A songwriters savior in the making?
Mar 8, 2021 18:28:48 GMT -6
keymod, seawell, and 2 more like this
Post by drbill on Mar 8, 2021 18:28:48 GMT -6
Sorry guys, this is a copy / paste that I wrote in a music for picture forum. But maybe, just maybe super exciting for all of us that write music. I'm in a different boat than many here, but I'm wrapping my head around this, and will be pursuing these royalties with a passion.......
Yes! www.themlc.com is their web address, and contains lots of info - much of which was a bit confusing at first glance....
Forgive the length of this. I'm still wrapping my head around it.....and I'm typing as I think it through....
So I called The MLC today. Got right through, and (in vast difference to BMI who could care less), I dealt with a wonderfully pleasant and helpful individual who spent the better part of an hour with me - as MY situation - and I'd guess many of us here - is a REALLY different situation than say a songwriter, band, artist or
may have. The person I dealt with comprehended the uniqueness of my situation, and really tried to help me get a grasp of what they could do for me.
What follows is my understanding, and I've probably only gotten "part of it" and may even have some things wrong, so please, if you feel you may have $$$ in the fray, please educate yourself and contact them yourselves.
This is a NEW form of royalty collection that is brand new and cutting edge that was formed by the US Music Modernization Act of 2018. Not understood by many as it's so new.....
I'll try to lay out the basics, but suffice it to say, this is going to be a lot of money for SOME. (Mostly publishers I'd guess)
The MLC collects "Digital Audio Mechanical Royalties". Among other things, mechanical royalties from streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. as well as downloads. From my understanding up to this point, this is DIFFERENT than neighboring rights, and is ONLY for the USofA.
BOTTOM LINE : The MLC ONLY distributes to Publishers - not writers. That's right. Unlike BMI or ASCAP who collect and distribute (essentially) 50/50 with publishers and writers, The MLC will only distribute to publishers. Publishers will have the responsibility of distributing to writers. Or not.
Because......
If you like me, have contracts that were in place LOOOOONG before the MMA went into effect, then you are at the mercy of a contract that couldn't really envision what the future was to bring....
Why is that? Well, because unless your publishing contract has something in it regarding the MLC distribution (which was only just formed recently - since 2018), then your contract quite possibly (in my case, almost certainly) has a big hole in it. A hole that might very well leave you with nothing. The reality of what you get will be up to your publisher, and I suspect that many writer/publisher "good relationships" may be in jeopardy shortly as there is a boatload of money at stake it seems.
I'm currently in the process of contacting my publishers and publisher representatives to see what their take is on this. I suggest once you fully understand the situation and have done your due diligence in understanding these situations, you do the same - contact your publishers!!! Just because a contract from 20 years ago didn't envision the future accurately, that does not mean you should not be treated fairly. But without firm wording allowing for future types of royalties (I don't think I have anything like this in any of my contracts) - you're going to be at the mercy of lawyers and publishers.
Virtually all of my publishing contracts state that writer/publishing royalties will be administratied by (in my case) BMI, with the writers share being sent directly to me via BMI, and the publishing share being sent to my publishers. There is verbiage in most of my contracts stating that no monies will ever be paid out to the writer by the publisher other than up front buy out monies for the publishing and master ownership. (Standard boilerplate music library contracts)
Well guess what : MLC distributes ALL of the publishing monies (both writers and publishers) to the publisher. It's up to the writer and their contract to secure those monies from the publisher. That makes many contracts ineffective in pursuing writers royalties via MLC because the vast majority (OK, I think ALL) of my contracts - and perhaps yours - pre-date this form of royalty distribution.
Most of my music was written, destined and contractually signed over for "audio for VISUAL" use, and as such, the performance royalties were destined for BMI. There was never an intention for it to be streamed digitally and for a Digital Mechanical Royalty to be created. And yet, there are 5000 of my songs registered, and waiting to collect these exact royalties. Fortunately or Unfortunately, these thousands of pieces are now being streamed in significant numbers on Spotify, Apple Music, et al. And so far, virtually none of the money those publishers has made its way back to me. Yet.
Streaming is HUGE business. HUGE. The MLD is stating that they have collected $424Million from digital service providers.
I'm 110% absolutely sure much of my performances are falling thru the cracks, but for SURE, last quarter I had close to 1.4M internet audio streaming performances, and my payout was $35.03. LOL. Pennies....
Well...not even pennies - actually around $0.000025 per stream.
That's why the Music Modernization Act was put into place, and that's what The MLC is out to help remedy.
The problem being - it's going to have to come thru your publisher UNLESS :
you
own / publish
your
own
content
Something I've been pushing towards and rallying around for years. The money rolls toward the OWNERS of the music, the copyright, and the recording. If you don't own all of these, your ability to create money from creative works is hindered.
So.....out of the 5000+ registered works I currently have with The MLC, I'm pretty sure that about 90+ % of them are registered by publishers that "re-titled" my works, and those publishers only own their own retitled titles - not the writers, not the master rights (recording) not the original title. However I still hold the writers royalties (although my contracts do not currently allow for MLC royalties to be distributed to me.)
So.... I am at the good graces of my publishers. LOL. I'm pretty sure I know how that is going to go. They will feign ignorance, except they have already registered hundreds to thousands of my titles already.... Right....
