2 Australian Royalties Grow 12.8%

2 Tadlow Music Scores in Prague

2 Big Fish to Distribute Alfred Publications

5 Signings and Projects for Danny Elfman, Marco Beltrami, Paul Cantelon and more

8 Soundtrack Review: “Beowulf” (Alan Silvestri) 10 The Chart Doctor: Score No-No’s, Episode 2 12 Music Technology and You: Concerns and Questions for Yamaha/Steinberg

15 Final Note: Let’s Level the Playing Field, ASCAP !

Copyright © 2007. Sony Creative Software Inc. All rights reserved.

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Issu

e

Issue 41 • nOVeMBeR 27, 2007 • Published weekly by Global Media Development Group, Inc. • Publisher: Mark Northam • www.filmmusicweekly.com

weeklyFILM MUSIC

2� ISSUE�41�•�NOVEMBER�27,�2007 weeklyFILM MUSIC

weeklyFILM MUSIC

Tadlow Music Scores in Prague

n The Australian collection society APRA-AMCOS has released finan-cials for the 2007 fiscal year, show-ing substantial revenue growth of 12.8% over the 2006 fiscal year. The society, an alliance of the Aus-tralasian Performing Right Associ-ation (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners’ So-ciety (AMCOS), collects both per-formance and mechanical royalties on behalf of writers and publishers. Their combined revenue grew to

$189.7 million (US$169.9m).

APRA collected $141 million (US$125.5m), of which 86.2% was domestic revenue and 13.8% came from affiliated foreign societies. APRA distributed $122.9 million (US$109.4m) in performance roy-alties, growth of 11%.

APRA received $8.4 million from the U.S. performing rights organizations BMI and ASCAP, including $5.1 million (US$4.5m) from ASCAP and $1.3 million

(US$1.2m) from BMI.

APRA’s largest revenue seg-ment is television (free and sub-scription), accounting for 35% of its revenue. Radio performances are next at 26%. Mobile and online performances remain a small rev-enue in percentage terms at 3%.

AMCOS collected $48.7 mil-lion (US$43.4m), of which 98.0% was domestic revenue and 2.0% came from affiliated foreign societ-ies. AMCOS distributed more than

$42.7 million (US$38.0m) in me-chanical royalties, growth of 21%.

AMCOS’ largest revenue seg-ment is mechanical royalties on commercial recordings at 35%. On-line and Mobile revenue is signifi-cantly more important to AMCOS, accounting for 26% of revenue.

Notably, the report states AM-COS was able to increase revenue in the physical recorded market through targeted compliance and audit programs.

SCORING NEWS: “Wanted” (Danny Elfman), “The Eye” (Marco Beltrami) and more

CD REVIEW: Daniel Schweiger reviews “Beowulf” (Alan Silvestri)

THE CHART DOCTOR: “Score No-No’s, Episode 2” by Ron Hess

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY: “Concerns and Questions for Yamaha/Steinberg” by Peter Alexander

FINAL NOTE: “Let’s Level the Playing Field, ASCAP!” by Mark Northam

Australian Royalties Grow 12.8%

Big Fish to Distribute Alfred Publications

n Contractor and orchestra pack-ager Tadlow Music in London has announced a new set of scores recorded in Prague, including music by Carl Davis, Daniel Pemberton, Moritz Schneider, Rachel Portman, Giles Martin, Guy Farley, Evan Jolly, Andrew Lockington, David Arnold, Paul Hart, Stephane Moucha, Marcos Witt,Maarten Spruijt, Kurt Hei-necke and more.

Projects completed include feature films, music for televi-sion series, music library produc-tion music, pop albums, classical music albums, and commercials for companies including Brit-

ish Airways and M&M’s. Tadlow has announced one of their most ambitious projects to date – over 140 minutes of music from the epic Charlton Heston film El Cid which will be finished in March, 2008. The project includes 94 piece orchestra plus choir and church organ.

Tadlow Music is owned by James Fitzpatrick and provides comprehensive orchestra and choir contracting and complete studio recording packages in Lon-don and Prague and features or-chestral recording starting at $25 per musician per hour. For more, visit www.tadlowmusic.com

n The world’s largest educational print music publisher has entered into a digital distribution agree-ment with Big Fish Media. Alfred Publishing, known primarily for its catalog of printed music, owns over 10,000 recordings of music and an extensive catalog of DVD products.

"As one of the world’s leading print music publishers we have cre-ated and own thousands of record-ings which we have up until now used primarily to support the sale of our print music products. Yet, in entering into this agreement with Big Fish Media, we can now make these outstanding recordings,

which are great in their own right even without the print product, available to customers through all the major digital sites in the world,” said Andrew Surmani, Vice President of Marketing.

Much of Alfred’s recorded ma-terial – ranging from band, choir and orchestra recordings to play-along instructional lessons – has never been made available as an audio-only product.

"This is an amazing treasure-trove of material and we are ex-tremely excited to help bring it to the digital music marketplace,” says Steven Weber, co-founder of Big Fish Media.

Issue 41 • nOVeMBeR 27, 2007 • Published weekly by Global Media Development Group, Inc. • Publisher: Mark Northam • www.filmmusicweekly.com

ISSUE�41�•�NOVEMBER�27,�2007� 3weeklyFILM MUSIC

Publisher: Mark Northam Editor: Mikael Carlsson

VP Finance and Operations: Rebecca Lee Art Director: Joshua Young

Advertising Manager: Steve SchatzbergCopy Editor: Lisa Rawson

Technology Editor: Peter Alexander Soundtrack Editor: Daniel Schweiger

Customer Service Manager: Robyn Young Website Design: Rakesh Rai

Accounting: Tina Chiang Legal Advisor: Patricia Johnson, Esq.

Film Music Weekly is published weekly by Global Media Development Group, Inc.Executive and Editorial Office: 27023 McBean Parkway Suite 618, Valencia, CA 91355. Tel: 310-645-9000 Fax: 310-388-1367, email: info@filmmusicweekly.com. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. The opinions of contributing writers and editors to this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Media Development Group, Inc. or any of our divisions, management or staff.

