Mind Your Own Business

It is no coincidence that every year the Heineken Green Energy event devotes a sizeable proportion of time to seminars and workshops covering aspects of the music business relevant to the aspiring musician and those who work with them. Indeed, this year there will be a two open days on Careers In Music at the Temple Bar Music Centre run in association with Hot Press.
Nor is this an isolated phenomenon. Over the years Hot Press, IMRO, the Ballyfermot Rock School, the Sound Training Centre and others have been involved in running seminars and workshops in various parts of the country through which practical information about the workings of the music business and the music media can be dispensed to those who believe, quite logically, that they can better further their careers in an industry if they can develop some basic grasp of the machinations of that industry.
In my own career I have known people like U2, Philip Lynott, Bob Geldof and Horslips before they got recording, management and publishing deals. The one thing they all had in common was a desire to know how the business worked. Is it mere coincidence that they all did remarkably well, both artistically and business-wise?
Of course there's an absurd traditional notion that the true artist should be starving alone in a humble garret, with the occasional well-wisher to toss in a crumb of comfort. But if the artist produces a saleable item which generates income, why should he/she not fight to get their fair share?
This can't be done unless the artist accepts that some level of education about the business is crucial. That in itself requires a commitment, but is your art not worthy of the effort? Yes, you may think that education is expensive, both in terms of finance and time-commitment, but it s far cheaper than ignorance. After all, ignorance is not bliss; it's a luxury. And guess who pays for it?

MCPS
MCPS and IMRO are the two main collection agencies for the owners of music copyright in Ireland. Both companies have links to the worldwide music industry, so that publishing earnings from abroad filter back through sister companies to Irish publishers, songwriters and composers.
MCPS stands for Mechanical Copyright Protection Society. Contrary to the assumptions that many people often make, it is not a watchdog body intended to oversee the workings of the publishing/recording industry. It exists to help protect the commercial copyrights owned by its members and to collect money on their behalf.
The agency represents those who own the copyright works which appear on records. Whenever a record label issues material whose commercial copyright is owned by a member of MCPS, that record company must pay MCPS a fee for its use. This is enshrined in law. After deducting a commission of 10%, MCPS in turn pay the publishers of that copyright work and the publishers in turn pay the songwriter(s) on the basis of whatever publishing contract exists between them.
The same copyright law applies equally to a band making a demo of a song whose publisher is a member of MCPS as well as to those who use copyright material in films and videos.
Apart from being de facto members of MCPS through their publisher, composers can join MCPS directly and receive royalties directly from MCPS after the commission is deducted.
In Ireland, as in Europe generally, the royalty is based on a percentage of the price record companies charge for their records to dealers and record retailers. The figure in Ireland is currently 8.2%. That percentage income is divided equally between the copyright owners of the material used, although when the copyright owner is not an MCPS member the agency does not collect money for those tracks. In the USA and Canada royalties are worked out on a per track basis at just under seven cents per track, although tracks over five minutes can earn additional amounts.
The role of MCPS throughout the world has been heightened by the advent of the Internet and the growing tendency for web sites to make music available for downloading by anyone who wants it. If this is cleared by the owners of the copyright there may be no illegality, but there is increasing vigilance, especially in the USA but in Ireland as well, whereby collection agencies such as MCPS monitor the situation as it develops. Indeed such is the escalation of the problem in the USA that they have developed web-search and database technology called BMI MusicBot which assists in the tracking and identification of music being offered on the web. It can track songs in English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian and link song-titles found on the web with the names of the works' writers and publishers.
Victor Finn, who runs the MCPS operation in Ireland, has observed the increasing number of Irish artists putting their own music up on the web, but feels that this is generally done with no effort made by the artist to protect their copyright and thereby risking loss of income from their own works.
As he told Hot Press, "It's great to see bands having the initiative to market themselves through the net, but if they offer their own recordings for downloading they have to accept that they will probably receive absolutely no remuneration for their work and that others may even exploit it commercially for themselves in a way beyond the control of the copyright owners."
Having said that, Finn believes that Irish artists are now far more knowledgeable about the workings of copyright and he's seen a sea-change in attitudes over the past ten years or so.
"But frankly," he says, "there are no excuses any more. The information is there for anyone who wants it. There are seminars which cover it, as well as books and newspaper and magazine articles. Organisations like MCPS and IMRO have information available which anybody can pick up. It still happens, of course, that you come across somebody who hasn't bothered checking out what can be a very lucrative area for them, but I've little sympathy for them anymore."
He is also keenly watching the progress of the new copyright legislation which is currently wending its way arduously through the Dail and which Finn expects to be enacted by late Summer. It will replace the current copyright act which is thirty years old. The new laws will take into account the technologies developed since the old law was enacted and is expected to feature a sharp increase in the penalties for breaches of copyright.
Another area of concern to MCPS in Ireland is piracy. "At the moment you could say that the level of piracy in Ireland is stable, but it hasn't gone away. We continue to monitor the problem and deal with those who break copyright laws, but it's actually a far greater problem in other parts of Europe".

