Recording Rap
Why Record Union?
The Recording Musicians Meeting held at Morrisons Cafeteria on September 12 was a great success for all who attended. The meeting gave attending musicians a chance to voice their gripes about working in the recording industry and gave the Local a chance to explain what we are doing to make things better.
The bottom line is, you never know where your recording might end up, so it pays to sign a contract to protect yourself.
So what CAN happen?
Say you record a jingle...for starters, jingles run in 13-week cycles, so if it continues to play, you receive a check every 13 weeks. And that jingle could be used in a movie or on a record, resulting in new use payments. Members of KC and the Sunshine Band are still making money on things they did 20 years ago.
Re-use too!
That movie you played for could come out in videocassette or be shown on TV. One band made 4-figures sidelining in a movie. The next year, they received a check in the mid-3 figures when the movie went to videocassette. Then the movie went to pay TV...Cable TV...free TV...get the idea? $24 million was distributed in re-use last year; that’s 1-3% of the gross annually.
And Pension too?
Don’t forget that when contracts are filed, you can get also Pension contributions, and the return can be as high as 49%. See the articles on the pension fund in this and past issues of South Florida Musician.
What can YOU do?
It’s NOT a lost cause...you do not have to worry about "blowing the gig." You can place an anonymous call to the Local to check on recording dates, and let us do what we can to make sure that contracts are filed and that you get the most money that you can while still protecting the gig. The producer thinks there’s no budget to record union? There are many different categories of scales, and we may be able to find something that will work. Some scales are as low as $25/hour! The Limited Pressings rates have no budget restrictions for the producer, and the Low Budget category has the added bonus of participation in the Special Payments Fund (for more information on the SPF, see the Summer 1997 South Florida Musician).
Is the producer worried about committing to an agreement? They can sign a special letter that only applies to that one job. Or (with an indemnification letter) the recording studio can become signatory. Even the leader can sign an agreement enabling pension contributions to be made. It can be easier than they think.
How do I know if I should get a check?
Rest assured that if your recording is reused or picked up for new use, you will get the money due to you. The AFM has a department devoted exclusively to monitoring for new- and re-use. They continuously audit to check for payments and money due.
Changes will not happen overnight, but if enough musicians make an effort to see that work is done under AFM contracts, changes will happen. And we will all be winners.
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