Over the past several years the music industry has taken a sudden downfall in sales. Piracy of illegal downloading has caused record labels to pull back on signing new artist. The music industry has taken a complete spin from back to the early 1900’s with sheet music was the only way to listen to music. To nearly a century later, with mp3 files and digital media being the new way to listen to music.
Almost ten years ago no one had even heard of iTunes, MySpace, or even FaceBook. But now, the music industry has changed in ways no one could have predicted, in what is now called digital downloading. The music industry has been torn apart by new technology and social media. The future of music from the creative aspect to the business has all changed due to the illegal file sharing. So now that the record industry is no longer making money in the future because, artist are now self-producing, distribution, and marketing their music through the Internet.
Record labels have begun to change their strategies on artist, album sales, and marketing for their clients. Even contracts have been changed to fit the new trend of digital downloading and social media, offering what is known as the 360 deals. Which is different from artist to artist, but in general will include earning revenue from live performances, merchandise, and other income the artist receives. These deals are put in place to make up for the drop of the albums sales. But due to the new digital downloading and iTunes, album sales are surely but slowing climbing back up the charts.
So as the music industry continues to work out a few minor details in the new technology department. This may allow students who are going to school and receiving degrees in the entertainment business industry, to look forward to the future of the music. We may not be able to predict the future but we are sure getting our selves prepared for it.
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2011/06/how-will-musicians-earn-money-in-the-future/
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Finding Alternative Funds to Start Your Company...
For the pass two months of my program we have really been focusing on our business plans and how to find ways to raise capital for the start-up cost of our business or company. When starting a company, money is the hardest thing to get. And with the economy the way it is, it just seems to be getting a little bit harder to start a company. Investors have begun to invest in other companies that have been around for quite some time, where as the new business have to find alternative routes to find funding sources. So for the past several weeks I have been researching companies that help fund new business, and decided to share a few with you. With the help of others and my instructors I have found several companies that do offer investments to help company like mine and maybe yours rise from up off the ground.
One of the first companies I looked at was Opportunity Finance Networks. OFN is a private membership only financial institution located in all 50 states. They are a community development company that helps finance urban, rural and native communities. Funds are received in loans or investment ranging thousands to millions of dollars. New business owners as myself could really benefit from using OFN to help raise funding for the start up cost.
I thought this next funding source was an excellent choice being that I am part Native American. First Nation Development Institute is a grant program that provides financial resources to other Native Americans to help fund their nonprofit organizations. First Nation Development receives grant from the government to help fund new businesses within the American Indian communities. And even though this institution is not for everyone, there maybe others out there like this one that you can research and find more information on.
Remember that when you do look for funding sources for your company, that you pay attention to the type of funds your are borrowing from a financier. Loans are money that is borrowed that you payback over a period of time with interest. Investments are usually a person that writes you a check for the funds needed, but in return of the payment may want part ownership within your business. With the companies listed above there are advantages for these types of communities and the people that are looking for funding to start their business. But there are also disadvantages as the types of financial institutions are not available for everyone, and maybe a harder to find funding. So when looking for funding research all your options that way you have all your cards in your hand to win the game.
http://www.opportunityfinance.net
http://www.firstnations.org
One of the first companies I looked at was Opportunity Finance Networks. OFN is a private membership only financial institution located in all 50 states. They are a community development company that helps finance urban, rural and native communities. Funds are received in loans or investment ranging thousands to millions of dollars. New business owners as myself could really benefit from using OFN to help raise funding for the start up cost.
I thought this next funding source was an excellent choice being that I am part Native American. First Nation Development Institute is a grant program that provides financial resources to other Native Americans to help fund their nonprofit organizations. First Nation Development receives grant from the government to help fund new businesses within the American Indian communities. And even though this institution is not for everyone, there maybe others out there like this one that you can research and find more information on.
Remember that when you do look for funding sources for your company, that you pay attention to the type of funds your are borrowing from a financier. Loans are money that is borrowed that you payback over a period of time with interest. Investments are usually a person that writes you a check for the funds needed, but in return of the payment may want part ownership within your business. With the companies listed above there are advantages for these types of communities and the people that are looking for funding to start their business. But there are also disadvantages as the types of financial institutions are not available for everyone, and maybe a harder to find funding. So when looking for funding research all your options that way you have all your cards in your hand to win the game.
http://www.opportunityfinance.net
http://www.firstnations.org
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What to do with Business Plan Advice?
