PART II

           Allen Johnston – The Music Specialist

PUBLISHING REVENUES

            Today the buzz word in music is publishing, everyone knows that you need to keep your own publishing, but few understand the different ways you can get paid from music you create.  There are three (3) basic ways to obtain money from your songs and several variations of each one of these ways.

1.      Mechanical Rights – Everytime your song is manufactured for sale you, as the writer, should receive money.  This includes the recording and reproduction of CDs, ringtones, streams and Internet downloads.  You must contact the Harry Fox Agency to receive this income.

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc
 711 Third Ave
 New York, NY 10017  (212) 370-5330

2.      Performance Royalties – RADIO The catch phrase here is “IF IT IS PLAYED YOU GET PAID”  Normally you are  paid for radio performances that last 90 seconds or more on air and the performance is the sole sound being heard.  Radio performances are paid on 4 different types of stations

COMMERCIAL RADIO - .12 cents per play

CLASSICAL RADIO  - .32 cents per play

COLLEGE RADIO  - .06 cents per play

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO  - based on total number of songs played

       Have you ever wondered why record companies spend tons of money for radio BDS “spins”?  The answer is amazingly simple, after your song has been performed 95,000 times on radio it then qualifies for the HIT SONG BONUS or an increase in the amount of money you can receive.  Songs that have been performed 2.5 million times and receive at least 15,000 BDS recorded performances per quarter (3 months) are considered STANDARDS and are eligible to receive an additional bonus.

There are additional bonus rates paid for radio performances that are featured as Radio Theme songs.

3.      Synchronization Rights and Royalties - A synchronization license is needed for a song to be reproduced onto a television program, film, video, commercial, internet based radio, or even an 800-number phone message. It is called this because you are "synchronizing" the composition, as it is performed on the audio recording, to a film, TV commercial, or spoken voice-over. The synchronization royalty is paid to songwriters and publishers for use of a song used as background music for a movie, TV show, or commercial.

                        TELEVISION – A song you wrote played on US Television can be a significant money maker, especially if it is played more than 45 seconds and is one of these.

            FEATURE PERFORMANCE

                        VISUAL VOCAL – the vocalist is on camera doing your song

                        VISUAL INSTRUMENTALIST – the instrumentalist is on camera

                        BACKGROUND VOCAL – when the song can be heard even if there is dialogue going on simultaneously.

            BACKGROUND PERFORMANCE – When your music is used to set the mood and is not featured.

            THEME PERFORMANCE – Your song is the theme song for the show

            LOGO PERFORMANCE – Your music is played whenever the company logo is shown

            INFOMERCIAL PERFORMANCE

            PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT PERFORMANCE

            COMMERCIAL JINGLE PERFORMANCE

ABC, CBS AND NBC NETWORK TELEVISION RATES

Fox, UPN, WB, and other local stations have a different fee schedule based on local airplay.

Local Television Rates

PBS Television and CABLE networks all work on a varying fee scale based on local market airplay.       

Pay-Per-View Services - based on the local airplay.

Internet Music and Mobile Entertainment – The Internet is expanding at a rate that is almost incalculable and keeping abreast of the many avenues where your music could be is almost impossible.  Now the US Government has created a office to assist in the collection of Internet & Mobile Entertainment Royalties.

SoundExchange
Attn: Membership Department

1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW       
Suite 330
Washington, DC 20036  202.828.0120

SoundExchange handles the following:

• collects performance royalties from the statutory licensees.
• collects and processes all data associated with the performance of the sound recordings.
• allocates royalties for the performance of the sound recording based on all of the data collected and processed.
• makes distribution of the featured artist's share directly to the artist.
• makes distribution of the SRCO's share directly to the copyright owner.
• makes distribution of the nonfeatured artist's share to AFTRA and AFM's Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund; and
• provides detailed reports summarizing the titles, featured artists and royalty amounts for each of the sound recordings performed by the statutory licensees.

Commercial Music Services – These are digital/cable music suppliers and background music suppliers (Muzak, PlayNetwork, IBN) where your musical works are used by these services.

Next up will be a few more ways you can get PAID IN THE RECORD BUSINESS.