Sound Advice: The CMPA Looks Ahead in 2017

Story by Martin Melhuish | Tuesday February 7th, 2017

As the Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA) enters its 68th year in 2017 as the oldest music trade association in Canada, not only can it look back on its storied history as an agent of change and a dogged opponent of legislative stagnancy in matters relating to safeguarding and advancing the interests of composers and publishers, it can also look forward to a similarly ambitious agenda in the coming year, in creating global business opportunities for its members and promoting their interests, and those of their songwriting partners through advocacy, communication and education.

A recently released report by Circum Network Inc. on the state of the Canadian music publishing industry, commissioned by CMPA and the Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM), revealed that, in the most recent year, their members’ businesses generated $199 million in revenues – 73 percent of that total from foreign sources.

Margaret McGuffin

Margaret McGuffin

The association will build on that solid foundation moving forward with Executive Director Margaret McGuffin and newly-elected President Vincent Degiorgio at the helm. Jodie Ferneyhough, with his 13 years of domestic and international experience as CMPA President and as a board member of the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), remains on the CMPA board as Vice President.

McGuffin, who will oversee the CMPA’s various strategic initiatives in the next year – which will focus on advocacy, leadership, education, market development, promotion and member relations – has been widely hailed as the right person at the right time to take on the challenges that await given her impressive body of experience which includes time as CEO of the Musicians’ Rights Organization Canada (MROC), as a member of the senior executive team at Access Copyright, and as a consultant to some of Canada’s leading copyright collectives, including the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA). She started her career at Connect Music Licensing (previously AVLA) and Music Canada (then CRIA).

“In the coming year, CMPA will collaborate with other trade organizations, including those in ACCORD and the Music Policy Coalition, to pursue our overall objective of strengthening the Canadian music publishing industry,” says CMPA President Vincent Degiorgio. “We will continue to champion the role of music publishers, songwriters and music creators in areas such as copyright, Canadian content in the digital world, and Canada’s innovation agenda.”

Creating global business opportunities for its members is an integral part of the association’s market development strategy which includes trade missions for publishers and songwriters, and the continuation of the highly successful Canadian Music Café initiative held during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It provides the opportunity for a select group of Canadian creators to showcase for a lineup of prominent music supervisors from the worlds of film, TV, advertising and video games.

CMPA is also providing international business-to-business opportunities with programs like CMPA Create Germany and CMPA Create L.A., which will provide the opportunity for its publisher members to meet with their peers, record labels, film and TV music supervisors in those territories, and offer the chance for their songwriters to collaborate with local writers during songwriting camps.

Beyond member relations, which will see the association develop enhanced communications to its members and stakeholders, CMPA is on a mission to define and increase the profile of music publishing by educating partners and stakeholders – and the public at large – on the role of music publishers and their song writing partners.

Many a publisher has mused over the glazed look they get at social engagements when they respond to the question of “What do you do?” CMPA and APEM, in collaboration with the SOCAN Foundation, recently defined, with great clarity, the role of music publishers with an engaging animated video featuring Sophie the songwriter and Patrick, her music publisher. Thanks to this short but informative production, the answer to that dinner party question is now, “Here, have a look at this!”

Photo by Courtesy of/Courtoisie d'ole (Chris Giansante)

Sound Advice: Chris Giansante and ole Digital

Story by Kevin Young | Thursday February 23rd, 2017

ole Digital is a service that can be of significant benefit to songwriters and composers in monetizing digital content on YouTube, Google Play, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Prime, and Spotify, among other platforms.

“ole Digital was really started to ensure that all of our clients and stakeholders were getting monetization for content distributed digitally,” says Chris Giansante, ole Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration. “YouTube was the largest platform in which things were being exploited, but that was just one factor of why this division was started.”

While Giansante has always had a passion for music, it was his talent with numbers, that led him to a background in business, finance and accounting – which allows him to contribute to an industry he loves – for ole and ole Digital’s clients.

He currently leads ole’s Finance and Administration teams, which includes overseeing strategy for Conductor, the company’s proprietary data analytics and Business Intelligence system. Giansante’s role covers all of the company’s existing digital activities, including negotiation of direct deals with YouTube and other digital platforms. In many ways, the position is an extension of his work with ole since he joined the company seven years ago, in acquisitions.

“With the explosion of amounts of non-conforming data, Conductor essentially brings sanity to the madness.”

