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Just got an email... CD BABY ALPHA assumes my publishing?

Seems to me looking from outside, when you agreed for them to distribute your work via Pro, you entered into a subpublishing deal with them.

The advantages of subpublishing is that you have a third party looking out for your plays via radio, tv, film, ect...

ASCAP BMI are notorious for missing music play especially in foreign markets. So your subpublisher is looking at that and looking for places that the major PRO's don't even know where to look.

In the best cases it will mint you a lot of cash that would have gone unreported. In the worst case it just cost you money as you now have somebody just as a middle man.
 
According to CD Baby's website..

Isn’t it enough to just register with ASCAP or BMI?
No, ASCAP and BMI collect performance royalties ONLY. CD Baby will affiliate you with one of those Performing Rights Organizations for that purpose, but if you’re relying solely on ASCAP or BMI, you may be missing out on a big chunk of other publishing revenue — including mechanical royalties for global streams and international downloads.
 
Seems to me looking from outside, when you agreed for them to distribute your work via Pro, you entered into a subpublishing deal with them.

You are prob right! But after talking with ASCAP I don't HAVE to at this point in time I can actually terminate it. So now I just need to figure out if it's worth it. If they truly are a good policeman of publishing revenue or not.
 
Also, some subpublishers are starting to actively promote and place music as well. So that's another thing to consider.
 
OK yeah it was as a result from signing up for CD Baby Pro... BUT after talking with CD Baby they are unsure why this email came up NOW when I had signed up over a year ago.

Either way I at this point have a decision to make weather I need CD Baby Pro and it doesn't sound like I do since in all reality they just basically submit the music titles, and collect the royalties on behalf of me.

I can submit titles no problem and ASCAP collects. So don't see a need for Pro!
 
Correctly me if I'm wrong, but I believe ASCAP uses a "survey" system where they do not actually track individual plays of music. So if CD Baby Pro actually tracks individual plays, it could work out in your favor.
 
Correctly me if I'm wrong, but I believe ASCAP uses a "survey" system where they do not actually track individual plays of music. So if CD Baby Pro actually tracks individual plays, it could work out in your favor.
I think thats the problem with a lot of this is that I don't feel there is an actual description between either ASCAP (or the like) or CD Baby (or the like) that defines how they "count the beans".

There's a lot of marketing speak that say "we count the beans better" or "we find the beans to be counted better" but never an actual defining statement. As least from topical research.
 
Which to me brings up the question... why is "finding the beans to count" even an issue? Is there not just a singular source where cue sheets, streaming sheets etc. are submitted to? Or is that basically the root of the problem... and so places like CD Baby and TuneCore are saying we try to solve that problem more then the major ASCAPs BMIs?
 
Ryan, you've hit the nail on the head. The problem is that none of the PROs do their jobs properly, because most of the TV and streaming channels don't do theirs properly. In this day and age there is no reason that an exact play list can't be generated by every broadcaster and then the results forwards to the PRO. But that doesn't happen. It is the same with PRS. You could get loads of plays and not be represented on the days that they do the survey. There is also the issue of not all plays being equal ion sites such as Spotify. It is all a bit of a cock sandwich. It could be sorted out, but nobody has the will to make it happen.
 
... It could be sorted out, but nobody has the will to make it happen.

And why do you suppose that is? (Not being sarcastic). Is it because things have always been done this way and the current system is too ingrained? or there's no additional profit worth paying for the change ( doesn't seem likely, especially for the pros who would maybe see more or at least more accurate placements, and the production companies would have an easier time reporting)? Or are there too many different productions companies to deal with trying to get them all on the same system?

It's strange to me how some things automate easily (I.e. UPC codes for buying products in the grocery store) and other outdated systems stick around.
 
Is it because things have always been done this way and the current system is too ingrained?
Yes, that's my view. In my working life I've heard "well, we've always done it like that" so many times that I tend to filter it out. Technology is moving so fast, but the monolithic companies don't have the will to move with the times and by the time they do, everyone has been shafted. I will be fixing up a meeting with PRS to discuss such things, but I think it lies upon all of us to make our PROs start to throw their not inconsiderable weight around.
 
... I will be fixing up a meeting with PRS to discuss such things, but I think it lies upon all of us to make our PROs start to throw their not inconsiderable weight around.

I'll certainly contact BMI and let them know my opinions, but since I am barely (or not even) a blip on their radar, I'm not sure what good it will do. Unless others all do the same.

Anyway, I am more than happy to lend my voice.
 
Maybe I'm missing something, but to me it looks as if CDBaby Pro collects all the publishing fees and keeps 15% of the publishing frees for its services:

https://members.cdbaby.com/pro.aspx

and specifically

What percentage does CD Baby take?
- We take an admin fee of 15% of your collected royalties.

