THE IMPORTANCE & DEFINITION OF A SONG (#4)!

[kompamagazine]

WRITTEN BY: JOHN “PAPA JUBE� ALTINO/ MUSICIAN/ PRODUCER / VP OF SOBS NY


THE IMPORTANCE AND DEFINITION OF A SONG___

In this life, we all have dreams and aspirations. Most, if not all of us at some point in our lives have at least entertained the idea of being a “STAR� a “SINGER� a “Musician� a “Songwriter� or some related aspect of this tempting entertainment industry.

That is where it begins. Believe it or not, all the greatest stars that are now in their primetime, was at some point in their lives wondering about the same questions: Can I really do it ? Do I have really have the talent ? and How do I make it ?

Although there are many roads to stardom, the basics of the business do not really change much. The Music industry generates over 80 billion dollars in yearly music sales, a clear sign of the economic strength of the industry. So, looking at such large industry, one must wonder many things, how do we get in ? what are the careers and what’s the best ways to get record labels to listen to our music etc…

CONTINUE....

[kompamagazine]

Well, the music industry does have a variety of careers and fields to serve the different needs of the industry. From songwriters, artists, musicians, managers, A&R’s, Marketing and Publicity Specialist, Graphic Artists, video specialists, accountants, lawyers, engineers, Producers, business managers etc…To get into any one of the above careers can be as easy or as difficult as in any other fields. Basically, one would of course need to research a little bit on the particular career and apply themselves to get maximum result in the position of interest. Although there are many careers and fields in the music industry, but one of the basic and fundamental aspect is :

“THE SONG� and the “SONGWRITER�, because without songs, there are no records, Cds, DVD’s, Movie Soundtracks etc…so, therefore all the above careers are somewhat based on “THE SONG� and the “SONGWRITER� and I know many of you may be reading this thinking wow…why is it all about a song?

Well the answer is quite simply, when you see all these artists driving those expensive cars, those million dollar mansions etc…Trust me, those funds come from Royalties generated from Radio spins, meaning that at least mostly everywhere else around the world, except our dear Country Haiti, when a radio station, or TV station plays an artist song, or record, the station pays that artist a fee, and if that same radio station plays that song, or any other song 10 times during that day, well that artist is getting paid 10 times…so, that’s an entire chapter that I will attack separately when I deal with “Publishing� etc..
In any event, Let’s briefly define a “Song� and a “Songwriter�

CONTINUE.....

[kompamagazine]

A Song in a collaboration of “MUSIC AND LYRICS� the two combined are considered a “SONG� let me recap on that to make sure that it’s clearly conveyed, Music by itself cannot be copyrighted as a song, Lyrics by itself also by itself cannot be copyrighted as a song in the library of congress. So, to have a song as defined by industry guidelines, you must have “Lyrics and Music� and the two combined make up a song.

Many People assume the popular notion that a songwriter must be a musician, or musically inclined. Well that is not correct, a songwriter could be any person who writes lyrics, or write both music and lyrics. A songwriter could be a poet, a writer, a thinker, as long as there is a musical collaboration, then the two become equal partners in the composition of the song.

Once you have a song, the next important step is to protect it from unauthorized usage. That process is called “COPYRIGHTS� which raise a major can of worms in our community, because in Haiti, we have no copyrights laws within our constitution, which leaves many of our artists, and songwriters to get raped by musicians from all over the world, our radio stations don’t pay our artists royalties, our people prefer to burn the Cds than to purchase them, perhaps that ‘s why most of the Haitian artists are forced to keep performing live shows to sustain their livelihood, meanwhile, most US and Main Stream Musicians can retire early from royalties generated off “1 Song�…

So, there are a lot of issues that we need to address for the sake of our musicians, it’s painful sometimes, I work in the mainstream, I have produced mainstream artists, and I know the income that can be generated from these royalties, but unfortunately, unless we as a people rise and demand better conditions for our musicians, and artists, then we will always be lagging behind as a country at large!!!!!!

Always remember!!! You are as strong as your support Team�

EACH ONE TEACH ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!

PAPA JUBE

[STaFF PoZé]

Thanks Jube,I'm glad those words are coming from someone else and not me because when I try to point the finger at some of the things that are wrong in this business some people who want to keep the Statue Quo goes as far as calling me a frustrated individual......thinking in their narrow mind that raising such points is about Trankill.
While I'm talking about the world others may think I'm talking about their neighborhood..........we need to talk about what's wrong with this business........we need to talk about INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES -COPYRIGHTS - PUBLISHING-ROYALTIES...........AND EVERYTHING THAT OUR ARTISTS SHOULD KNOW.....SO THEY CAN STOP SIGNING THEIR LIFE AWAY TO THE DEVIL.....

It is very sad when we know that artists can get rich on Royalties......getting paid every time their music is aired.............and to see in our culture our poor artists are being ask for money for THEIR WORK to air............LI PA BON.

We need to do something............we need some serious workshops for everyone in the game.........producers-promoters-artists-managers-Broadcasters etc... so we can stop this "Monkey see monkey do up side down business" and take it like real professionals.
It's tearing me apart to see that star singers Benito (D.P) and Leroy (Scorpio) died in poverty in Haiti and in 1985 they had "Operation Main Kontré" for Ti Manno in N.Y and today twenty years later in 2006 when a popular artist is hospitalized his band still can't afford to support him.
Then yes I'm a frustrated individual.

If Konpa was born in 1955...........then it was a child in the 1960's......a teenager in the 1970's............a young adult in the 1980's an adult in the 1990's..........and was supposed to be fully grown and experienced in 2006...........PO DIAB.
We can't continue to repeat the mistakes of the past and think we have an Industry here...............NO WAY.

