New member / Question about collecting royalties

[TLovato]

Hey guys, I'm new to TAXi and I have a question about collecting all possible royalties from my music. For reference, I'm doing listings on here for TV/Film/Sync and I also have a band that I commercially release music with, and I just want to know: what services do you guys use to ensure all of your royalties are collected?

I know we have to sign up with a PRO to collect performance royalties, but is there anything else I should sign up for that collects any other type of royalty? I have seen many people here mention TuneSat, but my PRO does not accept TuneSat detections as proof of music usage. Should I still sign up with TuneSat even though it won't get me paid from my PRO?

I have also heard people talk about the MLC. Is that something that'll help with my sync career AND band, or just my band?

Forgive me for the newbie questions, like I said I'm new around here. But thanks in advance!

[eeoo]

Tunesat is pretty expensive if you sign up for a full featured account. You can, however, sign up for a free account to which you can upload 50 tracks. I guess it's somewhat informative but if you have hundreds or thousands of tracks maybe not so much. Kinda fun nonetheless. MLC wouldn't be helpful for sync to my knowledge. If you're getting placements neighboring rights are worth looking into. Maybe someone else can chime in with organizations they recommend for that.

[kabin7studios]

Hey guys,

I'd like to second this question. I too am wondering if there is anything else I need to be signed up or registered on other than a PRO? I'm in Canada here, so I'm on SOCAN. Can someone who has gotten something signed to a library attest to the things that they ask you for? ISWC & ISRC codes?

Thanks,

Josh

[MBantle]

Hey guys, I'm new to TAXi and I have a question about collecting all possible royalties from my music. For reference, I'm doing listings on here for TV/Film/Sync and I also have a band that I commercially release music with, and I just want to know: what services do you guys use to ensure all of your royalties are collected?

I know we have to sign up with a PRO to collect performance royalties, but is there anything else I should sign up for that collects any other type of royalty? I have seen many people here mention TuneSat, but my PRO does not accept TuneSat detections as proof of music usage. Should I still sign up with TuneSat even though it won't get me paid from my PRO?

I have also heard people talk about the MLC. Is that something that'll help with my sync career AND band, or just my band?

Forgive me for the newbie questions, like I said I'm new around here. But thanks in advance!

Did your PRO explain why they refuse Tunesat detections (which identify the TV channel, name of the program, time & date and approx. duration)? From personal experience I can say that at least BMI follow up with the relevant parties in case Tunesat detections do not show up on the Royalty statement after a certain time.

[TLovato]

Hey guys, I'm new to TAXi and I have a question about collecting all possible royalties from my music. For reference, I'm doing listings on here for TV/Film/Sync and I also have a band that I commercially release music with, and I just want to know: what services do you guys use to ensure all of your royalties are collected?

I know we have to sign up with a PRO to collect performance royalties, but is there anything else I should sign up for that collects any other type of royalty? I have seen many people here mention TuneSat, but my PRO does not accept TuneSat detections as proof of music usage. Should I still sign up with TuneSat even though it won't get me paid from my PRO?

I have also heard people talk about the MLC. Is that something that'll help with my sync career AND band, or just my band?

Forgive me for the newbie questions, like I said I'm new around here. But thanks in advance!

Did your PRO explain why they refuse Tunesat detections (which identify the TV channel, name of the program, time & date and approx. duration)? From personal experience I can say that at least BMI follow up with the relevant parties in case Tunesat detections do not show up on the Royalty statement after a certain time.

A quick google search told me it's because it's a "third-party monitoring service" and they would rather rely on the broadcasters for info regarding what music they've used. I can't find any official statement from them though

[TLovato]

Hey guys,

I'd like to second this question. I too am wondering if there is anything else I need to be signed up or registered on other than a PRO? I'm in Canada here, so I'm on SOCAN. Can someone who has gotten something signed to a library attest to the things that they ask you for? ISWC & ISRC codes?

Thanks,

Josh

Your 2 main ways of getting paid are from PRO royalties and sync fees. A possible third option -- some publishers may also completely buyout the music in exchange for total control of the copyrights (if you choose to sign those deals)

[MBantle]

Hey guys, I'm new to TAXi and I have a question about collecting all possible royalties from my music. For reference, I'm doing listings on here for TV/Film/Sync and I also have a band that I commercially release music with, and I just want to know: what services do you guys use to ensure all of your royalties are collected?

I know we have to sign up with a PRO to collect performance royalties, but is there anything else I should sign up for that collects any other type of royalty? I have seen many people here mention TuneSat, but my PRO does not accept TuneSat detections as proof of music usage. Should I still sign up with TuneSat even though it won't get me paid from my PRO?

I have also heard people talk about the MLC. Is that something that'll help with my sync career AND band, or just my band?

Forgive me for the newbie questions, like I said I'm new around here. But thanks in advance!