IMRO
IMRO stands for the Irish Music Rights Organisation. It is a similar organisation to MCPS except that whereas MCPS collects and distributes royalties accruing from the use of copyright titles on record, film or video, IMRO perform a parallel function for compositions used in public performance.
The area of public performance is not limited to an artist performing at a gig but also the use of such material in any public place, whether radio station, hairdressing salon, disco, pub, restaurant, aerobics class, telephone switchboard, cafi, sports meeting or wherever.
Public venues by law cannot use copyright music material without paying for it and the distribution method for such monies collected is similar to that of money collected through MCPS. Membership of IMRO is free for publishers and songwriters, but to qualify for membership songwriters must have at least one work performed on national radio or on independent local radio, or one song on a commercially available record or performed twelve times live in public. A publisher must have a catalogue of 10 published songs at least five of which must have been exploited commercially in the EU.
IMRO too have been at the forefront of educating young musicians as to the workings of copyright collection and distribution and have nurtured new Irish talent through such initiatives as the IMRO Showcase Tour and their enthusiastic support for the Bacardi Unplugged song competition.

OJ KILKENNY
OJ Kilkenny and Co was founded in Dublin fifteen years ago by Ossie Kilkenny, who had previously flirted with bands as a guitarist and worked in banking. Key operatives included Brian Murphy, Ian Jones and Frances Brennan. Shortly afterwards the company opened a London office and in due course became a leading light in the music industry, both at home and abroad, with some of the industry's top acts numbered among its clients.
The firm offers the full range of accounts preparation, audit and tax advice. New acts signing record deals and receiving advances need adequate planning to provide living/touring expenses with a minimum tax liability. OJ Kilkenny and Co advise on the implications of setting up a limited company, a partnership or as a sole trader. Artists need to understand some basics, such as that income tax exemption applies to individuals and not to companies. Thus it is often advised that income from publishing should be kept separate from income from records and touring.
The services offers artists by OJ Kilkenny and Co include the following:
preparing and auditing accounts of limited companies
preparing accounts for partnerships and sole traders
exploring income tax exemptions on publishing royalties
advising on withholding tax issues in foreign territories
looking into tax deductions available to those touring abroad while residing in Ireland
advising on the VAT implications of foreign artists performing in Ireland
emphasising the importance of a planning structure to effect a simple mechanism tailor-made for a particular artist's circumstances.
The company also believes that artists should also receive advice at the outset in relation to:
joining royalty collection agencies such as IMRO, PRS, MCPS etc.
ensuring adequate advice about contracts with managers, record companies and publishers
accepting that they are subject to the same laws as everyone else
accepting that they must keep proper accounts which can help determine their tax liability, if any
ensuring that they need to submit VAT/PAYE/Corporation tax and Income tax returns on time.

FEDERATION OF MUSIC COLLECTIVES
According to Chief Executive Officer of The Federation of Music Collectives, Angela Dorgan, there are more than thirty different music collectives dotted around the country employing over 200 people (for individual details see the Hot Press Yearbook). The four-year-old Federation serves as a central umbrella organisation for the collectives and can help those who want to set up a new collective in their own areas.
As the Cork-born Dorgan explained to Hot Press, "We can give them advice and information and point out the pitfalls. We can help them to do a feasibility study to examine first of all if there's a demand for a collective in the area and to identify what the specific local needs are. There's no point, say, in opening a collective with a recording studio when the music community in the area needs something totally different. But after the collective sets itself up we have a hand-holding role but we don't have any say in the running or financing of the individual collectives."
The Federation is funded by the Arts Councils north and south. As part of their 2000 programme they've linked up with the IRMA Trust in a pilot scheme for a lending library of instruments and they're also getting money from the Trust for master-classes as part of the Heineken Green Energy Festival.
Sometime in the next 6/8 weeks they expect to have a starter pack available which will include a booklet listing all the collectives and their facilities and other key advice for musicians.

NB PUBLICITY
Yes, you may indeed be the best band on the planet, but if nobody knows about you it s all a bit pointless, isn t it? That s precisely where good PR/publicity comes in and in Ireland we are blessed with a generous range of PR agencies who know how to target the key media outlets on your behalf.
Unfortunately, too many artists and their managers decide to employ a PR expert only after they ve sent out the new single/album/tour details and failed miserably to score any decent publicity. Too many only turn to a PR specialist as a last resort when in reality it should be top of the agenda well before any release.
Planning an effective PR campaign requires some advance planning with a professional and experienced PR company. One of those at the forefront of music PR in Ireland is NB Publicity who offer a range of services broader than most. They can handle your record launch, build up positive media relations on your behalf and stir up the kind of publicity that puts bums on seats and sets the cash registers ringing.
If appropriate for your particular situation they can bring in proper retail support, take care of your print and advertising needs, solve your distribution problems and have a real input into your development as an artist.
So talk to them now rather than waiting to see what happens because nothing happens in this business; people like Niamh and Paul at NB Publicity make them happen.

Jackie Hayden is the author of The Need To Know Guide To The Record Industry and co-author of Careers In Music.