CHRISTMAS SONGS: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

The festive season is upon us once again, and we can’t help but hum Christmas carols and Christmas songs.

These tunes come into vogue for approximately 6 weeks of every year, however research indicates that an exceptionally well crafted Christmas song can be a lucrative money spinner in perpetuity.

The British are fine exponents of all things Christmas, including popular Christmas songs from the past 4 decades. Here’s a sample of the estimated annual royalties derived from Christmas-themed  songs written by British artists:

·         “Merry Xmas Everybody” – Slade [AUD$1.44M]

·         “Fairytale Of New York” – The Pogues [AUD$940K]

·         “Last Christmas” – Wham [AUD$540K]

·         “Mistletoe And Wine” – Cliff Richard [AUD$178K]

·         “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid [AUD$140K]

·         “Merry Christmas Everyone” – Shakin’ Stevens [AUD$97K]

·         “2000 Miles” – The Pretenders [AUD$80K]

·         “Stay Another Day” – East 17 [AUD$54K]

·         “Stop The Cavalry” – Jona Lewie [AUD$24K]

Love them or hate them, these songs represent very tidy sums of money for their writers and copyright owners. 

DEATH OF THE NON-PERFORMING PUBLICITY-SHY SONGWRITER

The only constant in the world of music is rapid change. There have been many examples of non-performing hit songwriters over the past 5 decades, ranging from Liebler and Stoller to Max Martin, and the reason why these songwriters are known by face is because the enormous success of their bodies of work has “forced” them to become stars.

What becomes of the journeyman non-performing song writer in the modern age of music?

Garry Paige is an established Australian song writer with over 250 compositions in his catalogue, who has been selling his craft to artists across the globe for the past 35 years. The apex of his work is “Words Are Not Enough” [a Top Ten hit in 1978 for Jon English] and “Heading In The Right Direction” [Renee Geyer’s 1975 signature song]. Both of these songs continue to receive regular airplay on Australian radio stations to this day, however Paige has been forced to take a day job due to the advert of mp3 file sharing and illegal downloading of music via the Internet.

The Internet has forced song writers [both performing and non-performing] to “give away” their music in order to maintain and/ or build a public profile AND then entice the greater public to purchase their music.  Using the Paige example, he has very little coverage when conducting a Google search of his name. If Paige improved his Internet presence, would the frequency and size of his royalty payments increase?

A message to all non-performing publicity-shy song writers; take the time to make a presence to the world [just as a performing artist must do] and watch your income skyrocket…

OLD ROCKERS GIVING AWAY DISCARDED RIFFS?

Recent media reports that Lars Ulrich [Metallica], Brian May [Queen] and Tony Iommi [Black Sabbath] will be giving away their respective band’s discarded riffs has opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box for commentary.

It is difficult to imagine very successful artists surrendering their copyrights without some form of financial consideration being in play, or is this really a case of wealthy musicians giving to the next generation?

Ulrich’s riff giveaway concept appears to revolve around selling the song fragments by way of an Ebay-style arrangement, whilst May and Iommi’s ideas involve mixing the unused guitar parts into another artist’s unreleased song. Either way, the established artist will profit most favourably from such a deal, whether it be “selling” the discarded riffs or song writing royalties from their established and lucrative publishing deals.

I am a fan of each of these artists’ back catalogue, however the cynic in me views this concept as a novel approach to maintaining publicity for each band in a new world of music.

Old rockers never die, nor does their quest for public adulation…

MUSIC FESTIVALS: GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT

From Woodstock to Live Aid to Live 8, music festivals can make or break both a music promoter and a music artist.

At first sight, the concept of a music festival per se is a logistical nightmare in anybody’s mind. How do you control the weather, the artists’ performance, the sound quality, the crowd’s behaviour et al?

With so many obstacles in play, why do promoters continue with the concept of a music festival?

Recent data released in Australia indicates that people in the 18-35 age bracket remain keen to attend music festivals, thus it’s a youth thing.

This being said, we are only touching the surface with this revelation. A youth audience will pay to attend a music festival if the music acts are appealing. This is a particularly important point, because Australian music promoters are generally filling their festivals with unknown local acts, on the pretense that they will “become” a major act on the back of their live performance.

