Upfront fee of $3000? TAXI # S240201EZ

[Musicmonk84]

Hey y'all. I'm relatively new here. Not sure if I understand the lingo sometimes. In this listing TAXI # S240201EZ, it says,

"The upfront fee for this placement is (up to) $3,000, depending on the ultimate use. This Company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal, so the material you submit for this request CANNOT be signed with other publishers or catalogs. The specific deal points will be handled on a case-by-case basis. You must own or control your Master Recordings to pitch for this opportunity."

Does this mean that the Taxi Member will pay the fee after they've been forwarded and approved by the client? Or does it mean that the client will pay the Taxi Member that fee? If we're paying, that seems quite a steep price for something that seems uncertain!

[Casey H]

That's what the client pays you if they chose the track. That's called a sync fee, an upfront fee paid to license a song for Film/TV. The money we get from Film/TV placements comes mainly from 2 sources: (1) Upfront sync fees (2) Back end royalties distributed by your PRO (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) Many placements have no sync fee at all and others may have sync fees much smaller than $3000. The good news is this is a great paying opp. The not as good news is when a sync fee is higher, so is the bar to get the placement. You really need a top notch track that nails the requirements. Also, the "up to" in "Up to $3000" means that you might get less or even significantly less. As an unknown writer, they are unlikely to pay you that much.

You will never be asked in a Taxi listing to pay the client! And if you are ever asked to pay to have your song used, run the other way,

HTH
Casey

[cosmicdolphin]

The chances of landing anything like this are vanishingly small and it's likely that the same opportunity has gone out to a wide network of music providors of which Taxi is but one.

[Musicmonk84]

Thank you guys! Wish I new how to tag you both!