Music Industry Record Deals: Indie Labels vs. Majors

Historically, the music industry tracked consumer activity by counting sales of physical copies. This has been replaced by TEA and SEA. Which of these things are actually affected by TEA and SEA

Billboard Chart Position

Which organization awards Gold and Platinum records in the US?

RIAA

How many sales units earn an album Platinum certification in the US?

1,000,000

Which of the following is the chart for albums?

Billboard 200

Which of the following is the chart for singles?

Billboard Hot 100

How many sales units earn an album Gold certification in the US?

500,000

TEA is calculated by which method?

10 sales of an individual song equals one album

SEA is calculated by which method?

1250 streams of a song equals 1 album sale

Which of the big three streaming services has the largest share of consumer streams

Youtube

Which of the big three streaming services generates the most revenue for the recorded music industry.

Spotify

On a per capita revenue basis which years were the best for the recorded music industry?

1999-2000

Which genre has seen the highest increase in volume (number of On-Demand Streams) of CURRENT Releases (music released in the last 18 months)?

Country

Currently, which genre has the most On-Demand Streaming in the United States?

R&B/Hip-Hop

Which genre has shown the most overall growth (Current, Catalog, and Deep Catalog) of On-Demand Streaming in the United States this year?

Rock

Which genre has seen the biggest decrease in volume (number of On-Demand Streams) of Current Releases (music released in the last 18 months)?

R&B/Hip-Hop

When confronted with diminished recorded music revenues what did performers, managers and agents do? (Select all that apply)

Increased the number of live performances

Decreased the number of live performances

Decreased ticket prices

Increased ticket prices

A personal manager typically gets paid (select all that are true)

15-20% gross on live performance fees

15-20% after deductions, expenses and exclusions on non performance fee income

10% of gross on all income

15-20% of net on all income

An artist's business manager typically gets paid in which of the following manners?

5% of the artist's gross income

Hourly rate

Monthly fee

The booking agency is typically paid:

10% of artist's performance fee for each show booked.

In an Artist Management Agreement, Exclusivity means:

The artist may be represented by only one manager or management company at a time.

An artist's obligation to a booking agent is:

May have different booking agents for different territories.

Which of the following is always subject to management commission?

Artist's live performance fee

One of the following does not typically have a role in tour planning. Which one?

Attorney

True or False: Typically, an artist's attorney negotiates performance fees for a concert.

False

Typically, performances on late night television are arranged on behalf of the artist most often by whom?

Publicist

Negotiations for an artist's record deal are typically conducted in which of the following manners?

The manager negotiates general terms and the attorney handles details to the particular contract.

Which best describes the timing of a PR campaign for a new musical release?

Begins 3-6 months before the release date of the music being promoted.

A hip-hop artist, Dinesh Chugtai needs a manager, so he hires his friend, Bertram Gilfoyle, as his manager. They sign a contract. Gilfoyle gets hired by Bachmanity Management (BM), and signs Dinesh to the company as his client. A few months later, Gilfoyle leaves BM to become president of another management company. Dinesh is assigned a new manager, Jared Dunn, by the company. Dinesh decides he wants to leave and find a new management company. His best solution is:

Invoke the Key Person Clause of his contract -on the grounds the deal was tied to Gilfoye-to get out of his deal with Bachmanity Management.

Country legend Bubs Rubberton has a massive hit, "DM My Truck." He earned $500,000 in artist royalties from streams and sales of this recording. How much did Bubs' booking agent earn in commissions from these royalties?

$0

Booking artists as headliners at music festivals is typically done well in advance. An agent, Lucille Austero with Bluth Company Booking, made a deal for the band The Final Countdown to headline at the 2025 summer Sudden Valley Festival in Newport Beach, CA. Two weeks after she booked them there, but several months before the festival occurred, the band fired her and replaced her with Tobias Fünke at Blue Man Touring. The initial conversations about playing Sudden Valley were had while the band was still managed by Bob Loblaw. The actual booking occurred after the transition to Barry Zuckercorn at Banana Stand Management. Who gets paid the booking commission?

Lucille Austero, Bluth Company Booking

Rock superstar Misty Mintbreeze co-writes with Chivo Letras and their first song, "I Find You to Be Above Average" generates total songwriting royalties of $100,000. They each own half the song. Misty's manager has a commission rate of 20%. Chivo's Manager has a commission rate of 15%. How much will Misty's manager earn in commissions from this?

$10,000

Urban Sombreros released an album, Dairy Tales. Their record deal was negotiated by their manager, Bob Sacamano.

The band fired Bob as their manager and hired a new manager, David Puddy, who works for the management company J Peterman Management (JPM). Under their agreement with Bob, he is paid 15% commission on all income generated by record deals he negotiated during his term. Their current management contract states that the new managers get 20% commission on ALL incoming revenue, and also provide business management for 5% of the gross on ALL incoming revenue, effective immediately. Their booking agent is Susan Ross of Kramerica Booking, whose commission is the standard for agents. This year Urban Sombreros received $100,000 for placing a song, "Love Me Some Eagle Brand," from Dairy Tales in a commercial for Eagle Brand Condensed Milk®. After commissions, how much of the $100,000 is going to the artist?

$60,000

With regard to the previous question, which of the following could have affected the amount of commissions paid by Urban Sombreros on the Eagle Brand commercial?

Sunset Clause in contract with their old manager