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“Anyone have any thoughts on this…..?”
I think you find this a problem as much of your royalties are advertising based.
For TV, and streaming, and BMI – there should be cue sheets that properly designate the appropriate publisher.
Up slightly over last quarter which was quite good – although neither was amazing.
– International remains very strong – and has been for several years for me.
– US TV remains fairly weak, and seemingly weakening overall – although there are a few head scratching exceptions.
– Streaming (Internet Audiovisual) continues to strengthen. It’s almost up to 35-40% of US Cable TV/Network TV at this point.
– 400+ pages on the statement for reference.
The biggest takeaway that continues – with internet AUDIO (not visual) – is that someone who does not own my masters (they have re-titled publishing) is making a BUTT load of money off my close to 2M audio streams, while as writer, I’m making less than $100. As the artist / writer / record company (master rights owner) I could up my income significantly if I could figure out who and how someone who does not own the master rights is cashing in on my $0.004 per stream….which is netting someone close to five figures.
Haha!! ^^
Art – did you try modifying your prompt to try to make it more similar to your popular cue? I’d like to see where it ended up after 4 or 5 revisions prompting it to be more like your cue.
Re: number of line items.
It depends on the TYPE of line item, how many titles per episode, etc.. Impossible to really be detailed and specific, but I tend to average around 50 placements per page.377 pages on this latest statement.
Compared to 2012 Q4, the dollar figure for Q4-2022 was 3X’s larger. But the quarter was definitely down compared to more recent quarters. Of course in the last 10 years I’ve added countless titles, and uncountable placements. Probably 1500+ titles added in (sorry uncountable) shows worldwide.
Statement pages went from 35 pages in Q4 2012 to 377 in Q4 2022.
Not a happy comparison…. IMO, not a bright future on the financial end. But I’ll get naysayed for saying it. LOL. Best of luck to all!
@soundspot – thanks for that video. It is pretty much spot on from what my AI programming friends tell me. And scary as $#@!
Perhaps more focused to this thread (but nowhere near as important as your video) :
Hilarious, sad and telling of where we are ultimately headed.
[*** Removed by Moderator ***]
I’ve always been an artist first and foremost, but life and business has made me a stone cold realist as a close second. Had I not been an artist/stone cold realist, I’d be one of the statistical majority who had left this business a decade or two ago due to it being “too difficult” – or I would have picked up a day job to survive.
Reality : Music has been my full time income my entire adult life – AND – I have a family that I’m responsible for. That falls FAR more important than any sense of “artistry” or “passion” in my life. I don’t have the luxury of being an “artist” only. I’m also a businessman, and as such, must take calculated risks, and make difficult decisions based on the market and it’s realities. Most of the artists I know work day jobs to make ends meet.
Reality 2023 : #1 – the ability to earn a livable income in production music sucks compared to 2005. #2 – it cost way more to live in 2023 than 2005.
If AI hits as my colleagues suspect and predict, our artistic passions won’t buy us a cup of Starbucks unless we are well invested and have diversified outside the USD and market. If AI doesn’t overtake us, you will have earned the right to call me a negative naysayer — but even still, I’m still going to be re-directing my musical efforts away from production music into more creative venues, and less in money making venues – cause the money making opportunities are not at a profit level that’s viable anymore (mostly).
Artists, true artists that can ONLY do music still have to eat and pay the mortgage – and that’s me (and several of us). We absolutely MUST deal with realities of the current market and business. [*** Removed by Moderator ***]
Tough thoughts, but that’s where I’m at today in April 2023 as I stare down adding another year to my credentials….
PS – the video did not impress or inspire me Art. Call me old skool…. 🙂 🙂
I’m on the tail end of writing anyway, cause even without AI, it’s a grind and pays less every year….
However :
Those I know who are deep into AI say that essentially, my career is dead due to AI and I don’t even know it. The speed at which AI is heading our direction is frightening in human terms.
And that’s only the negative “music” side of things. Societal changes will make AI in music seem like a complete non-issue.
Hang on folks….
Have you viewed the placements or listened to them. That should be the first thing you should do. To make an error that egregious would be (IMO) impossible. Mistakes happen all the time in filling out cue sheets, but that’s a HUGE difference.
-14 LUFS here.
There are obvious potential conflicts that you have accurately noted, but IMO, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. Good luck.
After more detailed analysis, some observations that may or may not be helpful for anyone :
– Domestic broadcast payouts are continuing to slide down. This quarter saw a precipitous drop. Is this the beginning of the end? Time will tell, but I’ve been expecting this for awhile.
– International saved the day. France was beyond exceptional for me. I don’t know if they were making up for past arrears or what, but I really hope this is consistent next quarter. But probably not. My guess is they were catching up. Really, if this was an indicator for all countries, I could have a beach house and new cars too. LOL. That’s never going to happen though, but thank you France!! Germany gets a very solid honorable mention!
– Netflix continues to obfuscate their performances – no surprise, including the exclusion of a HUGE playing show that I know from past royalties that was playing solidly on their platform during that period. I’m not even going to pursue it. Even if I got them to acknowledge their screw up, it would only pay out a few hundred $$. Netflix continues to manipulate to their advantage.
– Kudos to Hulu for being the best paying, and more forthright on their performance numbers. If all were like Hulu, maybe there is a sliver of hope for the future of broadcast royalties.
– The international market as mentioned in my previous post made this an excellent – close to all time high – payout.
– SOME GOOD NEWS! Old catalogs sometimes do pay out. NICELY! A group of CD’s that I did for one of the big PMA libraries over 10 years ago is finally starting to pay out. On the international front. They have done pretty much nothing on the domestic market, and I lost faith in this dominant library. Go figure. It’s all what I call “evergreen” music though, so hopefully it will see even more success in the future.
– DIVERSIFY. Musically. (Especially important). Company wise. (Important) And Show wise. (Often overlooked, but also very important). Pretty much any way you can – diversify!! That’s pretty much the only way sustained royalties are going to save you. My personal observations from 25 years of doing music specifically targeted towards production music libraries.
Yes. Here, Foreign was 3X’s Domestic which was lackluster. Overall excellent.
Ha! I get my $$ via direct deposit, so I know late Thursday before distribution what the news will be. This distribution was very good.
Hahaaa!! No way on that Art. Just a different perspective. No one is right or wrong. Every path is unique, every experience different than my associates. <thumbsup>