Thirty years ago, the Narara Music Festival on New South Wales Central Coast was an artistic and financial success because the headline acts were Simple Minds, The Pretenders, The Eurhythmics and [the relatively unknown] Def Leppard. Great musicians who could all cut it live. The following year, Narara took a risk by leveraging off the “goodwill” of its name, and cut its costs by hosting only local acts. That was the final Narara Music Festival.

Nothing has changed in 40 plus years of music festivals. Yes, it’s going to be hot [or wet], crowded and uncomfortable, however all is forgiven if a promoter can attract great live acts. 

SUPERIOR COVER VERSIONS

Recent media reports that Linda Ronstadt is privately battling Parkinson’s Disease has been a genuine cause of concern for her many fans around the globe. The extent of the disease has rendered Ronstadt unable to sing, thus the music world will never hear her superb voice again.

Ronstadt is best known as an “interpreter” of other people’s songs, and some say that she is the best in the business at this craft. Roy Orbison had a smash hit with his self-penned “Blue Bayou” in 1963, however Rondstadt’s 1977 cover version may be the apex of her 40 plus year singing career. “Hurt So Bad”, “It’s So Easy”, “When Will I Be Loved”; these songs are key components of her body of work however we often overlook that each song was a hit in its previous life.

Rarely is a cover version of a song “better” than the original version. Let’s outline a selection of Superior Cover Versions:

“Without You” – Harry Nilsson heard the 1970 original by Beatles protégés Badfinger at a party, and made a mental note that this album track held all of the ingredients of a hit song. Nilsson hit the top of the charts in 1972 with his memorable re-work, and it is his version which still gets regular airplay to this day.

“Jealous Guy” – rarely can anybody “out-Lennon” John Lennon, however Roxy Music’s 1981 cover version surpassed the 1971 album cut from “Imagine”. Notwithstanding the “tribute” aspect of the release of Roxy Music’s version in the wake of Lennon’s assassination, Bryan Ferry’s vocal sensitivities and seminal whistling outro make this song very special.

“With A Little Help From My Friends” – Lennon and McCartney knocked out a catchy little ditty for Ringo Starr’s vocal debut on 1967’s “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, however Joe Cocker chose the following year to transform the song into an unforgettable psychedelic soul anthem. It’s also impossible to acknowledge that each version is one and the same song.

“All Along The Watchtower” – plenty of artists have covered Bob Dylan, ranging from The Byrds’ “Mr Tambourine Man” to Olivia Newton John’s “If Not For You”. Jimi Hendrix waited 6 months to re-work Dylan’s 1968 release of “Watchtower”, and in doing so he invented psychedelic rock.

The sure fire method of releasing a hit song is to release a cover version of a popular song. The real art is “outdoing” the original version of the song…

SINGING FOR THEIR SUPPER: MUSICIANS AND THEIR RESTAURANTS

Media reports indicate that Pete Murray is a co-investor in the recently opened “Frankie Brown Café” located in Byron Bay on the North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Murray, who is a highly respected singer-songwriter and a local resident, will be occasionally performing at the new eating establishment albeit the focus will be upon showcasing new musical talent in conjunction with an up-market menu.

It’s no secret that Murray is no longer burning up the music charts, however this investment outlines a shrewd equation of eating + music = general entertainment. Murray remains a famous and popular face in Australian music, thus we can expect some large crowds at “Frankie Brown Café” for the immediate future.

Musicians and their restaurants is not a new phenomena; Alice Cooper [Cooperstown Sports Bar in Phoenix, Arizona] and Bill Wyman [Sticky Fingers Café in London, United Kingdom] are some of the famous pioneers who have successfully combined the art of music and food.

Here are some other musicians who have quietly made the foray into the restaurant trade:

• Boz Scaggs – the success of 1975’s “Silk Degrees” enabled Scaggs to acquire the “Blue Light Bar and Restaurant” in his home town of San Francisco, where Tex-Mex dominates the menu.
• Bill Danoff – “Afternoon Delight” was a speciality on the menu of his favourite café AND the music charts in 1976. Danoff sang and composed “Afternoon Delight” for the Starland Vocal Band, and he is now the proprietor of “Starland Café” in Washington, DC.
• Jon Bon Jovi – the “Soul Kitchen” in Red Bank, New Jersey operates on the premise that you PAY WHAT YOU CAN when ordering meals. If you can’t afford to pay for your meal, JBJ and his crew will set you a simple task to complete within the establishment as your gratuity.
• Toby Keith – when you have a hit record named “I Love This Bar”, it only makes sense to open an eating house named “I Love This Bar and Grill”. Keith is a success; he now has establishments in 9 US cities.
• Jimmy Buffett – they don’t come any bigger than Mr Buffett. “JB’s Margaritaville” [named after his 1977 smash “Margaritaville”] offers up a seafood menu in more than 20 cities in the USA, plus Mexico, the Caribbean and Sydney, Australia.

