Business Plan

The First Draft (Releasing An EP)

Objective:

My aim is to record and release an EP (The First Draft) that is mixed and mastered so it's ready to be listened to by people whom are interested in my music. I aim to sell 100 copies or more, regardless of format, so I can walk away with a profit.

Target Audience:

Ideally, my target audience is everyone that enjoys listening to music but since I'm not at such a level where I can grasp everyone's attention, my target audience will be in London since that's where I'm based at.

My majority target audience will have to listen to hip hop for me to catch their attention since that's the genre I specialize in, however, this is where my USP (Unique Selling Point) comes into play. Seeing as hip hop is heavily based on the use of samples, this can attract those who don't listen to many hip hop because they can simply like a song of mine that samples their favourite genre and that could lead them to opening up to not only my music, but the genre as well.

My target audience wouldn't have an age range simply for 2 reasons: As I said earlier "Ideally, my target audience is everyone that enjoys listening to music", the other reason would be my USP. Seeing as I'm primarily a sampler, I sample from records that have been released ranging from modern genres of today to as far back as I can go (i.e. blues, classical, folk) and everything in between. That would mean my interest in music could cross over someone with a similar age to mine and someone who's well in their 30s, 40s, 50s and so on.

Although it's hard to determine how much income my target audience will have to their disposal, I do know that they'll have enough to purchase my EP as I plan to set the price at a very reasonable price (more info in Marketing Strategy).

The one thing that will attract people to my music is my individualism and how I try my best to be myself rather than trying to emulate other artists or be a mixture of other artists. However, seeing as there are countless people trying to be their favourite artist, there are also a lot of people who want to do things differently and my target audience may turn their heads, for whatever reason, to another act who may have a similar mind-state to me.

Timeline:

First and foremost, the music needs to be created/written so I have to something name, record, make artwork for, promote, sell, etc. Then, once each song is named and the track listing has been sorted out (to make things easier in the long term so I don't have to worry about that), I'll then look to record everything I've arranged for the EP so that I have something to give to the studio engineer(s) whom are mixing and mastering my tracks, however, I could decide to master some tracks myself simply because I'm the artist and I know what sounds I want to accomplish.

Once all that is completed, I would then turn my focus on the artwork and I'd spend less time than I would because I already have the product so I could base the artwork off of the music on my project and after all that, I'll then decide on what format will I want to release it on simply because I won't know how long it'll take me to the EP (it could take a day or even years to make something I'm satisfied with, as evident with many other musicians) so if I decide what format I want to release it on from the very start, it may affect me in the long term and I could miss out (i.e. vinyl sales going up in sales in 2014 ever since 1996). Once all that is completed, I will then turn my attention towards promotion and advertisement because by then, I'll have a finished product with it's own packaging ready to be consumed.

Marketing Strategy:

My product will be an EP consisting of 10 tracks and I chose to have it at 10 tracks because I want to grasp and maintain the listener's attention within a suitable time range. For instance, if I had more tracks, that would mean that the EP would be longer and I'd run the risk of losing the listener's attention, or they'll become bored, etc. As mentioned earlier, my USP is the fact that I sample and that really expand my target audience from simply being "mainly fans of one genre" to being "general music fans of various genres".

My EP will go for a price of £3 (if not, then certainly cheaper), but since it'll be available on different formats, prices will vary. I chose to set it at a cheap price because I want it at a price where it's affordable for everyone, regardless of what class they're in (i.e. working class, etc). In regards to format, I plan to release the project on digital, CD and vinyl (£2.50 for digital, £3 for CD & £4 for vinyl), however each format will have it's own feature.

For digital, I'll just release the original EP in it's initial form, for CD, I'll place a hidden track at the end of the last song and for vinyl, I'll alter the production work, especially songs produced by me. Also, I'd sell my project for a cheaper price for those that turn up to see me perform but the prices will vary dependent on how many people turn up to my show. You will be able to purchase the music through virtual stores and places such as supermarkets and retail stores, however once again the format will be taken into consideration. For example, for vinyls and CDs, I can sell it through websites such as www.discogs.com.

