OH MY! and ESPN College Football

[Tom22]

good one Miguel. I tried to google some info myself.

Needless to say it is very complicated. Musicians seem to be largely unprotected in most areas but song writers are in a much better position in terms of long term dividends. Some-how or another they allocate percentages of "who" wrote the song (i.e. Mary wrote 20% of the song and Jane wrote 80%)

I had a hard time understanding exactly how deals worked for the actual performance r(I.E Haley's actual singing , rather than the role she played in creating the song0

I think most of what follows relates to the writers:

In simple terms, songwriters make money in three ways: Mechanical Royalties (album sales and digital downloads), Performance Royalties (radio play) and Synchronization Royalties (licensing to TV, Films, Ads). There are other revenue streams--especially with the advent of Internet streaming services--but these three represent the lion's share.

Here is how Dr. Luke would get paid from a hit song:

1. Mechanical Royalties: Think of this as "money for when someone buys a copy of your song (physical or digital)."

In the U.S., the Record Label is responsible for paying the songwriter a fixed rate of $0.091 for each song sold. A simple example: Bob Dylan releases a new 10 song album, which sells an even 1MM copies. The Label owes Bob $91,000 for letting them "publish" his 10 songs. Here is an example with two writers: Bob Dylan writes a 10 song album with Shakira, and Shakira writes 80% of each song (Bob writes the other 20%). This album also sells 1MM copies. Here, Shakira is owed $72,800 and Bob is owed $18,200. This gets very, very complicated -- But that's a fair primer.

When Dr. Luke writes a song, he might not write all of it. In that case, he needs to negotiate what % of the "Publishing" he owns. I've heard that it's possible to receive an upfront "songwriter fee", either as an advance against future Mechanicals or as a standalone fee. But this is supposedly quite rare.

2. Performance Royalties - Think of this as "money for when your song gets played on the radio, TV, or in any public setting, even sports arenas and bars."

Unlike Mechanical Royalties, there is no clean formula for calculating what you are owed. To collect this income, songwriters must associate with a Performance Rights Organization (PRO), such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. PRO's are non-profit organizations that license their broad their huge catalogs to broadcasters (ex: Clear Channel radio; NBC) and public arenas (ex: Madison Square Garden). How much? BMI alone collected $901MM in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009. That pie is split amongst nearly every songwriter imaginable, from John Lennon to John Legend (to your cousin Tom Lemon, who plays in a local Bluegrass band). Given that he writes some of the most-played Pop hits in the world, Dr. Luke would make a significant share of his income from Performance Royalties.

3. Synchronization Royalties - Think of this as "money for when you license your song to a TV show, Film, Trailer, Video Game, TV Commercial, or any other visual that needs to be 'sync'd' with music."

Each medium (TV, Internet, Film) has its own standard price structure. License terms can vary quite a bit, depending on who has negotiating leverage (Is the song a huge hit, or is it a no-name band dying for exposure?). In general, songwriters are given an advance (TV shows can fetch $1,000 to $25,000; car commercials can fetch $50,000 to $300,000).

http://www.quora.com/Music-Industry/How-...for-a-song

It looks like "sycchronization royalties are what apply to TV.

I am a bit confused by the term "advance" , as that usually means a minimum, with additional money that would be owed if an agreed fee per usage would come to amount that exceeded that minimum.

The articles seem to suggest that song writers havn't been pressured to give their future royalty rights to producers but I have no idea how that tradition developed or if it is true . It is all very complicated as I led off with with different pracitces for different mediums

Below is more about possible amounts. Going from very little to "holy shit" amounts all of which is not set by any law but only by negotiated payments .

Synchronization royalties (‘synch licenses’) are paid for the use of copyrighted music in audiovisual productions, such as in DVDs, television, movies, commercial, and advertisements. Music used in news tracks are also synch licenses. Synchronization can extend to live media performances, such as plays and live theatre. They become extremely important for new media – the usage of music in the form of mp3, wav, flac files and for usage in webcasts, embedded media in microchips (e.g. karaoke), etc but the legal conventions are yet to be drawn.

A synchronization license is needed for a song to be reproduced onto a television program, film, video, commercial, 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. If a specific recorded version of a composition is used, you must also get permission from the record company in the form of a “master use” license. 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.

Synchronization royalties are due to the composer/song-writer or her publisher. They are strictly contractual in nature and vary greatly in amount depending on the subjective importance of the music, the mode of production and the media used. The royalty payable is that of mutual acceptance but is conditioned by industry practice.

Fees for song usage range from $500-$15,000, with superstar tracks reaching up to $20,000-$250,000. That amount usually includes master rights for broadcast and most other media rights, with a time frame ranging from three years to perpetuity. An additional home video fee is equal to or greater than those quoted. Synchronization rights are negotiated separately, with master and sync rights usually split 50/50, unless the song is a cover — a situation that favors the publisher ?

The price tag for iconic, well-known tunes can be staggering: Tracks by the Who and the O’Jays, used in the opening credits of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and NBC’s “The Apprentice,” respectively, generate six-figure deals annually.

Example sync licenses fee’s from the NBC television:

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE

“For the Love of Money” – O’Jays – ($6000/week)

CHOPPING BLOCK

“Ring of Fire” – Johnny Cash – ($11,000/week)

ER

“Shadows and Regrets” – Yellowcard – ($6000/week)

HEROES

“Together” – Krystal Meyers – ($5000/week)

THE JAY LENO SHOW

“Hold On, I’m Comin’” – Sam & Dave – ($8000/week)

“Life Is a Highway” – Tom Cochrane – ($2000/day – $8000/week)

“Mess Around” - Ray Charles - ($6000/week)

See attached Sync License for: Synchronization Example

Marc Smilow

http://coast2coastmixtapes.com/newindust...royalties/