JOMC Post 5

On Tuesday, March 2, Jaisun McMillian spoke to our class about the harsh realities of the music business. In her lecture, she pointed out the importance of getting work copyrighted. She explained that at the prime of her career, no one copyrighted anything, and that is why music today is replications of what it used to be. She told us there is an album circulating over seas with her name on it, and her voice, and her music, yet she does not receive any profit from the sale of the album all because none of her work was copyrighted. Ms. McMillian also shared with us the importance of reading contracts. She explained that in the times of Motown, artists would sign contracts and the record label might as well have owned them. They signed deals saying they would make $800 a week, every week. This sounds like a lot of money, until the artists start bringing in hundreds of thousands and millions. The idea of being a star in those times was so important, that when signing contracts, the finer details were overlooked. Ms. McMillian also left me with a personal piece of advice since I am considering a career in the entertainment industry. She said the points she was making in her lecture were not to discourage me from a career in the industry, but only to make me more informed and to stress the importance of being educated in the industry so I won't one day be taken advantage of.