In the FAQ section near the end, it's relatively clear what they claim to do:

What type of royalties will I receive?
There are two main kinds of royalties we’ll collect:
  • Performance Royalties
    Performance royalties are owed anytime your song is played in a public venue. Not only does this include when you or anyone else performs your song live, but also when your recorded music is played on TV and radio.
  • Mechanical Royalties
    As an independent artist, it's nearly impossible to get paid all the mechanical royalties you're owed — unless, of course, mountains of paperwork, hundreds of unreturned emails and phone calls, and never-ending admin fees are enough to put the pep in your step each morning. Your performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.) is not responsible for collecting these kinds of royalties, so you're still missing out on mechanicals from streaming services like Spotify (worldwide), as well as mechanicals for digital sales outside of the U.S. through sites like iTunes Europe. CD Baby Pro is here to change all that; we'll make sure you get paid what you're owed.

So the way I read this page, is that CDBaby is indeed the publisher and performs the expected duties. In return they want 15% of what they collect.

I don't see anywhere that they expect to keep all of the publisher half.

Thanks for all the good comments so far - I am/was considering CDBaby Pro for an upcoming project.

Allan
 
Maybe I'm missing something, but to me it looks as if CDBaby Pro collects all the publishing fees and keeps 15% of the publishing frees for its services:

https://members.cdbaby.com/pro.aspx

and specifically

What percentage does CD Baby take?
- We take an admin fee of 15% of your collected royalties.

In the FAQ section near the end, it's relatively clear what they claim to do:

What type of royalties will I receive?
There are two main kinds of royalties we’ll collect:
  • Performance Royalties
    Performance royalties are owed anytime your song is played in a public venue. Not only does this include when you or anyone else performs your song live, but also when your recorded music is played on TV and radio.
  • Mechanical Royalties
    As an independent artist, it's nearly impossible to get paid all the mechanical royalties you're owed — unless, of course, mountains of paperwork, hundreds of unreturned emails and phone calls, and never-ending admin fees are enough to put the pep in your step each morning. Your performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.) is not responsible for collecting these kinds of royalties, so you're still missing out on mechanicals from streaming services like Spotify (worldwide), as well as mechanicals for digital sales outside of the U.S. through sites like iTunes Europe. CD Baby Pro is here to change all that; we'll make sure you get paid what you're owed.

So the way I read this page, is that CDBaby is indeed the publisher and performs the expected duties. In return they want 15% of what they collect.

I don't see anywhere that they expect to keep all of the publisher half.

Thanks for all the good comments so far - I am/was considering CDBaby Pro for an upcoming project.

Allan

Yes that is correct.

What has been the issue in my case was that I signed up for CDBaby Pro in July of 2014 and for some reason they are just now passing on the agreement to ASCAP. So that's why I brought this up because I assumed the administration of the publishing took over shortly after I signed up. So when I saw something come up NOW well over a year later it made me raise my eyebrows.
 
Ryan - thank you for clarifying. I read your initial post as if CDBaby were keeping 100% of the publishers share, not "just" the 15%.
 
Ryan - thank you for clarifying. I read your initial post as if CDBaby were keeping 100% of the publishers share, not "just" the 15%.
The way you read the first post was the way I read the first email that I received from them so your confusion was my same confusion until I got them on the phone.
 
I am/was considering CDBaby Pro for an upcoming project.
Either way I at this point have a decision to make weather I need CD Baby Pro
Just curious if you guys went with (or continued to go with) CD Baby Pro. I am a nobody (yet!) thinking about putting my first year of compositional experiments for sale somehow (spent $,$$$ on gear and sample libraries--going to convince the missus it was worthwhile by selling ten or fifteen albums online :2thumbs:). I'm not affiliated with a PRO yet. CD Baby seems like a nice solution to get my meager offerings out there in a relatively convenient way. If it'll cost only 15% of total royalties (actually, from reading their website today, it looks like 9% of digital revenues and $4 per physical album order), then it seems like a decent trade-off, but not if it murders my future earning potential. Any advice? Thanks!
 
Just curious if you guys went with (or continued to go with) CD Baby Pro. I am a nobody (yet!) thinking about putting my first year of compositional experiments for sale somehow (spent $,$$$ on gear and sample libraries--going to convince the missus it was worthwhile by selling ten or fifteen albums online :2thumbs:). I'm not affiliated with a PRO yet. CD Baby seems like a nice solution to get my meager offerings out there in a relatively convenient way. If it'll cost only 15% of total royalties (actually, from reading their website today, it looks like 9% of digital revenues and $4 per physical album order), then it seems like a decent trade-off, but not if it murders my future earning potential. Any advice? Thanks!
It does what's advertised, I'm not in love or hate it. It's a necessary thing.

Wish you could just upload music to iTunes and Spotify, ZERO need for a middle man in these tech days but whatever.
 
It all comes down to how much money you are making. If you aren't making much money, you do not have much to worry about. If you are making a lot of money, you should be asking questions about what they are actually doing to earn that 15% of your royalties.
 
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