Hello, everyone! Thank you for finding some time in the midst of your assuredly hectic schedule to spend a few minutes on this site. The post you are about to enjoy was written with independent artists in mind, but the information being shared may be of use to record labels and signed musicians as well. Merchandising is a very important facet of life as an artist today, and we’re here to help ensure you keep your costs low.
This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There are many ways to get attention for your band, but regardless of what tips and tricks you may have picked up throughout your experience in music there is nothing that can impact your career like a great hook or brilliant melody. This is not a theory or a thought, but rather proven fact that has worked for artists trying to make it in every corner of the music business. Everything else that follows, from touring to merchandise, must take a back seat to songwriting.
All that aside, artists still need to make money. Music sales have dipped across the board over the last decade, and with streaming services like Spotify and Rdio on the rise it seems like the amount of money most artists see from their new releases will continue to dwindle for the foreseeable future. Great music still sells, yes, but only a fool would rely solely on the strength of their music sales to support themselves in the entertainment business. Merchandising beyond albums and singles is an absolute must in today’s music business, and the one item every artist can use to generate income while trying to craft that perfect song is a t-shirt. There are a billion ways to customize shirts, some far more expensive than others, but by considering the following tips you can keep costs low while furthering your marketing efforts:
—————— SUPER BASIC TIPS ——————
Two-sided designs costs more than those with a design appearing on either the back or front.
Shirts requiring the use of many inks (colors) will cost more than those created using a single ink.
Dark fabric often costs more than light fabric because more layers of ink must be applied in order for the design to stick
—————— THINGS TO CONSIDER ——————
Large designs can make a big impact
Why incur the cost of creating a two-sided shirt design when you can make a bigger, more cost effective impact with a large, single side design. The vast majority of printers charge the same rate for a design measuring 3”x5” as they do for those measuring 12”x12”. That said, not everyone is a fan of big designs, so it would be wise to check with your fan base prior to moving forward with any design.
Stop printing on both sides
The occasional two-sided shirt design can be cool, but trying to cover both sides of every shirt you create will only raise the overall cost of merchandising. Using the knowledge you gained from the tip above regarding design sizes, artists should think twice before incurring a potentially unnecessary extra expense.
Use fewer ink colors
Fans of alternative and punk music have been one of the leading forces behind a recent trend toward more color-heavy shirts. Bands like A Day To Remember and Asking Alexandria have found great success with shirts featuring cartoonish designs and many bright colors. Similar branding efforts may work for smaller artists as well, but those musicians should first consider the additional costs incurred from use of multiple inks. The number rises with each color, and unless artists plan on ordering a large quantity of shirts up front (500+) the up front cost may be more than some are willing to pay for a few extra color. Our advice is this: Keep it simple. Try and use one color whenever possible unless you know the idea you have is going to be a hit with listeners.
Order larger quantities of shirts
We touched on this a bit in the tip above, but one way musicians can lower the cost of their merchandise is to increase the number of shirts they order at one time. The price due up front will increase, but the cost per unit will drop, which in turn raises the revenue potential for your order. 100 shirts are better than 50, but 500 shirts at a time would be an ideal place to start. Of course, if you don’t have an engaged audience large enough to support such an order then you should keep things small.
Consider offering shirts for a limited time only
One way to cut out essentially all costs from merchandise orders is to create the exact number of items needed. Most print shops will tell you the per unit cost on whatever design you wish to print, as well as the number of units you must purchase in order to lower that cost. With this information in hand, artists can launch shirt designs that are available for a limited time as pre-sale only items. Once the purchasing period ends, artists can order the exact amount of shirts needed without having to make any investments out of pocket.
Think twice about upgrading your shirt choose to a fashion brand
One determining factor in how well your merchandise will sell is how comfortable that item is perceived to be. There was a time not that long ago when artists with shirts printed on any type of fabric would sell, but in an age where brands like American Apparel exist this is no longer the case. There is demand for high quality fabric, and if you meet that demand you will give listeners another reason to consider purchasing your
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We have plans to share additional merchandising tips for bands in the weeks ahead. If you have an idea for a column, or if you have a question about merchandising and branding that you want us to answer, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We look forward to hearing from you.
Hello, everyone! I know we took a little time off yesterday without warning, but a close friend of the Haulix family passed away and we needed some time to mourn. Fortunately, many of our close friends in the industry reached out to help us continue our content creation efforts while we reflect on our recently deceased friend. The piece you’re about to read was created by Seth Werkheiser, and it offers insight that could help bands and artists of all sizes improve their digital marketing efforts.
This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
I’ve talked to a handful of musicians and bands lately about the subject of “social media.” I usually steer the conversation towards email marketing, and explain how it converts better than the “social media flavor of the week.”
“But I don’t want to just email out our tour dates,” they usually say, explaining that they don’t like those emails.
There’s a simple solution: don’t be like the lazy bands who do just that.
Copying and pasting your tour dates into an email is very boring. An unpaid intern could do it. In their sleep.
Instead, try this: out of the 34 photos you posted to Instagram and Facebook during the course of your last few shows, or tours, pick a handful that “clicked well.” What dose that mean? That means the photos that got the most "likes,” or shares. Take those, and put a few of them into your next email.
Now, here’s the part where an unpaid intern can’t do what you do.
You write the back story. The location. Explain what happened. You lived it, bled it, slept in it. You drove all those hours, got sick, met an amazing character in a small town, hung out with coolest people.
Everyone loves a good story, and as a traveling musician you’ve got stories to tell, so stop “blasting” your tour dates every five minutes like every other hack band out there.
As Betabrand founder Chris Lindland says, “the assumption is that not everybody wants to shop every single time they get a newsletter.”
