TAXI.com

Hi Folks,
I am considering suggesting to collaborate with a friend who plays some instruments that I don't and is a very good musician and composer.
I don't think he is with any PRO. We both live in the UK (I am with PRS). I would expect a 50/50 arrangement would be the best, he is not a Taxi member but I would not expect him to join or contribute to my subscription fees.

Would he need to join a PRO and /or Taxi?
Although splitting license fees would be straight forward enough I would prefer him to receive any performance royalties directly from his PRO as I have difficulty tracking how much any particular track of mine earns from looking at my prs statements I wouldn't want the responsability to work it out and would not want to risk making a mistake. Also as tracks can continue generating royalties for years it could become quite a pain to have to work out his cut every 3 months.
He has actually scored a film in Latin America and has had his compositions performed by an orchestra here in the UK but seems unaware of the income he may be missing by not joining a Pro, I have been urging him to do so for years!
Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks

If you wanto to do a 50/50 split with your friend, he definitely needs to join a PRO, but not Taxi (unless he wants to do that, of course!). Doing so makes things much easier for you both, and if your collab efforts end up being very successful, he will be very happy to see the royalty flow generated by that

You dont split royalties. Royalties are only paid out to you, if you are registered witha pro. If you are not, your share will go into a shared pool, the so called «dark money». Who knows where they go.

Some libraries also won’t accept your music, if you are listed as a cowriter and not registered with a pro. It will only cause you trouble, there is no win by not register.

However, you can submit to Taxi listings if only one of you holds a membership. No issue there.

Thank you for your replies.
I agree, it makes sense to have him join a PRO, the ideal would be PRS as we both live in the UK and I am already with them (although he is not British)
No point in my doing the calculations every quarter of the other share when that is the job of prs. It keeps everything clear and above board and is the right way to do it as who knows where either of us could end up in 10 years time.

Thanks again, it has helped me to clarify my thoughts

If he's having his works performed he must surely be missing out on the performance royalties

Why would you leave money like that on the table, for heaven's sake tell him to sign up , it might be too late for things already performed if it's too far in the past but he should look into it.

Definitely go 50-50 on the co-writes and you can submit under your own Taxi Account, I've been accepted into several libraries where there were two writers and one Taxi member. Just make sure he understands the paperwork side of things in advance as the last thing you want is someone unfamiliar with the Biz dragging their heels because they don't understand what a standard Library Deal looks like.

Mark