MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT #4

Power Reading for Busy Music Professionals

Hope you're hungry!

MUSIC BIZ INSIGHT is published for musicians, songwriters, managers, label reps, booking agents, entertainment attorneys, studio owners, music publishers, and all others involved in the music business. Its purpose is to help boost your business, find new markets, make the right connections, develop professionally, work smarter and improve your bottom line.

"As a general rule, the most successful people in life are those who have the best information." Benjamin Disraeli

Published bi-monthly by Peter Spellman, Director MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS: Turning Music Business Data into Useful Knowledge. Career and Business-building books, articles, consulting and more.

P.O. Box 230266, Astor Station, Boston, MA 02123-0266, USA Phone: 978-887-8041 Email: success@mbsolutions.com

Website: www.mbsolutions.com

© 1997 - 2003, Peter Spellman, Music Business Solutions

IN THIS ISSUE - MBI #4

TRENDS FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT/LEISURE INDUSTRIES

Revenues and % Personal Consumption for CDs, Cassette Tapes and Record Albums

As can be seen from the chart below, the percentage consumers spend on recorded music has been climbing steadily.

Year

In Billions

% 0f Personal Consumption

1993

$10.0

.23%

1992

$9.0

.22%

1991

$7.8

.20%

1990

$7.5

.20

1989

$6.6

.19%

1988

$6.3

.20%

1987

$5.6

.19

1986

$4.7

.17%

1985

$4.4

.17%

1984

$4.4

.19%

Source: RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America)

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BE YOUR OWN BEST MANAGER

It is said that businesses fail, not usually because of a poor product, nor becasue of an unproven market. 9 out of 10 businesses fail because of management incompetence.

Successful management is effective, efficient and objective, and it all begins with YOU. On a consistent basis be sure to...

  • Identify your values and operate from them
  • Clarify your purpose, priorities and goals
  • Design and implement an effective business plan
  • Create strategic plans of action
  • Learn to work smarter--not harder
  • Eliminate time wasters
  • Plan your days
  • Set a schedule and keep it
  • Get feedback from colleagues and experts
  • Collect information: quotes, articles, statistics
  • Keep your work space organized
  • Enhance your telephone skills
  • Follow through with customers and clients
  • Market your business consistently
  • Join at least one professional association
  • Develop powerful networking abilities
  • Keep accurrate records
  • Be a calculated risk-taker
  • Be willing to move on
  • Make sure your needs are being met
  • Exercise regularly
  • Create a support system
  • Continue your education
  • Get out of the house/office everyday!
  • Remember we're all human and make mistakes
  • Keep things in perspective
  • Take responsibility for yourself
  • Choose appropriate advisors
  • If there are tasks you hate--delegate (or subcontract)
  • Respect your mind's and body's cycles
  • Balance your personal and professional life
  • Acknowledge your accomplishments every day

Do these things consistently, and you will riSE.

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ILLUMINATING TRIVIA

Marginal data to light your way

France looks like the best place to be signed if you're a major recording artist, according to a survey in progress for the magazine, Music Business International. The local royalty rate stands around 25% of the retail price, while recording costs and tour support are born by the label rather than artist and are non-recoupable. No wonder the French are so protective of their national culture.

Source: Music Business International, August 1996, p.9

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GENRE SPOTLIGHT: LATIN MUSIC

Industry sources are saying that the next big boom in urban music will be Latin in all its styles. Some predict the Latin music explosion will be comparable to what happened in the Country music market a few years ago.

Some important trends to note about the Latin market:

GENERAL & DEMOGRAPHIC

  • Latin music is important because of the growing number of Hispanics in America: in 1987 there were about 18.9 million Hispanics living in the United States (not counting 3.5 million in Puerto Rico). That figure is projected to climb to 25.2 million by 2000 and 59.6 by 2080.
  • Over half of all Hispanic Americans live in Texas or California. the cities with greatest Hispanic populations are (in order) Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Antonio, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, McAllen/Brownsville (Texas), El Paso, and Albuquerque.
  • Latin America encompasses an area containing almost 30 countries with two European languages (Spanish and Portuguese) and embraces three cultures: European, African and Amerindian. Most of Latin America is Spanish-speaking, with Brazil speaking Portuguese.
  • The Latin market consists of over 400 million people and the wholesale value of music sales in this market totals roughly $450 million annually, of which about 60 percent is derived from Spanish- or Portuguese-language recordings. Puerto Rico represents about 30 percent of Latin sales.
  • In the future, the South American and Caribbean Latin countries are expected to grow in population more rapidly than the United States, with a projected population of about 642 million by 2000--more than North America.
  • Of the Hispanics in the United States, approximately 63 percent are Mexican, 12 percent are Puerto Rican, 11 percent come from Central and South America, about 5 percent from Cuba, and 9 percent from a variety of other countries.

