Why do companies not like telling info on placements

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Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 52 total)
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  • #11965
    Desire_Inspires
    Participant

    I still think it is a liability issue.

    #11966
    Advice
    Participant

    BIG ROME said:

    My concern is this library may not be telling the truth on the actual fee and pocketing more. cause there is no paper trail given to me.

    I don’t think you can function in this biz (or many others) if you go through life assuming the people you are dealing with may be lying to you. If you really are that suspicious of the business practices of a library, don’t work with them and move on. At some point, you just have to trust.

    As far as auditing libraries per what’s allowed in the contract, I’d reserve that only for **EXTREME** situations. Once you play that card, you’ve completely damaged your working relationship. Basically, when you do it, you are calling the other party a liar.

    #11967
    ypb2857
    Participant

    True (when you play that card, you are calling that party a liar). And it sounds like you may already be there. I mean, you’re already hyper-suspicious that they won’t tell you details on the placement.

    We are all in exactly the same boat. We all USUALLY trust our contacts to tell us the truth. There is no good answer to what to do when you aren’t happy with that trust, because, as you said, the only alternative can be relationship-damaging.

    #11968
    BIGG ROME
    Guest

    In Business, most people do lie. That why they say its business never personal. Sorry, that’s the reason writers are getting screwed now, cause composer are scared to speak up for themselves.

    That is why we are losing royalties with P.R.O.,promos awhile the other guy make sure he gets pays, cause he recognize business.

    If more composers spoke up about getting paid vocal background royalties the same as instrumentals (P.R.O.) , it would never changed.

    if you copyrights are being used, you have a write to protect. They are intellectual property. They are something of value.

    I don’t understand this “duck your head and hope for the best mentality”.
    I cannot do that. I value myself more than that.

    #11969
    BIGG ROME
    Guest

    You have to know when to pick your battles, not every situation is a fight.

    But, if this is happening to more than me, then I know there are companies pocketing money on the side without telling the composers. This is not the streets, where you “pay a little something something to your associate and you better be happy with what I gave you”.

    #11970
    The Dude
    Guest

    Why are there so many negative responses about this? If a library has chosen to do business with a composer, shouldn’t that composer expect a little bit of transparency? Trust goes both ways. The composer trusts that the library is not ripping them off, and the library should trust that the composer won’t go bothering the client. Even if they gave him the client’s name, they could simply ask him not to refrain from contact.

    He already got paid. Wouldn’t withholding the information just invite the possibility of the composer contacting the client? Say Rome hears his music in a big national ad. He wasn’t told he got that ad, so he contacts the agency or the production company to find out where they got his music. Now the client has been contacted anyway. Obviously hypothetical, and you can debate whether it’s professional or not.

    #11971
    Desire_Inspires
    Participant

    In Business, most people do lie. That why they say its business never personal. Sorry, that’s the reason writers are getting screwed now, cause composer are scared to speak up for themselves.

    That is why we are losing royalties with P.R.O.,promos awhile the other guy make sure he gets pays, cause he recognize business.

    If more composers spoke up about getting paid vocal background royalties the same as instrumentals (P.R.O.) , it would never changed.

    if you copyrights are being used, you have a write to protect. They are intellectual property. They are something of value.

    I don’t understand this “duck your head and hope for the best mentality”.
    I cannot do that. I value myself more than that.

    I do agree with you that some composers are too timid. Most people have been taught to avoid risk. Some actually believe that being a professional means putting up with unfair treatment in order to gain some reward in the future.

    The truth is that you, Bigg Rome, have to look out for you. I know that you mean well and want composers to stand up for themselves. But this will not happen on a grand scale. That is not how most people are conditioned.

    If standing up to a company and asking questions helps you to get paid, go for it. There is risk in most endeavors. Sometimes the risks pay off and other times they do not. Whatever choices you make, own up to them regardless of the consequences.

    You will become a great (and wealthy) composer as long as you work hard, ask questions, and correct course when needed.

    #11973
    BIGG ROME
    Guest

    That is good advise, there.
    That is how I pretty much think about these type of situations.

    #11974
    MichaelL
    Participant

    Here’s a reality check:

    None of us, including me, is irreplaceable. We write music for TV…so what? That doesn’t make us a creative geniuses, or even a rare commodity.

    There are 10 composers standing in line behind each of us, who are at least as good as we are, maybe better, waiting for an opportunity.

    The fastest way to move to the back of the line in this business is to have a chip-on-your-shoulder attitude, and to be difficult.

    Good luck.

    _Michael

    #11975
    BIGG ROME
    Guest

    That does make any sense. There are dozen of singers. Does that mean you should sign your songs away. You really should think more of yourself and your music.

    Thia ain’t Jack In the Box… Fast Food has no value.
    But music has value and if composers continue to think your way.
    Pretty Soon, you won’t get paid for anything. It will be given away free.

    Stand for something. People that think your way change never happens cause of fear. I have no fear in change.

    When change comes all the composers who did nothing on the sidelines, will reap the benefits of those that stuck their necks. Michael L.

    #11977
    Advice
    Participant

    Michael L said:

    The fastest way to move to the back of the line in this business is to have a chip-on-your-shoulder attitude, and to be difficult.

    So true. 🙂

    #11978
    BIGG ROME
    Guest

    Only true to people that know don’t how to do it.

    They sent me the information I requested. It all worked out in the end. Maybe they read this forum, lol

    “You will never know, if you never try” – BIGG ROME!

    #11979
    Wildman
    Guest

    I receive direct sync fees once or twice a year from the exclusive libraries/labels I am working for….
    What do I find on the paper: the track name, the “country” where the track was used and the total amount !
    No further details are given. (f.e. used for what, when, where exactly)
    I’ll let everybody interpret what this means 🙂

    I receive 4 times a year my PRO TV usage list. I compare this list with my tunesat usage list. Most of the time around 60-70% usages are simply missing. I have to claim all the time.
    Again I leave open what this means !

    I live with this situations since years and years now. If someone would tell me that this business is build on trust I have to agree, and if someone would tell me that so many companies/people misuse this business I also have to agree !

    Best,
    Wildman

    #11982
    Mark Lewis
    Participant

    “You will never know, if you never try” – BIGG ROME!”

    That’s true Bigg Rome.
    In Spain we say “el no ya lo tenemos”
    Directly translated it means “the no we already have”
    but basically means “no harm in asking”.

    #11984
    Desire_Inspires
    Participant

    When change comes all the composers who did nothing on the sidelines, will reap the benefits of those that stuck their necks.

    This reminds me of a great quote by George Bernard Shaw, which goes: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

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