Home › Forums › General Questions › Reality TV show payout?
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May 18, 2014 at 5:46 am #16341daveydadParticipant
Just had about 8 seconds of a cue used in an episode of “Treasure King” a new series on ReelZ channel. Any idea how much something like this might pay? And will I get royalties each time it airs? Should I start shopping for a new Ferrari?? ๐
May 18, 2014 at 5:55 am #16342P-9GuestIf you are with ASCAP or BMI the payout will be nothing. But if you are with SESAC you will make 5 cents for 1 prime time airing of 8 seconds.
May 18, 2014 at 6:02 am #16343daveydadParticipant๐ Well, guess I’ll keep my ’97 Olds! ๐
May 18, 2014 at 9:37 am #16347MichaelLParticipantIn most cases, the person who served you the fast food burger that you just bought with your reality TV placement royalties, is making more money.
Seriously. Both BMI and ASCAP spell out, what they pay for network, cable etc., during specific day parts (ASCAP is a little cryptic. You need a magic 8 Ball to figure it out). You can find the information and do the math.
There should be a reality show about the “library” business.
The streets are clearly not paved with gold on the micro level.May 19, 2014 at 11:37 am #16356AdviceParticipantStart saving for a new cup holder for your Ferrari. 400 more placements like this and you can buy it!
Seriously, placements on many smaller cable channels pay very little. There are many factors that include length of cue (8 secs ain’t much), time of day for broadcast, foreground vs. background (most placements like this are background), the particular channel, etc.
With longer cues on shows that re-run a lot, it adds up but nothing spectacular. Some channels such as MTV get much better PRO payments.
In the BG reality TV cue market, it’s definitely a numbers game. You need tons of cues out there working for you.
May 19, 2014 at 12:01 pm #16357daveydadParticipantA new cup holder would be nice!! ๐ In case you’re curious, here’s the clip starting right where my piece starts as they open the garage. Maybe the one-two punch at the end will let me buy seat covers for my Ferrari? ๐
May 19, 2014 at 12:17 pm #16358gdomeierParticipantFor ascap it also depends on what time of day it played. One of my 10 second cues earned $1.75 for a single prime time airing. Another 10 second cue earned .64 for a single night time airing.
#getrichquick
May 20, 2014 at 3:36 am #16362JayGuestThere should be a reality show about the “library” business.
The streets are clearly not paved with gold on the micro level.agreed ๐ I’m about to hit 50 placements since late 2011 and thought I’d be making a lot more..I have had some good PRO payouts but not as of late and now with Tunesat I can see there’s plenty of placements i’m not making a dime on..but of course I trudge on hoping that the many songs I’ve written in the last 2 years start to catch fire…
Congrats Davey…the first couple placements are special!
and reality shows can pay…I had a $180.00 usage not too long ago of a song (but they used over a minute of it)May 20, 2014 at 6:20 am #16363MichaelLParticipantI trudge on hoping that the many songs I’ve written in the last 2 years start to catch fire…
That is like hoping to win the lottery. Songs don’t really catch fire in the library world. It’s not like pop music where someone always has a “hit.”
If you want to make $50,000? Then write 1,000 usable pieces of music and try to make $50 each…. some variation of this formula.
May 20, 2014 at 8:18 am #16364AlanParticipant@ P-9
Does ASCAP really pay nothing, as in zero for placements on the Reelz channel?May 20, 2014 at 9:16 am #16366P-9GuestOf the 30 episodes on Reelz I have cue sheets for, only 5 have ever paid.
3:30 in prime time paid 84 cents.May 20, 2014 at 9:57 am #16368daveydadParticipantWow, that’s depressing…
May 20, 2014 at 1:33 pm #16369JayGuestThat is like hoping to win the lottery. Songs don’t really catch fire in the library world. It’s not like pop music where someone always has a “hit.”
If you want to make $50,000? Then write 1,000 usable pieces of music and try to make $50 each…. some variation of this formula.
Michael..it turns out my songs are “useable” in the library world…I don’t write cues or dumb down my lyrics for hopeful placements either..and I get how the business works,I’ve been at it a while..I considered writing disposable music as some call it but it didn’t feel right and $50 grand isn’t what I’m after…I write songs and lots of them..ultimately I’d like to get some movie placements but until then I’ll ship them off to the libraries and they’ll make me $ (they have up until now)…to me “catching fire” simply means lots of placements and my last batch of songs submitted 2009/10 did in my opinion…I get just as much of a thrill out of someone downloading a song of mine as I do when I get a placement..both are important to me..I could be wrong but I’m assuming not everyone here simply writes for libraries and placements..then again maybe I am the only one?
May 20, 2014 at 2:34 pm #16370MichaelLParticipantWow, that’s depressing…
Please don’t take this the wrong way daveydad. But…did you think that something like this would pay a lot more? If so, how much more?
And…how did you get the impression that it would pay a lot more?I think part of the “flood” in this business has been caused by the mistaken impression that there’s easy money to be made, and a lot of it. So, I’m really curious to understand what the source and/or sources of that impression may be.
May 20, 2014 at 5:59 pm #16371Chuck MottGuestI agree David, think more along the lines of a starting point. COngrats on the placement. The fact that you are placing stuff, even on YT vids that are going viral, is at least a sign that things are starting to take off for you ( I’m familiar with David from elsewhere).
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