Music Licensing & Rights: Please Try to Hit a Nail on the Head While Wearing a Blindfold

Trying to find a model that ensures a profit in today's music industry is like trying to hit a nail with a hammer with your eyes closed. If you swing with a ton of force and miss, you're probably going to break your fingers, but if you hit the nail on the head, BINGO, your in. Some artists have exploited the market to create success, while other acts have been placed in the closet. Record labels are falling into a sink hole of debt trying to ring out how to make a smashing revenue in today's market. EMI last year declared that it had losses over $800million. That's freaky! Since the rise of the internet and file sharing, trafficking the use of sound recordings has only gotten more difficult. This is problematic for the record labels who seek to distribute music because it cuts out a revenue source. Downloading against the discretion of a song's owner is against the law, even though we all do it. Even when one purchases a CD, he or she has limited rights to use and reproduce the music. This is because the music is copyrighted. A copyright is used by performers, songwriters, publishers, musicians, and performing rights organizations to create revenue and starts by breaking down musical copyright into two categories: 1) a sound recording and 2) a composition. A song's copyright offers five licensing opportunities that can be generated into revenue streams. When someone or some business wants to use a song, he, she, or it must pay for the rights of use. A song creates revenue by licensing it's print rights, performance rights, mechanical rights,master rights, and or synch rights. The funds are then distributed by performing rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, and Soundexchange to the rightful recipient of funds. Different means of song use call for different persons to be paid. Some rights call for songwriters and publishers to be paid, while other rights call for the performer and musicians to be paid. The process of appropriating funds in the music industry can make one dizzy. Luckily, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has created a coding system, abbreviated as ISRC, to help hit the nail on the head. ISRC stands for the International Standard Recording Code, and it is a unique code that is imprinted into a music track or video recording upon mastering. It is issued to better track the number of song plays, generate royalty returns, and prevent piracy. The code never changes regardless of where the track is used or if the track changes ownership. The ISRC is registered with download sites, digital distribution companies, and collecting societies in order to manage digital repertoire and track commerce. Nielsen Soundscan is the enterprise that identifies where a track is played so proper dues can be paid. If the track turns up on some place without its ISRC code, or with a false code, then it's a good indication that piracy may have taken place.

At Slang,we encode all of our original works with an ISRC no matter what the track issued for. Perhaps a song gets some radio play, or the track is licensed to an entertainment company to be used for T.V., film, or a videogame. Soundscan keeps track of where the song is used to reassure us that we are receiving fair play. To turn any track into a vehicle in motion, post-production work is a must but all work could be lost if the track didn't include the ISRC. Without it, the track could blow up, be pirated, and the royalty check wouldn't be enough to fill up my gas tank.

By: Jack Holland

Music and Sound:Technics 1200

If you were to walk into Slang MusicGroup on a regular day, you would pass through the office full of interns cracking jokes as they push the business in a new and innovative direction, past the vocal booth, and through a big wooden door into the control room. Newcomers often experience an overwhelming feeling at the amount of gear that neatly fills this warm and welcoming room. Immediately you realize that, despite the gold and platinum records that decorate the studio's walls, Vince and his crew are down to earth people. Perhaps it is the shelf full of collectors figurines and Star Wars fighters that line the wall, or the video game section equipped with PS3, Wii, and Xbox. Whatever it is, if you're a DJ, you will find solace in the two Technics SL-1200 that proudly sit right under the window connecting the control room to the vocal booth.

The "Tee 12's" have been the go-to turntables since their release in 1978. DJs around the world rely on this instrument to make clubs bounce every night or to hone in on their technical skills at home. With the advent of CD-turntable technology (CD-J) and programs such as Serato, the 1200s aren't used as often, but continue to dominate the vinyl turntable scene. This beautiful square-shaped beast is widely regarded as one of the most durable and reliable turntables ever produced, which explains the more than 3 million sold since its release. While most technology built in the 70s becomes obsolete in today's world, many of the original Technics 1200s are still used today and function like new. It is no wonder that the SL-1200 is on display at the London Science Museum as one of the pieces of technology that have shaped the world we live in.

Although Slang is adopting more portable methods of DJing, these twin Technics will have a permanent spot for everybody who walks in to see and to enjoy their sonic superiority.

by Thomas Beckman

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Slang Music Group launches Free House Music Ringtones iPhone App!

House Music junkies rejoice! Finally, you can enjoy excellent quality House Music Ringtones on your iPhone from one of the fathers of House music, Vince Lawrence.

You can download the application "HOUSE MUSIC RINGTONES" for free and have immediate access to four free house music ringtones. You then have the option to pay $1.99 for 21 more original ringtones in addition to future access to additional libraries of future house music ringtones from other founding fathers of the genre. For anyone who ants an easy way to bring the Chicago House Sound to thier Iphone..

