Royalties and how they work

[Channing1969]

Just curious but how do royalties work? I know it might be a really dumb question. Does a band/musician get royalties EVERYTIME their song gets played on the radio across the country/world? Commercial/Satellite, etc? I've never understood this and again, maybe I should know the answer but I jocked, I never signed checks or even thought about asking the question. I know bands will beat down the door to get their stuff played, but is it becuse they want the public to hear their stuff in hopes of the CD being sold or because the more their music is played, the more $$$ they make? I always thought radio was an outlet for artists to show off their talents and they didn't get royalties because radio is free advertising, so to speak. Again, it might be a stupid question and I can't beieve I am even asking it.

 

[longtimelistener]

There are no stupid questions; only stupid answers. I hope this isn't one of them.

Artists don't get royalties from radio play; composers do. When I was in music radio way back when, every couple of years we would have to log the song title & writer(s) of everything the station played for a week. I assume this was the royalty version of keeping an ARB diary. The radio station paid annual fees to ASCAP & BMI that were supposedly passed along to the composers.

I can't remember the $$$, but I do recall that Paul Anka used to get a nice check every year because he wrote the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show theme.

 

[little1]

LTL pretty much nailed it-
ASCAP and BMI take those music logs and, just as Arbitron projects out ratings from a small sample, project out theoretical %'s of airplay.Then it's a case of divide the big pot of money into smaller pots...

 

[little1]

I can't remember the $$$, but I do recall that Paul Anka used to get a nice check every year because he wrote the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show theme.

And if you ask Mr Google, he says Anka's been quoted as saying he and Johnny split 200 bucks every time the show aired- (Carson's listed as a co-composer)
5 nights a week, 52 weeks a year back in the day...

 

[Andyf101]

There is however, an exception granted to non-comm stations like college radio, etc. Those types of stations usually don't compile lists for the respective agencies. These stations usually pay a flat rate to said organizations.

Andy

 

[grantchester]

I filled out the BMI logs several times, before learning the money went to the publisher and songwriter, and not the performer. Commerical radio stations pay a percentage of gross revenues for the right to play the tunes.
The management was always blasee about sending in the lists; I knew some artists, and made a point of writing down everything we played.
One time, we had a well-known Texas musician doing a regular show at a station I worked at. Come BMI period, he played everything he ever wrote, and everything in the catalog of his publishing company. A few months later, he had the money to get the tour bus fixed and back on the road!

 

[Channing1969]

Thanks guys, your answers have educated me a bit. I have another question, I might know the answer to this one though. When I was working in Tulsa, we couldn't use an artist's music in a commercial spot (as a music bed) unless the commercial was promoting said band. Why is that? Is it because if we used a bands music, they (the band whos music we are using) SHOULD get paid something since it is being used for an advertiser to make a profit? Another question, kind of along the same lines....when I was doing "The Metal Shop", I looped Pantera music and used it as my music bed, should someone have made money off that? Vinnie or Dime never said a word to me about it, they were happy to hear it actually.

 

[little1]

You're talking a different sort of rights there- 'synchroniszation' rights. i.e. syncing the music to a voiceover...
And it's a whole different organization that controls those rights and the ability to use a piece of music in a spot- ascap and bmi have nothing do do with THOSE rights.

IIRC it's the Harry Fox agency on NYC that is the clearinghouse- and what rights they don't control the know who does- and generally you can license either a performance or the rights to the song.

Your pantera example isn't 'sync' rights because it wasn't a commercial- but if you were to use Pantera in a spot, you'd have to get the rights from the Fox agency- then they can tell you that for XX thousand dollars you can buy teh rights to use Cowboys from Hell itself, or for just X dollars you can use the song, but not the Pantera version. That's why you hear the odd cover version on TV or in a movie- they got the rights to use the song, but not the rights to the particular version...

But yeah, if you use a band's song in a spot to sell some product without permission, you open yourself up to major fines if you get caught...In a related note- have you ever read about how much money some songwriters got from early rap artists? Queen and David Bowie got tons from Vanilla Ice because he didn't have permission to use under pressure- same kind of deal with music in a spot- someone could try and get away with it, but the financial penalty can be HUGE if caught...

 

[lbates]

Funny how that is,becasue many years (and some still do) station have used popular music as beds for spots or promos. They still use it on talk shows as 'buffers". The fine,and usage have gotten out of hand. Another reason why radio is declining.

