chapter 7. recordings and the music industry: copyright battles, format wars © 2008 the...

Chapter 7

Recordings And The Music Industry: Copyright Battles, Format Wars

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Chapter OutlineHistoryIndustryControversies

Early Recording Technology Thomas Edison made the first recording in 1877, with a

Phonograph▪ A cylinder with grooves cut into it, a horn, and a hand crank.

Victrola discs were introduced in 1906 by the Victor Company. ▪ They were easier to produce and less expensive than cylinders.


Early Recording Technology Ragtime and Tin Pan Alley made hits that sold well

▪ like Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” favorites like “Alexander’s Ragtime Band

In 1914, music publishers joined together and formed ASCAP to fight for strong copyright laws.

How ASCAP works


Enter Radio Commercial radio in the 1920s ▪ Caused major changes in the recording industry.

Radio spurred sales ▪ People wanted higher fidelity recordings of what was

on the radio.

Jazz recordings became hot, then big bands, then country music. ▪ Dance crazes would sell records.

What are some dances that have been big over the years?


Rock and Roll By 1947, six large record companies controlled the popular

music industry: ▪ Columbia, Victor, Decca, Capitol, MGM, and Mercury.

Big labels pushed a mainstream music style epitomized by ▪ Bing Crosby’s crooning, Perry Como and Doris Day.


In 1954, Memphis disc jockey and label owner Sam Phillips released “That’s All Right Mama” ▪ Elvis Presley.

Presley moved to RCA where he recorded several hits including “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog.” ▪ Defined rock music until the 1960s when the Beatles and other

British groups like the Rolling Stones entered the picture.


Presley borrowed many of his songs from the black community.

Proved how successful black music could be with a white artist on the album cover, a practice known as covering.▪ He added a white hillbilly sound to rhythm and blues and gospel,


Chuck Berry and Little Richard ▪ Two African Americans who did manage to break through with

their own rock and roll acts.

In 1959, on “the day the music died,” ▪ Three of rock and roll’s biggest stars, Buddy Holly, Richie

Valens, and the Big Bopper ▪ Killed in a plane crash,


Rap and Hip-Hop Rap is speaking in rhythm over drum beats. Hip-hop, is the

backing music for rap, ▪ Often composed of a collage of ‘samples’ from other songs. Hip-hop

also refers to the culture of rap.

Rap originated in the early 1970s in the boroughs of New York City, especially the Bronx.


Rap and Hip-Hop The 1st commercial rap record “Rapper’s Delight”

was recorded in 1979 by The Sugar Hill Gang. In the 1990s, rivalries between east and west coast

factions of rappers culminated in the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.


The Format Wars Intensify Sony’s Walkman portable audio cassette player, introduced

in 1979, ▪ Became wildly successful as joggers and commuters listened to their

favorite songs while moving about

Did any in here ever have a Walkman?


CDs (compact discs), plastic discs with digitally encoded music that is read by lasers, were introduced in 1983.

Format revitalized the industry ▪ Music lovers replaced collections of analog vinyl and cassette

tape ▪ CD’s had better sound quality and greater durability of the new

high-tech medium.▪ Minidiscs, a smaller version of the CD, appeared in the late 1990s.▪ Anyone ever have minidiscs?▪ Why didn’t the public embrace them?


Music Downloading In the 1990s, listeners began copying CDs onto their

computers. In 1999, a college student named Shawn Fanning developed

Napster, the first successful free file-sharing program. The music industry shut down the free version of Napster

through legal action, but soon several competitors were developed.


Music Downloading By 2001, file-sharing and inexpensive CD recorders, or

burners, were seriously cutting into music industry profits. Napster returned in 2004 as a legal, low cost music

downloading service.


Music Downloading In 2006 the head of the Recording Industry Association of

America declared ▪ Unauthorized song swapping had been “contained.”▪ Do you think this is true today?

The industry cannot sue every single infringer, but reasoned ▪ “If the industry makes enough waves in enough countries through legal

actions, court cases could have a serious deterrent effect.”

