The Future of Music

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
Honors English 11
10 April 2009
The Future of Music
I found an article on futureofmusicbook.com. The article was entitled, “Future of Music”, and was quite intriguing. The author, Dave Kusek, discusses the music industry and attempts to explain the drop in CD sales in the last few years. He writes about the evolution of music distribution, and how the music recording industry has fought every bit of change from the beginning, and having resisted in that manner has ultimately led to where the industry is today, in a downward spiral that seems to be gaining speed and never slowing up.
In the beginning, music was distributed first through the selling of record albums, then moved to the 8-track, then after that it went to cassettes, and from there evolved into the CD, and finally the MP3. And that is the answer to the record company’s problems, the MP3. Once music went digital in that form all was lost. Kusek suggests that the problem could have been remedied back when they first started if record companies had made a partnership with the MP3 distribution method, but instead fought it and lost. Sure the short term battle was one but the war has taken its toll and led to such things as Itunes, and Amazon. Nowadays people can get music for cheap or even free, and they know it. And that is through file sharing, which is how Itunes got its start. The music industry missed the boat when MP3s came around and now their future is in jeopardy. Sure they have partnerships with some music distributors that charge for there music, but profits will never be the same. And there will never be a legitimate way for them to catch up with the way things are now. Bottom line is music is evolving and evolution is the future, and eventually music may end playing a similar role as televison does. At this Kusek notes music will be, “a service that you subscribe to that is bundled into your bill.” (Kusek, 1)


Kusek, Dave. Future of Music. 10 April, 2009. .

The Truth About Being a Music Producer

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
Honors English 11
10 April 2009
The Truth About Being a Music Producer
The article, “What is a Record Producer? Do You Really Want to Become One?,” on recordproducer.com, explains what a record producer is. The author writes about the occupation and what it entails. It talks about the hassles and what is expected of oneself in this field. He gives numbing realities about the business and how many aspire to be a producer, however, many of whom do not know the actualities of the job, and among those that do, there is one in about every few hundred that ever make it into the biz, and even then the longevity of a career is very questionable.
The author begins by stating that he feels the problem for most people that aspire to be a producer is they have this desire due to misconceptions they may have that have been fueled by media coverage and the way the media portrays the life of a producer as a glamorous one. He says, on the contrary, that the job of a music producer is, to a real producer, “a job of work.” (Article, 1) After reading this my response was that there is more to it than just attending the VIP parties. As for how many people make it in this business, the chances are very slim. The author broke it down as, 1 in 100 people have the talent, and 1 of 100 talents have the determination, and 1 of 100 people that have both may be the only one that makes it into the music industry. So the chances are like 1/300. And even then the job is not a very stable one, and is most of the time, short lived. When I read this it finally made me realize that to be a record producer, you have to have more than just a love of music to be successful.
What is a Record Producer? Do You Really Want to Become One. 10 April, 2009. .

You Want to be Like These Guys

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
Honors Eng 11
3 April 2009
You Want to be Like These Guys
Virgin Records is a rather large, small branch of the Virgin Group. Virgin Records is one of the biggest, well known, and profitable labels in the business. Virgin Records has signed the likes of The Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones, and Janet Jackson to name a few. The record label was started by super billionaire Richard Branson and he has built it up to what it is today. Of course, music is not all they do, since they are one of the big guns of the record producing industry.
Virgin Records was founded in 1973 and eventually became known as the Virgin Group. Many view The Sex Pistols as the first big artist to sign on with the company in 1977. Once things got rolling and more and more money came in, founder and CEO Richard Branson wanted to expand from being solely a music label to more broad endeavors. Thus, Virgin Group was formed. Opening up into over 200 different privately held companies, Virgin group not only consists of Virgin Records, but also, an airline, a soda company, a radio station, and even a railroad operation to name a few. The point I’m trying to make is that when you start a record label, ultimately you want to be like Virgin, and expand into other fields. Becoming a part of more than just the music business allows you to bring oodles of cash to throw at whomever you wish to keep your Label on "cloud 9." Yep, that’s how the big boys do it. Virgin group turns profits in the billions and funnels a lot to the record label, and of course its now billionaire founder, Richard Branson. When asked about his business philosophy, Branson replies, "Virgin is about doing things that really work, not just looking the part.....and making the whole process as fun as it can be." SOURCE: Virgin Group. 3 April 2009. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Virgin-Group-Company-History.html

