giving your song to a big corporate for fweeee?

[mikeymike2000]

I am late to the party and am not getting into the debate of if free is ever a viable option.

All I wanted to say is that if this is REALLY a national commercial, they would not do anything like this. (ask for free music)
There is a budget and anything else is a flat out lie.

If it is someone saying "it is a commercial that may go national" or something to that effect then it is prob just a waste of time anyway.

I may be a newbee to the music licensing side of things but I have been around enough major productions to know how they operate.

Someone is either blowing smoke up their own ass or feeding you a line. I think you did the right thing in this case.

[Russell Landwehr]

Ah yes. That's the meat of it, isn't it Mike.

[Kelil]

I have thought about ''getting more exposure could lead to more deals in which I do get paid''

but the other half of me goes red and says ''NO WAY, why should I allow someone to have a free ride off of my music and make a profit at the same time?''

and Stuart you are right it was very immature. I was delighted to have the phonecall and was very polite in asking how things would run along and how I got paid.

I got a very stern response ''your not getting paid for it, your doing it for free''. I said ''No thanks, not for me in that case I think you would be better off having someone else do it for free''.

*angry huff and he hung up the phone*

Anyway . . . just when I thought She Blew Me Away was about the fly eh? *tear* lol

[mikeymike2000]

Russell, just wanted to add my $0.02

Kelil,

You should have asked them to make you a 3 minute reel for free in return.

[cardell]

and Stuart you are right it was very immature. I was delighted to have the phonecall and was very polite in asking how things would run along and how I got paid.

Well, I will say that: it's a good sign that someone was interested.

BTW, I'd love do some more tracks with you next year. The work I did with you, is one of the tracks I'm most proud of from this year.

Stuart

[Russell Landwehr]

Russell, just wanted to add my $0.02

It's amazing how a couple pennies gets to the heart of the matter

[slideboardouts]

back end on ads?

In the US there sure is. Its probably different in every country, but yes, you definitely get back end on ads.

I wouldn't say definitely. I have done countless advertisements for major grocery store chains, a major convenience store chain, cell phone companies... all kinds of commercials really and aside from a few AFM sides on 2 of them there have been NO royalties. The AFM sides were only about $300-$400 for each commercial... and those commercials were played a LOT. I know a few other guys who have done a ton of commercials as well and have never received backend from ASCAP or BMI.

Its possible to get back end from commercials, but I would never use the word "definitely". It depends on how good of a publisher or music house you are working with whether or not you can collect any back end. I just talked with a publisher who has gotten me a lot of placements in advertisements for a major car company and he said that he uses a third party for royalty collection on advertisements and trailers. He also said that he doesn't know exactly how it works with commercials, which seems to be fairly common. It seems very hit or miss, but mostly miss. And, depending on the commercial, it might not even be worth the extra effort to go after those royalties.

Bottom line: If you score a commercial or license a track for a commercial, expect the sync fee to be the only money you see. Ever. If you see any royalties, then that is a bonus. But do NOT count on seeing any amount of back end money on commercial placements or that you can give a track away for free and make up for it on the back end. You are taking a big risk that you will never get paid anything if you do that.

-Steve