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ADVERTISING Our comprehensive advertising programs offer premier visibility to film and television music profes-sionals, soundtrack collectors, and music execu-tives worldwide. We offer competitive rates on a wide variety of advertising opportunities including display advertising and online advertising. For more information, call 1-800-774-3700 or 310-645-9000 or email sales@filmmusicweekly.com

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SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions to Film Music Weekly via email are available at no cost. To subscribe, visit our website at www.filmmusicweekly.com and enter your email address in our subscription section. Film Music Weekly and its logo are trademarks of Global Media Development Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Entire Contents © 2007 Global Media Development Group, Inc

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MARK ISHAM ANDFRANK DARABONT Film music journalist

Daniel Schweiger interviews composer Mark Isham and

director-writer Frank Darabont, who talk about their subtly scarycollaboration for THE MIST

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FILM MUSIC NEWS

BMI names fellowship winnersJohn Kaefer and James Woodward winners of the Pete Carpenter FellowshipComposers John Kaefer and James Woodward have been named the winners of the 18th Annual Pete Carpenter Fellowships, it was announ-ced by BMI Foundation Presi-dent Ralph N. Jackson.

Composer John Kaefer has been recognized for his scores for film and television, as well as for his chamber, choral and orchestral concert works. He has composed, produced and orchestrated music for film and network/cable tele-vision projects, including Room Service (starring Howie Mandel and debuting at Sundance), To Kill A Bore (shown at Cannes) and Dance School (documentary), among others.

He recently worked with leg-endary BMI television composer W.G. Snuffy Walden (West Wing, Studio 60, Friday Night Lights)

in his Calabasas studio. Addition-ally, Kaefer serves as the Creative Director and a principal composer for DreamArtists Studios, a film/television music production house based in New York.

Composer James Woodward is a native of California and be-gan writing music in Wisconsin. A string bassist and pianist, he studied composition with Stephen Hartke, Ronald Foster and John Downey.

His music has been performed by the Milwaukee Youth Sympho-ny Orchestra, the USC Symphony Orchestra, the United States Army Orchestra, and other en-sembles across the United States and Europe.

Woodward recently completed writing the music for a short film directed by Gentry Smith, is per-forming for various films and proj-ects in the Los Angeles area, and

enjoys surfing off the Southern California coast.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded

in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. mn

Pete Carpenter Fellowship winner John Kaefer (l) is pictured with BMI’s Linda Livingston and BMI composer Mike Post in Post’s Burbank studio.

Pete Carpenter Fellowship winner James Woodward (c) is congratulated by Post and Livingston.

THE PETE CARPENTER FELLOWSHIP• The Fellowship, open to aspiring film and television composers under the age of 35, was established by the BMI Foundation and Carpenter’s family, colleagues and friends to honor the late composer whose credits include such television themes and scores as The A-Team, Magnum P.I., The Rockford Files, Hardcastle and McCormick, Hunter and Riptide.

• Fellowship winners are given the opportunity to intern with renowned BMI composer Mike Post in his Los Angeles studio and meet with other distin-guished theatrical, film and TV composers. A stipend for travel and living expenses is also part of the award.

• Mike Post, Carpenter’s longtime writing partner, has penned some of the most memorable theme songs in television history, including Hill Street Blues, The A-Team, Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue, Law and Order, L.A. Law, The Rockford Files, Quantum Leap and City of Angels.

Get a free basic listing today on MUSE411 – The Music Industry Online Directory, and access the industry.

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ISSUE�41�•�NOVEMBER�27,�2007� 5weeklyFILM MUSIC

ThIs WeeK’s MAJOR sCORInG AssIGnMenTs Danny Elfman: Wanted

Universal Pictures confirmed to Film Music�Weekly�that Danny Elfman has been hired to score Wanted,�the�studio’s adaptation of�the�action-packed�

graphic�novel�by�Mark�Miller.�The�film�is�directed�by�Timur�Bekmambetov,�who�got�his�big�break�with�the�Russian�hit�films Night Watch and Day Watch,�and�stars�Angelina�Jolie,�James�McAvoy�and�Morgan�Freeman.�Danny�Elfman,�whose�other�upcoming�assignments�include Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and The Sixth Element,�is�one�of�the�most�sought-after�composers�in�the�industry.�He�is�best�known�for�his�scores�for�the�films�of�Tim�Burton,�including�Batman,�Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare Before Christmas.

Anton�Sanko: Steep

Anton�Sanko,�who�provided�the�electronic part of the score for Larry Fessenden’s horror film The Last Winter,�has composed the music for Steep,�a�

documentary that “traces the legacy of extreme�skiing�from�its�early�pioneers�to�the�daredevils�of�today.”�It’s�directed�by�Mark�Obenhaus,�who�was�nominated�for�the�Grand�Jury�Prize�in�Sundance�over�20�years�ago,�for�his�documentary�Einstein on the Beach.�Steep�has�been�picked�up�for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics and�will�get�a�limited�theatrical�release�on�December�21.�Anton�Sanko’s�other�cur-rent projects include f,�a�drama�feature�starring�Amy�Smart�and�Patrick�Wilson.

Marco�Beltrami: The Eye

Marco�Beltrami�has been hired to compose the original score for The Eye,�replacing composer Angelo�Badalamenti�who�was�the�first�composer onboard

(he�left�the�project�for�personal�reasons).�

Beltrami,�who�has�an�impressive�horror�filmography (the Scream�trilogy,�Resident Evil,�Hellboy�and�many�more),�is�working�for�the�first�time�with�French�directors�David�Moreau�and�Xavier�Palud,�who�im-pressed�audiences�with�their�genre�film�Them last year.�The�film�is�a�remake�of�the�award-winning�2002�Hong�Kong�film�directed�by�the�Pang�Brothers,�and�tells�the�story�about�a�woman�who�receives�an�eye�transplant�that�allows�her�to�see�into�the�supernatural�world.�Jessica�Alba�stars�in�the�new�version,�which�is�sched-uled�to�premiere�on�February�1,�2008.�Beltrami’s�involvement�in�The Eye has been�confirmed�to�Film�Music�Weekly�by�Capital�Arts�Entertainment.

Paul Cantelon: The Other Boleyn Girl

Edward�Shearmur�has been replaced as the composer of the score for The Other Boleyn Girl.�The�new�composer,�who�recorded�his�score�in�Prague�two�weeks�ago,�is�Paul�

Cantelon,�whose�previous�credits�include�Everything Is Illuminated and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.�The Other Boleyn Girl�stars�Natalie�Portman,�Scarlett�Johansson�and�Eric�Bana�in�a�romantic�period drama based on the Philippa Gregory�novel�about�two�sisters�who�are�both�trying�to�attract�King�Henry�VIII.�The�film�is�directed�by�Justin�Chadwick�and scheduled to premiere on February 29,�2008.�Paul�Cantelon�is�known�for�his�solo piano music available on the album “Point�No�Point.”

