CLASS 13-PRINT, CLASSICAL, AND BROADWAY MUSIC PUBLISHING ACTIVITES
Reading Assignment:
Sobel: Chapter 9, Classical Music, Broadway, Print Music, and Educational
A. EXPLOITATION OF SHEET MUSIC OR “PRINT RIGHTS” BY MUSIC PUBLISHERS
Print rights are the right to distribute the music notation and lyrics (if any) of the composition in written or printed “sheet music” form. Prior to the advent of commercial sound recordings, printed sheet music was the industry's primary product. Publishers marketed sentimental ballads and parlor songs for use by the growing number of private piano owners. Sheet music sales were boosted by the inclusion of songs in touring musical reviews which provided one of the central vehicles for publishers to acquaint audiences with their compositions. Large minstrel companies became celebrities by touring relentlessly through established national theater circuits. Their endorsement of a song could result in significant sales of print music arranged for piano throughout the nation.
Beginning in the early 1880s, publishing firms became concentrated around Manhattan's 28th Street, dubbed ‘Tin Pan Alley’ by the newspaper writer and songwriter Monroe H. Rosenfeld. The city's publishers perfected the mass production and distribution of songs. Usually paying staff or freelance composers a flat rate per song, Tin Pan Alley firms printed thousands of titles in the hope that a few would hit with the nation's public. Publishers courted popular vaudeville singers, often paying them handsomely to include a song of choice in their act.
With the success of popular recorded music, sheet music sales expanded again. Sales were driven by the desire of music consumers to play the hits on guitar and piano in the thanks to radio and television exposure. Retail music stores that carried sheet music were found in practically every City.
Annual sales of printed sheet music, along with pianos, have been steadily dropping in the past 30 years. Brick and mortar stores where you can buy sheet music have already largely disappeared. In New York, the famed classical music supply house, Joseph Patelson Music House has gone online-only.
Just as the case with CD retailers, the internet promises to become a much more efficient and cost-effective distribution mechanism for sheet music than the paper-based system. As with digital music downloads, the hope in digital sheet music is being able to connect fans instantly and cheaply with the growing variety of music they might want to play. That impulse to purchase an obscure song from Itunes, can lead to the acquisition of the sheet music just as quickly through online sheet music companies such as Musicnotes. Musicnotes reported 2009 sales of $10.8 million, up by 20% from $9 million in the prior year. Because of this, observers point out that sheet music has a chance to make a comeback in the digital age. The desire for fans to be able to play the music they love is strong as ever, evidenced by the popularity of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero phenomenon.
Today Alfred Publications and Hal Leonard Corp are the two largest U.S. traditional sheet music publishers. Larry Morton, president of Hal Leonard Corp. discusses the surprising sheet music success of one of his composers, Taylor Swift.
"Taylor Swift isn't just stuffing the cash registers at record stores. She’s also is selling a ton of songbooks and sheet music as well. Her crossover appeal is really amazing," says Morton, president of the Hal Leonard Corp., the mammoth print music company based in Milwaukee. "She's very special. She really has been one of the biggest surprises on the sheet music side. We've done individual sheets, both physical and downloads, to all of her main songs."
Morton reports that Hal Leonard released the piano, vocal and guitar matching folio to Swift's debut CD, Taylor Swift, in September 2007. (A matching folio is a songbook that contains arrangements of all the songs in a particular album.)"It did fairly well at first," Morton says, "but not great big numbers. But as we went into '08, she just exploded."
This week, Hal Leonard will release the matching folio to Swift's new album, Fearless, at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention in Anaheim, Calif. "It will probably be the biggest-selling album we'll have for the first half of '09," Morton predicts.
For Music Publishers who desire to take advantage of print licensing opportunities, having a lyric sheet for the composition is a first step. Lyrics alone can generate income without the music notation through such companies as Lyricfind and Gracenote. When the notation is desired there are software programs that can translate MIDI files of the songs into sheet music with corresponding notes. One such program is described below:
“Notation Musician software makes it easy to download any of hundreds of thousands of MIDI files on the Internet and convert them to high quality sheet music. It's a great way to save money on sheet music, too. But the fun doesn't stop there — you can also:
• Add lyrics to any song.
• View and play parts for any instrument in the score.
• Create Fake sheets, piano reductions, chord charts, and other specialty parts using the unique Part Wizard.
• Practice your song while Musician provides the accompaniment”
By contract, songwriters get either get a penny rate or a 10-12% royalty of the retail price of their sheet music sales. Note the following clause:
“In consideration of the foregoing, Publisher shall pay Songwriter the following royalties:
(a) Twelve cents ($.12) per copy of each piano copy of the Composition and for each dance orchestration of the Composition printed, published and sold in the United States and Canada by Publisher or our licensees, for which payment has been received by Publisher, after deduction of returns.
