[composer]

I can’t confirm that they do or do not pay royalties. But I have had some Crackle placements up to 2 years ago, and have not received any royalty money for the placements.

[composer]

I’m starting to see results from reconciling our Tunesat detections with our statements.

I had many, many Tunesat detections that didn’t show up on this statement. (I know there’s a separate thread discussing how long to wait before following up on missed/late cue sheets.)
Good for you, Art, for using Tunesat to your advantage!

[composer]

Sort of a watershed moment for me @composer.

I’ve had 150,000 to 200,000 annual performances of a small number of TV themes for almost 15 years. Despite doubling the number of themes and doubling my ownership shares, I’ve seen a steady decline in the value of performance royalties down to literally $.01.

Today, I realized that at that rate, I can probably generate more money from direct licensing, especially of cues are not PRO registered.

Other’s MMV.

Sorry to hear this, Michael. That’s a stunning number of performances.

A sharp decline in performance royalties is terrifying. For this to work as a business model, that long tail of royalties is, obviously, essential.

[composer]

Statement is not pretty for me either.

More pages, less money.

[composer]

Have you guys been seeing an increase in the web / PPV section of your PRO statement? I’ve started to see a bit more from the Netflix, Hulu, YouTube etc pages. Not huge money but it seems to be on the rise.

Yes. For me, those royalties are rising quite sharply over the last 3-4 statements. This still represents a small percentage of the overall amount.

It’s difficult for me to gauge the difference “per viewer” between the Netflix/Hulu views and the broadcast views.

[composer]

Got it – so you’re seeing that just the total number of titles/works registered (displayed at the top of the page) increases but you see no additional new titles, cue sheet titles or TV show names with episode names?

Just wondering – has your count continued to increase but not dropped to a previous lower number?

This is my situation exactly.

[composer]

I have also wondered about this. My works count has increased by around 100 over the last couple of weeks, but I only see a handful of new titles and cue sheets.

Paul, I have never noticed titles disappearing as you describe.

Thanks.

[composer]

It’s OK to walk away.

It’s also OK to ask for what you want – a fair(er) deal, in this case – and then politely walk away if you don’t get it.

[composer]

Thanks composer. That makes sense.

One follow-up question: If I don’t have a lot of tracks that could be signed exclusively right away, would it still be okay to submit to an exclusive library on the basis that I would be providing new tracks to them moving forward? Or should I wait until I have at least a certain amount of tracks that are ready to sign before submitting? (If so, what’s a reasonable amount?)

Thanks!

There are many types of deals. But it’s common for a library to commission tracks. So you can pitch yourself as a capable composer (you’ll be one of thousands!), and they can commission you to create the types of tracks they are looking for. So, you don’t necessarily need to have lots of tracks available. You need to be able to create what they want, to their specs, on their timeline.

[composer]

I would send a reel of your best work, regardless of whether the tracks are signed or unsigned. Just let them know whether the tracks are available.

I send unsigned tracks if I have them and they are just strong and suitable for the pitch as my signed tracks, and I have had tracks signed from the demo.

[composer]

bump

[composer]

Thanks, Art.

Also, a related question… What’s the estimated dollar threshold for following up. If a primetime network placement cue sheet is not filed, I would certainly follow up. If a cable placement that will pay $5 is missed, I would let it go. Where is the line?

I’ve been at this long enough to have a pretty good sense (at least a general range) of what a placement will pay.

By the way, in my experience the good network placement cue sheets always get filed and usually on time. It tends to be the low paying placements that get missed.

[composer]

My “artist” tracks (music that plays on Pandora, sells on iTunes, et. al.) are registered with Soundexchange.
I have never registered my production music tracks with Soundexchange. Am I missing out on royalties for these tracks? (I know BMI pays for Hulu and Netflix.)
Thanks for any information.

[composer]

So, if the files are identical, Tunesat won’t be able to tell you which library placed the track.

[composer]

You do not need to upload the track to Tunesat twice. It detects the track, not the title.

[Author]

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