Students
Welcome
Welcome to Monetizing Entertainment: An Insider’s Handbook for Careers in the Entertainment & Music Industry!
In the pages of this book, you will find what I hope will become a resource for you as you prepare to become part of this dynamic and fabulous field.
The Study Guide, which you are about to start, is meant to help you focus on some of the key ideas and things you will want to learn thoroughly as you complete your reading of the book and your course of study.
Each of the chapters in Monetizing Entertainmentis outlined here through
- A short summary;
- A list of key insiders’ professional terms;
- A few content-based questions to help you recognize some of the main ideas of the chapter;
- Two ways you can deepen your learning through taking a few minutes to complete a journal entry and/or to initiate your research in a related topic;
- An insider’s “tip” which will aid you in seeing how the information in the chapter has its place in the industry.
This website has some but not all of the information contained in the fully developed study guide, so I encourage you to use both to maximize your understanding of the new entertainment and music industry and how to monetize entertainment. In the webpage links, I have identified key terms you will want to use to demonstrate your facility with the professional vocabulary of the entertainment industry. There is one set of study questions; a wide array of links to videos on themes in each of the chapters; and a blog section that houses an insider’s tip for you to reflect upon and enables you to interact with your professor and colleagues to deepen your connections to the industry.
Monetizing Entertainment is a handbook, and as such it is as much of a textbook, full of facts, charts, and detailed information on the entertainment industry, as it is a manual for your future. The terms, examples, illustrations, and summaries of legal and professional information were all chosen to help you understand that the industry is a business that works on business models, laws, and financial principles, and it is one that is constantly changing. To be successful in the industry, it is necessary to know these foundations and to use them to frame how you engage with industry executives, representation, creative teams, attorneys, and the talented people who make up the entertainment and music business.
Fasten your seat belts and let’s get started in learning the inner workings of entertainment and what you can do with your career in the industry!
“Fireball, 2015” by Stephanie Gibson used with permission of the photographer.
Student Study Guide
Student Study Guide (DOC)Chapter Introductory Videos
Chapter 1 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 2 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 3 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 4 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 5 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 6 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 7 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 8 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 9 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 10 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 11 – Intro. Mary
Chapter 12 – Intro. Mary
Key Terms & Flashcards
Quizzes
Study Questions
Chapter 1
- What is creative destruction and why is it called that?
- What role did Napster play in the current state of the entertainment industry?
- Why is downloading usually referred to as stealing in the industry?
- What is the impact of streaming on the music industry?
- Do you agree or disagree that the music industry is in trouble? Why or why not?
Chapter 2
- What does it mean to have a wow in the entertainment industry?
- What are the most important first steps you should take to break into the business?
- What does it mean to have a “career timeline”?
- What is the biggest problem associated with lasting success?
- How does having knowledge and experience of the business, financial, and legal aspects of the entertainment industry potentially distinguish a wannabe from a person who has developed a career plan for a future in the industry?
- What are the five features of the new business models we are experiencing in the industry today?
- What are the future trends that we are watching in the industry today?
- How do you become valuable to the industry?
Chapter 3
- What is the meaning of property in the entertainment and music business?
- What are the kinds of creative products that should be copyrighted?
- What is the history of the copyright laws we use in the United States?
- Over the years, for what reasons have the copyright laws changed?
- What does infringement mean and how is infringement handled legally in the US?
- What are the differences between copyrights, trademarks, patents, and service marks? Do these have different levels of legal protection in the US or are they all treated the same way?
- What are the artist’s six exclusive rights?
- How and from whom can the entertainment industry make money in the digital download and streaming environments?
Chapter 4
- From a business standpoint, what is your value based on in the entertainment and music business?
- What does it mean to be an entrepreneur in the entertainment and music business?
- Why would you start your own business?
- What are the main differences between creative careers, business careers, and legal careers in the entertainment industry?
- What is meant by performance-based and performance-centered careers?
- Why is the entertainment business considered a balancing act?
- What sources of knowledge are needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the entertainment industry?
- What is the relationship between a wow product and the nine steps of business development?
- How many different types of talent representation are found in the industry and what does each do?
- What do publishers in the entertainment industry do?
- How are labels and film production companies similar and different?
