Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CLZL43O/ref=r_soa_w_d

After over two decades in the Canadian music business, Bob D’Eith has learned a lot about how independent artists have succeeded or failed. “A Career in Music: the other 12 step program,” was written to fill a void in the world of music business books. Bob observes that, “there are many music business books written from the U.S.A. or U.K. perspective, but none that I am aware of from the Canadian perspective.”

This book delves into the basic tools that every independent artist should have in today’s complicated and ever changing music industry. More than ever before, artists are being expected to develop themselves. That means understanding many parts of the business both traditional and cutting edge.

“A Career in Music” examines where the money is for Canadian artists and how to get it. Bob says, “half of the battle is knowing where to register and with what organizations.” As an eBook, Bob D’Eith has conveniently added links to all of the necessary online registration services.

Fully interactive, “A Career in Music” is full of useful links to other artists, websites and discussion examples. In addition, the book contains an appendix full of checklists, outlines, resources and more detailed discussions of topics addressed in the book.

EXCERPT FROM GRANT LAWRENCE FORWARD:

“…Bob D’Eith gets this [business]. In fact, as you are about to read, Bob understands far, far more about the music business that I ever could. For the past quarter century, Bob has done it all. He’s been a musician, a recording studio owner, a music publisher, the longtime executive director of Music BC, a chairman of FACTOR NAB, a JUNO rep, and is one of the co-founders of BC’s hugely successful artist development Peak Performance Project. Most importantly, Bob is an entertainment lawyer. He knows exactly what you as an artist can and cannot do legally speaking. It doesn’t get any more clear-cut than that.

I’m very glad that my friend Bob finally decided to get off his lazy ass and write this book. It needed to be written. I just wish he had done it 25 years earlier. It would have made my life as an independent musician much, much easier. Tap into his knowledge, enjoy the ride, and maybe even buy him a beer. He deserves it.”

Grant Lawrence
Host/Producer/Author
CBC Music
Vancouver

Mythos “Journey” is now available on dozens of digital platforms around the world including iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mythos/id636729170

Check it out:

http://igg.me/at/mythosjourney/x/2705697

The article goes on to explain how this came to be, and how The Rolling Stones unilaterally decided to stop paying him royalties in 1982 based on advice from their new record label and publishing company, despite the fact that Taylor’s songwriting and musical contribution to some of the biggest Stones songs from this era is undeniable. Since then of course, the rest of the Stones have gone on to become multimillionaires and some of the most wealthy musicians in the world, and Mr. Taylor has received nothing.

If there ever was a real-life cautionary tale to sign a Band Agreement between you and your band mates, this is it!

- Kurt Dahl, March 13, 2013

Feeling pretty excited this week, as the latest single ‘Scarecrows’ by my band One Bad Son just cracked top 5 across Canada! The song is the first top 5 of our 8+ year career, and has been picked up from coast to coast. We just got back from a cross-Canada tour opening for Buckcherry, which really helped push the single to the next level at radio. You can hear the song on YouTube here. Crank it up and enjoy…

- Kurt Dahl, March 7, 2013

…don’t believe the hype!

In the past few days I’ve seen a bunch of Facebook friends post status updates that aim to protect their copyright, stating in part, “In response to the new Facebook guidelines, I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention)…”

The idea behind the “notice” is that Facebook’s listing as a publicly traded company will negatively affect its users’ privacy, which is not true. In reality, Facebook and its users are still bound to the same terms and conditions that were accepted by users when they signed up for the service. Posting a notice of this kind on your profile does nothing to change that.

It’s also worth noting that there is no ‘Berner Convention’. There is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (see here), but that typo isn’t the real issue in the post. There is also reference to the Uniform Commercial Code, a set of US-recommended laws that regulate the way states do business with each other. However, this doesn’t really apply to social networks.

The bottom line: anyone who creates a Facebook account agrees to their terms and conditions (found here). It would be like walking into a bank and posting a revised mortgage agreement on the wall, and expecting the existing terms of your signed mortgage to be instantly amended. Copying and pasting a made-up legal statement into your Facebook status doesn’t make an existing contractual agreement null and void.

So what are your options if you’ve already amended your privacy settings and still don’t agree with Facebook’s terms and conditions? Leave Facebook, or deal with it.

- Kurt Dahl, Entertainment Lawyer, Nov. 28, 2012

For some reason, the last week has seen me drafting or negotiating a ton of agreements between Artist and Producer, outlining what percentage of record sales the former will pay the latter. And yes, records do sell sometimes, so this can be important. If your record “goes Adele” and sells 25 million worldwide, you’ll rue the day you coughed an extra percentage point to your producer without reading this first.

Whether a producer should receive a percentage of record sales and/or songwriting points (or neither), was discussed by yours truly here. Once it is determined that they will receive a % of record sales (which is normally the case), the next question is: what amount does that percentage apply to?

The key to answering this question is understanding the acronyms SRLP and PPD, and their differences.

SRLP is the “suggested retail list price”, which is the approx. price charged by the retailer (HMV, Wal-Mart, or one of the few retailers left).

PPD is the “published price to dealers”, which is the approx. price that distributors charge their dealers, or the “wholesale price”. So – PPD is lower, SRLP higher.

Whichever royalty base is used, it must be clearly stated as such in the contract between Artist and Producer, so both parties know what to expect going forward. It can make a huge difference in terms of dollars. For example, a 3% royalty to Producer on an SRLP of $12.99 would be approx. $0.39 per record sold, but if based on PPD (about $6.50 — roughly 50% of retail) then you’d need to double the Producer’s royalty to about 6% to come up with the same royalty of $0.39 per record going to said Producer.

Whether you agree to pay the Producer a portion of PPD or SRLP, the calculated royalty should be proportionate. In other words, the royalty per record sold going to the Producer should be more or less the same whether you’re going SRLP or PPD.

Til next time, keep rockin’.

p.s. found this great old photo of Phil Spector, the ultimate producer for a time (until he started pulling guns on the acts he was recording…see here for more)

- Kurt Dahl, Nov. 7, 2012

Having seen a lot of mediocre bands throughout my life, I have to agree! Actors don’t have an instrument to hide behind, yet the good ones seem to get you in the palm of their hand from the word go. On the other hand, musicians don’t have a storyline to hide behind and/or use to engage the audience…all they have is their songs and the performance of them. So I’m not sure which group has it harder. I mean, if I sit down and read you a story (and act it out) vs. play you some songs, which is more engaging? Almost seems easier to follow the story than get into a set of unknown songs…unless the songs are exceptional and I’m jumping around and yelling. Maybe this explains why Iggy Pop cut himself and rubbed raw meat on his chest during sets haha.

Anyway, some food for thought…

- Kurt Dahl, Oct. 17, 2012

 
http://announcements.usask.ca/alumni_news/2012/09/lawyer_by_day_rock_star_by_nig.html

- Kurt Dahl, Sept. 10, 2012