Writer licensing directly to music supervisor

[markismusic]

Hey guys,
Searched the forum but didn't see anything on this.

I have a friend who knows a music supervisor and asked me if I wanted him to get in touch with her about pitching my music.
Awesome connection/opportunity but I want to make sure I don't look like an amateur if she ends up liking my stuff...

I'm wondering what to do if I am approached by a music supervisor to license tracks that don't have a publisher?
Do I have to go through the process of making a publishing company to collect royalties and get a contract for the license?
Is there a simpler/better way of doing this type of deal?

[eeoo]

If i remember correctly, if you're with BMI you can claim 200% of the song (100% writer's share, 100% publisher's share) and they will collect publishing royalties for you. With ASCAP I believe you need to create a publishing entity and it costs a few bucks, but not prohibitive as I recall, like maybe $40ish.

I'm with BMI and I've collected publishing royalties without creating a publishing company.

[andygabrys]

Good questions:

It was said to me by a contact at BMI that "when you need to create a publishing company you will know it".

IMO this is that time for you. If you are having frequent uses of your music by agencies or music sups that don't take a song share then its cleanest and most professional to set up a publishing company.

Notwithstanding the fact that BMI and SOCAN allow you to register a song as just a writer - In BMI's case you register the song as 100% writer, not publisher, and then when the registration is finalized it says "excess writer clearance". When a use shows up on a cue sheet it is supposed to be right and you get the writers and publishers shares. As Ethan said above.

I don't know for sure as I have had a publishing company set up from the start as one of my first uses was a direct to agency commercial and to get both sides of the PRO $ I set up a company ASAP. The $150 that it cost to do that with BMI was recouped many times over from that one deal.

Naturally I am not so lucky 99.99999999999% of the time but I'll take that.

RE: contract - its unlikely that you will be asked to provide your own contract as the Music sup will likely have one that is tailored for the use, but you will likely need to accept the $ stated and sign it ASAP. Hopefully your pub company will be set up with your PRO asap and you won't lose any pub royalties - although I think there is a short retroactive period. You would have to check with your PRO.

[markismusic]

Good questions:

It was said to me by a contact at BMI that "when you need to create a publishing company you will know it".

IMO this is that time for you. If you are having frequent uses of your music by agencies or music sups that don't take a song share then its cleanest and most professional to set up a publishing company.

Notwithstanding the fact that BMI and SOCAN allow you to register a song as just a writer - In BMI's case you register the song as 100% writer, not publisher, and then when the registration is finalized it says "excess writer clearance". When a use shows up on a cue sheet it is supposed to be right and you get the writers and publishers shares. As Ethan said above.

I don't know for sure as I have had a publishing company set up from the start as one of my first uses was a direct to agency commercial and to get both sides of the PRO $ I set up a company ASAP. The $150 that it cost to do that with BMI was recouped many times over from that one deal.

Naturally I am not so lucky 99.99999999999% of the time but I'll take that.

RE: contract - its unlikely that you will be asked to provide your own contract as the Music sup will likely have one that is tailored for the use, but you will likely need to accept the $ stated and sign it ASAP. Hopefully your pub company will be set up with your PRO asap and you won't lose any pub royalties - although I think there is a short retroactive period. You would have to check with your PRO.

Thanks the reply Andy! Really appreciate the great advice.
Glad to know this is a path some writers have gone through already.
Will be giving SOCAN a call this week to set something up !

[markismusic]

If i remember correctly, if you're with BMI you can claim 200% of the song (100% writer's share, 100% publisher's share) and they will collect publishing royalties for you. With ASCAP I believe you need to create a publishing entity and it costs a few bucks, but not prohibitive as I recall, like maybe $40ish.

I'm with BMI and I've collected publishing royalties without creating a publishing company.

Interesting... I keep hearing great things about BMI over ASCAP (Nothing wrong with ASCAP of course).
But yes that is super convenient, I'll have to look into the rules for this in Canada with SOCAN.
Thanks!

[Casey H]

Best thing to do is sign the publishing over to me and let me handle it.

Seriously, it looks like you got good answers already from others. Good luck!

Casey

[markismusic]

Best thing to do is sign the publishing over to me and let me handle it.

Seriously, it looks like you got good answers already from others. Good luck!

Casey

haha thanks Casey!

[ChrisEmond]

Hi Mark,
Being a fellow Canuck, I'm really interested to know how you finally resolved this issue.
Thanks,
Chris