[Fmpro] Music biz hopes to profit from consumer content

[Mark Northam]

Well, that depends, Les.

Is their(the PRO staffs') job to track and pay for all music performances,
or only those music performances they're told to go after?

It's interesting to see PROs make arbitrary, political valuations of
different types of music and their writers, then deploy millions of dollars
in resources to go after the music according to the arbitrary, politically
motivated value that the PRO has "decreed" it's worth.

While the PROs try and promote the sham that their surveys are somehow fair
and evenhanded, the massive devaluation by the PROs of non-song music
destroys any sense of fair play or evenhandedness in the payment system.
While the surveys may not discriminate between song and score, the payment
system and its built-in discriminatory rules more than makes up for that.

The utter lack of automated tracking and major hurdles thrown up in the way
of CPA composers trying to get paid by the PROs for their music performances
is the undisputable proof. After all, when was the last time a score or
other non-CPA composer was required by a PRO to send in a copy of his
composer agreement in order to get paid? Or provide an official listing from
the network of when his show will air?

And then, there's the free music that the PROs permit - decreeing certain
musical performances - especially in the CPA area (non network) and that
music that wasn't "lucky" enough to "make the survey" where there will be no
performing rights paid to the writers and publishers. In the end, that's no
better than Napster used to be, except for the fact that instead of kids
getting to use music without compensating the writer and publisher, we've
now got massively rich corporate entities - the broadcasters and networks -
able to use music without compensation being paid to the writers and
publishers for these performances. What's more, their broadcast licenses
with the PROs legally insulate the broadcasters from any suit filed by the
writer or publisher who didn't get his fair share of royalties for the
performance from getting paid directly.

It is the fact that such massive, systematic discrimination is tolerated by
the industry as a whole that enables the entire system. Until composers come
to grips with the fact that the US performing rights system has some of the
most discriminatory payment rules anywhere in the civilized world when it
comes to a minute of song vs. a minute of score on television, our continued
state of denial will continue to cost us lots and lots of royalties, and
will continue to fuel the migration to direct licensing where we stand to
lose even more. 

Maybe the next generation of composers will care enough to get involved and
start working for change... In the meantime, we can only hope to educate
them as to what we've learned over the last 10-15 years as the lid has
finally been lifted on the "mystery" of PRO operations thanks to the
internet and those willing to spend the time it takes to better understand
their (our) business.

Best,

Mark Northam 


On 1/2/07 9:34 PM, "Les Hurdle" <leshurdle101 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> --- Mark Northam <mark at gmdgroup.com> wrote:
> 
>> One must ask whose interests would be adversely
>> affected by more accuracy in
>> tracking and paying performing rights royalties...
>> 
>> My guess: the fat cats who benefit handsomely from
>> the "surveys" and other
>> antiquated ways of estimating what is on the air,
>> that's who... They would
>> see their checks go down as more legitimate
>> performances from smaller
>> players in the system are identified and paid.
>> 
> Fact is this is ALL PRO's around the world, that's why
> there are those at PRS who ant to doaway with 1-1 on
> the most rediculous of excuses/reasons... reality.
> staff can't do the job.
> 
> L
> 
> 
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---------------------------------
Mark Northam - Publisher
Film Music Magazine
The Professional Voice of Music for Film & TV
http://www.filmmusicmag.com
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