Speak the language

If you are going into the music business you had better learn the lexicon. Here are a few examples:

CanCon-It is not what you think! Canadian law requires at least 30 per cent of the music that AM and FM radio stations broadcast to be by Canadian artists. The CBC is required to air 50 per cent, and 10 per cent by all other special format radio.

Each release in Canada must include the MAPL logo. For CanCon to apply to the music choice, two of the four criteria qualify. The music (M) or lyrics (L) is written by a Canadian. The artist/performer (A) or production (P) is Canadian.

Hit-This refers to the number of units sold in Canada as in gold (50,000), platinum (100,000), diamond (1 million). Each market has its own yardstick based on the country's population. In Hong Kong 10,000 units is gold and in Belgium and Chile gold is 15,000.

Copyright symbol-The copyright notice for sound recordings is the letter P in a circle, year of publication and the copyright owner's name. For all other copyright notices, it is the familiar c within a circle, year of publication, and name of copyright owner.

Bar Code-This is not how you should act in a bar. It is the Universal Product Code (UPC) to identify products for inventory control to track shipment and sales. The bar code is the vertical patterned lines printed on the back labels for computer scanning. It costs about $800 to get your own UPC.

Rotation-This refers to radio airplay as in heavy (30-plus), medium (15-29) and light (less than 15) rotation by a radio station's weekly playlist.

SRO-standing room only. O-card and J-Card-The envelope to package "cassingles" that are open ended on both sides. The J-card is inserted in the cassettes plastic casing.

MIDEM-An annual music tradeshow held in Cannes, France held each January. MIDEM is the oldest international music tradeshow and convention and attended by music industry heavy weights from more than 90 countries. The Canadian Independent Recording Production Association (CIRPA) has a Canada stand at all of the major music tradeshows, including POPKOMM in Cologne, Germany. CIRPA acts as the liaison between independent record labels and foreign publishers, record label, presenters, etc., but does not conduct business for the individual record labels.

Media Buyer-The person responsible for buying broadcast time and print space for advertisement in a particular market segment.

LOA-This refers to a letter of acceptance or letter of agreement.

Last refusal-This refers to one party having the right or option to offer the same or better deal by another party such as, licensing deal or distribution deal. It is also called first refusal.

Release-Timing is everything, including when you release your CD. Why is it that some artists get airplay and others are banging at the door? Without getting into the actual mechanics of how and what to include in a good promo kit (that's for another issue) there's the issue of release date.

November and early spring is the optimal time to release a new CD: witness Faith Hill's and Shania Twain's current mid-November releases among others. Why? Well, it has to do with your buying dollars for Christmas gift giving. With a strong promotional budget to back up a new release, it all translates into more radio airplay and CD sales. How it works is a single has only eight weeks of shelf life at retail before it gets sent back to the manufacturer or record label. So during the eight-week period, a publicist is shipping the single to radio and securing print, radio and television interviews and the artist must be available to promote their product.

My music biz 101 lesson is never, never sign anything without having the chance to sit and think about what you're about to sign. Get advice when trying to decide; legal advice when you do sign; and always get a copy of the signed statement.

This column is for reference and education only and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice.The author assumes no responsibility or liability arising from any outdated information, errors, omissions, claims, demands, damages, actions, or causes of actions from the use of any of the above.

Ann Brascoupe owns What's Up Promotions, a company specializing in promoting, booking, and managing Aboriginal artists across Canada. She can be reached at abrascoupe@hotmail.com