Pioneer Vs Kenwood By Stereo Authority
Today we are going to discuss the two great names in the car stereo music or audio industry: Pioneer vs Kenwood. These are two of the most popular brands, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Car Stereo Audiophiles find this hot topic worthy of never-ending debate. Although both of the brands are excellent, they appeal to different types of music listeners. While we cant say that one brand is better than the other, we can highlight their areas of excellence and their differences.
Again, everybody has their own personal preferences. Moreover, I will not say that which is my favorite. So, staying totally neutral, lets start the topic discussion.
Kenwood Digital And Multimedia Receivers
Kenwood digital and multimedia receivers, and Kenwood digital media receivers, connect to the cars music source through Bluetooth, SD card slots, USB ports, satellite radio ports, and even AUX inputs. In addition, Kenwood Multimedia receivers offer large touch screens for easy use. They are the main gateway to CarPlayTM, HD radio, Android AutoTM, and Bluetooth.
So you can easily play the music from here with just some clicks. Kenwood also provides GPS navigation, along with these multimedia receivers.
Music Intellectual Property Rights In The Spotlight
Music royalty payments derive from the underlying intellectual property rights of songs. The most common types of IP are copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. Music – including lyrics, composition, and sound recording – is protected under copyright law.
What Is Music Copyright?
When music is put into tangible form , a copyright is created. Further protections are given under law once the work is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright provides its owner with exclusive rights for a period of time. In general, rights last for 70 years after an authors death.
A song contains two copyrights:
Several positive catalysts for music IP rightsholders are currently on the horizon, including:
New Licensing Opportunities
Regulatory Changes
Emerging Market Growth
Music Spend per Capita Across Regions: 2015
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More Resilient: The Music Industry In 2020
The music industry has experienced a dramatic turnaround over the past five years. Technological advances driven by streaming have ushered in a period of growth. While COVID-19 has created several challenges, the industry is holding up relatively well with several new licensing opportunities on the horizon. As a result, capital is flowing into music IP investing, with acquisition activity remaining high.
How To Get Noticed By An A& r
We send our artists music to A& Rs around the world. Every. Single. Week. But besides joining spinnup and creating mind-blowingly good music, there are several other things you need to do to stand out and grab an A& Rs attention .
Know your label
If youre asking how to get a record deal?, remember big labels get hundreds of demos daily. So its important you understand the type of artist they work with. This allows you to approach the ones that are compatible with your music.
Solid branding
You should have a recognisable brand that includes quality photos, artwork and a buzzing social media presence. Make sure your artist profiles are complete, up-to-date and include a bio, artist image and links to your social and contact info. More on promoting yourself in one of our free guides.
Be visible on and off line
Regularly creating fresh content to share on social is a must. But make sure A& Rs can locate your music, social accounts and website easily. Your content and information matter!
Network IRL too
Besides your own gigging also check out local unsigned nights like Sofar Sounds that hosts intimate gigs in small venues around the world.
Be self-sufficient
Signing with a label is stepping away from being an independent artist. But dont stop doing what got you there in the first place. In fact, labels increasingly look for self-sufficient, music dynamos that can create a buzz and gain dedicated fans using unique branding and marketing.
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Independent Record Labels: A Smaller Share Of The Pie
In addition to the four major record labels, independent production companies, or indie record labels, operate without the financial assistance of one of the Big Four . Ranging from small grassroots or garage labels to large, profitable businesses, indie labels typically produce music that is less commercially viable and more eclectic than the music produced by the larger mainstream companies.
Compositions Vs Sound Recordings
In short, songwriters should keep in mind that each song they write and record exists in two forms: the composition and the sound recording . Each of these properties has rights meaning those who own them have can decide who can use them and how.
If Artist B records a cover of Artist As composition, Artist B only owns the rights to that recorded version of the composition. Artist A owns both the composition and their own sound recording of the composition.
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Live Music Has Suffered
Other sources of music income, especially live music, have suffered during the pandemic. Social distancing restrictions have severely impacted the live music market. For example, Live Nation, a leading live entertainment company, experienced a 98% year-on-year revenue decline in Q2 2020, driven by global concert shutdowns. Live Nation management expects concerts to return to scale by summer 2021. Its view is corroborated by Goldman Sachs, which projects live music revenue to decrease 75% in 2020 before recovering in 2021 or 2022.