LATIN MUSICAL CULTURE(S) & MARKETING

  • Musically, this is a diverse culture although there seem to be three basic categories of music: tradtional folk latino music, salsa/tropical, and pop music with Spanish lyrics.
  • There is also samba, from Brazil, and bossa nova, another Brazilian music that combines jazz and samba. The tango comes from Argentina while salsa--the most pervasive influence in the United States--is a mixture of Spanish and African influences along with American jazz. Salsa originated mainly in the Caribbean region.
  • Latin pop music is increasingly heard on mainstream rock/pop radio stations and receiving some coverage in mainline media. The product most appealing to this culture may be found in record stores located in areas with promininent Hispanic populations as well as independent stores in Hispanic areas of cities with major Hispanic populations.
  • There are over 200 Spanish-language radio stations, two national Spanish TV networks with more than 240 affiliate channels, and numerous print publications in the United States.
  • The Hispanic consumer is most readily reached through the Hispanic or Spanish-language media, which is growing in the United States.

TOP LATIN RECORD LABELS (based on chart action; not always the best barometer of music sales activity since many specialty and mom & pop music stores do not subscribe to the Soundscan sales monitoring service).

  • FonoVisa
    7710 Haskell Ave., Van Nuys CA 91406-1905
    818/782-6100

  • WEA Latina
    111 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505
    818/955-8050

  • J&N;/EMI Latin
    8730 Sunset Blvd., 5th flr., Hollywood CA 90069
    310/659-1799

  • SONY Discos
    650 Lincoln Rd., Miami FL 33139-2916
    800/327-2847
    (also has offices in New York and San Antonio, TX)

  • Luna Music Corp.
    1200 W. Venice Ave., Ste. B-1, Los Angeles CA 90006
    213/745-6224
    (Labels owned: Aro Music, Jupiter)

  • RMM Records & Video Corp.
    568 Broadway, Ste. 608, New York NY 10012
    212/925-2828

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READS & RESOURCES FOR MUSIC BUSINESS SUCCESS

WEB SITES OF INTEREST

MUSIC-RELATED

BUSINESS-RELATED

  • Idea Cafe's Business Directory. A well-organized guide to other websites aimed expressly at small businesses; classifies and rates the sites and also tells you where you can find other valuable information.
    http://www.ideacafe.com/

  • Better Business Bureau Directory. Lists the addresses and phone numbers of Better Business Bureaus in the U.S. and Canada.
    http://www.bbb.org/

  • The United States Chamber of Commerce. Many chambers now have small-business and home-business sections or forums. http://www.uschamber.org

  • IRS Home Page. Since the Government Accounting Office reports only 8 percent of calls to the IRS get through during tax time, this site is helpful. It includes 600 tax forms and publications, a summary of changes in tax laws and answers to most frequently asked questions. http://irs.ustreas.gov The IRS offers free online help to small business owners in their online publication, The Digital Daily.

COOL NET RESEARCH TOOLS

  • FOR GENERAL REFERENCE

    One site that has several research tools available for use is called RESEARCH-IT. You can find this site at http://www.iTools.com/research-it/research-it.html . The site offers the following:

    Area Code Directory
    1-800 Directory
    English Dictionary
    Computing Dictionary
    Roget's Thesaurus
    Acronym Dictionary
    Translators (English, French, Japanese)
    King James Bible
    Financial Tools
    Stock Quotes
    Currency Exchange Tables
    ZIP Codes, AND MORE

  • TRADEMARK SEARCHING

    Thomson & Thomson Intellectual Property Resource Center. Here you can do trademark searches on all federally registered trademarks and servicemarks. You can find this site at:
    http://www.thomson-thomson.com