For the last month I have been working on building my business plan for my entertainment company. One thing that is important when developing a business is the information that goes into it such as the marketing and financial data. Investors want to know if there is a market to sale your product in and if they will get a return on their investment.
When researching business plan experts I came across Theo Afkoudias, a Project Prospectus who has written numerous of articles on investor documents. He has a strong commercial awareness and broad business on financial writing. What he looks for when writing business plans is the resource allocation and preempts of return on the resources. When looking at new business plans he focus on the management section, “ In the management section you need someone who is experience in that industry in order to determine if I would move forward with the business deal”. He also mentioned to put focus on the industry analysis and marketing research; if you don’t know your market then you don’t have anyone to sales too.
While researching business plan experts I went to take a second look at what Timothy J. Cartwright the Chairman of Gulf Coast Venture Form stated, about what he looks for when investing. The first thing he looks at is the proforma financial statement; it should include detailed information on revenue building and exit strategy, along with how the company will return the invested funds. In order for him to invest his money into your business he has to make certain that he will get a return on his investment.
So after the long research of finding out what I should put into my business plan I went back to adjust my marketing strategy, make sure I hit head on with the customers in my target market and how I would pull them in as clients. And I readjusted my financial statements, making as real assumptions as possible while giving the investors the opportunity to invest knowing they will get a full return on their investment with the shortest time possible.
When researching business plan experts I came across Theo Afkoudias, a Project Prospectus who has written numerous of articles on investor documents. He has a strong commercial awareness and broad business on financial writing. What he looks for when writing business plans is the resource allocation and preempts of return on the resources. When looking at new business plans he focus on the management section, “ In the management section you need someone who is experience in that industry in order to determine if I would move forward with the business deal”. He also mentioned to put focus on the industry analysis and marketing research; if you don’t know your market then you don’t have anyone to sales too.
While researching business plan experts I went to take a second look at what Timothy J. Cartwright the Chairman of Gulf Coast Venture Form stated, about what he looks for when investing. The first thing he looks at is the proforma financial statement; it should include detailed information on revenue building and exit strategy, along with how the company will return the invested funds. In order for him to invest his money into your business he has to make certain that he will get a return on his investment.
So after the long research of finding out what I should put into my business plan I went back to adjust my marketing strategy, make sure I hit head on with the customers in my target market and how I would pull them in as clients. And I readjusted my financial statements, making as real assumptions as possible while giving the investors the opportunity to invest knowing they will get a full return on their investment with the shortest time possible.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Business Plan Experts...
When developing a business plan you want it to be perfect and self-explanatory. A business plan contains all the information you will need in order to receive funds from a bank or investors to start your business. Well for the last ten months or so I have been working on my business plan preparing for the day that I have to place it in some one hands. I was researching some banks, venture capitalist, and angel investors when I came across this company named Gulf Coast Venture Forum. The company is located in Naples, FL it is a group of angel investors that looks for investment prospective in pre-revenue or early revenue companies involved in targeted industries.
Ran by Timothy J. Cartwright Chairman of Gulf Coast Venture Forum. He is also Managing Director of Compass Advisory Group, LLC, a firm he founded in 2003. He began his career working with marketing companies that specialized in software. He received his MBA at J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his undergrad from University of Wisconsin in Economics. He has also served as a Board position with FGCU Foundation and served as a Director for the Florida Economic Development Council.
The company looks for passionate and committed management team who also has invested their own capital in the company. There should be documentation of customer demand within the industry and business, a competitor analysis, a complete description on how the company will make money. Proforma financial statements should be included as well with detailed information on revenue build-up, and an exit strategy along with how the company will return the angel investors fund. If selected GCVF provides presenters with a 20-minute delivery followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. They look for market opportunities, potential growth, among other factors, to make sure that you are meeting the investment criteria.
So make sure that when the time comes for you to complete your business plan and hand it to investor that you do your homework and research companies like the one above, because not all investors are good investors.
www.gcvf.com
http://www.pr.com/press-release/70338
http://angelsoft.net/angel-group/gulf-coast-venture-forum
Ran by Timothy J. Cartwright Chairman of Gulf Coast Venture Forum. He is also Managing Director of Compass Advisory Group, LLC, a firm he founded in 2003. He began his career working with marketing companies that specialized in software. He received his MBA at J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his undergrad from University of Wisconsin in Economics. He has also served as a Board position with FGCU Foundation and served as a Director for the Florida Economic Development Council.