So, let's keep this thread going.
This just MIGHT be a saving grace for composers and songwriters if we figure out how to deal with things in our favor.
Anyone else with experience here? John? @johnkenn These guys are headed in NVille I think. Might be worth dropping in?
Yes! www.themlc.com is their web address, and contains lots of info - much of which was a bit confusing at first glance....
Forgive the length of this. I'm still wrapping my head around it.....and I'm typing as I think it through....
So I called The MLC today. Got right through, and (in vast difference to BMI who could care less), I dealt with a wonderfully pleasant and helpful individual who spent the better part of an hour with me - as MY situation - and I'd guess many of us here - is a REALLY different situation than say a songwriter, band, artist or
may have. The person I dealt with comprehended the uniqueness of my situation, and really tried to help me get a grasp of what they could do for me.What follows is my understanding, and I've probably only gotten "part of it" and may even have some things wrong, so please, if you feel you may have $$$ in the fray, please educate yourself and contact them yourselves.
This is a NEW form of royalty collection that is brand new and cutting edge that was formed by the US Music Modernization Act of 2018. Not understood by many as it's so new.....
I'll try to lay out the basics, but suffice it to say, this is going to be a lot of money for SOME. (Mostly publishers I'd guess)
The MLC collects "Digital Audio Mechanical Royalties". Among other things, mechanical royalties from streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. as well as downloads. From my understanding up to this point, this is DIFFERENT than neighboring rights, and is ONLY for the USofA.
BOTTOM LINE : The MLC ONLY distributes to Publishers - not writers. That's right. Unlike BMI or ASCAP who collect and distribute (essentially) 50/50 with publishers and writers, The MLC will only distribute to publishers. Publishers will have the responsibility of distributing to writers. Or not.
Because......
If you like me, have contracts that were in place LOOOOONG before the MMA went into effect, then you are at the mercy of a contract that couldn't really envision what the future was to bring....
Why is that? Well, because unless your publishing contract has something in it regarding the MLC distribution (which was only just formed recently - since 2018), then your contract quite possibly (in my case, almost certainly) has a big hole in it. A hole that might very well leave you with nothing. The reality of what you get will be up to your publisher, and I suspect that many writer/publisher "good relationships" may be in jeopardy shortly as there is a boatload of money at stake it seems.
I'm currently in the process of contacting my publishers and publisher representatives to see what their take is on this. I suggest once you fully understand the situation and have done your due diligence in understanding these situations, you do the same - contact your publishers!!! Just because a contract from 20 years ago didn't envision the future accurately, that does not mean you should not be treated fairly. But without firm wording allowing for future types of royalties (I don't think I have anything like this in any of my contracts) - you're going to be at the mercy of lawyers and publishers.
Virtually all of my publishing contracts state that writer/publishing royalties will be administratied by (in my case) BMI, with the writers share being sent directly to me via BMI, and the publishing share being sent to my publishers. There is verbiage in most of my contracts stating that no monies will ever be paid out to the writer by the publisher other than up front buy out monies for the publishing and master ownership. (Standard boilerplate music library contracts)
Well guess what : MLC distributes ALL of the publishing monies (both writers and publishers) to the publisher. It's up to the writer and their contract to secure those monies from the publisher. That makes many contracts ineffective in pursuing writers royalties via MLC because the vast majority (OK, I think ALL) of my contracts - and perhaps yours - pre-date this form of royalty distribution.
Most of my music was written, destined and contractually signed over for "audio for VISUAL" use, and as such, the performance royalties were destined for BMI. There was never an intention for it to be streamed digitally and for a Digital Mechanical Royalty to be created. And yet, there are 5000 of my songs registered, and waiting to collect these exact royalties. Fortunately or Unfortunately, these thousands of pieces are now being streamed in significant numbers on Spotify, Apple Music, et al. And so far, virtually none of the money those publishers has made its way back to me. Yet.
Streaming is HUGE business. HUGE. The MLD is stating that they have collected $424Million from digital service providers.
I'm 110% absolutely sure much of my performances are falling thru the cracks, but for SURE, last quarter I had close to 1.4M internet audio streaming performances, and my payout was $35.03. LOL. Pennies....
Well...not even pennies - actually around $0.000025 per stream.
That's why the Music Modernization Act was put into place, and that's what The MLC is out to help remedy.
The problem being - it's going to have to come thru your publisher UNLESS :
you
own / publish
your
own
content
Something I've been pushing towards and rallying around for years. The money rolls toward the OWNERS of the music, the copyright, and the recording. If you don't own all of these, your ability to create money from creative works is hindered.
So.....out of the 5000+ registered works I currently have with The MLC, I'm pretty sure that about 90+ % of them are registered by publishers that "re-titled" my works, and those publishers only own their own retitled titles - not the writers, not the master rights (recording) not the original title. However I still hold the writers royalties (although my contracts do not currently allow for MLC royalties to be distributed to me.)
So.... I am at the good graces of my publishers. LOL. I'm pretty sure I know how that is going to go. They will feign ignorance, except they have already registered hundreds to thousands of my titles already.... Right....
So, let's keep this thread going.
This just MIGHT be a saving grace for composers and songwriters if we figure out how to deal with things in our favor.
Anyone else with experience here? John? @johnkenn These guys are headed in NVille I think. Might be worth dropping in?