Think about that for a second: not everyone is ready buy tickets to your next show or watch your new music video (they might be watching Netflix at the moment). But if you tell a story about how cops nearly shut down your video shoot, you might distract them from ‘Orange is the New Black’ long enough to at least get a click!
For example, there’ a new video out from the Cancer Bats, for their song ‘Satellites.’ In the video they shoot fireworks at their drummer in a field the whole time.
Wait, they what?
How did they not get arrested shooting that video? Did anyone get burned? How much did they spend on fireworks? Who came up with that idea of shooting fireworks at their drummer?
Their YouTube description field? "SATELLITES!! Hope you like it!” Snooze.
So don’t do that with your own email newsletter. Get creative. Just because every other band out there sends a list of tour dates and nothing more doesn’t mean you have to do the same.
Share some photos, stories from the road, and then paste your tour dates at the bottom of the email. Heck, list the mileage between stops, or the tourist destination you’re planning on visiting. Ask your fans for suggestions on places to check out, the best food stops in town. Invite a few out for pre-show pizza.
These are the people who might may to come see you, right? Maybe buy a CD or shirt?
Remind your fans what you’re about, not just where you’ll be two months from now.
Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.
Hello, everyone! We are happy to have you join us this afternoon. Our friend Lueda shared with us a story this morning about her recent promotional efforts that was so inspiring we felt we had to share it with you as well. Whether you’re an artist looking for affordable promotion solutions, or a label hoping to get more exposure for your talent without going broke, the following post will have something for you.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The past few days, I been working on a blog post for Arms and Sleepers‘ new single “Swim Team,” but with each passing moment, the stats on the Soundcloud player for the single keep changing drastically. And here I am now, thinking “Screw it!” because I just want to celebrate all that’s happened in one short week.
Last week, we announced the upcoming Arms and Sleepers record Swim Team, which is out on Fake Chapter Records on October 28th, and premiered the title track on Earmilk. Since then, many publications, blogs, radio stations and friends have been approached with the news (no press releases – just good ol’ personal emails), and the results speak for themselves: the band has received coverage all across North America and Europe, and the single reached over 21,000 plays in one short week, growing steadily at 3-4k plays each day. For comparison, AAS’ pervious single, “Hurry Slowly” (which is easily one of the highlights of the album) reached 12,000 plays in 5 months.
“20,000 Plays In One Week” is my very own “Power Level 9000!!!” because I am beyond ecstatic over what’s happened. I would say I’m surprised, but I have seen what a good marketing plan and publicity can do for an artist over the years I’ve been working in the music industry. There is no doubt that in my mind that hiring a publicist is one of the most important things a band or artist can do to take their careers to the next level.
The magic formula? A solid marketing plan and hard work. I couldn’t be prouder of what’s happened this past week, and I can’t wait to see what happens with this campaign in the next few months. Hit me up if you have any questions, via email or @alueda!
Lueda Alia is a music industry professional and freelance entertainment writer with years of experience working directly with artists on the rise. She maintains a great personal blog, as well as Made Of Chalk (which we featured on this blog earlier this year).
Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to visit our blog. The feature you are about to enjoy takes an in-depth look at a simple trick to fighting piracy that many young artists overlook time and time again. It’s nothing too complicated, but it can make a world of difference on your overall sales.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
This is going to sound a little crazy at first, but the availability of your material online is just as important to curving piracy in 2014 as the need to actively combat the proliferation links through Takedown Notices. That may seem counter-intuitive, as the spread of your unreleased material is typically not something you want easily available to anonymous people online, but there comes a point in every album promotion cycle where the exact opposite becomes true. Allow me to explain…
Let’s pretend for a moment that we are all in the same band. Our new album, which we have been working on for the past several months, is due out in the near future. Pre-orders have been going strong for a while now, but with a new tour starting 10 days before the album’s release we’ve decided that we will have copies of the record available for sale at every date of the run. This means that, for about a week and a half, anyone who attends a concert of ours will be able to purchase our new album early, which on paper seems like a good deal for everyone involved: Fans get music early, and we begin seeing an early return on our creative efforts.
There is a catch, however, and that is the fact that anyone with early access to our album also has the ability to leak that record online. 10 days may not seem like a long time when you step back and think about a career in music as a whole, but in the world of piracy it’s equal to a lifetime. The Expendables 3, for example, leaked online a little more than two weeks before its theatrical release date. Within 24 hours more than 100,000 people had downloaded the original leak, and countless more had shared their download with family/friends. When the film eventually hit theaters, its box office take on opening weekend was less than ½ the amount made by The Expendables 2 in that same time frame.
Our band might not have the same size audience as The Expendables franchise, but our album could suffer a similar fate if we do not take steps to curve the proliferation of illegal downloads online. The first round of defense is, of course, asking fans to wait and purchase the album. The second, and honestly – most important of all – is that we MAKE THE ALBUM AVAILABLE ONLINE.
The key to winning the battle against piracy, especially over the longterm, is taking whatever steps you can to make your music available to fans. This includes, but is not limited to: Soundcloud album stream, Spotify stream, Rdio, Pandora, and Bandcamp. As soon as a physical version of your album is available for sale you need to have a digital stream available and ready to be shared with press and fans alike. By offering a free and completely legal way to access music fans have less reason to even look for leaks, let alone download them. Why should they? Streaming is the number one way people experience music today, so if streaming is an option for your fans they won’t feel the need to engage in piracy. Everything they want is already available, it’s free as well.
A recent report showed that almost ¼ of an album’s total sales happen BEFORE the scheduled release date. Leaks can help sales, but more often than not they have the opposite effect. Streams on the other hand, can encourage consumers to purchase the album, as well as aide in promoting tours and other upcoming events. By hosting the stream yourself the power is entirely in your hands, which is something most artists rarely experience in the modern business.
