Canadian music mogul takes on China

“(Then) you can give one part of the copyright away gratis in order to monetise another part of the copyright.�
In this way, the song becomes a loss-leader that advertises other selling opportunities, he said.
Success follows from innovative use of the song’s long-term value â€" as background music for advertisements or television shows; sales through protected technology such as mobile phone ringtones; or website advertising.
McBride said this business model, which he set up three years ago, has already begun to work for his company, Nettwerk Music Group, with seven of the eight “imprints� he started now showing profit.
Artists on his roster, including singer-songwriter Sarah McGlachlan and the band Barenaked Ladies, are making as much money as they would selling many more records, he said.
“We are layering year after year of valuable copyright on top of each other and creating a very good model,� he said. “We are signing more artists while the rest of the business is shrinking.�
McBride said he hopes that Lavigne, one of the few Western artists with a high profile in China, will help him crack the world’s biggest market.
“Avril is the spearhead of what we intend to do over the next 10 years,� he said. “She is by far the biggest Western artist to hit China.�
While the 24-year-old is signed to recording giant RCA, she controls much of her output as well as moneyspinners such as her website.
She plans to tour China later this year and McBride’s company is setting up a Chinese-language website for her, based in Canada, which he said will take advertising from China.
McBride said she sold 225,000 CDs in China â€" significant in a market where piracy often overtakes legitimate sales â€" and 2.5 million callback ringtones which replace the ringing sound when a mobile phone is called.
McBride regards free downloads of Lavigne’s music as advertising for other revenues â€" something he says the major labels need to learn.
“Every major label record exec has broken the copyright law. When they were a teenager they recorded a song and gave it to a girl,� he said, pointing out that record labels originally tried to ban their songs from radio, fearing they would never sell again.