London Calling
by Anderson Reynolds and Linus Elcock

On the surface the music industry appears to be simply about artists launching albums, performing at shows, having their music aired on radio and their videos played on television. However, the overwhelming impression that remained with us after attending London Calling 2008, held in London June 19 and 20, is that the music industry is much more multifaceted than it seems and more significantly, because of the internet and advances in digital technology, it is going through rapid and revolutionary changes.

In its 5th year of operation, London Calling is a global music industry convention or talk shop that brings together players from around the world and from all sectors of the music industry where they showcase their services and products, explore business partnerships and opportunities, and come up to speed with what is happening at the cutting edge of the music industry. To advance these causes this year’s London Calling included panel discussions and keynote presentations by industry experts, country presentations, exhibition rooms and pavilions, and speed dating that afforded exclusive one-to-one opportunities for indie (independent) labels, publishers and managers to meet UK and international companies who specifically want to do business with them.

One of the messages that came out loud and clear at London Calling 2008 is that to take full advantage of their creativity and intellectual property rights, artists and other industry players need to be fully aware of all the different ways they can financially exploit their music. For example, besides revenues from public performances and sale of sound recordings (CD sales, for example), artists and songwriters can gain substantial income from exploiting their performance and publishing rights.

Performance rights to a work refers to the exclusive right a copyright owner (such as a songwriter) has to authorize the "public performance" of that work. Public performance includes performances at concert venues, air play on radio and television stations, and recorded music at shops, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, blockos, offices and other work places.

The industry practice is that performance rights organizations such as PRS in the UK and HMS in St. Lucia license public broadcasters of music and collect income on behalf of songwriters and music publishers whenever a song is publicly broadcast. That is why all musicians and songwriters need to belong to a performance rights society, otherwise it is tantamount to them throwing away money for which no further action or expenditure is required on their part.

Publishing rights present several avenues from which a songwriter can profit, among them mechanical royalties, synchronization licenses, transcription licenses, and print licenses. Mechanical royalties are payment derived from authorizing the reproduction of songs on devices sold on a per unit basis, such as CD, DAT, audiocassette, flexi-discs, musical greeting cards, etc. Synchronization licenses permit the use of a song with visual images as in television programs, television advertisement, film, video games, etc. Transcription licenses permit the use of a song as part of a radio commercial. Print licenses on the other hand permit music to be transcribed to sheet music.

Although songwriters can administer their publishing rights themselves, it is common for them to enter into contractual arrangements with publishers whereby they transfer all or part of their publishing rights to the publishers who then administer the songwriters’ copyrights, license their songs to record companies and others, and collect royalties on their behalf.

London Calling 2008 featured not only publishers and Performance Rights Societies like PRS but also several presentations and panel discussions on how writers and publishers are rising to the challenges of licensing new digital formats and how they should go about getting their songs into film, television and games and thus exploit synchronization licensing.

Notwithstanding performance and publishing rights, perhaps the overwhelming focus of London Calling 2008 was the extent to which digital technology has set the music industry on a tailspin and how different players in the industry were adjusting to this phenomenon. Not too long ago record companies were the undisputed kings of the music industry. The recording and information technology was such that the recording and cutting of an album and the marketing and distribution of it was such an involved and exorbitantly expensive undertaking that to make any progress an artist had to have a major record label in her corner. With the arrival of personal computers, recording software, CD/DVD storage medium, digital camcorders, the internet, online shopping and file sharing, all this has changed. Now without leaving her home and at a reasonable cost an artist can record, mix and master her music, burn it unto CDs which can be sent to the media and radio stations, place her CDs in online stores for global retail or on itune for digital sales, design and promulgate her website on which she can publicize and promote her music to a world audience. Then the artist with a camcorder costing under US$2000.00 can shoot her own music video and place it on youtube, myspace and on her own website for the world to see. This phenomenon has truly empowered artists and has to a certain extent democratized and leveled off the playing field of the music industry.

On the consumption side, music lovers have been presented with new avenues by which they can both acquire and listen to music. Now they can simply turn on their computer and listen to music online, or they can download music from the internet onto storage mediums like CDs and flash drives and unto ipods and mobile phones. Unsurprisingly, CD sales, once the bread and butter of record labels, are falling faster than digital sales, while free downloads of music are escalating.

In light of these changes, some industry analyst foresee a time when the selling of recorded music (digital or otherwise) will be a thing of the past. Instead recorded music will be given away for free to promote and advance artists touring, merchandise and sponsorships. These to them will be the real profit centers of the music industry. For example, one prediction is that revenue streams from touring, merchandising, and sponsorship will soon outstrip recorded music revenue at a rate of more than 10:1.

Some of the many topics covered at London Calling to address these changes included how writers and publishers are rising to the challenges of licensing digital formats. What is the value of music in the digital age? The future of mobile music. What needs to be done for legal digital downloads to fully makeup for declining CD sales? The record business before and after the digital revolution. Where/how will traditional CD retail business succeed in this new world of online shopping?

Nevertheless, while change, especially rapid change, closes doors for some, it opens doors for others. At London Calling 2008 it was clear that the internet and the information revolution have ushered many new players into the music industry. Present were businesses providing web design services, online stores selling both digital music and CD and music merchandise, businesses providing online music data banks accessed by music consumers and businesses alike, and those providing online copyright registration services and online electronic concert ticketing.

London Calling 2008 reflected the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age, but by no means did it neglect the traditional aspects of the music industry. There were sessions and panel discussions on piracy and copyright; how to access and penetrate the US, Chinese and Japanese music markets; artist management and the day to day realities of the live music industry. Along with these presentations were artist management firms, producers and recording studios, CD manufacturers, distributors and retail stores, show promoters and concert/festival organizers, marketing and communications firms, music merchandising firms, law firms, music magazines, radio and television stations, record labels, industry organizations, official government organizations and performing artists.

With representatives from St. Lucia, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean was well represented at London Calling 2008. We all came under the international pavilion in a display and meeting area sponsored by the people and government Trinidad and Tobago and managed by Miribal Communications Tropicmedia Ltd. Besides networking with each other, we met and exchange contacts and promotional material with our counterparts from other parts of the world.

One thing that all these interactions made clear is that once we are willing and able to step out there with presentable packages and music and artists meeting international standards, there are plenty of opportunities for securing avenues for distributing and airing our music and for touring various countries. It is just a matter of establishing one on one contacts and meeting our end of the arrangement.

For us London Calling 2008 has truly been an eyeopener, both in terms of exposing us to the full breadth of the music industry, alerting us to the changes taking place in the industry, and increasing our awareness of the opportunities available for exploiting our music and how to go about doing so. For this we must say thanks to HMS, OPSR, and Miribal Communications Tropicmedia Ltd. for making it possible for us to attend the convention.

Anderson Reynolds is the founder and managing Director of Jako Productions and a director on the Board of HMS. Linus "Mista L" Elcock is also on the board of HMS and he is the founder of and sound engineer at Latako Records.