I have had a rough week.. After feeling exhausted, rehabbing from knee surgery and traveling, my back (or rather hip flexor) decided it had enough and started to spasm, so bad that I could not move or be left alone. Ever had that happen? It is THE WORST! Luckily I have a network, a community of friends and family that took me to the doctors and took care of me. What does this have to do with Pay to Pitch you ask? Well the key words are "Network" & "Community” There are many opinions on the pay to pitch model, some are really against it, even some music supervisors. It is not truly how the business works, but it CAN work if you understand it and do it right. Most of my connections to publishers and supes have been formed through the pay to pitch model. In this blog I am going to give you what has worked for me, and my opinion on the topic. I am not going to name any company names. If you would like to ask me about my experience with certain companies please feel free to contact me. When I was first starting out, I had no connections. ZERO. I had no idea where to start. I was learning about song writing in Nashville, taking workshops, writing for myself and didn't know much about the Licensing world. So for me, I started out with the Pay to Pitch model. These guys had the contacts right?? I would get on the fast track, right?? Well, it depends. Some places did me know good because I didn't have the knowledge to pitch strategically & some of the listings were bogus. So here are some things you should look for in a Pay to Pitch model: What you DO want: Cheap Submission Fees Legitimate Listings Forums Communication with successful members Yearly conferences where you can meet with publishers/supervisors posting the listings Feedback for why the songs were not chosen or forwarded Timely response to listing submissions Training/blogs/ ability to meet collaborators Well crafted listing describing in detail what is needed, including song examples What you DO NOT want: Sites that promote contests as their attractor Extra fees tagged onto submissions (submission fee, + site fee + song review fee) Bells & Whistles like crowd & peer reviews, song popularity tracking etc. Forums are great ways to communicate with members, see if the site is legit, ask if songwriters are getting placements & deals etc. Once you determine that songwriters have had success, you can they try submitting to a few listings. Be sure that your songs are targeted for the listing. The closer you are to the listing description, the better the chances you have for it getting sent on to the listing party. Make sure your songs are broadcast quality, have universal lyrics and are structured for Film&TV. (See my previous blogs for more info) This is key to your success with the pay to pitch model. Sending songs in Willy Nilly in to any listing that sounds just a bit close to your song, will waste your money and your time. Ideally, the pay to pitch company hosts yearly conferences either for free with membership or at a fee. This is where the magic happens. Let's say you get a song sent on from one of the pay to pitch listings. This person contacts you wanting your song, you say "HELL YEAH" (after checking the deal) . Next you exchange some emails and send a few more songs, then you arrange to meet at the conference. BOOM! This person now knows you and will be contacting you directly when they want new songs. Also on forums and at these conferences you meet other like-minded songwriters, you collaborate, you submit, you get introduced to their contacts, you get more songs signed and more songs placed! Of course you can make these connections via conferences alone as well as other methods that I will talk about in my next blog. But you want to try and choose smaller conferences where you can establish relationships directly with the people who can place your music. Be sure that the conferences have pitching sessions. Most conferences are not free, can take time out of your schedule, and you may only be able to afford one a year. Paying to Pitch a song , to the right listing, can jumpstart these connections for you. Once you have the connections then you can wean yourself off of Pay to Pitch model or be more selective Sites that promote bells & whistles like contests, crowd reviews etc., are just a waste of your money and a time sink IMO. If I want a review of a song for a listing, I can post it on a forum, post the listing as well, and ask for feedback, all for free. I don't care about a popularity contest, I care if it is right for the listing. Contests are fun, and you can win some stuff, but if it is associated with a pay to pitch site, I feel like that method is just trying to persuade you to submit and to keep submitting to listings that may not be legit and your song goes into the abyss never to be heard from again. My early placements have initially come from getting songs forwarded from pay to pitch listings. After signing the songs and establishing relationships with the publishers, I was able to start sending them songs directly. So don't poo poo pay to pitch. It was a vehicle for me to get this ball rolling and it can be for you if you do it right! Until Next Time!- Michelle Register for my Licensing workshop on Dec 5th in Maryland!: Licensing Workshop - Michelle is a multi award winning songwriter with placements in Reign, The Fosters, Benched, Longmire, American Chopper, The Hustlers, GearHeads (Theme song) and more
