music business – Page 2 – The Music2Deal Blog

Marcus Behrens – is an independent A&R Consultant and a member of The Recording Academy/GRAMMY Pro. He has been working for Sony and Warner, with placements and productions including Meek Mill, J. Cole, Sabrina Washington, Jadakiss, Frank Lars, The StoneWolf Band and more. He is currently managing singer/songwriter Nya Crea who has worked with Tony Mo (Destiny’s Child, Keisha Cole) and was one of the support acts of Enrique Iglesias and Florence and The Machine.

Since there are still a lot of people in the music industry, whether it ́s an artist, songwriter, producer or even a record label who don’t see the importance of YouTube, Marcus founded Braverick to offer services like YouTube MCN, YouTube channel optimization, as well as music distribution and Spotify promotion.

Music2Deal: What exactly is an MCN?
Marcus Behrens: An MCN (Multi-Channel-Network) is a way for YouTube creators to access useful resources to grow their channels, as well as copyright protection, ad revenue, and YouTube partnership.

MCNs deal with monetization, advertising, and copyright law, to help the creators focus on their creative content. You don’t necessarily need an MCN to produce monetized content, but partnering with an MCN offers benefits that make it easier. These benefits include assistance with search engine optimization (SEO), access to video production facilities, funding for costly projects, and seamless access to other platforms besides YouTube.MCNs make money off the “revenue share”. This is shared money earned from monetizing your videos and advertising with the MCN’s ad partners. You also get a share of these same profits. The percentage that the MCN takes varies – as high as 40% if you are small and don’t have a lot of weight to throw around, or as low as 10% if you are a big, viral channel.

To think that an MCN just greedily scoops up your money then goes away, is not the best way to look at it. In return for being able to share your profits, your network will provide you with access to tools that will help grow your channel and make it more popular. They want your channel to grow, because the more money it makes, the more they make. They are in your corner.

Music2Deal: Do I need a YouTube MCN?
Marcus Behrens: Some channels, in particular, music and gaming channels, don’t need to partner with YouTube networks to monetize their content, as long as they stay away from copyrighted music/copyright infringement and follow the rules. If you are astute at making and spreading your YouTube channel, you could definitely get by without an MCN.

However, some MCNs may offer features that even the savviest creator needs, one of those being sponsorships. Collaborations are important, and going through an MCN to find collaborative sponsorships with other content creators, can be extremely valuable. Sponsorships are hard to make happen on your own and are very much facilitated by using an MCN. In sum, you want to focus on content creation. The more you can handoff the duties of day to day business stuff to an MCN the more you can concentrate on making great content – the whole reason for a YouTube MCN in the first place.

Music2Deal: What is YouTube optimization?
Marcus Behrens: It encompasses all the little tricks and strategies that are employed to make your videos come up in searches, and get noticed in general. We have a team of YouTube certified employees, who know the ins and outs of YouTube and are aware of things you can do to make your videos get more views. You can use their specialized knowledge for yourself.

This may sound simple and inconsequential, but actually, people in your corner who are knowledgeable of YouTube and proven strategies to get videos noticed can be huge and a game changer.

Music2Deal: Would I have to be locked into a contract for a long time?
Marcus Behrens: No. In regards to the YouTube MCN as well as the digital distribution, you can opt out every month.

However, we do make long-term agreements in the field of YouTube and digital distribution with people and companies we invest in.

Music2Deal: Why should I work with Braverick?
Marcus Behrens: We’ve Got Your Back!
That moment when you start to realize that the songs you write or the videos you make have turned into a business, things can get a little overwhelming. Maybe you have signed a contract with somebody, but it turns out that things are not going the way you had expected.

But let’s face it, in order to be great and famous you need to work on your brand, promote yourself and well, get into business so you can make it. And yes, that includes annoying emails, dealing with rude people, unreturned phone calls and more.

But you are the creative genius, the talent, the artist! You can’t be bothered with the technicalities; you need some space and peace of mind so you can work on your craft. And most importantly, you need people around you who get you, instead of suited up dudes that never return your calls or understand what you need.

Well, this is where we come in. We’ve been dealing with people in the music industry our whole lives, and we know how it all works.

From channel optimization and YouTube MCN to distribution, we will take care of everything so we can help you develop your business all while letting you create brand new content and focus on your art.

And the best part? We work for you and your craft – that’s all we care about. So whatever you need, we are there already taking care of it, listening to your problems and answering all your questions in simple English and German – no business talk!

To us you are not just another number in a spreadsheet, you are a talented individual that deserves the best, a part of our family.

Links:

Braverick

Profile of Marcus Behrens

Group: YouTube For People In The Music Industry

MIDEM took place from June 5th-8th, where Peter Fosso (Music2Deal USA), Paul Iannuzzelli (Music2Deal Australia) and I, joined this great event. Although the weather was not as good as last year, MIDEM was again really worth attending.

I know many people who complained about the date in summer but I prefer the June date than the date at the end of January as MIDEM used to be for many years. It´s definitely better and more relaxed to talk with people at the MIDEM beach, outside at Café Roma or at one of the Balconies of the Palais with a nice view at the harbour. I remember those MIDEM days when I went into the Palais Floor 0 and spent all day long in a typical exhibition hall with all those booths and no natural light…that was awful. MIDEM is now much better in the summertime. And yes, though there are still fewer in attendance during the summer, my impression from a lot of people is that the quality of the meetings is better. More relaxed and more focus to make business happen.

One highlight was, of course, the VIP MIDEM Networking event by Music2Deal presents and its wonderful ambassador, Allen Johnston. This year nearly 40 interesting music professionals attended this event and I personally know that a lot of good connections were made and I am sure that they will lead to good business relationships.

This year I had more than 50 meetings. Last year, the interest about Music2Deal was really good and this year it was even better. People seem to realise more and more that LinkedIn & Co may be a good contact database but has nothing to do with the music business and that will they need something that will keep them up-to-date about their music opportunities and with the many people they meet at MIDEM or other events. Staying in contact about music opportunities is so important for making deals.

Enjoy the pictures

Mario Christiani
Founder CEO – Music2Deal

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MIDEM entrance