ASCAP and their inadequate survey system

[pgbanker]

Music123, how are you getting statements form all three PROs? As a publisher? Writer? Have you built catalogs with each PRO and then left for “greener pastures” while leaving the catalogs behind in the process?

Are you saying that in your experience, BMI, ASCAP and SESAC pay out the same in royalties for TV performances on cable, network and streaming (TV)? I’d love some clarification on this statement. I only have experience with ASCAP as a writer, but I know the ASCAP surveying system is screwing me out of TV performance royalties on both network and cable TV.

It is my understanding that SESAC does honor Tunesat reports / detections. Maybe somebody else who is SESAC can confirm that? I have only heard it second hand. I don’t know about BMI w/ regards to honoring Tunesat info. Anyone?

[pgbanker]

Beatslinger, have you used Tunesat reports / detections to get SESAC to pay out royalties or help you get paid?

[BEATSLINGER]

Beatslinger, have you used Tunesat reports / detections to get SESAC to pay out royalties or help you get paid?

I am with some Exclusives Libraries/Catalogs that are really on top of it, so I personally are not having to watch Tunesat, or any other monitoring..

Also, SESAC now uses Tunesat.

[Mark_Petrie]

Not sure what you mean Mark. I had theme music and background music on five shows in syndication and BMI paid more for theme (T) performances than for background (BI) performances.

Yeah oops! I meant for segment themes – ASCAP pays a THM rate on those. The rules are pretty strict, the same track has to be used in the exact same point in a show in each episode. BMI doesn’t pay a THM rate on segment themes, per their page here:

https://www.bmi.com/creators/royalty/us_television_royalties

“Note that when a segment theme is reported, it will be credited as a background use. A segment theme is defined as the re-use of a theme throughout a program.

Additionally, themes reported in use during interstitials or other short-form programming will be credited as a background use.”

[Mark_Petrie]

Most people NEVER win the lottery. So basically, ASCAP is NEVER going to pay you.

Well, as an ASCAP writer I hit that ‘jackpot’ twice but it was mostly because, for half the year, over the past six years, BTN has been using several themes I wrote.

I co-wrote them with my wife, who is a BMI writer, and of course she’s been paid every quarter for all the air time.

So I feel your pain, as I’ve probably ‘lost’ upwards of $20K by being shafted by the survey system. So lame that it can’t all be done automatically in 2017.

[Dannyc]

is it just BTN placements that suffer from this ASCAP surveying issue?

[MichaelL]

BMI doesn’t pay a THM rate on segment themes, per their page here:

Ah. True, and all of my main themes were used as segement themes 10 times during each episode. Of course, ASCAP missed so many of those performances that the fact that they would have paid more for them was meaningless. That’s why I switched to BMI.

is it just BTN placements that suffer from this ASCAP surveying issue?

No. As mentioned above, I had theme music and background music in five TV Shows running in syndication since 2001. ASCAP occasionally missed entire episodes. It didn’t matter to that the producer provided them with cue sheets AND air dates. If it didn’t show up in their survey, I didn’t get paid.

[Music1234]

@pgbanker – I see data from all 3 pros because my co-writers and I share the data with each other each time a quarterly statement is issued. I do get statements as publisher too. One very obvious difference between SESAC and ASCAP is that SESAC pays substantially more for tv commercials. I do not see much of a difference with background tv cues for all 3 of them. I have not processed a TV spot through BMI yet and probably never will because I am very pleased with what I see from SESAC for those kinds of placements. My only advice for anyone new is that if you have a knack for landing music in TV commercials, I’d look at joining SESAC first. They are for profit. ASCAP and BMI should be in the business of making profits too.

What frustrates me about the Big 10 Network and ASCAP is that the cue sheets are on file at ASCAP. I see dozens of them but ASCAP writers are not getting paid performance royalties. Another lame example where the publisher earns money off our music but we don’t. They sell the blanket fee for access to the catalog. They are paid by BTN. Writers just face humiliation and get paid $0 and the music airs away every day on BTN.

[Dannyc]

is BTN a low tier cable network? what would be the other low tier cable channels/networks? sorry this is all still very new to me.

[pgbanker]

<is BTN a low tier cable network? what would be the other low tier cable channels/networks? sorry this is all still very new to me.>

I don’t know about the tier info but BTN is now in over 60 million American homes! Also, to reiterate what MichaelL was saying, I’ve been screwed (not paid) by the ASCAP survey system on placements for CBS, NBC and BTN.

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