Rippin' myself off ?? or seizing the day ??

[k o star]

A TV station's interested in using my music..
I've got 50 over tracks I'm considering passing to them to use freely & wait for back-end $$$..
Question is..
Should I be asking for licensing?
They have lots of their own music already from their own writers & that's what makes me think that I shouldn't but I would like some others opinions on this..
I really don't mind letting them use my tracks for free but I'm wondering if I'm selling myself short here??

K

[jonathanm]

Ask them what they normally pay for licensing and go with that at a minimum. When they give you a number, that's what they're expecting to pay.

[k o star]

Thanks Jonathan.. that makes perfect sense.. I'l do that yea..

K

[mazz]

Up front licensing is all over the map. Most of the licensing I've experienced has been for no up front, but I have gotten some money (HBO comes to mind).

Have them sign a contract, even if there's no up front, so that they are on the hook for a specific list of songs (Schedule A), and stipulate that they will file cue sheets and provide the sheets to you if you want to look at them. This way, if you see a show and hear your music, but you don't see it on your statement, you can audit the cue sheets and correct the issue with your PRO, or PRS.

Most of the time these days, cue sheets are more valuable than money, because there isn't much of that!

Congrats!

Mazz

[k o star]

Thank U Mazz..
Definitely keeping in mind "cue sheets are more valuable than money" these days..
& I'll do these yes..

K

[slideboardouts]

I would look at what network it was and what the royalty rate is.

I know of a major cable network that does a lot of "gratis" licensing from composers where they don't pay anything for the tracks, but its still lucrative since the royalty rate is decent and they drop music like crazy. Moreover, its totally non-exclusive so you aren't trapped if the deal turns out to be a bust.

Now, if this is a TV station in, say, Australia... then I would definitely want some kind of licensing fee since the royalties from Australia seem to be pretty low. I had a 5 second placement that paid a little more than $30 here in the US and that same 5 second placement in Australia paid 1 penny. So, even if your music was being played 24 hours a day (which is impossible due to commercials) you still wouldn't make that much on royalties.

Those are the main things I would look at I guess. The royalty rate for the network and the exclusivity. If the royalty rate is decent and you aren't completely signing your tracks away then I personally wouldn't have a problem with letting them use my music on a gratis license. But I would at least try to get something.

-Steve

[matto]

This is a tricky one...you'd need to know what kind of backend you'd be getting.

I've actually found the royalties from Australian TV to be quite high when compared to other foreign countries, but virtually all my placements have been carried by networks, not a single local station. So, what type of "TV Station" are we talking about and what kind of broadcast royalties is a minute of music broadcast on their station going to generate? What kind of spots are they looking to use your music for? Programming, interstitials, promos? How are these plays being reported to APRA and/or how good is APRA at surveying them accurately? Some of these are questions for the station, some for APRA, or maybe you can contact one of the other writers and ask them about their experience.

Either way, what I'd probably do in a situation like this is try to negotiate a blanket license. "Pay me X AUD/year and you can use the entire catalog as much as you like". It makes it easy on them since they don't have to deal with individual licenses which would likely turn them off, it gives you some upfront money and it gives them an incentive to use your music more since they paid for the privilege to do so.

If they balk at paying a blanket license you can always backpedal assuming the royalty side looks lucrative enough. Whatever that means for you specifically...

[slideboardouts]

I've actually found the royalties from Australian TV to be quite high when compared to other foreign countries, but virtually all my placements have been carried by networks, not a single local station.

Ah! I guess that explains my 1 penny wonders from Australia!

-Steve

[k o star]

Thank U Steve & Matto..
I didn't check back at this post for the last 2 weeks so sorry I only just saw Ur comments..
Deeply appreciated..
I've got lots to find out abt over here..

There are also lots of big TV stations around my area.. Do U think it's wise to contact them directly & ask for a meet up to pass them my bundle of tracks on DVDs etc.?

-K