So You Want to Start a Record Label

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
Honors Eng 11
3 April 2009
So You Want to Start a Record Label?
Ezinearticles.com has a great article on how to go about beginning a record label. This article discusses a wide range of topics including: finding investors, legitimizing your label, and finding new hot talent. Though other topics are discussed, these three are most important to starting a successful record label.
Many of the big record labels of today have many more projects than just promoting there client’s music and this nets them millions of dollars in profit that they can throw around to anyone of interest, so it seems they can sign new artists effortlessly. However there is still room for the small, upstart labels to gain popularity and expand, turning a massive profit and turning the owner of the label into a world renowned music mogul.
Many beginning labels are started with humble sums of money and if you’re lucky enough to get investors it helps. The key to attracting them is you must have a solid business plan and strong proposal from which you can project future income. You also need to open a bank account for the label that you can pool all your investors money and have something to pay off people with. Also having a lawyer draw up legal contracts for your people is important to avoid turmoil. As for signing new talent you need to go to any place that there will be a live music scene for your label’s genre. From the band looking for their big break, to the one already signed with competition, the article says have the motto of "everyone gets a card". (Article,1) Play your cards right and pretty soon you’ll be rolling in the benjamins.
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Start-an-Independent-Record-Label-and-Get-Artists-to-Sign-With-Your-Label&id=1348456 3 April 2009.

An Example of a Successful Record Producer

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
Honors Eng 11
3 April 2009
An Example of a Successful Music Producer
Almost everyone knows who Simon Cowell is. His name is synonymous with the hit TV show American Idol. He is also known for his jerk like comments on the show and has established himself as the man the fans want to hate, and he’s paid good money for that role. This article talks about the life of Mr. Cowell, and his journey from a mail clerk at EMI, to a multi-millionaire executive in the music business.
Simon Cowell is the son of an executive at EMI Publishing. As a child he was raised by nannies a before being sent to numerous boarding schools before finally dropping out at the age of sixteen. After a couple of early goes at the music business through a couple of upstart record labels he began that both flopped in the end he began a cordial relationship with the big names at BMG and eventually turned it into a job there where he had success and was finally able to crack the shell of the music producing business. He has since moved on to other more lucrative jobs, such as his stint as the American Idol Judge, and the show has grown immensely popular and he along with it. At the end of the shows season, when a winner is crowned, he makes an album with them, and no doubt gets a slice of the sales. Simon Cowell has turned his humble beginnings of a mail clerk into a million dollar crown jewel of an occupation. His latest project is the classical quartet Il Divo, whom he is producer of. When asked in an interview about his success as an entrepreneur, he says, "you have to do it by the head, not the heart – and I run my businesses that way." (Article, 1)
SOURCE: Simon Cowell Music Mogul Millionaire. 3 April 2009. http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/p/simoncowell.htm .

Music Producer Job Description

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
26th March, 2009
4th Period
Music Producer Job Description
Summary: In this video on youtube, a professional music producer offers a job description of the occupation of music producer. From communicating with the artist, to mixing beats, to recording a track and getting the sound just right. All of this is discussed in this video and more.
Response: In the video the producer explains how it all works. Basically a producer is an artist in the field of music. The producer takes the compilation of sounds from the instruments and singer, and mixes them and molds them into to something that sounds good. Thus the result of all this work is a song. The main goal of the producer is to communicate with the artist. The producer can sometimes make the beat before meeting the artist, or will collaborate with them on the beat. The job of the producer is to make the artist sound good, to communicate with them and develop their skills and talents. This is all relevant when he says the producers job is "to make the artist better than they even think they can be." (youtube, interview) The producer makes the artist. The basic progression of a song getting made starts with the producer creating a beat whether it be recreating an old one or humming something new and evolving it into something that sounds right. Then the artist is called in, they add their twist to the beat and then from there throughout production the producer tries to mold the sound around the artist and their talents. The field of music production consists of many jobs, producer is just one of them. You can also be an executive or a scout for new talent among other things, it just depends on what you want to do.
Source: "Music Producer Career Information: Music Producer Job Description." Interview. (2008)
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How to Become a Music Producer

Chris Jones
Mr. Jenkins
26th March, 2009
4th Period
How to Become a Music Producer
Summary: For one of my multimedia sources I watched a youtube video on music production. In the video the guy is a real professional music producer. He gives some tips on how to crack into the music business, as well as tell some stories of past times in his career as a producer.
Response: My first reaction to this video was not much. I had expected him to tell me about getting started in the music business and he did. What I thought was interesting was how he started out with humble beginnings and how he began mixing beats for free. It gave him some good experience and when he moved to Miami he was ready for business. He told a story of a client that came in and was pretty good, so the client purchased three tracks from him, that he was in charge of mixing and they paid him good money. Now he doesn’t give an exact dollar amount however from the story it sounds as though it was a pretty lucrative deal. The next story he told was about a younger client whose mother was really pressing for her fifteen year old daughter to get into the music business. He brought them in for a studio visit, sat down with them and figured out what type of artist she wanted to be and wrote out a song and recorded it. He pretty much controlled all aspects of this deal, from meeting with the client to producing the song and making it sound great, and this is just a testament to all the responsibility a music producer has to take on. Finally when he says what he considers an "entry level position", it was interesting because he basically said, do whatever it takes. From getting coffee to being a crew member for a band, anything to get you in.
Source: "Music Producer Career Information: How to Become a Music Producer." Interview. (2008) .