Before we begin to discuss how SingularDTV offers creators a better way, here are some key terms to freshen up on:

Key concepts:

Sound recordings can refer to any audio recording, including the sound accompanying motion pictures.

can refer to any audio recording, including the sound accompanying motion pictures. Copyright owner is the entity that legally owns rights to a work.

is the entity that legally owns rights to a work. Performances refer to how copyright holders have the exclusive right to perform the work in public, or to license others to perform it. This right applies to “literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works.” Playing a CD in public, or showing a film in public is “performing” the work. [1]

refer to how copyright holders have the exclusive right to perform the work in public, or to license others to perform it. This right applies to “literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works.” Playing a CD in public, or showing a film in public is “performing” the work. [1] C ompilation refers to work formed from already existing materials in a way that forms its own original work, including collective works.

refers to work formed from already existing materials in a way that forms its own original work, including collective works. Copies are physical objects that hold, fix, or embody a work such as a music tape, film, CD, statue, play, or printed sheet music.

are physical objects that hold, fix, or embody a work such as a music tape, film, CD, statue, play, or printed sheet music. Digital rights management ( DRM ) is a set of access control technologies for restricting the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.[1] DRM technologies try to control the use, modification, and distribution of copyrighted works (such as software and multimedia content), as well as systems within devices that enforce these policies. [2]

( ) is a set of access control technologies for restricting the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.[1] DRM technologies try to control the use, modification, and distribution of copyrighted works (such as software and multimedia content), as well as systems within devices that enforce these policies. [2] Intellectual Property — a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Artistic works like music and literature, as well as some discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs can all be protected as intellectual property. [3]

— a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks. Artistic works like music and literature, as well as some discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs can all be protected as intellectual property. [3] Royalties — Royalties refers to the monies you, as a songwriter, can earn from your songs and/or recordings of your songs.

With those terms in place, we can begin to have a streamlined conversation.

History Lessons

Who hasn’t had the dream of being a rock star? Whether you prefer Madonna or Motörhead, David Guetta or David Bowie, musicians are heroes and cultural icons. But those dreams likely don’t include the often vicious reality of dealing with the many legal issues, fragile revenue streams, and cutthroat business practices that stand in the way of making a living off your talent.

Let’s look back at some of the most striking examples…

The beloved Detroit label Motown produced amazing music, so much so that it’s name inspires a whole genre, but it treated its artists unfairly, locking them into low-paying, long contracts that did not reflect their true value.

By 1972, the already beloved Stevie Wonder wanted to gain more control of his IP, musical and lyrical writing, royalty payments and management of his own career, which had until then mainly consisted of covers and b-sides by force of the label and his contract. To get around his label’s control over his creative output, in 1972, Wonder released Talking Book, one of two albums he recorded independently to be able to force renegotiations with Motown

Music of My Mind and Talking Book were the beginning of the classical period for Wonder, and the pathway for other artists from Motown to start looking at other options when it came to recording contracts. Diana Ross parted ways with the label to go with RCA, signing a $20 million advance, the largest ever at the moment, and gained more control of the rights and royalty payments in the process.

Then you have situations like Prince’s battle with Warner Bros, after the label inhibited the Purple One from releasing music to his fans. Prince changed his name to a symbol while and wrote “Slave” on his cheeks as protest, because the label would not allow him to release the music he wanted to his audience. Talk about rights management! That’s when the term “slave contracts” became known.

TLC, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Toni Braxton and Little Richard had number-one hits, top-selling albums, worldwide tours, and Grammy awards, but some would have to file for bankruptcy because they would never be able to get real royalty payment audits. A very unfortunate case was Badfinger, in which manager Steve Polley disappeared with all the money generated from their royalties. The band was left in poverty, and Pete Ham, the bandleader, committed suicide.

Creatives, songwriters, artists and entertainers all have in common that they live for their art, their music. It is their passion, and they want to share their talent with their audience. Any industry built around music should put this first and foremost.

Traditionally, managers often ask for 50% of the profits from their client, and take home huge amounts at their expense. One case in particular was Aerosmith. The band’s original managers Steve Leber and David Krebs owned 50% of the catalog, comprising seven albums from 1973–1982. The ex-managers sold their catalog for $15 million to Mosaic Music Publishing back in 2002 [4 ]. Later on, Mosaic Music Publishing was acquired by Stage Three Music Ltd [5], which was acquired by BMG Rights Management in 2010 [6].

This means that if Steven Tyler performs, or was to gain anything from “Dream On,” like in a NFL Superbowl Kia Ad, it’d be split between BMG and himself. If he was to perform the song with the band, then the split would be something like this.

$1,000 for the performance 50% = $500 for BMG 50% = $500 for Aerosmith, split evenly between band members. So that’s $100 per person.

The owners of the catalog — who sold it for $15 million — didn’t pay anything to Aerosmith, because they were selling their 50%, through which they had been gaining more royalty payments out of these songs for over 20 years, while having nothing to do with Aerosmith.

What a great deal for the managers, and a lifetime of regret for the band! And it gets worse: Out of the 50% that Aerosmith had access to, they had to split that between their own music publisher, record label, producers, and other middlemen and/or gatekeepers, so that 50% quickly translates to less than 10% per member.

The question here is: Is it fair that after you spent countless hours of writing, arranging, frustration, investing in proper equipment, sweat, blood and tears, you don’t get 100% of what is yours?

“Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna say the word — slavery,” Prince told journalists in August 2015. “I would tell any young artist… don’t sign.”

How SingularDTV Fits In