(Disclaimer: I realize this is just one person representing one show, and in no way do I mean for this to be taken as a generalization of producers and music supervisors, most of whom are willing to pay a fair amount for the music they use.)

For all the talk about piracy, no one has said much about what goes on inside the industry. TV shows can be a great opportunity for an up-and-coming artist, but should we throw all our rights out the window just for the chance to be featured? Here’s an e-mail I received the other day:

Hello,

We are looking for background music for the next round of episodes for [name of show removed]. Our goal is to give exposure to as many bands as possible through our selections.

If your song is used, the selected track will be tagged with a lower third graphic when played in show which will include the artist’s name, title of track and label. The song and band will also be posted on the [show] website as further promotion. You can see examples here:

Tagged Track: [link removed]

Links to Band: [link removed]

The music must be instrumental only. Ideally, we are looking for songs with the vocal tracks removed that is good mood music, high energy rock, pop songs, ect.

All songs (publishing and masters) must be licensed to us gratis, worldwide, in all media and in perpetuity as this is a promo trade.

If you are interested in working with us, please contact me at [e-mail removed] with streams to potential tracks, contact info and band websites (myspace is acceptable).

Thank you
[name removed]
Series Producer

I don’t care how the music industry is supposed to work. From where I am, I can look at their practices and decide for myself if it’s something I want to go along with. And this is a bunch of shit.

“All songs (publishing and masters) must be licensed to us gratis, worldwide, in all media and in perpetuity as this is a promo trade.”

So what you’re telling me, as the series producer for a MAJOR show on a MAJOR cable network, is that it’s in my best interest to give you a professional-quality song for you to use for free, forever? That I am supposed to be happy with a “promo trade”, whatever the fuck that is?

Let me ask you something: does your camera crew work for free because it would look good on their resume? Did you get the show host to work for free by convincing him that you were actually doing him a favor by giving him free screen time? Of course not. You pay them, and you pay them well. And it sickens me that you think music should be any different.

I understand the concept at work here. I don’t have a problem with the idea of trading services, or doing something for free if it’s in the mutual interest of both parties. The problem I have here is with a professional music-based show that has advertisers and a budget based around this concept—and yet they don’t have the money to PAY for the concept?

You don’t even have the decency to offer $500 a song? That’s chump change in the TV world, but it’s better than nothing. Nothing is a slap in the face, an absolute insult.

And the worst part is, there are plenty of bands that will take advantage of this offer—because they are so used to getting NOTHING that even a small credit is worth a shot. And as long as bands are willing to give it up for free, there will always be situations like this.

But I don’t care. I work too hard to give anything away for free, especially to someone who can obviously afford to pay. At least people who torrent music have an interest in that music, something that could potentially benefit me as an artist. I doubt this guy gives a shit about the music, as long as he can throw it under a montage.

“Our goal is to give exposure to as many bands as possible through our selections.”

Bullshit. Their true goal is to get as much music as they can for free and exploit it for a profit. Show producers like this guy only care about the bottom line of their show, and they could give a fuck about the music. I would advise any artist considering a deal like this to think about what you’d really get out of it compared to what you are giving up.