INCOME FROM LIBRARY

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karafinman
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INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by karafinman » Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:10 pm

I submitted and signed a piece with a library that put out a brief for the show 48 Hours. It's also on their site for general consumption. I got my statement yesterday and next to the title was $.56. What kind of placement could pay like this? Don't ask me to ask them, that's too obvious.

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by crs7string » Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:18 pm

I believe I know the library you are referring to in your post.

Their quarterly statement is “sync” fees they receive. Some of those entries could be You Tube content ID income, streaming income, prorated blanket licenses etc.

Any backend royalties from this activity will show up on your PRO statement.

My statement shows the same $0.56 range of entries, but this quarter also included a $140 and $170 entry.

(I have been working with this library since 2008. They are a library with a high level of integrity, both from a business standpoint and the quality of music they represent)
Last edited by crs7string on Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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karafinman
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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by karafinman » Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:14 pm

I agree about your last statement. Should I be getting a separate statement from my PRO? I also see a line on the library's statement that says "Direct Performance" and the number is zero. I thought the library paid me performance royalties. Should I be calling BMI? I thought the library registered them with BMI because they asked my what my PRO was. Oh, boy.

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by SubRivers » Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:41 pm

micro sync stuff - they are trying to be open and fair with sharing these proceeds that only they can reasonably know exist.

Best not to encourage libraries to think f*** it and keep the money as no good deed goes unpunished.

payments outside of royalties from your PRO are not the norm in this business so accept a library sending you money as a bonus.

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by crs7string » Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:54 pm

No need to call your PRO. The will have no information to share with you, and there is not a problem to resolve.

They asked for your PRO info so they could register your tracks in your name.

The PROs collect the writer’s share and the publisher’s share. They distribute the writer’s share directly to you and the publisher’s share to the publisher.

The time line on the payments coming directly from the library and the PRO payments are not necessarily on the same timeline, especially if placements are in foreign markets.

The entire system is based on trust. It is not necessarily a perfect system, but it has worked for decades.
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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by VanderBoegh » Sat Jul 16, 2022 9:15 am

No need to call the Panic Police. I'm 99% sure I know who this library is as well, and I've been writing music for them for at least 8 years now. My last statement from them had a bunch of $.56 synchronizations as well.

This company pays 25% of their blanket licenses to composers, which is a unicorn-level rarity in this world. Most companies will keep the entire blanket license that they charge to productions companies, as once it's divided out amongst their composer base, it becomes incredibly small. (Think $15,000 for an overall blanket license, then divide that by 50,000 tracks, and you get a payout of $.30 per track. The actual payout methodology doesn't work QUITE like this, but this is a simplified explanation of how it works).

You can see why most companies don't bother paying out these incredibly small amounts of money. It's not only easier for them to keep 100% and save the man-hours that go into accounting, but it also makes much better financial sense from their end. This one library is just extra cool like that!

~~Matt

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by Paulie » Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:47 pm

It's just one of those silly business situations. Sort of like when The bank keeps emailing you about owing them $0.10, yet it costs them $0.45 every time they email asking for the $0.10. :)
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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by Casey H » Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:54 pm

Also, a placement on "48 Hours" should earn really good PRO backend money. So be patient and wait for a PRO statement 2-3 quarters from when this was broadcast.

Congrats! It's all good!
:D Casey

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by karafinman » Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:03 am

Thanks for all these replies and mentioned micro-sync which I never heard of before. And, Casey, that .56 was not for 48 Hours. It must be YouTube or something but Google doesn't come up with anything. The 48 Hours deal was pushed back, so there's still a possibility it will be used for that.

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Re: INCOME FROM LIBRARY

Post by Casey H » Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:07 am

karafinman wrote:
Mon Jul 18, 2022 10:03 am
Thanks for all these replies and mentioned micro-sync which I never heard of before. And, Casey, that .56 was not for 48 Hours. It must be YouTube or something but Google doesn't come up with anything. The 48 Hours deal was pushed back, so there's still a possibility it will be used for that.
Oh, OK. I misunderstood or read too quickly. Well good luck! A placement on that show would be very cool!

:D Casey

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