Songwriters Beware
Dubious TV and film music licensing reps target unwitting songwriters
By Linda Rapka, Overture Managing Editor
The end of the Writers Guild of America strike Feb. 12 has sparked an increase in a tactic by some music licensing reps who approach songwriters with dubious offers to "pitch" their songs to film and TV while aiming to keep most of the profits for themselves.
Local 47 member Lisa Haley, who picked up a Grammy nomination for her album "King Cake" last month, was approached by two separate companies less than a week and a half after the WGA strike ended. She received the pitches by way of e-mail messages from two companies that she said offered to represent her at "exorbitant rates."
The first e-mail she received on Feb. 21 offered her a music licensing arrangement where the company would keep 100 percent of publishing, Haley would keep 100 percent of writers publishing, and they would split the sync license 50/50.
To many songwriters inexperienced in the realm of music licensing, this may seem like a fair deal. However, musicians need to be aware of the customary industry standard rates for the placement of songs in film/TV media. General rates for music licensing is 20 percent of publishing, zero percent of writers' publishing, and 20 percent of sync license.
Haley, who has experience licensing her music, was quick to see that this offer was no fair deal at all."If you are offered a different rate – for example, the rep wants 100 percent of publishing, and wants 50 percent of the sync license, but graciously offers to 'let' you keep your writers' publishing, or if the rep asks to re-copyright your songs with new titles, or asks to own/be added to the song's copyright, beware!" warns Haley. "There are many legitimate licensing reps willing to work with quality songs, without taking unfair advantage of the artist."
The world of music licensing is a highly lucrative and complex one that can be best understood as a system of permissions and payments tied to various copyrights. Some licensing deals will be granted for a flat fee, while others will require the payment of royalties. The three biggest licensing areas are mechanical, performance, and synchronization licenses.
Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself. A purchaser has limited rights to use and reproduce the recorded work.
Under U.S. copyright law, protected music can generally only be used after permission is granted from the copyright owner. Such consent is generally granted with a license, which usually involves the payment of a fee.
If your music is used in a film or television program, filing a cue sheet with one of the performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange) is an important step in getting paid for your work. Cue sheets are required to determine what music has been performed and which members to pay for the performances. Typically the production company is responsible for filing the cue sheet. For more information about this process, contact a performing rights organization.
Reprinted with permission by author.