Search

Who Is Going To Write The Next Hit Song? You….

By Chris Gilbey

The movement to mobile is incredible, isn’t it? I have been reading up on data relating to the growth of mobile over the last couple of days so that I can deliver a reasonably coherent lecture on a number of issues relating to mobile to first year communication students at UoW. At the same time [...]

Allan Caswell and On The Inside

By Chris Gilbey

You are an aspiring songwriter, and you get a shot at writing the theme song for a new TV series. It might be successful. It might not. You don’t know, but you do know that the guy who came up with the idea had one of the longest running series in the history of British [...]

Getting Your Project Funded – Some Basic Rules Of Engagement

By Chris Gilbey

Pretty much everyone that I meet has a pet project that they want to take to market, or knows someone who has one. But almost invariably when the discussion turns to what needs to be done, the person at the center of the play – the entrepreneur if you will – has a misconception about [...]

Building Robust Valuations of Music Assets In A Digital World

By Chris Gilbey

Historically, music publishing catalogues are valued at a multiple of the NPS (Net Publisher Share) with the multiple increasing or decreasing according to the perception of the future earnings potential. The NPS is the gross margin the publisher keeps after the songwriter has been paid and is made up of a basket of Performing Rights [...]

Statistical Anomalies in Reports Originating in the EU

By Tom Koltai

Introduction Over the last several months a number of reports have been published on the impact of file sharing of popular music on Europe's macro economy. The purpose of this paper is to identify a number of arguments that have been made that are provably false or present data that is contrary to other so-called [...]

Canada Upsets the American Music Industry for the second time in 110 Years

By Tom Koltai

(Our previous article was the first upset.)   This time, Canadians have made the top ten list of countries that are “out to get” the content industries.   They share this dubious honour with the following countries. Priority Watch List (Links retrieve country specific pdf reports.)         Argentina         Canada         Chile         Costa Rica [...]

MUSIC PIRATES IN CANADA….(1897)

By Tom Koltai

Dug out from the archives of the New York Times….. June 13, 1897 NYTimes   American Publishers say they are Suffering by Copyright Violations There-Steps Taken for Redress.   “Canadian pirates” is what the music dealers call publishing houses across the line who are flooding this country, they say, with spurious editions of the latest [...]

Alberts – House Of Hits

By Chris Gilbey

On Tuesday evening I went to the launch party for the new book, “House Of Hits”. This is a book written by Jane Albert that examines the Australian music publishing, recording and broadcasting dynasty, the Albert family. I worked for Ted Albert during the 70's building the record label during the early days of John [...]

Some Thoughts About The "Downunder" and "Kookaburra" case

By Chris Gilbey

I have been amazed at the outpouring of emotion about the decision by the court last week in favour of Larrikin Music in its plagiarism suit against EMI Music. This is in relation to whether “Downunder”, the iconic Aussie song from Men At Work, infringed “Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree“, the iconic song [...]

The Book Publishing Business Model Is Broken

By Chris Gilbey

I was in Sydney yesterday for a meeting. In the car on the way up I had been listening to a BBC podcast and an author was interviewed about her new book (How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer). Pardon my ignorance but I had never [...]