  • "FILTERING" USENET DISCUSSION GROUPS

    The biggest pool of knowledge on the entire Internet can be found in the minds of all Internet users. The key to this knowledge base lies in your capability to tap it. This entire base of knowledge can be accessed via discussion groups and e-mail notes. There are more than 50,000 discussion groups in existence, with millions of participants. The pool of knowledge here is astounding. In order to tap this pool of knowledge, you need to be able to find your way around UseNet and e-mail discussion groups. You can find the full range of music-related discussion groups at http://www.wco.com/~jrush/music/index.html . After you find the appropriate discussion groups and follow the guidelines of those particualr lists, you'll want to subscribe to a filtering system in order to monitor UseNet for appropriate content. The Reference.COM http://www.reference.com. Web site and the Vigilant service enable you to retrieve filtered UseNet content.
    Information regarding the Vigilant filter can be found by sending a blank e-mail message to: info@vigilant.com

BOOKS

Secrets of Self Employment by Paul & Sarah Edwards (1996, Jeremy Tarcher Pub.). Deemed the "home office gurus", Paul and Sarah Edwards have released a spate of books for the self-employed over the past ten years. Their latest is a masterful revision of one of their early works formerly titled, "Making it on Your Own". The thing I like so much about this book is its sheer practicality . From self-discovery exercises to everyday office management, they consistently deliver well-thought-out knowledge you can instantly put to use. Another great feature of this book is its exploration of the psychology of self-employment, the numerous "mental mind-shifts" required for making it on your own. Each section is capped with pointers to additional highly rated resources. A winner through and through. Also check out the authors' website,
"Homeworks" at http://www.homeworks.com

"Clicking: 16 Trends to Future Fit Your Life, Your Work, and Your Business" by Faith Popcorn and Lys Marigold (1996, Harpercollins), $26. Trend tracking can be a dangerous practice. Telling a trend (a major cultural/economic shift) from a flash-in-the-pan fad isn't always easy. Those who've proven they can do it become extremely valuable sources for us. Their insight provides a barometer for our cultural "climate" and a compass through its shifting patterns and storms.
Popcorn (yes, that's her real name) has been tracking trends for more than two decades as founder of the New York-based consulting firm BrainReserve, looking at patterns of behavior, technological advances, and evolving priorities and tastes to discover what the future might hold. In her latest book, she demonstrates that ideas that heed future trends earn profits in the marketplace today. She and Marigold explain how anyone can CLICK (C=Courage, L=Letting Go, I=Insight, C=Commitment, K=Know-how) into the future by understanding what drives society today and using that knowledge to make better informed choices in their personal and professional lives. Good stuff. Check it out.

MAGAZINES

"Fast Company" , Subscriptions: P.O. Box 52760, Boulder, CO 80321; 800/688-1545; outside U.S. 303/604-1465. Fast Company website, http://www.fastcompany.com. A magazine for the way people really work today-- fulfilling multiple tasks often under crushing deadlines. A hip spin-off publication of U.S. News & World Report, FC chronicles today's frenzied workplace and offers timely insights into how to cope and, yes, even thrive in this environment. Recent articles from the Oct/Nov '96 issue included, "How Companies Have Sex" (new business partnering styles), "Anthopologists Go Native in the Corporate Village" (how big business is tapping the social sciences for organizational insight), and "The Future of Marketing is Looking at You" (don't ask people what they want, watch how they live).

SOFTWARE

PageMill (Adobe) and Claris Homepage (Claris). Each have a street price of around $75. If you've been hesitating setting up a web site because learning HTML is about as attractive as sticking your hand in a beehive, take heart! This past year has seen a flood of "HTML Editors" come to market and their target market is you (and me!). No need to learn HTML coding or any of the other cryptic formatting commands early web authoring demanded! If you can handle word processing, you can now author your own website, including graphics, audio and even video. Drag-and-drop commands and WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interfaces go a long way toward making web design a snap. Both these programs are two of the most highly rated and my own experience with both concurs. What are you waiting for?

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About the Publisher

PETER SPELLMAN is Director of MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, a business and marketing consultancy to the music industry, and Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music, Boston. He is the author of several books for music entrepreneurs and teaches music industry courses at Northeastern University (Boston) and the University of Massachusetts (Lowell).

A musician since he was ten, Peter continues to spin riddims in the improvisational collective, Friend Planet and sing Cat Stevens' songs to his kids every night before bed.

BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED!

E-mail: success@mbsolutions.com

Copyright © 1997-2000 Peter Spellman

MUSIC BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

P.O. Box 230266, Boston MA 02123-0266

978-887-8041

Rise up!

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