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This is a rhetorical question I had in the back of my mind after reading how the BMI calculations have resulted in slashed royalties for composers.
I started thinking that it may make sense for some composers to resign from a PRO and not work with them anymore. Some composers are moving exclusively towards the royalty-free and performance-free route. With these models becoming more and more popular, it may make sense for some composers to not deal with the PROs anymore.
Backend money is getting funny. Some composers would rather make money by getting paid upfront money and not worrying about the backend royalties. Music is being used more and more often for non-broadcast purposes.
Feel free to share your thoughts and build this discussion. Thanks!
That might be a tad drastic!
Music is being used more and more often for non-broadcast purposes.
You really need to know what you’re talking about before you speak.
Music has ALWAYs been a part of non-broadcast productions. My father produced non-boradcast corporate and educational films in the 1950’s and 60’s. They all had music. Growing up, I knew a composer who made most of his money scoring non-broadcast productions. For 20 years, I made a living scoring non-broadcast productions. It is, and always has been, a viable market.
That might be a tad drastic!
+1.
Why would you do that? If you’re going to have music that may be broadcast, you should have someone collect your royalties.
That might be a tad drastic!
agreed!
DI – if you got on a commercial that ran 1000 times including network, you would have a vastly different opinion.
On the subject of PRO’s, and complaining about them, I think it is important to specify whether you are talking about music in commercials or music within TV shows. They are completely different from each other – even within one specific PRO.
Why would you resign from your PRO? What’s the upside? It doesn’t make any sense to me.
Some composers are moving exclusively towards the royalty-free and performance-free route. With these models becoming more and more popular, it may make sense for some composers to not deal with the PROs anymore.
Some composers would rather make money by getting paid upfront money and not worrying about the backend royalties.
so, if you are a composer out there and you think these statements apply to you, could you please leave a reply here? I would be very curious to see how many of you are out there.
so, if you are a composer out there and you think these statements apply to you, could you please leave a reply here? I would be very curious to see how many of you are out there.
Sure wilx2. My situation applies only to me.
1. I don’t want to crank out 5 TV style cues per day. Flipping musical burgers doesn’t interest me. I may have thought it was cool when I was younger, the thrill of hearing music on TV etc., but not now. I would rather have a day job.
2. After reading all the machinations that people go through speculating about formerly non-exclusive libraries, and “should I go exclusive, non-exclusive” etc., etc. I’m not interested in dealing with it and playing that game, especially for the low amount of money that BG TV cues pay.
3. So, I’ve decided to go RF only because I see it as a long-term investment rather than something to be relied upon for current income.
That is not to say that you cannot make a decent income from RF libraries, but it takes a long time, during which time you need other income.4. No, I’m not resigning from my PRO. Backend money has always been the icing on the cake, and it will stay that way.
Hey guys,
As a composer new to the library scene, I’m actually trying to purposely avoid the royalty-free scene and am working, instead, to find more opportunities to build up the back-end money.
Why would you do that? If you’re going to have music that may be broadcast, you should have someone collect your royalties.
Ya think!
I think you should definitely resign from your PRO. On the outside chance that there is some future back end, would you mind terribly if I registered your titles with my account?
🙂
Sorry, couldn’t resist…DI actually touches on something that a lot of people have been talking about. There has to be a better way to keep track of placements and royalties besides the antiquated PROs that we presently have to deal with.
This article is the first idea I have read that is actually inspiring and sounds like it might be able to work if implemented correctly.
Bitcoin style automatic royalty payments.
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-rockstars-cryptocurrency-music-industry/I think what DI might be saying is BMI and ASCAP and everything all Suck. There might be a better solution out there worth talking about and supporting.
It’s been pointed out a number of times that for people who do make decent money at this, and who do both royalty free markets and NE/EX libraries aimed at tv, that the majority of their income comes from royalties, etc. that come from their PROs. Maybe what DI is saying is how many people have possibly considered completely going the RF route rather then the TV and film route. Still, in this I would want to keep my PRO account open in for when those are used for broadcast use.
Another point, and I am speaking for my situation, the bar is high enough anymore it seems to even get into a lot of these libraries, that it is a lot of work to try to make my stuff competitive doing one track a week, much less five cues a day. Bless your creative little hearts if you can crank out 5 quality cues in a day; I’m not that guy. And no, I don’t think I’d be happy either flipping musical hamburgers (great analogy BTW).
Does going completely RF make sense to some people and what is your best argument for doing that?
“This article is the first idea I have read that is actually inspiring and sounds like it might be able to work if implemented correctly.
Bitcoin style automatic royalty payments.”Fascinating article Mark, thanks!
@Chuck Mott. Even with the recent reduction in BMI rates our PRO royalties are much greater than our RF sales. The biggest pain is chasing down the unpaid shows that Tunesat detects, usually cue sheet problems.
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