George�S.�Clinton: Harold and Kumar 2

Kevin�Kaska,�who�has�worked�as�an�orchestrator for John Debney on films such as Idlewild,�Barnyard,�The Ant Bully,�Chick-en Little and Zathura,�has composed the

music for Jump!,�an�Austrian/English�co-production�starring�Patrick�Swayze,�Ben�Silverstone�and�Martine�McCutcheon.�It’s�a�psychological�drama�set�in�1920’s�Austria�during�the�rise�of�fascism,�telling�the story about the unjust murder trial of the famous photograher Philippe Hals-man.�Screenwriter�Joshua�Sinclair�(Cry the Beloved Country)�directed�the�film,�which�has�been�picked�up�for�distribution�by�American�World�Pictures.

The sCOReBOARd Panu Aaltio: The�Home�of�Dark�Butterflies.Tree Adams: Emilio�•�Farewell�Bender.Eric Allaman: Race.John Altman: The�Master�Builder.Marco D’Ambrosio: Say Hello to Stan Talmadge.Michael Andrews: Walk�Hard:�The�Dewey�Cox�Story.David Arnold: How�to�Loose�Friends�and�Alienate�People�•�Bond�22.Angelo Badalamenti: The�Eye�•�The�Edge�of�Love.Klaus Badelt: Heaven�and�Earth�•�Killshot�•�Dragon�Hunters.Roque Baños: Las�13�Rosas�•�The�Oxford�Murders.Lesley Barber: A�Thousand�Years�of�Good�Prayers.Nathan Barr: Watching�the�Detectives�•�Tortured.Tyler Bates: Day�of�the�Dead�•�Doomsday�•�Watchmen.Jeff Beal: Where�God�Left�His�Shoes�•�Salo-maybe?�•�The�Deal�•�The�Pixar�Story.Christophe Beck: Drillbit�Taylor.Marco Beltrami: In�the�Electric�Mist�with�Confederate�Dead�•�The�Eye.Jean-Michael Bernard: Be�Kind�Rewind�•�Détrempoez-vous.Charles Bernstein: Tenebrous.Doug Besterman: Exit�Speed.Scott Bomar: Maggie�Lynn.Simon Boswell: Bathory.Jason Brandt: Something’s�Wrong�in�Kansas.Mickey Bullock: Sportkill�•�Orville.Kenneth Burgomaster: Garfield�Gets�Real�•�Hero�Wanted.Carter Burwell: In�Bruges.Edmund Butt: The�Waiting�Room.Niall Byrne: How�About�You.Brian Cachia: Gabriel.Peter Calandra: The�Sickness.Paul Cantelon: The�Other�Boleyn�Girl.Jeff Cardoni: Save�Me�•�American�Pie:�Beta�House.Jamie Christopherson: Ghost�Image.Nigel Clarke & Michael Csányi-Wills: The�Grind.George S. Clinton: Harold�and�Kumar�2.Elia Cmiral: The�Deaths�of�Ian�•�Missionary�Man�•�Tooth�and�Nail.Chandra Cogburn: Fiesta�Grand�•�Orgies�and�the�Meaning�of�Life�•�The�Bard:�The�Story�of�Robert�Burns.Graham Collins: Black�Kissinger.Juan J. Colomer: Dark�Honeymoon.Eric Colvin: Mariposa.Ry Cooder: :�Charlie�Wilson’s�War.Normand Corbeil: Ma�fille,�mon�ange�•�Boot�Camp�•�Emotional�Arithmetic.Jane Antonia Cornich: Island of Lost Souls •�Solstice.Burkhard Dallwitz: The�Interrogation�of�Harry�Wind�•�Chainsaw.Jeff Danna: Closing�the�Ring�•�C7.Carl Davis: The�Understudy.

Marcello De Francisci: The�Butcher.Wolfram de Marco:�The�Tribe.Jessica de Rooij:�Postal�•�Tunnel�Rats�•�Far�Cry�•�In�the�Name�of�the�King:�A�Dungeon�Siege�Tale.John Debney: Big�Stan�•�Sin�City�2�•�Starship�Dave�•�Old�Dogs.Erik Desiderio: He’s�Such�a�Girl.Alexandre Desplat: The�Golden�Compass.Ramin Djawadi: Fly�Me�to�the�Moon�•�The�Tourist�•�Iron�Man.James Michael Dooley: Bachelor�Party�2.Patrick Doyle: Nim’s�Island.Ludek Drizhal: Life�Goes�On�•�Badland.Anne Dudley: The�Walker.Clint Eastwood: Grace�Is�Gone.Randy Edelman: 27�Dresses�•�The�Mummy:�Tomb�of�the�Dragon�Emperor.Jonathan Edwards: The�Golden�Boys.Steve Edwards: Finding�Rin-Tin-Tin�•�The�Neighbor�•�The�Intervention.Danny Elfman: Wanted�•�The�Sixth�Element�•�Hellboy�2:�The�Golden�Army.Stephen Endelman: The�Grand�•�Redbelt.Tom Erba: Chinaman’s�Chance.Ilan Eshkeri: The�Virgin�Territories�•�Strength�and�Honor.Evan Evans: The�Mercy�Man�•�You’re�Nobody�‘Til�Somebody�Kills�you.Nima Fakhara: Lost�Dream.Sharon Farber: When�Nietzsche�Wept.Guy Farley: The�Flock�•�The�Christmas�Miracle�of�Jonathan�Toomey�•�Knife�Edge�•�Dot�Com�•�The�Broken�•�Dylan.George Fenton: Fool’s�Gold.Chad Fischer: The�Babysitters.Robert Folk: Kung�Pow:�Tongue�of�Fury�•�Magdalene�•�Vivaldi.Jason Frederick: Good�Chemistry�•�Bears.John Frizzell: Careless�•�First�Born.Michael Giacchino: Star�Trek�XI.Richard Gibbs: Cleaner.Vincent Gillioz: The�Appearance�of�Things •�Portal.�Scott Glasgow: Hack!�•�Toxic�•�The�Gene�Generation�•�Bone�Dry�•�Lo�•�The�Bridge�to�Nowhere.Philip Glass: Cassandra’s�Dream�•�Les�animaux�amoreux.Erik Godal: The�Gift�•�Ready�Or�Not�•�Ir-reversi.Jonathan Goldsmith: Tenderness.Jeff Grace: Trigger�Man�•�I�Sell�the�Dead�•�Liberty�Kid.Harry Gregson-Williams: Jolene�•�The�Chronicles�of�Narnia:�Prince�Caspian�•�G-Force�•�Wolverine.Rupert Gregson-Williams: You�Don’t�Mess�With�the�Zohan.Andrew Gross: Forfeit�•�National�Lampoon’s�Bag�Boy�•�Diamond�Dog�Caper.Larry Groupé: Love�Lies�Bleeding�•�The�Hungry�Woman�•�Straw�Dogs.Robert Gulya: Atom�Nine�Adventures.Steven Gutheinz: Rothenburg.Richard Hartley: Diamond�Dead.Richard Harvey: Legend�of�King�Naresuan�•�Eichmann.