(b) Twelve and a half percent (12.5%) of the wholesale selling price for each printed copy of each other arrangement and edition of the Composition, printed, published and sold in the United States and Canada by Publisher, for which payment has been received, after deduction of returns, except that if the Composition shall be with one or more compositions in a folio, album or other publication, Songwriter shall be entitled to receive that proportion of said royalty which the Composition shall bear to the total number of compositions contained in such folio, album or other publication. “
With new internet models of sheet music exploitation, it may be more equitable to share income from internet exploitation of print music rights in the same proportion as mechanical income since the standard pricing of sheet music over the internet is changing the traditional pricing and there are no manufacturing costs.
B. CLASSICAL MUSIC PUBLISHERS
The Major Players:
A number of publishers specialize in publishing classical music. Universal Music has its own Classical Music Publishing Division. Boosey & Hawkes is the largest specialist classical music publishing company in the world. They own a catalogue of music copyrights including the works of such distinguished 20th century composers as Stravinsky, Bartók, Copland, Britten, Prokofieff, Strauss and Rachmaninoff and have exclusive agreements with many of the leading international classical composers of today, including John Adams, Steve Reich, James MacMillan, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Karl Jenkins, as well as a growing roster of jazz composers.
It is a global publisher, with offices in New York, London, and Berlin and a network of agents in every major country. They have an extensive catalogue of printed music for the professional, student and leisure markets ranges from instrumental and choral to market-leading tutor books and creative teaching materials for schools and colleges. The catalogue can be heard in a variety of audio-visual media, including film, television, advertising, videogames and on the internet.
They have a recorded music' library started by Ralph Hawkes in the 1930s which has been transformed into Boosey & Hawkes Production Music, providing original, high quality recordings for use in all media. Their Cavendish brand, one of the top independent production music libraries, has been joined by Abaco, a recently-purchased American catalogue, both serviced through our state-of-the-art recording studio in London.
Further information about Boosey & Hawkes is contained in the following pages.
For a lively and detailed history of the company read Boosey & Hawkes: The publishing story by Helen Wallace. Other key companies in the classical field are G. Schirmer, Peters, Carl Fischer, and Theodore Riser.
Classical music publishers produce and distribute an array of special editions of the classics for school orchestras and choirs, as well as studies for keyboard, strings, solo instruments, and voice. Much of the income of classical publishers derives from the rental and licensing of scores and instrumental and vocal parts. Besides maintaining catalogs of older works, nearly all of it from Europe, these houses publish the works of 20th Century serious composers despite the lack of financial gain from this area of music. Some of these losses are offset by offering dramatic works and extended pieces through the rental of the parts rather than the sale of printed editions.
Some classical publishers emphasize contemporary serious music and avant-garde music. Many of these publishers are subsidized by a foundation or university, and they may have sizable catalogs of foreign copyrights that they administer for the U.S. territory. Reocrdings of their music are also largely subsidized (Courtesy of The Music Business handbook and career guide by David Baskerville)
A Contemporary History of the Classical Music Publishing Business
For an interesting view of the recent history of Classical Publishing, read “Who Killed Classical Music? Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics” By Norman Lebrecht published by the Carol Publishing Group
Here is a brief excerpt: “In 1992, the world value of record sales was $28.7 billion (in plain English, eighteen thousand million pounds), having surprisingly doubled in six years of world recession. The classical share of this amount was around seven per cent, or two billion dollars; its value had doubled in a decade. Of this amount, roughly ten per cent -- two hundred million dollars -- was paid out as artist and orchestra royalties, and one-tenth of that went back to artist agents, a small matter of twenty million dollars. These sums were vital infusions into a nervous musical economy. Without them many institutions and individuals would have gone under. The music establishment was touchingly grateful to the new masters of the record business for their support. But how long that support would be sustained, and what direction it might take, turned uncertain within seven years.
The alarm bells began ringing late in 1994 when Sony slashed budgets after writing off losses of $3.2 billion in Hollywood and an untold amount at its Hamburg-based classical label (see pp. 380-2). Decca, which had dominated the classical charts through the 1990s, turned in a 1993 net loss of a hundred and forty-two thousand pounds, small but shocking. If Decca had a bad year, others had a nightmare from which they awoke in sheer panic. In a blether of self-doubt, market leader Deutsche Grammophon launched quick-shot chart-busters called `Top Gear Classics' and `Classic Relaxation' and put out a disco-beat album with the London Symphony Orchestra. EMI, once the proud carrier of Furtwangler and Beecham recordings, blew its promotions budget on a pubescent violinist, Vanessa-Mae, who played rocked-up Bach and paraded in a see-through swimsuit. Sony Classical plastered a dread-locked would-be conductor, Bobby McFerrin, on Manhattan bus shelters and buses.
These were not the sort of reactions normally expected from a thoughtful, cultured industry that had weathered a century of storms without sacrificing its highbrow image. Rather, these were the snap decisions you got from corporate salarymen whose careers were on the line if they stayed more than a couple of years in the red. Across the spectrum of classical recording an historic sense of purpose was being weakened by executives whose main concern was to please the corporate parent.