The company looks for passionate and committed management team who also has invested their own capital in the company. There should be documentation of customer demand within the industry and business, a competitor analysis, a complete description on how the company will make money. Proforma financial statements should be included as well with detailed information on revenue build-up, and an exit strategy along with how the company will return the angel investors fund. If selected GCVF provides presenters with a 20-minute delivery followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. They look for market opportunities, potential growth, among other factors, to make sure that you are meeting the investment criteria.
So make sure that when the time comes for you to complete your business plan and hand it to investor that you do your homework and research companies like the one above, because not all investors are good investors.
www.gcvf.com
http://www.pr.com/press-release/70338
http://angelsoft.net/angel-group/gulf-coast-venture-forum
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Social Media has taken over...
Social media has taken over the world of entertainment. From your favorite artist to information on the next blockbuster hit, is all marketed through social media. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, RSS feeders, etc. all have one thing in common followers. With the millions of people that follow these social networking sites, companies have the opportunity to put information at the palm of your hands. With the ability to follow your favorite artist, company, movie updates, etc., social networking has become the new way to receive information in the entertainment industry.
Advertising on social media sites has been one of the top effect ways to market product, services or even to promote upcoming entertainment events. So if the music industry is getting serious about social networking then why don’t they just create their own social networking site? Well Warner Music Group has, they have implemented a site call Eso on to their main site. Eos is created by Cisco as a platform that is intended for media and entertainment companies. Eso represents certain social networking tools that can bring various music sites more social interaction with the fans. Warner Music Group is hoping by add this platform to their site that sales will rise and more fans will come to the site for information on artist that are signed to the label.
Research has shown that 36 percent of fans go to the official sites for updated information on their favorite bands. With Warner Music Group their goal was to get the same reaction as MySpace when it first was created. Bands actually used MySpace to interact with their fans talking directly to them and giving out updated information on upcoming albums, tours, and special appearances. Eso has been design to do the same things as all social networking sites. Warner Music Group wants to keep fans on their site instead of visiting other sites for the same content. So adding Eso to the site, with this goal in mind has add more revenue to Warner Music and a bigger fan base following the site.
Warner Music has integrated the new media marketing strategy and by jumping on board with the social media train we can all see what changes this has made to the industry. So in my opinion, if I had the same opportunity I would do it the same way Warner Music has.
http://profy.com/2009/01/10/music-industry-getting-serious-about-social-networking/
Advertising on social media sites has been one of the top effect ways to market product, services or even to promote upcoming entertainment events. So if the music industry is getting serious about social networking then why don’t they just create their own social networking site? Well Warner Music Group has, they have implemented a site call Eso on to their main site. Eos is created by Cisco as a platform that is intended for media and entertainment companies. Eso represents certain social networking tools that can bring various music sites more social interaction with the fans. Warner Music Group is hoping by add this platform to their site that sales will rise and more fans will come to the site for information on artist that are signed to the label.
Research has shown that 36 percent of fans go to the official sites for updated information on their favorite bands. With Warner Music Group their goal was to get the same reaction as MySpace when it first was created. Bands actually used MySpace to interact with their fans talking directly to them and giving out updated information on upcoming albums, tours, and special appearances. Eso has been design to do the same things as all social networking sites. Warner Music Group wants to keep fans on their site instead of visiting other sites for the same content. So adding Eso to the site, with this goal in mind has add more revenue to Warner Music and a bigger fan base following the site.
Warner Music has integrated the new media marketing strategy and by jumping on board with the social media train we can all see what changes this has made to the industry. So in my opinion, if I had the same opportunity I would do it the same way Warner Music has.
http://profy.com/2009/01/10/music-industry-getting-serious-about-social-networking/
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Digital Marketing in the Music Industry
Digital marketing has played a very high role in the entertainment industry for quite some time now. With the up rising of social media, digital marketing with Twitter, FaceBook, RSS feeds, emails blast, podcasting, video streams, instant and text messaging, and other Internet communication vehicles. This has lead to a change in the way we promote and market our music in the entertainment industry.
