COMPOSERs, PUBLISHERs, and PROs - Oh My!

Dear AG Beats,

No no don't boycott them, what this is all about is, Musicians that are making non-PRO music. <- It's a big mistake and a waste of time. You could be landing HUGE cash but the wrong idea is start at the $5 a music track mark. Which is fine, you can sell at 5$ or whatever, just REGISTER your music with a PRO. It's really easy folks.

This is like, ANYONE can DRIVE a CAR. But you have to have a license to do it LEGALLY. Now, you can offer non-PRO music. No biggie, but just think what your potential LOSE is? Oh god. Listen, a stock media marketplace is SELLING a license to use your music, you can sell that same license on the side. You should be doing it all ready. Like you said, media marketplaces are flooded with, guess what, POTENTIAL CLIENTS.

There seems to be some sort of confusion about being registered with a PRO and selling at these marketplaces First, if you are getting your info from THEM...STOP! They do not care about your potential. They don't want you to really succeed - who is going to make all that music they are selling? That's right, new musicians looking for a few bucks. This is where you MUST as a business owner, educate, and put that knowledge into action.

There are THREE TEXT boxes when you submit your song to a marketplace. COMPOSER, PUBLISHER, and PRO. This post is about NOT leaving these BLANK. Please you must back up and register EACH of your great songs with a PRO and fill in that stuff.

Royalty-free doesn't mean you don't receive royalties. It's the biggest misconception there is. If you read that, and said, oh well, I don't make royalties...? <- You are DEAD WRONG. I mean it!

More to come!

Happy reading! (You know, what's really depressing, only 5% of you will read this. Sad right? Not really, it just means there is a lot of room on top for the people like you and me.

Congratulations and keep learning! (If you are a new music producer and just getting here to this post, start at page one.)


Take care,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com

P.S. Paying a publisher 50% is totally normal and acceptable. Also they take 50% of the licensing fees, no biggie, once you become better at this, you could PUBLISH other people's music and place on TV and claim 50%. Well. If they let you I guess. That's where trust and the "music business part" comes in.

Also, our friend "Producer Joe" doesn't pay ROYALTIES, only the license fee. The BROADCAST (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX...) companies pay the PROs royalties, then the PROs pay you. Not Joe. Don't scare Joe and say you owe me 100% Royalties!!!! Put him at ease and say, listen Joe, all you have to worry about is the licensing fees. Get me on the Cue Sheet Joe!
 
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AG,

Once you work with a music library, you are done. You are not a part of the negotiations anymore. The library sets the conversation from there on out.

I can tell you from experience: most performances on TV shows do not pay upfront fees. Why? Because TV networks and other groups pay an upfront fee to Pump or any other library. That upfront fee entitles the company to use any song in the music library catalog without paying any additional money. This is called a blanket license.

I am not going to bore you with details. Just get out here, hustle, and sign deals. You will learn all that you need to know. You will know more about the music business than many attorneys, managers, consultants, and other professional musicians. The ignorance out here is astounding.
 
But why should I register every beat I have to a PRO when they just sit on my HD?

I mean I feel you...it would be completely IDIOTIC to send me beats to a place like pump, and not be registered with a PRO....that would be downright silly....

Is that what you're trying to say this whole time?


Pump negotiates a license fee, and we the musician get only 35% of that EDIT: From desires post, i realize they probable don't get any license fee per track..they already got a license fee to their whole 'pump box'...now I see why pump said "send you a check in the amount of thirty-five percent (35%) of any license fees or royalties generated by your music." keywords: of any

(fair enough, we didn't do anything really...could be higher but whatever lol)

Pump also takes 50% credit as publisher.

So I get 50% of total royalties...

IF IM SIGNED WITH A PRO!!!

I didn't realize people submit to things like PUMP without being registered lol...it was common sense to me even though I didn't fully understand. The people that do that are missing all of their royalty payments!


On the other hand, I don't think it's necessary to register every beat you make right away with your PRO....I don't even think it's necessary to register it after it sells to most artists because they arent getting spins or getting synced or doing anything business wise lol.......just recording over tracks and spamming them to people.


But if you DO have someone that's gonna get a spin you better start talking about how that version of the song is gonna be split up. If it's non exclusive I don't really care. A guy buying 24.95 lease off my site isn't gonna be getting major plays or anything (or maybe they do an I'm totally missing out). Even still, it was non exclusive, so I can still make money off my instrumental version in various ways.

But if it's exclusive, and I can never do anything with it again, damn right we're dividing percentages!

This is a great thread it's helping me to understand more and more...I think....still a little fuzzy...but I'm getting the picture.


