April ASCAP Domestic Writers Payment

[Diverse12]

Hello all,

Did any writers with ASCAP notice a SIGNIFICANT drop on Aprils writer pay out? The pay has dropped dramatically over the last 3 years, however this was the lowest I’ve had in 8 years. The play count seemed wrong on shows that air several times a quarter. Also, the line by line pay was extremely lower than normal. Just curious if anyone else has seen this?

[RM90]

This wasn’t the case for me. I’ve been doing this for 5 years and April was my 2nd best domestic payment to date. I am still “on the rise” though, as I’m definitely not a veteran yet. International is always significantly better for me too (for what that’s worth).

[Diverse12]

RM90, glad to hear that was one of your best. Good, so not everyones payment is going down. Thanks for sharing. International royalties have been going up since COVID ironically.

[Michael Nickolas]

I see ASCAP has started sorting cue sheets by newest first instead of alphabetical. Finally, an easy way to see recent uses.

[Diverse12]

Yes, I did see that. Very convenient way to see new cue sheets. It looks like a lot of cue sheets came in late. Hopefully that will be reflected in this upcoming payout.

[Advice]

I think comparing our quarterlies in terms of increases/decreases with other composers doesn’t work because there are too many varaiables. If I have some network TV placements 6-9 months before the payout, it will go up significantly. There can be a flurry of activity on reality TV show reruns that use one person’s tracks, but not someone else’s. Our trends would probably only parallel each others if/when there is a widespread industry issue over many months. The current writers & actors strikes could be such an issue whereby everyone sees a drop a few quarters from when it started. But for the most part, trends will vary quite a bit from person to person.

[Author]

Posts