- What are the basic aspects of promotion and publicity every person interested in the entertainment industry should know?
- What is meant by the creative advantage in the entertainment and music industry?
- How will you know which type of business will be best for you?
Chapter 5
- What happens to our brains on entertainment?
- What emotions do entertainment products have the ability to affect?
- What is a self-reflective statement and how does it matter in creating entertainment products? In performing? In consuming entertainment?
- What sorts of ways have people developed to make creative products? What are the instruments of creativity?
- What does authorship encompass in the entertainment industry?
- Is there a difference between songwriting and professional songwriting?
- What is the creative representation circle?
- What are the three agendas of the entertainment industry? What do artists, fans, and executives really want?
- Why would you join a professional organization as part of your professional career plan?
Chapter 6
- Why is a filtering system needed in the entertainment industry?
- What are the commonly recognizable bases for executive decisions in the entertainment industry?
- What is meant by negotiation points in an artist’s deal?
- What are the five types of music publishing and songwriting deals?
- What are the types of licenses for entertainment products?
- How do the people involved in the business deals make money?
- What is the NMPA and what function does it serve in the music publishing business?
- What is the function of the GMR?
- What does a songwriter’s paycheck depend upon?
Chapter 7
- What is the current version of this remark by Thomas Alva Edison, “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it”?
- How does the career of Edison show you the possible interconnectedness of creativity, business, and entrepreneurship?
- What are the desirable qualities of entertainment industry team members who “fit in”?
- What do producers do in the entertainment industry?
- What do audio engineers contribute to the creative process in the development of entertainment products?
- What is a royalty artist?
- What are basic tracks and what part do they play in the recording process?
- What the relationship of overdubbing to mix down?
- What are the different types of recording sessions?
- Why do you need to know recording industry rate scales and the professional affiliations of your recording personnel?
- Who are the members of the recording team?
Chapter 8
- What is the significance of the star system in the entertainment industry?
- What can you learn from the history of the major recording labels and how they were founded?
- How do digital and analog recordings work? Is one presumed better than another and why?
- What are the typical professional departments in a record label business?
- How do these parts communicate with one another?
- What do they do in common and what do they do distinctly?
- What does artist development mean?
- How are promotion and publicity similar and different?
- How do sales and marketing work together with retail outlets to make products available to consumers?
- How is streaming effecting delivery of products to consumers?
- What goes on in a recording session?
- What should you be prepared to pay for in a budget for a recording session and how will you know how much the session should cost?
Chapter 9
- What are the traditional ways new talent is discovered, and why might wannabes have a hard time being discovered in the same or similar ways?
- What have the three major recording labels done to stay alive in a shrinking marketplace for record albums?
- Under the traditional business model, how did labels make money?
- What does a 360 deal do for an artist and for the label?
- What are the benefits of signing with one of the major labels?
- What are affiliate labels?
- Why are vanity labels a risk for artists?
- If a label is going to survive, what does it need to do? What are its business functions and responsibilities?
- What are steps you can take to attract enough positive attention to make a label want to sign you?
- How is a pitch memo different from a deal memo?
- What roles do your representation team play when you are in the process of signing with a label?
- What are deal points?
- Why are there so many types of deals in the entertainment industry between artists and industry?
Chapter 10
- With whom do the owners of creative works need to network to get their products to consumers?
- What does it cost per type of industry to launch a new product?
- What does it mean to say, “Everything is tied to everybody else doing their jobs at a wow level”?
- What resources does an industry executive have to help shape their decision-making processes?
- What goes into building a brand from a financial perspective?
- What does a traditional media marketing plan entail? Why has that had to be changed?
- How is it that print magazines, even in digital formats, still influence the entertainment industry, both at the consumer and the executive levels?
- What does Sound Exchange do?
- What are some of the unresolved issues with both old and new business models being used in the same industry?
- What does monetizing entertainment really mean today?
Chapter 11
- What expectations did it seem Courtney Love had for her band and her representation?
- How is it possible for an artist to misunderstand representation and the business of entertainment?
- What are advances and how are they distributed?
- What is the artist’s financial responsibility in the recording deal and how is it determined?
- What sort of risk does the industry take in producing any entertainment product?
