|
|
A & R – Artist & Repertoire, the department of a label that is responsible for signing artists and “assisting” them creatively in such things as the selection of a producer and song material.
Airplay – Time on the radio. Airplay sells records.
Baffle – Big fat portable walls of mush that suck up sound in a recording studio.
Basic Track – The foundation of a song usually consisting of the drums, bass, and rhythm instruments.
Blanket License – A license issued by a performing rights society that authorizes the public performance of all the songs in the society’s catalog.
Bullet – A footnote added to a chart position to indicate fast upward movement.
Business Manager – A representative who helps the musician with financial planning, investment decisions, tax matters, monitoring of income from contracts, estate planning, and other financial matters.
Chartbuster – Hit song that “busts through the top of the charts.”
Chops – A meat dish usually made of pork or lamb. Also a technical ability that comes with practice or use. A musician who “keeps his chops up” either practices a lot or wears pork chops on his head.
Clicktrack – Metronome-like device to aid timing or rhythm that is heard through headphones during a recording session.
Clout – Power, connections, the ability to get things done and to make deals.
Commercial – Saleable, likely to get played on the radio, possessing qualities similar to other hits.
Compulsory Mechanical License – An exception to the copyright holder’s exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution that allows anyone to record and distribute any commercially released, non dramatic song as long as the mechanical license rates established by copyright law are paid to the copyright owner of the song.
Copyright – A bundle of exclusive rights granted by law to the creator of an original literary, artistic, or other intellectual work, including songs and sound recordings.
Crossover – A song originally promoted in one market which “crosses over” to be a hit in another market. A country song may crossover to the pop market, for example.
Demo – A CD done for presentation purposes usually to try to secure a label, publishing, or management deal.
Derivative Work – New work based on or derived from one or more pre-existing works.
Downtime – Time when work is halted in a recording session due to equipment malfunction or time when a studio has not been booked for use.
Dud – A song that flops. Also, a person who flops.
Ears – The ability to recognize a hit song or act after only hearing it a few times.
Exclusive Rights – For purposes of copyright law, the privileges that only a copyright has with respect to the copyrighted work.
Exploit – For purposes of music publishing, to seek sources of revenue for a song.
Fader – Control on a studio console which regulates input or output of sound level.
Fixed in a Tangible Medium of Expression – A term coined by the Copyright Act meaning that an original literary, artistic or intellectual work has a valid copyright as soon as it is written down or recorded in a manner sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced or communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.
Gig – Job, especially a club or concert performance.
Gold – Award presented for sales in excess of 500,000 CDs.
Grammy – Music industry award presented by the NARAS (National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences).
Harry Fox Agency – A company that represents music publishers in the negotiation of mechanical licenses, synchronization licenses and foreign licenses, and the collection of music royalty income.
Headphone Mix – An alcoholic beverage made with ¼” recording tape, guitar strings, and melted rubber from old headphones. Also, the blend of sounds heard through the headphones in a recording session.
Hook – A musical or lyrical phrase that stands out and is easily remembered.
Hype – Publicity used to feed the promotional machines of the music business. Hype may or may not be true, but it should be “sensational.”
Image – The public’s impression of an artist or product.
Master – A recording done for release as a CD album project.
Mechanicals – Song royalties paid from the sales of CDs or cassettes.
Mechanical License – Authorization from a music publisher or songwriter to record and distribute a song on phono records. Compare to compulsory mechanical license.
Mix – Blend of sounds. The mix is particularly important in multi-track recording.
MOR – Middle Of The Road, Easy Listening Music, AOR, softer and slower than rock. Barry Manilow is an MOR artist.
Multi-track recording – Recording a multiplicity of audio tracks which allows you to isolate sounds and record them at different times.
Music Publishing – The commercial exploitation of songs through the issuance of mechanical licenses, synchronization licenses, performing rights licenses, print licenses as well as other licenses authorizing various uses of the songs.
Musical Work – A melody and any accompanying lyrics; more commonly referred to as a musical composition or a song.
Overdub – In multi-track recording, any element that is added after the basic track.
Panning – The movement of sound from right to left or left to right.
Performing Rights License – Authorization for the public performance of a song frequently granted by a performing rights society through a blanket license.
Performing Rights Society – The associations or companies that issue performing rights licenses, track public performances, collect performing license revenues and distribute those revenues to songwriter and music publishers. The performing rights societies in the United States are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
Personal Manager – A representative who assists the musician in the development and management of their music and entertainment career.
Phono Record – Any material object into which sounds, other than those on a soundtrack of an audio-visual work, can be recorded including an audiocassette, a CD, or a vinyl disc.
Ping-pong – Tennis for wimps, also the mixing down of two or more tracks onto a lesser amount of tracks.
Platinum – Award for sales in excess of one million CDs.
Points – A percentage, usually of the profit of a record.
Pot – studio console control similar to a fader. It’s OK to use this kind of pot in the studio.
Prima-Donna – Name of band once formed by Louie Prima and Madonna. Also, a conceited individual.
Print License – Authorization from a music publisher or songwriter to reproduce and distribute a song in printed form.
Production fee – Fee paid to the producer.
Punch-in & Punch-out – A method of correcting mistakes on multi-track by punching in the correction at the right time and punching out before erasing valid material.
Recovery Time – Time spent drowning one’s sorrows or avoiding reality after a disappointment before new progress is attempted. Recovery Time is the great time waster in the music business.
Rhythm Machine – Mechanical device which “plays” various rhythm patterns as selected.
Riff – A particular group of notes which form a short melody.
Roadie – Person in the employ of a musical act who is usually responsible for moving and setting up sound equipment.
Royalty Period – The time in which royalties are computed and paid to artists, producers, and publishers (usually every six months or quarterly).
Sel-Sync – Recording machines equipped with Sel-Sync allow you to both record and listen to what is being recorded without a time lag.
Sound Recording – The recorded performance of a song onto a phono record.
Spec time – Free recording time given to an act on the speculation that they will secure a deal and reimburse the studio.
Studio musicians – Musicians who hire out their services for recording sessions. Have guitar, will travel.
Sub-Publisher – A foreign agent retained by the original music publisher of a song to exploit the song in the foreign agent’s geographic territory.
Synchronization License – Authorization granted by a music publisher, or songwriter to use a song with visual images (as in a motion picture or television program).
Talent Agent – A representative who arranges live performances and other employment opportunities for a musician. Also referred to as a booking agent.
Tip sheets – Newsletters or magazines that are specifically designed to meet the programming needs of radio stations.
Trades – Magazines that report in-depth on the music industry.
Tracking – Recording basic tracks.
Vamp – A seductive woman, also an ending to a song that repeats over and over while gradually fading to silence.
Zepulate – A word I made up to end the glossary. It has to do with making love and listening to Led Zeppelin recordings at the same time.
|
