75/25 split on song?

[scottyrock]

I just got a letter of acceptance for an EXCLUSIVE license for one of my songs with a library. I thought 50/50 was the norm for this. for this deal said company takes 75%/ I get 25% and transfer rights of song to them. what do you think? oh yea I am getting ready to release a CD soon with this song on it.thanks for any inputscott

[crystallions]

I have always heard 50/50 is fair. 25% for you sounds like very little - especially since they are asking for the rights to the song. I would be hesitant to sign the song with them. I know there are many others on this forum who have lots of experience with music libraries (and I have very little). Hopefully one of them can give some solid advice on this.~ Lydia

[matto]

Aug 14, 2009, 7:23am, scottyrock wrote:I just got a letter of acceptance for an EXCLUSIVE license for one of my songs with a library. I thought 50/50 was the norm for this. for this deal said company takes 75%/ I get 25% and transfer rights of song to them. what do you think? oh yea I am getting ready to release a CD soon with this song on it.thanks for any inputscottIt depends on 75/25 of WHAT. If you retain 100% of your PRO writer's share, and the 75/25 is for sync/master license fees or the like only, then that could be fine. Some companies take 100% of license fees, so 75 would be better than that.There really is no standard on splitting the license fees, the only "standard" which exists is that you'd always want to retain 100% of your PRO writer's share.As far as whether the exclusice agreement prevents you from marketing/selling your songs on outlets like CD Baby or i-Tunes, that varies from contract to contract. Some are excludive ONLY to tv/film use and do not encumber any other rights, others are 100% exclusive to all applications.So you'd want to read the contract carefully and have an experienced entertainment attorney look it over as well.HTH,matto

[crystallions]

Matto - Thank you for shedding some light on this. Since they are asking Scott to write over the rights of the song to them (I assume that means that they would own the copyright?) - can he still keep the writer's share? Or would he loose it?~ Lydia

[matto]

Aug 14, 2009, 8:52am, crystallions wrote:Matto - Thank you for shedding some light on this. Since they are asking Scott to write over the rights of the song to them (I assume that means that they would own the copyright?) - can he still keep the writer's share? Or would he loose it?~ LydiaIn most cases by far, when they aquire the copyright, which is essentially the same as "the publishing", the writer will retain 100% writer's share. Of course you want to carefully examine the contract to confirm this is true.

[scottyrock]

lydia and mattthanks for chiming in. my main concern was that I keep the PRO writers share even though I transfer the copyright.that way 100% of writers share and 25% of publishing sounds alot better.have to contact them and seethanks againscott

[bayouandme]

Did you get an FAQ that looked like this?What is the “15% administration fee?”A. This mostly applies to songs with vocals. The administration fee is charged for doing industry standard paperwork maintenance on a song(s). Let’s say for example the entire publishing share collected is $100.00. We collect 100% of the publishing share. TMC’s share would be $75.00 and the artists share would be $25.00. TMC will then take 15% from the $25.00, which is $3.75, leaving the artist with $21.25, before any copyright fee deduction. Copyright fee deduction is 1 time per song, though in some instances certain songs can be grouped into collections of songs thereby limiting the copyright fee deduction(s)In addition you sign away your copyrights FOREVER to this library.I recently starting doing some work with a multiple Grammy winning artist, songwriter and producer. He stated that 50-50 is typical and a major artist will get a 25-75 split. An administration fee of up to 10% may happen if they are actively shopping the song or project. You should also maintain your copyrights if possible.All this said, I have a great career outside of music. Music has been my stress relief, mental health therapy and personal passion. If I don't make any money at it I don't starve or end up in a homeless shelter. I made the decision to counter my offer with one that includes a 50-50 split, a 10% administration fee (If they are sctively shopping the song) and I retain the copyrights to the song, If they say no I can live with that decision. On the other hand, some of something beats all of nothing. They talk about mortgage brokers, bankers and others ripping off the public, this does not seem much different.

[gitarrero]

Aug 18, 2009, 3:28am, bayouandme wrote:I recently starting doing some work with a multiple Grammy winning artist, songwriter and producer. He stated that 50-50 is typical and a major artist will get a 25-75 split. An administration fee of up to 10% may happen if they are actively shopping the song or project. You should also maintain your copyrights if possible.just a quick note: I don't think you really can compare the artist market with the film/tv resp. library-market.all library deals I know take 100% of the publisher share (that is 50% of the performance royalties). as matto already said, for the sync/master fees there is no real "standard".if a library generates lots and lots of placement on tv/film, than the 25% of the sync/master plus all the writers share can be very profitable for a writer.martin

[deantaylor]

Aug 18, 2009, 7:04am, gitarrero wrote:all library deals I know take 100% of the publisher share (that is 50% of the performance royalties). as matto already said, for the sync/master fees there is no real "standard".martinI have songs signed to a number of libraries and I've looked at the deals offered by a number of other libraries that I've considered or who have offered me a contract, some do take 100% of the pub share, but many take only 50%, and I've found just as many that take 0% (I keep the entire pub share). All of them let the artist keep 100% of the writer's share.Dean

[gitarrero]

Aug 19, 2009, 3:58pm, deantaylor wrote:Aug 18, 2009, 7:04am, gitarrero wrote:all library deals I know take 100% of the publisher share (that is 50% of the performance royalties). as matto already said, for the sync/master fees there is no real "standard".martinI have songs signed to a number of libraries and I've looked at the deals offered by a number of other libraries that I've considered or who have offered me a contract, some do take 100% of the pub share, but many take only 50%, and I've found just as many that take 0% (I keep the entire pub share). All of them let the artist keep 100% of the writer's share.Deanthat is true, but it depends on the core market of a library. I'm speaking about those libraries who are specialized in placing music in broadcast uses, ie tv shows, films - especially higher profile placements.of course there's a gazillion of other possible uses, not all of them are broadcast, so what deal a library offers depends on their core business.and I think that "any" placement is a good placement as long as it earns money for you