The Internet has been the center of digital marketing. Its main focus has been towards search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. SEO such as Google, Yahoo! And MSN has been designed to improve web site in order to attract search engine crawlers. A crawler, crawls from one site to another, following the links that is within each web page. And PPC is keyword advertising programs that when a specific word is typed in, companies web sites pop-up or is listed in the search. The web site owners are charged each time a person clicks on their ad. This type of advertising brings visitors to the site based on what the consumer is looking for or needs.
So what has digital marketing come to now? Well one, advertising has and will continue to change with video ads, Internet banners ads, and other creative digital communication outlets to bring awareness to a brands. YouTube has been one of the top online video advertisers. It has allowed viewers to promote, video share to other online sources, and advertise all without spending a dime. Twitter and FaceBook have been added to just about every media outlet you can think of gaming console, mobile devices, and PC along with cable on-demand service. The ability to access these social media sites from just about anywhere you go can add a great about of traffic to your site or advertising for your product.
Social media along with technology has rewritten the terms for marketing in the music industry. Artist to record labels executives have incorporated social media into their marketing campaigns. With these communication outlets it allows the fans or general audience to receive current information on a their favorite artist, upcoming albums, shows, or appearances. And giving the artist an opportunity to receive feedback from their fans, so the artist can build a stronger relationship with them as well.
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/digital-marketing-watch-2010/141219
The Internet has been the center of digital marketing. Its main focus has been towards search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. SEO such as Google, Yahoo! And MSN has been designed to improve web site in order to attract search engine crawlers. A crawler, crawls from one site to another, following the links that is within each web page. And PPC is keyword advertising programs that when a specific word is typed in, companies web sites pop-up or is listed in the search. The web site owners are charged each time a person clicks on their ad. This type of advertising brings visitors to the site based on what the consumer is looking for or needs.
So what has digital marketing come to now? Well one, advertising has and will continue to change with video ads, Internet banners ads, and other creative digital communication outlets to bring awareness to a brands. YouTube has been one of the top online video advertisers. It has allowed viewers to promote, video share to other online sources, and advertise all without spending a dime. Twitter and FaceBook have been added to just about every media outlet you can think of gaming console, mobile devices, and PC along with cable on-demand service. The ability to access these social media sites from just about anywhere you go can add a great about of traffic to your site or advertising for your product.
Social media along with technology has rewritten the terms for marketing in the music industry. Artist to record labels executives have incorporated social media into their marketing campaigns. With these communication outlets it allows the fans or general audience to receive current information on a their favorite artist, upcoming albums, shows, or appearances. And giving the artist an opportunity to receive feedback from their fans, so the artist can build a stronger relationship with them as well.
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/digital-marketing-watch-2010/141219
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Something's You Might Want To Know About Music Publishing...
Now that we have established what music publishing is, we can discuss what the performances rights organization does for you, the difference between mechanical royalties and performance royalties, how music gets distribute and how effect is self-publishing you music.
There are three major performing rights organizations ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. The purpose of these organizations are to collect royalties from all performed music, whether a song that is played in concert or a song on the radio. All published music is placed in a catalog with either one of these organizations, they then act on the behalf of the songwriter or producer to collect licensing fee for their work. In order for a song to be played on the radio or performed live it has to be published and you have to be a member of one of these organizations.
The royalties most songwriters and producer will collect are mechanical and performance. Mechanical license royalties are money collected from the sales of CD’s, DVD’s, films, videos, commercial, etc., that your song is featured on with an audio-visual media. Performance royalties are for live performances, radio, TV, satellite radio, jukebox, syndicated radio, broadcast radio, etc. The difference between the two royalties are one is performed and the other is a physical copy of the songs reproduction. But you want to learn more about the royalties in the music business visit www.bmi.com.
In the new day and era music is now digital distributed to the Internet, through iTunes, Rhapsody, CDbaby just to name a few. The songs are format into MP3 files for customers to purchase and download. So how effective is self-distributing music now? Well with the new trend of digital media, it has made it easier and effective. Artist can now create a song and digitally distribute the song himself or herself, by either uploading it to iTunes or Amazon for their fans to purchase. You can also self-publish your song by developing a publishing company and market the song yourself by distributing the song to your fans, local radio stations and record label executive. Always research information before jumping out there and make sure you have the material that others are looking for to get you that number one hit.
www.ascap.com
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