In these seven years, the record industry lost its last autonomy. Labels that were once owned by music-loving businessmen and run by musicians were reduced to a cog within a conglomerate. If a multimedia boss in Tokyo or Hollywood decreed that videodiscs were to be the next household gadget, classical music would be retuned to fit the format. If markets responded better to CD-ROM or CD-I, classics would meekly supply the software. The glorious history of western art music was reduced to the status of a servile database. The continuity of musical creation and interpretation held a priority so low it was almost invisible.
Any classical record that did not sell a thousand copies a year was deleted by computer regardless of its artistic significance. Any fad that caught the fleeting imagination was proclaimed `classical' and ruthlessly promoted. Recordings that were truly classic were disdained as old hat or recycled notelessly in bargain bins.
In the hands of multinational electronics giants and armament manufacturers, symphonies were no more meaningful than bytes and bullets. The recording factor that had underpinned musical life for a hundred years had fallen into alien hands and was unable to save music in its hour of need. In the maelstrom of the market-place, classical music was an art held hostage by business interests. This book charts the course of its capitulation. “
A Performing Rights Perspective of Classical Music
NASHVILLE, June 27, 2001—Let’s play “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”
First question: Is classical music in the public domain? If so, you can play it in a restaurant, hotel or retail store without paying royalties to the composers.
Answer: If you’re thinking “yes” will be your final answer, you’d be wise to use a lifeline. Picking the correct answer requires a substantial knowledge of music.
“Many classical works are newer than they sound,” said Tom Annastas, BMI Vice President, General Licensing. “The question is more difficult because people don’t define classical music the same way,” he said. “Is classical music played by symphony orchestras? Sometimes, but not always. Aren’t classical composers dead? Mozart and Beethoven earned their wings some two centuries ago, but many classical composers live and work today.”
Classical music can be performed by one person with a guitar, flute, synthesizer, piano, or harp. It can be played or sung by any combination of instruments or voices, either acoustic or electronic. Even if the composer is no longer above ground, his or her work can be protected by copyright law for 95 years or longer. Works created after January 1, 1978 can be protected for the life of the composer plus 70 years, before those works move into the public domain. “Assuming all classical music is in the public domain is a common misconception,” said Dr. Barbara Petersen, Asst. Vice President, Classical Music Administration for BMI. “There are many contemporary composers creating music for soloists, ensembles, movies, opera, and theater companies. Whether music sounds new or old does not determine its copyright status.”
C. MUSIC PUBLISHING AND BROADWAY MUSICALS
The musical components of a musical are generally referred to as the score, with sung lines considered the lyrics and the spoken lines the book, or occasionally the libretto (a term also frequently applied to text of an opera, it incorporates the words of both dialogue and lyric).
While musical theater works are performed around the world, they are perhaps most frequently produced on Broadway in New York and London's West End.
Musicals (also known as 'shows') are most commonly recognized to be a combination of sung lyric and spoken dialogue. There are usually several authors of a musical, as mentioned above. Very few musicals are written entirely by one person. A collaborative partnership of composer (music), lyricist (lyrics) and book-writer (script) are generally involved, although one person may serve as composer/lyricist, lyricist/bookwriter (also called librettist) or bookwriter/composer. There can be multiple bookwriters, lyricists and/or composers on any one musical. The strongest inspiration for all the authors is the driving theme of the main story of the show.
The initial idea for a new musical can come from the authors themselves, or they might be commissioned by a producer to write a musical on a specific subject. Musical theatre has a long tradition of adapting plays, books and other source material into this new genre. A musical is often a maximum of two and a half hours long. It will usually be split into two acts and may have around twenty to thirty songs of varying lengths interspersed with book (dialogue) scenes. Some musicals, however, are "sung-through" and do not have any spoken dialogue. This can blur the line between musical theatre and opera.
A musical's moments of greatest dramatic intensity are often performed in song. A song must be crafted to suit the character (or characters) and their situation within the story. A show usually opens with a song that sets the tone of the musical, introduces some or all of the major characters, and shows the setting of the play. Within the compressed nature of the musical, the writers must develop the characters and the plot.
Music provides an excellent way to express emotion. However, on average, fewer words are sung in a five-minute song than are spoken in a five-minute block of dialogue. Therefore there is less time to develop drama than in a straight play of equivalent length, since a musical may have an hour and a half or more of music in it.
Authors can spend years developing a single musical, and then attempting to get their work produced. During the development of a new musical, readings or workshops may be used for revision of the work. A new musical will usually undergo several extensive rewrites before it is deemed ready for production, both by the authors and any potential producers.
Large-scale musicals today are typically backed by a number of producers; in the past musicals were usually controlled by a sole producer but with costs ballooning to more than $10 million for many new Broadway musicals, several individuals or corporations may contribute money to a single project.