For promotion, I plan to advertise my project everywhere I can. For example, I can advertise through
local newspaper ads simply because I've never seen an album get advertised via newspapers, let alone a local one. One other affective way would be to get my project promoted/reviewed by a blogger (the bigger the blog/blogger, the more exposure I get) and I could do a favor for them in return. I can also ask a friend to help me create some flyers so I can post them around venues. I can also advertise my project through social media outlets, for example Facebook, because I can then reach out to people who I may never ever reach and if they're interested, they'll click on the link and discover me and my music.

Development:

Once I release this EP, I plan on continuing producing/composing more music and writing more lyrics, releasing more EP's and releasing LP's in the process, as well collaborating with other artist's, whether if it's only a single or a full length studio album.

Budget:

Since this is my first EP and I don't have a huge (or any) presence in the music industry, I can instantly save myself a lot of money and gain more time by choosing to create the EP at home. I can also decide to record at home but that'll require me purchasing a microphone (£40+ for condenser, £15+ for Dynamic but you can find some really cheap).

I'd also need acoustic foams for the room I'll be recording in so I'll be looking at around £30+ for some tiles. However, I can simply go to a friend's house (who happens to be in a music collective with me) and record my stuff their for free which can save me around £85, plus he offered to mix down and master each track for my project for free, so that covers my concerns for mixing & mastering costs. However, the only other person(s) that would mix down and master my tracks would be myself simply because I know what sounds I want to accomplish in the music I make.

For artwork, I would prefer to do it myself to compliment my project. I would either draw the artwork and alter it with the use of photoshop (or something similar) or don't draw at all and gather images and/or takes my own pictures and solely solely use a program like photoshop to execute what I want to do.

For the format, digital will cost me nothing as I can simply upload it on sites like Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc. For CD's, I can buy stacks of empty CD's and burn the music on the CD's myself (I'd be looking at £20 or less for stacks of empty CD's). For vinyls, I understand it's difficult these days to get a pressing, however, through my friend's family friend whom works for a small label directed me to a place very local to me (near Holloway Underground Station) where I can press 2 vinyls for £25.

For the advertisement, I plan to have around £50-£100 because the more money I have for advertisement, the more I can spread my name out there and let people know I exist, meaning that investing a bit more into advertisement can pay off for me in the long term.


I will have two main sources of income to invest into all this: part-time job and doing sets with my collective. Funny enough, I know a bunch of guys that have invested in a sound system (which is still growing) and they organize legal events and me and my fellow group members were fortunate enough to perform on one of their stages and get paid for it. I also met someone at the event who planned on hosting an event at the same venue later in the year (December) and asked for a promo by my group so he can confirm a slot for us.

I'd much prefer a part-time job to a full-time simply because that gives me more time to focus on my music and not have all my spare time consumed by work. It would also give me motivation to keep on creating better music for the project and not to slack off as I'll always keep telling myself "You're doing this job to fund for your project".

Royalties

Royalties

What are royalties?

Royalties is an agreement between musicians (i.e. writers, composers, etc) and those who want to use their music for their own purposes. Musicians get their royalties by having their music played on TV/film (this would be known as a synchronization fee), radio, record sales (both physical & digital), merchandise & live performance, amongst other things.

Licensing is very important in regards to royalties because if a venue (can also be a public place like a store) plays music, then it's mandatory for them to purchase a PPL & PRS license (read below for more on PPL & PRS). The relevant societies will then collect the money and gives them to the relevant musicians (writers, composers & performers) as royalties.

There are three main collection agencies (In the UK) when it comes to royalties: PRS, MCPS & PPL.

PRS (Performing Rights Society):

PRS collects royalties and pays them to the writer(s) (both instrumentation & lyrics) when a song of theirs is performed live and that doesn't just mean concerts, it also includes if the song was played in the public (radio, TV, etc). Those who write lyrics to songs get a PRS royalties rate of 50% AT LEAST.

MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society):

MCPS royalties are paid to a songwriter whenever a copy of their song has been made, however if the songwriter is apart of a band, then it isn't unheard of for the songwriter to share the MCPS royalty with the band. However, MCPS royalties can work a bit more complicated and difficult for the songwriter. For example, it can work in ratio of "numbers of albums made:numbers of albums sold" and other ways so it can work in the advantage of the label, especially if they are major.

PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited):

PPL collect royalties from recorded music and distribute them to the recordings artists whom performed on the recording. This also includes sold CD's, music played through TV, radio, etc. If you run a business and you want to play music for the background, you'll need a PPL license if you're going to play music on the grounds of your business (i.e. inside the store) and the employees of the business can be counted as the "general public", so licensing is a MUST for businesses that want to play music.


What is copyright?

The right to prevent other people from copying your work and using it for their own benefits (in this case, recorded music & lyrics), so this allows the copyright owner to do what they want with the work and protect it, however, copyright works differently in the case of songs and recorded songs. When it comes to songs, the initial copyright owners would be the songwriter who wrote the lyrics and composes who wrote the song, but when it comes to recordings, the owner of the copyright would be whomever arranges the recordings (including booking and paying for studio time) and that could be the record label, for example.



The importance of royalties & copyright and what the industry might be like without it

In the music industry, royalties & copyright are perhaps one of the most important things. If the music industry didn't have these two things, in my opinion, it would be a much more crooked & shady industry and law would be much more involved than it is now and it would also be much less appealing.

For instance, why enter an industry doing something that you love when there's a high chance you won't get as much money as you'd deserve or even get any? why enter an industry where there's always a chance you can get screwed by anyone at any moment? why enter an industry where you make a great song and see someone else take credit for it?

When it comes to this topic, the questions can go on and on for days, however there have been some cases in the past & present concerning this specific matter. In my opinion, the following examples can give us an indication of what the industry might be like without things such as royalties, licensing & copyright.

Below is a video about Milli Vanilli and their tragedy (In my opinion, I think wasn't their fault as I felt they taken advantage of, however this happens in the current music industry). However, the reason I shared this was because I felt this can strongly represent of one aspects of the industry, especially if it didn't have the things in questions (royalties, licensing & copyright).

In this case, if the industry didn't have these things, you would have millions of people running around claiming things they can't do (i.e. sing) and get all the credit for it. However, the focus would be more on the labels (especially the major ones) because they would solely take advantage of people that have aspirations and push them into deals that would make them puppets so they sing & dance on stage to pull in money (and I wouldn't be surprised if they chose people who were "eye candy") or they would find talented people who can make hits and push them in a deal where they must work for their label and ONLY their label so you can't work with another, let alone sign with another (look at Ma$e with Bad Boy Records) just so they can fuel income for the label and the worst part of it; none of them will probably get paid. On that note, the industry would be a much more violent place behind closed doors.

Roles & Contracts

Roles & Contracts

Record Companies


A&R (Artist & Repertoire):


Duties:

An A&R's primary job is to scout fresh and new talents that are yet to be discovered, hoping that they are the next big thing. However it's not as easy as it sounds as they have to search far and wide to find a "gem in the trash". Once they find a new talent with potential to achieve commercial success, they must convince them as to why their label is right for them and their direction of music.


Salary/Hours/Working Environment:

A&R's arguably have one of the most enjoyable roles in the whole industry and this is one of the reasons. Their working environment? Located everywhere that plays live music because when they hear a good submission from a band/artists, an A&R has to see the act perform live to actually see the artist/band in action before approaching them.

The hours are flexible as record companies can't give them a set amount of hours to work as most of the time, A&R's are going to gigs to see live performances and listen to music that are being submitted by unknown acts hoping that their music catches the ear of an A&R.