- What is the recoupment model?
- What happens in a 360 deal financially?
- Why would artists not want to perform under their own name?
- What is the relationship between fame, finance, and business decisions?
- What is a strategic management plan and who is involved in making sure it happens?
- What are the differences between artist managers and personal managers?
- What is the power of attorney clause in an entertainer’s contract?
- What is the difference between gross and net revenue?
Chapter 12
- The foundation of the industry is based on what type of creative product?
- What are the three parts of the creative circle and what does each do for the act or talent?
- What determines how much money each member of the creative circle will see?
- Who are other players in the entertainment industry we call “associated”?
- What is the impact of the worldwide events business on the entertainment industry’s economics?
- What is the role of the bid sheet in managing a live event?
- What fiscal items are addressed on the bid sheet?
- What does scaling the house mean and how does that contribute to the economy of scale for a live entertainment event?
- Who are the significant owners and managers of the live event venues?
- Why do awards shows matter in the reputation of the creative circle?
Video Links
Chapter 1
C-Span panel discussion on the state of the music industry:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?286934-1/music-industry-issues
Rupert Murdoch speaking on creative destruction in the news industry and digital media:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?204676-1/creative-destruction-news-21st-century
Chapter 2
On designing an emotional experience with an entertainment product:
http://www.ascap.com/playback/2016/10/features/creating-hooks-berklee-online.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPy5nXF4xFw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x563Y-PY40 (Alicia Keyes)
Sir Elton John on how the chord sequence influences what he thinks makes a great song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB3MwB2F-wU
How to write a novel (TedX talk):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMQGa6grfeE
The mystery of storytelling (narrative):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3-Kl4BDUQ
Creative thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEusrD8g-dM
First step in writing a film score (UCLA):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ykCCvT5mG4
Stephen Spielberg speaks about writing a film. He says, “I dream for a living.” He talks about being an English major and how he had a backup plan in case being a filmmaker did not work out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBN9jpooZoM
What a film score supervisor does to make a great sound in a film:
http://www.documentary.org/magazine/behind-your-films-soundtrack-important-role-music-supervisor
Directing—How to block a scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT3FZdMqtVk
Top ten most influential directors (2015):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ9rhuPvlYc
Tony Orlando interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AeuNhhvpc
L. Russell Brown—“Tie a Yellow Ribbon”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLpx9RMu9Tk
Livingston and Evans on the role of the theme song in a TV show—“Music is the greatest communicator”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ2ovMLdSJs
Livingston and Evans music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9JGDq2jp5c&list=PL5e9x1I92rrr_IkpBOVfBGkfos7UiKl8l
This video of the top ten songs from Minecraft has nearly thirty-eight million views—Yes, thirty-eight million:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbc0_N-uIfY
Chapter 3
“How to screw over a label with your trademark,” 2011—Marty Frascogna Entertainment Law, a video series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJMuasJpFlw
Mark Davis presents a lecture on copyright law to music students at the Music Educator’s Conference 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fqDLx0jFF0
How to register a song with ASCAP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjGD5LbcL70
Chapter 4
Jack Plunkett, May 17, 2016, on disruption in the media and entertainment industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG404MnbYnU
Reimaging the future of media and entertainment, April 11, 2016 (global perspectives):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw3Zz_aKKxc
The film industry today, 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvrnHLOXABc
Do movies matter anymore? ChapmanU 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVElvfnhGyA
Why I read a book a day, January 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bB_fVDlvhc
Jim Anderson at Tisch School talks about the changing business model in the music industry, June 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oOdhNBimys
How to build your brand and monetize, with Mike Koenigs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwyHM0bhflY
Steve Jobs on branding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpPESJRuX4k
Steve Jobs on “Think Different”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMQhOm-Dqo
Millennials changing social media business models—Mike and Morley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QIZHr0tmw
Do millennials have a different business model? A social media interview 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIcEEWkNs0
Envisioning a 21st century music business model, Macklemore mentioned here, October 2014, Berklee College of Music panel discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYfvRbf2Rz8
Today’s music business, an interview with Terry Ellis, artist, June 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzfd9O5Q4jE
Midem 2014—The future of the music business with emphasis on digital, interview with WME and digital music, Germany and CEO of Because Music, France:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVV7RUk3_p0
