How long before I hear back?

[slideboardouts]

Jun 4, 2009, 3:07pm, bobadohshe wrote:Thanks for the info guys.So this may be venturing into the realm of 'Business' which should be in a different part of the forum, but I have to ask because I've been wondering: aren't you supposed to get a licensing fee when your song gets synced? I thought you were and so I was surprised to find out that the first you'd know about a tune being used was through your PRO. Or do you get $$ when the library signs your song.OR....does the library get the sync fee and that's how the library makes money? If so then darn!!And responding to the original subject of this thread....I just got my results today from TAXI - a 3/3 forward! I'm psyched and haven't waited this hard for something in awhile. Gotta write submit repeat now!!Congrats on the forward! Thats a very good sign. Keep at it and eventually you will start landing deals.Regarding Sync fees: It depends on a lot of things. Each library usually has different sync fee structures...sometimes you get 20% of the sync fee, sometimes you get 50%, and sometimes you get nothing. It could literally be anything, its up to the discretion of the library. Also, some shows/networks just don't pay ANY sync money. I've heard from both composers and one of the libraries I write for that the majority of MTV shows don't pay any sync fees at all. Sometimes you get paid up front when you sign a cue to a library, but in my little bit of experience that is very rare and it usually isn't all that much. Generally, the real money is in the performance royalties. Anything else you get is kind of like a little bonus. And, just so you know, it can take a LOOOONG time to see money from performance royalties. I recently had a couple of placements on national television and I don't expect I'll see a dime until around the end of this year -Steve

[hummingbird]

Getting synch fees a) depends on your deal (do you get a percentage), b) the placement itselfmost libraries pay you your share of the synch fees after the fact... and it's written in the agreement that they report to you quarterly or every six months.so, when a placement happens, the synch fee is paid and it comes to you at the end of the reporting periodwhen the broadcast occurs, cue sheets are filed, and it takes 6 to 9 months for your PRO to pay you your share of the royaltiesthat's why signing a significant number of tracks is required to get any sort of ongoing income.

[bobadohshe]

Thank you for the responses!Since so many veterans are sharing knowledge, I'm going to keep pushing my luck and ask another question that I can't quite seem to figure out.I know how to copyright songs, download the forms, etc. and I think I know how to register my songs with my PRO (ascap)But how do you prolific musos do it in a cost effective way and how often do you do it?I've heard you can copyright a bunch of songs at once if you fill out the form PA and then amend it with the CA, but a lot of us write continually. So what's the best way / time to copyright a bunch of tunes? Do you have your stuff copyrighted before you submit it to TAXI? Do you maybe do 2 to 3 huge group copyrights a year? If you actually paid $40 per song you cranked out, it would be pretty ridiculous.

[hummingbird]

Copyright your songs as a collection. You can do it online for $35 +$1 per song, or a whole collection snail mail for $45 total.

[bobadohshe]

Phenomenal advice and answering of questions. Thank you Vikki. I dig your goal of 52 Broadcast quality instrumentals and will hope to work up to that kind of prolific ability.