In the studio

[wineaux]

As some of you know from elsewhere, I am in the midst of my first-ever recording project, putting together 10 songs I wrote in a full demo that I will use to pitch to others. The instrument work is about done and I'll be recording the final vocals in a few weeks in Kentucky.

I went back and forth on which bass to use but finally settled on my Kay, strung up with guts and Garbos. In recording and playing back it had more of the thump I was looking for than my carved German.

I'll post some sound files when we wrap up.

(By the way, I already have a nibble on one song. Given the market for bluegrass projects, if all goes well, I could soon be collecting tens of dollars in royalties!)

[M Ramsey]

Good for you, Dave. Every once in a while I'll get one of those checks from BMI. I'm hoping to get a couple of songs cut by heroes in the next month or so, myself.

Aaron has several of my/our songs on his upcoming recording as well.

Sometimes the checks come and there's enough to go out and buy yourself a big, fine steak. Sometimes it's just a big burger.

With the recent changes in radio royalities that may/will/won't be paid in the near future, I might have to start buying tacos.

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by M Ramsey

With the recent changes in radio royalities that may/will/won't be paid in the near future, I might have to start buying tacos.

I thought that since virtually all of radio and internet airplay is being monitored in strict detail as required by new government regulations, that royalties were supposed to be more abundantly available to artists and writers.

I'm not an expert, but I do know that DJ's are individually responsible for uploading all info (artist, label, etc.) including time of day that they stream anything. My understanding is that it doesn't matter if the broadcaster/DJ is being paid or not. In other words, they may be doing data entry for free, no compensation at all. So when you hear your tune being played, realize the the jockey is quite likely distracted by the tedious business of data entry, so that the collection agency can count the beans.

[wineaux]

The legislation that would expand radio play royalties to performers as well as writers still has not been approved by Congress and probably won't be any time soon. (In my day job, I'm executive editor of a publication called CongressDaily, and we follow this issue pretty closely).

I'm not holding my breath that performance royalties are going to make much of a difference for most of us. Looks great on paper, but next to impossible to police in any kind of comprehensive way.

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by wineaux

Looks great on paper, but next to impossible to police in any kind of comprehensive way.

Maybe it's not on paper, but it is being policed/monitered/enforced in a very strict and comprehensible way. The entity counting the beans:

http://soundexchange.com/

[M Ramsey]

Originally Posted by MR PC

Maybe it's not on paper, but it is being policed/monitered/enforced in a very strict and comprehensible way. The entity counting the beans:

http://soundexchange.com/

Reading a little further into the Soundexchange website reveals this:

"Enter Sonicbids and its international network of independent bands and promoters. SoundExchange asked Sonicbids to crosscheck its list of members against SoundExchange’s list of artists with unclaimed royalties to find matches. Since the two groups share a commitment to advancing the interests of independent artists, both were excited when the match turned up 10,000 Sonicbids artists with unclaimed royalties totaling more than $4 million. Sonicbids Founder and CEO Panos Panay immediately emailed those artists, encouraging them to register with SoundExchange and claim their royalties. Additionally, Sonicbids volunteered it staff to be trained by SoundExchange, and is making nearly 800 phone calls to artists owed $1,000 or more, asking them to register to claim that money."

You have to be registered with Soundexchange in order to receive the royalties that they are looking for. I've known about them for a few years being involved in the IBMA, but maybe it's time for me to sign up to see if they can find ME some of this "extra" money that is out there.

Again, I ani't ornery, but just trying to objectively read what is happening. In my earlier post, I was also referencing another online article from earlier in the week on The Bluegrass Blog.

I wrote a song called The Danbury Jail. It's a fictional tune, and it was recorded by Kenny & Amanda Smith back around 2004 and released in 2005 (I think) on Rebel Records.

I allowed Becky Buller have the publishing royalties on that one, since I've known her a long time and wanted to get her to help me take care of that end of things.

A bit later, somebody reviewed a new cellphone on a blog somewhere, a friend sent me a link and there was a pic of the phone, showing it's downloading capabilities and on the screen they were listening to, you guessed it, The Danbury Jail, complete with a pic of Kenny & Amanda's Cd cover. I alerted Becky to this.

A few months later, Becky calls and says that we're going to get some royalty funds from a bunch of ringtones of The Danbury Jail. They were in being downloaded in England, near the town of Danbury.

I got a check for about $120 for ringtone downloads. The rates on that are much smaller than the royalties rates paid by terrestrial radio or satellite. After talking to Becky, she got a check for the same amount. Also, she informed me that if there were better ways of tracking those downloads, we would have gotten a BUNCH more. But the past is the past.

The song could have laid on my desk at home in paper form and brought me nothing.

[wineaux]

As Mike points out, the whole royalties thing is a conundrum. I'm leaning toward working with a publisher. Yes, it will cost me money if I'm fortunate enough to have some songs picked up, but it the long run it might pay off because the publisher has more time and connections to work on this than I do. Plus, an individual artist would have a hard time chasing down ringtone royalties.

Of course, I'm not in this for the money.

But I will sign the checks.