Une Enfant Du Siècle News/Discussion!

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by Ben

Dunno, Wisteria's still listed on her MySpace. No reason she can't use both. I was also under the impression that anything Alizée records these days is, by default, a "Wisteria Song Production"? Like how anything either Mylene or Laurent does falls under Requiem Publishing, even if not worked on together.

Not sure. If you look on the back cover of the insert to Psychédélices, it says "© 2007 Wisteria Song © 2007 Wisteria Song/Sony BMG Music Entertainment." So it's very clear, and more "official" than just mentioning the company on her MySpace, which in itself means no more than that the company still exists and Alizée still owns part of it. It will be interesting to see what it says on the insert to UEdS.

Though I'm not even sure I'd rule out Jérémy's participation on this album yet either.

No, although at this point leading up to the release of Psych we all knew he'd written a lot, but not all, of the music and hardly any of the lyrics. Perhaps it's just that things are being kept under wraps better. There have been no leaks so far, for example.

We'll see when it's released. At that point I may voice some thoughts I've had ever since the concert in Paris was canceled, but it would be premature right now.

[edgar93]

Holy crap. I'm so confused right now :S. And worried too.

I hate being so out of the loop...

[lefty12357]

The way it works in the USA is that both writers and publishers sign up with a non-profit performance rights society, such as BMI or ASCAP. These organizations collect airplay and performance royalties for you on all songs you register with them. Typically, 50% goes into the publisher’s account and 50% goes into the writer’s account. This is why successful writers will eventually form their own publishing companies (like Wisteria) so both halves of the money go directly to them, and they retain full control of the songs. There also may be tax benefits in handling their catalog of songs this way. I can’t guarantee that it is the same in France, but I wouldn’t doubt it. France’s equivalent of BMI and ASCAP is called SACEM.

So my inclination is to look at Wisteria as Jérémy and Alizée’s publishing company for the purpose of collecting more revenues, and as a way of controlling the rights to their songs on their behalf. Wisteria is not anything like a record label, (at least not at this point) so there is no conflict with all these other business entities. I would expect to see “Wisteria” listed on the new album.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

If you look on the back cover of the insert to Psychédélices, it says "© 2007 Wisteria Song © 2007 Wisteria Song/Sony BMG Music Entertainment." So it's very clear, and more "official" than just mentioning the company on her MySpace, which in itself means no more than that the company still exists and Alizée still owns part of it.

That's what I mean. Alizée has to hold the rights to the music on the album somehow, and will probably do so through a company like Wisteria Song.

Edit: Lefty beat me too it.

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

No, although at this point leading up to the release of Psych we all knew he'd written a lot, but not all, of the music and hardly any of the lyrics. Perhaps it's just that things are being kept under wraps better.

Well do we even really know what point we are at now? There's no release date, what the first single will be, etc. Yeah, as Julien said there's a lot of secrecy surrounding this disc.

[rcs]

Another Google Alert...

http://www.staragora.com/news/alizee...-siecle/363402

After a year of radio silence, Alizée could again be on a roll! The Corsican singer aged 25 years has made her comeback in the recording studio preparing for her new album, A Child of the Century.

Alizée promises a veritable tornado with a new game completely different from her previous albums. No more childish and music coming straight from the world of Mylène Farmer, the darling of Jérémy Chatelain became an accomplished woman.

For a Child of The Century, Alizée has chosen to collaborate with rapper Psyche Teki Latex and electro Chateau Marmont. With promise!

Hopefully the fourth album by the singer known as successful as Hurricane Delicacies!

The teaser of a Child of The Century releases in January 2010.

[Deepwaters]

Lefty, that's really confusing. Can you explain that a little further? I know nothing about the music business, but my common sense and knowledge of the publishing industry would suggest that the "publisher" you're referring to for Psych was Sony/BMG. But that would mean the "publisher" for UEdS would be Jive/Epic, right?

