Couple of contract questions

[annayarbrough]

Hey folks!

I've been accepted into a new library (through TAXI) and I was wondering if someone more experienced can shed any light on a couple of things for me! Did some digging in the forums but couldn't find anything that was directly related.
The library has various participation/distributing/licensing options which I have to opt in or out of. While a lot of it looked familiar, I wasn't sure about a couple of them.

1. The company also owns another website which "sells music at a fixed price on a royalty-free basis", and I can choose to opt in to this service.

Was a little confused as the website also said this "For music tracks purchased on the xxx(other site)xxx for a broadcast production such as a TV or radio ad, TV show, movie or film that is then broadcast, the client must file a cue sheets with your PRO..... so that you earn performance royalties as applicable for such uses."

Maybe I'm just not completely clear on what an RF library is... that just seemed contradictory. Does anyone have any experience with an RF library in this way?

(This box was checked by default)

2. Blanket licensing
While I know what this is, I don't have any experience with it directly... so I'm unsure of the advantages/disadvantages of opting in to this scenario.

To quote the company,
"xxxxxx provides blanket licensing services to remain competitive in the music licensing industry and to pursue opportunities with the larger national-scope TV networks and film studios. By offering blanket licensing terms in return for these new, larger clients filing proper cue sheets with ASCAP, BMI or SESAC for any music used in their productions, xxxxxxx is able to access earnings opportunities that otherwise would not be available."

If I enable this, I need to delegate publishing administration to the library ("by administering publishing xxxxxxxx will earn the Publisher's share of performance royalties earned for any placements we obtain for your music").
I retain 100% of my writer's share of royalties.

(This box was NOT checked by default)

3. Internet royalties
"Enable artist's music to earn Internet royalties primarily in relation to the use of music by clients in videos which are deployed to various sites around the Internet, including at YouTube and other similar sites...... You can participate in this program with any exclusive tracks you have here, or by designating xxxxxxxx as your exclusive Internet streaming monetizer."

"Artists that wish to participate must designate xxxxxx as their exclusive Internet monetizer for the tracks that they have uploaded to xxxxxxxx. This means that you cannot also assign the same tracks to another company performing the same or similar services."

Had no idea on this one at all.

(This box also wasn't checked by default).

Also, for context—this is a non-exclusive contract (in perpetuity) if that helps inform any of your answers!
I can also add or PM more info if needed.

Sincerely,

clueless

[DesireInspires]

I think I know what company you are talking about.

There is a lot of confusion on what a Royalty-free music library is.

Shoot me a PM and I can send you some links to some resources that can explain this.

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Anna! Let's see if I can answer - or at least attempt to answer - your questions:

Maybe I'm just not completely clear on what an RF library is... that just seemed contradictory. Does anyone have any experience with an RF library in this way?

A royalty-free library is one that sells music at a fixed price as a one-time fee thing.

Examples of this type of useage and clientelle would be a student making a student film for his final project, who wants to use a lot of music, but also wants to post his video on YouTube when it's finished, but doesn't want to violate copyright laws or the rules of the school or project. So, they may go to a royalty-free library and pay for a handful of cues at maybe $10 each. Then, they spend maybe $50 and get five cues to use in their project, and will never owe the composer(s) any money outside of the initial purchase. It's much more like a standard retail transaction than what we usually do..... Pay one price, get one track.
Another example would be a corporate training video put together by an HR department who needs music, but they don't have a big budget at all. So they go to the royalty-free libraries and pay a small one-time fee, and get the music of their choice. They'll never owe backend royalties. So the upfront fee is all you'll ever get.

There are more details involved in these things than simply "Pay $XX.00 for XX track" however. So things like the distribution of the project, whether it's a student project, etc, will all either increase or reduce the price.

Personally, I don't have any tracks in royalty-free libraries. Not that it's a bad thing, but seems to be much more management-intensive and needs more time to babysit the process. I'd rather not worry about it.

While I know what this is, I don't have any experience with it directly... so I'm unsure of the advantages/disadvantages of opting in to this scenario.

A "blanket license" is where a library charges a big fee to a client for use of ANY track that has opted-in to the blanket program (in many cases there's no "opt-in" process.... you're just automatically in it). So, a TV show, production company, or network might pay $10,000 for the rights to use any track within the library. Kind of like an a-la carte thing. They just pick and choose, and can use everything / anything without paying any additional upfront money than what they paid the library in the initial blanket fee. You'll always still get your writer's royalties on the backend, but often you'll never see a single cent of that blanket-fee. Might sound fishy right out of the gate (like, what?!?! The library keeps all $10,000 and shares nothing of that with the composers?!?!), but you have to think of all the tracks that are included in the blanket program.... There might be 10,000 tracks that the client now has access to. If the library split the blanket evenly amongst all compers on a per-track basis, you might only have a claim to a couple of bucks. It's like a class-action lawsuit, where a major corporation has to pay multiple millions of dollars, but it's split amongst many thousands of people, so each person only receives $10.

Anyway, I always opt-in to blankets if that's an option. You probably won't get any of the blanket money, but chances of placements go up considerably.

"Enable artist's music to earn Internet royalties primarily in relation to the use of music by clients in videos which are deployed to various sites around the Internet, including at YouTube and other similar sites...... You can participate in this program with any exclusive tracks you have here, or by designating xxxxxxxx as your exclusive Internet streaming monetizer."

If this is a non-exclusive deal, then I would opt-out of this one. This essentially says that your "audio fingerprint" of each track will be registered on YouTube to this particular company. So any time YouTube detects your music being used in a video, it'll point back to this company as being the administrator of the internet royalties. If this were an EXCLUSIVE deal, then I'd have no problem with it. But with non-exclusive, there can only be one company to administer your internet usage on sites like YouTube. Which just creates a hassle when you sign these tracks to another non-exclusive company.
Personally, I'd opt out. But I wouldn't make a big deal out of this one. Either way, you'll be okay.... until you sign to another non-ex which has a similar clause, then you'll have to make sure you opt-out of those in the future.

Hope that all makes sense!!

~~Matt

[annayarbrough]

Hope that all makes sense!!

~~Matt

Matt—SO HELPFUL! Thanks for taking the time out to explain all of that so thoroughly. Can't thank you enough. It's also considerably put my mind at ease over these things.

I owe you a drink at the next RR!

[annayarbrough]

I think I know what company you are talking about.

There is a lot of confusion on what a Royalty-free music library is.

Shoot me a PM and I can send you some links to some resources that can explain this.

Thanks again for these! Did some in-depth reading today

[LOCK88]

Hope that all makes sense!!

~~Matt

Matt—SO HELPFUL! Thanks for taking the time out to explain all of that so thoroughly. Can't thank you enough. It's also considerably put my mind at ease over these things:)

Great info here, solid thread & answers!

[mrdtman]

Great thread & great answers Matt.

Anna, this sounds familiar to a library I signed with last year.

Duane