The Music Business

Many Malaysians have little knowledge how the music business works. Most talented artist have fallen to the trap of business opportunist who exploited their talent to generate income for themselves. For the first time, I will write few articles to enlighten all of us of how this tricky business works. Sure the recording company gerun dgn u all lepas nih! Hehehe...

You got few songs, you got a tight band, and you have been playing in hundreds of gigs. You are tired of the nightlife, you are tired of playing people's songs, you are sure damn tired of listening to the radio just to update yourself of the most latest songs. Sure, Rm30,000 and a six month contract playing in one of the most famous pubs in KL sounded great. It was 2 years back. By now you know the money aint enough. Tolak maintainance, sewa studio to practise those 30 or more songs and percentage for the manager, that leaves you with around Rm20,000 or less. There are 5 people in the band. So you get your share of RM4 K. Tolak tax, it comes down to around RM3.5 K. Bayar sewa rumah, air, elektrik, downpayment kereta and other miscellaneous, bolehlah save around few hundred. Luckily, unlike your drummer, you are still single, and not looking.

Problem is you are getting old. New better bands are coming up. With these hip hop craze going on, they are virtually kicking rock bands out of business. What to do if you are out of work? You look at your savings, and you know the drummer have better chance of surviving. Luckily for him, his wife works.

At the age of 25, you yearn to hear your songs on the radio. You've heard some of the local songs lately, and you wondered where the hell these bozos came from. That aint a song! And they get airplay? The DJ must be a deaf mute! You need a record deal. You want a record deal. But you don't have one iota of info to help you. In short, what do you really need to know?

Getting A Deal

There are various ways to get 'inducted' into the music industry. First, if you are lucky enough to be spotted by one of those hard to find and to please PRO. Normally these guys will scout around looking for new talents. Unfortunately, no one knows where they scout. Your best bet, if you confident enough, is to enter as much band competition possible. Doesn't matter if you win or lose. These guys normally will be there. Besides getting the exposure, you'll end up making friends with other bands. If they get a contract, you may hustle in too. [wink]

Band competition really give musician a lot of opportunities. Unfortunately, many does not utilise the advantage given to them. Get to know the soundman. These engineers will determine whether your band sounds like Metallica or a band playing in a kenduri kahwin. Greet them and tell them nicely about how your band positions ect. These soundman normally really 'gets around'. If you are lucky, they'll introduce you to some PRO's. In short, be nice to everyone. Remember you are NOT a star yet!

Second, you can opt to play in pubs and hotels. Unfortunately, scouts nowadays are more interested in looking for talented DJ's. They have to follow the flow you see. Better to enter Sinaran Passport Kegemilangan!

The third option is to send a demo tape/CD to the record company themselves. Just put 3-5 of your best songs on it, together with a brief info about the band and its members. The big 5; Sony, EMI, BMG, Warner and Universal; normally will only accept solicited demos only! But in Malaysia, seeing that we do not have any music law, just take your chances and send them one. Who knows, right?

The last option is via the net. There are many websites that will help you to get your music distributed, and hence may land you a record deal. But 'musician online' normally knows better. They rarely are looking for a deal. Why? Just read on...

The Business

When you already got a deal, they will give you a contract. And here is where Malaysian musician and artist lost more then their US and European counterparts. Malaysia does not have any music law. We are still govern by the Intellectual Property Act. Any form of writing, music and art will fall under this one act. And believe me, it is not enough.

Every 9 out of 10 artist fail. Its not that their music is not good, but the cost of producing and distributing is higher that the turnover. Therefore, the music industry have certain tricks to ensure that they will not have so much loses. It is a business anyway.

Profitable Artist
Lets imagined Deathman had a record deal for 1 year. He have to produce just one album. The contract state that Deathman the option of receiving an advanced for RM20 K. He took it. Then its time to record. The cost of studio rental is RM250 per day. It took Deathman 6 months to record. Lets say for easy calculation, Deathman uses 20 working days per month for recording. that means;

20x6= 120days

120x RM250 = RM30 K studio rental fees

Now to record, you need a producer. Lets say the producer is Virtual One. Contrary to public knowledge, it is not the record company who normally pays the producer, but the artist. Normally an artist will take around 7-14% from the total sale. The producer will take 10%-14% out of this revenue. Lets say, Deathman, being quite famous thanx to Cari Forum, sold 100 K of albums within 3 months. The album is in cassette that is price RM15 one. That means he will receives;

RM15 x 100,000 unit= RM1.5 million

14% of Rm1.5 million = RM210 000

10% of RM210 000 = RM21 000

RM210 K- RM21 K(producer fee)= RM189 K

But what about musician? Yes, Deathman have to pay for the sessionist as well. Being 'sawan' as usual, he only uses two acoustics players. They are paid RM250 per session. Lets say Deathman uses 150 session.

RM250x 150 =RM37500

Therefor, Deathman will receive;

RM189K- RM37500 = RM151 500

Aha! Now you say that is quite a lot, right? WRONG! Deathman have to pay studio fee. And what about the RM20 K advance? Huoo Truee Damn Truee!!

Rm151 500 - RM30 K(studio fee)- RM20 K(advance) = RM101 500.