Hello and welcome to another week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. It’s the first week of June and we are kicking off our content with a look at a problem impacting almost every artist working today. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
In the interest of full disclosure, not to mention the need to properly setup this column, I feel I must tell you that we are currently in the preliminary stages of designing the future home of the Haulix blog. We are growing, and over the past few months it has become increasingly clear that we will soon need to make changes if we want to properly deliver content in a simple and easy-to-read fashion. We don’t know when this project will be finished or when we will even begin testing the new site design, but one thing I can say is that during this process of planning our future we have not once discussed the possibility of adding additional social networks to our marketing efforts. I’m not sure it has been a conscious decision on everyone’s part, but the more I thought about our future this weekend the more it made sense, and I am willing wager the same can said for your future marketing efforts in music.
There are many times in your music career when it is considered a good thing to be ‘everywhere.’ Music distribution, for example, is best when those who want to buy your music can do so with the least amount of effort. When it comes to social networking, however, the focus of your efforts should be on quality over quantity, and by that I mean both in the number of posts created and the number of networks managed.
Commit this to memory: It is incredibly easy to become join a dozen social networks. It is far harder backing out.
Social networking requires one factor for success that things like music distribution do not: Personality. You can find tools to automate distribution and several aspects of generic promotion, but no auto-posting service can help you engage with fans in a direct and authentic manner. Further, trying to balance touring, recording, practice, real world commitments, and handling a half dozen or more social networks will only result in high stress levels, with a likelihood of low quality networking. You don’t need the added stress and you don’t want mediocre content being shared on your networks, so why stretch yourself thin when no one is telling you it’s necessary?
In order to maximize the return you see on social networks while minimizing the time and stress that goes into social networking you need to settle on 2-3 platforms where you feel your audience resides and focus on making those profiles thrive. For most artists, these platforms would be Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. With the ongoing changes to Facebook pages, however, many are beginning to abandon the service that Zuckerberg built for G+, or even MySpace (seriously). Any of these are fine choices, and there are several more out there are would work just as well. The important part is figuring out where your fans are and then finding the most effective ways of engaging them through that platform.
There may very well come a day when you feel there is a ‘need’ for you to be everywhere in the world of social networking, but unless you’re bringing in thousands of dollars every week and can hire people to handle such efforts for you I would advise those ideas be shelved until further notice. All the digital hype in the world does not matter in the slightest if you cannot sell concert tickets or records, and the only way that happens is through connecting with fans in an authentic manner. Be yourself to the best of your abilities and never get too stressed if the number of followers doesn’t move as fast as your would like. It’s only the internet, after all.
Hello and welcome to our second Advice column of the week. This feature is a bit extra special because it also serves as our first collaborative piece with Daniel Alvarez, attorney at law and music business aficionado. We will be working with Daniel a lot in the months ahead, and we think the perspective he has on the business today is one that can aide both artists and industry professionals. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
As an entertainment attorney, it is amazing what I see from the sidelines of the music business. I feel like it is hard to shock me anymore due to all the craziness that has come across my desk. We have all heard horror stories about record labels label that treats a band wrong. Yet what surprises me, is how frequently I consult with a band about a bad manager experience but I hardly hear about that in public. Entertainers think it is a quasi-parasitic relationship where they accept that they are getting used for profit, but they are getting the career benefit of label support. The sharp difference for when a manager does something wrong, is that they are supposed to be on your team, so the entertainer almost never sees it coming. The hit hurts most when it comes from someone you trust.
There is a fundamental lack of understanding of the roles and duties required of a manager – even by practicing managers today. I would argue that very few are well versed in the legal relationship that is formed between them and their entertainers, not by contract, but virtue of fiduciary duty laws throughout the country. If the phrase fiduciary duty is new to you and you are managing or being managed someone right now, start Googling for more details but please read on. I want to be clear. There are lots of good managers who know what they are doing and operate ethically and legally. Its just that there are enough bad apples out there, that folks need to fully understand what is required of them or risk getting hurt.
What does a manager do? This is a fundamental question that is so very often answered incorrectly. A manager is akin to a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) or COO (Chief Operating Officer) of a corporation. An artist hires a manager to run their business for them much like Coca Cola hires executives to run their business. Thanks to their position, a manager often has unrestricted access to a band’s money and can legally make binding decisions for them. Due to the nature of extreme trust required, the law says that positions like this have higher duties and responsibilities placed on them. For example, they can do no harm, they cannot personally benefit from the relationship other than agreed compensation, they cannot put their interests above the band and they always have the duty of loyalty.
As an example, I recently consulted with a very successful band whose manager was attempting to start a side business with them while remaining their manager. The manager and the band were going to get equal shares in a separate company they were forming. What is the big deal? Well, how is the manager looking out for his band’s best interests when his interest now competes with theirs as a partner? Who was now looking out for the band? Who would the manager have been loyal to in this situation? The conflicts are plenty and unfortunately so are situations like this one.
In another example, I worked with a band that was leaving a management company. The manager made a compensation claim and without permission changed the band’s Tunecore password and took the money he thought he was owed from the band’s account. Eventually he returned the account minus the money, but it is hard to imagine a court anywhere that would not have called that illegal. It is conversion (theft) at a minimum and without a doubt it is a violation of almost every legal duty he had to the band. His management company was exposed to major liability. All it would have taken is an enterprising attorney to go after them.
For an artist, it is a VERY large leap of faith that the stranger they are hiring is a good and trust worthy person who is also qualified to do the job. So what does an artist do to make sure a manager is competent or worthy of their trust these days? It seems not much. Usually they tell me, “the manager works for this big agency so we thought they must be good.” It is hard to imagine Coca Cola’s board of directors using such logic to hire such an important person without making sure they were trustworthy or qualified.
