So ... What is Music Publishing Administration?

07/20/18 • 34 min

"Wait ... You were in a Christian Rock Band? And you had to talk with Mr. Potty mouth - Me?" "It's OK Jeff, I've been in the music business a long time"

Season 2/ Episode 2 - John Barker, and Everything you ever wanted to know about licensing - but (of course) were afraid to ask.

I like to quote Donald Rumsfeld (Sorry, but I do) ...

"There are things that we know we DON'T know, and there are things we didn't even know we needed to know."

This is one of the episodes where we ask the questions you didn't know needed to be asked. We talk with John about music publishing, administration, songwriters, copyrights, licensing, collection, why it's crucial to do so, and what happens if you don't. John Barker knows these things, for nearly 20 years John has run his company, Clearbox Global out of Nashville to help songwriters and music publishers deal with exactly these kinds of questions.

Plus, he regales us with stories of Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton and Emmy Lou Harris.

"Wait ... You were in a Christian Rock Band? And you had to talk with Mr. Potty mouth - Me?" "It's OK Jeff, I've been in the music business a long time"

Season 2/ Episode 2 - John Barker, and Everything you ever wanted to know about licensing - but (of course) were afraid to ask.

I like to quote Donald Rumsfeld (Sorry, but I do) ...

"There are things that we know we DON'T know, and there are things we didn't even know we needed to know."

Plus, he regales us with stories of Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton and Emmy Lou Harris.

Previous Episode

"It's Carin - Like Car in the Garage"

Season 2/ Episode 1: Carin Gilfry – “Carin – Like Car in the Garage”

Three things you need to know about today’s podcast...

First, “yes” we have been away for a little while. Life, work, family – all the things that get in the way of a successful podcast, managed to get in the way of our successful podcast. But we’re back, and we have close to a dozen podcasts lined up and ready to go.

Second, Carin pronounces her name, “car-in” as in, “the car is in the garage.”

Third, you might have already heard of Carin because she’s kind of famous for being locked in a closet and you can listen to that part of her interview down below.

So why Carin? I like deep dives into particular professions because they invariably have great stories. So I figured, “Let’s talk to someone who does voice-overs,” see what we can find.

Starting her career as an opera singer (I liked to picture her belting out an aria wearing Viking horns while grasping a spear), Carin didn’t disappoint. Despite singing at some of the world’s most famous venues, a love of Opera wasn’t paying her bills. So Carin did what many successful artists do, leveraged her strengths, her fantastic voice, and pivoted. She tried her hand at voice-over work and quickly realized in today’s fractured media landscape, dulcet tones could pay the bills. Corporate videos, audiobooks, PA systems, even answering machines, everyone is looking for the perfect voice.

And now it’s more than just voice-overs, Carin now produces children shows, writes music, she’ll even write the theme music for your audiobook.

And it all started with opera.

Looking for more on Carin...

https://www.caringilfry.com

AND... she was nice enough to record us a new open.

Next Episode

Monetizing a mood

Danny Turner - Monetizing Moods. Global Senior Vice President for Creative Programming at Mood Media Season 2/ Episode 3

I've never been able to get the final scene from the "Blues Brothers," out of my head. Jake and Elwood spend the entirety of the (in my opinion fantastic) movie racing to the Cook County Assessors office, desperate to pay the back taxes on the orphanage. The final few moments of their quest (chased by thousands of members of Illinois law Enforcement) spent waiting in the elevator, staring at the blank walls, while the dulcet tones of "The Girl from Ipanema,"plays over the loudspeakers.

The scene doesn't need words, and we've all been there. Staring at elevator walls, avoiding any eye contact, canned elevator Muzak playing over the elevator speakers to fill the silence. Just say the word, "Muzak," and "The Girl From Ipanema" jumps immediately to mind.

But here's the thing, Muzak, as we thought we knew it, no longer exists. Muzak hasn't been a company since 2011 when it was acquired, for $345 million by a company called, Mood Media*.

Why would anyone pay $345 million for the company behind, "The Girl from Ipanema"? Well - according to Danny Turner, Global Senior Vice President for Creative Programming at Mood Media - it was money well spent.

Mood Media is an Austin, Texas-based company, which will create the perfect mood for their clients.

From their website...

Mood Media is the world’s leading in-store media solutions company dedicated to elevating the Customer Experience. We create greater emotional connections between brands and consumers through the right combination of sight, sound, scent, social mobile, and systems solutions.

Music, sight, sounds, smells. Everything you would need to create the perfect mood for your shopping mall, high-end hotel or corporate lobby. Mood Media yanked the "The Girl from Ipanema," kicking and screaming away from the relaxing beaches of Rio de Janeiro and dropped her right into the middle of the edgy world of modern consumer culture.

It's a great interview, Danny explains a little about the history behind Muzak, about the power of music to create a mood, what is the difference between a playlist and true curation, and how artists can make a living off composing music for Mood Media.

OK, sorry, we messed up a bit. A few times (actually, like 8) in the interview we mistakenly called the company, "Mood Music"... it's called Mood Media, and we were wrong (very wrong.)