The rise of the musicpreneur, MIDEM 2014—On streaming, subscription and brands and the impact on business models—How these are NOT FOR musicians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkMxvPoHHAg
Technology is changing the business model, MIT speaker 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7K9KhNPYg
The new world of media and entertainment, 2013—A pitch for a business that will help media finds their voice in a new world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsin0ncW0mk
Can the music industry survive the streaming industry? PBS NewsHour and part of a series called “Music on Demand,” February 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG5oGB1VL8k
How technology is changing the music industry—Fortune magazine interview, July 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZdVA-_deYE (Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun interview)
A modest proposal for fixing the music industry, September 2014—Weathervane Music founder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNszX77y8mk
Rethinking the music industry, Justin Melville, 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDiWA6b_5CE
ON DATA ANALYTICS
Spotify shares how it uses data—June 26, 2015, on value of data and how they use “content insight” to the labels and managers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4429_i3pg
Use of predictive analytics in the music industry, June 9, 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0m-G6iwrCw
MIDEM 2013—Music Metric, an analytics company and what they do from the marketing and communication perspectives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8yrFCz5Vso
Chapter 5
Professor John Ross, music professor, talks about Susanne Langer and her impact on music, three parts, March 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhK7PFp97mI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak_e149CLWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ3rvHb35Fk
How to write a song
John Legend, “I was rejected by every major label”:
http://www.thestatesman.com/news/bollywood/i-was-rejected-by-every-major-record-label-john-legend/169332.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=flipboard#oG66hrXfFB3upMem.03
YouTube video on songwriting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RysJKIo8KRw
Songwriting with Larry Dvoskin, from Cool Guy music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qy9YAk2vNI
Pat Patterson on writing lyrics, Berklee Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNe5qFNJ7po
Storytelling
David Kelly—How to build creative confidence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16p9YRF0l-g
Top 10 storytelling songs, April 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlAdhGyKdOo
Bob Dylan awarded Nobel Prize in Literature, October 2016
http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/bob-dylan-wins-2016-nobel-prize-in-literature/ar-AAiTpmB
Writing great dialog—An interview with three Irish authors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oOUq3C-oVQ
Chapter 6
What happens in a film pitch meeting—They want to get to know you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERvh-o69NlQ (speaker is Justin Trevor)
How to pitch a book idea, Writers’ Digest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvxLmc2JLho
Caroline George author shares her pitching story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGeorSng1PM
The Book Doctors share their advice on how to pitch a book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlPPOF5eqDE
Columbia Fiction Foundry event on writing and pitching fiction, 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdSZ0ykrAVw
How to license music for TV and film without paying fees or hustling music—VH1, MTV, ESPN, and other networks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHnapG50Z48
Publishing deals and record deals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=newSI0tIL-0
How to get a songwriting publisher deal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7llrSu-04w
Why you don't need a publishing deal to succeed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3P2NNPiMSI
How to make a living licensing music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaXCiJcdY88
Making a living with new business models in the music industry—Gerd Leonhard, MIDEM 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3QiJIIIDm8
Independent artists—How to promote your music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eckVV06_wA
Inside the book publishing industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLoXsjV4Ngg
Macklemore—Don't let perfection stop you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93WK6zo-Ox0
London School of Economics graduate—Making your first film and how to pitch the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSixV98iq1Q
How the entertainment industry can make a change (with you in it)—2015 Masstricht TED Talk for youth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFC7n130RcM
Chapter 7
Making a record with Mitch Easter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmoacbABFuM
Wannabe record maker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=513Gdxe58Mw
The right mic for home recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHuRb1aVlo
Parallel mixing using Pro Tools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Fw5-tJnFM
What digital audio is—Analog to digital conversion?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3tfly9mKhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RIA9U5oXro
Pixel noise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4cKlez0OCM
How broadband and DSL work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwtGfyna62I
Chapter 8
ABBA, Dancing Queen Recording Session, 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il2w8E2nzSU