If you are at the point of hiring someone, there is not one all-inclusive list that could tell you what makes a great manager. Often it is a combo of the experience, their education (formal or on-the-job) and a lot of times, it is just the plain art of being a great manager. Many times, entertainers just feel lucky that a manager is even interested in them so they feel this is a take it or leave it predicament. That attitude is dangerous. Bad deals are bad deals no matter who proposes them. Taking the time to understand whom you are working with and what makes them qualified to do the job are key. Determining if they are trustworthy may be the difference between a career with longevity or one riddled with problems.
What to look for in a manager:
Resume: Request a written resume to look over. Hiring someone who wants complete access to your life and at least 15% of everything you earn should be professional enough to have one. Look for valid work experience. Business education is a major plus.
Maturity: It is VERY important to note that age does not determine maturity. I know and work with quite a few twenty-ish year old folks who are more mature than people in their forties. As an artist you want to be sure your manager is mature enough to check emotion and concentrate on business. Your manager is often your first point of contact for the rest of the world and you. You do not want childishness or foolishness for the face of your business.
Background Check: I recommend this all the time and no one does it. I cannot fathom working with someone who has access to all of the deepest recesses of my business without making sure they have a clean record. People do not do it because they think the manager will get offended. I say if they get offended maybe you should reconsider. This is a high position of trust. You need to be sure it is well placed. This is why Attorneys and Accountants are moving into the managing game so strongly like they did in sports. The Governmental agency’s that regulate them often have very strict background checks before they are given a license. They have to maintain that clean record. Any wrong doing on their parts and they risk losing that license. If you won’t do a background check, make your manager sign and swear in a document that he has never been accused, arrested or convicted of a crime dealing with fraud, dishonestly or truthfulness.
Roster: Check out who they manage and maybe more importantly check out who they have managed. Ask for the manager’s alumni contact info so you can contact them and get a first hand account of his or hers performance. Anyone who won’t give you a full list and contact info is hiding something. There are always relationships that go sour so you won’t find one manager that is loved by everyone, but you will see patterns. Be fair in this assessment. One bad review is not enough to run, a couple though should raise an eyebrow.
Education/Experience: Education comes in many forms. So it is not reasonable to judge someone by how the obtained his or hers. What is important is what they know now. If someone is formally educated, that is a great start. Notice I said start. Look for business courses. Those are great building blocks. If someone doesn’t have a formal education, then the chronology and depth of their music business experience is vital. For example, tour manager is great stepping-stone position because they deal with the day-to-day business at the street level. A good tour manager is well versed in contracts, personal interactions, merchandising as well as the “it factor” of getting things done.
Now I will offer a caveat here, there are tons of people who “manage” that are just starting out with no experience. This is a double-edged sword. If they are smart, motivated and have the ability to recognize that they don’t know everything, then you are on the right footing. If they do not posses all of the aforementioned traits, you may want to pass until they ripen a bit. They may do more harm then good.
Personality: This one is really subjective. On one hand you want someone who is friendly and can counsel you through the ups and downs of a career. On the other, you want someone who is tough enough to represent your interest to third parties. It is really hard to find someone who can do both well. This one is on you and what you feel matches best with you or your band. Just remember, this person is the business face of your brand, make sure he/she is a good reflection of your values and persona.
Manager Do’s and Don’ts:
Be a window – be transparent: Being transparent and telling your entertainer everything you are doing is the key to avoiding legal problems when it comes to your duty. If they know everything that is going on, the likely hood of someone finding you did something wrong is reduced significantly. You work for them. You owe them the duties of good faith and loyalty.
Conflict of Interest: Do not put yourself in a position where you use your band for personal gain. If there is something you want to do that could possibly be a conflict disclose that to your entertainer in writing so they are on notice. They should have a say in the matter and you should come t a written agreement.
Confidentiality: You have the duty to keep the artist’s private dealings private. Seems logical, but too often I hear managers over talking about their band’s private dealings. It is an easy way to get sued.
Avoid Improper Compensation: It is too easy to cross the line here. You may have access to the bank account or the royalty checks come to your office and you can deposit them, etc. If the entertainer can afford it, higher a business manager. This is the best way to get your hands out of he money jar. You should only be getting paid what was agreed to. Your best friend is a contract. It will tell everyone how you are compensated and it is all out in the open.
Avoid Competition: It is really tempting to make money off your relationship with your entertainer. As they rise in notoriety the potential to make money off them or with them rises also. It is best to stick to your commission. If you get them better deals with more money, its stands that you are making more money. If you just have to do the deal, recuse yourself from the band for that deal, disclose the information and do not take any commission from the band’s portion of the earnings for this deal. Always put the above in writing.
STUDY: Learn everything you can about business law. Concentrate on agency law and fiduciary duty. Please remember ignorance of the law is never a defense in a lawsuit. You can’t just say I didn’t know. If you hold yourself out as a manager, you will be held to a manager standard. It is a high bar and one you do not want to take lightly.
This article is for educational purposes only and not legal advice.
Daniel A. Alvarez, Sr. is an attorney, music manager and business law professor based out of Tampa, Florida. Known to his friends and clients as Danny, he is the managing member of The Alvarez Legal Group, P.L. and President of The Vindicated Group, LLC. Danny has earned a Bachelors Degree in Journalism from The University of Florida, a Masters degree in Education from Troy State University, a Juris Doctor degree from Stetson College of Law and LL.M. (Masters in Law) in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law. Danny focuses his legal practice on Entertainment, Business and Personal Injury Law and has clients as varied as actress/singer Brooke Hogan and bands such as Go Radio, Broadway and War Generation. Danny is also the full time manager for the up and coming band, Stages and Stereos.
