contract woes, got advice?

[thelastsnail]

Forgive me if this is repetitive, but I'm new to Taxi and these boards. Any insight into the following would be much appreciated!I recently got an agreement in the mail from a cable channel. This was not through a Taxi listing, but through a friend who somehow knew someone there. In summary, if I signed, I'd be agreeing to let them use any of my music for any shows they aired, in perpetuity, for free, with no notice and credit at their discretion. No contact info, just a fax number. Is this standard operating procedure? Do all musicians who are not superstars get this kind of treatment? Is there something I should do with this besides throw it in the trash? As much as I'd love my music placed, it seems absurd to go this route.

[matto]

Quote:Forgive me if this is repetitive, but I'm new to Taxi and these boards. Any insight into the following would be much appreciated!I recently got an agreement in the mail from a cable channel. This was not through a Taxi listing, but through a friend who somehow knew someone there. In summary, if I signed, I'd be agreeing to let them use any of my music for any shows they aired, in perpetuity, for free, with no notice and credit at their discretion. No contact info, just a fax number. Is this standard operating procedure? Do all musicians who are not superstars get this kind of treatment? Is there something I should do with this besides throw it in the trash? As much as I'd love my music placed, it seems absurd to go this route.Well...it's not enough info to really say...1-Is this a non-exclusive situation, meaning they have the right to use your music in their shows but you retain full ownership (as well as the publishing) of your songs and can still do anything else you please with it?2-When you say "any of my music', I'm assuming you (or your friend) sent them a bunch of your music and that's what they're talking about...not all the music you'll ever write, correct?3-Understand that there are two kinds of payments: upfront license fees and backend royalties paid by ASCAP/BMI (assuming the channel is licensed, which most are). Some cable networks don't pay license fees, but if they're licensed by ASCAP/BMI they would pay those PRO's which in turn would pay you...and if a LOT of your music got used on many of their shows that could end up being a lot of money for you...particularly if you retain your publisher's share as well.4-Screen credit is very uncommon for background music on TV, even in movies you don't always get it if it's just a background piece. The important thing again is to make sure the channel files accurate cue sheets with ASCAP/BMI cause that's how you'd get paid5-You would definitely want the name of somebody to talk to at the channel before even thinking about proceeding, and of course have a qualified entertainment attorney review the agreement before signing it...assuming you can get the above points clarified first and they turn out to be favorable...HTH,matto

[thelastsnail]

Thanks for your response. It's non-exclusive. We retain ownership. It refers to one cd that was sent to them. And it seems like royalties are small amounts of money that would add up to not much, but I'm not a pro. And they can use the music forever which again seems ridiculous. And how much is a lot of usage? How would we even be able to track usage if they're not gonna tell us how they're using it?So the question is, is it worth trying to track down the person that mailed the document to me so that I can get points clarified. I assume they don't want calls since there is no name or number. Seriously torn.

[sgs4u]

They didn't give you a way to talk to them at all?Well, that does seem a bit odd. The trick is to create so much recorded music, that you can afford to lose a few battles to win the war, so to speak. If this is the only music you have created thus far, and you don't think you'll be creating much more.... signing all of your songs to this entity might be futile. But you never know. Can they show you some game stats & stuff? What music have they placed? Can you listen to other music samples from their library? I am unqualified to give advice, only to ask questions.

[matto]

Quote:Thanks for your response. It's non-exclusive. We retain ownership. Good.Quote:It refers to one cd that was sent to them. OkayQuote:And it seems like royalties are small amounts of money that would add up to not much, but I'm not a pro. Well...that depends on what cable channel it is (PM me the name if you like and I'll tell you what I know about it ). If they rerun their shows a lot and they have a lot of shows and they use your music a lot, it can add up to quite a lot of money. I once made about 4k from 10 uses on MTV's "Tiara Girls" for example, because they rerun their shows so much. And this was writer's share only (for one quarter), if you retain your publisher's share it would be twice that. So royalties CAN add up to a lot, it all depends. It could also be no more than a few bucks per quarter, it all depends on what network it is and how much they are using your stuff.Quote:And they can use the music forever which again seems ridiculous. Not sure why that in itself would be ridiculous...everytime there is a use you get paid royalties, and if it's truly non-exclusive you can still do whatever you want with your songs...get signed to a record label, become a big rock star, sign your tunes with other companies...whatever...in the meantime there's a chance you'll make some income from them using your music...Quote:And how much is a lot of usage? How would we even be able to track usage if they're not gonna tell us how they're using it?You don't have to track it. If they are licensed by ASCAP/BMI, they are required to fill out and submit cue sheets for every episode of every show they air. The cue sheets list all songs (aka "cues") used in the episode with information on the duration, type of use, writers and publishers. ASCAP or BMI (whichever you belong to) will then compute how much you are owed and send you a quarterly check.Quote:So the question is, is it worth trying to track down the person that mailed the document to me so that I can get points clarified. I assume they don't want calls since there is no name or number. Seriously torn. Well...how much money is that CD currently earning you? Are you selling a ton of them at your gigs or in stores/CD Baby/I tunes etc? Are you talking to any major labels at the moment?If yes, maybe it won't be worth checking out. If not...write up a little cover letter stating that you received this contract and is there somebody you could talk to about it cause you have a few questions...put your email address and phone number...send it to the fax number in question and see what happens. What do you have to lose, really? Once you have some more facts you can make a more informed decision.