This puts a nice little twist to the homage of “singing for your supper”!!

A DIFFICULT DECISION: VIVENDI RETAINS UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Recent news reports that media giant Vivendi rejected an $8.5 Billion offer for Universal Music from Japanese telecom group SoftBank has many music writers scratching their heads.

At face value, Vivendi have foregone an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sell the asset at a significant premium; Bank of America Merrill Lynch valued Universal Music at $5.8 Billion in June. Simple numbers aside, the intricacies of the offer warrant comment.

SoftBank have acquired US telecom firm Sprint Nextel, with a vision of providing music via its wireless services in the huge North American market and their homeland. There are many observers who state that SoftBank have a viable strategy, as market research firm Nielsen SoundScan have released figures to suggest that digital albums now account for more than 40% of all recorded music sales and music streaming subscription services have increased almost 25 % in the past 12 months.

On the flipside, Vivendi are placed in an awkward position because asset sales are urgently required. The European corporate owns global media assets however attempts to sell telecom assets in Brazil and Morocco have failed to reach closure.

Notwithstanding the very tempting offer from SoftBank, Vivendi can’t afford to sell Universal Music. The music imprint is the pivotal asset, without Universal Music it is feared that Vivendi’s market value would suffer a substantial decline as the balance of assets have minimal synergistic worth.

And who said you don’t need a record label in modern society?

MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: IT’S A CULTURAL THING

Many people believe that Apple dominate the paid music market by way of the enormously popular iTunes brand. The general consensus has been that the public haven’t changed their behaviour towards music; people are willing to purchase their favourite songs in order to be able to play these songs as and when they choose to.

The concept of music subscription services or “streaming” music services is a relatively new process, however it is changing the manner in which the public are willing to pay for and listen to their favourite songs.

Recent data has revealed that about 20 million people worldwide pay a monthly fee to listen to music on the Internet. Sweden, South Korea and France lead the way in this cultural change, with music subscription services outweighing paid download services three-fold. Interestingly, the largest music markets [USA, UK, Germany and Japan] still favour the paid download service.

QUESTION: Why is this happening?

ANSWER: Smart-phones.

Music lovers appear to be happy to pay about USD$10.00 per month in order to hear their favourite tunes via their smart-phones 24/7. This change in mindset has forced Apple to strategise a music streaming service, in order to stay competitive with the likes of Spotify and Google.

But what about the recently revamped MySpace music streaming service? The public can join MySpace for free, and choose from an impressive catalogue of songs for free.

Music copyright owners probably aren’t making as much money today compared to previous generations, however the general public have never had a better opportunity to listen to music for next to nothing [or nothing at all!!].

THE CONTINUING DECLINE IN MECHANICAL ROYALITIES

A composer’s ability to sustain a livelihood from the collection of mechanical royalties remains in serious doubt.

Recent studies released in Australia indicate that 1 in 5 people are most likely to illegally download music from the Internet or share files from other illegal sources.

If we delve deeper into this study, it has been revealed that 30% of these people earn in excess of $100,000.00 per annum and almost half of the study group are less than 30 years old.

This shift in consumer sentiment towards not paying for music suggests that the 18-35 age group continue to love music and they certainly have the financial resources to acquire music, however they are merely reacting to a changing culture in the marketplace. It’s very easy to forget that the first instances of “pirated” on-line music occurred more than 15 years ago, thus the youth market know no other way than to acquire music on a free basis.

In Australia, the physical music retailer almost ceases to exist, other than corporate models which aggregate DVDs, computers, televisions and phone technology for retail sale. As it stands, the range of recorded music for physical sale is limited to known artists, thus emerging artists have an extremely low success rate of gaining an audience in this manner.

