Tithing Tales - IV

In April 2001 I had been praying to find a way to purchase car insurance because I don't like driving around being illegal. Finding out that I did the taxes in our house, Grandpa Shelton, out of the blue, asked me to do his taxes. He thought he would rather pay me (he never did it again, however) than his tax preparer. Having only done my own provided very limited experience, but I agreed to do it. He offered me $150 which is what he would have paid the tax preparer, H&R Block. In the meantime, I called around looking for car insurance and found a very helpful gentleman with Allstate. (I've noticed the people the Lord sends me are very kind.) For the least amount of coverage, liability only, just to be legal, he quoted me $175. I decided I could try to come up with an extra $25 by purchasing less food. When I went to their office, they printed out the policy and registration papers and were happy to tell me that the price came in lower at $157.38.  Wow, exactly what I had!

Fame and Fortune

The music business is a complex structure. There are five interdependent parts: the publisher, the songwriter, recording artist, the producer, and the record label.


The music publisher is responsible for ensuring the songwriters and composers receive payment when their compositions are used commercially. Through an agreement called a publishing contract, a songwriter or composer "assigns" the copyright of their composition to a publishing company. In return, the company licenses compositions, helps monitor where compositions are used, collects royalties and distributes them to the composers. They also secure commissions for music and promote existing compositions to recording artists, film and television. The copyrights owned and administered by publishing companies are one of the most important forms of intellectual property in the music industry. (The other is the copyright on a master recording which is typically owned by a record company.) Publishing companies play a central role in managing this vital asset.

The songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as pop music or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be mainly used for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the task are distributed between a number of people.

The recording artist is a musician and/or singer who records and releases music, often professionally, through a record label or independently. Working as a music artist requires long training, either in music school or through gaining experience and physical conditioning and practicing to maintain and improve musical skills. Music artists sometimes live erratic, nomadic lifestyles. Music artists often face intermittent periods of unemployment, long nights in the studio, and frequent travel to performance venues. They also typically must deal with income uncertainty due to competition for places in bands or performance venues. Though a risky profession, it is one of the most over-saturated occupations. While many musicians are only known within their city or region, some music artists, depending on public reception and appreciation of their work, go on to achieve celebrity status.

The music producer has many roles that may include, but are not limited to, gathering ideas for the projects, selecting songs and/or session musicians, proposing changes to the song arrangements, coaching the artist and musicians in the studio, controlling the recording sessions, and supervising the entire process through audio mixing (recorded music) and, in some cases, to the audio mastering stage. Producers also often take on a wider entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts, and negotiations. In the 2010s, the recording industry has two kinds of producers with different roles: executive producer and music producers. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the creation of music.

The record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Often, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Record labels may be small, localized, and "independent" ("indie"), or they may be part of a large international media group, or somewhere in between. As of 2012 there are only three labels that can be referred to as "major labels" (Universal Music Group out of California, Sony Music Entertainment out of Japan, and Warner Music Group out of New York).

An artist may use all or some of the other parts of the music business in order to produce music. There are disadvantages and advantages to both types of labels. Being under contract with an independent label means possibly larger cuts in royalty payments, especially if there are no middlemen. A major label, however, can provide wider exposure, which could mean more sources for royalty payments. There