Status: Single
City: Nashville
State: Tennessee
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/16/2005
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Friday, November 21, 2008
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Category: Music
Many of you have asked "how's the CD coming along?" I usually say "fine"... because the reality of it takes more breath to tell than I have! But if you truly want the nuts and bolts of what's going on - here it is! The relieving part (I'll start with this! : ) is that the CDs should be IN MY HANDS within 10 - 12 days. I do NOT have an official release date, or a CD release party scheduled. I gave up trying to predict when this thing would be done! My poor graphic artist has had to update my press kit 3 or 4 times now regarding the release - September, October, November, and now we're pushing December! Once it has been released, I will schedule CD release parties for both Nashville and Virginia.
So what's happening? Some things are really just out of our hands - but I'll try to give you the short story! Hold on to your hats for more information about the music business than you EVER wanted to know... and remember - ALL of the below work comes after or outside of preparation and recording the actual music!
I'll start with "publishing" - which refers to rights and royalties of a songwriter. I had it "easy" - I wrote or co-wrote every song on this album, as opposed to many singers who can easily have 12 songs by 12 different writers! I had one co-write, and one 3-way co-write. So the publishing rights for all of "my" songs belong fully to me, the co-write is owned 50/50% by me and 1 other person, and 3-way co-write is owned 33% each by me and 2 other people. Publishing rights are owned by a registered publishing company - not an individual, so I could either have registered by songs under my producer's publishing company "Gold Star", or I could form my own. If I established with Gold Star, the royalties (from CD sales, radio play, downloads, etc.) would be SPLIT between me (the writer) and Gold Star (the publishing company). But if I formed a publishing company, the profits would belong 100% to my company on the songs I wrote, and 50% or 33% on the co-writes. They are still "split" between me and the publishing company - but since I own the publishing company, they're still "technically" mine. Make sense? In the end, I formed my own publishing company. This is VERY common amongst writers in Nashville today. My long-term goal in this industry is to not depend on performance income (which is largely what I do now), but rather to make my "living" on songwriting. Easier said than done, but this is Step 1! And by the way - I NEVER thought I would have my first song cut by another artist (and eventually being paid for it!) at this point - I haven't even started pitching my music, and having that already is a blessing for which I am very grateful! Point being, I need to be prepared, and live as if my future goals and dreams are a present reality.
So I chose to create Vanillity Music LLC, with a publishing "arm". The LLC also serves to protect me, as an individual, as I go about the daily business of the company. The first challenge was actually coming up with a company name that is not yet used, trademarked, etc. There are a LOT of businesses out there! My first couple choices weren't available, but if any of you have ever been in "smelling distance" of me, you'll probably at least understand the "Vanilla" reference, since that scent is all I wear! :)
So now we have the LLC, and the publishing company within. And by the way - this doesn't necessarily mean that I "saved money" by keeping 100% of my royalties - definitely not up front! There are legal fees for setting up an LLC, registers, trademarks, etc., and fees to register the publishing company. The publishing company itself also has to be registered with whichever performing rights organization I belong to.
The 3 major performing rights organizations are BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. I belong to ASCAP, so Vanillity Music LLC must be registered with ASCAP - a different process than Kari Smith being registered with ASCAP, which is what I had before. So WHAT is a performing rights organization? Well, you may have walked into a business before and heard music playing through the speakers. Unless there is some sort of arrangement in place, the manager can't just decide to play his Kari Smith CD today (aw man... ;) When you walked into that bar, you may have seen a label or sign posted on the storefront that said "BMI" or "ASCAP" - SESAC is by far the smallest and not as common.
Additionally, when a program manager at a radio station decides that he wants to play a Kari Smith song 3 times today, he has to report those 3 plays to ASCAP, who collects the data and pays its songwriters quarterly. This same process goes for clubs, restaurants, and other venues that play music through loudspeakers, a jukebox, etc. - they are legally obligated to report it. If they don't, they are breaking the law, and there are "undercover" agents for these companies that literally go looking for non-compliance with these laws.
