Led Zeppelin May Be Ready to Write New Music in 2013

Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant are finally talking about what’s next…a new album, perhaps? A tour in 2013?

By Lori Spencer

Yahoo! Music News

Although they’ve been officially broken up since 1980, Led Zeppelin actually had the most triumphant year of their career in 2012.

The surviving members — Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones — regrouped last year to prepare and promote the release of their 2007 London reunion concert as a CD/DVD set and feature film (“Celebration Day“). Fans and critics responded with such praise that whispers of another possible reunion album or tour are now swirling around again.

The band was also honored by the Kennedy Center and President Barack Obama last month in Washington. As the three elder musicians sat in the balcony watching an all-star cavalcade of rock stars including the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Kid Rock, and Heart pay tribute to them, Robert Plant became visibly choked up.

Story continues HERE.

Working With Drum Tracks

By Lori Spencer

 

A drum track is the portion of any sound recording devoted exclusively to the drums. In multitrack recording, what is called the “drum track” in fact usually will comprise several different tracks. Each part of the drum kit is be recorded with a separate microphone, and each microphone assigned a track on the mixing board. For example, one track may be just the snare drum, another may be the crash cymbal, and an overhead microphone captures ambient sound in the room. Mixed together, all of these various elements represent the drum tracks.

Many songwriters will use a drum track to help them create songs. Instead of programming a drum machine for a demo or trying to draw inspiration from prerecorded drum loops, songwriters often find …

(story continues at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-drum-track.htm)

 

Music Industry Internships

By Lori Spencer

 

Many of today’s music industry experts originally began their careers as college interns. Music industry internships provide invaluable experience for young aspirants and offer a chance to learn the ropes of the music business. Types of music industry internships vary widely, from performing clerical tasks to working in promotions and marketing, or recording studio apprenticeships. Perks and bonuses may include free concert tickets and the opportunity to meet famous musical artists. Not all the work is glamorous, however; interns are frequently assigned menial jobs such as running errands, fetching coffee, answering phones and cleaning up the studio after hours.

Music industry internships can be the key that opens doors in a business that is notoriously difficult to break into. College students typically…(cont’d)

 

Read the whole story here: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-music-industry-internships.htm

Negotiating A Record Contract

By Lori Spencer

 

Recording contracts are legally binding agreements between an artist and the record label defining the rights, obligations and remedies for each party. A recording deal may just be for a single project, or on a “per album” basis, but most are long term commitments of three to seven years with periodic options to renew. As the record company is making a considerable financial investment in the costs of making and producing albums, they naturally expect a substantial return.

This tutorial covers many of the key points to negotiate in a record deal, but is not intended as legal advice. Always have an experienced entertainment law attorney review any record contracts before signing.

Step 1

Negotiate the most important thing first: who retains creative control – artist or record company? Artists will of course try to retain as much control over their own work as possible, but most major record label contracts reserve the right for the company to veto the artist’s choice of studio, producer, songs, musicians, cover art and the like.

Step 2

Discuss the length of the proposed contract. As record contracts generally sign artists for a certain number of records (not years), it could be a one-record deal or a six record deal. There is an option to renew after each album or period of time, usually at the record company’s option. “Options” are explained further in Reference 2.

Step 3

Have your contract clearly define the extent of exclusivity. While every recording contract engages the exclusive services of the performer or group (meaning you can’t make records for any other companies during the contract term), some labels will try to push this exclusivity clause too far and unfairly bind artists from doing other projects.

Step 4

Estimate a recording budget for each album under the recording contract and negotiate an appropriate advance. It’s important not to ask for too much upfront, because these advance monies are fully recoupable from the artist’s future royalties. Think of it like a loan, and never borrow more than you can realistically pay back in a reasonable amount of time (based on sales expectations).

Step 5

Have your manager or attorney negotiate the best possible royalty rate they can get in the contract. Most new artists receive a royalty rate of between 9-14%. Many record contracts increase the artist’s royalty rate by degrees with each subsequent album based on performance and sales figures. Advances and production budgets generally will also increase with each album under the contract.

Step 6

Hammer out the details of a song publishing arrangement if the artist writes their own material. Most record labels will want a piece of the publishing pie, as this generates a significant amount of revenue for the company. Sometimes the split is as much as 50/50 between the songwriter and record label.

Step 7

Make certain your contract clearly defines both parties’ rights and obligations in regard to artist merchandising, publicity, marketing, promotion, public performances, touring, tour support, control/maintenance of artist’s official website, and other fine points involved in a standard recording contract.

