So how do you track all the possible uses of your original works ? We ’ ve all been working on that for a few decades now … but yes , there are a few ways to potentially track usages .
Most of the work will be done via your performing rights society by collecting those cue sheets the shows are supposed to send them . But again , the PROs cannot catch everything . Beyond that , rights owners do it the oldfashioned way : lots and lots of phone calls . I ’ m told that many publishing companies spend a lot of time skimming through shows or channels with which they ’ ve secured deals to try to detect uses , and then verify the cue sheet logging with the PRO ’ s . As you can imagine , this is extremely time-consuming . If you don ’ t know how and when your works are used , and don ’ t have a staff to manually track them , it makes collecting far more difficult .
The only turnkey service I have read about is called TuneSat , and it claims to track all possible uses of your works on network and cable TV . However , I have seen multiple posts in music forums claiming it ’ s not quite that good . In fact , one post I read actually claimed their PRO showed more uses than TuneSat . But since their free account allows up to 50 songs to be tracked , it ’ s worth a try . ( Full disclosure : we signed up for our own free account over a year ago , but have not seen any uses logged .)
At the very least , a publisher should accurately track every contract or agreement involving their catalog , so potential uses can be monitored . This info also becomes very important should you enter into an exclusive publishing deal . Those works will probably need to be withdrawn from any non-exclusive services .
Long story short , the work is not over when the contract is signed . You ’ ll need to track those uses to be sure when it happens , the checks end up in your mailbox .
In Conclusion //
I hope you ’ ve gotten a lot out of this series , and that you ’ re a smarter and savvier in your business dealings because of it . My goal in doing this series was to help some talented people keep pursuing their musical goals . Hopefully , I ’ ve helped at least a few of you . Surprisingly , it ’ s been more fun than I originally thought to pull this together , and I thank Kiki and the passionate staff of ION Indie Magazine the opportunity to share with you .
Unfortunately , it ’ s time to part ways . This cruel mistress we call the music business has claimed another casualty , and this time it ’ s me .
As life often does , it takes you in directions you never could have predicted . When I graduated high school , I was on my way to the U . S . Military Academy at West Point to be an electrical engineer ( let ’ s just say that didn ’ t work out and leave it at that ). A year later , I transferred to my third university and began what I called “ The Pursuit ,” which was as a studio engineer .
After a few years in dark smoky rooms not seeing daylight for days at a time , I diverted into working at record labels--majors at first , then on to form an independent label .
A decade ago , I launched my first software product ; last year , my second . In between all that , I was a professional live sound engineer for 12 years , in addition to being a college instructor .
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