MUSIC PUBLISHING: State of the Industry

When we start to plan our Publishers Issue, we always try to come up with pertinent questions to pose to publishers, kind of a “state of the industry” overview to give you, the songwriters, and an idea of what has been going on in the last year. This year we feel that we got some very timely and honest answers from the publishers who took the time to talk with us. Our panel includes, Scott Francis, president, BMG Song; Rick Cua, vice president, creative, EMI CMG Music Publishing; Richard Blackstone, Head of Zomba Music Publishing; David Renzer, World Wide President, Universal Music Publishing; and Irwin Z. Robinson, chairman and CEO of the Famous Music Publishing Companies. They have more than 100 years of publishing experience among them, so up and take note -these guys do know what they are talking about!

AS: How much does your company pitch to new-found outlets for music like video games and websites with your writers’ music? Not websites that sell music but sites that might use music as background or for others things like sell cards, etc.

Francis: BMG Songs has been very aggressive in licensing our music to new media outlets. We seek video game uses just like normal synch uses, via relationships with in-house creatives at these companies combined with consistent servicing of new and catalog music that may fit their needs.

As for background music for websites, that’s a bit sensitive, as most of the sites have advertisements on them, this in effect changes the use from “background” to selling a product. E-cards is an interesting case because we’ve found that most of these companies refuse to license -they feel that the use of the music has great promotional value and should be licensed on a gratis basis. We’ve aggressively stopped these companies from using our music.

Blackstone: New-found outlets may well be the key to the ongoing success of publishing companies around the world. The current state of the record industry demonstrates why it does not pay to have all of your eggs in one basket. We are in the business of developing writers, artists, and copyrights, and we cannot limit our scope of development. By way of example, we hired a “video specialist” a few years back when we began to appreciate the importance of this market. This provided an additional outlet for both well-known artists as well as up-and-coming ones. By being in early, it was our intention to establish meaningful relationships with the players in an emerging market.

Cua: A major part of our business is putting our songs in “all media,” including games, devices and anything that uses licensed music. Our slogan is “music that goes everywhere” and we do a lot of research on trends and new opportunities world-wide. If it’s out there, we will find it. In this changing publishing environment we have to dig beyond traditional opportunities in order to support our songwriters in the very best way.

Renzer: As part of our film and TV and new technology we have staff who actively pitch for video games, both in New York and Los Angeles. They also pitch to other new technology. It’s still an area where we have two issues -one is that the video game companies are still looking, in most cases, to do buy-out deals (work for hire) and are not offering royalties. This make that market not as attractive as is could be. I think, until the video game industry recognizes the real value of the music they are getting, it probably is not an area our songwriters are going to get really focused on. Some of our bands have viewed the video game market as a strong promotional outlet. We recently licensed part of a game that Def Jam put together with Electronic Art so we had hip hop associated with it. Then you are exposing the music to the demographics or the video game audience who will they go out and buy the artists’ CDs.

The ring-tone market and karaoke markets are growing. But you aren’t going to say to a songwriter, “Write me a ring-tone.” You’re gonna say, “Write me a hit song,” and once it’s a hit you’re gonna generate the sync revenue. We place music into all kinds of products and games, from singing fish to holiday greeting cards!

Robinson: We certainly pitch to as many new outlets as we can find. We have people that are on the web all the time. We know a lot about the new games coming out because we are part of Paramount Pictures and a lot of games are tied to pictures. We try to get a royalty for each game sold; each contract is negotiated as the songwriters write for the games. Sometimes the game manufacturers show us storyboards, and the writer gets an idea from that; sometimes they want a song we already have that fits.

AS: Does the economic environment have an effect on the kind of songs that are written? Does it have an impact on the type of songs that are cut? Do you encounter your writers one way or the other depending on the economic environment?

Francis: The environment, economic, or otherwise, always has an effect on the kind of songs that are written. Songwriters are storytellers and, like everyone else, are affected by the circumstances and events surrounding them. And, of course, artists are also affected by the environment and want to record songs that are meaningful to them. These are creative people who write and sing from the heart, so they are affected by life events. However, we don’t encourage or persuade them to write about things that do not touch them. Obviously, songwriters and artists alike were affected by 9/11, and songs on the charts reflect that.