SCORING NEWS by MIKAeL CARLssOnmcarlsson@filmmusicweekly.com

6� ISSUE�41�•�NOVEMBER�27,�2007 weeklyFILM MUSIC

Paul Haslinger: Gardener�of�Eden�•�Prom�Night.Paul Heard: Clubbed.Alex Heffes: My�Enemy’s�Enemy�•�State�of�Play�•�Sweeney�Todd.Christian Henson: Zomerhitte.Eric Hester: The�Utopian�Society�•�Lost�Mis-Lost�Mis-sion�•�Frail.Tom Hiel: A�Plumm�Summer.David Hirschfelder: Shake�Hands�With�the�Devil.Ben Holbrook: Kiss�the�Bride.James Horner: The�Spiderwick�Chronicles.�•�Avatar�•�In�Bloom.Richard Horowitz: Genghis�Khan�•�Kandisha�•�The�Whisperers.James Newton Howard: The�Waterhorse�•�I�Am�Legend�•�Charlie�Wilson’s�War�•�The�Great�Debaters�•�Mad�Money�•�The�Happening.Terry Huud: Plaguers.Alberto Iglesias: The�Kite�Runner.Mark Isham: Pride�and�Glory�•�The�Express.Corey Allen Jackson:�Idiots�and�Angels.James Jandrisch: American�Venus.Adrian Johnston: Sparkle�•�Brideshead�Revisited.Bobby Johnston: American�Fork�•�Stuck�•�Hotel�California�•�Happiness�Runs.Evan Jolly: Tonight�Is�Cancelled.Tim Jones: Cryptid.Trevor Jones: Fields�of�Freedom�•�The�Power�of�the�Dark�Crystal.David Julyan: Waz.George Kallis: Antigravity.Tuomas Kantelinen: Quest�for�a�Heart�•�Arn:�The�Knight�Templar�•�Mongol.Yagmur Kaplan: The�Elder�Son�•�The�Lodge�•�Broken�Windows.Laura Karpman: Man�in�the�Chair�•�Out�at�the�Wedding.Rolfe Kent: Spring�Break�in�Bosnia�•�Sex�and�Death�101.Wojciech Kilar: Black�Sun.Mark Kilian: Before�the�Rains.David Kitay: Shanghai�Kiss�•�Blonde�Ambition.Harald Kloser: 10,000�BC.Abel Korzeniowski: Terms.Penka Kouneva: The�Third�Nail�•�Richard�III�•�Midnight�Movie.Ivan Koutikov: Wanted�Undead�Or�Alive�•�Living�Hell.Aryavarta Kumar: The�Rapture�•�Greater�Threat.Nathan Larson: August�•�Very�Young�Girls.Jim Latham: Greetings�from�the�Shore�•�Swishbucklers�•�Parental�Guidance�Sug-gested.Christopher Lennertz: Alvin and the Chip-monks�•�The�Perfect�Christmas�•�Meet�the�Spartans.Craig Leon: Maestro.Geoff Levin: Triloquist�•�The�Rat�Thing�•�Agenda�•�The�Fallen.Michael A. Levine: Adrift�in�Manhattan.Christopher Libertino: Off�the�Grid�–�Life�on�the�Mesa�•�The�Forgotten�Kingdom.Andrew Lockington: Step�•�How�She�Move�•�Journey�3-D.Joseph LoDuca: Bar�Starz�•�My�Name�Is�Bruce�•�Boogeyman�2.

Henning Lohner: In�the�Name�of�the�King:�A�Dungeon�Siege�Tale�•�Timber�Falls�•�Kleiner�Dodo.Helen Jane Long: Surveillance.Erik Lundborg: Absolute�Trust.Deborah Lurie: Spring�Breakdown.Vivek Maddala: They�Turned�Our�Desert�Into�Fire.Nuno Malo: Mr.�Hobb’s�House.Mark Mancina: Sheepish�•�Camille�•�Without�a�Badge�•�Like�Dandelion�Dust.Harry Manfredini: Black�Friday�•�iMurders�•�Impulse�•�Anna�Nicole�•�Dead�and�Gone.David Mansfield: Carnaval�de�Sodoma�•�Then�She�Found�Me�•�The�Guitar.Dario Marianelli: Shrooms�•�Far�North�•�The�Soloist.Anthony Marinelli: Grizzly�Park.Gary Marlowe: Los�Pereyra�•�Das�echo�der�Schuld.Phil Marshall: Live.John McCarthy: The�Stone�Angel.Mark McKenzie: The�Redemption�of�Sarah�Cain.Joel McNeely: The�Tinkerbell�Movie.Nathaniel Mechaly: Sans�moi�•�Le�Dernier�gang�•�La�Chambre�des�morts.Matt Messina: Juno�•�The�Least�of�These.Guy Michelmore: Doctor�Strange�•�Bono,�Bob,�Brian�and�Me.Randy Miller: Last�Time�Forever�•�Shanghai�Red�•�Second�Chance�Season.Robert Miller: Teeth�•�The�Key�Man�•�Trumbo.Sheldon Mirowitz:�Renewal�•�Operation�Filmmaker.Charlie Mole: Fade�to�Black�•�I�Really�Hate�My�Job�•�St.�Trinian’s.John Morgan:�The�Opposite�Day�(co-composer).Paul Leonard-Morgan: Popcorn.Trevor Morris: Matching�Blue�•�Krews.Mark Mothersbaugh: Mama’s�Boy�•�Quid�Pro�Quo�•�Fanboys.Sean Murray: The�Lost�•�Clean�Break.Peter Nashel: Wedding�Daze.Javier Navarrete: His�Majesty�Minor�•�Mirrors�•�Inkheart.Blake Neely: Elvis�and�Anabelle�•�The�Great�Buck�Howard.Roger Neill: Take�•�Scar.David Newman: Welcome�Home�Roscoe�Jenkins.Joey Newman: Safe�Harbour.Randy Newman: Leatherheads�•�The�Frog�Princess.Thomas Newman: Nothing�Is�Private�•�Wall-E.Marinho Nobre: Left�for�Dead.Adam Nordén: Everybody’s�Dancing�•�Wolf�•�De�Gales�hus.Julian Nott: Heavy�Petting.Paul Oakenfold: Victims.Dean Ogden: Oranges�•�Knuckle�Draggers�•�A�Perfect�Season.John Ottman: Valkyrie.John Paesano: Shamrock�Boy.Heitor Pereira: Suburban�Girl�•�The�Canyon�•�Running�the�Sahara.Mark Petrie: The�Road�to�Empire�•�Lake�Dead�•�Mr.�Blue�Sky�•�Valley�of�Angels�•�Farmhouse.