Hello again. We have spent a lot of time in the last month talking about piracy and the many things you can do as an artist to prepare for and, if necessary, handle leaks. Today we are going to revisit that topic once more to talk about the steps that need to be taken once your material has already leaked online. You may think all hope is lost, but with a little hard work you can curve the unwanted availability of your material in a big way and we are here to help. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
If you have been following our company updates over the last few weeks may already know this, but recently Haulix began working on a new update to our distribution service that will allow clients to automatically issue DMCA takedown notices for their copyrighted material. We are admittedly still a few weeks from launch on that project, but we wanted to begin our promotional efforts this afternoon by shedding some additional light on the purpose of these notices and the creation/submission process currently in place.
DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is a group of laws that protect copyrighted content and its creators on digital mediums. The DMCA was signed into law in 1998 and has since been the source of the vast majority of infringement issues arising from the continuing spread of digital media. There are many aspects to the law that are worth taking the time to research and understand, but for the purposes of this post we are going to look at the part most are familiar with (at least by name): The DMCA Takedown Notice.
A DMCA Takedown Notice allows copyright holders to request an Internet Service Provider (ISP), search engine, host or other type of site-owner/manager to remove material that is infringing their copyright, regardless of whether or not said copyright has been properly registered. In other words – it provides a means for artists and the people who back them (labels/agencies) to ask that their content not be shared without authorization.
In order to file a DMCA Takedown Notice, you must first establish three things:
You either own the copyright or have the right to claim infringement because of a copyright you license. If you do not have either of these, you are already wasting your time.
The alleged infringement is not covered by an exception, like Fair Use or free speech laws. Stanford Law’s website describes Fair Use as ‘any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an illegal infringement.’ You do not need to understand all the ins and outs of this law to file a DMCA, but you do need a “good faith” belief that the alleged infringing use is not covered by any law which would permit its use.
The content is capable of being infringed online, which essentially means that the work in question is available in digital form. Some examples include text files (txt, rtf, doc, docx, etc), Images (smb, jpg, png, gif, etc), video (mpg, avi, mov, etc.), Music/Audio (aif, mp3, mp4, wav, etc), and images found on social networks (Facebook, Tumblr, etc.).
Once you have determined all three of these things to be true, it is time to move forward with filing a DMCA Takedown notice. It is important to understand that there are very specific provisions of the law you must comply with or the receiving agent may ignore your request:
1. Make sure you have found the proper source of the infringement – When you find your content on another website it may or may not be common knowledge who their hosting company is, but thankfully the internet provides a number of tools to aide in the discover process (I recommend domain tools.
When contacting ISPs with Takedown Notices that are often specific email addresses provided on the host company’s website. You may need to hunt for it, as no two sites are ever the same, but searching DMCA may quicken your hunt for results. If you try and discover there are no specified contacts listed for DMCA Notices, search the US Copyright Office List Of DMCA agents. It should be current.
2. If an online form specifically for DMCA Takedown requests is provided by the contact you are trying to reach it is wise to use that form as your initial point of contact as it is – unsurprisingly – your best bet for yielding a timely response. This may not happen with larger companies (like Google or Bing) generally use forms to direct specific issues to their different departments. There may be separate departments for music and images, for example, or perhaps a bunch of smaller teams dedicated to all digital piracy. You experience will vary by contact.
3. If you discover there are not forms provided and you still feel driven to fight for your rights as copyright holder you will need to take it upon yourself to send your notice to the designated DMCA agent (refer to #1 for help with locating this individual). Email will likely be acceptable for complaint submissions, but you will need to check with your specific agent to learn how they prefer to handle requests. It may be 2014, but some people still think fax machines are the best way to send business materials. Don’t waste time thinking about how much simpler or quick things could be and comply. This is another war for another day.
4. If you find yourself in a position where you need to create the Takedown Notice, there is a very specific set of information you will need to provide (and it is the same as what any form would ask you to fill out). According to lawyer Sarah Hawkins, your DMCA Notice must:
• Be in writing (this includes both hardcopy or digital)
• Be signed (whether in writing of via electronic signature) by the copyright owner or agent
• Identify the original copyrighted work (or works if there are multiple) you claim has been infringed
• Identify the material that is infringing your copyrighted work
• Include contact information so the designated agent can reach you, if necessary
• Include a statement your complaint is in “good faith"
• Include a statement the information in the notification is accurate
• Include a statement that under penalty of perjury you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
I know that list can be a little overwhelming upon first glance, but in the age of the internet there is virtually no form letter in existence that does not come with hundreds, if not thousands of examples available online, for free, that you can copy/paste and adjust to fit your needs. You should always triple check your letters to make sure everything comes across in your own voice and that the above list is followed to a ’t,’ but it’s completely understandable if you choose to use a template letter in order to begin filing your first DMCA Takedown Notices. In fact, I have included a letter below you can feel free to duplicate, manipulate, and use however it is needed. If you have any further questions about these notifications, just comment below and let us know!
I am the copyright owner of the works listed below and the following is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
The original work, which I claim copyright for, appears online with my permission at the following locations:
[Insert URLs where your original work is located]
Copies of this original work have been attached to this email for your evaluation and determination.
The allegedly infringing [work – image/sound/video] appears on the following sites:
[Insert URLs where your work is being used without your permission]
My contact information is [address/phone]
The information of the alleged copyright infringer based on what I have been able to find is [insert all the information you have about the site/person behind the infringement]
I have a good faith belief that the copyrighted works referenced above that appear on the website for which you are the registered DMCA agent is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by law.