Whether we like it or not, music composers are compelled to “give away” their work with respect to the traditional retail sense, on the hope that an audience is gained via touring, cyberspace or television/ movie licensing.

It’s a lot of money to forgo, however you can’t fight progress…

VALE GREG QUILL

Australian and Canadian music fans alike are mourning the passing of respected singer-songwriter and journalist Greg Quill.

Quill enjoyed minor success in 1972 as the lead singer for Australian roots band Country Radio; their single “Gypsy Queen” [written by Quill and the equally-respected Kerryn Tolhurst] continues to identify with the greater music audience by way of radio airplay and movie soundtracks. Country Radio disbanded soon after, and Quill’s 1974 debut solo album earned him a travel grant from the Australian Arts Council and a destination of Toronto, Canada.

Whilst critical acclaim for his music was always at hand, commercial solo success eluded Quill thus he returned to Australia in the late 1970’s to form the country-rock band Southern Flyer. Quill bounced between Australia and Canada as he sought an accepting audience for his music however Toronto became his permanent home for the most unexpected reason.

Quill’s musical talent extended to journalistic writing. During his early days as a musician in Australia, Quill also wrote for the popular local music magazine “Go-Set”. The desire to write never disappeared, and Quill’s ad hoc contributions to Canadian music publications saw him land the coveted role as Entertainment Reporter for the Toronto Star, of which he held until his passing.

A “musician’s musician” rather than a bone fide star, Quill leaves behind a unique legacy with his dual artist talents. His colleagues remember him as a man of humility who rarely spoke about his “time in the sun”; not because he held any resentment about his music career, rather he was comfortable with his place in the industry.

QUIET PLEASE! THE LIBRARY IS FOR PERFORMING ARTISTS

The global music industry has markedly changed over the past 5 years; not only has the manner in which we listen to and purchase music changed forever, we must also confront the changes in play in which we “view” live performing artists.

Australia’s music industry was built around the live music scene; in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s you could enjoy a live music performance 7 nights a week and 365 days a year. These music venues were also licensed to serve alcohol and to allow patrons to gamble, thus the owners of such businesses enjoyed healthy profits for many years. Over the past decade, the Australian government has passed legislation to control the level of gambling and smoking in public places, resulting in many music venues closing their doors.

Australia’s ability to foster new music talent by way of live music performances has been stymied by the progressive closure of these venues; as such local Council representatives have unveiled an unorthodox plan to reinvigorate our live music scene.

Public libraries…

So long the embodiment of a venue of “silence” to enable the public to read and research, many libraries in the major Australian cities are hosting evening live music performances in order to entertain a public who is hungry to hear new artists.

Whilst this contravenes the historical mindset of listening to a live music performance at ear-splitting volume and being showered with sweat and alcohol, the library performances are predominantly in acoustic mode and they enable the audience to “sit down and listen” to the music at close range.

In an era when people are purchasing “virtual” books and book retailers are also closing their doors, maybe [just maybe] the arts of music and reading can join hands and save themselves concurrently…

WHAT CAN LUCIAN GRANGE DO THAT GUY HANDS COULDN’T?

With Universal finally completing the protracted takeover of EMI, the music world watches on with bated breath to determine the business acumen of Universal’s chief Lucian Grange. As a heads up, Grange has bold plans for the mega music label.

In a move best described as entrepreneurial, Grange will launch a new imprint [Virgin EMI] for new and unsigned British acts, as well as launching a UK-version of the iconic North American label Capitol Records.

Some may scratch their heads at the rationale behind the huge investment, however we need to dig deeper to discover as to how Grange can budget for such a risk. It’s all about timing…

In late 2011, Grange commenced his full acquisition of EMI on the condition that Universal would pay Citibank [the appointed Receiver of EMI] their asking price regardless of the European Commission’s anti-trust investigation of the transaction. History tells us that Universal was forced to offload the Parlophone label to Warner Music, albeit the global equity markets began to rally to the benefit of media stocks. The end result is that Grange has acquired two-thirds of EMI for fifty percent of the 2011 asking price.

Grange is both a traditionalist and a visionary when it comes to the music business. Universal controls the sound recordings of artists ranging from the Beatles to Motown acts to Eminem; this is a guaranteed cash flow for generations to come. At the same time, the 2012 “Gangnam Style” frenzy has inspired Grange to realise how huge profits can be made in music by employing new and different media to promote popular artists.