I can understand that the artists who was playing Konpa at the CHILD and at the TEENAGER stages may not have known better.............but those who came out in the 1980's and 1990's especially the bands created here in the U.S are for the most people who went to High school/colleges and universities here in America and in some cases some were even born here................but still are unable to stop the bleeding.

SO SAD....SO SO SAD.
_________________
Did you read your "Konpa Encyclopedia" today...

[Karl Kreyol]

Jube,

This is a good breakdown. Konpatones made a similar reference to the importance of Royalties in a previous post about Ringtones. We were going to write another post about Royalties, but I will wait on your next post on that issue.

The message will eventually sync in.

Peace

[T-Clef]

Depi mwen fèt se yon sèl bagay mwen ap tande "MIZIK PA BAY"!! Men au fur et à mesure ke mwen ap grandi mwen ap konnen kisa ki ap pase nan monde international la, mwen deplase mwen al lot kote, I have finaly realized that music is a good way to success in life. But for haitians it's all the coutrary. Music is done for passion and love, and if we didn't have people who love music in our community, today konpa would "die", because there is no profit in it.

Can you imagine the little fight between Richie and Achill last year for some few thousands of dollars? Guys someone as Richie should have enough money to support his life and his family in good conditions as any famous international superstar today. But he's still in the HMI like others.

Actualy Papa Jube is doing a great job today. First thing we need is EDUCATION. To stop the fan buying burned cd's by making them know the value of the original. Secondly make our superstars know their rights. And after will come the rest!

[/b]

[yef]

Papa Jube,

That copyright issue got me fuming........

I already own a copy of Nickenson's album...

But the other day, I went to buy one as a gift for someone. As I expected: they were sold out.

I then asked the store owner if they will be getting more CDs to sell, to my surprise, he proposed that I wait for 10mn and he'll make a quick copy in the back

I told him: "nah I need the original!!!!!!!" and left! Mezanmi Atis nou yo pran wi. Papa Jube thanks for the knowledge. And as you mentioned we need to include copyrights laws in our constitution.

[LUVALESS]

NOU SE YON PEP KI PA KON NIN RESPECTE LOT,DRUM MACHINE VIN,N A LA MODE YO JETER TOUTE PERCUSIONIST,EDUCATION NOU PA BON,JAZZ LA FINI JWE RESPONSAB LA COURI POU LI PA PAYE,CD YA FINI NAN STUDIO,30000 COPIE GINTAN VAN OVER SEAS.SAN ARTIST LA PA KON,NIN.BIG SHOT OUT FOR ZIN, THE FIRST BAND IN OUR HISTORY WHO SAYS NO . / THAT IS ENOUGHT WE HAVE TO DO SOME ABOUT IT,THEY HAVE THEIR OWN MUSIC STUDIO,& VIDEO,THEY PRODUCE THEM SELF.TABOU COMBO DID NOT SEE THAT OUR NEW JENERATION WILL DESERVE SOME LIKE THAT TO KEEP OUR MUSIC ALIVE,SKAH-SHAH NUMBER ONE ALSO DID NOT SEE,I CAN SAY THE JENERATION AFTER THOSE GUYS HAS BEEN TORTURED BY THE SAME THING THEY WANT TO BE ON TOP ALL THE TIME,AS YOU SEE NOW ALMOST THE FOURTH JENERATION AFTER THEM IS DOIN VERRY GOOD WITH OUT THEIR HELP,THEY STILL WANT TO BE ARROUND,BACK IN THE DAY IF YOU ASK THEMTO PLAY WITH A NEW BAND THEY SAY NO.NOW I CAN SAY WE HAVE BETTER WAY TO MAKE IT ,IF WE DONT FOLLOW THEIR FOOT STEPS

[LUVALESS]

I BELEIVE JUBE IS DOIN A GREAT JOB ,AS A THIRD JENERATION OF THOSE GUYS ,THEY BLOCK OUR YOUTH IN SOME MARKET ,LIKE MARTINIQUE,GUADELOUPE,JEUNE YO PAT KA ALE KOTE SA YO,YO CRITIKE NOUVELLE JENERATION YO DI MUBIK YO PA BON,YO VINI GATE MUSIK HAITIENNE NAN PASKE POU EDE YO .NOW YOU CAN SEE SI YO PA JWE AVEK T- VICE OR CARIMI ,OR ZIN,NU LOOK,ZINGLIN,YO PAP FE MOUN.JODI YA SI TABOU TE KON FE ZAFEL BIEN FOK YO TA BLOKE 7TH AVENUE NAN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN NOW

[acameau]

papa joube, se yon bel topic ou a tame la, men wap we sa pa pral two lwen, pas ke nou ayisyen panse tankou alkol- ki vle di boule et fwet rapid.
pwoblem nou se pa music, paske nouvel jenerasyon nou yo travay anpil,
men moune kap vann CD yo - so called producer yo pou bokou lan degradation music haitienne lan, e yo menm rann mizik ayisyen pa ka ale lwen.
trop fo CD, trop bout leg, trop fo produceur......mwen panse ke nou bezwen yon association solid ki ka kampe an kwa pou tout musicien sou tout format. gen yon bagay ki fem pi mal ......radio bezwen music men pa artist.... distributeur ap colecte music yo pa respekte musicien....gen menm DJ kap chache music men gen lan yo ki pa vle we artists.... musicien yo ap continue fe anpil efo pou ekri sou tout kalite de sujet telque : richie, emeline michel, arli lariviere, anderson cameau, alan cave , fabrice rouzier ect....... men yo pa pral pi ke lakay ..so mwen panse nou pa bezwen bel mo , men yon lut
menm jan ak travay papa joube a e nap jwen yon solution....
_________________
Artist Anderson Cameau maestro af Apocalypse 2000