Cua: We give our songwriters encouragement and direction, not based so much on the economy, but because there are certain types of songs that more easily lend themselves to specific licensing opportunities, especially in film, TV advertising and gaming. Also, a certain artist may be looking for a specific theme. In that case we will give our writers a heads up, have them start something and hopefully get to finish it with the artists to tighten focus based on exactly what the artists had in mind.

Renzer: There is a combination of factors. I think I’m always impressed with the quality of the lyrics of the songs that are coming out of our Nashville office. “Concrete Angel” is a big hit single right now, co-written by Stephanie Bently. We have the Lee Greenwood title, “God Bless the U.S.A.” which is also having tremendous life.

We also have a rock band, Three Doors Down. Their first video, When I’m Gone, was filmed on an aircraft carrier, and have become an anthem for soldiers in the military. Even though the song originally was not written with the military in mind, because the guys in the band are from the heart of the country, the heartland is where they feel a connection to the military and feel patriotic. Now it’s almost been adopted as the theme song for a lot of military families who are missing the soldiers who are away at war.

So I guess the sentiment of the country does play into it, and the economic environment can affect the songwriting business in different ways as well. It’s only making things tougher for all of us. Labels are finding fewer artists, so there are fewer outlets for songs. The trend again is away from pop boy bands, if you will. Probably making it a tougher environment for the songwriter. But I think it’s still about writing hits.

Robinson: Not every writer turns around and writes songs based on what’s happening in politics or in war but we have some writers who do and we have some writers who have had success with those kinds of songs. I think it depends on the artists. If an artist is used to making a particular kind of album and it has a theme, I don’t think they are going to break that to include a serious song because of world events. If an artist is recording at the time of a tragic event or important event, they generally would look at a song if we submit it and would record it if it were good enough for them. It happens more in country music. You have so many more artists who record outside songs as oppose to the pop world where they write their own.

AS: Is the trend today toward signing artists who can be taught to write songs, i.e., putting them with strong songwriters in order to write songs for their albums, or songwriters who can write for the singers looking for material.

Francis: The trend is toward signing artists who are songwriters. More than ever, artists want to be involved in the songwriting process. Some for financial reasons and some want to sing songs that genuinely reflect who they are. That’s a lot easier to do when they are involved in creating the songs they record. Unfortunately, not all artists are good writers or can write alone. So, naturally, you team them with co-writers who you think can bring out the best in the artist -from both a songwriter and artist perspective. And, for better of worse, the songwriting process has changed -it’s become a collaborative effort tied to the production process. So, more producers are signed than ever before. When all is said and done, the number of non-artist/non-producer songwriters who are being signed to music publishing deals is decreasing.

Blackstone: I do not feel that there is any specific trend either way -certainly not for Zomba Music Publishing. We are always looking for talent, whether it is a rough form and requires development, which is a role we played with both Macy Gray and Linkin Park, or whether it is developed sufficiently and ready to run in the marketplace. Additionally, it does not matter whether their art is expressed in the form of songwriting solely, or as that of an artist who writes or does not write his or her own material. AS I stated before, we are devoted to development when it is appropriate.

Cua: Labels are always looking for artists who not only sing and perform but who can write great songs as well. If the artist does not write at all, or hasn’t fully developed that ability, then the bar has to be higher in terms of overall talent and image. Great songs are crucial to the success of any artist and if the artist can write their own that is a huge asset to the label.

Renzer: Again I think it depends on the genre and market. In Nashville we still are primarily signing songwriters. We signed two songwriter/artists, Blue Merle and Kings of Leon, where one of our Nashville writers co-wrote something like sevens songs on the album. Having great writers who can collaborate with artists is an important part of our business. In New York and Los Angeles, we are not primarily signing just songwriters. In the urban area, we are signing artists or writer/producers, or artist/writers, and some of them have turned out to be strong lyricists. In addition to having their own project they can collaborate with other artist/producers.

