OK, more of this posturing/whining/opportunism/publicity seeking jive because John McCain’s campaign played a song at a rally. This time it’s The Foo Fighters who are bugged because the McCain camp used the song “My Hero”. From a band statement via the NY Times….
“ ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,”
“To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”
“perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”
So what?
Here’s the deal, if you are a songwriter, you can do one of two things…
1. Keep your songs to yourself, never release them thus, retaining all of the wonderful integrity inherent to your precious art.
2. Decide you might take a shot at making a buck and throw them to the wolves.
If you take option two, you join a society that is dedicated to collecting money when people use your song. Most songwriters join either B.M.I. or ASCAP. I like B.M.I. myself. Now, part of what these societies do, is collect money when somebody uses your song in ways that have nothing to do with the original intent that you had in mind when you we’re creating this piece of sacred art. Could be that a symphony orchestra decides to give it a go. Might be that a local news outfit uses it in a human interest story. A cover band may play it in a roadside bar. It may be used at a political rally. Now, some of these occasions, where a song may be used, are covered by a blanket license. An entity will pay a yearly fee to the societies (B.M.I./ASCAP) and the money then gets distributed to the songwriters after the societies have employed their various mathematical/probability based/flat out voodoo formulas, that weigh heavily in favor of known acts like Jackson Browne, Heart and the Foo Fighters and they divvies up the dough between those writers.
That brings up a good point actually, if Obama were to play “Munk” at an event, even though I’m with B.M.I. and the voodoo they use is far better than ASCAP’s, I wouldn’t see a dime but Jackson would because he’s on the radar.
As a songwriter, if you are fortunate enough to be in a position where people are using your song and, you are seeing money from it, you smile and cash the check. See, because you’ve already filled out the paperwork, with your collection society, that explains the various types of usage and licensing and none of it has to do with lyrical interpretation or original sentiment.
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Tags: Foo Fighters, Hero, Jackson Browne, McCain
J wrote,
What ever happened to using marches at political events? The Liberty Bell, Thunder and Blazes or Entry of The Gladiators would work for me. The campaign fashionistas are trashing a very historic cultural tradition and it sucks. Pretty soon no one will recognize “On the Mall”…or “Under the Double-Eagle”. Sad.
Link | October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Pribek wrote,
Some of that stuff is probably public domain too. Yeah, though I don’t know how it goes, I already want to have Entry of The Gladiators playing when I walk in to a room.
Link | October 12th, 2008 at 3:10 am
J wrote,
So you’re saying that under ASCAP’s (or BMI’s) formula for flat-fee divvying totally ignores the little guy.
How can we change that? Is SESAC any better? I have a colleague that swears by ‘em.
Now the whole “associative” can of worms is a lot of fun. Imagine that I wrote a hymntune (a new “Amazing Grace”)…and PD wrote the lyrics. We copyright it and a few days later there are two Youtube slideshows using our hymntune as underscore. One features photos of children in prayer. The other features photos of vertically-challenged transvestite albino nuns wearing Doc Martens and stomping kittens and puppies. Imagine how detrimental this second association will be to our career! Somewhere there’s a lawyer out there for this case.
Back to the politics at hand:
I’d say most of the classic marches are public domain.
Well, you’d probably know Thunder&Blazes/Entry of Gladiators as the classic Circus march (Highly Appropiate for (insert either party here) Gatherings!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0
The Liberty Bell was used for the theme of Monty Python’s Flying Circus episodes. (Which candidate should use this one?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq37WSg9ESg
On The Mall is a classic sing-along/whistle-along march by Edwin Franko Goldwin.
To me it embodies a civic/community spirit that is sorely missing in today’s political climate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXsKAeWwlsI
Notice that the first two marches have been “damaged” by their associations with organizations beyond the composer’s control. I can just picture ol’ John Phillip Sousa watching a bit of the old Monty Python opening and chewing his own mustache off his face….
Link | October 12th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Pribek wrote,
“So you’re saying that under ASCAP’s (or BMI’s) formula for flat-fee divvying totally ignores the little guy.
How can we change that? Is SESAC any better?”
I don’t know much about SESAC. The payout on blanket licensing, like what a nightclub pays, is going to reflect the general airplay/performance by percentage because nobody is going to keep track of who plays what cover songs in a bar. I believe that I saw something in one of these earlier spats about what was being played at these non-broadcast campaign rallies that said that they fall under the same type of blanket license. Where BMI and ASCAP differ is with actual radio airplay. BMI does a lot more tracking and ASCAP does a lot more estimating and projecting.
Thunder&Blazes/Entry of Gladiators: Yeah, it’s hard to not associate that with the circus. Pretty neat to hear the whole piece with dynamic shifts and such. As for Sousa and MP, I wonder if that one is public domain because, a:) if it is, it probably would have been a big factor in the choice of using it…b:) if it’s not, that is the sort of thing that pays really well over the long run…if JPS were a BMI guy, and still alive, every telecast worldwide would be tracked and he would see some excellent mailbox money
Link | October 12th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
I tried to avoid being called out for days now… Imagine that I wrote a hymntune (a new “Amazing Grace” )…and PD wrote the lyrics.
Well, J, this will teach ya’ to never do that again…
Transecting transvesting
I’m lost in mySpace
entitled zigzagging
albino Schoolmates
vibrato clapping
paunched boozing
many nuns Catholics
minimalist specialists
Transvestited conjugal
A transvest tripe licked me face
Coney Isle warm begot mellow
Sylvia strongest mask photo’d
Marclein martelled cantorello
Prologue of the nuns’ priest tale
‘de Chaucer an old, odd fellow,
Blind Doc Marten Martello’d
Monica, aria impressed, begot ciro:
‘Waar kan je te koop
‘E’en husky als
‘splatted triangle’s blackmails
‘als puppies kopen dear’o
‘van spotter in noord… escargot!
Canto Kinta prologue’d
Double forte rittard
Of the nuns’ priest tale –
Once entitlement zigzagging
Now, nuns shit wedging
toward this ending
on a Discordant chord…..
and much oath and pledging….
Link | October 13th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Pribek wrote,
A transvest tripe!!??!!??
that’s….
that’s…….
hmmmmmmmm………
i got nothing
Link | October 13th, 2008 at 10:44 am
J wrote,
Have I been “served”?
http://jinright.edublogs.org/files/2008/10/01-moopig-hymn.m4a
The brothers from the Moopig Marching Monastic Mass Choir had a few issues with the irregular metrical footprint.
;-)
Link | October 13th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
Oh my Gawd… ( :-o Holy Mackerel !! Sweet Mother of Jesus and His Step-Dad…
vertically-challenged transvestite albino nuns wearing Doc Martens and stomping kittens and puppies… making irregular metrical footprints
It’s a good start, I think… no?
Not served: U D Man… *[genuflecting large big dumb animals]* We Serve U
Link | October 13th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Pribek wrote,
now I’m not going to be able to get that tune out of my head
Link | October 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
http://jinright.edublogs.org/files/2008/10/01-moopig-hymn.m4a
…by the way Dr J, how do you do this? ..and I could fix metrical footprint, if I knew what it is.
– and while I’m back-tracking, this confession of Pribek’s: “…now I’m not going to be able to get that tune out of my head…” might be the clue that your tune sent him to the mountain top to ponder the Schnizzeling Lake Effect… eh? The Ball is in your court now I believe…
From: Friends don’t let friends stay in strange loops forever, your fugue-ing friend, pd
Link | November 8th, 2008 at 11:39 am