How to Increase Performance Royalty Income
- Register your works - Make sure your works are registered with the Library of Congress, the PROs in each territory and/or major licensees, including subpublishers
- Get a bigger slice of the pie - Did you know that writers can negotiate with US PRO's or join an authors' society such as SACEM, which offers a 2/3 share to writers for performances?
- Record outside the USA - This is how American recording artists can most easily capitalize on neighboring rights
- Audit the system - Compare TV and foreign theatrical activity reported by PROs to synch license transactions reported by publishing and record company partners. Require synch licensees to submit cue sheet data to PROs and explore use of services such as TuneSat (SEASAC reports performance royalties based on TuneSat). Follow-up on unreported cues or underreported receipts. You may need to hire a pro auditor, especially if your publisher licenses rights direct (e.g., Sony and Wind Up license digital rights direct).
- Bet on the right rates - Consider likely exploitation in selection of PRO, since they pay different rates for any given use.
- Support performance rights - Consider testifying before congress to expand sound recording performance rights and think twice about abandoning the collectives
- If you own pre-1972 sound recordings - Notice Pandora on state copyright infringement