Having worked on several of ole’s major transactions (such as signing Timbaland, and acquiring the catalogues of Rush and Sony Pictures), Giansante embraced the opportunity, but says it was an eye-opener. “You’ve got a perception, before you get into the weeds, of how everything works.” He says. “But the details are incredibly nuanced and constantly evolving.”

The growth of YouTube was part of the impetus for ole Digital’s development, but it was the increasing exploitation of content through a myriad of digital platforms that prompted ole to service and monitor that developing market to ensure their clients received fair compensation for the use of the intellectual property controlled by ole.

The deployment of ole’s proprietary Conductor system, now enhanced to become a full-scale rights management platform, is key to that goal.

“Conductor is like the Rosetta Stone of data,” Giansante explains. “A tool that allows us to conform any data set to a defined standard, and then provides substantial, automated data analytics and insights related to it. We’re in an industry that unfortunately has no universal data standards. Even the so-called ‘standards’ are not standard. Conductor standardizes that ‘non-standard’ so our clients and stakeholders can benefit from meaningful data analytics and insights that maximize their royalties and the value of their intellectual property.

“With the evolution of the digital marketplace and the resultant explosion of amounts of non-conforming data, Conductor essentially brings sanity to the madness.  It’s the system that forms the backbone of our rights management platform.”

As a full-scale multi-channel network that provides assistance to channel owners in a variety of areas, ole Digital offers a level of insight that’s greater than a company that only sees a portion of the data, says Giansante. Additionally, being a full-scale publishing administrator has allowed them to “marry up” their digital collections on YouTube and other services.

“As opposed to an organization that’s collecting income from one type of right – for example, a streaming mechanical, or mechanical reproduction right – Conductor allows ole Digital to drill into the insight of the data and identify where there’s gaps, or challenges, so we can get people paid more, and faster,” says Giansante.

The platform serves both emerging and established artists, songwriters and composers in a way that’s farther-reaching than most, says Giansante, and adds that it serves clients who range from other publishing entities, to TV and film companies, to individual songwriters and composers.

“We view ourselves as a partner to our clients, not just a service provider.”

Songwriters and composers interested in taking advantage of the service can contact the company through www.oledigital.com. Administration clients are then billed a 20-percent commission, but rights holders retain 100-percent copyright ownership and are still paid from their performing rights organization for the public performance of their compositions.

“One of the factors that sets ole Digital apart from competitors is its ability to collect on all content types,” says Giansante. While contracts with digital services are relatively standard, with YouTube specifically, “as a full-scale multi-channel network we do everything – compositions, sound recordings and full audiovisual content,” says Giansante. “There aren’t many partners that have that status.

“A major differentiator is our robust technological platform, Conductor,” he continues. “We’ve been able to conform all of the data that we get from all areas we operate as a rights management company into a single ecosystem. That ability, augmented by the system’s robust analytics, gives us greater insights, so that we’re able to ensure full and complete monetization for our clients.”

“Individuals should be able to engage with a team to help them create their own channels and strategize on how they can earn more views,” Giansante says. “We view ourselves as a partner to our clients, not just a service provider, and want to assist with every avenue of the value chain we can to help clients foster their careers and ensure greater monetization.”

Photo by Mat Lo (Photo of/de Ari Wise)

Sound Advice: A Screen Composer’s Guide to TIFF

Story by Ari Wise, Owner/Director/Directeur of/du Core Music Agency | Thursday October 6th, 2016

When Words & Music asked me to contribute a few tips on how a screen composer could best navigate the Toronto International Film Festival, I don’t think they realized how much I’d have to say on the topic. The 2016 festivities marked my 10th time around and as a composer agent and former film composer, so I have a lot to talk about. Also, I love the sound of my own voice.

Prepping for TIFF is crucial. As soon as the calendar ticks “August,” start putting in the extra effort into getting yourself onto party lists. First, focus on who you want to meet by researching the films and directors in the Festival. That’s what you’re going to be talking about at all of your meetings and parties, so you better know who the directors are and what they’ve done. Despite my decade of experience, I only started pre-booking my meetings, parties and film screenings a few years ago. That’s like your dentist telling you that she only started flossing last week. But it’s never too late to start!

Naturally, you can’t see everything or meet everyone, so pick a target and go for it. My focus is the Canadian independent feature film scene. I start by booking tickets (either comps or purchases) for films scored by our own Core Music Agency composers. Then I turn my attention to the films we pitched for but didn’t get – I want to know who they hired and why. Finally, I see the Canadian films that totally slipped past us, unnoticed. It happens… rarely, but it happens. Knowing who’s who and what to see will not only give you something to talk about, but will also give you some idea who you might be talking to at these parties. You can’t expect to be a part of the Canadian film industry if you don’t watch Canadian films.