Guy Hands [former EMI boss] was a private equity specialist, whereas Lucian Grange has spent his entire career working for record labels. Hands paid far too much for EMI in the middle of global financial unrest, whereas Grange appears to have timed the closure of this acquisition for a good price and at a time when recorded music sales have displayed a positive turnaround. The music industry has changed forever, however the industry still requires well-credentialed music people to run a corporate music label.

EMI & UNIVERSAL – THE MUSICAL FALLOUT CONTINUES.

Commonsense and history suggests that the merger and acquisition of 2 music corporate giants would result in some unprecedented activity. The story of EMI, Universal and Ultravox confirms this theory.

Music lovers of the early-to-mid 1980’s will remember Ultravox as British electronic pop music stars; their 1981 smash “Vienna” was recently voted “the Greatest Song Not To Reach Number One” in a BBC survey. Joe Dolce’s “Shaddup Your Face” [the ultimate One Hit Wonder] kept Ultravox at Number Two on the UK Charts for 4 weeks.

Ultravox faded away from the mainstream in the second half of the 1980’s, however their lead singer Midge Ure has never moved far from the public eye, primarily due to his involvement in co-writing Band Aid’s 1984 charity song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” and instigating the Live Aid concerts in 1985 with Bob Geldof. Ure remains a Band Aid trustee, as the aforementioned song continues to generate royalties for Ethiopian famine relief.

In the true tradition of “everything old is new again”, Ultravox regrouped in 2011 and began working up songs for their label, Universal. The initial signs of modern corporate music craziness occurred during the recording process, when Universal demanded an Ultravox album of songs from “outside” writers. Ure would have nothing of this, thus the recording of the album continued without Universal’s financial support. EMI picked up the Ultravox-penned album, “Brilliant” in 2012 however the corporate chaos surrounding their new label saw the release sink quickly due to zero promotional support.

Ultravox retains a global presence via its fans however their ongoing future is in doubt without the financial support of a major record label. Ure has been touring solo in selected territories in a very economical manner [500 seat clubs; support act doubling as his backing band] in order to gauge a “feel” for a fully-fledged Ultravox tour. It’s best described as a “DIY” process for some of the great music acts from past decades, and represents a trend for the ages…

REDFOO – MUSIC AND TENNIS DO GO TOGETHER!

As they say, any form of publicity is good publicity in the entertainment world – but music and tennis being good publicity?

Stefan “Redfoo” Gordy is a singer/ dancer/ DJ/ rapper who has made a decent sized name for himself in the music industry by way of his involvement in the dance group LMFAO and their biggest hit “Party Rock Anthem”. The 37 year old Redfoo has impeccable music pedigree; he is the son of legendary music mogul and founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy. However, there is much more to Redfoo than meets the eye…

A young Stefan Gordy was a very talented tennis player when attending college. In fact, he was so good at tennis that he would regularly do battle against Mike and Bob Bryan. The Bryan twins are currently the best tennis doubles team in the world.

Music is in Redfoo’s DNA, however his love for tennis hasn’t diminished in the passing years. During the 2011 US Open Tennis Championships in New York City, Redfoo was regularly seen in the courtside supporter box of the defending champion, Samantha Stosur.

Twelve months’ on, and Redfoo was now supporting the Number One female tennis player [and rumoured girlfriend] Victoria Azarenka in the 2012 US Open Tennis Championships.

So what does this all mean?

Romantic connections aside, Redfoo knows that any form of publicity is of benefit to his career. The world media pay plenty of attention to the four Grand Slam Tennis Championships every year; Redfoo has a legitimate reason for scheduling his music commitments around his other passion [i.e. tennis] in order to leverage maximum exposure for himself.

Redfoo has been performing in South East Asia for the last couple of weeks, whilst semi-basing himself in Melbourne, Australia to support Azarenka in her defence of the Australian Open Tennis Championships.

I can still recall when Sir Cliff Richard was supporting the talented British tennis player Sue Barker at Grand Slam Tennis Tournaments in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Time as shown that there was no romance between Richard and Barker, however their connection was an early prototype of the current connection between Redfoo and Azarenka. It’s good publicity for everybody, and it’s good clean fun!!