Barrington Pheloung: And�When�Did�you�Last�See�your�Father?.Leigh Phillips: War�Made�Easy�•�Still�Life.Martin Phipps: Growing�your�Own.Nicholas Pike: The�Shooter�•�Parasomnia.Nicola Piovani: Odette�Toulemonde.Douglas Pipes: Trick�r’�Treat.Steve Porcaro: The�Wizard�of�Gore�•�Cougar�Club.John Powell: Horton�Hears�a�Who�•�Jumper.Michael Price: Sugarhouse�Lane�•�Agent�Crush.Trevor Rabin: National�Treasure�2:�The�Book�of�Secrets�•�Get�Smart.Didier Lean Rachou: How�to�Rob�a�Bank�•�An�American�in�China.Brian Ralston: Graduation�•�9/Tenths.Jasper Randall: Me�&�you,�Us,�Forever�•�The�Secrets of JonathanSperry.Joe Renzetti: 39�•�Universal�Signs.Graeme Revell: Pineapple�Express�•�Days�of�Wrath.Graham Reynolds: I’ll�Come�Running.Zacarías M. de la Riva:�The�Last�of�the�Just�•�The�Anarchist’s�Wife.Carmen Rizzo: The�Power�of�the�Game.Matt Robertson: The�Forest.Douglas Romayne: In�Zer0:�Fragile�Wings.Philippe Rombi: Angel.Brett Rosenberg: The�Skeptic.Laura Rossi: The�Cottage.David Glen Russell: Contamination.Hitoshi Sakamoto: Romeo�x�Juliet.H. Scott Salinas: Strictly�Sexual�•�What�We�Did�on�Our�Holidays.Anton Sanko: Life�in�Flight�•�Steep.Gustavo Santaolalla: Things�We�Lost�in�the�Fire�(themes).Brian Satterwhite: Cowboy�Smoke�•�Maid-enhead.Mark Sayfritz: Sake.Brad Sayles: The�Bracelet�of�Bordeaux.David Schommer: War,�Inc.Misha Segal: Lost�at�War�•�Shabat�Shalom�Maradona.Marc Shaiman: Hairpsray�•�Slammer�•�The�Bucket�List.Theodore Shapiro: Mr�Woodcock�•�The�Mysteries�of�Pittsburgh�•The�Girl�in�the�Park�•�Semi-Pro�•�Tropic�Thun-der�•�The�Heartbreak�Kid.George Shaw: Victim�•�Sailfish.Edward Shearmur: Passengers�•�Bill�•�Col-lege�Road�Trip.Ryan Shore: The�Girl�Next�Door�•�Numb�•�Jack�Brooks�–�MonsterSlayer�•�Shadows.Vince Sievers: The�Source.Carlo Siliotto: La�MIsma�Luna�•�The�Ramen�Girl.Samuel Sim: Awake.Marcus Sjöwall: Dreamkiller.Cezary Skubiszewski: Death�Defying�Acts�•�Disgrace.Damion Smith: Stompin.Jason Solowsky: 110%:�When�Blood,�Sweat�and�Tears�Are�Not�Enough�•�The�Deepening�•�L.A�Takedown�•�Unemployed�•�North�by�El�Norte.

Maarten Spruijt: The�Seven�of�Daran:�Battle�of�Pareo�Rock.Mark Hinton Stewart: Man�from�Earth.Marc Streitenfeld: Body�of�Lies.William T. Stromberg: TV�Virus�•�Army�of�the�Dead�•�The�Opposite�Day�(co-composer).Jina Sumedi: Sextet.Mark Suozzo: The�Nanny�Diaries.John Swihart: The�Brothers�Solomon.Johan Söderqvist: Walk�the�Talk�•�Let�the�Right�One�In.Joby Talbot: Son�of�Rambow.Frederic Talgorn: Asterix�at�the�Olympic�Games�•�Largo�Winch�•�Dragon�Hunters.Francois Tétaz: Rogue.Mark Thomas: Tales�of�the�Riverbank.tomandandy: The�Koi�Keeper.John van Tongeren: War�Games�2�-�The�Dead�Code.Pinar Toprak: Blue�World�•�Dark�Castle�•�Serbian�Scars�•�Say�It�In�Russian�•�Ocean�of�Pearls.Jeff Toyne: Shadow�in�the�Trees�•�Within�•�Late�in�the�Game.Michael Tremante: If�I�Didn’t�Care.Gregory Tripi & Kyle Batter: Dark�Storm�•�Termination�Point.Ernest Troost: Crashing.Brian Tyler: Alien�vs.�Predator�2�•�John�Rambo�•�The�Heaven�Project.Shigeru Umebayashi: A�Simple�Love�Story.Cris Velasco: Prep�School.Waddy Wachtel: Strange�Wilderness.Reinhardt Wagner: L’Heure�zéro.Michael Wandmacher: The�Killing�Floor�•�Train�•�Get�Some.Stephen Warbeck: Flawless�•�Miguel�and�William.Matthias Weber: Silent�Rhythm.Richard Wells: The�Mutant�Chronicles.Cody Westheimer: Benny�Bliss�and�the�Disciples�of�Greatness�•�Hysteria.Alan Williams: For�the�Love�of�a�Dog�•�Act�Your�Age�•�Snow�Princess�•�He�Love�Her,�She�Loves�Him�Not�•�The�Velveteen�Rabbit.David Williams: The�Conjuring.John Williams: Indiana�Jones�and�the�King-dom�of�the�Crystal�Skull�•�Lincoln.Patrick Williams: Mikey�and�Dolores.Tim Williams: Afterthought�•�The�Passage�•�Starcrossed.Austin Wintory: Captain�Abu�Raed�•�Mr.�Sadman�•�Grace.Debbie Wiseman: Amusement.Chris Wood: Zombies�Ate�My�Prom�Date.Alex Wurman: Bernard�and�Doris�•�Baggage�•�Quebec.Gabriel Yared: Manolete�•�The�No.�1�Ladies�Detective�Agency.Christopher Young: Sleepwalking�•�Untrace-able.Geoff Zanelli: Delgo�•�Outlander�•�Ghost�Town.Marcelo Zarvos: What�Just�Happened?Aaron Zigman: Home�for�Christmas�•�Step�Up�2�the�Streets�•�Smart�People�•�Lake�City.Hans Zimmer: Frost/�Nixon�•�Casi�Divas�•�Kung�Fu�Panda.