The salary is completely dependent on various factors such as experience and where you're located in the world but also mainly on yourself. One of the biggest factors would be the label you're working for because "the bigger the label, the bigger the pay check". It won't be surprising if you start off earning no money, however you gain something very important once you start and that is "Networking". Networking is perhaps one of the most important things you can get and expand on while working in the music industry as it can point you in directions you probably never knew existed before hand, which comes really handy for an A&R when they want to look for new talent. Also, one of the biggest factors that influences your salary is your track record. For example, if you've been recruiting acts that ended up in success then you get a bigger reputation and a bigger pay check, however if you recruit acts that are shelved/scrapped by the label after an album (or even a song), it's likely you'll be shown to the door.


Skills/Education Needed:

One of the main things that is mainly needed is experience in the music industry. For example, you can be an artist and be an A&R (i.e. Many sight that Jay-Z is responsible for the upstart Kanye West's career). Don't forget that it's always possible to enter such a career with little or no experience. A few examples of skills needed to be an A&R are:

*A wide knowledge of various musical genres
*A good understanding of songwriting, production & composing
*Very good communication in order to present themselves well
*Have an understanding of marketing in the music industry


Type Of Contract:

As mentioned earlier, a label can't place a set time for an A&R and their work so they'll most likely base it off their track records of who they have recruited for the label. The more successful acts they've recruited, the longer they stay on the label.


Payment Method:

It's highly likely that when you're in a major label, they'll pay A&R in points (points are percentage points from album sales, deals, etc). An A&R generally wouldn't ask for a ridiculously high percentage, but the more successful the act is, more money goes into the pocket of the A&R. A&R's can also get paid in bonuses from the success of the acts they've signed.


Risks Associated With Contract Type:

If you're not finding good acts and constantly going through "droughts" of not finding new acts, you will be shown the door.



Radio Plugger:


Duties:

Radio Pluggers are one of the many connections in the music industry that can take you somewhere, given the right time & place. Their main role is to make sure to get the artist's/band's new releases (typically singles) into the hands of producers and DJ's of radio shows, however depending on the popularity of the artist/band, the plugger may even bring them a whole album for them to play. Even if they can't get the artists/band on the playlist, let alone a rotation, the plugger will at least try and get a few plays. They also attempt set up the artist/band with a live radio session or interviews mainly based around upcoming gigs and projects yet to be released, but they both tend to go hand in hand. The whole point is to give the artist/band more exposure to the world.


Salaries/Hours/Working Environment:

The work environment of a plugger would typically be their home or they'd be working from an office. The hours vary as it depends on how much work they can find and how much work they can handle. The salary for a radio plugger is a little bit more complicated however.

There is no regular income for a plugger so they'll only get paid when they do their job but when they do their job well, they get paid really well. However, to get yourself in such a position, that takes work ethic and time. There are various methods on how a plugger can get paid, which will mainly be dependent on the client (client being record labels mainly) that hires the plugger and the reputation of the plugger. For example, the plugger could be paid upfront (if they have a really good reputation), get paid bit by bit as the band's/artist's exposure increases or get paid once the job is done.

It's not uncommon for new pluggers to charge the client at a much lower price. Some will even charge absolutely nothing just to gain experience and build up contacts within the industry. It also wouldn't be a surprise if even the high-end pluggers will do some jobs at a reduced rate or free of charge because they may simply believe that the artist/band involved has the potential to become big.


Skill/Education Needed:

*Contacts - Without contacts, radio pluggers are essentially useless.
*Patience - It won't happen all the time but artists/bands won't gain a ridiculous amount of exposure overnight.
*Good Communication Skills - If you talk to a contact the wrong way, you can kiss that contact goodbye. Also have to be persuasive so artists/bands choose you.
*Drive - If you're not determined to become a great plugger and try your best to expose any of the artists/bands that approach you, you will be left behind to bite the dust.


Type Of Contract:

For radio pluggers, it will be based on their track record. The more clients they satisfy, then more jobs will come their way.


