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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1978)
in the Northeast include Sears’ and Penney’s stores. “You really have to know your market area. A group like the Amazing Rhythm Aces may sell big in Tennessee because they’re ‘home town boys,’ while a group like Aerosmith sells better in the Northeast because they’re from New England. We sold a lot of Saturday Night Fever albums in the New York City area because the hero of the movie was from there and a lot of people identified with it.’’ Q. How do record companies go about promoting a record? Is it possible to “buy” a hit? Promotion personnel are told to con centrate on a few; records each month, handpicked by company brass. The company buys advertising in con sumer and trade magazines, arranges radio commercials and guest appear ances for the artist, and often holds press parties for influential writers and broadcasters. “Promo is the heart of the record company,” says one record publicity director. “Promo men are tied to the songs they’re told to push each month whether they like them or not, and they’ve got to do all they can to ‘bring them home’ (make them hits). If they don’t, their jobs are on the line.” It’s hard to tell exactly how' much is spent to promote a record, since record companies want to perpetuate what industry insiders call the “mystique of the hit”: they prefer for people to think that the record climbed the charts on its own. One of the most costly promotions ventures is “crossing over”—moving from one area of popular music to another. Take Dolly Parton’s much publicized move from country music to the more lucrative world of pop. “This kind of thing just doesn’t happen on its own,” says Michael Bane, editor of Country Music magazine. “You figure production of her Here You Come Again album, a deal with a prestige public relations firm, promotion of the album, a management contract, and a press party at New York’s World Trade Center for 1,500 people—that cost RCA more than a million dollars right there, maybe as much as $3 million. All this was essentially to buy a chart position forhersingleandalbum. RCA may not get back all they spent right away, but they will have established her as a pop star and set the stage for a blockbuster hit.” A heavy promotional effort can boost sales, but promotion personnel and distributors agree that it can’t sell a record that’s a dud. “A record has to have something going for it,” says one publicity director. Q. It seems that every year.moreofthe records I buy are defective and I end up having to go through the hassle of taking them back. Why is this? Record sales have increased 43 percent in the last couple of years, and some manufacturers have been running 24 hour-a-day shifts seven days a week to keep up with the demand. Even though most manufacturing plants attempt to maintain a high level of quality control through record inspectors (Columbia Records has 150 at its Terre Haute, Indiana, plant), record store owners and distributors report daily complaints about defective records and tapes. “We mainly get complaints about bubbles on records, records that were warped in pressing or shipment, and tapes with defective moving parts in the cartridge,” says Jay Jacobs of Knox Record Rack Company. “But we’ve also found that maybe 30 percent ofthe claims are not valid—a person is tired of a record, for instance, or hasn’t cleaned the head of his tape player." Any truly defective record or tape can be exchanged without charge, and the record manufacturer takes it back. “In general, the quality of the average record is far superior to what it once was because the sound and recording equipment is so fantastic. Take an album recorded in 1958, then listen to one recorded this year, and you’ll be shocked at the difference.” Q. How do songwriters get paid? A songwriter generally contracts with a publisher w ho releases the song, registers it for copyright and represents the writer in issuing recording rights. Publishers also share in the royalties. Under U.S. copyright law, anyonewho wants to record, publish or perform a song in public must get the copyright owner’s permission and arrange for payment. Since it is impossible for an indiv idual to monitor the thousands of places his work may be performed, most writers and publishers affiliate with a performance rights licensing organization which will do the collect ing for them. The organizations— ASCAP (The American Society of Composers. Authors and Publishers), BM1 (Broadcast Music Incorporated) and SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers)—col lect royalties for their affiliates from TV and radio stations, airlines, restau rants. concert halls, discosandjukebox operators. The licensing organizations have recently negotiated with colleges and universities to collect royalties for performance of copyrighted music on campus. It would be impossible to determine every piece of music played, so they work out fees based on criteria like a percentage of total revenue, number of seats, w hether admission is charged or the number of days and nights that music is played. More than 59,000 songwriters and over 23,000 publishers are affiliated with the three licensing organizations. “All of ASCAP’s income is distributed to the members after deducting thecost of doing business,” says Paul Marks, ASCAP managingdirector.“Howmuch each songwriter or publisher gets is determined by the number of perform ances of their songs as indicated by a scientific survey which includes a ran dom sample of TV and radio stations, background music licensees and a census of live performances. ASCAP collected $102.4 million last year for its members. SESAC gives its writers and publish ers extra cash for songs which make the national charts, cross over from one chart to another, or remain there 15 weeks or longer. Even with a royalty of only a few cents per performance, a songwriter who has a song that be comes a standard can expect to cash in year after year. Jim Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” released in 1967, has logged well over a million performances and still brings in royal ties as do Lennon-McCartney’s “Elea nor Rigby,” released in 1966, and hundreds of other songs. Q. Do artists get royalties for each album they sell? Or do they just make a record for a flat fee? For an artist, a royalty istheamount he gets for each album sold. The amount varies from a few cents to more than a dollar, depending on the stature of the artists and the shrewdness of their lawyers and managers. Stars like Paul McCartney and the Bee Gees can command a dollar or more per album, with the royalty amount automatically increasing when sales reach the 700,000 mark. Artists may also get what is known as a “guarantee,” which is a lump sum paid when they deliver tne finished tracks for the album. Un knowns may be given an “advance” to cover expenses while recording and before their record begins to sell. Rec ord companies recoup the advance by withholding royalties until the a mount is made up. “Of course a group like the Bee Gees can command a much higher royalty and guarantee than an unknown group.” says Bob Edson, vice-president of RSO Records. The group’s Saturday Night Fever album sold seven million copies in three months and is a contender for best selling album of all time. “An artist may make $35,000 off a good-selling country album, $350,000 off a hit pop album, or millions off albums like Rumours and Saturday Night Fever. says ABC Records’ Jerry Bailey. 0 Staff writer Kitty Yancey has worked as a reporter in Nashville, the country music mecca.
