Comments on Exhibit 3 Principal points noted in reviewing the structure of the record industry are summarized in Exhibit 3. Exhibit 3 ANATOMY OF THE RECORD INDUSTRY ■Multi-million dollar industry ■Many organizations have stake in industry ■Many people have stake in industry ■Complex interdependent relationships ■Dynamic responsive industry ■Many channels of distribution ■Many types of consumers ■Change in copyright fee would disrupt industry performance and structure III. THE CREATORS OF RECORDED MUSIC AND THEIR REWARDS --A CASE STUDY OF "I BELIEVE" These are Recorded music begins with a tune and words. what are copyrighted. But this is only the beginning of the whole creative process that produces a recording. Record company executives concerned with artist and repertoire activity work hard to match the right performing artists with the right words and music. These executives work with arrangers, recording technicians, artists, and supporting musicians to develop unique personalized expressions of music and talent that appeal to a wide variety of highly different tastes. Artists try to develop distinctive styles and personalities for expressing words and music. The actual electronic recording of sound also requires creative talent to create and capture faithfully an effective combination of sounds of voices and instruments. A single tune and set of words can receive an infinite variety of highly different expressions. As an illustration of the role record companies and others play in the creative process and the rewards that flow from these efforts, see Exhibits 4 to 9. Exhibit 4 demonstrates the variety of creative expressions that can be achieved with one single tune and set of words, drawing upon a sampling of recorded versions ,,1 made of "I Believe. This song has been made available in at least 207 releases by 62 American companies since 1953. In the 12 years, 145 of these releases, by 48 artists, made by 9 companies, generated for the copyright holder about $213,000. This included copyright license fees from recordings, amounting to $107,000, and "performance" fees, largely made up of payments for broadcasting recorded music, amounting to $106,000. The profits of all companies for all recordings of this song, taking into account all of the recordings with losses, amounted to about $148,000 before taxes. Copyright license fees were paid on all releases, even those that incurred a loss. Artists' royalties amounted to $94,000. Payments to musicians' and vocalists' welfare and pension funds amounted to $30,000. Comments on Exhibit 4 Exhibit 4 consists of a tape recording of excerpts of contrasting versions of the song "I Believe" as recorded by a number of artists and musical groups. This tape illustrates the many and different artistic contributions of composers, lyricists, artists, arrangers, musicians, technicians, and the "artist and repertoire" executives of record companies who envision different kinds of interpretations and renditions of compositions, and who manage the production of recordings. Between 1953 and 1964, 62 domestic record companies made at least 207 different releases of "I Believe." Several companies released a number of different recordings by different artists and musical groups. The tape shows how entirely different musical and artistic expressions that appeal to a wide variety of tastes can be produced from the notes of a tune and the words of a song. Note: Data regarding "I Believe" were obtained directly from Exhibit 4 A RECORDING OF VERSIONS OF "I BELIEVE" "During the next few minutes, you will hear examples of how the notes of a tune and the words of a song created by composer and lyricist - are built up into a variety of artistic conceptions and expressions. You will hear this song in just a few of its many contrasting recorded versions. These widely varied renditions released by several companies appeal in unique and different ways to quite different musical tastes, all of them representative of different parts of the vast American audience. " - - Selections of, and commentary on, these versions of "I Believe" followed: "There are many acts of creation between the original work of the composer lyricist and the version you hear and enjoy. You have just heard of more than 100 recorded versions of the song 'I Believe.' The record company brings together with its inventive and technical skills, its artistic taste, and a willingness to take financial risk the following factors: the arranger, the creative bridge between the first time you heard the melody as played on the piano without accompaniment (cue... solo piano) and the recorded performance of the featured artists, the orchestra including musicians, and leader and vocalist in small groups, as well as large choruses -- orchestrators, copyists, and creative sound engineers. These are the people engaged in the creation of recorded performances. The whole effort of creation is managed by the record company through its artist and repertoire producers. It is through the merging of these separate factors that the phonograph recording becomes a truly artistic creation. " - |