If I go in and talk with clear channel, I'll be the writer and the publisher if they use my track. I can charge whatever I want as an initial license fee, and I get a full 100% (200% in BMI case) of royalties because they have to fill out a cue sheet. Correct? Or do we not get paid for background radio advertising music? I guess I just need to read the BMI site over and over and over lol
 
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Dear Ag Beats,

Yes you are on top of it. Your going to want to READ UP ON this as much as you can, seriously I am in NO WAY a form of LEGAL advice here. This is just my plan of action.

In the USA, you can expect to be paid in about 6 months, for overseas, about 2 years. Once you have your music on a Cue Sheet and it's aired DAILY, your making cash EACH time it's aired, FOREVER! Well until their LICENSE runs out.


Dear Desire Inspires,

There is a reason for all this, and I am actually very relaxed, I have this post already typed and it has a rather fitting end. I just need to take time to let anyone NEW absorb this. It's a lot of important and over looked information for most NEW musicians. We all want to run and make music in our studio but...not many take time to READ, learn, digest, think about what is going on.

When I heard, that BROADCAST companies, PAY PROs no matter if I am registered or not, I stopped what I was doing and took a completely different look at my music business. Really, 50 tracks, 200 tracks, 1k tracks, meaningless unless your registering them.

Again, those of you that are going, but 60k is RICH! Stop...It's not. It's LAME if you call yourself a music producer. I mean you gotta start somewhere and I by no means are even coming close to calling "Music Production" my full time job. However. With this knowledge. It's going to be a lot easier to go for a 6 digit income.


Again, thanks for reading this! More to come,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
AG,

From reading your post, you already know more than 70% of musicians out here. Just keep working hard and examining stuff. Ask questions. Demand that companies explain things to you. You are on your way to becoming a great success.

No one is going to tell you all of the answers unless you pay them. But you can figure out these things for yourself. You are getting closer and closer to the truth. Do not relent or quit. You are too far ahead for that!

 
Desire Inspires said:
AG,

From reading your post, you already know more than 70% of musicians out here. Just keep working hard and examining stuff. Ask questions. Demand that companies explain things to you. You are on your way to becoming a great success.

No one is going to tell you all of the answers unless you pay them. But you can figure out these things for yourself. You are getting closer and closer to the truth. Do not relent or quit. You are too far ahead for that!
Click to expand...

My man! You already know, that I already know, your statement is the truth!

BUT, I do have a tendency to get very discouraged, and hearing something so positive and uplifting from another human is always very, very inspiring. I truly thank you for writing that post to me and I'm flattered!


I just hope I can get my catalog of placements lookin' like yours ASAP!!!!
 
Dear AG Beats,

Each marketplace is different, I am generally talking about the NEW musicians that don't know any better. I was one. I like to make music and if someone paid 20 bucks for it..Geez that would make my day, but it isn't paying for my studio equipment or my mortgage. Pump Audio is picky. They won't allow you to have non-PRO music there. (well, maybe they would, like they would care if you don't get paid.) You sent in your 3 tracks, they gave you the GREEN light and now it's time to send in a BUNCH of songs. However, there are some tips to get you noticed.

Now places like, audiojungle are there selling a license to your music for PENNIES! Gads! Pump won't work with you if you have your music on certain music marketplaces.

Pump is concerned about paying royalties and is a great place for GOOD music producers. The FIRST thing they say is what? JOIN A PRO. Don't believe me? Go look.

Ask yourself this, does your favorite media marketplace have BANNER ads? <- Bad sign guys.

Who's ready for more?




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
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Yeah, I've got 2 CD's in to pump so far! I think you can chose to not be with a PRO with them though. But not this guy! no sir!
 
Dear AG Beats and Desire Inspires,

You both seem to be doing just fine, listen, pumpaudio is just a big publisher, they cookie cut it and made it EASY for US. They offer a non-exclusive deal which is GREAT! Nothing lost really. Even when they are getting 50% royalties. Your getting 50% and they get 50%. It's perfectly normal and natural...however, you should (read that: COULD) be doing this part yourself as well. You can "as well" PROMOTE your OWN library. Why not? It's not as EASY! But. Not impossible.

Right, each site is a bit different. READ those TERMS! Sure, as a producer, I buy a Pumpbox, have a blanket license to use all those tracks and can use music right from the hard drive. No big deal, just make sure you have your tracks registered.

Ok, when I say EACH song, I mean each song you plan on letting people license, you can, do this before or afterwards. It doesn't matter, just make sure it gets DONE. Pump will rename your song a submit it themselves to the PRO. No biggie, but that's only for PUMP. Now if audiosparx does the same thing, then ok...that's just for their music library.

You should be, registering your music, and within the year copyright them, FOR REAL, for your own music library.

This all makes sense in few more posts. Remember I am writing this for new hobbyist and amateur music producers that have talent but don't know what to do. This is the START. Not the end. If you worked really hard, and wonder where all those profits are...This is where to "start". Just the beginning of a long climb to financial freedom.

