Music in Film – Why Every Filmmaker Should Own Their Music Score

Owning music in film is not a new concept but for decades has eluded most indie filmmakers. While generating millions in music publishing royalties for big studios like Disney, Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures, the independent filmmaker is still unaware of the asset that sits inside their film.When a smaller budget film has limited resources to pay a full composer fee, the composer usually negotiates and retains 100% of the music publishing. The filmmaker almost always agrees because he or she does not understand what they are giving up. What they are giving up is called a “Performance Royalty!” When a film is shown in theatres overseas or on television, the score generates a payment (Performance Royalty) per broadcast. If an underscore has fifty music cues, that is fifty individual payments per broadcast. Payments are weighed based on the duration and use of the cue, overseas box office attendance and advertising dollars that flow into global television stations. Over time the score can significantly add to the filmmakers and investors bottom line.For those of you who may be wondering if the composer gets a fair shake, let me explain some music-publishing math: When a music cue earns a dollar, 50 cents is paid to the composer and 50 cents to the music publisher. My suggestion is the filmmaker co- publishes the film score and retains 25 cents on the dollar. The composer gets 75 cents on the dollar plus his production fee and a screen credit (which is free advertisement worldwide to thousands of viewers). That is a very fair deal!As far as setting up your music publishing company, it is fairly easy. Any seasoned music supervisor will know how to set up publishing companies with BMI, ASCAP and SESAC to collect the filmmakers share of the score performance payments every time the film plays anywhere in the world. If you make several films you could wind up owning a few hundred pieces of music. If you still need convincing that you should own your film score, go and listen to the “Jaws” theme and think about how many times that has been played over the years. What about “Gonna Fly Now” from Rocky? These were films that were long shots. Just think, the publishing royalties alone from those two pieces of music could finance your independent film!