Retaining Your Master Rights
There is no doubt that there is a myriad of benefits from owning your master recording rights. But what are the ways in which an artist can do so in the current climate of the music industry? For one, they can pay recording studios to record their music as opposed to labels and even try to record at a home studio. Nowadays, recording a premier quality album can reach expenses as high as six figures. Due to these growing expenses, artists sometimes see no alternative but to give up their rights to a record label with expansive resources. However, turning to studios with lower rates and home studios may result in just as great of a final musical product at a much lower aggregate cost. In addition to the lower cost, you are also able to sustain ownership.
Yet another way artists can maintain the rights to their master recordings is through sharing the revenue of the music rather than the rights of the master recordings. In this scenario, the artist still signs with the record label company but he or she signs a master license deal which provides a certain percentage of all licensing earnings over to the music record label. This is a small price to pay for all that the label provides the artist with and also allows them to worry less about who has control over their master recordings.
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What Is A Master Recording
Prince oned said, If you dont own your masters, the master owns you. In the music industry, the term master recording refers to the official recording of a musical performance, song, or sound that can be played back or reproduced. As the term masters entails, this is the version from which all copies are made. Why is the master recording so important? It is the key through which you profit off of your work, retain ownership of your music, and push your message as an artist out to the world. The manner in which master recordings are dealt with varies greatly, especially between major record labels and independent labels. A tremendous part of how successful an artist will be in this business is through their relationship with the masters recording thus, its significance should not be underestimated.
The Majors Are Impacted Positively And Negatively By All Factors
The three major record labels and publishers have seen industry trends begin to play out in recent earnings reports. Universal Music Group was the only label to see revenue increase year-on-year up to June 30, 2020 , while Sony and Warner Music Group reported declines. Inside the results, all three attributed positive growth trends to streaming, but pandemic-related lockdowns negatively impacted non-digital revenues, especially in the areas of merchandise, physicals , and artist services.
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A Few Thoughts About The Big Three And Corporate Complicity
In recent months, the music media has responded to the political climate by zooming in on artist behavior: Have or havent they condemned Trump? Where do they stand? What do they suggest we do to resist? Publications including The FADER have increasingly looked to celebrities to provide a moral compass, to demonstrate what large-scale compassion looks like, and to show their peers what theyre doing wrong.
The behavior of individual artists and independent labels has been held up as evidence that the music industry is uniting against Trump. Would that be the same music industry that congratulated Trump on his election and asked for consideration in an open letter? While weve seen big moves from smaller private companies like Bandcamp, theres been crickets from those holding the most cards. When it comes down to it, just three corporations control around 80% of the American music market: Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. Why arent we asking them where they stand on Trump?
How complicit are Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group?
Artist Management Representation And Staff
Artists such as singers and musicians may hire several people from other fields to assist them with their career. The artist manager oversees all aspects of an artist’s career in exchange for a percentage of the artist’s income. An entertainment lawyer assists them with the details of their contracts with record companies and other deals. A business manager handles financial transactions, taxes, and bookkeeping. Unions, such as AFTRA and the American Federation of Musicians in the U.S. provide health insurance and instrument insurance for musicians. A successful artist functions in the market as a brand and, as such, they may derive income from many other streams, such as merchandise, personal endorsements, appearances at events or Internet-based services. These are typically overseen by the artist’s manager and take the form of relationships between the artist and companies that specialize in these products. Singers may also hire a vocal coach, dance instructor, acting coach, personal trainer or life coach to help them.
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How Do I Get My Song On Tv Shows Ads Films Or Video Games
The act of permitting the use of your composition and/or sound recording in a television show, a commercial, a movie, a video game, is known as synchronization licensing. A synchronization license is negotiated either by the copyright owner or publisher representing him/her there is no statutory rate, rather, costs and payouts are determined by the perceived value of the composition, whether or not it is the original version being used, and what the budget of the requester is.
A good example might be a brand who interested in licensing SONG A for their latest commercial. The permission to use the composition copyright has been granted, and instead of using the master recorded version of SONG A, a creative team works on securing a version performed and recorded by another artist. In this instance, the need for a master license is unnecessary.