Payment Methods:

Radio Pluggers can be paid either upfront, at the end or either paying by result (meaning the more exposure is gained, the more money the plugger gets paid). Pluggers can even get paid bonuses for gaining certain results (i.e. the artist/band gains a high demand, etc)


Risks Associated With Contract Type:


If people don't want to hire you to give their artist/band exposure, then you'll soon be facing a reducing income (or no income at all).



PR Officer:


Duties:

Public Relation (PR) Officers handles the reputation of their clients, so they do this through the use of media and their communication skills to make, manage and maintain their client's image and reputation. They also deal with the public & press should they want their client's attention (i.e. interviews), analyzes the media and any coverage they do about any of their clients and provides their clients with information about things like promotional opportunities, etc.


Salaries/Hours/Working Environment:

The working environment is pretty standard as you'd work from an office working 9am till 5pm, however it may may vary dependent on workload, meeting deadlines or responding to a "crisis" (i.e. client may find themselves in a mess where the media play the roles of vultures and rip apart their reputation) and they'll also need to travel to meet clients and attend events. Salaries can start from £18,000 per year but can increase as you grow in experience and rise in ranks, meaning that the yearly salary can go up to £100,000+.


Skill/Education Needed:

To become a PR, you don't need a degree to become a PR officer, however since the PR industry is very competitive, having a degree will surely play to your advantage however since any degree is accepted, some employers would prefer that you have a degree in Business, Politics, English, Marketing, etc. Some skills many successful PR officers possess are:

*Good teamwork - If you can't work as a team, you may be seen as a "thorn" by your colleagues.
*Creativity
*Communication - As a PR, you'll be speaking to many important people.
*Good presentation skills - You cannot present your clients in a negative way if you're to manage and maintain their reputation.



Contracts


What if I want to get out of it?

It's not unusual for an artist/band to want to leave a contract deal after signing one because of various reasons such as "the deal isn't for them" or maybe they didn't read the contract well enough and found out things they agreed to that they didn't understand at the time, etc.

It's really hard to escape from a record label for an artist and it always has been. Record labels always look for a way to keep artists/bands tied to their labels for as long as possible and mainly do this through contracts hoping that the artist/band slips up. The most common ways to escape from a contract with a record label is either buying yourself out of the contract or to simply see out your contract till the end of the agreed term.


Will it protect me?

When you sign with a record label (especially major), they'll look out for you so long as you are signed with them. They'll protect you from various things such as your songs getting sampled by another artist/band without permission (or someone making a case of you sampling someone else without permission) to hiring a fine lawyer for you should you be in court potentially facing time behind bars.


What guarantees will it offer?

One guarantee is that the label will push you and your music out there as far as they can push it, meaning they'll push towards radio slots, getting you interviews, selling merchandise, etc. They'll definitely provide you with a studio and time to produce music for the label.

Another guarantee is that the label won't cover all of your costs (unless they 100% believe in you and your music) as they'll charge you for measly things that will build up such as ordering lunch everyday to the studio, covering travel costs (should you be touring), etc.


How will I get paid?

When signed to a contract with a record label, you'll tend to get paid in royalties and royalties are based on the percentage of the standard retail selling price. However your royalties that are earned from outside your base country may be calculated differently, for example, 50% in America, 40% in Australia, 25% in Japan, etc. You can also get paid other ways such synchronization fees (i.e. your music appearing on adverts, games, movies, TV shows, etc)


Pros:

*They provide you with things you may have not been able to afford before singing (i.e. a state-in-the-art studio).

*They have enough money to afford costs to promote you (i.e. create and sell your merchandise, advertise any upcoming singles/projects you've made, etc)

*If a record label (especially major) signs you or wants to sign you, it can indicate that you have some talent (Miles Davis signed to Warner Bros., Nas signed to Columbia, Jimi Hendrix singed to Capitol, etc)


Cons:

*They look out for themselves before the artist (i.e. look at people like Toni Braxton).

*They'll be shady when it comes to contracts, meaning they won't tell you everything you NEED to know, they'll tell you everything you want to hear.

