Behind all these key players is still another level of other important people in the entertainment business that the general public, if they’re lucky, would see them very seldom. This is the back-end guys and the 2nd of cluster of people that the middle men deal with first off before any production happens and delivered to the front end – and that is you.
II. The Back End
The behind-the-scenes people in this business institution are those that are responsible in ensuring that all legal rights covered take place before a deal is made and brought out to the public. Legal rights? Yes, legal rights. Essentially, the back end of the music industry is tied up to the Copyright Law and lawyers.
Many many ages ago, lawmakers devised a way to protect owners with intangible properties by setting up the so called Copyright Law. Through the years, the face of the music business evolved and consequently the law was many times refined to suit the modern music industry particularly the emergence of the “new media” we know better as the internet technology.
But even with the modifications made on the Copyright Law, the song remains the same. And the basic idea in copyright ownership, its implications and applications remain in tact.
1) Songwriters
This is the starting line. A person writes a song or two and records a demo. In the old days when there were no record companies yet, songwriters write music and transcribe the notes on music sheets. As technology evolved, the invention of phonorecording (the technical term used for sound recordings) has prompted the industry to evolve with it as well.
Today, songwriters don’t necessarily need music sheets and may not even have to read or write musical notes although this skill can work to a huge advantage. Since phonorecordings are the favored medium in the modern time, many songwriters record their demos on recorders.
My friend Jude, does his demos on a laptop using a piano or electronic keyboards as his favored instrument (I do my initial demos with my celphone recorder). When the demos are ready, he'd send it to a music publisher.
2) Music Publishers
Contrary to what most artists think, the record companies are not exactly the major key players in the music industry. I have mentioned this before and I will say this again, labels are actually just investors granting a loan called advanced royalties to an artist. Behind every record label front is the music publisher. Who are these people?
The publisher is one who is entrusted by the songwriter partial ownership of a song and therefore shares that copyright with the author. They administer the copyright of the song, shop it to clients, consult lawyers, and most importantly collect license fees and royalties. Simply put, they are the ones doing business on behalf of the songwriter and all the messy paperwork. Certainly this is not something a songwriter would want to do.
I mentioned that one of the functions of a music publisher is to collect music license fees and royalties. By default, the split of the royalty shares is always 50/50 between the publisher and songwriter, both being copyright owners of the song. There are several types of music publishers but for now, I will limit it here. In future articles, I will try to explain what music licensing, royalties, other types of music publishers and how it all works altogether.
3) Entertainment Lawyers
Since the core of the music industry is deeply rooted on the lawful practice of using intellectual properties appropriately, lawyers are therefore part of the scene. To be more specific, these lawyers are called entertainment lawyers and in fact, the major record companies in the US today are, in one way or another, run by them.
One of the significant roles of an entertainment lawyer is legal consultation for contracts of artists that are about to be signed by a record company. Similarly, this lawyer can also give advices to a songwriter before signing a contract with a music publisher. In times of infringement cases, entertainment lawyers are the stars of the show.
Earlier I said that the back end is closely knitted to the law. Hence it is only logical to have lawyers on all sides of the fence – the publishers, record companies, artists and songwriters. I have talked to some practicing lawyers in Cebu and sadly, not many of them know this aspect of the law. I have learned that the entertainment business is a specialized field for an average lawyer to pursue.
4) Music Licensing Companies and Agents
Apart from the music publishing companies, there are also companies in the music business that specializes in music licensing. To briefly explain what licensing is, it means that before a song is used by say a movie producer, a music licensing contract is issued for them to sign. This will grant the movie producer permission to use the song in his film for a specified fee.
When a song is licensed for a movie, whether it’s the official soundtrack or just a music bed of a scene, the contract should at least contain the following:
- Length of the song that will be used (in part or in whole)
- Number of times it is used in the film (especially if it’s the official soundtrack)
- Different versions of the same song (if applicable and this may merit a separate contract on mechanical license)
- Screening period (days, weeks, months, etc.)
- Screening hours per day
- Countries that the movie will be shown (and its respective venues)
- Post production collaterals (DVDs, video streaming, etc.)
There are many other licensing agreements that a songwriter can earn from and the terms vary for every type of music licensing contract. This particular agreement sample is called synchronization licensing.
5) Performance Royalty Organizations
If you haven’t heard of this type of organization yet, get a CD, open the album sleeve (the CD cover), and look for this acronym – FILSCAP (performance royalty organization or PRO in the Philippines that stands for Filipino Society of Composers Authors and Publishers). Its counterpart orgs in the U.S. are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
These organizations collect royalty fees from various establishments that use music as part of their businesses. Radio stations (including audio streaming), podcasters, restaurants, film companies, TV networks, local TV stations, and all other venues that play music in public for the public, fall in this category.
By definition, anyone who plays a songwriter’s “property” to the public’s ear is technically liable for a royalty payment. Otherwise that would be infringement (I will also discuss this in future articles).
So technically speaking, if you happen to own a carenderia that plays music to the public, you are obligated to pay the necessary fees. However, in many cases, this wouldn’t be practical for the PRO since they are relatively small establishments to worry about. They would rather deal with the big fish – the relatively medium to large scale businesses that use music on a daily basis or at 24/7 rotation.
There are also other types of organizations that function as royalty collectors but I decided not to discuss them and just stick to the basics here.
6) Record Producers and Engineers
Not many bands in Cebu know this, and I am one to contest this claim. Record producers are being paid to produce a song or album with an artist, not the other way around. The one who funds the project is still a producer but they are specifically referred to as Executive Producers.
The record producer’s role is somewhat similar to a film director wherein he keeps the quality of the product at par with the best in the market and ensures that the said product is sellable to the public. His other role is to optimize the potential of the song and the artist's.
This description of a record producer is a little bit leaning towards business, isn’t it? Actually it should be. He/she is the key person that maintains the creative management of the production - to not go beyond what is “right” for the song. And because it’s a creative task, the producer works with the artist as co-author and sometimes musical arranger. His challenge being to materialize the creative ideas in a way that the engineer is able to translate technically - sort of like acting as an interpreter. Sometimes the sound engineer is the producer too.
At one time, I was asked by Insoy Niñal to “help” him with his songs. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what he wanted me to do, yet he gave me his demos. I took time and listened. To make a long story short, we ended up in the studio with me producing his songs with his band as the artist.
Apart from the agreed producer’s fee, we agreed on the condition that I will take full authority on the direction of his project from performance to quality (I attempted to improve the band’s style of playing including Insoy’s singing).
The only thing Insoy asked back was for me to keep the melody and the lyrics. We shook hands. We worked for months in the studio with Paul Cañada as the recording engineer. And a couple of more months after that, the self-titled debut album of Missing Filemon was born.
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