It is now time to start checking our PRO broadcast royalties from 2017 and a HUGE mess they have with stock music broadcast royalties. I found that my local PRO is some kind of medieval-paper institution which can track me only when the cue sheet is filled properly with my name/nick and IPI.
In a perfect world it should look like this:
- broadcaster pays royalties to the local PRO (they always pay)
- they send to local PRO properly filled cue sheets (your name/nick, IPI, track name, commercial name)
- local PRO finds you in the international IPI database
- local PRO sends money to your PRO
Correct me if I’m wrong.
But unfortunately buyers don’t fill them properly, often without IPI or even without name/nick. This means that usually foreign PRO can’t find you in the international database and they can’t transfer money to your local PRO. So yes, there is a lot of money already payed, which we have to track to receive…
@SFmusic found some kind of solution for those who are already registered in the local PROs. You can register as a publisher in the BMI or ASCAP. Those PROs are more efficient and active in chasing royalties, especially those broadcasted in the USA.
ASCAP also uses fingerprint technology (SoundMouse) to automatically track your music in (only US?) TV. BMI also tried to use some fingerprint technology but I’m not sure if it’s efficient or even if it works at all.
- What do you think about this solution? ASCAP/BMI should track more broadcasts then my PRO, especially using fingerprint technology.
- Most of their findings will be from USA - but what about the rest of the world? BTW clients from US are the biggest group of all buyers.
- Which PRO would be better: BMI or ASCAP?