FAQ

I AM A BMI/ASCAP/SESAC/PRS MEMBER, AREN'T THEY COLLECTING MY ROYALTIES ANYWAY?

They are only collecting your performance royalties - and only if you have properly registered your songs. thefourmula will help with all the registrations, tracking and overseas payments, as well as working for you to collect your money from all the other forms of royalty payments. If your songs are getting used, you're probably not collecting the full amounts you're owed: thefourmula will make sure you do.

WHAT IF A MAJOR PUBLISHER WANTS TO OFFER ME A DEAL WITH A GOOD ADVANCE

If a major publisher wants to sign you, you're free to cut a deal with them - as long as you exclude the tracks that you've licensed to thefourmula. And once your deal with us expires, you're free to do what you want with those songs, too.

IS THE CONTRACT SIGNED ONLINE LEGALY BINDING?

Yes it is.thefourmula's contract is fully legally enforceable, which ensures you're entitled to all the legal benefits and protections of an agreement signed on paper in a lawyer's office (but without the legal fees).

DO I NEED LEGAL ADVICE?

We always recommend that you get proper advice before signing any legally binding agreement. Someone familiar with music industry agreements will be able to offer advice. But the relationship with thefourmula is two-way - we're certain that the deal we're offering is fair, equitable and represents a good deal for you in cash terms: and our commitment to empowering artists and creators, coupled with our belief in the power of the internet to help people help one another, means we'll be providing links and information on the site for those who'd like more help. Or you can email us at info@thefourmula.com and we'll try and help you find the right advice for you.

WHEN DO YOU PAY ROYALTIES?

We will pay royalties twice yearly, within 30 days of receiving your money. Royalties collected up to June 30th are received by thefourmula on October 1st, and paid to you on November 1st. Similarly, royalties collected up to December 31st each year are received by thefourmula on April 1st and paid to you on May 1st.

CAN I HAVE MY MONEY PAID IN A NON US $ CURRENCY?

Currently we only pay by Paypal. which means we can make payments to overseas accounts in any local currency that Paypal supports. For up to date information please go to www.paypal.com.

I DO NOT LIVE IN THE US OR UK CAN I JOIN THEFOURMULA?

At present we are only set up for US & UK resident writers who are members of one of their local performing rights organizations (PRO). If you are registered with a US or UK PRO then you can join and register your songs

WILL MY SONGS BE PITCHED FOR FILM & SYNCS

We want to help promote your songs for all usages. The more description & help you give us with the online forms that we will be introducing the better chance you will give us to successfully pitch your songs. As thefourmula grows we will be introducing new and exciting services in this area

I AM NOT A SONGWRITER BUT HAVE SOME PUBLISHING INCOME THROUGH ANOTHER MEANS CAN YOU HELP ME?

Please contact us at info@thefourmula.com We want to help you if you have songwriting income.

IS THE CONTRACT NEGOTIABLE?

These are currently the best terms we're able to offer - and we're confident you'll find us very competitive indeed when you compare us to other publishing companies. But if you have any particular concerns then please contact us.

MY SONGS ARE VERY OLD WILL YOU BE ABLE TO COLLECT OLD ROYALTIES

This depends on how old they are, and what territories and kind of sources the royalties would be coming from - but we will work hard to collect all income. It is, of course, in our interests as well as yours to make sure we track down every last cent or penny we can find. If you have details of usages (radio stations, dates, films, etc.) then you should forward that information together with your registration, or email us at info@thefourmula.com with date of your registration and full name.

IS THEFOURMULA INTERESTED IN LONG TERM TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING DEALS?

Yes. We aim to make thefourmula a community of living, breathing, working musicians, songwriters and music industry experts. The team behind thefourmla have spent years in the music business, and what keeps them involved in it is that they're passionate about music and love working with musicians. We will be listening to material registered with us, and are always interested in considering traditional publishing deals in addition to our unique and groundbreaking new model. But don't worry: if you don't want a traditional deal, that's fine too, we're happy either way helping you collect your royalties.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE PAID AN ADVANCE?

It might be possible in certain instances in the future for thefourmula's unique online deals to offer advances. And our traditional long-term deal model will include an advance, as is normal with deals of that type.

WILL I GET CONSENT OF USAGE?

We will ask you for consent on any request for usage rights where the material your music will play alongside is of a political or sexual nature. The one case i which we make an exception to this is if the song in question was co-written with someone else, they control 50% or more of the song, and have already given their approval.

All other usages will be covered by a clause in your contract with us which means you grant us approval for licensing usages in advance. This helps speed up the licensing process and means we're able to move faster to secure the usage. We've decided to work this way because sometimes the best offers come up at the last minute: we can remember all too well how painful it's been when great usage offers have broken down, maybe because a rights-holder is on holiday, or has their phone switched off, and permission hasn't been granted by the offer deadline. But, as always, if you have any concerns please do email us at info@thefourmula.com

WHAT IS A PRO?

A Performing Rights Society is the body that collects performance royalties for its members and writers. You will need to be a member of one of the PRO's in your country of residence (BMI/ASCAP/SESAC in the US, PRS in the UK)

THE CONTRACT TERM IS 1 YEAR BUT THERE IS A 'RETENTION PERIOD' FOR A FURTHER 2 YEARS- PLEASE EXPLAIN

During the process of registering and collecting worldwide royalties, your songs will be entered into databases and collection systems in every country. Once you're in the system it can take several accounting periods for money to be paid, and in order to do that part of our job properly we need to make sure we give ourselves enough time to get every last payment in. We will administer the rights of a particular song exclusively for one year only - after that we have a further two years to collect any money due for usage during that one contracted year, but remember that you're free to take those songs wherever you want after the first year is up. We've cut the retention period down as much as we can without making it difficult for us to keep all our promises to you - three years is probably the shortest period of time necessary to ensure we're able to track down all the usages and make sure you get all the money due to you. And, of course, we're confident you'll be happy with our service, so we hope you'll want to stay longer than just the one year.

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