After the authors have found producers for their musical, the producer will typically hire a director; the director, producers, and authors will then hire the rest of the creative team, a group consisting of choreographer, music director/conductor, set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, and sound designer. (WordIQ.com)
Broadway Musicals and the Money They Make
By Todd Brabec and Jeff Brabec
With eye-catching headlines like "Broadway Rockets to All-Time High," "Cats Sweet $1.2 Million," "Phantom with $16.5 Million Advance," and "The Lion King earns $1,000,000 in a Week," the Broadway theater has always held a certain glamour and fascination for both writers and those willing to invest their money.
The production of a Broadway musical is an extremely expensive undertaking, usually requiring from $5 million to $20 million to open in New York. In this world of multimillion-dollar investments, enormous profits, and equally enormous losses, the bookwriter, composer, and lyricist of a Broadway musical can earn unbelievably large amounts of money during the New York run, as well as for many years after the final curtain goes down on Broadway.
Many composers and lyricists in this field are governed by the minimum compensation standards and guidelines for the participation of income of the Dramatists Guild contract. [Note: The Dramatists Guild of America was established over eighty years ago, and is the only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 6,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. The Guild is governed by a Board of Directors elected from its membership and was established for the purpose of aiding dramatists in protecting both the artistic and economic integrity of their work.
The Guild believes that a vibrant, vital and provocative theater is an essential element of the ongoing cultural debate which informs the citizens of a free society. The Guild believes that if such a theater is to survive, the unique, idiosyncratic voices of both men and women who write for it must be cultivated and protected. To that end, the Guild maintains model contracts (Approved Production Contracts or APC for short) for all levels of productions, (including Broadway, regional and smaller theaters) and encourages its members to use these contracts when negotiating with producers. These contracts embody the Guild’s over¬arching objectives of protecting the dramatist’s control over the content of his work, and ensuring that the dramatist is compensated for each use of his work in a way which will encourage him to continue writing for the living stage. In addition to its contract services, the Guild acts as an aggressive public advocate for dramatists’ interests and assists dramatists in developing both their artistic and business skills through its publications, which are distributed nationally, and the educational programs which it sponsors around the country.
Through a variety of activities, the Dramatists Guild of America works to ensure that theater in America will continue to flourish and that the voices which give it life will continue to reflect and celebrate the richness and diversity of the American experience.]
Sources of Income for The Broadway Composer and Lyricist
There are numerous potential income sources for the Broadway Musical Composer and Lyricist
- Option payments from the show’s producer
- Advances based on the capitalization of the show
- Out-of-town pre-Broadway performances
- The Broadway opening and New York run
- The Broadway show cast album
- Hit singles and cover records
- U.S. touring productions during and after the Broadway run
- Radio and Television performances of songs from the show
- The motion picture sale: (a) The Soundtrack Album (b) Television performances of the motion picture (c) foreign performances of the film in theaters
- Stock, amateur and foreign theatrical payments
- Television performances of the play
- Advertising commercials promoting the play
- The Tony Awards telecast
- Home video/DVD/pay per view/view on demand
- Licensing of the songs
Structure of Major Payments to Composer and Lyricist
1. Prior to Broadway Production
Producer acquires option to produce the play from the book-writer, composer, and lyricist granting producer exclusive rights to produce the play for an agreed upon time during which the producer tries to find the investors to back the film. The payments are based on the Dramatist Guild minimums of $18,000 (shared between the writers) for the first year, $9,000 for the second year , and $900 per month during the third year.
The option payments to the writers are deductible from the “capitalization advance payments” which take place upon funding of the production. Provided production costs have been recouped, these payments can also be deductible from up to 50% of future royalties due to the writers.
2. Capitalization Advances
Capitalization for the purpose of writer advances is defined as the total amounts contributed by investors in order to pay production costs and obtain and interest in the production. In addition to option advance payments, the producer will pay to the book-writer, composer and lyricist an aggregate payment of 2% of the capitalization of the musical, made on the first day of full cast rehearsal, but no later than five business days before the initial first class performance. Any additional capitalization amounts paid thereafter will trigger additional , pro-rata advance payments. The total amount is reduced by 2% and the net balance is payable to the writers. As is the case with option advances, the advance is deductible from 50% of future payments to the writers.
3. Pre-Broadway Performances
Broadway shows are typically tried out in smaller markets first. Runs can be as short as three weeks or as long as a year. Under the provisions of the Dramatist Guild contracts, the writers are guaranteed a set fee of $4500 for each week for the first 12 performances and varying percentages after that ranging from 4.5% to 6% of the gross weekly box office receipts depending on whether the show has recouped its costs
4. The Broadway Opening:
After the out-of-town pre-Broadway run, the musical normally enters New York for previews. Once the musical opens, the writers are guaranteed a minimum royalty of 4.5% of the weekly gross box office receipts until the show's costs have been recouped, and 6% of such receipts thereafter. For example, a hit musical on Broadway will usually take in from $600,000 to $1,000,000 per week in ticket sales. If the writers were sharing the guild's post recoupment minimum of 6% (2% each to the composer, lyricist, and bookwriter), the weekly writer royalties for each would range from $12,000 to $20,000 each. And by multiplying this figure by 52 weeks, each writer would receive from $624,000 to $1,040,000 in annual royalties from the Broadway run of the show alone, not to mention the substantial amount of money being generated by touring productions of the musical throughout the world.
