[Fmpro] ASCAP info

[Doug Wood]

Hi. I posted this yesterday using my grassroots address, so it bounced back
to me. Sorry. Also, let's not be too quick with the trigger, please, folks.
Like you I'm doing a million things so I can't always respond as fast as you
want.    

>In all your posts over the last week, you haven't
>responded to of referred directly to the election situation. Why? Is it not
>a big deal to you?

Let me quote from my 2007 ASCAP campaign platform, published on my website
for all to see:
 
"For many years, any 25 members could nominate someone to be placed on the
ballot for the Board. Recently, the rule was changed; it now requires the
signatures of more than 1100 voting members (not just members) to have a
name placed on the ballot, and the number goes up as the membership
increases. (The actual formula is so complicated only a handful of people
really understand it.)
 
"It¹s time to revisit this issue, and to recognize that putting a candidate
on the ballot is one of the ways by which ASACAP members can express
themselves and put their ideas forward. There should be a reasonable
threshold ­ say 100 signatures ­ but the current rule is both unreasonable
and unnecessary."
 
> 2. Regarding your comment below, I see where my reference to the effective
> rate per minute (blanket license divided by number of minutes of music
> aired) paid by broadcasters could have been confusing. I should have said
> "So the broadcasters are effectively paying x per minute" to be more clear.

That's not more clear. Broadcasters pay a flat fee and use as much music as
they want. After five years you could add up all the minutes and divide the
blanket fees by the result, but I'm not sure it would be a useful exercise.
Neither ASCAP or the broadcasters ever look at music use that way.

Broadcasters look at which shows are most popular, and which PRO controls
the theme music for those shows. This is where negotiations begin. (That's
why SESAC went after the composer of the Seinfeld theme - it gave SESAC
instant market share and the ability to negotiate significantly higher
license fees. The higher fees SESAC received more than made up for the big
bonus they paid the composer.)

Background music is also important in negotiations, and broadcasters and
PROs keep careful track of whose music is used in which shows. Again, the
more popular the show, the more valuable the background music is as a
bargaining tool.  

So that's why I believe that theme music and background should receive
higher royalty payments than other types of performances on TV and cable. I
also believe we should account for audience size in calculating royalties. A
performance on the Academy Awards should be worth more than a performance on
another network which nobody is watching. And forget time of day - it's a
thing of the past. Some channels, like CNBC - have higher viewership during
the day than at night, during so-called "prime time."

And what about songs (with vocals) which are sometimes part of the story
line, such as in Grey's Anatomy? What kind of a performance is that, and how
should it be valued? How could you distinguish between a background vocal
cue which is completely in the background and one which peeks out from the
lines of the dialogue to reinforce the message? Somebody smarter than me
will have to come up with the answer to that one.

So these are some of the things I'm thinking about.

> But for the sake of clarity, will you confirm that broadcasters pay ASCAP at
> the same rate for song music as they do for score music under a blanket
> license?

No, I can't. There is no "rate" for music like a taxi meter. I can confirm
that all PROs make subjective judgments about the relative value of certain
types of performances. So do broadcasters and studios, when they buy out
performance rights from composers. Are the PRO distribution rules great? No.
But do I think the solution is to pay exactly the same for every type of
music, regardless of when it is broadcast, or on what channel, or whether
anybody is watching - what's known as 1 to 1? No, I absolutely do not.

> 3. Still waiting for your observations re: the travel habits of your friends
> on the ASCAP Board. If they're soaking us (the members) for First Class air
> travel, don't we - the members - deserve to know that - since we're paying
> their bills? I wish you wouldn't just ignore questions like this and hope
> they go away. If you don't want to answer, just say so.

I'm really not qualified to pass judgment on this.  I drive a VW bus, I wear
jeans and sneakers most of the time, I still use a DX-7 as my controller
because I'm too cheap to buy a decent keyboard. What other people do is up
to them. I think there are more important issues.

Doug Wood

Disclaimer: The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect
those of ASCAP, its directors, executives or staff.