathon, and I have some footage and about 10 pages of notes from the panels I attended and loved (or hated). For four straight days, badge holders scrambled throughout the Kimmel Center at New York University in Greenwich Village to attend panel discussions led by some of the most influential and important figures in the music industry, and gain insight on their experiences and opinions in music journalism, copyrights, mixing and mastering, home recording, artist publicity, college radio, and publishing. I’m about to give you all the lowdown: Which panels were considered noteworthy at this year’s CMJ?
Music Journalism in the New Media World
- Matthew Perpetua, BuzzFeed
- David Marchese, SPIN
- Bill Werde, Billboard.biz
- Piotr Orlov, Raspberry Jones
- Joseph Patel, MySpace
This was the very first panel I attended and it was certainly an eye-opener. The panelists quickly got to the heart of the matter as to whether music journalism is still relevant in today’s society. The answer: Yes, but only if you provide content that people actually want to read. The articles that receive the most number of views on these panelists’ sites are usually top 10 lists over longer reads. Perpetua explained that BuzzFeed gets a handful of criticism about the fact that they post “mostly lists”, but these lists usually contain interesting facts or nostalgic anecdotes that drive people to talk about and share the content. Werde told everyone in the room that we need to focus on creating results-driven articles. They unanimously agreed that artist interviews are boring because every publication repeats the same questions to the same bands (which broke my heart a bit), and that writers should dig deeper for more compelling content on topics that are not common knowledge. For example, there’s always information on a seemingly trite topic that your audience doesn’t know about, so try releasing unknown facts about a music legend such as Brian Eno. Writing is not a glamorous or lucrative position, Werde and Orlov confessed, so music journalists need to really be in love with writing and music in order to succeed.
Copyrights and Wrongs
- Brett McCrossen, Audiosocket
- Christos Badavas, Harry Fox Agency
- Elliot Resnik, Shukat Arrow LLP
- Seth Goldstein, MediaNet
This panel delved into the changing face of copyrights in a digital world, including those for music streaming services and online reproductive rights. Now that digital sharing is a huge problem for many artists, Goldstein explained that the Fair Use Doctrine, the copyright law that allows people like Weird Al Yankovic to get away with parodying artists’ songs without asking their permission, needs a major overhaul, but it’s difficult to police the entire Internet. He also said that there needs to be certainty over song categorizing in order to facilitate royalty payments. The panel discussed ways to monetize content on YouTube and other sharing sites–a new one called Simple mashes video clips together and lets you add a soundtrack underneath. Since the videos you create with this app can be considered derivative works, it’s normal for their creators to desire a piece of revenue from YouTube ads. All of the panelists agreed that there needs to be substantial changes in the world of copyrights that benefit the public and the content creators, whether it’s video creators claiming partnership (in which case it’s their responsibility to license their content) or apps having compliance issues forced on them.
Walk With Me: Mobile Takeover
- Randy Nichols, Bandsintown
- Jenn Downs, Mailchimp
- K. Tighe, WIll Call
- Megan West, SoundCloud
- Kevin Godley, Whole World Band
This was the first panel I had ever seen with not one but three female panelists, and I was beaming. It’s a glaring reality that mobile phones have surpassed desktop computers in popularity because of their ease of use and adults’ busy schedules. They explained that our brains have been rewired through the excessive use of mobile technology, including social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter, and that we look to social media notifications as a sort of validation for our existence and opinions. They then discussed how mobile use has changed the music industry, and Downs confessed that she no longer enjoys attending concerts due to tech-savvy concertgoers insisting on watching the entire show through their 4-inch phone screen. However, phones are here to stay, and artists can use them to their advantage: they can encourage fans to take pics at their concerts and share them online, they can book shows and hotels through apps, order merch, and update their fans on tour instantly. Tighe advises artists to keep the social media updates brief so fans are not inundated with constant updates, and to find a balance between the needs of the community and technology innovations.
Fair Play: Royalty Rates and Internet Radio
- Blake Morgan, ECR Music Group
- Peter Farraro, EVR
- Arthur J. Owens, Esq.,
- Brieanne Elpert, SoundExchange
This discussion was incredibly informative as the panelists shared facts and figures about streaming royalties instead of using outdated models or simply stating opinions. Congress passed the Digital Performing Rights & Sound Recording Act in 1995, and the DMCA shortly followed in 1998. However, the dawn of digital streaming and file sharing has made it nearly impossible to maximize revenue and give fair royalties to copyright holders. Pandora has recently found themselves in the midst of criticism from all sides of the music industry due to their decision to pass the Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA) and their paltry streaming payments for artists (10% of a penny per stream). Actually, there was supposed to be a representative from Pandora at this panel, but due to “unforeseen circumstances” he wasn’t able to make it. Elpert described how SoundExchange treats songwriting as a career rather than a hobby, paying 50% to the copyright owner and 50% to the artist; of that, 45% of the artist’s cut goes to the featured artist and 5% to any background performers.
Morgan explained the possible passing of the Free Market Royalty Act (FMRA), which mandates the same royalty rate for all forms of radio (internet, satellite, and terrestrial) and sets the free market model into effect. He concluded the panel with a stunning revelation as a songwriter himself: radio and sites such as Pandora tell artists that “we don’t have to pay you, this is promotion for your album, it’s good for you.” When the album is released, fans tell the band that “we don’t have to pay for your album; you’re getting your music out there and we’re promoting it.” When the band goes on tour, the venues tell the band that “we don’t have to pay you; you’ll make money off of merch. We’re promoting your music; it’s good for you.” To which Morgan responded, “If all of this is so good for us, why is everyone doing so badly?”
Noise Level Magazine 