5. Royalty Pools
Another formula being used on Broadway is the “royalty pool” arrangement where all royalty participants (which, in addition to the book-writer, lyricist, and composer would include the director, choreographer, etc) share in an agreed-upon percentage of the weekly operating profits of the musical with certain guaranteed minimum per-point royalties. Often this percentage is 35% and is paid monthly. Upon recoupment of all production costs, the percentage usually increases to 40%. There are usually minimum payments as well in the event that there are not profits in a given week. The share that is received by the participant is based on the number of “points” that they have been awarded.
6. The Motion Picture as a Broadway Musical
Under copyright law, a motion picture based on a Broadway Musical is a derivative work. Under the Dramatist Guild contracts 4.5% of the gross box office receipts are paid the writers until recoupment of the production costs when the percentage increased to 6%.
For more information, see the excellent “Music, Money, and Success” Chapter 11 (Todd and Jeff Brabec)
D. EDUCATIONAL MUSIC PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES
Some publishers limit their catalogs primarily to music intended for use by students and schools from elementary grade levels through college. The biggest sellers are for piano and guitar, followed by strings and percussion. Part of these sales is known as bench packs – educational materials given by the equipment manufacturer to the customer upon the sale of a new keyboard. The instrument manufacturer pays the copyright owners for these materials. The biggest selling editions for schools are scored for choirs, marching bands, and concert bands. (Music Business Handbook and Career Guide (2010)
MUSIC PUBLISHING
14TH CLASS NOTES FOR ACCOUNTING AND RESOURCES
ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS FOR MUSIC PUBLISHERS AND SONGWRITERS
1. Song Split Accounting:
As we have seen, the determination of accurate song splits requires a minimum of accounting knowledge. The total splits to all authors must always add up to 100% of the copyright. If not, something is wrong and one of the authors has either gotten too much or too little.
Song splits can be looked at two ways. One way is to just consider the publisher’s shares ( which the publisher derives from the songwriter who assigned it to the publisher) and the other is to look at the individual songwriter shares.
Lets look are the example used in Class 3 Notes:
There are four writers of “ I Love My Hound Dog”, and each have their own publishing company. One of them, Dave Jones, wrote and produced all of the music, but Dave wrote none of the lyrics, so the publisher splits would look like this:
Song Title: “I Love My Hound Dog”
Publishers/Copyright owners
Bob Smith Music Publishing: 16.66%
Jim Smith Music Publishing: 16.67%
Sam Smith Music Publishing: 16.67%
Dave Jones Music Publishing:50.00%
100%
In this case since there is only one writer per publishing company, it is pretty easy to trace each author’s percentage since it is the same percentage as claimed by their publisher. If there is an error, it will be fairly obvious as to which songwriter’s share was miscalculated because either it will not add up to 100%, or if it does add up to 100%, one publisher will have received too much credit and one too little, which will be noticed by both publishers.
Now lets look at the same composition from the perspective of the individual writer credits and shares, which also have to add up to 100%
Songwriters/Authors:
Lyrics: Bob Smith 16.66% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics)
Jim Smith 16.67% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics) Sam Smith 16.67% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics)
50.00%
Music: Dave Jones 50.00% (composed 100% of the music)
100%
Here we have more information, such as which writers wrote the lyrics and which wrote the music. Again it conforms to the above summary of the shares claimed by each publisher.
However, if we change the example a little bit, you can see how helpful it is to view the individual writer splits in order to confirm the accuracy of the songwriter and publisher’s shares. Suppose there were four authors of the music instead of one (Tom, Dick, Harry, and Dave Jones) and they were all signed to Dave Jones Music. The publisher analysis would not change since Dave Jones Music Publishing would still have 50% of the composition:
Song Title: “I Love My Hound Dog”
Publishers/Copyright owners
Bob Smith Music Publishing: 16.66%
Jim Smith Music Publishing: 16.67%
Sam Smith Music Publishing: 16.67%
Dave Jones Music Publishing:50.00%
100%
But if we analyze the composition from the individual writers perspective, it would look like this assuming all the Jones boys wrote the song equally:
Lyrics:
Bob Smith 16.66% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics)
Jim Smith 16.67% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics)
Sam Smith 16.67% (33 and 1/3% of the lyrics)
50.00%
Music:
Dave Jones 12.5% (composed 25% of the music)
Tom Jones 12.5% (composed 25% of the music)
Dick Jones 12.5% (composed 25% of the music)
Harry Jones 12.5% (composed 25% of the music)
50.00%
Total: 100%
Since the individual writers get paid their portion of the performance royalties based on their share of the writing, it will always be necessary to have each songwriter’s share in order to register the song properly with the ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. If there is a mistake in the registration, and it does not add up to 100% on the books of the PRO, they will contact the publishers and ask them so re-submit their information and the royalties will be held up until all publishers have confirmed that the final splits are correct.