 

[Andyf101]

As long as a ASCAP et al licenses are in place, stations are permitted to use such music in some station promos, as that's a fair-use situation. For example, it would be within a station's right to use their library to make promos sampling what type of music they generally play.

But yeah with product ads and so forth, it can be a tricky situation.

Andy

 

[little1]

If a station is using a song in a promo, odds are they're already paying ASCAP or BMI (or sesac for the odd ones) for the right to play it...

But could you explain why you think a station using a song has contributed to the decline of radio? I'm not sure I'm getting the conenction. Randy Galloway's been using green onions for years, if not decades, as a show theme. How has that, for example, gotten out of hand?
Or can you at least give me an example of what you mean?

 

[Dr. o Fun]

Funny how that is,becasue many years (and some still do) station have used popular music as beds for spots or promos. They still use it on talk shows as 'buffers".

Bumpers.... or just good ol' 'bumper music.'

dr

 

[TheRover]

I filled out the BMI logs several times, before learning the money went to the publisher and songwriter, and not the performer. Commerical radio stations pay a percentage of gross revenues for the right to play the tunes.
The management was always blasee about sending in the lists; I knew some artists, and made a point of writing down everything we played.
One time, we had a well-known Texas musician doing a regular show at a station I worked at. Come BMI period, he played everything he ever wrote, and everything in the catalog of his publishing company. A few months later, he had the money to get the tour bus fixed and back on the road!

For further reading on Public Performance Right for Sound Recordings : Fact Sheet

http://www.futureofmusic.org/articles/pprsrfactsheet.cfm

No Royalties to Performers for Terrestrial Radio Play

Although royalties are distributed to songwriters and publishers for public performances for terrestrial radio play, this right does not extend to the performers or the sound recording copyright owner (usually the record label). So, when you hear Patsy Cline singing “Crazy” on the radio, songwriter Willie Nelson and his publisher are compensated through BMI, but the estate of Patsy Cline receives no pay for the performance. Neither do the studio musicians, backing vocalists, or the record label.

This arrangement is the result of a long-standing argument made by terrestrial broadcasters that performers and labels benefit from the free promotion received through radio play. Broadcasters contend that airplay increases album sales, which leads to compensation for performers and record labels. As a result, broadcasters have, for decades, convinced Congress that they should be exempt from paying the public performance royalty for sound recordings. But the broadcasters’ argument is steadily losing relevance, and their exempt status becomes more questionable when compared to other countries’ broad requirements for performance royalties.

Exemption in US Leaves Artists’ Money on the Table

The US is one of the few industrialized countries – if not the only one – that does not have a terrestrial broadcast performance right for sound recordings. At least 75 nations, including most European Union member states, do have a performance right. This means that foreign broadcasters flow royalties to songwriters/composers and performers. But since there is no reciprocal right in the US, foreign performance rights societies cannot distribute these royalties to American performers. This leaves tens of millions of dollars of royalties on the table annually rather than in the pockets of American artists.

 

[Lancer]

Bill O'Reilly opens his show every day with "I Love Music" by the O'Jays. I noticed he also uses a lot of good R&B like Archie Bell & The Drells "Tighten Up" when he goes to break. At least he has an ear for good music.

It's the norm for most talk show hosts to play popular tunes as bumpers. Jeff Bolton plays a lot of Steve Miller Band - always a good choice. Rush Limbaugh has played that song by the Pretenders for years as his intro.

 

[Andyf101]

Dr. Laura used "New Attitude" from Patti LaBelle.

Andy

 

[nativeatlanta]

Does Mr.Paul Anka still get royalties from My Way by Frank Sinatra being played? Paul wote that song for The Chairman of The Board.
Songwriting is the way to make the big bucks in music business. Just Burt Bachman or Neil Diamond. ;D

 

[Andyf101]

Does Mr.Paul Anka still get royalties from My Way by Frank Sinatra being played? Paul wote that song for The Chairman of The Board.
Songwriting is the way to make the big bucks in music business. Just Burt Bachman or Neil Diamond. ;D

Maybe, but your odds of a songwriting career are about as slim as your odds in a radio gig these days. It's gotten to the point that for the most part, everything sounds the same. If you really want to make some big bucks in writing, just slap together a book about human relationships. Publishers see that as a hot market right now.

Andy