Thanks for comments guys! Keeps those ideas coming,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
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Dear AG Beats and Future Producers,

I am little glazed over from it, myself! This is some important information. Go get some coffee, it's about an hour read. <- soon to be longer.

(If you believe these, marketplaces, are ripping you off, this ones for you.)

Listen, stop thinking the stock media market places are taking your money. Think of it like this, YOU are paying them to handle the license fees. The royalty-free license is SO LIMITING in use is nearly laughable at a TOP level. Your Dad and Mom type amateur producers are paying for GOOD QUALITY music at say 20$ because you are selling them a NON-EXCLUSIVE extremely limiting contract.

You see... If your Mom and Dad take their video to say your local TV station, they are still only paying 20$, but on a national/global level the broadcast companies PAY the PROs...the PROs pay YOU. If you say don't REGISTER with a PRO, then that whole process is crippled. Why would you pay a marketplace 50%? That is our mistake...not realizing why we are paying these stock media marketplaces. We are paying to get our music, as scary as it is, BROADCASTED. What are we doing here? Making music for someone's 5 year old birthday party on youtube?? Come on.

Let's see the broader side to this. This process is for US, so your, and my, hard effort and time making music, means something and you can make Mad cash doing it. IF we do it right. And listen I am only doing this so when amateurs like myself struggle with this legal jargon they say, Nathan did it and so can I! I have cut, mixed, mastered, read, studied, invested, to much time to sit around and make peanuts.

Get this right, YOU PAY 50% to get your music in the RIGHT hands, and when your music in the right hands, BE SURE TO have YOUR NAME on it. Nothing spells failure like a blank business card.

Royalty-free in no means...means...IT's 100% usable, to everyone. Read the legal statements...

I am looking at this from TOP down, instead of BOTTOM up. Who is going to lease "unknown" music for anything worthwhile?

I have been a registered composer at the ASCAP for awhile but just 3 days ago applied to be a publisher. When you log in to your PRO. It's a great feeling first of all...Second They ask you for two NAMES, the WRITER of music and the PUBLISHER of the music.

If you HAD a publisher it would go here, but since you do not have a publisher it is you. You can publish other people's music, if they let you.

It's really not that scary, listen if you market your music then you are the publisher, all you have to do is register twice. There are two applications. WRITER and PUBLISHER, heck some PROs don't even have a registration fee. Shop around!

It goes like this. You make jingle, you register your jingle as a song at PRO, you as writer, you as publisher. Then, you add to all your stock media marketplaces, and instead of leaving all that PRO stuff blank, you put in your LEGAL name that you REGISTERED.

At this point if you are not READING and LEARNING you might want a lawyer.

There is this GREAT book. By, Donald S. Passman, and the title is "All You Need To Know About the Music Business." He is an entertainment lawyer, and let me tell you. There is no 20$ this and 25$ that. It's 75k 250k...500k... You, me, and everyone that is entering into this music field needs to know this, SO the music industry doesn't collapse. Why are you making 500k worth of movie trailers for pennies...? Why? It makes no sense. Unless you are PRO? Am I right??

You can still sell REGISTERED PRO royalty-free music at 20$. It really doesn't bother Mom and Dad. Ok? They still license your music as royalty-free and use it locally during their happy 5 year olds birthday party. Nothing lost. However, do you now understand what you COULD be receiving if we do this right.

Listen,

I am not a lawyer and this is advice is FREE and I in no way mean to be the end all here. I just had the same question as you. Why am I paying a marketplace 50% to sell my music? Here is my answer at least and I hope it helps someone, somewhere down the line, because I wish someone said this to me, before I added 170+ non-PRO tracks across 7-9 stock media marketplaces. What was I thinking?

I am not making this sh*t up. I don't want ANYTHING from ANY of you, except, maybe a few thank yous and some good vibes. We are in this together. If you don't want to go with a PRO, don't. Be assured I will be picking up all that money your missing and stuffing directly into my bank accounts.

If a TOP level producers is going to pick music for national broadcast it's going to registered with a PRO. Hands down.


Sincerely,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
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So wait, where exactly does the money the PRO pays you come from? I understand that they know how much to pay you based on cue sheets and how many times something was broadcasted, but where exactly does that money come from?

Does a broadcasting network (say MTV or whatever) just pay a certain fee, along with every other company using music, and then BMI/ASCAP/SESAC just puts all the money in a giant pool and divides it up between publishers, writers/composers?
 
Dear AG Beats,

Pretty much! See, the broadcast companies make money from, ADVERTISING. The only reason they make TV shows, is to ADVERTISE to you. The only reason you HEAR music on the RADIO is to ADVERTISE to you. You listen to free things, watch free TV (well not really, why do we have to pay for TV privileges anyway your asking? As a whole society, we are pretty stupid.) and they make money not from you. But companies that pay for ADVERTISING. Why do you think they run Future Producers? To ADVERTISE TO YOU! It's what it is all about. So, let us say some CHIP making company buys 60 seconds worth of AIR time from a broadcast company. What do you think that runs? 1 minute of air time for National coverage? Anyone?