2. Accounting for Songwriter Royalties from Music Publishers:
The entry level agreement between a songwriter and a publisher is 50/50 split, after an administrative percentage is deducted from the top by the publisher. In addition, the songwriter has to recoup any advances and any expenses incurred by the publisher on behalf of the songwriter. A co-publishing agreement would add another 25% of the total income to the Songwriter’s share, after the administration fee percentage.
To illustrate the basic accounting for common types of publishing income, lets assume that that Sam songwriter has received a $10,000 advance to sign a 50/50 songwriter deal with Pete Publisher, and that there is a 10% administration fee, and $5,000 worth of recoupable expenses incurred by the publisher to record demos.
Here is how the books would appear for the songwriter after the advances and expenses were paid:
Sam Songwriter:
($10,000) advance
($ 5,000) recoupable demo expenses
($15,000) unrecouped
Now let’s assume that there is a $10,000 synch fee earned by one of Sam’s songs, plus $10,000 in mechanical income. Here is how Sam’s account would look at the end of that pay period.
$10,000 synch fee
$10,000 mechanical income
$20,000
($ 2,000) administration fee to publisher
$18,000 net after administration fee
$9,000 50% credited to songwriter
($15,000) unrecouped before credit of $9,000
($6,000) unrecouped after credit of $9,000
3. Mechanical Income Accounting
Mechanical Income Accounting requires knowledge of three main points of information:
1. The publisher’s share of the song
2. The mechanical rate on each configuration
3. The number of units being paid on the statement
Let’s take “I Love My Hound Dog” and assume that Big Label has released the record and sold 100,000 units in the first accounting period 50,000 units for digital sales and 50,000 for CD sales. The Mechanical License calls for a 75% reduced rate on CD sales and a full statutory rate of 9.1 cents for the digital sales. You are Big Label’s accountant and have to calculate the royalties due to Dave Jones Music Publishiing. Here are the basic calculations:
Mechanical Royalties to Dave Jones Music Publishing for Period January 1, to June 30th 2011
Title: “I Love My Hound Dog”
Configuration: Digital Sales
Units Sold: 50,000
Mechanical Royalty: 9.1 cents per unit
Publisher’s Share: 50% x 9.1 cents = 4.55 cents per unit
Total Due: 50,000 x 4.55 cents = $2,275
Configuration: CD Sales
Units Sold: 50,000
Mechanical Royalty: 75% of 9.1 cents = 6.825 cents
Publisher’s share: 50% x 6.825 cents = 3.41 cents
Total Due: 50,000 x 3.41 = $1,705
Total due this statement; $1,705 + $2,275 = $3,910
4. Software Accounting and Management Systems for Music Publishers
For larger music catalogues, some type of software based royalty accounting system is essential. Basic title, writer, publisher, and royalty accounting information can be done on Excel, but there are more sophisticated software systems available as well. Some focus on administration and others on accounting.
Musicalc is the leading royalty software solution for small record and music labels. www.musicalc.com
(RESOURCES FOR SONGWRITERS AND MUSIC PUBLISHERS
Music Publishing issues present themselves to every professional in the music business at some point in their careers whether you are a songwriter or not. Even studio owners and technicians may encounter circumstances where knowledge of music publishing issues can be valuable.
For example:
A producer is being asked to agree to a controlled composition clause and wonders what the impact will be on his mechanical royalties
A manager has a client-singer who is being asked to sing on a record session for a well known artist and write the lyrics for their contribution. The artist wants to control the singer’s music publishing rights on the song and wonders what the consequences of that might be and how to handle it.
A studio owner wants to work out a deal with a new artist to give them studio time in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds. Should the deal include giving the studio owner a percentage of the music publishing revenue or part of the copyright?
A promoter is planning on approaching the act they are promoting in concert to have it videotaped. Does the promoter understand the need to secure the synchronization rights for the songs the act is going to perform?
An artist is contemplating signing a distribution agreement for his recordings and notices that it is her responsibility to pay mechanical royalties on all sales to his co-writers. Does the artist have a grasp of how those should be computed and paid?
A record label has a contract that includes assignment of publishing rights from an artist that it seeks to sign. The lawyer for the artist wants to strike the music publishing rights totally. Are there any compromises that the label should consider?
A film producer wants to use a composition in a film that is going to be released theatrically. The songwriter publisher has never done this before. How do they know what a fair price for the rights might be?
These and many more questions will arise long after your course in Music Publishing is over. While hopefully the basic music publishing concepts that have been covered will remain familiar, the specific answer to the issue or problem that you are being confronted with may not be so obvious. Your course notes are in a box that has been lost? What do you do? What resources are available to you? Here are some suggestions:
1. Music Attorneys
The first place to go would be an experienced music attorney. Most music attorneys have significant experience with music publishing issues, and if there is any doubt, you can quiz them about it beforehand. Although hourly fees can range from $200 to $300 per hour, some will give free phone consultations if it is a simple question. Or, if it is complex, they will let you know.