Tips

As all things must eventually come to an end, make sure the recording contract sets a clear procedure for termination of the deal. It should also spell out the legal remedies available if one or the other party defaults. Labels sometimes go bankrupt or out of business and sell the artist’s contract to another record label; your contract needs to cover all of these “what if” scenarios that could happen down the road.

You may also want to insert a “key man” clause that states if your A&R rep, producer, or a key person within the record label or band should leave, the contract may be terminated.

Warnings

A “sideman’s clause” is recommended if the artist wants to be free to do studio work with other artists, appear on benefit or compilation albums, movie soundtracks, etc. Even with such a clause the artist will still need permission from the record company before recording elsewhere, but without a sideman’s clause, the artist (or members of the band) would not be allowed to appear as a guest on any other albums.

Key Concepts

• record contract negotiation
• record contract deal
• recording artist contracts
• entertainment law contracts
• record deals contract
• artist record company

References

• Music Biz Academy: What’s A Record Deal All About? [http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/recorddeal.htm]
• YouTube: What to Expect in a Recording Contract [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v7GMpA5sVI&feature=related]
• YouTube: Record Deals and the Future of Music [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eg5JKPwLqI&feature=related]

User Bio

Lori Spencer has written professionally since 1986. She is the author of three nonfiction books, is writing her fourth and provides content for eHow and LIVESTRONG.COM. She also produces and hosts a weekly radio show. Her subjects of expertise include history, media, music, film and the performing arts.

Fix That Damned Skipping Record!

By Lori Spencer

 

If your treasured vinyl records are skipping, there could be several reasons why. Dirt, dust or other debris in the grooves of the record are the most common cause of record skips. Your turntable’s arm may need balancing, or the stylus could be worn out. The good news is that all of these problems can be fixed with a minimum of cost and effort. The bad news is, if the skipping is being caused by…

 

Continued at: http://www.ehow.com/how_8209913_fix-record-skips.html

Self-Producing Your Album: A Guide for Musicians

By Lori Spencer

 

Making a record is the first step on every musical artist’s path to success. Here’s how to save time and money in the studio by doing it yourself.

 

Read the rest of the story at

http://www.suite101.com/content/self-producing-your-own-cd-a-guide-for-musicians-a382500

Legal Questions About Recording TV Programs

By Lori Spencer

 

The landmark 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sony Corporation v. Universal City Studios (more widely known as the Betamax case) established the legality of home video recording. The court ruled that home VCR use did not infringe the rights of copyright holders, and that the plaintiffs would not suffer a substantial loss in profits because of home video recording. In this case, it was decided that recording a TV program for later home viewing met the “fair use” standard.

The ever-changing landscape of digital technology presents new legal questions for copyright holders and consumers alike. We’ll tackle a few of the most frequently asked ones.

Read more: Legal Questions About Recording TV Programs | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7391290_legal-questions-recording-tv-programs.html#ixzz1g8rTvUc6

Digital Preservation of Audio Cassettes

By Lori Spencer

 

Magnetic audio cassette tapes deteriorate over time to due age, wear, dust and temperature/humidity fluctuations. If you have some cherished recordings on cassette tape that you don’t want to lose, back them up to a digital format quickly and preserve them forever.

This is a simple process using basic sound recording software. Some popular free software choices are Audacity and WavePad (both are Mac compatible), or you can just use the Sound Recorder program that came pre-installed with Windows. In this tutorial we will be using Audacity, although the…

Continues at: http://www.ehow.com/how_7346684_record-audio-cassette-computer.html

Mechanical Licenses and Copyright: What Songwriters Should Know

By Lori Spencer

 

If you are a songwriter and another artist wants to record one of your songs, there are legal issues to consider. Before someone else can legally record your song, they must get a license and pay a fee if you own the copyright. In the recording industry, this is called a mechanical license. U.S. copyright law prohibits the manufacture and distribution of songs written by others without a mechanical license. This rule holds in most countries, although statutory requirements may vary. This license ensures that the music publisher and songwriter get paid for their work.

Read more: How to Put Your Music on Someone Else’s CD | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8508528_put-music-someone-elses-cd.html#ixzz1O79SZHpd

Renewal Options in Recording Contracts

By Lori Spencer

 

A record contract is a written agreement that binds a record company to an artist or band for a specified number of albums. These agreements are typically exclusive, meaning that the artist may not perform recording services for any other label or organization for the duration of the contract. Every recording contract will contain renewal “options,” generally after each album. The option to renew the contract is at the record company’s sole option, not the artist’s.

Read more: How to Write a Non-Renewal Music Agreement | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8508259_write-nonrenewal-music-agreement.html#ixzz1O77iNiZO