The Live Music Performance Industry

The Live Music Performance Industry

And the roles within it...

Open Ended

Warmer Q: 1987

What do you think was the biggest selling album of 1987 & how many copies do you think it sold?

Which artist do you think had the biggest selling tour of 1987 and how much money do you think it made?

Just an educated guess!

Open Ended

Warmer Q: 2018

What do you think was the biggest selling album of 2018 & how many copies do you think it sold?

Which artist do you think had the biggest selling tour of 2018 and how much money do you think it made?

Just an educated guess!

Today's Objectives

• To compare record & ticket sales from 1987-2018

• To assess existing knowledge of roles involved in the live music performance industry

• To explore an example of a live performance and list the roles involved

• To recap music industry roles in preparation for assignment completion 

Assignment Reminder

• Produce a poster detailing relevant organizations and individuals within the UK music industry + a brief description of their responsibilities

• Use arrows to show the direction of revenue flow between organizations and individuals

• Give a 5 minute presentation explaining your intended future role in the music industry and your sources of potential revenue

Assignment Deadline

Tuesday the 15th of December

You will be giving your 5 minute presentations on your posters

Then: 1987

• Biggest selling album: Bad - MICHAEL JACKSON

• Sold 18 Million copies in the first year

• Biggest selling tour: Pink Floyd

• Made $27.7 million

Now(ish): 2018

• Biggest selling album: The Greatest Showman Original Soundtrack :(

• 3.5 million copies in the first year

• Biggest selling tour: Ed Sheeran - Divide Tour

• Made $429 million

Live Music: No Substitute

• Ever since the rise of the internet, record sales have been decreasing (apart from the recent rise in vinyl sales)

• Illegal downloading and streaming substitute and replace purchasing 

• However, concert ticket sales continue to increase year on year - The atmosphere and experience of a live performance being impossible to substitute

• Live performance is now where the money is for artists & session players

Task

Watch the following, infamous example of a live performance.

Make a list of all of the roles involved in the live performance scenario as possible

Open Ended

Which industry roles are involved in this scenario?

Findings

Add the ones you didn't get to your list...

Multiple Select

So that's who's involved, but what are the sources of revenue for a live performance? Tick all that apply:

• Ticket Sales

• Royalties

• Merchandise Sales

Live Performance Revenue

• Ticket sales - this revenue is split between the artist, the promoter, the venue and some times the record label - it is also divided to pay all of the people involved in organising the tour

• Royalties - PRS go to the composition rights holders so usually the band

• Merch/record sales - this revenue goes to the record label and some to the band - the venue may take a cut if it is doing the selling

A Word on Record Labels

• Labels want to be more involved than ever in everything an artist does

• Of late, they have been more involved in the live performance side of the industry as they too have seen the shift away from record sales

• 'A 360 deal' is when the record label takes a percentage of earning from ALL of an artists activities, including live performance and they are becoming increasingly popular

• It means a band or artist giving up more rights to their music, including composition rights - so beware!

Main Task

Watch the Video for the instructions