I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the following information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and that I am the copyright owner [or have the license to the copyright] entitled to exclusive right which I believe are being infringed.
signed [insert name] on [date – day/month/year] in [city/state]
[signature]
**TERMS & CONDITIONS OF USE: While forms are commonly used and available elsewhere around the Internet it is important to understand the limitations provided by forms. A form, by its very nature, is previously written, usually to address a typical situation. Unfortunately, in law there are few typical situations. While this form will be useful for some, the use of a form should not be viewed as a replacement for competent legal advise adapted to your particular situation. Haulix accepts no liability if you do use this or a modified version of this Agreement.**
Here at Haulix, we dedicate the majority of our daily lives to making sure the music stored and distributed through our state-of-the-art servicing platform is as secure as it can possibly be. From the moment clients upload music to our servers their files are watermarked, and from that point forward every individual accessing their content is given a unique identifier that allows us to trace the source of any future leaks (should they happen to occur). It’s our mission to keep your music away from the public until its intended release date, and we are always open to discussing that mission with anyone who may be unfamiliar with our efforts. If that applies to you, please do not hesitate to email support@haulix.zendesk.com and ask for additional information. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There is a hard truth to life as a musician that you might as well face now: Your music, be it a future single or the album that follows a few months later, will sooner or later fall victim to music piracy and be freely available to anyone with a working knowledge of Google. It has happened to countless artists from every corner of the planet millions of times before you came along and it will, unfortunately, continue to happen to artists who deserve better for the foreseeable future. We are doing our part to put an end to music piracy, but until it’s wiped from the internet for good artists and groups of all sizes need to be prepared for the worst.
When that frustrating day comes, and it pains us to confess it will more than likely happen to every artist one day, you need to have a plan in place that can be enacted on extremely short notice. These plans will vary greatly from group to group, but there are several universal steps every artist can follow to minimize the damage done from their album reaching blogs before iTunes or Bandcamp. Let’s take a look at them now:
1. Stay calm and remember that the world is not coming to an end.
Album leaks are usually cause for disappointment, but there is a strange sense of comfort to be found in the fact people around the globe want to hear your music so badly that they are willing to risk being in trouble with the law in order to enjoy it before the scheduled release date. That comfort does not take away from the fact those same individuals have completely screwed the carefully crafted marketing plan you had in place, or course, but focusing on the negatives is not going to do anyone any good.
Whether your album leaks a day early or a two months in advance it is important to remember that your career has not been blown to tiny bits of completely free digital dust. It is only a minor setback, thanks in part to the fact you properly prepared for such unfortunate events after reading this article, and with a little focus you will be able to recognize that you’re in a unique position to capitalize on fan-driven curiosity in your album. Embrace it.
2. Recognize the fact your album has leaked, and ask those who enjoy it to support you any way they are able.
Will everyone who downloads your album eventually purchase a copy if they enjoy it? No. What may happen, however, is that a number of people who otherwise may have never encountered your art might come to appreciate your work as a result of the leak, and in time those newly converted followers will begin to show their support by attending a concert, buying merch, or possibly even picking up a record or two. Remember: Your album is as much a product as it is a marketing tool for your brand, and like it or not your band is a brand at the end of the day. If you cannot sell your album to consumers, you might as well try and sell those who take it for free on seeing you live. If they come, great! If they come and buy merch, even better! Either way they will come away from engaging your band with the outlook that you appreciate them simply for being a fan, and even though you wish people bought your music you can understand it’s not something everyone is capable of doing. That kind of outlook makes you appear more human than rockstar, and being viewed in that context is often far more rewarding longterm than any short term financial gains.
3. Revisit your marketing plan and make changes where necessary.
A lot of artists believe that if they choose to ignore the leak of their album and forge ahead with their originally scheduled promotional efforts that their sales will not be hurt. That may apply if you’re someone currently topping the charts, but for those of you on the come up each and every promotional effort made can mean the difference between advancement and career stagnancy. Album leaks should change your marketing plan because the circumstances surrounding the availability of your latest material has changed. Song premieres, for example, are not going to have the same impact now that fans can download the full record with a few clicks, so it is of the utmost importance to take time as an artist or group to try and further refine what is already scheduled it order to make that content more appealing to those who accessed your material early. Offer a behind-the-scenes look at your time in the studio, or put together a track-by-track rundown of the record. If you’re going to continue with songs premieres then make sure you have a lyric video or similar accompanying item to make the exclusive more enticing to fans who have already heard the full album, as well as the blogs who are hosting that content. If you know your album leaked it’s more than likely the bloggers do as well, and they also recognize how unlikely it is certain exclusives will bring in much traffic if the material is freely available elsewhere.
Challenge yourself to do more than you thought necessary, or even possible, and you will succeed. Stay the course and your release may very well be forgotten by the time it hits iTunes. It’s that simple.
4. Make a stream of your album available and direct all traffic to that stream.
This is kind of a continuation from the tip above, but it’s worth highlighting on its own. You can choose to look at album leaks as something people have to hunt for on the vast plains of the internet and try telling yourself that not many people will be willing to go through such efforts in order to hear a few songs a little earlier than everyone else, or you could choose to be realistic and reclaim a little control over how your fans access your new material by hosting your own stream of the record. Use Soundcloud or Bandcamp and, after recognizing the leak, direct all curious parties to hear the album through your link. Ask fans and friends and industry people to do the same.
Timeliness is next to godliness as far as this tip is concerned, but if you have a good relationship with any music writers this may be the perfect time to call in a last minute favor. Getting a blog or site to host your premiere ensures even more people with social influence will be directing fans to content you essentially control. You can survive without their help, but if it’s available to you then you might as well use it.
5. Make the album available for purchase as soon as possible and consider offering it for a discounted price.
There may be two weeks until your physical product comes in for pre-orders, but if your album leaked before you got out of bed today you better do everything in your power to make it available for sale before sundown. Services like Bandcamp makes this type of immediate change incredibly easy.
