So How Does Your All-State Oboe Player End Up In Country Music?

So how does your All-State Oboe player end up in Country Music? by Chuck Appleton

Sound familiar? Do you have any students that are strong musicians in your programs who thought their only option was music education if they had a passion for music? Let me tell you about a career in music publishing one of my music students took that has placed her as Creative Director for Word Country/Word Music Publishing.

(Information below from an article by Craig Rosen of "In Tune" magazine)

Performing for vast audiences in front of the cameras may seem like the most exciting way to play in the music business, but the music game with the biggest prize is often played in boardrooms in small writing studios, by songwriters in the business people who make up the world of "music publishing".

THE RULES: What is Music Publishing?

One of the most confusing things about the music publishing business is its name: in the days before recorded music, publishing referred to the business of printing and distributing paper sheets of music: a song became a hit when people bought a copy to play on an instrument and/or sing at home. The sale of printed sheet music still plays a role in the music publishing business, but the enterprise of creating, documenting, owning and lending musical compositions for use by others now includes all the forms of music distribution other than printing on paper, including audio recording. Yet the name from the print days is still in use. You may have heard the term "intellectual property". Intellectual property refers to a persons ownership of--and right to profit from--his or her own ideas. When you write a story, poem, or song, take a photograph, or draw a picture, you automatically own that work and control the rights to distribute it to others. That's the definition of a copyright. Legally no one has the right to copy your work without your permission. You can register this copyright with the government, but the right is yours even before you do so.

THE PLAYERS: Songwriters, Music Publishers and The Media

Owning a copyright is one thing, but it's not easy for a songwriter to actually profit from a song without some help. And that's where "music publishers" come in. The publishers two main jobs are to help find profitable use of the work, and to "administer"-- basically, look after and manage-- the copyrighted work of the composers, songwriters, and lyricists they work with. The first job is known as "placement" or "song-plugging". The publisher represents the writer and offers--or "pitches" in industry jargon--the right to use his or her work to potential customers. These include artists and repertoire (A&R) executives at record companies or "labels" who might want one of the "labels" artists to record the song and include it on an upcoming album. It also includes "music supervisors" who work for the film studios, TV production companies, ad agencies, or game developers, and might recommend the song for use in film, TV, advertisements, and video games.

THE PRIZE: Royalties

The most important job in the "music publishers" relationship with its client (songwriters and composers) is negotiating and collecting fees--called "royalties"--on behalf of the writer every time the work is used in a recording, in commercials,as TV or film background music, as a telephone ringtone, or in video games. Here's where things get a little complicated; there are several kinds of royalties, called mechanical, synchronization, and performance royalties each generates income from a different source. Without getting too detailed in this article, royalties paid to songwriters and composers through their music publishers for the use of their music in movies, TV, advertisements, and games is where royalties are generated. When you hear a song in a movie or TV show, the copyright owner-- which is the songwriter or composer--gets paid a royalty.

GETTING IN THE GAME: Jobs in publishing

Music publishers and Performance Rights Organizations (called PROs such as: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC), track and distribute royalties tied to performances. They need a lot of employees with many different skills. They have accountants, lawyers, and technology experts, as well as "creative" departments that include A&R, and artist and member relations executives.

As Maurice Russell, vice president of licensing, collections and business affairs for capital HFA (Harry Fox Agency) notes: "You don't have to be a musician to work in the music business. If you're great at math you can work in finance or distributions and take what you're good at and do it in the industry."

According to Tim Fink, SESAC's vice president of writer/publisher relations, new technologies are generating more opportunities for composers. "If you want to go back a few years, streaming radio didn't exist." As streaming radio has become more established, it's generating more revenue through the license fees it pays PROs.

So you see the job availability for students with a strong musical interest are very wide open in the recording industry. I just happen to know a little bit about this since that All-State oboe player/music business major at Belmont University (2007), happens to be my favorite music student of all time, my daughter :-)

If you have students interested in other careers in music, please contact Janine Appleton. Here is her information:

Janine D. Appleton
Creative Director, Wordcountry/Word Music Publishing

WORD Music Publishing
25 Music Sq. West
Nashville, TN 37203
Direct Office: (615) 687-5740
Janine.appleton@wordentertainment.com

You just never know where music may take you.........

Chuck Appleton Palen Music Center -- Columbia chuck@palenmusic.com Chuck Appleton taught instrumental music for 33 years and retired in May, 2010. Chuck taught 23 years in Warrensburg, where he was director of bands and eight years in Dixon, MO. A native of Sedalia, Missouri, Mr. Appleton received his bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Missouri State University in 1979 and a Master of Music Education degree from Central Missouri State University in 1995. Mr. Appleton served as Band Vice-President for the Missouri Music Educators Association from 2006-2008. Mr. Appleton is also a member of MENC, Missouri Bandmasters Association, Missouri Association of Jazz Educators and Phi Beta Mu.