TAXI.com

Hi Folks,
i have been working in video production for many years and music has always been a side project for me, and in the past I have used some of my own music in my commercial video productions (all were released on Youtube). But now I'm getting serious about making music for licenced use, and I recently had my first track forwarded from a Taxi listing - so I decided it was time to register with a PRO. I filled in the BMI application this morning.

My questions are to do with the old tracks I used in previous video projects.
1. If I register these old tracks, will that cause problems for my past video clients that have videos on youtube using these tracks?
2. Could I actually get paid for youtube playing these tracks, without forcing the videos to be monetized with adverts (video clients wouldnt like this)

Or would be simpler to just draw a line under these old tracks and not register them? Not sure if that is against the BMI agreement??
Or is there a way to register old tracks as 'royalty free'

many thanks!

Personally I would not register them. Almost every library I'm with registered them using their own standards, naming conventions, etc. I know of only one library that expects composers to register them before submitting.

Paulie

Paulie wrote:Personally I would not register them. Almost every library I'm with registered them using their own standards, naming conventions, etc. I know of only one library that expects composers to register them before submitting.

Paulie

+1

A lot of getting paid for your productions by your PRO necessitates having the correct title (and even exclusive libraries retitle as they need to) and the right publisher info.

Without asking your library what their publishing info is how can you register it properly? Answer: You can't.

The only reason to EVER register your own composition with your PRO is if you:

1) have your own publishing company who is going to rep the peice
2) you are submitting it directly to ad agencies, music supervisors and other direct users who will not be assuming any song share for using the piece.
3) you are expecting to do #2 and also submit to non-exclusive libraries.

andygabrys wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 22, 2018 12:18 pm

Paulie wrote:Personally I would not register them. Almost every library I'm with registered them using their own standards, naming conventions, etc. I know of only one library that expects composers to register them before submitting.

Paulie

+1

A lot of getting paid for your productions by your PRO necessitates having the correct title (and even exclusive libraries retitle as they need to) and the right publisher info.

Without asking your library what their publishing info is how can you register it properly? Answer: You can't.

The only reason to EVER register your own composition with your PRO is if you:

1) have your own publishing company who is going to rep the peice
2) you are submitting it directly to ad agencies, music supervisors and other direct users who will not be assuming any song share for using the piece.
3) you are expecting to do #2 and also submit to non-exclusive libraries.

Andy,
I found this thread when searching around in the forum to get advice on when to register my songs with ASCAP. I would like to clarify and make sure I'm understanding what you're saying.
I'm a newbie. I've been writing songs for a while but I am finally putting myself out there and submitting more consistently to listings with Taxi. Although I'm learning music production, most of my songs are at a place where I trying to collaborate in order to "finish" them until I can learn to produce them well enough myself.
What I hear you saying is that I don't need to register my songs with ASCAP (I'm already a member as a Writer and a Publisher), but that this process will happen when/if a song gets "picked up." I even saw somewhere in a thread that I could complicate things by registering the songs myself.

Can you please advise me or point me to a good resource for learning best practice regarding registering my songs with a PRO.

Cheryl Mitchell
https://soundcloud.com/cm-songs

CherylMitchell wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:38 am

What I hear you saying is that I don't need to register my songs with ASCAP (I'm already a member as a Writer and a Publisher), but that this process will happen when/if a song gets "picked up." I even saw somewhere in a thread that I could complicate things by registering the songs myself.

Can you please advise me or point me to a good resource for learning best practice regarding registering my songs with a PRO.

HI Cheryl,

No problem.

Registration with a PRO like ASCAP - The only need to ever register a song with a PRO is if the song is likely to be used in a public performance - live, or a recording played on TV, Radio, Film or Video. Anytime you sign a piece with a publisher, they will take care of registering the song with the PRO as usually you are splitting the song 50/50 (these days).

If its a non-exclusive signing - then the publisher will register the piece with the PRO under the title that you sent - or in some cases will retitle the song if they feels it increases the marketability of the piece (vocal or instrumental). After that then its fine to register the song again with the PRO under a DIFFERENT TITLE that you would use for your personal pitches to ad agencies or music supervisors that don't assume ANY song share. In some cases this will be reversed - you will have already registered the song intending it for personal pitches and the publisher will register a retitled version. No big change.

If its an exclusive signing - then the publisher will take care or registering the song as you sent it or again they may retitle it if it is better for their purposes. In this case - for any song that is going to be signed exclusively - DO NOT register it with the PRO. Although the PRO doesn't take sound registrations for each sound recording, it can get confusing. You may see multiple different titles show up in your PRO account in the future that all relate to the same piece as some publishers have different partnership deals they will cut with end users - this won't affect the share of the song that you receive though, the publishers split their share.

Hope that is clear.

CherylMitchell wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:38 am

I've been writing songs for a while but I am finally putting myself out there and submitting more consistently to listings with Taxi. Although I'm learning music production, most of my songs are at a place where I trying to collaborate in order to "finish" them until I can learn to produce them well enough myself.

Part 2

Any time you collaborate with someone its a good idea to get a partnership agreement going ASAP. It lays out the ground rules and makes it clear what the end use of the song could be and what the ownership split will be, or what the Work For Hire (WFH) terms would be if you are going to retain 100% share of the song and pay out the collaborator for their contributions.

When I collaborate I usually split everything 50/50% with my partner in creation. One may be stronger with lyrics and music, the other with recording and production - in the end it usually shakes out more or less even.

Here is a source for that: http://johnbraheny.com/resources/collab ... agreement/
and for WFH http://johnbraheny.com/resources/work-f ... agreement/

The text can be modified to include any special terms you might need. As always - seeking a review by a Music Attorney is a good idea as I am certainly NOT one.

Most people are generally cool and act in good faith but you will find some that will take advantage.

@andygabrys

Thank you for the quick reply! This is very helpful. SO much to learn, but I think I'm starting to wrap my head around it. (Until I discover the next thing that I know nothing about.)