So what role does Institubes play?

[Ben]

Originally Posted by rcs

No more childish and music coming straight from the world of Mylène Farmer

An example of what I was saying earlier about Psych not making enough of a break in the minds of most people (while too much of one for some old fans).

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

So what role does Institubes play?

Lefty may be able to explain this better, but...

Institubes is the label of many of the producers on the album. It will own partial rights to the songs, take a cut, and make sure their artists get their share. The producers from Institubes may also have their own personal publishing companies to deal with this as well or not, I'm not sure.

There's no indication that Alizée herself has signed to Institubes. In fact I'm pretty sure we'd know if she had. Jive/Epic, under Sony, is still her label, and Wisteria Song most likely still her (self-owned) publishing company.

The difference between the two is that Sony's in charge of things like distribution and marketing (and for that takes a cut and partial ownership), while Wisteria's in place to take care of Alizée's music rights and profits.

Wisteria's basically just a way for her and Jérémy to manage their business, and probably won't change unless there's a major shakeup in their lives. That's what I meant earlier by "anything Alizée records these days is, by default, a Wisteria Song Production".

[ALS]

When a song is played on the radio or television the station has to pay a royalty fee. Like the Good Year where the movie company paid RP for the rights to use Moi Lolita.

I'm not sure the exact amount but lets say in the case of a radio station the royalty is twelve cents per play. The song writer gets five cents and the performer gets five cents and the publishing company gets two cents. By setting up the publishing company Alizée would get a majority of the money and protect the rights to the music. If Alizée bought the rights to the songs from their writers, she would be entitled to all the money generated by those songs.

With Gourmandises and Mes Courants Electriques, Myleen and Laurant receive the bulk of any royalties generated through RP when the songs are played or on sales of the CD's.

For the record, That is a layman's take on the ins and outs of the Music Industry. Someone may be able to do the money split better than me. I'm just going with what I have read over the years. That doesn't mean I'm even close to right.

There are bands that have sold a million albums and ended up with very little in compensation when all is said and done. They didn't own the songs, or publishing rights. When travel, and promotion expenses were taken out of their side there was not much money left.

Most of your parents were not even born when Elvis Presley was doing a bunch of cheesy B movies in the early 1960's. He got paid very little to star in those movies. What he and his manager did was they got the rights to all the music. There was much more money in the sales of the music off the sound track once the movies came out. They may have paid him 25K to be in the movie but he could make a whole lot more on album sales of the music in the movie.

Also Alizée and Jérémy have probably registered the publishing company Wisteria Song in the Netherlands. Tax issues have forced almost every EU performer to incorporate there because of their much lower tax rates.

In Alizée's case it could mean a savings of any where from tens of thousands of Euro's to 100's of thousands in French taxes.

[Deepwaters]

Wow, that is complicated all right. I guess it's because an album is such a collaborative effort among various artists. My thought was "what does that company DO?" It's obvious what the record company, artists, and recording studio do to earn a share of the proceeds; I suppose the company under discussion such as Wisteria or Institubes represents the collective interests of the artists and so effectively IS the artists. Would that be accurate?

It's much simpler in book publishing because most books are the product of only one artist, or at most two. The writer as an individual signs a contract with the publishing house, which pays (usually) an advance against royalties and then a per-volume-sold amount; separate contracts between writer and agent (if any) give the agent a percentage of whatever the writer is paid.

En tout cas, thanks for the information and I will have more to say perhaps when the album comes out along these lines.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

I suppose the company under discussion such as Wisteria or Institubes represents the collective interests of the artists and so effectively IS the artists. Would that be accurate?

Yeah. Well for Wisteria at least. With Institubes it's more complicated because they're an indie label too, distributing and marketing their own discs, like Sony only much smaller. I don't think they're functioning in that capacity for this album, though.

And yeah, it's complex not only because it's collective, but because there are so many means of distribution to contend with too... internet, tv, radio, etc.