Add this entry to Your Favorites | [0] Favorites [37] Comments

Please wait...

Webster defines a thief as, "one who embezzles", and the definition of embezzle is, "to take money for ones own use in violation of a trust".

When you keep money that is owed to someone you are "in violation of a trust"

Some forms of thievery are obvious, like the clerk who pockets money from the cash register, or the bank robber. Some forms of thievery are more subtle. Regardless, it is still "stealing".

As Christians, many of us are taught that not paying our tithe is stealing from God. The concept of "withholding money" being the same as stealing is interesting, and accurate, in my view.

For example, I recently had some furniture delivered to my home. The two men who delivered it did a good job and I wanted to tip each of them 10 dollars, but only had a twenty dollar bill. I gave the twenty to the driver with instructions to split it with his helper. As they drove off, I wondered if he would.

In my view, if the driver keeps the helper's ten dollars, it is exactly the same as stealing a ten dollar bill from his wallet.

Providing goods and services is the method most of us use to earn a living. When someone fails to pay you for the goods or services you provided, they are stealing from you.

As Christians, we are supposed to hold ourselves to a higher standard, but apparently stealing from each other is okay.

I realized the full impact of this statement as we prepared our royalty statements. As a new company, we are trying our best to take care of business correctly, but we are far from perfect. One of our biggest problems has been getting our computer programs set up for royalties. We were way too slow on the first round and were promptly reprimanded by a writer who accused us of stealing his money. We apologized for being late and assured him his check was already on the way. He was gracious enough to call the next day when his check arrived. We are just now getting caught up and are very grateful to all
the wonderful writers who have trusted us with their songs without complaining about our tardiness. However, the process has taught me a valuable lesson. Not paying our songwriters is the same as stealing from them.

Using a writer's song without paying is essentially the same as not paying for your gas, your groceries, etc. etc…..get the idea?

It makes no difference whether you are an artist who orders your product from a manufacturer or whether you order your product from a record company, songwriters must be paid for their songs.

The current statutory rate is 9.1 cents. That means for every song you record, you owe a songwriter 9.1 cents.

Here's how it works:

Once you have selected the songs for your recording, you must request a Mechanical License for each song from the publisher of each song.

This is an agreement that gives you permission to record the song and tells you where to send the money. THE MONEY IS DUE UPON MANUFACTURE OF THE PRODUCT, NOT THE SALE OF THE PRODUCT. This means if you order 500 CDs, you owe songwriter royalties for 500 CDs. It makes no difference whether you sell them in a week or a year.

This process applies to every recording…custom…major label…minor label…no label.

Recording at "I Be Deaf" Recording Studios and getting a package deal with 500 CDs does not get you off the hook.

YOU OWE THE ROYALTIES…EVERY CD…EVERY SONG!

You can call yourself anything you want to...part-time, full-time, professional, amateur, anointed, dedicated, soul winner, minister of music, but…if you don't pay songwriter royalties your real title is…THIEF!

Consider these facts.

The average cost of a manufactured CD is around $1.00, depending on the number ordered.
Royalties on a ten song CD are $.91.

Therefore the minimum basic cost of a CD is around $2.00. If you are buying your CDs directly from the manufacturer, you are the one responsible for requesting Mechanical Licenses and paying the royalties.

If you are buying your CDs from a record label, then the label should be requesting Mechanicals and paying royalties.

If you or the company you record with doesn't have the Mechanical Licenses on file for every song you have recorded, that is a good indication that the writers were not paid. You should go to your record company and ask to see the Mechanicals for your recordings. If they don't have them, shame on you for staying with a company that steals from our songwriters.

My friends, this is a serious matter. How can we expect God to bless our industry and use us for His purpose when we are stealing from one another? I believe this is another reason we are not as effective in reaching the lost and are failing to grow as an industry.

I truly believe this is something we must get corrected if we are to succeed.

Perhaps you are an artist or a record company that has been guilty of not paying royalties. It makes no difference whether you are an amateur or a seasoned veteran, it is time to correct this situation. There is little we can do about the past, but the future is a different story. We can start right now to end this practice of stealing from our songwriters.

As an artist, you are responsible for your work. In the end it falls to you to make sure that the royalties on your recording are paid.

Record companies, you have an obligation to our industry to account correctly for every song recorded by your company. It is no small task, I will attest to that, but it must be done.

I leave you with this scripture. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17 KJV

As always, I welcome your comments.

God Bless You,

Nick Bruno
http://www.songgardenmusic.com

Reader Comments

Steven,
I'm totally puzzled as to why you think you disagree with me on this.

Did you miss that whole paragraph I wrote about being faithful in paying the small amounts?

I believe you got some of what I wrote confused with some of what Keith wrote.

--Making hay while the sun shines--
sgnforum@musicscribe.com - BLOG - SGHistory.com

As a brand new songwriter (2 published songs to date), I must say that my first royalty check will indeed be special to me regardless of whether or not it is $27.00 or $7.00.

Steven, when are we going to write together? I need a big name like yours. LOL.

Add Comments

If you are seeing this form you are not a Member or have not logged in. Why not consider becoming a Member?

Membership allows you to have a prepared signature of your choice applied to every comment you make, as well as the ability to choose an avatar to display next to your name to help identify your posts. Members are also given opportunity to vote weekly in our Weekly Chart as well as special Members Only contests, polls and giveaways during the year. If you are already a member, login here, otherwise please register here.

**Note: Forums membership is a seperate membership.

By posting you agree to our Comments Policy

Name:
Email:
Location:
URL:
Comment:
	Remember my personal information
	Notify me of follow-up comments?
Please enter the word you see in the image below: