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Gael,
I hear your points about ASCAP trying to compensate for a faulty system that was not fair to composers.I am a songwriter with over 150 songs placed on TV shows. 95% of those songs were written upon request and with specific lyrical needs as per the producers and music supes on each show. Many of the placements were featured in lengthy scenes (2 minutes +), without dialogue over the top. And many were used as mini-themes for certain story lines. These songs have now been reduced down to the same payment level as Background Instrumental. If we are all truly pursuing fairness, there would be an additional category that paid out at a higher rate than background for these songs.
Incidentally, I have also written about 50 instrumentals for TV. These are easier to write, cheaper to produce, and take about 50% of the time that it takes to write a song. It is not surprising to me that these were paid out at a lesser rate than full songs.
In response to ASCAP’s decision-
I love the process of creating music, both songs and instrumentals. And I have built a decent middle-income career and business around this industry and skillset. And I did so based on a certain understanding of ASCAP’s distribution structure. And now, ASCAP has pulled the rug out from my career, reducing my payments (a huge piece of my overall salary and business model), by 70%. This is completely outrageous in a time when the value placed on music is diminishing by the day.In response to ASCAP’s decision- I love the process of creating music, both songs and instrumentals. And I have built a decent middle-income career and business around this industry and skillset. And I did so based on a certain understanding of ASCAP’s distribution structure. And now, ASCAP has pulled the rug out from my career, reducing my payments (a huge piece of my overall salary and business model), by 70%. This is completely outrageous in a time when the value placed on music is diminishing by the day.
I hope things work out for you. That is a huge drop in income. Perhaps you can find ways to diversify your income through live performances. I see that ASCAP is going to start allowing composers to collect money for live performances.
I wish I would have ended up with BMI! I really don’t want to go through hell switching.
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