How to manage your recording session:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwv9sj_Ln5o
How we perceive the sounds of music, 2014, with a band called the Polygraph Sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsYt-FBhE2Q
A day in the life of audio engineer Kevin Weber, 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yRA8K0pY1Y
Full Sail engineer Phil Tan, Mix Engineer, explains the sound of Rhianna’s Diamonds in the Sky, 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2E3ifOjFmE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OgkkmOfLoI
Chapter 9
History of Atlantic Records (a four-part series 2012):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4K6OSIsDaQ
Mark Caren and his work as Warner A&R president:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXd4dw67F8A
Interview with president of Universal Music Group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sEZyWwduk
Randy Lennox, president of Universal Music Group Canada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMUTW9nGT4
Rob Wells, Universal Music Group, talks about innovation in the transformed music business with an MIT management person:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWFD7lmssOs
Evaluating talent with Richard Griffiths, A&R:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWPzQl7JtkI
Doug Morris, Sony, speaks at MIDEM about the future of the industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC0ger8mwGU
The next 50 years of music start today, MIDEM 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjLblLbMTak
Chapter 10
Social media marketing plan for artists and creatives, 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haVA0ijJ_ZY
James Taylor—Music Business Institute seven-step process for marketing, 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ULOMSsPl4
Mike King talks about music marketing, formerly of Rico Discs and with Artist House Music, Berklee video show, 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3j_5VbNlY
Digital marketing plan for 2017, MIDEM 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooYmoj9qTeU
SXSW on digital marketing with socio-economic emphasis, March 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ODPbpYOjs
Joseph Craig, TEDxBroadway, 2012, on marketing research based in talking to the audience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLllWy4lSco
How social media is shaping the music industry—Billboard and Twitter—Conversation with analytics, 2014—How do you monetize social media?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJjuZInLUVM
Chapter 11
Releasing team creativity, 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63WCVBtV_7o
Artist management for music business, 2015 MIDEM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KtlulfyKD8
An interview with artist manager Delante Murphy, 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWXwwZzAg7M
Tips from a lawyer on making a deal with talent and managers, 2010 from Lawyers Rock, Inc.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfZ6SwMXxA8
Charlotte Lee talks about her work as an artist manager with IMG, 2013:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6HPpi7b1Pw
How to create a successful band, 2008:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_49Fqbii0w
Talent manager and booker Wayne Forte talks about his work at Loyola University, 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKB8jmDfZXI
Peter Mensch worked with AC/DC and others as their manager, 2014, recorded at Royal Albert hall, UK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umi_9Y4J2mM
Talk with Phil Bowderer, international promoter, Royal Albert Hall interview, 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqNqi619_g4
Chapter 12
Eddie Van Halen talks about his career, Smithsonian series, 2012:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl59RPs7PiI
A day in the life of a MET opera orchestra musician, 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajs6yZkVSKE
What is it like to debut at the Metropolitan Opera, 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5FPJPtGag
Bette Midler’s band talks about being on tour—Berklee seminar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boz4H3R39-Y, 2015
Phil Brock, celebrity talent manager for actors of Studio Talent Group:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCF6n4yn7Q0
Revenue streams in the music industry, two parts, February 2015—London Creative and Digital Fusion program:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYvZ32gVUFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD6xrBjuEoE
Brighton Music Festival Conference 2014—Revenue streams and distribution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErxUHeUXE1g
Christophe Muller, YouTube and label partners, 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0V_UhteNQA
Alexander Lung, Sound Cloud, 2015, MIDEM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0V_UhteNQA
Who’s investing in music, MIDEM 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eihJqRSAeQ
Michael Rapping, Live Nation president interview, two parts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRaf9mPjLn8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcFrGRxpL3k
Ticketmaster Growth and Partnership with APIs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEypHm0gnYw
Students Blogs and Journals
These are the prompts your students have received for blogging and for reflective writing. They are stated in the Student Guide.
Chapter 1
You will have a better chance of succeeding in the entertainment and music industry if you read widely in such publications as Billboard, Variety, and Music Biz Worldwide, and sign up for the Dean’s List, a daily digest of news. Blog about how entertainment news is reported and who these publications want to attract as readers. What impact does reading entertainment news have on you as an artist/writer/film maker/investor/talent agent/entertainment attorney, and so forth?