The Major Labels: Global Goliaths Five major corporations, Warner, EMI, Sony, Universal, and

Bertelsmann, ▪ Collect around 80 percent of recording industry revenues each year.

Until the 1980s, part of a major label’s business was to develop new talent. ▪ Today, artists who don’t sell fast are dropped or not given adequate

promotion. In the 90s, majors signed multi-million dollar deals with superstars ▪ Including Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Motley Crue and Prince.

▪ Most of these projects were artistic and financial disappointments and drained support from developing acts.


Top Selling Albums of All Time


Independents: Developing Talent Independent labels are not owned by one of the four majors. ▪ Industry practice is for the majors to acquire successful independents ▪ What are some independent labels that are now under major labels

Many independents become successful by handling specialized material not profitable for bigger companies, ▪ Such as jazz, classical, religious, or rap.

Priority Records became the largest U.S. independent ▪ Distributing records such as Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” which was too

controversial for Warner Brothers. What Major is priority records associated with


The Players A&R (artist and repertoire) ▪ Executives discover and develop the groups and performers.

Producers ▪ Oversee the making of a master tape from start to finish, including mixing

and editing. Most artists spend years performing but never get a chance to

record for a label.▪ Overnight success of television programs such as “American Idol” are

sensational exceptions. Some artists become very wealthy but there is also a history of

artists, such as Chuck Berry, Mary Wells, TLC▪ Who were exploited or robbed by managers, promoters and record

companies.


Royalties and Performance Rights Organizations There are two types of royalties:

1. Recording-artist royalties2. Songwriter/publisher royalties

Recording artists earn royalties from the sale of their recordings on CDs, tapes, vinyl, and legal downloads.

Recording artists don’t earn royalties when their recordings are played on radio or TV.

Songwriters and publishers, do earn royalties on radio play and other public performances, as well as on recording sales.


Promotion Promoters ▪ Concentrate on getting a cut from the album played on radio stations. ▪ They focus on reporting stations whose playlists determine, along with

sales, a song’s placement on the charts in Billboard magazine. In 1991, Soundscan, ▪ A point-of-sale computer system records the bar codes scanned at

thousands of stores, began reporting record sales to Billboard. Promoters arrange press coverage, lobby for awards, feed

tidbits to gossip-hungry Web sites, try to place music videos on MTV, BET, CMT and VH1, ▪ try to get songs on movie and television soundtracks, and in television

commercials.


Distribution and Sales Recordings are distributed & sold through a variety of methods, ▪ Online retailers & outlets such as music stores, bookstores, electronic stores,

discount stores, movie stores, and music clubs.

Online distribution can produce a higher profit margin than traditional retailing

Labels ▪ Save the cost of packaging,

▪ Don’t have to worry about losing sales because a title is sold out,

▪ Do not have to absorb the costs of unsold overstock.

The Audience Consumers are less loyal to individual groups than in the

past. Some critics say major labels encourage the fickleness of

young audiences ▪ Because they can sign young artists to cheap contracts and make

big profits with a single album.

▪ What are some of your favorite artists


The Effects Throughout the 1990s ▪ Sadomasochistic lyrics, gansta rap, and shock rock were linked to

youthful crime and decadence. Several documented cases where teens committed suicide

after listening to recordings such as Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” and Judas Priest’s Stained Class album, ▪ Although no court of law has ever found an artist responsible.


Censorship In 1990, the music industry adopted parental warning

labels ▪ After pressure by The Parent’s Music Resource Center (PMRC).

Discount chain Wal-Mart is the largest seller of pop music in the country ▪ But will not carry CDs with parental advisories on them.


Censorship Most labels will airbrush CD covers, change lyrics or

delete entire songs to avoid such bans. In 2003, Clear Channel Communications, the largest

owner of radio stations in the U.S., ▪ Stopped playing the music of the Dixie Chicks after a member

of the group criticized President George Bush.


chapter 7. recordings and the music industry: copyright battles, format wars © 2008 the...

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