MEDIA MARKET: Television

The television industry has Directors, Music Supervisors, Music Coordinators, Post Production Supervisors, Music Library Producers, Senior Editors, Production Managers continually looking to fill a diverse range of music needs. They are all decision makers that send out music search alerts for TV music scene placements via emails and faxes. Editorial changes, scripting revisions and last minute edits of TV executive producers necess- itate fast changes in music searches to fit scripted scenes in MOW’s (Movie of the Week), Soap Operas, Prime Time Episodic TV, Network and Cable TV Documentaries, Specials.

Producers, Directors, Music Supervisors and Publicists are key contacts to get hired and/or secure TV music placements. Various contracts can be initiated from Non-Exclusive, Exclusive, Limited Usage, Impertuity, Foreign Markets, Syndication and DVD.

The pay rate for television music ranges from low to high scale depending on your bargaining power, project budget, your past credits, talents. For existing songs, synchronization licenses are granted to the TV production company by the copyright owner (publisher) and this is negotiable. TV producers typically want to own the publishing rights.

If you are hired to score or write a song for the TV production, they will usually contract you as a "Work For Hire" so they will own the music outright. An advance payment is given and 50% of the performance royalties from airplay and 50% of the mechnaicals if it gets produced onto a aouldtrack album.

The biggest income from television music comes from themes and scores for series that play every week in weekly shows or every night in nightly shows including syndications and reruns. Every time the program airs, you would receive a perfomance royalty from either ASCAP or BMI.

The following includes all of the potential income a song or soundtrack can generate in television:

Songwriting Fee—(non Recoupable)

TV Synchronization License

Performance Royalties

Radio

Home Video

Pay TV

Network TV

Syndicated TV

Cable TV

Foreign TV

Sheet Music Royalty

Mechanical Royaties

Single

Foreign Single

Foreign CD

The success of TV shows featuring popular contemporary music and youth-market films than spawn million-seller soundtrack albums have combined to leave no doubt among TV producers of the commercial power of contemporary music. That awareness has prompted them to hire or con- tract on a project basis music coordinators and music supervisors with record label and music publishing experience to make sure they get the best contemporary composers and song writers for their projects.

There are three music categories of music for receiving income in Synchronization Royalties in Television:

1..Underscore Music: Composing underscores (background music) is an art to understanding how grooves and harmony evoke certain emotions and moods that can be enhanced with dialogue, sound effects and compelling art from the director of photography.

2..Source Music: music used in recognized sources in TV scenes-- Radio, Stereo, Jukebox, TV, Elevator, CD Player, Intercom, etc)

3..Feature Music: Pre-existing songs or songs written and recorded for the TV production. Includes songs with vocal tracks in a prominent scene, bands performing songs and songs that are featured over the intro or ending credits.

Below is a listing of Music Media Markets that are expanding internationally with new technology driven deliveries and niche market networking:

M U S I C M E D I A M A R K E T S

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