The report notes that “USTR placed Canada on the Watch List for making ‘little headway in addressing long-standing intellectual
property issues related to copyright and patent reform such as ratification of the WIPO Internet treaties.’ Furthermore, USTR
noted that ‘progress has stalled on the outstanding issue of national treatment of U.S. artists in the distribution of proceeds from
Canada’s private copying levy and its ‘neighboring rights’ regime.’”

The report comes at an important time in Canada’s ‘battle against piracy’, as an amendment to the Copyright Act is looming, and the opinions on either side of the debate seem to get more polarized.

- Kurt Dahl, Feb. 21, 2012

On the tech side, the argument is that if we start to crack down on illegal downloading through legislation like SOPA, the slippery slope would lead to the closure of wonderful sites like Wikipedia and Google, and Big Brother would have won. However, the tech industry is enormously powerful, and almost always beats the far smaller creative businesses in legislative disputes. Google alone generated more than $37 billion in 2011, more than double the revenue of all record companies, major and indie combined. So who are we really protecting?

A common myth is that all record companies exploit every artist they sign, and that file sharing takes money from the big bad labels and creates much needed (and much wanted) exposure for the artist. Everyone wins, right? The image below has come across my desk several times in the past few months:

This is classic disinformation. Most record deals I negotiate involve a 50/50 split between label and artist. While record label horror stories exist for good reason, many deals today benefit from years of mistakes and exploitation of artists. In other words…artists are smarter now, and the money is tighter, so both sides really have to work together if either wants to survive.

If there are artists signing deals like the one in the above graph, they didn’t call me first. Most sign modest deals, live modest lives (at least financially), and rely on income from touring revenue and music sales.

While the SOPA legislation was flawed, at least part of the intention was in the right place: to compensate artists more fairly, while stopping sites like Megaupload etc from making millions from selling pirated content. As a closing thought, it is worth contemplating that Megaupload.com’s Kim Dotcom, who was arrested in New Zealand last week in his 25,000-square-foot compound surrounded by a fleet of Mercedes and Ferraris, made his fortune from selling content stolen from artists. So who is the real bad guy?

- Kurt Dahl, Feb. 3, 2012

The first, from Hypebot, indicates that digital music revenues to record companies grew by 8 per cent globally in 2011 to an estimated US$5.2 billion. This compares to growth of 5 per cent in 2010 and represents the first time the year-on-year growth rate has increased since IFPI started measuring digital revenues in 2004.

The second, from Music Think Tank, summarizes several stats from Nielsen Soundscan, some of the most interesting are:
- US album sales were up 1.3% last year, the first year since 2005 that’s happened. 66% of these sales were CDs.
- Rock is the most popular genre of music, with 32 percent album share, while pop music represents 40 percent of all current digital tracks sold.
- Ninety-three of the 100 best selling vinyl albums in 2011 fall within the Rock or Alternative genres.
- Vinyl sales increased 37 percent in 2011, but only accounted for 1.2 percent of all physical sales.
- 75% of all CD sales were made offline. That means that people physically purchased the CD at a brick and mortar store or an event.
- There were 249 million albums sold in the US last year. People will tell you that the music industry is dying, but 249 million of anything is still a huge number.

Both articles are a breath of fresh air amidst all the doom and gloom that currently dominates any music biz discussion. Also, the stats indicate two key points worth repeating:

- rock and album sales are tied together
- pop and individual track sales are tied together

While these correlations may seem trite, many musicians/managers/labels don’t seem to fully understand them. Too often I see rock acts focusing on the big ‘crossover’ pop single, or pop acts working on their concept album masterwork. Not saying there can’t be exceptions to the rule, but first and foremost there needs to be a real understanding of your genre and the demographic you are catering to. Some rock fans will want a chart-topping pop single, some pop fans will want an epic concept album, but 99% of the time the opposite will be true. That doesn’t mean you don’t take chances, but first you need to understand your audience.

Either way, some encouraging articles to start the year with.

- Kurt Dahl, January 23, 2012

2011 was a great year for D’Eith and Company, as our entertainment law practice saw its largest growth of the past few years and our consulting company, Adagio Music, saw a substantial increase in clients looking for help with Factor apps, other grant apps, and generally receiving advice about taking their careers to the next level.

