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| Like the song says, video killed the radio star, but ask Murray Cammick knows who killed music television in New Zealand and you’ll get a different answer. "Unfortunately, Neil Roberts chose to take away regional television in the form of Max TV, and music tv from New Zealand; he spent a million dollars depriving Aucklanders of their television access to music tv, so that was the act of an irrational man, and the cause of his irrationality, we will not mention." I guess not every one shared Roberts vision for TVNZ to make ‘Great New Zealand Television’. Local music videos have had a difficult year. TVNZ closed Roberts baby, MTV (imported from the UK, and bolstered up with some token local programming), and the gap on Auckland screens where Max TV once was is still widely felt. According to Brendan Smyth, Music Progamme Manager at NZ On Air, "At one point there, around the end of 1997, we had about four hundred hours of music television a week, with Max, Cry, MTV, Dog TV, Juice. And then it went down to four hours a week, very much feast or famine." So, are local videos clips just a waste of time? No, says Smyth. "We will continue to fund videos, because, even though there are very limited screening opportunities at present, we are holding in there, for when it improves. I believe that when one door closes, another one opens, so we’ll wait and see what happens. I hear rumours from time to time about new show starting up, but it’s very much a case of I’ll believe it when I see it." Back in 1992, I wrote a similar story on local music videos for this very publication. At that time, NZ On Air’s music video funding scheme had just started, Max TV and Cry TV had yet to appear on the horizon. Seven years on, Wildside Records label boss and former Rip It Up editor Murray Cammick recalls that story, lamenting that "now, it’s no worse than when the scheme was started." So, why are New Zealand music videos important? "Because they are such a powerful medium", says Cammick. "If a video is a powerful representation of an artist's performance, tens of thousands of people will see that artist perform to the camera close up, and that is a very valuable thing." Most videos made here are generally funded by New Zealand On Air, although some determined souls succeed in taking the independent route, either by choice, or because they are not sufficiently commercial enough to meet NZ On Air’s criteria for funding. So, how do you get your hands on some of your broadcasting fee (you do pay your broadcasting fee, don’t you?), if you are in a band? NZ On Air have around six meetings each year, where they give out grants of $5000 each to songs that have been deemed playable (ie acceptable to their format) by a panel of broadcasters, namely those outlets currently screening music videos; Squeeze (TV2), Video Hits (TV2), and Juice TV, now a fully fledged channel on Sky TV’s new satellite service, currently reaching 40,000 homes. "Since the scheme started in 1991, we have funded over 700 videos. We budget to do 90 clips per year," says Smyth. This totals $450,000, or just over four local tv documentaries. The impact of this support for NZ music cannot be underestimated. Before the scheme started, independent labels like Cammick’s were struggling to get clips made. He describes the advent of the scheme as "just a godsend, really,. We had managed to source advances and whatever to finance videos for Ngaire and Upper Hutt Posse, but we couldn’t afford to go on much longer doing that, we would’ve gone under." Back in 1992, when I wrote my article on music videos, Shihad had just released their first ep (on Pagan Records), and had decided against self funding a video, because they could not justify the expense, given how few screenings the clip would get. Since then, Shihad have received about a dozen NZ On Air video grants, representing an investment of about $120,000. The resulting clips have screened over 4,000 times. Shihad represent a success story for NZ On Air, in that they have made the jump into commercial radio play. Smyth says NZ On Air is interested in helping create hits, because that is what radio plays, hence, videos are very much part of that. And if you fall left of centre, tough luck, I guess. One local musician who has been very vocal about video funding is Andrew Penman of Christchurch band Salmonella Dub. In letters published in past issues of this magazine, Penman has noted that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of bands funded from outside of Auckland. I believe he once jokingly labelled it ‘Auckland On Air’. Andrew sees things slightly differently now. "Well, we got our first grant last year, and are currently filming our second funded clip, with Greg Riwai. With NZ On Air, you need definitely someone on the ground in Auckland to lobby programmers, and you need an affiliation with a major label. It’s much harder to do it on your own". Andrew says funding takes it up another level; "you get a director, and so on; it’s less control, but more money". What do you get for your $5,000? Local clip maker Jonathan King (Bike, Second Child, Dam Native) says what ends up on screen bares little relation to the actual cost. "The film industry is greatly taken advantage of by bands and record companies, who don’t realise that they are getting 10 to 15 thousand dollars worth of labour and work. And when you get a decent budget, say like a $15,000 video, people expect it to be three times as good as a $5,000 video, when $15,000 is about what a $5,000 clip should cost. That’s a hard one to juggle, time and again. But it’s a great opportunity for people starting out in film, to explore ideas." It very much comes down to the creativity of the band and the film maker, as $5,000 is enough to get a camera, some film, someone to work the camera and a room to shoot in, King points out. Keep in mind that your band’s video will end up on tv, alongside overseas videos shot for a lot more dollars. In Australia, videos start at $15-20,000, in the UK the figure is 20-30,000 Pounds, and the USA is $50,000 US. Then of course, at the other end of the scale you have your Madonna's and Michael Jackson's blowing millions. The video gets made, the band get their ugly mugs on tv, then what happens? Does anyone get rich from music videos? Not the clip makers, that’s for sure. Most music video directors do clips for love, not money. However, when the clip screens, there is a few bucks there for someone. A television screening of your band’s video earns two royalties, paid out by the tv station. One royalty is for the song, which goes to APRA, who collect it on behalf of the songwriters. the other royalty is for the clip itself, and goes to the copyright holder of the video, usually the record company. This is collected by Phonographic Performances New Zealand (PPNZ), who are part of RIANZ, the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, and organisation made up of all the record companies and distributors here. If the video is fully NZ On Air funded, then as part of their contract with NZ On Ar, the record company is obliged to repay NZ On Air’s investment in the clip. Brendan Smyth points out that "this applies to any publicly funded clip. The public purse must be reimbursed, same for our investment in Shortland St, or Once Were Warriors. But (with music videos) it’s only a small amount." No one at RIANZ was able to tell me just how much each clip earns, as they have recently moved from Auckland from Wellington, and all their staff are new. However, they could probably tell me at the end of the year, once they’d been doing the job for a while. At present the copyright holders get a percentage of airplay that the video has received. Smyth says that "RIANZ is quite behind on its payments for clips but we are working with them on it. That is because it’s such a small amount, and it has been very difficult to tell which clip earned what money. We haven’t had a good mechanism up til now." Smyth is hopeful of getting this resolved soon. RIANZ are aiming towards a much more sophisticated database to help them track video plays, but it is very expensive to set up. And there you have it, you and your band are on television (if you suit the format). But who is watching? TV2’s Video Hits Programmer Rachel Curry , estimates their total viewership averages about 200 - 250,000 people, or 50% share of viewers. According to producer David Rose, Squeeze (TV2, Sunday 3pm) rates very well in it’s target audience of 18 to 39 year olds, "about 60,000 viewers. And twice, we’ve out-rated the sport!" No mean feat, indeed. These ratings are based on the Peoplemeter rating system, which uses a remote control in 444 households around New Zealand to survey what is popular and what bombs. These ratings supposedly tell us 3.6 million New Zealander’s exactly what we really watch. Ask yourself this, do you or any of your friends know of anyone with a Peoplemeter? Like the Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy said, ‘Television, drug of the nation, feeding ignorance, and breeding radiation’. Thank god for rock n roll, that’s what I say. copyright Peter McLennan first published in Rip It Up magazine April 1999 Several
interesting articles by NZOA Music Programme Manager Brendan Smyth. © 1999 Peter McLennan |
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