In addition to radio plays, downloads, etc., songwriters are paid for CD sales. This can be done when the CDs are pressed (manufactured) at all at once, "as you go" - as you sell the CDs. For example - I have an artist / group who is cutting one of my songs "My Sisters". They have a mechanical license (just roll with this!) and although I can put the song on my CD (and I did!), they have licensed the right to record it and put it on their CD. The fee is currently 9.3 cents a song. If they have 10,000 copies of the CD, as the songwriter of that song, I will make $930.
When a radio station reports that they played Kari Smith's song "Mostly Me" (this is the 3-way co-write on my album) for x amount of plays, how does ASCAP know who gets paid royalties for those plays? Well, when Dennis Money, Bobby Fischer and I wrote that song, we EACH had to register our 33% of the publishing rights to that song with our respective companies' performing rights organization. (See how freakin complicated this gets?)
Each song (or an "work") has to be turned in and filed with the national Copyrights Office, which of course carries its own set of paperwork, hassles, submissions, and fees.
Each song on the album has to have an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) digitally embedded in it. This code refers to the recording itself - not the song - and is comprised of 12 numbers that refer to the country code, the registrant code, the year of registration, then the number of the recording itself. The purpose of the code is to facilitate royalty collecting, administration, and especially important today - anti-piracy safeguards. When I decided to form the LLC, I had to apply for ISRC codes. The digital embedding happens at the mastering stage (for the sake of my poor typing fingers, I will abbreviate my explanation of "mastering" by saying that it is "finishing" the CD in terms of audio levels, space between songs, etc.)
The graphics and layout for the CD are a whole process within themselves - "getting it right" for something this important takes a LOT of time, effort, inspection, revisions, and approval from me and my producer. It's amazing that Stacy - my graphic artist at http://www.psomadesign.com/ - didn't go nuts on this one! She is SO patient and amazingly talented! Unfortunately, there's now way to shorten that process unless you absolutely have no opinion on what your project will look like. I did. ;) Once we sent the artwork to the company that actually manufactures the discs, they needed revisions - despite the fact that she had built the artwork on their templates! It's not just a CD "cover" - it's a 6 panel (3 front, 3 back) insert, a interior tray card, an exterior tray card, and the actual CD itself that have to be designed and perfected. (Thanks to Brett Zwerdling for the album photography - I think that was the easiest part!! :) There are credits that have to be listed within the album artwork that are necessary for radio play and royalties. Publishing affiliations have to be listed in order for a radio station to play a song... Remember that scenario earlier about a radio program director reporting what songs they've played? If you submit an album that doesn't list publishing allocations and splits, there's a good possibility they're not going to play it!
Aren't you glad this is the short version? ;) I'll try to wrap this up!
If you're still reading - and you're wondering why I typed all this out - YOU are why I took the time! I know that this chosen career is sustained by the unwavering support of fans, listeners, people who care - however you want to classify yourself. If you know me at all, you know that if I'm up at 9:30am (the current time CST), it's not because I got up early - it's because I haven't gone to bed yet. But it is so very important to me to keep this experience as personal and as real to YOU, the fan, as I possibly can - because I feel that that's how I'm able to give back to you. Your support and your interest in what I do makes me want to share as much of it with you as possible! If that means losing sleep every once in a while, so be it - otherwise this would NEVER get written!
Thank you for caring about the process and what I've been facing to get this album released! There may be a mistake or two in here - (I'm uh about to fall over... ; ) but hopefully you get the gist! And a SPECIAL thank you to those of you who have pre-ordered the album - or plan to buy it once it's released. You don't know the sheer JOY I get when I see each one of those pre-sales! I've put my heart and soul into this album - it's the main reason I moved to this town - and I am SO proud of the result!!!
Pre-orders through PayPal can be made at www....com/gypsyoflove or email me for a payment address if you'd rather send a check or money order. The CD, including shipping / handling, and an autographed 8x10 picture is $15, and will be shipping within 2 weeks! Many thanks!!!
2:00 AM
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