Check out our promotional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W51M62s6TXU
Support House Music and Slang Music Group by passing this link along!
http://bit.ly/slangmusic

Music & Sound: Pop Music is House Music

By Thomas Beckmann

It was the early 1980s in Chicago, Illinois and a new wave of music was emerging with a force equivalent to that of the ancient Roman Empire. Within a matter of years, House music conquered clubs worldwide and began to influence the type of music we have all come to identify as modern-pop.

Combining elements of funk and soul-infused disco and the advent of new synthesizers and drum machines, House music catered to African-American, Latino, and gay communities beginning a domino effect that would eventually hit every major city and community in the United States. The up-tempo feel with a punching kick drum on every beat became the recipe for viral dance music and full body liberation in clubs worldwide. House music’s message was simple: a celebratory expression of dance, love, and sexuality.

Upon its inception in Chicago, house music was not initially distributed to the mainstream commercial market. Only select music stores such as Importes, Inc., State Street Records, JR’s Music Shop and Gramaphone Records supplied the original 12-inch vinyl. The advent of drum machines and mixers provided the necessary boost to propel simply disco music into the new house genre. The first house record pressed and sold to the general public was “On and On” (1984) of which Slang Music Group’s Vince Lawrence had an integral part in producing. After this release, DJ’s citywide began producing records that contributed to the rapid growth of this genre. In a matter of years, Detroit, New York City, Miami, New Jersey, and the UK adopted this trend, which in turn, continued to grow internationally.

Today, house music and pop music genres are more similar than ever. Artists such as Justice and David Guetta have contributed to a new emergence of house music in the pop genre. The aforementioned artists not only represent a new trend in the fusion of pop and house music, but they represent the international influence that house music has had. A musical trend that began in teenage basements, changed clubs in Chicago and has evolved into new genres and emerging global artists from France and around the world.

808 Love

One of the most revolutionary contributions to modern music since the electric guitar is the Roland TR-808.

First introduced to the market in early 1980, the Roland TR-808 began a new style of music around its revolutionary drum machine. Despite its notorious reputation for not sounding very much like a real drum kit, it set a new standard for music beats that would influence everything Including New Wave, Industrial, House & Hip-Hop genres. Introduced by the Roland Corporation in early 1980, it was originally manufactured for use as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real drum kit. Indeed, because the TR-808 came out a few months after the Linn LM-1 (the first drum machine to use digital samples), professionals generally considered its sound inferior to sampling drum machines; a 1982 Keyboard Magazine review of the Linn Drum indirectly referred to the TR-808 as sounding like marching anteaters. However, the TR-808 cost US$1,000 upon its release, which was considerably more affordable than the US$5,000 LM-1. Despite these cut-downs, the “808” became the staple sound for the emerging New York hip-hop culture and allowed for further development of house music, which has taken over the club music scene worldwide.

The Roland TR-808’s footprint has been synonymous with great urban music since its inception, with artists such as Blaque paying homage to it in ‘808’s chorus: ‘ ‘Cause I’ll be goin’ boom like an 808.’. The TR-808 was discontinued, in the mid 80’s but its sound again became popular, mostly due to its kick drum sound, which could produce very deep sub-bass. By the end of the 1980s, the TR-808 was popular within the most popular electronic music and hip-hop genres. Across the board, the Roland TR-808’s footprint has been synonymous with great urban music, with artists such as Blaque paying homage to it in ‘808’s chorus: ‘ ‘Cause I’ll be goin’ boom like an 808.’ Kanye West’s Recent album “808s and Heartbreak” is another clear example of the machines posthumous relevance. As with many analogue electronic musical instruments, a great deal of effort has lately been put into sampling the sounds of the TR-808 for use in modern devices; however, due to the nature of analog circuitry, the result is often considered unsatisfactory and can sound unduly static and digital artifacts. Demand for the real 808 sound is so great that street prices for a used TR-808 have stayed close to what the cost of a new TR-808 was upon its initial release in 1980 when adjusted for inflation.

Other famous users include Marvin Gaye, Thomas Dolby, The Beastie Boys, Orbital, The SOS Band, Download, Run DMC, Aphex Twin, LL Cool J, 808 State, BT, Bomb The Bass, Janet Jackson, The Prodigy, Faithless, Skinny Puppy, Bushflange, Jimi Tenor, A Guy Called Gerald, , Dr. Dre, Jimmy Edgar, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Freddy Fresh, Richie Hawtin, Jean Michel Jarre, Cocteau Twins, Luke Vibert, LL Cool J, Ice Cube and Puff Daddy.

Click Here for videos explaining the basics of the Roland TR-808.

>Click Here for a pdf file of the user manual.

“The Roland TR-808 has been instrumental in Slang Music Group’s music making process since 1983.” –Vince Lawrence