Deck 11: The Recording Industry

Question 1

What are the two types of royalties?

A) performance and mechanical
B) upfront and delayed
C) live and recorded
D) analog and digital

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the U.S. recording industry?

A) Its future is clear
B) Its production is dispersed
C) Its ownership is international
D) Its distribution is concentrated

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Taylor Swift is rich. Seriously. With her album sales, tour, perfume line, and Cover Girl advertising contract, what was her total wealth in 2014?

A) $33 million
B) $280 million
C) $581 million
D) $175 million

Answer 3

B

Question 4

An activity in which promotion personnel pay money to radio personnel to ensure that the latter will devote airtime to artists that the former's recording companies represent is known as what?

A) pay forward
B) payback
C) paypal
D) payola

Question 5

In the organization of a typical recording company, which job title is used in both the production and A&R departments?

A) manager
B) producer
C) agent
D) representative

Question 6

In 2014, which genre enjoyed the most album sales?

A) rap
B) rock
C) country
D) alternative

Question 7

What does A&R stand for?

A) artist and repertoire
B) albums and records
C) announce and record
D) alternative and rock

Question 8

According to the Timeline of the Recording Industry, which of the following events occurred first?

A) The compact disc was introduced
B) Warner Cable started MTV
C) Apple released its iPod
D) Napster's file-sharing service was launched

Question 9

At the start of the chapter, who said the following: "For so long, the recording industry had control. But now that monopoly has ended, they don't know what to do."?

A) Rick Rubin
B) Jon Bon Jovi
C) Lady Gaga
D) Simon Cowell

Question 10

Mechanical royalties are paid to composers, publishers, and record labels whenever their material is used.

Question 11

Ingrid Michaelson's story demonstrates the power of the online model of distribution.

Question 12

The primary advantage that traditional labels offer artists is the large amount of royalties they receive for album and singles sales.

Question 13

Independent record distributors have become the third largest distributor of recorded music in the U.S.

Question 14

Because they have a strong international presence, independent record companies are generally regarded as the distributors of choice.

Question 15

The digital rights management code that sometimes accompanies a downloaded song allows unlimited use of the song by the person who downloaded it.

Question 16

Streaming and ringtones are strategies used by record companies to encourage sales.

Question 17

Although physical sales of recorded music have dropped, the sales of individual digital songs has vastly made-up for the loss of revenue.

Question 18

Many artists believe they can hit the jackpot if their recordings sell well and so prefer flat fees over royalties.

Question 19

Contracts with independent labels typically provide higher royalty rates than those of the majors.

Question 20

Because the cost of making CDs has plummeted, many struggling artists are now able to self-produce their own CDs.

Question 21

In order to get noticed, many artists are making their work available on MySpace.

Question 22

Ingrid Michaelson's experience indicated that the online distribution model can result in great economic loss for artists.

Question 23

Following the scandals of the late 1950s, the federal government made payola legal.

Question 24

Independent recording artists often make a substantial percentage of their income from the sale of concert paraphernalia.

Question 25

P2P downloading software facilitates the violation of copyrights.

Question 26

Conglomeration has also been pervasive in the live music industry.

Question 27

It is safe to say the most talented artists generally get the most exposure and promotion from record labels.

Question 28

A typical recording industry contract will give an artist or group from 40 to 50 percent of the retail price of an album

Question 29

Websites like YouTube and Facebook have made it simple and inexpensive to construct a career as a professional recording artist.

Question 30

The needs of recording-company promoters sometimes conflict with those of the radio programmers.

Question 31

What was the effect of the record player on early music?

Question 32

What are three characteristics of the recording industry in the United States? Explain.

Question 33

What are the responsibilities of a record producer? Name at least three.

Question 34

Describe the unethical tactics that record companies use to promote their songs to radio stations.