Atli Örvarsson: Vantage�Point�•�Babylon�A.D.

Film Music Weekly’s “The Scoreboard” only lists scoring assignments that have been confirmed to us by official sources. The list is limited to feature film scoring assignments. New additions are highlighted in red print.

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CD REVIEW by dAnIeL sChWeIGeRdschweiger@filmmusicweekly.com

Alan Silvestri Composes a Manly, Mythic Score to Slay Demons By

BUY THE CD HERE: •www.amazon.com

Title: Beowulf Composer: Alan Silvestri Label: Warner BrothersSuggested Retail Price: $14.99 Grade: A+

Sure Alan Silvestri can play nice with the Mario Brothers, Stuart Little or Forrest Gump. But when it comes to scoring manly men, Silvestri has shown he can compose sweaty, muscular music with the dexterity of Charles Atlas. Listen to the ripping mili-tary action that accompanied Schwarzeneg-ger’s takedown of the Predator, the funhouse Fascist strains of Stallone’s Judge Dredd, Young Guns II’s rock and roll western, and the monster-fighting paloozas of The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing. All of these stand as some of the coolest examples of musical testosterone committed to a film soundtrack – big, bold exercises in mighty themes and melody.

This is the stuff of which mythic blood-letting is made. And it flows like a gusher in Silvestri’s amazing score for Beowulf, which sums up his ability to pump it up to 11 on the action dial. Yet Beowulf isn’t some dun-derheaded exercise in orchestral volume, but instead a smart, wonderfully over-the-top way to play a hero’s cult of personality – a bravado of sex and violence which Silvestri tunes to tragedy before this epic is out.

Beowulf is so filled up with melody and motifs that you almost expect the characters to burst into song, which they have a way of doing in the court singers’ throaty exalta-tions of the film’s self-made warrior-king. Ancient vocals probably haven’t gotten this

much of a workout since The Omen, as a mighty chorus churns in time to Beowulf ’s march to glory. Thankfully, Silvestri’s fun ballads and beat-backed choral “Hooo-Haaays!” never tip over the Mead and turn Beowulf into a Nordic version of Spamalot. This is an action-musical done with de-served pride in Beowulf ’s mad monster-slay-ing skills. After all, someone isn’t playing a tender lute when dealing with the stuff of legends. They’re letting it rip for history to hear.

Like such other great warrior-king scores as Conan, Beowulf revels in trum-peting themes, of which Silvestri displays many. Yet some of the composer’s most affecting work is for Angelina Jolie’s demon seductress, particularly in a sequence where Beowulf has to choose between his libido and slicing her twain. With her sinister lullabye bells, low sampled beats and omi-nous voices, Silvestri reaches the kind of dark, ominous sexiness that recalls Bernard Herrmann’s lush, lady killer suspense at its best. And when it comes to large-scale ac-tion runs, Silvestri is at the top of his game here, with Beowulf ’s climactic dragon battle a tour de force for strings, brass and chorus, viscerally swooping with every sword and fire parry, all building relentlessly to that final, fatal thrust. It’s the kind of seemingly endless, yet constantly intriguing writing

that Silvestri does so well, it’s fifteen min-utes held together by pure symphonic blood and thunder. And even when that dreaded pop ballad comes in at the end, Silvestri and Glen Ballard somehow pull off “A Hero Comes Home,” a song that will end up being the “My Heat Will Go On” of Nordic demon fighter movies.

For a film that’s state-of-the-art anima-tion, Beowulf is a triumph of robust old-school music. Even with a tip of the hat to the kind of rock rhythms that infused 300, Beowulf is defiantly retro in its symphonic approach, with “ethnic” instruments rarely getting in way of his operatic thrust. Or-chestra is The Word here. And more than ever, Alan Silvestri proves himself to be the lord of it. With Beowulf being his only film score since last fall’s A Night At The Mu-seum, I can only hope this hit gets him from the Carmel vineyards to Hollywood’s shores more often. There are CGI monsters for Sil-vestri to battle, not to mention a soundtrack industry that’s begging for his mighty touch – whatever the subject might be. n

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THE CHART DOCTOR by ROn hessrhess@filmmusicweekly.com

Score No-No’s, Episode 2Remember our previous discussion on

what not to do when prepping scores? The topic apparently struck a nerve, so let’s keep digging.

The simplest of all is soooooooooo elemen-tary: overlapping anything is taboo, regard-less of how careless the software or how short the time. Music copying in years gone by (“sigh”) was an art and a craft, and using a computer in no way reduces your burden of producing clean, legible, coherent notation. Actually it increases it.

Let’s look again at the topic of bar num-bers. A very common negligence committed by many software “owners” is to set up their scores with bar numbers centered and a fair distance below each measure. So far, so good. When they go to extract or create their parts, they fail to fix this scheme, with the result that it’s not clear to which staff the numbers belong. (See example 1.)

Another innocent mistake I’ve noticed score preppers make is to treat a double-stave group part (violins, divisi horns, etc.) like a keyboard part, by giving only one set of dy-namics, word expressions, etc. for both staves. (See example 2.) Technically, each stave (and its player) needs the same complete info as if it stood alone, so either the conductor, the copyist, or the players may be confused by the “one-expression-fits-both” routine.

