Royalty/Placement Question

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lholton
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Royalty/Placement Question

Post by lholton » Mon Mar 22, 2021 8:29 pm

I've gotten a few forwards at this point but still waiting for my first placement. My question is this. How would I know when I have a placement? Will the publisher notify me? Is there someplace that I can check? The reason for my question is on my last BMI royalty statement there is a reference to one of my forwarded tracks with the performance source listed as "Film".

To be specific... In the Title column it references Poland -ZAIKS / Report-TVP Info.

This "appears" to me that one of my tracks was actually placed in a film. If that is the case, I'm thinking that I should be receiving a "synch" check from the publisher? Yes?

Any guidance would be appreciated,

Luke

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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by superkons » Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:49 am

You will hardly get notified by a publisher when there is a placement, some do, but they are just a tiny handful, so the statement from you PRO is the "bible". You could upload your music to TuneSat, as well, and they would detect usages, but occasionally it can be a bit of a "hit-and-miss".

Regarding sync fees, if your publisher splits them, you will usually get them months after the music has been purchased by the client(s), there is not number set in stone, so you just keep writing new music, and forget about that until it comes :)
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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by lholton » Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:24 am

Thank you!

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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by mwb2 » Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:23 am

superkons wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:49 am
You will hardly get notified by a publisher when there is a placement, some do, but they are just a tiny handful, so the statement from you PRO is the "bible". You could upload your music to TuneSat, as well, and they would detect usages, but occasionally it can be a bit of a "hit-and-miss".

Regarding sync fees, if your publisher splits them, you will usually get them months after the music has been purchased by the client(s), there is not number set in stone, so you just keep writing new music, and forget about that until it comes :)
Jumping on here - Marco, do you bother to register your cues with your PRO, or do you trust that any libraries will do so (since they may retitle them as well anyway)?

Cheers,
Mike
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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by eeoo » Tue Apr 13, 2021 1:29 pm

Also keep in mind that synch fees, in my experience, are extremely rare for instrumental tracks. Is it for a vocal song? You can always politely reach out to your publisher and inquire.

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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by superkons » Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:31 am

mwb2 wrote:
Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:23 am
superkons wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:49 am
You will hardly get notified by a publisher when there is a placement, some do, but they are just a tiny handful, so the statement from you PRO is the "bible". You could upload your music to TuneSat, as well, and they would detect usages, but occasionally it can be a bit of a "hit-and-miss".

Regarding sync fees, if your publisher splits them, you will usually get them months after the music has been purchased by the client(s), there is not number set in stone, so you just keep writing new music, and forget about that until it comes :)
Jumping on here - Marco, do you bother to register your cues with your PRO, or do you trust that any libraries will do so (since they may retitle them as well anyway)?

Cheers,
Mike
I only register non-exclusive stuff with my PRO, exclusive tunes are handled by the libraries I work with. However, I now have been waiting for around 20 cues to be registered by my libraries since last year...
Marco - Pianist, keyboardist, composer for film/TV/games/media

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https://soundcloud.com/marcoiannello

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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by cosmicdolphin » Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:00 am

lholton wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 8:29 pm
How would I know when I have a placement? Will the publisher notify me? Is there someplace that I can check?
Most times I find out because I have a free Tunesat Account

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Re: Royalty/Placement Question

Post by jdstamper » Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:34 pm

Sync fees aren't guaranteed. I don't usually find out about placements until I see the royalty statement, and if it's international it usually takes about twice as long, like 2-3 years, before it shows up on my BMI statement.

Last Christmas season we were watching this Netflix show called "Holiday Home Makeover" and I heard one of my tracks playing in the background, so that was a fun way to find out. Not sure when I'll see the royalty from that one LOL.

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