5 Year Report

[Spiker]

In regards to streaming vs cable/network PRO royalties. I’m not sure if people know this or not (I didn’t). I was told by a very knowledgeable composer that streaming is measured differently on your royalty statement. One count for streaming means one household watched the show. One count for cable could mean 500,000 households watched the show (just an example – depends on time slot and how popular the show is). Of course for a major network show, one count is an even greater number of households compared to cable. I think he is correct. It makes sense to me, but I think BMI/ASCAP should explain this on their statements.

[Alan]

A bit off topic, but here are some factual streaming numbers from my January 2020 ASCAP statement to ponder
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (winner of multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards)
11 second placement with 5,551,334 plays = $24.87404
22 second placement with 7,734,494 plays = $73.87124
Note, I received a $500 sync fee for each placement

I my view, these are premium placements with HORRIBLE back end. The future of PRO income looks pretty dismal to me.

[ro5er]

@ Alan: Thank you for the numbers, very informative. Could you put this into perspective compared to the potential payouts from Network or Cable airings per household view?

@Music1234 hit me up if you want, I’m a GEMA member from Germany

[Alan]

Could you put this into perspective compared to the potential payouts from Network or Cable airings per household view?

ASCAP doesn’t viewership info. I can tell you one 16 second prime time airing on The Voice (NBC) paid about $60. I looked up their viewership and got 8 million, so maybe Mrs. Maisel was in line with the Networks. It just feels pretty low for such a successful show. I once got over $300 for 10 seconds on an NFL playoff game and the track had a co-writer. That’s the kind of back end I expected for Maisel.

[St0rMl0rD]

Yeah, streaming’s a different thing all together. Doesn’t matter how many viewers have seen it, but even the base royalty payouts are lower than terrestrial TV for sure.

[Music1234]

Check your MLR in box ro5er. I sent you a private note.

[cyberk91]

I think my best strategy to to focus on “song” related tracks (as opposed to tension cues, etc…)

echoflex

I think your dead on in your thinking……..I make full songs to stream then cut them up…

[echoflex]

@cyberk91 – you mean, cut them up as in 30’s, 60’s, etc…? That’s what I’ve been doing. I might not bother with that if I don’t see any interest in the cutdowns. As an editor, I always downloaded the full track and cut it up how I wanted for the spot anyways.

[Art Munson]

you mean, cut them up as in 30’s, 60’s, etc…? That’s what I’ve been doing. I might not bother with that if I don’t see any interest in the cutdowns.

I would rethink that if I were you echoflex. Some of my biggest sellers are 30s and 60s as well as loops, stings, etc. A lot of the buyers on RF sites don’t have the skills, or time, to make their own edits.

[echoflex]

Good point, Art. I can’t think so ego-centric.

[StevenOBrien]

Yes, for RF the full versions of my tracks were only 30% of my sales. Stingers and timed cuts are very important for that market.

[boinkeee2000]

Hey yall, received my 4th check from BMI recently (im up but far from projections) and would like to ask the folks generous enough to contribute their journey to this thread (Alan, scott, groovydude, kubed, eduardo, frequencee, spiker, daveydad, mike marino) how their trajectory is going so far (still upward, plateaued/hit ceiling, downward trend) since their reveal….thanks in advance

with these troubled times within the industry and the pandemic, I am grateful to have found MLR to get a sense of comfort and community, amidst this solitary emotional roller coaster of a journey we all trek….stay safe yall

[Kubed]

@boinkeee2000 Good to hear you were up this quarter! I have to say that the first few years were pretty bumpy for me (and i guess most of us). I’m receiving statements for 6 years now (not a long time but you should be able to come to some conclusions after 6 years anyway) and for the past 1.5-2 years i’m seeing a somewhat steady progress (in contrast to the first 3+ years of a ‘roller coaster’ experience!).

It took me around 4-5 years to see which libraries work best for my music and which ones is a waste of time. The hardest part is to put your music in the right hands and you can’t do it without failing at first.
But even so, you always have to keep your ears open, be alerted and search for new opportunities. There are constant changes in this business and nothing is taken for granted.

Everytime that i fail i keep reminding myself i’m doing what i love the most and that’s enough to keep me going 😉

[boinkeee2000]

thanks kubed for chiming in, your early trajectory has been a benchmark for me and unfortunately i am nowhere near that. I sadly missed out on the era of good, abundant nonexcl/mid-tier libs & the RF boom. with so many changes in this landscape the last 3-5 years, I conclude it will be difficult (for me) to gain similar traction and take twice as long to reach same progress (im 2.5 years somewhat full time on this)…with 3/4 of my catalog invested in the dying nonexcl RF world & nonproductive nonexcl libs, and 1/4 spread thin on mid tier excl (that used to be nonexcl), my future 5 year report may well look like your 2 year report. thanks for the advise to keep going, im sure there’s folks in my tenure having real success, just need to keep my eyes/ears open…

[Spiker]

I’m down about 4% from a year ago. I’ve been getting payouts since 2013. Its been a slow climb for me. I haven’t done much with RF, just exclusives. I make money with the exclusives, but one takes some of my music and gives it to Scripps networks and I see nothing (of course they do).

[Author]

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