*Once you sign to any contract they hand over to you, it'll be so hard for you to escape the contract.

4 Areas Of The Music Industry

In this assignment, I will explain these 4 areas:

Record Companies
Artist Management
Music Publishing
Live Performance


Record Label/Companies

A record label is a company that manufactures and sells recorded music. Instead of doing the promotional work themselves, they hire other people to handle that job. They also hire A&R (Artist & Repertoire) to look out for new, young talent in the hopes of finding the "Next Big Thing".

When they sign an artist, the main focus of the label would be to make the artist a "brand" (i.e Wu-Tang, Eminem and The Beatles are all brands). That means the artist (now considered a brand) can sell both records and merchandises and on top of that, the label advertises the artist and gets them out here in the public to increase their fan base. The purpose of this is so they can play at bigger venues for live performances which means more profit can be made.

There are two types of recording labels - major and independent (Note: A lot of independent labels are backed by major ones these days). Here are the pro's and con's of both:

Major (i.e. EMI, Def Jam & Universal):

Pros:

*Resources
They have the money, the studios, the equipment, etc. Even in today's industry where several changes are being made, major record labels still have a lot of money to spend (unlike independent labels). For example, they can invest in the recording, touring, promoting your work, videos, clear samples for you (if any of your songs contain a sample).

*Connections
A lot of major labels have been around for decades (i.e. EMI) so there's no doubt that they have various connections, especially in the media. Which means that they would find promoting an artist much easier than an independent label would.


Cons:

*Priorities
Scenario - You've just signed to a major label, you think that everything's going to go smoothly right? Wrong. To put it in the simplest form, you're simply a page in a big book and you're one of the last few pages. A major label will boast musicians in their rosters who have proven themselves and gained stardom, meaning they would have a bigger fan base than you do.

*Shady deals
There's been a history where major record labels have trapped artists in very bad contracts (very bad for the artist, look at Mase with Bad Boy Records for instance). In these types of deals, the label puts in various things stating so and so and the artists wouldn't know what they mean, so they'd sign it and won't know they'd regret it until later down the line. One way to look at it is that the label puts a leash on you.


Independent (i.e. XL Records, Cherry Red Records & VP Records):

Pros:

*Passion
Independent labels have more passion than a major label does. A major mainly focuses on sales, chart success, etc (basically money). On the other hand, an independent would focus on finding good music and getting it out there. If you're signed to an independent, then the main reason for their interest in you is because they like your music, whether it's innovative, the style, etc.

*Direct relationships
Because an independent label is smaller than a major one, access is easier compared to a major, which means you can build better relationship with the staff members and artists on the roster, which may lead to future collaborations whether it be a single or an LP (album).


Cons:

*Resources
While the major labels are on the greener side of the grass when it comes to finance, independent labels are on the other side doing what they can with what they've got. So while the major labels pour money into promotion and advertisement, independents have to think innovative ways to capture attentions in the hopes of getting their artists some recognition.

*Smaller than major
Because independent labels aren't as big as majors, that means they won't have as many connections as they would, let alone established ones. This would also mean that it would be hard to make their presence known because of the size of their roster, unless they had it packed with proven musicians with big fan bases.


These days, picking an independent label over a major seems to be the way forward and with good reason, however that doesn't necessarily mean going major is a bad thing. It's all down to you and what you'd prefer.



Artist Management:

The best way to describe the artist manager's relationship with the artist is simply yin-yang (Chinese philosophy of how opposing forces are complementary to each other). "Yang" being the "sunny" side, which in this case is the artist since they've got the fame, their face is the one in lights, they're the one person people pay to see perform live, etc etc. On the other hand, there's "Yin" which is the "shady" side.

The artist manager does everything the artist doesn't want to do, things like "taking care of business" (i.e. talking to various people to get stuff done like finding gigs, deal with bookings, meet with labels, etc), looking after the interests of the artists and working very long hours. Note that the pay for an artist manager would be around 20% - 30%.


When is it a best time to get an artist manager?