You will also want to consider discounting the price of a digital download of your album for a short amount of time. It may seem counter-intuitive to ask for even less money on an album you’re already losing sales on due to piracy, but lowering the cost may actually increase the chances of fans supporting the album financially. Most people pirate because it’s both affordable and incredibly simple. You cannot beat free, but you can combat it by lowering the price of your downloads, or even making the record available on a pay-what-you-want basis and appealing to fans to contribute whatever they feel they are able.
You can also take things one step further and offer a discount on all your remaining pre-order packages. How much to offer will vary based on your overall costs, but any amount will help to further entice listeners on the fence over whether or not they should purchase an album all their friends have received for free.
As an example of someone taking back control of their release, please take a quick look at this message released by our friends at Topshelf Records following the leak of You Blew It’s new album near the beginning of 2014:
Wow. The response to yesterday’s premiere has been overwhelmingly awesome — thank you!
I noticed a ton of “leaked” copies of the record being shared everywhere within an hour of that premiere going up, though, and just wanted to post about that. We don’t mind that, at all. We get it, and that doesn’t bother us — we’re excited people want to share this. However, when “this” is a 92kbps 2003-Myspace-dot-com-era-quality-sounding rip of a stream, we get kinda bummed how that’s what people might be hearing and sharing. So, we’ve now sent out the high quality downloads to everyone who pre-ordered the record. We’re not gonna be download cops about it — share it, enjoy it, tell your friends about it — sing it when you see them on tour this month.
This messaging recognizes the leak, then immediately directs everyone’s attention back to the band and what the band has going on in the immediate future. It’s about the band’s stream of the album, the band’s store with pre-order options, and the band’s upcoming tour dates. Bring the focus back to the you and your music. Don’t let pirates steal the spotlight.
It’s worth mentioning that those who choose to put their album on sale early will have a few additional decisions to make, including whether or not to distribute album downloads to those who pre-ordered the album prior to the leak. There are pros and cons to both sides, so the best advice we can offer is figure out what is best for your audience and run with it.
6. Be proactive in fighting music pirates. Submit take down requests and whatever else needs to be done in order to keep your music away from leak sites.
Fighting an album leak is forever an uphill battle. It only takes one person to leak an album on one site or social media service before files begin spreading like the common cold across the web. You may not be able to completely erase every trace of your early album leak from the net, but with time, dedication, and a little help from Google you can make it a lot more difficult for pirates to locate your stolen material.
First, set up notifications through you favorite digital alert service to notify you anytime someone mentions your album online. You will (hopefully) be inundate with news and reviews most the time, but this service will also peak up leak blogs/sites running your album. You may also want to search for your band name and album title, both together and separately, with the phrases ‘zip’ and ‘rar.’ As soon as you find a link you need removed, contact the blog owner, as well as the site hosting the file download (Mediafire, Sharebeast, Zippyshare, etc.) and politely request that your content be removed with the help of a DCMA take down letter. Then use this form and ask Google to remove links from search. It may take a few days, but most people and sites will comply with your requests. As soon as one goes down, however, another one or three will likely appear. Keep pushing. Keep fighting.
You can also ask fans to join in your anti-piracy efforts. Lady Gaga, for example, called on fans in 2013 to report any early leaks of her Artpop album, and thousands sent Mother Monster links in response. It did not plug the leak entirely, but it delayed the majority of music fans from hearing the material until much closer to the intended release date, and in doing so forged a stronger connection between Gaga and her fans.
7. Live to create another day
When all the take downs have been issued and you have told the story of how the leak impacted your plans for the future to the last blogger and fan willing to listen the time will come when you simply need to move on with your career and begin working towards the future. There are more songs to be written, more albums to be recorded, and more many more shows to be performed. People all over the world now have access to your music and no matter what happens from this point forward that will never change. The discovery of your art is going to continue, every day, week, and month for as long as there are people online with a passion for music. There is something beautiful about that, even if it is also financially frustrating, and it offers a rare opportunity to connect with others that many never receive. Make the most of it and forge ahead. Live to create another day.
Hello and welcome to the fourth installment of Eric Morgan’s How To Kill Your Band series. We run this column every other week and encourage anyone who enjoys the material found below to visit previous editions of HTKYB they may have missed. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
An Introduction:
I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly 10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How To Kill Your Band.
Part 4 – Don’t tour. Yet.
Learning to book your own tours is perhaps the most important skill you can learn as you make your way in music. It’s not only useful because of it’s immediate impact on your ability to promote yourself on the road, but is also one of the few skills that can pay dividends after your own band calls it quits. Becoming adept at booking takes practice more than anything, but it heavily favors those who are a bit obsessive. Locking in a tour dates takes a certain neurotic tendency necessary to piece together a complex puzzle that never really has a exact solution. No tour is ever going to be 100% perfect from start to end, something that tortured me early on, though the key is learning how to adapt and work to the constantly changing variables – venue closings, promoter drops, competing tours in the area, etc. But before we get to the actual mechanics of tour routing, we’re going to spend this week answering just one question:
Why would anyone book your band?
Every young band would want to be out there promoting their music nightly but it just isn’t something most should do. There has to be a reason for a promoter to book your band and you need to be able to communicate that clearly. As I touched on in HTKYB #2, being signed gives you immediate value to a talent buyer even if he’s never heard of you before. They can build a show around your band because local bands are smart and know every single label so it gives them a reason for sharing the stage with you – essentially something to put on their resume and the fleeting hope that you’ll be so amazed by their set you’ll personally recommend them to your label.