Planning your party schedule requires a little strategy. There are early parties and late parties; if you do it right, you could have two parties every night and possibly a lunch-time barbeque on each of the weekends. But first you have to get on the right lists. That’s not easy if you don’t know who to talk to.

If you have a film in the festival, or have an industry pass, that makes it easier. You can introduce yourself to the party list coordinators by saying, “Hi I’m so-and-so, I’ve got a film in the festival called (insert name of film here).” What you really mean is that you scored a film in the festival, but if they misinterpret that as to mean that you’ve created a film showing in the festival, that’s their problem. Obviously, don’t lie if they ask further questions. Scoring a feature that shows at TIFF is still a pretty noteworthy thing.

Don’t brag about yourself or about the brilliant movie you just scored. Don’t even bring it up, not until they ask about you. This is just good manners, but it works.

Start with the party for the film you scored. Don’t take it for granted that your name will automatically be on the guest list. Nobody remembers the composer. Call the production company and ask for the guest-list co-ordinator for that film. Once you explain who you are, you should have no trouble getting an invitation. And make sure to go to the film before the party. Even though you know the film inside and out, you should really go. If the music was a hit, the director may call your name out to draw attention to you. It would really suck if you weren’t there to raise your hand and blow a kiss. Also, it would really suck if they totally replaced your score and didn’t tell you. If you don’t have a film in the festival, put it out there to your friends who do, to see if you can tag along as their “plus-one” guest. Buy them drinks before the party and be gracious if they can’t get you in. No one likes a plus-one whiner.

Some parties are really tight with their lists, some aren’t. If you’ve done this as many times as I have, you know who, how and when to ask. The more parties you go to, the more parties you’re likely to get invitations for. Chicken, meet egg. Egg, chicken. Failing that, hire a publicist to put your name onto everything.  If you can’t afford that and you’re feeling lucky, just get in line early and when they say, “Name?” say, “I totally forgot to RSVP.” Which again, technically isn’t a lie. The gatekeeper may say, “Okay, write your name and e-mail in at the bottom” and you’re in. Or she might just say. “Sorry… next!” Fortune favours the bold.

So now you’re in the party and asking yourself, ‘What do I do?’ Well for starters… have a good time! Talk to people in the bar line, ask them about themselves, what brings them here, and what party they’re going to next. Show genuine interest in what they’re doing. Don’t brag about yourself or about the brilliant movie you just scored. Don’t even bring it up, not until they ask about you. This is just good manners, but it works. “There’s a fine art to knowing how to conduct oneself in any environment,” says my friend Hilary Robinson at Polished Professionals. Whether you’re receiving a business card or brushing off a drunk Hollywood A-lister who wants to fight, there’s a certain grace to everything. Basically, it all boils down to relationships. Partying with your film-mates strengthens bonds (especially if you’re the one posting bail). Meeting new people widens your circle.

Keep the message simple: your name + composer + title they recognize = awesome person.  Oh, and don’t hand out your demo CD. Nobody wants to schlep it around all night. Even if they do, odds are it’ll get put on a shelf until the person you’ve given it to breaks up with their current partner and moves out (cut to box of CDs getting crushed in a landfill). You could use some of the cool USB flash drives out there: burn on your logo, load up some of your music and a PDF filmography. People like things they can they can use: USB key chains, USB bottle openers, USB nunchuks.  Though I think that’s still too “me-me-me.” Better to subtly drive them to your site and online playlist. It has to feel like their idea to listen, not yours. Facebook ‘em the next day and invite them to follow your artist/professional page.  If they’re young, then… Instagram or Snapchat ‘em, or whatever it is “the kids” do these days.

Dancing, drinking top-shelf whiskey and getting free swag is fun, of course, but the films and industry events are really what inspire me. Also, you never know who’ll be sitting next to you when the house lights come up. Be ready to pull out your business card at any moment. Look good, wear classy shoes, and don’t forget to trim your nose hairs.

As primed, preened and prepared as you may be for your TIFF experience, you also have to leave yourself open to the beautiful randomness of the universe. The best times I’ve had were with complete strangers I met through another group of complete strangers. One minute you’re getting into a cab to an unknown location, next thing you know, you’re doing tequila shots and watching Wim Wenders play ping-pong until sunrise.