loading...
One of our readers, Ev, came up with the suggestion to have a section devoted to newbie questions regarding music libraries, music licensing, copyright, music publishing etc. There a lot of experienced people on this site and many are happy to share their wisdom. So, if you are a newbie (or not), and have a question, try leaving it here.
Of course many questions have already been answered here. First try searching in the search bar in the upper right hand corner. Also Google is your friend! I have found one of the best ways to search a site is use site specific criteria at Google’s web site. In other words, to search for a specific keyword, say “contracts”, type it in at Google like this “contracts site:musiclibraryreport.com”. Do not use the quotes.
If you still can’t find your answer then leave a comment here and someone will most likely come to your rescue!
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone can shed some light for me. I’ve had a couple of placements from Music Dealers and noticed they register my work because it was placed. I also have been with Jingle Punks for 2 years and I’ve never seen this before. I was looking at my registered works, I see 5 songs with the “JP” at the end. I’ve checked the details and it was registered back in 2011. Why am I seeing them now? And why only the 5 songs? I have around 30 songs with JP. Thanks for anyone that can help me out. I’ve really learned a lot from you guys.
Jingle Punks, like most libraries, can take quite a while to register cues. The others will show up eventually. Also, there can be a delay on the PROs side of things too.
-Steve
Thanks Steve, I’m starting to see more come in.
Does anyone know how, or indeed if, I can find out in what shows my music was used overseas? Do I contact my PRO or do I contact the library. Specifically, it’s the JP suffix (for Jingle Punks) which is showing up in my IMRO (Irish PRO) statement and the shows were broadcast in the US. It would be nice to put the names of the networks and shows on my website but I don’t want to be annoying anyone unnecessarily when they’re busy earning me money
Thanks
Hi Arco. ASCAP collect for IMRO by default. Go to ASCAP site and use their search for your name. Jingle Punks blanket licenses come up as ********* cues. Doesn!t give exact titles for which music was used . Might give you general info. I assume they only register when they are used.
Thanks Denis, that’s great. I found a few shows that way
Thanks for the help, guys. Another question – should I be registering each work I submit to music libraries with BMI? What’s the benefit to doing that / downside to not doing it?
And should I include the length with each work? If it was licensed it would probably just be shortened anyway, so…
Benefit would be if the library neglects to register it in a timely fashion, you’ll still be covered. I’ve had a library take as much as two years to register with my PRO. Lost some royalties in the process..
My experience is that I’ve yet to see a benefit to registering a track myself when it’s been signed to a library but I deal mostly with exclusives, many of which don’t re-title. I ask when I sign what their policy is and I don’t think I’ve encountered anyone who expected me to register. The downside would be that if these tracks were already registered then I would have to change the registration or re-title my own track to allow the library to register it so that they can collect the publishing share and if it’s exclusive I’d better not re-title it or I’ll likely be in breach of the contract. I *have* registered tracks ahead of time that have ended up in non-exclusives when I’ve found placements on my own. This doesn’t cause a conflict because the non-exclusive will register them again under a re-title. Whenever I’ve written directly for a show through a production company I’ve ended up registering all of the tracks myself. This makes sense because the production company doesn’t have any stake in the publishing (that goes to the network) so the chore falls on me. As far as losing royalties, I’ve had the situation of a track making it to a cue sheet before the library registers it and it still ends up getting reported and I get paid if I’m listed as the writer. I’m sure there are exceptions to this and everything else that I’ve seen but my experience is that there’s been a lot less to worry about than I thought when I got into this game. My rule of thumb is: when in doubt, ask somebody… Hope this is helpful!
@ Kiwi
Registering the re-titled name is a good policy?
Is this what is being said?
Or is the re-tile registered as a version of the original song?
Any help appreciated.
Registering any title that gets broadcast is good policy, it’s a matter of who does the registration. I’m saying that in my experience the library has always registered the tracks, not me. I’ve only registered tracks when there’s no library involved. Rather than assuming anything though, when in doubt, I always ask the library what their policies are.
And by the way, I’m just sharing MY experience here, not trying to give advice. If you need legal advice you should speak to an attorney…
Here’s a question for you: I recently registered with BMI using my full name (Joshua J Freund), as that’s what they said to do. However, I generally just go by Josh Freund. Is it going to potentially be a problem royalty-wise if I submit songs to libraries as “Josh Freund” but am registered with BMI as “Joshua J Freund”? I’d like to just stick with “Josh Freund” if possible.
I’ve used both Art Munson and Arthur H Munson over many, many years and they always seem to find me. Not sure it’s a correct answer to your question, just my experience.
I assume you can register your other name as an alias, it’s the way most PRO,s do it. Your cae/ipi no is the important one. Bono,Dylan,Elton John,David Bowiie,Madonna are not their original names on their birth certs for example..
BMI has my name in the form: last name, first name, middle name (with no commas). It’s been a long time since I registered, so I don’t remember how it happened that way. However, when Echoes played tracks from my CD I did receive royalties, even though my name is not given that way anywhere else and I never registered an alias.
As woodsdenis mentioned, what matters most is the the CAE/IPI number.
Years ago I somehow ended up with two BMI accounts and consecutive CAE/IPI numbers under both Greg and Gregory (there was a manager and a label involved so I’m not sure how it happened) and when I started doing production music I was concerned. I talked to my BMI rep and he assured me that there was likely to never be a problem but that he would merge the accounts just to be sure. I don’t believe that I’ve ever had a problem because of it and I have music that gets registered under both names on a regular basis despite my attempts to steer folks toward my full name. Whenever there’s a question I would suggest speaking with your rep. Don’t know about anyone else but my guy has always been very accessible and helpful. Good luck to you!
I asked my PRO the same question about couple week ago as well and got the same response as the guys above are saying. What matters is the CAE/IPI number. So use the number that matches to the name and register the songs through that as well.
Hi Art, what I’ve been doing is “reconciling” so to speak my RF purchases with my ASCAP registrations, just in case. So after a few purchase emails come in I check my ASCAP account to see if I’ve registered the purchased tracks or not. This way I’m only registering RF tracks that have the possibility of showing up on a cue sheet.
Michael
http://www.guidetopricingmusic.com
Great idea Michael, thanks for the tip!