More "Lack of Knowledge" questions

[rmissbrook]

When a singer (like JB) sings a song not written by themselves (like Southern Cross or BEG) do they pay a royalty for using the song? If so, who keeps track? Do they have to get permission? How does that all work?

How do the ear pieces that muscian use work? Why do they use them? I gather they are to help the muscians hear better but just how.

[TommyBahama]

i found this to explain it better

Those are "in-ear" monitors. A monitor is a stage "speaker" used by the performer to hear themselves, or other instruments in the band. With an "in-ear" monitor, its just like an ear-bud from your I-pod, but you are receiving a feed of sound from the stage that is exactly what you want.. your voice, or whatever. On stage, it is very difficult to hear what is coming out of the speakers that are going out to the audience, because you are behind them, and the stage volume can be very loud. Singers/Instrumentalist, need to be able to hear themselves in order to sing/play properly, in tune etc.. that's why they use monitors.
Stage speakers have a tendency to 'feedback" .. you know that occasional loud screeching sound you hear from a sound system, thats because the monitor speaker and microphone sort of cross sound paths together. With "in-ear" monitors, this can't happen. They are also usually wireless.. which also prevents cord tripping, when a performer is dancing around.

[Marnin Grita Guy]

ASCAP receives payment for public performances of songs and compositions by negotiating license fees with the users of music (radio, TV, cable, bars, clubs, restaurants, shopping malls, concert halls and promoters, web sites, airlines, orchestras, etc.) and distributing these monies to members whose works were performed.

ASCAP pays directly and fairly. ASCAP is guided by a "follow the dollar" principle in the design of its payment system. In other words, the money collected from television stations is paid out to members for performances of their works on television; the money collected from radio stations is paid out for radio performances, and so on. ASCAP tracks music use on these and other media and live venues to determine which music has been performed, and the appropriate writers and publishers to be paid.

The value of each performance is determined by several factors, among them the amount of license fees collected in a medium (television, cable, radio, etc.), the type of performance (visual vocal, background music, theme song, jingle, etc.) and the economic significance of the licensee (how much a station pays us).

There are billions of performances licensed by ASCAP each year. ASCAP is committed to paying our members for these performances fairly, accurately and efficiently. ASCAP collects and distributes more money in performance royalty income than any other organization and our payment system is by far the fairest and most objective in the U.S.

Because ASCAP is owned and governed by its members, we have a strong commitment to maximizing payments to members. In most situations, you will find that ASCAP pays more than our competitors over the life of a copyright.

As a condition of ASCAP membership, all writer and publisher members agree that, even in work-for-hire situations, the writer and not the employer will be paid the writer's share of ASCAP performing rights royalties. In addition, ASCAP's Articles of Association provide that, with only very limited exceptions unrelated to work-for-hire situations, writer's royalties "shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of." Hence, subject only to those very limited exceptions, ASCAP will not honor an irrevocable assignment of writer's royalties but will, notwithstanding such an assignment, pay writer's royalties only and directly to the writer member-in-interest.

We hope this information will help you to understand the overall design of the ASCAP payment system and the many factors that go into calculating how much a particular performance is worth, as it explains the steps from performance to royalty check.

[rmissbrook]

Thank you both. Your explanations are very concise and helpful. Just a couple of more questions though.

Does the person with the ear monitor, ie Jimmy, hear just himself or can he hear the whole band? I looked at an explanation in Wikipedia and it sounds like the person can choose who or what he hears.

And as for ASCAP, how on earth do they keep track of all the billions of uses of the music, etc. For example, Jimmy shows up unannounced at a Margaritaville at 2:00 in the morning and does Southern Cross. How does ASCAP know that the song was used? Do they care? Or are this miscellaneous uses pre-calculated in some way?

[Snowparrot]

I don't think live performances are included... don't see it mentioned in MGG's ASCAP summary.

[Marnin Grita Guy]

Live performances are included. These are paid by the owner or promoter. Jukeboxes have a flat rate charged to the

business they are located in if they are getting the money from it, If the company that owns the jukebox gets the profit

from it then they pay ASCAP. It is better to pay and not lie than get caught and heavily fined. At least thats how it was

when I was managing a nightclub.

[TommyBahama]

then my question,,,,,how do local cover bands get away with it.......

[Marnin Grita Guy]

then my question,,,,,how do local cover bands get away with it.......

Live performances are included. These are paid by the owner or promoter. Jukeboxes have a flat rate charged to the

business they are located in if they are getting the money from it, If the company that owns the jukebox gets the profit

from it then they pay ASCAP. It is better to pay and not lie than get caught and heavily fined. At least thats how it was

when I was managing a nightclub.