Did your PRO explain why they refuse Tunesat detections (which identify the TV channel, name of the program, time & date and approx. duration)? From personal experience I can say that at least BMI follow up with the relevant parties in case Tunesat detections do not show up on the Royalty statement after a certain time.

A quick google search told me it's because it's a "third-party monitoring service" and they would rather rely on the broadcasters for info regarding what music they've used. I can't find any official statement from them though

I hope you have a way to take recourse if things go wrong. Unreported royalties do happen, especially with international placements. Tunesat tracks broadcasters and always lists the corresponding broadcast, including the audio as it was used in the show. That can definitely be helpful for tracking down missing royalties if you decide to take action. I’ve gone through that process a few times myself — it’s tedious. Ultimately, I adopted a 'numbers game' mindset, focusing on increasing output so that occasional unreported royalties become insignificant in the long run.

[MBantle]

Hey guys,

I'd like to second this question. I too am wondering if there is anything else I need to be signed up or registered on other than a PRO? I'm in Canada here, so I'm on SOCAN. Can someone who has gotten something signed to a library attest to the things that they ask you for? ISWC & ISRC codes?

Thanks,

Josh

For exclusive opportunities, all you need are your PRO details (Performing Rights Organization, like ASCAP, BMI, or PRS) and a signed agreement. The publishers I work with take care of registering the songs with PROs. This registration shows how much of the song I own and ensures I get paid royalties when the song is used. They usually rename the tracks when they register them.

The PRO assigns an ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code) to each song. This code is used to track and collect royalties for the composition whenever it is played or performed.

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is different—it’s assigned when a recording of a track is released, often through distributors like DistroKid. This code helps identify a specific version of the song and can be important for non-exclusive placements or direct licensing deals with music supervisors.

[Casey H]

A free Tunesat account (up to 50 tracks) is worth having even if you just use it to get an advance look at what MIGHT be coming in your PRO statements in 6-9 months. But it's not a perfect world. Tunesat doesn't pick up everything and the way various PROs work with TV shows varies as it's not always an exact payment for each use. It depends on many factors.

However, if you see Tunesat detection and you don't get anything in your PRO statements for around 3 quarters, and your track is signed to only one library, you could contact the library to check it out. It's in their best interests as they make their money that way at all. It once saved me from losing hundreds of dollars as the library discovered there had been a cue sheet error whereby my track was accidentally left off.

The other royalty collection societies you could look into including Soundexchange and the MLC. There are other types of royalties that are not collected by US PROs that these companies collect. Taxi TV has episodes about this.
https://youtu.be/xc6T0XCJpdU?si=JmW24mI8c2NZz3_I
https://www.youtube.com/live/rNvYJV_PiQ ... pZTXR-hMo9
https://www.youtube.com/live/X_fKzNJZei ... BFWCJtQ0j-

It's a confusing maze. Keep in mind that unless you have a large number of placements, what's collected by these other entities could be only pennies or fractions of pennies. Somewhere on this forum, there is a list of all the collection agencies and what they collect. Also, if a track is signed to a library, be sure to check what they already collect before registering anything with one of these companies. This is especially true with exclusive libraries.

Early on, I'd just focus on the music and getting library deals, while educating yourself about the rest.

Casey

[VanderBoegh]

I can testify with absolute certainty on all these three things, from either personal experience or experiences of my co-writers:

1) PRO's will NOT accept Tunesat detections as proof of usage. Some friends of mine just ran into this very issue not more than a week ago, and got that message straight from the horse's mouth (in this case, the horse = BMI).

2) Usages DO sometimes slip through the cracks. This has happened to me before. I saw a show on TV (one of my favorites.... "Impractical Jokers"!) and was blown away with how they used one of my comedic hip hop cues as one of the Jokers was doing a horrible ad-lib rap over it. Time went on, other placements racked up, and I forgot all about it until years later when I thought about how much I received for that placement. Turns out, that track never showed up on a cue sheet, and must have just been left off. Chasing it would have been pointless, because....

3) You can only "chase" missed royalties dating back 2-3 quarters. So, there's a finite amount of time to rectify missed usages.

But what I will add on to all this is that I don't believe any unreported uses are deliberate attempts to sabotage your royalties. I wholeheartedly believe these are innocent mistakes, most likely due to the inputting of all cue sheet data being tasked to college interns who might be either 1) hungover; 2) multi-tasking while scrolling through social media; or 3) who really knows what else. Regardless, these menial & tedious tasks of cue-sheet data input is prone to fat-fingering, absent-mindedness, etc.... but probably not anything nefarious.

Still, it sucks to know your music was used on SOMETHING and you never got paid for it. But, like MBantle above me said, just adopt an "abundance mindset", and these missed attributions & payments will be negligible in the long-run.

~~Matt