So you see, just a mere RM101 500. For the first 9 month (6 month recording + 3 months waiting for the album sale} Deathman have to live on that RM20K advance he took. But remember, an album may take longer to sell. And normal Malaysian artist will only sells around 20 000 unit. New artist normally will only get around 7-10% per album sold. But the producer still receives 10%-14%. In this case, Deathman made a profit. Now lets see what usually happens to the unlucky one!

In the Red
Seeing Deathman make quite a profit, Marsyal Yau tries his luck. But because of his seriousness, the company offered him only 7% per album. Still, the company gave him the standard RM20 K.

Marsyal Yau took longer time to record his album because of exams. It took him 8 months.

20 working days x 8 month = 160 days

RM250 (studio fees) x 160 = RM40 K

Marsyal Yau wants the best. So he uses Bluesyworms as the producer. Bluesyworms charge him 14%. He also wanted a full band. That cost him RM750 per session. He uses 200 session.

RM750 x 200= RM150 000.

Within 3 months, Marsyal Yau succeeded in selling 100 000 unit of record. One cassette is RM15.

RM15 x 100,000 unit = RM1.5 million

7% of RM1.5 million = RM105 000.

14% of RM105 K = RM14 700 (producer fees)

RM105 000- RM14 700(producer fees) = RM90 300.

RM 90 300- RM150 000 (sessionist fees) - RM40 K (studio fees) - RM20 K (advance) = -RM119,700.

We called this, the artist is 'in the red'. Therefor, Marsyal Yau now owes the recording company RM119,700! In the contract there will be a tiny weenie clause that state when an artist is in the red, he/she have to pay back either with money or through another album. So Marsyal Yau, if he cannot come out with the money, he have to produce another album to pay back his dues. This is how a recording company 'trap' an artist. That's why you see some unknown Malaysian artist still produced another album, even so the first flop! They have been trap! It also shows, that even if the sale is higher, it does not guarantee the artist get any profit.

Other Tricks And Tips for Composers

Besides this, we generally sees a good underground band, after signing a record deal, have suddenly turn commercial. This is because, it depends on the contract. There are 3 types of 'sound' or music stated in the contract. The first one state that it depends on the company to determine if a song is commercial enough. If you play heavy metal, but the recording company say it is not commercial, then you have to record again, This mean, more time and studio cost! It is one of the way for the company to tie you down.

Second it state there good songs or the sort. This is when you have reach a senior level where you can determine your own songs, but still the company can reject.

The last one is for superstars. It only state 'sound'. Meaning, as long as it is a sound, can be heard by a human being, the record company have to accept it! In short the artist can do anything he/she wants! Among the superstar artist that have this type of contract is Michael Jackson and Madonna.

For composers, beware of publishing contracts! If you have a song, the only way to have it sell is to publish it. However, most contracts will con you. So by the time you know it, you only own 30% of the song that you composed, whereas the publishing company will get the rest.

Remember that as the composer you will get the royalty for the rest of your life and the next 50 years. After that, anyone can use the song. And in Malaysia, a song is the melody and the lyrics as well. However, the lyrics also fell under literature.

Questions

1. Why is the recording time and the session time is different? One session also in a way means one day, right?
No. You can have few sessions in one day. The reason for the different is because after recording, the producer will edit and mix everything into a master tape. That's why, even so Deathman uses only 150 session, even if its 150 days, the rest of the time is used for mixing.

2. Isn't it quite unfair that the producer gets more then the artist?
The producer doesn't take all the money. He have to pay the sound engineer and other technicians from his pay. Therefor, the better the producer, the more men he have, the more percentage he'll get.

3. In Marsyal Yau's case, bluesyworms received less than Virtual One, even so he is a better producer. What does this means?
It means, a good producer will always produce albums of well known artist! If not, he will be paid less. This is life.

4. Why does the company take more of the turnover?
The company needs more because they are paying for the marketing, distribution and publicity. The cost of one album is cheap, but to distribute it? Publicity? This need proper planning and marketing strategy. It means higher cost.

5. Earlier on you said, artist in US are better off than here in Malaysia. Why?
In US they have a music law. Therefor, the contract made, is govern by that act. Here, it is govern by the normal contract act. To equate a music contract with any other business contract is totally absurd! Music business have a different fundamental rules. Using the normal contract act, will put the artist at a position of disadvantage when making a deal. There should be specific laws that will protect the rights of the artist, musician and even filmmakers. In US, they have specific laws for Music and Films. A new artist is required to be represented by an attorney and a manager before signing any recording deal. Here, you just sign! That's why, to me, to say that there is a music 'industry' is totally a facade.

6. That is your view. But our music is getting better right? The only problem is piracy.
I don't view piracy as a threat to local music industry. Seriously, tell me how many people buy pirate Cds of local artist. Many people buy pirated VCD and pirated computer softwares, not pirated local music! The fall of our music 'industry' is not because of piracy, but because local records are not selling, whether its pirate or original!

7. So what is wrong with the industry? Is our local artist that bad?
Kau ni banyak tanya la. Binawe. I can give a lot of reason. Unfortunately, this is a forum [forum.cari.com.my]. If I were to give an answer, then no one will post a reply! Plus, people will say I'm crazy. Asking question and answering it meself. Kau ingat aku takder kerja lain ker nak buat ha?! Sudah. Let other people answer that last question.

Bluesyworms