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HI Everyone! In this episode, I want to discuss PROs and Copyright because the PRO’s get you your money and the copyright entitles you sell your intellectual property. PRO’s PRO’s, as you know, are Performance Royalty Organizations. They perform the following function: o Collect monies from performances of your songs o Pay you at specific rate determined by the PRO and the placement type Each one has their methods for calculating this rate. They come out to about the same, except in vocal placements. BMI pays more if you have a song with vocals placed on a show. Here is a blog talking about the PRO differences: http://blog.songtrust.com/songwriting-tips/pros-whats-the-difference/ When do I register my songs with a PRO? You do not have to register your songs right away. I usually wait to see where I will be signing the songs. Note: All publishers and music libraries will register your song with your info and theirs and a unique identifier so that they will get paid their share of royalties. If I sign a deal that is exclusive in perpetuity (See episode 8 with Guest writer Casey Hurowitz for deal types), then I do not have to register the song at all. The publisher or library will do that since they now own the song. If I sign a non-exclusive deal or co-publishing deal, I will register the songs separately, because I can still pitch that song directly to opportunities and bypass a publisher. If my song is used, then it will ensure I get paid all the royalties the song earns. Once a song is placed in film or TV, the network sends in what are called “Cue sheets” to the PRO’s. A Cue sheet lists the show, type of placement (Instrumental, vocal), length and number of times used. This determines the pay rate. You will usually get a higher rate of pay for the following types of placements: Theme Opening credits Opening scene Ending credits Understanding Copyright I get a lot of questions on whether a song needs to be registered with the Copyright Office. The minute that the song is in a fixed format, written on a fixed media, or even recorded on your iPhone it has been copyrighted. It is now your intellectual property and you own it. But to protect that copyright is another thing. One way to do this is to send a certified letter to yourself and leave it un-opened. This is called the Poor Man’s Copyright and may not hold up in a court of law. The sole purpose in registering your copyright is to have official protection of your intellectual property. While it is a good idea to register your copyright with the Copyright office, you have to have a pretty high amount of damages to file a claim. But in the case that someone does challenge you, having the evidence of the official registration may be enough to prove the song is yours. You can register with the US copyright office here: via http://copyright.gov/eco/ Copyright Registration form types: Form PA: Music and Lyrics only Form SR: Sound recording only Note: Under the form SR, you can also register the copyright for the Music and Lyrics (Form PA). Here is a downloadable pdf by the copyright office explaining the differences in copyrightable material and how you can register your work: http://copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf Warning: There are many services out there that say they will register the copyright for you; however they charge a more exorbitant fee (three or 4 times the actual cost) and this is something you can simply do yourself. Registering a song (or a collection of songs) and the sound recording master (if you own the recording) just costs $35! When should you register the copyright? I register a copyright once I know where the song is going to be signed. Do not register:
Register:
I will also wait until I have a collection of songs with the same writers and then register them (remember $35 bucks per song OR Collection). I typically register about twice a year. Exploit your copyright First, exploit is a negative word, and I learned at the Songwriting and Music Business conference that we should really be saying “ Employ” your copyright. Because that is what it really is, we are looking to sell or license our Intellectual property. So that will actually be next week’s topic. How does employing your copyright for your song make money? Well, that is enough to stuff your brain for now. Stay tuned for next week’s continuation on Show Me the Money where I will discuss the types of ways your song can make money! Have a great weekend! References: Copyright information http://copyright.gov/eco/ http://copyright.gov/circs/circ56a.pdf PRO information http://blog.songtrust.com/songwriting-tips/pros-whats-the-difference/ |
AuthorMichelle Lockey is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter sharing the knowledge she has learned over the years writing for Film & TV. Like what you are reading? Please Sign up to receive a FREE Music Licensing checklist! 10 Steps to Sync Success
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