On the topic of rehearsal letters, I recently played a piece by French classical composer Darius Milhaud and noticed an oddity, not to be adopted: rehearsal numbers appearing at exact, regular intervals (in this case, every five bars) throughout the piece. This rather curious convention violates my oldest dictum of scoring practice — making the notation look like the music sounds or feels. In this case, the rigidity of the spacing made the rehearsal numbers useless as signposts to important elements in the music, and counting rests was really counterintuitive. To compound the problem, the publisher didn’t even bother to break up the 5-bar rests at major phrasing points. Better to place rehearsal letters only at important events in the musical scheme (noted in parentheses), break up the resultant multimeasure rests at clearly-audible changes in orchestration or tonality, and inserting cues if the rests still run longer than 9 or 10 bars. (See example 3.)

Another example of seemingly innocent errors compounding themselves involves careless stem direction. Generally stems go down for notes on the center line of the staff or above, and up for notes on the second space or below. When beamed with other notes, you try to av-

erage out the needs of all the notes in the group and stem accord-ingly. The problem? Violate the convention, and your notes might be mistaken for a cue for another instrument (normally reduced in size and stemmed to accommodate

an offsetting rest for the native part). (See example 4.) Further problems arise when you incorrectly attach articulations, such as string tremolo slashes, to whole notes. When in doubt, simply place them as if there were stems.

And while we’re on the topic of string tremolo slashes, let’s clear up right now the all-too-prevalent problem of when and how many to use, as doing it incorrectly can also confuse players. Tremolo really needs no less than three of some combination of slashes and beams, so give three to whole notes, halves, and quarters, two for eighth notes, and 1 to sixteenth and smaller notes. Any less could be mistaken as shorthand for repeated 8th or 16th notes, possibly inviting a session- or rehearsal-slowing question. And if you do intend shorthand for repeated notes, take the

effort to make it obvious by no-tating the first one or two beats traditionally and then using the shorthand. (See example 5.)

Remember: Error- and question-free sight reading isn’t just the upshot of great playing;

it is more usually (and simply) the result of diligent, savvy music prep.

n Ron Hess works as a studio conductor, orchestrator, copyist and score supervisor in Los Angeles, where he’s well-known for his quick ability to ferret out the most hidden performance problems and spot score glitches rapidly. He holds a Master’s Degree from the New England Conservatory, and is considered one of the top Finale experts in Los Angeles. Email Ron at rhess@filmmusicweekly.com

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MUSIC TECHNOLOGY by PeTeR LAWRenCe ALeXAndeRpalexander@filmmusicweekly.com

Concerns and Questions for Yamaha/Steinberg

During the summer I wrote a column on developers posting more detailed system specs, especially on the Mac, so that custom-ers could easily assess whether their current version of both the OS and the host program could run the desired virtual instrument. This is a more detailed follow up based on that original story where the software written about was done so generically to avoid unnec-essary embarrassment and to remedy what should have been an easy fix – posting more specific system requirements.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and two composers who bought the program for use on the Mac, which was Broadway Big Band, wrote in expressing disappointing results with serious concerns.

One composer uses Digital Performer 5.1 while the other uses Logic 7.2. Both have received outstanding help from the distribu-tor, SONiVOX, in resolving issues. In fact, both composers described the support from SONiVOX as being outstanding to the nth degree. But neither composer believes the program to be working as it should with one composer telling me that he had spent with his tech over $9000 get it to work right on the Mac, and as of this writing, still doesn’t have it working correctly.

On October 31, I received an email from the DP Composer who wrote (excerpted):

…for months the word from their camp is that an upgrade is “just days away.” It isn’t.

I thought you should know this in the event that Digital Performer users were interested in purchasing the software. It re-quires a very complicated process to get it to work, so unless the potential customer is technically advanced and has the patience of a saint, I put it upon you to inform them of BBB’s current status.

From my end, I’m not technically ad-vanced and I’ve had four major projects that could have benefited from the BBB

sounds but didn’t because I simply could not spend one more hour banging around trying to get it to function properly. The hours I’ve spent with ______________at Sonivox have shown him to be decent, pleasant and beyond generous. I just wish there were better results.

Where’s the problem and who’s responsible?

There are two problems. From speaking to the tech and both composers, there are clear issues with the installation instruction documentation. This is an ongoing industry issue that companies are not moving quickly enough to resolve. Creating a product is one art. Teaching how to use it, another. Bringing in people who can teach and who can write to create clear effective, easy-to-follow docu-mentation may have an upfront cost, but the downstream cost is reduced tech support time for the company.

The second problem, apparently, is with the HALion player made by Steinberg and now owned by Yamaha. At days end, it’s the responsibility of Yamaha’s brand manager overseeing Steinberg to see to it that the HALion player operates reliably with the few-est number of problems on whatever platform the program is coded for. That’s where the first line of accountability goes. But that’s not where it ends.

Going to the Steinberg.net web site to review the system requirements you can see in the first screen shot Steinberg’s report that the HALion player works with Logic 7.2 and DP 4.6 but not on the MacIntel system. With the Mac in transition over OSX, this is really super inadequate information. Unfortunately, it’s the only information that dealers, distribu-tors and OEMs (aka developers) have to post. Since this is a licensing agreement, the first line of accountability goes back to Steinberg.

When the program was tested by Yamaha Steinberg, it was tested on a specific set of Macs, with a specific OS 10.x.x designation. That should be posted.

Unfortunately for the DP composer, this system spec was posted after he had pur-chased and tried to install the product. And even its posting doesn’t tell anyone whether the system requirement is for the HAL-ion player that’s already in the field or the newer one. This is important because when a developer licenses a player for his product, the company licenses a specific player version and writes to it. One should not, and indeed, cannot, automatically assume that the newer player version is the same as the licensed ver-sion. So Steinberg has a lot of clarification to do and they’re the only ones who can do it.

Next I reviewed the Fable Sounds.com site. Here’s the posted system requirement.

The Mac system spec is very generic and needs to be updated. (Continued pg 13)

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PLEASE NOTE: For the PC and operat-ing system selection, however, there’s nothing really to say except that XP is required and possibly add that SP2 (Service Pack 2) is recommended. That’s it, done.

So no fault there.

Next, I visited the Fable Sounds forum as a guest. Unfortunately, the company moved their forum to a new server in mid-November, so any technical Q&A discussion prior to that is gone (per statements on the web site). Mac users wanting to install BBB on their Mac should go to the forum and ask installation tech questions first.

I realize that Fable Sounds, like many developers, is a small company where the ma-jority of time must be spent in development. At the same time, they could put together a specific Mac insight sheet for Logic and DP re-spectively and make it available as either an online forum thread (similar to what Vienna does), or a word.doc or a PDF.

