Tropicalfete will again sponsor an :What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You for aspiring Caribbean songwriters, producers and artists interested in learning “the business of the business.” The seminar will be led by 40-year industry veteran Roger Meltzer, founding CEO and Director of A&R of the Hartford, CT-based indie Capsicum Records LLC and producer and host of The Capsicum Show, an internationally syndicated weekly reggae radio program which returns to the air in January.
The seminar will be held 2:30 p.m., Saturday afternoon, November 18, 2017 at The Complete Music Studio, 227 St Marks Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. Admission is free. It is the third seminar on this topic Meltzer has led for Tropicalfete
“When I was coming up in the business, I was fortunate to be mentored by some of the music giants of that era —Kenny Gamble, Thom Bell, McFadden & Whitehead, Jerry Butler, Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, Bruce Hawes,Sherman Marshall, Bill Bloom, Phil Asbury and others,” said Meltzer, recipient of the 2016 Tropicalfete Award of Excellence last December and a former staff writer-producer-arranger at The Sound of Philadelphia — “guys who not only taught me how to hone my craft, but also how the business operates. They had the patience to stand there in the hallways with me and answer a thousand new questions day after day.
“This is just my way of giving something back in their honor and memory. It’s my way of paying it forward.
“Even after I left the staff of Philadelphia International Records, its publishing arm Mighty Three Music and Gamble-Huff Productions to go independent, the things they taught me stood me in good stead over the years. I’m not an attorney, and certainly not a specialist in entertainment and intellectual property law like Asbury, but I understood the fine print in the contracts presented to me by other labels and knew what I could reasonably negotiate on behalf of the writers, producers and artists we assembled on our side of the table.
“That experience has also helped me put a stop to some of the more notorious and all too commonplace abuses in the industry and avoid them when I founded my own indie,” Meltzer explained.
“I have a special fondness in my heart for Tropicalfete,” said Meltzer. “The organization was among the earliest to recognize the popularity of Capsicum’s artists and Caribbean-flavored songs in the marketplace; our label’s songs regularly find their way to the Tropcalfete Top 100 International Caribbean Countdown. I love being able to assist this great organization in its educational mission.”
Tropicalfete’s Free Workshop on Copyrights & Royalties
By Roger Meltzer, CEO & Director of A&R, Capsicum
Saturday Nov 18th 2017 | 2:30PM – 4:00PM
info@tropicalfete.com | 646-504-3383
Complete Music Studio 227 St Marks Ave Brooklyn, New York 11238 (between Vanderbilt & Underhill)Transportation:
Subway: A or C to Washington Ave
B or Q to 7th Ave (Park PL & Flatbush)
#2 or #3 to Bergen Street
Bus: B26; B41; B46; B65; B69; B75Subjects to cover at the workshop:
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: An Introduction to Royalties
1. Which is better, work-for-hire or royalties?
2. Definition: Residual income derived for various work done in the recording industry
3. Who derives residual income for various work done in the recording industry?
a. Copyright owners
i. Writers
ii. Publishers
b. Artists
c. Producers
d. Labels
4. What is the difference between a PA and an SR – what can/can’t you copyright?
5. Who pays royalties – to whom and for what?
a. Mechanical
i. CD sales
ii. Digital downloads
iii. What is the Harry Fox Agency
b. Performance Rights Licensing
i. How are performance rights licensing fees tabulated
ii. Airplay
iii. Concerts
iv. Clubs
v. Background Music – elevators, supermarkets
vi. Affiliation with BMI, ASCAP, JACAP, SESAC, PRS, COTT, ECCO
Why affiliate?
What’s the difference between the 100% and 200% formulas
What does Sound Exchange do?
6. What does the fine print in contracts say and what does it mean?
a. Exclusive
b. Advances
c. Recoupment
d. Cross-collateralization