2. Professional Music Publishers
Music publishers and Administrators are difficult to reach on the phone if you do not have a prior relationship with you. But their advice could be very helpful in such areas as what are reasonable licensing fees for use of compositions in film and television. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to make an effort to get to know them if you encounter them at any music business function or conference.
3. Music Supervisors
Knowing a music film supervisor can also be a valuable resource also when seeking advice on licensing fees and rights issues
4. Internet Articles and Websites
If you have a specific issue you are trying to research, searching the term on the internet and finding a current article on the topic can be very useful. Many websites offer very detailed articles on music publishing issues written by attorneys and other knowledgeable professionals. Two of them are listed here below:
The Music Biz Academy
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/index.htm
Bemuso.com
http://www.bemuso.com/musicbiz/digitaldistribution.html
5. Music Publisher and Songwriter Organizations
California Songwriter Associations
These organizations are a great place to meet other songwriters and potential collaborators. Songwriter organizations often hold seminars where well-known writers and publishers come to give critiques of music, and hold panels on various subjects of interest to songwriters. For songwriters these organizations can provide a wonderful opportunity to interact with a supportive community. Here is a list of them.
West Coast Songwriters (WCS). Formerly known as the Northern California Songwriters Association.
Executive Director: Ian Crombie. 1724 Laurel Street, Suite #120, San Carlos, CA, 94070. 650-654-3966 or 800-FOR-SONG. e-mail: info@westcoastsongwriters.org. WCS is, perhaps, the largest regional songwriter organization in the country, with aproximately 1,200 members. WCS has members from many northern, central, and southern California cities, including San Francisco, Berkeley/Oakland, San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, Carmel/Monterey, Los Angeles, and San Diego. They will also be launching new branch associations in several West Coast cities from southern California to the Pacific Northwest. The group hosts 15-20 events per month, including several Open Mics, Song Screenings, songwriting classes with Steve Seskin, Bonnie Hayes, André Pessis, and others, and Work-in-Progress sessions, where a peer group exchanges feedback and song evaluations. On the second weekend of September every year, WCS hosts "Creation:Craft:Connection", their two-day Annual Songwriters Conference, featuring seminars on current topics of interest, song screenings/song critiques by many prominent publishers/hit writers/label execs, live concerts/Ongoing Open Mic, and impromptu jams on the grass. They also present the WCS International Song Contest, open for entries between October 1st and January 31st each year.
The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) founded in 1931, is a voluntary songwriter association run by and for songwriters. It is devoted exclusively to providing songwriters with the services and activities they need to succeed in the business of music. The preamble to the SGA constitution charges the board to take such lawful actions as will advance, promote and benefit the profession. Services of SGA cover every aspect of songwriting including the creative, administrative and financial. SGA's non-profit educational foundation was created to aid and educate writers through university scholarship grants and various Guild programs which are offered at the lowest possible cost. Songwriting workshops are taught by leading professional writers in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles. Classes run for varying lengths and are offered on different levels for beginning or more advanced writers. Song Critique sessions are conducted regularly presenting members with the opportunity to play their songs and receive constructive criticism from peers and professionals. Guests include some of the industry's most prominent writers, artists, publishers, producers, managers, and attorneys. For more information go to their Website or contact the Hollywood office at 323-462-1108, or e-mail: LASGA@aol.com.
San Diego Songwriters Guild. 3368 Governor Drive, #F-326, San Diego, CA, 92122. e-mail: sdsongwriters@hotmail.com. This guild, which consists of about 300 members, is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft and business of songwriting. They provide the opportunity for members to pitch their songs to industry pros and to showcase at live events. The guild publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, hosts an annual song contest, and coordinates 8-10 pitch sessions (featuring guest publishers, producers and A&R execs) per year. Website
Southern California Songwriters Association (SCSA). Contact Rolla Queen at 909-697-1981. E-mail: queen_price@hotmail.com. 19746 Westerly Drive, Riverside, CA, 92508. Despite the large name, this is actually a smaller but dedicated group of songwriters based in the Riverside/Inland Empire area. SCSA hosts live showcases once per month, and hold group meetings every two months. Website
SongNet (The Songwriter's Network). Contact Director Jimi Yamagishi at 323-727-4766. E-mail: guitaryoda@hotmail.com. SongNet was founded in 1999 in Southern California, and currently has an active membership of over 200 songwriters and associates. A volunteer organization, it provides support to its members through seminars, critique sessions, open mic & showcase events. SongNet hosts meetings once per month, and hold showcases twice per month. Website
Songsalive!. Contact: 310-238-0359. E-mail: losangeles@songsalive.org. Songsalive! is a non-profit organization which is dedicated to the development, support and promotion of songwriters and composers. The organization hosts monthly showcases and workshops (in North Hollywood), and holds an annual Expo. Website
San Diego Regional NSAI Workshop. Coordinator: Liz Axford. 619-884-1401. E-mail: EAxford@aol.com. The San Diego NSAI Regional Workshop holds regular monthly meetings the fourth Monday of the month from 7:00-10:00pm at the home of workshop coordinator Liz Axford in Del Mar, CA. We do writing exercises supplied by the NSAI office in Nashville, as well as group song critiques. The second Thursday of every month we feature our "Night of Original Songs" Showcase at Claire de Lune from 7:30-10pm, hosted by Bill Farkas. We also host special event seminars with pro-songwriters, artists, authors, and other music industry guests at various venues, including producer John Lane's studio in Tierra Santa. Their website is: www.pianopress.com/nsai.htm
Los Angeles Regional NSAI Workshop. Coordinator: Seth Jackson. E-mail: hitmeister@mindspring.com. The newsletter for this workshop is available online at www.sethjackson.net under "Country Notes."
Central California Songwriters Association (CCSA). Coordinator: Victor Roches. E-mail: victordesroches@cs.com. This new songwriters group has formed in the Fresno/Clovis area.
North State Songwriters' Group. 2205 Hilltop Dr, Redding, CA, 96002. Email Erin Friedman at: erinf@c-zone.net. This organization hosts open mics, showcase opportunities and provides a songwriters email list. Membership is free. Website
Music Publisher Organizations:
Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP)
The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) was formed in 1977 by a group of Los Angeles music publishers, and now has chapters in both Los Angeles and New York. The organization's primary focus is to educate and inform music publishers about the most current industry trends and practices by providing a forum for the discussion of the issues and problems confronting the music publishing industry.
The AIMP provides a unique medium for those in the music industry to discuss with their colleagues various points of view from the cutting edge of the ever-changing music business. The opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with others on issues of mutual concern is fostered by the informal atmosphere of the AIMP's monthly meetings, forums, and workshops.
The AIMP includes in its membership not only independent music publishers, but those publishers that are affiliated with record labels or motion picture and television production companies. In addition, individuals from other areas of the entertainment community, such as motion picture, television, multimedia and home video producers, the record industry, music licensing and supervision, songwriters, artist managers and members of the legal and accounting professions are active in the AIMP.
Expand your knowledge and perspective, and keep abreast of the latest and most important trends through program discussions with experts from all facets of the music industry.
-Develop new professional relationships.
-Keep up with new technologies and legislative issues.
-Vote and participate in the direction and growth of a dynamic organization.
-Interact with your colleagues in a conducive environment.
Genre Specific National Music Associations
Many specific genres of music such as country music, gospel music, and many others have their own national organizations.
Performing Rights Organizations
ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC all have periodic newsletters and other resources devoted to the education and support of their songwriter members.
Pitching and A&R Services
Taxi
A well known Independent Artist & Repertoire Company. Since 1992, TAXI has specialized in giving artists, bands, and songwriters access to the people in the music business who have the power to sign deals. Record companies, publishers, and music supervisors call Taxi directly to find new artists and bands to sign, hit songs, instrumentals and tracks for TV and film placements. Taxi gets the requests, then give their members the exact details about what type of music they're shopping for. The company requesting the material remains anonymous (for the time being) to protect them from being bombarded with truckloads of unsolicited material.
Music Conferences
South by Southwest (SXSW)
The first South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was held in 1987 in Austin, Texas. National interest in SXSW was immediate. For years, music businesses on both coasts had been intrigued by what was going on in Austin. The cosmic cowboy, blues, punk and other scenes had already proven that Austin was a receptive place for bands to be creative. With SXSW, music industry executives gained a good excuse to visit.
International interest in SXSW began the second year due to many Austin and American bands finding their first success in Europe. Conversely, there was a lot of interest from SXSW registrants in the international bands who came to perform. SXSW now has offices in Ireland, Germany, Australia and Japan who help bring SXSW registrants to Austin.
The music event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to nearly 12,000 registrants. As Austin has grown and diversified, film companies and high-tech companies have played a major role in the Austin and the Texas economies. In 1994, SXSW added a film and interactive component to accommodate these growth industries. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events attract approximately 17,000 registrants to Austin every March.
SXSW's original goal was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas.
Books
"Music Publishing: The Roadmap to Royalties" (2008)
Ron Sobel and Dick Weissman; Published by Routledge
“The Plain and Simple Guide to Music Publishing” 2nd Edition
Randall D. Wixen; Published by Hal-Leonard
“Music, Money, and Success” 6th Edition
by Jeffrey Brabec and Todd Brabec
“The Craft and Business of Song Writing” 3rd Edition
By John Braheny
“This Business of Songwriting” by Jason Blulme
A Practical Guide to Doing Business as a Songwriter”
“Hey, That’s My Music!”
“Music Supervision, Licensing, and Content Acquisition”
By Brooke Wentz
“Making Music Make Money-
An Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Music Publisher”
by Eric Beale
“The New Songwriter’s Guide to Music Publishing”
By Rany Poe