Chapter 2
Having talent that the entertainment industry will recognize is only the beginning of the process of becoming an artist with a career. Find ways to attend and become involved in entertainment activities to form a network of people who may be able to help you and to allow yourself to be seen as someone with potential value to an entertainment company. You don’t need to have an internship or co-op to get started. How about volunteering for a book drive or handing out water bottles at a local 5K, where there are numerous corporate sponsors? What would be your strategy for getting noticed? Blog about the right persona for you to be noticed.
Chapter 3
Copyright law is key to creativity and to protecting your idea once it is in a tangible form. To be smart about navigating the world of copyright, you want to know the laws yourself so you can both hire smart when it comes to your legal representation team, and protect yourself in the product development phases. Blog about the significance of preserving and breaking copyright law to you as an artist/writer/filmmaker.
Chapter 4
Starting out in the industry as an entrepreneur is challenging and has the potential to be rewarding. To have a shot at success, artists should develop a business plan, such as that found at LivePlan.com, which will give you an opportunity to write out what you know about your venture, how it will be funded, what your competition is and your competitive advantage, and how much money you will need to start and sustain the business. Too often, entrepreneurs miscalculate the amount of money they need to start a business by only concentrating on what it will take to cover the initial costs of launching the business. That is why it is important for you to review all the legal, financial, and business information available at SBA.gov as that is a free and reliable guide to getting you started in your dream career. Industry insiders look to hire people who are both creative and well informed about the business of their business, so keep the scales balanced and manage your passion with sound business modeling. What kind of questions do you want to add to this blog to help you think like an entrepreneur?
Chapter 5
You have to knock on many doors in the industry before someone will open one or before you have the reputation to kick it in. Be receptive to feedback and suggestions about how to change and strengthen your creative products, find peer writing and songwriting partners, experiment with new tools and processes to see if you can take yourself and your audience to the next level of entertainment, and remember the emotional connections that create the wow between product and consumer is not an accident. Psychographic research and metadata are important in determining the accuracy of your business plan. Write a blog post about how you can overcome rejection and thrive on it.
Chapter 6
The best example of how the music business is a business is seen in the artists’ deals and negotiations that enable the industry to bring a product to consumers. Given the wrong deal, the artist has little to no chance of earning the money they might. It is important to know and write into your contracts all the negotiated points you need at the outset and to know what the various types of licenses are for reusing your product. The wow product can have as many lives as a cat if you have a best-selling single, a strong-selling album, and adaptations into commercials, soundtracks for films and video games, and heck, maybe a whole musical or stage show built around the narrative of your song! Aim high so you won’t be on the low end of the profit from your creative work. Blog about the common perception that only “starving artists” are really inspired and produce meaning creative products. Do you really need to suffer for your art?
Chapter 7
The entertainment industry is made up of teams of people who, though they have common workplace titles, perform varying roles in relationship to the entertainment product development activity. Learn the roles in the professional networks and in the unions to fully understand who does what, and if you don’t hear something mentioned you think is important in the recording studio or in the deal-making part of the business, ask. But, ask politely! Make a list of your fantasy entertainment team and see if you can get other bloggers to trade with you—just like in the fantasy leagues!
Chapter 8
Think about your favorite entertainment product and how you have downloaded, purchased, or otherwise enjoyed the product. What did you pay for the album, the song, the concert ticket? This is how the industry makes money today on the sales of your emotional connection to the product. How much do you think you have paid to keep listening to this song? This is how the recording budget is made. Similarly, how about your favorite films—Love Actually, Ratatouille, Elf, you name it. The stakes are even higher with a film budget, but the monetizing of your emotions needs to be the same for the products to have sustainable profits. Use the blog to write down five topics you would like to see written about as entertainment topics for today. With the help of others on this site, start a conversation about the most popular ones and what you might do to make one of these ideas into a wow product.
Chapter 9
Your representation team, especially your personal manager and your attorney, are essential in advising you about the best deals you can make, depending on the type of product you are pitching. It is important for you to know the language of the deals and their essential characteristics to avoid the potential consequences of letting your passions outstrip your business sense. Ask your fellow bloggers to think with you about a code of conduct or a code of ethics that would define for you how you want to be treated and how you want to treat your representation and creative teams. What do these codes have in common and what do they say about how you understand the industry and your value as well as that of others?