Feel free to throw out some answers...

I'll wait,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
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I never watch TV...they call that shit programming for a reason.


And trust, I know the whole point of this site is to advertise. That and affiliate market if theyre smart. Haven't checked out the review sections but I guarantee they got affiliate links in there.
 
AG Beats said:
I never watch TV...they call that shit programming for a reason.


And trust, I know the whole point of this site is to advertise. That and affiliate market if theyre smart. Haven't checked out the review sections but I guarantee they got affiliate links in there.
Click to expand...

I watch plenty of Netflix no commercials there
if you haven't linked your soundcloud to getty images for licensing do it now
http://blog.soundcloud.com/2012/10/09/getty-images/
just to let you know Getty Images is the owner of Pump Audio
-Coach Antonio
 
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Dear AG Beats,

That's ok, I hate much of TV too. But listen, this is how BROADCAST companies make billions, from all those ads! So to answer your question. The MONEY comes from advertisers, they pay the broadcast companies MEGA dollars! And the broadcast companies then pay royalties to the PROs and then the PROs, channel the money to the appropriate artists via the information on the Cue Sheets. They use some global 3rd party for tracking company...Umm what is it called...competitrack.com! That's it. Anyway.

I am not about to go into details about this TOP LEVEL stuff, as this is the point, where my knowledge runs a little dry. Anyone that knows more. Please feel free to chime in.

I know YOU know AG, it's the other 1,000's that are reading, trying to put things together and are to shy to ask a question. I know I was like that last year, I wouldn't even put my name on my posts. BIG mistake. HI, my name is NATHAN! Nice to meet you all!

Being the invisible composer that makes music from the shadows is not making me much profit. Hence the need for a 180 in business logic here. So. Yes Broadcast companies make SO MUCH MONEY...it's rather, redundant. Seriously, 75k is NOTHING to DORITOS! NOTHING! PENNIES!

You know what they are thinking, "Is that all he wants" they'll wonder, "He doesn't want the 250k?" You sure? Ok...

Anyway, something to think about at least, this is a game changer to the right person.


More to come,



Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com
 
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I got a terrible habit of thinking that if I'm aware of something everyone else must be too. Glad you made me realize that again haha I've been trying to work on that lately.
 
Dear AG Beats,

I understand completely, my goal here, is to get "us new musicians" over to the PROs.

So, here we go...
Now I don't make anything by doing this. I just want there to be a music industry for me, when I get there. I am just starting out myself and my story ends very happy with much success...however, I have to start somewhere, and that is bringing as many amateur, newbies and hobbyists with me.

This is SO important. If you didn't read what I had to say. Go back and read it. There is a bigger picture here. I love making music in my studio, just like you, and I love uploading my recently created music, to all those wonderful stock media marketplaces, just like you do. And I really don't like "LEGAL STATEMENTS", who does?

If you do this right, you should be able to retire early and pay for your 10th generation great grand kids ENTIRE LIVES.

If you get this wrong, you are going to have a hard time buying a number 10 combo and supersizing it.

I hope everyone here, says to themselves, it's time I do this FOR REAL.

PRO doesn't not mean professional. Ok? It means Performing Rights Organization. If you go PRO, it doesn't mean you are now somehow more professional. It's simply means..

non-PRO: You failed, as your duty as a Musician, to register your work.

PRO: You have your music registered and will receive the correct royalties. (This surpasses your idea of "royalty-free", don't be fooled.)

There is so much more to being a music composer, try not to swindle yourself into thinking that you have to MAKE this money before you go and register, Some PROs are FREE. Listen. Read about it, Think about it, and then make an informed decision about your new "MUSIC BUSINESS".

It's not up to ANYONE but YOU!

No one is going to do this for you, so that means...You have to do it for yourself!

Take care everyone, I hope this post helps open your eyes to your greater potential.


Sincerely,




Nathan Luis Steinke
Owner/Composer/Publisher
www.liftedCREATION.com

P.S. I am happy to announce I have been approved as a WRITER / PUBLISHER at the ASCAP. Took only 4 days. Cost 70$ for life. I wish you all the best. There is now a TON of work to redo and believe me I will be registering each and every clip of music I made and every clip I make.

Think about your future. Aren't you tired of your spouse asking when the "music business" is going to kick in? Well. THIS IS IT!

This is how you START.
 
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Thanks again for your efforts Nathan, and congrats for being a publisher now! There's a question I'd like to ask. Aside from convenience, are there any heavy reasons to use your local PRO (for example, here in Finland we only have one called Teosto) instead of choosing one that resides in a different country, say UK or USA for instance?
 
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