[Fmpro] ASCAP and Foreign Royalty Fee Disclosure

[Markholden@aol.com]

Gee whiz, Pete-- it's not that the other kids on the block hate you, it's 
that you shave 25 points off your IQ when you post re ASCAP business 
policy. Maybe it's some form of handicapping with you.

First, you don't know if that "12%" number is off domestic collections, 
foreign collections, or an aggregate of both. Are you prepared to assert 
that fees deducted from overseas earnings are the same as associated with 
domestic licensing and distribution? Careful.

In any case, you must've realized that publishers pay in LESS to 
administrative costs because most of big publishing and even indies 
bypass ASCAP altogether and affiliate directly with foreign societies or 
through sub-pubs-- leaving the writers to support a disproportionate 
share of administration costs.

Further, you gloss-over the admin fees charged by foreign societies PLUS 
any cultural deductions they may withhold, which has nothing to do with 
ASCAP except for gross amounts that are withheld on our statements. 
That's not intelligent posting, Pete. Nondisclosure like that does NOT 
serve the interests of composers.

Why not just admit that you'd NEVER stand for such treatment from your 
bank? When you refuse to acknowledge such points, your credibility comes 
into question.

Finally, why did you invent that "20 cent" transaction nonsense? That's 
utter BS, to say the least. It's misleading and another example of you 
dumbing-down the list. Even middle-class composers can easily earn $1000 
to $10,000 a year in foreign royalties. Those earnings represent $120 to 
$1200 dollars a year in deductions. And YOU want to pretend those are 
nickels & dimes in this forum? Get off it, bub.

No, Pete-- it's not that the boys & girls on the list hate you. It's just 
the contents of the Kool-Aid you've been serving in the neighborhood. 
Now, come back with some SUBSTANCE.

Mark Holden


Pete musical411 at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 4 16:20:01 GMT 2007 writes:

>But, they've already told us their operating costs are
>12%. Take your end of year figure and multiply by .12

>You're implying that ASCAP is skimming money without a
>thread of evidence other than the fact that they don't
>detail every 20 cent transaction. Sorry, I'll need
>more than that to convince me.

>P e t e
>S u r d o v a l





************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.