[Paolo]

a lot of composers may not realize what’s going on and think this decrease in distribution is simply less placements.

Exactly! That’s what I thought until I read Michael’s post.

IMHO: if there’s less money in TV then it makes sense that everyone would make less money. It seems like the trend/petition might be best served with libraries: if a track is exclusive, then we get a share of snyc fees and not just PRO money (since that’s on the decline for TV).

[Paolo]

Well, here’s a bit of bad news

Hi Michael,

Isn’t it supposed to go “I’ve got good news and bad news…” 🙂

Yes, I also saw a drop in my BMI royalties this past quarter. I just assumed that most of the airings were in the 11pm to 8am hours in non-prime time and that’s why the payments were lower.

My first BMI inflicted wound was a few years ago when they did away with partial feature (PF) payments (going forward and retroactive) for prominent background instrumental cues.

But this is good to know. Thanks for sharing the pain…I mean news 🙂

Paul

[Paolo]

Is it typical to get paid royalties (BMI) for an initial showing of a TV show, and then not get paid for re-airings on the same network

Hi JD,

I’m not with tunesat so I don’t have any info in that area.

But regarding airings, I’m also with BMI and I see royalties from both the initial airing and repeat airings.

Paul

[Paolo]

Here are some shows I’m still waiting for payment on as the cue sheets have not been filed

I have one cue sheet for Hardcore Pawn…I have cue sheets filed with ASCAP for these shows…I have one cue sheet and did get paid on truTV South Beach Tow..

Hi everyone,

I see you’re with ASCAP. I’m registered with BMI and I don’t see/receive cue sheets.

Are you able to view and check your royalty statements against cue sheets? Is this at the ASCAP website? Is anyone doing this with BMI?

Thanks,
Paul

[Paolo]

Hi Alan,

I’m a writer with BMI. They assign two numbers to writers – an account number and an identification number (CAE/IPI #).

The account number is 6 digits and no one has ever asked for that.

The identification number (BMI refers to it as the identification number rather than the member number) is the 9 digit CAE/IPI number you would use to add your co-writer.

Paul

[Paolo]

Interesting paragraph about how the music supervisor listens to prospective/ potential songs.

Thanks for sharing!

[Paolo]

I would check no for all 3, I’m pretty sure.

Exactly!

IMHO, any registration question that comes across as market research (how long is your song; is your lyric in english) doesn’t impact my royalty payment so I select the answer that allows me to move right to the next section.

[Paolo]

Hi Showtyme,

I went into my BMI account, created a test Work Registration and copied and pasted Step 4 below so that we both are seeing the same thing (or maybe not!).

In question three, when they ask “Was this work created for Film, TV, Theater, or Music Library?” I choose “no”

Is this the step you’re referring to? If it’s not, can you tell me what step you’re on when you see this?

Paul

————————————

New Work: Step 4 of 5

Title: TEST

Are there any artists?
Yes No

Are there any recordings?
Yes No

Was this work created for Film, TV, Theater, or Music Library?
Yes No

Back Next

[Paolo]

Hi Showtyme

what do you register it as?

BMI gives the option to initially indicate that your work
“was not” created for film, TV etc. However, they add that you change your answer later. I check ‘no’ since a piece of music submitted to a library may, or may not, be any or all of those things.

And since the answer to this question doesn’t affect the registration process or how much BMI pays for that song, it makes sense to always check the ‘no’ box and then you’re done with that section :-).

Paul

[Paolo]

That was nicely put, Mark. Art, Mark, Michael and so many others on this forum have been so generous and helpful with suggestions, insights and encouragement.

I wish everyone a happy and a merry. Okay, so who brought the cannolis? (often overheard at Italian family gatherings 🙂

Paul

[Paolo]

Hi Minkus,

Welcome to the forum. You’ve got plenty of company – we all had similar questions when we started.

The moderator of this forum, Art Munson, has nicely assembled a section for newbies that answers many of the questions you asked…and answers questions you haven’t yet asked 🙂

Start here – enjoy!

Newbie Info

Paul

[Paolo]

hi Michael,

The TV placements that I get through various exclusives, and even for the shows I’ve written for rarely go over $25 per placement (airing), sometimes as low as few dollars (or less).

What percentage of your cues, in a library like JP, make $50 or more per placement? I’m talking about regular background music placements, not features or theme music.

My experience up to this past spring has been with non-exclusives. With a major network it’s usually a few hundred dollars – but I think the air-play duration has to reach 45 or 50 seconds (I think – I forget the golden number) to get full BI (background instrumental). If it’s under that time duration, the payments take a hit. So I try to make something cool happen in the cue at around 40 seconds 🙂

Cable is closer to your number, $25, $50 and less (oxygen, Oprah, travel channel, etc). BUT some shows get replayed 50 times a month (was the case with cribs) and that added up.

Are sync fees, of $500, or more common or rare?

For me, it’s between $300 and $600 but most have been around $300.

[Paolo]

Hi Overdub, Hi yzzman1,

I hear what you’re saying and would like to offer a different reason why there wasn’t much response to this post – IMHO.

Before Getty Images acquired PumpAudio, artists and composers openly heaped much praise, even sharing that Pumpaudio was their main source of revenue for their music.

So when Getty bought PumpAudio and gave artists and composers a take-it-or-leave-it option to a smaller cut of the sync licensing, I wondered if that change was impacted by what artists and composers appeared to be saying – that they needed Pump because there were no better options.

So I think it’s good we share our experiences and knowledge, but maybe not so much to share what percentage of our bills are being paid by whom. Especially when/if companies we work with get acquired.

Paul

[Paolo]

Hey thanks Di for sharing and posting this link.

Listening now to the Atom Hub stuff. Their organic percussive stuff is fun – palms slapping cement and bricks.

lot of bang for the buck.

Absolutely. The prices are….insane!

[Paolo]

Hi Erick,

Welcome aboard.

When starting out, IMHO it’s important to spend lots of time becoming familiar with the music produced by libraries you are interested in. Go to their websites to assess their music, genres, writing and production levels.

After visiting a few libraries and spending a good amount of time sifting through their catalogs, follow their submission guidelines. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a rejection email spelling out why they didn’t accept your music — and that info is gold because then you can begin to fine-tune your target libraries.

Hope that was helpful – have fun in the pursuit and good luck!

Paul

[Author]

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