The BMI Quarter Quell - A Serving Of Humble Pie
Like many composers, I always eagerly await my quarterly BMI statement with bated breath. I’m in year 2 of my sync music journey, which officially began in 2024 when I got my first library deal and first TV placements.
Nowhere to go but up, right? Wrong. This latest quarter was very disappointing. My tiny catalog earned $9.25 after three months of building anticipation and lots of daydreaming.
From Studio To Bank Account
Getting a music track played on TV in the first place is an accomplishment in and of itself. It takes a day or two to write and produce a full track, sometimes more if it’s a complex orchestral arrangement. Then the track has to find a home in a library.
From there it gets pitched along with thousands of others to various TV shows. Somehow it finally gets selected by an editor and included in a specific show, which is broadcast on television.
Music royalties take at least 6-9 months to work their way through the system after a track first airs on TV. Production companies have to file cue sheets after a broadcast, and that information has to be tabulated at scale. My portion eventually finds its way to BMI and my bank account. International placements take even longer.
The Harsh Truth
My very first BMI statement early last year was amazing at over $175, and my second statement built on that momentum. I was stoked! But last quarter was awful at around $32. And less than 10 bucks now? That’s depressing.
But it’s just information. It’s telling me what worked. Humble pie may not be delicious, but it can be nutritious with a little perspective.
The reality is that production music income is completely unpredictable, especially for composers like me who do this on the side. My catalog is very small right now. And I don’t have time to lock myself away in my studio for endless hours writing hundreds of tracks. I have a family and a business to run during the day.
The State Of The Industry
It turns out my $9.25 statement isn’t unique. While BMI’s total distributions have actually grown every year, individual composers are seeing less per placement for a number of reasons.
Streaming performances pay a fraction of traditional broadcast rates, and BMI’s membership grew 55% between 2019 and 2023, meaning a lot more composers are splitting the same royalty pool. Additionally, BMI’s 2022 conversion to a for-profit model permanently reduced the composer payout ratio from roughly 90% to 85% of collections.
This means more plays and more competition, but smaller slices of the same pie. Understanding this doesn’t make the number any less frustrating, but it does suggest that a quiet quarter says more about the industry than it does about the music.
So, what to do? I’ll feel sorry for myself for a little while. Just until I realize that I have actually earned something in the music business. It’s enough to buy my husband a very nice sandwich at his favorite deli. And I must remember the old adage from the A&R Service Taxi - “Write, submit, forget, repeat”. I guess I’ll go back to the studio now.