If you’re not signed it’s still possible to tour diy, plenty of bands do it successfully, but you need to be able to offer another kind of value to the promoter. Here it helps to be different – why would a promoter in Toledo book an unknown metalcore act from out of state when there are plenty local bands who actually draw? Offering something not already saturating the market gives them an unique event to promote while also just supporting the basic economics of the situation. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need be genre defying but could also stem from having a distinct live show or an unconventional type of branding. If all else fails, you can even separate yourself by brute force through effort. Offer to set up your own publicity for the show with local radio stations, get posters hung at local joints, and even go out on foot to promote. On many of the early AHAF tours, we’d call ahead to Hot Topics and FYE stores at malls located near that days venue and set up our own in store meetups. We’d get to the store around noon to ready our merch table by the entrance where we’d handout show flyers and promo items to people as they walked in. During the holiday season it was even more valuable because parents would be rushing around looking for last minute stocking stuffers and it was it was easy to convince them they could end their search with an album or t-shirt.
The long and short of it is that it all comes down to giving a talent buyer something they can promote. Whether that be through label support, originality, or meticulously growing your support region by region, you must understand the basic economics through a promoters eyes and give them something they can build a show on. There are bands that get insanely lucky by starting out with notable agent even before their first show (Woe, Is Me, Capture the Crown) but that’s rare and having the ability to book your own tours is a highly valuable skillset if you plan on working somewhere in the music industry post bandlife. Perhaps what I’ve learned most from my experiences on the road is that you shouldn’t rush into touring. I’ve witnessed many bands, who while sounding great, simply weren’t ready to be on the road and eventually succombed to the depleted morale and mounting struggles of unsuccessful tours. It’s much more financially and emotionally supporting to be patient before going on the road, as the consequences of premature touring could end even the most promising bands.
Now if you’ve decided that you have a band ready to tour but unsure on how to get started, then check back next week when I’ll go through some tips and tricks from my experiences on creating your own promoter lists, negotiating prices, and communicating effectively in your offer sheets.
Hello and welcome to another week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. We love to entertain, but being informative in a way that is easy to understand is always our primary goal. If you have an idea for this blog, or if you would like to learn more about the digital distribution services we offer, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. If you prefer social media, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook and Twitter.
There are more music zines, blogs, forums, and fan sites now than ever before in the history of entertainment. If you have a unique audio creation to promote, there is most certainly a corner of the internet’s boundless landscape waiting to devour every second you lay to digital tape. You already know this, of course, which is why you’re so excited to send press kits, press releases, and every type of blanket promotional messaging you can think of to any writer whose email address has been foolishly made available to the general public. We don’t think that is the best way to get your name out there, but if you think it will work for you then by all means give it a go. After all, sometimes the best way to learn is through trial and error.
If you can resist hitting the send button for just a few minutes, however, there are a few simple tips we can offer to help increase your music’s chances of receiving consideration. It’s not a guaranteed formula for success by any means, but if you avoid the following common pitch messaging mistakes you will have an upper hand on the countless bands who are also competing for those writers’ attention.
1. Forgetting to properly introduce yourself
Most small bands handle their own press, but some choose to let friends and small PR firms lend a hand as well. Either way, make sure the person handling your band’s publicity identifies themselves across all messaging and social networks. There are few things more frustrating than receiving genuinely promising music delivered by people who failed to make their own identities known to the people they are writing. It may sound like a hard mistake to make, but it actually occurs quite frequently. Musicians want to share the good news of their exciting new sounds so badly they forget the importance of introductions, leaving journalists to wonder whether the person writing them is a fan of the band, an incredibly amateur publicist, or a member of the group themselves.
In short, don’t let bandname123@gmail.com be your only calling card.
2. Forgetting bios and contact information
This one goes hand-in-hand with number 1. Don’t let the thrill of possibly having your latest creation shared on a popular music publication distract you from covering the basic steps of artist promotion. Introduce yourself and your music, share your latest news, and then provide enough supplemental information that the journalist receiving your materials can create their content without a lengthy string of emails. Your messaging needs to provide everything writers and their readers may need or want to know about you and your music, including your history as an artist and where you can be found online. No one wants to write about someone they’ve never heard or who has no history and seemingly no presence online.
3. No photo
Essentially every website uses photos when creating new content. Whether it’s a review, news tidbit, interview, or something else, sites who cover your music will need photos to help sell the content to their readers. Including an image with your pitch email, or at least a link to an image stored online (via dropbox, for example) makes it easier for journalists to quickly create content around your music. If they like what they hear, but do not have any images for their article they will need to delay writing about you until finding/receiving a photo.
Remember: The fewer hurdles a journalist has to go through to cover you the better.
4. Links Don’t work
This one is just plain embarrassing. You finally get the attention of the editor you have always hoped to contact and the link you’ve supplied for your new EP is dud. Maybe you copy/pasted the wrong link, or perhaps the way you formatted your email caused an error, but either way the person you wanted to impress is now presented with a blank page informing them no such site exists.
These mistakes can momentarily squash all hopes an artist has of being covered by any publication, and the worst part of all if 99% of the time they never know it’s happening to them because they didn’t bother to check the links themselves. It’s possible the editor for Rolling Stone will write you to say the link in the email you sent about that band they had never heard of who has not done too much of note did not work, but it is far from a likely scenario. With most editors you get one chance, at least per album cycle, and broken links is a guaranteed way to get your pitch letter a one-way ticket to the trash bin.
5. Wrong Names, AKA ‘The Copy/Paste fail’
My name is James. If I receive an email to james@haulix.com and it begins ‘Dear Matt, I am writing because I am a big fan of your site,” I get a sneaking suspicion the person contacting me is being a tad disingenuous. Further, it makes me not want to read your kind words and accompanying pitch because it’s the same words you tried to sell one or more of my writing peers.
If you want to make writers think you are creating something unique you need to remember that all writers are also unique, and the same selling points that work for some will not work for others. We have stressed this in previous posts, but cannot be said enough that there is no better way to contact people than with genuinely personal emails. Use their name (and make sure it’s theirs), ask how their day is, and take the time to highlight a specific aspect or two of their craft you enjoy. Kindness and sincerity will get you much further in this business than haste and repetition. Always.
