[Fmpro] 8-9 Composing vs Licensing

[Mark Northam]

On 1/28/08 12:02 AM, "Pete" <musical411 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> It's not about a judgment on the quality of the music.
> It's about the way the music is used. Feature
> Performances get paid more than Background
> Performances. Period.

Yes, but when "all background vocals" are assumed by ASCAP to be features by
default, unless proven otherwise, it changes the system for payment of
background music within a television program (excluding CPA) a from one
based on "the way music is used" to one based on "is it song or is it
score", a fundamentally different question.

HOWEVER... rather than having another back and forth with you about this,
here's my question for you, Pete: Do you think the existing system is fair?
If not, specifically how would you change it?

Here's how I would change it:

* A feature performance when a singer or instrumentalist is not visible
onscreen playing would be awarded when the actors in the scene hear the
music. This is the standard used by Canada and Australia and it makes
perfect sense, AND removes any favoritism between song and score.

* All performances would be paid based on duration (the Euros do this).

* The weightings would be:
     Feature Performance - 100% per minute
     Theme - 100% per minute
     Background Performance - 50% per minute
     Same weightings would apply to commercials

This removes the entire "is it a vocal" question where ASCAP spent hundreds
of thousands of dollars, apparently, trying to prove that Peter Myers' live
vocalist's performance (the same singer who did the creepy vocalese in
"Dirty Harry" BTW) is "not a vocal". Vocals and instrumentals would be
treated the same, and the era of the PROs pitting songwriters against
composers by creating pay differences based on whether music has vocals
would be ended.

Your thoughts?

Mark Northam

--------------------------------------------
Mark Northam, CEO  |  mark at gmocorp.com
Global Media Online, Inc.

http://www.RoyaltyReport.com - The Business of Music Royalties Worldwide

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