[Fmpro] ASCAP bashing

[Mark Northam]

On 4/29/08 10:37 AM, "Pete" <musical411 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> If everything was paid at the full "feature" rate that
> increase would be spread amongst ALL the "background"
> uses. So, yes you'd see an increase, but not as much
> as you'd hope.

That would depend on 2 numbers: The % of minutes of music paid that are
features, and the % of the current TV distribution in dollars that those
features are paid. Do you have those numbers? Composers have asked ASCAP for
those numbers for years, and ASCAP has endured withering criticism for many
years about their background rates rather than release those numbers. I
would think if the numbers were verifiable and truly played out the way you
say they do, ASCAP would have released them long ago. Just my opinion here,
though.

> Yes, the rules have changed. In fact, ASCAP recently
> INCREASED the "background" rate from 16% of full
> feature to 20% of full feature. Did you feel the
> increase? I didn't. Why not? Because probably 95% of
> the other writers got the same increase. And, the pie
> didn't get any bigger. Same principle as above.

Good point, Pete. But let's not forget the secret ASCAP TV Bonus that they
adopted just after that, that can be paid any way they want to, which could
easily be used to offset any published gains in the background instrumental
rate. Once an organization that says it is transparent adopts secret rates,
all bets are off. There's no verifiable way to tell anything any more,
except what they want you to know. ASCAP deducted millions from royalties
for MediaGuide, and we have no way to know how many millions of dollars of
our money are going to other similar projects yet undisclosed.  This is an
organization that considers our money to be THEIR money, as is demonstrated
time after time. They can move millions around from one account to the next
with impunity - we'll never know. In the interests of fairness, any of the
three US PROs can do this as well - ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. But ASCAP is the
only one that trumpets how much more "transparent and accountable" they are
than the other two.

Rather than tell us why a minute of score music only rates 20% of a feature
(compared to a one-minute song, within a TV program), the better question
for ASCAP is why it doesn't rate 100% of a song? I've never heard them
answer that question, ever. And as we have documented, the broadcasters make
NO such difference when they pay the money in to ASCAP. This is a money grab
by the songwriters, and has been for decades.

If you're going to penalize score music with an 80% penalty for a one minute
cue (compared to a minute of song within a TV show), there ought to be
solid, statistical, verifiable, detailed reasons why such a huge penalty is
in place. The only one I've ever heard from an ASCAP Board member is,
"because we've always done it this way." Yeah, right.

That's the same excuse given for any number of oppressive acts throughout
history, financial or otherwise, and I for one will simply not stand by
while that kind of attitude continues to flourish at ASCAP. It's our
generation, it's our time. Are we, as the writers of the majority of music
on ASCAP's largest revenue source (TV), going to put blinders on, be
"grateful" for what we're given by the ASCAP Board, and not dare criticize
obviously unfair business practices as democracy at ASCAP is flushed down
the tubes to keep the Board in place?

I know many of you are probably tired of reading this thread, and frankly, I
get tired of writing it. But there's something inside me that simply cannot
stand by while this goes on. I cannot stand by while composers as an
industry have the value of their music minimized by songwriters and people
in suits who couldn't begin to understand the true art of score composing
and seek to depreciate the fruits of our labor with the second-rate term
"background music" and payment rates to match.

Best,

Mark Northam