Chapter 10
If you are familiar with the trade publications and traditional and emerging media channels, and know the consumer preferences of your target market, you may be an active and valued participant in the development and promotion, publicity, marketing, and distribution of your own products. Instead of being passive and waiting for your representation team to tell you what they think is best, be a partner in the process and get more from them and more of what you want for your hard work. Create a list of questions you need to ask yourself, just as if you going on a job interview, before you sit down with the promotion and publicity teams.
Chapter 11
The number one mistake artists make is not understanding their financial obligations in the artist development and product development processes. The number two mistake is not taking the time to understand and research the roles of their representation options, and as such, not realizing what their team can and cannot do. Courtney Love’s story should generate a lot of interest on this site. What are some things her situation made you think about that might not have otherwise?
Chapter 12
The creative representation circle is formed to support the artist who can produce the wow product. Besides the marketing, publicity, and promotion of the brand, image, and product through retail outlets, the entertainment industry relies on direct connections with fans through large- and small-scale public events as a revenue stream. When thinking about gross vs. net, and revenue vs. risk, it is essential to have the touring and live performance expenses provided on the bid sheet, carefully worked out in time for artists and their teams to review and project what it will cost to stand up a show so they will know how to best scale the house for maximum revenue. Use this site to write about the excitement and the challenges of going on tour and performing live or what it would be like to go to the opening night of your first feature film, documentary, or your first book signing. What are the emotions you and your audience share? What are you going to do to keep the feelings you have that brought you into the entertainment industry alive year after year?
Other-Reflective Writing and Journaling
Reflective writing and journaling are good ways to be sure you really understand content in a new area of learning, and especially when the content may be detailed. Writing about a topic in your words helps you see what you remember and also gets you ready to network with a solid foundation. Industry executives, creative personnel, and other artists as well as agents, bookers, and attorneys appreciate others who can speak well in industry terms. That alone will set you apart from others who do not have the knowledge or the drive to really learn the field. Here is a series of prompts you can use to write reflectively and journal to deepen your engagement with the industry.
- How, based on your reading of Chapter 1, do you think you should prepare yourself to assume a career in the industry?
- Write about an artist who has changed his or her brand or image. How did that work for them?
- Stephen Witt calls the kind of piracy he did an act on “an industrial scale.” Consider the impact of that on your favorite type of entertainment and take some time to discover the economic impact of that level of streaming or downloading on the career of an artist whose work you enjoy. This could include discovering how much money a musical act made in concert, how many albums sold, how many endorsements signed, and so forth, or for a novelist or poet, the number of their works you can find “free” on Google Books or Google Scholar and how much money they or their publishers made in a recent fiscal year.
- What are the ways that DIY has helped and hurt the entertainment industry?
- How would you describe the entertainment industry?
- To a certain degree, the idea of a wow is culturally driven. Take a moment to discover an artist from the global entertainment industry whose culture is different from your own. For example, what is the wow associated with the career of percussionist Yissy Garcia of Cuba or the French singer Edith Piaf?
- How will you protect your rights as a creative person or one who represents creative people?
- What is the impact or potential impact of digitization on the idea of copyright?
- What are the moral, ethical and cultural significances of having copyrights laws and exclusive rights for creators of entertainment products? Look up an example of a copyright, patent, or trademark infringement case to help you develop your response.
- What is the relationship between economics, competition, and culture in the entertainment and music business?
- Think about a film, TV, show or computer game you enjoy. How do you tell a story or create a product that connects with the audience?
- Is it necessary for the tension between wannabes and those with professional representation to be resolved for the entertainment industry to thrive in the next decades?
- What is the value of making music, telling a story, or drawing a picture, even if it is not monetizable?
- What makes a star in the entertainment industry? What makes a star with consumers?
- Why might executives in the global entertainment industry benefit from knowing the GDP, national population, per capita income, and levels of education and health care in countries where they have offices and/or plan to market and sell their products?
- Thinking back over the role emotions play in our desire to be entertained and in our desire for entertainment, what ways do live concerts, book festivals, and events such as Comic-Con monetize consumers’ emotions that benefit not just the consumers but also the entire network of the entertainment industry?