PRS and Other Distributers

Subject: PRS and Other Distributers
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 28 Jun 19 - 04:59 AM

Asking on behalf of a singer-songwriter friend.

Friend is a member of PRS, but also has CD and download sales handled by a US based company called CD Baby. They've sent him a letter for signature which is causing concern in that the wording seems to indicate that CD Baby will exclusively be allowed to collect royalties on his behalf. He is worried as to how this impacts how things will work with PRS.

The wording of the letter is (partial extract):

Ladies & Gentlemen,

This is to advise that XXXX, IPI No NNNNNN, has entered into an exclusive administration and collection agreement with CDBaby for the administration of all musical compositions owned and/ or controlled by xxxx listed on attached Schedule A.

Accordingly, from the date set forth above, you are hereby authorised and directed to address all correspondence, inquiries, royalty statements and royalty payments, regardless of when such monies were earned) for xxxx in respect of the Subject compositions directly to CDBaby at:

Address
New York
USA


There is no indication in the letter of where the agreement will apply, although CDBaby is already distributing his stuff. My friend is concerned about signing this letter and would like clarification on how it will affect the relationship with PRS. If anyone has advice, or can direct him (via me) to somewhere where decent advice can be obtained (PRS themselves seem useless at answering this type of question....we've both tried!) I would appreciate it.

Subject: RE: PRS and Other Distributers
From: Howard Jones
Date: 28 Jun 19 - 05:21 AM

CD Baby is what they call an "aggregator", and is essentially a wholesaler who distributes your digital music to "retailers" such as iTunes, Amazon, Youtube etc (as well as selling them directly). It's US based but operates world-wide. I signed up with them some years ago as I couldn't find one in the UK, although there are now several.

Musical rights are based on the assumption that there is a "publisher" who creates and owns the music (the musicians are mere employees). This may suit the mainstream music industry but doesn't work so well for independents. If you self-publish, you need to set yourself up as a publisher to claim all that is due to you, which if you are not a formal publishing company or record label
can be complicated. CD Baby is offering to act as your publisher and to collect performance and mechanical copyright royalties on your behalf.

Managing publishing rights is a service they offer to their members - for a fee, of course. They say "With CD Baby’s standard distribution service, your tracks are available worldwide on all the most popular digital platforms, and you earn money for the usage of those sound recordings. But without a publisher, you’re leaving publishing royalties on the table. If you create original songs, then YOU’RE the songwriter and this is YOUR money, generated for the usage of the underlying composition whenever your songs are streamed, downloaded, performed in public, and more. How do you claim it? CD Baby Pro Publishing is now available to artists in 70+ countries and territories worldwide, and we’re here to help you collect everything you’re owed — because no song should go unpublished."

So far as Performing Rights affiliation is concerned, they say "Not already registered with a performing rights organization? For United States and Canadian artists, we’ll save you the trouble and affiliate you with either ASCAP or BMI in the United States, or SOCAN in Canada. For other countries where we offer CD Baby Publishing, if you are unaffiliated, we’ll guide you to how to join your appropriate performing rights organization. If you are affiliated with a Performing Rights Organization already, CD Baby Publishing will become the administrator of your publishing. In each scenario, you will still be paid your writer share directly by the Performing Rights Organization."

All this is in the "Members" section, but if your friend is already using them they should be able to see this.

So far as I can tell, this is an add-on product they are offering, there is no obligation to take it up. However if your friend chooses to do so, this letter is the legal authority for CD Baby to act on their behalf.

Subject: RE: PRS and Other Distributers
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 28 Jun 19 - 09:36 AM

Howard Jones, thank you for this. Very informative.

Subject: RE: PRS and Other Distributers
From: michaelr
Date: 29 Jun 19 - 01:35 AM

I've earned hundreds of cents through CDBaby digital distribution.