[Fmpro] $ depletion

[Mark Northam]

With such rampant discrimination against instrumental music by the PROs
allowed and tolerated in the US, it's not surprising at all that other
countries feel justified in similar discrimination.

But the last time I checked, not a single country in the civilized world
discriminates against instrumental score music to the extent that our US
PROs do, where simply having lyrics or not makes such a massive difference
in what you're paid or penalized financially. No wonder the songwriters are
laughing all the way to the bank, while score composers writing custom,
original music for film and television are paid pennies on the dollar for a
one minute cue in comparison to songs.

No wonder the lyricists are so intent at being part of the Society of
Composers and Lyricists - they're guarding their investment! Imagine if
composers actually got together and leveraged their collective strength in
the marketplace. A songwriters/lyricists' nightmare, and good reason for
them to keep very close tabs on composers, who represent their competition
for performance royalties.

What I still don't get is, why do composers put up with it? Is there such an
inferiority complex in this industry that people are happy with second class
treatment? The 5-6 people on this list who dare discuss this issue are met
with silence from the hundreds of people on this list who suffer the same
discriminatory practices but apparently don't care enough to even want to
discuss it, much less fix it.

It would appear that the PROs are more than happy to financially usher the
great era of score writing into the dusty pages of history in favor of "song
scoring." Progress?

Best,

Mark Northam

On 10/24/06 8:42 AM, "Les Hurdle" <leshurdle101 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Score composers are faced with a similar discriminatory package in the
> UK where 1-1 has been the norm for years but those who are now being
> paid correctly do not like it.

---------------------------------
Mark Northam - Publisher
Film Music Magazine
The Professional Voice of Music for Film & TV
http://www.filmmusicmag.com
1-800-774-3700 x702 / (310) 645-9000 x702