In an article May 12, 2011 by Georg Szalal for The Hollywood Reporter introduced legislation was depicted that would fight against websites offering pirated content. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont spoke on a bill targeting online piracy. The bill would expose movies, music, TV shows, and other copyrighted material or trademarked content.

The Act would bring under U.S. jurisdiction websites that exploit U.S. based Internet service providers, search engines, and ad placement services. The House of Representatives are also looking at creating a version of the bill.

In addition the National Music Publishers’ Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, and the National Association of Theatre Owners recently gave public acknowledgement and thanks to the recent Senate and House legislative move.

Consequently, there has been widespread support among unions, workers, and organizations involved in the production, sale, and distribution of creative media content for quite some time and now it is finally getting traction on Capitol Hill.

“To the camera crew, the makeup artists, the truck drivers and all the other hard-working middle-class Americans involved in the making of a motion picture or television show, digital theft means declining incomes, lost jobs and reduced health and retirement benefits for them and their families," said Michael O'Leary, executive VP, government affairs at the MPAA. "We look forward to working with the Senate Judiciary Committee and 

in the House, chairman Lamar Smith and other leaders who are drafting their own bill to target rogue websites to ensure that the final legislation passed by both chambers and presented to the President provides adequate online protection of the American film and television community, an industry that supports 2.4 million American jobs."

Only time will tell if the legislation will in fact pass. Moreover, the bill in itself must be met with international compliance for it to have any far reaching success. Teeth added to the bill must be enforced and enforceable moving forward to win the growing fight of Internet piracy.

Russell Gaskins

Senior Director, Film, TV, Commercials

Chrysalis Music Group, L.A.

Interviewed by Bryan Bell

First thing I do that may be different than most is I look up the history on the artist. Not what most describe as history, but how they got into music, what influenced them, why they do what they do. That way I may be able to see a correlation to our roster to people that artist already respects and use that in the negotiation.

Secondly, I look at the cold hard facts. People lie all the time, but numbers don’t. No advance is even discussed unless I can prove it  could be covered by past releases and record sales.

In a newbie, I look for at least 10,000 sales in a time from of about 3 months from release date. If I see that then at least there is a chance in my opinion of re-couping money. In an established artist with marketing, you gotta at least give me 50,000. Otherwise, what is the point of continuing your career with the major label.

Number one, do they have a gem! If I hear an album, I have to see marketing potential in at least 1 song, just 1 song people! Can I get a Verizon ad or film trailer or something! That is key for me in particular, but like I have told people for a long time publishing is where it’s at man…remember when we spoke about things years ago? I told you back then Bryan that things were shifting and they have continued to shift in my favor lol.

Another problem as I see is not what should be given out in advance money cause that’s all easily solved by looking at the numbers, but the underlying issue from our perspective is marketing the material. Does the artist have enough fan appeal to get the machine behind him or her. Once that machine revs up the rest is easy as pie.

To be honest early in my career I was cut throat as I could be and it served me well. However, the way things are now and the people I speak with its unnecessary. What I mean by that is that things have changed to such a degree that peole understand you have to prove what you get where as before it was based more on feel what was given and what was accepted. So, yeah I definitely search for win-win situations much more now and help out as much as I can.

Hell yeah! And didn’t even know I had lost! But the company made it clear to me how I lost, what I lost, and how to stop it from happening again. I had good mentorship and people around me that didn’t pull the plug on me at the first sign of a mistake.

To be honest it hasn’t. It will be over years that our name would even change. Plus, my department is more relevant than it has ever been, so as far as job security, I’m fine.

In a recent article by Jon Ostrow for Miccontrol.com, he describes an oversimplified marketing tool in music, the radio single. I am going to briefly describe each type of radio single. Afterwards, this post will go deeper into proper application to create a diversified revenue stream for an artist at any level of their career.

These individual musical creations need to be understood as businesses in and of themselves. All copyrights, publishing assignments, and marketing stratagems should be created individually to hone in on how to best maximize their profitability. Do not take for granted each single will have the effect you intended without crafting where it will be marketed, why, and having a clear understanding of how the revenue stream works. In addition, profit goals put forth in each single’s marketing plan will be different due to a list of factors including market visibility, influence, and target market persona. Keep these things in mind and you can multiply revenue with just a few song selections without the need for long albums and increased production costs. Welcome to the age of radio singles and EP’s reborn.

The industry standard, South by Southwest Music Conference has recently outlined a new inclusion to their already stellar line of seminars and workshops held at this year’s event in Austin Texas March 11-20. The SXSW Technology Summit is March 16-17 and an open call for all international leaders and industry experts.

On www.sxsw.com, the Technology Conference link states there will be “panel sessions that reveal trends and usage patterns in various parts of the world”. Those various locations include: France, Japan, Chile, India, Israel, Columbia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, China, Italy, Portugal, England, Scandinavia, Singapore, Ireland, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, and of course United States representatives.

Conferences are key to networking with industry professionals. So, it is a necessity to attend these showcases to spot new industry trends before everyone else. Here are a few tips before you zip up the suitcase and hit the road.

Hopefully, your next conference will be beneficial. Plan ahead and make sure it will be. Feel free to reach out and comment if these tips have been helpful.