[Fmpro] ASCAP info

[Tracey Larvenz]

Hi Doug!

Thanks very much for the info and I'm thankful for this discussion!   
I wanted to ask you about this (from your last post):
	
	In the last round, ASCAP was forced by the television broadcasters  
to accept a
	steep cut in license fees despite growing broadcaster revenues,  
because, the
	broadcasters claimed, music just wasn't that important any more.

How did the broadcasters force this and who was negotiating this?  We  
all know that shows without music don't fly.  Broadcasters know it  
too.  If their revenue is increasing, I don't understand how ASCAP  
could settle for a steep cut when shows rely more heavily on music  
now than ever before.  This is one of the main reasons for ASCAP to  
exist and it seems that we've been let down.  When does the agreement  
come up for renewal?

Thanks for your reply!

Tracey Larvenz
www.melodiousthunk.net



On Jul 25, 2007, at 7:31 AM, Doug Wood wrote:

> 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.)
>
> "It’s 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.
>
>
>
>
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