Why do some companies want to change song names

[mfrjesse]

I'm a new member here so this question might have been answered elsewhere on this forum. Why do some of these companies want to change the names of the songs, and how often does it happen? And will we always be made aware of this in the listings, after a Forward, or after we get contacted by the company interested in using our songs.I already asked someone at Taxi but I didn't get a clear explanation which at first made me a little suspicious about signing up. Any advice would be appreciated. A lot of you give great advice!

[hummingbird]

please post this in "Biz Talk"tks

[mojobone]

I think it has to do with marketing and also categorizing the music in the library according to it's purpose, so that it can more easily be found, but I'll let the more experienced posters chime in, here. There are also occasional conflicts that arise because titles can't be copyrighted, if I'm not mistaken.

[hummingbird]

It is the practice of some music libraries to Retitle signed tracks on a non-exclusive basis, this allows them to register the track with PROs and receive their share of the revenue for the placements they get.I'm on the fence about retitling. I will sign & retitle tracks to a good library, but.. even if I sign a track with a non-exclusive retitle, I am extremely cautious about signing it elsewhere. I think it's best to consider 'non-exclusives' as 'exclusives' unless the market one library is pitching is markedly different from the other. Often you will see some details of the possible deal in the listing, likely not about retitling tho. You will find out the complete details of the deal when & if you are contacted after a Forward. Usually you get an email with some specifics, or perhaps even an email with a contract attached for your perusal.HTH

[chriscarter]

There is no problem doing a re-title deal with multiple companies. They all KNOW that you will have the song with multiple companies; that's why they do the re-title. I've had licensing agents want to represent songs of mine on a non-exclusive re-title basis. The fact that I can pitch the songs myself to my own conacts and give them to other licensing agents on a non-exclusive basis is actually a selling point they use when discussing it with me. All they ask is that I let them know if I ever do an exclusive.But essentially, there's no problem with it either legally or ethically.

[hummingbird]

...you can't copyright a title. Therefore that begs the question what effect, if any, changing the name of a piece of creative property has. If the same piece of music is registered under multiple names... at what point, if ever, does the copyright of the original become diluted? And yes, I know that the retitling is done so that the distribution of income from the PROs is clear... but libraries are, in effect, administrating a copyright when placing music on your behalf. I've heard that the legal ramifications of this practice may actually move the industry towards dropping it. While I don't think that should stop us from accepting retitling deals, I am wary of shopping the same piece to multiple entities as a retitle.

[mfrjesse]

Thanks for the responses everyone. That gives me a better idea of what's going on. Does anyone know what percentage of these listings are with companies that will re-title the songs? I'm primarily interested in getting songs placed that will keep the title in tact. It helps with CD/Download sales and getting the word out there, and it just feels right to me. I'm sentimental that way.Maybe it will be easier to do that with songs I've yet to finish cause they don't have titles yet. I'll have to feel that out.I emailed Anthony in Membership and asked him if he can state on the listings whether or not there will have to be re-titling so I and those interested will know ahead of time before paying the $5 submission. I'll let you know what he says.Thanks again for your replies. They make this forum very valuable to me.

[slideboardouts]

Apr 10, 2009, 11:14am, mfrjesse wrote:Thanks for the responses everyone. That gives me a better idea of what's going on. Does anyone know what percentage of these listings are with companies that will re-title the songs? I'm primarily interested in getting songs placed that will keep the title in tact. It helps with CD/Download sales and getting the word out there, and it just feels right to me. I'm sentimental that way.Maybe it will be easier to do that with songs I've yet to finish cause they don't have titles yet. I'll have to feel that out.Another reason for retitling is that the publisher/library might think that a different title will make the cue more marketable. I've had this happen with an exclusive deal before. I also have a deal with a library that retitles all of the cues and is exclusive for the film/TV realm, but outside of that you can do whatever you want with the cues (artist pitches, sell them on itunes, etc.). I can't put my hands on any of the contracts right now but I'm pretty sure thats how it was worded. I'm not sure how a library or a publisher retitling your works would affect digital downloads and CD sales With libraries and publishers, the only people that will see the title will be the owner(s) of the libraries and the music sups/producers/artists who are licensing the cue. With a lot of non-exclusive retitling deals you could still sell your songs to people and call them whatever you want. -Steve

[slideboardouts]

Apr 9, 2009, 10:47pm, mojobone wrote:I think it has to do with marketing and also categorizing the music in the library according to it's purpose, so that it can more easily be found, but I'll let the more experienced posters chime in, here. There are also occasional conflicts that arise because titles can't be copyrighted, if I'm not mistaken. oops I missed this post before I made mine. Sorry to be redundant

[hummingbird]

Apr 10, 2009, 11:14am, mfrjesse wrote:Thanks for the responses everyone. That gives me a better idea of what's going on. Does anyone know what percentage of these listings are with companies that will re-title the songs? I'm primarily interested in getting songs placed that will keep the title in tact. It helps with CD/Download sales and getting the word out there, and it just feels right to me. I'm sentimental that way.Maybe it will be easier to do that with songs I've yet to finish cause they don't have titles yet. I'll have to feel that out.I emailed Anthony in Membership and asked him if he can state on the listings whether or not there will have to be re-titling so I and those interested will know ahead of time before paying the $5 submission. I'll let you know what he says.Thanks again for your replies. They make this forum very valuable to me.I don't think the fact that a company retitles your track after signing is an issue, as long as you keep track of your paperwork. It will be registered with a PRO. You can keep things simple by only signing the track to one library, whether it has the name you gave it or the name they gave it.I do, however, ask libraries to tell me what the retitle is. I try to keep track of these things so when I get my statements I know who got me the placement and what piece of music got placed.