The how in all of this comes down to pitching your music. While its not impossible to land sync placements by pitching on your own behalf, music publishing companies specialize in exploiting the compositions they represent because of the strong industry relationships they hold and the overall understanding of what music supervisors, , are looking for.
Theres a bit more that goes into synchronization licenses and placements you can do a deeper dive into that here.
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A Music Industry Lawyer Explains What Artists Like Kanye West And Taylor Swift Mean When They Talk About The Owning Their Master Recordings
Last week, over a long series of tweets, Kanye West shared his recording contracts with Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam Recordings, and Universal Music Group with the world, claiming that he wanted to change the music industry for good. He spoke out against Universal Music Group, who acquired Roc-A-Fella in 2004 and released his first six albums, and said that he would do everything in my legal power and use my voice until all artist contracts are changed starting with getting my masters for my children.
Its hardly the first time that the subject of masters has been in the music press. Last year, two stories put the subject in the spotlight: in June a report into a historic fire at Universal Studios drew attention to the loss of masters for legendary artists like Nirvana and Aretha Franklin, and in July, Taylor Swift spoke out about Scooter Brauns acquisition of her masters.
The topic of masters often been controversial, particularly among Black artists. Kanye West described certain record industry practises as modern day slavery, echoing Princes famous comments he gave to a Rolling Stone journalist in 1996: If you dont own your masters, your master owns you. West seems keen to practise what he preaches yesterday, he announced that hed be returning the 50 per cent stake he holds in all of G.O.O.D. Musics artists masters, news that was welcomed by signees Big Sean and 070 Shake.
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What do artists mean when they talk about their masters?
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Why Everybody Hates Record Labels
If you know anything about the relationship between record labels and artists, you know artists typically get the worse end of the deal. Mega-stars are rare, and so record labels hold on to as much of their earnings as possible to finance all the swings they take and miss. This is a reliable source of frustration for lots of people, but especially the mega-stars, some of whom become famous in part due to their friction with labels: Prince wrote slave on his face to protest his treatment at the hands of Warner Bros. Taylor Swift is now re-recording all her old albums after her former label sold the material out from underneath her.
Before the year 2000 or so, labels had all the leverage here. They controlled the production and distribution of records and CDs they had the money and relationships needed for promotion. Occasionally, an alternative artist would strike out on their own and start an independent label. But for the most part, the major record labels controlled the industry.
Then came the internet. At first, it seemed that file-sharing services like Napster might kill off the major record labels altogether. But the labels were saved by the rise of streaming services like Spotify, which helped them make their existing back catalogs more profitable than ever before. That was great news for the record labels, but the fundamental tensions with artists remained. Most artists make almost no money from streaming, while the majors are reporting record profits.
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Controversy Over The Big Four
Universal Music expressed interest in purchasing EMI in 2012 and made an offer of $1.9 billion. Consumer watchdog groups released a report encouraging the government to halt the deal on June 14, stating that the buyout would cause major issues within the industry. They felt that this new mega power would be able to disrupt pricing, costing consumers significant amounts of money.
A congressional hearing was held on the issue, and it was examined by European authorities as well. After several months of debate, American and European regulators approved the takeover of EMI. Universal Music gained access to the work of some significantly major artists, including the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West. The sale created a huge shift in the industry, consolidating power to the Big Three and changing the business landscape. The Big Three now controlled the vast majority of the music market. Some artists moved to smaller independent labels or opted to self-publish in response in an attempt to gain control over their works and careers.
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Reduced Advertising Weighs On Radio And General Licensing Income
Sirius XM, the satellite and digital radio broadcaster, saw total company sales decline 5% year-on-year in Q2 2020, driven by a 34% decline in advertising revenue. For the full year, Sirius XM management expects total company sales to decline by 3%.
Lower advertising spending has also impacted terrestrial radio, although the pullback may be reversing. iHeartMedia, the owner of 800+ AM/FM radio stations, saw an even larger impact than Sirius XM, with Q2 2020 sales declining 47% year-on-year. iHeartMedia did note that annual revenue declines had improved each month from April through July .
As a result, royalties paid by radio stations to Performance Rights Organizations will likely fall sharply over the next couple of quarters. ASCAP President Paul Williams noted in April 2020 that as more licensee businesses shut down, the pandemic will have a material and negative impact financially on almost every category of licensing.