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Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:34 pm
by erinb52
Newbie here... so I'd like to start by apologizing for asking a question that likely, has been answered on a forum somewhere, but I dare ask again :

> Do you register every song through a PRO? Is it necessary for exclusive deals that pay upfront? Does that happen? Which PRO's do you use? I'm registered with SOCAN only at the moment, and need to have a PRO in the states too.

>How does payment for a song work if you were to land a deal? I.e, if a taxi opp reads,
'non-exclusive licensing fee for a folk song, pays up to $1500,'
and you were to be chosen - do you get paid that in a lump sum? Or do you get paid through royalties up to a certain amount? I'm obviously super green - and do not know!

Thanks in advance. I've been enjoying taxi so far!

Erin

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 4:53 pm
by Unstar
erinb52 wrote:Newbie here... so I'd like to start by apologizing for asking a question that likely, has been answered on a forum somewhere, but I dare ask again :

> Do you register every song through a PRO? Is it necessary for exclusive deals that pay upfront? Does that happen? Which PRO's do you use? I'm registered with SOCAN only at the moment, and need to have a PRO in the states too.

>How does payment for a song work if you were to land a deal? I.e, if a taxi opp reads,
'non-exclusive licensing fee for a folk song, pays up to $1500,'
and you were to be chosen - do you get paid that in a lump sum? Or do you get paid through royalties up to a certain amount? I'm obviously super green - and do not know!

Thanks in advance. I've been enjoying taxi so far!

Erin
I don't see why one would not list every song with a PRO if they are already registered. To me, it would seem like a "best practice" to register all your music formally. I'm not aware that being in a PRO is a requirement to register songs for exclusive deals. Unless it specifically says in the listing they want registered music, I don't think they care.

I don't know about the second question.

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 5:19 pm
by cosmicdolphin
Hi Enrin
erinb52 wrote:> Do you register every song through a PRO?
No...if a Libray wants to sign your tracks they usually register them on your and their with the PRO so they can collect the publishing
erinb52 wrote: Is it necessary for exclusive deals that pay upfront?.
No ..A PRO collects royalties not up front payments
erinb52 wrote: I'm obviously super green - and do not know! Thanks in advance. I've been enjoying taxi so far!


Good to hear you are enjoying it , everyone is green when they start..maybe give this a watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiQLtY9fqus

Mark

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 6:05 pm
by hummingbird
Newbie here... so I'd like to start by apologizing for asking a question that likely, has been answered on a forum somewhere, but I dare ask again :

> Do you register every song through a PRO? Is it necessary for exclusive deals that pay upfront? Does that happen? Which PRO's do you use? I'm registered with SOCAN only at the moment, and need to have a PRO in the states too.

>How does payment for a song work if you were to land a deal? I.e, if a taxi opp reads,
'non-exclusive licensing fee for a folk song, pays up to $1500,'
and you were to be chosen - do you get paid that in a lump sum? Or do you get paid through royalties up to a certain amount? I'm obviously super green - and do not know!

Thanks in advance. I've been enjoying taxi so far!

Erin
Hi Erin! When you signed up for SOCAN you should have been asked to name your UFS affiliate, BMI or ASCAP. SOCAN has agreements with most other PROs around the world and will collect the royalties for you for performances outside of Canada.

I do not register my music with a PRO unless I am requested to do so by the music library or publisher. In most cases, they will do the registration because they want to ensure they get their share of publishing. When you sign a deal you will be asked for your PRO name (SOCAN) and your IPI number, for this purpose.

There is a difference between royalties, which are collected by SOCAN and paid to you quarterly, and sync fees which are paid up front to you by the entity you have the agreement with. When you are offered a deal, you'll want to read it carefully. Each deal can be different and you should really know what all these things mean so that if someone does contact you to for a licencing deal you can speak their language. You should know the difference between non-exclusive and exclusive, what a reversion clause is, etc. There are many good resources, TAXI's website has a number of articles and TAXI TV also covers many of these topics. John Braheny's 'The Craft and the Business of Songwriting' was the 'bible' for quite a few years.

Feel free to keep asking questions. And welcome!

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:19 pm
by Unstar
cosmicdolphin wrote:Hi Enrin
erinb52 wrote:> Do you register every song through a PRO?
No...if a Libray wants to sign your tracks they usually register them on your and their with the PRO so they can collect the publishing
erinb52 wrote: Is it necessary for exclusive deals that pay upfront?.
No ..A PRO collects royalties not up front payments
erinb52 wrote: I'm obviously super green - and do not know! Thanks in advance. I've been enjoying taxi so far!


Good to hear you are enjoying it , everyone is green when they start..maybe give this a watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiQLtY9fqus

Mark
When a library registers your track it's because they usually retitled it so they can get the publishing. But wouldn't you also register your track with a PRO in case you somehow get it into the hands of a music supervisor without the help of a 3rd party library? That way, you would collect the publishing in that scenario for plays where a library wasn't involved in getting it synched.

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:30 pm
by hummingbird
When a library registers your track it's because they usually retitled it so they can get the publishing. But wouldn't you also register your track with a PRO in case you somehow get it into the hands of a music supervisor without the help of a 3rd party library? That way, you would collect the publishing in that scenario for plays where a library wasn't involved in getting it synched.
Both exclusive and non-exclusive libraries register the signed track with the PROs, not just a retitle.

IF you sign a track to a music supervisor then yes, you would register it so you could get both the writing and publishing share.

However, we caution against just registering everything you write with a PRO if you are in the film/tv area as deals will differ and the end user may wish to do the registration themselves. Particularly in the case of an exclusive deal.

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:02 pm
by Unstar
hummingbird wrote:
When a library registers your track it's because they usually retitled it so they can get the publishing. But wouldn't you also register your track with a PRO in case you somehow get it into the hands of a music supervisor without the help of a 3rd party library? That way, you would collect the publishing in that scenario for plays where a library wasn't involved in getting it synched.
Both exclusive and non-exclusive libraries register the signed track with the PROs, not just a retitle.

IF you sign a track to a music supervisor then yes, you would register it so you could get both the writing and publishing share.

However, we caution against just registering everything you write with a PRO if you are in the film/tv area as deals will differ and the end user may wish to do the registration themselves. Particularly in the case of an exclusive deal.
Interesting --- thanks for your insight!

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:23 pm
by cosmicdolphin
hummingbird wrote:
IF you sign a track to a music supervisor then yes, you would register it so you could get both the writing and publishing share.
And you would need to register your own publishing Co. if you don't have one.

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:11 am
by hummingbird
cosmicdolphin wrote:
hummingbird wrote:
IF you sign a track to a music supervisor then yes, you would register it so you could get both the writing and publishing share.
And you would need to register your own publishing Co. if you don't have one.
Not if you belong to SOCAN. If there is no assigned publishing, you get it all.

Re: Questions re: Payment / PRO's ?

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:58 am
by cosmicdolphin
hummingbird wrote:Not if you belong to SOCAN. If there is no assigned publishing, you get it all.
Cool if you're a Canuck