My challenge to Yamaha is that the posted specs on the Steinberg site are inadequate and given the popularity of Digital Performer in the professional film community, not hav-ing tested the HALion player on the current version of DP is just plain ludicrous as it can negatively impact the sales of any company

licensing the HALion player for use on the Mac. Yamaha would never accept this poor level of quality control on one of its mixers or keyboards, and it shouldn’t on its software.

Fable Sounds has the responsibility, too, of posting up-to-date system requirements on their site, and then getting the specs to their distributor, SONiVOX. But there is one other concern. Look carefully at the screenshot and you’ll see: Broadway Performer™ works on both PC and Mac (Intel Mac not yet sup-ported).

Broadway Performer™ is Fable Sounds patent pending proprietary MIDI process-ing system. Again, they need to post more detailed system requirements for Mac usage.

You can read a review of BBB at Sound On Sound online. It was installed on a PC, and knowing the technical competence of my colleagues at SOS, if there were something afoot with the PC version, they would have said so.

WHATEVER HAPPENDED TO THE MIDEX 8 AND THE MIDEX 3

Prior to the Yamaha purchase of Stein-berg, Steinberg SX customers were told that for the most accurate MIDI sync, they needed to get the MIDEX 8 because only the MIDEX 8 handled LTB, Linear Time Base communica-

tion protocol. You can read about it at Stein-berg Canada. For SMPTE, you then needed Nuendo TimeBase.

If you follow the links, they lead to Steinberg Canada. I checked, and both pieces of equipment are still listed. But they aren’t listed on the Steinberg.net web site.

Today, Cubase users are told to use MOTU or M-Audio MIDI interfaces.

Well, wait a minute. What happened to LTB? Is it no longer implemented in Cubase 4? Was it ever really needed in the first place? Since Yamaha manufactures hardware, why aren’t the MIDEX products on the Steinberg.net web site?

CONCLUSIONS

Lots of questions with needed answers. The information presented came directly from owners of the program. Yamaha Steinberg, Fable Sounds or SONiVOX are welcomed to send in any comment or insight desired and FMW will publish it exactly as written.

n Peter Alexander is preparing to score The Good Samaritan. His most recent books are How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite, and Professional Orchestration. He has also written White Papers on music education.

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY

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FINAL NOTE by MARK nORThAM mark@gmdgroup.com

As composers become more and more dependent on performance royalties to

maintain their income and feed their families, I believe that some fundamental disadvan-tages composers face at ASCAP need to be addressed. This week, I’d like to outline five major problems that composers face at ASCAP and suggest some specific remedies.

1. Stop the wholesale discrimination against music without lyrics in the ASCAP weighting formula. Despite the fact that broadcasters make no differentia-tion in their blanket licenses with ASCAP, ASCAP has introduced and maintains huge differences in the rate paid for a minute of music on television depending on whether or not it has lyrics. A minute of instrumental score music is paid 80% less than a minute of music with lyrics, and a minute of music for commercials, promos or ads is paid 97% less than a minute of music with lyrics, all on the same televi-sion channel at the same time of day. Fur-thermore, there is no reason that each and every song, even those barely heard in the background, should be granted feature per-formance rate by default, simply because the music has lyrics. If you’re going to have different rates, then level the playing field and make the rules that determine royalty rates (number of viewers, etc) apply to all types of music fairly and equally.

2. End the lockout of independent candidates from the ASCAP Board of Directors elections. The ASCAP Board has crafted language which has effectively locked out independent candidates from the ASCAP Board election by now requir-ing 1,250 signatures of voting members in order to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate not “selected” by ASCAP’s nominating committee. This, up from 25 signatures only 6 years ago. This number of signatures is impossible for all but perhaps the most wealthy and well-connected ASCAP members to achieve, and has effectively locked all but those people out of the independent candidate process. If ASCAP is going to have a democratic, fair, and open election process, there should be a

reasonably attainable way for a member of modest means to achieve a place on the ballot, perhaps 50 signatures from voting members.

3. Lift the cloak of secrecy from ASCAP Board Meetings and allow members to know what their elected repre-sentatives are doing and how they’re voting. Transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of any democratic process, and are the only way that vot-ers in a democratic process can make informed decisions. While claiming to be transparent and accountable, the ASCAP Board of Directors has taken steps to

make sure they are just the opposite by closing ASCAP Board meetings to all but themselves, locking out members who wish to know what their elected representatives are doing. ASCAP members are not even allowed to know the attendance records of board members. Publish the minutes from ASCAP Board meetings including the proposals made, voting records, and attendance records with confidential and proprietary information redacted.

4. Institute term limits so being an AS-CAP Board Member does not become a career in itself and the diversity of the membership will finally be reflected in the makeup of the ASCAP Board. When the ASCAP Board fails to represent the diversity of the membership, it creates a fundamental problem in gov-erning ASCAP. As so many other elected

bodies have discovered, reasonable term limits ensure that spots will open up for new faces and new ideas in elected posi-tions. Create term limits of no more than 8 years for ASCAP Board members – if it’s good enough for the US President, it’s good enough for ASCAP Board members.

5. Start meaningful, detailed financial disclosure about how member royalty dollars are being spent on event and organization sponsorships, reserves, secret advances, and other related areas in cases when member money is not distributed to members as royalties. 100% of ASCAP’s income is generated by member musical works, and as owner-members of ASCAP, members have a fundamental right to know how our money is being spent if it is not paid to us as royalties. ASCAP says its books are “open to all” and that the organiza-tion is “transparent and accountable.” It is clearly in the interests of ASCAP mem-bers to be able to determine how money our musical works generates is spent if it is withheld from members and not distributed as royalties. Make available to members detailed information about ASCAP’s operations including the amounts in various holding and reserve funds that are maintained for secret advances and other uses, a breakdown of the distribution of royalties by type of music (song, theme, background score, commercial/promo/ad) and the minutes of music in each of those categories paid, the amounts of member money paid as sponsorships or grants to organizations and the guidelines for how ASCAP determined which organizations to provide member money to, and the amounts of member money paid to create, sponsor or and promote various events and the guidelines for how ASCAP determined which events to provide member money to.

Meaningful reform in these five areas, especially the weighting formula, will make a significant difference in the paycheck of every ASCAP composer member. We can only hope our elected officials at ASCAP will consider suggestions like these seriously and act as necessary to make change happen. n

Let’s Level the Playing Field, ASCAP!

“Meaningful reform will make a signifi-cant difference in the paycheck of every ASCAP

composer member”