*When you start doing live performances because you'd have a big enough fan base that are willing to pay to see you perform live, so you'd want a manager to find gigs for you.

*When you sign you're first major label deal. If you sign a major deal, they would provide you with a artist manager but I'd advise you turn it down because you don't want to trust major labels these days as the manager they'd offer you would see that you commit yourself to the label rather than working towards what's best for you and your career/future.

*When you start selling records. This will lead you do live shows and will attract interest from labels, both major and independent.


Skills needed:

*Patience - "Rome wasn't built in a day".

*Communication - because how are you gonna make connections and succeed if you're going to remain quiet.

*Be a nice person - basically meaning don't be rude so you can establish long term relationships.

*Experienced - if you're going to manage an artist/band with no experience whatsoever, then it'll only lead to a road of stress for you and whoever you're managing.

*Industry knowledge - you need to know about the environment you're working on, otherwise you may make some mistakes due to lack of knowledge and you'll encounter trouble along the way.

*Contacts - the more you have, the more key's you have to open more doors of opportunities.

*Organized - as an artist manager, you have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to keep track, so it's very important to keep things in order to make work easier for you in the long run, as long you stay organized.



Music Publishing:

If you're a song writer (or if it's one of the things you can do) then I highly recommend you get a music publishing deal. Music publishers treat songwriters much like how a record label would treat their roster of artists: contract agreement, promote their songs to other singers (for example "End Of The Road", sung by Boyz II Men but written by Babyface (Kenneth Edmonds), Antonio "L.A." Reid and Daryl Simmons) and other reasons such as adverts, movie soundtrack, etc. It's also very important to note that songwriters are entitled to 50% of profits made from a song they wrote the lyrics for.

Much like contracts between an artist and a record label, there are certain types with some being good for a songwriter. Some can help the songwriter a lot in both their craft (style) and career, and as you'd expect, there are some bad ones that can either slow down your growth as a songwriter or just ruin your career.

Although it has various similarities with record labels (in how they function), there are also different types of music publishers:

*Major - Mainly and directly linked with the major labels (i.e. Sony), these songs would be the "creme dela creme" and would boast great songwriters who are on the top of their game.

*Independent (associated with major) - These types of publishers have it easier than publishers that are 100% independent. The difference is that the independent labels that are directly linked with majors let them handle their licensing.

*Independent (actually independent) - Instead of allowing majors to handle it, they handle their own licensing and on top of that, they have their own money.

*Writer-Publishers - This is truly independent, where you do the work yourself. It's not "out of the ordinary" that some writers publish their own written work. If the song writer decides that there is too much work for them to handle alone, they'll hire someone to handle some of the work for them (mainly the administration of the song). However, instead of receiving a % of income the song makes, they work on a salary.



Live Performance:

This is very fundamental to artists, especially in this day and age. Due to the internet, you can pirate (illegally download) music which means bad news for record labels and their artists because they won't be selling any records. So the artists have to generate their income mainly through live performances. That being said, it doesn't mean live performances are a negative thing. If the people that attended your shows give a good review to their friends then you've done a good show, but if you do a bad one (or arrive late, etc etc) then there's a chance you could lose some fans (however if you mess up, you can learn from it by not making the same mistake). It's also good to do your research into venues to see which ones can match/suit the genre you mainly work in (you don't want to be a classical musician playing in the House Of Blues).

Performing live grants you more advantages than disadvantages (in fact, there are practically no disadvantages), such as:

*Experience - One of the things you'll need during life in general and it's also an important thing for live performance. The more accustomed you are to performing in front of a large number of people, the better the show you can put on.

*Popularity/Reputation -  You can increase it in the music industry if you do great live performances (i.e. Kanye West) and that also increases your fan base which means more people will want to see you and that means more money for you.

*More money - indicating from the above points (experience & popularity/reputation), the more you have of both, then more people will want to see which means you'll have to move to bigger venues and that will mean prices for tickets will increase and that will increase your pocket size.