As we look forward to our biggest year to date, I thought I’d post an interesting article from ‘the DIY Musician’, summarizing the top 10 blog posts of 2011. Some great reading for all our musician clients…everything from search engine optimization to band politics to being ripped off by clubs. All the good stuff! Check it out here.

See you all in 2012

- Kurt Dahl, January 4, 2012

The article points out that it takes about 64 streams to equal one 99-cent iTunes purchase, and this has prompted artists such as Adele, Coldplay, and Tom Waits to keep their new albums off Spotify, at least for the first few months following release.

Spotify has responded that the company continues to make concerted efforts to create a forum for music via social media (hence their partnership with Facebook) and foster live music (free shows they have sponsored at Mercury Lounge in New York City over the summer). But while some artists praise the service for embracing the new cloud reality, others oppose the miniscule Spotify payouts in relation to payouts generated from the more traditional digital purchase model.

The debate as to whether Spotify is a benefit or harm to artists continues. We’d be interested to hear your thoughts…post them on the D’Eith and Company and/or Adagio Music Facebook pages.

- Kurt Dahl, Dec. 14, 2011

Why would you want to incorporate your business entity you ask? The first answer is tax benefits. As an example, if you are in a band and are starting to generate income consistently on a monthly basis, you may be able to achieve significant tax breaks by writing off your band expenses (and there is never a shortage of those) against any income made. If you are a management company or record label, these benefits are magnified.

The second benefit is the limited liability provided by incorporation. So if your band/studio/management company gets sued for whatever reason, you as an individual will be safe from liability, i.e. the liability stays with the corporation. If your business entity is making any sort of profit on a regular basis, this benefit cannot be overstated.

The costs to incorporate are completely reasonable, and Kurt can explain all the benefits and provide advice based on your specific situation over the phone. Once he has all the relevant info, you could be incorporated in a matter of weeks, and start making the most of your business in no time.

Give us a shout at 604-675-6227 to discuss, we’d be glad to help.

- Kurt Dahl, Dec. 7, 2011

The answer: hire an entertainment lawyer.

If you are surprised, you are not alone. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that many musicians don’t discover the benefits of a music attorney unless prompted to for negative reasons. But the positives are far more abundant!

The author goes on to say that “in the world of entertainment, the attorney is king in many ways…they are the silent force behind every deal and advancement…the music industry’s silent gatekeeper and its best kept secret”.

So, have a read of the article, and shoot us a phone call or email. Whether it’s getting more out of your career/catalog, negotiating you a better deal, or offering guidance in any area of the business, we look forward to sharing this ‘secret’ with you.

- Kurt Dahl, Nov. 22, 2011

ST’s clients include some 238 labels around the world.

This raises a huge question going forward, one we have touched on before: is Spotify good or bad for artists? The above study concluded that Spotify and other streaming services have the effect of devaluing music by exploiting it as a low value/free commodity, with the end result being less and less music being paid for, and of course, less money to artists.

The counter argument is that if more artists, labels, and consumers got on board with Spotify, there would be a snowball effect in the coming years, and far more revenue and value would accrue to artists from streaming vis-a-vis the rapidly dwindling revenue flowing from more traditional ‘purchase’ services such as iTunes.

As always, consumer choice will point the direction forward. And based on the numbers in the above study, consumers have made one thing clear: they want Spotify. The question is, do artists?

- Kurt Dahl, Nov. 16, 2011

So if you’d like Bob and I to help you take your application (and career) to the next level, shoot me an email at kurt(at)bcmusiclaw.com. We need at least 3 weeks advance to do the app properly, so hit me with an email and we’ll make it happen!

- Kurt Dahl, Nov. 2, 2011

It’s free for the regular version, $79/month for the premier version (still in beta, but I keep hearing great things), and it’s a one stop shop to measure, track, and understand the performance of your band online (which of course is directly connected with your performance offline).

Any time I hit the road with my band on tour, we inevitably tweet more, post more videos, and make more new fans than any other time of the year. And without fail, the following week when my NBS report comes in, all our numbers have shot up. Clearly, the key is to use these metrics to better understand how to operate as a band in order to maximize exposure to your fans, give these fans what they want, and gain more fans along the way.

Promoters, labels, management companies and all other ‘music industry professionals’ are using this tool more and more, so if you are not yet hip to it, I’d suggest getting on it.

Start harnessing the power of your metrics now…

- Kurt Dahl, Oct. 19, 2011