I wouldn't say they're starving (I really don't know their finances, so maybe they are) but assuming they all wrote their "one-hit" (which for example, Orianthi did not write "According to You"), in terms of royalties based on radio airplay and venue performance compared to a Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, or Beyonce, it definitely is possible and I am willing to bet, most likely probable, that the artist you mentioned might not command as much in royalties from the PRO.kpftbl57 wrote:So, I guess Secondhand Serenade, OAR, Orianthi, Buckcherry, Sara Bareilles, Fort Minor, Teddy Geiger, James Blunt, Heartland, Shop Boyz, Elliott Yamin, Cobra Starship and MANY others are known, but starving!
According to ASCAPS own website, "ASCAP "weighs" a combination of items in order to come up with a song's total "performance credits" which drives the royalty calculation. For example, a song is weighted based on the type of performance (theme, underscore, or promotional) which is called the "use weight". A song that is featured and sung by a recording artist on TV or radio gets more weight than one that was played as background music during a radio commercial. The licensee (radio station, TV station, etc.) is weighted based on its licensing fee, which in turn is based on the licensee's markets and number of stations carrying its broadcast signal. There is a weight applied to the time of day the music is performed (particularly in television). Music played during peak view/listener times receives more weight.
ASCAP also uses a follow the "dollar factor", which means that songwriters and publishers are paid based on the medium from which the money came. For example, money paid out from radio stations is paid for radio performances. A general licensing allocation is figured for fees that ASCAP collects from bars, hotels and other non-broadcast licensees. These fees are distributed to songwriters and publishers based on similar radio and TV broadcasts of the individual songs. In other words, they estimate that restaurants and bars are playing the songs at a similar rate as the local radio and TV stations. "
So armed with that information, Orianthi for example, might get a lot of airplay on smaller radio stations throughout the country and very little in the big markets such as NYC and LA. Likewise, she might perform at bars/hotels/etc. and "cover bands" might perform her tune quite a bit in these hotels/bars/etc. However, someone like Lady Gaga or BEP might have heavy airplay in NYC and LA radio stations (and possibly multiple songs every hour) which would be weighed heavier than Orianthi, despite Orianthi being played more often and on more stations. Likewise, following the dollar approach, because BEP and GAGA are getting a great percentage of the revenues from radio airplay based on this weighted approach, they will likewise get a higher percentage of the revenue pie collected from bars/hotels/etc. than Orianthi, despite their songs potentially being played quite less frequently.