We are signing artists with record deals. We really are in the age of the hybrid; even in Nashville the writers are developing production skills. Troy Burgess went from intern to writer in one year. Glen Ballard went from writer to writer/label owner to writer/film producer. And ultimately each talent is unique and you have to judge each talent on his or her own merits. I think with the state of our industry it’s important for writers to develop those other skills, be it writer/producer, or be it writer/artist. In our company there’s a healthy mix going on.

Robinson: Signing an artist writer is a positive and a negative. Sometimes the artist/writer will only write for his or her own self and the success/failure depends on what happens to them. Some will write for other people and risk is spread for what they can do for them and for other people. We do sign artist/writers, but we also sign a lot of writer/producers. They wind up producing on many artist’ albums, spread on many labels, and your risk is spread around quite a bit. Yes, there is some backlash with that. Very often we will sign an artist and the artist will be produced by a third party who writes with the artist but who is signed to another company, so we wind up with only half the publishing and we wind up with only a few songs on the album, but that’s the risk we take.

AS: Does your company sign an artist/songwriter in the hopes of getting a development deal for him or her?

Francis: Absolutely. We have recently signed several artist/songwriters and are helping them develop as writers, which will in turn provide them with the best recorded songs to help them get record deals. We are involved with all aspects of their careers -writing, production, imaging, etc. -to help jumpstart them as artists and get them record deals with the right companies.

Blackstone: We do not do these kinds of deals often, as we would prefer to develop them on our own and prepare them properly and sufficiently for their shot at the right kind of artist deal. Matching the artist to the proper label is the key. Being patient and waiting until the project is truly ready for showcasing is another important factor. It feels like you get one shot, for the most part, with labels and you want to maximize your ability to score when you finally get it.

Cua: Many times we do sign songwriters who have the potential to get a record deal. The more possibilities we have with a writer the better. We take time developing our writers for record deals. We don’t rush the process and move according to their progress, not based solely on the dates on their plan.

AS:  Are we any closer to settling the Internet downloading issue than we were when we discussed this question last year?

Francis: Closer, yes, Close, no. Until the piracy issue is resolved to the point where its impact on CD sales is minimized, we will not be close to settling the downloading issue. Cleary, Apple has shown with  iTunes Music Store that the consumer is aching for a workable download service. It’s promising, but there’s a long way to go yet.

Blackstone: I believe that we may be. There were too many distractions in the early years. We are starting to really get a line on what this is all about which allows us to focus on the real issues and not spread our resources too thinly.

Cua: Although this is still a huge issue, I believe we are closer to settling this through several initiatives that will help deter people from illegal downloading; legal, easy to use, methods of obtaining tracks. Also, spoofing, or threats of law suits, and the campaign toward general consumer awareness certainly should help.

Renzer: I think this week we have some very encouraging news with the Apple service and they announced they have sold over a million songs. A lot of our clients are up on Apple Service. I think it may be sending a message that consumers want flexibility buying music, they want it without subscribing to a subscription service. And they want the ability to download it and own it whether on ipods or CD. Our songwriters will be getting paid by that service, will be getting statutory service for every single and for every song sold through that service.

Robinson: This morning the four students that were sued settles -they are paying penalties. I hope that if that becomes widespread people will stop doing it. We still have to win in the courts. We are all suffering because of the downloading. It is the biggest problem that we have ever had. In most instances in the past the technology was 100 percent great for us but technology now is sort of working against us and that is unfortunate and we have to find a way to solve that problem. And there are new systems coming up every day which I think will have an effect on how much downloading is done and I hope they will become successful.

While there are issues that need to be addresses, the publishers AS spoke with were generally positive and upbeat about the future for songwriters and the publishing business in general. Renzer may have summed it best when he said “I would say that publishing has shown the most resilience to the turmoil in our business. “Songwriters do have multiple revenue streams -mechanical, performance, synchronization, and other areas like sheet music, ring tone, etc. -which they can look to for compensation. I think songwriters should remain encouraged to work and hone their craft; hopefully affiliating with the right music publisher will create the right marriage and the right kind of successful career.”